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.Her job is to keepthe people thinking that truths are static, and that they should be clungto.She doesn't matter in the slightest. Really? But why is she called Tentia, High Lord of theRighteous? Because mortals don't research the matter.If they read thechanneled gospels, they'd see that her true name is Tentia, Demigod ofAlienator.But enough.I've got other things to do you know, and youshould get to work. Alright, bye, said Religetti distractedly.He had begun to readthe paper the god had given while the god had been explaining aboutTentia. One last thing, said Precreator. Pay attention.This isimportant.To put on the Helmet is a sacrifice, Rigaberto, and it is notone to be made lightly.You will give up the world of mortals once youput it on, and you will never be able to rejoin it.However, the code thatyou will chant will eventually teach your fellows to manifest the Truths oftime.Mortals need help with those Truths, Rigaberto, because they areby far the most difficult to manifest faithfully.But for your sacrifice, you will know the immortal Truths of timelike I know them.Perhaps even more purely, for you will have nocontact with mortality.For the whole of the time that you chant the264code, you shall be connected to the immortal melodies directly.If youdon the Helmet, you will trade your mortal life for one comprised ofnothing but frequencies.So think about it.Once you make the choice,there is no going back.And then the god Precreator was gone.265Chapter 17 -Viceroy Wisdom Brings DeathPre-VerseThe Battle Hymn of Viceroy Wisdom(Excerpted from the Tentian Gospel Hymn Book, and reprinted here forreference.)Viceroy Wisdom returned from his R&R.The camp appeared still sacrosanct behind its iron bars.And yet the dread looped in him like unwanted songand with the moon rose his conviction - there was something wrong.So though the Viceroy most earnestly longed for bed,the worried Wisdom washed his face and grabbed his gun instead.And hours later, as he finished up his roundshe found himself abruptly startled by an evil sound.A woman's moaning rose up from behind a shedThe moon, in lockstep, reached its zenith high above the headof Mrs.Jenkins, a lieutenant's modest wife,found straddled savage on Entropotripocles' blight.You can't prepare for disaster and therefore let righteousness guide your sword266Sullen earth swallowed Jenkins upon the dawnAnd Corporal Wisdom bid him rest and mused upon his wrong.The law denied man the right to end his own life.But then the law was not a man with an unfaithful wife.Ash and acrid aroma of smoking fleshRecalled the foulness in that woman and her cleansing death.For god and mortal and Jenkins each in their turn,Corporal Wisdom had commanded that the woman burn.You can't prepare for disaster and therefore let righteousness guide your sword.But the Viceroy now turned out his funeral black,for men of action act, react to foulness, and attack.In midday swelter, he gathered his angry menwhere yesterday only the languid and the bored had been.And they marched hard.The violence began at four.The Squalid Church itself would sound the start of Wisdom's war.Arriving early, the troops hid themselves behind bush and rock,Until the fourth crack of the Squalid clergy's steeple clock.Now! Ammunition spat from the Viceroy's gun,And all the henchmen of the Church of squalor turned to runEntropotripocles sat high up above and laughed,His clergy cut down by the righteous Viceroy's fierce attack.You can't prepare for disaster and therefore let righteousness win the day.267Verse One Good morning Viceroy.How prepared are you, militarily?asked the Duchess.She stood, on this occasion, and, on a whim, she instructedWisdom to take the seat behind her desk  the only chair in her chamber.The man complied, albeit hesitantly. Well.I would say we are well prepared Milady, said theViceroy.The Duchess looked the fellow over.His face looked moreweathered than it had a decade ago, when she had last seen him, and hiscropped, light brown hair showed an occasional strand of gray, but otherthan that, the man appeared basically unchanged. Be honest with me Viceroy, instructed the Duchess. But I am, Milady.We are very well prepared.Our fortificationsare substantial.We would be honored if you would grace our colony byriding with me back to the Pass and seeing for yourself, suggestedWisdom. That's not going to happen, I'm afraid.But you certainly seemto believe that you are well prepared.Which of the fortification plans didyou use?This was something of an awkward question for Wisdom.268 Well, you see.I probably should have sought your approvalfirst, Milady, but I believed time to be of the essence.Or maybe I justshould have gone with fortification 8, as I first thought. What are you getting at man, spit it out, said the Duchess. See, I was looking at one of the plans, and it occurred to methat, while it was suitable, it might be better if we could make better useof a particular.well, the long and the short of it is  I made up my ownplans. What are you talking about, man? asked the Duchessbrusquely. You aren't making any sense. Yes, I know it's hard to get a handle on it at first, said Wisdom. And it's hard to explain too.But you see, it's like  you know how thereare a certain number of designs to choose from? Well, what I did is, Itook a piece of paper, and I wrote on it until it was covered with a design.But it was a design that, until that moment, had not existed.I made a newdesign, you see. But that's imp. began the Duchess.And then it struck her that it was not at all impossible.In fact,now that she thought about it, it seemed like the most natural thing in theworld.The Duchess remembered when she had begun construction onthe Grand Cathedral for Entropotripocles.She had been frustratedbecause she had been forced to reject several excellent locations thathadn't afforded quite enough flat ground, before she had finally settledon one.Why had it not occurred to her to simply alter the plans? And how did that work out? Were you able to build from yourplan? she asked Wisdom.269  Well, at first, not so well.But the Accutronians were veryexcited about the idea of making their own designs, once I had explainedit to them adequately.And we kept making adjustments, andimprovements [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]