The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere

Inner Sanctum Exterior | 3:29 PM | Second Day

"Seriously, Seth, do tidy yourself up," Kamrusepa said, as we prepared to leave. "You too, Bardiya. Do you need to borrow a mirror? A comb?"

"I'm okay, Kam," Seth said, brushing down his clothing a bit.

"I won't have you embarrassing the class during something like this," she said, thrusting the items on him anyway. "Refold your robe so the second layer falls a bit more over the waist - that should cover up the stain, at least."

"Right, right," he said, examining himself in the mirror.

"At least he's not dressed like a whore," Ezekiel said with a smirk, gesturing towards the low cut of Kamrusepa's robe. She ignored him completely.

I glanced over at Theo as I picked up my bags. He was looking maybe the most anxious I'd seen him over the whole trip, even worse than he'd been in the morning-- Practically at the point of hyperventilating. Seth noticed as soon as he was done with Kam, and moved over to comfort him, patting him on the back and saying things like 'hey, you got this' 'don't worry, I bet there won't be many people watching after this anyway' and 'I'll try to screw up extra hard so they don't pay as much attention to you'.

He was pretty good at it. I kind of wanted to support him a bit myself, but between our last conversation and the fact I was now mystified by whatever was going on with Seth - assuming I hadn't mistaken what I'd seen - I didn't know how to approach him without acting stupid or suspicious.

Well, he'd find some way to deal with it. Theo was pretty good at getting himself together at the very last moment. He would have washed out a long time ago if that hadn't been the case.

We gathered up our things. I hefted up my anatomy doll and associated paperwork, Ophelia her suspicious box, Kamrusepa her logic engine and what looked like a container for a ancient-style scroll. Lilith had a bulky-looking bag probably containing a machine, Bardiya a surprisingly lightweight brown folder and some delicate glass containers, Ptolema her surgical equipment and an anatomy doll of her own...

Only Ran seemed to have absolutely nothing except her books. She had her own way of doing things, and it didn't involve theatrics. At least not of the conventional sort.

When we'd sorted out all that, we moved to stand before the golem. And then, finally, a full day and a half after setting out, we were led through the stone doors into the conference hall to do what our class existed to do.

...which was, in case you need a refresher from my earlier explanation, to look smart and pretty in front of a large number of old people.

I stepped through, and saw that there had been a few changes made since yesterday in preparation for the event. The most striking was that there were now two sets of wooden stands which had been raised up against the pillars on opposite sides of the room, each facing towards the central table, which was presumably meant to serve as our seating-- Hopefully it'd been the golem that had been forced to put it up on short notice and not a person. Speaking of which, there were now several of the more roughly humanoid ones standing guard in a line underneath the order's serpent-banners, traditional spears held aloft in their ceramic hands.

By tradition, formal conclaves of arcanists were always overseen by armed guards. When the custom started, they'd been soldiers the original leaders of the eight Parties used to keep arcanist organization in check, and then, once arcanists effectively usurped and then monopolized political power for the next 700 years, to simply act as a deterrent to internal political violence. But for centuries now, the practice had become purely ceremonial; as much an aesthetic flourish as the brazier burning in the center of the room. Recently, it'd become a rare sight for them to even be human. Smaller and less successful groups sometimes only used representative props, or didn't even bother at all.

Finally, the room had been cleaned to the point it was literally spotless, with not a speck of the dust and dirt I'd seen being tidied up yesterday in sight. I could see my reflection on the marble busts as we went inside. It was almost too clean, at the level where you feel vaguely guilty just for walking around.

Around the table were the inner circle members. Durvasa, who had put on a fine looking purple and green dress robe since I'd seen him earlier. Neferuaten, who had put on her formal sash representing her position at court in Mekhi. (She waved subtly as we made eye contact.) Linos, who'd moved from his wheelchair to one of the grand stone and wood seats. Amtu-heddu-anna, who seemed unchanged in both appearance and demeanor from this morning. And...

A man, whom I assumed had to be Zeno, since he didn't remotely match any description of Hamilcar that I'd heard. He looked much closer to what I'd originally expected. Elderly, with an extremely skinny build, a stark, long face, and a shock of thin white hair. He was dressed very formally, but also strangely, in a pure-white himation made of some reflective, shiny material. It gave him a sterile aura, somehow. He regarded our group expressionlessly.

Linos was the one to speak up upon our entry. "Apologies for having kept you all waiting," he said. "We needed to contact some of the key observers to clarify if they'd still be able to attend, then finalize a new time. It turned into quite an ordeal." He chuckled weakly. "Certainly has been quite a day."

