David misheard Father John; he must have. Shaking his head, he said, ‘I’m sorry Father, could you please repeat that?’

  John raised his eyebrows. ‘You have been promoted to the rank and responsibilities of a bishop.’

  Father John’s - no, now its Brother John’s - hair was grey and willowy like a cloud left behind after a storm. His hands moved with hesitation and he would wince as if expecting the pains of arthritis. His skin was wrinkled and the little muscle he had sagged under his arms. He wanted to look old, the sly dog. He had more than enough lifespan to de-age, a bishop had access to nearly unlimited funds and now David finally had access too. With that he could finally fund his project; the big one.

  But John was old, not just physically, but truly a creaking dust pile inside and out; David could tell by the eyes. Looking into those pale blue irises that must have once housed a deep ocean, but were now a shallow bay washing over the white seabed. Another century and John’s eyes would continue to fade until all the water had evaporated under the hot sun of time. He could keep his body eternally young, but his mind continued; growing its wisdom and its madness. The eyes were the windows, stuck open with rusted hinges.

  ‘I am a bishop,’ David said, trying to force the words to sink in.

  ‘You seem surprised,’ Father, - no, Brother - John said with an accusing glare.

  ‘It’s just,’ David said, finding the words, ‘I am eternally grateful for this opportunity to serve.’

  He smiled. ‘Don’t be too grateful, there is more work ahead of you.’

  John’s office had no windows and relied on a single flickering flame for light. It sat on the left wall hanging from a golden sconce, but the candle sat crooked and wax idly dripped down the shaft, plonking onto the soft carpet. The light cast odd glances, keeping John’s face trapped in a half shadow, only his pale blue glare glowing through the dusk.

  John had always unnerved him, but seeing him here, trapped in this room with nothing but a desk to separate them was chilling. John hated him, David knew it, so hearing John congratulate him was the sound of the gallows creaking beneath his solemn feet. There was a plot here, one David must unravel before it tightens around his neck.

  John wouldn’t make his move here or now, it would be left to someone else, later. David needed to move quickly, gain favor with the Arch-Bishop, Father Suraj. Now as a bishop, approaching him would be easier, but finding the time to sneak off to Marie’s garage and their inventions was not. The trick was to do so while attending the “demanding duties of a bishop” as John so commonly liked to say, and to do so while not being seen by those pale blue eyes.

  ‘Well, I best be attending to those duties,’ David said and started to stand.

  ‘Wait,’ John said, ‘don’t you want to know?’ David heard the sound of a crowd murmuring as they gathered to watch the hanging.

  David froze, caught in the half motion of rising. ‘Know what?’

  ‘Why you were promoted.’

  The crowd could see the prisoner now, they cried out in excitement. David felt the invisible noose tie around his neck.

  John continued. ‘Why it was that your complete and utter incompetence was rewarded.’

  A crash. The gallows fell down, the supports rotted and collapsed. The crowd that had gathered to watch the execution mumbled and turned away in disappointment. This was no execution; this was a farce. If John wanted him dead, he would stick to the script. The performance must always be carried out; this dance we all play. No John wouldn’t have insulted David if that was his play, the theatre had shifted and now David must play along.

  There was no noose around David’s neck, it was a leash.

  ‘You are a sorry and bitter little man,’ David replied with a snarl, ‘are you really throwing insults in my face just because someone younger holds the same rank as you?’

  John’s face showed no emotion. ‘All I did was state the facts.’

  Yes this is the game we are playing. You don’t want me gone, you want someone stupid enough to control.

  ‘What facts? You have no facts, only your spiteful opinion because I am better than you.’

  ‘The facts are that you not only had a man die in your classroom two days ago, but you also had twenty-five of thirty new entries march off, hell-bent on overthrowing the Church.’

  ‘And what? Have you told Suraj about this failure?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘Overthrowing the Church is dramatic,’ David replied. ‘They only said they would make their own way and that they would provide a path for others.’ David made a show of anxiety. His eyes widened and he cowered backwards as if he thought that John were doing anything but acting.

