Eternity In Mind
The Last Game Is The Longest Game
Welcome to fiction “From The Future” for this entry.
Congratulations, you have stumbled on a work-in-progress, it will not be emailed. It will change. What you see right now, will not remain the same. It will change.
This is also a new drafted chapter for a novel, “RETRIEVE”, being written this year.
Future + Fiction is the formula for everything, whether it’s an essay, story or chapter.
These long pieces are best read online, via the Substack App, when you have fifteen minutes.
“A man sets himself the task of portraying the world. Through the years he peoples a space with images of provinces, kingdoms, mountains, bays, ships, islands, fishes, rooms, instruments, stars, horses, and people. Shortly before his death, he discovers that that patient labyrinth of lines traces the image of his face.” —Jorge Luis Borges (“Dreamtigers”)
Part 1 A Hiding Place
Before The Mad One Lands at The Island
“I like this place. Coffee is good.”
“Welcome to Miami…”
“Thank you for coming.”
“I have to admit it was curiosity, and it’s also an honor but you know who I usually serve.”
“Ah, yes, the old one with the sharp sticks. My kindred sibling.”
“That one with the sharp sticks has built his Clan into a serious force, and he means to use it, just like The Curate.”
“I have a reason. Maima.”
“Excuse me?”
“A Hiding Place, “Maima”, becomes more than just a place for secret meetings. Like the one you had with that hacker.”
“How did you know about him, did he talk? He was always crafty and sneaky.”
“Never mind how I know. I know you’ve been tasked with looking for… The Graces.”
“You do know everything, don’t you? Can you now tell me please why we’re meeting here?
“A secret city can become a home, you know…”
“I’m listening,” said Pallas, as he sipped his cafecito.
The Mad One had a smaller than usual smile, almost wistful, “There’s beauty, and peace, to live your entire life in one place that you call home. This world has been our home,” as he rested a hand on the table between them, “for me and mine, the Elders, this is our last stop. For you, this is all you knew, for your entire lives this was all you knew, but it hasn’t felt like home, has it? Living an eternal, restless, youth where home eludes you. Maybe at last though, you will trade that in, a part of it, the restlessness, for this place. You can live here, with the others who want a home. By my lights, you are young. And you deserve peace too. You and Bella.”
Pallas sat back. It wasn’t often he could be surprised.
“We have spent lifetimes older than stars starting over. We’re tumbleweed, driftwood, the remnants of old stars in the dark, getting carried along by the tides of reality. Home. I think about that a lot.”
“I have spent more than a lifetime fighting these wars of ours. How are we…?”
“Don’t waste more of it. Aren’t you tired of the long war which pauses but never ends? You have spent thousands of years, facing an endless series of monsters, in the form of war.”
“What else is there?”
“I want to take the lot of you lost younger ones, hide you all in basket on sacred waters, and whisk you to peace and a good life. But the reality is this. We begin a revolution, flee in retreat, on a Long March”, to takeover where we began. Go with your best friends to get rid of something everyone wants, some willing to kill for, and return the long way around.”
“Tell me plainly, what you want, and what you want me to do?”
“I’m going to trigger the end of this war. And you’re going to help me. You’re going to have The Visitor help me, even if he doesn’t realize I’ll get my way despite how smart and fast he is.”
“How?”
“We’ll find the ones who can unlock the Mission’s reactor core, it still exists. I should know, I saw it disappear during The Landing. It can only be accessed by…”
“The Three Graces… but…”
“Yes, they’re the key but we need the lock. The Three Fates…. the last game Is the longest game”
They worked on the Mad One’s long game of a Mad Plan to end the war between the nodes.
“MaiMa, the urbaninstance known as MiamiMarseilles, becomes a home for the Nodes and Half-Nodes in a new place, hidden in the world of man. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Part 2
“The Island becomes a story, it will fade into the memories of man as a myth.”
They listened to the Mad One. They were surprised but the side benefit was two old friends seeing each other again, and then being in the presence of The Mad One.
“Including the SSN Eternal, which we’ll procure through the influence of different Nodes, hijack the device, and prepared by a contractor, owned and operated by Overland Ventures. The Reactor Core, yes, THAT Reactor Core, at last will be recovered from the Earth’s innards. It will be the catalyst for a series of misunderstandings and skirmishes among Carbons too.”
“The Chronicles say The Third Grace is lost forever.”
“Not so. It was hidden forever. Inside the Reactor Core.”
“Wow.”
“Yes indeed, wow.”
“It is the “Missing Grace” on the island, increasingly unstable but still accessible.”
“You need another impossibility, The Three Fates, before. You need the lock before you get the keys.”
“I understand, and appreciate the analogy.”
“Hephestus and Matsamura, Hef and Matty, you’ll use your skills at last for something important and good, to help take over the Reactor Core’s countermeasures and deep mechanisms before others get their hands on it, or kill each other over it with primitive nuclear fire.”
“That we kind of figured, you need techies,” said Hef.
“That’s right, Hephaestus, you were labeled the god of fire and fabrication — god of the Makers. Disowned for being born lame and ugly, he became the most well-liked by the Gods. He made the tools, toys, and weapons of the Pantheon. Once, he made inescapable traps for his mother, Hera, who disowned him, and his wife, Aphrodite, who he caught in bed with Ares. But he released them. For someone who could build anything, his broken heart was beyond repair. His workshop was his home. The royal courts of the gods were avoided. Father of the machine, he built wonders such as golden mechanical assistants. Even his trinkets were miracles, including Hermes’ sandals, Aphrodite’s girdle, and Achilles’ armor.”
