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THE DOOR CLOSED BEHIND Nev and Tali let out a huge breath of air. She hoped he was better folk under better circumstances. First impressions had not been great. Although she couldn’t imagine many aspects of this whole situation that could be much worse. She longed for a chance to talk to the Vat, or OneLove, or Myrch, or whatever he/she/they called themselves and get a proper idea of what or who it was. They were at the feet of something new and profound here, she could feel it, and here she was, complicit in torturing and interrogating the poor bastard at her feet. A huge bubble rose up from her stomach. She gently let out a long slow acidic belch.
“Charming,” Rowle said. “How long do I need to wait round listening to your gaseous exhalations before this works? I have a war to win.”
“Soon,” Tali said.
As if in answer, she heard the quiet rasp of the Duchy elder’s mouth moving: one lip brushing against the other, like two dry river reeds blown by a breeze. She reached for the water cup down by her feet. There was only one swallow left in it. She lifted it to the prisoner’s mouth and used her finger to apply it to both lips like ointment.
“P-,” he said.
“It’s okay, take your time,” Tali said.
“Pppp-pah.”
Hands shot forward and grabbed the cup from Tali. She released the cup to the Grey-Duchy Elder, who spilled some and swallowed the rest.
“Th-thank you,” he said to Tali.
“Can you talk now?” Rowle cut in.
“Yes,” he said, more gracefully than Tali thought Rowle deserved.
“Good,” Rowle said. “What is your name?”
That wasn’t out of politeness, Tali thought.
“Exha-bi,” he said.
“Is that a name,” Rowle said, “or one of your insufferable Grey-Duchy titles?”
“It is both,” Exha-bi said.
“How do you feel?” Tali said.
“Better.”
“Good,” Rowle said. “Now let’s move on. Why are the Grey so reluctant to fight?”
“Not our calling.”
“What is?”
“Protecting.”
“Can’t you protect by fighting?”
“If we must.”
“I’m saying you must!” Rowle said.
“We have a higher calling.”
“Which is?”
“Protecting.”
Rowle sighed loudly. She drew breath to continue but was stopped by a knock on the door. It was Nev returning with the racta. Tali rushed to the door, the more irritation she could prevent, she thought, the less chance of Rowle doing something awful. She grabbed the warm racta cup from Nev and cradled it in her hands while pacing.
“What are you protecting?” Rowle said in a stretched voice.
“Grey knowledge.”
“Okay, good,” Rowle said. “Knowledge of what?”
Exha-bi made a growling kind of noise. Rowle grabbed his chin again in one claw.
“I think our friend here is still holding out. Do you have any more of your magic potion left Alchemist?”
“I have but there’s only so much you can dose...”
“Give it.”
Tali sighed, handed her racta off to Nev and opened the flask again. It didn’t even have the enthusiasm for a satisfying bung noise as it opened. She offered it to Exha-bi, who drank it from her knowing the consequences otherwise. She returned the empty flask to her backpack. Nev nudged her arm with the cup of racta.
“Thanks,” she said and swigged heavily at the bitter liquid, forcing a swallow down.
Rowle paced until a loud gasp from Exha-bi stopped her. Tali rushed back over to him and
“Are you okay?” she asked, reflexively reaching for the elder’s paw to check his pulse; it was battering.
“Great,” Exha-bi said.
“I’d make this quick,” Tali said.
“Quick is what I’ve been aiming for,” Rowle said. “Right then. How do I lever the Grey to fight for me, so we can crush the White-Duchy and move on?”
“Knowledge,” Exha-bi said.
“By all the little fishes!” shouted Rowle, “we’ve done this!”
“If I may,” Tali said. “I think he means the knowledge is the lever.”
“Okay,” Rowle said.
“The knowledge of the Grey has been guarded for eons. If it were to be released—”
“Ah,” Rowle said, “you tell me and they fight if I threaten to release their little secrets?”
“Yes,” Exha-bi said.
“Excellent,” Rowle said. “Tell me your most secret thing. No point in us messing about, is there?”
“The holy of holies. The room of pain.”
“Room of pain, eh? I’m starting to warm to you Grey-folk. Tell me about it then.”
“Only The Questioning the most trusted of the Grey can access it. Those with the most aptitude for learning, understanding.”
“So it’s a meritocracy. You learn lots of stuff and you’re good folk and you get access to the secret room, I get it.”
“No,” Exha-bi said, “I don’t think you do. Just eagerness, learning is not enough. We tried that in the past. Just being good was never enough. Many have experienced the room. Not all survive the experience intact.”
“Gosh, this room of pain gets more interesting by the click. Does it kill them then? The ones that aren’t good enough?”
“No. Many who aren’t good enough end their own lives though. All are driven mad.”
“And are you one of these ‘Questioning’ then? Are you good enough?” Rowle said.
“No one is good enough, but I survived, if that is what you are asking.”
“I’m asking what’s in the room.”
“I could explain, but if you have not been there, you could not understand.”
“Blah, blah, secret knowledge, blah!” Rowle said. “Try me.”
The Vat bubbled and it’s speaker hissed; it did not speak though. Then came a new hiss, quieter, menacing. The hiss of Rowle slowly extending her claws.
“What. Is. In. The. Room. Of. Pain,” Rowle said, nose close enough to touch Exha-bi’s. “Please.”
“I cannot—”
“Or will not?”
Tali could hear Rowle’s claws scraping on something. “Wait,” she said. Then turning to Exha-bi, she said, “Can you tell us what it was like in the room? Describe it as much as you can?”
“Okay,” Exha-bi said. “I’ll try.”
The claws stopped. The noise was replaced by one no less unnerving. The speaker from the Vat had started humming. A low drone note, continuous, quiet, but ever present. Tali felt the noise was like warmth, or cold, perfusing all of them, seeping into their bones.
“It was a long and thin room. I could feel wavy fabric, beautiful, soft drapes all the way along one wall. The High Questioner told me off for touching them, and then he sat me on the floor, facing the curtains. I wondered if I’d done something wrong already. The floor was cold, smooth, not metal though. Then he left, but right until he had, he kept asking me if I wanted to go through with it, and saying I’d never be the same again and it was okay to back out. I was too scared to go and too scared to stay, so I sat, paralyzed by indecision on the floor and waited for whatever was going to happen to happen. Did that mean I wasn’t ready? I don’t know.”
He paused. The Vat’s humming became quieter but did not stop.
“Then there was a small whirring noise like a motor running and the slight swish of the drapes parting. I followed the noise and movement until the drapes had stopped in the far corners of the room. Then I turned my head back to where the drapes had been. It was a huge smooth, flat wall. And then—”
“Then?” Rowle pressed.
“The pain started.”
“What kind of pain? Describe what happened to you!”
“It is... hard. It felt like, like a thousand, ten thousand pins sticking into my face. No, sticking into my brain, through my face. Burning into me. My whole head felt on fire, churning, swirling. I couldn’t speak or move. I didn’t notice the motor had started again, it took until the edges of the drape swished back into place in front of me that I realized. But the pins were still there, burning into me. Slowly, very, very slowly, they decreased in intensity, but they left—a what? A sensation? Like a bruise on my brain where each one had been once they’d gone.”
“Are they still there now?” Tali said.
“No,” Exha-bi said, “it was many cycles ago. But I can feel where everyone was still. And sometimes I experience a twinge of it, one pin or a handful maybe.”
“That’s a charming story; where does that get me?” Rowle said.
“If you let the Grey know you could release their knowledge, they would do anything. Even fight for you,” Exha-bi said.
Rowle made a spluttering noise. Tali giggled. “The mixture reduces his inhibitions, makes him more honest. Be careful what you wish for.”
“How dare you insult me!” Rowle exploded. “I am the last of the Cat-people!”
“No,” came Exha-bi’s voice.
“What?” Rowle spat, whirling.
“No,” came a different voice from the speaker in the Vat. It sounded oddly similar to Rowle, but different. Male, maybe.
“What trickery is this?” Rowle said.
“All here,” the Exha-bi voice said.
“All still here,” the Vat said.
“Who’s still here?” Rowle said.
“All the cats...”
“All of us...”
“All still here...”
“Always here...”
“You can’t be,” Rowle said.
“We are Rowle,” the male voice said again. “All still here.”
“Rown? Rown?” The Bureaucrat didn’t often sound shocked.
“I am here, love... Always here...”
“No. NO. Can’t it can’t be.” Rowle turned and fled.
The door banged open and slowly eased shut. As if in answer to it, the secret door on the opposite side of the room slid open. Two folk and a handful of pups poured out of it.
“Did we miss much?” Dun said.
