Let me tell you about my Royal Blood: Apparently, I have some...

As I approach the Library, I hear that strange masculine computer voice on the Public Address System announcing, “The time is now two-forty-five ayem. This is a reminder for all newly arrived house guests to assemble in the Library on the first floor at three ayem.”

The absurdity of the situation hits me. I’ve allowed an alien to abduct me without a second thought. All based on her use of a magical portal. Without a word of introduction, I have assumed that she is Ms. Cordelia Chan. That was based solely on an obscure Time Magazine article that I found online. I don’t think that I’m in any immediate danger, so what choice do I have now, except to play along and see where it all leads?

After all: Ever since I 'accidentally fell off the roof of the barn' I have been hoping and praying that I could find, or someone else with magic would find me.

I arrive in the library on the heels of some catering staff pushing dollies of food and beverages.

Smelling the food, my stomach rumbles, reminding me that I haven’t eaten since breakfast and it’s now dinnertime according to my circadian rhythm. What few manners I have prevent me from just grabbing at the food. Instead I decide to wait until the staff have finished arranging things.

For a moment, I watch the staff arrange the food and I see that the food is a variety of sweet and savoury pastries and a couple of cakes. Among them is a large bowl of profiteroles along with a large jug of single cream. There is also Coffee, assorted Teas and hot chocolate.

It will be horderves and dessert for dinner...

I’m still a little wet from swimming. Barefoot, I set my boots and stockings next to a chair that I figure is pretty much front and center for the meeting.

To distract myself from my hunger, I proceed to pace up and down the library aisles trying to look interested in the various titles. Still burning nervous energy, I finger combed my wet hair and rebraid it a little tighter than usual.

Wandering around I find that the library is maybe about twice the size of my generous suite. It doesn’t have the typical institutional metal shelving of the local Public Library. Instead it is furnished with ornate hardwood bookshelves befitting a luxury mansion. The shelving wraps three walls, as well as a few aisles of free-standing hardwood shelving banks. At either end of the room there are lounge areas with modern furnishings. Couches and chairs arranged with coffee and end tables. There’s also a well stocked drinks cabinet. Very civilized.

Glancing at the shelves I can see that the collection has plenty of room for growth. A lot of what is available are written in foreign and possibly alien script and some appear to be ancient, but there are some English titles as well.

The AI announces over the PA that, “The time is now two-fifty-five ayem. This is a reminder for all newly arrived house guests to assemble in the Library on the first floor at three ayem.”

I head back to my chosen seat. Stopping first at the food trays to load up a plate which I place next to my seat. Then at the liquor cabinet I pour a glass of Lager and add a shot of Rye Whiskey to it.

I scan the other prisoners, er…  ‘Guests’:

Giving off the vibe of being painfully shy is a young girl, who is curled up in a chair looking at a book. She’s wearing a headscarf that I’d guess makes her a follower of Islam. Although, that assumes that she’s a human from my world. She might not be human, or female, and is covering up antennae.

There’s a guy that I initially mistook for one of the catering staff. He’s a tall guy who appears to be a mix of Asian and Caucasian heritage. I think he’s a GI Joe - Probably a military consultant - but he looks like a nice friendly guy. He’s trying to look calm and cool while fidgeting with his cellphone.

By the door is another guy sipping a cocktail and looking at a book. He gives me a certain creep vibe as he looks like one of those pretty boy teenage vampires you see on television. The way he’s dressed and holds himself like a Richie Rich makes me think that he doesn't want to be here but he's looking for a payout.

Towards the back is another guy who could be a young Indiana Jones - he'll grab the jewels and run.

There’s another tall Asian/Caucasian mix who looks more Japanese. A Young Sensei: He looks a little frightened but can probably kick most of our asses.

I’ve seated myself and I’m stuffing my face with sausage rolls as a tall slim but fit looking guy with celtic features walks in. He looks like he spends a lot of time outdoors and is dressed for hiking.

It’s nearly three and we’re all quietly looking at each other: Waiting for the Head-Mistress to arrive. I think we’re all trying to get a read on each of the other prisoners, er, guests...

A petite Japanese girl comes in with a big dog which looks like a cross between maybe a Weimaraner and a Rotty, but bigger.

Just before three an average height girl with Celtic features who appears to be younger than the rest of us. She also appears to be outdoorsy and ready to go on a hike.

I guess it makes sense that we're all dressed in our travelling clothes.

I find myself distracted by the first dog, when Ms. Chan arrives with another. A Japanese Akita. She strides into the room and moves a chair so that it faces the rest of us grouped there. Some others who were standing or wandering, came and sat themselves down. She then gets herself a coffee and a heaping bowl of profiteroles and drowns them in cream.

Seating herself, she begins. "Thank You all for coming. You're all wondering why I invited you to the Exposition, and the launch of our new games console. In reality that's just a façade, but before I explain further I'd just like to introduce you all to each other.”

