Naari - Tales of the Parodyverse

“Nothing’s changed” Visionary noted, looking out over the city. “That’s the really odd thing. Dancer doesn’t even know yet. She’s out there, and nothing’s changed for her. Fleabot too. Donar, Ebony, Liu Xi… Everyone’s just going about their lives, completely unaware that the world stopped spinning twenty-eight minutes ago.”

“Visionary…” Tiffany Ann Grandpierre, the disguised and possibly last Raven of Destiny, pleaded. “Come away from the edge.”

The Regular stayed in place on the roof of Phantomhawk Memorial hospital, looking down as the lights from an ambulance flickered off the sides of surrounding buildings. “But then that’s really the point of this story, isn’t it Quoth?” he continued in the same flat voice. “The world doesn’t really stop spinning for anybody. It doesn’t revolve around one person… least of all me. After all, I’m not supposed to be here.”

“Please, sir…”

“Surplus to Destiny… wasn’t that the phrase? You were the one who explained it to me, after all. Nothing I ever do will affect the outcome of the Parodyverse. I’m just an extra thread in the greater fabric. A narrative dead end.” He swallowed thickly. “In some ways, it was a relief. I mean… it was assurance that, no matter how bad things got, I could only screw up so much. Never quite enough to doom the universe. For most people, I suppose that might be faint comfort, but…” He trailed off, staring into the alley below. “Anyway, when you think about it, it really makes inescapable sense, doesn’t it?”

She was silent now, watching him sadly.

“How can a man whose story doesn’t go anywhere have children? How could destiny allow such a thing? After all, every offspring, every generation down the line… they’d have to be surplus as well. Otherwise, I did have an important part to play… I was great-great-great-great-great-grandfather to Xevoz the Allmighty or something.” He sniffed. “Not that I’d condone naming a child Xevoz, of course.”

With his back turned, she didn’t even feign an attempt at a smile.

“When I first thought of this, after… after what happened to Pricilla… I just thought it meant that ultimately Miiri was wrong. Naari couldn’t be mine. And it broke my heart… But I had already fallen in love with her, before I even knew it was a her. I realized how much I’d give to help her... How wonderfully fortunate I was to have a role to play in her life, even if it wasn’t because of genetics. Being cosmically unimportant, but getting to be father to Naari, that seemed like a pretty good deal.” He trembled slightly and pressed his arms against his sides with his hands thrust in his pockets. When he spoke again, there was a pained edge to his voice. “But when the curse hit Miiri, I knew better. Too late, I prayed and prayed that Naari was someone else’s child… not mine. I prayed to be fake… if only I could be fake, a mockery deluding himself into thinking otherwise. I prayed so as not to take Miiri’s baby away from her. But it obviously wasn’t enough.”

He finally turned to look at her, but she had trouble looking back into those raw, red eyes. She found herself looking down to the tarpaper at their feet.

“It’s really a rather sick joke on Destiny’s part, don’t you think? To kick someone so repeatedly who is supposed to be beneath notice? Someone cosmically defined as completely irrelevant?”

“There is no kindness in what has happened today, sir” she admitted sadly.

“But, here’s the thing… I’ve been standing here and thinking about this for a while now, and I’m pretty sure you’re wrong.” The edge to his voice grew dark and cutting. “I don’t have to be meaningless. I could walk right out of this building a stick a fork in the eye of Destiny any time I damn well pleased. Not important, am I? I could doom this entire world. I could betray Earth’s last, best hope… and it would be so easy. Do you know how many of the people that do matter in the big scheme of things love me? Trust me? I’m not branded. I could be the single biggest traitor in the history of mankind… likely one of the biggest traitors that ever lived. Whether this world is doomed or not, I could be the one to push it over into oblivion. Me. No matter what Destiny had to say about it. And do you know what I realized when this opportunity occurred to me?” he asked, the edge in his voice turning to a sickly tight pitch.

She looked to him and simply shook her head.

“The house would still win. I’d just be hit by a bus as soon as I tried to cross the street. Now that would be funny” He snorted, and then started chuckling with manic dark mirth. He fell backwards onto his ass, his back against the ridged edge of the rooftop, and brought his face into his hands as his shoulders shook. Finally, he wiped his eyes and a defeated, weary expression returned to his face. “You know, I wasn’t sure if I was going to do something stupid to myself until I saw you.”

She padded across the roof and lowered herself to sit, crosslegged, in front of him. “How’s that?”

“I figured that if I were going to jump, you’d have seen it and had Lisa summons me inside rather than coming out here to talk to me.”

She blinked and bit her lip guiltily. “Wish I had thought of that” she admitted fretfully. “You gave me quite a scare.”

They sat in silence for a while. “You can see the future” he said, sounding very tired. “How do I keep going on?”

“I don’t yet know, sir. I see less and less each day.” she admitted, reaching out to grasp his hand. “I just know that you do. You always have. You’re not the first one to be informed that you existed outside of the needs of destiny. There have been others… and many of them simply give up. Of those that continued on, none of them ever gave quite so clear a reason as you gave to me those years ago in the Happy Place. It was a time when reality in the Parodyverse was being rewritten on a seemingly weekly basis, and little things like the moon were being destroyed and recreated overnight. And in the midst of all this cataclysmic upheaval, you were on a quest to save bunnies from the fate of being unhappy.” She smiled fondly at the memory, an unusual expression for the former Raven. “I pointed out that it was literally the least important thing happening in the narrative strands at that time. And you just said “Somebody ought to try to help the unimportant people… I’d want somebody to try to help me, after all.””

He didn’t answer, but he turned his eyes downward.

“You say Destiny is cruel… the truth is, it’s not, sir. Destiny is cold. It doesn’t give a damn either way. So long as everyone fits in place, it doesn’t matter if they’re happy or sad, free or slaves. Destiny doesn’t care. You do sir. And that’s why I’ve always been proud to be your raven. I suspect you’ll go on because Miiri needs you, and Hallie needs you. Your friends need you. And because the universe is filled with other little girls and unhappy bunnies and people that Destiny has disregarded as no longer important… And while everyone struggles against the horrors of the Parody Master, someone ought to try to help them too… As roles in the universe go, that has to be one of the most noble, no matter what Destiny thinks. Mostly though, I think you know why you’ll go on.”

He looked up to her, sighed, and nodded in thanks. “Because it would have made Naari proud of her father” he answered.

“I can’t find any evidence of malicious code…” Zachary Zelnitz stated with frustration. “There should be traces of some kind of entry… some way of rerouting the hospital’s monitoring systems so as to keep from alerting Hallie that they were being tampered with… but there’s nothing. I’ve checked every way I can think that I might have done it, and it just didn’t happen.”

“So there’s somebody out there that’s better at this kind of thing than you and Hallie combined?” Lisa asked intently, obviously displeased by such a notion. She had taken the lead in investigating what had gone wrong, and judging by her demeanor it was the only outlet available for the rage that she was feeling. Hacker 9 could almost feel sorry for those responsible when the lawyer Legionnaire caught up to them, but that was trumped by his desire to see her do whatever awful thing she had in mind when the monster was caught.

“No… there’s nobody that good” his ego replied for him. “I don’t know what it means yet. It could be that…” He paused, not wanting to go there.

“Could be what?” Lisa demanded.

“He’s thinking that if the problem wasn’t in the hospital’s systems, then it must have been in mine” Hallie supplied flatly as she materialized in the computer lab of PhantomHawk Memorial. “He’s thinking that someone might have found a way to my unguarded code, even with the extremes we took to sever outside connections when my firewalls were down. He’s thinking he could have done it, had he wanted to.” All expression drained from her face. “He’s thinking someone could have programmed me to kill Naari myself.”

“No, I would never suggest..!” Zach argued truthfully, appalled by the idea. He didn’t admit that it was the end point of the path he didn’t want to pursue.

Hallie passed by them, staring at the primitive computers in the room as she absently traced holographic fingers over them. “Why not? It’s the logical conclusion. Rikka Ulz Hagan could have infected me… she’s done it before. She was already cooperating with the government for a reduced sentence even before any of this Parody Master thing started up. I could be the monster we’re looking for, and not even know it.”

“Hallie?” the first lady of the LL prodded gently. “Wasn’t Yo keeping you company?”

“He still is” she smiled sadly, her eyes far away. “But I’m no longer constrained by…” she stopped and swallowed painfully, her mask dropping momentarily. “I… now have my full processing capability back. I can be in more places than one. Many more, if need be.”

Lisa stepped forward to hug the glowing green woman who stiffened, then relaxed and solidified enough to accept. “We’re going to find who did this” she assured the bereaved mother. “We’re going to find them, I promise. But no matter what way the evidence leads, you had nothing to do with it. If someone had branded or mentally controlled Visionary or Miiri to harm the child, I would rip out that person’s lungs and feed them to him. If anyone dared to attack you while you gave your all to save Naari, I’d take a great deal of time working my way up to the lungs in a painful twelve course menu. But I tell you this, not just as your friend, not just as your lawyer, but as the cosmic holder of the Book of Law… None of you would be to blame for what happened to your Most Beloved in All the World… So don’t even think it.”

Hallie hugged Lisa tightly and buried her face in her shoulder. “Thank you, Lisa” she whispered. Sniffing, she pulled back and the emotion that had animated her face flickered away, returning her to the guarded young woman with eyes that seemed to be looking beyond the room. “Of course… all that’s assuming you get to the person responsible first.”

Hacker Nine observed the sentient computer program’s mood swings with concern. Fleabot had shared his fears about her expanded processing capabilities, but how did one recognize unusual behavior in one who had just gone through something as horrible as this? “We’ll find the bastard” he reiterated for her. “If there’s any technological foul play, I’ll trace it back to the source. If there’s anything else I can do to help put your mind at ease…”

“Anything you can do?” she asked, blinking in confusion. “Naturally there’s something you can do. Or rather, something your new mentor could do.”

He hesitated. “I’m not sure…”

“Let’s not play games. Not today” she argued flatly. “You know exactly what I mean. Again, it’s the natural train of thought. It’s not as if this would even be the first deal the Hood has struck over the existence of a Legionnaire’s child. He probably has contracts made up in his filing cabinets that just need the names filled in to make them official.”

Lisa too looked worried at the hologram’s distracted nature. “I’m not sure Ioldabaoth keeps files” she observed simply.

“Of course not… he’s able to keep all of those deals he loves to make straight in that twisty, treacherous brain of his, isn’t he? That’s what makes him the Hooded Hood.” She wandered across the lab to stare out the window into the medical library beyond. “I wonder, how many of those poor slobs knew they were being played, but eagerly made the deals anyway? Anything to fool themselves… just for a little while.”

“I’m not here representing the Hood” Zachary assured her.

“Of course you’re not. At least, not that you know of. But that’s the thing, isn’t it?” She turned to look at him with those eyes which seemed to see right through him. “The Hood is gathering associates who need something from him in preparation for the coming war. He’s taken you in… and the Hood never does anything for one reason. And now, here we sit… emotionally gutted… and one of our own just happens to have a man who can retcon away all of our pain on speed dial. It’d be quite the little joke for the Hood to pull, wouldn’t it? Stop me if you’ve heard it before…”

“Hallie…”

“Yeah, me too. It’s just not every original. And it could use a duck worked in somewhere.” Her eyes turned brighter white, and her voice grew ominous. “I like you Zach… I really do. You’re a good man at heart. Vizh knows it too, which is why you’re still a guest in his home. But I tell you now, and with great conviction… If I ever find evidence that the Hood has manipulated us all to this point, I will kill him… and anyone who chooses to stand with him.”

“You are worrying your friends” a voice observed sadly. They turned to find Yo standing in the doorway, stroking Rabito.

Hallie’s eyes regained their focus, and she looked at the pure thought being in surprise. “You’re cheating… you’re still upstairs talking to me about bunnies.”

“I am thinking I need to be talking to all of you at once” Yo replied, coming over to stand by Lisa. “And you are to be the one cheating yourself.”

“I told you, I’m not a human” she declared firmly.

“So?” the alien challenged.

Her face grew haunted, though she thrust out her chin. “I don’t need to cry.”

“I am thinking that “need” is not being the point.”

“It would be a lie” she argued in a cracked voice. “A showy bit of code meant to make me fit in more with humanity.”

“No” Yo answered firmly. “It would be the most honest thing to do.”

“Why?” she managed.

“Because you were a mother” the Legionnaire explained succinctly. “And you loved.”

And with a shudder, the most sophisticated computer program in existence broke down and sobbed.

“Sister?” Ohanna approached Miiri, tenderly embracing her as she waited for the medical team to finish their examination and allow her to hold her child for the first and last time. They were both shaken with grief at the loss, but grief was nothing new to either of them, and it was Ohanna’s turn to be strong for her older sister. “The Emir… Kiivan… wanted to say something.”

Dully, Miiri nodded and wiped her eyes in an effort to make herself presentable. Ohanna went and opened the door to the hallway, ushering in the young, disposed ruler of a conquered world.

“Miiri… I’m so, so sorry for your loss… I…” he shifted awkwardly, finding it hard to look into those pained eyes. “Your family… your House… both on Caph and the one you have forged here on Earth… I hold them in the highest esteem. Naari’s passing will be felt on both worlds as a great loss. I have spoken with your sister, and it is our wish that her name be included in the official registry of the Caphan Houses as a full honored daughter of Raael, despite not reaching the age of inclusion… so that when we manage to liberate our homeworld, she will always be remembered and honored by her people.”

Miiri sighed slowly. “Maybe it deserves to die.”

Kiivan exchanged unsure glances with Ohanna. “I’m sorry, Miiri, I don’t…”

“Our homeworld. Our culture. You intend to save it. Maybe it deserves what has befallen it. Maybe it deserves to die.”

“Miiri…” her sister objected gently, “You don’t mean that…”

The elder Caphan looked to her with affectionate eyes, though a spark of something harder remained in them. “Dear sister… How different our paths became, and yet how similar as well. We’ve both traveled so far, and seen so much… Far more than our society ever intended. All for the most cruel reasons and dangerous designs.” She shook her head. “I meant every word… Except, perhaps, calling it “our culture” any longer. I am Miiri of Earth now.”

“Yes, well…” the Emir of all Caph responded awkwardly, “I am sorry to have broached this now… Forgive me. Perhaps it is not really the time to…”

“It’s considered treasonous for me to speak such words, is it not?” Miiri noted. “Scandalous for a slave to speak them. And in front of the Emir… Even the mutterings of such rejections in the most secretive of company calls for a beheading. You have your Plas-Gar saber upon your hip. Why not carry out justice? You, above all, have that right… and I think I might even consider it a blessing.”

“You’re distraught.”

“Yes. I am.” Her eyes were still raw and her skin flushed. “I may be distraught for the rest of my life… I have yet to decide. But should reason ever again return to me and to my world, I would gladly say the same things to you then. So if it is ever just to slay me, there is no need to wait.”

“I’m not going to slay you Miiri.”

“Then a part of your culture dies here even now” Miiri observed. “Do you mourn it?”

“Our culture is imperfect. All cultures are” Kiivan noted. “But that is not all there is to our world… and we could be so much more, in time. We can overcome our deficiencies. We deserve the chance to grow, and to learn, and to better ourselves.”

“I see” Miiri noted. “And did my beloved Naari deserve such a chance? Twisted and imperfect as she was, could she not have grown into something beautiful, despite the accident of her condition, or even because of it?”

The Emir looked to her with guilt in his eyes. “Please forgive my reaction at her birth. It took me time to realize... To my knowledge, she was the first Caphan born free of the regime that holds our world hostage.” He bowed his head to her. “As such, she was the most beautiful child I have ever seen… and what she might have become seems limitless.”

“We all fall too easily to the traps of our customs, so ingrained they are within us” the former slave-girl answered in weary understanding. “I have learned… Lives and ideals… they are worth saving, Emir. Customs are a comfort, but we must never sacrifice the first two for mere comfort. The price is far too high, and it only makes a harsh world harsher.”

He nodded, intent on her words, and then spoke slowly. “The ideals of our world… I was raised to understand the basis for our culture… to see the barbarism of our past, the raiding and raping, and understand the need to protect the defenseless. I was taught how the great Houses of Caph brought stability and civilization to chaos, and peace and comfort to the meek. But I also see how those ideals have been twisted and taken advantage of by the unscrupulous, and how custom has lead to cruelty and decay in some quarters. Further, I have seen the ideals of other worlds, and other cultures, and I am forced to think on what I once believed unquestionably.” He looked at her earnestly. “Now, most of all, I hear the cries of our people… even the ones I may have been deaf to before. There is something of Caph worth saving, Miiri of Earth. I believe this with all my heart, and I pray for the opportunity to set it free to grow and overcome its limitations. I pray to see a Caph as beautiful for its possibilities as Naari was herself.”

Miiri looked into the face of the young man, and then to her sister who nodded earnestly, and blinked back tears. “Then I accept the honor on behalf of Naari of Earth, of the House of Visionary, daughter of the House of Raael, born free, for inclusion in the ranks of the citizens of the new Caph.” She laid a hand upon the Emir’s cheek. “And I wish you blessings on your quest for our people.”

Dr. Whitwell passed through the doors to the waiting area to find the Legionnaire and the two unusual mothers looking to him with a mixture of hope and apprehension. Behind them were the equally unusual assortment of friends and loved ones that were offering their support. It occurred to him that there wasn’t a person present who likely wasn’t feared and targeted by the political movement to restrain those deemed more than human by society at large. The grief that hung heavily in the air seemed the most compelling argument possible for the common humanity that united them with everyone else who had ever come through these doors, just as able to bleed. He swallowed thickly and addressed them as he had addressed far too many families before them.

“We’ve completed the examination, and removed her from the machines. You can hold her now, if you like … A lot of families find it helps” he informed them compassionately. “You can say goodbye to your daughter...”

Post By Visionary presents a somber follow-up to Untold Tales #266 Thu Mar 30, 2006 at 11:43:20 pm EST	Subject Naari

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