the philosophy you espoused the despicable reasoning of the Laz.”
“That’s okay,” the coed said. “I just want to get going.”
“No,” Used-to-be-Claude said. “You’re afraid of me the way you thought that uneducated people were fearful of the various deities of humanity. But now that you have seen the slightest expression of my power you are not only frightened, but there is also, harbored in your soul, hatred for what I represent.”
“So what?” Ronnie Bottoms complained. “Cain’t you just make her forget what she saw and let us get on with it?”
“I made a vow long ago, Friend Ronnie, that I would not interfere with the perceptions of other beings. I would do my best never to end their lives or control their actions or beliefs. I promised that I would make myself evident only in time of great need.”
“You didn’t need to save Lorraine or to let her bring me to you,” the backstreet brawler reasoned.
The Silver Box, looking out from the limited range of perception allowed to Claude Festerling, smiled broadly. “You are a philosopher in your own way, Friend Ronnie. Yes, I did involve myself with the pleas of our friend, and look what has happened? My love for you has released the greatest threat that has ever existed across the myriad expressions of being.”
“Whatevah,” Ronnie acceded. “Maybe I could see that. Maybe that’s how you feel. But destroying a whole planet is sure the fuck messin’ with others. That’s some serious mess right there.”
“Yes.” The personification of the Silver Box agreed with a judicious nod. “But the sliver of Inglo and I are one. It, he is my responsibility just as your hand is yours. What if after you slaughtered Lorraine, the police caught you and you claimed that it was your hand that had done it and not you?”
“They’d break both sides’a my jaws and never let me go again.”
“So it is with me. This, this Laz-sliver is my appendage. I must stop it, no matter the cost.”
“But you gonna kill billions’a people, man,” Ronnie argued with unfamiliar empathy brewing in his chest.
“Right now there are millions of microscopic life-forms crawling on your skin and in your hair, mites and viruses and many other creatures. If you take a shower, untold millions of them will die. So now that you have this knowledge, will you live the rest of your life in filth to protect them?”
“No, man, but them’s is just bugs.”
“And what are you to me?”
Ronnie stared at the old man who might have been his uncle or cousin or next-door neighbor. Now he was the representative of a being of unimaginable power; but still, Ronnie thought, This man is speaking the truth.
“What do you mean when you say that you love us?” Lorraine asked.
Used-to-be-Claude turned to the angry, shy, frightened, and very, very brave young woman and said, “I am as any other being. When I saw you struggle for your life, it made me understand what might have been, can never be. And when Friend Ronnie made the choice, in an instant, to save your life rather than let you go, I saw him through eyes that so respected you. This double knowledge increased my feeling all the more.”
“But you told Ronnie that we were just bugs to you,” she said, losing her anger and her fear for a moment.
“It is true,” Used-to-be-Claude said with a sad smile on his lips. “But I am also at one with all beings. And even omnipotence can feel unique love. I love you two every bit as much as I loathe Inglo.”
“But you just met us,” Lorraine reasoned.
“And I have known the Laz for billions of your years. Shouldn’t I understand them by now? Instead I nurse my hatred of them.”
“But if that’s true, why don’t you just go out there and get Ma Lin?” Lorraine asked, her voice now strong and clear. “You’re the one with all the power. Why don’t you just wave your hand and pull him back behind that door?”
“Because Inglo and I are so deeply intertwined that
“That’s okay,” the coed said. “I just want to get going.”
“No,” Used-to-be-Claude said. “You’re afraid of me the way you thought that uneducated people were fearful of the various deities of humanity. But now that you have seen the slightest expression of my power you are not only frightened, but there is also, harbored in your soul, hatred for what I represent.”
“So what?” Ronnie Bottoms complained. “Cain’t you just make her forget what she saw and let us get on with it?”
“I made a vow long ago, Friend Ronnie, that I would not interfere with the perceptions of other beings. I would do my best never to end their lives or control their actions or beliefs. I promised that I would make myself evident only in time of great need.”
“You didn’t need to save Lorraine or to let her bring me to you,” the backstreet brawler reasoned.
The Silver Box, looking out from the limited range of perception allowed to Claude Festerling, smiled broadly. “You are a philosopher in your own way, Friend Ronnie. Yes, I did involve myself with the pleas of our friend, and look what has happened? My love for you has released the greatest threat that has ever existed across the myriad expressions of being.”
“Whatevah,” Ronnie acceded. “Maybe I could see that. Maybe that’s how you feel. But destroying a whole planet is sure the fuck messin’ with others. That’s some serious mess right there.”
“Yes.” The personification of the Silver Box agreed with a judicious nod. “But the sliver of Inglo and I are one. It, he is my responsibility just as your hand is yours. What if after you slaughtered Lorraine, the police caught you and you claimed that it was your hand that had done it and not you?”
“They’d break both sides’a my jaws and never let me go again.”
“So it is with me. This, this Laz-sliver is my appendage. I must stop it, no matter the cost.”
“But you gonna kill billions’a people, man,” Ronnie argued with unfamiliar empathy brewing in his chest.
“Right now there are millions of microscopic life-forms crawling on your skin and in your hair, mites and viruses and many other creatures. If you take a shower, untold millions of them will die. So now that you have this knowledge, will you live the rest of your life in filth to protect them?”
“No, man, but them’s is just bugs.”
“And what are you to me?”
Ronnie stared at the old man who might have been his uncle or cousin or next-door neighbor. Now he was the representative of a being of unimaginable power; but still, Ronnie thought, This man is speaking the truth.
“What do you mean when you say that you love us?” Lorraine asked.
Used-to-be-Claude turned to the angry, shy, frightened, and very, very brave young woman and said, “I am as any other being. When I saw you struggle for your life, it made me understand what might have been, can never be. And when Friend Ronnie made the choice, in an instant, to save your life rather than let you go, I saw him through eyes that so respected you. This double knowledge increased my feeling all the more.”
“But you told Ronnie that we were just bugs to you,” she said, losing her anger and her fear for a moment.
“It is true,” Used-to-be-Claude said with a sad smile on his lips. “But I am also at one with all beings. And even omnipotence can feel unique love. I love you two every bit as much as I loathe Inglo.”
“But you just met us,” Lorraine reasoned.
“And I have known the Laz for billions of your years. Shouldn’t I understand them by now? Instead I nurse my hatred of them.”
“But if that’s true, why don’t you just go out there and get Ma Lin?” Lorraine asked, her voice now strong and clear. “You’re the one with all the power. Why don’t you just wave your hand and pull him back behind that door?”
“Because Inglo and I are so deeply intertwined that
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