“So” indicating the young sensei, “starting with Takimoto Akio. He's from Hiroshima, Japan, playing at studying History and Economics at Hiroshima University.”

Pointing out Indiana Jones, “Next is Cormac Camerilli, originally from the Isle of Man; but on his shadow Earth, that was hit by a Tsunami; so was evacuated to Florida. Currently a resident of Tampa, where he's studying Anthropology at Tampa State University.”

I’m stunned and confused about Ms. Chan’s knowledge of geography: Florida was washed into the Gulf of Mexico. The whole panhandle's gone… But she called it ‘his ‘Shadow’ Earth’?

Before I can give it any more thought, I'm  introduced “Then we have Catlin Josephs, machinist and model maker from Toronto, Canada.” Indicating me as I nod and smile at the group.

“Next is Jason Talon, supposedly a lieutenant in the US Signals Corps out of Fort Lawson, but in reality something else entirely.” To which GI Jason cocks an eyebrow.

The girl wearing the headscarf is, “The first of our ladies, Fatima Fakir, a lost soul studying Tourism Management, at SIST in Tangiers, her home city.” So, not an alien.

The young vampire is, “Edward Pinmillion, although that's the surname of his adopted parents, again playing at studying Business Management at NYU.”

The young Celtic girl is, “The second of our ladies, Alarna Macfarlane, resident of Oban in Scotland, lives with her gamekeeper father. Currently in the final year of her Art GCSE A-Level.”

The big Celtic guy is, “Cathal O'Donoghue, currently at Cork University in Ireland where he's studying Biological, Earth, and Environmental Science.”

“And lastly, Hashimoto Natsuki and her Arden Hound Choki." Is the petite Japanese girl with the dog. "They're from Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, although she's currently at Iwate University in Morika City studying Social and Environmental Systems and Majoring in Law.”

Ms. Chan continued, “So now you know who each of you claim to be, perhaps I should formally introduce myself: My full title, when I chose to use it would be, ‘Cordelia Chan-Barriman, Princess of the Royal House of Amber, Princess of the Royal House of Carnelian, Grand Duchess of Quinqohkt, and President and CEO Mizzurian’.”

Then she finished up with a huge bombshell: “As to why you are all here, my research indicates that you are all the offspring of one or more of my Aunts and Uncles." She then cuts one of the profiteroles in half and proceeds to eat it.

One or more? That's an odd way to phrase things. Like some of us may be the product of incest. But, that is the way of royalty...

GI Jason says with a bit of southern twang, "My family disappeared in the destruction of Houston. Missing presumed dead." There's unresolved grief coloring his voice in grey. "Forgive me, family is a tender spot. I will need some proof to believe that an unfortunate ‘good ol’ boy’ from southern Texas is related to royalty."

Still standing, Vampire Eddie asks, "Why did you bring us together?" While Akio looks pensive. 

Ms. Chan swallows and answers, "Is that really your greatest concern, Edward? Why did I choose to bring you all here? You're not the least bit bothered about my claims as to at least one half of your parentage, as Jason appears to be?" and cuts another profiterole in half and spoons it into her mouth.

"It is.." He says politely. "I for one believe your incredible claim, and I thank you for confirming my suspicions and transporting me from the shadow I was currently stuck in."

He was residing in a ‘shadow’? Is that a vampire thing?

I wanted to blurt out ‘So, what kind of cult are you running here, anyway?’ but with the odd events of the day and being told that everyone in the room are cousins, I choke a bit on my beer and sausage roll. I foolishly blurt out,  "What's the deal with the mandatory brain scans?"

Seemingly unperturbed Ms. Chan says, "What mandatory brain scans would they be then Catlin?"

I sputter, "What's it's face, Julie-Ann… Suzanne… You know, um, the cybernetic donna-matrix, Zou Yan. You can't even get a WiFi signal or sandwich in the kitchen without he/she/it, what-ever giving you a brain scan first…”

Ms. Chan almost does a spit take, then bursts out laughing, "You think I'd go to the bother of building a neural interface technology into mass production VR headsets?” Then condescendingly, “But then you have absolutely no concept of exactly how expensive that would be, and to what end?"

“I don't know about mass production, but there's us here..” I gesture to the others around the room. “We're all Royal Bastards littered around 'Shadow'. You need us as cannon fodder for some sort of coup?”

She explains, "Currently the former is open to confirmation, and given the current state of Shadow, the latter would be completely redundant and pointless, so why would I even bother?”

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to conform and I really haven't got a clue as to the current state of 'Shadow' and what that has to do with the price of beans on the TSX. But you're saying we're all cousins? I'm sorry, I'm a little freaked. I'll shut up now: Sorry." I bow my head and sigh.

The Indiana Jones guy who's apparently some sort of professor named Cormac speaks up with a British accent, "How did you come to know this? If you had told me this before some recent events I'd consider you quite mad. I am sufficiently mad myself to at least accept this is possibly true. But that would likely mean my father wasn't my father or I was some sort of changeling foundling."

