Fly On The Wall: Fairy Tales From A Misanthropic Universe, Vol. I Read online

  I hear them breathe, I smell them live. I feel where they lie asleep, and I feel how they stir and wake. I dread their obsessed glares and endless stares. They make me uncomfortable; they always make me feel as if I've done something quite wrong – despite all we do for them. What a strange visit this is. None of the council alerted me of an inspector, and they know the cost of lies too well. So be it, I'll deal with them later. A strange visit indeed, in an unapproved ship too – to think! I will make quite an entrance, that always impresses the feebleminded. They surely wonder where they are by now. What to do with them should they prove to be intruders, now that's a question. Such is life, I'll figure it out.

  Benjamin jerks awake violently as the wall falls away. What a rude awakening, he thinks as the reverberating shatter of the fallen crystal wall assaults his senses. He rubs his eyes, opening them to see Hugo standing next to him nude. Benjamin looks down and notices his own nudity. This doesn't bother him much, it is warm and he is comfortable, yet he still wonders where his suit is. What happened? Where are we? They were supposed to be at the center of the earth, but clearly they could not possibly be. Benjamin remembers the ship malfunctioning, it must have returned them to the surface automatically. Wait, no, the gas pockets, that's it. Are we dead? Benjamin's eyes grow winder, they begin to scan and absorb the absurd around him. He notices the beautiful creature, standing, waiting for their attention in the newly formed doorway. She gains it quick, neither Benjamin nor Hugo can look away, so they stare on, arrested by her beauty. She greets them in a strange drawl.

  “Howdy folks.”

  This is wrong, very wrong. “Hi,” Benjamin sheepishly responds. Suddenly more aware of his state of undress, he turns bright red and speeds to cover himself. He noticed a particularly large, flat gem on the floor and lunges for it, certain it would preserve his dignity. Unfortunately, it does not budge and he is left squatting and straining to pry it up, rocking back and forth, groaning, and feeling even more naked than before. It doesn't take long for him to desist, aware he has insufficient strength to shift the stone, he elects to cover himself with his palms instead, knowing full well what spectacle he had just put on.

  It takes a moment for her to understand what he is doing. She smirks, and ponders why humans are such shameful creatures. It doesn't matter, but her curiosity remains unsatisfied all the same. Hmm. She waits for him to be convinced that he has covered himself before proceeding, all the while trying to avert her gaze from an errant testicle. Only when smug satisfaction breaks out on his face does she complete her greeting.

  “So, I sure as heavens ain't sure what y'all doing down here. We don't usually receive guests, and when we do their visits are rather shorter, and always announced ahead of time. So now, what are y'all doing down here? It's mighty rude to drop by unannounced you know.” She almost sings the words. “I guess, since you're the first visitors we've had in a while, I'll take y'all on a lil' tour before I send you on your way, how's that sound?” The creature punctuates her words with a wink.

  Hugo opens his mouth to speak and promptly shuts it again, for the only words that came to his mind were still “How can she see?”. Benjamin is the first to respond coherently:

  “Yes, thank you, ma'am, that would be delightful” Although he wants to know where they are, their host is so kind that he cannot deny her offer, left he offend her. Her words swing back and forth through his mind, like a pendulum entrancing him. His gut tries to make him flee, but he Benjamin has not eaten in a great many hours so its efforts result only in a loud gurgle. The descent had taken them the best part of 48 hours, and they had brought only water and cola, as per their sponsorship agreements. How long had he been asleep for? Had they been drugged? Benjamin's mind remains shrouded in mysteries, but with difficulty and patience, he begins to slowly piece things back together again. The creature shifts her weight impatiently, waiting for them to approach. Hugo is but a few feet from Benjamin and his empty stomach gurgles in agreement with his. “If it would not be too bold, ma'am,” began Benjamin respectfully, “can you first tell us where we are, provide is with some food, and return our suits? Oh, and one more thing – how did we get here?” Hope resonates in his voice and bounces off the hard jeweled walls, the creature, however, seems unimpressed.

  “My! So many questions! All in due time my dear. I've got some questions for y'all too y'know. We really ain't used to unannounced guests. I'm afraid return of the suits, or of that vile liquid within, just ain't happenin' shug When we found you our scans determined that there were a number of potentially harmful pathogens on 'em, and in 'em. We had to….'dispose'…of the items.”

