Chương 175: Chapter 250 - Benansuo

They waited in a restaurant for Gabriel to return from his task in the city. Jei continued to order new dishes for them to try, while Mirian and Ibrahim continued to stack bowls of finished food. Ibrahim's stack of bowls was, Mirian was disappointed to see, higher than hers. The air smelled like crispy pork, boiled fish, unfamiliar spices, and black tea. Feng shook his head at the two.

"So you really were restraining yourselves from eating during the trip." Ibrahim finished slurping down some sort of soup made from the eggs of a myrvite bird Mirian had never heard of and slammed his bowl into the stack.

"Delicious! I hope we do find a Gate here. I'm going to try every restaurant in the city." Gabriel walked in, eying Ibrahim suspiciously.

"Alright, I talked to a bunch of people, said a bunch of common code words, passed around some money, and now we wait. I figure it'll take a day or two. Then one of the local bureau chiefs will chat with me, and he'll say something about following protocol, and I'll give an impassioned speech about not letting protocol get in the way of an emergency… anyways, it usually works. All these bureau chiefs are a type. Oh, gross, what is that?"

"Koiso fish liver. Comes from the islands off the coast," Feng said.

"Eugh. No thanks."

"Try the crispy pork and that rice with the sauce," Mirian said, gesturing.

"Now we're talking," he said, sitting down heavily.

"Anyways, I also stopped by the Akanan Embassy, and they said there was a bunch of weird stuff going on at the palace. The Zhighuans are, apparently, 'up to something.' So I'm sure we'll have to deal with some sort of annoying… thing. I don't know. How many conspiracies are running in parallel? Can we toss in another one, you know, for fun?" Gaius pretended to sip his tea. Ibrahim burped loudly—this was a sign of respect for the cook in north Persama—and leaned back in his chair.

"This is why all the conspirators should be dragged out into daylight and executed in the public squares."

"A revolution's just a bigger, worse funded conspiracy," Gabriel shot back.

"The trick is to convince the elites—who are always conspiring, it's called 'talking'—to think in the long term so that you can guide them on a more reasonable path. Executions should be reserved for people that can't take a hint as an instructive lesson." Feng was growing uncomfortable with the conversation. He asked in a low voice, "Is this what… people like you talk about?" Mirian nodded.

"The world isn't coming out in the same shape as when it entered this crisis. It can't." Jei looked like she was about to say something, but then the door burst open. A woman looked around the restaurant, her eyes instantly settling on the group. She was wearing a black tangzhuang that was decorated in gold with sinuous myrvite constellations made up of stylistic stars. Her silver hair was cut short, and she had a red scepter with a golden crystal orb set in it held loosely in her hand.

Jei stood up so suddenly her chair tilted over and crashed to the ground.

"Zhuan Li!" she exclaimed. The woman's eyes went wide, then narrowed again.

"Song Jei?" Mirian's spellbook appeared in her hand beneath the table. In a second, she confirmed her guess. The woman's soul was moving in a strange, fractal current; it was the most organized she'd seen a soul move, looking more like a dervish stance at work than a natural flow. More importantly, she saw the hole in it where the pattern flowed around.

"Another Prophet," she said.

"What?" Gabriel exclaimed.

"Makes sense," Ibrahim said.

"One in each region." He stood, and bowed respectfully. In clipped Gulwenen, he said, "Chosen Zhuan Li, I am Ibrahim Kalishah of Persama. My pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Mirian Castrella. Of Baracuel."

"Balls," Gabriel said. Mirian kicked him under the table.

"Ow! Shit. Right, yeah, I'm Gabriel Arjen, welcome to—how in the five fucking hells did you find us so fast?" Gaius was looking at Song Jei.

"You know Zhuan Li?" he said.

"The name sounds familiar… vaguely. Jei… you've mentioned her."

"The foremost Zhighuan scholar in research on Viaterria. Her work on political theory is also fascinating," her father said. Zhuan looked at the group arrayed before her. Briefly, the crystal orb glowed faintly.

