prone to injury, letting me run faster, swim stronger, jump higher. I have Blocking marks on strategic places on my body, the underside of my arms for example, that mean I can defend myself even if I’m naked, even against knives. As for my inner Body Knowledge, I have tiny marks on my ears to enhance my hearing, ones on my retina to give me better than 20/20 vision, and even - ‘
He showed her the index finger on his left hand. Elra saw a tiny tattoo on the tip’s pad, seemingly under the skin. ‘...a mark which allows me to sense the chemical content of something by touch. That last one hurt the most to receive, incidentally. They had to peel back the skin and scribe it directly near the main finger nerve.’
‘So... how do you get marks? Like you do tattoos?’
‘The beauty of marks is that their form alone is all you need. You could draw them on if you want to, and people do, in emergencies. If you have them tattooed on, that’s better, because there’s a deeper, more permanent connection. The best way is to have them scribed on by one of the Wise who specializes in Change Knowledge. For some marks, especially inner Body Knowledge ones, that’s the only way you can get them.’
Elra asked the question that had been bugging her from the start. ‘So why doesn’t everyone have these marks?’
Kai grimaced. ‘You know what? They could, if they wanted to.’
‘So why the hell don’t they?’ Elra asked.
‘Right. So as I was saying, you’re going to have to ask someone wiser than me about the specifics. But here’s a general overview. What we call Knowledge – with a capital K, as it were – is like many other types of human knowledge: it’s as old as humanity itself. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of years old, way back when humans shared the planet with Neanderthals. Hell, it could be older than that, for all I know. For example, some of the world’s oldest cave paintings are actually Knowledge marks. Many of what archaeologists call ‘geometric’ shapes are actually early forms of Protection marks, or rudimentary Fire marks of some description, as well as lots of other types we don’t understand nowadays. Information that’s slipped the collective human consciousness, rather like ancient writing systems we’ve yet to decipher, like Linear B.’
Elra was amazed.
‘Like humans themselves, Knowledge spread worldwide over the coming millennia. We really don’t know what happened during this time, or at least it isn’t well-known, or the histories are only known locally. What we’re sure of is that different strands of it arose, persisted for a while, then died out, just like other trends and styles in human culture.’
Elra nodded.
‘When people invented writing however, things get a bit clearer. In a lot of early societies, Knowledge was a key part of day-to-day life. There wasn’t a separation between it and everything else. Over time, though, we see a trend emerging. The rulers of different civilizations – the kings, chieftains, warlords, aristocrats or whatever – started trying to control Knowledge, or stop the common people from using it completely. So it gets turned into this mystical power only the elites can control. It’s exactly the same with every other source of power: like scientific knowledge, religion and money. The rich want to control it. So we had the Pharaohs of Egypt using Knowledge marks to protect their tombs, and early Persian kings using it to appear god-like to their people.
‘Wait... Egyptian hieroglyphs are Knowledge marks?’
‘Some of them, yeah.’ Kai explained casually. The common people didn’t know hieroglyphs. It was just the priests and the royalty. They understood its power.’
‘Wow.’
‘Lots of ancient forms of writing contain them. Some early Chinese symbols are Knowledge marks, as are a lot of early Middle Eastern scripts. Runes, too. And pictograms from all over the world, from Native America to Central Africa to Australia.’
‘That... I had no idea.’
‘Anyway, because in a lot of societies Knowledge was only known by such a small number of people, it started getting sidelined, lost and even banned. Rulers with Knowledge took the secret to their grave, others who practiced it were labeled heretics by their successors, groups with Knowledge were decried as cults... you get the picture. In Europe, the Greeks and the Romans were particularly suppressive of it, and only allowed it to exist as certain ‘mystery’ cults, and as soon as Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire it was vigorously stamped out. Having said that, in the more far flung parts of the world like North America, the Arctic circle, Central Asia, Australia and parts of Africa, Knowledge was still fairly widespread at this time.’
‘What happened then?’
