The Boundless Sublime (24 page)

‘From now on, the Monkey House is on lockdown. The Monkeys must stay inside where they will be safe. They can only come out if they are silent, and supervised by an adult. They are too valuable. Too precious.’

I was struck once more by the intensity of Daddy’s presence. I could
see
his actuality flowing through us all, connecting us in a network of glittering, throbbing power. A thread of it was flowing into me, filling me with an exultation so profound that I nearly floated free from the aphotic soil beneath my feet.

‘The Quintus Septum are our ancient enemies,’ said Daddy. ‘Soldiers bound by lead and earth. For millennia they have hunted us, searching to destroy us and take the secrets of the Scintilla. They want to unlock it and use it, not as a
tool for purity and ascension, but as a weapon. We must not let them succeed.’

The Scintilla. Daddy had whispered its secrets to me as I’d recovered. Once enough of us became sublime, our clear, hollow, shining bodies would begin to ring, like bells. This would activate the Scintilla, which would unlock the true powers of sublimation. The way Daddy described it, it was a key that took the form of glowing red gem.

‘Once the Scintilla is activated, we will become gods. We will cast off our mortal flesh and fly boundless and free. We will have unimaginable strength and skill and intellectual capacity. Then we can rise up and defeat the filthy Quintus Septum. But until that day we must act with caution. We must learn to move unseen. To live with one ear to the ground. I will train you in the arts of stealth and cunning, technics that I have acquired over the centuries from the greatest masters to ever walk on this planet. You will move like shadows, swift and silent. You will gain even more control over your bodies. We must redouble our efforts to become sublime, to call forth the Scintilla.’

My skin tingled as a savage joy spread through me.

The Scintilla.

I could imagine it now – glowing red with fire. A fire that would spread through me, burning away the blood and the flesh and the lead and dirt, leaving me shining and pure.

Daddy spread his arms wide. ‘The Scintilla will come and light the way for us. The Institute of the Boundless Sublime will rise above all. The Quintus Septum will be vanquished, along with all their toxicant meat-followers. We shall rule the planet, gods of light and science. You, my children, will receive riches and power beyond your wildest imaginings. And I will be everyone’s Daddy.’

14

Things swung into action. Due to the assault on the garden, our food was heavily rationed. We had to subsist on a few handfuls of soaked grains or beans each day. This wasn’t an issue for me – I’d got used to surviving entirely on a few mouthfuls of rusty water and the occasional scrap from Val, so even a spoonful of salted quinoa was like a feast. We rarely saw the Monkeys anymore – they only left C Block for a few minutes each day, under escort, and we weren’t allowed to go anywhere near the building without Daddy’s express permission.

I threw myself into the preparations, so I wouldn’t have to think about Fox. He watched me, wherever I went. A few times he tried to catch me alone, but I managed to slip away. I didn’t want to face him. I didn’t know if I was strong enough.

During Daddy’s Hour, we learnt more about the Quintus Septum. They were a sinister group of sorcerers, Daddy said, representing the five most powerful institutions in the world – politics, religion, science, business and celebrity. The US President was a member. So was the Pope, along with Oprah, Madonna, Jay-Z and a bunch of other famous people.

‘They control
everything
,’ hissed Daddy.

He explained to us that we would need to be prepared for when the Quintus Septum came after us. We would be trained in new technics, to be fit and alert and sneaky. We might need to infiltrate enemy bases, and Daddy wanted us to be sure we were ready. We abandoned our usual work units in favour of survival technics, doing hundreds of push-ups and sit-ups, or commando-crawling through obstacle courses that Stan and Val assembled on the bare earth where the kitchen garden had once been. We learnt how to coax fire from dry twigs, and to use mud and leaves to camouflage ourselves from sight.

It was exciting. My days melted into scenes from a movie training montage. What we were doing was
important
. I imagined sneaking into hidden compounds, stealing secret weapons and plans from right under the enemy’s noses. I imagined returning to the Institute a hero, presenting a locked briefcase to Daddy amid thunderous applause. Daddy would smile at me. He wouldn’t say anything. He wouldn’t need to. The look of approval and love in his eyes was all I needed.

Fox seemed to understand, too. He stopped trying to talk to me. But he still watched. I felt his eyes on me constantly, and, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t ignore him. But that just made me determined to train harder.

I shed the aphotic weakness I’d developed in my cell, and my body grew hard and strong with exercise and work. I could easily subsist on only a few mouthfuls a day. My mind was clear and my body was transforming. It was working. I was becoming sublime.

One morning, Daddy called Fox, Pippa, Welling and me into the draughty old warehouse, where he’d set up a table and chairs in the corner.

‘Welling and I have been working on a top secret technic,’ Daddy explained. ‘It is dangerous and complex, but we have selected you three to join us, due to your proven tenacity and intelligence.’

Daddy laced his fingers behind his back, and raised his eyes to the ceiling thoughtfully. ‘The universe is composed of elements,’ he said. ‘The Quintus Septum would have you believe that this planet’s elements are all discovered. That they can be contained in a table and are constricted by rigid categories like atomic weight and protons and isotopes. This, of course, is all a ruse, designed to prevent us from avocation.’

‘I have a question,’ said Fox.

Daddy frowned at him. ‘Later, Furicius. In my lifelong search for the Scintilla, I have made many discoveries. I have uncovered many secrets. Secrets that have been buried deep for many thousands of years. But these secrets often uncover yet more mysteries. One of those mysteries is the secret of aether.’

Fox shifted uncomfortably, and I saw him glance up at the rafters and girders above us.

‘We talk about being boundless, about becoming sublime,’ Daddy went on. ‘Well, aether is the ultimate in boundlessness. It is what is formed when all the chemical elements are perfectly balanced – or
sublimated
. It is perfect lightness and harmony. It will help us to reach our goal. It will help us summon the Scintilla.’

