by Marty Chan
“Everyone loves a dog,” she said.
“This medallion does the same thing?” Ehrich asked.
The purple-haired man examined the trinket in his hands. He studied the double loop of the gear wheels and the smaller gear wheels within them that created the impression the mechanism extended to infinity.
“I don’t know what this device does, but if you’ll permit me, I can do some analysis.”
“Can you explain why my brother had it?”
“Perhaps. Do you want me to try?”
“Go ahead,” Ehrich said. At last, he might find the answers he’d sought for two years.
“It will take some time. Amina, perhaps you can show our guest around while he waits. Perhaps even ask him some questions… nicely.”
She grimaced. Mr. Serenity left with the medallion, leaving the two alone. Awkward silence filled the room as Amina stared at him.
He finally broke the silence. “That device you brought to this dimension. We opened it.”
“The electrical man?”
“Who? What? Oh. Yes, the electrical man. His name is Nikola Tesla. What is the device for?”
She changed the subject. “You must be hungry. Come, let’s get you something to eat. Please.”
Amina led Ehrich out of the chamber and into Purgatory’s streets. The air revived Ehrich. The pedestrians streaming past him seemed to multiply as they hustled past the shiny glass walls that reflected their images. The pavement appeared to be constructed of similar smoked glass material. Through the tinted surface, Ehrich viewed a lower road with more people hurrying past other tall structures. He wasn’t sure if this was the next tier of Purgatory or if this were some kind of reflection.
The raven-haired girl took Ehrich by the arm and guided him through the crowd of Dimensionals. Few of them looked like Amina or Mr. Serenity.
“What happened to your people?” he asked.
“There is a marketplace in the city square. We may find umami beans today if we are fortunate.”
“Sure. Is this what your world looks like?”
“Purgatory? No, this is a hybrid of worlds. It’s designed to make the survivors feel at ease.”
“So Purgatory isn’t just for your people.”
She fell silent as they stepped onto a flight of moving stairs that descended to the lower level. He gripped the railing to keep from teetering on the moving steps. He watched the other denizens of Purgatory walk past. Ehrich realized they were mostly refugees like him, travellers from different dimensions, orphaned by circumstances beyond their control. For the first time in two years, he felt like he was among his own, and part of him wanted to confess the truth to Amina.
“Where is your family? Are they here?”
She didn’t answer his question. Instead, she said, “You must love your brother very much to go through all this.”
Ehrich’s face flushed as he thought of all the time he’d wasted, having abandoned his search for Dash for so long. “I would do anything for him.”
“What was he like?” she asked.
“Why do you want to know?”
“I like hearing about families,” Amina said.
Ehrich had spent two years pretending to be an orphan, avoiding any talk about his brother or his parents. He’d had to play a part, and a little bit of him died every time he pretended his family didn’t exist. Now that he suddenly didn’t have to hide this part of his life, he felt freer than he had ever been.
“He followed me everywhere and tried to imitate all the things I did. At first, I wanted him to leave me alone, but our mother had given me instructions to look after him. And I did. I had dreams of being a high-wire artist. I tied a rope between two trees and practiced. As soon as I jumped off, he jumped on. I dared him to go across. Well, he tried. Not successfully. He fell on his arm. I thought he’d broken it, but he just stood up and took a bow. The kids watching—they laughed. Dash, he laughed along with them. That was my brother. He had a way with people. What about you? What about your family?”
Amina turned away. “We’re almost at the marketplace. Are you hungry?”
He shook his head. “Tell me something about your family. What about your people?”
“They are gone,” she answered, her lips thinned as she walked ahead.
Ehrich pushed the issue. “Wait. Isn’t Piotravisk one of your people?”
“No, he is a refugee from another sector. How do you know him?”
“I found him when I was looking for you on Devil’s Island. He showed me how you two met. Do you know Ole Lukoje? Nasty creature with metal talons. Likes eyes.”
She stopped at a vendor’s stall and picked up a purple banana. She paid for it and walked along the busy street of vendors.
“That is his name? We’ve crossed paths before in other sectors. I would not say I know him, but I know his type.”
“What were you both doing in that dimension?” Ehrich asked.
She peeled the purple banana to reveal the lime-green fruit inside. She took a bite and walked along the marketplace of multi-dimensional vendors and shoppers. “In the aftermath of war, there are two types of people. Those who rush toward the fallen to give aid, and those who slink in to profit. This Ole Lukoje was not the only one to take advantage of the situation, though he is particularly nasty. He prefers fresh eyes.”
Ehrich nodded. “Why do you risk your life for strangers?”
“Because others have done the same for me. If not for Mr. Serenity, I would have been…” she trailed off. She stopped at a stall with an array of skewered barbecued bats. “They are quite delicious. You want one?” She paid for one and bit into the batwing, then offered Ehrich a piece.
He waved off her offer. “What would have happened?”
She pointed at her mouth, indicating she was unable to answer, but Ehrich suspected she was unwilling to answer. He let the matter drop. Everyone was entitled to a few secrets.
A Reminder of Home
Ehrich slept in Mr. Serenity’s quarters, while the portly man examined the medallion all through the night. The next morning, Ehrich dined with Amina, tasting an exotic golden brown bread she called Xibanic. The wheat grew in a section of Purgatory called Orion. The bakers in Purgatory milled the grains into a savoury flour that, when baked, tasted like nothing he had ever eaten before. Maybe the tangy zest of a lemon and the rich flavour of a lobster together would come close, but Ehrich couldn’t get enough of the bread.
Ehrich wanted to know more about Amina. She didn’t like talking about herself much, which left Ehrich to drive much of the conversation. He decided to talk about Nikola Tesla, his mentor. “He’s a bit like Mr. Serenity, but not as fleshy. He has the weirdest thing that he does. Everything has to be in threes. He groups his equipment in three piles. He counts three steps at a time. He even divides his food into threes.”
“Why does he do that?”
Ehrich shrugged. “I think counting helps him organize everything.”
“Even food? How does he do that?”
“I saw him at lunch once. He cut his sandwich in half, then cut each half into three pieces. He wrapped one half and put it away, then proceeded to eat each third that was out.”
“Let me guess, in three bites.”
Ehrich laughed. “Yes. Isn’t that the oddest thing?”
She nodded. “Mr. Serenity can top that. He doesn’t even know he does it, but when he concentrates, he wets his lips then licks his nose.”
“How can he do that?”
“Mr. Serenity has a tongue that’s this long.” Amina held her hands about a foot apart.
“What is he? Part lizard?”
Amina cocked her head to the side. “Yes. Yes, he is.”
Embarrassed, Ehrich tried to backpedal until Amina began to laugh. “You’re too easy, Ehrich Weisz.”
They finished eating and cleared the dishes. Mr. Serenity was so engrossed in examining the medallion he didn’t even come out to eat. The pair settled back at the tabl
e.
Ehrich asked, “If that medallion is from your dimension, do you think it could have done something to Dash? Taken over his mind?”
“No. Our devices alter perception or manipulate appearances. My people had strict ethical laws about how our technology was used. Taking over someone’s mind was like, well, it was something akin to slavery. This crime was punishable by exile.”
“There has to be some explanation for why my brother was acting so strangely.”
“Don’t worry, Ehrich. Mr. Serenity will unlock the medallion’s secret.”
Ehrich nodded and settled back in his chair. “Tell me more about what your people are like.”
A dark look fell over Amina’s face, but she looked away, reaching for the golden brown loaf on the table.
“Do you want more Xibanic?” she asked, cutting a slice. The ensuing silence was thicker than the slab of bread she sawed.
“You know what I could really eat right now? Apple pie.”
She shrugged. “What is that?”
“An apple is a fruit that grows in this dimension. You can bake apples in a pastry shell for the sweetest thing you’ve ever tried. The best apple pie is the one my mother bakes. I could eat two of them right now. One time, my mother locked a fresh-baked pie in a cupboard so Dash and I wouldn’t get our hands on it, but the pie smelled so good, we broke into the cupboard. We couldn’t resist it.”
This was the first time Ehrich had managed to pick a lock. Necessity was the mother of invention, and he was desperate for the apple pie. He didn’t so much pick the lock as he loosened the moorings and broke the cupboard door. Now, he salivated at the memory of biting through the flaky crust and tasting the sweet apples. He smiled at the memory of Dash, his face covered with the evidence of pie, protesting their innocence. His eyes welled at the memories of home.
“There are things about home that you can’t find anywhere else. When you’re home, you feel like nothing can ever go wrong. It’s like—” He stopped when he saw Amina wiping her own eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
“Something happened to your family,” Ehrich said. “I can guess that much. Will you tell me?”
“My family is no more.”
“What happened to them?”
Their old companion, silence, joined them, but only for a moment. “In your language, you would call it the apocalypse,” Amina said in hushed tones. “That is what happened to my world. The end of things. A warlord came to us with his troops, and without warning, he massacred everyone. My family. Friends. Everyone. My world wasn’t the only one. This warlord has orphaned many of the people in Purgatory. With his armies, he moves from one realm to another. Some say he journeys from world to world to seize resources. Some say he does it to feed his starving people. Others say he is simply mad for power. The only thing people know for sure is that he leaves nothing but ruin in his path.”
“What do you believe?”
“I think he’s a divine punishment for the scientists opening the portals. We were not meant to go to other worlds because of warlords like Ba Tian.”
Ehrich stiffened. “Ba Tian?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
She nodded.
Ehrich said, “I’ve seen him. On Devil’s Island.”
“Ba Tian is here? We have to tell Mr. Serenity.”
“Why?” Ehrich asked.
“He only travels to the dimensions he wishes to conquer.”
Ehrich recalled the exoskeleton units he had seen in the tunnel. They weren’t just powerful excavation machines; they were weapons of war.
The Hypermnesium
Mr. Serenity was hunched over a table examining the medallion when Amina and Ehrich burst into his lab. He nearly dropped the trinket on the floor in surprise.
“Mr. Serenity! Ba Tian has set up base here in this dimension. Ehrich has seen the war machines.”
“What? Tell me. Everything.”
Ehrich recounted his experience with the warlord in Ninth Circle and described the machines he had found under the Hudson River. Mr. Serenity probed Ehrich about the contraptions. How many were there? What armaments did they have? Meanwhile, Amina paced, becoming more and more agitated.
“We have to prepare for battle,” she said.
Mr. Serenity agreed. “I can see why he wants this dimension. Demon Gate is one of the most stable portals that exists. He could send his army to any dimension from here. The universe would become an open road to him.”
“We must stop him before he destroys any other worlds,” Amina said.
Mr. Serenity agreed. “We’ll amass our forces in Purgatory, but we don’t stand a chance unless we can contact Ning Shu.”
“I’m sure she’ll reach out again.”
“Hold on, hold on,” Ehrich interrupted. “You were supposed to help me figure out what happened to my brother.”
“I’m sorry, son, but I don’t know what this medallion does. The technology is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. With more time and better equipment, maybe I could determine the purpose, but your guess is as good as mine.”
“Not good enough,” Ehrich said. “After all, he’s a part of this uprising, too. We should at least figure out how he’s connected!”
Mr. Serenity shook his head. “I’m at a loss; this is the best answer I can give you, I’m afraid. Amina, let’s see the Kinetoscopic Codex. Maybe we can get a sense of what weapon she has that can defeat Ba Tian.”
Amina rushed out.
“Mr. Serenity, please listen to me. It’s important I find out about my brother.”
