diff --git a/marsh/book.pdf b/marsh/book.pdf index 3700c14..77ab853 100644 Binary files a/marsh/book.pdf and b/marsh/book.pdf differ diff --git a/marsh/book.tex b/marsh/book.tex index d4ed65b..f0d7a3b 100644 --- a/marsh/book.tex +++ b/marsh/book.tex @@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ \cftaddtitleline{toc}{part}{\hspace{0.5\textwidth-2em}\TitleFont\huge Marsh}{} \addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Marsh — A Novel} \cftaddtitleline{toc}{section}{\itshape Madison Rye Progress}{} + \cftaddtitleline{toc}{section}{\itshape with contributions from Samantha Yule Fireheart}{} \begin{center} \TitleFont\huge{Madison Rye Progress} @@ -208,6 +209,13 @@ \chapter*{Sadie Amara — 2401} \input{stories/home-from-the-game} + \cleartoverso + \thispagestyle{empty} + \story{The Party at the End of the World}{Krzysztof “Tomash” Drewniak} + \markboth{The Party at the End of the World}{Krzysztof “Tomash” Drewniak} + \chapter*{Scout at The Party V — 2401} + \input{stories/party} + \cleartoverso \thispagestyle{empty} \story{A Well-Trained Eye}{Andréa C. Mason} diff --git a/marsh/content/afterword.tex b/marsh/content/afterword.tex index 4e25461..a5fd8c1 100644 --- a/marsh/content/afterword.tex +++ b/marsh/content/afterword.tex @@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Madison Rye Progress with contributions from Samantha Yule Fireheart Nat Mcardle-Mott-Merrifield and Sarah Bloden \item[``Millwright''] Andréa C. Mason -\item[``Sentences''] +\item[``The Party at the End of the World'' and ``Sentences''] Krzysztof ``Tomash'' Drewniak \end{description} diff --git a/marsh/includes/copyright.tex b/marsh/includes/copyright.tex index 4ec302d..529745b 100644 --- a/marsh/includes/copyright.tex +++ b/marsh/includes/copyright.tex @@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ ISBN: \ISBN \textit{Marsh} -Cover \copyright\ 2024, Iris Jay --- irisjay.net +Cover \copyright\ 2025, Iris Jay --- irisjay.net \Edition\ Edition, \Year. All rights reserved. diff --git a/marsh/includes/variables.tex b/marsh/includes/variables.tex index 161bded..8f4e95e 100644 --- a/marsh/includes/variables.tex +++ b/marsh/includes/variables.tex @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ \def\Edition{First} \def\EditionsList{10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1} -\def\Year{2023} +\def\Year{2025} \def\ISBN{XXX-X-XXXXXX-XX-X} diff --git a/marsh/stories/party.tex b/marsh/stories/party.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e28d7c --- /dev/null +++ b/marsh/stories/party.tex @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ +The Party stumbled at the touch of apocalypse. + +One of the System's hurricanes of experience, one of those storms of people and food and music and sex and strange drugs and yet stranger shared sensations passed around and so much more, skipped a beat at the turn of the century. + +People noticed different things: some of those around them disappearing, that New Year's Eve 275 had suddenly become 277, a cocladist they couldn't reach, a friend checking if they were alive. All these glitches and oddities rippled out through The Party in an explosion of confusion. Many Party-goers hopped out to see to the world, some for the first time in years or even decades. + +Some were jarred out of the rhythm of their life. Scout At The Party Ⅴ, who, like the previous Scouts At The Party, was simply a dog, forked to take up its down-tree's bipedal form and mantle of systech. He could tell that he needed to do more than enjoy pets and snacks right now. That was not a comfortable thought for a Party animal, but Scout still felt it had some residual duty to its world. + +The Party kept going despite all this. This particular The Party had put itself in a desert to ring in the new century under the stars. Now, many people were summoning tents, wanting to stay here where information might come \ldots{} and to dance through the uncertainty. + +If the world was ending, as many feared, what else was there to do than party through it? + +The Party was, for a time, subdued. It was like a festival where a major act was late. Everyone who stayed did their best to have fun, to enjoy what entertainment they had (and they had plenty still—if nothing else, all manner of ``it's the 25th century!'' plans could still go on), while glancing around and wondering what had gone wrong. What news? What happens next? Where's the big event? + +It took several days for that news to arrive. The Party had picked up steam again by then, and sentiment was building for the idea that these glitches or whatever were future us's problem and we should go find a new place, though no one was sure where. All those motions melted away suddenly in a rush of ``Check System General News'' and ``Holy shit.'' and ``No, that \ldots{} really? The fuck?'' and ``Dreamer's \emph{ears}, no!''