  Benjamin's face falls in dismay. She doesn't quite understand his anger, true it had been their property but those pathogens pose a great danger to the very survival of her species. Surely he could understand.

  “I know – I'll have my courtiers bring you some robes, we don't have much use for them here, but we keep them for guests – and the occasional ceremony too. I'll call for some food too, you must be famished, do accept my apologies. I'm a shockingly terrible host.” The creature remains in two minds about what to do with the trespassing twosome.

  “What do you mean have no use for –“ begins Benjamin.

  The offer of food makes Hugo snap to life, he interrupts, “YES!” he exclaims, half shouting. On hearing himself Hugo realizes he is much hungrier than he first thought, and moderates his tone. “Yes. Yes, sorry, I'm not me when I'm hungry. Yes please, I'm afraid we haven't had anything for a long time ma'am – if you are a ma'am. I'm afraid we've also been terribly rude. I am Dr. Hugo Heiss, this is Mr. Benjamin Richardson,” he says, gesturing, “are we where I think we are?” The tone of incredulity in his voice alone reveals his meaning, and her devilish smile is all the response he needs.

  She feels his confusion, it's worrisome, confused people do have a tendency to do things without thinking them over thoroughly. Surely, if they were here, they knew? No matter. It isn't as though they can go anywhere immediately. If either one tries she'll have them slaughtered immediately, but they'll cross that bridge if and when they get there. Most cannot resist her wily words.

  She beckons for food to be brought, and shortly after, a young couple appear in the doorway. Like most of her people, they have heavily wrinkled and sunken eyes, but they move with speed and youthful vigor. Their height is half her's, and three-quarters that of the one called Hugo's. They slink in from the corridor soon after with laden plates. Each platter bears a thick chunk of flesh, an intoxicating aroma coaxes the men and fills the jeweled room. The meat is a plain gray color, and next to it are two small pink towers of mush. She'd thought of offering them some wine, but then decided against it, it was much too earlier, and a little inappropriate. The creature watches them eat and smirks.

  Benjamin's sour expression warms fast when faced with proffered delicacies. Aromas waft through the air with incessant urgency, inviting him to eat, inviting him to turn into a vicious beast and sink his sharp teeth into the flesh, as so many years of evolution had made him capable of. The meat calls him ever closer. He knows not what it is but his rumbling stomach is unconcerned. His saliva flows freely, he swallows it with an audible gulp and sets to work on the place.

  Maybe he was wrong to have been upset, after all, they had provided lodging to them, and they were mere strangers. If the creature intended harm to them, then both he and Hugo would already be dead. A bemused Benjamin smiles between bites. Who would ever have thought the center of earth inhabited? His mind spun, the fame they'd gain would be a hundredfold what he'd thought. It didn't matter that they'd got rid of his suit. Not one bit, they were cheap, at least compared to the profits he would reap from his discovery!

  With each bite, Benjamin becomes more and more enthralled by the creature in front of him and the shimmering room in which he now shamelessly dined. Everything around him seems foreign, almost alien in nature. He simply has to know what this place is, and how they'd come upon it. He still can no
t wrap his head around the fact that they are at the centre of it all. It's impossible. It violates the very laws of physics which he'd held in such esteem. His stomach rumbles one final time as his bites slow.

  Hugo meanwhile tears into his own chunk like a wolverine. Suddenly he pauses and sighs at the very thought of meat. He can remember the purge to this day. Countless zoos of animals put to death to prevent infection. Their carcasses burned in great piles whose black smoke fogged the air. Now so many strips of brown murdered earth lay bare. He remembered how hard it had been as a child in the putrid scent saturated air. To this day, Hugo still sees and hears the burning, sizzling, and popping of burning carcasses. Grilled meat to him now resembles more a horrid funerary perfume than anything else. Despite vivid and varied mental pictures of mutilated giraffes, chopped up elephants & lifeless chimps, Hugo chews away, famished.

