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what you gon na do ?
chase the horus ?
nah .
not that .
its just that theres some people i need to find and oh great , said brian .
we got us another fucking sally ann .
huh ?
what we call people who cant let go , said taro .
way back there was a woman who wandered to every corner of the deeps , herd to herd , looking for her family .
god knows how many cycles she hung on , but there wasnt much left of her to drag around in the end .
sure , you want to find your family , but you should realize , they probably arent even here .
yeah , once you crunch the numbers , the odds aint pretty , said brian .
were talking at least a dozen hordes .
lets say two hundred thousand souls apiece , some bigger some smaller .
another half a million souls lying broken on the land .
counting us infidels , that makes at least three million souls running around the deeps at any one time .
that might not seem like a lot compared to all of humanity , but its still a needle in a haystack .
and like taro said , chances are , theyre not even here .
this is just one corner of the afterworld .
there are other places souls end up .
believe me , i know .
but the person im looking for , i know shes here .
i made a promise .
and i dont have much time to get it done .
whats the rush ?
said brian .
being dead and all , seems to me like you got eternity to play with .
no .
thats the thing .
im not exactly dead .
whoa .
hang on there .
what the fuck you talking about ?
im alive .
i go back and forth .
this is my second time here .
they looked at each other , eyes bugging .
theres little a anomalous , said taro .
and then theres big a .
if what he says is true .
oh , i aint lying , i said .
youll see .
just wait .
were taking him straight to lady an , said brian .
well ... we were going to anyway , said taro .
yeah , but this is big stuff .
this is news .
anomalys always kind of been lady ans thing , said taro .
shes anomalous herself .
i mean its different .
shes gray like us .
but she can talk to sleepers .
so where do you go , when if you go back ?
said brian .
um lately , its vermont .
fucking a !
said brian .
i wan na go to vermont .
im fucking sick of this place .
nobodys keeping you , said taro .
you dont like it here , you can go and chase the horus .
well , thats not gon na get me to vermont .
but some day , taro .
someday i might just do that .
*** they led me to the top of the hill , a dome so gentle it could pass for flat .
the remains of brick and stone structures outlined the alleys and buildings and squares that used to stand here .
the place looked like it had been leveled by a bomb .
nothing had a roof and no wall was taller than waist high .
only stubs and foundation holes remained .
what the heck happened here ?
happened ?
therere no roofs or anything .
did the horus do this ?
who the fuck needs a roof ?
it never rains .
but the ruins fuck no .
these aint ruins , said brian .
this is home .
this is rifugio .
curious souls popped into view as we approached , like meerkats scouting for leopards .
it became clear as we entered the settlement that what i initially took for foundations were actually sunken courtyards for an intricate network of catacombs .
the entire settlement lay below the surface .
brian and taro led me to an opening in a wall that led to a stairwell of stone blocks leading down into the heart of the hill .
the blocks had smooth curves with paper-thin seams , all joined without mortar .
you guys stay put .
ill fetch lady an , said taro .
he skittered down the stairs , disappearing into a passage off a landing halfway down .
have a seat .
relax , said brian .
i settled onto a bench carved from the same chalky stone as everything else .
people gathered in ones and twos while we waited .
they came and lingered around us , sharing snatches of music , sometimes hummed , sometimes sung .
it seemed like the usual greeting around here .
is he not a hashmal ?
said a guy clad in jagged , plate-sized scales that clanked as he moved .
nah .
he just happens to be a little pink .
hes one of them anomalies .
a woman grabbed my hand and kissed it .
she laughed and held it to her bosom and wouldnt let go .