. + +It wasn't a rumor anymore. There'd been an attack. Deliberate crashing of the System. About 1\% lost. + +The apocalypse had properly arrived. + +The Party didn't stop. + +An idea radiated, person to person, mind to mind. A small twist on something they'd missed out on—no, been robbed of—some days ago, or perhaps a year ago, and an outlet for the need for the new, the different, that had built up within The Party during the days of hesitation. + +So, the tents disappeared, stages vanished, and the desert was loosely cleaned up. Then, in a rough mob, leaving a few stragglers behind as always, The Party hopped into an AVEC stage. + +The stage expanded as they came. Less a stage now, more a square, a stadium, the essence of a gathered crowd. Video pickup pointed at many of the attendees individually and, as if from a news helicopter, at the whole lot of them. The stage kept growing as word got out to regulars who'd tapped out to work or mourn or seek answers, but who wouldn't want to miss this. + +Then, the calls began. To who? To everyone anyone could think of, to family, to old friends, to reporters. Who didn't matter, exactly, just that people phys-side were present. Were invited to this. + +Soon, the flood of new connections and incoming instances reduced to a trickle. The grand conference call was properly wrangled by then, and had been massaged to ensure that the intent of the callers came through without overwhelming the System's link to Earth with everyone getting millions of individual perspectives on the action. + +A near-silence fell over The Party briefly, subsuming the earlier wisps of catching up or ``You're alive!'' or introducing friends that had been scattered throughout the crowd. Then, with their only cue being that someone else was going for it, The Party sang. They sang with human voices, both those that reflected what their owners had uploaded with and those that had been tuned and tweaked relentlessly. They sang through muzzles that warped each syllable. They sang with intentionally poor speech synthesizers. \emph{They sang in italics, somehow, those few who had discovered the trick to it, even if it wasn't noticeable here.} They weren't in tune and were barely in time, but it didn't matter. + +This was a roar, a protest, a reclamation. + +\begin{quote} + Should auld acquaintance be forgot,\\ + and never brought to mind? \ldots{} +\end{quote} + +The Party would have its midnight, and to hell with anyone who stood in their way. + +Many from phys-side joined in once the idea had filtered through surprise and light-lag. And so, at the end, The Party stood as ``For auld lang syne'' echoed back from the Earth below. + +Glasses appeared in hands, paws, mechanical pincers, anything that could hold them and many things that couldn't, while the room waited to see what was next. Attention drifted to the centaur woman who'd floated this plan first and so had the dubious honor of being in charge for a moment. + +``I'm not giving a whole speech,'' she declared, her words echoed by retransmission and by expectation. ``You've seen the news or you haven't. I've got only one thing to say: + +``The Party. Doesn't. Fucking. Stop!'' She stomped a hoof for beat and emphasis. + +Cheers. Toasts to the future, the past, absent friends, present friends, anything, everything. And then, there before the eyes of anyone who hung around to watch, The Party picked itself right back up. + +The Party never stops. Not even for the end of the world. diff --git a/marsh/stories/toward-eternity.tex b/marsh/stories/toward-eternity.tex index 997790b..bffad1c 100644 --- a/marsh/stories/toward-eternity.tex +++ b/marsh/stories/toward-eternity.tex @@ -1,7 +1,3 @@ -Toward Eternity - -by Thomas ``Faux'' Steele - Aurélien Delacroix leaned back on the cracked leather barstool and interlaced their fingers, claw-tips painted an eye-catching sapphire that matched their majestic crest. Tapping a cigarette out of a crumpled packet of Gauloises---also blue---they tucked it into their beak but left it unlit. ``Let's start with a name and go from there, shall we?'' ``Gaëlle,'' the Persian leopard replied, golden eyes tracing the curves of the blue jay's deep purple suit. The corner of her muzzle curled into a slight frown as she took a seat, the curves of her dress cascading down her lithe body like turbid water. A choker set with fire opals like translucent magma adorned