Ascension

by Jeannie van Rompaey

  ‘Please, Kali, can I see her now? A few minutes alone with her and I’m sure I could persuade her.’

  How naïve he is to trust me. One call by intercom-fone is all it will take and Heracles will be on his way. Not back to C99. Oh no. This time there will be no transfer to the flagship compound. It will be the wilderness for sure this time.

  I look him steadily in the eye. ‘Wait here a moment.’

  As I come out of Man1, I notice that the door to Man2 is wide open and the office empty. With a stride, a hop and a leap I’m down the silver cylinder to the compu-centre. It’s empty too.

  The wall to the RR slides open at my touch and there they are, my mutant humanoid colleagues in couples on the shapers, making love-sex as if it’s the most natural thing in the world to do in a public place.

  On a central three-shaper become bunku, the nipples of her pert breasts erect, her arms flung high in the air, a naked Sati rides her willing quarry as if he’s a circus horse. A group around her are chanting, counting the thrusts, egging on the protagonists of this sickening scene.

  Heracles is right behind me. He takes in the scene and yells at the top of his voice. ‘No Sati, no!’

  ‘Yes, yes,’ she says and holds herself firm on Damocles, the latest recipient of her power game. Because that’s what it is. I see that now. She wants power. Just like me. Just like all of Shiva’s wives. Everyone claps and laughs, but the laughter is hysterical. It makes me realise how frustrated these young mutants must be to take part so willingly in this – obscenity. The new recreational facilities must be completed as soon as possible to give them alternative outlets of release.

  Sati swings her legs off Damocles and stands up. ‘Witness my new strategy, Kali. Better for it all to be in the open. No secrets. No tensions. Everyone can make love-sex freely with whomsoever they wish, whenever they wish. Next!’ she says and Merlin creeps towards her.

  ‘Sati, no!’ says Heracles.

  Sati twists her mouths down at the corners. For a moment she looks quite ugly. ‘Oh do give over, Heracles. You’ll have to wait your turn. Last to arrive, last to be served.’ She gives me a sly grin. ‘After Kali.’

  Heracles turns to me. ‘Kali, what is this? What exactly is going on?’

  ‘I think you can see quite clearly what is happening,’ I tell him. ‘Sati has seduced my entire workforce and, in her own inimitable way, has taken charge.’

  Chapter Six

  Mutiny

  (according to Kali)

  I stride towards Sati. Hugo strikes out with his tongue. Hugh and Henry hiss. Henrietta and Hannah let out a prolonged whistle, but to no avail. My former colleagues form a mutant-humanoid-wall to protect Sati, like footballers defending their goal.

  ‘I must speak to Sati,’ I insist. ‘I don’t want to hurt her. Only talk to her.’

  ‘We don’t believe you,’ says Jason. ‘Look what happened last time. You poisoned her. We can’t allow you to do that again.’

  ‘We’ve had enough of your tyranny,’ says Apollo. ‘You expect us to work all the time, day and night, with no chance to relax.’

  ‘I’m making changes,’ I remind them. ‘That’s why you’ve been knocking down walls and getting rid of the old workstations. We’re going to have a gym and a games room. You’ll have more spare time and plenty of things to do once everything is finished.’

  ‘Sati’s plans. Not yours,’ snaps Merlin. ‘She doesn’t need your help to complete the renovations.’

  ‘We don’t need you, Kali. Or your snakes,’ Jason says. ‘You should leave now while you can – you and Heracles. Teleport yourselves somewhere. Anywhere. You’re not wanted here.’

  For once I’m lost for words. Sati’s heads appear over the top of the mutant-humanoid-wall. First one head speaks and then the other, alternate sentences. Formidable.

  ‘All this is your own fault, Kali. You’ve oppressed your colleagues for long enough,’ says Blondie.

  ‘Work, work, work is your answer to everything,’ mocks the dark-haired head.

  ‘What kind of life have your colleagues had here? Do you wonder they were ready to rebel?’

  ‘All they needed was the right leader to show them the way. Then I arrived, a gift from Ra.’

  ‘You would never have thought of turning the wasted spaces here into recreational areas if I hadn’t told you about C99.’

  ‘These are my ideas. All mine.’

