The Chaos Sutra

by Gregg Vann

{ENABLE?}

  {OVERRIDE…ENABLED!}

  I bolted upright in the bed, scattering medical equipment and electrical connections into the air. Frantic, I took in a deep breath and clutched at my chest. Where…what?

  Who?

  {Decompress-Reset…ACCESS ALL}

  Oh…

  But…

  What?

  The door burst open and Brother Dyson flew into the room.

  “You!” he spat. A single word, drenched in venom. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

  His serene appearance was gone, replaced by a visage contorted in anger. I had never seen him so mad before. Dyson’s usual calm demeanor was buried beneath a mountain of un-tempered rage.

  He purposely strode toward the bed, and for a moment, I felt fear. As I watched Brother Dyson struggle to regain his composure, I noted that both of his hands were clenched into fists.

  He abruptly changed direction and stomped off to the other side of the room, stopping at a glass wall that extended from the floor up to the ceiling. It looked out over the sandy beach beneath the clinic, and I could see that it was sunny outside. But even though it was another warm and beautiful day on Volas, Brother Dyson’s presence lent a piercing chill to the room.

  “Who are you?” he asked, keeping his back to me as he stared out the window.

  “I… I don’t know,” I replied truthfully.

  “No, I don’t expect that you do.” Brother Dyson turned to face me—unclenching his fists, and lowering his voice. “You have undone us all, Brother. Destroyed everything.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m sure,” he said cryptically. “How could you? I wanted to take you with me back to Bodhi Prime, so I could examine you fully. This new matrix of yours is… Ah well, as the Second Noble Truth teaches us, all suffering is caused by craving.”

  His expression softened as he walked over to stand beside my bed. “Maybe it’s time we focused more on the old teachings. Eh, Brother?” The monk’s face turned sad, and Dyson’s gaze appeared distant—his eyes filled with uncertainty. “It has all gotten so far away from us…”

  “I know who you are, Brother Dyson. I remember everything else. But… But who am I?”

  “You are…” he began, and then Dyson stopped and clasped his hands together, staring down at me.

  “I suppose you are reborn, Brother. But becoming something new….something exceptional. Like Angulimala, the murderer turned saint. Yes, yes indeed. Just like Angulimala.”

  “Angu…Limala,” I repeated, parsing a new name for myself. “Yes. I think I like that.”

  Brother Dyson grabbed my hand, and then he placed his palm against my own. There was no longer any trace of anger in him; the malice was gone. His timeworn face was now passive and resigned.

  “Bless you, Brother Limala. I wish you nothing but happiness and fulfillment in your new life. But if you so desire, please know that you are welcome at the monastery. That door will always be open to you.”

  Brother Dyson released my hand and backed away from the bed. “Things will be in turmoil for some time, until a new balance unfolds. And one day, you may even want a place with us. But for now, I’m leaving with the Udek. On my way back to Bodhi Prime to face the chaos.”

  He sighed, and I could see that the years had finally caught up with him—centuries of struggle and responsibility weighed heavily on his features.

  “The Udek are no longer rigidly bound to us,” Dyson said. “And they’re starting to question the nature of our relationship. But they have agreed to take me home, nonetheless.”

  “I… I don’t understand, Brother.”

  “Ha! Those who set the wheels in motion are often unsure of the destination. Be well, Brother Limala.”

  The tiniest hint of a smile flashed across his face, and then Dyson shook his head in apparent amusement before walking out of the room.

  A moment later, Magistrate Sev came in. Followed by…

  Idra.

  “I hope he didn’t give you too much trouble,” Sev said. “Brother Dyson is not a happy man at the moment.”

  “It’s okay,” I replied, and then ignored him completely. “Idra…” I managed. “Is it you? Is it really you?”

  “It’s really me, Fallo…uhm. What do I call you now?”

  “Angu, I suppose. It’s as good a name as any. How do you feel?”

