Chapter Twelve

As Shirley had predicted, the incident with the rats did not compel Sir Joseph to hire a larger staff or to approve renovations to the Hunting Lodge. Instead, he simply hired some men from the Further Village to come over one afternoon and search the place for rats’ nests and place down some traps. At the end of the day, all they had found was a single small nest, which they had easily caught and herded into a cage. To Shirley’s dismay, these rats were not the ones she and Lucinda had seen in the washroom. They were much smaller and showed no aggression whatsoever.

The rat catchers left, and Sir Joseph considered the matter of the rats closed, despite Lucinda’s insistence that those were not the rats she had seen and that another search needed to be conducted. Shirley stayed silent. She was not sure another search would do any good, if the rats came from the same source as the arms in the toilet bowl and the Cutbush lookalike.

With the issue of the rats supposedly taken care of, life continued unobstructed. July arrived with its normal levels of heat and humidity, and so the Hunting Lodge opened its windows and turned on the electrically powered ceiling. Out in the villages and on the farms, the residents changed out of their thicker clothes into articles made of hemp or cotton and with fewer layers. Even Lucinda, who was still required to wear mourning garb for a few more months, changed from her heavy crepe dresses to hemp ones dyed black, and did not object to having the sleeves shortened and the neckline brought down a little.

The only place within Sir Joseph’s domain not to change with the passing of seasons was the laboratory. Within, the thick, black curtains were always drawn, and the Eden Engine always gave off enough heat to make the entire north wing of the Lodge feel like the surface of the sun.

Despite the heat, Sir Joseph and Shirley kept working within the laboratory, day in and day out, up to twelve hours a day sometimes. By the middle of the month, work had progressed enough on the Engine that they felt confident to try with live subjects again.

“The problem last time was that the energy of the Pure World was diluted by our impure world,” Sir Joseph had said a week after the incident with the piglet. During the preceding seven days, he had gone over the entirety of the Engine, as well as reviewed all his notes with a fine-toothed comb. “When the pure energy is diluted too much, it’s unable to make the necessary corrections to the test subject’s imperfections. So, for our next experiment, we have to make sure the energy is as undiluted as possible until the subject’s imperfections are corrected.”

This had been the direction of the work these past several weeks. And now they were ready.

Or at least, the Engine and Sir Joseph was ready. Shirley, who had thought she was ready, was unsure. Especially now that she was looking at the sleeping kitten that had been delivered earlier today to the Lodge by one of the shopkeepers from the village.

“You seem distracted today, my dear,” Sir Joseph remarked, stepping beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Is everything alright?”

Shirley shrugged. In addition to her work and her scientific studies, she had been trying to figure out what could cause such horrifying visions as the arms in the toilet, Cutbush in the library, and the rats in the washroom. She had revisited the exact places where those incidents had occurred several times over the past few weeks, perused every book she could find for an explanation, and had even gone down to the villages to talk to the locals about the history in the area in case that had something to do with it.

All to no avail. And what was even stranger, she had tried and failed multiple times to talk to Griffin Avondale, the only other person she knew who was interested in solving this mystery. Whenever she tried to find him, he was always out of the Lodge. Where he went and what he did, she was not sure, but she could not help but feel he was avoiding her.

Perhaps her attempts to put some distance between herself and the besotted young man had worked too well. And she had no idea if she was happy or annoyed by that.

But that was not what was bothering her about today’s experiment. “I just don’t want a repeat of the piglet,” she replied. “Especially not with a kitten.”

She reached down into its box and stroked the back of the sleeping creature. It did not wake or even stir at her touch, most likely due to being sedated. Sir Joseph believed that the piglet, who had been awake during the last experiment, had contributed to its own doom by releasing its urines and feces before the pure energy had been released. The solution, according to the baronet, was to make sure the test subject had relieved itself prior to the experiment and then sedate it so it would not be frightened and soil itself like the piglet did.

“Nothing is more emblematic of imperfection or impurity than the need to relieve ourselves of waste products in so disgusting a manner,” Sir Joseph had surmised while explaining the improvements they would make to the Engine to prevent further dilution. “Even our noble society, obsessed with all the wrong things in its pursuit for some strange definition of ‘respectability,’ has the right of this. The whole of the peerage like to pretend none of them need to relieve themselves. Especially not the women of society.”

It was an exaggeration, of course, if only slight, and Shirley had laughed at the time. However, there had been a serious meaning behind it, and so when the kitten had been brought to them earlier today, they had mixed a drug into its food so it would sleep uninterrupted for a few hours.