  ‘You have to face it, Kali, it’s time for regime change.’

  ‘Time for you to leave. If you don’t go of your own accord, we’ll throw you out into the wilderness.’

  ‘See how you like that.’

  I rush forward, intent on pushing my way through to her, but the wall of her loyal followers – my disloyal workforce – forces me back and pushes me over.

  I can’t believe what’s happening. How can they change their allegiance from me, Kali, the Earth Mother, to Sati, a bitch on heat. I have always been an efficient and fair leader: she is the personification of chaos. I look up and am pleased to see that several of my colleagues look a little sheepish, ashamed to have taken part in my literal downfall.

  Heracles helps me to my feet and shouts out, ‘Sati, listen to me, you slut. You will pay for this.’

  With as much dignity as I can muster, I swing round and stride back down the silver cylinder to Man1, tears streaming down my face. My precious pets shrink into their skins. It’s over. I’m finished. She’s used her only weapon, her sexuality, to win over my sectoid.

  Behind me, I hear a roar of triumph and Sati says, ‘Now, where were we. Merlin, you’re next I believe,’ and the chanting and counting begin again.

  I hear Heracles call out, ‘Sati, if you come with me now, I’ll have a word with Ra and do my best to save you,’ and Sati’s mocking laughter in reply, echoed by the wild laughter of her fans.

  Damn and double damn. She’s won. She’s taken away the one thing I can’t live without. My sectoid. Without my power, my authority, my control, C55 will plunge into chaos.

  I pace up and down in Man1. I must come up with a plan to regain control. I stare at the transparent cubicle in the corner of the room. The teleport. That’s the way Ra arrived. And Heracles. If they could teleport themselves, I can do the same, but where can I go? Who will welcome me, who will come to my aid, a disgraced sectoid leader? Whatever I do, wherever I go, I will need permission from Ra, but I’m loathe to contact him and admit that my sectoid has been overrun by a sex-crazed bimbo with no respect for me or anyone else.

  In rushes Heracles in a tizz and on his heels my loyal messenger, Mercury.

  ‘Do something, Kali,’ shouts Heracles. ‘You must do something quickly. She’s making a mockery of everything. Of me, of you, of this compound. If you don’t take charge, Ra will demolish it and eliminate us all.’

  I stare at him. ‘Ra is capable of doing that?’

  ‘It’s not the first time he’s destroyed a compound,’ Heracles tells us. ‘Why, only last week it was the turn of C21. He pressed a button and wham, it was as if it never existed.’

  ‘Ra did that? How do you know?’

  ‘I heard a rumour, hacked in to my compu and checked it out. Gone. Kaput. Not the only compound they’ve eliminated either. That’s what they do when a sectoid stops being productive. They delete it, like an error in a doc-script. Do something, Kali. Stop the destructive bitch from annihilating us all.’

  I look at him thoughtfully. A good researcher, who knows how to hack into forbidden sites, could prove a useful ally.

  It is Mercury who asks, ‘Who do you mean when you say “they”?’

  Heracles shakes his head. ‘I’m not sure, but believe you me I will find out. Ra is not the real head of Worldwideculture. That much is clear. The previous controller was erased because he was hesitant about firing incompetent staff and refused to demolish compounds. Ra is not afraid of anything. That’s why he was appointed.’

  ‘He seems quite reasonable to me – open to suggestions.’ He
accepted my proposals for Isis and Sati readily enough.

  ‘Take my word for it. He’s a manipulator. Gives with one hand and takes away with the other. Believe me, I know him. As well as being CEO of Worldwideculture, he’s also head of C99.’

  ‘You don’t think we should rely on him to help us?’ Mercury asks.

  Heracles snorts. ‘No. We’ve got to beat Sati ourselves.’

  ‘You’ve changed your tune,’ I say. ‘I thought you were in love with her.’

  ‘She’s a slut. I wouldn’t touch her now if she begged me to.’

  That’s Heracles. That’s my proud, angry boy. Back on track.

  Mercury hovers at my shoulder. ‘You can’t beat her, Kali. Not alone. What we need are reinforcements.’

  ‘How right you are, Mercury,’ I tell him. ‘Have all my members of staff defected to Sati? Are there any left loyal to me?’