  “How do I feel? I’m fine. It’s you who’ve given us a scare.”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  Sev stepped up to the bed. “The Udek did a floor-by-floor search of the clinic—very thorough. So much so that by the time they got to our level, we were already done. Idra is restored. Completely.”

  “Completely,” I whispered. I looked at her, barely able to control my elation. But then reality asserted itself, and I felt a cold pang of fear. “Then you remember what I did?”

  Sev shook his head. “No, not the last few days. Not that day. Her final scan was two days before the…incident.”

  I remembered. One of the platform releases malfunctioned during a dive, and Idra twisted her leg launching herself forward. It was our last dive together, and I was there when they did the scan.

  I have that memory.

  “But I’ve told her everything,” Magistrate Sev continued. “She deserved to know the truth.”

  I began to feel dizzy—unable to control my racing mind. My thoughts and emotions collided, creating a panicked mess of incoherence.

  “I’m sorry, Idra. I didn’t know he was your brother. Even so, what I did—no, what Fallon did was… Yes, yes…Fallon,” I said in final recognition.

  It wasn’t me. I wasn’t him.

  “What he did,” I said with clarity, understanding everything now.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Him.”

  I am not Fallon Gent.

  “Gent is dead,” Sev offered. “I deleted his matrix myself.” And then he smiled. “It was an easy thing to do.”

  “But how did you separate me from him?” I asked them both, glancing from face to face.

  “It was Brother Dyson,” Idra said. “Without him, it wouldn’t have been possible.”

  “Brother Dyson? But…?”

  “It’s true,” she said. “He saved you.”

  Sev placed his hand on my shoulder. “When the Udek finally found us and broke through the door, Doctor Mercer was already returning your matrix to the soul chamber. You see, unlike the monk’s broader research on Bodhi Prime, our approach has always focused on isolating specific portions of a person’s personality—even individual memories, carefully selected for implantation. And we’ve incrementally worked our way forward with this method to build up our transference capabilities. We could never transplant a complete pattern. Not before today, anyway. But we became very proficient at parsing matrices, and transferring what data we could. Doctor Mercer was able to use this ability to isolate Gent—his entire personality—and then we erased him.”

  Idra interrupted before her father could continue. “But they were having a hard time forming a complete matrix—building a mind with your personality patterns and the memories from you both.”

  “That is where your monk came in handy.” It was Doctor Mercer, strolling into the room, positively beaming with pride and satisfaction.

  He pulled a chair away from the wall and sat down beside my bed. “Gent was already gone when they broke down the door, and after a quick explanation to the Udek commander about the true nature of Bodhi transference, he was in no further mood to assist the monks. The Udek have a strong, individualistic nature, and the idea of merging minds and mentally restraining sentient beings is abhorrent to them.”

  Sev chuckled. “Yes, and they became most helpful after we explained that the Bodhi monopoly on consciousness transfer had been broken.”

  “What?” I said incredulously.

  “Oh yes,” Mercer said. “By combining what we’ve learned from you with our own technology, we can now make perfect clon
es—with the same, original personality, and all of the memories intact. Granted, our process is not as well developed as the Bodhi, and we still have a lot of work to do. But there is no longer any need to sacrifice a second mind on some misguided attempt at redemption.”

  “No more atonement monks?” I said.

  “No,” Idra answered. “You may be the last of your kind.”

  “I see,” I replied numbly.

  “That just makes you even more special.” She smiled.

  That smile…the voice.

  The memories of her.

  “When Brother Dyson realized it was all over,” Mercer said gleefully, “he helped me stabilize your matrix and rebuild your personality. You have all of the memories—yours and Gent’s. But none of his…deficiencies. Your monk is very good.”

  I have the memories…

  “He also left you the ship,” Sev added. “He said that with Gent dead, his wealth and possessions fall to you.”

  “I see.”

  As was the usual Bodhi custom, all copies of a matrix were destroyed after transference into an atonement monk. So there was no longer any trace of Gent left in the universe.

