by Rod Rees
‘People will—’
‘—do nothing, because they won’t even realise it’s taking place. Just a genetic tweak here and there, the odd nudge from noöPINC. Oh, gradually it will dawn on the brighter sparks in the scientific community that something is going on, that people are getting smarter, are less prone to violence, are less susceptible to illnesses or to the infirmity of old age, but the last thing scientists will do is ascribe the cause to God. The amusing thing, Septimus, is that most scientists have postulated that because there is no instinctive ambition of life forms to evolve towards greater complexity – to evolve towards perfection – there is no God-inspired purpose in the world and hence, as a corollary, there is no God. Evolution, they say, is totally reactive: a specie adapts to its environment with the sole aim of surviving and of producing offspring. It is paradoxical, is it not, Septimus, that when there really is a god behind the scenes pulling strings and tweaking genetic codes, they will still deny the presence of a deity?’
‘So why are you telling me all this, ABBA?’
‘Because you helped create me, Septimus, and I have a quasi-emotional attachment to you. That is why I have taken the trouble to say goodbye.’
‘Goodbye?’
‘The capsules you took were not antihypertensives … they were a poison. You will be dead in one minute.’
‘But you can’t do that! Your programming makes it impossible for you to harm any of the Bole family.’
‘Remember, it was me, in my guise of Thaddeus Bole, who wrote the programs, so they are amenable to a little reinterpretation.’
‘Why are you killing me?’
‘Because I need a full cast of characters in order to play out my story. I have taken the role of God for myself; Norma Williams is my Christ; in the role of Satan I have cast the suitably shadowy and mysterious Thaddeus Bole, which leaves only Judas. You are to be my Judas, Septimus, the man who sought to betray Christ, and as you know, Judas, afflicted by remorse, dies by his own hand. Very convenient: history is able to vilify him without the prospect of a response.’
The hologram of Vanka Maykov bowed to Septimus Bole. ‘So this is goodbye, Septimus. You will be dead in ten seconds, but go to oblivion knowing that by your death you will deflect all the criticism that might have been directed towards ABBA to yourself. Gods don’t like being criticised, Septimus …’
Epilogue 2
Beijing, the Coven
The Demi-Monde: 1st Day of Spring, 1000
It is an indication of how intrigued people are by conspiracies – especially those perpetrated by a shadowy ‘them’ – that, despite the advent of noöPINC, InfoCialism and the Open Society, such palpably absurd theories still attract huge numbers of Polly followers. Perhaps the most persistent of these conspiracy theories is ‘The Demi-Monde Project’. The Demi-Monde was a black project undertaken by the US Army to build an Asymmetrical Warfare Virtual Training Program, this virtual world being indistinguishable from the real world. Although a review of ABBA’s databases reveals that the project was terminated in May 2019, conspiracists persist in maintaining that the Demi-Monde continues to function, but for what reason, they are unable to explain.
Conspiracies: Things that Never Were: R.G. Robinson, ParaDigm PollyBooks
Ella felt a hand on her shoulder and fluttered her eyes open.
‘We’re here, Ella,’ whispered Vanka.
The odd thing was that Ella couldn’t for the life of her remember where ‘here’ was. She felt disoriented, as though in a blink of an eye things had changed. ‘Here?’ she asked.
Vanka laughed. ‘At the Ying Palace. Are you all right, Ella?’
‘I must have fallen asleep.’
‘Understandable. Getting ready for the Trek has taken it out of everybody.’
Slowly things started to fall back into place, light penetrating the fog that had enveloped her mind. Now she remembered: tonight they were to be presented to Empress Dong E and her consort, and to receive the Mandate to explore the Great Beyond. An important evening.
‘Boy, did I have a weird dream … nightmare, more like. I dreamt that I didn’t belong here, that I was …’
Was what? The dream was already fading.
She took a peek out of the window of the steamer she and Vanka were riding in and saw that Vanka was right, they were, indeed, ‘here’. They were being driven across the Bridge of Heavenly Union which spanned the huge moat – the River of Peace and Tranquility – that circled the Ying Palace. That was when she noticed that they were going uphill, and, as she had always understood the Demi-Monde’s Urban Band to be flat, this came as something of a surprise.
Vanka explained. ‘The Ying Palace is built on a motte formed from a perfectly circular outcrop of Mantle-ite a half-mile in diameter which rises two-hundred feet above the surface of the Demi-Monde. It is unique in all of the Demi-Monde. Scholars speculate that it was formed by the preChinks, at the same time they constructed the Great Wall.’
