Crossworld of Xai

by Steven Savage

“Huan?”

  “Jade, this powder is distilled. I think you overdid the dose. Remember when I told the Krymmers to monitor it, because too much of this is …”

  “Narcotic,” Jade closed her eyes. “Because it’s for stomach pains as well. Oh good gods, I stoned the dog.”

  Buster looked at the pair. They were pretty colors. They were the best-sounding colors he’d ever tasted.

  “Stress, Jade?” HuanJen began tinkering with a few bottles of herbs and mysterious distillations.”

  “A bit.” Jade looked at Buster, who continued his inverted acrobatics, his brain trying to use the randomly-chosen-muscle-of-the-second method of motion.

  “I see.” A few herbs and powders blended together under HuanJen’s expertly applied skills. “Last night?”

  “Sort of.” Jade winced as Buster rolled into her foot, rolled back, and then began to spin in circles. “It’s also everything. Prices are up because of all the Guild Crap. The news is redundant. Nothing good on television. And the frigging Hamiltons. I’m worried they’ll do something dumb.”

  There was a sigh from the Magician-Priest. “I understand. Some people have no respect for the dead even when they’re still around. Shall I …”

  “Nah, I’ll monitor it, like I said. Er, what are you doing …”

  “An antidote.” HuanJen held a small vial aloft. “Excuse me for a moment.”

  “Be my guest.”

  The mystic knelt by Buster, who had tired himself out in a heroic effort to move in a meaningful manner. Jade couldn’t see exactly what he was doing, but by the sounds it involved dog saliva and very delicate maneuvers. In a moment, the vial was empty and HuanJen cradled a confused Buster in his arms.

  “There, that should be better. Here, take him to the garden, Jade.”

  “Sure.” Jade picked up the drugged dog. “Think the fresh air will help?”

  “No, what I gave him will cleanse his system, but has a diuretic effect.”

  “Ah. Poor things going to barf it out the of his system . . “

  The cleric raised his index finger. “No, diuretic. The other end, Jade. Take a bag.”

  Buster belched happily. Then his eyes crossed.

  “These are the wages of sin. I’ll take care of anything with the Hamiltons, Huan. After all … I got to pay my dues.”

  There was another belch, and then a gaseous emanation from a different area of Busters anatomy.

  “Like right now. Life is balance.”

  “An impressive way to view a dog about to have a massive bowel expulsion. I’m proud of you, Jade.”

  March 1st, 2000 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar

  Dealer Zero sat in his card-reading room, listening to his CD player, and relaxing.

  He was the perfect image of contentment - if contentment was a shaggy-haired, mustached man in black in a room full of odd musical and mystical memorabilia. Zero was a diviner in Guild Esoteric, and fully indulged the fact people expected diviners to be odd. He came by it honestly, but at least he didn’t have to cover it up - in fact, his customers would have been worried had he appeared too mundane.

  There was a knock at the door, slicing through the mixture of electronics, guitars, and sitars. Zero shook his head, brown hair swaying, and switched off the CD player. A customer. Another.

  And to think last year it seemed his career was in danger due to a few doctored Tarot readings. Now between the times and his repaired reputation, it seemed he was always busy. That meant money in the Guildbank but it also meant people bothering him at all hours - it must have been the same for HuanJen and …

  “Jade?”

  Zero admitted that being visited by well-proportioned women in nicely-fitting outfits was usually pleasant. He even found the black fur rather charming, if a little weird. However, Jade was not a person to whom you could apply the word ‘charming’ effectively. Even though he found he’d grown to like the Vulpine over time, she was forward, she was unrepentantly bitchy, and she was the lover and apprentice of HuanJen, who had “monitored” Zero’s career during his downslide.

  “Hey, Zero.” Jade was suspiciously friendly. “Got a moment? No reading, I wanted to ask you a favor.”

  A single word ratcheted it’s way to the top of Dealer Zero’s awareness. Favors. Attractive women didn’t ask him favors without wanting something. Many people came to him for “favors” and wanted free readings despite the strain they put him under. He tried not to tense up, and failed.

  “What?” Zero flinched at the razor’s edge in his own voice.

