The Advancement of Mateo Matic: July 24, 2139

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“Leona,” Mateo said, “this is Serif.”

“Oh?” she asked, like a mother to a child who’s just brought home that new friend she can tell will be a bad influence.

“Leona,” he repeated, “you met Serif years ago.”

“I did?” she seriously couldn’t remember. “I don’t recall that. Like...at all. Is she part of this...corrupted reality?”

“Well, yeah,” Serif said, “but I’ve been here for longer than that.”

“How long?”

“Since,” Mateo began, trying to remember exactly. He looked to Serif for help.

“2039,” Serif remembered.

“Right,” Mateo said.

“April 15, 2039; I was one of Ulinthra’s guests at the same time you were. In the timeline before Boyce killed Hitler.”

“Of course,” Leona sarcastically agreed.

Mateo sighed. “Oh my God. I’ve been spending this whole time trying to convince people of other people they used to know and love. It was difficult, because Arcadia had removed them from time. But here Serif is standing right in front of you, and you have no clue. Either Arcadia is losing her touch, or it’s just another wrinkle.”

“Well, if we failed to complete Nestor’s expiation, maybe this is part of our consequences,” Serif proposed.

“Not really fair,” Mateo said. “She never said there would be additional ramifications.”

Leona was not super happy about them talking to each other like they were old pals, but that was exactly what they were. Not long after this whole thing got started, Ulinthra had the two of them escorted to her secret base somewhere in East Bumblefork. There they met Serif, another salmon on their exact same pattern. She had been traveling with them ever since. That Leona could forget all of that was just adding salt to an already painful, wide open wound.

While Mateo and Serif were trying to talk things out, Leona was turning her head between them like a tennis match spectator, working the problem in her head. “What of hers am I wearing?”

“What?” Mateo didn’t understand.

She started pointing to her clothes. “I’ve got Lincoln’s belt, and Aura’s engagement ring. What did Serif give me so that I wouldn’t forget her when Arcadia tears her from time? If she’s really always been here, then I should have something.”

They frowned at the sad puppy. “Your ear.”

“What?” She felt her ears with her fingers, finding an earring on one that Serif’s great great grandmother had passed down through the generations. Paige had been given the other.

“I don’t remember this at all.” Her world had been turned upside down.

“It’s okay, love,” Mateo tried to comfort her.

“How could I forget? I am spawn. If she’s here, and I supposedly have her totem on my ears, why can I not remember?”

“Maybe it’s not working,” Mateo suggested, “or Arcadia found a way to alter that.”

“The totems were meant to have sentimental value. Maybe my connection to Leona just...isn’t strong enough?”

“That can’t be true,” Mateo said dismissively. It couldn’t be. “You love each other.”

“We do?” Leona asked.

“Oh yeah, it’s, uh...”

Leona was being impatient. “Mateo.”

“Well...”

“Mateo, are we polyamorous?”

Serif took the reigns. “We are, yes. At least...we were. I guess we won’t be needing the privacy hut tonight.”

“No, probably not,” Mateo agreed. “But we do need sleep. Obviously we’re all tired. Now, I’m not saying you’ll suddenly get your memories back overnight, but we should rest and deal with it in the morning. We shouldn’t try to argue with Arcadia after the day we had.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Serif said.

In the middle of an awkward breakfast wherein they discovered that none of the other island dwellers could remember Serif either, Arcadia teleported in.

“I hear you’re having some trouble,” she said, impersonating a repairman.

“I’m the only one who can remember Serif,” Mateo complained.

“Uhuh,” was all Arcadia said.

“Did you make a mistake?” Serif asked. “Did you take their memories, but forget to actually take me?

She was reluctant to answer, so she avoided it. Instead, she pointed to three of them. “You, you, and you. Come with me right now.”

“Why is Lincoln going with them? Mario asked.

“And why am I not?” Leona questioned.

