Bellepheron Draco<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
During the War, I moved back up to what was formerly known as Upstate New York\u2014 to my parent\u2019s house in a small academic community. It was Thanksgiving, and for the first time in a decade I was home for the holidays. My parents didn\u2019t question my homecoming, they were simply relieved I was away from New York. I lived in the attic where I contented myself with tending a greenhouse. That particular Thanksgiving was snowy white and wintry. The War seemed remote, but it never really was, we were surrounded.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the midst of our Thanksgiving Dinner the bell rang. We froze. My younger brother got up. He had become the elected \u201cwelcome\u201d official in these times, as he was a newly ordained Jesuit priest. No one would dare lay a finger on him. He came back to the dining room,<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s for you, a friend of yours from New York,\u201d<\/p>\n
I went to the living room and there was Petard. I hadn\u2019t seen him in a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMay I sit? I\u2019ve been trudging in the snow for two hours, no cabs or buses coming out here anymore\u201d.<\/p>\n
My father peered in,<\/p>\n
\u201cIs everything alright?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fine Dad, just an old acquaintance,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen don\u2019t be rude, invite our guest to the table\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you Professor, I am Lucien Petard,\u201d he shook hands with my father. I glared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be rude, take his coat. Please feel at home Mr. Petard,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease call me Lucien,\u201d<\/p>\n
Please tell me this isn\u2019t happening. I\u2019ll be damned if I let him bring the War in our midst.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what brings you to these parts, Petard?\u201d<\/p>\n
Petard shifted uncomfortably, despite my father\u2019s warmth, I was determined to be icy,<\/p>\n
\u201cThe War is going very badly for us. I was sent here by the Resistance, we\u2019re hoping your daughter can help us.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother slammed a platter on the table,<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat War! It\u2019s ridiculous, there is no War, just rumors of it!\u201d<\/p>\n
Upset she banged her way into the kitchen, my teenage brothers otherwise known as \u201cthe monsters\u201d thought it was funny,<\/p>\n
\u201cMommy doesn\u2019t believe in the War. It\u2019s against her delusions\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShut up.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t funny at all: bad enough that my parents were already in exile from their homeland. The War was another complication my mother couldn\u2019t deal with. And she was right: the War was a delicate matter, it manifested first as a psychological state, one caused by a virus\u2014 or a rumor.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet over yourself Sis\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think you realize the extremity of our situation\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
My father stepped in,<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough bickering.\u201d He addressed Petard, \u201cWhat sort of help are you asking for?\u201d<\/p>\n
My vocation had always been a source of bafflement to my parents: it eluded most academic and professional canons they recognized. At some point, long ago, they had resigned themselves to my strangeness.<\/p>\n
My mother came back to the table, she was concerned:<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you asking her to return to New York?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one needs to go anywhere, we just need her expertise\u2014\u201d he turned to me \u201cI brought you a message from Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother frowned,<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you said Paul was dead\u201d<\/p>\n
The monsters giggled, I was ready to gag them:<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe she was speaking metaphorically,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s in prison\u201d I explained<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat she means to say\u201d Petard interjected nervously, \u201cis that he is detained by the Security Forces\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s good as dead then\u201d offered my brother the Jesuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what does he want?\u201d I asked,<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message is in that package\u201d<\/p>\n
He went to the living room and picked up the gift-wrapped parcel he\u2019d brought with him. He opened it up, in it was a splendid two foot long, green-gold Iguana. The excellent creature immediately scrambled out of the box and up my shoulders and whispered something in my ear. My mother hates reptiles,<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the love of everything holy, get it away from the table! I don\u2019t want that thing in my house!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry ma\u2019am. It\u2019s our only means at the present,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA new breed of carrier pigeons\u201d affirmed the Jesuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s alright Mom, I\u2019ll take him up to the greenhouse\u201d<\/p>\n