“In answer to your question Cormac, members of the family do not suffer psychiatric disorders in the conventional sense, although that is not to say they do not suffer megalomania or delusions of grandeur, so neither you nor I are mad as you put it. As to exactly who your biological father was, I have no idea, other than he was probably one of my uncles. As to how I know, you, like the rest of your cousins, have a marker in your aura that specifically marks your heritage as that of an Amberite."

I have the aura of an 'Amberite'?

Cormac queries, "The way you use the word 'Shadow'.....it suggests something else to me. And the way you described the others here and how you acquired us. Is 'Shadow' an Otherworld? Or all the Otherworlds?"

Ms. Chan explains, "Shadows can be worlds, but worlds are not Shadows. Shadow can be anything, or almost nothing. It can support life, but not necessarily life as we know it, or life of any sort or form can be absent entirely. Then there are both the Abyss and UnderShadow, which are both different to Shadow and to each other, and incomprehensible to most."

To me, this all sort of sounds like she's describing parallel universes. That we're all from different, parallel Earths.

Cormac nods at Ms. Chan, "And how do you know we are your Cousins? And for that matter....if we are born under the Red....what noble house are we even born into? Of what and of where?"

Ms. Chan answers carefully. "All the evidence I have points to you all being members of the family. Proving it is the tricky part. Normally I'd just take DNA samples and compare them against those of the family. Now whilst I can take samples from all of you, getting them from a significant number of the rest of the family will be somewhat problematic. Leaving aside the issue with the current state of shadow, which makes getting to where they are, or at least in some cases where their bodies may be, impossible, in at least one case there are no remains to take any form of DNA sample from. All this unfortunately leaves one method of proving your genetic heritage, you're all going to have to walk the Pattern."

Cormac asks the question that I'm sure most of us want to know. "Do you know who our prospective Parents might be?"

"Only insofar as it's one of my Aunts and/or Uncles. Uncles most likely. Of the 9 of you in this room I can hazard a very good guess in one case, and that is in the case of Ms. Hashimoto, on account of her dog. It's an Arden hound, and they come from only one place, Arden, and Arden was the province of Orson, and the hounds were a special breed, bred and maintained by him."

I barge back into the conversation, "I know I said I'd shut up but…” Vampire Eddie seems way too nonchalant, so I go after him. “Edward, you seem to know what this is all about but for the rest of us. Please tell us all what's going on. Like we're all six year olds. ‘Once upon a time / Shadow / Pattern / yadda yadda yadda.’”

Eddie answers me with a nod but doesn’t speak as Cormac continues, "You are doing a very good job of acting like you are saying a lot. But you are giving us very empty information." He smiles politely at our host. "You have exposed people to Technology far beyond what they are used to at home. You are being hospitable. And as the Host, you are honoring your word. But if you are a Kinsman who has reached out to pluck the pearls scattered amongst swine.....you could do a better job and bring us to whatever cause you have....that is currently nebulous to us." With a smirk, "For example, I knew the hound is special by how you said it. So one would wonder if you set that up for revelation. I have because of the nature of my Shadow become somewhat paranoid and distrusting. I am growing out of it. But this isn't helping me not suspect the worst."

I jump up and point at Cormac: "THANK YOU!"

Cormac gives me a nod, "I have enough information in my possession to consider what you have to say is possible. My being a changeling of the Mooinjer Veggey is also possible. The only reason you are more credible is you showed up."

The Irishman, Cathal, speaks up at this point. "I know from the memories my mother left me that my father is Logan, and that she was double crossed by both her family and the Logrus, but what do you know of either."

Ms. Chan responds, "Of your mother I have no idea." She then hesitates, obviously struggling to control her emotions. It's the first time she’s shown anything other than a stony countenance. She continues, "I'm really sorry to have to say your father died trying to protect the king, which unfortunately he failed to do. Neither died in a pleasant manner"

Then she turns to Cormac, "All of the information I have given you is pertinent, even if you can't currently put it into context. And as to my cause, I don't have one, at least not in the way I believe you're implying. The big picture, which you're even less likely to understand, is that Shadow is broken, and the cause was probably that the restoration of the Amber Pattern failed in some catastrophic manner. Unless that can be fixed then everything else is irrelevant. If you ask me how it can be fixed I will tell you we don't know, and currently we don't have time to work on the answer. That is something you may be able to help with, but until your heritage is confirmed, that's also a moot point.” Gesturing to the petite Japanese girl with the dog, “As to who Natsuki's father is likely to be by virtue of her having an Arden hound, it was you who asked the question ‘did I know who your prospective parents may be’, so if your supposition is correct then you must be colluding with me.."