Arcadia drew closer to Leona. “This is one of those times when what I say is law, and you questioning that can hurt you real bad. Stay here until I tell you otherwise.”

Leona was not afraid. “Okay.”

Mateo, Serif, Lincoln, and Arcadia all stood in a circle just inside of the treeline. The first three waited for the fourth to say something. They could still see the rest of the group eying them from the fire pit.

Finally, Arcadia spoke, “Lincoln, did you have something to do with this?”

“What?” he asked defensively. “No. Why? How?”

“Where is your art project?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said with feeble shrug.

Arcadia pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. “I know what you were doing with that thing. I didn’t put a stop to it, because I was totally all right with it. Kivi’s disappearance from history was not part of my plan, and I was rooting for you, Lincoln, but it looks like you screwed up.

Lincoln looked Serif over head to toe.

“Yeah, she does look a little like her,” Arcadia said, overexaggerating a head nod. “But not quite enough, huh?”

“Well, I was working from memory. I’m not The Artist, ya know. I was hoping to contact him so he could cut the detail for me.”

“Can someone tell me what’s happening?” Mateo implored them. “What does Kivi have to do with all this?”

“When you went back to the Hitler Tribulation, you altered the timeline. Slightly. That expiation both created Angelita...and destroyed Kivi. Mister Rutherford here was trying to remedy the situation.”

“Lincoln?” Mateo asked simply.

“It was meant to be a gift. When she was ready. When I was...done. I was gonna call The Artist to bring the statue to life, so you could have your daughter back.”

Mateo looked to Arcadia. “Is this possible?”

“It’s what he does,” Arcadia confirmed, “our father.”

“He’s your father?” Serif asked.

“He’s our creator,” she corrected. “He can create entire people; souls, minds, even memories. At one time, he and the Curator had a whole crew of people managing the timeline on a metaphysical level. Then they all left. But those jobs still needed doing. Unfortunately, it was literally impossible to recruit anyone else, so Athanaric Fury took his tools, and built me and my siblings out of clay. Then he gave us life, along with the powers we would need to act as a skeleton crew for The Gallery. Then we were thrown out of The Gallery as well, including Fury. He built the body that my brother, Zeferino ended up stealing. That’s why he had so many different powers, because it was Fury’s last attempt at protecting the timeline from people—well, from people like my brother. And my sister. And me.”

Serif was uncomfortable and worried. “Are you saying that Lincoln failed to make a good enough Kivi...and they ended up with me?”

“Sorry, kid. I know that’s not something anyone wants to hear.”

“So I’m not real.”

“Of course you’re real.” Arcadia was confused. “How do you think Leona has your earring? You had a real effect on history, I’m impressed.”

“I wasn’t born, though. I was just...made. Do I even have a brain, or a heart, or skin? Is this skin?” She started pulling at the skin of her own arm.”

“Serif, stop it!” Mateo yelled.

“Why? I’m not a person. Just a big block of...rock! I don’t know what he used, what did you use? Marble? Granite? What species am I?”

“You’re the same species as Kivi was,” Arcadia answered calmly.

“What?”

“Lincoln knew that Fury could give life to the Kivi statue, because he had done it before. I don’t know why, but I kind of think she was supposed to be a gift for you, even then. Lincoln remembers that, so he was trying to repeat it.”

“I don’t know The Artist’s original intentions,” Lincoln added, “but she didn’t have a past either. She was about a month old when you two first met.”

“Well,” Arcadia said. “The first time you met her.”

“What does that mean?”

“Oh yeah, you ran into her on this island. She didn’t know why she was there, so you took her to the Archivist, who reset the timeline far back enough to delete her. I guess she had shown up too early? I dunno, that’s not really my responsibility anymore.”

“Can we get back to me, please?” Serif asked. “What’s going to happen? Are you going to erase me?”

“Do you want me to erase you?”

“Of course not.”

