by Sam Abraham
She smashed the lab windows lining the hall with her bare hands, and leapt through, ignoring the glass shards in her knuckles. As engineers in plastic suits evacuated, Li followed, fleeing in her white gown.
Cursing, Lao ordered his troops to cut off the entrance. Techs were pushed out of the way as troops flooded the hall. Li bolted, tipping over a medication cart and scattering pills and syringes across the floor. She ran the wrong way up an escalator, sprang up five meters to punch into the ceiling, grabbed a handhold, and swung feet first through another wall into an elevator shaft.
Shimmying up the cables to the end of the shaft, Li forced a set of elevator doors open and looked around at a crowded lobby. Mediadrones circulated the floor with holos of doctors’ heads, instructing patients to present their fingers for genome scans. Women with round bellies sat against walls, holding their abdomens and breathing to stay calm. At the far end, robotic kiosks straddled the mezzanine, scanning people in pens before they were free to exit.
Li heard shouts and knew the guards were close. She dashed into the lobby, pushing through the hoi polloi. She slid into one of the kiosks blocking the entrance, but bars slid around her and drones hovered in her face, scanning her. She let loose another wave of current, electric waves flowing from her, and the drones dropped to the floor with a clang. She bent the kiosk bars back and crawled through, only to see the security door of the hospital slam shut. Cursing, she grabbed a fallen drone and hurled it through a glass pane in the hospital façade.
Escaping through the broken glass, she ignored the people on the street pointing at her. A humming metropolis stretched as far as she could see. A highway curved around the edifice of the hospital. Neon skyscrapers and geodesic occuhives glowed in the evening. The mountain park in the middle of downtown was a dead giveaway.
It was Nanjing. Lao had been hiding in plain sight, in the middle of a Centrist city.
Overhead, a black mantiscraft descended and flared a spotlight, blinding her. Troops spilled from the hospital, and Li sprinted away from them, onto the highway, barely dodging cars. Leaping recklessly at a roadster, she came down on its roof and gripped its spoiler. Lights around her blurred as she heard sirens weaving closer.
Smashing the window, she slithered into the roadster’s cabin. She clawed the owner aside, disengaged the autodrive and slammed on the brakes, bracing herself as collision sensors forced rushing vehicles to swerve around them. After shoving the driver from the car, Li put her hands into the holowheel and accelerated, pushing the coupe faster until the needle edged into the red, until the great hilltop of Zhongshan Park disappeared into the smog behind her. She saw the spotlights of mantiscraft sweep over the road, and knew time was short.
But there, just ahead, was the wall of Nanjing metropolis. The ancient stone foundation built by the Ming Dynasty had been reinforced into a barrier separating the Centrist stronghold from the Ghost Lands beyond. The lights of the city blurred around her and the wall grew closer. She saw the gate arching over the highway. Li heard the crunch of metal as she careened between cars, closer and closer to the wall. A police drone landed suddenly and spread its wings to barricade the road, but she yanked the parking brake, sending the coupe drifting around the robot’s metal hull. Then her foot was on the gas again, wheels revving, and she flew through the gate, speeding from the city.
Behind her, mantiscraft hovered at the border. Whoever the criminal was who had fled, she was beyond Centrist jurisdiction. Her extradition back to the city was a problem for the River Syndicate.
Chapter 42 - Yi (益)
A Kind Heart
Captain Xie was watching Jia Anmei of the Three Self Church, emissary of the River Syndicate, tell Bible stories in the courtyard of the City of Heaven on Earth. Jade pilgrims surrounded her, eager to listen.
Those who had taken only the placebo as Communion were hungry again. In the days since the ceremony, Xie had heard new arrivals begin to wonder why they were not found worthy of the Lady in the Moon, why they had not been transformed into Jade. He had hoped that such doubt would fade, and had invited the community to sit on the lawn and meditate on the breath of God. But he had overheard pilgrims wonder on more than one occasion if the Lady in the Moon indeed favored some more than others. And if so, they wondered, was it not natural for castes to form, with only warriors permitted to wear white, so that all would know who the Lady truly loved.