I took him upstairs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When I came back down, they were having coffee in the living room. The missing brother had arrived, everyone\u2019s favorite. He did something they all admired, cancer research. He was technically a geneticist. They were talking about the War\u2014 even though that was usually an off-limits topic in this house. The monsters had the good sense to stave off the conversation, they entertained themselves at the piano. My brother the Jesuit was speaking:<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2014interesting because not only are the origins of the War phantasmic, but also everything plays out on this level. My advisor a few years ago was a very well know art theorist. He picked up this trend at the moment of its inception; unfortunately he was going through a nervous breakdown at the time. Everyone thought he was crazy\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWasn\u2019t he? I think he was paranoid, he thought the moths in his apartment were a surveillance crew\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, come on\u201d I said \u201cIf he was Nigerian you\u2019d have accepted it as valid from him\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he wasn\u2019t, he\u2019s American, Western. No finesse. When it happens here, they trash it. Such a crude approach to the irrational\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut can\u2019t you see, for someone schooled in these traditions to come these conclusions\u2014 something subtle is taking place in the heart of the culture. It\u2019s back to Ovid, transformation, it\u2019s altering the crux of Western civilization\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell his theory,\u201d my brother continued, \u201cwas that at the time there was a strong military presence in Hollywood film and on TV\u2014 not just in the news but in sit-coms and serials\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell it still sounds like Parisian theory from the eighties,\u201d my father had little patience for this line of inquiry \u201cWho was that French joker who idiotically said the Persian Gulf War was not going to be fought, because it already occurred on TV\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not quite the same. His take was that these images were matrices: they generated not only the general atmosphere of a state of emergency, but also the need for it. It created a desire\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
Petard, of course, was inclined to add his own two cents\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to accept the War for what it is\u2014 it\u2019s not just a state of mind, the Resistance will never go forward if \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
He became barely audible, the monsters were busy vandalizing the concept of music. For reasons best known to themselves, they were squealing loudly and chomping hard on the keys.<\/p>\n
The geneticist spoke:<\/p>\n
\u201cForgive the noise, Mr. Petard. Those two are the result of parental guilt: our father was unreasonably harsh with the first three children. In his old age he\u2019s relaxed the paternal grip to the extent that the younger ones are impossible to present in civilized society\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
Hostilities about to commence, I intervened\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fine actually, I thought we agreed there would be no ideological discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s right. I\u2019m sorry you had to witness this Petard, but as you see this family has come to a stage where we must be polite or else risk trespass\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Petard was briefed before he showed up here.Weren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
We were more or less shouting over the din of the piano,<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. Yes I have a little background information\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally like what? My father, the sociologist who is incredulous of \u2014my mother the eschatologist\u2014who in turn is morally opposed to the Catholic Church, but yet we have a Jesuit in the house\u2014 whom I adore as my brother, but don\u2019t trust because of his links with the Vatican. He in turn is curious about me, he thinks I\u2019m involved in the Resistance, just doesn\u2019t know how, exactly\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are paranoid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease don\u2019t interrupt me. Or those two over there squealing like two little pigs. Not your average teenagers, in fact, these days average teenagers turn in their parents. These ones? We don\u2019t know. What\u2019s their motivation, really? Always tinkering with little mechanisms\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the problem? No one ever asks you what you\u2019re doing in that so-called greenhouse\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s enough!\u201d My mother had had it, \u201cWhat is wrong with you children?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLupus est homo homini<\/i>,\u201d chuckled the geneticist.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome Petard, if we need to talk the time is now. We\u2019ll use the back porch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWill he be staying the night?\u201d My mother asked,<\/p>\n
I said \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said \u201cYes\u201d<\/p>\n
But we answered at the same time. And in spite of the War and in spite of ourselves, the family still had old school notions about hospitality.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what did he tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Petard repeated his question,<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did the Iguana say?\u201d<\/p>\n
We sat on the swings in the backyard. It was dark and snowy for miles around, there were very few houses in sight. The nearest neighbors who were at least 500 yards away, I could see them still seated at the dinner table. Is there such a thing as a normal family? I wondered. What was Petard asking?<\/p>\n
\u201cDid the Iguana say anything to me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you crazy?\u201d<\/p>\n
He was baffled. He had to be out of his mind, no expert in my field would practice in front outsiders or novices. Information retrieval is a very personal and private process,<\/p>\n
\u201cI was under the impression that you had the technical know-how to extract information from animals. I was also made to believe that reptiles are your specialty\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPetard, yes, I do communicate with reptiles, but it\u2019s a more complex process\u2014 I\u2019m not like some shamaness or Dr. Dolittle who just walks and talks with the animals\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, so what kind of time are we talking about here? I have to be back in Manhattan by nightfall tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the thing: communicating with reptiles means that you\u2019re accessing the reptilian part of your brain, this is the interface, right,\u201d<\/p>\n