"Four—no, three Exalted. You haven't visited before. What are you doing here?"

"Would have come sooner, but there's a bunch of hungry animals in the jungle and I wanted to make sure they all got fed first," Gabriel said.

"We're looking for Elder Gates, primarily," Mirian said, ignoring the other Prophet.

"Large four-dimensional objects, made by the Elder Gods, often buried or trapped in volcanic rock." Zhuan's brow furrowed.

"Yes, I know where one is. But we can't escape with them, so what's the point? We need one of the Viaterrian Chiminan Behemoths." Gaius tapped his chin thoughtfully. Mirian said, "What? Escape?"

"Yes." Zhuan Li looked at them. Then she said something rapidly, and this time, there were too many words in Gulwenen Mirian didn't know. She looked to Jei. Jei translated it to Adamic.

"She said, 'I imagine our strategic planning has diverged significantly as we analyzed regional dialectical shifts, and based on available research and our biases within the intelligentsia. Did you approach tasks by shaping discreet entities, or holistic-popular ones?'""Ah, Adamic. I can do that," Zhuan said. Ibrahim frowned.

"I don't understand that." Gabriel brightened.

"I did. It's… am I the only one who's read her work?"

"I have," Gaius volunteered.

"Right, I should explain it then—" Mirian cleared her throat.

"Would you like to join us?"

"No. I'm busy. You should join me," Zhuan said.

"Though the experiment this branch is probably ruined. New variables don't always cause a qualitative shift. I suppose it will be something new. Song Jei, are they trustworthy?" Jei swallowed. She glanced at Mirian. She looked at the others.

"I…" Zhuan waved a hand.

"Bad question. Don't answer it. Hmm. It's good to see you, Song. Unexpected. The specifics, at least. The anomalies in different branches and in the dream implied other Exalted, but I'd hoped I was wrong. More variables is not what we need. But maybe you all can assist." As they emerged outside, Zhuan turned to the mob of robed functionaries who were apparently following her around. She started speaking in rapid Gulwenen.

"See that the restaurant is paid. You, give me an event-trace. You, the follow-up. Remember procedure. You, tell the Baracueli Archaeological Society we've approved the dig. You, tell the joint-council to approve it. You, tell Spell-Captain Turaki to begin assembling the expedition. The rest with me. Runner, alert the palace I'll be returning, and none of the contingencies need to be implemented, but prepare rooms for six guests."

"Oh, we have rooms—" Feng started, but he was cut off. Zhuan whirled.

"NOT when I've just ordered an event-trace! There is a procedure!" she snapped. Feng recoiled. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Ibrahim snorted.

"I like her." However Mirian had thought events would go in Zhighua, this wasn't it. Like Ibrahim, she'd thought there might be another Prophet based on the pattern, but she'd thought they would have to track them down. Whatever Gabriel had done, it apparently had acted as a signal flare to Zhuan.

"We need to compare notes," Gabriel told Zhuan.

"You'll want to hear the woman's plan. Then you'll want to tell us yours. I have a feeling you've been too deep in the weeds and forgot to come up for air. Let's start with the basics. What in the five hells are you doing?" As the functionaries peeled off, they made their way through one of the city gates, Zhuan setting a quick pace. Benansuo's neighborhoods near the palace were divided up by thin walls and arched gates. As they passed through this one, the guards stood at attention.

"Experimenting. What anyone should do if they haven't come up with an optimal solution."

"You're being vague," Jei told her.

"Am I? Hmm. I'm afraid that character flaw has only gotten worse with circular time, not better. What's confusing?" Zhuan asked.

"Perhaps explain what you're doing in a way that someone not in the time loop would understand," Gabriel said.

"I don't explain it to them. Why would I? The goal is to effectively modify action, not create understanding. Let me think."

"The sun is not your only equal," Jei said. To Mirian's surprise, Zhuan burst out laughing.

