“That was a crazy experience!” Cosette exclaimed.
She was in a break room drinking coffee with Faelin and Dr. Markov.
“I mean… I can hear Summer’s thoughts and her interpretations of things going on around her and it’s so… alien. Ignorant, maybe even. Ritual and superstition seem to dominate her thinking.”
“Yes,” Dr Markov said. “Their civilization is utterly non-technical. And they’ve evolved strange ways to survive. It’s always fascinating how things emerge in these simulations.”
“It would be much easier, if I could see,” Cosette said, “Um… Why did you put a blindfold on her?”
“We had to employ the blindfold, just so we can handle the flood of data that vision results in,” Dr. Markov explained. “You will find that she will be able to see for two, maybe three hours at a time. So, don’t worry. In the future, you’ll be able to see… If… well…”
“Yeah!” Cosette said. “I think that I know what you are getting at. Some of the agents in the simulation seem pretty intent on getting rid of her. What happens if they, you know, end up killing Summer?”
“First,” Dr. Markov said, “don’t worry about your safety. The data feed will just end. You’ll be fine. Hopefully, the tribe will accept her again.”
“And what about the… I mean, why the cage and all the chains?” Cosette asked. “Summer doesn’t seem to understand what metal is. She calls it ‘dur’. That had me confused for a little while.”
“The simulation is digital, but the physics of the world are run by a series of quantum computers. Rounding errors would kill the simulation otherwise. So, we use solar power to keep Summer alive and she absorbs water through her skin. The cage is the solar collector and the chains are the leads to keep her powered up. Unfortunately, due to the limitations implied by the physics of the simulation, Summer will spend much of her time in the cage.”
“Tell me about the other women,” Faelin said. “They sound fascinating.”
“Yeah, some of that was confusing,” Cosette said. “They are all very bird oriented. In fact, I’m pretty sure, one of them has wings and can fly - Gannet, I think that her name is. And her lover, Woodlark, doesn’t speak so much, but rather sings her responses. Weird! Uh… I mean… They are women, aren’t they? Woodlark felt like a woman, but…”
“Yes,” Dr. Markov said somewhat emphatically. “This simulation was seeded in order for tribes of women to emerge as the predominant intelligence of the universe. That said, there will be differences from human women in some ways. I’m surprised about the wings, for sure! That’s actually kind of exciting! This reminds me, make sure that you use your keyboard to take notes while you are in the simulation. Try to take note of the different agents that you interact with.”
“Oh, yeah! I’ll make sure I’m logging!” Cosette replied.
“I need to get going,” Dr. Markov said. “Good luck tomorrow. We will need you to spend as much time in the simulation as you can. We have to keep up with the torrent of incoming data. So, Faelin with cath you in your next session.”
“That’s fine,” Cosette said. “I look forward to going back in!”
Dr. Markov placed her mug in the sink and left the break room.
“Yeah! That was wild!” Cosette said to Faelin, feeling a little more relaxed now that her boss wasn’t in the room. “Have you worked with Dr. Markov for a long time?”
“Dr. Markov is the lead on the software side of things,” Faelin said. “I’m a hardware tech. I currently work under Dr. Han.”
“Dr. Han? I don’t think that I’ve met him,” Cosette said, pulling at her lip.
“Her. Dr. Han is a woman,” Faelin said. “She is REALLY busy, as you can imagine.”
“Oh, shit! Sorry! That’s awesome.”
That sat quietly for a moment. Then Faelin leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table. “I just have to say this… You have, like, the most perfect head I’ve ever seen.”
“Oh!” Cosette blushed. “I, uh… I’ve always had long hair.” Cosette nervously rubbed a hand over her bald head.
“No! I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable… It’s just… I see a lot of bald heads in this job, and usually there are imperfections, like strange lumps and shit. But, no, your’s is freaking perfect!”
“Well… thanks?”
“Beautiful!”
<>--+-
The next morning Cosette was reclined in her chair with a catheter and her helmet locked in place.
“We’ll pick up right where you left off yesterday,” Faelin's voice said inside Cosette’s head. "I’m sending you in… now!”
Cosette’s awareness of the world faded…
<>--+- <>--+- <>--+-
"But look," Woodlark sang out desperately. "This is she! We must unbind her!"
"No, fool! Get away from the demon!" Kite's voice was low and menacing. "We will wait for Gyr and Peregrine to return with poles and we'll take her back to the compound as she is. The Supreme Aderyn will decide. Don't touch it! We need to put arrows into it and gut it with spears to free what the demon has of Summer. We need to kill it!”
