Chapter II Parts I - IV

Chapter II – Wheels

Deep within the Makarium State Buildings is an unassuming door. Unassuming in every way other than it is so far down a narrow corridor lit by only a couple of old arc-lights, the smell of ozone filling the narrow space. Where as most of the rest of the State Building was adorned with gilt and gold, as well as every legal symbol known to humankind, with all the pomp and ceremony associated with Legality. This one corridor was almost bare stone, like a tunnel to a crypt, and just as claustrophobic. The Door, simply made from steel, with little adornment, stood like a great barrier protecting the contents of the room from the world, or perhaps visa-versa. Grand Lawyer Bhrata Pellsim approached The Door, key in hand, the key handed down from each generation of Grand Lawyer to the next, the key to reveal the secrets of the Makarium, that's what was behind The Door.

Inserting The Key into the lock, Pellsim slowly turned it, feeling the mechanism inside resist against the force, until with a satisfying clunk, the key set into motion the whole lock. The faint sound of wheels and cogs turning inside the door, each of the locks releasing in turn, the noise reverberating down the narrow corridor.

And then silence, utter and complete silence.

Pellsim pulled hard on the handle, and the door swung open to reveal the room. A small, yet concise library, for the most part single cards, all indexed and catalogued into wooden drawers. Drawers that covered every every part of the wall from floor to high ceiling, front to back and side to side, each one a meter deep and filled with cards. A single tall library ladder on runners allowed access to each of the drawers.

In the centre of the room sat a single table, with a single chair at one end. Upon the table just 3 items; a large feather quill, a single sheet of parchment, and the largest volume that existed within the Makarium.

The parchment was the single most important secret, a deceleration of the council of Grand Lawyers to preserve the Pellsim way of life and society, no matter what the cost. The quill being the sacred pen used by each of the Grand Lawyers to apply their marks. And at the very bottom a symbol that perhaps, given the circumstances at the time, should not have been there. Just a circle with an offset cross, looking for all the world like a broken crosshair, but never the less a symbol that sent a chill through Pellsims veins.

The volume, sitting upon it's rest, whilst not as important, was considerably older than anything else within the room, even within the building.

It was The Laws, as written by the founders of Society, Wulfren and Victori.

Pellsim had come simply to put some more cards into the drawers. Looking at the cards, he selected each one according to alphabetic order, and then inserted each card into it's proper place. Each card contained just a few headings, the date, a location, and finally a name. Each and every single card within those drawers represented a person, a life, a death, a sacrifice for Society.

“If only they knew” he whispered to himself, before closing the drawers.

Turning The Key back in the lock, and hanging it back around his neck, Pellsim gave the room a revered look before heading back down the corridor to more comfortable surroundings. He knew that he would be back again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, and every day until he passed The Key on to the next.

* * * * * *

In his Chapel of Laws, Bhrata Vedas was busying himself for the visits of the teenagers visiting the Bar that day. At least once a week he would get a group of young adults to come to the chambers, and explain to them the history of the Makarium and what it meant to be in service. Most, he already knew, would go on to the forces to fight The War, some may even make it far enough to see The Enemy, but very few seemed to take the route into the Makarium, and that troubled him. The average age of the Lawyers was getting greater and greater with each passing year, and very few youngsters to pass the Laws and Lores onto, if it's not careful, the Makarium could simply pass of old age.

But, there was hope, every now and again he would find a young mind that was curious about more than just war and technology, one who was deep enough to see there was more to the world, yet still young enough to influence and mould into the right kind of mind for the service.

Today he knew he was going to meet just such a mind. He'd met Anjali many times before, when she came to work with her mother as a little girl, it had been a while since he had last seen her, but even when she was small, she had a more than inquisitive mind. The kind of mind that would not just simply roll over and join the forces. He was excited to see what kind of mind she had grown into, hoping that her mothers teachings would have helped to form it somewhat.

Donning his gowns, he prepared for the visit, wondering what questions she would ask. It didn't matter really though, he already had the answers, or at least he hoped he did.

“Somewhere”, he mumbled to himself, “I've got a vault-pad with almost everything she might want to know, and even some stuff she won't even know she wants to know.”

Rifling through the drawers of his desk he found it, wrapped in an old muslin cloth to keep it safe. It was an archaic device, even antique, but to Vedas it was what the pad contained that was more precious. There were things in this pad that you couldn't find in any normal Makarium Library, nor any modern day vault-pad.

Carefully he unwrapped the cloth, blowing the dust off, and giving the case a gentle wipe with his hand, feeling the achient metal tingle beneith his finger tips. Wrapping his fingers around the clasps, he un-locked the two halves, and let the pad fall open within his hands. Slowly the screens warmed up, and then with a spark, sprang into life, proclaiming the title of the pad.

