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52: The Replacement
Constance stood stock still, staring, unsure of what to do, what to say.
Seeing the young woman's hesitation, the man stepped back a bit, leaving more space between them. "You do not recognize me." he said, "And no wonder. I doubt that you have ever been to my homeworld, as it is many light-years distant from here."
Finally curiosity won out over shock, and she asked, "Wh – where is your home?"
The man smiled, a bit sadly Constance realized, and a faraway look began to fall over his face, "A place far away from here..." he said, then shook himself out of his memory, "As I have already mentioned, but in some ways, it is not so different from this, my current home."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"The Sentinels for one." the man replied, "On my world there was a group of powerful insurgents who wrested power from the rightful ruler of my world. They dethroned and poisoned him, forcing him to seek refuge on a faraway world – one not so different from this one." he turned to look at one of the other pods on the wall to his left. "The Sentinels did much the same thing here." he stepped up to the pod he was staring at and placed a hand on the darkened casing. The blackness gradually melted away to reveal the face of a woman in her late thirties who appeared to be sleeping peacefully. After a moment the man let his hand fall back to his side.
The cover melted back into blackness and the woman's face disappeared again.
The man stepped over to the next pod in the circle of ten and repeated the process, placing his hand on the cover and watching as the darkness faded to reveal another face, this one of a young man, not much older than Constance.
The nameless man continued on around the circle, skipping his empty pod and finally reaching the last case, the one to Constance's left.
Every time, the process was the same and men and women of varying ages were revealed. There was even one child in the mix, a seven or eight year old boy. All but the man who circled the room wore pale skin like Constance's.
"What... happened to them?" Constance asked softly.
"These are they who defied the Sentinels – who sought to send them away forever, back to the Pit from whence they came."
"They are shêdim!" Constance gasped.
"Yes." the man replied, "And no."
"What do you mean?" Mariposa asked.
The man sighed heavily, "The Sentinels are men, but men overtaken by Abaddon and those closest to him."
"How did you come by this knowledge?"
The man gestured to the other nine pods, "They told me." he said simply.
"But they all lie asleep here. Were they once awake?"
"They do not sleep as normal men and women count sleep." the man replied, looking around at his companions. "Their bodies sleep by the will of the Sentinels, but their minds do not."
Constance's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't understand. How can that be?"
"Their bodies lie dormant, as though in a form of suspended animation. They do not age. But their consciousnesses are still accessible," he turned to look at the empty pod, "Through this," he pointed, "I can speak with them, or even join them in their strange sleep for a time. That is how I came to you in the snow storm."
Constance's confusion returned. "You were the fox who came to me in the snow under the tree?"
"Indeed." he nodded, "Though that was merely an avatar. In a sleep state, these pods allow the ones who reside in them to leave this hollow in a way. The body and soul remain here, but the mind is free to roam in the form of a holographic projection of the person's choosing. I do not know exactly how it works, but it does, and quite well." he chuckled, "I have snatched many from the hands of the Sentinels while padding through their territory on four white paws."
"I cannot imagine that they like you very much then." Constance said, a hint of mirth now in her voice as she began to relax just a little in the presence of this likely ally against Aurelia's minions.
"No," he laughed, "they do not. I know they have been searching for the one who led away their prey, but they have never found me." he patted his left forearm. "You see I carry a tool that they do not yet know how to defeat."
"What is that?" Mariposa asked, curious.
"A temporal-print scrambler." he replied, "In the past they have used agents known as 'time delvers' to try to track me and their lost victims. At first it proved almost successful, until I was able to short out their equipment not far from the entrance to this place. Then I remembered a tale I was told once – of someone who was able to erase their temporal-print so that the time delvers could not find it. It took me some time to do it, but I found a way to replicate the process, and soon there was no more need to make contact with the Sentinels or their technology."
Constance was suddenly wary again, "I have heard of such a thing – the world I was taken from had a similar technology. And I knew a man who could erase tracks the way you do..." she bowed her head sadly, "One of the many dear people I fear I may never see again..." as she said it she suddenly realized that much of the carelessness of youth that had been a big part of her life had almost instantly disappeared, stolen from her by Aurelia and the threat of being forced into accepting a dark spirit.