She shrugged. “I don’t really think I need to. I wouldn’t tell the others what you are, though, if you plan on staying. They’re already gonna have a hard enough time accepting you as it is.”

“What can we tell them?” Lincoln wondered.

“Whatever you were gonna tell them before I came here. You have memories of her, right?” she asked Mateo. “And you have your own memories?” she rhetorically asked Serif. “So just go from there. You can say that someone else messed with the timeline, or you can just blame me. It honestly doesn’t matter to me. I just need to know, Lincoln, how you contacted Fury.”

“I didn’t,” Lincoln replied with an honest tone. “I was going to, sure. But I hadn’t made it that far. Like we said, she doesn’t look quite close enough to Kivi.”

“Well, how were you planning to get in touch with him? You don’t have what you need here on Tribulation Island.”

Lincoln just stared at her with his hands in his pockets.

“Oh my God, you were gonna go Bill and Ted on me?”

“What is that?” Mateo asked. They were asking a lot of questions today.

“Retroactive preparation. It’s when you plan to go back in time and do something you can’t do right now. It creates an ontological paradox, which is dangerous as shit.”

“Not if you frame it right, which is something I know how to do,” Lincoln argued.

“Obviously not, or we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

He shook his head. “No, something else is going on here. Maybe I could one day screw this up, but the Artist wouldn’t. There must be a reason. Serif is supposed to exist,” he said before repeating himself directly to her. “Serif, you’re supposed to exist.”

“That’s comforting,” Serif lied.

“Well, no one has been taken out of time today,” Lincoln changed the subject. “Unless you’ve found a way to erase my memories too.”

“No. I was planning on letting you grieve for your loss yesterday. Every single player needed to cross the threshold, Mateo, not just you. I can’t bring Nestor back.”

“We figured,” Mateo said sadly. Through all this drama, they didn’t give themselves the time to be disappointed in themselves for having failed one of the expiations.

“If it’s any consolation, he was a screw up in his own right,” she explained. “His family kept loving him, despite his many mistakes; no one more than his sister, but he never felt like he deserved their forgiveness.”

Mateo nodded. “I can relate.”

Arcadia turned her head like she had heard her name being called. “Oh, I don’t want to be here for this. But good luck.”

“Good luck with what?” What was going on?

“Not even I can stop them from taking you, and I’ve learned not to piss them off.” She disappeared.

“Lincoln, do you have any idea what she’s talking about?” Mateo asked.

“I think maybe that,” Serif said, pointing towards the jungle.

They turned their heads to find a door sticking out of the ground, completely out of place.

“What the hell is that?”

Vearden Haywood opened it from the other side. “Come with me if you want to live,” he said in a thick fake accent. “Nah, I’m just playin’.” After another pause, he added, “but I am gonna need your clothes.”

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The Puzzle of Escher Bradley: Chapter Four

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Tauno and I pass the creepy slowmo statues, and walk into the house, without a word. We walk up the steps without a word, and then into the room without a word. Once we’re in the elevator, Tauno suddenly starts to want to speak.

“Is this your house?” he asks.

“No. I came here looking for someone. I have no idea who owns this place, if anyone. Is this not how you got lost?”

“I’ve never been here before,” he answers.

“Did you say this wasn’t your first time being in this other...world?”

“No, it happens all the time. Ever since I was little. But I think only since we moved to Kansas. I was born in the other Springfield.”

“Well, there are actually several other Springfields in the country. In fact, I believe that most, if not all, states have one.”

“I think it was the big one, the one that’s not very far away.”

“Probably Missouri.” It’s likely a good thing that the magical elevator takes so long, because he’s going to need some time before he trusts me enough to really explain himself. I’m just trying to take it slow and be patient so he doesn’t get spooked.

“I’ve never seen anyone else in that other world,” little Tauno says after a few moments of silence.

“It must be scary for you.”

