Gerald held up the ball, its storm surface reflecting in his eyes. “That’s it. That’s the secret. Absolute power cannot corrupt when it is used selflessly.”
His copy tapped his lips. “An interesting theory. But what exactly will you change?”
Gerald thought for a moment. “Kharma. The problem is Kharma.”
“Kharma is order. Would you remove order from existence?”
“Yes. You said it yourself, each person is a part of you. As they are born and reborn, they gain experience, they mature, and by doing so, you grow and you mature. But Kharma is actually getting in the way of that that process.”
“I don’t understand.”
Gerald lifted up his hand and there appeared a line of beautiful noble women, stretching out into the distance, ending with Cha’Rolette. “Look at Cha’Rolette. Here I can see before me her past life as Countessa De’Lacourd, then the life before that, and the life before that. For hundreds of lifetimes she has been a wealthy aristocrat. And during those lifetimes she learned nothing she hadn’t learned before. She just kept living the same life over and over again, without ever truly experiencing something new.
“Until this life,” his copy observed, rubbing the wound on his chest.
“Exactly. Look at her. She has grown and matured more in this life than in the thousand before it, because something went wrong. Kharma was damaged, and she was born with a twin, and because of that she spent time living as an orphan. That gave her a new perspective, a new experience, and she grew from it.”
“Interesting.”
More lines of women appeared, ending in Ilrica, Trahzi, Zurra, and Kalia. “And look at Ilrica. She lived the life of an honorable warrior over and over again, but her loyalty was blind. She never learned to question orders, even when they were evil. But this time something was different. One of her parents was of a different race, and she was treated as an outsider. That experience helped her grow, and she grew more as a person that she would have without it. She learned how to do what is right, even if it means defying your own people. The same goes for Trahzi. Her race hadn’t progressed in millennia, but look how far she has come after striking out on her own. She even gained the ability to self-sacrifice. She has become a noble spirit, and it never would have happened if things hadn’t gone differently for her this time. Zurra, too. She was a brilliant professor, but she was a shut-in, distrusting of people, and never really connecting with anybody or making any friends. Look how different her life turned out. And Kalia. A cold-hearted judge, over and over again. They called her the hammer, meteing out punishment, but unable to understand the need for mercy or compassion. Now, she understands both.”
Gerald turned to the universe. “Kharma may be order, but it has not created justice. Instead it has unbalanced the whole of creation. The rich are reborn as the rich, and never learn empathy, the poor are reborn as the poor, and never learn generosity. The criminals are reborn into criminal families, and never lean from their mistakes. Liars do not learn honesty, the lazy do not learn to work, the lustful do not learn self-control, the overburdened do not learn to relax, the shy do not learn to open up. You have placed all souls onto an eternal treadmill, and cursed them to make the same mistakes over and over.”
“That’s very acerbic, but what would you do in its place?”
“Mix it up, diversify. Make it so that a person’s station in life is no longer tied to their past incarnations. Let them suffer only for their own mistakes, not the mistakes from a past life.”
“You’re talking about pain. Pain is a punishment. Would you wish random punishment upon the world? In place of Kharma, shall we randomly punish one soul with poverty and illness, and randomly reward another with health and affluence? What you describe is chaos. And you dare to call me cruel.”
“But that is what you don’t understand...”
“ME?!” the other Gerald scoffed. “You stand before the sum total of all life and tell it there is something it does not understand? Does your hubris know no bounds?”
“Just listen. You are only using pain as a punishment, only comprehending it as a punishment. But it isn’t.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No, not if it is the right kind of pain. The right kind can be a blessing. It can teach us empathy, help us connect with others, help us to see ourselves in others. Help out to reach out and try harder. Help us to be humble. Pain can be tailored in order to help a soul grow, like it has for these girls. So, why do you just assume it must be random? That is such a limited vision.”
“That’s a cheeky thing to say to the universe.”
