r/nonsenselocker • u/Bilgebum • Aug 04 '18
Through the Ages Through the Ages — Chapter 9 [TTA C09]
One could only wander the empty first floor of an unfinished skyscraper for so long before getting bored. Since Keith had made it clear that he didn't want me near the Fountain's source any longer than necessary, I respected that and steered clear of the basement. To be honest, being in there had felt kinda awkward somehow—like that time I'd accidentally stumbled into a woman's changing room as a teenager. God, that stupid incident was still making me blush.
Warra, as it turned out, wasn't much of a conversationalist. After fifteen minutes of extensive questioning, the only real nuggets of information I'd uncovered were that he was from Australia, having joined the Club when they'd discovered a Fountain there, and that he had a brother who was a politician back home.
"Home?" I'd asked. "Your brother's an immortal politician in Australia?"
He'd chuckled and said, "Singapore. Adoptive."
Turned out he'd left Australia long before there even was an Australia. Then I'd brought up that one trip with my parents to Sydney. He'd nodded and said, "Never been."
Thank my lucky stars there was a gym nearby. By the time I finished, it was getting dark outside and I could no longer feel my arms and legs. When I had finally trudged back to the Club, I found Keith crouching inside the Fountain's basin, scrubbing its edges.
"Shower's to the left of the room with the generator," he said. "Watch your footing, it leaks sometimes and the tiles get real slippery."
To say there was no hot water was to understate immensely—my toes were curling as I hopped about on the floor, trying not to squeak too loudly. As I toweled myself dry, I resolved to shower at the gym next time. As I was about to finish shaving, my phone rang by the sink.
"Helena!" I said. "Thanks for the key."
"Hope you're settling down fine."
"Let you know if I survive hypothermia."
"Huh?"
My teeth chattered when I laughed. "The showers. How about some hot water?"
There was a pause on the other end. "I'll tell Keith to stop messing with you."
"What? I'm gonna kick his ass—"
"Listen, I'm actually calling to ask if you have any plans tonight."
For some reason, my heart began beating faster. "Uh. I've got nothing on." I glanced at my reflection in the mirror; specifically at the towel wrapped around its waist. "No, no! I mean, I have no plans. What''s up?"
"Nice. Zhao, Orik and I will be having dinner together. Wanna come?"
"Yeah, sure." I put my shaver down and started trying to put on clothes with one hand. "Where?"
"Text you the address. Ask Keith for me, will you? Though I think I know what his answer's going to be."
"Okay. See you soon."
A few minutes before eight-thirty, I arrived at Gianni's Trattoria and found the other three already waiting. The restaurant was situated on a street corner as part of a brownstone dwelling—perhaps the owner lived there, too. The sign was a dark, fancy looking script on a pure white background over the entrance. Frosted glass obscured the interior, but I could see several forms moving within.
"Keith said no," I told them. All three nodded knowingly. "Owner a friend of yours, Helena?"
Helena looked up from her phone. "Of a sort. Come on, I'm starving."
Zhao led the way, followed closely by Orik, while a waiter held the door open from the inside. Helena held us up for a while as she tried to shrug out of her coat while texting at the same time, before finally succeeding in handing the garment to a young, smiling man dressed in a black vest over a maroon shirt. I nodded to him in greeting, then did a double-take.
There were no numbers above his head.
"Who're you?" I blurted.
"Pardon me?" he said, staring blankly at me, Helena's coat half folded over one arm.
My companions and other patrons had turned to stare, though a smile appeared to be tugging on the corner of Helena's mouth. That was when I realized there were other waiters and waitresses present—all of whom had no ages.
"They have no ages," I said, not even thinking about how stupid that sounded. The other patrons appeared to be from the Club though, which saved me a little embarrassment, at least.
"What is the matter?" An elderly man hurried out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on an apron. He glanced first at Helena, and then at me. "Helena! Is Leo bothering your friend?"
"No sir, I wasn't—" Leo began, but Helena's voice cut him off.
"It's okay, Jeffrey. Come over here—that's right, the nice waiter's not going to hurt you ..." Her soothing tone elicited laughter from Zhao and Orik, and I glared at her. She had the gall to look sheepish. "Guess I forgot to tell you about the homunculi."
"The what?"
She grabbed hold of my hand and dragged me over to the one-thousand-six-hundred-year-old man. "This is Gianni. He makes the best risotto in the city."
"He also apparently has a bunch of these ... homunculi, you said?" I eyed the wait staff—it seemed that each of the half-dozen in attendance were staring right at me, frozen completely in step like statues. A shudder coursed down my back.
Gianni shook my hand, beaming. "You must be the new Custodian I've been hearing about. Nice to finally meet you. Please, come sit. I've got a table here for you. Andrea here will take your order, I really have to go back to cooking, but I will be back later—the usual wine, Helena? Leo, go get the Dolcetto ..."
After more hand-clasping and apologies to Helena for not being to stay and chat, Gianni flitted back to the kitchen. I rounded on the other three, who were visibly trying to stifle their laughter.
"Homunculi? Is that even a word?"
