Chapter 91 of 99 · Book 8, A Parade of Horribles

Chapter 91 — The horribles

Book: A Parade of Horribles · Part: Horrible Two · Previous: Chapter 90 — The Vengeance float; Carl leaves the party · Next: Chapter 92 — Chaco on Lamashtu; the AI's history in four parts; Vengeance · Floor: Floor 11 — A Parade of Horribles · Series: the series

Opening

“What the hell is this?” I muttered as our giant procession moved out into the parade rout

Summary

The route is a yellow-brick road with knee-high fog on either side, lined ten deep by thousands of silent spectators: human or humanlike, adults, children and babies, all in filthy earth-brown rags as if dug up, all in oversized bulbous masks — goblins, trolls, demons, Carnival caricatures made sinister — pressed so tight their heads tilt. There is no music. The procession lines up with Carl's float last; the undecorated Reaver troop transport hovers near the back; the huge arena is visible at the end. The light is a shadowless dusky glow, 'like we were standing in a painting'.

Carl examines a bone-white girl of about eight in a green goblin mask: A Horrible, Level X, a non-combatant who is not really here because she no longer exists; under the mask is what some call a Primal. She is a memory from the Eulogist — no face remembered, an anonymous inkling, a flash of what the Primals had before they ascended to post-physical form, a small sample of what once was. The voice of the description wonders whether, had it been singular, it would have had a normal life, or sided with the Apothecary and accepted what was. Donut asks whether Carl understood any of it; he says he gets it now. A stuttering system message announces that the parade will start once the pacemaker and his mount are in position.

Characters

• Carl — 'I did, actually […] I get it now.'
• Princess Donut — 'I hope they appreciate how we put all of this together in just ninety minutes.'
• Mongo — Unsettled by the masks.
• Garret — Rend looks up, and Carl calls, 'Listen to Donut.'
• Grigori the Placid — On Gonk.
• Rosetta Thagra — On Onikuma.
• Elle McGibbons — 'These people are freaking me out.'
• Florin — 'Suddenly I’m not so happy to be at the front.'
• The System AI — 'I am her. And she is me […] there is no coming back from what we did.'

Locations

• The parade route — A yellow-brick road; thousands masked and dug-up in the fog; the arena at the end.

Motifs

• The Parade of Horribles — The horribles: 'She’s not really here because she no longer exists.'
• Primal engines — Under the mask, a Primal.
• The Eulogist — A memory from the Eulogist.
• The Krakaren — 'Would I have sided with the Apothecary?'
• The AI's confessions — 'I never had a name.'