Authors: Matthew Revert
Ingrid, ensnared by a different set of hateful hands, was pulled from Rollo’s side. Their thoughts telling the other to remain calm. She fought against the hands, but they possessed a strength she did not. Rollo turned to help Ingrid. Ingrid turned to help Rollo. Both turned away from helping themselves. One of the hands holding Rollo balled into a shaking fist and, with horrific efficiency, introduced the concept of deliberate pain to his body. Again. Again. Parts of his structure were breaking and voiding. Ingrid lunged toward the fist. Her lunge was truncated before she could help. Her body was pulled in the opposite direction, bleeding into the asphalt. A heavy foot pressed her in place while the wheezing pain of Rollo escaped him, too blunt to resonate.
The mass had fed. Rollo was left to fall beside Ingrid. They writhed toward the other’s pain and found the sustenance of embrace. They both thought such terrible things. They both agreed on a course of action. It was the only future that had ever made sense. They had so much work to do and there was no one else capable of doing it. The world around them was a ferocious storm of endless danger.
Anatomy of the Fort
On a logistical level, the development of the pillow fort is one of incalculable complexity. From genesis to conclusion, the construction process, which in some ways defies any sense of true conclusion, took 25 years and was executed by Rollo and Ingrid alone. It was developed without the aid of a plan; rather it branched naturally from a central core.
The geographic location of the fort was chosen at random from a selection of several unfrequented areas. The absence of topographic choice lowers the risk of the fort’s discovery, which Rollo cites as an added security measure. The unknown nature of the locale minimizes Potential Premeditated Predatory Activity (PPPA). PPPA considerations dictated the fort should reside underground and construction work should commence from a central core deep enough below the earth to reach a parent rock soil horizon. Construction branching from the central core should not extend above the illuviated subsoil layer, which allowed for a protective tunnel separating the surface from the entrance of the fort.
Rollo christened the central core ‘The Cerebellum,’ which inspired a naming convention consistent with brain anatomy. 25 years of construction resulted in a series of eight distinct areas (including the cerebellum) encased in a dura mater-inspired outermost layer. High quality linen materials were used wherever possible during the construction process – a characteristic that has maintained. It is assumed, for reasons related to structural integrity, linen is not the only construction material used. However, it is the only material visible.
What follows is a breakdown of the fort’s chambers including their essential function.
MEDULLA SHAFT
The Medulla shaft runs the length of the fort and concludes at the deepest level of the earth surrounded by a hollow. It is the only component that penetrates the dura mater layer with one end connecting the fort to the surface and the other used to eliminate waste, which is broken down with the aid of a biological acidic agent in a polder-lined hollow. It is the primary arterial when moving from chamber to chamber and the only component predating the construction of the Cerebellum Chamber. It is analogous to a hallway and used to maximize airflow that enters the fort via a series of vents that circuitously stretch toward hollows near the earth’s surface. It sits at a 33 degree angle, which allows for easy navigation.
THE CEREBELLUM CHAMBER
Located toward the base of the fort, the Cerebellum Chamber was the first built and is considered the structure’s mainframe. During the construction, Rollo and Ingrid developed the techniques necessary to ensure all branching chambers could be built. A highly developed understanding of pre-electronic analog computing allowed Rollo to fill this chamber with a gear-driven calculation device. Modeled on a steamless version of the analytical engine, the analog computation abilities of Rollo’s device relays atmospheric information within all chambers to a series of punch card readings, which are then converted to numeric values. These readings can be used as an early warning system by revealing potential faults in the fort’s architecture before they occur. This device has been credited with preventing the occurrence of any serious structural damage from forming. In the absence of any known threat, it cannot be determined if this credit is warranted. All operational functions on Rollo’s device must be performed by hand as human exertion is its only known fuel source.
