Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
“He kills several women a day?” I’m appalled.
“No, he doesn’t kill them. Imagine that women are an apple tree. What he does is pluck their fruit. He harvests them like apples.”
“Wow.” I feel sick.
“So,” Xi continues, “for whatever reason, that Extraction Master didn’t admit that something had gone wrong and the harvesters were no longer working. Instead of canceling the harvests after Tau died, he came up with this scheme.”
“He made it into a game,” I say, mostly talking to myself.
“I suppose,” Xi says. “My understanding of the Tau Factory extraction procedure is very limited.”
“It was a game—a spectacle, a contest. All the young girls were offered the opportunity to pledge themselves to the god in the tower at age twelve. They were given lessons in manners and obedience, and shit like that. And eventually, taught how to use their spark to…” I struggle for words here. What were they doing with that spark? “To entertain the city? Clara, for instance, could make little drawings in the air with the spark that came out of her fingertips. Jasina put all her spark into a swarm of butterflies that floated up off her dress while she was on stage—just to impress me.”
“Brilliant.”
“What? Why do you say that?”
“Because this is the only dimension where it can be cultivated inside the women. In other words, the women in 702 grow magic inside them. And your factory turned their power into… a curiosity.”
“But why keep it going? Why all the lies? Why not just end the Extraction and let everyone live their lives?”
“Oh, Finn,” Xi chuckles. “Power, of course. At some point, someone in your family figured out that gods are good for business.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
He pauses for a moment, looking thoughtful as he thinks. “Humans crave… meaning. Not all, but many, want answers. Just like you. They are curious creatures. And since you can’t stop the production of spark—can’t erase the ability to make it—the only way is to control it.”
I think about this for a few moments, but I don’t really understand. “Spark turns off curiosity?”
“No. They lied, you see. They turned the spark into a curiosity. Something… trivial. Something… common. Something… entertaining, from your description. But spark is so much more than that.”
“So they were hiding the true meaning. So… so the women couldn’t…” I shrug. “Rebel? Take over? I don’t get it.”
“It’s just a control mechanism, Finn. If you want to harvest honey, what do you do with the bees?”
“Put them in hives, I guess.” It makes me sad, this truth. And it comes out in my tone.
“Exactly. A factory is nothing but a hive.”
I sigh, leaning back into the chair, suddenly exhausted. “So it was just… a leash? A cage? A—”
“A hive.” He throws his arms up. “That’s it. The perfect word. A collective of living things making a product that can be used by the owner of the hive.”
“Which is the god.”
“Precisely.”
“All right.” I mean, I don’t like his answer, but it explains a lot. Most of my life suddenly makes sense. But I have one more question. “This Extraction stuff? Where did all the Maidens go?”
“Oh, well this is the part I do know.” He smiles. “You see, Tau City, after realizing that killing their god meant they lost their access to the spark factory—well, they improvised with ancient power to keep their city running.” He waves a hand in the air. “Burning coal, burning gas, running water, sun plates and finally, splitting atoms. But it’s dirty, and finite, and expensive. They have been trying to make a new god ever since the old one died. And baby gods need… food.”
I don’t say anything now. Just sit, contemplating the meaning of my life. But there is no meaning. Not after this truth. I was a bee in a hive—a high-ranking one, but a slave, nonetheless. And I sent two women into the tower to feed a baby god.
Obviously, Clara didn’t get eaten.
But what about Haryet?
It makes me sick. I don’t want to know, so I stop asking questions about Tau City.
“Let’s talk about the last place on the map now, Finn.” Xi points to the space even further to the left of the Omegas. “This is the Omega Outlands. This is the prize.” His finger taps the screen as each word comes out of his mouth. “This is where you want to be.”
“Why would I want to be there? You said it was empty.”
“Empty is relative. To you, as you are now, it is empty. To me—well, as a god, I cannot even go there. Not even to take a peek.”
“Why not?”
“It scrambles us. It… interferes with the software that runs us.”
I understand the word ‘software’ to a degree. It is the brain of these screen machines. It makes it possible to have the pictures, and switches, and all the fancy stuff I’ve been looking at all day. But I don’t understand what this has to do with Xi.