143 - Goodnight, Mahid

I skip and sing and laugh. I have the Prophet on my shoulder and if I fall he’ll probably bust his head open on the Tunnel floor and I’ll laugh and laugh. I would have cut all their throats but didn’t have time.

Best thing. Make the Prophet go away. I think he’s still breathing. I punched him in the head hard enough that he fell down. It’s a skill.

I scare the okas stone worker. The Temple in my head is watching me. I don’t scare Them. I’m giving Them connection to the Zak boy.  It’s how They’re reaching so far outside the City. They’re dumb. They say I shouldn’t just kill people and paint things on the stones with their blood, even though I want to.

I put the Prophet guy down on the stones and there are the blind people all around me. I can smell the stuff they use to knock people out.  “You don’t need to make me unconscious, Kadussas.” I say.  “I’m supposed to be polite and not pull people’s heads off and drink what comes out.”

“That’s nice.” One of them says, but they don’t put their stuff away.  I think that’s rude but the Temple says it’s all right, they’re just scared of me. I wouldn’t pull their heads off, poke their eyes out.

There are eyes everywhere. I’d poke them out but that would just hurt my fingers.  I did kill some of the Fehinnans. Two. Well, maybe three.  I broke their necks, pop pop pop just like that. Grabbed the Prophet guy and made him sleep.

I tell the Kadussas this and they shift their feet.  “Things will be very different when the sighted get their lights working again.”

“There’s sparkly lights in here, all around,” I say.  “Ghosts.” I laugh and laugh.  “They’re floating around trying to breathe.”

“We’ll have to have a priest to pray them on,” a Kadussas woman says.  “Why don’t you sit down and have a breath of pure air?”

“That would be nice.  Will I blow up like a round ball and float away?”

“No, just put it in your mouth and breathe a breath or two.”

“All right.”  I do and my giggles go away then come back. “Hey, how are the Zak boy and girl?”

“They’ll be all right. We’re making sure they’re all right.  They both need pure air to clear out the mess the Fehinnans were putting in the air.”

“Can we spray pure air into the plaza and clear out everyone?”

“Alas, we don’t have enough pure air to do that. And too much would hurt people too.”

“Am I far enough into the sparkly dark that I can go sleep now?”

“Yes.  Sit down right here.”

“I have control of the body,” another of my voices says.  The stone worker. Borfilas Fimas. He’s closest to what other people call sane.   

“But I think we all need to rest.  Smiley Matt strained a lot of our muscles.”

“We are glad to host you, Matthas Mahid.”

“Really?  Not many people are.”  I fall over sideways, slowly.  I’m out of shape.  I haven’t been doing the exercises for what Smiley Matt had me do.  I haven’t been hauling stone every day, either.  I’m tired. Goodnight, Kadussas.

Did I say that out loud?

“Goodnight, Mahid.”