“Let everyone’s station in life be determined by what that soul needs to learn in order to grow. Determine what they lack, and let them be reborn in a place where they will learn it.”
His mirror pondered. “What you suggest is within the power you have collected. But you realize that by making this change, you’ll be condemning yourself. You’ll still have a hundred thousand lifetimes of misery ahead of you. If you simply end all of existence right now, then you won’t have to suffer for the sins of the ArchTyrant.”
Gerald’s hands trembled as he held the sphere. “But if I did that, I would be killing everyone I care about, just to escape my own agony. Cha’Rolette and Ilrica, Trahzi and Zurra. Kalia... even Lyssandra. I can’t do that to them... I won’t do that to them.”
“You would bear a hundred thousand lifetimes of torture— suffer for the crimes of another? Why would you do that?”
Gerald looked up, tears gathering in his eyes. “Because I love them.”
The other Gerald threw his head back and laughed. “You have beaten me again. I don’t know if I should smack you or hug you.”
“Are those the only choices?”
“So, make it official, then.”
Gerald held up Ragnarok above his head. A seam appeared along one edge, and he flexed it. “Kharma will be no longer transfer from life to life. Placement of souls will be determined by what the soul needs to grow and mature, for everyone who lives and will ever live... except for myself.”
Ragnarok spilt open and the energy flowed out, consuming everything in perfect whiteness.
When the light dissipated, Gerald found himself again standing in the heart of Ragnarok, with Trahzi and Lyssandra, as if nothing had changed.
Now free from the ArchTyrant’s pollution, the machine bonded with him completely. He felt the machine’s kindly consciousness wrap around him. It was like being bathed in pure joy.
The valley around them returned to the pristine mountain beauty it had been before.
Gerald reached out his hands. All six of his rings glowed brightly. He could feel his mind stretch outwards from his body into every particle of the machine. He could see out of every optic device, hear out of every auditory system. He could feel the damage to the machine already beginning to heal itself. He communed with its heart and found a gentle feminine spirit within. Although it was only a few seconds to the outside world, inside the two of them spent a lifetime getting to know one another.
Effortlessly he placed his will into every remaining weapon and powered them down. On every screen, on every channel, his face appeared.
“The battle is over,” he announced happily. “I have taken control of Ragnarok, and I am ending this attack. Ragnarok will never be used to hurt anyone ever again.”
Cheers rose up from everywhere. The entire system, the entire Alliance cried out in one unified, superlative moment of joy and relief.
Chapter Forty-Two
If you were on your death bed right now, what would be the most important things to you?
Make them a priority now.
-Attributed to Anastazi, the Auburn, Y17.05-K848pp
A beam of light extended down from Ragnarok, as it hung in the sky over the Exeter Academy quad. It was so massive that even at this distance, it filled up a full two-thirds of the horizon. Frightened students scattered as Gerald descended to the group waiting there
for him.
“Gerald! I’m so glad you’re okay,” Kalia gushed, throwing herself about his neck.
“And I am glad to see you guys again,” he said, hugging her back.
Oh Gerald, Cha’Rolette squealed, wrapping her arms and ta’atu around him. You are terrible, you know? Making me worry about you like that.
“I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”
You most certainly will.
Ilrica walked up and patted Gerald on the shoulder. “You did real good. Keep this up and one day you might actually impress me.”
“It’s a goal to strive for.”
“Geri!” Zurra yelled, jumping up on his shoulders and kissing his head. “You were awesome up there. Even better than Amazing All-Powerful Super-Muscly Manly Man!”
“Please don’t say that out loud.”
Kalia looked up, nervous about the giant spider-shaped ship overhead. “Is it really over?”
“Yes,” Gerald assured her. “You are safe now.” He looked them over lovingly, and hugged them even closer. “All of you.”
“Trahzi, you’re all right?” they yelled happily.
“Yes, I am fine,” she said, smiling sweetly.
“But what happened to the ArchTyrant?” Ilrica asked as she looked up at Ragnarok. “He broadcast his face everywhere during the fight.”
Trahzi held out the jar with a brain in it. “He’s right here. He wanted a new body, and he got one.”
Cha’Rolette held up her hand, her ta’atu glowing. Oh, he’s in there all right, and he is really really angry.
She pulled her hand away. My, such language.
“Was that your plan all along?” Kalia asked, still holding him tightly.
Gerald blinked. “Plan? I didn’t have a plan. Once I held Ragnarok, somehow I just knew that I could pull Trahzi back out of the machine to help me, but I had no idea she’d have the jar with her.”
Ilrica furrowed her brow. “So, Trahzi, how the trell did you know to bring that brain in there with you?”
Trahzi tilted her head. “Gerald and I have a special bond. If you shared the same connection with him that I have, you would have known as well.”
All the girls stared at her. “Seriously?”
Trahzi cracked a little smile.
“Oh, she’s putting one over on us,” Kaila laughed.
“She was kidding?” Zurra asked, confused.
“And you said I do not have a sense of humor,” Trahzi giggled.
“You’re full of trakk, Trahzi. Tell us the real reason,” Ilrica said.
“That is the reason,” she teased. “I can sense Gerald’s heart. It is sad that you cannot. I kind of feel bad for the rest of you.”
Cha’Rolette scoffed. Oh please. I’m the telepath here, not you.
Tanks walked up to the edge of the quad, crushing the trees. Hundreds of soldiers took aim, their markerlights falling on Gerald.
“Stop right there!” the commander shouted.
“We weren’t moving,” Gerald shouted back.
The commander paused for a second. “Yes, well... don’t start moving!”
“Okay.”
“We are here to place this man under arrest,” Daan Nathers said as he stepped forward.
“Arrested?” Kalia yelled. “He just saved the Alliance from the ArchTyrant.”
“He is the ArchTyrant.”
“Well, he is but not really. It’s kind of complicated.”
The soldiers inched their way closer. “It’s his fault Ragnarok was activated in the first place. You can’t protect him this time, Kalia.”
She hugged Gerald tighter. “The krell I can’t!”
As Nathers approached, Lyssandra descended down the beam of light and landed on the grass. The girls braced themselves for an attack, but it never came.
“I would not attempt to touch Gerald were I you,” Lyssandra warned.
Nathers reached out and was thrown back. He collided with a blue gridded wall, formerly invisible, knocking him back to the ground.
“Wha... what was that?” he groaned, leaning up on his elbows.
“...And why isn’t the pirate attacking us?” Kalia asked.
“I’m confused,” Zurra whined.
“He and the machine have fully fused,” Lyssandra explained. “It is now basically an extension of his own body.”
“All the more reason to have him thrown in jail,” Nathers barked as he rose painfully to his feet.
Lyssandra chuckled. “And what would that accomplish? He can control it just as well from inside a jail cell as he could outside it.”
Gerald stepped forward, trying to defuse the situation. “Look, I know it’s scary. Heck, I’m the one who holds it and it scares me. But I’ve figured out how to hold onto this power without letting it corrupt me. I promise you, I will never use Ragnarok for ill.”
“How can we trust that?” Nathers snapped.
Gerald opened his mouth, but then closed it again. “Huh. I guess I don’t have a good answer for that. I suppose there’s nothing I can do to prove it to you beyond a shadow of a doubt. You’ll just have to choose to trust me.”
The commander stepped forward and leaned in towards Nathers. “We can take her, at least,” he said, motioning to Lyssandra.
“I won’t allow that either,” Gerald said.
“Why? Alliance law says that...”
“Without her help, there wouldn’t even be an Alliance right now, nor Alliance laws to enforce.” Gerald turned to Lyssandra and looked at her warmly. “I’d say she’s earned a little peace.”
Cha’Rolette’s ta’atu flexed anxiously. But Gerald, she’s the enemy.
“Not anymore.”
