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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 . |