Ice Trilogy (33 page)

In the Country of Order a new meeting of meat machines took place. This time they gathered not to listen to the speeches of the leader and prepare themselves to conquer nearby countries. Instead, the meat machines put on a competition of strong, agile bodies. The meat machines with the strongest and most agile bodies from different countries came to the main city of the Country of Order to compete with one another. To show strength and agility, they ran, jumped in length and height, threw pieces of iron, lifted heavy objects, swam, chased leather balloons with their feet, wrestled, fought with iron rods, beat on one another with leather gloves, spat metal at sheets of paper with iron pipes. This took place in view of tens of thousands of simple meat machines, who were not as strong and agile. They followed the doings of the strong meat machines and applauded them joyfully. The strong bodies elicited excitement and envy in them.

The meat machine that knew how to create shadows on white was also at this gathering. With her group of assistants she followed the competition of strong and agile meat machines through iron boxes in which shadows on white added up. Then the whole country was supposed to see these shadows. And the Brotherhood again made use of this. We penetrated the crowd of meat machines that followed the competition and
looked through
it. In the course of twelve days we found eighty-seven brothers and one hundred and one sisters.

Once again Fer and I
replenished
our strength in the mountains.

We were bathed in fresh milk, wrapped in cloth dipped in mountain herbs, and placed in baskets hung between trees for a long time. Rocked by the mountain wind, we slept,
observing
the hearts of the newly acquired. This gave us joy and calmed us.

The brothers started preparations for yet another search. But something
unexpected
happened. The ruler of the Country of Ice began the
energetic
destruction of high-placed meat machines. He did this in order to retain his power. Thousands of strong meat machines, who had been ruling over and directing millions of simple meat machines, were seized and locked up in stone caves. The Brotherhood
was unable
to elude this. We weren’t able to
understand
everything in the world of meat machines. We
understood
each meat machine. But the crowd of meat machines was
not entirely
transparent to us. Its drone
suppressed
our hearts. And we didn’t
see
everything in a crowd. For this reason we weren’t able to warn
ours
in time. And one day brothers Ig, Zchap, and Shoror were seized and placed in a cellar. The meat machines locked them in. They began to beat the brothers and torture their bodies. Confessions were demanded from them for things they had not done. The Brotherhood could not help them. And the meat machines murdered our brothers.

We
saw
the Light leaving their hearts.

Across the entire Country of Ice, experienced and powerful meat machines were seized and locked up. Their bodies were tortured and they were forced to confess to things they had not done. Some of them did not confess. And they died from torture. Others confessed. They were either murdered or taken off to a cold region far from the cities. There they were forced to cut down trees and dig up the earth, and at night they were locked in woodsheds. They were fed very meagerly. The meat machines died quickly in this cold region.

In place of the destroyed meat machines, the ruler of the Country of Ice appointed other meat machines, younger and less experienced. They satisfied the ruler. The Brotherhood
understood
that in a few years these meat machines would suffer the same fate — they would be seized and destroyed. And this would continue as long as the ruler was alive.

We
understood
that in the Country of Ice it was
dangerous
to penetrate the echelons of power. As long as
this
ruler was alive, the risk of losing brothers was too great. As soon as he died and another took his place, the Brotherhood would again strive to infiltrate the leadership of the country. For this reason the Brotherhood made an important decision: the brothers and sisters occupying high positions in the leadership of this country must leave it as soon as possible.

A month later, thirty-eight brothers and eight sisters left the Country of Ice and made their way to the Country of Order. Three brothers perished at the hands of the border guards during the move
.
A large number of the brothers and sisters who arrived remained in the Country of Order. The rest were sent to two small northern countries. There the Brotherhood acquired a few stone caves. The brothers and sisters arriving from the Country of Ice began living in them. They began to prepare for the possibility of a search in these countries, where many blue-eyed, blond-haired meat machines lived.

Fer and I had finally recovered our strength.

And were ready for a new search.

But a war began between the meat machines. We
knew
about this a long time ago. Its beginning, however, like much in the world of meat machines, happened rapidly and unpredictably. The Brotherhood
expected
a big war between the countries of Order and Ice. But a small war began in a different place. The ruler of the Country of Order commanded his meat machines to attack a small country to the east. The meat machines of the Country of Order quickly occupied half the country. The other half was occupied by meat machines of the Country of Ice. Then the ruler of the Country of Order sent his meat machines into other bordering countries. The meat machines of the Country of Order seethed with desire to kill in the name of Order. For this they used iron machines and iron pipes, which spat pieces of hot metal. These pieces hit the bodies of meat machines and killed them. A country was thought to be strong if it had many meat machines, iron machines, and iron pipes that could spit hot metal. The Country of Order had a lot of them.

