The Forgefires of God (The Cause Book 3) Read Online Free Page A
Author: Randall Farmer
They even call it a tag, these days.”
“So what do we do?” Gilgamesh said. “Create this oversized Affinity bond, then what? Get the households to tag each other? These are Transforms, not Nobles. How do we convince a household to create a tag? Who would we talk to? What is there to talk to?”
---
“You two are doing some large scale dross manipulation,” Connie said. “I can sense it. What are you two idiot Crows up to, anyway?”
“We’re trying to get your two households to work together better. I assume you understand the dangers associated with last night’s problem?” Sky said.
Connie nodded, as did Sylvie, Helen and a still pale and shaken Van. The two Crows had maneuvered them into the common laundry room, by way of manipulation and simple leverage of rank as household Major Transforms. Connie stood at one end of the warm room, and the three people from Gail’s household stood at the other, with the two Crows between them. Three of the dryers and two of the washing machines provided a background ambience of thumping, sloshing, and whirring.
“What we did was only the first step,” Gilgamesh said. “For the rest, we need your help.”
“What sort of help?” Connie said. She set her jaw and crossed her arms, and Gilgamesh wished that he hadn’t gotten sucked into this particular problem. There were far too many difficult women in his life already.
“The next step is for the households to tag each other,” Sky said, then spread his hands flamboyantly. “Wait, wait, I know what you’re about to say. You aren’t Major Transforms, you can’t tag anything. Yet, you do direct the household as a group.”
“This isn’t making any sense to me, at all,” Sylvie said. She shared Connie’s crossed arms and set jaw. One washing machine finished its drain cycle with a clunk and began to spin, vibrating loudly.
“What you’re suggesting is that we get our household superorganisms to tag each other,” Connie said. “What did you two do, anyway? Technically speaking.”
“We tagged each other, as shamans, and did the same symbolic dross manipulation that a Crow shaman does to stabilize a Noble household,” Gilgamesh said. “For the moment, at a low level, the households are one.”
“Although this is just an analogy, think of it as the households being one, now, at the dross level. It’s up to you to build it up at the juice level.”
“It sounds like magic,” Helen said, radiating distrust. Helen didn’t even need to cross her arms be forbidding. ‘Forbidding’ came so naturally to her that all she needed to do was stand there. A middle-aged holy terror with orange hair and blue eye shadow. As the only woman in Gail’s household who hadn’t minded last night’s antics, the sexual charge from last night made her even more forceful than normal. He suspected that if they pulled off this household merger she and her husband, Roger, would be angling for an invite to Inferno next Friday.
“Chemical magic, Helen,” Sky said. “What Gilgamesh and I did was reduce the number of odor cues in the Branton telling you that Gail’s household and Inferno are hostile tribes. Alas, this has a much bigger impact on a Noble than a Transform, but there is ample evidence – written up by Ann Chiron of Inferno – that Transforms react to a wide range of juice and dross based chemical cues, even if you can’t consciously smell them all. Household tagging will get rid of even more of these hostility-inducing odor cues.”
“Do it,” Van said. “If that’s what’s going on, you need to do this.” There, finally, stood the one person who wasn’t hostile.
Connie nodded. It was grudging, but it was a nod. “Any idea how , Sky?”
“Nobles, when they create a Barony, make pledges to defend each other to the death and then hug each other. In the presence of a Crow shaman keeping a particular mental image of
“So what do we do?” Gilgamesh said. “Create this oversized Affinity bond, then what? Get the households to tag each other? These are Transforms, not Nobles. How do we convince a household to create a tag? Who would we talk to? What is there to talk to?”
---
“You two are doing some large scale dross manipulation,” Connie said. “I can sense it. What are you two idiot Crows up to, anyway?”
“We’re trying to get your two households to work together better. I assume you understand the dangers associated with last night’s problem?” Sky said.
Connie nodded, as did Sylvie, Helen and a still pale and shaken Van. The two Crows had maneuvered them into the common laundry room, by way of manipulation and simple leverage of rank as household Major Transforms. Connie stood at one end of the warm room, and the three people from Gail’s household stood at the other, with the two Crows between them. Three of the dryers and two of the washing machines provided a background ambience of thumping, sloshing, and whirring.
“What we did was only the first step,” Gilgamesh said. “For the rest, we need your help.”
“What sort of help?” Connie said. She set her jaw and crossed her arms, and Gilgamesh wished that he hadn’t gotten sucked into this particular problem. There were far too many difficult women in his life already.
“The next step is for the households to tag each other,” Sky said, then spread his hands flamboyantly. “Wait, wait, I know what you’re about to say. You aren’t Major Transforms, you can’t tag anything. Yet, you do direct the household as a group.”
“This isn’t making any sense to me, at all,” Sylvie said. She shared Connie’s crossed arms and set jaw. One washing machine finished its drain cycle with a clunk and began to spin, vibrating loudly.
“What you’re suggesting is that we get our household superorganisms to tag each other,” Connie said. “What did you two do, anyway? Technically speaking.”
“We tagged each other, as shamans, and did the same symbolic dross manipulation that a Crow shaman does to stabilize a Noble household,” Gilgamesh said. “For the moment, at a low level, the households are one.”
“Although this is just an analogy, think of it as the households being one, now, at the dross level. It’s up to you to build it up at the juice level.”
“It sounds like magic,” Helen said, radiating distrust. Helen didn’t even need to cross her arms be forbidding. ‘Forbidding’ came so naturally to her that all she needed to do was stand there. A middle-aged holy terror with orange hair and blue eye shadow. As the only woman in Gail’s household who hadn’t minded last night’s antics, the sexual charge from last night made her even more forceful than normal. He suspected that if they pulled off this household merger she and her husband, Roger, would be angling for an invite to Inferno next Friday.
“Chemical magic, Helen,” Sky said. “What Gilgamesh and I did was reduce the number of odor cues in the Branton telling you that Gail’s household and Inferno are hostile tribes. Alas, this has a much bigger impact on a Noble than a Transform, but there is ample evidence – written up by Ann Chiron of Inferno – that Transforms react to a wide range of juice and dross based chemical cues, even if you can’t consciously smell them all. Household tagging will get rid of even more of these hostility-inducing odor cues.”
“Do it,” Van said. “If that’s what’s going on, you need to do this.” There, finally, stood the one person who wasn’t hostile.
Connie nodded. It was grudging, but it was a nod. “Any idea how , Sky?”
“Nobles, when they create a Barony, make pledges to defend each other to the death and then hug each other. In the presence of a Crow shaman keeping a particular mental image of
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