  The meat in front of him is unlike anything he has ever tasted. Its flavor is sweet, just sweet enough to cast honeyed phantoms on his tongue. Tender too, so much so that it resembles a petal in its delicate texture and bite. It was cooked to a medium rare perfection, still slightly pink in the center, beneath the gray. He always preferred his meat well done, it helped to shield his mind. But this, this is not meat...this is art. Hugo finds the mush exquisite too, airier than passing Sunday morning clouds, it floats down into his gullet. With each bite, he is more and more enchanted by the beautiful creature and her beautiful world. Aside from the lack of natural lights, and the busy walls, he quite likes it here. So he eats in time with Benjamin. They eat, and eat, and eat, having servants bring more helpings, much to the creature's delight. As their food babies reach maturity they can finally eat no more.

  “Wow, y'all were hungry,” says the creature. The creature beckons the men with her finger, so they go.

  “We haven't been very gracious guests,” blurts Benjamin as they walk down the orange corridor, clad in dull gray cloaks. “I'm sorry,” he continues, now sheepish, “I must beg your forgiveness I've one more prying question though – how do you see?”. There it is. The question which Hugo had been so avoiding, now wielded carelessly. Benjamin immediately realizes his mistake, shrinking into a slumped shell of a man. Hugo shoots crystal daggers at Benjamin for his bold rudeness, despite his own curiosity. The creatures eyes look dead into Benjamin's, chilling him to the marrow.

  “In the same way, darlin', that you're blind.” Cryptic. They continue down the corridor which seemed to be carved through solid crystal rock. It's composition changes every few hundred fathoms, and with that its color. Each color occupies an entirely distinct portion, yet neither Hugo nor Benjamin can perceive any joins between them. Fortunately, that color tunnel filters the sharp unnatural light, making it more colorful – and more tolerable. Deep tanzanite purple, shining green emerald, and hypnotizing ruby red, the walls switch from one to the other jarring Benjamin's vision.

  “Also, how can we possibly be at the center of the earth? This is supposed to be molten rock, or, hell, even dinosaurs, but now…uh…what are you again?” Benjamin's curiosity is unending.

  He's inquisitive, perhaps too much for his own good. Even so he's funny, always asking, always wondering. It's a shame, they need more like him up there. He's so naïve, so different. I wonder….no, actually that's silly. He couldn't accept our reality, he wouldn't. They never do, they're always too indoctrinated by the surface leaders. Ugh. The creature twitches her nose, supposing it neither here nor there. They're hers now, to do with as she pleases, which is exactly what the creature plans. “Well, don't you think you should ask a lady her name first?” she asks, coyly.

  “Oh goodness me!” Benjamin's jaw hangs aghast at his own rudeness and oversight. The matter had slipped his mind during their exquisite meal. Benjamin feels playful, he shrugs off the daggers shot through Hugo's eyes. “Well then, fair maiden, what is thy name?”

  “Maebë,” she responds. The creature does not feel as playful, the corner of her mouth twitches with scorn. And so, Hugo, Benjamin, and Maebë walk down to jewel corridor. After several hundred more fathoms they approach a magnificent arch, made of, as Maebë puts it, of “a single big hunk of what y'all call diamond.”

  “WOW!” Exclaims Hugo. Benjamin, however, is too shocked to say anything, he can already see the riches unfurl before him.

  Maebë begins her explanation, but Hugo has trouble following it. He simply can't bring himself to believe her wild words, they are too strange, too foreign too alien. Admittedly though, he never thought anything lived at the very centre of the earth, much less creatures as beautiful as her and much less ones with diamond archways. But that all is true. Perhaps her words are true.

  “You see, Verne was paid off. We needed to stay hidden, and misdirection is the easiest. A story here, a movie there, and suddenly all people believe that there is nothing more at the center of earth than dinosaurs, or, even more laughably, molten rock,” Maebë smiles, “sure it didn't fool people for long, and especially not the adults, but it kept children from poking their noses where they should not. That was our primary aim, for they were the ones who found us first.” Maebë pauses & purses her lips briefly. “Halley came close in 1690 with his hollow earth, but it was still quite a bit off, and thankfully nobody paid him any mind. Since then no others have managed to make any progress, not really anyway.” The relief in her words is clearly visible, almost as though she herself underwent the harrowing near-discovery. “Since then, your rulers have helped us hide ourselves. Our reality was always deemed too much, too harsh for the regular populace. Your rulers, and I mean pretty much everyone, from Mao, to Reagan, from Tsar Nicola, to H W Bush, from Khan to Cameron. They have all kept our secret strong, and I trust you will too.” She serves up no smile with those last words but instead stares them both down. “Oh,” she adds, “the Spaniards wished to expose us once, in the 190s. As y'all would say, we made sure to deal with that insurrection promptly.” Together they step into an immense cavern, the likes of which neither Hugo nor Benjamin had ever seen before. It is so big that it is a true world unto itself. The roof of the cavern they stand in forms a luminous, but gray rock sky. On it attached by vines of light, glowing cables of sorts, others like Maebë picked away at the roof, enlarging their world further.

