Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods (28 page)

Sajin popped the cork from a bottle of raspberry juice and gave me a pensive look. "So tell me, Charm. What was it like being a god?”

"Here." He handed me the juice and gestured to his black leather couch. "I have many questions, as I'm sure you are aware."

"We assumed a great many things. We assumed the gods would be all knowing and all powerful, and we assumed Davata Notrals was not for us. But as it turns out, things are progressing as they should.”

“Really.” He sounded sarcastic.

"The Marathil says the gods will deliver us to Ethral, well, that is a half truth. They are not gods, but they have already begun to band together to destroy the evil of chaos. I don't truly know how it all fits together, but whoever inspired the writing of the Marathil knew future events, because they are unfolding just as the book describes. And Davata Notrals is even more amazing, because it describes events here as well as places beyond here."

"I'm no sky searcher, Charm, but even I see inconsistencies."

"Because you do not have the whole picture."

There was a knock on the door and Sajin let out a sigh. The annoyance was clear in the firm lines of his face. He went to the door and opened it.
"What!"

I heard muffled words from the other side. Sajin’s eyes widened. "Send her in," he said, then turned to look at me. "You're not going to like this.”

An older lady appeared in the doorway. Her skin was deep brown, her eyes as dark as coal. "Thank you, young man," she said, gently closing the door behind her. Turning, she gave each of us a look, then stated smoothly, "Gentlemen, I'm Hazel Brown."

HAZEL

001001011001110

"Welcome, Hazel.” Sajin looked intently at her, then back at me. “The guard says you know
who
Charm is?"

I felt a shiver run down my spine.

“A lot of people know who Charm is,” he continued. “He is very well known.”

She gave him a scowl. "The fact you allowed me in, proves what I know is true." She turned to me. "And no, I ain't told no one you Sam' Dejal. Sajin figured 'cause I said I know
who
you are, I probably know other stuff I shouldn't."

I stood, and chose my words carefully. "Hazel. Did you come just to tell me you know who I
am,
or, do you have something else to share?"

“
Earth?”
I said, “I don't understand.”

She leveled her eyes at me. "
I
can remember."

I squinted at her. “Who
are
you?"

"Hazel Brown.” She put her hands on her hips. “I already tol’ you that. And now I’m tryin’ to tell you I remember stuff. You see, I have a condition that makes my brain all wrong, it makes me remember stuff I wish I didn’t have to. Here, there, awake, asleep. I remember it all."

I let this information sink in a moment. “You,
remember
the world
outside
Vrin? Where Solomon is?”

“Yeah. It's kinda weird really.”

"Wait. How do you even know Doctor Solomon?"

"We been talkin' for some time now, watchin' you. And he said one of the ten woke up. So I checked with my sources here in Vrin, and sure enough, you awake.

Again I stared at her.
"What?"

"There was only four of ya. It's pretty easy to figure. One's awake, the others all still frozen like a cube a ice."

"So, there are others frozen?"

"Yep. Took me some time to find 'em all. Near's I can tell, there's three others. I pieced it together. I know one of the patients woke up, so I goes and sees if any of the ice cubes awake, cause I need me a name. The book tells me stuff, but I need to tell it stuff.”

Sajin and I looked at each other. This was getting weirder by the second. “And what
book
would that be?”

“Davata Notrals. It tells me stuff. It knows what's gonna happen. It changes in here, but it
don't
change out there.”

“Davata Notrals, tells you stuff,” I said flatly.

“I puts in a word, and it tells me what's gonna happen in the future. There’s a code hidden in the spaces.”

“I'm going to pretend like I know what that means.” I put my hand to my head. “What do
I
have to do with this?”

“I need a name. Your name.”

“
Why?”

“Cause I need to know what Tardin's gonna do. He's the key, the prophet. But I don't know who he
is
in Vrin, so I can't ask the book what he’s gonna do. And if I don't know what
he’s
gonna do, I don't know what
I'm
s'pose to do.”

“
Give it a shot.”

“I use a computer. It has a program what was given me by a man in the NSA. He works in cryptography. It lets me look for words in the book. It skips letters. Like I put in Charm, and it finds it in a sentence that has the letters, but they don't appear normal. It might look for the letters every tenth letter, or twentieth letter. That's why we don't see it when we read it normal. It’s hidden.”

“So-- what's the big deal? What does it matter if you can find
my
name in the book?”

