80 - You Looked Like I Could Talk to You

“Your mother is the Head of your council.” The doors were open enough that he could see the kid’s face… unveiled, it was easy to read.  He looked caught-out.

“Well, yes.  It was one reason I came to speak to you.  You’re the Siwion, right?  You’re wearing all that silver.  You looked like I could talk to you.”

“I… see.”

The seed eaters burst out, barely restrained by their riders pulling their heads down almost to their chests, the cavern suddenly full of warbirds hissing and honking and stamping, but standing still because their hoods were still closed.

The dust kicked up filled the enclosure for a moment, making the Nadumon double over, coughing.  Kyrus pulled a filter veil out of his sleeve and tossed it over Archie’s head. “Oh, thank you…  You, Lainz and your filters.  My mum thinks we’re too lax outside cleanroom facilities but—“

So, Archie,” Kyrus interrupted.  “Why did you want to talk to me?”

The boy looked uncomfortable.  “Well, at first I just wanted to talk.  Now I’m hoping that you might be able to explain the phenomena we just… um… fled from.”

“To be honest, I don’t know.  I’m assuming that Prime tried to kill us.  Why don’t we ask my dads?  I think that’s them over there,” Kyrus waved at the one side of the cavern.  “With your mum.”

Before they could push their way through the still tightly jammed warbirds, the Amir’s called ‘move out’, at a sign from His Radiance.  “Oh, here, come back up on my bird…” Kyrus leaped into his saddle even as Werfas did and held out his hand to Archie.  “This time please make sure your fluffy doesn’t bite.”

“Oh.  Oh, sorry.  Yes, sure, certainly.”

**

Even hidden in the swarm of the Great Hive, with Tizrav hunting out the tiniest holes in Prime’s code, it was hard going.  It took hours just to establish a code foothold that didn’t get instantly crushed, burned or sanded off the outside of Prime’s space.

Hara had to come out of code and eat, and sleep, but she sent a note to Shashi explaining she was not feeling well so would not be out of her loggia for a day or two.  Her sleep was odd and when she woke, she found that her dreams had somehow opened a door into Xanadu.  It was an odd garden park of some kind with brightly coloured green and blue… well it seemed that they were rides.  Warbirds covered with ribbons and earthan roses trotting bare headed and open beaked around a circle track with children shrieking on their backs… then she realized they were carved in place under the tent.

Doors painted to look like silent story-dancers so that people could enter a building by walking into someone’s mouth. 

Tizrav bounced on top of a gigantic grey animal that looked like a friendlier version of Prime’s dragons with a tentacle on its face and teeth that were as long as her arms.  “See!  See!  You dream... You dreamer than pachyderm!” The pachyderm was dressed in mirrors and the ears that flapped like sails twinkled in the sun.  “You come in dreaming… wake up here, wake up!  Prime sees dreams and goes away.”

Hara blinked at the idea.  Dreams were the way into Prime’s code?  So she had to find Terence and dream her way into his.  Probably while he was asleep so he wouldn’t get crushed by Prime either.

There was a ladder on either side of the pachyderm, flapping, and she scampered up to settle on the seat right behind Tizzy.  “All right, Tizrav, let’s find the not-machine boy.”