"Certainly not anymore! Mmm. Let me simplify. Pretend there are three choices. One, do nothing. The world ends. Not a good choice. Despite its flaws, I think humanity should attempt to persist. Two: stop moonfall. Probably impossible. Three: escape moonfall. The most plausible option, and therefore, the one I've pursued. However, the portal-keeper informed me that the Portals—you called them Elder Gates? —couldn't be used for the purpose I intended. Unfortunate, but non-terminal to the idea.

Therefore, I researched other solutions. There's clear evidence of the Viaterrians visiting lands that are not in settled Enteria. Therefore, they must have had a reasonable way to transport themselves. There's also indication that one or more of their transport vessels survived the Cataclysm." Mirian nodded along.

"Ah. Is that what a Chiminan Behemoth is?"

"Yes. At a minimum, it was a vessel capable of penetrating the stormwall. If one still exists, it's plausible to repair it and evacuate a large enough portion of the population for humanity to persist. Moonfall's death-field propagation has an upper limit. We just have to hope that limit is smaller than the planet." Gabriel was chuckling to himself, shaking his head.

"You sound like her."

"I don't sound like that at all," Mirian said.

"Besides, I don't think we can assume the 'death-field' as you called it is that small. We can't exactly measure the intensity of it, but we can estimate it. There's no difference between being in far Akana and in Mayat Shadr. And the rate of propagation is nearly instantaneous. And it goes through solid rock—Gabriel, I think you tried to hide in the Labyrinth one cycle? Yes, that's what I thought.

Any equations I've used to model it imply the destruction is so much larger than Enteria that I stopped bothering as soon as I was done with the initial calculations." Gabriel snorted again. They passed through another gate, and now the road to Wongzho Palace lay before them. Two more functionaries wordlessly joined the entourage.

"So you've been searching for Viaterrian ruins? Atrah will be able to help with that."

"Yes. Good." They continued walking in silence until Mirian asked, "What experiments are you doing?"

"I've been testing and refining my political theories. Circular time allows for a unique investigative environment. History can at last be tested. Variables isolated. Experiments run, repeated, and run again. Song, I'd like your help with statistical modeling."

"Of course," Song Jei said immediately.

"Explain your theory of change," Zhuan said to Mirian. Mirian explained her plan, beginning with the leyline instability, then moving into her research on leyline regulator devices.

"…and if the cycles can be extended long enough, that might give us long enough to mobilize enough artificers and factories to make the leyline regulators we need to stabilize the moon. Xecatl in Tlaxhuaco is also researching spirit constructs, which might let us grow part of the solution."

"Mmm. Interesting. That's not a theory of change, but it is a plan I hadn't considered. Accessing Mayat Shadr with the Jiandzhi in the way limited my options. Yes, the branch-extensions have been useful. I wondered what was causing them. Not just the temporal needles. Yet, you would also need the Gates to move material and people around, which will impact the efficacy of the natural regulation produced by the Gates being open." Zhuan kept up her fast pace of walking, but she seemed lost in thought.

"Our objectives align. Hmm. The experiments are probably unsalvageable given how many variables are about to change. A pity. The Chiminan Behemoth may be useful to us both for study. The records indicate they are able to manipulate a great deal of energy. Your device would benefit, if not from the vessel itself, from study of the technology. If it survives. Evidence suggests the remains are at the edges of the eastern tributaries." Gaius said, "Near the ruined towers that look like rock spires?"

"Yes!" Zhuan said, stopping and whirling.

"You know of it?"

"I've been there. A long time ago. Found some very interesting things, but the danger wasn't worth it. Came too close to dying too many times." Zhuan stopped and examined the necromancer.

"How old are you?"

"Three hundred. Give or take. But I don't feel a day over two hundred and fifty!" he said. He loves that joke, Mirian thought. The Zhighuan Prophet looked Atrah Xidi up and down like he was a spell engine she didn't understand the function of. Feng, meanwhile, was clutching his heart, looking like he'd just seen a ghost. Or an undead soul anchored to its body, I suppose.

"Well," Zhuan said, spinning and continuing to walk.

