Fly On The Wall: Fairy Tales From A Misanthropic Universe, Vol. I (11 page)

Benjamin jerks
awake violently as the wall falls away.
What a rude awakening,
he thinks as
the reverberating shatter of the fallen crystal wall assaults his
senses. He rubs his eyes, opening them to see Hugo standing next to
him nude. Benjamin looks down and notices his own nudity. This
doesn't bother him much, it is warm and he is comfortable, yet he
still wonders where his suit is.
What
happened? Where are we?
They were supposed
to be at the center of the earth, but clearly they could not
possibly be. Benjamin remembers the ship malfunctioning, it must
have returned them to the surface automatically.
Wait, no, the gas pockets, that's it. Are we
dead?
Benjamin's eyes grow winder, they
begin to scan and absorb the absurd around him. He notices the
beautiful creature, standing, waiting for their attention in the
newly formed doorway. She gains it quick, neither Benjamin nor Hugo
can look away, so they stare on, arrested by her beauty. She greets
them in a strange drawl.

“
Howdy folks.”

This is wrong,
very wrong
. “Hi,” Benjamin sheepishly
responds. Suddenly more aware of his state of undress, he turns
bright red and speeds to cover himself. He noticed a particularly
large, flat gem on the floor and lunges for it, certain it would
preserve his dignity. Unfortunately, it does not budge and he is
left squatting and straining to pry it up, rocking back and forth,
groaning, and feeling even more naked than before. It doesn't take
long for him to desist, aware he has insufficient strength to shift
the stone, he elects to cover himself with his palms instead,
knowing full well what spectacle he had just put on.

It takes a moment
for her to understand what he is doing. She smirks, and ponders why
humans are such shameful creatures. It doesn't matter, but her
curiosity remains unsatisfied all the same.
Hmm.
She waits for him to be
convinced that he has covered himself before proceeding, all the
while trying to avert her gaze from an errant testicle. Only when
smug satisfaction breaks out on his face does she complete her
greeting.

“
So, I sure as heavens ain't sure
what y'all doing down here. We don't usually receive guests, and
when we do their visits are rather shorter, and always announced
ahead of time. So now, what are y'all doing down here? It's mighty
rude to drop by unannounced you know.” She almost sings the words.
“I guess, since you're the first visitors we've had in a while,
I'll take y'all on a lil' tour before I send you on your way, how's
that sound?” The creature punctuates her words with a
wink.

Hugo opens
his mouth to speak and promptly shuts it again, for the only words
that came to his mind were still “How can she see?”. Benjamin is
the first to respond coherently:

“
Yes, thank you, ma'am, that would
be delightful” Although he wants to know where they are, their host
is so kind that he cannot deny her offer, left he offend her. Her
words swing back and forth through his mind, like a pendulum
entrancing him. His gut tries to make him flee, but he Benjamin has
not eaten in a great many hours so its efforts result only in a
loud gurgle. The descent had taken them the best part of 48 hours,
and they had brought only water and cola, as per their sponsorship
agreements. How long had he been asleep for? Had they been drugged?
Benjamin's mind remains shrouded in mysteries, but with difficulty
and patience, he begins to slowly piece things back together again.
The creature shifts her weight impatiently, waiting for them to
approach. Hugo is but a few feet from Benjamin and his empty
stomach gurgles in agreement with his. “If it would not be too
bold, ma'am,” began Benjamin respectfully, “can you first tell us
where we are, provide is with some food, and return our suits? Oh,
and one more thing – how did we get here?” Hope resonates in his
voice and bounces off the hard jeweled walls, the creature,
however, seems unimpressed.

“
My! So many questions! All in due
time my dear. I've got some questions for y'all too y'know. We
really ain't used to unannounced guests. I'm afraid return of the
suits, or of that vile liquid within, just ain't happenin' shug
When we found you our scans determined that there were a number of
potentially harmful pathogens on 'em, and in 'em. We had
to….'dispose'…of the items.”

Benjamin's
face falls in dismay. She doesn't quite understand his anger, true
it had been their property but those pathogens pose a great danger
to the very survival of her species. Surely he could
understand.

“
I know – I'll have my courtiers
bring you some robes, we don't have much use for them here, but we
keep them for guests – and the occasional ceremony too. I'll call
for some food too, you must be famished, do accept my apologies.
I'm a shockingly terrible host.” The creature remains in two minds
about what to do with the trespassing twosome.

“
What do you mean have no use for –“
begins Benjamin.