Mr. Serenity fixed a gaze on him. “Son, if we fail against Ba Tian, the truth won’t matter.”
Amina returned with the book device. She placed it on the table and opened the cover. The image of the red-skinned Dimensional appeared again.
“Play the message,” Mr. Serenity said.
Amina pressed a sequence of nubs on the inner workings of the book. The image of the crimson girl began to speak. “Mr. Serenity, the two of us share the same goals. The only difference is you lack the means of accomplishing your goal. I’m willing to share if you’re willing to meet.” The image froze.
“We could send another message to Ning Shu,” Amina said.
“We’ve already sent three since she missed our meeting. Something must have happened to her.”
“How do you know you can trust her?” Ehrich asked.
“That is the daughter of Ba Tian. She risked everything to betray her father,” Mr. Serenity answered.
“His daughter? That’s why they have the same jade tael. You don’t think this is some kind of setup?”
He shook his head. “She has given us valuable information for some time now. Amina?”
She pressed another button and the screen image dissolved into a montage of battle scenes, in which red-skinned warriors decimated armies. Sequence after sequence of bloody war flashed across the screen. Some of the battles took place on land, others at sea; one was in the air. Red-skinned warriors in exoskeleton machines battled weaker forces, wiping them out. The machines looked exactly like the ones in the Hudson River tunnel.
She said, “Thanks to Ning Shu, we’ve learned some of her father’s tactical moves. They’ve helped us win two battles. If Ning Shu has something that can help, we believe her.”
“Then maybe I can help. I know where she is,” Ehrich said.
“How do you know?”
“I saw her trying to get into your museum. She had a companion with her—a man—but when they spotted us, they ran.”
Amina’s eyes widened. “You’re the reason we lost contact?”
“I can tell you where she went.”
Mr. Serenity grabbed Ehrich’s arm. “Tell us. Our future depends on this.”
Ehrich shook his head. “My future depends on finding out the truth about my brother. Tell me what the medallion does, and I will lead you to Ning Shu.”
“We don’t know and we don’t have time to figure it out,” Amina argued.
“Then you’d better hurry.”
Mr. Serenity shook his head. “I’ve exhausted all my resources.”
“Amina said something about a hyper… hyper…”
She answered, “Hypermnesium.
“Yes. What about that?’
Amina turned to Mr. Serenity. “If he can help us win the war, we have to try.”
“It’s dangerous for the boy,” the man said. “I don’t want to take that kind of risk.”
“What’s the danger?” Ehrich asked.
Mr. Serenity fixed a look on the dark-haired boy. “The hypermnesium culls your memories and zeroes in on details you may not remember. Everything you’ve ever witnessed in your life is locked in your brain, but how you interpret what you see determines what you remember. This device allows us to see everything, not just the memories that matter to you. Your interactions with your brother may give us a clue to the nature of his medallion or his true origins. But the mind is a fragile thing. You could regress to the mental age of two if things go wrong.”
“But if it works, you may learn what really happened to my brother?” Ehrich asked.
The round man nodded. “There are no guarantees.”
“I’ll take the risk.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“Very well.” Mr. Serenity turned to Amina. “Help him relax and clear his mind of everything but his brother. I will prepare the hypermnesium.”
j
An hour later, Ehrich sat down in a leather chair, and silver restraints automatically locked his arms in place. Amina patted him on the shoulder and assured him he would be fine, but he could see doubt in her green eyes.
“Ignore any memories that don’t involve Dash,” she said. “That apple pie you told me about. Picture yourself sharing the pie with your brother if you are ever in doubt. Always go back to this memory. Understand?”
He nodded as he leaned back in the chair. A black shade perched atop the large open cabinet of the hypermnesium. Silhouetted shapes were carved into the stiff material. A bulb projected light through the shade’s geometric patterns and cast shadows on the walls. A massive pipe organ with rows of black and white keys sat beside the cabinet.
