Nirvana Effect (32 page)

Manassa
seemed to be
taking the bait.
Of course, Edward also had to
weigh the possibility that Manassa was a step ahead of him, that
Manassa wanted him to make those exact conclusions
.  The young man might
have been planning this all day
and foreseen the whole encounter.  It was a deadly dance of wits.  In the trance, every flicker of face muscle, every beat of an eyelash, every mo
dulation of the voice betrayed vital clues
. 

Edward had to trust that he had the advantage, that he’d taken Manassa by surprise, that he could take what was being said at something close to face value.

Manassa continued.  “One course is that we could destroy this substance in its entirety, destroy every plant, every ounce of sap, abolish it from the earth.  That is the path of darkness, the snuffing out of a candle that could light the world.”

Edward nodded.  “I had considered that,” he said. 
I hate it, but
that might be what needs to happen. 

Manassa continued his teaching.  “In that way, we co
uld step away from it in peace.”

“Go on,”
prompted Edward.

“The second path is that of chaos.  At first that seems the only path beyond darkness.  We could take this substance and plunge the world in
to
death
.  If we keep it much longer, someone else will get their hands on it, someone else will use it stupidly.”

Edward again nodded.  “I had considered that, too.”

“At first, when looking into the future, this chaos seems to be a cloud that consumes all
paths that lead beyond
.  For weeks it was all I could see.  But I would not have started to use this substance, to risk unleashing it upon the world, if that was all the future held.”

“What is the
path of order?” asked Edward.

“The path of order is the path of control.  It is the path of enlightenment, of a Golden Age.  You could say it is the path of an Order.  If we control the substance, we could…”

“Lead the world,” Edward
finished for him
.

“Yes.  And we would have in our Order the first peo
ple who were ever truly fit to lead
.”

Edward let the idealistic part in him speak, the part that had foreseen this path, before throwing it by the wayside.  He had studied far too much history to really allow himself to fall into such a trap.  “But how could it be done?  I
saw that, too
, but my vision kept
going back to
the chaos.”

Manassa smiled.  “It can be done.”  Edward
gave him a cautious look
.  Manassa waved his arms.  “We will use the Onge.  It is why I ascended to godhead.  They will be our Order.”

“That’s why the cars.”

Manassa nodded.  “And more.  I have developed a half-drug.”  Edward hadn’t suspected that. 
It was nowhere in his calculations
.  “I have my Onge take the subst
ance orally.  It produces a
trance
of a sort
.
  It heightens the senses, but it’
s not enough to
awaken
them, so to speak
.  My Onge call it the Lightness.  It is enough to give us what we need to start.  We shall be the Seers.  And we shall have an Order.  It is all as I have foreseen.”

Edward, in the merciless logic of the trance, saw why Manassa had chosen him for his plot.  “You knew when you read my journal that I would follow you,” said Edward.

Manassa didn’t answer.

“You knew I wouldn’t be able to resist the drug.  It brings my dreams back to life.  It brings me back to life,” said Edward.

The Onge
shrugged.  “So it is with me,” Manassa said simply.

“And now you expect I’ll follow you, for the same reasons.”

“Or perhaps better ones,” said Manassa.

He’s got me wrong.

“Do you think you are some sort of Messiah?” Edward asked.  He knew Manassa would be suspicious if he didn’t challenge him
t
here.

“I think I’ve been given a gift.  And so have you.  And with this gift comes more responsibility than anyone has ever had laid on
his
shoulders in millennia.” 

“You feel fit to rule the world?” asked Edward.

“I feel fit as any to guide it...with you…”  Their eyes were locked on one another.

“
Tell
me this.  What is your plan after we train our Order?”  He said it like he wanted to be convinced, like he wanted to be reasoned with, but that he didn’t see any future.  He could see Manassa biting.  It was his last necessary deception.

“We will build up a power base.  We will increase our resources.  We will not, as the fools of history have done in the past, give up our discovery to the bigger fools who govern.  We will control our weapon and lead the people of Earth…”  Manassa trailed off.  Edward had stopped his acting.  The tension released out of him.  The Onge detected it in an instant and knew what it was.  “You’ve already made up your mind.”

“It’s a weapon to you, isn’t it?” Edward asked.  There was anger in his voice.

The Onge surged toward him.  “It is what we say it is, Edward.  It is what it is.  It is higher than anything on this world.  It is higher than the atom bombs, than your Vatican City, than all the sciences of Earth.  To name it is a pretense!”

“You’ll
rule this world to what end?”  Edward asked.

“I’ll lead it.”

“Why?”

“Because I can!”  Manassa got in his face and shouted furiously.  Edward didn’t
react
.  He did not fear this boy.  In his peripheral vision, he saw the guards rush in, responding now to the shouting as they had to the fire.  Manassa waved them to hold back at the door without so much as a glance.  He would not take his eyes off Edward.

Edward was quiet.  “Manassa,” he said.  “You have decided to rule a world you have never seen.  You wi
sh to lead it to a goal you can
not even foretell.  You seek power for the sake of power.”

Edward could tell the boy was listening to what he said, that every part of his mind was dedicated to understanding what Edward was saying, and yet he knew in that instant that Mahanta would never hear.  Mahanta was gone and only Manassa remained. 

“I will see it.  I will have it,” said Manassa
, defiant
.

Edward knew that he would, or die trying. 
The Onge survival pattern
was part and parcel to Manassa, enlightened or no.  Just as the Onge who feels most powerful seeks to take the tribe by force, so did Manassa think he could take the world by a subtle force.  There would be no convincing him otherwise.
   

Life amongst the Onge was a much more black and white proposition than Western culture, and the business of living was handled with the utmost precision.  It was an Onge law, for
instance, that if
a hunting party
were more than two
mile
s from the village at dusk, and a member of
the party i
s injured, that
the injured must be left
to fend for himself.  If this were violated, the leader of the party would be put to death for his weakness. 

No leader was ever put to death.  Very few Onge allowed themselves to be injured, but if
one
did get injured,
he
would insist on being left behind.

The Onge are the last people in the world who should have the trance substance.
  With their discipline and lack of “civility”, they could wreak untold destruction to civilization without even realizing it.  To them, it would be the natural order of
survival
.

Edward arrived at a conclusion.  He knew there was no talking, now, no turning back.  He would try anyway, but he already knew the answer.  And yet he still had to try.

“Mahanta, this substance, used properly, could
give mankind freedom.  Or it could create
freedom
just for one.  Or it could plunge
everything
into chaos.”  Edward face was only inches from the young man’s.  “You told me when we started this that there were certain people who could not be trusted with
the trance drug.  Mahanta, you’
re one of them.”  Manassa didn’t say anything, only stared at him.  It seemed to actually be sinking in.  “Mahanta, we must destroy this substance.  I need your help.  We must destroy it
, so that no man can
ever reach it
again
.  What seems to
be a great blessing is in fact
only a curse.” 

He could tell that Manassa was actually torn.  The young man’s eyes glazed over.

At long last, Manassa looked at him again.  It seemed his trance had worn off. 
Edward could see the pain and tension suddenly consuming the god’s body
.  Lackluster,
Manassa
asked, “You discovered something for the after pain?”  He asked as though reminiscing, as though it didn’t matter.  He said it as though he’d decided to help Edward end it all.  Edward almost subconsciously nodded.  He stopped himself, but it was too late.  Manassa was glaring eagle-like into his eyes. 
He saw it in my eyes.
 

“I must think o
n all this, Edward,” said Manass
a tiredly, and walked away from him to his bedchambers behind his throne.  “I must think on this. 
He’t’cari’nya
.  I must think on this.”  It was an odd Onge phrase he’d said.  It meant, literally, “the world turns.” 
As he disappeared by the curtains, Manassa chuckled.  “I told you you’d call me Mahanta.”

Edward was stunned. 
He could not believe that he actually had Manassa deliberating.
  He thought there was no chance of changing
his
mind. 
Now he was thinking
. 

Edward heard the call of one of the guards outside.  “
Tanyan.
” 
More.

More…
Edward
heard footsteps far in the distance. 

“Tanyan.  Tanyan!  Tanyan!  Tanyan-to-to!”  All.

Edward sensed it before it was too late.  Mahanta had given an instruction with his odd phrase. 

Edward
sprinted
to the doorway.  His muscles ached from his journey in the
jungle, but that was a trifling matter compared to the footsteps.  In his state of elevated consciousness
, the pounding of the earth was
growing deafening.  Even outside the trance, he could have heard them.  The whole tribe was being risen. 

Edward
heard war cries.

The god lost his trance and so sent his dogs.

Callista reached her clinic in less time than she thought possible.  She must have had her foot to the floorboard the whole trip. 

She had debated risking a stop there.  She’d left all her money, though, at her house.  She was defenseless without a bit of cash.

Callista’s
hands were shaking
when she tried to open the door
.  It took her five times with the keys to get the door unlocked. 

She stopped in the lobby.  All the lights were out.  She always left them on.  She flipped the switch. 

Chairs were out of place.  The door to the supply closet was open.  All these things would have been tended to by Duiyon. 

She thought she heard the clinking of instruments down the hall.  Her hair stood on end.  She tip-toed further into the clinic, but didn’t see anybody. 

She checked the exam rooms, but found nothing else out of the ordinary. 
Footsteps
.  She whirled around. 

Must be my imagination.
 

She was nerve-wracked, this much she knew about her state of mind. 

Calm down.

Callista
marched to the back of the building with
all the aplomb she could muster
.
 
A car was parked on the back road that
she hadn’t noticed before.  She scanned the whole area, up and down the
empty
streets.  Maybe she
had
seen the car before.

Calm down.

  She tried to unlock the basement door.  It took her even longer than the front door.  She put her hand on the door
and breathed slowly.  She tried
the lock again.  Still, her hands shook too much to get the key in.  She cried out,
then hit the door with her fist
.  Finally, with a steady, frustrated hand, she slid the key onto the lock and jerked it open.