Journey to the
Shrine of the Mouse God
“Well,” Glen said gleefully after scanning the oxygen levels
in Jeth’s blood, “looks like it’s time for another trip down.”
Jeth zipped up his dive suite, activated the automatic
compression and suction functions and then plunged into the water behind Glen,
who had as little need for a suit as he did for a cooling off period between
dives. While not by nature given to contemplating other possible futures, as
Jeth watched Glen’s webbed hands and feet propel him effortlessly through the
water, Jeth couldn’t help wonder what it might have been like to have chosen a
career as a diver and been fitted with the same top of the line genetic mods as
Glen – gills, salinity monitors and filtration, temperature regulation, and
most noticeably, the detachable dorsal fin connected to his T7 vertebrae. But
Jeth had chosen for his primary the path of an objective reporter, so all his
mods (also top of the line) were related to storing, editing and transmitting
data. Considerably less sexy, he frowned. As they sank into the lightless
depths Jeth pondered the possibility that his fascination was bordering into
something else – envy perhaps?
As they made their way lower the beams of artificial light revealed
various ruined structures, the curves and loops of corroded and barnacle
encrusted steel. The skeletons of civilization, from the first global era.
“As you can see,” Glen projected through his Psy Comm, “This
was clearly a structure of some importance and prominence.” He gestured towards
the ruined spires of a castle, which seemed impractical for either defense or
occupation.
They swam in silence for a bit until they came upon a
massive dome that looked like the cracked egg of some sea creature.
“What, exactly, was
this place?” Jeth projected back.
“First era religious site, near as anyone can tell. Families
from all countries would take their children here on a pilgrimage to the palace
of the mouse god.”
“But I thought most first era religions, certainly all of
those practiced in the former Union, were monotheistic?”
“Ahh,” Greg responded, “precisely why this site is so… fascinating.
While they were primarily
monotheistic, it appears that there were dozens of minor pantheons. You’ve got
the epic heroic literature, of course, the bat, the spider, the iron suit, and
so forth. But here you have a massive complex – multiple complexes, actually,
devoted to an entirely different set of animistic deities.”
Jeth gathered as much information as he could – from the
temperature of the water to the depths to the chemical composition and map of
the structures. He tried briefly to imagine what it would have been like when
it was dry and traffic consisted of petromobiles rather than schools of fish.
Jeth took his time, knowing that the window was quickly
closing. Once the storms set in, it would be at least another nine months, if
he was lucky, before he’d be able to explore the area again. Once he’d had his
fill, he projected to Glenn. “Let’s head up, I want to parse this.”
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