“You kind of get used to it. I don’t know why it happens. Sometimes I wake up and I’m there. Sometimes I walk through a door, or I trip. Sometimes I just blink and it happens. It wants me. You can take me back home all you want, but it will always take me back.”

“How do you normally get home?”

“Same way. I keep walking, and eventually, it switches me back.”

I nod, because I have some idea what’s going on, but I’m new to all this, so I don’t actually know.

“What?”

I don’t know that I should tell him, because it could help immensely, or it could makes things worse. So I just move on, “your parents never realize you’ve gone?”

“No. Time doesn’t always do what it was doing outside. Sometimes I’m gone for days, and my parents just pretend like they don’t have a son. I watch them moving around the house. They can’t see me, and they never look for me. I think my baby sister notices, but she can’t talk yet, so I dunno.”

“When you go back home, what do they think you’ve been doing for the last few days?” I ask him.

“They act like I’ve been there the whole time. They remember driving me to school, and asking me to do my chores.”

“But the chores weren’t done, because you weren’t there to do them?”

“No, they were,” he corrects me. “They did them. When I come back, they just think it was me instead. I’ve never been in trouble before, but I’ve also never done any chores, because I’m always gone when I’m supposed to be doing them.”

I nod again, because this only enforces my theory.

“What?” he presses. “What is it?”

“I don’t think this...dimension is pulling you to it. I think you’re coming here on purpose.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Have you ever heard of the subconscious?” I ask, pretty sure he hasn’t.

“Is that like a submarine?”

“It’s part of your brain that you have no control over. It’s when you feel a certain way, but you don’t really know it. It still makes you do things, but you don’t realize why.”

“So...I’m like two people?”

“Kinda, yeah.”

“And this other part of me wants to be in this—what did you call it—dimension?”

“You say that time isn’t always going in slow motion. What are you feeling when it does go in slowmo?”

“Tired. And busy.”

I crack a smile, because now I’m almost a hundred percent sure I’m right. “You need time to sleep, so this dimension gives you that. It may not even be the same dimension as the other times. Maybe you’re going to a lot of them, but they all look pretty much the same.” I’m a bit proud of myself for understanding some of this stuff, even though I’m much not into scifi. Then again, I’m talking to a seven-year-old, so maybe my grasp of the material isn’t all that impressive.

He thinks about all this for a while. We continue to wait for the elevator to reach its destination, eventually sliding our backs against the wall and sitting down.

“Do you think I might be able to control it?” he questions me.

“I think, for now, you need to learn to stop it from happening. If you want to travel to other worlds in the future, you should wait until you’re older.”

“Why?”

“You’ve never done chores, right?”

“A few times,” he clarifies, “but not for a long time.”

I try to find the right words to explain to a child what worries me about his situation. I don’t want to make it overly complicated, or make it sound like I’m judging him. “You know how rich people have maids and butlers.”

“Yeah...?”

“Well, they don’t do anything themselves. They don’t ever fold their clothes, or clean the floors.”

“Okay...?”

“They don’t know how to do anything. I don’t know if you like school or not, but it’s important. Knowing how to do things for yourself makes you a better person. If you go your whole life slipping into another world every time something is too hard, or too boring, you won’t learn to get through it. You might never be able to make friends. Not only will you always be in this other world, but you won’t have anything in common with them, because they always had to do their chores when their parents asked them.”

“So I have to just be normal, even though I have these powers?”

“You don’t have to be normal,” I explain. “Just pretend to be.” It’s a bit harsh, but I feel like I should say it, because no one ever taught me this lesson, and I could have used it when I was his age. “Adults will tell you that you’re supposed to be special, and really you are. You’re supposed to be special, and you, Tauno Nyland, are indeed special. But when you grow up, you’ll realize that people don’t really want that from you. Special people make normal people feel bad, because. They don’t understand why adults kept telling them that they were special, but then they turned out not to be. They want you to be just like them, because then they don’t have to worry about whether they did something wrong. Do you understand?”