he nodded,<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I can slip into that easily, however at the moment, I\u2019m very wound up\u2014 being around my family and all. What I\u2019m saying is that I\u2019m not the experienced reptociliator that you guys have glorified me as\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you do this or not? What are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m saying that I need a buffer,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA buffer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKetamine usually does the trick. I can do a \u2018CU-CMe\u2019. I and the Iguana ingest an amount of Ketamine, and that immediately gives me access to the reptile group mind\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently that\u2019s where the database is\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have Ketamine?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to wait till tomorrow. Pet clinic. It\u2019ll take at least two hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need it sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell , I don\u2019t know\u2014 do you have suggestions\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get to the pet clinic. How about a pharmacy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know anything about Ketamine at all?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that we need it right now,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyway, I didn\u2019t even hear the word \u2018please\u2019 in all this. What makes you think you can just barge in on me and my family and expect me to do you a favor? And then start ordering me around?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not asking for your help. I\u2019m ordering it. You\u2019re familiar with the stakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t presume too much Petard. I assure you, certain members of this household are just as dangerous as you are. Perhaps more so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was briefed. And I am prepared. I don\u2019t see the need to threaten you anyway, after all we are on the same side, aren\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd which side would that be?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the nearest pet clinic?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should wait till tomorrow, there is no need to jeopardize things at this point. It won\u2019t take more than two hours, the whole process, I promise you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery well, tomorrow morning then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019re agreed. Now if you\u2019ll excuse me\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne question, aren\u2019t you in the least curious about Paul?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u201d<\/p>\n
But I lied. I was dying to know. I had lied about the Iguana too. At the table when he had scampered up my arm, he whispered in my ear, he said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI am Bellepheron Draco. At your service.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My habit was to nap before midnight and then on the stroke of three a.m. rise and get to work in the greenhouse. In the day I had sun filters and glow lamps, but for nighttime I had improvised phosphorous-like lunar sticks. This was for the nocturnal plants and also certain genus of seaweed, which I had upgraded to grow on land. Most of these plants had nothing to do with photosynthesis, they fed off of gravity and darkness. The greenhouse was lit by the crystalline winter stars. I sat for a minute in the darkness adjusting: it was always incredibly warm and humid, and there was the hypnotic scent of datura and nightshade. The Iguana scampered over very quickly to my ear he said:<\/p>\n
\u201cCareful. We are not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Petard stepped out from behind the miniature waterfall.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did you get in?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter. Paul said you might try to give me the runaround. I came prepared\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
He was holding a small pistol.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you going to use that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot unless I have to. You will cooperate, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we agreed that we\u2019d do it in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no time. Also there was no guarantee that you wouldn\u2019t access the information beforehand\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat good would that do me? Besides, like I told you, I have no Ketamine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike I said, I came prepared. I have the Ketamine you need: I was told to feel you out first, see how responsive you were\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously not responsive enough for your needs\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t move.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had the pistol in one hand, two syringes appeared in the other. The smaller dosage was for the Iguana.<\/p>\n
Bellepheron Draco spoke in my ear:<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously you don\u2019t need Ketamine to access your reptilian mind, but I\u2019m going to ask you to take it. I\u2019m going to show you something new. You need the Ketamine to get there the first time\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
Petard handcuffed me to the iron railing covered in vines, and then for no good reason, blindfolded me. There was a knock on the door,<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just me, is everything alright? I heard you talking to someone,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just me and Petard, Dad. We\u2019re talking business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery well. Be sure to get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
He left.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t intend to harm anyone in my family, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be naive, there\u2019s a War going on. Just because you decide to runaway and lead this nice cushy existence: don\u2019t think I can\u2019t bring the War in here\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s already is here. We\u2019re just more civil than most.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s right homos lupus homini est\u2014\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cI think you got that backwards,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShut up.\u2019<\/p>\n