I looked towards the source of Kite's voice and shook my head frantically. "I AM Summer! I love Woodlark!" I wanted to scream, but the only sound that I made was the rattling of dur chimes.
"You will not kill her!" Woodlark sang dangerously louder than she should.
"I'm with her, Kite," Firecrest agreed.
"You fools!" Kite snarled. "This demon is the reason why Jaye lies sick and infested. This demon is the reason the Homestone has been stolen."
My stomach felt ill and I struggled to sit up properly. Jaye is infested? The Homestone is stolen?
We were all doomed if the Homestone had been stolen. If we could not retrieve it by the Moon Before the First Day That Loses, we would all have to report back to the colony in shame as a failed Family where we would be put to death. Or be actively hunted down and tortured. For without the Homestone our new sisters would never be able to find us. Indeed, they would be led into the traps of those who stole the Homestone.
"Look at the demon!" Kite hissed. "She doesn't even show any reaction to the news of the Homestone. She probably knows where it is."
I tried frantically to express that I did care, but my gyrations produced nothing more than a cacophony of tinkling dur.
"Quiet, demon!" Kite whispered. I shivered in pain as a stick was shoved violently into my ribs. It was probably the butt of a spear.
"Stop that!" Woodlark whispered.
I tried not to move any more.
We sat in silence for a while waiting. I felt my strength continue to grow as the sun warmed the air and the day bloomed with the sound of buzzing insects. For a while, Woodlark held me close, rocking and whispering a soothing melody into my ear.
It was not for long though. I heard a shuffling sound of a scuffle. Woodlark was ripped away from me and I heard her tumble through the dirt.
"No!" she cried. "It's Summer!"
There was a loud slap and the thump of a body hitting the dirt followed by a sad whimper.
"I said to stay away from the demon. She will poison you with her touch!" Kite whispered.
"It's Summer," Woodlark sobbed again, but she did not return to me. Kite, a warrior, was much larger and stronger than Woodlark.
<>--+-
When Gyr and Peregrine returned they secured my perch so that it hung from poles which they hoisted into the air. We set off quietly through the forest. I was jostled from side to side occasionally bumping against the vertical limbs of dur. As the day warmed, I began to feel stronger and stronger.
Gannet had landed and offered once to help carry me.
"Don't worry, sister. She is surprisingly light," Gyr replied.
<>--+-
I could hear footfalls around us and smell moisture in the air. Moments later I could smell fires and fish smoking and fir trees. Home! I recognized voices and struggled again to move my arms from behind me. I struggled to pull my legs from underneath me. But the restraints held me as I was.
There were a variety of emotions in the sounds of the voices: happiness, excitement, fear, even anger. I could envision the space where they brought me. I knew it so well. It was a small clearing amongst a great grove of ancient firs. There was a ring of rocks where the ashes were always kept warm and around, near the edge of the clearing, various structures housed supplies, grains, dried meat. My cage was lowered to the ground. I had been brought before our leader, the Supreme Aderyn.
"She is no longer Summer," Kite was explaining. "Summer is gone. We searched for her for the entire cycle of a moon. That search had its toll upon us. We had the releasing ceremony. Summer is gone. This is an imposter. A demon. Nothing more than a shiny prize nested in a deadly snare that the evil ones are using to tempt us. Let me kill it so that we may all live."
"This IS Summer," Woodlark explained to the Supreme Aderyn. "Look at her. Sure she has been changed, but it is she! I know Summer. I can feel her behind the dur that restrains her. I feel her love!"
"Your love blinds you, fool" Kite retorted.
I shook my head in desperation. I DO love Woodlark. I AM Summer. Why did they not use the keys and free my tongue? I have no idea what has happened to me, or where I have been, but I could tell them things that would convince them that I was not a demon. I shook my head vigorously and as I did I heard a calamity of ringing dur all around me. I began to wonder how many dur ropes there were. I felt a strange tug on my nose as I moved my head. I felt the light, cool slap of dur ropes on each side of my chin as I shifted from side to side.
"See!" Woodlark sang triumphantly. "She can hear us! She is trying to tell us that she is here."
I nodded my head up and down with as much vigor as before. I felt more tugging on my nose and I felt the dur ropes pool and lift from my chest. I heard ringing above me as well and a soft plodding on the top of my head.
"See?" Woodlark resumed singing bravely. "I will show you something - a secret joke that Summer and I shared. Summer, walk like the Wanderer! No demon would understand this."
I pointed my face in Woodlark's direction. I was confused, because I had no capacity to walk, bound as I was. I had to do something though.