"Hardly." Cormac rolls his eyes. "Most of the information you provided me with said nothing. That last bit almost said something. We have no idea what the Amber Pattern IS....except for one of us. If I don't know what it is, how can I be interested in caring about how to fix it?" He gets up and starts to pour a drink. "Princess of the Royal House of Amber means there was an extant Monarchy. Your words indicate there may not be one. But a Royal house by its nature indicates politics and a Prince or Princess indicates one of high standing but still ultimately subservient to the King." Sitting back down, "A Princess of two Kingdoms. Which makes one ponder whose loyalty you are speaking for. Are they allied interests? Grand Duchess and Ceo....it means you are master in two places. But we have no way of knowing where those places are and how they connect to the others. So all of those words are boxes you are asking us to fill in. It's like the Dog: You make the Dog significant knowing someone will ask a question. You use the dog as proof. it gives a name, it gives another place, and it gives more prominence to your story without saying anything." He takes a sip of his drink and continues,  "Shadow and Pattern is the only thing you've said particularly of any meaning. The fact that the Royal House of Amber had a violent series of events connected to the pattern. You want to sell us on why we should ally with you....you might want to focus on the things you are saying that are meaningful. And I don't mean to be rude. But I take it you know far more about me then I know about you. If our roles were reversed would you expect more information?"

Akio jumps in, speaking in an odd British/Japanese accent, he says to Cormac, "No. If you demand proof of what can't be proven on paper or a chalkboard... You wouldn't be here, would you? Just because it isn't apparent in 20th century math doesn't mean it isn't real."

Pointedly, Cormac replies, "I am asking for Information. When someone tries to convince you of something without providing information it creates distrust."

I feel like things are going in circles and I’m getting confused. "Ms. Chan, you are naming characters, places and events without stringing them all together with a proper narrative. Please tell us all the story from the beginning: Like Genesis - ‘In the beginning there was…’???” Raising my hands and gesticulating, “Please, let there be light. It's like you are offering us little sparks and flashes and expecting our damp kindling to ignite on our own instead of offering us a full flame. Or, maybe Edward could fill in some gaps, since he appears to know something about Shadows and maybe more." I look from Cordelia to staring into Edwards eyes. I feel like he’s somehow involved in all of this.

Jason nods to me and says, "Miss Chan, this is the first some of us have had confirmation of other realities. We need more background information! ‘Foreknowledge cannot be gotten from ghosts and spirits, cannot be had by analogy, cannot be found out by calculation. It must be obtained from people, people who know the conditions of the enemy.’ said the great Sun Tzu, and in this condition… Ignorance is our enemy!"

Cormac continues to press Ms. Chan, "And you're making us focus on the things you're saying that are all empty calories. It's classic 'Smoke and Mirrors.' And that isn't fair that you are coming off that way. You have established some substance by HOW you brought us here. Your hosting of us has established SOME good will. Let's not waste time. If this is as urgent as you say, let's speak of the things with meaning. And not use things devoid of meaning because they are stripped of context. Unless you want to fill in some context?"

She replies, "Let me address Cormac's point first. Choki, that's Natsuki's dog, is who he is. The fact that he knows, and therefore Mikato knows, and therefore I know he's an Arden hound, allows me to postulate with a high degree of certainty who Natsuki's father is. I didn't make him significant to get you to ask the question about who I thought your parents would be. You asked the question, and I provided you with an answer indicating why I had come to that conclusion in the one case where I could make an educated guess.”

“Moving onto the subject of my titles, again they are what they are, and don't imply anything in and of themselves. I could have just made all of them up, and having multiple titles does not imply any form of conflict of loyalty, in the same way that being a director of multiple companies does not.”

“As to family history, were I to proceed along the lines suggested, we'd be here for the next month.”

“That said, the events in the early part of 2004, were triggered by the attempted overthrow of the monarchy established at the end of the previous war. The attempt was made by a family member whom everyone thought dead.”

“He had found himself an entity whom he thought he could use as an ally, and had convinced himself that this ally was working for him, a fact he found to be completely untrue when he tried to double said ally.”

“Said ally was also considerably more powerful than this family member had anticipated, but then that was one of his many flaws, and the double cross proved to be his undoing and death. For want of throwing in a few more meaningless names the family member concerned was Raif, and the ally was the primordial entity which goes by the name of Rodian.”

“So the destructive events themselves, which manifested to varying degrees across shadow, were caused by the partial destruction of the Amber Pattern, itself caused by the death of the king on the pattern, and the death of Logan attempting to stop this."

"As part of this little killing spree Raif also killed several other family members, although I'd managed to bring the Queen here, well to my fathers castle, by that point, and Natalya had managed to fortify it using his Pattern.”

“Events then unfolded which after Raif's demise led us to being able to put Rodian back in his proverbial box, and make an attempt at fixing the Pattern. We believe that that attempt failed, and whatever happened has caused the current issues with Shadow being broken.”

She paused for a moment and concluded, “So there you have it, recent history in a nutshell, but as you've already pointed out you lack any contextual means to verify or even put into the proper context anything I've just said."

We’re all silent for a moment. Then Cormac says, "See....it wasn't that hard telling us something with actual information in it."

The thought that these events had affected the multiverse of parallel worlds is shocking; but the date, 2004, aligns with the world altering catastrophes that I lived through. A lot of the things Ms. Chan says are incomprehensible, but at least we were finally getting a fuller narrative that I hope to eventually fully grasp.

I slip out of my seat and land cross legged on the floor. I clear my throat and speak to the group in a confused ramble, "Wait a minute! We have to walk The Pattern but Shadow is Broken? Which means that The Pattern is Broken. But we have to walk a Broken Pattern. Or, there's more than one Pattern. Like all those Tolkien Rings except the one that binds them is the broken one? Then we do the hokey pokey and turn ourselves about… Well, let's put all that aside for a minute and look at things from a different angle. Knowledge is power and right now Ms. Chan holds all the power. I suspect that She's playing things so that we spill what we do and don't know and what we are or aren't willing to share. So, in the name of good sportsmanship, I'll go first:”

“Sorry, Edward, you know what you know and you can keep it to yourself if you feel you must. I shouldn't have singled you out like that. You're not at fault here. Cormac, in the world, er, ‘shadow’ I'm from; Florida got washed into the Gulf of Mexico about a decade ago when the ice caps melted and caused the planet to tilt on its axis. And I don't trust super high tech when catastrophic earth tilting causes satellites to fall out of orbit and magnetic poles shift around making all but short distance transmission possible. Except mostly on fiber optics.”

I take a deep breath and keep going, “So, anyway… I'll start: My Father was a high level military Diplomat. He disappeared in Afghanistan when I was an infant. That's the story as I know it. I guess he's the one with the magical royal blood. Capt. Theodore Edgar Matthews." I give a sarcastic salute. "So, as for being ‘special...’" finger quotes, "As Ms. Chan has demonstrated, portals can be made to communicate through or take passage. My big secret is that I can make portals."

I dump out my sporran and show everyone a figurine of a red-headed young man, a model of a rusty yellow pick up truck and a model of a trap door.

"I mean, they work for me at home but Ms. Chan says they won't work here. Maybe she felt a movement in the force and that's how she found me. Now that I think about it, maybe the portals draw power from Pattern? And walking a Pattern would allow me to make more powerful Trans-Shadow Portals? And that would lead me, I mean us, to repairing the big Pattern?” Grinning, I finish, “So, when do we meet the Queen?"

The girl wearing the headscarf, Fatima, speaks up for the first time, "*ahem* I don't mean to sound ignorant, but if Ms. Chan is related as a niece to any of our parents, that should mean we'd match one-eighth of our DNA. That'd be evidence enough, wouldn't it?” She looks around the room and asks, “Walk a ‘pattern’? What? Like a dexterity challenge?"

Ms. Chan says to me, "I didn't say anything about walking a broken pattern Catlin, and I'm not even sure if that's at all possible. Given the state the Amber Pattern was in last time I saw it I wouldn't even have attempted it. So yes there are 2 Patterns, one in Amber, and my father's Pattern here in Carnelian.”

“You're also correct that knowledge is power, but a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. You all need to learn to walk before you can run. As to Trump, which is a completely different power to that of the Pattern, you have merely stumbled onto an ability that in your case has manifested itself in an interesting form, and just because you've completed ‘my first reading book’ don't think you can actually read.”

Looking at the Celtic girl and I, “On which note yourself, Miss MacFarlane, and I need to have a serious conversation at some point in the next 4 hours before the temporary blocks I installed expire and expose you to the full glare of the spotlight once more.”

“As to walking the Pattern Fatima, no it's not a dexterity challenge, it's probably the most gruelling task you are ever likely to undertake. The best analogy I can come up with off the top of my head would be to liken it to running a half-marathon, then completing a half ironman, then an extended ironman, all without being able to rest or stop. It is also the definitive test of whether you are a member of the family or not as only family members can walk the Pattern." Ms. Chans says while gesticulating doubling and compounding distances to illustrate how difficult it is to ‘Walk the Pattern’.

Cormac interjected, "So do we have time to talk amongst ourselves before we decide to take you up on your generous offer?"

Seeming to ignore him, Ms. Chan continued, “In a way. To walk the Pattern you need to prepare. From the centre of the Pattern you can go anywhere you can imagine, which in and of itself can cause significant issues. To avoid a lot of the consequences, the first thing you need to think of when you reach the centre is your room here, which means you need to learn it in every detail so you can visualize it exactly. We take a very dim view of neophyte family members wandering about shadow which means if we have to come and fetch you there will be consequences. With this in mind you have two days to prepare. I have scheduled another meeting here in the Library for ten ayem on the sixth."

Cormac asks, "Can we meet with your father?"

"I'm not sure where my father currently is, but I'm sure when he returns that won't be an issue.”

"And the elephant in the room?" Jason asks. "This ‘pattern’ will prove if we are related, or not. If we succeed we are family, but only family CAN succeed? What happens if we are not related, and fail?"

