AMBYSSUS | Ch. 17 - The Beetle (Patreon)

“What is the police going to do about this?”

“Mr. Pierre, I can assure you we’re doing everything we can about the vandalism in the city.”

“Bah! Everything? Everything? You’re doing nothing!”

Joey sighed. When the hotel manager saw Joey arriving in uniform, he grabbed him and showed him the damage done. There was nothing that Joey had been able to do for the manager. These graffiti were popping up all over town. It was some form of new art movement. Joey didn't care for it. It was doodles with loopy lines that didn't make sense. Despite the force's best efforts, they had difficulty stopping this vandalism wave.

“Mr. Pierre, I’m sorry to hear about your troubles. I have an important meeting with one of your guests. I’ll swing by later and take your statement. Is that alright?”

It had been three days since Joey had woken up. Despite his best efforts to meet up with Esther, she had gone off the grid. Finally, he'd managed to arrange a meeting at the hotel. He took a seat in the restaurant area. The once pristine windows were now sullied with paint, and some of the hotel staff were trying to wipe away the graffiti on the glass that some hooligans had done the night before.

Joey drew his eyes away from the window and focused on his friend, who had just arrived and was walking in his direction. She looked pale and sickly.

"Esther. I’m so happy to see you finally. How is your health? You look pale."

"I'm OK, Joey." Despite sounding light and breezy, Joey didn't miss the bags under her eyes or the deeply creased forehead. She had discovered something.

"Please, take a seat. Do you still have any headaches?

"I'm getting there," she smiled sadly.

Joey sighed. He, too, still had persistent headaches but refused to take the medicine the doctor had prescribed him. He'd concocted a mix of anti-inflammatory herbs at home, which helped slightly, but at this rate, he would still need several days before getting back on his feet. “Professor, where have you been the past few days? I've been trying to get in contact with you.”

“I know, Joey. I'm sorry. I've had to spend more time on the shores of the lake."

"Why?"

"It's a long story." She didn't say anything else. She pulled out a flask of water from her bag and, with shaky hands, drank it. She had found something that was worrying her.

"Esther, what do you remember from the Albatross?"

"Nothing. All I remember is that I asked you for some tea. After that, it’s just a big blank.”

“Same here.”

“Joey, there’s something I need to show you,” said Esther as she pulled a scroll from her rucksack. “This is the map that I drew aboard the Albatross.” She unfurled it on the table. Joey again marveled at the exquisite penmanship and how precisely she could draw. The map showed the different clines. They branched and radiated out from the center of the lake. In the center was something different. In a much thicker stroke, someone had clumsily drawn a circle with another circle within it as if it were an eye.

“It looks like a giant octopus,” joked Joey. “Did you let a child get to your precious map, professor?”

The professor didn’t laugh.

“What? It's just a joke, Esther. Calm down.”

“I drew all the clines, Joey. But I didn’t draw the eye in the middle. The captain told me I was bleeding from the nose when they found us, but you were bleeding from both nose and ear. You had a pen in your hand.”

“Wait. Does that mean...”

“Yes, Joey. You made a huge effort to draw this before you passed out.”

Silence. Joey tried to think of the implications.

“Why would I do that?”

“Perhaps you saw something. We saw something.”

“Did the captain speak of anything?”

The professor leaned back on her chair. “No.”

“Look. I agree with you. This is all very strange. But why would only the two of us see something weird lakeside? Can you think of any reason for it? There were at least fifty people in that Zeppelin.”

“Some tea, coffee? Some water?” the waiter asked after approaching the table. Joey would never have accepted, but his refusal was even more adamant as he recalled how mad the hotel manager was at him.

“No, thank you,” they replied in unison.

“Just bear with me for a second,” continued the professor.

“Go ahead.”

“Let’s recap the events of the last month. A flash flood like nothing ever seen before here in the lake happens. The equivalent of ninety cubic kilometers of water falls into the lake and causes the water level to rise. Yes?”

“Yes,” said Joey.

“Later, we discover that the water of the whole lake has been reorganized into clines of freshwater and saltwater.”

“Right.”

“And finally,” she searched her rucksack and took a notebook, “I discovered this.”

She opened the notepad into a drawing of a disgusting creature. It looked like an insect but was unlike anything Joey had ever seen. The drawing depicted something resembling a beetle but with only one big eye. It had seven legs and five antennae.

“What is this thing?”

“This new species was discovered in the lake, Joey. It’s been named the cyclops-beetle.”

“I have never seen anything like this before.”

“No one has. This is why I've been in the lake for the past few days, Joey. I've been studying this creature. Have you heard of the miracle dives?"

"Who hasn't? Even Marie said I should go there to see if it helps with the headache. I told her I don't believe in quack doctors and fountain of youth legends." Joey laughed at his own joke, but Esther's serious stare forced him to swallow his laughter.

"Wait, are you saying that..."

"Yes, Joey. It's true. I've seen it."

"No. That's impossible."

"There's a team from New Lisbon General collecting further data, but it's true. The lake is healing people."

"But how? How can this be?"

She tapped her finger on the drawing of the beetle.

"It's because of this, Joey. This is a completely new life form. I'm still studying its life cycle, but after it feeds on the shore, these beetles fall into the water and undergo a metamorphosis. They dissolve into the water.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Joey, this thing is different from any other lifeform on Earth. These insects are changing the water and healing people."

"You can't be serious, Esther. Do you have any idea of how crazy this is? A bug that dissolves into water and heals people? You sound like a lunatic." Joey started sweating. Esther was starting to remind him of his mother when she started going crazy.

“I know it sounds far-fetched, but here is my theory. There was a meteorite or something that fell into the lake. I don’t know why it didn’t cause a massive explosion or a cataclysmic event. But let’s assume that’s what happened. Let’s imagine that there was something aboard the meteorite. Something alive.” She pointed her finger toward the drawing again. Joey gulped nervously.

“Are you saying this is an alien?”

Esther nodded. “I've sent my findings to the Science Academy. They agree with my assessment. I'm going to the city hall to start making arrangements and quarantine the lake. We’re bringing everyone out here. We need to enclose the creatures and try to contain them somehow. And study them too, of course.”

“Wow! Alien life. If that is true, this is the discovery of the century,” said Joey. He still wasn't convinced. The whole story seemed unbelievable.

"Not to speak of how it can help heal many illnesses," she added.

"But are you sure it is alien?"

"Look at it, Joey! It’s asymmetrical. It’s completely different from everything else in nature. What animal dissolves into the water? Also, here, Joey." She pulled a jar from her bag. A little black ball was inside it. “Look at it.”

“What is that?”

“This is the corpse of a cyclops-beetle.”

“So?”

“Whenever you try capturing a cyclops-beetle, it commits suicide. The first one I tried to grab burst into flames, burning my hands.” She took off one of the gloves, showing scar tissue. “When I trapped this beetle in the jar, I saw it burst into flames. I put the jar to the side but never opened it. As I went through my bag yesterday, I discovered the beetle's remains inside the jar.”

“What? How? Why would you see the thing burn and then find it later in the jar?”

Joey sensed that the whole conversation had been led up to this point. He felt that Esther was about to drop a bomb on him. “I think that this creature has mental powers. It can make us see things. The hallucination is powerful.” She showed the burns on her hands again. "So strong that my hands burned because I believed they were burning.

But what if this was not the only creature in the meteorite? What if something else fell on the lake? Something bigger, smarter? What if we saw it from the Albatross, and when it found us out, instead of tricking us into seeing it bursting itself into flames, it just wiped the memory off our minds?”

“Are you telling me,” probed Joey cautiously, “That you’re considering the possibility of a giant alien octopus falling into the lake, bringing with it his little suicidal beetle friends? An octopus with super mental powers that can wipe memories off? Why would only the two of us be able to see it? Why didn’t the rest of the crew see it?”

“That’s the only thing that makes me believe this theory is wrong.”

“It’s a good one, though. It’s a fantastic one.” Joey was struggling right now. Somehow his gut told him there was merit to this line of reasoning, but it sounded so outlandish that he couldn't accept it.

The professor let out a small, forced laughter that almost sounded like a groan. “I am sorry, Joey, I just had to say this out loud. I was going crazy keeping this theory to myself.”

“Don’t worry. We have been through a rough time and have left the hospital recently. Perhaps this is some coping mechanism our mind is using, you know? Trying to find a reason for what has happened and all that. Not to speak of everything that has happened to the city.”

“Maybe. We'll see more of each other in the next few months. I am one of the scientists assigned to study the cyclops beetle. I'll be in town.”

"Where will your team stay?"

"We'll set up camp somewhere on the lake shores." Joey tried to weigh his emotions and desire to help. He forced himself to speak: "Why don't you stay in the Silverlake Estate? It belonged to my father, and I own it now. There is plenty of room for everyone. The stewards there would be happy to have you, and I know my father would, too."