  “Hey, nothing bad. Look, Zero, this is for real.” Jade oozed into the reading room. Zero closed the door behind him, figuring he might as well listen to her - trying to shut up Jade up was usually a useless endeavor.

  “What?”

  “I need to … see if you can keep track of things. I know you listen, its part of the job. And despite your image, I know you listen to people for real.”

  The card-reader shrugged. “Yeah. So, look, what’s up, I’ve been busy reassuring people all day the world won’t end or a Guildwar won’t break out. Er, those things aren’t gonna happen, right? I mean, I think I’d know …”

  Jade waved off Zero’s concern in a friendly manner. “No, we haven’t heard anything. Look, I know the Guild watches exorcists pretty closely. But I got a case of someone who wanted HuanJen to take out a member of the Watching Dead. I’m worried with all the shit going on, they may go to someone who doesn’t quite play by the rules.”

  “Oh. Yeah.” Dealer Zero stuck his hands in his pockets. “Lot of that I hear, these days. Glad we’re doing business with Guild Medical, kinda makes us more reputable. So you think I might hear something?”

  “No offense, but people who aren’t trustworthy still trust you I bet. And like I said, I know you hear things others don’t since you’re supposedly, ‘on the outs’ with the Guild.”

  “I … yeah, I can try. Hey, don’t want stuff to go wrong, you know. Been reassuring people, got to keep my promises.”

  The vulpine favored the disreputable diviner with an honest smile. “Thanks, Zero, I …”

  “… but I need a favor too, Jade.” The statement was deadly serious.

  Jade put her hands on her hips. “OK. Shoot. But I stay clothed and so do you.”

  “Ha. No,look, you know those of us in the Guild who are gifted, we kinda stick together.”

  “I know that there’s stuff Huan still doesn’t tell me. And I know its damn well because of what he calls his ‘Virtues’ or ‘Abilities.’”

  “OK, well, I know HuanJen is up to something. Some of those with ‘powers’ are. I want in. I can help.” Suddenly, Zero was pleading. “Look, I still got people that don’t trust me, and I’m tired of it. Even you come here because of my ‘reputation.’ I want to … well look it’s time I get over that. Something’s up. I can feel it, trust me. Let me help.”

  “Worried?” Jade shot the single word like a finely-aimed arrow.

  “A bit. Got stuff happening around the edges I don’t like when I read the cards. Maybe its all gonna turn out, but … we’re all part of it turning out. Come on. We all need a break. We all change.”

  Jade locked her eyes on Zero’s, at least as well as she could through his hair. He’d told her about change once months ago. He remembered.

  “Yeah, I … yeah I know. I’ll talk to HuanJen. Deal?”

  “Deal. You won’t regret it. Hey, I can even give the cards …”

  “Save it for paying customers. Just let me know what you hear.”

  March 2st, 2000 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar

  The sun was a ruddy glow on the horizon. The City of Metris was, more or less asleep - which meant that a good seventy percent of it was asleep and another thirty percent of it was awake. It was the kind of pre-morning perfect for a young couple in love to sneak a few moments together to do something very special and private.

  “It’s gaining on us!” Jade yelled, her long legs propelling her down the alley, coat
flapping behind her.

  “I am quite aware of it,” HuanJen replied. He wasn’t so much running as moving very fast without expending obvious effort. Jade decided to hate him for a few moments on principle.

  “So, convinced this thing is non localized?” Jade asked sarcastically.

  The mystic looked over his shoulder. Behind the pair was what appeared to be a shadowy car with eerie green headlights pursuing them closely.

  “I would say. OK, stop.”

  “You’re the … ” Jade spun around, and blinked. “It’s gone. Damn, that’s one wimpy Obsidian.”

  “Standard, really.” HuanJen took out a notepad and began writing in it “The ‘haunted car’ needed a chase to exist, someone to stalk. There are records of them in political climates like …”

  An engine revved in the alley behind the pair. It wasn’t one of the purring, electric motors of the average Xaian car, but a juggernaut powered by octane and obsessive engineering.

  Jade and HuanJen turned around. The emerald headlights of the car flared, angry eyes cut into the night.

  HuanJen looked into the twin green glows. They appeared to fade for a moment.