The offer of
food makes Hugo snap to life, he interrupts, “YES!” he exclaims,
half shouting. On hearing himself Hugo realizes he is much hungrier
than he first thought, and moderates his tone. “Yes. Yes, sorry,
I'm not me when I'm hungry. Yes please, I'm afraid we haven't had
anything for a long time ma'am – if you are a ma'am. I'm afraid
we've also been terribly rude. I am Dr. Hugo Heiss, this is Mr.
Benjamin Richardson,” he says, gesturing, “are we where I think we
are?” The tone of incredulity in his voice alone reveals his
meaning, and her devilish smile is all the response he
needs.

She feels his
confusion, it's worrisome, confused people do have a tendency to do
things without thinking them over thoroughly. Surely, if they were
here, they knew? No matter. It isn't as though they can go anywhere
immediately. If either one tries she'll have them slaughtered
immediately, but they'll cross that bridge if and when they get
there. Most cannot resist her wily words.

She beckons
for food to be brought, and shortly after, a young couple appear in
the doorway. Like most of her people, they have heavily wrinkled
and sunken eyes, but they move with speed and youthful vigor. Their
height is half her's, and three-quarters that of the one called
Hugo's. They slink in from the corridor soon after with laden
plates. Each platter bears a thick chunk of flesh, an intoxicating
aroma coaxes the men and fills the jeweled room. The meat is a
plain gray color, and next to it are two small pink towers of mush.
She'd thought of offering them some wine, but then decided against
it, it was much too earlier, and a little inappropriate. The
creature watches them eat and smirks.

Benjamin's
sour expression warms fast when faced with proffered delicacies.
Aromas waft through the air with incessant urgency, inviting him to
eat, inviting him to turn into a vicious beast and sink his sharp
teeth into the flesh, as so many years of evolution had made him
capable of. The meat calls him ever closer. He knows not what it is
but his rumbling stomach is unconcerned. His saliva flows freely,
he swallows it with an audible gulp and sets to work on the
place.

Maybe he was
wrong to have been upset, after all, they had provided lodging to
them, and they were mere strangers. If the creature intended harm
to them, then both he and Hugo would already be dead. A bemused
Benjamin smiles between bites. Who would ever have thought the
center of earth inhabited? His mind spun, the fame they'd gain
would be a hundredfold what he'd thought. It didn't matter that
they'd got rid of his suit. Not one bit, they were cheap, at least
compared to the profits he would reap from his
discovery!

With each
bite, Benjamin becomes more and more enthralled by the creature in
front of him and the shimmering room in which he now shamelessly
dined. Everything around him seems foreign, almost alien in nature.
He simply has to know what this place is, and how they'd come upon
it. He still can not wrap his head around the fact that they are at
the centre of it all. It's impossible. It violates the very laws of
physics which he'd held in such esteem. His stomach rumbles one
final time as his bites slow.

Hugo
meanwhile tears into his own chunk like a wolverine. Suddenly he
pauses and sighs at the very thought of meat. He can remember the
purge to this day. Countless zoos of animals put to death to
prevent infection. Their carcasses burned in great piles whose
black smoke fogged the air. Now so many strips of brown murdered
earth lay bare. He remembered how hard it had been as a child in
the putrid scent saturated air. To this day, Hugo still sees and
hears the burning, sizzling, and popping of burning carcasses.
Grilled meat to him now resembles more a horrid funerary perfume
than anything else. Despite vivid and varied mental pictures of
mutilated giraffes, chopped up elephants & lifeless chimps,
Hugo chews away, famished.

The meat in front
of him is unlike anything he has ever tasted. Its flavor is sweet,
just sweet enough to cast honeyed phantoms on his tongue. Tender
too, so much so that it resembles a petal in its delicate texture
and bite. It was cooked to a medium rare perfection, still slightly
pink in the center, beneath the gray. He always preferred his meat
well done, it helped to shield his mind.
But this, this is not meat...this is art.
Hugo finds the mush exquisite too, airier than passing Sunday
morning clouds, it floats down into his gullet. With each bite, he
is more and more enchanted by the beautiful creature and her
beautiful world. Aside from the lack of natural lights, and the
busy walls, he quite likes it here. So he eats in time with
Benjamin. They eat, and eat, and eat, having servants bring more
helpings, much to the creature's delight. As their food babies
reach maturity they can finally eat no more.

“
Wow, y'all were hungry,” says the
creature. The creature beckons the men with her finger, so they
go.

