wet raindrop lull

07.01.45
Once bitten, twice shy.
An excellent thought for today, upon which I shall expound in my sagacity, as if I were merely playing at pundit with this last labor of my life. I choose such a perfect bon mot to exemplify my own foolishness--or arrogance, or pure, undiluted stupidity in believing myself untouchable. God knows it isn't a situation unknown among the Stardroids--we, the chosen of the Powers, free to walk where we will and issue judgment where we will, undying save when we are caught out...surprising in and of itself, but caught out in our own arrogance.
We are neither all-powerful nor immortal; I suppose I have come to grips with that only lately, staring my own eventual death in the face with Sigma's hand around my throat and my heart to bring it down upon my head. I dug my grave with my own insouciance; now I am forced to lie in it and I balk at the edge. One would believe that, after being caught out once by Wily I would have it in me to know a trap of the same sort when I saw one.
But I did not. I walked, with eyes open and pride secure in itself, into another mistake. I drove off all that I could, and laid down in the fire to allow it test me--and awoke, surrounded by Mavericks and uncertain why, exactly, no one could hear my cries for help.

It rains today, though I do not know how I know. I've never yet, since becoming the unwilling scion of the Virus, been allowed to even so much as glimpse a window in this place.
But I know it rains, and I know the passing of the days. The days are simple to mark--if I were so incompetent as to be unable to mark time by my own heartbeat, by the subtle motions of the electrons that define my 'programming', I would at least have this terminal to tell me.
Storms are subtler. I am not Jupiter to know the lightning from inside out or Venus to commune with water or Pluto to know the will of blizzard and thunderstorm alike--my element is fire, and I should not know the machinations of raindrops.
There is a certain blessing in this communion, though, as unknown as its reasons are and as unknowing as I am in taking a part in it. It is perhaps because it rained the day of my trial by fire, so that both the storm and the flame have equal claim from sharing me that single day.
An interesting digression; one I must cut short. I pause to remind myself here that I am Mercury, ensouled by the terhai medic Kaykaran and empowered by the Messenger, Hermes. I will not allow Sigma to diminish me to a soulless killer, nor allow him diminish my name to weak and toothless Quicksilver.



Contents of this document are © 2002 Kim Kondratieff.