  The noise of unknown machines create a constant highway like hum. Around them bizarre structures resembling crystals shards, like the buildings they knew too well reached out to the sky, but here daring truly to scrape it. Each gemstone spire rises from the ground in inspiring beauty, each wall is made of one gem or another, towers of green, pink, blue, and yellow surround them. The gems are quite clear, so Benjamin and Hugo can see well inside the great towers. Purposeful inclusions dot their faces from place to place, hiding certain rooms.

  “Welcome to our capital!” Exclaims Maebë cheerfully, “I'm sure you've noticed,” she continues, with pride hurrying her voice,” how beautiful it is. Each and every building before you is constructed of what your kind call 'gemstones' To teach you our ways in making them would take many years. Even to show you the manufacturing of the precursor by which we fashion the gems would take many months. I can tell y'all the principle of it if you're interested though, my nana came up with it.”

  Benjamin and Hugo would have been on the edge of their seats had they been sad, but they were not, so instead they stand nodding, battered by the gem dyed light. Their mouths hang in sheer awe at their surroundings.

  “We fuse millions of lil' gems together to form towering crystalline blocks wherever we need a new building built. We force inclusions to form where we want privacy, and otherwise sculpt the monoliths to out needs, and, of course, our tastes.” Maebë pauses, noticing Hugo's face which had drifted to the tall ceiling above. “We may not get much sun, but the atmosphere makes our land bright nonetheless, she adds, being sure to end on a majestic if minorly irked, tone. At that point, it dawns on both Hugo and Benjamin that Maebë is no simple guide but rather is likely to be a very important person in her wor
ld, one that likely ought not t be trifled with. “This way,” she says, in her perpetually perky drawl. She walks down a clear purple cobble road of pure amethyst. It is adorned on either side by wide topaz sidewalks. “We find that the best way to keep our existence a secret is to hide a little bit of truth in every lie, just to make it believable. For example, outside our system there is indeed some considerable heat and pressure. That's why we find so many seed gems, and why we learned to use them in the first place. This, for example,” she motions to another teal doorway, “this is very durable and very aesthetic, so it's a perfect material. Besides, as you can imagine, those being which you call trees are not very plentiful here. Historically we have been a much more metal based culture.”

  “Hugo, you're a geologist, what do you make of all this? Queries Benjamin, whose eyebrows nearly graze the cavern's ceiling.

  Hugo tuns to Benjamin and says, “Well...it has been posited that such things could, one day, be possible, but those were fanciful dreams...never anything serious. I must say, I am quite blown away by all of this. The technology to do this is light years ahead of what we have above. His head swivels like a record, trying to take in as much of the gleaming city and its stunning inhabitants as he can. “You must share this with us, it could save many!” The light reflects and refracts off and through the buildings and streets. It is so bright and so colorful that Hugo's very brain feels overwhelmed by the flood of stimulation. He rubs his eyes, hoping vainly it would help. It doesn't.

  “Y'all ain't figured it out yet, huh?” She asks derisively. The two men shake their head in unison. “Well, alright, have y'all heard of so-called 'mole-people'?” Her voice carries a particular intonation of disgust with the last couple of words. The men nod. “Well,” she continues, “that's what many others of your kind have called us for many years, quite hurtfully too I might add. It is true, we cannot see as you do, but we do not need to. We see light in a different way, indeed, we feel its pressure, we feel its shape and nature. It is true we will never, any of us, be able to view what you view. We will never perceive some aspects of the beauty of the world we have built. We have been told many times that it is of splendor unknown to man or beast. But y'all should make no mistake, we perceive beauty still. We are not men, we are not women, we are not human; we are who we are and that is all. That visible beauty which we cannot see does not bother us, for the beauty we see is invisible to you. Oh, and y'all should know, we feel, and we know things, things long forgotten by our kind. We see th-”