The Woman Who Died a Lot

“And do they always opt to keep them?”

She smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Always.”

36. Friday: Morning

The GSD has a fairly elastic set of rules, as it endeavors to cater to all faith tastes, from those who enjoy the dressing up and high theater to those who rarely, if ever, attend church. The GSD’s ten Bastions are the central pillars of the church, and it is prescribed that everyone undertake “at least four” of the Bastions every day. How one undertakes this is up to personal choice. The Third Bastion, “Pause and Consider,” can take less than a second or over an hour, depending upon taste. The Seventh Bastion, “Moment of Levity,” is often considered one of the most important.

David Twiglet,

The Unification of Man

My eyes flickered open, and I rolled over. I was lying in bed and could feel Landen’s warm body beside me. I glanced at the clock. It was just past seven, and I’d not slept better for weeks. The room was dark, and outside I could hear the faint hooting of an immature tawny owl. Beyond this was the distant murmur of the M4, and as I stared into the darkness, I heard the distinctive hum of the induction motors as a Skyrail car moved through the village below, doubtless taking early risers into work. I looked across at Landen and put out an exploratory hand. He rolled over, placed his hand on my stomach, moved it up, then down—and was out of bed within about an eighth of a second with a shriek of alarm.

“What the . . . ?” I cried, and then realized. I didn’t know what a Tawny Owl would have sounded like, and I’d have to have superhuman hearing to detect the hum of a Skyrail a mile away. But then I wasn’t me. I lifted the sheets and had a look. Something was missing. I’d been replaced again.

“I thought I was feeling a little too good,” I said in a resigned manner, jumping out of bed and looking around the bedroom.

“You won’t find what you’re missing by looking around,” said Landen, rolling a sock onto his stump and reaching for his leg.

“I’m not looking for that,” I said, “I’m looking for me.”

I checked the closet, the bathroom, then the upstairs corridor, the linen cupboard, and eventually I found myself in the guest bedroom, tucked up snug and warm with a sandwich and a glass of water in case I was hungry or thirsty when my tenure in this body was up. I’d seen myself like this before, up at Booktastic, but this time there was more opportunity to stare. I looked different from how I’d imagined, not simply because I usually saw myself reversed in a mirror but because there was something ineffably alien about seeing oneself directly.

“I look kind of peaceful, don’t I?”

“Very,” said Landen, who had been assisting in the search, “but then I’m used to seeing you like this.”

“Asleep?”

“No—out of your head.” He laughed.

“Very funny.”

“In all seriousness,” he said, “you’re not going to kill me or anything, are you?”

“If I’d wanted to, I’d have done it already,” I replied, “as you slept. No, Krantz is delivering these Day Players to help us defeat Jack.”

“Glad to hear it. Defeat him doing what, exactly?”

“Okay, to find out what he’s doing and then defeat him.”

We stared for a few moments more at the real me. “I’m going to make some breakfast,” said Landen. “I know you don’t eat, but do you drink?”

“Aside from respiration,” I said, not knowing how I knew, “I’m totally self-contained.”

“Well, I’m not,” he said, and went downstairs to make some coffee.

I told him I needed to check something out and walked outside, then down the gravel path in the early-morning light. There wasn’t a breath of wind in the air. Everything seemed somehow peaceful, even though the day did not portend well for a number of reasons, an inevitable murder being one of them and a cleansing pillar of fire the other.