Story: Wordspace, XIX

(Part I , XVIII , XX)

War looked gravely up at the roof of the Zone, and contemplated the truths of what he had just been told. Behind him, at the tea table, the other Destructives waited to see how their long unrequired leader would react.

"When we were exiled here, trapped by those placid predictable preservers of the status quo, we settled down and we didn't hate. We tried to escape - surely who wouldn't? - but the Zone was impregnable in its very lack of meaning. We settled, and now when we're needed, should we venture back out into the world?" War looked at the party behind him. "We left it all behind us. And...  What became of Change?" The last question was pointed directly at Club, who jumped at the sudden shift. "Why isn't he here? What happened to him?"

"I, uh, he hasn't been seen in time memorial. Not since the exile." Club was fazed and then recovered, as Mystery took up the response. "He is supposed to be in here with you."

"He has never been in here with us. Never."

"The reports say - "

"The reports are wrong. He's out there somewhere, but that's for another day. If you don't mind waiting around the side of this structure, we will take a democratic vote. Gentle words of the Zone, we must decide!"

Lies led Mystery and Club around the hut, and then examined them critically. "I suppose there's not been much debate out there in the Wordspace without us. Your skills are definitely shoddy."

"It seems as if many of the things we take for granted on the outside are dubious, or perhaps everything we're being told here is a pack of lies." Mystery directed the pointed look he had just learnt from War directly at his old mentor. "I'm not that shoddy."

"Perhaps, perhaps." Lies merely smiled. "It is odd that Change never made it in here. We used to play such games, with fantastical variable rules, and such incomprehensible outcomes! But he wasn't here when I came. In my forgetfulness I forgot to mention it."

"He could be anywhere. Or even more than anywhere, considering where we've been. However, he's not dead, as there has been no new Change to replace him, or so we're told." Mystery's syllables tightened. "All this doubt changes everything!"

"Don't worry, Boss, none of it bothers me. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it." Club was resolute and reliable, always and forever. Lies smiled.

A polite roar erupted from around the hut. The diminutive Shock scurried around, and motioned them to return. The full cohort of Destructives stood waiting for them, and determination seeped into the foundations beneath them, into the dome above them, and into the air around them.

The tea party was over.

More shall follow...