“I understand how you feel, my dear,” Sir Joseph assured her. By this point, Shirley was used to the term of endearment and did not mind it so much. Instead, she took it as a sign that Sir Joseph trusted her and valued her assistance. “But think of the alternative. That kitten was born blind and deaf. It can only get around through smell and feel, and even then, it is prone to life-threatening accidents. Mr. Hartley in the village wanted to kill it the moment he found out. After all, a deaf or blind cat makes for a terrible mouser. One that is deaf and blind has no chance at all!”

“And only the promise of a few coins has kept it alive,” Shirley finished. “I know. This is the only chance that kitten has of living a productive life.”

“Then I suggest we get started,” he said. “Before much more time gets on and that little creature wakes up.”

Shirley nodded and, steeling herself for what was to come, laid the kitten in its box outside the bombardment chamber. From there, she and Sir Joseph switched on the Engine, and then began the process of gathering up the pure energy again. The major difference this time, however, was that they withheld placing the kitten in the bombardment chamber until the chamber had been sanitized with a short blast of pure energy, right at the moment when the Engine was at its loudest.

As Shirley placed the kitten in the bombardment chamber and locked it in, she said a little prayer for it to come through the experiment in perfect health. Then, grabbing the final switch with Sir Joseph, they released the pure energy into the bombardment chamber.

Bright light poured in and the Engine roared. Shirley and Sir Joseph waited ten seconds as the pure energy swirled around the chamber before pushing the switch back into the off position and running around the laboratory to turn the engine off. With the Engine switched off, they returned to Console Seven and peered in through the smudged and dirty glass of the bombardment chamber.

The kitten stood in the center of the chamber, awake and on all fours. Whether it had woken up because of the noise of the Engine or because of the effects of the pure energy, neither Shirley nor Sir Joseph could say. However, awake it was, and it was mewling as if it were in pain.

For a moment, Shirley was certain something had gone wrong again, and the kitten would end up just like the piglet. When it did not explode or otherwise exhibit signs that the experiment had ended in failure, Shirley wondered why it sounded the way it did.

Then she noticed how it would open its eyes briefly before quickly shutting them again, and the truth washed over her.

“It’s sensitive to the light,” she said to Sir Joseph. “It’s not used to being able to see. Quick, we have to get it out of the chamber!”

Sir Joseph nodded and undid the lock on the chamber. Even before he had pushed it all the way back, Shirley had reached in and scooped the kitten into her arms. With a soft mewl, it buried its head in the crook of her elbow. She whispered soft shushing noises and gently petted its back. In response, the kitten began to purr and even poked its head out to get a quick peek at her before hiding its face again in her elbow.

With a sigh of relief, Shirley smiled at Sir Joseph. “I think it will be alright,” she whispered. “It wasn’t used to all the noise and light. Must have been painful for it.”

Realization dawned on Sir Joseph’s face, and he spoke in a whisper to match hers. “Yes, my dear, I think you’re right. That’s something we had not considered, how the test subjects will react once their imperfections have been relieved. But I daresay, after some time, it should become used to its new senses. Well done on you for realizing that, Shirley.”

Shirley blushed. “Thank you, Sir Joseph. I’m glad to be of assistance—hang on. What’s all that?”

Shirley pointed to the glass door of the bombardment chamber. It was covered in a coating of black dust, one that she had seen before. In the aftermath of the first experiment, and after the vacuum tubes had broken apart. As well as after the incident with the arms in the toilet, as well as after the appearance of Cutbush in the library and the attack of the rats in the washroom.

“You mean I never explained to you what that dust is?” Sir Joseph asked, his voice rising a little in tone. He held up his finger for her to wait, then retreated to the back of the laboratory. A moment later, he returned with a tiny brush and a glass slide for a microscope. Stepping carefully into the bombardment chamber, he brushed a little of the ash onto the slide before placing a segment of clear adhesive tape over the dust. He then gestured for her to follow him to one of the workbenches, where a microscope sat under a celluloid cover.

Sir Joseph pulled the celluloid cover off, switched an electric bulb underneath the platform on and slid the glass slide onto the platform. He then stepped aside and gestured for her to look through the microscope’s eyepiece. Shirley leaned forward, glanced through the eyepiece, and stared a moment before turning back to Sir Joseph.

In her scientific studies, Sir Joseph had shown her several different specimen samples underneath the microscope. She had seen the square and rectangular cells of cork trees and rose stems, the spores that caused anthrax disease, the round cells that lined the sides of her mouth, and even tiny microbes with long, elephant-like arms used to capture prey that existed in most waters. The microscope could illuminate everything that could not be seen with the naked eye.

