I awake to the sound of Jamey humming. He’s working on Canopus, bending and twisting the branches, wrapping them with a thick insulating conduit. I pace the room, cringing a bit as I watch. “Don’t you think it’s a little much? I mean, doesn’t that hurt?”
Jamey shrugs. I suppose pain was never much of a consideration for him. Waterfall style is the only way we’ll ever get it through the door, he signs.
“It won’t work,” I murmur. “You can’t wire-train a palm tree! And a willow grows so fast that it will reject the training in a few months.”
It will be fine once everyone concerned gets used to it. By the way, we found the Sangraal.
He’s trying to distract me, but I must admit, that’s a pretty outrageous distraction. “I’m having visions of a samite-covered arm emerging from the cenote, waving Excalibur. Why, exactly, is the Sangraal in the pleroma?”
Jamey shrugs again. Also, there appears to be writing on the side, but nobody, not even Malachi, can read it. He says it isn’t a natural language – it’s some sort of code.
“Who got the achievement?”
Jamey pauses, putting his pruning shears on the table. We’ve had a few complications.
Lord Danak enters, looking grim. “It’s happening again. Power fluctuations – the same type of thing as when you were away.”
“Is it serious?”
“Do you mean in terms of actual impact, potential ramifications, or PR? It varies in intensity. A few blackouts, a few accidents, other times, it’s like now, annoyances. Brownouts. But people are getting frightened. They know that the power grid is the province of God.”
I don’t feel anything, says Jamey. Although this is primarily Ailann’s concern, I can always feel the flow of energy through the trees. I’m certain I’d be aware of a disturbance.
“What if the problem was on the other end, with the receivers rather than the transmitters?” I ask.
“We haven’t been able to pinpoint it,” says Danak. “It only lasts from a few seconds to five minutes at most. But it seems to happen at critical moments – for example, a hospital loses power during a tricky surgery. A force bubble containing a carbalax reaction collapses, threatening an industrial complex. In fact, the short duration works against us – sometimes it’s too brief to trigger backup systems.”
Jamey looks like he’s about finished. “There’s a way to find out. Let’s get the Staff.”
“Do you think it’s been tampered with?” asks Danak.
“Doubtful,” I reply. “But I can use it to run a trace and repair routine on the whole system.”
We go downstairs to the display room where the Staff of the Matriarch is housed. Jamey steps forward, placing his hand on the staff without hesitation, even though his last direct encounter with it ended with him being incinerated. I don’t think it matters to him at all; he isn’t the least traumatized. It’s times like these that I’m reminded that my husband is a truly alien being. “Activate system scan. Log and repair anomalies,” I command.
“A major system update is needed,” the staff replies.
Danak looks worried, but I’m not. “Oh, I know what that’s about! Ophion is large enough to be put online now. Enable update.”
“System will restart in five, four, three, two…”
I see the sudden panic in Jamey’s face, and I know what he’s thinking: It will be like Aran all over again. “It’s fine,” I reply, just a little smugly. “Haven’t you figured it out yet?”
Jamey’s body burns away in blue flame. An instant later, Ash floats in front of us, his wings, his antennae, radiating nul-energy. I grin at him, and for a moment, he smiles back. It’s like we’re sharing a private joke. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the mothman smile before.
“Primary node Atlas uplinked,” says the staff. “Secondary node Goliath uplinked. Tertiary node Yggdrasil uplinked. Quaternary node Ashvattha uplinked. Quinary node Canopus uplinked. New hardware detected. Configuring senary node Ophion. System is online – 418,300 relay hubs, 2,968 receptors responding.”
Ash folds his arms and settles into the form of Templeton. A moment later, I hear:
“His Most Sublime and Eminent Radiance Templeton of Seachange, Archon of Circinus and the Borderlands. 62nd to emanate, 86 in the color scale, resonates to 443. 1.809 meters tall, cock size 17.78 cm when erect, apparent age 40. Archon of Ophion. Totem is Agathis australis, the kauri, fixed star is Spica, the ear of wheat. Esoteric symbol is the Minchiate trump La Vergine, Virgo. Dessert is nau’gsh quartet (dried nau’gsh, hearts of nau’gsh, honey-roasted nau’gsh, deep fried nau’gsh in panko) with a selection of artisanal cheeses. Function is adjusting inspiration, proto-conscious tendency is precision, designated Sharp. Blazon is argent, on three bendlets enhanced birch, a bhotweed garb, proper.”
“Ha! I knew it!” I shout triumphantly. “It was so clearly a set up. You had all the right qualities to be Archon, and I don’t even think Cillian could intimidate you. So why weren’t you getting the achievement? It had to be a test or trial to make you worthy of the role.”
“A new archon!” Danak exclaims. “But your Holiness, you don’t look well.”
“I’m fine, Lord Danak,” says Templeton. “I’ve just had a rather stressful day.”