She had lost everyone she loved, been stripped of all she held familiar and dear, and dumped on an unfamiliar planet in uncomfortably cold temperatures.
Even her speech pattern had changed, she realized, morphing from informality into a tighter, more ordered form.
"Such is the fate of all who have come here." the man said, "All leave behind friends and family, but thus far we have been able to deliver them all home safely, so take courage, Princess Mariposa, we will do the same for you, though I must tell you that it may take some time."
"Really?" Constance's eyes lit up with the possibility of being able to return to Gamilon, to the place that had become her home over the past many years.
"Yes. And we will do everything possible to make it so." he replied.
Constance looked at the man with unbelieving eyes and breathed, "Thank you... But, I do not know who it is that I should thank. What shall I call you?"
The man chuckled softly and nodded, "A fair question." he replied, "But one that I must give you a fictitious answer to I am afraid."
"Oh..." Constance sighed, "Are you in some sort of danger?"
"You could say that." he nodded, "If that nachash Aurelia were to ever find out who resides under the noses of her Sentinels, should would never cease to hunt me."
Constance nodded reluctantly, "I understand," she said noticing for the first time the hints of gray edging around the man's temples, "So... what name do you go by now?"
"Elazar." he replied, "Until the day that I may safely use my true name, you may call me Elazar."
"Alright, Elazar." Constance said, holding out a hand to the man, "Call me..." she thought for a moment, "Mariposa." she smiled thinly, realizing once again that she had just left behind another piece of her past – her name.
"Very well, Mariposa." he grasped her forearm in welcome, "There are a few things that we must work out in order to make sure you are kept hidden here until your safe return to your home, or into the hands of those trustworthy enough to see you home."
Mariposa nodded, "What questions do you have, Elazar?" she asked as both she and he released each other's arms.
"Well, the question that weighs the heaviest is the one that must be answered the soonest." Elazar said.
"And what question might that be?" she asked, not able to imagine what could be so important.
"We have the means to hold you in stasis until such a time as we deem it safe to release you from our refuge here beneath the surface. Is this acceptable to you?" Elazar's face became uncertain.
Mariposa let her eyes drop to the smooth floor and she examined every line and curve of the marble-like substance that made up the floor. Then, knowing what questions she wanted to ask, she looked up again, "Will I be able to travel as you do? Free in mind, but not in body?"
"In a way, yes." Elazar replied. "You will remain aware of what goes on outside this place," he gestured all around them, "But your interaction with the outside world will be limited. You will be able to speak to those in the surface, but your avatar will lack much of the freedom of movement that mine and the others' possess. Your projection will have the quality of a mirage instead of a physical manifestation. And your speech will be faint, much like an echo of someone else's speech. But you will still be heard, albeit quietly." he paused, "Will that suit you?"
Mariposa thought for a moment, then gave her next question in answer to Elazar's inquiry, "Will I be able ton communicate more directly with you and the nine?"
Elazar nodded, "Indeed, you will have clear communication access to all of us, and I can tell you now that your time will pass quickly with these nine to converse with. They have a wealth of stories to entrust to you, as they have to me."
"But won't they be waking one day?" Mariposa asked.
"That is their hope." Elazar replied, "But that remains to be seen for certain."
"But why can't you wake them?" she replied.
"Because I lack the power to do so. In order to wake the Nine, one would have to enter the Sentinels' citadel and destroy the mechanism that controls the cause of their slumber."
"You mean there's something sending signals to the pods that keeps them asleep?"
"No, not at all." Elazar said, "If that were the case I would never be able to leave the pod once I entered it. No, it is more nefarious than that, I'm afraid. When the Nine defied the Sentinels, they captured them and implanted receivers into the base of each individual's cerebral cortex. This device receives a signal from the citadel that keeps the Nine asleep."
"But can't they trace the signal to see where the Nine are sleeping? And how did they get here anyway if they were asleep?" Mariposa ventured.