At least, that had been what Shirley had thought. But as she had glanced down the eyepiece, she had seen nothing in the slide. No microbes, no particles, no cells, nothing. Just a blank, white space. And yet when she checked the slide, the black dust was there, sure as she stood there.

“How is that possible?” she asked.

Sir Joseph grinned as if he had been hoping for this reaction. “That, my dear, is known as holy ash,” he explained. “Known as vibhuti in Hindu. It often appears during sacred rituals to the Hindu gods and is considered a sign of pure divine power having been accessed and harnessed during the rituals. That ash produces no smell or taste, and you cannot feel it on your fingers if you touch it. And, as you can see, it does not appear under the microscope. And yet, it is there. A mystery that may never be understood, though we strive to.”

“It’s a sign of divine power being accessed and harnessed?” Shirley repeated in amazement.

The baronet nodded. “And it appears when pure energy is siphoned from the Pure World. After all, what is the Pure World if not divine? The perfect forms of all things and beings exist there. In fact, I believe the Garden of Eden was a manifestation of the Pure World in our imperfect world, and that Adam and Eve were perfect beings in that world. It was only when man ate of the Forbidden Fruit—likely a fruit native to this world rather than the Pure World—that humanity became imperfect.”

“So, human beings were originally from the Pure World?” Shirley asked. “And when we were ‘sinless,’ that just meant we were pure and hadn’t been tainted by anything impure from this world?”

“Well, that’s my hypothesis,” Sir Joseph replied. “I cannot be certain unless I find the Garden of Eden, can I? But enough about that. Now that we have discovered a way for animals to survive the process, we will need to prepare for our first human trials. I will study my texts, and Shirley…I want you to monitor the kitten.”

“Sir?” Shirley asked, confused.

“I want you to monitor the kitten,” he repeated. “Feed it, care for it, and see how it develops. If there are any ill side effects or it returns to an enfeebled state, that will be important to know for further testing.”

Even as he was saying it though, Shirley realized there was a double meaning behind the baronet’s words. Sir Joseph was not only giving her a command to monitor the kitten’s condition going forward: he was giving it to her as a present. The kitten was to be her pet.

“A-Are you sure?” she asked.

Sir Joseph nodded. “I’m certain. And I suggest you give the kitten a name. We cannot keep calling it ‘the kitten,’ after all.”

Oh God, he really wants to give it to me as a pet, she thought. In all her life, she had never wanted a pet. In homes with pets, the owners played and petted their dogs and cats, but left the task of feeding and cleaning up after them to the servants. Lord Above help you if sweet little Sir Orange or the drooling devil Maxwell disliked you for whatever reason. Or worse, preferred your company over that of their master’s.

And yet, she could not say no to Sir Joseph. Not after all he had done for her.

Shirley glanced down at the kitten, still curled up in her arms with its head buried in the crook of her elbows. However, now it was curled with its belly towards her, and it was purring softly. It was no longer in pain. She reached over absently with one hand and scratched it on the back. It turned a bit more, the better to take advantage of her hand, and Shirley realized it was female.

Names for a female kitten, she thought. Josephine? Dinah? Mrs. Norris, perhaps? No, none of those sound right. She has white fur, maybe something like that. Snowball or Snowflake? Oh no, much too obvious. But maybe a word for white in another language. Blanche? Blanca? Bianca? Why so many B’s? Strange about that, because the root word in Latin is album, and that begins with an A—

And then it hit her. “Albedo. I’ll name her Albedo.”

Sir Joseph smiled. “The Latin word for ‘whiteness.’ I like it. Now I suggest you get Albedo back in her box and take her somewhere you can keep track of her, my dear. I’ll apprise you of what our plans are going forward in the morning.”

Shirley nodded, placed the newly christened kitten Albedo in her box, and left the laboratory, wearing a smile the whole time.

The moment she left the laboratory, however, her smile disappeared as she turned her mind back to the holy ash. Sir Joseph had said that it appeared whenever the energy of the Pure World was siphoned and harnessed in their world. But it also appeared after the arms in the toilet disappeared, and after the incident with Cutbush in the library, and most recently all over the washroom after the rats had vanished from sight.

That meant only one thing: that whatever had caused those horrific occurrences also came from the Pure World. Maybe it even came through to this world whenever the Eden Engine was fired up and the pure energy was siphoned off.

She had to find Griffin Avondale and tell him immediately.