For the first time in the conversation today, Esther relaxed and gave him a warm smile. "Thank you, Joey. That's very kind.” She started standing up. “I have to go now. We need to make arrangements to isolate the lake."

"The miracle divers won't be happy."

"Don't worry. We have our ways in the Science Academy."

“Take care, Joey.”

“See you around, Esther.”

He followed her departing figure with his eyes and stood up. “Good grief. An alien octopus with superpowers.” Joey laughed nervously.

*

Geoffrey looked at his silver pocket watch. It was 4 pm. He then happily looked at the map hanging on the wall of his office. It was a nice feeling to admit the fruits of one’s labor. He had worked non-stop over the last few days and had finally finished spending all the capital he had secured from loans and investors, buying as much of the lake shore as possible.

Little red pins circled the lake on the map in an almost perfect circle. Occasionally, some yellow pin signaled more stubborn or wealthier producers who resisted his offers but who wouldn’t make a dent in his grand plan. Inside his desk drawer were the contracts and title properties of all this land. No one could come to whine at his door now.

He would have never been able to own all of this land if it weren’t for the flood. The producer’s financial trouble and the memories of the recent flood fresh in their minds had allowed Geoffrey to buy what once was considered premium land for comparatively dirt-cheap prices. Any second now, the final part of his plan would come to be.

“Mr. Geoffrey,” he heard his secretary say through the door, "Professor Esther Lincoln from the Science Academy has asked to see you as quickly as possible. She made no prior reservation. Should I…?”

“Let her in. Let her in. I am available now. Please, send for my lawyer and have him come here as soon as possible.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Geoffrey.”

Professor Esther came into the office.

“Please, professor. Have a seat.”

She sat and spared a look around the office. First, she looked at the now-finished painting of Ambyssus’ eye. She looked disturbed as her eyes studied it. She seemed unable to take her eyes off the otherworldly eye. He took that as a compliment to his artistry. She then went on to look at the map Geoffrey had been looking at. She locked her jaw, and her nostrils started flaring.

“Mr. Geoffrey, I’ve been studying the creatures you showed me over the past few days.”

“Yes? Fascinating things, aren’t they? Alien, even.” He said the last word with amusement as he saw the woman look at him in surprise. As he spoke, he poured himself a glass of apple cider and then added some lake water into it, taking a flask from a pocket. So refreshing.

“For lack of a better word, yes. Mr. Geoffrey, I have already discussed this with my colleagues and have gone to see the mayor. This is a new species, and it will have to be protected and isolated.”

“Of course, of course,” he said, smiling.

“From what I've been able to ascertain. The beetle’s life cycle starts in the lake. They lay eggs on the beach, and then the larvae feed on the trees immediately adjacent to the lake before they return to the lake. They never leave the immediate vicinity of the beach.”

“Really? How interesting! I had never imagined that a beetle could swim,” he said sarcastically. Esther tried not to show how annoyed she was, which only made provoking her more fun. A Science Academy emissary! Bah. She was eating off the palm of his hand.

“Under article 5, subsection 3 of the Environment Protection Act, under my authority as an ambassador of the Science Academy, I am proclaiming the whole lake shore a natural park. Of course, the herds of sirenians can’t be relocated, but production will have to be monitored and controlled more closely by the Science Academy.

Additionally, we’re appropriating the land around the lake twenty-meter from the shore. All landowners will be informed and appropriately compensated according to the estimated value of the land.” Grinding her teeth, she looked again at the map.

“The mayor's office has reported that you own ninety-four percent of the lake’s shore. Therefore, I wanted to inform you first. The Science Academy will transfer you,” she grond her teeth again, “A hundred and thirty-three billion dollars for this. This price has been calculated according to the price table determined in the law. We will also draft new legislation that will determine how the lake can be used for raising sea cows while not disturbing the habitat of these new creatures.”

“Very good! Very good! It’s a pity I’ll lose all the land I bought. And I had such great plans. But I thank you immensely, Professor. You have been most kind. Please, transmit my thanks to the Academy.”

The professor stood up. With her back turning toward him, she added a question.

“How long have you known about the beetles?”

“For some weeks.”

“And what is out there in the lake?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I see.” She stomped out of Geoffrey’s office.