Fox still wasn’t paying attention. But I was. I sat up straighter in my chair, and pushed thoughts of Fox from my mind.

‘This technic can be very dangerous. If handled incorrectly, these elements can transform into unstable radioisotopes. One single gram of such a substance could be as deadly as a nuclear bomb.’

Fox looked back at Daddy. I could sense his restlessness, the flood of questions that threatened to pour forth from him, like water from a burst dam. But he stayed silent.

‘This kind of experiment requires practice. I have been working with chemistry for many centuries, but you are all novices. This is why I have instructed Welling to drill you in the basic sublimation technic first, before I expose you to any of the harmful chemicals I keep in my laboratory.’

Daddy produced a cloth bag and drew from it a handful of wooden tokens, spreading them out onto the table between us. Each one had a blackened symbol on it, as if they had been branded with something burning hot. Some of the symbols were recognisable letters: He, O, F, Li, Be. Other symbols were unfamiliar – arcane squiggles, all curves and angles.

Daddy pointed at the letters. ‘Does anyone recognise these?’

‘Are they … elements?’ asked Pippa. ‘From the periodic table?’

Daddy beamed at her, and I felt a stab of jealousy. I suddenly wished I’d paid more attention in science class. Then Daddy might be smiling at
me
now.

‘You are one hundred per cent correct, Agrippa. These are first elements of the periodic table.’ Daddy lined them up one by one and pointed. ‘Helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and fluorine. The astute among you’ – here he glanced at Pippa and twitched the corner of his mouth in a smile – ‘will have noticed that the very first element, hydrogen, is missing. This is because hydrogen, having only one proton, cannot bring about sublimation in other elements. It is a non-reactive element, and therefore it does not concern us. It is the number of protons that determines an element’s atomic number. Helium is
the second element because it has two protons. Lithium has three. Beryllium has four, and so on. This is simplistic stuff that some of you will remember from childhood. And your toxicant schoolmasters were correct, for those first few elements. After that, things get a little more complex. This technic works with those first elements, excluding hydrogen, as well as the Sovereign Four.’

‘The Sovereign Four?’ asked Pippa. ‘I don’t remember that from school.’

Daddy chuckled. ‘For good reason, Agrippa. The Sovereign Four are the hidden elements. The ones that people don’t want you to know about. Ask a chemist out there, and they will tell you that these elements don’t exist, that they’re compounds of other things. But that’s just what the Quintus Septum want you to think.’

He pointed to each of the curly symbols. ‘Calx. Galena. Nix Alba. Bismuth. These are the Sovereign Four. They are considered to be special because, unlike other elements, they share the same number of protons: ten.’

Pippa was frowning, her lips moving silently as if she were reciting something in her head. ‘Neon!’ she said at last. ‘Isn’t neon the tenth element? Doesn’t that mean it has ten protons?’

Daddy glanced at Welling, and they both laughed. ‘I’m sure that’s what the toxicants told you,’ said Daddy, rolling his eyes.

Pippa blushed.

‘What’s that one?’ asked Fox, pointing to the last tile, which had a small black dot in the centre.

‘I’m glad you asked, Furicius,’ said Daddy, with a nod. ‘This one is quicksilver, or mercury, and it is the most dangerous of all the elements. Its atomic number is unstable, and can change. Sometimes it disguises itself as hydrogen, with only
one proton. Sometimes it has eleven. You must be extremely careful when working with it, making sure that you are sure which atomic number it has at that precise moment.’

I saw Pippa open her mouth to ask a question, a frown crinkling her forehead. But she shut her mouth again and said nothing.

Daddy looked down at the wooden tokens, and then back at us. ‘Welling will be teaching you an ancient technic for balancing these elements – what we refer to as the process of
sublimation
– in order to produce aether.’ He nodded to Welling. ‘I’ll leave them in your most capable hands.’

‘Right,’ said Welling, after Daddy had left. ‘So the sublimation technic is very simple, and it involves keeping a mental tally. When you see the elements helium, lithium, beryllium, boron and calcium, you add one to your count.’

‘You mean carbon,’ said Pippa. ‘Not calcium.’

‘Carbon, my apologies,’ said Welling, flashing Pippa a quick smile. ‘So then for nitrogen, oxygen and fluorine, you do nothing. For the Royal Four plus mercury, you minus one from your tally.’

‘The Sovereign Four,’ said Fox.

‘What?’

‘You said the Royal Four. Aren’t they called the Sovereign Four?’

Welling looked irritated. ‘Yeah, the Sovereign Four. What difference does it make?’

‘How did you learn so much about chemistry?’ asked Fox. ‘You said you worked with money before you came here. Not elements.’

‘I have studied with Daddy,’ said Welling smoothly. ‘We’ve been working together on this for quite some time. I’ve had many avocations about the process.’

‘But I thought—’

‘Enough questions, Fox,’ said Welling, his voice firm.

Fox stared at him for a moment, and I got the feeling that there was a kind of unspoken battle going on. A test. Eventually, Fox looked away, and slouched down in his chair.

Welling swept the tiles back into the bag, and shook it to mix them around. Then he pulled out one tile at a time, laying it on the table and instructing us to keep count. There were around a hundred tiles in total, and it was difficult to remember which element was which.

‘What number do you have?’ asked Welling, as he put down the last tile.

‘Two,’ said Fox.

‘Minus one,’ said Pippa.

‘Zero,’ I said.

Welling flicked me an approving glance. ‘We will train like this for an hour every morning after breakfast, before you resume your rostered duties or training. Now let’s try again.’

He swept the tokens back into the bag.