  “So what will you do now?” Idra asked. “You are free, you’re wealthy, and you have your very own starship.”

  I glanced around the room, my eyes coming to rest on the wall of glass and its commanding view of the beach below. What will I do?

  I looked back at Idra and saw the emotion in her eyes. She cared for me, and I felt the same way about her.

  But could a romance interrupted by murder blossom again? Could the spark of love survive the deaths of the lovers themselves? Is it even possible to build a future based on the memories of our predecessors?

  Yes, I decided.

  “I think I’ll take a vacation,” I announced. “I hear the elemental diving is excellent here.”

  Idra’s face beamed, and she took my hands in her own. “Oh it is, and I happen to know an excellent guide.”

  “Good.” I smiled. “Because my last one thought I was a science experiment.”

  She punched me in the arm playfully, and even Sev laughed, and then the room grew quiet as Idra and I stared at each other. Realizing we wanted some privacy, Sev got up to leave. He motioned for Doctor Mercer to follow him out.

  They closed the door behind them, leaving the two of us alone with our emotions.

  “They said you were willing to die for me,” Idra said solemnly.

  “Yes. But I wanted to live for you as well.”

  “Good.” Her mood brightened and she slid into bed next to me. “You remember our time together? Feel what we felt?”

  “Yes,” I assured her. “All of it. And it was…it is wonderful.” I began gently stroking her hair, and Idra closed her eyes.

  My gaze once again drifted to the view outside, just as a vibrantly colored bird flew by, its blue-tinged wings fully extended, coasting on the wind. Peaceful. Serene. Free.

  I will build a life here, I thought.

  A real life. A normal life.

  MY life.

  And I did…

  {End All Processes}

  {Data Transfer…Complete}

  Assassin’s Prey

  Transience is the natural state of the universe.

  Change…inevitable.

  As the most reverend Buddha taught us, life is an inconstant collection of unpredictable and varying states of impermanence. And those who attempt to define this unknowable, capricious universe—or even more foolhardy, try to bend it to their will—will be met with the same disappointment as the naive child in the Mustard Seed Parable.

  No one is immune to the chaos finely stitched throughout the fabric of the cosmos, including The Order of Buddha’s Light. Yet still, we have played at God for centuries, imposing our beliefs on others as partial payment for their continued existence. And we’ve taken their money as well, growing rich from the corrupt practice.

  This is the path to hubris.

  This is the way of the blind.

  And now, because of our folly, a harbinger of doom has awoken from the past. An agent of change meant to sweep away all of our prior offenses. Now…we will pay for our sins in full measure. And all we can do is brace ourselves against the coming storm, praying that the Buddha in his infinite mercy will grant us the strength to endure it.

  Or at the very least, favor us with a shorter path to death.

  From the collected writings of Brother Augustus Dyson.

  Buddhist Master of Bodhi Prime

  Chapter One

  Cold wind blew in through a crack in Iev’s face mask, forcing out a single teardrop as it brushed lightly across his eye. The tiny speck of liquid froze almost immediately, binding his cheek to the thermal skin covering protecting his face. But the coarse shard broke off easily as Iev adjusted his mask to continue his work.

  Despite his best efforts at refinement, the imaging equipment continued to display their target as little more than a shadowy, amorphous blob, nestled just a few meters ahead of them through the frozen rock face. The picture was practically useless, Iev thought, other than to confirm that something was indeed there. But he knew that soon, very soon, they would finally be in a position to solve this bizarre mystery—one that had kept Iev and his partner Leau both guessing for days.

  But not soon enough, Iev thought; his patience had run its course. He reached over to adjust the cutter switch, spinning the laser torch up to maximum burn. The machine pushed back hard against him in response, and Iev’s suspensor harness struggled to correct the imbalance and hold him steady in place.

