Coxx descends on the city of Two Rivers and he slows his approach. The sunlight reflects from the glass structures of the skyline and it is easy for Coxx to ignore how irrevocably everything has changed. As he flies through the skyscrapers, the city looks the same with its many buildings made of bamboo and glass, and the roadways far below that cut between them in neat lines. But when he lands on the roof of Flow Records, sits on the ledge of the building and cranes his body over his knees to observe the life below, he activates the lean that skews his vision into a disc of colors and allows him to feel the world in a way that he cannot without it. He can feel the absence of blues in the city, as though the numbers of blues that inhabit the city had been halved.
Even though Two Rivers had been designated for blues not infected with Minyak, after death visited Bludon and immolated all infected blues on the planet, many in Two Rivers left to inhabit newly emptied cities around the globe and by the time Coxx was leaning over the city, the population was nearly half of what it had been. He makes regular visits to Two Rivers, but this is the first time he has perched on the Flow Records building. He usually visits Shell Park, and then walks the streets before returning to Fumarole.
“You’ve come to mourn?” he hears Beku say behind him and he turns to see her. He stands and almost takes a step, but stops himself.
“I’m sorry,” Coxx says cautiously. “I know that this is largely a memorial now. I didn’t mean disrespect…”
“Don’t,” Beku says and sounds exhausted. “There’s no disrespect at all. This building still stands because of you and the Guardians. My only regret is allowing so many infected to hide out in the building. When they all died here it didn’t feel the same, hasn’t felt the same since. It’s like this place is full of ghosts now.”
“I’m glad that the tragedy hasn’t stopped the music,” Coxx says with a smile. “The stuff I’ve heard lately in Shell is really nice. The new location where you record must be nice.”
“It is, you are always welcome. I’m sorry that I have not seen you or even the Superguardian in a long time. Things have just been…” she trails off.
“No need for apologies. We will always be there for you and for your organization.”
“My organization,” Beku says with a chuckle, but there is no life in it.
She wanders to the edge of the building and sits on the ledge. In all the time that the two had met this way, he has never seen her even approach the edge of the building and they usually wander inside to her office. He sits next to her.
“My organization is nothing. The Ur Gang and the Ortue, and some of the others soon enough, are all consolidating. Soon there will only be one gang left. There’s just not enough of us anymore. I’m mostly out of all that stuff now. I might even run for Minister of Two Rivers.”
“You definitely should. The Ministers are finally pulling their weight. They’ve done a good job to help rebuild in the wake of everything. And I recognize the old Bludon more and more everyday. You could do real good as a minister.”
“I want to,” she said solemnly and nodded. “I’m so old now.” When she says it, Coxx notices the age on her face. She has dark spots on her skin that isn’t as firm as it had been. He hadn’t noticed before because Beku had always seemed younger than her age, timeless in a way. “You’re nearly as old as I am but you wouldn’t know from looking at you. Do Guardians age at all?”
“Our enhancements make us ageless, I guess.” Coxx tries to say it dismissively, not wanting to brag, “But I am just as old as you are, and the life of a Guardian has made me weary. All of the metal and lean in my body, who knows when my brain will burn out. There have always been burnout Guardians. The mind malfunctions or just dies and the body is a husk. They experimented with turning them into automatons, but the Guardians thought it was disrespectful and demanded the ceremonial cremation like all blues get at death. I guess they turned that work into the automatons that still guard the Ministers Hall.”
“So you all could live forever or die tomorrow?” Beku asks.
Coxx nods. “Nothing is certain for us. Except Maxx, of course, he is the Superguardian for a reason. Even if it is possible for him to burn out, it won’t happen for a long time. He will outlive Bludon probably.”
“I didn’t know that, but it doesn’t surprise me. He has always been the greatest among us. How is he?”
Coxx shrugs. “He is seldom on Bludon anymore. I think that he means to take his wrath to death itself. He’s blinded by rage and blames everything on himself.”
“Do you mean that literally or figuratively?” Beku asks.
“Unless that Owuo veve is based on a real Fonlander, it can only be figurative.”
“Owuo is very real,” Beku says seriously. “You must not follow Smiting as closely as others, but if there is a Veve, then there is a Vodun that corresponds to it in the Fonlands. Is that where Maxx is now? He can’t hope to challenge a vodun.”
Coxx laughs. “I know that the Fonlands is a real place, but the Vodun are real too? Come on, Beku, there is no Goddess who tames the waters or God of minerals. What would that even look like? And Owuo, death personified? That’s very hard to believe, even after everything.”
“I hope that Maxx thinks the same,” Beku says, shaking her head slowly. “That is one fight the Superguardian definitely can’t win.”
PRL Serials 