Chaos Space - Marianne de Pierres [49]
The location made his journey to the Jainist temple more arduous than he would have liked—he had to travel back across the city—but in truth he had little stomach for meditation right now. Restlessness had beset him.
For the next few weeks Thales sought company in the seamiest klatsches, hoping that carousing would crowd his thoughts enough to give him some peace. But was it peace he sought? Or was Rene right? Did he really seek conflict for its own sake?
He found himself drawn to a circle of Skeptics: young humanesques and aliens who followed the ancient philosophy that everything could, and should, be doubted. Thales hoped that they of all clusters would question the Sophos.
‘Thales Berniere, Jainist,’ he said, seating himself in the narrow corner section of the couch.
‘Welcome, new face. I am Pascale,’ said a tall, thin Pagoin fellow.
‘Or is it new?’ offered another from the group. This fellow was short and solid and had gill scars on his neck. A Mioloaquan, perhaps, who had had the change.
‘Don’t mind Lieffried,’ said Pascale. ‘It is our... joke.’
Thales bit his tongue. Did they really think that he would not understand their juvenile humour? He summoned an engaging smile. ‘I would like to introduce a topic to your discourse. I apologise if it is not new but I am in need of some intelligent debate, having recently found such discourse to be lacking. Do you not think it contemptible that we are unrepresented to the new Entity? OLOSS really must be challenged on their selection process.’
‘Which Entity?’ a Balol/Lostol hybrid asked.
Thales searched the circle of faces. Could it be true that they did not know about the discovery of the godlike Entity?
‘If you mean the energy anomaly out near Mintaka that we are calling God, then we have little interest in goblin tales, Thales Berniere,’ said Pascale.
‘Why so, Pascale?’
‘We are bored with discussions of God. Even if the Entity’s existence is well cited, we believe that our focus should be on the demonstrative.’
Thales did not disguise his incredulous tone. ‘Demonstrative? You mean your belief is based only on what you can see before you? Here on Scolar?’
Lieffried stood up and stretched. ‘Frankly, who cares what the southern sector busies itself about? Or if it is even there.’
The circle of listeners tittered.
‘But your attitude is so... exclusivist,’ Thales protested.
‘You sound like you are a probable-ist, Thales. Perhaps you would do well with the archiTects of Lostol,’ said Pascal.
‘One can see why you would make that judgement, Thales,’ added Lieffried. ‘But we are done with vastness and mystery. Concretism and pragmatics are our new muses. And they are so rewarding.’ He added slyly: ‘As is the Pre-Eminence when one adopts their beliefs—twenty thousand gals.’
‘You are being paid to believe?’ exclaimed Thales. ‘That is outrageous. You stagger me.’
‘Why do I think that you are not being complimentary?’ said Pascal.
Thales stood and placed his drink on the table, unsure if inebriation or shock caused him to sway so. ‘How can we inspire and lead our species with such a prosaic and self-centred ideology?’
‘Inspire?’ said Lieffried.
‘Lead?’ said the rest of the group in unison.
The tittering started again.
‘What about Villon? What of his teachings?’ asked Thales.
‘Villon? Villon was of the past,’ murmured Pascal. ‘I heard he was dead.’
‘No, no,’ corrected Lieffried. ‘He joined the Extropists. They are far more concerned with evolutionary possibilities than anyone else. It was best for all.’
Thales leapt to his feet. ‘He did not join the Extropists,’ he shouted. ‘He is a victim of our own—’
The kafe’s entire sea of faces turned upward to him, their owners as eager for rumour as the scalpel fish in Mianos’s aquarium had been for blood flakes.
Thales felt their attention and thrust back from the table before his mouth betrayed him further. In doing so he collided with a Mae ji in a black kaftan