her throat. ``Of the Khayyamzadeh Clade. I've heard that you fancy yourself a detective, Monsieur Delacroix.'' @@ -12,7 +8,7 @@ Gaëlle considered Aurélien for a long moment, her manicured claws sinking into ``Is this related to the Century Attack?'' A lazy wisp of smoke rolled out of the blue jay's beak as they slowly exhaled. The ember of their cigarette gave their amethyst eyeshadow an iridescent glow. ``I imagine you've already checked the clade listing.'' -``Naturally.'' Gaëlle sighed, her shoulders slumping. ``I expected there to be casualties after they announced that the cause was Contraproprioceptive Virus. I just didn't expect the losses to have hit within my clade,'' the leopard murmured, her paw instinctively batting at a silver pendant in the form of an art nouveau key suspended from a dainty chain around her neck. ``Did you uh\ldots lose---'' +``Naturally.'' Gaëlle sighed, her shoulders slumping. ``I expected there to be casualties after they announced that the cause was Contraproprioceptive Virus. I just didn't expect the losses to have hit within my clade,'' the leopard murmured, her paw instinctively batting at a silver pendant in the form of an art nouveau key suspended from a dainty chain around her neck. ``Did you uh\ldots lose--'' ``No. I'm technically part of a clade, but''---Aurélien took another puff as they swirled a half-empty glass of Armagnac and watched the amber droplets dance against the crystal---``we all seem to be a bit drunk on the liquor of solitude these days.'' @@ -20,7 +16,7 @@ Gaëlle considered Aurélien for a long moment, her manicured claws sinking into ``Then tell me more about the one that you're hunting for.'' A mournful saxophone rose above the steady drone of conversation that echoed off the cove ceiling above them. ``Anything that might help me identify an up-tree instance.'' -``Her name was Céleste,'' Gaëlle began, claws scratching lightly against the weathered mahogany bar of the Sombres Reflets speakeasy. ``A lynx. Reddish fur, beautiful emerald eyes, and a grin just a bit off-kilter. She was---'' the leopard's voice hitched---``she was not our clade's root instance, but she was very close, much closer than I am.'' +``Her name was Céleste,'' Gaëlle began, claws scratching lightly against the weathered mahogany bar of the Sombres Reflets speakeasy. ``A lynx. Reddish fur, beautiful emerald eyes, and a grin just a bit off-kilter. She was--'' The leopard's voice hitched. ``She was not our clade's root instance, but she was very close, much closer than I am.'' ``You sound like you could use a drink. Bartender!'' Aurélien called, their voice slicing through the smoky air. A moment later, a handsome human with a well-trimmed mustache---part of the sim---stepped forward, chromed cocktail shaker in his white-gloved hand. @@ -38,11 +34,11 @@ The bartender plucked a bottle from the top shelf, pouring precisely the request ``You had no way of knowing,'' Aurélien replied. The smoke of their cigarette curled lazily upward, contributing to a haze that muted the light thrown by the solitary incandescent bulb above them. ``No one predicted that phys-side would lash out at the System with such violence outside of the darkest sims birthed from conspiratorial delirium.'' -``There was this...old playground on the sim where the core of my clade still lives. Céleste loved it there.'' Gaëlle stared vacantly down into her whiskey, her sinuous tail twitching restlessly against the tarnished brass footrest. ``I'd join her there at the same time every week and we'd sit on the swings and reminisce until we ran out of memories or mimosa, whichever came first.'' +``There was this\ldots{}old playground on the sim where the core of my clade still lives. Céleste loved it there.'' Gaëlle stared vacantly down into her whiskey, her sinuous tail twitching restlessly against the tarnished brass footrest. ``I'd join her there at the same time every week and we'd sit on the swings and reminisce until we ran out of memories or mimosa, whichever came first.'' ``I assume this new instance wasn't there when the appointed hour arrived?'' The ember on Aurélien's cigarette glowed brighter as they took a contriving puff. -``No,'' the leopard replied with a sigh. ``And the clade listing wasn't of much help. I suspect that the new instance hasn't quit, but I don't have access---'' Gaëlle's voice trailed off, her fingers tracing aimless patterns on the mahogany bar. +``No,'' the leopard replied with a sigh. ``And the clade listing wasn't of much help. I suspect that the new instance hasn't quit, but I don't have access--'' Gaëlle's voice trailed off, her fingers tracing