"It's quite alright, sir," Kamrusepa said, suddenly even-toned and brimming with youthful sincerity. "That you're able to push ahead at all in spite of the tragedy is testament to your conviction and adaptability."

"It's certainly testament to something," he said, with a sad smile.

"It wasn't too bad," Ptolema said cheerily. "I don't think I would've had a chance to finish eatin' if we'd only had, I dunno, ten minutes, or whatever it was supposed to be."

"Well, we'd planned there to be a little more leeway before what happened this morning." He shrugged. "One problem solves another, I suppose. Speaking of which-- How are you feeling, Ophelia?"

"Oh, ah." She smiled meekly, her posture drawing inward. "Much better, thank you. I still feel a little tired, but my head is much clearer now, so I should be fine."

He nodded, pleased. "That's good. I was worried--"

"That's enough, boy," Anna interjected, her tone chiding. She was regarding our group with a severe expression, her hands clutched tightly around the head of her cane. "Golem, bring them to their seats. This sort of idle chatter with guests at the conclave proper debases our tradition."

Linos looked, for want of a more charitable description, pretty cowed by this, frowning and going silent. Neferuaten spoke up, though. "Technically speaking, the event hasn't started yet, your ladyship."

She narrowed her eyes. "We are in the chambers. We are seated according to our positions. Is that not so?"

"Please, if you don't mind, follow me to your deignated seating," Aruru said, not even seeming to notice the continuation of the conversation.

With no one wishing to make a stink, we let the golem lead us through the room until we we were parallel to the wooden stands. It then turned, stopping to face us.

"All male guests present, please take a seat at my left. All female guests present, please take a seat to my right."

I blinked. I guess I should have expected that, huh.

You could see on their faces that everyone (excepting Ezekiel, who looked completely apathetic, not even stopping at the words) was weirded out. There were explanations you could make for the separate travel arrangements - as Kam had attempted to at the time - and the bedrooms made sense, even if it was a little old-fashioned. But this was on a different level.

Still, it felt incredibly awkward to make a fuss. Most of us had seen enough of Linos and Neferuaten to feel at least somewhat at ease around them, but the rest of the inner circle members came across as pretty serious. (Well, at least Durvasa and Anna did. I probably had a very different impression of Zeno to everyone else at this point.) Who knew how they'd take an explicit critique of their traditions right at the eleventh hour?

Only Ptolema managed a quiet, "kinda seems a bit much..." And what might've been the word 'creepy' under her breath before we broke into groups. Yantho, who was still with us, moved to sit with the rest of the boys, while the rest of us, Mehit included, proceeded into the considerably more crowded seating opposite. I ended up on the upper row, between Ran and Ophelia.

"Ah, um, I'm sorry, Utsushi..." The latter said, holding up her box as we settled in. "I should have put this down at the front. Could you pass it along-- Kam, can you set this on the ground? Gently, if you don't mind."

"Oh, of course," Kam said, as I nodded along, already haphazardly taking the object and passing it downwards, before she leaned down and plonked it on the floor.

I was pretty sure I felt something move as I held it. Yep, that confirms it, then.

Once we were all in place, the room fell silent for a few moments, before Durvasa took it upon himself to speak up, holding up a sheet of parchment.

"We will wait until we have full attendance before commencing. We're still expecting three-- No, two more, rather," he said, crossing something out. That'll be Balthazar, I'll bet. Not like they could just let him in with a veil after what happened. "Thus far absent is Hamilcar of Kane and Sacnicte of Ic'Nhal."

That's funny, I thought. He rendered her name like one from the Mimikos, not like how it should be in Lluateci culture. Sort of... Pettily disrespectful.

"What exactly is taking him so long?" Zeno asked, quietly enough that he might've thought we couldn't hear. It was peculiar-- Like this, not only was his voice obviously different, much more deep and harsh, but he used it differently, too. Gone was the playful quickness I'd heard earlier, replaced with a dour and disaffected quality. Though the arrogance was still a pronounced element. "I thought he'd already finished with the summonings."

"It's his condition acting up, I think," Neferuaten said, more discreetly. This was a room designed to carry sound, though, and I had good hearing.

Zeno snorted, crossing his arms lazily.

"Hey, uh," Ptolema asked, half in a whisper. I wasn't certain that we needed to be whispering since nothing had actually started, but the atmosphere did make it feel appropriate "Have any of you guys actually met Hamilcar? I think he's the only one I haven't seen around."

