Semilogue (Part 1 of 2)
Caroline and Melinda materialized on the roof of Yining’s house, and promptly slid off into the flower bed. (The roof, at least this part, was sloped and made of tin or something like it; not much purchase for paraethereal beings.) They had arrived just in time to witness the tail end of Chapter 11.
“He was taken by agents of darkness to the Lee-Land,” said a very familiar voice. Caroline jumped. Melinda almost swore.
“Then I have to go and get him!” cried another voice, almost familiar in some way, but somehow not. Caroline blinked, trying to place it. (Avatars may not need to blink to keep their eyes clean, but it still happens sometimes as a reflex of surprise.)
The two of them sat in the flower bed and cringed as several of their secrets were given away, some by the woman inside this very house, many more by the man who was one of them.
“The Parli Rebellion,” they heard Elaine say, “And let’s get to the bottom of all this.”
“Rather interesting group, wouldn’t you say?” said Sridhar into Caroline’s ear.
Caroline really jumped this time, shooting to her feet and forgetting about being seen. “You!” Melinda shouted (quietly), aiming a deadly finger in his direction.
“OK, wait, I can explain,” said Sridhar, holding his hands up. (Caroline wasn’t sure he had had hands as such until that moment. Avatars generally didn’t need them.)
“I take her down here for her first assignment and find that you’ve already meddled with competitors and brought back to life something that we laid to rest a decade ago!” Melinda was furious, for Melinda. (A “decade”, by the way, is figurative; it bears little relation to any actual mortal time span.)
“Hold on a second,” Caroline interrupted, somewhat indignantly, “I may be new but I’m one of you now. That means I’ve got the same rights as you do, right?” Melinda nodded grudgingly. Sridhar just looked glad that someone had taken off the heat, at least for now. Caroline continued. “Good. So, just to confirm, that was you, Sridhar, who was out there telling them all of that?”
Sridhar nodded, beginning to look a bit abashed.
“OK. Second, what is all of this about Parli?” Melinda gritted her teeth. Sridhar looked at Caroline, and suddenly she knew. Which was convenient; no need to rehash the last two chapters.
Melinda took this opportunity to flare up again. “And you, without consulting any of us, are now trying to bring Parli back?”
“Look!” said Sridhar loudly (not that Sridhar ever shouted, really), “I don’t want Parli back either, but these are just a bunch of kids. The Hahr Kerr, on the other hand, really is back and they’re here. At this tournament. If it means sending a bunch of kids into the Lee-Land and pretending that Parli can come back, I say we do it.”
“The Parli Rebellion, Sridhar, can’t you see what’s going to happen?” Melinda drove her finger further forward. “They’re not going to stop at the Hahr Kerr, they’re going to actually dig into the tournament structure itself! You’ve got no control over these kids as you call them. And sending those others into the Lee-Land, that’s just—”
“You saw that one girl, she thinks the Avatars are gods! Which we sort of are…As for the others, they won’t get hurt. Caroline here can watch over them.”
“What?!” cried Melinda and Caroline together.
“You wanted her on assignment, right?” said Sridhar, trying to sound reasonable. “Give her something useful to do.”
“When Liz finds out about this—” Melinda warned.
“Liz isn’t the boss of me,” answered Sridhar, aggravated. “We’ve got a problem here, I saw it first, and I acted. Forgive me,” he added sarcastically, “if I preferred not to wait until we were overthrown.”
“I’m going back,” said Melinda, “and then—”
“I’ll stay and watch the ‘Parli Rebellion’,” offered Sridhar.
“No you will not,” Melinda replied, punctuating every word. “You are going to go back and help Liz and Gary call the Ne Ha.”
“The…the Ne Ha?” For the first time Sridhar’s voice faltered.
“Yes. The situation has indeed reached that point while you were gone.” Melinda fought with herself over whether or not to leave the sting in her voice. “In any case, you are going back.”
“But what about—” said Caroline.
“I will watch the ones who are staying here.” Melinda sighed. “Unfortunately, Caroline, Sridhar is right. You are going to have to go to the Lee-Land and watch over their rescue party.”
“But—” Caroline gritted her teeth (again, metaphorically speaking). “All right.”
“This is a time when we all have to stand together,” Melinda said, more serious than she had ever been before. “To fight the Hahr Kerr, and to finish the Parli question, once and for all.” She glared a bit at Sridhar, who swallowed and nodded. Caroline nodded as well.
And on that note, and four semitones above and three below, the three of them disappeared, leaving behind a very minor chord.