The Alchemist Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The goldbug’s demise was the softness of its primary material. It was easy for our primitive chainsaw to rip through its carapace. If the goldmancers had used a more rigid material, we wouldn’t have been able to slice it in half.

Golden gears flew, scattering across the arena sand.

“And the winners are the Royal Society!” said the announcer.

On to the semifinals. Our next match was that afternoon.

Moray gave me a thumbs-up. “Your idea worked,” he said. “A good proof of concept is always a big event.”

“Do we have time to keep working on the golem?” I asked.

“No,” said Moray. “Once you’re in the semifinals, you aren’t allowed to modify your golem.”

“We have a workable strategy right now,” said Jones. “We don’t particularly need any major upgrades.”

There was a moment of silence. “Well, I’ve seen all I needed to,” said Claude, stepping away from where she had been leaning against the wall. “I’ll catch you guys in the finals.” She left the dugout.

“You’ve got some nice connections,” said Moray. He turned to the golem, which had just been retrieved from the field, knocking it on the head with his palm. “I have high hopes.” He smiled at me. “I’ll treat you guys to dinner tonight,” he said.

“Let’s go to Lotto’s!” said Canary. He got up and dusted off his pants.

“You got it,” said Moray, turning to me. “Have you ever been to Lotto’s before?”

“I just came to this town two weeks ago,” I said. “I haven’t had any time to visit places.”

“We’ll take you around town, then,” said Moray. “There are a lot of interesting things to see.” He paused. “And I’d like to hear more about your world while we’re at it.” Moray patted the golem one last time.

Jones and Canary piloted the golem into a small shed designed for that purpose and locked it up. When they were finished they joined Moray and I at the entrance to the arena.

We walked down a couple of streets and came to a run-down building with a cracked façade. A simple apple was painted above the door.

“You’re going to love this place,” said Moray. “They have the best shripe this side of the Aegean.”

Shripe, eh? I thought. This world’s cuisine fascinates me.

We entered the restaurant and sat down at a table. A waitress came and took our orders. There was no menu—but that didn’t seem to be a problem for the scientists.

“I’ll have the shripe,” I said, when it was my turn.

The waitress left.

“Tell me more about your world,” said Moray. “I know you’ve said that it’s almost magic.” He paused, scratching his chin. “Tell me about these “computer” things.”

“A computer uses something called a transistor to store information as a series of ones and zeros,” I said.

Moray rubbed his temples. “Ah, back up. What’s this transistor and how does it work?”

I explained transistors, and then the food came. The “shripe” I was promised was like a hybrid between octopus and shrimp, with a crayfish bent. The tentacles were covered in armored shell, and the meal came with little tools to extract it. As I ate, I further explained Babbage, video games, and CAD programs. Every time I mentioned something new, Moray showed more interest.

When we were finished, Moray leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “Your world is a marvel,” he said. “I assume, in this world, that you were a very important person?”

“Actually,” I said, “I was not important at all. I was still a student when I was … Reincarnated here.”

“And yet you know all this information?” said Moray. “Only nobles get educated like you do!”

“Education is universal and free, for the most part,” I said. “Most people in my world would know what I do.”

Moray sighed. “All right. Well, since we have some time, let’s take a tour of the city. We can talk about this as we walk.”

We came to a large square with a fountain in the middle. The houses surrounding it were large and luxurious. Well-dressed people went back and forth, between ornate carriages.

“This is the Fountain of Vitality,” said Moray. “It provides an infinite clean source of water, and was where the founder of Brownfield laid his first brick.”

“It’s magic?” I said.

“Yes,” said Moray, “Though we don’t know how it works. The neighborhood around it has never suffered a cholera outbreak.”

“It’s probably what’s called an “artisanal well,”” I said. “Clean water filters through porous rock that removes all impurities.”

Time to break the Broad Street Pump, I thought.

“Is there currently a cholera outbreak in this city?” I said.

“Thankfully, no,” said Moray. “Why? Do you have another idea?”

“I do,” I said. “Cholera is transmitted via dirty water, contaminated with the feces of an infected person. While this won’t fix the sewage problem, I suggest that, during an outbreak, all drinking water be boiled for at least five minutes.”

“I don’t know how that’s supposed to work,” said Moray, “But I trust your ideas. I’ll forward that to the ministry of health as soon as possible.” He paused. “I know you understand the theory of what you just said. Explain.”

I spent five minutes explaining the germ theory of disease.

“So you’re saying,” said Moray, “That there are millions of tiny little animals that produce toxins when they enter our bodies?”

“They’re not animals,” I said. “They’re a completely different form of life. Individual cells. The replicate rapidly, but can be killed by the heat of boiled water.”

