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Both? Arlo was still bemused. The mode of the minionette is of course Oedipal, with the woman mating, successively, her spouse, son, grandson, and so on down the line. But I know this! Arlo snapped. But when she passes, she leaves a daughter to carry on and naturally that young girl s attraction is to her family line. She thus is the willing consort of her father, the first man in her life and her nearest of kin. By him she bears his successor. And so Electra complements Oedipus in a beautiful, continuing relationship. It will be so satisfying to see it enacted here don t you agree? Slowly the awful concept hammered its way through Arlo s skull. Bedside had hinted at it before: the father took precedence over the son, until the son killed the father in the recurring Oedipal pattern. This was the hell Vex had brought into their lives. My father the minionette... Suddenly Aton threw Vex aside, cursing. She fell to the floor and lay unmoving, though of course she was not hurt. Naturally he resists the concept much more violently than you do, Bedside continued. He was raised on Planet Hvee and received the finest galactic tutoring. He has civilized reservations. He knows it is forbidden knows it right down through his subconscious. Which means he is genuinely, violently angry about the temptation. That of course makes him doubly attractive to the minionette. See how she lures him. Indeed, Vex presented a remarkably fetching picture of romantic innocence, half- supine on the floor, legs spread, palms flat against the stone to her right, arms supporting her twisting shoulders so that her breasts hung partly forward, her head drooping. Never had she been more lovely, this angel in distress. Aton whirled and strode into the darkness of the tunnel, almost radiating fury. He will return, Bedside said. Inevitably for she is his daughter, child of his beloved mother, the minionette. But she is my betrothed... Arlo whispered. The minionette is always true. True to her nature, Bedside said. True to her closest kin. You are her half-brother, only quarter-minion. Aton is her father, half-minion. He is the one. Arlo looked at Vex and saw her looking after Aton. He knew he had lost her. No a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r human law or scruple could prevail against the combined tides of minion blood and minion nature. What remains for me? he asked Bedside, almost as if in this extremity the mad doctor were his friend. Chthon loves you, Bedside said. Chthon sought to spare you this. Chthon can fulfill you. As a zombie? Arlo flashed. As a god. Arlo, his heart numbed, acceded as he knew his father had before him, when Coquina was dying. Doc Bedside had prevailed again, this time destroying Coquina and perhaps the whole thrust of Life s invasion. But Arlo hardly cared. Chthon was always my friend, he said. Always! Bedside agreed warmly. a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r Chapter IV: Tree Doc Bedside conducted Arlo to an unfamiliar section of the caverns where the stone was a strange gray, with portions bare of glow. The passages diverged and rediverged in grotesque loops, and there was no wind at all. Stagnant pools filled the declivities, and the glow had settled in them, providing what scant light there was. This, surely, was a place of dying. The normal small sounds of cavern animals were absent. This is the lowest portion of the caverns that man has trodden, Doc Bedside said. See, there is my marker. He indicated a cairn, a pile of stones. Beside it was the crude outline of a human skull, scratched in the soft rock of the floor. Beneath that were four jagged letters: MYXO. Undisturbed these thirty years. I made that as a warning for any fools who might follow, back in §395. But the myxo can strike anywhere, Arlo said. It is Chthon s weapon, his zombie- device. Back then, Chthon was just developing it, Bedside said. I was Chthon s first human subject. But you re not a zombie. Arlo paused, reconsidering. Not completely. Bedside smiled. I am half-zombie, half-mad, halfhuman. Chthon overlaps my madness, so all you witness is near-normality. You will comprehend my rationale shortly. I don t want to be like you! Arlo protested. Or like the Norns. On the failures of the past are built the successes of the future. The zombies are complete failures; Verthandi the Norn and I are half-failures. Your father might have been a success, but in the end resisted too strongly. Your brother Aesir was closer yet. So you killed him, Arlo said. Bedside s composure was momentarily broken. How would you know of that? he asked tightly. Uncle Benjamin told me. You never met Benjamin! No? Arlo did not choose to explain about the vision. He said you were jealous of Aesir, who was closer to Chthon than you were, so you killed him. How can I be sure you won t kill me, too? a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r Bedside slumped, very much the way Coquina had when she told him about the minionette. I did kill him and suffered the double vengeance of Benjamin and Chthon. I need no further lessons of that nature. Mad as he might be, Bedside always spoke truth. What happened? The cavern creatures all loved him, for he was beloved of Chthon. None would harm him. But I initiated a game, a blind hunt, and in their confusion they destroyed him. Yet Chthon became aware, though I had not touched him myself, and Chthon put me into a caterpillar... Sleipnir! It is not a process I recommend. I assure, you I would kill you only if Chthon directed it. I am the servant, not the master, not the chosen. You will not be like me; you will be the first living chthonic god. Chthon does not need or desire any more partial successes. You must believe that, or this is useless. You must come to Chthon voluntarily, with no reservation in your mind or soul. I can t be sure of that, Arlo said. I d have to know what I was getting into. Chthon was his friend but there were limits to friendship. Chthon will show you. Your mind will not be touched, only your perceptions. Then you will return to your garden, alone, where you will meditate upon the options with full knowledge. Thereafter, you will walk either to the claws of the minionette, knowing how that must end, or to the comfort of Chthon. Nice phrasing, that, Arlo remarked dryly. Phrase it as you will. Your choice will be free. Bedside s words were augmented by a mental projection from Chthon, doubling and more than doubling the effect. I believe it, Arlo agreed. Chthon has always been fair with me. How do we proceed? Lie here. Be comfortable, relaxed. Open your mind to Chthon, Bedside said. Do not resist; Chthon is your friend. Chthon will assuage your wounds. Arlo lay on the rock. It was not uncomfortable, for he had often slept on stone before. His gaze traveled to the ceiling. Above him was a massive stalactite, crystalline, [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |