by Jeremy Dwyer
~~~
Sebastian waited outside the study and simply listened. He read both their minds, and knew that Cassius had already calculated that it would take an additional three (3) months of construction, but that the results would be nearly instantaneous, as before. He also knew that Fantine could make the adjustments on her own, as she now understood the inner workings. All of Cassius’ most secret knowledge about the constructor had been transferred – although the potential for gaining more knowledge was contained in the book that he held, and Cassius worked hard to decipher the complex mathematics layer by layer.
What concerned Sebastian was that Cassius appeared to be seeking an advantage – to somehow gain leverage and demand something more. Certainly, the old man would be paid more if he asked, and had already received some payment.
Sebastian read that Fantine, however, was focused on a singular goal: building the wall to be bigger and better, and modifying the constructor to do so. She seemed to have a grand goal in mind that would go much further than Cassius or Sebastian had ever intended. She needed Cassius less and less, because her own understanding of the constructor was growing rapidly, but she wasn’t done with him yet.
~~~
Fantine drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean and was energized. Only now, instead of actually working on manipulating crystals, she merely imagined doing so. Her geometrically oriented mind was searching for the ideal curvature for the crystals that crowned the pillars and enabled them to focus solar energy, draw in water and shape the water crystals. Therein, she saw beauty and purpose.
She then recalled the one (1) young man – Niven – who had ever seriously flirted with her, and whom she utterly detested for doing so. She was twenty-six (26) at the time, and he was twenty-nine (29), and wanted only the romance, the affection, and the relaxed times with each other, traveling the world. Niven had the money to take care of her, and good looks and personal warmth that few women could resist – as he was a handsome Trerada drinker who had lived an easy life.
“What would be the point of it?” Fantine had asked him.
“What do you mean?” Niven had asked, smiling but confused.
“You said you loved me, but so what? What can we do with that?” Fantine had asked.
“We can enjoy life more – together. We can give each other reasons to smile. Have that sense that we’re wanted,” Niven had said.
“Why do you want me?” Fantine had asked.
“You’re a beautiful person. You’re talented, and energetic…and unstoppable. I admire that,” Niven had said.
“Yet, you want me to stop,” Fantine had said.
“I don’t want you to stop,” Niven had said.
“But you do. If my nights are spent with you, then I’m not spending them doing what I do best,” Fantine had said.
“You’re a whole person. Let that whole person flourish, and unleash all the potential within you,” Niven had said.
Fantine then held up a rough diamond and drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from her vial and was energized. “Look at this,” she had said.
“Is it a diamond? It looks rough,” Niven had asked.
“Watch,” Fantine had said, and then she touched the diamond and molded it as if it were clay. The diamond became smooth in her hands, but she went further and gave it a careful cut and she held it up in the light, letting it warm.
“What are you doing?” Niven had asked.
“Just wait…” Fantine had said. Within three (3) minutes, the diamond grew too hot to hold and Fantine let it go, but it didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, the heat within the diamond allowed it to float. She gently pushed on it and it moved toward Niven.
“It’s a crystal like they use on the airships?” Niven had asked.
“Yes. With the proper cut, it collects enough light and gives lift. That’s how ships sail through the skies. It’s how the world travels…day or night. If my days and nights are spent with you, then I’m not there to make the world work. It’s like I’ve stopped working…and stopped being alive,” Fantine had said.
“A life of nothing but work means you’ll never live up to your full potential…there is more to you,” Niven had said.
“What makes you think that?” Fantine had said.
“All people are more than their work,” Niven had said.
“Have you met all people? How can you say that?” Fantine had asked.
“I’ve been around enough people. There’s always more underneath the surface. You’re more than the water you drink or the work that you do,” Niven had said.
“Without the Trerada water you drink, who would you be?” Fantine had asked.
“That depends on what other water I drank,” Niven had said.
“No water at all. Who are you – what is your potential?” Fantine had asked.
“Just me,” Niven had said.
“That doesn’t sound like much,” Fantine had said.
“So, the work I do depends on the water I drink. I get it. But I don’t work all the time,” Niven had said.
“You sleep, of course,” Fantine had said.
“Besides work and sleep, there’s more. Sometimes, there’s just fun,” Niven had said.
“My work is what I enjoy. You can find some girl to have fun with. But I’m not that girl,” Fantine had said.
“I’m trying to be nice – to show you my appreciation for who you are,” Niven had said.
“You don’t know who I am, so how can you appreciate me?” Fantine had said.
“I knew when I saw you,” Niven had said.
“My looks? That’s what you care about? I’m too attractive, then, for my own good, if it means you’re going to keep bringing up these pointless subjects. I’ll change my hair, I’ll change my clothes, whatever gets you to stop caring about me. I don’t want to be the love of your life, or the mother of your child, or hold hands, or any of that. This is what I do,” Fantine had said, reaching out and grasping the floating diamond from near Niven, holding it in her fingers and showing it to him again.
“It’s not alive. But you are. Believe me, there’s more to life,” Niven had said.
“Believe me. There isn’t,” Fantine had said.
“Fantine, I love you. One day you’ll understand. For now, I’ll leave, just so I don’t upset you,” Niven had said.
Fantine knew that exchange was thirteen (13) years ago, and she was thirty-nine (39) now and fully committed to her work. She never saw Niven again, but she wondered – out of curiosity – what had become of the man.
~~~
Sebastian now knew Fantine to be far colder than anyone – man or woman – he had ever met. Yet, it was not the cold of evil, but a creative and benevolent frigidity with a complete focus on building a better world. She simply didn’t want that to involve any intimate coupling with another person. She never even came close to experiencing physical love. For that, Sebastian faulted an otherwise exquisite person. Yet, he partially blamed Fantine’s parents, who only ever appreciated her talents, rather than the person.
~~~
“You are lost in thought, my dear architect,” Cassius said.
“Not lost. Just searching, and I believe that I have found what I am looking for,” Fantine said.
“A new crystal design?” Cassius asked.
“Yes. It’s time to test and build again. We need to return to the testing room, and this time, we will have to include the Medathero waters in our integrity testing,” Fantine said.
Fantine and Cassius then left the study to look for Sebastian, and they found him waiting for them immediately in the next room.
“You’re ready, then. You know what do, right?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes. I hope this only takes a few days. If it works, we can begin enhancing the existing constructor, and expanding it,” Fantine said.
Sebastian, Fantine and Cassius returned to the large lower room where they had tested before.
Fantine drank anew
of the Kazofen Ocean waters from her vial and was further energized. She then quickly applied her new design to some raw crystals that were available. She took these and used them to replace the crystals on their small scale constructor, setting those proven crystals aside. She additionally made seven (7) more, also according to her new design, in anticipation of new constructor pillars for their small scale machine.
Cassius drank anew of the Medathero Ocean waters from his own vial to energize him and steady his thoughts and focus his intellect, thus helping him to make the necessary complex calculations for making the seven (7) additional small scale constructor pillars. Fantine then assisted Cassius in this building process, which went even more smoothly due to their using the many spare parts from their earlier work. After two (2) days of work, they were done. They then arranged the pillars into a shape that corresponded to their intended layout at various points along the continental coast.
Sebastian checked in on them from time to time, in between spending time with Persephone, who was seven (7) months pregnant.
“We will need a large supply of Medathero waters, like we have of the others waters in those channels. The test won’t be complete without them, because the expanded constructor is going to operate on the southwestern coast and draw in the water of that ocean,” Fantine said.
“I have – or can get – that water in any quantity, but there is no place here to contain it. These channels are already filled with Elanatin, Ikkith Tar and Dead Waters,” Sebastian said, referring to the water-filled channels in the floor which ordinarily held sailboats.
“We’ve already demonstrated that the constructor can manipulate three (3) distinct water types. There is no theoretical limit. We should first test your new crystal design. As long as it proves adequate, we can begin our work,” Cassius said.
“In practice, theory and practice may differ,” Fantine said.
“In practice, we do not have unlimited time or materials,” Cassius said.
“I understand that, but we are increasing our uncertainty. On a large scale, failure is much more expensive – in both time and materials,” Fantine said.
“I appreciate that fact, but our combined analytic abilities – and our previous results – both give me high confidence, and I am not a man who leaves things to mere chance,” Cassius said.
“Very well. We’ll begin testing with the three (3) water supplies that we have in this room,” Fantine said.
Cassius held the metal rod that was the activation mechanism. He twisted the rod as before, and thirteen (13) beams of light shone forth from the diamond at its tip, with a beam going to each of the larger blue diamonds atop the thirteen (13) pillars, although those diamonds had an entirely different curvature. They became far brighter than before, and the diamond atop the rod that Cassius held turned dark.
After a moment, beams of light formed between the diamonds atop the pillars, forming every diagonal between the irregular thirteen (13) sided arrangement of pillars, for a total of sixty-five (65) beams. Soon, the beams began to – or appeared to – rotate. The waters from the channels were soon drawn up and turned into a mist and were caught in the rotation of the beams.
The same three (3) waters again rushed through the room, creating a thick haze that soon became like a blizzard. It lit up as before, forming a miniature tempest, but within nine (9) minutes created a new wall of the prescribed shape.