“The Personal Memoires of Victori, founder of the Makarium.”

That will do just the trick, he thought to himself. Closing the pad, he settled down into a chair, waiting for the inevitable arrival of his student. Deep in thought about what the coming day would bring, he readied the Audio-Visual recorder almost as though on auto pilot, he would have a record of the happenings of that day.

* * * * * *

Anjali and her mother approached the Chapel of Laws from the main skyway, the lumbering Leviathans seeming to be more numerous than usual. In amongst the upper terraces of the city, the chapel seemed to almost nestle into it's position. Whilst not as large as the State Buildings, nor as grand, it had a certain presence that separated it from the other buildings, it's large, single transmission pylon helping to mark it's place within the jungle of buildings, the light from the streets below seeming to make the building as a whole glow from underneath.

The inside of the building was no less impressive, the rows and rows of benches for the faithful to come and pray, the huge bar at the head of the building where the Bhrata Lawyers would sit and pass judgement if required, the pulpit where the presiding Bhrata would give a sermon, and the ever present symbol of the Makarium.

Just below, and to one side of the Bar was the arched doorway into the Bhrata Chambers, where Anjali would meet Bhrata Vedas again.

Eye's from within a shadow in a darker corner of the Chapel watched with interest as Anjali and her mother entered through the door way, knowing full well that the contents of any discussions could be reviewed at leisure later on. Vedas was not the only one with an AV Recorder in that chamber, and he had to be watched, he knew too much already, just a little thought and logic could lead to conclusions the Makarium did not want to be visited.

Once inside the chambers, Anjali was surprised at how homely they were. Although she had met Bhrata Vedas many times before, she'd never been into his Makarium Chamber. His desk was large, covered for the most part with various volumes or Law, the odd vault-pad or two, and of course his working lights. But what stood out to her immediately was the vault-pad in the centre of his desk, left open, but deactivated. It wasn't just the fact that it was there, it was that it look so old.

What were the contents, what secrets did it hold?

Vedas was sat there, looking as old as the vault-pad, sat back comfortably in his chair. Even though he wore the Sign of Victori, she thought of him more as an Uncle, he was harmless enough.

“Come in Anjali, come in Jananii. Good to see you both again.”

“Good Morning Bhrata Vedas”, replied Jananii.

“Hiya Vedas”, Anajli could be so informal, even when she was supposed to be formal.

“So, Anjali, why have you come here today?”

“I've brought her here …”

“Please, Jananii, and with the greatest respect, let the girl speak for herself. Anjali?”

“I'm here 'cos mother says I have to be, as usual.”

“Anjali!” exclaimed her mother.

“But I do have some questions. Things that I've been wondering about recently.”

“At your age in life, we Bhrata expect most young minds to have decided what is needed of them.”

“Oh?”

“Ah! No no, I do not mean at all that you are in someway under developed Anjali, quite the contrary. I suspect that you could well have a fuller and deeper mind that most. You have no desire to go to The War, correct?”

“No I do not! Why would I, why does anybody want to? I don't get these kids that just think life is about fighting and glory. There must be more to it than that, surely, isn't there?”

“Most young adults decide at an early age that they wish to fight for a way of life. You could almost call it a lust, an instinct as strong as life itself. But every now and again we come across an individual, like yourself, who doesn't harbour this desire, who feels that perhaps they have something more, let us say more abstract, to offer.”

“What, like building tanks and leviathans? Why are those things blocking up the skyways anyway? They slow everything down!”

“Leviathans are needed by the Makarium Anajli. Building them, and tanks, is a job for those of a lesser intelligence...”

“Dad is intelligent, and he makes them, he can make anything!”

“Your father is an exception to the rule Anjali. I would class him as Architect perhaps, even though he behaves like some dock labourer some times. But you are getting off the point...”

“He's not a dock labourer, how dare you, my dad...”

“...is an enormously intelligent man who has served the Makarium well in the past. We thank him for that, and allow him to do as he chooses now, in his Golden years, Anjali. We are not here to discuss your father!”

“Right, well, you just remember that, then, ok?”

“I will always remember that Anjali. It was I that fought for his free status many years ago. Can we get back to the point now, please?”

“Well, yes, what were you talking about?”

“I was about to talk about options other than going into the forces, and The War. There are other ways that you can help society, especially with your background and parentage.”

“What have my parents got to do with what I can do?”

