Chapter 50 of 74 · Book 6, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Chapter 50 — Homestead

Book: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride · Part: The Father · Previous: Chapter 49 — The Shepherd's House flyer · Next: Chapter 51 — Residuals · Floor: Floor 8 — The Ghosts of Earth · Series: the series

Opening

<Note added by Crawler Drakea.

Summary

'If you get the chance, don't hesitate. Not for one second.' (Drakea, 22nd) — North on the Panhead past midnight on Christmas morning, no pants, drizzle, no cars, helmeted ghosts that could knock him off. A gas station map and beef jerky; carols and eggnog in the chat; a Santa suit declined. Last Christmas: Bea in Yakima, Carl off work, video games with Donut in his lap, a stolen wonton — not lonely then; the loss is for the man here now. Asher; Mr Roth in the basement; Mrs Parsons on the first floor, widowed — 'I didn’t want to be alone. I regretted not bringing someone with me.' A bloodhound ghost, Lightning Lou, left as a guard dog for a closed Christmas; a collar knocked off by a hand passing through: 'Merry Christmas, buddy.' The shelter at 4 AM among fruit-packing plants: nothing on the map, Ping, Tripper, Find Crawler — truly alone, views spiked. Graffiti: gang squiggles, penises, Piglet with a peace sign, 'The staff here sux cock' — and, under 'Sniff Vagina', old runny red paint in Syndicate Standard: 'Look for me at breakfast every morning. I wear the red hat with the flaps. Coffee then speech.' Glass kicked in past a clerk watching boxing anime; rows of cots, grey blankets, duct-taped tubs, Lysol — the one night Carl spent in a shelter, Seattle, the night after his eighteenth birthday; a man in a suit, teenagers; a cross; the smell of breakfast. He sleeps, and wakes to Grandma Got Run Over. Messages: 'EGGNOG IS DISGUSZITI'; 'I found his hat on the ground after the party. I have it. He was a jerk, but I kinda like it'; Mordecai: 'Be careful, kid'; Katia the same; Louis: Donut passed out drunk, her first drink since the player-killer skull, Zev zapped in to whisper with Mordecai and Katia; Zev: the AI insists nobody interfere with this or its feed, leaked the showrunners' internal debate into the main feed, the real Syndicate council in a tizzy with members on planet locked out — 'This obviously has something to do with the Residuals, which means it's probably going to be a stupid non-event.' 'What the hell is a Residual?' 'I am forbidden from telling you. I think you're about to find out.' The dream: 'Never stare into the blinding eye of the Bedlam Bride.' 6 AM, cots away, tables out; a man of seventy, Asian, layers of flannel, a bright-red trapper hat; a blue IKEA bag and sugar packets from his tub (which Carl takes); a recorded preacher turned down. Coffee, sugar, a sip. 'It is time' He turns and looks at Carl. 'Nothing like coffee to wake your ass up.'

Characters

• Carl — Rides alone, regrets it, reads Syndicate Standard on a wall, is greeted by a ghost.
• Paulie — Seventy, flannel, a trapper hat; 'Coffee then speech.'
• Zev — Residuals: forbidden to explain.
• Princess Donut — Drunk for the first time since the skull; keeps a hat found after the party ('He was a jerk').
• Louis and Firas — 'I hope you're okay.'
• Mordecai — 'Be careful, kid.'
• Lightning Lou — A bloodhound left alone on Christmas.

Locations

• Homestead — A gas station, a graffiti-covered shelter, a room of cots.

Motifs

• The Residuals — A word Zev cannot define; a message in Syndicate Standard painted long ago.
• The Open Intellect Pacifist Action Network — Its whole effort pointing at one breakfast.
• The ghosts of Earth — Lightning Lou; the man in the suit; a world ending in a week.
• Carl's family — A shelter at eighteen; the wonton; the neighbours he never thought about.
• The System AI — Leaking the showrunners' debates; insisting on no interference.
• The Syndicate — The real council, on planet, locked out.
• Loneliness — 'I didn't want to be alone.'