From: jfy@cis.ksu.edu (Joseph F. Young)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Reposting of "Stories of Nyssa" PART 7 of 8 by David E. Woon
Followup-To: rec.arts.drwho
Date: 17 Dec 1992 22:28:46 GMT
Organization: Kansas State University, Dept. of Computing and Information Scienc
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: crucis.cis.ksu.edu
Summary: Part 7 of Stories of Nyssa by David E. Woon
Keywords: Nyssa, Story, repost

This story was originally posted around February this year...


(This is a fuzzy ending for this story, but I need to step back and
 think about where it's going.  After all, it's getting a little bit
 extarordinary, and I haven't any idea where it's going to go.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  This is the SEVENTH episode in a series.  Please address comments or
     requests for further information or the previous episodes to:
            ng436@pnlg.pnl.gov   (or)   ng436@traken.pnl.gov
  --  David E. Woon  --  Molecular Science Research Center -- PNL --
            --  Alumnus of Michigan Tech University  --
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                  KINGDOM
                              by David E. Woon


BACKGROUND:

Nyssa is trying to help Dave adjust to the fundamental changes which are
starting to manifest themselves in his person.  He is being transformed
into one of the unchained, those whose minds are able to freely roam
through the chronistic manifold.

The purpose of the second series of stories is to explore questions of
What If?  In "Confluence" and "A Bend in the Stream of Time" the spe-
cifics were What if someone from the Doctor Who universe crossed into
outs? and What if the real Doctor met one of the actors from the tele-
vision show?  These stories also investigated the implications of being
able to travel from one reality to another.

This new storyline will take up a new thrust: What use are worlds of
fantasy?  It is a subject of some personal interest to me.  If I can
work through some of the more-difficult aspects of this, I may be able
to apply what I'm learning to the more serious novel(s) which I would
like to write.

But then (and this is blatant editorializing), the world needs stories
which are shallow in most respects, but manage occasionally to touch on
more important universal issues.  I hope some of that was evident in the
first five stories (the sixth was more of a breather for me, a chance to
fill in some details without having to focus much on the conflicts which
motivate the stories to begin and then carry them through to their
denouements).

This story is also paced slowly.  Nyssa and Dave need some quiet time
together, both for the sake of their relationship and to give them time
to adjust to all of the changes in their lives.  We will now rejoin
them.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


SCENE 1:  Nyssa's TARDIS, Dave alone at the console

(Dave has been working at the console which controls the imaginary
 circuits.  He is trying to understand their deeper intricacies.  His
 progress varies with the degree to which he is in contact with un-
 chained visions from the future.)

(Nyssa enters and comes to Dave's side.  She places a hand on his arm.)

N.  How is it coming?

D.  I'm making progress.

N.  You're learning how to use the controls without having to rely on
    flashes of insight?

D.  Yep.  By concentrating, I can see the ideas.  It will be better if
    I can say that this switch activates the imagination circuit's
    motivator, this one controls the stability and so on.  Previously,
    the knowledge was coming from outside and going directly into my
    subconscious.  That could have been dangerous in the long run.

N.  You're afraid that we could be stranded or worse if the flashes of
    insight stopped or if you were incapacitated.

D.  I know enough now that I can teach you how to use the imagination
    circuits without me.

N.  How are you doing inside?

D.  It helps to have something practical to focus on.

N.  That's good.

D.  I have an idea for something which might be very helpful.  Suppose
    we find a comfortable little spot somewhere in the fields of reality
    which suits our dreams.  We could look for a magical sort of place
    where the external world reacts to people's internal thoughts.

N.  Given the capcities of these new circuits, that should be quite
    possible.  Then what?

D.  It would give me some time to think about what's happening to me in
    a conducive environment.

N.  Do you have a destination in mind?

D.  Not yet.  But I think we should head the TARDIS outward on the
    imaginary axis.  We could go out quite a ways and see what reality
    looks like.

N.  All right.

(They operate various controls.)

N.  Even at this velocity, it will take quite a while to get where
    you've aimed us.

D.  Let's go talk and see what sort of destination we can come up with
    between us.

(They exit through the interior door.)


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 2:  a bit later, the TARDIS sitting room

N.  If you're thinking in terms of a fantasy story setting, I don't know
    how much help I can be.

D.  You only think that you don't understand fantasy.  I think you're as
    good at it as anyone.

N.  But I've come out of a culture which doesn't tell stories about fic-
    tional places.  The children of Traken grow up with facts and knowl-
    edge.

D.  You sound like a little girl from one of our movies, "A Miracle on
    34th Street."  Her mother had raised her not to believe in Santa
    Claus or fantasies.