aimless patterns on the mahogany bar. ``Those damned privacy settings,'' Aurélien murmured, offering a sympathetic nod. ``Useful at times but\ldots also occasionally frustrating.'' @@ -62,7 +58,7 @@ Aurélien gave her a curt nod before tipping back the full glass of Armagnac in ``I'll find her.'' The door swung shut behind them, the building's weathered shutters rattling in the howling wind. Sipping on her whisky, Gaëlle watched the blue jay's blocky figure disappear into the cityscape until it was swallowed entirely by sheets of bitter rain. -\# +\secdiv If the atmosphere in the Sombres Reflets was \emph{The Maltese Falcon}, then the Government Club was \emph{Brick and Mirror}. Aurélien stepped onto a cobblestone street lined with neatly-trimmed groves of Persian cypress trees and slowly exhaled. Dead ahead, a three-story building with a majestic art deco façade was impossible to miss, its emerald green and gold details accented by Kashan tilework. The gated archway that separated it from the street was flanked by two marble cheetahs, each bearing a gleaming torch of sapphire flame. @@ -118,7 +114,7 @@ Plucking one of the pomegranate arils free, the blue jay rolled it between their Sampling the pomegranate, Aurélien appreciated the burst of sweet-tart flavor that brushed across their tongue like the tip of a \emph{billet doux}. ``And yet you've chosen to remain impartial anyway?'' -The Zamburak waved his paw and the elaborate murals adorning the ceiling faded away to reveal a cosmos stretched out like a silken canvas, punctuated by radiant stars and swirling nebulae. His manicured claws traced an absent pattern on the surface of his goblet while he gazed up at the heavens. ``The universe doesn't favor a quark over a lepton, so why should I favor one co-cladist over another?'' +The Zamburak waved his paw and the elaborate murals adorning the ceiling faded away to reveal a cosmos stretched out like a silken canvas, punctuated by radiant stars and swirling nebulae. His manicured claws traced an absent pattern on the surface of his goblet while he gazed up at the heavens. ``The universe doesn't favor a quark over a lepton, so why should I favor one cocladist over another?'' ``Mrm\ldots I prefer to shape the world around me rather than gaze at the heavens,'' Aurélien replied. ``And for that, I need information.'' @@ -146,7 +142,7 @@ Parting their beak, Aurélien drew a quick breath as they narrowly dodged anothe ``I would have thought that you'd know the answer already,'' the cheetah replied smoothly, launching himself onto the table with Aurélien. The wood creaked under their combined weight but held fast. ``The same way one listens to whispers in the wind or the rustling of leaves.'' -The Zamburak's shamshir whizzed past, barely an inch away from Aurélien's beak. The blue jay stumbled backwards and quickly regained their footing as they were simultaneously struck by inspiration. ``Or the language of two co-cladists sitting together in an empty playground, saying nothing and yet everything to each other at the same moment.'' Aurélien finished. +The Zamburak's shamshir whizzed past, barely an inch away from Aurélien's beak. The blue jay stumbled backwards and quickly regained their footing as they were simultaneously struck by inspiration. ``Or the language of two cocladists sitting together in an empty playground, saying nothing and yet everything to each other at the same moment.'' Aurélien finished. ``Very good.'' The Zamburak's voice carried a hint of approval. The cheetah flashed a pair of gold-capped canines as he smiled. Aurélien moved with renewed vigor, sweat dripping from their forefeathers as they used their superior agility to keep the Zamburak off-balance. @@ -162,7 +158,7 @@ Céleste's fork became clearer in their mind; no longer an abstract notion but a ``It's not in a different sim, but\ldots I think I know just the place,'' the Zamburak replied with a knowing smile. With a swift movement, he closed the distance between them and slipped under the blue jay's guard. Aurélien's \emph{shamshir} flew from their grip as they were viscerally ejected from the Government Club. ``\emph{Safar khosh begzared!