Hef raised his hand, despite his awe of The Mad One, “that’s enough, it’s hard to listen to all that.”
The Mad One laughed, “fair enough, even if half-true it’s weird, I get it, and that’s why I stay away from all of you. I can’t stand that crap either!” Both Hef and Matty laughed.
“It can’t just be us? Who else is in on this?”
“Some had the power of predicting the future, others do the real work.. It is not enough to capture the future out of the clutches of the past, or build it, it must be nurtured too. Odysseus, mighty King of Ithaca, was condemned by oath to a long war. Before sailing to land his ships upon the windy plains of Troy, the king went to a trusted friend to watch over his son, Telemachus.”
“Odysseus. You’re recruiting Oduze,eh? I heard he became a hacker…,” said Hef.
“Well, someone else will.”
Matty chimed in, “Let me guess. Pallas. Alias “Pallas Athena” in the old days. My turn. Let’s “do you” and tell your story, if it’s okay,” The Mad One bowed with a “please do” gesture, and Matty continued, “Mentor would protect, teach, and guide the heir to the future. Mentor was made of many people, including Athena in disguise, of Science, Strategy and the Sword. A wise man and warrior was the ultimate protector and surrogate parent for the boy. The power to protect the future comes with the will and wisdom to guide it.”
The Mad One clapped, and bowed, and said “well done, my serve to return the ball please…” said the Mad One, who then gestured to Matty, Matsamura, “Matty, who was also known as “Daedalus, genius and inventor, used his mind to discover flight to escape prison. Icarus, his son, was led by his emotions, his hubris drove him to reach for the stars before he was ready. The son fell to back into Earth’s harsh embrace. One day, Humanity strained past gravity and learned how to fall and fly. When we’re falling forward, just ahead of doom, we’re floating in orbit. The children of Daedalus are flying faster and farther with each moment. But we know the price of minds being led and not informed by our hearts. We have it within us to remember who we were, become more, and create a future of our choosing. Some dreams lead to an immortality of the future.” — “this is why Matty moved on from winged maker to a maker of metal, for one cannot rebuild a lost “child”, or Halfling Node, the closest thing a Node has with a Carbon mortal. Matty knew loss just like Hef, a lost child.”
Hef blushed at the awkwardness of ancient pains. Matty kept his lips tight and looked down.
“I’m sorry. I know I go too far. But I am not Mad in this instance. I can free you all with your help.”
They continued working out their plans.
Part 3
The Stars beckon to humanity, it will drive the hearts of man.
SLN Headquarters - Overland Ventures
The Visitor observed, “These eons have been a trial, an endless judging throughout the eons. There have been tragedies, a tax for being a part of the cosmos. There have been triumphs, a reward for staying a part of it all.”
The Mad One spoke, “The mission will continue through them. Our part in it is done. It’s time to rest. Do we have a deal?”
“You have a bargain, for now, Mentor, I will arrange to find The Fates, and you will of course, hand over access to the Reactor Core in my favor of my Clan, and not the Curate.”
“Done.”
The Mad One’s plan was unfolding. If they only knew, he thought..
AFTERWORD
Author’s Notes on what’s going on:
This “Book #3” project, “RETRIEVE”, is meant to be a prequel to two other books, “Box Of Stars” and “Harvest” but this piece could be read as a standalone story.
The prologue for “RETRIEVE”, “An Impossible Island”, was submitted as a short story.
Prologue: “An Impossible Island”, Part One and Part Two, and Part Three, was inspired by writing prompts from the Soaring Twenties Social Club (STSC) creative community, beginning with an STSC Symposium monthly theme of “Beach”.
Chapter 1, “Older Than Bones”, was inspired by the theme, “Dinosaurs”.
Chapter 2, A Love Trinity Denied, was inspired by “Romance”.
Chapter 3, “A Forgotten Circle Of Hades” was inspired by “Superstition”.
Chapter 4, “Reading The Room” was inspired by an image of a wall-sized bookshelf.
Chapter 5, “The Bittersweetness Of Deep Times”, was inspired by “Isolation”.
Chapter 6, “The Weaving Of Split Infinities”, was inspired by “Dreams”.
Chapter 7, “Dead Languages”, was inspired by “Propaganda”.
Chapter 8, “Path Not Forsaken”, was inspired by “Risk”.
Chapter 9, “The Last Word of The World”, considers words as worlds unto themselves.
Chapter 10, An Intimate Path Of Desires
Chapter 11, Absent Without Longing
Chapter 12, Lonely In The Same Room
Chapter 13, Children Of Daedalus
Chapter 14, People Of A Faraway Land
Chapter 15, Distant Shores, Distant Worlds
Chapter 16, The Rules of New Places
Chapter 17, Space To Breathe
Chapter 18, The Extra Air
Chapter 19, The Clash Of Selves
Chapter 20, The Last Meme
Chapter 21, Mistakes And Memories
Chapter 22, The Confusions Of Things
Chapter 23, The Senses Of Wonders
Chapter 24, The Gambits Of Curiosities
“RETRIEVE” chapter and notes will be posted in this Substack, while I edit books #1 (“Box Of Stars”) and #2 (“Harvest”). All will be in the archive, not all will be emailed.)