Moray looked off into the distance. “If only …” he said.

“What’s wrong?” I said.

Moray shook his head. “It’s nothing. Let’s continue the tour of the town.”

We came to the cathedral next. Its towering steeple dwarfed all the buildings around it. Stained glass windows added a touch of lavishness. At its top was the bell tower that marked time for the whole city.

“Can I go in?” I asked.

“Have you been confirmed?” asked Moray.

“Um, no,” I said. “I don’t even know what kind of religion you guys practice in this world.”

Moray frowned. “We’re going to have to change that. You can’t live in this city unless you are paired with a god.” He walked towards the door. “Follow me. This won’t take long.”

“Do I have to?” I asked.

“Unless you want to get expatriated or, at worst, burnt at the stake, you must be paired,” said Moray.

Well, that sucked. As a Christian in my previous life, I had several qualms about this. Maybe I would get lucky and be paired with the God from my world?

Yeah, fat chance, I thought.

Even though I didn’t want to change my convictions, I was actually pretty scared as to what people would do to me when they learned of my beliefs.

I was in a medieval-style world, after all. Burning at the stake was the least painful of the deaths that could await me if I tried to go public with my beliefs.

I just had to hope that this all worked out.

We entered the cathedral. Five statues were arrayed in the five corners of the pentagonal hall. A priest was praying at the altar in the room’s center.

Moray approached him. “Fey Grimes,” he said. “I have a strange question to ask.”

Fey Grimes stood up and brushed off his robe. “Child?” he said. “Have you come to confess?”

“No,” said Moray. “I’m here to request a confirmation ceremony. My friend here has recently moved to this city from the heartlands and was never confirmed as a citizen.”

Fey Grimes tutted with his tongue. “We can’t have that, now can we?” he said. He began to walk in circles around me. “What do you know of our religion?”

“Uh …” I said.

Help? I thought. Whoever had sent me here had to be a god of some sort. That much was certain. So I could just call on him to help me.

Help!

A bright light descended upon the priest’s staff. He looked at it incredulously.

“Hm, hm,” he said. “This is rare. You have activated the spell sigil with your mere presence. That means that one of the pentatey has already chosen you as their vessel.” He put his staff down. “I will begin the confirmation process immediately.” He turned around. “Only one may follow.”

I followed the priest into a back room that had a tub filled with coal.

The priest picked up the coal. “Do you know of the significance of coal to us?” he said. “Coal represents the five elements combined into one. Earth, it is made of. Wind, it eats. Fire, it creates. Water, it heats. And darkness, it is.” He picked up a piece of coal, placing it gently in my palm. “Blow,” he said.

I blew at the coal and suddenly my mind went blank. I appeared in the same chamber where I had gone after dying in my previous world. The same figure who had given me my alchemy power was sitting on a throne.

“Ah, you have finally been confirmed,” said the figure. He leaned towards me.

“Um,” I said, still disoriented by the quick transition. “Uh …”

“I am your patron deity,” said the figure. “Meliapolis, the god of darkness.”

“Okay?” I said. “What does that mean?”

“It means what you want it to,” he said. “Darkness can be interpreted in any number of ways. Bad, good, big, small, strong, weak. I am the god of all, and yet the god of nothing.” He paused. “I feel that your previous world has left a mark on you regarding gods.” His lip curled up. “Or, should I say, god. God, parentheses, plural? Your realm has a strange fellow running it.” He curled his fingers around the arms of his throne. “However, you are in our realm now. Believe what you will on the inside, but do know that we will not tolerate religious cross-contamination. If you do wish to push this rule, know that you will cause more sadness and suffering than any other decision you can make yourself.”

I nodded. “Okay,” I said. “Can I speak to the god of my world?”

“He doesn’t ‘speak’ in the purest sense of the world,” said Meliapolis. “He takes many forms. He is like a diamond, which shines differently from any perspective, and yet is the same object at all times. A very strange deity indeed.” He shrugged. “If you wanted to talk to him, you could have while you were in that world. Now that you’re here, you can’t go back. A chasm separates our world from yours.”

And then I flickered back to reality.

A puff of coal dust spread out from where I had blown, seemingly half a second after I had been sucked into the vision.

Fey Grimes looked at me with a mixture of fear and awe.

“The darkness,” he said. “It is you.”

“Um, all I saw was coal dust,” I said.

Fey Grimes knelt. “It has been long since an avatar of darkness has been born. This signifies the beginning of a new age.”

Uh, what? I thought.

I didn’t know what was happening. All I knew was that it would be a wild ride.