From atop
the tallest bell tower in the Carapace Kingdom, the sky looks like
something painted by a crazy person. The fierce lights of war on
the horizon stain the sunset in unnatural hues: ultraviolet
pigments of red and purple slash through the atmosphere in harsh,
jagged strokes. The cracks in the sky above are a diseased shade of
green, bright bolts receding like lightning in a storm. Dead-Jade,
host to the cherub’s spirit, floats at the apex of the tower. The
blitzkrieg above makes a kaleidoscope of color between the black
stripes on her tights.
Aradia glides up to meet her, having left Sollux on the balcony.
Above, in the sky, a hole has opened up. One so big it fills the
entire radius of her vision.
ARADIA: oh thats very dramatic
The dead cherub says nothing. Aradia flits in
front of her face and looks into her eyes. They’re the same black
as the vortex above, so absolutely dark that they reflect no
light.
ARADIA: i think i understand whats going on
now
JADE: do you?
ARADIA: i mean i think i understand what i was
seeing
ARADIA: when i watched as everything broke
apart
ARADIA: and got swallowed up by the black
hole
ARADIA: which is where i ended up too
ARADIA: that black hole...
ARADIA: thats basically you right
JADE: yes.
ARADIA: and when you speak of your brother
ARADIA: thats lord english
JADE: yes.
ARADIA: and hes dead
JADE: not just yet.
ARADIA: oh
ARADIA: then... where is he
JADE: ...
ARADIA: i see
ARADIA: going to keep us in cryptic suspense as
usual are we
ARADIA: haha thats fine :)
JADE: yes, it is.
ARADIA: i did think it was odd that we ended up
in this timeline after all was said and done
ARADIA: such a strange and unremarkable place to
be after witnessing such awesome calamity
ARADIA: theres something
ARADIA: hm
Aradia pinches her thumb and forefinger
together.
ARADIA: off about this place
ARADIA: just a little bit
JADE: yes, you would think so.
JADE: lesser beings have so much trouble
perceiving divinity in the uncanny.
ARADIA: lesser?
JADE: you have proven yourself a valuable
servant, and pleasant company.
JADE: but yes, you are lesser.
ARADIA: haha ok
ARADIA: well
ARADIA: it could always be worse i suppose
ARADIA: you said that we were the “lucky ones” if
i recall correctly
JADE: all in this place are luckier than
those who are not, in a certain way.
ARADIA: but what way is that
ARADIA: the people on this planet seem so...
ARADIA: well i dont want to be mean
ARADIA: but is that the paradox of living in a
utopia
ARADIA: when everything is perfect and your every
need is met
ARADIA: is it natural for people to start
crossing blades at imaginary enemies
JADE: i doubt that’s what troubles you
about this world.
ARADIA: oh?
JADE: what you’ve described is a state of
empirical ennui resulting from the material circumstances here.
JADE: but the material circumstances of
this world have no objective existential value.
JADE: this world, unlike the canonical
horrors from which it is hermetically insulated, will always fail
to meet the combined criteria for truth, relevance, and
essentiality that would endow this realm with any real gravity.
JADE: its own naturally occurring supply
of gravity, rather than the artificial supply i have given it.
JADE: as such, what transpires here is
characterized by experiential frivolity.
JADE: physically, it is cordoned off by
the black hole’s event horizon. it is safe. untouchable.
JADE: inescapable.
ARADIA: that sounds ominous
JADE: it cannot be ominous because it
cannot truly be anything with tangible significance.
JADE: one could describe it as a
phantasmal projection confined within my horizon.
JADE: it was created by a choice that made
it possible for that horizon to expand infinitely, to consume
infinitely.
JADE: and since that choice could not
coexist with canon events, this place manifested here to support
its consequences.
JADE: if this world were capable of
anything either essential, relevant, or true in some stable
combination, then it would perpetuate a corrosive paradox.
JADE: as such, insulation from what is out
there, and the inescapable well it rests in, is what protects all
it holds inside.
JADE: and since i am the embodiment of the
black hole in which it rests,
JADE: i am the one protecting this
world.
ARADIA: why?
ARADIA: if its so irrelevant whats the point
JADE: it is simply my duty to defend the
innocent from destruction, degradation, and dissolution.
JADE: but there is more to consider than
just my nature.
JADE: as it happens, this projection
within me serves as a stable conceptual foothold from which i can
sense and resist another growing threat which is determined to
jeopardize the canonical plane of reality.
ARADIA: ah yes the prince
ARADIA: i still have no idea who he is
ARADIA: not that i doubt you really
ARADIA: we had a prince who was a huge jerk who
destroyed everything he touched
JADE: the prince i am referring to
electively removed himself from this reality in order to
strategically consolidate his power.
JADE: he cannot threaten this world. and
yet by sequestering himself elsewhere, has become infinitely more
dangerous.
ARADIA: what makes him so dangerous
ARADIA: i mean
ARADIA: what exactly is it he can do which is
more destructive than what i was seeing just before i came
here?
The cherub makes a rare physical gesture with
her hands to begin framing her next statements. Aradia notes this
and strives to listen more closely.
JADE: physical destruction is one
thing.
JADE: obliteration of the entire canvas
for all of reality over a given cosmic span is another.
JADE: and yet there are even more
insidious forms of destruction and subversion of life to
consider.
JADE: methods that are difficult to grasp
for those on your plane.
ARADIA: yes yes im quite inferior i know
ARADIA: but im also very curious!
ARADIA: can you try me?
JADE: of course.
JADE: let’s begin by examining the nature
of a story.
ARADIA: ok
JADE: it will be easier to do this if we
have an example of a story to discuss.
JADE: some stories are impossibly long.
but others can be quite short.
JADE: some can even be a few words.
JADE: what’s your favorite story?
ARADIA: my favorite?
ARADIA: um
ARADIA: i dont know how to answer that really
JADE: don’t you like stories?
ARADIA: of course i do!
ARADIA: but do you mean like
ARADIA: a book? a movie?
JADE: anything.
ARADIA: ummm
JADE: pick literally any example you can
think of.
ARADIA: ok
ARADIA: theres a famous religious story from my
planet
ARADIA: about someone called the signless
ARADIA: who i guess turned out to be my friends
ancestor which was weird
ARADIA: but thats beside the point
JADE: yes, i know of the tale.
JADE: how would you tell his story, if you
were trying to be as brief as possible?
ARADIA: well
ARADIA: a religious martyr attempted to lead a
rebellion but he was killed in a horrible way and shouted a very
loud rude word in the process
JADE: that’s good.
JADE: try making it shorter though.
ARADIA: ok
ARADIA: a martyr tried to rebel but he was killed
horribly and then shouted a rude word
JADE: shorter.
ARADIA: wow
ARADIA: um...
ARADIA: a martyr rebelled but died and shouted
rudely?
JADE: shorter.
ARADIA: oof
ARADIA: ok hows this
ARADIA: a martyr died and said fuck
JADE: perfect.
ARADIA: what is the point of this
JADE: to establish an extremely short
narrative for certain illustrative purposes.
JADE: i’m going to repeat your story to
you, and i want you to listen carefully.
JADE: a martyr died and said fuck.
ARADIA: ok i listened
ARADIA: thats definitely the short story i just
said
JADE: yes.
JADE: now i’m going to repeat the story,
but change the way i say it very slightly.
JADE: listen again carefully.
ARADIA: ...
JADE: a martyr died and said
fuck.
ARADIA: hmm
ARADIA: yes that was a little different
ARADIA: im not sure that i could describe how
though it was pretty subtle
JADE: yes.
JADE: you noticed because i told you to
pay attention for a difference.
JADE: you noticed because you were alert
to the fact that there was even something to notice at all.
JADE: and if you had not been alert to the
fact that something could be different about the nature of the
voice telling your story, or to the fact that such differences had
a certain significance, you likely would not have noticed.
ARADIA: i see
ARADIA: yes i think youre right
JADE: but now imagine that i told your
story in exactly that way. that i said,
JADE: a martyr died and said
fuck.
JADE: but it was the first time you ever
heard that story.
JADE: also imagine you couldn’t see me and
didn’t even know i existed.
JADE: and imagine you couldn’t even hear
the story i just told with your ears.
JADE: it simply entered your awareness in
some other manner, in a way that was impersonal. almost like one of
your own thoughts speaking to you.
ARADIA: ok
JADE: picture that this is all you have
ever known of this story. the only way it would ever occur to you
that the story could be understood by another.
JADE: and then, one day, you meet me.
JADE: you look me up and down, and regard
me as the discrete, specific individual that i am.
JADE: and i decide to tell you this story
again, using my own voice.
JADE: and it sounds exactly like this:
JADE: a martyr died and said fuck.
ARADIA: huh...
JADE: does this change the way you
perceive the story you were originally familiar with?
ARADIA: i guess a little bit
ARADIA: it’s certainly a different way of hearing
it
ARADIA: but at least you didnt change any words
so i guess its not all that different
JADE: exactly.
JADE: i didn’t change any words.
JADE: but then, it was a very short story
i told, wasn’t it?
ARADIA: sure was
JADE: now imagine it was much longer, and
that was only the first line.
ARADIA: thats easy to imagine
ARADIA: his was a long story
JADE: quite true.
JADE: a story as short as the one we’ve
been using cannot accomplish much when it comes to guiding and
manipulating one’s awareness and emotions.
JADE: it is compact, ostensibly commanding
a simple and meditative moment of reflection, as a short poem
might.
JADE: the narrative it delivers is
freighted with inference. it is a pattern imprinted upon the
imagination consisting solely of cognitive dark matter, or a sort
of notional negative space.
JADE: but longer stories have the power to
draw consciousness into them. they possess arresting and hypnotic
qualities which can be used by their tellers to alter the awareness
of the listener.
JADE: again, i’d like you to imagine this
is the only way you’ve ever known this story.
JADE: but then it continues...
JADE: a martyr died and said
fuck.
JADE:
his final howl of profanity reverberated through the ages.
JADE:
it inspired his devotees during the darkest times of a brutal
regime.
JADE:
his lessons were guarded, kept secret, espoused in the shadows
of tyranny.
JADE:
a vision of peace would inspire those who’d never conceived of
it.
JADE:
and though his death was gruesome, it opened the world to a
feeling of hope.
JADE: this hope echoed through
the ages.
JADE:
it gave his disciples the strength to persist as they perished
in droves.
JADE:
it was the only light to shine on a dark planet for millions of
sweeps.
JADE:
and if you are one so devoted to his teachings, who sees truth
in his words,
JADE: it may be said with great
authority that you are wrong.
JADE: you are foolish to believe his lies.
his martyrdom is false, his sacrifice hollow.
JADE: repent for your adherence to this
illusion now, and perhaps leniency will be your reward.
ARADIA: 0_0
ARADIA: what just happened there
JADE: i brought to your attention that the
story you were listening to had a speaker with a specific
identity.
JADE: and where there is an identity,
there can also be an agenda.
JADE: i gained the power to bend your
consciousness to become more amenable to my narrative agenda by
lulling you into a more receptive state through the established
rhythm of the story’s telling.
JADE: this was only possible because you
were not initially questioning the identity of the teller, or even
considering that there was an identity to consider.
ARADIA: i guess youre right
JADE: hence, we may view any story as
speakerless, or spoken, so as to bring designations to the duality
i have just presented.
JADE: a story may remain speakerless from
the beginning until the end, offering no reason for its listener to
ever imagine it is of the spoken sort.
JADE: it can also be spoken from the
beginning, which is an up-front announcement to the listener that
it carries the perspective of an individual.
JADE: but a spoken story may also disguise
itself as one that is speakerless, as mine just did.
JADE: the speaker may reveal herself well
after speakerless conditions have been established.
JADE: and then one may ask. was it spoken
by that individual all along while remaining masked, or has the
speaker suddenly intervened to command a heretofore speakerless
tale?
ARADIA: i dont...
ARADIA: well in your case
ARADIA: it certainly did seem like you were the
one speaking all along
ARADIA: but using different voices
JADE: that’s true.
JADE: not all situations are like the one
i just demonstrated though.
JADE: for as long as the hypothetical
speaker of a speakerless story remains masked, then it is true that
the story could be seen as either speakerless or spoken. both are
true, as well as neither.
JADE: it is best seen as a null factor,
until there is a departure.
JADE: once a hidden speaker becomes
unmasked, then retroactively the story may be considered spoken all
along.
JADE: and so too do we retroactively
change how we regard what has already been spoken.
ARADIA: yeah
ARADIA: i guess with our martyr story
ARADIA: by revealing yourself as the teller it
turned out...
ARADIA: you werent even sympathetic to the very
story it seemed you were trying to get me invested in from the
beginning
ARADIA: almost like a mean prank!
JADE: yes.
JADE: and so there is a very dangerous and
destructive quality to these nebulous forces which i have gone to
some lengths to demonstrate for you here.
JADE: not everyone who is affected by
these forces is fit to fully grasp their insidious qualities, or
the sense of urgency that they must be resisted with.
JADE: this is the sort of corruption i now
must dedicate my existence in this new body to ending once and for
all.
The cherub falls silent. Aradia takes this to
mean this lesson of sorts has ended. She ruminates on it all for a
while before speaking again.
ARADIA: thats all pretty neat i guess
ARADIA: so...
ARADIA: does this stuff have anything to do with
this big hole that just opened in the sky
JADE: no.
ARADIA: then...
ARADIA: what?
ARADIA: what are we doing here oh great muse
Aradia starts giggling. Above, the sky yawns
open a little wider. Aradia waits, but gets no response.
ARADIA: even now when youre being
uncharacteristically forthcoming youre still impossible to talk
to
ARADIA: i understand that though
ARADIA: i was like that when i was dead too
JADE: like what?
ARADIA: irrepressibly cryptic
JADE: i see.
ARADIA: so
ARADIA: can i at least take a guess?
JADE: yes.
ARADIA: HES coming through there isnt he
ARADIA: your brother
JADE: that’s correct.
ARADIA: are we in danger?
JADE: he will certainly be very angry.
JADE: but he will also be wounded.
JADE: and even on his best day,
JADE: he would be no match for what i have
become.
ARADIA: 0_0!!!
The cherub drifts higher and higher. There’s a
glint of color at the center of the abyss—a flash like a star going
black on the rim of a dying galaxy. Aradia follows behind the
cherub, unable to pull her eyes away from the eerie phenomena
overhead.
ARADIA: what will you do when he comes
The cherub is focused on something very small
falling from above. The bright object flutters down from the broken
sky and lands in her host body’s outstretched hand. It’s a feather,
burnt at the edges, flickering orange and green.
JADE: consume his body.
JADE: absorb his essence.
JADE: and then using this host, i will
generate enough power to move beyond the staggering pull of the
event horizon encasing this world.
JADE: a prison of my own making, which can
be escaped only through the supreme unification with my other
half.
JADE: it is crucial to the cosmos that i
succeed.
JADE: the prince of heart has to be
stopped.