“I think so,” he replied unconvincingly.

I get a little bit more serious. “You can’t tell anyone about your powers, and you can’t use it again until you’re older.” Yes, calling them powers I think will help him. Kids already know they can’t use powers however they want. Comic books have done a pretty good job of showing what happens when people with powers go unchecked. “Think of it this way. You can’t learn another language until you understand your first language. Earth is your world, and you should get to know it better before you start running off to other places.”

“Okay,” he says, partly resentful about being told what to do with his powers, but partly relieved there may be a way to stop it.

We spend the next twenty, or so, minutes just talking. The topic of the dimension we’re hopefully in the middle of escaping only comes up a few more times. Mostly he tells me about the kinds of things he likes; dinosaurs, astronauts, and drawing. He says he’s not very good at art, but he likes to do it anyway. I tell him that he may be able to get better, that not everyone is just born with the talent. I say this even not knowing if it’s true. I also talk about myself; about my mentor, Detective Pender, and why I decided to become a police officer. I obviously don’t get into specifics about how it all started when a gangbanger shot Pender up with a fully automatic, and I killed the banger to stop him from finishing the job.

Finally the elevator doors open, and we exit. It’s nice to be home, sort of. I think he may be okay walking on his own, because he’s a little precocious, but he feels different. He finds comfort in holding my hand, so we walk down the steps like that, and leave this terrible house.

“That is not my son,” Tyler Bradley says as we’re coming out.

“No,” Cheryl agrees, “it’s not. Where’s Escher?”

“I thought you didn’t remember him,” I say.

“I do now!” she cries. “I don’t know how I could have forgotten him, but I remember! I remember everything!”

“Okay, okay,” I tell her.

“This is Tauno,” I say of the little boy hiding behind me from the screaming woman. “I didn’t find Escher, but I found him. Your son is not the only who’s missing. There may even be more. I can’t do this alone anymore; I’m going to need to call for backup. I go over to my car and get on the radio. “Temple Oxenfree, this is Nautical-eleven, requesting backup at four-two-five-six Purple Rose Lane. Missing child found; at least one still missing.”

“Copy that, Nautical-one-one,” came the reply. “Racecar-two-four, please respond.”

“Racecar-two-four, go ahead.”

“Please proceed to four-two-five-six Purple Rose Lane.”

“Copy that, Oxenfree.”

Cheryl comes up from behind and asks, “are you going to find my son?”

“I’m going to do everything I can,” I respond, and then turn around. “Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.”

“What is it?” she asks frantically. “What’s happened?”

“The house...it’s gone. I can’t see it anymore.” All I see is grass and bushes.

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” I answer, and I really don’t. If I can’t get back to the other dimension, I’m never going to find Escher Bradley.”

“I don’t see it anymore either,” Tauno says. “You may need it, though, but I don’t.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said I have to learn to do things for myself. And I’m the only one who can do this, so I have to go.”

“Tauno, no! Don’t! It’s too dangerous; we don’t know where he is.”

“I’ll find him,” little Tauno promised. “Wherever he is...I’ll find him.”

“Tauno, sto—!”

“Who’s Tauno?” Tyler asks?

I jiggle my head, trying to remember. I have no idea why I just said that. Who is Tauno? And what the hell am I doing here?

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Microstory 640: Indulge a Summit for Patience