“If you fail irrespective of whether you are family or not you die. I believe there was one instance in the past where this has happened. Once on the Pattern there is no way off it, other than by reaching the centre." She replies.

"Well, I know a little about what happens if you go through a portal the wrong way..." I say as I rub the fading scars on my legs. "I suppose the only reason I survived and healed so well is because I'm part of this magical family.” I wonder aloud, “So, how many Patterns are there? Do we get our own when we're done?"

"We're not magical in the least, that's something entirely different. Two, as I've already indicated, one here and one in Amber, and No." Ms. Chan replies.

"Well, anything that can't be explained by science is magic. And so far, no science has explained this..." I say as I gesture around the room. I repack my trinkets and mini into my sporran and get back into my chair. "’Walking a Pattern’ sure sounds like ritual magic to me. My Congregation... Not mine, but the one I belong to, back home has a Labyrinth that we walk for meditation. I'm guessing this ‘Pattern’ is something like that? But in terms of science: Where I come from power was centrally generated and distributed. When the infrastructure was destroyed it clearly demonstrated that you really shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. We switched to distributed power, co-generation and micro grids. If there's only two ‘Patterns’ and one of them is damaged, and that's made the multiverse all catty-whumpus, then maybe we need more ‘Patterns' to stabilize the grid."

Jason takes a deep breath. "Whoa, Family or dead, better be sure!" Uncertainly… "I am not sure i can Risk Everything on a Do or Die proposition, without a bit more certainty" He pauses a moment and continues, "Is the family ‘better’ than normal? Faster, stronger, and Smarter? I have felt that I had to hold back.. all of my life." Then, grinning at me, "My big secret.... Pretending to be Normal!" he adds.

"If by normal you mean the generic human population then yes our abilities are generally significantly better, in relation to other races and groupings not necessarily so. There is only one way to know if you're capable of walking the Pattern and that's to walk it. I've nearly died twice doing so, but there were extenuating circumstances on both those occasions." She tells Jason.

Edward speaks up, "I'm afraid I'm not a wealth of information, just what she is saying tends to go along with what I know of my family history shall we say. Her claims seem believable to me, as crazy as that sounds. I do have a couple of questions before we break from this meeting however… You mentioned giving us the opportunity to walk the Pattern, would it be the Pattern in Amber, or your Fathers? And as I asked earlier, just to confirm, the reason you brought us all together was to 'Help Amber' in some way, assuming we are successful in our walk?" Edward pauses a moment and adds a final question, "Do you have any pictures of your Aunt's and Uncle's?"

Ms. Chan appears to be getting tired of answering the same questions. "I thought I'd made myself clear, Amber is currently cut off as are large areas of shadow including the Courts, so the only Pattern you can walk is my fathers. In relation to your other comments, yes in essence your reasoning is correct” and to his last question, “and yes I do, but they're currently in my room."

Jason says "I would be interested in seeing such pictures, not that i could identify my father by my looks..those I gained from my mother!"

"Yes, me too..." I nod.

Cormac says to Edward, "The problem isn't that it's not unbelievable....it's just fairly vague and limited. But I would rather we talk amongst ourselves at this point." He paused for a moment and looked at Ms. Chan. "Is our family the sort that being this disagreeable would be normal?" He works on his drink. "Your offer has gotten my Interest. But I'd like to talk to the rest in as much privacy as we have here."

"In my experience, it's safer to be disagreeable with family than with strangers. Apparently we're both." I interject.

About magic, Ms. Chan says to me, "Trump is not magic.. magic is something else entirely, and the Pattern and Logrus are something entirely different again. Container sized 260MW fusion reactors are not difficult to come by, neither are high power super capacitors if you know where to look, but your analogy completely fails in relation to the fundamental structure of Shadow. Creating more Patterns, aside from requiring the creation of more Logrus, would actually further destabilize shadow, just creating more and more interference patterns, and making shadow travel impossible. Creating a Pattern is hard enough, but I've no idea how you even go about creating a Logrus, you'd need to ask the Serpent about that.”

I press the issue, "Oh! So we're talking about polarity, then? So there needs to be one Pattern and one Logrus and there's one and a half Patterns messing things up? Like how the rotational North Pole separating from the magnetic North Pole has messed up my world. As for magic: The Jury is still out on that."

"No, there are two Logrus, and two Patterns, of which one Pattern is still damaged in some manner, that causes all the Shadow Storms that make Shadow traversal either hazardous or completely impossible in some places. As to magic" She speaks a string of syllables that are completely unintelligible. After about seventy-five seconds a half bottle of wine appears in her hands and she passes it to me, "by magic."

"Okay, so still a polarity issue.” I say as I take the bottle of wine in hand. “And... As far as magic is concerned, I'll still call all of this magic. Magic comes in many shapes and sizes. Multiple flavours and colours too. All drawing power from different sources. I've read enough stories to know that. My portals are talismans that I somehow fill with power and they slowly get discharged. The more power I put into them, the longer they last. You say an incantation which gathers and discharges power to portal or otherwise conjure this bottle of wine." As I pass the bottle of wine back to her.