  Mercury frowns. ‘There’s Odysseus and Isis. I’m sure they will support you.’

  An old pedant and a female mutant humanoid with no idea how to control her bodily movements or her emotions? What use are they? Oh well, any supporters are better than none. ‘Use the intercom-fone, Mercury, and summon them to Man1.’

  Now for the practicalities. I ask Heracles to teach me how to use the teleport.

  ‘You can’t leave now, Kali. If you do you will lose everything.’

  ‘I’m not leaving. I need to teleport reinforcements.’

  I’m a quick learner and once he shows me how the teleport works I’m in business. He hacks into the compu to find the coordinates I need.

  Now I am ready to summon up my sister wives.

  Durga materialises first in shower of golden rain. Durga, the beautiful war goddess, armed with gleaming gold shield and sword. Durga, the renowned slayer of demons.

  In a mist of silver dust, Jagadgauri surfaces, Jaga, the yellow woman, the harvest bride, who challenges Sati in the beauty stakes and has a deadly aim when throwing a spear or a scythe. They’re not real goddesses. Just mutant humanoids the same as all of us, but who will know the difference? Such are the limits of our confined lives that few of us can distinguish between the real and the surreal.

  The three of us stand side-by-side, ready for battle: Durga, Jaga and Kali, all warriors, all-powerful. A formidable team. Unbeatable.

  Heracles draws in his breath. ‘Yes,’ he says, ‘Oh yes.’

  Odysseus and Isis arrive and pull up short at the sight of the three warrior wives of Shiva. Heracles ignores Odysseus but gives Isis a nod. She refuses to look at him. Can’t blame her for that. He humiliated her in public. I quickly explain the situation.

  The plan is to strike fear into the traitorous workforce of C55 and silence Sati, the usurper, so that I, Kali the terrible, can take control of my sectoid again and save it from extinction.

  Durga, Jaga and I march along the silver cylinder followed by our motley group of loyal colleagues: Heracles on his three muscular legs, little Mercury scampering along behind him, Odysseus gliding along with his ungainly assistant at his side.

  The wall slides open and we enter the RR. Sati is making a speech to an attentive audience. She is describing the new recreational opportunities they will enjoy when the rebuilding and refurbishing of the spare areas are completed. It’s not a bad motivational speech. I could almost have written it myself.

  She looks up, sees us, and motions for her devoted followers to group around her, aware she needs protection. Durga brandishes her golden sword and Jaga raises a scythe, a curved instrument designed for cutting down wheat but deadly if used on mutant humanoids. As for me, a glint of steel catches the light as I raise my dagger. My serpents unwind themselves from my neck and wrists and extend themselves to their full length, mouths open, tongues out. A fearsome spectacle.

  To do her justice, Sati doesn’t flinch. She has no weapons apart from her sexuality, which she has already used to full effect. And, of course, her bodyguard of mutant humanoids.

  ‘Welcome, my sister wives,’ she says smoothly. ‘Welcome to Compound 55. Long time no see, Durga. You look as splendid as ever, your breastplate, shield and sword at the ready. No need for any of those accessories here, I assure you. Jaga, just as beautiful as ever, I see, but no need for that deadly-looking weapon in your hand. No corn to cut here. You are both welcome.’

  She speaks as if the sectoid belongs to her, but we are here to show her it isn’t hers yet and, if I have my way, never will be. My serpents wriggle, ready to attack, but Sati ignores them, ignores me. It’s insufferable.

  ‘Attack!’ I cry and throw myself forward but, at that very moment, the curved screen is filled with white light and for a moment we are all blinded. Ra’s three heads appear on the screen. An intervention. His central head looks stern. It is listening intently to the other two heads, and we are compelled to stop our attack and listen too as they discuss the future of Compound 55, our future.

  ‘Kali is an excellent leader,’ says Ra 2, the male head. ‘She has made sure that the input from this sectoid has been of a consistently high standard. She always reaches the monthly targets. The mutant humanoids in her charge respect her.’

  ‘Until Sati arrived and showed them what they’ve been missing,’ the female head says. ‘Kali is only interested in what the sectoid can produce.’

  ‘Just what we expect from a sectoid leader.’