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It hasn’t been long now since the Lightseers executed a plan to take control of the galactic economy, but rivals are already feeling the pressure. A new council composed of corporate executives, military officers, and other world leaders was recently formed to see if there was anything they could do about the “lightseer problem”. They deliberated for a considerable amount of time before ultimately determining their best course of action was to simply discuss matters with us directly. They could tell right off that they, even when combined, would be no match for the true leaders of Fostea. They proposed to meet for what they called a Summit For Patience. Of course, we knew right away that they were doing this in order to gain some goodwill from us, seeing as that a Summit for Patience is mentioned in the Book of Light. But that just proves that Sacred Savior, Sotiren Zahir was and is more than a mere prophet. He did not simply predict the future, but through his actions, created it. He was able to convince a group of leaders he had never met, thousands of years in the future, to do exactly what he wanted. By calling for this summit, and by even calling it what we would have, our rivals have proved that there is no stopping the taikon. Even those who do not believe in our ways cannot escape the light. Ye, blessèd is the light, and all who see it...and all who hide from it, but feel its warmth. Of course Highlightseers from all over the galaxy agreed to the summit, but only if it could take place on Narvali. Predictably, the rivals agreed to our terms, and also that it would be moderated by the unbiased thirty party of the dodulkori refugees. This was perfect for us, because the dodulkori were in debt to us for having graciously given them our paradise planet. The rivals walked away from the summit believing it to be a success, but we knew better. We would not only continue with the conquest, but ramp up our efforts. But then something happened we never thought could, even while hinted at in the Book of Light.

Microstory 639: Consumption of the Spoiled

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Centuries ago, there was one thing people worried about that we don’t these days. Food. Sure, there are plenty of people without enough food, but that’s always avoidable, and to their own mistakes. When they can get their hands on the food, though, it’s always perfect. Through study in fields like genetics, preservation, and logistics, we now know exactly how much food we’ll need, and how to handle it. The fact of the matter is that food no longer goes bad anymore. We make only as much as we need, when we need it. At the same time, the animals that provide us with half of this food always live in perfect conditions. There was a time when these animals were abused and neglected, because it was cheaper to do so, but this made the meat dangerous, and sometimes, inedible. We’ve learned since to take care of our livestock, and we’ve also cured the majority of diseases that plagued them in the past, and caused the humans that feed on them to suffer their same fates. We no longer fear food poisoning, or other food-borne pathogens. If any animal incurs any sort of medical problem, it’s quickly detected, and immediately resolved. Our ancestors would be astonished and confused by the way we live today. But it is we who are shocked and perplexed right now. Though all of us have lived our entire lives not knowing anything but the utmost health in our food, Lightseers have been preparing for the day when this dynamic would change. Hopefully temporarily, and/or on the plates of our enemies, but we knew someone would eventually experience some kind of pathogen from food. The Book of Light calls it Consumption of the Spoiled. It says of this taikon, a day will come when a vessel will find itself in unknown territory. It will encounter the most despicable of foods; the most heinous of crimes against nature. The crew of this vessel will turn in horror, but be unable to leave, for they will succumb to its damnation.

Though as poetic as any passage in the Book ever is, the writings seemed to be rather clear. Sometime after Guardian Appreciation Day, a ship will land on a planet in the midst of dealing with an epidemic that’s killing all of the livestock, and possibly those who were partaking in its meat. As it turned out, this was only half right. A ship did land on a planet, and this planet was literally new territory, since it had not been mapped before, but that was not the worst part. Researchers have estimated that our galaxy contains about three trillion of what are known as rogue planets. These celestial bodies can no longer be referred to as orbitals, for they no longer orbit any star. They were, at some point, ejected from their system, and have been darting across the firmament ever since. They are dark, cold, and lifeless. Most of them, anyway. It’s nearly impossible to know every single rogue planet, and no one has bothered trying, because they are difficult to detect. Since they generally offer so few resources—and we have all we need from other orbitals, which have the added benefit of a parent star—we just don’t worry about them. From time to time, however, travelers come across a rogue planet, and occasionally visit them...just for fun, essentially. After such promising data, this last adventure turned out to take a terrible turn. When the starship Ninkase found a new rogue planet, the crew was excited.