"Both very good questions, Mariposa." Elazar replied, "The answer to the first is simple, the Sentinels never thought they would need to trace the signal, so they never conjured a way to trace it, plus, the technology was given to them by the Malha Guardiana herself, so the Sentinels, though they commune with Abaddon, do not fully understand the technology, and so are not competent enough with it to go beyond what little they have been shown how to do."
"What about my second question? How did they get here?"
"Ah, patience, Mariposa," Elazar held up a staying finger, "I was just about to answer that. This question is more... difficult to answer, because it is one that even I do not know the full answer to. It seems that, when the Nine were first put into their sleep, that there was a man who came to this world, a mann named Asher who called himself an Isanin – a follower of Adonai. He was not here for very long I gather, only long enough to help someone else who the Nine will not – perhaps even cannot name – move the sleepers into this place near the world-core. That was many many years ago. Long before my own birth."
"But... how did Aurelia give the Sentinels the technology if all of this happened 'long before' you were born? Pardon my frankness, but you are not a youth, and though Aurelia Guardiana has rejuvenated herself she must not be much more than thirty years your senior."
"Ah," Elazar held up that halting finger once again, "You are perceptive young one, but remember that I did not say 'Aurelia Guardiana,' but the 'Malha Guardiana.'"
"But, what's the difference? Aurelia Guardiana is the Malha Guardiana. They're the same person." Mariposa protested.
"Yes, they are now. But they did not use to be." Elazar replied, Aurelia Guardiana was preceded by her mother, Kyren Guardiana, the previous Malha. She is the one the Nine were imprisoned by."
Mariposa's eyes widened. It had never occurred to her that the position of Malha could be passed along just like the position of king or queen would be. Then a thought struck her and she asked one more question, one she dreaded the answer to, "How long has the Guardiana cult been in existence then?"
Elazar's eyes darkened as he replied, "Nearly two thousand years."
Mariposa's chest tightened and she felt like she would throw up. "But such evil... How can it have been alive for so long?"
"Because the hearts of men are wicked at their core, Mariposa. Only Adonai can lighten a dark heart, as He did with mine."
"But there are those who are basically good. I've seen them!" the young woman protested. "Just because there are evil people in this universe doesn't mean they're all bad."
Elazar smiled sadly, "You do not know Adonai then, Mariposa. He created this universe, and He has said that every living man and woman is born a servant of Abaddon. No matter how good or righteous their actions may be, if they have not given their heart to Adonai, then they cannot truly serve Him. Yes, Adonai can use those who are not His servants to accomplish what He wills, but only His servants can know the peace that a clean heart provides."
Mariposa opened her mouth to reply when suddenly an old memory began to surface, one she hadn't thought about for a very long time.
A funny tittering sound emanated from the plant embedded in the crevice several feet up the far wall of the sanctuary. "Your simplicity refreshes me, child." the plant replied, "But I must tell you that you are here, not because you were invited by a man, but because Adonai sent you."
"Adonai?" the girl asked.
"Have you never heard of Him?" asked the plant.
"I... think perhaps I have at one time..." Constance said. "But I can't really remember... Who is He?"
"He is the great Creator of the worlds, child." the plant replied. "He holds the universe in the palm of His hand. Nothing happens that He does not know of, and nothing transpires, but that He ordains it so."
"But what about the bad things that happen, hakham Natafel? Isn't Adonai supposed to be good?"
Natafel seemed to chuckle – a deeper sound than the laugh he had emitted earlier, "He is Goodness itself, dear child. The evil in this world is not of His making. Before time began, there was an angel, Lucifer the lightbearer, who rebelled against Adonai. For this he was cast out of Gan Eden – the place where Adonai dwells. That was when Lucifer began to be known as Abaddon – the destroyer. Then, Adonai created this universe. He began with the first two people, A'dam and his eesha* Chawwah*. This did not go unnoticed by Abaddon and he visited the man and woman. He chose to tempt Chawwah to disobey the words that Adonai had spoken to A'dam after He created him."
"Adonai spoke to them?" Constance asked in surprise.