That was when Xie knew that if Li did not return soon with more longshui, their beautiful Heaven on Earth would cannibalize itself with the same inequities, the same haves and have nots, that they were meant to transcend. The thought was too much to bear.
It was in this lost place that Xie realized the wisdom of myths. They could guide, and distract, and give hope while salvation was elusive. But who would do the telling? Xie knew who he favored. Anmei had grace, he decided, and a mystique that captivated him. And so Xie had asked her to tell tales that touched her heart, that the lost pilgrims might feel found, at least for a short time.
From the faces of the children who sat in front, listening to the story of Jesus’ life, Xie knew he was not the only one who found her voice intoxicating.
Anmei smiled at the young ones before her. “Sometimes children understand God most of all,” she continued. “When Jesus was twelve, He went to the great Temple of Jerusalem during the Passover festival, and astounded doctors and priests there with His wisdom.”
“Of course,” a voice in the crowd said, “He disobeyed his parents to do so.”
Anmei perked up. “Who said that?” she asked.
The man Han raised his hand timidly, and stroked the beard that had grown on his cheeks. “Luke, chapter two. They were angry with Him for staying in Jerusalem after they had left the festival.”
Anmei smiled. “But Christ was in His true Father’s house, where He belonged.”
Han considered this and said, “So filial duty may be sacrificed to follow the path of God?”
“Perhaps they are one and the same,” Anmei said. “For Christ they were. He did go back to Nazareth with His parents, obediently. It can be a call for us to reconcile our duties to family and spirit.”
Han bowed humbly. But Anmei singled him out in front of the masses. “You ask good questions,” Anmei said, taking an interest in the bearded pilgrim. “How did you come to the Jade?”
Han blushed, embarrassed by the attention. “I had a fight with my father,” he said. “I ran away from home, and he disowned me, and I didn’t care. I had to believe there was more to life than his money. When I found the Jade,” he said, exchanging looks with Xie, “I witnessed true revelation.”
At this, Xie saw an opportunity. Anmei seemed to care for these pilgrims, but they were not her people, and although he loved her stories, she refused to tell the myths of the Jade. Perhaps, he mused, it was because there were not many in the first place. So, he decided to continue the fable Li had begun, about how Chang’e taught Jesus the art of transformation.
“This reminds me of a story the Lady in the Moon once told me,” Xie said with a broad smile, “about her past life as Chang’e. She had been watching over Jesus since birth, so when She saw Him pick up the cross, She knew His final trial had come. And She saw that He was lonely, calling for others to follow Him. So, as He dragged His burden through the streets, She finally appeared before Him. He was surprised to meet His Elder Sister, for He had always assumed He had been an only child. But when She told Him how She had been guiding His hand, He felt the Holy Spirit within Her and knew She spoke the truth.” Xie paused, and found Anmei considering him skeptically, even as the crowd stood enrapt, hungry for more than food.
“So,” Xie continued, “Jesus asked Chang’e how She had come to sit at their Father’s Heavenly table. She replied that in drinking the Elixir of Life to keep it from the hands of a tyrant, She had saved the world with Her choice. And, as He allowed Himself to be nailed upon the cross, Chang’e asked Jesus in return how He had come to choose to save the world
. And Jesus said, ‘in my knowledge of Father, I saw that man was capable of loving his neighbor more. Now that the time has come, I gladly take the world’s sin upon me.’ And Chang’e, in Her wisdom, said, ‘truly, what woman or man who knew the breath of God would choose differently?’ Her Younger Brother understood, and said, ‘then you too are Christ.’ And in His moment of transformation, Jesus foresaw that in time they would meet other souls who knew the breath of God, and would choose to save the world again.”
Xie paused when he saw Shen at the back of the crowd. “Please, Sister Jia,” he said, “continue telling the story of Younger Brother Jesus Christ.” He weathered her piercing eyes and left the crowd, following Shen to a nearby tent.
“I heard you wanted to talk?” Shen said.
“Thank you for seeing me,” Xie said, considering Shen’s cunning eyes. “Jia Anmei said she gave you a gift.” And that if you did not share it, he thought, it would mean you were keeping secrets.