  “Huan, should I panic?” Jade asked.

  “No. It makes things worse.”

  “Ah.”

  The engine roared. HuanJen took a deep breath, the world folded around him …

  A subtle whine ripped through the air, there was a flash of green, and the phantom car vanished like smoke in the wind. HuanJen raised an eyebrow, and looked at Jade. The Vulpine smiled sheepishly and placed the Lakkom into the holster on her back.

  “I didn’t panic,” Jade said simply. “I reacted calmly. I just reacted calmly by blowing the fuck out of it.”

  “Would you leave blowing the fuck out of supernatural entities to me, please, it is my job,” HuanJen sighed. “It’s not necessarily going to follow standard dispersal patterns for haunts, remember?”

  “Er …” Jade’s brow furrowed. “OK, look, I’m how many years away from exorcisms? Try and explain …”

  The car tore out of nowhere, the morning air swirling into a malicious, sleek form wreathed in sickly virescent glow. It barely held a shape, being more of a suggestion of angry machinery and rage-fueled intent.

  HuanJen fixed his gaze on the phantom …

  … and the vengeful phantasm splattered against his body like a cascade of dark water. In a fear-filled heartbeat, it vanished into the air.

  “The Obsidian’s physical form is easy to disrupt in this case,” HuanJen continued unperturbed, placing the notebook back in his belt. “Disrupting its core is required for a long-term banishment is more difficult. Fortunately the phantom car legends occur only in specific cultural substrates, so the disruption usually has a long-term effect. This differs from the neighborhood-bound temporary we saw awhile ago.”

  “Thanks,” Jade replied curtly. “Will there be a quiz?”

  The cleric laughed. “You know, I’m glad you keep your sense of humor. These things would be even nastier with more fear.”

  “Hey, I’m trying. I’m in the flow, returning to the Center, using my Tao Mind, seeking the Pivot. And shit.”

  “Good.” HuanJen looked around, and finally took a seat on a small concrete stairway leading to the back of a shop. “That took more out of me than I thought.”

  “Well, you zappy-thinged at least once.” Jade thudded down next to her lover. “That always takes it out of you. Damn, you know, the Guild ought to raise the payout to Zoners for this month. Do you know how much our time is worth these days?”

  “I would not count on that, considering.” HuanJen leaned back against a cool brick wall. “Though I suspect they’re going to get more funding for the hotline.”

  The pair sat in silence for a moment. Jade lay her head against her lover’s shoulder. He radiated a kind of calming warmth that cut the cold edge of the night air.

  “Did you think about it?”

  “Dealer Zero? Jade, are you trapping me in the vulnerability of post-exorcism weakness?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “I think I can get him in.”

  “What?” Jade scowled. HuanJen was being reasonable again, right when she didn’t expect it.

  “I’ve been hard on the man. It does neither him nor me nor anyone good for me to do fuss over him, to divide things. And none of us have diviniatory Virtues on Rake’s team, at least ones like his.”

  “Well, good.” Jade shifted her position. “He thinks he can get me something today, he thinks the Hamiltons may be trying to knock of that haunt anyway.”

  HuanJen shook his head sadly. “People do not understand. That’s all we need is the Watching Dead in an uproar.”

  “I’ll alert you to anything if I’m out of my element. Hey, seriously, what kind of low rent exorcist are they going to get at a time like this …”

  “Minverva Monroe?”

  Jade looked at the woman who had answered the apartment door. Relatively short, a bit stocky, her cascade of long, brown hair broken by a few green-beaded braids. Technologist’s diadem and coveralls. Not particularly remarkable.

  “Yes?” The woman asked. “That’s me … have we met?”

  Jade sidled a bit into the apartment, extending a white-furred hand. “Jade Shalsedaughter, assistant to HuanJen, Zone Cleric …”

  “Oh, yes. The Hamilton’s mentioned you.” Minverva turned around and motioned for Jade to follow her. The Vulpine looked down at her unshaken hand, shrugged, and followed.

  Minerva’s apartment was a strange place, stuffed with furniture that appeared to be quite old, mixed with a variety of modern conveniences, and several posters of the constellations of Xai. It gave the feeling that several people should be living there.