He plunged a needle into me.<\/p>\n
The dosage of Ketamine was near lethal. I immediately reeled out of human consciousness faster than light. My whole genetic code flashed in front of me instantly. Too, too fast. I would have crashed, had not Bellepheron Draco steadied me:<\/p>\n
Calmness<\/i>, he said, be calm. I brought a guest. Someone\u2019s very eager to see you<\/i><\/p>\n
Hi<\/i>,<\/p>\n
Hey, I know that voice<\/i><\/p>\n
That\u2019s right, you do.<\/i><\/p>\n
It was Paul<\/p>\n
Long time no see<\/i><\/p>\n
Are you dead, did they kill you?<\/i><\/p>\n
It\u2019s complicated. I split consciousness\u2014<\/i><\/p>\n
What does that mean? Is it possible?<\/i><\/p>\n
I\u2019ll try to explain, but we don\u2019t have much time\u2014<\/i><\/p>\n
I had the impression that my heartbeat was too slow, I heard Petard:<\/p>\n
\u201cWell?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you trying to kill me? My heart is beating really slowly, I need a couple of minutes to regulate\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have something for that\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. No more drugs Petard. I\u2019m warning you if anything happens to me, I swear, you will never get out of this house alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, but step on it. I\u2019m timing you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in K-land everything began to adjust, pulling into mental focus, and there was Paul\/Bellepheron Draco in a maze of green-gold splendor:<\/p>\n
\u2014Listen, in prison I learnt distancing techniques because of the torture sessions. Afterwards they tried to brainwash me, I allowed them to succeed partially,<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014What?!<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014I had to, the part of me in prison is a collaborator with the Security Forces. I\u2019m a double agent. They made me contact the Resistance. That\u2019s how I downloaded this mindset into Bellepheron Draco, <\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014And which mindset is this?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014The part of me that\u2019s on your side,<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014And which side would that be?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014I believe we\u2019re both fighting for the Evolution, right?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 Good. I\u2019m glad to see you Paul<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cHow\u2019re we doing over here\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPetard, do you know exactly what you want, do you have specific instructions?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPaul said you are very familiar with this region of the Reptile Collective. It appears as a symbol\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAn Egyptian ankh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. Very good. If you begin to scan that database, you will find my name. Pull up Petard<\/i> and download.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAm I downloading directly to you, or into my own consciousness?\u201d<\/p>\n
He seemed confused by this question. He had no experience with these things<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, into yours of course\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how do you know if I\u2019m withholding information from you\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo games okay,\u201d<\/p>\n
He was nervous, I could hear it in his voice,<\/p>\n
\u2014 don\u2019t aggravate him,<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014I couldn\u2019t help it. I\u2019ve never liked him anyway,<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014Good. Then you\u2019ll have no qualms at what we\u2019re about to do. Look over here.<\/i><\/p>\n
We were on the threshold of the Reptilian Mind Collective. Here was the universal link between all reptiles, birds, marine life and human beings (and there are also other entities that had emerged from this basic matrix, but that\u2019s a more complicated issue). From this Collective, any earthbound consciousness could be accessed. It had taken me years of practice to be lucid and centered in this realm, it is a vast universe. There was always the sweet dangerous incentive to lay down and die. Scaly diamond reptilian pattern grids whirred past us in endless cascades. The trick was to slow down the whirring until they became basic DNA patterns, and then these you had to convert in your conscious mind to something similar to a bar code. This is what you scanned. The varieties were legion, it took a disciplined homing instinct to locate the patterning that was relevant to you. The other skill required was a vast symbolic interface, which was necessary for interpretation. You could download information here, or upload it\u2014 depending on your needs.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Something I want to show you<\/i><\/p>\n
We had pulled up a file labeled Petard<\/i>.<\/p>\n
\u2014Scan it<\/i><\/p>\n
I did. It was Petard\u2019s genetic code<\/p>\n
\u2014It\u2019s Petard\u2019s code<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014Right. Can you locate his karmalogue?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014His what?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014This why I wanted you to be on K. This is new for us. Do a flash scan on his ancestries<\/i><\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Do it again<\/i><\/p>\n
I did<\/p>\n
\u2014 Do it again twice this time, and twice as fast.<\/i><\/p>\n
I did. There was a burning afterimage. I pulled it into sharp focus. This was the karmalogue.<\/p>\n
\u2014 I see it.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014Beautiful. Now you need to interface that image. Convert it to a symbol.<\/i><\/p>\n
It became an ankh-like dragonfly.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Good. Now convert it into a word, a name,<\/i><\/p>\n
The name rose effortlessly. Vowels first, bouncing in place, then consonants to frame it. I laughed, every creature has a mystical name, a divine assignation. This was the secret name, the true name of Petard.<\/p>\n