The Brotherhood was prepared for the war.

We began the search among those meat machines who were preparing to fight. They gathered in even rows, moved around learning how to work with the iron pipes that spat hot metal. The Brotherhood began to use Fer and me again. Two boxes were prepared for us, resembling the boxes in which meat machines put their clothes when they moved from town to town. Before the search Fer and I would take off our clothes, lie down in these boxes, and press our legs to our chests. The boxes were closed. And our brothers took them to the place where the meat machines clustered. By that time Fer and I had become very thin by the standards of meat machines. We ate very rarely. We drank water only every three days. Our bodies became very light, and our legs and arms thin. A delicate wrinkled skin stretched over our bodies. We could not be shown to meat machines — they would have been scared and put on guard. Even in comparison to very old meat machines we looked unusual. Our faces resembled skulls. The hair on our heads had become completely white.

Therefore we could
look through
meat machines only from boxes. The Brotherhood carried us in boxes all around the Country of Order and the countries it had conquered. Fer and I lived in the boxes. And we grew accustomed to them. We slept in the boxes and spoke to each other with the heart. When the search began we
looked through
the crowds of meat machines. This mostly took place during their meetings, when they stood immobile or sat and listened to some meat machines speaking loudly to them about the war in the name of a beautiful future. Upon finding
ours
in a crowd, we
looked into their
lives, found out their names in the world of meat machines. Through a gap in the box I whispered these names to the brothers. By various means they found the newly acquired. And Ice hammers awoke their hearts.

The Brotherhood grew.

But soon the big war began too. Its beginning was equally unexpected for us. We
were expecting
the Country of Ice to be the first to attack the Country of Order. But the Country of Order took the lead over the Country of Ice. The attack took the meat machines of the Country of Ice and its leaders unawares: they didn’t believe that the Country of Order, which had fewer meat machines and iron machines, would attack the large, strong Country of Ice. The unexpectedness helped the attacker. The meat machines of the Country of Order, sitting in their iron machines and armed with powerful pipes, moved quickly to the east through the Country of Ice, destroying meat machines and iron ones. The meat machines of the Country of Ice retreated, dropping their metal-spitting pipes. Many of those retreating ended up being taken prisoner by the attackers. The imprisoned meat machines were kept in fenced-off, guarded places. They were supposed to work without pay for the Country of Order.

The Brotherhood
could feel
that the search should begin among the imprisoned meat machines. The brothers did everything possible to penetrate those places where the imprisoned meat machines of the Country of Ice were held. There were hundreds of thousands of them. Fer and I were placed in our boxes and transported to these locations. We
looked through
the crowds of imprisoned meat machines. And we found
ours
.

In one crowd I
saw
the meat machines who had led me to the Ice. The very same strong, single-minded meat machine who had led us through the impassable forest to the place the Ice fell. Now this was a weak, sick meat machine. Its body was emaciated from lack of food, its leg was swollen. The authorities of the Country of Ice had forced it to take a hot-metal-spitting pipe in hand and go off to fight. It had been captured and was dying, without ever finding out
what
had fallen from the sky to Earth in 1908. It didn’t know what the Ice was. And it didn’t know that I
was looking
at its life from my box.

Fer and I searched. Not only among the meat machines. As before, we searched among the newly acquired. We searched intensively for those who were capable of replacing us and of seeing with the heart just as we did.

But we had not yet found any like us.

We
worried
, lying in our boxes. We were
the eyes
of the Brotherhood. If these
eyes
were to close, it would be very difficult to search. And the search for the 23,000 would be drawn out for decades. Our hearts moaned from the insurmountable but long-awaited. We
loved
the Brotherhood. We wanted so
badly
to become the Light again. We hated the Earth.

But we were aging and weakening. Life was fading in our bodies. Only our hearts
lived
, as before. They
worked
.

The war spread.