  “Anyway, I heard from …” Jade stopped herself from saying ‘Dealer Zero’ “A friend that you may take the Hamilton’s case. I’ve never met a member of Guild Esoteric and the Technologists. I was curious.”

  “Oh, it happens.” Minerva pulled a chair out from under a table, moved a book off of it, and sat down. “Look, you missed your chance, OK? They were pretty pointed about you and Gong-Bang.”

  “HuanJen.”

  “Sorry. Dad always said I was bad with names.” Minerva shrugged. “It’s not a problem. A standard EM disruption ought to unhook it. I also bet they’ve got some bad wiring the Powersmiths let slide and that’s giving it some extra juice.”

  Jade blinked. Minerva’s words dissected the situation into something devoid of content. Just a job.

  “Miss Monroe, it’s a member of the Watching Dead. It’s protected, it’s basically a citizen, I mean …”

  “Ah, look, forget it. You know how things are and the last thing people need is some half-polt throwing stuff around. It’s not the time for technicalities, OK?”

  The Vulpine tried to conceal the fact she was fuming. There was a red spot of anger pulsing behind her eyes. Technicalities.

  “The Guild . . ,” Jade began evenly.

  Minerva’s eyes locked on hers. “I’m also Technologist, Jade. You blew the contract, OK? Relax, win some, loose some. Hey, its not like I do this a lot, just now and then when some of Dad’s old work comes in handy.”

  Jade tried to find something civil to say, something not involving the word ‘bitch’ or similar variants. Technicalities. Technicalities.

  Minerva didn’t care. Politics everywhere just meant a chance to bend the rules. The haunt, Alben, was just a job, just a pest. All of Guild Esoteric meant nothing.

  She was angry, and she wasn’t quite sure where it came from.

  “Miss Monroe. I’m a representative of Guild Esoteric. This is our area. Alben is a Watching Dead. Don’t take the job.”

  Minerva scowled, her round face puckering distastefully.

  “Don’t.” Jade glared. “Just don’t. Have some respect for the way things are …”

  “The way things are suck.” The techno-exorcist spat.

  “Then don’t increas
e the suckage.” Jade smiled happily. “Good day.”

  The Vulpine tried not to slam the door on the way out.

  March 3rd, 2000 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar

  Temple street. Nothing is supposed to happen there that is unseen. It is the holy place, of diviners and the seers, sages and ministers.

  Some of the holy people are artists. The divine is creative.

  A wind blows a crude sketch into the street. On it were various pictures of a man in a coat, with a strange mask on, drawn in a hand that obviously didn’t know who or what it was drawing. Next to it was a much better drawn picture of a robed man who strongly resembled Galcir, god of the Historians.

  Just a sketch. It drifted into a sewer drain.

  March 4th, 2000 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar

  The Orchard was alive that night.

  The strip bar/night club was always busy, but as the vote on the Communicants approached, as politics headed up, it was even busier. People comforted themselves with their friends. Visitors drown their sorrows in drinks. Mostly, however, people indulged in the nudity of the performers - a guaranteed hormone-powered distraction from Guild Council machinations as well as day-to-day tedium.

  Garnet looked at the friends sitting with her at the table; Lorne, Jade, Clairice. The usual gang that watched men get naked. It was confronting - especially with Slate as busy as he was. It was nice to be with people.

  “Damn.” Lorne shook his head as the announcer explained there’d be a ten minute break after the just-finished act. “That was impressive.”

  “I’ll say.” Clairice ran a hand through her short, dark hair. “I think the Orchard’s talent scouts …”

  “Or endowment scouts,” Jade commented with a half-smile.

  ” … have come through big time on him. Emphasis on big.”

  “Yes,” Lorne agreed with enthusiasm. “I … Garnet?”

  “Oh, I’m fine.” Garnet smiled, her red-furred fingers making imaginary circles on the tabletop. “Thoughtful.”

  “You didn’t even watch the human kielbasa up there,” Jade added helpfully.

  “Yeah, well, we kind of have a lot going on,” Clairice said.

  Silence.

  “Slate.” Garnet smiled. “I think he and I are doing better. I miss him, but I feel him more.”