Allie's War Episodes 1-4(131)

I glanced around at the expressionless seers. “I want to find my brother,” I said, reddening. I plowed on. “And my friend, Cass. They’re missing.”
“Are you so sure they are not dead?”
He didn’t say it to mock me, or to screw with me, I could tell. Even so, my jaw seemed to stick in my sandwich. Setting my tea cup down on the tray, I forced myself to swallow what was left in my mouth. I cleared my throat, looking directly into Vash’s eyes.
“No. I need to know for sure, though. Maybe that’s stupid, but—”
“Ah.” Vash’s dark eyes grew thoughtful. “I was not implying that.” He paused. “Do they have meaning, these numbers? The ones I see around you now?”
I glanced away from Maygar, looking up at Vash.
“What?” Watching Vash’s nearly black eyes stare intently over my head, I felt my chest constrict, even though I saw nothing but curiosity in his gaze. “No. Well...I don’t think so.” I paused, then tried to be more honest. “Really, I have no idea.”
“Ah,” Vash said. “Pity.”
He smiled at me, and his long, white face erupted in fine wrinkles. “Your husband mentioned to me that your prescience often expresses itself in your art.” He paused, as if waiting. “Is that true, Esteemed Bridge...?”
“My...” I repeated numbly.
“...Husband, yes. Dehgoies Revik.”
He smiled again as I fumbled for a facial expression. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d misunderstood me on purpose.
His eyes grew kind.
“Of necessity, we spoke often of your latent abilities,” he said, patting my knee affectionately. “Truthfully, we often argued about this, too. He had difficulty understanding why you were not pulled for training sooner.” Noting my bewilderment, he smiled wider. “Ah. This surprises you! Yes. Revik was not always the most forthcoming man.”
Before I could answer, the seer with the bare feet reentered the room, holding a steaming cup that smelled deliciously of dark roast coffee. He set it down by my bent knee, bowing to me with one raised palm, like a salute.
“Thanks,” I said to him, and then to Vash, meaning it. Taking another sniff of the coffee, I raised the paper cup and sipped carefully. “I draw pyramids,” I told him. “Chandre tells me it’s a depiction of the Rooks’ network. You want me to go get them?”
Vash continued to study my eyes. “Perhaps later.”
For a long moment, we just listened to the rain. I sipped more coffee.
Eventually, I cleared my throat.
“So, this Pyramid,” I said. “Can you explain that? Revik, he...” I cleared my throat. “...Dehgoies. He told me some. He said you would tell me more.”
Vash seemed almost to have been waiting for the question.
“A pyramid,” he said at once. “Being a three-dimensional shape, can be only a symbol, of course. The actual network is of the Barrier and contains a form of shifting dimensionality that marries properties of both partial and non-dimensionality.”
My fingers clasped my hurt knee. “Ah,” I said. “Sure.”
Vash smiled in understanding. “The Rooks’ seers live in a construct, Alyson...all the time. Unlike the constructs you’ve seen my people use, theirs is not anchored in the physical world. It lives with a race of beings who aid them from the Barrier.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, understanding that part, at least.
He looked at me inquiringly.
“I met one,” I explained, setting down the coffee. “On the ship.” I held up my hands with hooked fingers, like a movie monster. “Booga-booga...you know. It tried to freak me out.”
“Indeed?” Vash chuckled. “Fascinating.”
He smiled as if I’d just told him I’d solved a Rubik’s cube on my first try.
“We call these beings the Dreng, Alyson,” he said. “They are, in truth, the real Rooks. It would be more accurate to call the seers down here slaves of the Rooks. Or, more generously, their followers. Of course, they call themselves ‘The Brotherhood,’ ‘The Organization,’ or ‘Org,’ for short. They title missions ‘Operation Blackout,’ ‘Operation Great Hope,’ and so on. The Dreng encourage these fantasies. They often frame their goals in terms of the greater good.”
I nodded, listening. “So...they’re brainwashed.”
“In a way, yes.” Vash took a sip of tea, nodding. “In return for the power they provide through the Pyramid construct, the Dreng collect light from the seers in their employ. Those seers in turn parasitize other seers and humans, to supply the Dreng with light. It is the Dreng’s primary motive and function down here, to steal the light of living beings, as they cannot generate their own. The Pyramid collects this light in large feeding pools for use by the construct...but their primary customer is still the Dreng themselves.”