"We all need to go to the same place. That's where your portal is. Or near enough. These two are helping you with this… leyline project?"

"Eh… not really," Mirian said. Gabriel made a gasp of outrage. Ibrahim didn't even pretend to be bothered.

"How much progress have you made in aligning the factories of Akana to your purpose?"

"I can manipulate Sylvester Aurum into doing what I want." Zhuan shook her head.

"Oh. Oh. Song, did you teach her nothing?"

"I taught her arcane mathematics, which is my field." Gabriel cleared his throat.

"Baracuel and Akana subscribe to the same basic philosophy. To manipulate events, you target leaders and information. Leaders and broadsheets manipulate the masses, and then the masses do what you want. Hence the conspiracy in Akana Praediar. This is why the department heads like Silou Westerun so much. What if you could steal the mind of the leader of a country? Then, it wouldn't even matter if they were assassinated or replaced—you'd just do the same thing again to the next guy.

Akana shapes the head of state, and the head of state shapes the country."

"A philosophy of fools," Zhuan said curtly.

"Anyways, that was all to say that Zhighua has different philosophical traditions."

"Correct ones," Zhuan said.

"My theories now have the evidentiary backing of 200 time branches." Song Jei cleared her throat.

"Is time a circle or a branch? You keep going back and forth."

"A circular branch." The math professor shook her head.

"You certainly do need my help." That brought a smile to Zhuan's face, though it didn't slow her pace. They now approached Wongzho Palace's main gate. Briefly, Mirian wondered if they should prepare for an ambush, but with Gaius at her side and her own mastery of soul magic, there was nothing for her to worry about. Benansuo didn't have a sacred tree capable of blanketing a city with its aura like Ceiba Yan. She wondered at Zhuan confronting them immediately, without hesitation.

Had she simply not considered that the temporal anchors could be manipulated, or her soul cursed? Or did she already have contingencies in place? As they entered Wongzho—the walls and towers of the castle looming high above them—Mirian could see how the palace reacted to Zhuan. Guards stood at attention here, too, and the people of the palace looked to her. Gabriel saw it too.

"Oh, that explains things," he said.

"I bet she cut the bureaucracy right out from under the leadership."

"I have preparations to make," Zhuan announced.

"You will be shown to quarters, then we will meet again when I'm not busy. I will also order copies of my book to be delivered to you—translated. The expedition north will be in a week, so make whatever preparations you need. The archives and palace are open to you until then." A guard and servant bowed to each of them, gesturing for them to follow. Zhuan Li went through a pair of thick double-doors, already talking rapidly to a group of bureaucrats. The door shut, and she was gone as quickly as she'd arrived.

"That is not how I thought this would go," Gabriel said.

"What now?" Mirian shrugged.

"She's already found the Gate. Once we get there, we can make our next trips to Zhighua significantly easier and faster. So we prepare to go north." Gabriel groaned.

"We just left the Jiandzhi."

"You're free to stay behind. We'll all investigate the long lost secrets of the Viaterrians without you."

"No, no, I'm going. I'll just make sure we have proper supplies this time. I bet they have some Zhighuan rice wine vintages I haven't tried…" He wandered off to his room. Mirian went to hers. The wood paneling in the room was masterful, carved with depictions of myrvites in the midst of sinuous movements. The bed appeared to have silk sheets. There was a spell-engine powered shower in the adjoining room too, which was a welcome relief. The balcony looked out east, over most of the palace walls.

Mirian levitated a bit higher so she had a better view. From there, she could see distant storm clouds at the edge of the horizon. To the north, she saw the mountains and jungles of the Jiandzhi, waiting for them to return. To the south, Benansuo, the sounds of the city carrying up to the balcony, and the open ocean beyond. Piece by piece, things were coming together. There was a pleasant chime over by the door, and a servant presented her with a leatherbound copy of Zhuan's book, as she'd promised. Mirian smiled.

Zhuan certainly didn't lack confidence. She went out to the balcony and began to read. She and Zhuan still had a lot to talk about.