“You may as well know,” Shen said with a scowl. With his back to the crowd, Shen produced a disc, and enlarged a holo in the air. In it, a teenage girl in white broke a concrete wall with her bare hands. “Anmei pulled this from the longshui factory security system two weeks ago,” Shen said.
“So Lady Li went back to the Holy Lake?” Xie said. “I don’t understand. She told me she would come back here with more wafers so new converts could experience Communion.”
“What do you not understand?” Shen said as the image dissipated. “Either she lied to us, or her father convinced her otherwise. My drones have tracked her east, heading towards Shanghai.”
“She would not lie to me,” Xie said, looking outside at Jia Anmei, telling Bible stories to the crowd around her. “She would do many things, but not that.” He scratched around his optical implant, considering his options. “We must march, then, and rejoin the Lady wherever she is.”
“Are you crazy?” Shen said. “Hundreds have come to us starving, or sick. They’re in no shape to move. You feed the hungry with maker rice, and sing your rituals. I’ll go track Li down and bring her back.”
“Why would she listen to you?” Xie asked. “Look, I know that the original Communion – the real body of Chang’e – was medicine,” he said. “That it has transformed many of us, and could save us all if we had more. One maker won’t feed thousands of people for long. They’ll starve to death, unless Centrists return with reinforcements to wipe us out first. I don’t know why you want to let these people die, but it is not up to you. The people can choose to save themselves.”
“Let me get this straight,” Shen said disdainfully. “You’re going to tell people who have already journeyed thousands of kilometers that they must chase a mirage across the Ghost Lands?”
Xie looked out at Anmei. In the courtyard, she and Han were laughing with the crowd. “Not me. Anmei can ask the people to march,” Xie mused. “They seem to have taken to her.”
“I don’t trust her,” Shen said. “I don’t know why Sun locked her up, but at least the bandit’s loyalty can be bought. She’s hiding something, and that makes her dangerous.”
“Anmei cares only for the meek, and their faith in Jesus Christ,” Xie said. “When we find Lady Li, she will not be pleased if she learns that you have been questioning my authority. I don’t wish us to be enemies, Captain, but I know what’s best for our people.”
“Don’t be naïve,” Shen said with a sneer. “You have no idea what Li Aizhu is. I order you to stay here. If you leave, the Jade will splinter, and you will undo everything that I - that we have built.”
“Is your faith in the Jade Prophet so shaken?” Xie said, crossing himself. “Surely with God on our side, the Lady will appear before us like a pillar of fire. Our righteous nation will find her, and you cannot stop us.” And he left.
That evening, as the rusty sun dipped between the towers, Xie oversaw rice doled out to the people. Any who had taken Communion in the presence of the Lady, who were strong and subsisting entirely on sulphonated water, enforced the lines. He could not deny that the Lady Li had saved him, and that what he felt for her went beyond love. It was divine purpose. All he was, he owed to her. And before she had left, she had asked him to keep the Jade together. Not Shen or Sun. Him. And he was failing. Without longshui, not even the best stories would save the Jade.
Xie asked Anmei to stand with him in the courtyard, watching as Jade warriors spooned maker rice into stolen bowls and handed them to new pilgrims. He watched her greet each person who came for food as if they were a holy being, worthy of respect and reverence. Here was a little girl, and Anmei gave her a big smile and red ribbons to put in her hair. Later came a veteran with scars, and Anmei asked him about his bravery. And with the elders she was even better, her smile eking out a bit of light from their aged eyes. When the line was finally thinning, and the vats of rice were empty, there was a long moment where neither of them said anything.
“Why are you here?” Xie said, breaking the silence. “Please don’t misunderstand. You are welcome, but it seems to me that, as a minister of the River Syndicate, the last place you would want to be is among the people who purified your homeland.”
Anmei smiled and said, “For works, Captain Xie.”
“What do you mean?”
Anmei searched for the words. “Doing good is a way to grow close to God. Christ teaches us to heal the sick, protect the weak, and consider all people worthy of God’s love. Look around you, Captain. Do you think the word of God would reach so many without us feeding and helping them?”