Though most rogues are dead, this one carried with it a subtle atmospheric shell, perhaps due to having been quite recently, cosmically speaking, released from orbit. They were about to land on one of the poles when they noticed an energy reading from under the frozen ocean’s surface. After drilling through the ice, they found the remnants of a submarine civilization. Curious, they pressed on, but soon discovered that these were more than just remnants. People were still living there. More to the point, people were still dying. After resources had run out, the inhabitants of this unnamed world turned to a different way of life. They started eating that which must never be eaten. The poor were the most numerous, the most violent, and the most hungry...so they started eating the noble rich. They did not become savages, tearing into their victims with cries of wicked joy. They placed them in cages, took detailed inventory, and rationed what they had across all survivors. They were just about out of this inventory when the crew of the Ninkase arrived, and instead of asking for help, they simply attempted to replenish their stores. Only one Ninkase crew member made it out of the fight, and flew off to tell the tale. When a paramilitary operation went down to investigate, all inhabitants of the planet were dead, along with most of the crew that had been left behind. Two had survived the battle...their brethren, though, had been torn to pieces. It was this terrible tragedy that reminds all Lightseers of the care that must be taken regarding the text of the Book of Light. Simply the ambiguity of the words consumption and spoiled were enough to make it so that no one could see this one coming.

Microstory 638: Celebration of Guardian Appreciation Day

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The successful achievement of the thirty-eighth taikon was less about fulfilling it as it was fulfilling all the ones before it. There are very few holidays in this galaxy that are observed across more than one or two star systems. Only one of these is observed in all systems. Sotiren Zahir’s extraordinary gifts manifested themselves at a very early age. He was able to see and know things that no one could explain. He was not an amber, or an anomaly. He was no witch, time traveler, or basic old world prophet. He was something different; in a class of his own. People around him rarely believed his truths, even as he proved them before their eyes. They chalked it up to coincidence, refusing to see reality, and reject their old religions. His parents were not like them, though. They supported him in everything he did, they always believed him, and they encouraged him to explore his shocking understanding of the universe. He speaks of them at length in the Book of Light, and how beneficial their reactions to his—sometimes disturbing— visions of the future. He demanded a Guardian Appreciation Day, to be celebrated annually all across the galaxy, on the day that splits the difference between his parent’s respective birthdays. Though a few worlds have attempted to ignore this tradition, they always end up falling in line the following year after their trade deals suddenly turn sour. It is one of our founder’s few commandments, so the least anyone can do is be part of it. And for the most part, even planets dominated by rival religions continue the tradition. As with any year, Guardian Appreciation Day was set to be observed during the taikon year. It cannot be moved up or down the calendar, and if all of the previously thirty-seven taikon were not reached by the time this day rolled around, the entire prophecy would be forfeit. It was positively vital that the taikon be experienced in the right order, and under this deadline, or everything Lightseers and general Fosteans alike worked for would be meaningless. Fortunately, now-Eido Wurnti Kaddow presented herself in just enough time to let this happen. Guardian Appreciation Day was observed, and all was well.

Microstory 637: Replace Eido Bertok

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As described in the earlier taikon, Eido Bertok was his own man. He didn’t play by anyone else’s rules, and he didn’t let anyone tell him what he was meant to do. The role of eido, though extremely important, was often largely a symbolic one. People followed them, and Sacred Savior, because the eidos were able to convince them to. Without these public figures, we may not be living in the greatness that is the galaxy of Fostea we have today. Still, celebrity was not all there was to being one of the leaders of the new worlds. A lot of logistical work goes into making things run smoothly, which is why leaders always deserve more pay than the proverbial worker bees. Bertok was unlike the other eidos in that he focused the majority of his time on this behind-the-scenes work. He was instrumental in the establishment of standard practices and general structure. It was he who came up with our class system, and determined the initial value of Arkeizen thralls. Though Sotiren had already instantaneously analyzed each and every planet in the galaxy, he did not provide this data for his followers. Bertok, therefore, took it upon himself to lead preliminary mapping efforts. He and his teams gave the pioneers in the exodus ship an idea of where they could live, and where they might want to go. He helped organize the construction of infrastructure on the central worlds, so that people would actually have some civilization before things even got started. He was nicknamed the Hardest-working Man in Fostea, and this designation has not since been passed on to someone else. Until now. Perhaps the second hardest worker in Fostea is the cofounder and current Chief Executive Officer of Kaddow-Anmelton Industries,  Wurnti Kaddow. Kaddow was only thirteen standard years of age when she found herself literally on the ground floor with her recent schoolteacher, Pier Anmelton. He had always considered her to be his best student, and thought she might be interested in working part time at his new startup organization. She quickly proved herself to be an unmatched asset to the company, which was renamed to reflect her contribution. Together they transformed their small business into the leading realty solutions experts for single-occupancy planets. And she hasn’t stopped working since. It was no surprise when she decided to volunteer to help capture the wandering Bellcone, and was just as invaluable in this endeavor as she has been in previous projects. Her dedication and strength earned her the right to be chosen as the replacement for Eido Bertok.