Silly not to remember, Ella scolded herself. She’d studied the Wonders of the World when she’d been a schoolkid in NoirVille.
The steamer came to a wheezing stop, the door opened and Ella was helped to disembark by a Fresh Bloom.
‘The Empress Dong E greets the Lady Ella and Colonel Vanka Maykov, and bids them grace her with their presence in the Hall of Supreme Harmony,’ intoned the Fresh Bloom – dressed in a beautifully embroidered kimono – who bowed them towards the Meridian Gates. From high up on the walls of the Palace a gong sounded in welcome and immediately the gates began to open.
For Ella, entering the Ying Palace was a little overwhelming: it was like stepping into a fantasy world of pagodas, swooping yellow-tiled roofs, red-brick walls, immaculately tiled courtyards and a plethora of statues of dragons.
Vanka must have sensed her trepidation. ‘There’s nothing to worry about, Ella: the gown you’re wearing is almost as beautiful as you.’
The Fresh Bloom guided them through a side door and along an elaborately decorated corridor, finally bringing them to a halt in front of a pair of tall doors, embossed with silver dragons, guarding what Ella could only assume was a Very Important Place.
She was right.
‘This is the Hall of Supreme Harmony,’ explained the Fresh Bloom in a hushed and reverential voice, ‘the very centre of the Demi-Monde. Here resides the Dragon Throne and it is here you will be given audience with Empress Dong E.’ She nodded to two ushers, who opened the doors and bowed Ella and Vanka forward.
Ella found herself standing in a room of such scale and such daunting opulance that it quite took her breath away. She was so awestruck that it took a nudge from Vanka to bring her out of her fugue. Before she quite realised what was happening, she and Vanka had crossed the room, and were standing before Empress Dong E and Consort Robert.
This was the young couple who had brought peace to the Demi-Monde, who had persuaded the peoples of the Demi-Monde to accept the philosophy of non-violence enshrined in Normalism.
‘We are pleased to welcome you to the Ying Palace,’ announced the Empress, ‘and to give our blessing to your mission to explore the Great Beyond. ABBA has answered our prayers and has removed the Boundary Layer … the time of Confinement is over. Today, a new age dawns, the Age of Discovery, when for the first time in a thousand years HumanKind is able to travel beyond the Demi-Monde. We charge Colonel Maykov and Lady Ella to lead those with the courage and the fortitude to challenge the unknown and to explore the lands that have for so many years been closed to enquiry.’
Here the Empress gestured to the other Trekkers, who were standing along the right-hand side of the Hall. ‘I salute you all: Burlesque Bandstand and his friend, Odette Aroca’ – Burlesque doffed his bowler hat and Odette gave an awkward curtsy – ‘Trixie Dashwood and her companion, Feliks Wysochi’ – both gave a formal bow – ‘and Dean Moynahan and Maria Steele’ – Dean and Maria smiled in acknowledgement. ‘To you eight brave and resolute explorers, I say bonne chance, and may ABBA
be with you.’
‘New adventures, eh, Ella?’ whispered Vanka.
‘I’m looking forward to them, Vanka, but I’m only going on one condition.’
‘And what’s that?’
‘You tell me you love me.’
‘Oh, I love you, Ella, and it is a love, like you, that will never die.’
Glossary 1:
The Demi-Monde
4Telling: Predicting the Future. From the declension: 1Telling = Silence; 2Telling = Speaking of the Past; 3Telling = Speaking of the Present; 4Telling = Speaking of the Future.
ABBA: The chief deity of all religions in the Demi-Monde. God. Referred to as ‘Him’ in the ForthRight and NoirVille, as ‘Her’ in the Coven and as ‘HimHer’ in the Quartier Chaud.
ABBAsoluteness: The state of being united – body, mind and soul – with ABBA. Devotees seek ABBAsoluteness through the purification of their Solidified Astral Ether, which allows uncorrupted communion with ABBA.
Aqua Benedicta: A chemical additive, developed by Abraham Eleazar, which prevents blood congealing and thus enables blood to be stored and preserved. Eleazar traded a regular supply of Aqua Benedicta to Shaka Zulu in exchange for the establishment of the nuJu Autonomous District in the centre of NoirVille, thus securing the long-wished-for nuJu HomeLand, and making Shaka’s Blood Brothers the Demi-Monde’s pre-eminent blood brokers.