“It's what's 'round it that matters. If I find your name, then I looks at what's before and after it, in the same letter spacin'. Then I know what's gonna happen.”

“O-
kay,”
I said, formulating my question. “Do you know the
nature
of Vrin?”

“Since I was a child. I could remember where we go when we sleep. Well, we don’t actually
go
anywhere, we stay in our mind. But that’s beside the point. What I wanna tell you is, I was here
before
Vrin, and so was you. See, on earth-- that is, when I’m awake, I have a rare form of autism. In many ways I'm simple, but the part of my brain what controls and remembers Dantra, is smart.”

“
Dantra-?”
Arganis had spoken of The Circle being connected to that place. “What
is
Dantra?”

“It's the spirit world outside Vrin. It does appear to be another thing altogether, but it ain't. Vrin's made of the same stuff as Dantra. Vrin is thought energy. Robert Helm started it.“

Robert Helm? I
was Robert Helm. I opened my mouth to speak, but she gave me a look as if to say all my questions would be answered.

“Robert Helm is Gaza.”

I gave my head a quick shake, my brain was starting to hurt.

Hazel continued. “‘Cause Gaza can form Dantra with his mind like clay, the computer used his mind to form Vrin. I knew this cause of my condition. You see, most people don't understand they in Dantra. They make Dantra into what they like, and can't see it for what it is. When I saw Vrin growin' like a big ball of blue fire in the middle of Dantra, I knew it was unlike
anythin
' I'd seen before. It
scared
me, so I went to the elders. They tol' me the conflict between God and Kric' tu was comin' to an end, and that Vrin was the last battlefield. They tol' me I had a special place in God's plan, and that I would go into Vrin with others chosen by God. It was hard for all of us once we was in here, 'specially for me, 'cause I could remember. But the history of Vrin was put into the other’s minds by the computer, and they took it as real.”

“So the people of Vrin
are
real.”

“Real as anythin'. I started to search for information 'bout Vrin on the inside and the out. This led me to Solomon. He didn't believe me at first, but after awhile he couldn't deny what I knew. And he became grateful, 'cause I knew things he couldn't see. When Solomon started Vrin, he could see what was goin' on, but when God chose others to go into the program, it changed the code, and he couldn't see in anymore. The best he could do was track the data bein' stored on the main frame and read it. And as you know, he also sent a message. When
you
responded, he thought you was Robert 'cause you understood the programmin'. Anyway, since he made a connection, he could see into the program again. He tracked you in the system as a number, and sorted out which of the ten you was while buildin' a visual representation of the data. It took a while, and the computer figured out who you really was. That was just before you came out of the coma. So I came to make sho' you was Tardin, and you confirmed it for me.”

“So I
did
wake up from the coma-?”

I remembered back to the scriptures I'd read to Kitaya. Was
I
the one to stop Gaza, or would the prophecy change? “So on the outside the book stays the same?” She nodded. “Can you check a verse for me and tell me what it says?”

“No offense, but I don’t even
know
you.” I sized her up again. “That makes it a little difficult for me to trust you with my
life
.”

“Oh, you'll wanna see my work. Once you see it, you'll understand everthin'. Listen. I'm an old woman, what am I gonna do, bite you?”

GAZA

001001011001110

I let Kitaya know I would be delayed, and then sat on the front steps of the capital building. The brilliant sunset was sending dazzling cascades of gold and orange across the structures to the east. As Charm, this was the time of day I enjoyed the most. Many an evening I’d sat on these very steps, watching the radiant fusion of color playing on the coliseum, the Eiffel, the Sphinx... Tonight however, it was the Statue of Liberty who caught my eye. She was a symbol of unity for the people of Vrin. Her proud form had always spoken to me of freedom and harmony. --But now, she was just another structure in the skyline. Vrin simply wasn't the same. Her beauty was waning in my heart.

A horse drawn coach pulled up to the steps. The driver tipped his hat to me, and I headed down to greet him. “Have you been instructed?” I asked the gentleman.

The thin door closed with a metallic click and I took a seat in the darkened carriage. Across from me, a shadowy figure sat, a guard I assumed.

“What is your name, soldier?” I asked, trying to sound authoritative.

“What’s wrong, Jason?” came a hollow voice from the darkness. “Don’t you recognize the creator of Vrin?”

My heart quickened. I wanted to leap from the carriage, but knew it wouldn’t do any good. Instead I began an internal counting to keep from bringing any thoughts to the surface for Gaza to prey upon. “I’m sorry? Have we met?”
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