The Bleed: Book 2: RAPTURE David Moody (the red fox clan txt) 📖

think they call that irony; not sure of the verbiage. I worked in insurance, you know.”

“I’m sorry,” Derrick said. “I wish you could come.”

“It’s okay. I’ve seen far more than the vast majority will ever see. I got a good look behind the curtain, and I’m content with the journey I’ve had. Plus, there’s always the realization that there are hundreds of Phil Allsops out there, living out lives in other dimensions. Many of them are enjoying much better endings than mine. I can hold onto that until the mushroom clouds rise. Look, boys, head inside, no one will stop you. I doubt anyone could. Take the elevator to the top. Should be a real special-looking button in there for that. Go into the room, and start fiddling with dials or buttons, or whatever it is they have for controls.”

“How do we get to the god’s, um, city? Err, Planetoid?” Derrick asked. “I mean…any idea? Will there be a map of a thousand dimensions we have to sort through?”

“Use the Force, Derrick. Higher level god-tech is intuitive. Reads your mind a bit, searches for intent. Presents you with options. You’ll discover the whole process is designed for you to understand it.”

“Your soup was good,” Arridon told him.

“It was shite. I cook when I’m anxious. Gives me something to do with my hands.… Thank you anyway. Go. Never know when the sky will fall. Get running.”

The two young men walked away from Phil towards the Shard, but both stopped to look back. Phil still stood there, holding his pipe, staring off at one of the posters of his daughter.

“Hey Phil,” Arridon called out.

The old man turned to face them. “Yes?”

“Who told you we were coming? Who said the room was about to be used?”

“A mutual friend who also works in insurance,” Phil answered. “It’s a big industry. Lots to protect.” He then returned his gaze to the poster.

He stood like that until they left. After a minute of winding around security barriers and avoiding armed guards, they walked through the glass doors and into the grand lobby of the tower.

“There’s no one here,” Derrick said.

“I don’t think anyone can actually come inside, at least, not in the version of this building that we can walk into,” Arridon reasoned. “That’s the elevator.” He pointed at the bank of rectangular openings on one wall, each inset with two panels of bright steel doors.

“Yeah dude, I know what an elevator looks like,” Derrick said with a laugh.

“How would I know that?” Arridon mused as they walked. “You said you were from a moon. Maybe your moon has a spell preventing tall buildings.”

“Magic isn’t real where I’m from,” he replied.

“I think magic is real wherever gods can go, so, wherever we can go,” Arridon said as he pushed the button with the arrow pointing up.

A ding sounded, and the doors parted, revealing a luxurious square room, covered with crushed velvet, brass fittings, and dark, rich woods.

“Fancy,” Derrick observed.

“I don’t remember the elevator being like this when I came down,” Arridon said. “Weird.”

“Hit the button, wizard.”

“Which one? Oh, yeah that one.”

Arridon touched the round button at the very top of all the other white buttons. It was marked with a golden gear. The doors closed, and they felt the elevator rise, bringing them all the way to the top of the Shard, where the gods had built a gateway to everywhere.

“What did you say your sister’s name was?”

“Thistle. What was your sister’s name?”

“Shithead.”

“Really?”

He laughed. “No, not really. But we fight enough that I say it as much as her real name, Samantha. Mostly we call her Sam.”

“Is she pretty?” Arridon asked Derrick as they reached the closed wooden door at the end of the hallway running along a wall of glass windows. The view out into the city preparing for war was solemn and ominous. The boys ignored the helicopters and tanks below, and they were lucky enough to be unable to see the fleeing citizens as they scrambled to get to safety.

“How the hell should I know?”

“Objectively? Like, I know she’s your sister, and that makes her as appealing as a rusty fish hook, but if, like, you know, a friend were to be looking to meet a nice, pretty girl, would you recommend your sister?”

“Are you seriously asking me whether or not my missing sister, lost in time and space, is cute and single?”

Arridon sighed. “You’re right. I’m being an idiot.” He pulled the door open, and the two entered the clockwork chamber.

Bigger than possible at the narrow top of the Shard, the three story room was filled with stonework and alcoves, and statuesque carvings in marble enshrined the same idle, multi-ringed gear-sphere that formed the portal Arridon and Thistle had used back in the Endless City. Around it, inset in tables made of glass and gold-inlaid stone, were control panels of nearly every possible type. Buttons, knobs, joysticks, smooth touch-panels, telescopic viewers, and more. Hovering above these consoles were shimmering, silver rings, and all was lit by bright, shining light streaming in through large, star-shaped skylights set in the domed ceiling.

“What’s your sister like?”

Arridon laughed. “Beautiful—and fierce. Intelligent and kind. She’s funny. She’s the best thing about my entire family.”

“That’s not intimidating or anything.”

“Damned right it is. I’m so proud of her. I think you’d like her,” Arridon said.

“Sam’s kinda the same. I mean, she’s badass. We fight a lot, but I love her.”

“I’m excited to meet her. Let’s figure this contraption out.”

They approached the controls, filled with nervousness. The dizzying array of mistakes that could be made paralyzed both of them. Neither wanted to do the wrong thing, or open a door that might let the wrong thing through.

“Okay, Phil said it was intuitive,” Derrick said. He took a deep breath. “So what feels right?” The high school student walked at a measured pace between the consoles set in stone, looking at each of the myriad ways to change settings, and create some kind of situation with the