The young experimental Triads are made up
of the smallest primate tribe of Humans – Oscar and Xiaomara; the smallest
canine pack of Kiiote – six, pack leaders Qap and Xurf; and the smallest camelid
herd of Yown’Hoo – a prime eleven, Dao-hi the Herd mother. On nursery farms and
ranches away from the TC cities, Humans have tended young Yown’Hoo and Kiiote
in secret for decades, allowing the two, warring people to reproduce and grow
far from their home worlds at great profit to Humanity. Then the war spilled
over on to the Human homeworld and all three are threatened with extinction…
Choral Reading
STAGE DIRECTION: (Spotlight falls on each
as they speak then shuts off, illuminating the next; then all three spotlights
fall on them as they chorus together.)
Yown’Hoo: “The literal decay of the fiber
of Yown’Hoo morality accelerated when we refused peace with Kiiote.”
Kiiote: “Interbreeding, internecine war,
and ritual cannibalism devoured us in resisting harmony with Yown’Hoo.”
Human: “Material gain from both Yown’Hoo
and Kiiote fed our greed, so concord held no profit.”
All: “We might do something none of us alone
can do, we might braid an unbreakable cord of unity.” (4/6/2019)
Xiaomara Mary-Laura Kimpo set her
jaw, lifting her chin then said, “What could you possibly teach me?” She braced
herself for a bellowing, angry reply.
Instead, the Human Mother Kan Yuen
whispered, “Only that a soft answer turns away wrath, child. And once Earth has
grown the Triads into effective governing units, Humanity, Kiiote, and Yown’Hoo
will need all of their wisdom and skill to softly turn aside the spectre that
seeks to devour us all.”
An image shimmered into existence
between them. It wasn’t three dimensional, though it wasn’t a flat, either. It
was other…some…thing intangible, malevolent, horrifying…yet it was not spirit.
It was technology; technology so far beyond any member of the Triad, that not
only did it appear to her to be magic…it might even be necromancy, speaking
with the dead to determine the future.
Hairs stood up on her arms and the
back of her neck. She whispered, “What was that?”
“You encountered one earlier on your
journey. The Kiiote call them,” she precisely imitated a sound that was
entirely non-Human, most like the scream an Earth dog made when struck by a
car. Horrible yet entirely recognizable; a sound that drove deep into the
primitive heart of any Human. “Call them ‘conjures’
in English, Chinese, and Bengali, the
two you have seen are creations of the Kiiote. But the Yown’Hoo have created
them as well and call them echoes. We
have called them demons since the Fall.”
“Demons are imaginary!” Xiao exclaimed.
“Your ancestors called them mó. They’re creatures who are…pressed
out of condensed matter. If you were to cut one open, it would have no organs
and there would be no differentiation inside, but they are alive. They’re easy
to make but are only good for a few things – some originated on Kii.” As she watched,
the creature made sounds that were animalistic but had the rhythm and
purposeful cohesion of language.
Xiao whispered, “The Kiiote didn’t
make them, did they?”
“These are the demons of a shameful past, they believe
they are sent to torture their minds.” She paused a long time before she said,
“The Kiiote had no idea the conjures had followed them to Earth, but we Humans
have been inadvertently creating them as well – or rather than creating them,
inviting them to enter our universe.”
Xiao snorted, saying, “Sounds like
woo woo to me.”
The image appeared abruptly, this
time turning toward her. She couldn’t help it, she crouched lower, her pulse
pounding in her ears, and she felt light headed. It vanished and Mother Kan
Yuen said, “You don’t act like it’s a figment of your imagination.”
Xiao straightened up, hawked and spat
on the floor then said, “Fine. The thing taps some sort of primitive, savage
memory. But that doesn’t make them dangerous now!”
“Your Kiiote counterpart Xurf
might disagree with you, child.”
“He doesn’t lead the Pack! Qap does!”
Mother Kan Yuen burst out
laughing, a disturbing sound in the close confines of the mall. The rest of her
tiny Herd, Seg-go, Ali-go, and Nah-hi-el still lay on the ground, curled tightly
in on themselves. “They lead the Pack together, child. You and Oscar were
designed to lead the tribe of Humanity together as well…”
“We’re not going to lead anything!
‘Car’s an idiot boy! A child! He couldn’t lead himself out of a paper bag!” She
stomped her foot then blushed furiously at the childish display. She was supposed
to be more mature than ‘Car! She should be more like Retired. She swallowed her
anger and forced herself to apologize, “Forgive me, Mother. I am an idiot
sometimes…”
The elderly woman inclined her
head, “You are a child.” Xiao looked up, opened her mouth to angrily fire back
when the woman burst out laughing. Xiao’s face and neck burned with embarrassed
anger. The woman stepped forward and bowed slightly, “This shows that not only
are you able to leash your temper, use your tongue as a rudder to steer the
ship of your mind well, you are also strong-willed and have much to offer the
Triad.”
Xiao opened her mouth and Mother
Kan Yuen looked at her, eyes narrowing the tiniest bit. Xiao closed her mouth,
thought for several moments, then said, “You tígōng zhìhuì, Madre.”
The elder woman nodded, “Even
speaking Spandaringlish, you inflect the Chinese words carefully.” She paused, “Perhaps
you do have what it takes to become a great communicator.”
“Communicator?”
Mother Kan Yuen nodded, turned and
beckoned to Xiao and her Herd, “Indeed. Retired told me that he wishes me to tell
you’re the complete plan of why we constructed the Triads. He says,” she turned
abruptly and caught Xiao with a hard gaze the younger woman couldn’t turn from,
“…that the time is at hand to move all of you into the final phase of the program.”
“The what?”
“The reason we created the Triads
was so that the three Triads will bond, and then from them, form the initial van
der Walls Society. From there, we expect that the effect will allow the
spontaneous formation of others.”
Scowling, Xiao said, “Why not just
educate everyone and have them start?” She paused, thinking furiously, “Creating
a new religion out of the concept might have been effective. Humans, Yown’Hoo,
and Kiiote all have the capacity for accepting religion. That would have taken
less…”
“We tried.” She shook her head, “The
result was worse than we could have anticipated. That one we had to destroy with
a massive pogrom.”
“A…what?”
Mother Kan Yuen reached a store front
that had opened onto the main thoroughfare of the ancient mall. As she appeared
to walk into the darkness, the air around her sparkled orange and green. Xiao
stopped then stepped back. “Where are you taking me?”
“Follow child and you will see.”
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