The Wanderer is a particularly odd member of our tribal family. She stands much taller than any other. Not even the tallest of us reach her shoulder height. Not even when on our toes. She is extremely thin. She very rarely speaks and only then, in the quietest of whispers. The Wanderer comes and goes. She does not have a shelter or nest in our encampment. Her hair is long, tangled and unkempt, her eyes are huge and dark and cold. She always held one or the other closed.
She hunts and brings fresh fish to the family, only taking a small amount for herself before disappearing into the wilderness again.
I think that most of us are afraid of her simply because she is unpredictable. Sometimes she will climb a tree and sit still on a limb for days and then, with no apparent instigation, she will drop to the ground and run from the camp at full speed, disappearing once again into the wilderness for days.
Due to her gangly appearance, perhaps, she has a strange motion in her natural gait. Woodlark and I would joke about it in private. I was terrified that Woodlark asked me to display the way that we made fun of her. I did not wish to offend her. I guess that I am a bit afraid of her as well.
Regardless, I knew my life depended on convincing my sisters that I was here before them. I ducked my head and shifted to my right amidst a jangle of dur, then straightened my neck to its full extent. After pausing for a moment, I ducked again and shifted far to my left and extended my neck once again. I weaved back and forth, trying to mimic The Wanderer's walk. I was praying that she was not in the camp.
"See!" Woodlark sang. "See!"
The crowd of family members remained quiet. I had hoped for cheers at my return. Or grunts of recognition in my actions. Even a snicker would have been comforting perhaps. I heard a short, quiet grunt like a squirrel racing through summer leaves. But, otherwise, there was no sound...
"Tawny?" the Supreme Alderyn asked with a voice like two bark-laden sticks rubbing together.
After a moment's pause a series of shrill hoots and whistles and clicks sliced into the silence.
Tawny awoke from her shell ceremony with knowledge of magical things that no one else can even conceive. Unfortunately, after her awakening, she no longer had the capacity to speak as a human would. Some believe that our language is simply not able to convey the thoughts that she must have. Regardless, while she seems to understand us, no one can understand her. No one, that is, except Sora.
Sora emerged from her shell ceremony, like me, seemingly unkissed by the Goddesses. It was two seasons later that her skill was discovered when Tawny emerged and began speaking in her magic language. Sora understood her. Ever since, Sora has been assigned to translate things that Tawny says.
There must be some truth to the idea that our language can not carry Tawny's thoughts though. Sora's translations are often confusing. I don't think that even Sora understands the words she says when she translates for us.
"She says that Summer has been kissed, but not by the Goddesses," Sora translated. Tawny whistled on. "She says that a Goddess would never apply worldly artifacts such as dur and locks on her creation. A Goddess has no need for such devices."
I felt my heart begin to beat a little faster.
"That's correct!" Kite spoke. "We must kill the demon!"
"Tawny says that she believes that Summer has been kissed by a demon. A different kind of demon that lives deep underground in a great snowy place. She says that maybe Summer has gone through a second shell ceremony with the demon... um..." Sora hesitated. "Or something..."
"Right!" Kite stated more loudly. "And the demon has infused Summer’s body with evil!"
"No!" Woodlark screeched with a sharp cry. "Listen to what Tawny is saying! She is not through."
Tawny's whistles and clicks continued on. "She believes that the demon would have eaten Summer. But, instead, the Goddesses save her, andhere she is."
"...And we should finish the demon's job!" Kite stated. "I loved Summer too. She was one of the best foragers our family has ever had. For three winters we have been full and happy. No doubt that is due to her skill at finding and gathering and growing. This... this thing is not Summer. Look at her! How will she forage? How will she stock our family?"
I sank a little at her words. What is wrong with me? Why am I so hideous? I began to struggle against my restraints, desperately pulling my arms and legs trying to break them from where the dur held them.
Kite continued. "The loss of Summer has been painful. And our search for Summer in the days that followed were even more so. What happened to Jaye... and the Homestone... The time came and we released Summer's soul. She is gone. We have been working to regain the Homestone. We have been working to fix the places where Summer's loss had broken us. We must continue forward with the course of action that we chose. This thing before us is not Summer. This thing is a distraction. This thing is a thing of death. This thing is the reason Jaye lies ill. This thing will bring more suffering. How many more of us will end up like Jaye? We must kill this thing!"
A murmur of voices began to rise in affirmation with Kite's words. I shook my head vigorously until I realized the clatter that occurred. I was only emphasizing my new deformity or whatever and slowly lowered my head in shame.