The meat machines of the Country of Order moved east, to the two main cities of the Country of Ice. They laid siege to these cities. The meat machines of the Country of Order penetrated the south and west as well. New countries were drawn into the war. Gradually there were forty-seven of them. Millions of meat machines, sitting in iron machines, pushed their way into enemy countries, spit hot metal from wide pipes, killed other meat machines that spoke different languages, destroying their cities.

Millions of meat machines died in combat, in destroyed cities and villages. Among them our not-yet-found brothers and sisters. Fer and I
could feel
their deaths. And we hurried the Brotherhood. In the mountains we formed a Small Circle, closed our eyes, and
spoke
in the language of the Light. Younger brothers and sisters
learned
from us. Fer and I were
happy
to give them everything we could and knew. Our shriveled hands touched their faces. Our hearts
jolted
their hearts: we must hurry! We
showed them
where to search and for whom. Our mouths opened, we whispered in the language of the Earth the names of newly acquired brothers and sisters. They looked for them. But they weren’t able to find and awaken all of the newly acquired
in time
. Not all of them lived to feel the saving blow of the Ice hammer. Many were lost in the chaos of war. Many perished in bombed cities and in battles. Their hearts died without awakening.

The war dragged on for several years. Meat machines of the Country of Ice, gathering strength, manufacturing many iron machines and pipes that spat hot metal, began to crowd out the meat machines of the Country of Order. They resisted and the others began to retreat. Gradually they retreated to their own borders. A large and powerful country, separated by an ocean, entered the war. In the war it was on the side of the Country of Ice. The meat machines living in it called it the Country of Freedom, since it did not have a single, all-powerful ruler as the countries of Ice and Order did. Thousands of meat machines from the Country of Freedom boarded floating and flying machines and arrived at the shores of countries enslaved by the Country of Order. The meat machines of the Country of Freedom began to spit hot metal from their powerful iron pipes at the meat machines of the Country of Order and to drop iron eggs on their cities. The meat machines of the Country of Order resisted furiously, but soon they began to retreat under the onslaught of meat machines that floated over the ocean.