"Every day." the Jeshurunian confirmed, "But the first time He spoke to them, Chawwah had not yet been created, and so she was more susceptible to Abaddon's lies. He disguised himself as a nachash and spoke to Chawwah."
"She wasn't afraid of him?" the girl asked.
"No, she wasn't. She did not know he was Abaddon and so had no need to fear him. Adonai instructed A'dam that he and Chawwah were not to eat of one certain tree in the center of the paradise that Adonai had created for them. The rest were theirs to tend and eat of as they wished. A'dam told Chawwah of this instruction, but Abaddon spoke cunningly to Chawwah, and he deceived her into eating of the one tree she was forbidden to eat of. She gave the fruit to A'dam, and he, knowing what it was, also ate it. And so Adonai held them responsible for the disobedience they had committed against Him."
"What happened to them?" the child asked, wide-eyed.
"Adonai had to send them away – out of the paradise they were living in. That is why there is evil in the world today... Adonai gave everyone a free will. We can choose to do what He wishes of us, or we can choose to do what we want to do."
"So... Adonai wants us to do good, but people don't always do that?" Constance asked to clarify.
"That is but a small part of it, Mariposa." Natafel said, "The universe is a broken place. Adonai wishes His Creation to be whole once again. He sent to us Mashiach – the final Atonement for the sins of every living person. Everyone must claim this Atonement as theirs to be reconciled to Adonai. Without that reconciliation, we cannot become whole as Adonai would have us to be."
The young woman closed her mouth, silenced by the words from her past. There was no more she could say. She was only beginning to discover the truth of what the Jeshurunian, Natafel had told her all those years ago – a lifetime it seemed, when things were simpler, more easily discerned.
Instead of continuing the conversation, Mariposa simply nodded slowly and let it die.
There was a long moment of silence between the two, then Elazar spoke again, "So will you accept the offer of refuge here, in stasis, under our protection?"
"I shall." Mariposa replied, her voice more confident than she felt.
Elazar nodded and walked over to the center of the room. There, he circled an oddly decorated disk on the floor, stepping in a pattern Mariposa could not follow. She didn't understand his behavior until another case appeared above the disk.
Mariposa let out a gasp of surprise, "Is it... real?" she asked, unsure in light of everything she had seen on this planet thus far.
Elazar nodded, "It is real." then he gestured for her to step inside, "And it is yours for however long you need it."
Mariposa stepped closer to the floating case. It was shaped oddly, the top and bottom sections tapering off and then widening again, like a reverse hourglass. There was an ample bubble of space hollowed out where she was to reside during stasis. But unlike all the other pods, this one was transparent instead of black.
"Why the difference?" Mariposa asked Elazar.
"To ensure your safety." he replied, "When I wake, I shall check on you. The transparent skin of this pod allows me to do so quickly and easily without disturbing you. The pod will keep track of your vital signs, so there is no need for intrusive monitoring equipment."
Mariposa carefully reached into the pod and touched the floor of it. To her surprise, she found it quite comfortable, inviting even.
"Not what you expected." Elazar said, a smile on his face.
"Not really, no." she replied, now more curious than ever about it. "Is now as good a time as any to begin the stasis?"
"It is." Elazar nodded, " And remember, you will still be in contact with me when I am in the tenth pod, and you will always have the Nine for company. You need not fear being alone."
Mariposa nodded and took a deep breath. Having mustered her courage, she stepped into the case and felt an odd sensation as it closed behind her.
Elazar motioned for her to sit on the floor of the pod.
She obeyed.
Then he indicated that she was to close her eyes.
She hesitated, all of a sudden wondering what she had just done. She was in a strange place with a strange man, in an alien pod that might just as well kill her as save her life.
Then the fear abated as she dropped out of consciousness and into the world of the Nine.
Elazar watched as Mariposa eased into a state of suspended animation.
"Adonai," he prayed aloud, "May we guide this one home as we have the rest. May she return safely to the loved ones she has left."
And with that, Elazar lowered the stasis chamber into its secure vault beneath the refuge of the Nine.
* eesha - wife
* Chawwah - Eve