Geoffrey stayed behind, smiling profusely. When he found out about the beetles, he knew he had discovered a gold mine. The professor hadn’t mentioned to him some things that he knew, namely, that the beetles were not beetles at all. It was a completely new life form. In their first life cycle stage, they came from the lake, brought by the tides, like dandelion seeds brought by the wind.

Once they landed on the beach, they dug into the sand to emerge as larvae a few days later. The larvae then climbed the trees, feeding on the leaves and the fruits, to cocoon and emerge as beetles. Once they became beetles, they fed on bark and rock and returned to the lake. Once the beetles returned to the lake, they melted and dissolved, turning themselves into algae taken by the currents right to the heart of the lake.

There, the spores deposited themselves on the lake bed, grew roots, and became something similar to seagrass. After a few days, it released little seeds that floated until they broke the surface, blossomed into dandelion-like feathery forms, and were retaken by the winds to restart its lifecycle. These creatures brought about minerals and nutrients to keep the conditions in the lake just right for... well... just right.

Geoffrey doubted that the professor, brilliant as she was, had figured out all of this information already. Doubtlessly, she hadn’t even dreamed of the applications of some of the substances produced by the creatures at different stages of their life.

For example, if one dissolved a beetle in lake water and added the right ingredients, one could produce a potion that slowed aging, extending human life by as much as thirty years. The seeds could be ground into a paste that, when mixed with the shell left behind by the larvae when they wrapped, could cure any cancer. This would come later.

The knowledge came to Geoffrey's mind, leaving it as mysteriously as it had appeared. He started feeling woozy and light-headed. He had to sit down. His eyes were drawn to the painting that he'd made, and he felt his shirt becoming drenched in sweat.

"Why?” He asked the painting as if it could speak. The answer came in the form of a sweet voice in his mind.

"Becaussse it'sss fun Geoffrey. Issn't this what you wanted? To be resspected? To ssstand at the top?"

"Not at the expense of others! Joey will be so disappointed when he finds out."

"Joey, Joey, Joey. He's nobody. You are much more important now."

"Now that you've won, will you leave me alone?" he begged.

"I haven't won. It'ss a tie."

"What do you mean? You promised."

"Hush, hush now, little Jeff. Come down. Go have some more water."

"No, I don't want to..." Geoffrey saw himself stand, go for the water flask, and take big swigs. His worries unraveled, and the memory of panic passed. It was all quiet once again.

"Sir?"

"Oh? Debbie. What seems to be the matter?"

"I heard you speaking, but since you weren't supposed to have anyone here, I just came to check you were OK."

"Yes, I'm fine. I’m just a little tired. I’m going to get some sleep."

*

“What are the whereabouts of the black merchant?” pressed the commissioner.

“I told you. I don't know!” protested Reggie in a whining tone. He hadn't eaten all day and had been questioned non-stop by the Commissioner and Joey.

“Of course, you know Reggie,” said Joey. “Everyone knows that you are a low life that leeches on bigger fish. Don't tell me you didn't participate in the crime spree of four days ago.”

“I told cha everythin’ I know,” Reggie protested. “Now bring me my lawyer, or I’ll sue. I know me rights!” Fabius and Joey exchanged glances. Joey spared a look at the clock in the interrogation room. It was 3 pm. They had been at it for almost 24 hours straight, and the man hadn’t budged.

Reggie was the most cowardly small-time criminal he could think of. He had broken under interrogation before. This was a man who, in the name of self-preservation, was willing to throw everyone he knew and cared about under the bus. But even though he was scared of two policemen, he wasn't as scared of them as of whoever had procured his services. Someone knocked on the glass.

“Don’t go anywhere, Reggie. We’ll be right back.” The commissioner and Joey left the room. One of the lieutenants was waiting outside the room.

“Sir!” he said while saluting the commissioner.

“At ease, lieutenant? What is it? I told you I didn't want to be interrupted.”

“Chief, you told us that if anything strange happened in the city, we should notify you immediately.”

“Yes, I did. What happened?”

“Well, Chief, there are reports from all over the city that an unusual amount of steam is coming out of the sewers. Additionally, some of the disappeared craftsmen have been popping up all over town."

"What? Where have they been all this time?"

"People saw them coming out of the sewers too.”

“The sewers?” asked Joey. They hadn’t even thought of looking for anything down there.

“Come! Take me there immediately.”

The ground shook. Boom. It shook again, the impact even stronger than the previous one. It was as if the city was groaning and breaking apart.

Ch. 16

INDEX

Ch. 18