The Remnant

“Remember our conversation, Charlotte?” said Isaiah. His jaw relaxed, but the tension had spread through his usually-smooth forehead.

The balance was weighed, and my vote was as consequential as a sack of feathers. Shan lifted my wrist off Isaiah’s arm with surprising gentleness and clasped the cuffs on as though they were a pair of delicate silver bracelets. I revised my glare to a slight frown. It usually hurt enough to leave a mark.

Didn’t mean I had to like him.

No one had touched Isaiah yet, which I supposed was a good sign, so I squared my shoulders as I was prodded forward through the door.

I nearly gasped at the sight before me. A bright red carpet led us out of the tiny hangar. I couldn’t help but notice the differences between my Ark and this one. In the North American Ark, only the Guardian Level could be described as decorated. Here, on the outermost edge of the Asian Ark, the path was already beautiful.

Shan stopped, expecting Isaiah to walk with him. Isaiah gave a nearly imperceptible twitch of his lower arm, signaling me to release him, and I realized I’d taken his arm yet again. As we walked, An fell into step beside me. For awhile, we walked in silence, watching the men converse, but unable to hear their words.

I began a mental catalog of everything I saw, so that I could repeat it all to Isaiah later, but I was quickly overwhelmed. The biggest immediate difference was the lighting. It was a trick of the eye, of course, but the lights appeared to be completely natural: open flames alternated with elaborately painted lanterns. The ceiling itself seemed to glow. It was white, along with the walls and the floor beneath the carpet.

The next thing I noticed was the calligraphy. On either side of the red carpet, rows of perfectly balanced symbols lined our path.

“Poetry,” said An, noticing the direction of my eyes.

“It’s beautiful,” I said honestly.

“You read Japanese?”

“I—no, not at all. But it’s very pretty.” I squinted at the symbols. The artist had pressed the brush hard, leaving the edges rough, in spite of the precisely equal weight he or she had given each word. This was a calligrapher who could easily have produced smooth edges, vanishing the mere idea of the instrument’s individual bristles, but had chosen otherwise. As I stared, I could almost feel the artist’s frustration. “It seems almost… angry.”

An rewarded my observation with another sweeping glance, landing this time at my eyes, but she didn’t comment on my thoughts directly. “Each culture has contributed literature to this path, which begins on the outer edge of the Ark and spirals continuously to the center. In many places, the inscriptions are still being created. It is the same on every level, but the words are different.” She gave me a sharp look. “We believe we have found unity in spite of our differences.”

This time, I met her gaze. “I see.”

“I am told you speak no Mandarin?” she asked, holding up a hand to stop me. A guard opened a panel in the inner wall, revealing a black stone tunnel lined with torches.

We turned into the tunnel as the conversation continued. It was perfectly straight, so that I could see almost to the center of the ship. “No,” I said. “My education was more… erratic. Did you bring much art from your continent?”

An considered that. “The construction of the Ark itself is art. A perfect circle. Each floor has precisely the same gravity as the others. Our homes are each the same, except the Imperial’s. He lives in the center of the guidao.”

“Guidao?”

“The spiraling path that reaches every room on a level. You are on a lujing, a path that cuts through the coil and leads to the center. The lujing are for official use.”

As we walked, we passed directly across the spirals of the guidao, its white and red scheme contrasting with the dark stone walls of the lujing. “This is beautiful, too.” I reached to touch a part of the stone and saw that it was made from actual stone, cut from the depths of the Earth. My handcuffs clinked, and I pulled my sleeves over them, wishing I could make them disappear.

We bustled down the hall, but I couldn’t help squinting at the stone. It had an iridescent shimmer, as though it were specifically responding to the light from the torches. On a whim, I reached up and touched an open flame, allowing my sleeves to fall back from my wrists, exposing the cuffs. They caught the light of the fire, which set the silver dancing. The flame was cold.

An spoke again. “The light is art. It comes from within the ceiling. It is not generated from a single point, but radiates through the rooms like a coil. At night, the torches burn brighter, and the ceiling is dimmed. I sometimes walk at night, just to see the flames.”

I nodded. “Well, I can see why it’s your favorite part. It’s very… peaceful.”

She smiled. “It is. Although, it’s not my favorite part. That is the water.”

“Is that in the coils, too?”

“It is beneath us.” She paused, considering her words. “Maybe I will show you tomorrow, when you’ve recovered from the party. It would be a good thing to show the other delegations as well.”

“Other delegations?” I asked, at the risk of sounding like a parrot.

“We’ve sent a signal to the remaining Arks. The others should be here soon. Each has a right to see how your case is stated. If one Ark goes to war, we are all affected.”

She had a point, but I couldn’t help thinking that the whole reason we were here was to put an end to any secret dealings with the Commander. I was sure the other Arks hadn’t been consulted about blowing a hole in a ship, no matter who owned it. I turned back to Isaiah, and he sensed my glare.

“How are you doing back there, Ambassador?” he asked, smiling.

“Oh, just fine. I’m especially jazzed about meeting all the other delegations.” Hopefully not in handcuffs, I added silently.

Shan gave An a helpless look, but Isaiah seemed not to mind. “Of course,” he said easily.

We reached a large wooden door, and I stepped back, expecting it to swing open, but Shan slid a keycard past the pad, and it sucked open, just like back on our Ark, revealing a wide, circular room with red walls and flooring.

“These are your quarters,” Shan said. “I regret that you will not be able to… explore during your stay. I am told that your Arkhopper contained cargo. Your things should arrive shortly.”

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