Microstory 636: Capture the Wandering Bellcone

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About thirteen years ago, a previously unseen animal appeared on a random planet called Iusel. A ship of soldiers of fortune touched down to hunt for any useful resources, of which they found little. As they were in the middle of loading the cargo hold with the few things they found, a small animal crawled up the ramp as if it belonged there. It found a spot it desired against the bulkhead, and just sat there, waiting for the humans to take off. When they reopened the doors on the Hiereune dock, the animal walked right back out, apparently having reached its destination. It has been wandering the galaxy ever since, stopping only to casually look for food, explore, or transfer vessels. It has become a bit of a staple of the Fostean galaxy, never causing any problems. A survey ship later traveled to its world of origin, and found no evidence than any other animal of its kind ever existed. They did, however, discover a secret laboratory built into the side of a canyon. Not much of the original research was there, but they did find some information. The unnamed scientist based out of there genetically engineered the creature not long before it was found. She designed it as a gift to an also unnamed individual, the identity of which does not go beyond the fact that he is an Earthan. People of Earth often assign themselves, or each other, what they call spirit animals, a practice our ancestors on the old worlds sometimes enjoyed as well. Apparently this Earthan boy was assigned a mythical animal that was a cross between a bovine called a bull, and a lagomorph called a coney. For the last decade, no one thought much of this.

The creature grew up, and became much larger, but continued to remain pleasant and innocuous, unless threatened. A few people periodically attempted to trap or lure it, for various ends, but were always unsuccessful. It never let itself be in a situation where it couldn’t hop away, or rampage through a barrier. It was only recently when a Lightseer noticed that this must be the Bellcone of the taikon, even though it wouldn’t have existed at the time the Book was written. This was unverifiable, but linguistically possible, and eventually, the idea caught on. Since that time, there have been more attempts to capture the Bellcone, though not by true Lightseers, who all know that the fulfillment of any one taikon cannot happen until the completion of its predecessor. For every one of these hunting parties, however, there is a separate party in a position to protect and assist the Bellcone, and let it travel to its next world. However, following the ascension of the resurrected Sotiren Zahir as First Judge, the capture of the Bellcone was unavoidable. Presumably sensing this danger, the Bellcone instinctively changed tactics. It happened to be on Protanr at the time, and there it remained, never getting on any ship where it could be cornered. As it turned out, it’s one of the fastest, strongest, and most durable animals recorded. It always exerted very little energy evading capture during other attempts, but now it wasn’t taking any chances with these taikon attempts. Dozens of people were injured, though none was killed, like it knew that it didn’t want to cross that line. They would have used technology to accomplish their goals, but the Book of Light specifically demands that the Bellcone be captured by hand. The physically strongest Lightseers were brought in from all corners of the galaxy, and after hours of chasing and fighting, the Bellcone was pinned down. It submitted and allowed itself to be placed in a cage. The primary driving force in this feat would go on to be even more important.