Author’s Note: It is obvious at this point that I have changed the original story a lot more than I have let on. This is free to read though, so I owe no explanation ;)
I will say, for one sectional alteration- many things have been made more gay than they were before. There were some gay things before, but now there are more gay things! I loved the gays who were in my life with my whole heart. I also learned recently and in surprise that I am very LUCKY to be the Mother of a Bisexual Princess. She has given me feedback on some of the story changes. *I wrote this with her express permission.*
With that said, most of the overall book is quite platonic so we never escalate past PG-13 (maybe except the violence/gore)
Crip attuned his lens and snapped the perfect picture. He set the camera into its case, handing the picture over to the lovely couple. Smiling, they thanked him and followed the path through the gate. In truth, much of his freelance beyond his work was an attempt to transmute pain. The art of alchemy included bringing joy to others through any and every talent available to him.
Stepping out from the building’s shade, he wandered down the meadow, avoiding the stone path. He noticed a small tree that led to a lake with pearl colored water. Aside the tree was a lovely woman. It only took him a few moments to remember who she was.“...It’s you!”
Miss Mayor smiled at him. He never knew when she would turn up, and sometimes their family had gone years without seeing the deity. She turned away many questions they had asked. Miss Mayor focused on giving them only what they needed to accomplish their lives, even though Crip KNEW Miss Mayor was fully aware of his life beyond this. Miss Mayor refused to ever say a word! The only answers were about their individual lives directly, and even then hardly farther ahead than a year. He was fascinated by the deity, definitely, but frustrated by the deity’s utter persistence to never let them in on anything. To never let them know, why? He already knew approaching her, no answers would be given.
“How are you?” Miss Mayor asked.
Crip shrugged, but the boyish grin remained plastered on his lips, “How’d you find me here?”
“How do you know I was looking for you?”
“I didn’t,” Crip replied, his initial awe over the years replaced with irritation at the access the deity had- but the utter lack of transparency about life beyond that was elusively deadbolted from him.
Miss Mayor fiddled with her golden leaves. “You came here to be freed from all the pain and torment, Crip,” Miss Mayor said softly, “Yet you know here was once just as bad as there.” She raised her arm as she spoke.
He lifted a hand and caught her wrist. “What do you want me to do with your riddle? Respectfully” Crip inquired plainly. He didn’t like her joking with her supernatural knowledge. It irritated what he was unable to control- even though that was likely the lesson in itself. That also wasn’t why she was here, because she always had concrete initiatives to give when she did appear.
He did not expect to hear how concrete this initiative was. “Just a few weeks ago when the Governor and I returned from a meeting, there was an onslaught. The bodies were flat against the ground arranged like petals of a flower, their organs missing. We were able to deliver emergency services and transplants to most of the victims. For the first time in centuries, some of the victims did not make it. As the illusion between life and death, I was their conduit to the next realm. Something I never wanted to be again.”
Crip was lost for words. Helplessness was the last thing he wanted to hear from one who knew the Omnipotent, or was (not that she would ever say.) The fact that the helplessness he battled to kill in himself was present in Miss Mayor only crushed his small flicker of hope within even more. “Miss Mayor….I’m sorry..”
Halting briefly, her demeanor calmed, and she aligned herself, “We need to investigate who would do this. I haven’t been able to locate the source, though there have been breaches beyond my abilities to see on Gliese. Perhaps even some interplanetary breaches. I wanted to inform you of this so you can share with your family, and keep a lookout.”
Didn’t she know his very existence and the losses he had suffered already had him at his breaking point? He didn’t even know mentally if he could carry his own reality much longer some days. Crip stared at the grass, looking like a long faced child. She was essentially confirming that their arrival had brought trouble, it felt like. “Why me? Why are you telling me first?” Crip asked.
Miss Mayor looked directly into his eyes, “Because I trust you, Crip. Your only weakness is your failure to trust in yourself. Your weakness is not what you do not know.”
He lifted his head, raising his courage to say a lot more- but she was already gone. “Figures..” Crip sighed.
************************
On the spongy couch in a dirty plaid sweater and western jeans, Paka stroked his neck. They had been working in construction on a hospital in place of the old grocery store that was bulldozed earlier. The materials were beyond anything he had worked with on Cyber. It enthused Paka every day, being both a building inspector and constructor. He was right in the realm of his passion and he was filled with limitless inspiration to contribute to the beautification of their city.
A bang on his door made him jump up. He peered out the top window and saw Crip talking casually with the crowd, microphones and papers being shoved in Crip’s face, and other reporters waiting impatiently at their doorstep. “I never know what that boy is going to do next..” Paka asked gruffly to himself.
“He tries to get Miss Mayor to visit through stunts,” Trixie commented with annoyance. “You know why I am not summoning Miss Mayor through any action? The same reason I don’t go looking to meet Carris again. I’m not an idiot!!”
A stray reporter aimed his camera lenses up at them through their window, drawing near. Neither had any idea that the situation Crip was discussing was much more serious than his usual antics. “You know,” Trixie started, “We should go out with our time off and enjoy some of the experiences of this planet,” she said to Paka. She knew Paka loved freestyle exploration but they had not experienced a structured one yet.
“Well I actually had an idea about that too,” Paka said, “In fact I got tickets for all of us. Everything at the Grand Hotel is covered for one week, it’s one a unique floating vehicle too! One as wide as department stores that doesn’t use the hauling pipes, it floats over the oceans and plains and people can just walk around in it. That would be a new experience for us,” The childlike anticipation in her grandfather’s eyes made her proud that they thought so similarly in some ways.
“Let's do it! We can take Crip’s mind off of chasing illusions,” Trixie said enthusiastically.
Taking hold of the tickets and brochure he brought home, she read over the print. “Next week,” she read, “To Wami Island..cool.” Paka smiled a little more.
There was an awkward silence as they glanced out the window and waited for the reporters to leave. Sometimes reporters had shown up to document their experiences as recipients of hate crimes, and Trixie and Paka felt frustrated when they were framed that way. They wanted to be IN their lives, moment to moment- in the present and feeling a part of everyone else around them. They didn’t want to have to feel like they were some kind of disease, or difference. They knew they were doing everything right, following all of the laws, and living correctly. They felt justifiably fierce about defending their freedom to experience their lives as they pleased. Crip had a different attitude, and took the pressure as an opportunity to try to strike a visit with Miss Mayor, but that seldom went his way. All three could not control how they had been born, who they were, or how they were perceived- they only had control of their day to day actions. “I am sure when Crip comes inside he will be happy to hear the plan. Going on a giant specialty vehicle will get him some of that attention he adores, maybe Miss Mayor will visit,” Paka suggested.
“Miss Mayor only visits to instruct. That is the last place he will see her. He is getting his voice out there right now though! That should hold his hopes up for a while, so he will be willing to go explore still,” Trixie replied, determined.
When they both looked back the reporters were still there, which was unusual as the visits had been relatively quick before. Crip’s expressions were not the confident limitless sky they were so accustomed to. He looked frightened. It was something they had not seen on his face for a long time.