Xie raised his eyebrow. “You think such deeds will secure your place in Heaven?”
“I know they would,” Anmei said, “had I not already been saved.” She looked at Xie as if seeing him for the first time. “Why do you ask?”
“The Jade must make a pilgrimage,” Xie said, “to the east. The Lady in the Moon has come out of her meditation, and must be reunited with her people.”
Anmei shook her head. “Captain, you know I don’t believe that this girl is Chang’e or Christ’s elder sister. Why do you insist on talking to me as if I’m born again Jade?”
“Because I want you to inspire them to go to her,” he said, staring at her with his obsidian eye, watching the amber glow of her heartbeat.
Anmei skewered him with a look. “If Li cares for her people, why won’t she come to them?”
Now Xie frowned and decided that if Anmei could convince the people to march, it was worth telling her the truth, or a least a small part. “Many of these pilgrims are weakened by hunger. This famine on our land is a sickness, but there is an experimental cure. Li went to Shanghai first to secure the treatment. Now the rest of us must meet her if we want to heal these people.”
“Why not just tell them that?”
Xie remembered the words Li had spoken before she left, and he put a hand on Anmei’s shoulder. “These are simple people. They need simple answers. If I tell them that we must travel, or Sun, or Shen, many may not go. They are tired of our voices. The Jade have heard you tell stories, and know you are here to help. You might help save thousands of lives.”
Anmei considered his words and thought back to the strange spidery holo she had seen when escaping Yang’s lab. Suddenly it all clicked. “This experimental cure, is it longshui? Is that what’s in the Communion wafers? Why these people seem so eager for them?”
Xie nodded. “The body of Chang’e transforms in ways the old Christian ritual can never match.”
“I will do this for you,” Anmei whispered as she drew close to Xie, “on two conditions. One, the bandit Sun must return to the Holy Lake, with any who want to go. Let him think it a reward. The Centrists need a scapegoat, and Sun corrupts the minds of these people. Suggest to him that after I escaped from his prison, I discovered a stash of money and Communion wafers.”
“How did you escape, by the way?”
Without batting an eye, Anmei said, “A follower of Li Aizhu broke me out.”
Xie sm
irked. “Her people do you favors and still you criticize us. What is your other condition?”
“After the people receive their medicine, you will help me to dismantle the heresy of Chang’e, and convince every Jade pilgrim that the Three Self Church is the only word of Christ.”
Seeing her true colors, Xie said, “When the people are healthy again, I will not stop you or anyone else from preaching to the Jade. You will tell your story and I will tell mine, and we will let the people decide which is true.”
“I might just save your soul yet, Captain,” Anmei said with a smug smirk. “Let us talk to your people.”
Mediadrones hovered around them the next day as Captain Xie led Anmei through the City of Heaven on Earth. Anmei insisted that the man Han join them as a Jade who wore the white, though he held no military rank. His lack of title, she said, made him a symbol of how anyone could find righteousness.
They walked along the riverbank for hours, through a bazaar clustered with new pilgrims, far from the central lawn. The way was riddled with tin, old bricks, melted plastic and the smells of bleach and wet pottery. They talked with men and women seated on baskets, smoking cigarettes and boiling tea, and Anmei listened to them yearn for the chance to bleach their clothes and declare their conversion in the presence of the Lady in the Moon. She exchanged stories with the new pilgrims, many of them farmers with nowhere to go. Anmei was fascinated by rumors that Chang’e had appeared at the shores of the Holy Lake, and had struck down a mountain.
And Anmei asked each new pilgrim whether, if given the choice, they would stay in the City of Heaven on Earth as is, or wander into the Ghost Lands again to find the Lady in the Moon.
As the sky darkened, they returned to Shen’s penthouse. The suite was filled with Jade officers leaning over holomaps. The bandit Sun was also there. “Leave us,” Shen said, when he saw that Xie and Anmei wished to speak.
“Please stay, Brother Sun,” Xie said as the bandit was gathering his robes. “This concerns you as well. In two days, we will announce to the people that they have a choice: stay here, or to come with us on a pilgrimage to the east, and reunite with the Jade Prophet.”