Fatima speaks with an exotic Middle Eastern accent, "Ms. Chan, you must forgive me if I am slow to understand. Why do you need any of us? What keeps you or ‘our’ extended family from ‘repairing’ the broken Pattern? What good would a bunch of... eh... la'ahad like us be in the grand scheme? I feel I could have been just fine with my little magics, living in my little world. And now you tell us there's well more than a few other worlds... I say worlds but we all know I mean universes... dare I say infinite universes that we can traverse? I'm not sure this is the life I want. I do want to know who my father is, but I'm not sure this price is worth the effort." Fatima looks around at the faces of her apparent cousins, seeking, almost pleading with her eyes. "I'm sure I speak only for myself when I say, maybe, just maybe you stepped out of line in bringing us here with little to no preparation." She hugs her arms to her body, looks around again, then turns and retreats to the corner where she piled some books. She sits in the chair and, with a trembling hand, lifts the tea-cup to her mouth and sips.

I lift myself out of my seat and walk over to Fatima. I crouch down before her and I quietly say to her, "I agree. Our cousin has been rather abrupt but I believe that some level of urgency is driving her where she needs to do it this way. She's looking for toughness in us. I think that you have that toughness inside of you but you keep it buried. Don't hide your lamp under a bushel."

"Thanks, Catlin. I cannot say I have a hidden strength. Sure I seem to be stronger, faster, smarter, quicker than the people I live with, but what's to say that's not just an oddity of genetics? Now I'm being told I'm genetically different and I'm destined for other things. I'm only 21. And this isn't like The Matrix where I can be plugged back in and gifted forgetfulness." *big sigh* "We need more information. Ms. Chan. What will the ‘pattern’ do to us if it doesn't kill us? How will it enable us to ‘help the family business’? What might our actual responsibilities be? And why did we need to make an avatar and a game account?"

Ms. Chan answers Fatima, "You're familiar with the concept of how a business works? Well we run a family business, or at least before the war we did. That business is what you might call a country, and it's capital was built on cross shadow-trade. Now we have several businesses that need looking after, including one that probably is going to need a fuck tonne of gaffer tape to repair. Businesses require workers with the correct talents. Our business requires very special talents, talents that very few possess..”

Having digested what Ms. Chan said I burst out laughing, "So, you mean we're not here to save the multiverse. We're just here for the mundane purpose of running the family's trans-galactic import/export business?”

Ms. Chan ignores my outburst and continues to speak to Fatima, “As what remains of the family repairing the Pattern, we'd have to be able to get to it, to examine it, to determine what is wrong with it, for us to be able to determine a) if it is fixable, and b) if it is how it may be done, and currently we can't even do that.”

“Whilst we're not human, at least in the conventional sense, we still can't actually be in 3 or 4 places at once. It's taken us 5 years just to get to the position where we could even spare the time to hunt down lost family members, if you don't want a part of that then I can return you to your little world if that's what you truly want."

Fatima, "Ms. Chan. You seem to be forgetting the enormity of what you're laying on our backs. You want to hire us? We are barely knowledgeable in anything you ask of us. I understand a little ‘on the job’ training is necessary, but didn't you say ‘walking’ this ‘pattern’ could kill us? Please forgive me if I scoff. As Cormac says: we should discuss this amongst ourselves before giving you our decisions."

Agreeing with Fatima, Cormac adds, "While we don't know each other or our worlds....I think I would trust the Counsel of other people on this ride with me right now. Because we are at least in this together right now."

Jason has a thoughtful look on his face. "I cannot speak for us all, For myself... the Opportunity to step beyond the life I had... To truly find out Who I am, or What I am capable of. I do not know each of your situations, I cannot decide for anyone else. I have Oaths to the people back home, oaths to Protect and Defend. Those Oaths bind me, but can I do any less here, can I be satisfied with less than the Truth, less than Everything i am capable of? To no longer Hide what I can do, to hold back to fit in with lesser capable beings, because to be MORE is not allowed? To Be Better is Discouraged! I am half convinced to try, even if it were to Kill me! Though i would prefer to live.. if some method of determining our relation is figured out, i would walk tonight."

Akio stands and bows formally to Ms. Chan, "Ms. Cordelia Chan. I've heard talk of Shadows. Worlds. But I have only one question for you: Have you ever heard of a place called Arden? Not ‘Ardennes’ Arden."