For the Brotherhood it was clear that the war would end in victory for the countries of Ice and Freedom over the Country of Order. But we also
realized
the leader of the Country of Order would pursue his main passion DURING the tormented loss of power. And that in pursuing this passion he would try to destroy as many meat machines as possible. We had to find our new brothers and sisters in time, and save them from the death of those found earlier. The leader of the Country of Order and his assistants had organized several secret places for the destruction of meat machines. They thought that these meat machines were alien to the idea of Order. According to the leader’s convictions, these meat machines hindered the establishment of complete order in the country by their very existence. Although they were no different from the rest of the meat machines of the Country of Order either outwardly or inwardly. They did the same thing as all meat machines: they worked, gave birth, battled, built, grew old, and died. They weren’t the enemies of the Country of Order, like the meat machines of the countries of Ice and Freedom. The only thing different about them was that their ancestors had not lived in the Country of Order. These meat machines came to the Country of Order from the east. Therefore, the ruler and his assistants thought of them as aliens. The Brotherhood immediately
took an interest
in the places where the meat machines were destroyed. We used these fenced-in and well-guarded places to search for
ours
. Brothers wearing the clothes of the military meat machines were able to fix things so that the blue-eyed and light-haired meat machines weren’t destroyed but were kept in a large wood barn. When enough had been put there, they were taken to a secret place where Fer and I
looked through
them. This took place three times. We found forty-eight brothers and twenty-nine sisters. But toward the end of the war the destruction of meat machines began to increase. A great number of them were destroyed in one place located in a country that had been seized by the Country of Order. In this place were many blue-eyed, blond meat machines. And they were selected and set apart for us. They were supposed to be taken off, but the Country of Ice strengthened its attack and the Brotherhood found that it was impossible to export them. They were supposed to be destroyed, like others before them. It was imperative to immediately reach this place and
look through
the prisoners. The brothers, making use of military meat machines, traveled to this place. We were put in our boxes and taken with them. At first we traveled in an iron machine along the usual road, then the brothers transferred to a long iron machine that carried us along an iron track. The place we were heading was fairly large. It was located in a field and fenced off with iron strings with thorns. It was guarded by meat machines with iron pipes that spat out hot metal. This was done so that the meat machines that had been prepared for annihilation wouldn’t run off. Our long iron machine drove into this place. And the gates were locked after it immediately. When the brothers took Fer and me out of the machines and placed us on the ground, we instantly sensed a
seeing
heart. One of the two we were looking for to replace us. This heart
was beating
somewhere nearby. We became
joyously
excited in our boxes. The place where we were
whirled
with thousands of lives. Meat machines from several countries had been placed in wooden barns. They awaited annihilation. In this place there were five large ovens. Near each oven there was a stone cave. The meat machines chosen for destruction were brought to this cave. They were told that it was a bathhouse where they would wash themselves. The meat machines took their clothes off. But instead of water, poisonous air flowed down on them, air created by the intelligent meat machines to kill other meat machines. This poisonous air asphyxiated the meat machines. When they were all dead, the stone cave was opened and aired out. Then other meat machines threw the bodies of the asphyxiated meat machines into the ovens. In the ovens the bodies burned and turned into ash. Ash lay in a thick layer everywhere in this place. The majority of the meat machines awaiting annihilation knew that poisonous air, and not a bath, awaited them inside the stone caves. But they submissively waited for death. Although they were far more numerous than the guards, the meat machines didn’t try to unite and attack those who destroyed their meat machines. They awaited their fate. Many hoped that they would survive. We heard the swirling
drone
of their lives. And among them we
distinguished
ours
. The brothers talked to the head meat machine of this place, who directed the destruction of meat machines. The head meat machine did not want to give us the chosen blue-eyed, light-haired meat machines for some time. The head meat machine had many questions for the brothers who had arrived. The brothers gave the meat machines several stones, very expensive ones in the world of meat machines. And the head meat machine of the place permitted us to take the chosen ones. They were in two large barns. The guards gave them an order and they walked from the barn to our long iron machine. Many of them were extremely emaciated from hunger and moved slowly. The
seeing
but unwoken heart moved along with them. Fer and I
realized
that it was among those who had been picked out. When they all got into the long iron machine, they were locked up. And our long iron machine pulled out of the place for the destruction of meat machines. Fer and I
trembled
: our hearts could feel the presence of many of
ours
among these meat machines. And we felt the presence of a
seeing
heart. We began to hurry the brothers. The iron machine traveled along iron rails for a quarter of a day, and they stopped it on the edge of a forest. There was a large ravine there. The brothers ordered the meat machines to get out of the long machine and gather in the ravine. The meat machines submissively fulfilled the order. They descended into the ravine and stood there. The brothers ordered them to sit down. The meat machines sat on the ground. The brothers carried Fer and me out of the train, set the boxes on the edge of the ravine, opened them, and took us out of our boxes. We were set down on the edge of the ravine. We began to
look through
the meat machines. They stared at us silently. They were not at all afraid of how we looked because they themselves were very similar. But they didn’t understand what we were doing. We began to find
ours
. The brothers immediately took them out of the gully and put them on the long machine. We found the
seeing
heart almost immediately. It was a brother who possessed it. He was put on the machine. We found seventeen brothers and thirty sisters. They were all put on the long machine and locked up. When the search was finished, the brothers picked us up and carried us into the long iron machine. The brothers, who were using the clothing of military meat machines and guarding the meat machines in the ravine, also got on the long iron machine. The machine slowly moved away. The meat machines who remained in the ravine watched us. They didn’t understand why we were leaving. They were certain we had gathered them in the gully in order to destroy them with pipes that spit hot metal. But we went on our way with the newly acquired. On board the brothers retrieved the store of Ice hammers and prepared to strike those we had found. Fer and I pointed out the brother with the
seeing
heart. We were longing for him to awake first. He was thin, with a gaunt, young face. He was twenty-three years old. When the brothers undressed him and began to tie him to the wall, he made absolutely no effort to resist. He only prayed. And clutched in his right hand a piece of crumpled gray paper. Fer and I
saw
his life and understood what this piece of paper was. When he was taken to the place of destruction, a certain meat machine had given him this paper. This meat machine knew many prayers, and in its former, peacetime life, meat machines would come to it so that it could tell them how to live correctly. When it gave him the crumpled paper, the meat machine said that this paper — was him. And what he would be depended on him — whether he would be all crumpled up or straightened out. And in the place of destruction he smoothed out the paper on his palm every night. And in the morning he crumpled it up. Tied to the wall, he squeezed the paper in his fist. As soon as the Ice hammer struck his emaciated chest, the crumpled paper fell out of his hand. And his
seeing
heart spoke.