"I don't believe I've seen him either, no," Kamrusepa said. "It is odd. Unlike Zeno, he doesn't have a reputation as a recluse."

"I'm sorry, I haven't, either..." Ophelia said. She always looked excessively guilty and pained even when apologizing for the most trivial things, like she was confessing she'd just run over your cat. "Actually, I'm not sure I've met anyone other than the people who were at dinner with us, now that I'm thinking about it."

"I haven't," Ran said, reviewing her notes.

"I think I heard something about him taking Lilith on a tour," I said, and then instantly regretted it. She flashed me an openly hostile glare, and even Mehit jerked a little in her seat, giving me a tense look.

"Oh, that'd make sense!" she said. "He's some relative of yours, right, Lili?"

Lilith glared at her. "Don't ask me personal questions."

"Can you tell me some stuff about him?" she asked, grinning hopefully. "I was hoping to scope out everyone a bit before doing this thing, y'know, so I don't say anything too dumb."

"Water will always evaporate in heat, skull-cavity," she declared, her eyes narrow. "You saying stupid things is completely unpreventable."

Mehit winced, but she didn't even say anything this time, only looking at Ptolema apologetically. She was probably afraid that Lilith would start shouting, which in a context like this would be suicidally embarrassing.

Is that it, though? Somehow, I got the sense that something about the dynamic was going over my head.

"Geez," Ptolema said, scratching the side of her head. "You're even grumpier than usual today, huh."

"Come on, Lili," Kamrusepa said, craning her head upwards. "You wouldn't want us to embarrass ourselves in front of your uncle, would you? Be nice and give her some tips!"

The girl narrowed her eyes. "H-- Uncle is. He is very, very nice," she said, her tone somehow reticent but impatient at the same time. "And very patient. As long as you do not waste time or try to act too full of yourself, you will not upset him." She glared at Kam as she said this, the threat implicit.

"Gotcha," Ptolema said, stretching. "Phew. In that case, guess I only need to worry about Zeno and Lady Amtu. I hope she doesn't remember me, heheh."

I raised an eyebrow, curious. "You know Anna, Ptolema?"

"Huh? Oh-- Well, I dunno if I really know her," she said. "My dad got me in one of her special classes when I was first learning runesmithing like eight years ago? But it was me and like 30 other people, and she hardly ever singled anybody out. Well, except when they really pissed her off."

"Mm, and did that happen to you, much?" Kamrusepa asked, a sly smile forming on her lips.

Ptolema laughed nervously. "Well... It was a long time ago, so it's all kinda fuzzy..."

The rear door swung open, and I could hear the footsteps of another individual approaching, though I could tell from the reactions of the council members that it wasn't Hamilcar even before they came into view. Rather, it was Sacnicte, who was making an effort to look attentive for the first time since I'd met her. She approached the table, bowed formally, they moved to sit with us in the women's section. We scooted along, making room on the upper level.

"Hope you all attended to any physical needs before they pulled you in here," she said, very softly. "These things can go on for hours without a break."

"Pfft, jokes on them," Ptolema said. "I learned to use the Power to skip going to the toilet back in college."

"That is several steps beyond the threshold of necessary information, Ptolema," Kam stated, with a flat expression. "No one needs to hear about your byzantine methods of managing your bowels, least of all right before we're due to appear in front of an audience of thousands."

"What, you mean you haven't?" The other girl asked, incredulously. "I thought that was something everybody did. I mean, the amount of classes and exams we gotta do in a row sometimes - I dunno how you'd cope otherwise." She glanced around, determined to drag other people into this conversational abyss. "I can't be the only one, right?"

"No comment," Ran said.

"I don't accept this conversation," I said, biting my lip. "Uh, metaphysically, I mean. I'm skeptical it's really happening."

"What about you, Ophelia?" she asked. "You're a Biomancer. I know you'd have to have taken the first aid class where they teach you to use the Matter-Annihilating Arcana that way, in case there's internal bleeding and you're trying to prevent cross-contamination and stuff."

"Ah... Well, that is..." Ophelia spoke delicately, her face growing flushed. "When you think about it, it is one of the more regrettable parts of human biology... And the public toilets at the academy are, well..."

"Ahaaah, so you do!" Ptolema said, pointing at her. Mehit folded her arms and stared at the ceiling, looking like she was hoping for a spontaneous out-of-body experience.

"I wonder if the guys are having a chat this thrilling," Sacnicte commented, looking vaguely amused.