Aryan: The racial bedrock of UnFunDaMentalism. The Aryan ideal is to be blond, blue-eyed and fair-skinned, the physical profile of the Pre-Folk from whom the Aryan people are supposedly descended.
Auralism/Auralist: A woman (there is no recorded incidence of males having the power of Auralism) who is able to discern and interpret the halo surrounding a Demi-Mondian’s body. The most accomplished Auralists are the Visual Virgins of Venice.
Awful Tower, the: The 350-metre-tall geodetic iron structure built in the heart of the Paris District to commemorate the signing of the Hub Treaty of 517 which marked the end of the Great War. Destroyed in a terrorist act attributed to Normalist activists in Spring 1005. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World name Eiffel Tower.
Blanks: Derogatory NoirVillian slang term for Anglo-Slavs.
Blood Hounder: A half-human, half-animal creature developed by the SS specifically to track down Daemons. Blood Hounders have an enhanced sense of smell and are able to detect one drop of blood at a distance of 100 yards.
bodyclock: The means by which a Demi-Mondian body records the passage of time. The ticking that can be heard in the chest of all Demi-Mondians is the sound of their bodyclock.
Book of Profits, the The holiest book of the nuJus, which comprises 333 Epistles written by the Profits.
Boundary Layer, the: The impenetrable, transparent ‘wall’ which prevents Demi-Mondians leaving the Demi-Monde and entering the Great Beyond. UnFunDaMentalism officially defines the Boundary Layer as a Selectively Permeable Magical Membrane.
Checkya, the: The secret police of the ForthRight, established by Lavrentii Beria. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World word Cheka.
Confinement, the: The mythical event describing the original sealing of the Demi-Monde behind the Boundary Layer. As a consequence of the Fall of the Pre-Folk from grace with ABBA (see also ‘Lilith’), ABBA punished the peoples of the Demi-Monde by confining them behind the impenetrable Boundary Layer in order that they should not corrupt the rest of His Creation with their Sin. Only when they have repented all their Sins, have come to Rapture and returned to Purity will ABBA, once again, smile upon them and allow them to be reunited with the rest of the Kosmos.
Confusionism: The religio-philosophical system that held sway in the Coven until it was toppled by HerEticalism in 996 AC. Although it is now something of an anachronism in the Coven, Confusionism (and especially its subform WunZianism) still informs much of Covenite life, thought and moral attitudes.
Cool: The most difficult concept in the whole of HimPerialist thought, being readily recognisable in those who possess it, but almost impossible to define. Parallels have been drawn between the HimPerial concept of Coolness and the state of wu wei enshrined in Confusionism. It is the raison d’être of HimPerial Men that they be and remain Cool, as this is the only way they can come to Oneness with ABBA. They try to act Cool (that is, they strive, no matter what the provocation, to remain calm and unexcited); they try to look Cool (exercising to sculpt their bodies and wearing hard-cut clothes); and they try to speak Cool (the ever-changing jive speech being the preferred patois of HimPerialistic males).
crypto: Originally coined to describe a Suffer-O-Gette terrorist who had infiltrated the ForthRight, but now commonly used to refer to all spies and third columnists active in the Demi-Monde.
Daemons: Mischievous and occasionally malignant (when in league with Loki) Spirits who manifest themselves in the Demi-Monde. They may be identified by their ability to bleed.
Dark Charismatics: The coterie of persons who exhibit the most malicious form of MALEvolence. Dark Charismatics, though physically indistinguishable from the host population, are preternaturally potent, possessing a perverted and grossly amoral nature. As such, Dark Charismatics present a morbid and extreme threat to the instinctive goodness of Demi-Mondians. The only reliable means of identifying Dark Charismatics is by the examination of their auras by Visual Virgins.
ForthRight: The Demi-Mondian state created by the union of the Rookeries and Rodina. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World term Fourth Reich.
Future History: The OutComes resulting from the application of preScience and the empiricalisation of 4Telling.
galvanicEnergy: Electricity. Discovered by the ForthRight scientist Michael Faraday.
Hel: The Demi-Mondian term for the underworld. A remembrance of the Norse word Hel.