“How can you be sure?” Ilrica asked.
“Because... actually, you know what? It’s easier just to show you.”
Gerald lifted his hand, and inside all of their minds, they saw everything that happened inside Ragnarok.
“Whoa, what was that?” Ilrica asked, trying to stay on her feet.
“That was no memory download,” Trahzi said.
“It totally bypassed my barriers,” Kalia realized.
“It’s kind of hard to explain. Basically Nikki allows me to...”
Nikki? Who’s Nikki?
“I thought I was Nikki,” Kalia said.
“Nikki is the name of the machine.”
You named her Nikki?
“No, I didn’t. That’s actually her name.”
“You name everything Nikki,” Trahzi said.
“I know, right? I’ve just always liked the name, but I think it’s more than that. I think it’s part of the connection we share, some half-remembered memory from my last life.”
Zurra gasped with realization. “That’s it! That’s why you like spiders, too.”
“Probably.”
Kalia stuck out her tongue. “You like spiders?”
“Yes, he’s always been fascinated by them,” Trahzi confirmed.
Yuck.
“Don’t say that, you’ll hurt Nikki’s feelings. She’s very tender, you know?”
Gerald waved Lyssandra over. Timidly, she stepped closer and joined the group. The others went along with it reluctantly.
Gone one day and already he’s picked up another one, Cha’Rolette grumbled.
Some of the soldiers inched even closer, weapons ready.
“Let’s not have any more shooting, today, okay?” Gerald snapped his fingers and their weapons turned to dust in their hands. The walking tanks disintegrated into nothing, their startled pilots falling on their rumps with a thud.
Gerald breathed a sigh of relief and put his arms around the girls. “Come on, ladies, it’s been a long day. I think I owe each of you a rackatoah sundae.”
As the soldiers looked on in amazement, the group walked away as if it were nothing at all.
I’ve heard of those. Do they have them here?
“If they don’t, I’ll make some.”
“You can do that now?”
/>
“If he can make sweets out of thin air, we’re all in big trouble,” Kalia warned.
“I haven’t had sugar in a thousand cycles,” Lyssandra recalled.
“Then you are in for a real treat,” Gerald winked.
“I’m going to get sooo fat,” Zurra worried.
“Perhaps my sundae can be a half portion,” Trahzi suggested.
“Oh, you are just leaving yourself open for a fat joke,” Ilrica laughed.
“Resist the urge,” Gerald encouraged.
Ilrica dropped to her knees and pretended to struggle, holding up her hand dramatically. “Can’t... resist... urge... too... strong...”
The girls laughed. Even Lyssandra managed to crack a smile.
As they walked away from the shocked soldiers, Nathers grabbed the commander and pulled him in close, steam spitting out of his skull. “Look, I told you guys to arrest him, and I mean it. Go arrest him.”
The commander looked up at the continent-sized spider-shaped body of Nikki floating up above them, then down at the dust in his hands.
“How?” the commander asked.
* * *
When Ilrica opened the door to her hotel room, she was surprised to find that she had guests.
“Katalumbrah,” Ullok greeted respectfully. Accalia and the huntresses echoed the sentiment.
Ilrica looked around. “Am I in the right room?”
“Yes, you most certainly are,” Ullok said. “The Goddess Faelan visited me personally this morning. I come to you with important news from her.”
Ilrica sat down, wrapping her tail around her legs. “O-okay.”
“I am to induct you into the Ulric clan.”
Ilrica was stunned. “Seriously?”
“Yes, she has declared your blood cleansed. You are to become a full huntress, an equal at the bonfire circle.”
Ilrica couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She grew so excited she didn’t know whether to scream or run out of the room. “That’s amazing. It’s... just all so sudden. I don’t know what to say.”
Accalia stepped forward. “I know it is sudden, but many things have changed. The reemergence of Ragnarok has shifted the balance of power, and Faelan wants to make sure that it lands on our side.”
Kharmic Rebound Page 82
