The Shadow Dragons - James A. Owen [132]
“Kipling,” said Jack. “It was Kipling, wasn’t it?”
“It was the only way to ensure that he was accepted into the enemy camp,” said Ransom. “It was a heavy price to pay, but he did so willingly.”
“How is virtual immortality a heavy price?” asked John. “It sounds like an easy decision to me.”
“That’s because you’re going to live for several more decades,” said Ransom. “You and Jack both have plenty of life ahead of you, so it’s not a test of your convictions to suggest a way to live forever.”
“It is, as with everything in life, a choice,” said Bert. “The Caretakers decided long ago that to meddle in the world past our allotted spans was not the ethical choice. As residents of Tamerlane House, through the use of the portraits, we could advise, and counsel, and be a living repository of information for those who came after. But we would not walk about messing around in the affairs of a world we were not meant to be in.”
“You do,” said Jack.
“I haven’t died yet,” said Bert, “but when I do, I shall join the others in the gallery. Stellan chose to live at Tamerlane, and then to die, finally, on Terminus. And he did so as a hero, John. Do not begrudge him that.”
“There was no portrait of Poe in the gallery at Tamerlane House,” said Charles. “What does that mean?”
“It means it’s his house,” said Bert. “He doesn’t need a portrait, because he’s never actually died.”
“There was another one missing,” Jack said. “Jules Verne. He died many years ago—but he seems to be pulling all the strings from backstage on everything that’s happened. Is he a portrait, or a tulpa?”
“He’ll answer that for himself,” said Bert. “He should be along shortly. It was he who requested this meeting.”
“You said there were other ways to survive death,” said John. “Could none of them be used to help the professor?”
“I’m sorry, lad,” said Bert, “but none that I know of. Had he been a tulpa first, as Defoe was, we might have created a portrait. But as he was a portrait first, there were no other options. And as Poe told you, the resins can only be used once, so his portrait cannot be recreated. I am truly sorry, John. For all of us.
“What I was referring to by mentioning other methods was other Caretakers, like Bacon, who never needed a portrait at all. He still serves the Archipelago, in his own fashion. You met him in the battle, I believe.”
“Bacon?” Jack exclaimed. “I met Roger Bacon? When?”
“He saved your life, and Nemo’s beside,” said Bert. “Charys calls him the Tin Man.”
“I thought that was just another clockwork,” said Charles.
“In a way, he was the first clockwork,” said Bert. “The only difference is, his mind remains inside. All he needs is the occasional spare part, and he can keep wandering the Archipelago until the end of time, if he so wishes.”
“That’s why the Shadow King was frightened by him,” said John. “He saw what he was trying to be, but with, you know, less evil.”
“We all learned lots of lessons there,” said Bert. “That’s one benefit of traveling to your own future, and making the trip part of your past.”
“So are all the members of the Imperial Cartological Society immortal?” asked John.
“Only virtually,” said Ransom. “They haven’t aged, from what we can tell—and while they can be killed, it’s much harder to manage, as you saw when Samaranth stepped on Defoe. So it’s more like they have a second life.”
“A very resilient one, and without the restrictions of the portraits,” said Charles thoughtfully. “It would be very tempting.”
“Everything has changed now,” said Ransom. “Hopefully the members of the society truly are more misguided than traitorous.”
“Why didn’t Jakob Grimm’s watch dissolve?” John asked suddenly. “We know he was a traitor, even there, in Tamerlane House.”
“The magic that governs the watches is not one of mere cause and effect,” Bert replied. “It is attuned to the