"Yes Akio, as I've already said, Choki, Natsuki's dog is an Arden hound, and comes from Arden. And thank you for your confidence Jason, but stop trying to run before you can walk. Walking the Pattern is no trivial task, and as I've said requires preparation; otherwise you'll end up god knows where, and I really do not have time to come looking for you. As to what the Pattern does to you, it imprints itself on you. What you can then do with it, we'll that's really a matter of how far you're willing to pursue studying and learning what you can do with it. At a basic level, it gives you absolute time sense, at least in relation to that Pattern, no matter where you are in shadow. It also allows you to understand all verbal communication, and to reply in kind. With a little training it also allows you to move between shadows, and a few other things besides. Your responsibilities, once you've acquired some of the basics of using the Pattern, will then depend on your abilities, and what needs doing at any given time. In relation to your last question, the Disjunction account is only necessary if you want to play the game, I don't play but my daughter does. If you've created an avatar then Zou Yan will have explained what you can then do with it. It also gives you access to the Mizzurian Network, and unlimited access to house facilities anywhere in the house.”

I need to know, "Will Zou Yan help prepare us to walk the Pattern?"

Ms. Chan replies, "How would an AI designed to run the house help you to do something only you can do? I've already outlined what preparations you need to make in order to walk the Pattern."

I feel like the it’s obvious that, "Because, aside from being able to play stupid games, Virtual Reality can be used as a classroom where you can learn how to navigate or operate new tools. Surgeons use them to prepare for brain surgery. So why wouldn't Zou Yan be set up to help teach us how to navigate the Pattern? Allow us to walk a virtual pattern before tackling the real thing? I mean, Pilots train on flight simulators. It's what I'd do.”

Fatima looks up at her cousins. Her brows crease with what appears to be concern. "Catlin, I would assume some sort of interface beyond a visual would be needed to simulate what Ms. Chan has described of the endurance trial that is 'walking the pattern'. It really sounds silly to say it out loud. How can we even prepare for such a strain?  Is it just the family business you're worried about, Ms. Chan?"

"Only insofar as it affects the economies of at least 12 major countries directly, and all of which will have been almost completely isolated since the war; and that's ignoring Amber itself, and the capital, and the five hundred thousand people whose livelihood depended on that trade either directly or indirectly, and exactly what state both the city and the castle are currently in. Neither were in a good way the last time I was there, and that was just over 5 years ago Amber time. Aside from all that, there's whatever affects all this has had on the Courts, and for them the war would have ended 50 years ago. And then there's everything else, but that would take years to explain. So if you want the simple answer, then it's no, that's not all we're concerned about.”

Eddie looks around at the rest of us and to Ms. Chan he says, "Ms. Chan, it seems to be a group consensus that we would like to discuss your offer among ourselves, privately. I would assume we would want to either do it immediately, or in the morning... since apparently it's past three ayem... although to me it is early afternoon." He adds that last part with a chuckle. "I assume no objections..?"

Akio appears thoughtful and says, "All of this explains something my mother once told me, and what she said supports what Ms. Chan has said here today. And it explains why my mind and body are more capable than other peoples’. I don't have to hear more. 

There is a haiku by Basho Matsuo:

Year after year

On the monkey's face

A monkey' mask."

I’m not sure what he means by his poetry recital. Maybe it’s a cultural thing.

He then boldly states, "I have decided to walk the Pattern. But that is a reckless decision, made because of my personal situation as an individual. Please don't let my decision influence your own decisions."

I feel that since we're going to be together for a while we should be on friendly terms "One last thing before we break up this party. All my friends and family call me Jo. So, since we're all supposed to be family… Could everyone, please, call me Jo. I feel like I'm being scolded when people call me Catlin."

"No further questions then?" Ms. Chan waits for a minute or so, and with no further responses she continues "I'll leave you to process everything, but before I go there are a few odds and ends you need to know about. Breakfast will be available in the Guest Dining room, that's the one on the opposite side of the corridor, between eight ayem and nine ayem. Lunch is served between twelve-thirty and one-thirty, and dinner at seven-thirty pee-em. If you want anything in the meantime then you can order room service via Zou Yan. He also holds a copy of your itineraries, but for reference, I've scheduled the morning of the sixth for Walking the Pattern. This should give you enough time to adequately prepare yourselves, and learn your rooms in enough detail to be able to clearly picture them. The morning of the tenth is an introduction to the use of Trump and late afternoon on the seventeenth the Expo Opens, so I expect you all to be available and suitably attired. There is a breakfast meeting on the fifteenth to further discuss things Expo related, and then there are the two Expo Balls, one on the morning of the eighteenth and one in the evening. Ladies will require evening dresses for both, and gentlemen Tuxedos or Dress Uniform if you prefer. Make yourselves comfortable, make use of your assistants if you need to, and I'll see you all later.’ With that she gets up, taking her bowl and coffee with her and heads for the door.

Alarna, the young Celtic girl who hadn’t said anything during the whole meeting looked at me and got up to follow Ms. Chan out the door.

Suddenly recalling that Ms. Chan mentioned something about needing to have a serious conversation with the two of us about temporary blocks and being exposed to the full glare of the spotlight: I hastily grab my boots in one hand and my plate of pastries in the other and follow Cordelia and Alarna out of the Library and across the hall into a Dining Room.