"I didn't say that..." Ophelia protested in reply to Ptolema, averting her eyes. "But then, I don't think there's anything wrong with using the Power to, well, manage the body--"

Suddenly - mercifully - the doors swung open for a second time, this time somewhat slower, and another set of footsteps approached. They were much heavier and more methodical, clunking loudly and deliberately against the stone flooring. The room grew hushed, the quiet chatter that had been building up from all corners swiftly dying down.

And then, I saw him emerge from beyond the pillar.

Hamilcar of Kane was another famous member of the order, if not quite to the same extent as Anna and Zeno. He'd been the first I'd actually ever learned about - way back when I was still a child and they'd revealed themselves to the world, he'd been the face of the unmasking, appearing on newsheets all over the continent. I hadn't learned about my grandfather's association until some time later, during my teens, which made that initial experience retrospectively surreal - blurring a parasocial event with a mundane one in a way that made it strange to think about. I'd read the speech he'd published at the time, even, his grand words about the changing of the world, about hope for a new age of mankind...

But to finally see him in person was stranger still.

Of all the order's ranks, he cut the most imposing figure, though not exactly because of his physique. I knew the story; when he was a baby, he'd been the victim of a terrible accident that was so larger-than-life that it was almost had a mythological quality to it. A leak at an alchemical refinery had caused an explosion which had also encompassed a nearby shop his mother had been visiting while taking care of him. It had killed her, and owner, and most of the other customers - yet somehow, he'd survived, but was maimed horribly both externally and internally. This was during the Second Resurrection, and at the time, Biomancy wasn't advanced enough to clone new limbs and organs outright, so his physicians gave him only a few months to live.

For most people, that would have been the end of the story. But, adding even greater gravitas to the narrative, Hamilcar also happened to be a descendant of the order's founder, Ubar of Kane, and his father, too, was a member. (Again: Nepotism.) He'd taken his boy to their sanctuary to take advantage of their cutting age techniques in secret and, though a combination of runework, transplants, and a strict and constantly-adapting regimen of both conventional and arcane medical treatments, had managed to keep him alive.

But not elegantly so. For decades, he'd become a close companion with his own mortality, living on the edge of death - fighting off near-constant organ failures and prolonged periods of hospitalization while his peers thrived in the best years of their lives. But this didn't break his will. No, instead, it drove him to develop a deep fixation on the weaknesses of human biology and the body, of all the many ways it could malfunction, and how it lacked the segmented nature of machines, where replacing any component was a difficult and essentially violent process.

'Pain and genius are two sides of the same coin.' More words spoken by my grandfather, once upon a time.

He'd become a golemancer, specializing in wholly artificial organs - a field that was often held in disrespect, being seen as an awkward artifact of a more primitive time, doomed to be eclipsed by the advance of Biomancy and the ability to perfectly replicate and regrow the human body in a manner that was far more elegant and natural. But Hamilcar defied people's expectations. Instead of creating substitutes for the organs directly, he instead focused on creating interfaces for organs, mechanical additions to the links between the different parts of the body that made them easier to replace, easier to control.

And then, from that basis, he created a new approach - fringe, but viable - to healing the human body. One in which components did not need to be maintained or built for longevity, but where they could instead be optimized for the short term, used, and ultimately replaced. Not out of necessity, but out of convenience.

Whereas an organ wasn't a part of you any more than a portable logic engine was.

It was hard to see how much of his body was mechanical under the thick black robes he wore, more something you'd expect on a priest than a man of science. But his legs were clearly longer than they ought to have been, and bent strangely, and his gloved hands - gripped tightly around a heavy metal cane, - had two more fingers than was natural, one on each of which was bent like a second thumb. And his head...

If I didn't know he was Ysaran from reading about him, it would have been impossible to tell. He was hairless, and his skin largely artificial, having an almost stone-grey tone to it. There was no visible mouth, but instead an elaborate mechanism for breathing that looked like a silver serpent coiled around the lower part of his mouth. You would've expected it to produce a heavy, artificial breathing sound, but instead, it produced no sound at all. An effect that was somehow even more unsettling.

Only one of his eyes was intact, a deep and sullen brown. The other had been replaced with a metallic... Lens? I wasn't sure; it wasn't glass, just what looked like solid metal.

"Finally," Zeno said, as he steadily approached.

"My apologies for the delay," Hamilcar said. I would've expected his voice to be inhuman, but in fact it was incredibly mundane and ordinary, almost to the point of being amusingly contradictory. He sounded like someone who you'd see working the front desk at a post office, down to the vague depression. "I was performing some final changes to the artificial room, to accommodate the change in our numbers of observers." He looked over his shoulder. "Ah, the others have already arrived. We're all here, then."

