C.J. Anderson's Blog: Beyond Ruinland , page 7

Unwise magi

Promises to restore the dead planet. Tales of a divine plan. God will heal the ruined Earth, he said. They believed in the preacher like unwise magi of the early eastworld.

I will find you

Emerald laserlight mapped their unique features. Every spot, pattern, line. Shapes of eye sockets. Shades of colors. Textures of skin. Expressions of hysteria. The combat synthetic scanned the crowded marketplace for her face. No recognition.

"Look at me. All of you," said Phobos. They feared him like some man-eating technoland demigod.

Anise

Anise was born into the military. Her parents reduced to ashes by holy war. The firebombs cremated their living bodies like wandering undead in a pyromaniacal apocalypse. Alone in the megabunker the survivors gave her to the corrupt preacher like some orphaned sex toy. Her exquisite beauty was exploited daily.

Ouijan

Lights out. Countless cultic candles. Hymns and prayers to bring him down from Heaven and into their presence. The spirit of God was summoned like some supreme Ouijan poltergeist.

West

Razorcut scalp. Hawkish nose. Squinted blackbead eyes. Seldom seen snaggletooth smile. Vivid tattoos of allegiance to some military deathsquad. Skinlines of time and scars of war covered his towering ogrelike body. West was as dangerous as the armlong serrated blade he carried on his belt. His lust for Vasquez was overshadowed by his desire to see her head in box.

The Preacher

Cancerous mouth of hypocrisy. Blank dead eyes magnified by imposing spectacles. Hyperclean surgical skin. The preacher was an elder but cosmetically altered to look much younger. His appearance as fraudulent as his religion.

Truth

A sunless sky of hellish brume. They sat side by side and watched the ugly clouds dissipate as the airship piloted itself toward Yukon.
"Do you think they will come after us?" said Anise.
"Maybe," said Vasquez.
"What happens if they catch us?"
"I won't let them take you."
"Is there a God?"
"No."
Zero comforting lies. Everything she told the girl was absolute truth. The military may try to retake the ship and if they did she had a solution. Her feigned threats to kill the girl to secure their escape were not completely false. Vasquez would rather see her dead than return her to a life of sexual depravity. She would not allow them to have Anise again. If God somehow existed he wasn't worth acknowledging.

Take me with you

"Wait!" said Anise. "Take me with you. Please."
Vasquez stopped and thought about what the girl endured. All the lies and suffering and unspeakable abuse by people who were supposed to care for her. All things Lauren could relate to.
"Where are your parents? Your family?"
"All dead."
"Ever seen a baby born?"
"Yes," said Anise.
"Think you could help me with mine?"
Anise smiled.
They boarded the airship together. Was she making a mistake bringing this girl to search for a haven that may not exist? Possibly. But she could not leave her behind in the hands of heartless violators.

Eyes shut tight

Eyes shut tight. Tensed for the killing blow. Ready for her pain to end. At least they died together and maybe the nourishing bloodcord they shared could somehow keep them everconnected in eternal nothingness. The annihilation she expected never happened. She opened her eyes and Phobos was gone. Why didn't the synthetic terminate her? It made no sense. Was he supposed to simply locate her and then report back? Something was wrong but no time to figure it out.

Hope

A platoon of soldiers searched for her. If they found her she would be shot on sight or beaten and publicly executed. She imagined her son's existence. Conceived in lust. Monster for a father. Murderer for a mother. If he survived her chaotic shell could he ever love her? I will make this right, she whispered. She kept her hope alive like drops of water on a Purgatory tongue.