Captains quarters. Pretty plush. Get moving. Weve got things to do. He walks to the door and heads for the deck.
Nice pjs, kid.
He takes me to a church.
Churches crack me up. Theyre like money, a conspiracy of faith. Like everyone agreed to believe that not only is there a God, but he comes down and checks on folks, so long as they hang in certain places, put up altars, burn lots of candles and incense, and perform sit-stand-kneel and other wacky rituals thatd make a coven of witches look not OCD. Then to further complicate it, some folks perform rituals, subset A, and other folks perform rituals, subset B, C, or D, and so on into an infinity of denominations, and call themselves different things then deny everyone elses right to heaven if theyre not performing the same rituals. Dude. Weird. I figure if there is a God, he or she isnt paying attention to what we build or if we follow some elaborate rules, but copping a ride on our shoulders, watching what we do every day. Seeing if we took this great big adventure called life and did anything interesting with it. I figure the folks that are the most interesting get to go to heaven. I mean, if I was God, thats who Id want there with me. I also figure being eternally happy would be eternally boring so I try not to be too interesting, even though its hard for me. Id rather be a superhero in hell, kicking all kinds of demon ass, than an angel in heaven, wafting around with a beatific smile on my face, playing a pansy harp all day. Dude, give me drums and big cymbals! I like the crash and bang.
So, Ryodan takes me to a church and I stand outside looking in, stymied.
I mentally review the places Ive seen so far that got iced: Chesters subclub, a warehouse on the outskirts of town, two small underground pubs, a fitness center, the rural Laundromat-family, and now a small congregation in a church.
I linger at the tall, double-door entrance, absorbing details because Im in no hurry to rush in. The cold emanating from the interior is brutal, worse than any scene yet. My breath burns all the way down into my lungs, even with a good fifty yards between me and the front of the church where the folks are gathered at the altar in a frosty nativity scene. There are eight men, three women, a priest, a dog standing there, and an old man sitting at the organ. I hear more men than women survived Halloween, and in a lot of rural places women have become a wicked hot commodity with men tripping all over themselves to score one. The pipes of the organ behind the altar are covered with icicles, and the ceiling drips enormous stalactites. Theres a frozen fog hanging around the entire interior. The priest is standing behind the altar, facing the others, his arms raised, like he was in the middle of a sermon.
Its colder than any of the rest, which suggests it happened more recently, ambient temperature and all factored in, I say, and when I talk, my breath crystallizes in little clouds that hang in the air. I jerk with a suddenuncontrollable shiver. Feck, its cold!
Too cold for you.
I look at him. There was nearly a question mark at the end of that one. Dude, you worried about me? Im indestructible. When did you find out about this one?
Fade found it about forty minutes ago. Hed passed the church ten minutes earlier, and it wasnt iced. On his way back it was.
So it is the freshest one weve seen so far. I notice hes not pressing into the church in slow-mo like he has at prior scenes. Guess its a little cold even for him.
I breathe in and out, fast and hard, bellowing my lungs, priming my adrenaline pump. Lets do it.
I mentally pick myself up, shift gears and freeze-frame in.
Theres cold and then theres something worse. This cold knifes into me and twists, catching gristle and bone. It slices down through muscle and tendon, razoring my nerves. But this scene is the freshest of them all, and if theres anyplace Im going to find clues, its here, before the temperature starts to rise and things change. If things do. I just dont know enough.
I circle the small gathering, shivering. Ive stuttered with cold at other scenes but never shivered while freeze-framing. I think shivering is cool because its the bodys way of freeze-framing on a molecular level. Your cells sense the temperature is too cold for you, and your brain makes you vibrate minutely all over to generate heat. So Im, like, freeze-framing twice right now, on a cellular level and on my feet. The body is a brilliant thing.
I look at their faces first.
Theyre frozen with their mouths open, faces contorted, screaming, same as the outdoor Laundromat-people. These folks saw it coming, too. All except for the priest whos looking startled at the folks standing there, which tells me whatever it was, it came from behind the priest and it came fast because his head isnt even turning. He must have been reacting to the looks on their faces. It must have appeared and iced simultaneously, or hed have had time to begin to look behind him.
I feel a little better about whatevers happening because twice now people saw it coming. That means I have a chance of getting out of its way if it comes in my direction.
Save your. Observations and breath, Ryodan says at my ear. Gather. Info and. Get out.
I look at him because of how he just spoke. Soon as I do I understand why he kept stopping and starting. His face is iced solid. It cracks when he adds, Hurry the. Fuck. Up.
My face isnt iced. Why is his? I reach out without thinking, like Im going to touch him or something, and he knocks my hand away. Dont. Fucking touch. Anything. Not. Even me. Ice shatters and re-forms on his face four times before he completes the sentence.