  ‘You fool,’ John said, ‘another path would destroy the Church. Our power comes from control of the lifespan in this city. Control of the apostle plate.’

  David winced. ‘I,’ he stuttered. Let him believe I am scared.

  John didn’t show it on his lips, but his eyes seemed satisfied. He reached below the wooden table and pulled out a glass bottle of some brown liquid and two cups. He poured it, only an inch above the bottom in each. John let the cups sit there on the desk and placed the bottle away.

  ‘So you understand your position?’

  David hesitated then nodded meekly. John had hidden this incident from the Father in hopes to manipulate David which now meant he controlled two of the six bishop positions in Kerioth, but it would be his undoing. David had no plans to stay under his thumb and dance to his music, one day it would be David behind the violin and John on the stage.

  John handed David one of the glasses, it smelt similar to the gasoline in Marie’s garage.

  ‘So, I ask again, do you want to know why you were promoted to the rank of bishop?’

  ‘To do your bidding and vote in your favor during the council meetings.’

  John was taken aback, but only for a second, ‘It’s good you understand.’ He seemed disappointed he didn’t get to break the bad news.

  John raised his glass.

  David made a mistake in the stables, but John had fucked up.

  He raised his own glass to match.

  ‘To a prosperous relationship.’

  ‘To a prosperous relationship,’ David echoed.

  They both took a sip. David tried to hold it back, but he winced.

  * * * *

  The sun dropped below the skyline, it was three in the afternoon. In the cursed city of Kerioth it was lucky to receive six hours of light.

  Historically trapped within the city walls, when the population grew, there was no way to expand out so they must climb up. The Church taught - David taught - that the monsters outside the city wall were so fierce that living beyond was impossible. This made the people more reliant on their governance. However, in truth monsters rarely, if ever came near an apostle plate. Of course there were tales of odiums wiping out thousands, but tales were myth and myth was a man’s tool. So when the homes inside Kerioth stretched to the base of the wall, they soon became double storied despite only being designed to hold the weight of one. Then when every building was two stories, the cycle repeated. Centuries passed, towers rose and fell, then climbed again; now Kerioth was filled with rows of skyscrapers so tall and rickety that they leant on each other for support. The buildings showed their years, the bottom made of stone and chiseled in an art long past its days. The higher they climbed, each story became thinner, more rickety. The top floors, some ten to twelve levels above were so light they seemed to sway in the breeze. A network of planks and ropes connected the higher levels in a web of poverty.

  The only place where the city shrunk was near its center, as none may approach the angel in the sky.

  He would change it all. Now that he was a bishop he could change it all, leash or not.

  David slunk into the backstreets where shacks were propped against those impossible black bricks. Those brick walls that had surrounded Kerioth since memory had come to Purgatory. He pulled his cloak tighter over his face, it was unlikely anyone would recognize him, but on the off chance they saw a bishop of the Church here… it could spell trouble. Looking back, that newly appointed priest followed David’s que and pulled down his own cloak, covering his black curls.

  ‘Why are we here?’ Leo asked with concern in his voice.

  The streets here were dank and filthy, the humidity was almost suffocating and the smell was too. The people watched. Scum was the most apt term, they resembled it. The people who were pushed to the edge of Kerioth were old and thin, gaunt faces and bony arms wrapped in thinly spun clothes. David felt some pity for them, the Church had contributed to their fate, but the fault was ultimately their own. They had ignored teachings to repent and spent their lifespan on extravagant goods, now they were too old to work with no more lifespan to spend. Their hollow eyes followed the cloaked man and boy, their wealth displayed by their youth.

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  Some shuffled closer from the curb.

  Leo stepped quickly to catch up with David, watching his sides.

  ‘Stop looking around,’ David said in a hush. ‘You're showing your face.’

  David had no worry for their physical safety, a ninety-year-old was only a threat to himself, but information could be deadly. One hunched man clicked his cane towards them. On a stone his stick slipped and he fell onto knees that crunched. His eyes were full of desperate fear, a second death was close for him and he knew that Hell would be his final home. How old are you under that skin? David wondered. Forty? Thirty? Younger? Was I the one who introduced you to this world? Did I fail you?