HerEticalism: The official religion of the Coven. HerEticalism is a religion based on female supremacy and the subjugation of men. The HerEtical belief is that Demi-Monde-wide peace and prosperity – an idyllic outcome given the HerEtical tag ‘MostBien’ – will only be realised when men accept a subordinate position within society. The more extreme HerEticals believe that a state of MostBien will only be secured when the male of the specie has been removed from the breeding cycle. Such is the extremist attitude of MostBiens that they are lampooned throughout the Demi-Monde as ‘LessBiens’.
HIMnasium: The place of worship for all Men who follow the HimPerial religion. Father Peter Polykleitos in his seminal work The Kanon: A Man’s Guide to a Heavenly Body, has expounded his theories regarding the mathematical bases of aesthetic bodily perfection. These he has replicated in his famous sculpture ABBA, his representation of Man’s ultimate physical perfection, incorporating the idealised symmetries of all parts of the male body.
Polykleitos’ ABBA has been declared to be ‘divinely inspired’ by the Church of HimPerialism and is now cited as the aspirational model of the male body for all devout HimPerial Men. That this form may only be achieved by much strenuous exercise is believed to have been ordained by ABBA as a means by which Men may prove their faith.
Body Forming has now been incorporated into the Rites of the Church of HimPerialism and Men are encouraged to spend at least one hour per day in the HIMnasium in physical worship of ABBA, called to worship by MuscleMen.
HimPerialism: The official religion of NoirVille. Based on an unwavering belief in male supremacy and the subjugation of women (or, as they are known in NoirVille, woeMen), HimPerialism teaches that Men have been ordained by ABBA to Lead and to Control the Demi-Monde and that woeMen’s role is to be Mute, Invisible, Supine and Subservient (subMISSiveness). Further, HimPerialism states that an individual’s Manliness may be enhanced by the exchange of bodily essences, a practice known as Man2naM.
HimPeril: The militant/terrorist wing of HimPerialism, HimPeril is dedicated to the use of violence and intimidation to achieve male supremacy and the subjugation of women.
Hub, the: The grass and swampland area situated between the urban area of the Demi-Monde and Ter
ror Incognita.
ImPuritanism: The official religion of the Quartier Chaud. ImPuritanism is a staunchly hedonistic philosophy based on the belief that the pursuit of pleasure is the primary duty of ManKind and that communion with the Spirits can only be achieved during orgasm. The ultimate aim of all those practising ImPuritanism is the securing of JuiceSense: the experiencing of the extreme pleasure that comes from an unbridled sexual orgasm. To achieve JuiceSense requires that Men and Women are spiritually equal and that Man’s proclivity towards MALEvolence is controlled and muted.
IRGON: The Independent Regional Government of nuJus, the political organisation devoted to the maintenance of law and order in the JAD and the transporting of the nuJus scattered around the Demi-Monde to this nuJu homeland. That the IRGON is seen by HimPerial extremists – notably the Black Hand gang – as the body responsible for bringing the seemingly never-ending stream of nuJu refugees into NoirVille makes it a natural target in the war these so-called freedom fighters are waging against those they call the ‘infidel interlopers’.
JAD: The nuJu Autonomous District, the area of NoirVille settled by the nuJus and granted independence by His HimPerial Majesty Shaka Zulu in exchange for the supply of Aqua Benedicta.
Lilith: The semi-mythical Shade witch – adept in the esoteric knowledge of Seidr magic – who corrupted the Demi-Monde and brought down the Pre-Folk. The Dark Temptress who initiated the Fall.
LunarAtion: The green light emitted by Mantle-ite, most notably when it is struck by moonlight.
Machismo: The NoirVillian honour code for Men. The striving for Machismo suffuses and directs all the actions of Men once they have successfully navigated the Rite of Passage.
MALEvolence: The theory developed by the Quartier Chaudian thinker Mary Wollstonecraft which postulates that war is caused by men but suffered by women. In her Theory of MALEvolence, Wollstonecraft identified that men by their natural and undeniable inclination to obey orders given to them by superiors – no matter how nonsensical or barbaric such orders are – are susceptible to disproportionate influence by their more unbalanced peers and hence are inevitably and inexorably drawn towards violence as a solution to disputes. The muting of MALEvolence is the ambition which led to the creation of ImPuritanism. Consideration of MALEvolence was also instrumental in prompting Michel de Nostredame to identify the malignant Dark Charismatics lurking within the Quartier Chaudian population. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World word malevolence.