‘History happened. The Europeans conquered the rest of the world and brought their ignorance and fear of Knowledge with them. In the places they colonized, ancient Knowledge traditions were seen as nothing but backward local beliefs, and were quickly replaced by Christianity. Meanwhile, back home, they saw Knowledge as “magic”, or “witchcraft”, or at worst, “devil worship”. Islam was no better during its spread throughout Asia and North Africa. Same with every other major world religion, really. Which is funny.’
‘Why?’
‘Because in their own way they’re all a little bit influenced by Knowledge. The idea that certain words or numbers contain power, for example; Judaism is one of the best examples of that. Or take Islam, which believes pictorial representations of its narrative are incredibly potent, to the point of being forbidden. Or take stories of miracles and saints, heroes and incredible feats.’
‘Like... Moses and the Red Sea?’
‘Exactly. That’s a key story in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He probably just had really powerful Change Knowledge.’
‘How about nowadays? How many people have Knowledge now?’
Kai sighed. ‘It’s hard to say exactly. Remember, there are lots of different types and different forms of Knowledge. Hell, even the word ‘Knowledge’ is just the name English speakers gave it, around the time of the Renaissance. Think of it less like one big worldwide club, and more like a... tradition – or group of traditions – ancient and secret, that underlies every human society. We’re just re-connecting everyone who knows about it.’
‘Because, for most of history, different groups with Knowledge wouldn’t even have been in contact with each other, right?’ Elra posited.
‘Right. And although the world has become a much smaller place over the past fifty years, allowing contact to be made, there’s still no way to put a number on it. After all, lots of people could be practicing Knowledge and they don’t even know it. At the other end of the spectrum there may be isolated Amazon tribes, yet to be contacted by anyone, whose entire society is based around it. But as it stands, we know of at least one loosely-tied group with Knowledge in every country. Some countries have many, who interact with the others and the worldwide community to varying degrees. There are whole towns in the United States whose inhabitants have Knowledge for example; but in other countries, like North Korea or Saudi Arabia, they’re in hiding and haven’t been heard from for quite a while.’
'How do you know all this? I mean, how can you be sure that's what happened?'
'Lots of ways. Young children in communities with Knowledge are told most of this in the form of bedtime stories, at least in the Western world. But that's not all: over the centuries, from the Renaissance onward, there has been a long tradition of archaeologists, historians and interested amateurs who studied the history of Knowledge. My father dabbled in it a bit, so my mother tells me. Oh, and then there are certain Wise who can verify it.'
'How?'
'Very good question: I have no idea. They're full of mysteries, are the Wise. You'll see for yourself soon enough.' He chuckled.
It was all so incredible, so impossible to believe. The depths of human history collided with forces beyond fantasy in Elra's mind. She'd only thought of these things in the bleakest moments of her life, when even comforting friends and her resolute stoicism had failed her. Half-remembered images from school history le
ssons of distant pyramids, the Call to Prayer sounding from minarets at sunset, the snowy wilds of old Europe, provided escapism in those moments. Dreams of being able to go back in time, to experience something profoundly different, but just as real, from the drudgery surrounding her. And sometimes, yes, Elra admitted, she dreamed of fantasies. No handsome princes or noble knights for her, though; her fantasies were of different worlds and better lives.
And now she was presented with both. A tangible link to the past, and a mystery beyond anything she could have rationally imagined. Doubts still crept into Elra's mind, of course: but each one was expunged by the memory of an arc of electricity jumping between Kai’s hands. She was exhausted.
For the rest of the journey she slept, or perhaps just passed out, Kai wasn't sure which.
Thirteen
After passing through an ever-densifying cityscape, full of brick buildings, overhead gantries and tall office blocks, the train arrived into Euston Station. The lack of movement pulled Elra from her sleep.
'We're here,' Kai announced.
They disembarked and made their way to the station hall. It was packed with people of all kinds, most of them standing in a large mass in the middle of the space, all staring up at the departure boards with exactly the same facial expression.
Kai weaved through the
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