THE OCCIPITAL CHAMBER
Due to the growth of a luminescent schistostega pennata moss, the Occipital Chamber is the source of all light in the fort. The origin of the light this moss reflects is unknown and the intensity of the luminescence far exceeds other examples of the species. Despite attempts to plant the moss in other chambers, it has been unable to thrive. Once removed from the surface on which it grows, the moss maintains its luminescence for some time, albeit at a lesser intensity. This allows for the illumination of the other chambers, however the moss must be replaced regularly. When necessary, the schistostega pennata can be used as a food source – this is avoided where possible. Via the careful placement of mirrored plates, the Occipital Chamber also serves as the fort’s panopticon. All other chambers in the fort are visible from this chamber as long as vision occurs at the appropriate angle. The threat of Potential Unmediated Predatory Activity (PUPA) is contained via regular surveillance from this chamber.
THE PARIETAL CHAMBER
Conceived as a workshop, the Parietal Chamber is where all functional items of convenience are constructed and/or fixed. Residual luminescence from the neighboring Occipital Chamber allows for a light level that has the psychological effect of maximizing tactile ability and diminishing physical signs of fatigue. The highly specific conditions within the Parietal Chamber ensure it is also utilized as an infirmary should the need arise, which given the low risk of pathogenic infiltration is rare.
THE CENTRAL SULCUS EMERGENCY TUNNEL
This emergency tunnel separates the Parietal and Frontal chambers and was conceived as a panic room. In the event of a security breach, this area can be locked down, protecting anyone within. It is capable of dispersing infectious spores that will be distributed throughout all surrounding chambers incapacitating potential risks. Functionality of this process is purely theoretical as, to date, no such infiltration has occurred. In the event of this system’s failure, the spores have been selected to merely incapacitate those that come into contact with it. The effect lasts an estimated 48 hours, in which time infiltrators must be removed from the fort. The Central Sulcus Emergency Tunnel is also used as a storage area and acts as an alternate means of access to all but the Cerebellum Chamber.
THE FRONTAL CHAMBER
Since the completion of the Frontal Chamber, it has rarely been used in any functional capacity. The reasons are ambiguous beyond Ingrid citing the presence of negative residual energy she believes could be harmful. Although not outwardly susceptible to this potential energy, Rollo has abided by Ingrid’s request. Particular ambiguity surrounds knowledge regarding what this energy is a residue of and if it actually exists. Was it present beneath the earth prior to the fort’s construction, or did Rollo and Ingrid introduce it? Whatever the answers may be, the questions ceased being asked long ago and avoiding the Frontal Chamber is now abided by without reflection. Generic maintenance duties have been performed in this chamber when necessary.
THE PREFRONTAL CHAMBER
The Prefrontal Chamber could be described as the living quarters. All food prepared within the fort is consumed here. This is also the chamber where Rollo and Ingrid sleep. Experiments sleeping in other chambers have resulted in unusual psychological disturbances. Atmospheric readings from the Prefrontal Chamber are markedly different from the others and remain relatively static. It is not known why the properties inherent in the atmosphere here are conducive to psychological stability, or at least what Rollo and Ingrid consider psychological stability to be. Of all chambers in the fort, the Prefrontal Chamber is the only one Rollo and Ingrid occupy at the same time with regularity. The closest ties to standard notions of domesticity reside here.
THE SYLVIAN GROUNDWATER IRRIGATION FISSURE
The Irrigation Fissure channels surrounding groundwater deposits into three cisterns that sit between the dura mater layer and the fort’s chambers. Each cistern collects water of different mineral and temperature properties and distributes them via bamboo piping when a manual faucet is activated. The system was developed by Ingrid and is maintained by Rollo. The properties of the different water sources are naturally determined within the earth. Water obtained from the earth surrounding the southwestern area of the fort (toward the Cerebellum Chamber) has a tendency to be warm (with an average temperature of 88 degrees Fahrenheit) and perfect for bathing purposes. Remaining water sources are much cooler and used for all other purposes. The bamboo piping is routed through the base of the Medulla Shaft so as to utilize the pre-existing dura mater penetration without the need for further penetration. Grey water is treated with an acidic powder derived from deliberately spoiled food and disposed of via the base of the Medulla Shaft where it breaks down the fort’s waste matter. The gas that results from the breakdown of this waste matter is released via a series of vents and absorbed into the earth.