“Well, you see Anjali, you inherit certain skills and traits from them. I didn't know my parents, The Enemy killed them when I was just a small boy. The War was old even then, and that was a long time ago”

Anjali couldn't help but snigger at that comment, Vedas was old, but in a nice way. She looked at him more closely now, she hadn't known that he was an orphan, but then that was why the Makarium introduced laws about who could go to The War, if you had children under a certain age, you couldn't go, that was why some people did things other than fight, not because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't. In turn that created another problem, the population as a whole was getting old, the birth rate was lower than it ever had been before, because people were choosing The War over their own family. Looking at Vedas' eyes, she saw then a depth and understanding, he knew stuff, more than most people. Maybe it might be good to ask him about the trinket her Great Grandfather gave to her. Then her eyes wandered to the mark of the Makarium, the tattoo every Law-Priest had to show their devotion and conditioning, he could, and should, betray her. Could she trust him? Time would tell perhaps. For now, she would try to be as sly as she knew how, and try to get information out of him, just like she could with Ashmita. She would have to change her tac with him, lull him into thinking he was in control, and she was just a stupid teenager that knew nothing, although, when she really thought about it, that's exactly what she was, and was why she needed him.

“I'm sorry Bhrata Vedas, I didn't know you were an orphan”

“It's not something I advertise Anjali, but it's a fact of life, I'm still me, orphan or not.”

“So, what else can I do, other than go to The War that is?”

“As I was saying, there are lots of options for a young lady like you, lots of ways you could serve the Makarium, and by doing so, serve society”

“Such as?”

“Don't be so direct Anjali, Bhrata Vedas is trying to help you here!”

“It's ok Jananii, the young have yet to learn the subtleties of conversation. First of all Anjali, we need to work out just what your skills are, and to some extent your interests as well. If we can find you something that you're interested in it will make serving all the easier.”

“Well I like engines”

“Oh for pity sake, will you just forget about engines, I'll never forgive your father for getting you interested in such things. Engines are for people with a lower intelligence, Brahta Vedas just told you that”

“Ok, well, what about history, I like things from the past too, things that we don't know much about”

“Ah, now we're getting somewhere. The Makarium have an entire department devoted to examining the past, and what role it could have in the future. We think that the best way to defeat the Enemy is to find out about it's past first. But there are so many pasts, who knows which is the correct one? That, in essence, is the role of The Makarium, to show us what is true and what is false, and there are so many falsities in life Anjali.”

That puzzled Anajli for a moment, how can The Makarium decide what was true and what was false, but before the thought had taken hold in her mind, Bhrata Vedas activated the ancient vault-pad in front of him. Again the screens flickered into life.

“Take this vault-pad for example, do you know what it contains, could you guess?”

“Well, no, not without seeing it.”

“This is the Memoires of Victori herslf.”

“But anyone can get that a Library”

“Yes, that is true, but this particular one is special. The ones in the libraries are just edited copies of this one”

That single word, edited, made Anjali's ears prick up, this one contains more?

“What is so special about this one then?”

“This is the original, written by Victori herself, so long ago. As a Keeper of the Makarium, I am entrusted to look after certain artifacts, and as my speciality is in archiologic-knowledge, it is natural that such a thing should come to me. The one you have read in your education is based on this one, but written is a much more modern language, more suited to today.”

“So, are there, could there be, things in this version that aren't in the one I have read?”

“Well, not that I know of, but thinking about it, perhaps something of Victori's original message could have been lost in translation, so to speak. Would you like to see it, to hold it, even just for a moment?”

“Can I? Yes please!”

Carefully Vedas closed up the vault-pad, and handed it over the desk to Anjali.

Straight away she saw the symbol of the Makarium emblasoned on it's cover. But also the strange script she had on her tricket, or at least something similar, was embossed all around it's edges. Tentivly she opened it, and pressed the button to activate the screens, again they flickered into life, and again there was that mysterious script.

“Can I read a little of it please?”

“Yes you may, but just a little though. I am breaking so many laws by letting you hold it, but I don't see the harm, so long as it goes no further than this room.”

Again, by manitpulating the button, Anjali brought the main index up on the screen, a quick scan of it showed most of the chapters she already knew, and some she didn't, one in particular grabbing her eye;

“On The Passing of Wulfren”

So he was real, Wulfren was real.

Trying hard to conceal her excitement at the find, she knew she had to ask Vedas about Wulfren, but how?

“Can you pass that back to me now please Anjali, I need to put it back into it's safe place”

“Eh? Oh, errr, yes, of course, here you go.”

Gingerly, knowing just how precious this vault-pad was now, Anjali handed it back over the desk.

“It looks as though our time is up for now Anjali. I hope I have shown, or at least given you an idea that there is more than just The War, that there is purpose and reason, and the need for minds, such as yours, that can be of greater service in other ways. Now I have a meeting with a Master Lawyer, I'm afraid I must rush, I'm already running late, and you know that you can't be late. Tardiness is the fastest way to the front line.”

With that, Anjali and her mother were ushered out of his office.

