Eden's Jester Read Online Free Page B

Eden's Jester
Book: Eden's Jester Read Online Free
Author: Ty Beltramo
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watch. Why does Death carry a watch? And how would I know that he would ante up when I cashed in? He’d never owed me before. Deja vu tapped on my shoulder. I ignored it, too.
    “Okay. What’s the gig?” I said.
    “There is a certain boat that I need sunk. Total wreckage. No survivors, of course.”
    I see. So Death wanted me to kill for him. No problem.
    “Say again?”
    “Dead, Elson. I need you to kill them for me.”
    I sipped my coffee and blinked hard a few times. That little voice was now a shrill wail, warning me that the boogie man was right on the other side of the table. But unusual experiences captured my attention like flies on honey. I couldn’t walk away from this for anything. But it was too strange.
    “Excuse me, but isn’t that your job?”
    “Let’s just say I can’t be involved. I’ll be far away.” He looked at his watch again. That was just creepy.
    “You need an alibi? Death needs an alibi for killing people? I don’t get it,” I said.  
    My understanding of the universe, feeble as it was, became crippled.
    “Trade secret. Will you do it?”
    “You know, there must be a myriad of Engineers out there. A multitude. Why do you come to me? I can’t be the best you’ve got to work with.”
    Death sighed. More creepy. “Because Elson, you’re unique, and you always come through.”
    “Really, Death. I’m a mediocre Engineer without a cause. I don’t get it.”
    “Okay Elson, I’ll spell it out. Not a single Discipline will admit that you’re a practitioner or member of their specialty. No domain claims you as a citizen. No one wants to admit they know you. And yet, you somehow turn up at every Gathering and no prince has ever successfully kept you out of, or in, his domain. Half of them think you’re a Designer in disguise and the other half think you’re retarded. And neither side of the Schism, neither Law nor Chaos, admits you’re working with them.  
    “Remember that time you pretended to be the Angel of the Lord in the desert? How’d that work out? Even today no one can say for certain whether it served Law or Chaos, and no one has a clue why you did it.  
    “Law or Chaos, genius or retard, you’re the perfect agent. What’s not to get? Besides, I don’t talk to many Engineers. It’s bad for business.”
    Ah. “And what do you think about me?” I asked.
    “Retarded, but effective. Will you do it?”
    I thought it over while Death again checked the time. Death had never led me astray. He generally spoke straight, and he could be a handy ally.  
    “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll sink your boat if you find and eliminate Aeson’s key operatives in North America.”
    Death covered his mouth, failing to hide a smile. Whatever amused him escaped me.
    “Still messing with Aeson? Doesn’t that get old?”
    “Nope.”
    “I get it. Okay. I’ll find ‘em and reap ‘em.”
    “And make it messy, if you please.”
    “Messy? You mean like lots of blood messy or head exploding on the street corner messy?”
    “The latter. Please.”
    He got up. “No problem. I’ll have to get a new robe, I guess. That kind of stuff never comes out. You better get moving. My boat sinks in ten minutes.”
    “Ten minutes? That’s a bit tight, isn’t it?”  
    He was already gone. A yellow sticky was on the table, with a ship’s name and location.  
    Oh, well. Time to go.

    Movement is all about relocating the soul. This is more complicated than one might think. The soul isn’t matter, so you can’t push it. It isn’t energy, so you can’t direct it. It’s more of an imprint, a watermark on the energy and matter in a particular location; as a circuit board isn’t energy, but gives energy meaning. The imprint itself has no mass, but it can surf waves of energy very effectively.  
    This is how all Engineers move from place to place. We find some energy traveling in the desired direction and hitch a ride. This has important implications on how our movements are restricted,

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