Chapter 9-6 Deliberate Balance

Chapter 9-6 Deliberate Balance

+Chambers. Wake up. Time for you to be useful.+

-Avo to Aedon Chambers

9-6

Deliberate Balance

But before that? Shall I formally welcome you to the war? Zein asked, her words slightly slurred. Drugs were almost certainly involved. It seems rather fitting, no?

A numbing quietude settled on Avo. He ignored the joy fiend and found himself staring at the helios more and morethe atrocity of creating the ghouls an act of mockery not even achieved by the Low Masters own merits.

He was a failed monster. He was a failed monster because his creators were fools playing with someone elses pieces. But now, the primary instrument facilitating their sins belonged to him.

The question was what he was to do with it.

After the node had severed him from their code, from familial piety, Avo sought the flavor of new experiences. New Minds. He thought of Req again, the slave he freed, the slave that killed when given the option. Activating the mem-lock, he could taste the distant mind. Fascinated by how the man suffered for it after, agonizing over one murder.

Perhaps this was a thing of Waltons design as well. To let him sate himself on the world, his hunger for ever-building knowledge purposeful.

The revelation behind the fullness of his nature did not shake him so much as flood him with a coldness that pervaded through his bones. For years, he hated his brothers for failing where he succeeded. He cared little for communal bonds with them, but to stand alone as the only creature amongst his kindred, as a being of higher personhood, made him fear his own making.

Perhaps it was worry that another of the ghouls could achieve what he did. Go beyond. Usurp the uniqueness of his design from him.

Or maybe he genuinely dreaded being a member of a subspecies that was fundamentally broken; less than; never to be better.

Mayhaps both things could be true at once.

Facing his predecessors once more, Avo contemplated what he was to do with them as he finally turned to face Zein. Think I was welcomed before this. Welcomed when I got the Frame.

Zein seemed to agree with his words. Hm. Yes. I suppose you can regard such as truth. But you were a bystander then. Groping blindly through the black, unaware of the larger picture at play, the greater powers pulling you in their wake. Now you swim in deep waters. Now you are part of the fight.

Part of it. Yes. Avo leaned down. What part are you? Ninth Column. What do you want from this war? Kill your daughter? Break the Guilds? Take over?

Honesty pealed from Zeins mind, its directness central to her nature. Why I want what all Godclads eventually want. What the Low Masters and their Hungers want. For my vision of reality to surmount all others. You cannot escape it. We channel the absolute, and the absolute reshapes us. To accept anything less would be an act of violence against the self, and I will offer no mercy for anyone who transgresses against my person, even if it is myself.

Shit, Draus said, scoffing lightly, more flowery philosophy and no actual substance. Avo, Im gonna shoot you if you turn into this.

Zein flicked Draus a bemused glance. You speak like you will not be touched by the flame yourself.

The Regular scoffed. I aint no Clad.

No, Zein said. Not yet. Her gaze returned to Avo in a blink. He didnt even see her eyes move. I dont want to change the world. Just enough to bring back my love, see his dream made manifest, kill a certain amount of people, and amend a, uh, mistake I made with my daughter.

Dont care about shaping your own world? Avo asked.

The gleam in her eyes was sharp. I enjoy the current state of things. If Jaus wishes to alter it when I return him into being using the Ladder that Will Be, then so be it. One must make concessions in matrimony, but I like the way it is.

He considered Thousandhands' words and found the creep of disillusionment settling upon him. Still about power. Always about power. Nothing more?

No, little dagger, your view falls short. Its not about power, but totality. The totality of our expression triumphing over the tapestry itself. The stars are lost. Existence is a wounded, dying animal. We are the bearers of the last true power, and so, a reset will be battled over. A revision where slate is cleaned and the waters might rightly flow. Or not. Such is a matter of perspective.

A moment of silence passed between them. What if I have my perspective? My reality. What if its different from yours?

She broke into laughter, as a grandmother humoring a foolish question from her grandchild. Ah, but then we fight. In the real. As gods. With our Heavens, fists, ghosts, philosophies, technologies, alliances, and relationships. We fight. And one will remain. But we stand far from such an inglorious end, though it might yet come. And for now, I think we can be joined against greater forces held at bay. Until then, there is much for you to learn. It would not do for Zein Thousandhand to murder a babe of a Fallwalker before proper apotheosis. Such would offend my love and his dream.

Zein rolled her eyes at that. Melancholy tinged her mind, even blurred with substances.

What is the dream? Kae asked. Her interruption cut through the conversation like a whip snapping between two fighters. I-I was never told. Each Guild had a different interpr-uh-interpretation of what he wanted.

Zein studied the Agnos with a moment of silence, and, beyond Avos understanding, she turned her glaive back into an

Avo sensed his Auto-Seance activating. Draus session activated.

+Old half-strands using us,+ Draus said. +Playin her own game. These aint my waters.+

+Washing over us anyway,+ Avo said. +What do you think?+



+Well, I never expected to be doin no snuff-run with Zein fuckin Thousandhand. Itll make the job easier. Its also gonna pull us into a world of shit after, but whats new with that. Guild business. Left the Tiers to avoid that shit. Came back lookin for me anyhow.+



He couldnt say he felt the same way as the Regular. The course of the last month had been redefining for him. It was not all joyous, but the euphoria he tasted, the new horizons he gazed upon. He wanted more. He wanted to see more colors. This was his wish. His desire.

It was what Walton had wanted for him as well. One of the things, anyway.

What did he really know of his father in the end?

Pushing those thoughts aside, Avo focused on the present. Now more than anything, he wanted to eat another Godclad. Going to need to agree on a few things if we work together.

Agree? Zein said. What of fighting? You and I duel every time we disagree

No, Avo said, cutting her off before she could swindle him into being a test subject for another one of her suicide bombs. She glowered at him glumly like a child denied candy. Be serious. Proper arrangement. We help each other. But I plan my dive. I keep my Frame. And you dont hide things from me. Not the futures. Not anything else. Dont want to be someones dog.

Genuine offense came over Zeins expression. Have I ever insinuated my desire to take a slave? You insult me. I need no serveI am beyond a servant! To own something so servile is demeaning. I only take those with promise as my target practiapprentices.

Avo and Draus shared a glance.

All Clads like this? Avo asked Zein.

The older woman barked a chuckle. Be they so fortune.

Draus narrowed her eyes at him. You eat people. Careful there Avo.

He grunted.

First order of business, Zein announced. We need a backdoor into Conflux. The matter at hand has Conflux preparing for a massive attack on Nu-Scarrowbur in about a week. Likely a human-wave attack. Wasteful. Stupid. Very Greatling. Alas, my assets have not been fully able to track the Greatling boy when he steps through the glass. He has proven more paranoid and elusive than expected. If only there were means we had to lure him out like a certain expendable spy of sorts. Or three.

The future gave her forewarning to many things, and more than just combat or defense, it also let Zein lead conversations down the exact roads she wanted. Avo wondered just how much of their prior conversation was Zein playing them, and how much was actually her genuine reaction.

+Chambers,+ Avo asked Draus. +Green River kept him and the others in place?+

+That degenerate should still be in his box,+ Draus answered. +Him and the techs. But since you pulled the heat down from the Tiers, it aint gonna be easy gettin them from one place to another.+



True as that was, Avo felt himself wondering if he could force Mirrorheads hand by making a few changes. Trap the Syndicate Godclad using false information. +Fine. Have an idea about how to insert him anyway. Make other preparations.+



+Hope this idea of yours sees us gettin past the Exorcists and Paladins. Still your fault, by the way. Spittin bout which, how the hells is Mirrorhead about to start a war with Tier security breathin down everyones neck?+



How indeed, Zein said smiling as if she could hear their conversation this entire time.

One of Avos Echoheads chittered in annoyance. The room came into shape. Kae stood to the side, away from the confusion of the dialogue. She was adrift. Barely noticed.

Something told him that her malady could be used against Zein somehow. There was a feeling therea twist in her nature.

Now, Zein said, tell me about this Chambers, and in return, I will tell you about how we may evade the small matter of Paladin enforcement.