I rested a hand on Might’s hilt and knew exactly how the soft pelt of hair on Axton’s scalp would tickle the inside of my palm when I slammed his fragile skull against the stone wall. I could already feel the moment of resistance as his head hit, and then the sudden collapse of the delicate bones in his forehead as it splintered. The sensation, I knew, would be similar to crushing an egg.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Lorencz asked, the anger in her voice audible. I wondered if she was having a similar fantasy.
“I was ordered to keep the matter confidential.”
“Have you been released from that order?” Croix asked, frowning.
“No, Your Eminence.” Axton met his eyes. “But continuing to evade the captain’s questions is likely to lead to violence, and I would prefer not to be hurt.”
“I’m sure nobody here would hurt you,” the cardinal said, although he didn’t sound confident as he glanced at me. I lifted my hand from Might just to prove that I could.
“Don’t encourage him,” Lorencz snapped. She glared at Axton. “You gonna tell us what’s going on, or am I gonna let Droit beat it outta you?”
“I’m not sure I can do that without killing him,” I warned. The imaginary sensation of Axton’s short hair against my hand was still vivid. Might stirred against my leg. It wasn’t the only thing stirring down there.
“Be quiet!” Michael snapped, his blind face turning in our direction. “Maybe if you two cretins stopped trying to manipulate people through violence, they’d be more willing to help you. Axton, would you please tell us what you know about the Vigilance’s interest in the children downstairs?”
“Of course, my liege.” Axton paused as if to arrange his thoughts. “Magister Carel asked me to test the children and Ban Jaspin to determine the extent of the mental damage caused by their ingestion of nix —”
“Before or after you started working here again?” Lorencz was scowling.
“Before, Captain.”
“So, she got you back on staff.”
“I believe Magister Carel recommended me to the hospital’s board. I assume she wanted me because my position outside of the regular medical establishment makes me vulnerable to threats and manipulation.”
“Keep talking,” Lorencz ordered.
“My initial examinations suggested that nix doesn’t actually destroy the brain’s core functions. Its victims retain control of their bodies and are capable of following complex directions. However, they seem to lose their free will. In addition, although they understand language, they seem incapable of using it. My hypothesis is that nix either plunges its victims into a deeply regressed state or blocks their ability to consciously command higher-order mental activities.”
“Can it be reversed?” I inquired.
“I don’t know, General. The answer depends on whether its effect is physiological or psychological. If it’s psychological, the principles of alienism may work to mediate the effect. If it’s physiological — medicine isn’t my area of expertise.”
“What if it’s not either of those?” Lorencz demanded. “What if it’s just adjuration?”
“I don’t consider adjuration separate from psychology or physiology, Captain. Adjuration and prayer ultimately affect either the physical universe or an individual’s mental state. Calling, for example, transfers a material substance, bale, from one area in space to another. That’s still a physical manipulation of matter, even if the means by which it’s transferred is beyond our current comprehension.”
“Huh?”
“There is no ‘just adjuration,’ Captain,” Axton clarified. “Adjuration affects the world in the same way as a word or a lever.”
“Except bale ain’t—”
I broke in. They were getting off the subject.
“Carel’s keeping the children here because she wants to find a cure for nix?” I asked. “And not because she wants to open another gap in the Line?”
Axton turned to me.
“To the best of my limited knowledge, that is her intention.”
“Except it isn’t that simple, is it?” Michael asked, thoughtfully. “Now that I consider it, I realize you’ve been trying to manipulate us into going downstairs all along, Axton. Why?”
Axton took a deep breath.
“The fact that the experiments are intended to restore the children’s lost memories doesn’t obviate the fact that their minds are still capable of inadvertently damaging the Line if their sedation wears off,” he said.
“I liked him better when he only said ‘yes’ and ‘no,’” Lorencz muttered.
“He’s saying the children are still dangerous,” I supplied.
“No shit.” Lorencz glared at me, then at him. “Anything else we oughta know, Ax?”
“…You haven’t asked me why Milka has been assisting Magister Carel,” Axton said.
“Why?” Michael asked, before Lorencz could do anything violent to the little man.
“Magister Carel is very interested in Far. She’s quizzed Milka about it extensively, although I don’t believe she’s met it yet.”
“Oh, swell. That’s just swell.” Lorencz rubbed her temple wearily. “Next thing you know, that murdering transient bastard’s going to be the newest member of the Vigilance. So, why ain’t she called it yet?”
“Who is Far?” Croix asked.
“The next Yzyrchye,” I replied. “Maybe.”
“What?” the cardinal looked aghast.
“I believe the arch-sentinel is worried about Far’s propensity for murder,” Axton continued. “It has, to the best of our knowledge, always killed someone when it’s crossed the Line. It may not be capable of any other form of communication.”
“So,” Lorencz summarized, “as an alienist, you’re telling us Far is crazy.”
“No. As an alienist, I’m telling you that it’s alien.”
“Is that a joke?”
“Captain, I can’t analyze a transient in terms of human behavior or motivations, despite the fact that it is mimicking a human.”
“What is Far?” Croix asked again.
“Some kind of new transient. It lives across the Line, it likes kids, and it kills people who mess with them,” Lorencz replied, tersely. “All right, Ax, take us downstairs.”
The alienist inclined his head, turned, and kept leading. Behind us, Croix asked more questions about Far, and Michael did his best to explain.
I watched Axton’s back and wondered what other secrets he was keeping in that fragile skull of his. He might be more interesting, I mused, than he looked.