“
We haven't been very gracious
guests,” blurts Benjamin as they walk down the orange corridor,
clad in dull gray cloaks. “I'm sorry,” he continues, now sheepish,
“I must beg your forgiveness I've one more prying question though –
how do you see?”. There it is. The question which Hugo had been so
avoiding, now wielded carelessly. Benjamin immediately realizes his
mistake, shrinking into a slumped shell of a man. Hugo shoots
crystal daggers at Benjamin for his bold rudeness, despite his own
curiosity. The creatures eyes look dead into Benjamin's, chilling
him to the marrow.

“
In the same way, darlin', that
you're blind.” Cryptic. They continue down the corridor which
seemed to be carved through solid crystal rock. It's composition
changes every few hundred fathoms, and with that its color. Each
color occupies an entirely distinct portion, yet neither Hugo nor
Benjamin can perceive any joins between them. Fortunately, that
color tunnel filters the sharp unnatural light, making it more
colorful – and more tolerable. Deep tanzanite purple, shining green
emerald, and hypnotizing ruby red, the walls switch from one to the
other jarring Benjamin's vision.

“
Also, how can we possibly be at the
center of the earth? This is supposed to be molten rock, or, hell,
even dinosaurs, but now…uh…what are you again?” Benjamin's
curiosity is unending.

He's inquisitive,
perhaps too much for his own good. Even so he's funny, always
asking, always wondering. It's a shame, they need more like him up
there. He's so na
ï
ve, so different. I wonder….no, actually that's silly. He
couldn't accept our reality, he wouldn't. They never do, they're
always too indoctrinated by the surface leaders. Ugh.
The creature twitches her nose, supposing it
neither here nor there. They're hers now, to do with as she
pleases, which is exactly what the creature plans. “Well, don't you
think you should ask a lady her name first?” she asks,
coyly.

“
Oh goodness me!” Benjamin's jaw
hangs aghast at his own rudeness and oversight. The matter had
slipped his mind during their exquisite meal. Benjamin feels
playful, he shrugs off the daggers shot through Hugo's eyes. “Well
then, fair maiden, what is thy name?”

“
Maeb
ë,” she responds. The creature does not feel as playful, the
corner of her mouth twitches with scorn. And so, Hugo, Benjamin,
and Maebë walk down to jewel corridor. After several hundred more
fathoms they approach a magnificent arch, made of, as Maebë puts
it, of “a single big hunk of what y'all call
diamond.”

“
WOW!” Exclaims Hugo.
Benjamin, however, is too shocked to say anything, he can already
see the riches unfurl before him.

Maebë begins
her explanation, but Hugo has trouble following it. He simply can't
bring himself to believe her wild words, they are too strange, too
foreign too alien. Admittedly though, he never thought anything
lived at the very centre of the earth, much less creatures as
beautiful as her and much less ones with diamond archways. But that
all is true.
Perhaps her words
are true.

“
You see, Verne was paid
off. We needed to stay hidden, and misdirection is the easiest. A
story here, a movie there, and suddenly all people believe that
there is nothing more at the center of earth than dinosaurs, or,
even more laughably, molten rock,” Maeb
ë smiles, “sure it didn't fool people for long, and
especially not the adults, but it kept children from poking their
noses where they should not. That was our primary aim, for they
were the ones who found us first.” Maebë pauses & purses her
lips briefly. “Halley came close in 1690 with his hollow earth, but
it was still quite a bit off, and thankfully nobody paid him any
mind. Since then no others have managed to make any progress, not
really anyway.” The relief in her words is clearly visible, almost
as though she herself underwent the harrowing near-discovery.
“Since then, your rulers have helped us hide ourselves. Our reality
was always deemed too much, too harsh for the regular populace.
Your rulers, and I mean pretty much everyone, from Mao, to Reagan,
from Tsar Nicola, to H W Bush, from Khan to Cameron. They have all
kept our secret strong, and I trust you will too.” She serves up no
smile with those last words but instead stares them both down.
“Oh,” she adds, “the Spaniards wished to expose us once, in the
190s. As y'all would say, we made sure to deal with that
insurrection promptly.” Together they step into an immense cavern,
the likes of which neither Hugo nor Benjamin had ever seen before.
It is so big that it is a true world unto itself. The roof of the
cavern they stand in forms a luminous, but gray rock sky. On it
attached by vines of light, glowing cables of sorts, others like
Maebë picked away at the roof, enlarging their world
further.