But Thomas Aiken Is Dead - Part I (4 page)

The Breacher:

I am required at all interviews conducted involving a denizen prone to -

Atia:

Obfuscation and deception, all right.

Saahl:

I’m glad you understand. Had it been my decision, I would not have had him in attendance…

Atia:

Admirable. Who are you?

Saahl:

A friend of Tsun Uri’s, an old lover of his.

Atia:

I had no idea Tsun Uri took them.

Saahl:

You’re not the only true ningen-ersatz in Cadence Major, Atia. A number of us behave in the old ways. I am familiar with Tsun Uri’s work. They thought that might be helpful.

Atia:

Why haven’t I met you before?

Saahl:

Tsun Uri likes to keep his personal and academik life distinct.

Atia:

I can sympathise with that.

Saahl:

As can I. Sympathy is something the ningens excelled at; one of the many reasons I choose to present in the mode.

Atia:

Funny, they aren’t holding
you
for questioning.

Saahl:

There is nothing prohibited about behaving in the old ways. You are, as I’m sure you know, here because of your particular transgression.

Atia:

All right. What am I supposed to talk about?

Saahl:

They’re very interested to know why you disseminated the writings.

Atia:

Why were they out of bounds in the first place? I found nothing controversial in them.

Saahl:

Then why try to disseminate them?

Atia:

They had a certain merit.

Saahl:

Generalities may get boring quickly. We have a good deal of time to tease out specifics, as you may have noticed.

Atia:

Have you examined the writings?

Saahl:

No.

Atia:

Then it would be hard to explain. Read them.

Saahl:

I doubt I would be granted permission. They were removed from public access as soon as your transgression had been detected.

Atia:

Tell them it’s for research purposes.

Saahl:

I still doubt -

Atia:

Those are my conditions.

Saahl:

I see.

Atia:

You say you’re familiar with Tsun Uri’s project. You’re anti-mergerment then?

Saahl:

In as much as one can be. We’re quickly becoming an unfashionable lot though. In the time you have been incarcerated there has been a strong shift in public perception. A number of denizens now believe mergerment to be inevitable.

Atia:

Preposterous.

Saahl:

Do you think so?

Atia:

Of course. That’s the endpoint of Cadence life then, is it? Total uniformity, total homogeneity.

Saahl:

You need not try to convince me.

Atia:

I think they’re mad. All of them.

Saahl:

You won’t be surprised to hear they think they same of us.

Atia:

For retaining a few of the old quirks?

Saahl:

Naturally. They find it terribly archaic.

Atia:

Archaic
?

Saahl:

We are not so popular on Yellow Tier of late. A few denizens have tried to carry a motion to have us barred from the public forums until we revert to typical forms of eksist. My infants are being persecuted as a result of all this.

Atia:

They don’t even
have
infants, for Gnesha’s sake. What would they know about it?

Saahl:

To them it’s probably disgusting. Too sporadic, leaving it all up to chance like that. The records indicate you had an infant at one time?

Atia:

Yes.

Saahl:

A girl?

Atia:

She chose to present as female for a time, yes. Though she didn’t find ningen eksist much to her liking. Most of her time was spent on Indigo Tier.

Saahl:

The records also state that she was pro-mergement. Is that true?

Atia:

Yes.

Saahl:

How did you feel about that?

Atia:

Is this an interview or a pre-selfsense surgery consultation?

Saahl:

Forgive me. Only, I would be quite distraught in your position. I meant no offence.

Atia:

All right.

Saahl:

Would you tell me some more about your research?

Atia:

Which part?

Saahl:

Whatever interests you.

Atia:

If you were Tsun Uri’s lover then I assume you have full archive privileges.

Saahl:

I do.

Atia:

Well, I’ll admit then that I wasn’t interested in historiks for much of my time. I was brought up in the Echo Realms in a similar fashion to most denizens. I ate from the light spatters and experimented with many modes of eksist; an au as a spiral galaxy, as a caffeine molecule, even as Cadence Major itself. I saw a young denizen there who had taken ningen form. I was curious and so I tried the same, a female. There was something comforting about it. My appendages, my senses – located at specific points on the hull of my skin. There was a sensation of coming home.

Saahl:

Not unreasonable. Plenty of denizens share the same sentiment.

Atia:

It’s not the historiks. It’s the
ancestry
. There must still be ningen in us, something so deeply buried that it can’t be plundered or excised.

Saahl:

Perhaps so.

Atia:

There was no question after that. I committed myself to ningen historiks.

Saahl:

Which period?

Atia:

Dawn of Rekords, Fuedal, Kommunikative, and the early Neuro Years.

Saahl:

A disparate set of ages.

Atia:

Not as disparate as you think. They weren’t so dissimilar. Even the Dawn of Rekords ningens had some sense of morality. It’s a common misconception that they didn’t. There are a number of misconceptions, in fact. I expect you’re fairly conventional in your historik opinions and think early Neuro the beginning of kommunity.

Saahl:

I haven’t given it much thought, but yes, I would be that way inclined.

Atia:

Absolute nonsense. There was no fault with plain linguistiks.

Saahl:

There’s a certain charm to it, but you must admit the Neuro Years made things much easier.

Atia:

And considerably more boring yes.

Saahl:

This
argument. Yes, I’ve heard it before from the other ningen-ersatz.

Atia:

Ambiguity is practically heretikal around here. You’re wrong. There’s a beauty to it.

Saahl:

Well it isn’t dead. You were able to practice your precious linguistiks on Orange Tier, were you not?

Atia:

I was. Have you visited it?

Saahl:

No. Reports have been mixed.

Atia:

There was a growing belief at the time that all denizens would eventually form a single
conscious unity,
that it was a natural progression in the life of a system as complex as Cadence Major.

Saahl:

You’re implying that’s where the mergerment started?

Atia:

I am. Of course, they immediately protested at my new ningen mode of eksist. Had I remained there perhaps I would have witnessed the beginning of the merge. I fled instead to Tier Green where I discovered there were hundreds of thousands of ningen-ersatz.

Saahl: