Caino's Alphabet, G

Gail’s sly smile faded to one of cautious curiosity as her eyes met with Caino’s—
who now unexpectedly inspired in her 
a strange feeling of déjà vu.  
She turned away from him and, 
preferring to address Aaron, 
made her proposal for Darius’s test.         
    “The three of us took possession of these bodies in a small village northeast of here, 
across a narrow river which we crossed 
by means of a ferry.  
If you cross that river and follow its banks 
to the right you will soon arrive at this village.  
In the centre of the village is a church.  
Have your friend go into that church 
and examine the fresco behind the altar.  
He will describe it to us upon his return.”
    “That will take days,” complained Aaron.
    “Two, if he travels at our pace,” 
replied Gail. Aaron looked at Caino 
and received a shrug and a nod in consent.
    “So it’s settled,” said Aaron, rising to his feet.  
“I don’t doubt your friend’s authenticity, 
and though I’ve not heard of this happening before, 
I know of no law that forbids it.  
However, we could hardly call ourselves scientists 
if we accepted such an unusual tale 
without any proof.”
“Do you have any idea why I see him?” asked Caino, “and why he’d think I’m a dream?”  
    “Well…,” began Aaron, 
stroking his unruly beard, 
“the way the Machine will gather up 
all those dying Minds scattered throughout time and space is by using what we call ‘Points’—
objects so dense they can penetrate 
the fabric of space and move freely through time.  These Points will afford us openings 
through which the content of a Mind can be sent 
to the Machine.  Among the countless trillions 
of Points that will be released, 
a few no doubt will stray, creating 
unintended consequences.  
Your Darius could be one of those consequences.”
    “Rubbish!” snorted Gail, 
“A Point comes only to a Mind’s final End.  
There is no opportunity for corruption of its task.”
    “Yet if this Darius is proven to exist 
what other explanation would you offer?  You yourself used a Point to possess the poor girl 
you now inhabit, is that not a corruption?”
    “It’s not the ethics of the thing I protest, 
it’s the impossibility of it.  
Communication between Paths is prohibited 
by nature’s laws, and the Machine—
which alone stands above nature—
does not facilitate it.  I’m afraid this ‘friend’ 
of yours is a fantasy.” 
    “Darius isn’t a fantasy! 
And he’ll find that church, you’ll see!” 
Caino exclaimed, his face flushing as his boyish emotions betrayed him.  He jumped to his feet 
and ran off to give Darius Gail’s directions. 
—
    Caino found Darius in a swampy lowland 
not far from their camp.  
He was wading up to his neck, yet the water 
stayed smooth as glass—
as if he were not there at all. 
    “They want you to cross a river 
and look inside a church,” said Caino 
in the language that was theirs alone, 
“you must describe some frescos you’ll see 
behind the altar.  Paintings, I think.”
    “Show me the way and I’ll be off,” 
grinned the wolf.
    So Caino gave Darius his directions, 
and soon he was watching his friend 
bound happily off into the forest. 
—
    Late that night Caino woke 
to the sounds of a struggle.  
In the light of the dying fire, 
he saw Aaron straddling one of their captives.  
Caino recognised it to be Farouk, 
the surviving male kidnapper.
He was bound and quite helplessly pinned.  
As Caino watched, Aaron produced 
a small pair of tongs and with them 
plucked something from a small metal box
that lay beside him atop 
an open sheaf of manuscripts.  
    In his tongs, Aaron held something of a shade 
so dark it was almost indistinguishable 
from the black night around it, 
yet so bright that Caino could not bear to 
look at it directly.  He had seen such a thing 
only once before—when he had witnessed 
the old hunter’s death, on the day that 
the monks had been taken.
    Aaron brought the tongs to Farouk’s forehead 
as he struggled in vain against his bonds; 
the moment the dark light touched his head—
the Second Scientist went limp.  Aaron released him, placed whatever it was he held in his tongs back into its box, and looked up to find Caino’s 
wide eyes watching him from within 
the folds of his cloak.     
    “Now he is free of his captor,” 
said Aaron, a triumphant smile on his face.
    “You killed him?” 
asked Caino.
    “Not at all.  In fact, I saved him.  
The dark light you saw me touch to his head 
was a singularity—
one of the Points of which 
I spoke, but this one no longer serves the Machine,
it has been captured and will now serve 
a human master—for better or for worse.  
I found it about the person of one of my kidnappers.  It’s a rare find, we know of only one other 
existing in this Path and Place.  
Doubtless, they intended to employ it 
to take possession of my body in order 
to infiltrate our Abbey.”
    “What did you do to him then?” Asked Caino.
    “I removed the rascal who controlled him.  
The Machine did the rest.  
The Second Science will capture 
many more such Points than we.  
They’ll use them to project themselves 
into the innocent and corrupt our sect 
with lies from the future.  
The Machine resists this abuse, 
but they’ve learned to hide their dirty work 
behind a veil of deceit.  
Fortunately, that veil can be lifted 
by the touch of a Point and, with this one nearby, there can be no further interference with us. 
Were they now to project themselves here
to possess us, it will catch them and send them 
to the Machine as if they had died.
    “So you killed one of him,” said Caino. 
    “I suppose you could put it that way. 
They’ll both go to the Machine, 
but the Machine will see its mistake, 
returning right mind to right body, 
and the scoundrel who possessed it will be sent 
to the house of the dead.”  
    As if on cue, the man they had known 
as Farouk gave out a loud cough and briefly convulsed before falling back into his stupor.    
    “You see?  he’s already returned,” 
cried Aaron triumphantly.
    Caino rose to his feet 
and looked down at the man, 
and somehow he was glad it was not Gail.  
The young man now sleeping before him was definitely no longer Farouk. 
A thousand small changes in the expression 
on his face conspired to give him 
an altogether different appearance than 
he had worn just a moment before.     
Aaron, as if reading Caino’s thoughts, 
remarked, “I’ll not be exorcizing Gail 
for the time being, we’ll need her to confirm your friend’s existence.  More-over, I mean to have 
her interrogated when we arrive at the Abbey.  She’ll have much to tell us if we are persuasive—
and the Abbot can be very persuasive indeed.  
As for this youth here, he is of no further use 
to any of us.  He will find his way back 
to his village when he awakes.”
—
    With Darius gone on his errand, 
Caino’s morning hunt was fruitless, 
and r they were compelled to make a broth 
from the previous day’s leavings.
    While Aaron was preparing the meal, 
Gail woke up and, seeing her companion 
sleeping and free of his bonds, 
at once knew something was amiss.     
“What have you done with Farouk?” 
She asked, struggling to sit upright. 
    “I released him.  You were kind enough 
to provide me a Point for that purpose.”
    “You have neither the knowledge nor technology to wield a Point,” sniffed Gail.
    “And yet now our friend here is free.” 
Aaron smiled and passed her a bowl of soup.