  ‘There is such a thing as being over-zealous, making your subordinates work all hours with little reward. Kali has no compassion. Such a leader is a dictator. The workforce can only put up with such treatment for a while, then they are bound to rebel.’

  ‘They were quite happy until Sati came along.’

  ‘I doubt that. Sati was only able to win the mutants over to her side because the seeds of discontent were already present.’

  ‘Kali intends to address that problem through the installation of recreational facilities….’

  ‘Which she wouldn’t have thought of if Sati hadn’t described the facilities available in the flagship compound.’

  ‘True, but Kali was open-minded enough to take the idea on board and initiate the project. She’s not a dictator. A dictator wouldn’t do that.’

  ‘The point is, Sati doesn’t need Kali to complete the project. She’s capable of doing that on her own.’

  ‘Possibly, but is she capable of keeping the respect of her colleagues, now she has had love-sex with almost all of them?’

  ‘Why not? She has taught them the importance of open relationships, taught them that secrecy leads to tensions within the group. I have no doubt that Sati will make an admirable leader of this compound.’

  My snakes hiss and whistle and extend their slippery bodies even further, but it’s only posturing. There is no way we can attack while Ra is deliberating.

  ‘Enough,’ says Ra’s huge central head. ‘I have listened to all your points and am ready to make a decision. I have three options. 1) To reinstate Kali. 2) To leave Sati in charge. 3) To demolish the entire compound and its staff.’

  Exchanged looks of terror. Demolish the entire compound? Would he do that?

  Ra pauses before delivering his ultimatum.

  ‘I have decided on an interim measure. I cannot reinstate Kali. The regime change has already taken place and not even a powerhouse like Kali can win back the confidence of her workers overnight.’

  I open my mouth to protest but Durga shakes her head at me, warning me not to antagonise Ra, and I realise she is right.

  Although I am seething with anger inside, I must keep my cool.

  Ra continues to speak. ‘Sati will remain in charge for the time being and carry on with the plans for the renovations.’

  I am ready to explode. How can he make such a decision? He’s rewarding her for her appalling behaviour.

  Mercury slips to my side and grips my hand. Somehow I manage to contain my anger once more.

  ‘I do have some reservations, however, about Sati’s ability to inspire her colleagues to produce the
work required to meet the monthly targets,’ Ra goes on. ‘So I have decided that one of her sister-wives will remain here to work alongside her.’

  A pause for dramatic effect. I look at Durga but she looks straight ahead. She’s head of C98, in charge of the army of golden warriors. It would be demotion for her to be ordered to support Sati.

  ‘Jagadgauri, you have proved yourself a competent chief administrator in C50 and will, I believe, be able to counter-balance Sati’s more outlandish ideas here. C55 will not therefore be eliminated. For the moment. It’s up to Sati, Jagadgauri and the entire workforce to prove their worth. You are all on probation. If anything untoward happens to hamper the effectiveness of the new regime, I shall not hesitate to implement drastic measures.’

  Ra’s one eye appears to penetrate the screen.

  ‘Now for those of you who do not wish to remain here under Sati’s jurisdiction.’

  He addresses Durga first as the most senior person present. ‘You have shown your loyalty to your sister-wife, Kali, and now I suggest you return to C98 where you are proving a well-respected, efficient and fair leader of the sectoid and the army.’

  Durga nods, pleased with his decision.

  Next he addresses me. ‘Kali, I understand that you’ve lived here for most of your life. You will benefit from a change. I am sending you to Headculturedome to be retrained and afterwards, depending on how well you cope there, we will find you another post to suit your not unremarkable skills. Time for you to move on.’

  I am too choked to speak but I have no choice but to accept Ra’s decision.

  I try to keep calm, but I’m gutted to think of Sati taking my place as leader of this sectoid. Why should her outrageous antics be rewarded in this way? How could Ra come to such a decision?

  I feel sick at the thought of what will happen to the compound without me here to control it. Will Jaga be strong enough to curb Sati’s excesses? I very much doubt it.

  ‘Mercury will accompany Kali to Headculturedome,’ Ra continues. ‘He’s a clever young humanoid and will benefit from the opportunities offered at our training centre, often known as the university of Worldwideculture.’