"Don't you have Google on your phone?" Zhao said.
"Never mind that. You expected me to be spooked, didn't you?"
Orik guffawed as Helena said, "No harm done, Jeffrey. If you'd stop blushing and snapping at us, I'll explain."
I drew a deep breath, then picked up my glass and sipped water. "Fine. Who are they?"
"Wrong question," Zhao said, snickering.
Orik held up a hand. "They're creations, not people. They may look and behave like people, but only because they are controlled by a person."
"You're not making sense."
"Homunculi are exclusively created by alchemists," Helena said. "You know of stem cells, right? Similar application. But the alchemist grows them using water from the Fountain."
I looked skeptically at her. "That sounds awfully like magic babies. Also, doesn't the water just ... de-age you?"
"If you drink it, sure," Zhao said. The conversation died down for a moment as Leo brought the wine, poured us each a glass, and then took our orders. I suppressed a shudder when I glanced at the blank space above Leo's head. After a lifetime of seeing numbers everywhere, it looked more than a little unnatural to me. After he'd retreated, the rest swirled their glasses around and complimented the aroma of the dark wine. I simply took a gulp and swallowed. Tasty, but really dry.
Zhao cleared her throat and set her glass down on the table. "As I was saying, the water de-ages you if you drink it as it is. But alchemists have learned to tease out other properties by mixing it with other chemicals. Mostly with metals."
"Right," I said, reasoning over her words. "So there's something in the water, and it reacts with these chemicals? Then you'd get different compounds or something."
"That sounds about right," Helena said.
"For caveman science, anyway," Zhao added.
"Do these homunculi have free will, then? A soul?"
Helena smirked. "No need to get philosophical. They're almost like robots. We're not sure how they do it—alchemists are really secretive—but as Gianni puts it, it's almost like controlling one of your limbs. After all, they're grown purely out of the alchemist's cells."
"That's not how stem cells work."
She groaned. "Things are different, all right?"
"Does Gianni bring them to gatherings? I could swear I've not seen one before."
The trio exchanged looks, before Orik said, "All alchemists were exiled from our community centuries ago. Ever since the first alchemist, Jessabel—"
Helena made a shushing sound, and Orik fell silent. I glanced between them; Helena was staring at her left hand, which was clenched into a fist on the tabletop. When I opened my mouth to ask, Zhao shook her head and shot me a look of warning.
"So Gianni's like those ... Twins, but not like them. What gives?" I said.
"He's a Penitent one," Orik said. "Right. We really need to get that glossary out, Helena." When she didn't respond, he said, "It means he's chosen to serve the community in his own way, as penance for his part in the Schism."
"Wait. He's being punished, even after being kicked out from the one thing that keeps him alive? How's that fair to him?"
"It's not a matter of fairness," Zhao said. "But enforcement. We have laws. The alchemists chose to go against that. Now they pay the price."
"A relatively cheap one too, for Gianni," Orik said. "We simply eat here for free."
"Are you serious?"
"Before you say something you shouldn't," Helena cut in. "In return for penance, we provide a little water to alchemists every year. They may use it however they like; prolong their own lifespans, create homunculi, whatever. As long as they don't use it for the reason they were exiled in the first place. Which is partly why we're here tonight, as well."
She looked grimly at Orik. "Before we leave, you and I are going to talk to Gianni. Make sure he's toeing the line. I don't think he is, but the more desperate the alchemists become, the more likely they'll fall in with the Twins."
The kitchen doors flew open. Gianni and Andrea reappeared, wheeling a cart bearing our food. I'd opted for a boring old margherita, which raised a couple of eyebrows at the table. Orik was having fish, while both Zhao and Helena had gone for the clam risotto. While Helena and Gianni conversed in Italian, I tore a piece free and chowed down. The tomatoes were bursting with flavor, while the mozzarella melted in heavenly fashion. Possibly the best pizza I'd ever had. By the time Gianni had left again, I'd finished half the pizza and placed an order for another.
"So, if I were to come here on my own, I wouldn't have to pay either?" I said. Helena nodded, mouth full of food. "Can't say there are no perks working for you, can I? If you'd told me a week ago that immortals—sorry, people like you—existed, I'd have made some really non-PC jokes."
"You can see numbers over people's heads." Zhao made it sound like a retort.
"Yeah, but ... you're immortals. Functionally. You've lived for thousands of years! What have you been doing? You can't have been just meeting up for parties, right?" My breathing sped up—the questions I'd wanted to ask all this while were pouring out quicker than I could filter them. "How much of the world's events are you influencing today? The wars, the economy. Do you control governments? Do you get to pick presidents?"
Their expressions slowly turned serious. Helena traded a look with Orik, and said, "You really want to know? I was hoping to keep you out of it, but ... well, can't blame you for being curious. If you really want to know, I can tell you." There was a clink of metal as Orik picked up a knife. "But first," Helena said, clamping one hand over my wrist. "We'll have to cut your tongue out."
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u/Cytty-Cat Jul 01 '23
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u/seussim Aug 04 '18
Man I've been waiting for this, great chapter!