  “Be careful,” Leau called out over the din of crackling rock and hissing steam. A blinding fog of pulverized dust billowed out from the radius of the cutter’s destructive beam, the gray cloud occasionally pierced by short-lived blasts of white vapor as the beam struck patches of ice buried deep inside the heavily fissured rock face. But even amidst the impressive swirl of sound and fury, Leau saw the dogged determination on Iev’s face. “Try to remember that we’re over a thousand meters up in the air, will you? I’m just as curious as you are about this thing, Iev. But I intend to live long enough to tell others about what we find here.”

  Iev briefly glanced at the open air beneath his feet, gazing down the craggy face of the mountain to where its base disappeared into an ice-covered forest, far below them. Leau was right. The hardy, half-frozen trees would do nothing to break Iev’s fall if he overloaded his suspensor harness and went tumbling down the vertical promontory. But they would impale him quite nicely.

  “You have a point,” Iev conceded.

  Even though he was older than Leau, and had more mining experience on Ulor XI, Iev had learned to trust his younger partner’s instincts. During the time they’d worked together on the hostile planet, Leau had shown himself to be wise beyond his years. And because of Iev’s well-placed confidence in him, their joint claim was making them both very wealthy. Soon, they’d be able to leave this frozen rock behind and return home to Volas as rich men. And a large part of that success was due to Leau’s uncanny ability to locate hidden mineral deposits that everyone else had missed. So when Leau said he’d detected a nearly imperceptible heat signature, coming from somewhere deep within the mountain near their claim, Iev had paid very close attention.

  Leau suspected it was a decaying power core from an old survey probe, probably launched before the founding of the first commercial settlements on the planet. Iev thought it was more likely just a misplaced piece of mining equipment, lost during an earlier season before the pair arrived on Ulor XI to stake their own claim. But after investigating further, they were surprised to discover that they were both wrong—the size and energy signature didn’t match either of their guesses.

  Not even close.

  According to the readings, the mysterious object was wedged deep inside a crevasse that sliced straight though the interior of the mountain. And further investigation revealed that the water pooled inside that fissure had
frozen solid more than two hundred years ago, just as the planet was entering its centuries-long winter cycle. That was the real mystery, because it dated the object to long before the discovery of Ulor XI’s Selium deposits, and a full hundred years before anyone had even thought to explore this unpopulated region of the galaxy.

  Or so everyone had always thought, anyway.

  Whatever the puzzling and enigmatic thing was, it defied all rational explanations—but not for much longer. Now, it was only minutes away from surrendering its secrets.

  “Easy…easy,” Leau said, floating off to one side to help direct the burn. “Let’s be careful that we don’t incinerate it. We don’t want to lose our prize at the very end now, do we?” He continued to monitor the cutter’s status display closely as Iev kept his own focus on the burn. Leau checked the depth of the hole once more and then elevated his voice, making certain his next instructions could be heard over the sound of shattering rock and hissing gases. “Yes, yes. That’s it, Iev. That’s it. You’re almost there. Now, flare back and expand the radius.”

  Iev first dialed the torch back to its original setting for a moment, and then he spun it down even further, waving the machine around in opposing arcs to form an ever-widening circle, greatly enlarging the initial hole he’d cut through the face of the mountain. The rock gave way to ancient ice as Iev reached the crevasse—cleaved through the heart of the mountain like a mortal wound. The work became much easier then, and after just a few minutes, the newly created ice cave was large enough for both men to enter. Iev and Leau floated inside and shut off their suspensors.

  As his feet hit the floor, Iev felt the spikes on his boots dig into the smooth surface of the ice. He was fairly sure they would keep him from being pushed back out of the cave by the powerful blowback from the cutter, but Iev was relieved when Leau grabbed one of the side handles to help him better control the equipment. They worked together for several more minutes, expanding the ice cave to nearly four meters deep, and three meters wide, and then Iev finally shut down the torch.

  “I can see it,” he called out through his mask.