  There was no saving him now, all David could do was reshape the world for the future generations of Purgatory. It was pointless wasting energy on the one, when David was destined to help so many.

  ‘Why are we here?’ Leo repeated in the angriest voice he could manage while still speaking in a hush.

  ‘I am here because I have business here,’ David said. ‘You are here because you chose to follow me. I did warn you not to come.’

  ‘Father John ordered us-’

  ‘Us?’ David glared at the teenage priest.

  ‘Father John ordered me to stay with you at all times.’

  By the exhausted look on his face, Leo didn’t seem especially pleased about this arrangement. David didn’t love it either, but he was a bit offended by the teens sass.

  ‘And elaborate on why you need to stay with me?’

  ‘To learn how to be a better priest.’

  ‘I am attending to a personal matter; you will learn nothing here.’

  ‘The life of a priest extends past that of official duties,’ Leo said, reciting a passage from his training; one David himself had read.

  David sighed. There really was no way to avoid it. Every day that he did not visit Marie was a day wasted. Whilst he was idle he sunk further into John’s palm. Leo was a spy, there was no doubt about that, but David also believed that Leo could be manipulated. Bringing Leo along was nearly as bad as going straight to John with his projects, but it was a gamble worth taking. Between being idle and this, it was worth betting on.

  They would have to go public eventually anyway. David just wished he had more time.

  Turning a corner, David walked through a thin alley, if he lay down he would be able to touch the buildings on either side. He looked up and the towers stretched in a race to the sky. Their trunks seemed to spread apart then nestle back together as the levels grew until only a sliver of grey cut sky between the treetops. Along the plank branches a rat scurried.

  David grabbed a rope that hung from a second story building, made sure his bag was secure over his shoulder and began to climb. He swung his legs against the wall and walked up the side of the building whilst pulling himself with the rope. A couple times his feet felt like they would slip, but David had climbed this trunk a hundred times and he reached the second story ledge without trouble.

  ‘Come on then,’ David said, looking down on Leo.

  With hesitation, Leo grabbed the rope. He struggled to swing onto the wall, three attempts went by where he did not put enough of his weight behind him and slipped back down. His face was red.

  ‘You need to commit,’ David said. ‘Really lean your back into it.’

  ‘Shut-’ Leo cut himself off before finishing. Telling a bishop to shut up was truly unacceptable behavior from a priest and Leo was nothing if not loyal to the Church.

  However, cracks are starting to appear in his act, David thought. Soon I will see the truth.

  He swung again and this time stuck it. ‘Yes,’ he hissed through his teeth. When he was halfway, hovering only six feet above the ground he looked down, when he turned to look up again his face was as pale as the moon. With tentative boots and shaking hands he reached the top and David grabbed his forearm, hoisting him onto the narrow ledge. There was a black door on the side of the building, David pulled out a key which clicked inside the lock and the door swung inwards. Orange light washed over them, a sunburst in the forever damp night of the slums. Simultaneously a racket of metal bangs and scratchy music exploded into the mute forest. David pushed Leo through and slammed the door closed behind them. The heat was oppressive, like putting your face over a boiling kettle. It smelt like grease and sweat. The room was about ten meters by eight which was large for Kerioth, but Marie always complained of the lack of space, and here it showed. Every square inch was utilized. Tables were covered in piles of trinkets and gears. Ropes were strung across the ceiling, each holding swaths of paper diagrams. Every step David took was carefully over more tools, materials and scrap.

  Amongst it all Marie danced.