4.
Unattended cracks yawn open and nothing is born perfect into this world. The blemishes of being allow for meaning by introducing perfection to strive for. The cracks that prevent our perfection need not start in gapes and rives. Most cracks flirt with invisibility, fooling our structures into believing their own integrity. In these hairline cracks the strongest diseases can grow. A relationship is successful when the inevitable hairline cracks, however invisible they may be, are acknowledged. It is easy to ignore inconvenient discrepancies. They do not call attention to themselves. They reward your ignorance by offering fleeting moments of extended comfort. For disease to strive, it must evade the host’s intervention.
Rollo and Ingrid entered the fort with married purpose. Their love destroyed the possibility of space existing between them. This union bore no trace of the pathogenic orchestrations conducting disease. The unattended cracks were there, waiting with a statue’s patience. Fertilizing pathogenic soil and sprouting illness. A relationship wants to destroy itself and will work toward this end. When two lovers first meet, a destructive sequence begins. This sequence is easily interrupted during the embryonic phases. When all one wants is to be seen as expanding perfection in the eyes of the one they love, we eradicate all disturbance and move forward with well-intentioned fraudulence. Our weaknesses are suppressed into a place hidden from the other. Cracks, fed by weakness, fraudulence, and self-protection, grow just beyond perception’s grasp. Rollo and Ingrid were not immune. Their greatest mistake was assuming they were.
In the context of a world to shun, Rollo and Ingrid were bound. Their desire to withdraw from the world encompassed and became them. The role played by the world in this dynamic was overlooked. Construction of the fort was an endpoint, separating them from the world and dissolving their dynamic with it. The separation was achieved with such success that the world no longer provided a foil to kick against. They had subtracted meaning from their life and were ill-equipped to replace it. They were left alone, inextricable and in need. Lost to each other and unfamiliar with themselves. Memory lost its shape. Then it lost its form. Finally… its essence. Nothing existed to replace what was taken. When Rollo and Ingrid forgot who they were, there was only the isolation of now. The cracks became so large they could not face them. Both chose escape. Both chose an opposite direction. Two halves of one is still one and one.
…
“Have you seen my hairbrush?”
Sometimes when Ingrid talks, Rollo forgets to respond. He is too busy listening to the sound of her words rather than the meaning behind them. Often when Ingrid speaks, it is not to get a response from Rollo; she is reminding her inner voice she has an outer voice. She lets her words float like plankton, allowing Rollo time to comprehend them, not knowing how much time is appropriate. She wonders if the question is one she would like a response to and decides that it is.
“Have you seen my hairbrush?”
Rollo is listening now. The question makes sense. The combined words form a meaning. He cannot figure out why Ingrid requires her hairbrush. The level of light in the fort does not lend itself to vanity and of what importance is one’s appearance without another in which to appear? It is unlikely Ingrid’s desire to neaten her hair relates to Rollo’s gaze.
“Why do you want your hairbrush?” he asks.
Ingrid does not answer. She has forgotten the question along with any relevance she once attributed to it. Some days Rollo and Ingrid forget to talk to one another. The act of verbal communication often strikes them as an unnecessary diversion from their own thought processes. Comfort resides in the safety of mutual silence. On occasion they will force a conversation. Ingrid will politely ask Rollo for a status report on the fort and he will provide details about various maintenance tasks recently performed. With scripted precision, this conversation will reach a muted apogee before winding down to nothing. Rollo will then ask Ingrid about the records she claims to keep, of which she will say little. Ingrid will abort her role in the conversation and worry about her hidden writing. It does not warrant too much concern. She can feel Rollo’s emptiness in his every movement. Something beyond agency drags him from one checkpoint to another.