Nice pjs, kid.
He takes me to a church.
Churches crack me up. Theyre like money, a conspiracy of faith. Like everyone agreed to believe that not only is there a God, but he comes down and checks on folks, so long as they hang in certain places, put up altars, burn lots of candles and incense, and perform sit-stand-kneel and other wacky rituals thatd make a coven of witches look not OCD. Then to further complicate it, some folks perform rituals, subset A, and other folks perform rituals, subset B, C, or D, and so on into an infinity of denominations, and call themselves different things then deny everyone elses right to heaven if theyre not performing the same rituals. Dude. Weird. I figure if there is a God, he or she isnt paying attention to what we build or if we follow some elaborate rules, but copping a ride on our shoulders, watching what we do every day. Seeing if we took this great big adventure called life and did anything interesting with it. I figure the folks that are the most interesting get to go to heaven. I mean, if I was God, thats who Id want there with me. I also figure being eternally happy would be eternally boring so I try not to be too interesting, even though its hard for me. Id rather be a superhero in hell, kicking all kinds of demon ass, than an angel in heaven, wafting around with a beatific smile on my face, playing a pansy harp all day. Dude, give me drums and big cymbals! I like the crash and bang.
So, Ryodan takes me to a church and I stand outside looking in, stymied.
I mentally review the places Ive seen so far that got iced: Chesters subclub, a warehouse on the outskirts of town, two small underground pubs, a fitness center, the rural Laundromat-family, and now a small congregation in a church.
I linger at the tall, double-door entrance, absorbing details because Im in no hurry to rush in. The cold emanating from the interior is brutal, worse than any scene yet. My breath burns all the way down into my lungs, even with a good fifty yards between me and the front of the church where the folks are gathered at the altar in a frosty nativity scene. There are eight men, three women, a priest, a dog standing there, and an old man sitting at the organ. I hear more men than women survived Halloween, and in a lot of rural places women have become a wicked hot commodity with men tripping all over themselves to score one. The pipes of the organ behind the altar are covered with icicles, and the ceiling drips enormous stalactites. Theres a frozen fog hanging around the entire interior. The priest is standing behind the altar, facing the others, his arms raised, like he was in the middle of a sermon.
Its colder than any of the rest, which suggests it happened more recently, ambient temperature and all factored in, I say, and when I talk, my breath crystallizes in little clouds that hang in the air. I jerk with a suddenuncontrollable shiver. Feck, its cold!
Too cold for you.
I look at him. There was nearly a question mark at the end of that one. Dude, you worried about me? Im indestructible. When did you find out about this one?
Fade found it about forty minutes ago. Hed passed the church ten minutes earlier, and it wasnt iced. On his way back it was.
So it is the freshest one weve seen so far. I notice hes not pressing into the church in slow-mo like he has at prior scenes. Guess its a little cold even for him.
I breathe in and out, fast and hard, bellowing my lungs, priming my adrenaline pump. Lets do it.
I mentally pick myself up, shift gears and freeze-frame in.
Theres cold and then theres something worse. This cold knifes into me and twists, catching gristle and bone. It slices down through muscle and tendon, razoring my nerves. But this scene is the freshest of them all, and if theres anyplace Im going to find clues, its here, before the temperature starts to rise and things change. If things do. I just dont know enough.
I circle the small gathering, shivering. Ive stuttered with cold at other scenes but never shivered while freeze-framing. I think shivering is cool because its the bodys way of freeze-framing on a molecular level. Your cells sense the temperature is too cold for you, and your brain makes you vibrate minutely all over to generate heat. So Im, like, freeze-framing twice right now, on a cellular level and on my feet. The body is a brilliant thing.
I look at their faces first.
Theyre frozen with their mouths open, faces contorted, screaming, same as the outdoor Laundromat-people. These folks saw it coming, too. All except for the priest whos looking startled at the folks standing there, which tells me whatever it was, it came from behind the priest and it came fast because his head isnt even turning. He must have been reacting to the looks on their faces. It must have appeared and iced simultaneously, or hed have had time to begin to look behind him.
I feel a little better about whatevers happening because twice now people saw it coming. That means I have a chance of getting out of its way if it comes in my direction.
Save your. Observations and breath, Ryodan says at my ear. Gather. Info and. Get out.
I look at him because of how he just spoke. Soon as I do I understand why he kept stopping and starting. His face is iced solid. It cracks when he adds, Hurry the. Fuck. Up.
My face isnt iced. Why is his? I reach out without thinking, like Im going to touch him or something, and he knocks my hand away. Dont. Fucking touch. Anything. Not. Even me. Ice shatters and re-forms on his face four times before he completes the sentence.