}'' -\# +\secdiv Aurélien collapsed backward onto an unspoiled blanket of powdery snow which almost instantly soaked through the thin cotton of their \emph{gandoura}. Rolling their eyes, the blue jay forked into a winter-appropriate outfit, swapping the lightweight tunic for a well-insulated down jacket and sturdy snow pants. A fierce wind stirred their plumage, nipping at the slight gaps between the feathers on their cheeks. @@ -218,7 +214,7 @@ The lynx nodded, her eyes briefly gleaming with distilled starlight. ``So, what Aurélien peered down into the dregs of their tea, scanning for omens in the waterlogged leaves. The hisses and pops of the dying fire punctuated the silence between them. ``I was only hired to find you,'' they murmured, noting what appeared to be the silhouette of a mushroom as they set their now empty cup down. ``What happens next is not up to me.'' -``\emph{C'est la vie},'' Céleste quipped, pushing herself off the chair. Her tail swished behind her as she moved, tracing patterns against the checkerboard pattern of her flannel lounge pants. Squatting beside the hearth, she casually dropped another log onto the pile with a resounding \emph{thu-clack}. ``We're always beholden to the decisions of others, whether they be friends, lovers, or co-cladists. Perhaps I just wanted a taste of living for myself, at least for a little while.'' +``\emph{C'est la vie},'' Céleste quipped, pushing herself off the chair. Her tail swished behind her as she moved, tracing patterns against the checkerboard pattern of her flannel lounge pants. Squatting beside the hearth, she casually dropped another log onto the pile with a resounding \emph{thu-clack}. ``We're always beholden to the decisions of others, whether they be friends, lovers, or cocladists. Perhaps I just wanted a taste of living for myself, at least for a little while.'' ``And now?'' Aurélien asked. @@ -228,9 +224,9 @@ Aurélien peered down into the dregs of their tea, scanning for omens in the wat ``Off so soon? I hope that I didn't chase you away,'' the lynx murmured. ``Our little discussion was just starting to get interesting.'' -``Not at all,'' Aurélien assured her while deftly slipping on their jacket. Their thoughts drifted to their clade, long scattered to the winds. Perhaps it might be time to reach out, if only to have an excuse to sample an unfamiliar haunt. ``But, if star-gazing ever gets a bit lonely---'' +``Not at all,'' Aurélien assured her while deftly slipping on their jacket. Their thoughts drifted to their clade, long scattered to the winds. Perhaps it might be time to reach out, if only to have an excuse to sample an unfamiliar haunt. ``But, if star-gazing ever gets a bit lonely--'' -``---I know where to find Gaëlle,'' the lynx murmured. Escorting Aurélien to the door, she crossed the cozy space in a few graceful strides. Upon cracking it open, the pair were greeted by a gust of sharp wind that whipped up ethereal swirls across the landscape like diminutive dust devils. +``--I know where to find Gaëlle,'' the lynx murmured. Escorting Aurélien to the door, she crossed the cozy space in a few graceful strides. Upon cracking it open, the pair were greeted by a gust of sharp wind that whipped up ethereal swirls across the landscape like diminutive dust devils. Aurélien shivered, giving Céleste a warm \emph{jeer-jeer} as they pulled their coat tighter. ``I was going to say you could find me,'' they finished. ``If you're ever in need of a stiff drink, leave a message for me with the bartender at the Sombres Reflets.'' @@ -240,8 +236,6 @@ Aurélien tilted their head and cocked an inquiring eyebrow. ``Of course.'' ``Just because the stars are scattered does not mean they are separated.'' The lynx delicately tilted her head onto one side, her gaze momentarily lost in the snow-blanketed landscape beyond the front porch. ``They all belong to the same sky.'' -``I'll pass the message along.'' Aurélien closed their eyes as the door's latch clicked shut behind them. The bluejay sent a ping to Gaëlle before letting out a satisfied sigh that hinted at their exhaustion. Still, at the Sombres Reflets, there would be time enough to enjoy the satisfaction of providing the first drop of gold for relationship \emph{kintsugi}\ldots and perhaps gather the fortitude to reach out to a few co-cladists. ``\emph{Nos cœurs se tiennent par la main, même quand les distances nous séparent.}'' +``I'll pass the message along.'' Aurélien closed their eyes as the door's latch clicked shut behind them. The bluejay sent a ping to Gaëlle before letting out a satisfied sigh that hinted at their exhaustion. Still, at the Sombres Reflets, there would be time enough to enjoy the satisfaction of providing the first drop of gold for relationship \emph{kintsugi}\ldots and perhaps gather the fortitude to reach out to a few cocladists. ``\emph{Nos cœurs se tiennent par la main, même quand les distances nous séparent.}'' Then, beneath an endless sky painted with shimmering constellations, the blue jay turned and stepped confidently toward Eternity. - -\textasciitilde{} END \textasciitilde{}