The eye's in the shadows noticed them leaving, now all that was left was to retrieve the AV-recorder, what had he told the girl, was it too much. Knowing the old fool it probably was, he could rattle on and give tell of things that the Makarium did not want to be told. The look in those eyes grew soft, even for just a moment, as they looked at Anjali, but then turned steely again, “Focus on the task in hand”, was the thought behind them. Shortly after Anjali left the chambers, Vedas did too, his long dress cloak flowing behind him.

“Now to see what you were up to Bhrata Vedas”.

* * * * *

Grand Lawyer Bhrata Pellsim looked about his chambers, somewhat stark, and yet impressive by their sheer size. Others would think that his loan chair and desk, as massive as these were, looked small in such a large space. The head of the Makarium was always afforded such luxury, he had a full penthouse. To all intense and purpose there was no ceiling, just the glass that made up the roof of this particular tower. Each Grand Lawyer had recreated that office in his own manner. Pellsims predecessor had decided to show power by possession, and so when he took the office it was full of all sorts of exhibitionism. Pellsim decided that his office would be much sterner, and by logical progression, purer. It was rendered in the same stone throughout, a dark grey marble unique to one particular area of the world. Expensive in it's minimalism. The only difference was the level to which it was polished. The floor you could see your own reflection in, high and higher up the walls the marble was more and more unfinished, until right where it met the smoked glass roof it was almost as it were straight out of the quarry. His desk and large throne like chair were made of the same stone, equally as polished as the floor. Unseen and set into the desk top were various screens that relayed information to the Grand Lawyer. At this particular moment he was studying a report on Leviathan production, but waiting for a report from one of his greatest servitors, one of the Fire Hands themselves, with a report on that old fool Vedas. He had sent a Fire Hand, even though perhaps surveillance was underneath them, because of what he knew Vedas was in possession of. If he were to really study that Vault-Pad, then god only knows what would happen to society. Yes, Vedas was faithful to the Makarium, he had been conditioned to be, but he must not find the secret. The only safe way to keep it hidden would be to destroy all record of it, but at the moment that was impossible. The retirval of that Vault-Pad became a consuming passion for Pellsim, which was why he had the Fire Hands. They were the best of the best of the Forces, elite, and few in number. A single Fire Hand could take out an entire battalion before they even knew what was happening, they had more skills than that, they were infiltrators, spies, judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one. Pellsim had to have that Vault-Pad, and they were his way of getting it. He had to make sure that it did not contain any mention of the secret, of Victori's betrayal, of how and why Wulfren had passed.

Even as he was lost in his own thoughts, the report started to appear on his screen. This was good, his Fire Hand had full conformation that Vedas still had the Vault-Pad, that he hadn't really studied it, he would appear to be some how scared to study that ancient text too closely, or perhaps too reverent. The next bit of the report wasn't so good, why on earth had he shown it to this girl? Who was she anyway? He decided she was just another of Vedas' lost causes that he was trying to persuade to join the Makarium. He didn't know why he bothered, there was only The War, that was all that mattered, that was all that could matter. It was The War that had allowed society to become what it was today.

Pellsim sat back in his chair, looking into midair, marvelling at the advances in technology, medicine, robotics, and especially genetic design. If it hadn't been for The War, none of that would have happened. If it hadn't been for the Makarium, it society wouldn't have the will to make it happen. After all, The Enemy had to be beaten. At that single thought, a smile wrought it's way across the face of the Grand Lawyer.

But back to business, he had to give the Fire Hand new orders. What should she do next?

He decided that at the moment it would be best to simply just watch Vedas, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.

Pellsim had to address the Bar, they had to pass a new Law allowing the production of more Leviathans, more weapons. It was simple enough to pull the wool over their eyes though. A ramp up in production meant only good news for the economy. What would be harder would be a request for more funds for the geneticists. For some reason the Lawyers found it hard to understand genetic design, but it was vital for The War. How to dress it up so they would approve the funding? Medicine. Medical research, they would always fund that. But medical research into what?

What was needed was a new threat to society, a new disease, something that would create enough fear that the Lawyers would throw money at the research. A few thousand members of the public at large would have to be sacrificed, but the population was growing too fast for the city anyway, and the sacrifices would allow the geneticists to continue their work unabated.

The pristine corridor was tilled in purest white, floating lights all down it's length seemed to make it glitter. Running all along it's length were a myriad of cables, bringing power and information, all leading to the single room at the end. The sign above the door announcing it's purpose, Genetic Testing Room XI. From within came a sudden blood curdling scream, a scream that echoed it's way along the corridor, a scream that was repeated time after time. Almost as suddenly as it started, it abated, to be replaced with the faint sound of servos, cogs and wheels.