The Cloak

It was once each year, 752 days and a fraction of a night, that the citizens of Gamma Gemini III received their adjustments of strata.

Illuminus, the Prime Younger, stood in the rotunda of the Ceremonial Hall with the Prime Elder. The Prime Elder said, "I am happy to announce that all the adjustments this year are positive."

Illuminus read from The Book that Was. He had read the passages countless times; he did not comprehend the words as he pronounced them.

The first adjustee, a man, approached. Illuminus said, "Stratum five to six."

A page boy, young enough to be Illuminus's son, presented the man with a silvery cloak. According to The Book that Was, each adjustee was required to wear the cloak from the beginning to the end of the process via which stratum was altered. The book did not say why this was necessary.  Illuminus thought it was ridiculous.  Each year Illuminus read and reread the passages relating to the adjustment process, and each year the absence of any discussion of the modus operandi of the cloak irritated him more.

The adjustee donned the cloak.

The Prime Elder wore a black robe. He was the only citizen who wore black, and he always wore black.

The Prime Elder led the way from the rotunda down a corridor to the adjustment machine. He hobbled on legs of unequal length, his face in a grimace. He had, it was said, been savaged long ago by an aberration in the adjustment device. But The Book that Was said the machine always functioned to perfection.

The adjustment cubicle was set back from the corridor. Beside its doors was a panel with knobs and buttons, and a screen that glowed with dancing waves. No one ever touched the controls on the panel. The double sliding doors opened to admit the adjustee.

There came from the cubicle a song from infinity. Illuminus supposed that the sound was the output of an electronic circuit.  But it produced the most beautiful music Illuminus ever heard, more harmonious than anything he could imagine except when it was actually striking his ears.

Illuminus thought ahead to his own adjustment, to be the last of the day. To what stratum was he bound? There was no stratum above his own. The Prime Elder was not in the stratum sequence. There was nowhere for Illuminus to advance in the society of Gamma Gemini III. Perhaps it was time for him to die ...

The adjustee turned. His eyes met Illuminus's. The doors closed. The music ceased. A moment later, the doors opened. The music returned, ringing down a corridor, singing down a tunnel that made sounds into colors. The adjustee stepped out. The cloak shone in the light that came from inside the machine.

Illuminus touched the cloak; it was plain metal cloth. The Book that Was proclaimed that the cloak drew power and wisdom into its wearers. How? Why? These were questions that the book never attempted to answer.

The doors closed. The music faded to silence. Illuminus escorted the adjustee back to the rotunda.

The adjustee said, "Thank you."

Illuminus clucked from The Book that Was: "Your advancement has been on account of your own merits."

A woman adjustee was called.

Illuminus said, "Stratum seven to eight."

The woman gazed at Illuminus. He wanted to take her up Sky Mountain. But The Book that Was forbade love between creatures of unequal strata.

As the afternoon waned into darkness, Illuminus escorted adjustee after adjustee, reciting his lines, a conduit from past to present to future, a servant of ritual, a drone, a slave of a book and a machine.

Illuminus was called at midnight by the Prime Elder. Illuminus, the Prime Younger, stepped to the middle of the rotunda of the Ceremonial Hall and stood over the symbol of the Parent Star.

The page boy presented Illuminus with the cloak.  Illuminus dropped the cloak onto the floor.  The citizens of Gamma Gemini III stood still and silent.

The Prime Elder nodded, and then, for the only instant Illuminus ever saw, he smiled.

Illuminus followed the Prime Elder down the corridor. They arrived at the machine. Its doors parted. Colors flowed into Illuminus's ears. Sounds struck his eyes.

The Prime Elder said, "Remember me."

Illuminus stepped into the chamber and turned around. As the doors closed, Illuminus saw that the Prime Elder had his hands on the panel that no one ever touched.

The adjustment chamber went dark.

Illuminus was on a hillside with a man in a black robe. They hiked up Sky Mountain carrying The Book that Was. They threw the book into the cauldron at the summit. Then they flew above the clouds, and sung with creatures who dwelt on the sons and daughters of the sisters and brothers of the Parent Star.

There was a flash of sound and a roar of light.

Illuminus lay on the floor of the adjustment chamber. He wore a black robe. He arose but could not stand up straight.

The doors opened. Before him, in the corridor, was a boy young enough to be Illuminus's grandson. The boy extended his hand.  Illuminus stepped out of the adjustment machine. The doors closed. The music faded.

The boy led Illuminus down the corridor toward the rotunda of the Ceremonial Hall. Illuminus limped, one leg shorter than the other. They arrived at the symbol of the Parent Star while its light shone through the canopy above, brighter than any light Illuminus had ever seen, more brilliant than anything he could imagine except when it was actually striking his eyes.

The citizens of Beta Augusti II stood silently.

Illuminus, the Prime Elder, read from The Book that Is: "I close this proceeding. Your advancements have taken place on account of your own merits."

Copyright 1998, 1999 by Francisco Carrera.