\u2014 You know what this is for?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 It\u2019s brilliant.<\/i><\/p>\n
In antiquity to know someone\u2019s true name was to have power over them. No one ever gave up that secret, to dispense with that information was to die. With time the secret name became a secret, even to the owners of the names themselves. Centuries later, as a rule of thumb, it was forgotten.<\/p>\n
\u2014 What now?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne moment Petard. I have it. I am scanning\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 On the count of three, I want you to use Petard\u2019s name on him,<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 But Paul, he has me handcuffed and blindfolded<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014Irrelevant. Trust me on this one.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 Alright.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cPetard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you have?\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled. Then I uttered his true name. It was unexpected: I heard him slump, suddenly I saw myself hovering over the grid of his consciousness. It was like a beehive, swarming, I felt nauseous. I started to swoon. Something, something was strange about this<\/p>\n
\u2014steady yourself<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 Paul, he has some kind of defense mechanism<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 we all do. How does it appear exactly?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 Can we take a break? I\u2019m not feeling well<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 No! Not at this point. I think you may have hit ancestral guardians, or even an avatar<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 Whatever this is… I don\u2019t like it,<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 How does it appear?<\/i><\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t really say, the impressions were too heavy and suffocating<\/p>\n
\u2014 How does it appear? you must give a shape to it,<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 It\u2019s a giant black and indigo<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 indigo what?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 Jesus, it\u2019s a giant bumblebee!<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014You know what, I\u2019m going to slide into your mind with you<\/i><\/p>\n
It was a very smooth glide, I felt a little giddy with joy. It had been such a long time<\/p>\n
\u2014 I know this isn\u2019t the time or the place, but I\u2019ve missed you Paul…<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 I missed you too.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 You know I don\u2019t think this is a personal Guardian, it seems more like a collective thing<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 Taboo. Transgression, that\u2019s what I\u2019m picking up. Watch out!<\/i><\/p>\n
Next thing I knew we were fleeing. I immediately understood, we had violated some archetypal edict by invoking Petard\u2019s name and then using it on him. We found ourselves in a vortex, violent spastic streams of code fizzing past us and a great black K-hole straight ahead, Blak Indigo the Bumblebee, hot on our trail,<\/p>\n
\u2014 we have to stop, we\u2019ll be swallowed stop.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 we can\u2019t stop<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 quiet, I have an inkling<\/i><\/p>\n
Something was beckoning to me, as we slowed down the inkling got stronger<\/p>\n
\u2014can you perceive that?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 look!<\/i><\/p>\n
A symbol appeared\u2014 a coat of arms perhaps? It seemed extremely familiar, but I had never seen it before<\/p>\n
\u2014 It\u2019s a door, open it<\/i><\/p>\n
quickly we entered, the Blak Indigo charging past us in a stream of indigo rage, into the recesses of the vortex,<\/p>\n
\u2014 that was close<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 I know. What is this place? It feels familiar<\/i><\/p>\n
We were floating in some kind of bubble, outside us niagaral cascades of code streamed like a million cataracts,<\/p>\n
\u2014 It feels familiar to you because it\u2019s from your family, I recognize parts of the code, there are too many strong similarities to yours\u2014<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 It\u2019s my mom<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 It is! What\u2019s your mom doing in here?<\/i><\/p>\n
I guess she was doing what she liked to do best, protect and maintain her family.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Beats me. My family\u2019s just like this,<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 Is she conscious of being here, do you know?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 I don\u2019t know, she never answers questions about this stuff , she\u2019s secretive. Doesn\u2019t like anything \u201csci-fi\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014she\u2019s into some kind of spirituality?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 that she is. She has dreams. This bubble is dispensing, we should turn back.<\/i><\/p>\n
We found our way back to Petard\u2019s Consciousness Grid. We converted it from the swarming hive to a bright room: modeled after the interior of a Rubik cube. We began to work, uninterrupted. Paul pulled up two screens, the room became a chromascale of fluorescent tiles\u2014<\/p>\n
\u2014 I\u2019ve made this simple enough, this is my code, the other one is Petard\u2019s. I\u2019ve converted each DNA strand into a grid of brightly colored squares. Primary colors\u2014 so there\u2019s no confusion. What you have to do is make this wall look exactly like that wall,<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 Am I doing this alone?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 I have descend to his reptile grid, and I have to be unconscious<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 Is this really going to work?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014 We\u2019ll see<\/i><\/p>\n