Cassius touched the walls that the newly modified constructor had just formed and said: “They appear to have integrity.”
Fantine drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from her vial and was energized. She analyzed the low-level crystal structure of the new walls closely and said: “the walls are firm, based on these waters. If these were the only waters intended to be utilized in the full scale arrangement, I would be satisfied with the results. As is, I will only say that it is indicative of an elevated probability of potential success under the final operating conditions.”
“That’s encouraging enough. We should move quickly. Everyone is worried about this king, and what he will do next. I can feel their fear,” Sebastian said.
“We should begin the full scale construction immediately,” Cassius said.
“How long will this take?” Sebastian asked.
“About three (3) months,” Fantine said.
“Whatever material you need, in whatever quantities, is at your disposal,” Sebastian said.
Cassius and Fantine knew full well the design and needed only to replicate it seven (7) times at full scale to build the new constructor pillars and the new crystals to cap them. They would still have to reposition the six (6) existing full scale constructor pillars – taken from the outer hexagonal arrangement that was used to construct the first wall – and modify them by placing the new crystals atop them, however.
Over the next three (3) months, they traveled on board one of Sebastian’s airships and navigated the coastline of the continent of Baradaxa where they enlisted local help – paid for by Sebastian – to build the seven (7) additional pillars. Fantine formed their new crystals personally, however, and did not hire anyone to carry out that task. Moving the existing pillars, and replacing the crystals that capped them with the new design, proved quick and easy.
Word spread about their actions, and reached the ears of the Chronicler named Silvius, who stood at the Port of Kemalorin in western Baradaxa, near one (1) of the pillars.
~~~
Two (2) months after they left, Persephone gave birth to a baby boy and Sebastian gave his full attention to her and to the child, but his thoughts wandered to Cassius and Fantine, only out of concern for the horrors outside the walls.
~~~
After completing construction of the seven (7) new pillars and the movement and modification of the six (6) existing pillars, Cassius and Fantine returned to Sebastian, who was standing in the courtyard outside of his estate, next to Persephone, who held their child.
“The construction is complete,” Cassius said.
Fantine looked at Persephone holding the baby and recalled Niven. She wondered if he already had a child with some woman – hopefully he did, because then it meant that he wouldn’t likely bother her ever again.
“Is it ready to construct the wall?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes,” Cassius said.
“Completely encircling the continent, according to our calculations and design,” Fantine said.
“How is that possible?” Persephone asked.
“Clever design, dear Persephone. You needn’t concern yourself with the technical details,” Cassius said.
“Yes, Persephone. The wellbeing of your child should be your only concern. Leave the design to me,” Fantine said.
Sebastian and Persephone both felt the coldness in Fantine – she was a flesh and blood machine more than she was a person. But she genuinely wanted others to do well and to improve the conditions in the world around her: there was no malice for any person, but there was disdain for the thought of having an intimate relationship with any person.
Cassius felt slighted for a moment – as if Fantine were taking all of the credit. He had some measure of his own pride, and his ingenious intellect and arcane knowledge were his trade, as long as he continued to drink the Medathero Ocean waters. If Fantine were to take too much credit, he feared that Sebastian would compensate her to a financially greater extent. Cassius had no intention of allowing that.
“Leave the design and construction to us,” Cassius said, and he held up the metal rod from before and activated it. Before their eyes, the beams of light shone from it and went in thirteen (13) directions, over a thousand (1000) miles in some directions, and reaching the diamonds atop the full scale constructor’s pillars.
“Just wait,” Cassius then said.
“Look there, toward the northern coast,” Fantine said. The estate was built on a hill and gave them a view of one (1) of the pillars.
Persephone watched and waited.
~~~
The Chronicler Silvius watched and recorded this sight in his book, utterly amazed at the scale of it. He drew many sketches to capture the changing appearance, as the wall grew to two hundred forty (240) feet in height, which he was able to estimate with a portable surveyor’s transit that he carried. He was inside the wall, however, and did not see any immediate way out of it. No airship traveled at that height, so the way by which he could return to Emeth was not clear.
~~~
“It is done,” Sebastian said.
“The entire continental coastline is now bordered by that wall,” Fantine said.
“Even by seeing it – the appearance of this section of the wall – I don’t believe it, but I know you’re telling the truth,” Persephone said. She was stunned by the sheer magnitude and the suddenness of the construction.
“It’s good that you have an open mind,” Fantine said.
“We have to protect this land from that king,” Sebastian said.
“The wall between us and him should afford us considerable protection,” Cassius said.