'We're all here'. Him saying it so deliberately like that made me suddenly consider how, in fact, almost everyone in the sanctuary was now in this room, as far as I knew.

Us ten classmates: Myself, Ran, Kamrusepa, Theo, Seth, Bardiya, Ptolema, Lilith, Ezekiel, and Ophelia.

The six inner circle members: Neferuaten, Zeno, Linos, Durvasa, Anna, and Hamilcar.

The two servants, or 'stewards': Sacnicte and Yantho.

And finally, the odd one out: Mehit, who was now looking increasingly uneasy, for whatever reason. (I was starting to develop a hunch that there could be some sort of baggage between her and Hamilcar.)

The only exceptions were Balthazar, who was exiled in the tower, and Samium, who... Well, who was somewhere else we weren't supposed to know about. Everyone aside from them - unless you counted Zeno's other body, or the corpse I was continually aware was still lying at the bottom of that shaft - I could clearly see assembled in front of me.

"We'd kept them waiting for the better part of an hour," Linos said, clasping his hands together. "It seemed appropriate to move things forward as soon as it was decided we were going ahead with it."

"Yes, that is understandable," Hamilcar said, and then was silent for a moment, looking to the ground. "Has the structure of the event been explained to them?"

"Not yet," Neferuaten said.

"Very well," he said, looking to us. "Children. Before anything else, I would like to thank you all for accepting our invitation and joining us here today in our sanctuary of Apsu. It is a great honor to me to have the greatest of the coming generation display their talents to the world in association with our order. A century ago, I could not in the grandest of my imagination have thought we would have a chance to pass the torch so directly. To you, who are mankind's shining future, and its greatest hope."

The words were sudden and so heavy with praise that it was a little uncomfortable. It looked like everyone felt a little awkward - except for Kam, of course, who was unreservedly thrilled.

It was interesting to see the tone that Hamilcar was taking, and the way the other members of the inner circle seemed to regard him. As Neferuaten had explained in extensive detail down in the initiation chamber, the order had no official leader. Technically, even the discretionary council weren't in charge. But it seemed like Hamilcar commanded some vague authority, or role as first-among-equals... Possibly on account of his heritage.

When you put it that way, it almost feels like a monarchy, I thought. A brotherhood of ostensible equals, passed down from father to son.

"Still, I ask that you understand the weight of this moment, as the first time our order has invited the world through its doors. You have come from all four corners of the Mimikos in a troubled era, and each of you will be seen not only to represent yourselves and your academy, but also the unity of the Grand Alliance, and the tentative acceptance of our work here. I humbly request that you do them all the best justice that you are able. ...though, perhaps even that much is impetuous of me to say. I know that you are all capable beyond your years, and that I shall not be disappointed in your work." He bowed. "I look forward to seeing the extent of your potential. Now, Aruru, please explain to them how our conference shall proceed."

The golem stepped forward, its dress trailing along the floor. "Please excuse me. I shall now elaborate on the planned structure of the event." Its scripting seemed to struggle for a moment, since the angle made it impossible to face both our group and the boys at the same time, before finally settling on staring directly ahead. "After the link is established, an introductory speech shall be given by Amtu-Heddu-Anna as the eldest of the organization. There will then be a speech given by Kamrusepa of Tuon as a representative of the Exemplary Acolyte's class of the Old Yru Academy of Medicine and Healing."

I blinked. Did I know that was due to happen? I probably did, and had just forgotten.

"Following this, you will be called forward to offer your presentations in alphabetical order, though you may change this at special request. Each of you will be allocated a maximum of 10 minutes of speaking time, followed by 10 minutes of questions from the discretionary council. After this, a closing statement--"

And then, suddenly, the grand stone doors behind the table lurched open once again, interrupting the golem's monologue. All eyes turned, and another figure stepped boldly forward.

"Whew, nice!" they said. "I'm not too late, after all!"

They were tall, fair featured but with a long and sharp face, and though Saoic, had striking blue eyes and dark red hair styled to spike in excess down one side of their head. They were dressed in a bright tan coat over a black tunic, and, in defiance of all established standards of fashion in the entire Remaining World, were wearing stark white trousers, cut loosely for casual wear.

For all the questions their sudden appearance raised, I knew who they were at once: Jia Fang, the highest ranking member of the Exemplary Acolytes Class.