  She wore a mechanic’s overalls, stained and torn at the sleeves revealing toned arms. Her ginger hair was pulled into a bird’s nest of a bun that spilled out over her ears that seemed to glow in the lamp light as she darted between her projects. As she moved she wiped sweat from her brow and simultaneously smeared oil over her forehead. Circular glasses were strapped around her head with an elastic band, resembling aviator's goggles. Her dance was not the waltz nor tango, but something more violent. Filled with quick footsteps, darting hands to grab materials and tools that seemed at random to David, but she never failed to know exactly where she had left them. The tools joined the music, cranking bolts and smashing steel into place. Even her fingers came alive; a blue arc of lightning igniting from the tip of her index to weld metal together. She was never still. In the background Mozart spun on a record player she had built. The disk David had acquired; someone on Earth had died while holding it.

  With one final bang of her mallet the music ended and she stood admiring her work; chest heaving, eyes wide with euphoria and a grin to match. It looked like a plain steel box.

  Her eyes flicked to David, to Leo and she frowned.

  ‘Afternoon Mar-’

  David ducked. A whistle cut through the air as a screwdriver flew through where his head was only a moment ago.

  Marie picked up a wrench.

  ‘Stop, stop! Hey, let’s not-’

  David dodged and the tool slipped past his face. Looking behind him, the screwdriver was stabbed deep into the wood wall. He touched his ear and felt blood, but the pain hadn’t registered yet.

  ‘Are you trying to kill me?’ David asked. ‘Using noctra is going way too far.’

  She picked up a hammer.

  ‘Let's not do this,’ David said, raising his palms.

  Marie stalked forwards. ‘Why shouldn’t I?’

  David backed up until his back was flat against the wall, the screwdriver eye level. ‘I brought a gift,’ David said, scrambling to hold up the satchel he carried on his back. It was heavy, filled with lots of handball sized objects. A faint blue glow radiated out.

  Marie lofted the hammer through the air and caught it all whilst steadily closing the distance. ‘So you go away without a word for a week, then show up with some stranger unannounced in my workshop and think you can mend it all with a sack?’

  Now only feet away, David was looking down on her, she was no taller than Leo, yet it felt like he had to look up to meet her eyes. Leo watched with lifelessness. The boy didn’t seem shocked or concerned as if he had expected something like this.

  Marie lifted the hammer.

  ‘Okay, wait, I can explain okay?’ David said.

  She grimaced, ‘I should just…’ She slammed the hammer into her other hand. Then she sighed. ‘Fine. Get on with it then.’

  David held up three fingers. ‘Three points: One; I was gone as I got caught in a shit storm with the Church and I couldn’t contact due to watchful eyes, but now I got that promotion I was always talking about… that one that will accelerate our progress. I came back as soon as I could.’ She walked forwards hammer in hand, ‘Two,’ David said putting a finger down with a shaky voice, ‘this fine young lad's name is Leo, he is my… pupil of sorts. Leo, this is Marie, my friend.’

  ‘Associate at best,’ she said in monotone.

  He hummed and raised his eyebrows.

  ‘And now you know each other so he is no stranger.’ David strained a smile and put down another finger, ‘Three; this isn’t just a sack.’

  Marie continued to glare.

  David stepped off the wall, slowly. He walked to the nearest bench, always an eye on Marie’s hammer. She hadn’t killed him yet, so that was a start. David pushed some of the half-finished inventions and scraps to the side and unfurled the bag. Inside were several glowing gem hearts and three large orbs.

  ‘And?’ Her voice was in that tone that said she didn’t care, but David didn't miss the interest in her eyes. Leo edged closer as well.

  David held up one of the orbs, it was black with swirls of chrome that continued to swish and churn inside like a storm. ‘You know that one project we always wanted to tackle?’

  ‘We wrote that off.’

  ‘For good reason. The first being I didn’t have enough sway to push it to the Church, but now I do. The second was we never had a reliable test subject.’

  Marie looked at the boy with an inquisitorial glance. Leo backed away, fear in his eyes.

  David laughed. ‘No, he would be useless anyway. Leo can’t use coating as far as I am aware.’

  David raised the orb into the light of a hanging lantern. Its center was as dark as midnight and the swirls of chrome, gold, purple and blue accelerated as if in a panic, trying to escape the heat.

  ‘This is our test subject, and I brought three of them.’