"This is Summer," Woodlark sang. There was a hint of desperation in her song that made the notes of her voice waiver in some disturbing way. "We all loved Summer! We all love Summer! She gave so much of herself to the family. She was ever loyal. We must be loyal to her now. We must keep her. See the tears on her face? She feels! She remembers us! We must remember her! She is no demon. Look! We have keys! We must unlock her and remove the dur vines from her... what we can."
Tawny began whistling desperately. "Tawny says," Sora translated, "that she thinks we should release Summer from the cage.”
Kite responded, “Notice that the dur runs THROUGH her flesh. Summer may be inside that shell of flesh, but the demons may control her."
Sora seemed to agree with Kite: "When we release her she may go into a crazed rampage killing as many of us as she can. It is unnatural. No one has ever..." Tawny whistled loudly in short bursts.
Sora apparently began to argue with Tawny. Sora cursed occasionally and said half sentences only to be drowned out by Tawny's hooting and whistling. Finally, Sora said in a defeated voice, "Well... it could happen..."
"I agree with Tawny," the Supreme Aderyn had begun to speak. All other voices quickly grew silent. "There is a reason that Summer has returned. The demons would have eaten her if there had not been an intervention. Only a Goddess would have the capability to intervene with a demon's intent. Still, we must be cautious. We have lost Summer and Jaye and the Homestone. And our future is uncertain. Only the Goddesses know how many more we will lose to regain the Homestone. Take Summer in her cage to a Grieving Tree."
"No!" Woodlark cried. I felt the blood drain from my face. Other voices began to rise up including Kite's who said, "Yes! Seal her in. The Goddesses will release her if she is meant to be of use!"
"No," the Supreme Aderyn croaked quietly. "We will send in someone with her, not Woodlark, not Kite. She will use the keys to attempt to release Summer."
"I... I volunteer to go in," I heard Firecrest's voice suggest. "I have touched her already. And if she is infested..."
"Yes, little Firecrest, you are very brave," the Supreme Aderyn said. "You will go into the Grieving Tree with Summer. Others will wait outside prepared to seal the tree if the demons have infused Summer."
"We cannot afford," Kite called out, "to lose anyone. Not even little Firecrest."
"No." The Supreme Aderyn replied. "But, too, we cannot afford to shame ourselves and incur certain wrath by ignoring what may also be a gift from the Goddesses."
"Summer! Firecrest will release you, my love," Woodlark sang above the sound of women moving about. "We will set you free, my Summer!"
I tried to keep myself as calm as possible as we traveled through the woods. I tried to convince myself to concentrate on the smells and sounds of life all around us. But soon I detected the distinct scent of the Goddess Tears that flow in the blood of the Grieving Trees and my thoughts were torn to memories of Rosy and her desperate cries as she was taken by the Goddess Tears: "Summer! Help me!" She had been packing supplies to be preserved into the hollow of the Grieving Tree. We call the sap of the tree “Goddess Tears”. They flow around the stores and harden, preserving the food for the hard winter months.
Unfortunately, Rosy slipped and fell through the opening of the tree into the hollow. Somehow that triggered the tree to seal the opening and begin to fill the space with the hardening sap.
Despite Ancient Wisdom, I had taken up Gyr's stone ax and went towards the thick trunk of the Grieving Tree from where Rosy's muffled screams rang. Peregrine tackled me and held me on the ground until the cries suddenly stopped mid-scream with a sickening gurgling sound as the Tears spilled into poor Rosy's throat, sealing it forever.
The Family abandoned that camp the next Spring, but we marked the tree as untouchable. And hoped that the tree would accept Rosy’s spirit. We prayed that she has now become the tree and will look after the forests for generations of Aderyn into the future.
And now they were going to stuff me and Firecrest into a Grieving Tree.
<>--+- <>--+- <>--+-
“Holy shit!” Cosette said, reclining in relief once Faelin had disconnected her from the chair. “That was quite intense!”
“Your heart rate was really elevated,” Faelin said.
“Wow…,” Cosette sighed, then suddenly realized that her body suit was still unzipped and her breast was exposed. “Oops!” She looked over at Faelin, who was cleaning the helmet. Faelin turned and smiled at Cosette as she zipped up.
“Do you want to… you know… go for a coffee or something?” Cosette asked.
“Babe, you look like you need a drink,” Faelin said. “I’ve got a bottle of wine that wants to be uncorked in my room?”
Cosette smiled. “Mmm… Sounds awesome!” Why was she blushing?