He left. I was alone with no idea how much time it would take in real time. It became an arduous task, each time I correctly keyed one strand, the index would present twenty-three more exactly like it\u2014and then one that had an individual touch. If I missed, the index collapsed the prior structures. I would have to start from scratch. This happened several times. Then there were edit processes at certain stages before I could rise to another level of strands. And then a mix down. Endless, I felt like Psyche, trapped in an impossible task, ready to abandon hopes of ever seeing her loved one again.<\/p>\n
Suddenly it was over.<\/p>\n
I became aware that someone else was in the greenhouse,<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there a reason why you\u2019re blindfolded and handcuffed? Did I walk in on something kinky?\u201d<\/p>\n
It was my brother the Jesuit,<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing in here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI should ask you the same question. Did you know Petard is lying on the floor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not Petard, it\u2019s Paul,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever mind, take this blindfold off\u201d<\/p>\n
Blindfold came off. Darkness adjusting to darkness.<\/p>\n
\u201cCheck his pockets for keys\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
Handcuffs come off. Much better<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he alright?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, we\u2019ll see. Why are you in my greenhouse?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCorrection please, it\u2019s not your greenhouse<\/i>, the last time I checked the attic belonged to everyone. Anyway Dad was a bit concerned, he heard you and Petard, so he sent the monsters to scope it out. They said Petard had a gun. So I came up,\u201d<\/p>\n
Truth be told, there was no privacy in this household.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have you been here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLong enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course he wasn\u2019t going to tell me what he saw or what he knew. He was a Jesuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s going on with Petard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n
The body on the floor was in seizure. I knelt down beside it, I wasn\u2019t sure what to do. I discerned the features between spasms, at this point they were neither Paul\u2019s nor Petard\u2019s. Would this really work? In the past, we had debated the possibilities of this in theory, to my knowledge, no one had ever tried it. Bellepheron Draco appeared on my shoulder:<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry about it, the body is just adjusting to the new DNA matrix. Get some sleep and it\u2019ll be Paul in the morning,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes he need help?\u201d my brother asked<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll be fine. So are you hanging around or what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love your sense of gratitude. What\u2019s going on with you and the Iguana anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, it\u2019s really funny, I was under the impression that you entered the Priesthood to get away from family life. But ever since you\u2019ve been back, you\u2019ve had your nose in everybody\u2019s business\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s merely concern for the state of your soul,\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a knock on the door. It was my father,<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you kids still up?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to bed any minute now\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. Everything alright?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes\u201d the Jesuit replied.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Paul and I slept all day. We came down for dinner. The geneticist looked up a bit strangely at Paul and then went back to his reading. The Jesuit was impassive, and the monsters were preoccupied with a jar of buzzing bumblebees. They were black and indigo. My father looked into the dining room:<\/p>\n
\u201cI trust all is well\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re fine Professor, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad to hear it. It\u2019s amazing how you young people operate on no sleep\u201d. He went back into his study.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he staying for dinner?\u201d My mother asked<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, Paul is planning to be here with me for a while\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
It was fine with my mom, anything that would keep me from leaving for New York was absolutely fine with her. She only had one problem:<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the reptile, is he staying too?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Bellepheron Draco will make a welcome addition to this household\u201d said the geneticist.<\/p>\n
Paul and I looked at each other in amazement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat,\u201d said the Jesuit \u201cYou guys think you\u2019re the only ones who can talk to reptiles?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Those days during the War were trying times: but I think we were happier than most people. Even though this happiness rested on a precarious balance of discretion and civility, my family was relatively happy. Happier than we had ever been.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a91996,2013 onome ekeh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the midst of our Thanksgiving Dinner the bell rang. We froze. My younger brother got up. He had become the elected \u201cwelcome\u201d official in these times, as he was a newly ordained Jesuit priest. No one would dare lay a finger on him. He came back to the dining room,<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s for you, a friend of yours from New York,\u201d<\/p>\n
I went to the living room and there was Petard. I hadn\u2019t seen him in a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[8,140],"class_list":["post-673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","category-short-story","tag-company-girl","tag-reptiles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=673"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3701,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673\/revisions\/3701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}