N.  What's Santa Claus?

D.  Did Tegan or the Doctor ever mention Father Christmas?

N.  Tegan did once.  She was complaining about how difficult is is to
    mark the passing of time while living in a TARDIS.  She said that
    she missed seasons and special holidays, like Christmas.

D.  Santa Claus is the American version of Father Christmas.  These days
    he's become the victim of commercialism, and his image has been
    tarnished.  But there was a time, not long ago, when he stood for
    part of what was really good about Christmas.

N.  Your culture changes so rapidly.

D.  In the movie, one of the characters was the real Santa Claus.  He'd
    chosen to live among normal people to see if anyone still believed
    in him.  Of course, by the end of the film he'd won over the group
    of people he'd been most concerned about.

    You just think that you're a hard case.  How can I get you to see
    your own potential for fantasy?

N.  I don't know where to begin.  I don't even know what goes into
    stories.

D.  You don't?  Maybe we should start you at the primer level.  Let's
    go to the library.


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 3:  the TARDIS library

(Dave and Nyssa are in a room lined with bookshelves.  Most are empty.
 It is clear that all the books which are present were stocked with the
 TARDIS -- they all look new, sorted and matched.  Dave has a volume in
 his hands.)

D.  Well, this doesn't help at all.  Is this High Gallifreyan?  I can't
    read it.

N.  You should be able to read it -- I'm here with you.

D.  Oh, I see the words in English all right, but they don't make any
    sense.

(She takes the book from him.)

N.  No wonder.  You've chosen one of Bosco's books on ethics.

D.  I thought that Bosco wrote about trans-stellar sociology?

N.  He did.  But that was in his later, waning years.

D.  Fine.  I knew that was coming.  But in his earlier years didn't he
    address some of the great philosophical conundrums?

N.  You know that as well as I do.

D.  I remember writing about it.  So when did he write about ethics?

N.  That was during his middle-aged years.

D.  Naturally.  So how many of these books are by Bosco anyway?

(Nyssa looks at various spines, then points at the top of the first
 bookshelf.)

N.  They start there and go all the way over there.

(She points at the bottom of the last shelf.)

D.  The complete works of Bosco.  That's about a thousand books, isn't
    it?

N.  It looks like he was a prolific author.

D.  How are these books arranged?  Are they in the chronological order
    in which he wrote them?

(She glances briefly.)

N.  They are.

(He pulls out the very last book on the shelf.)

D.  I'm curious what he still had to say after writing a thousand books.
    The title is "The Autobiography of Bosco, Volume 63:  In Which I
    Explain Why I Should Have Been A Gardener and Left the Writing to
    the People Who Make Fudge Brownies."  Sounds like he was still
    having fun.  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like your library has
    any works of fiction.

N.  I haven't had a chance to collect much of anything.

D.  We've got to find something.

(He has the look he gets when he is in contact with unchained thoughts.)

N.  Did it happen again?

D.  Yes, but this time it's useful.  (He goes to a wall which has some
    ornamental scroll work.)  It should be right here.  (He presses a
    button which isn't hidden, but wouldn't attract attention, either.
    A panel opens revealing a small console and a recess.)  It looks
    like I found another undocumented feature of your TARDIS.

N.  What's it for?

D.  It's tied in with the main imaginary circuits.  We can use it to
    generate a copy of any book which has ever or will ever exist in any
    reality.  Well, not any book.  There has to be a point of reference.
    We can't retrieve a book if neither of us knows anything about it,
    but I can get the book I want.

(He taps in some information and activates the machinery.  Copies of
 "The Silmarilion", "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" appear.)

D.  We'll start with these.  Let's go get cozy in the sitting room,
    and I'll read you some stories.

(She smiles at him and looks eager to listen.)


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 4:  MUCH later, the sitting room

(Dave closes "The Lord of the Rings" and leans back.  Nyssa has been
 laying with her feet in Dave's lap.)

D.  I didn't realize I was going to end up reading all of it.

N.  I'm glad you did.

D.  Does that give you any idea of what fantasy is?

N.  Quite.  Tolkien created an entire universe and peopled it from his
    imagination.

D.  His "Middle Earth" has a wonderful depth about it.

N.  You'll have to read it to me again someday.

D.  Sometime when we have another week open to us.

N.  I suppose there must be a universe out there in which all of that is
    true.

D.  Given the imaginary circuits, we could find it.

N.  Is that the sort of place you want to go?

D.  No.  I don't think I'd do very well if someone placed a sword or a
    bow in my hands.  I was thinking of a more peaceful sort of place.
    Do you have any ideas?

N.  You're interested in founding a kingdom, aren't you?

D.  I haven't said that.

N.  But I can see it in you.  A peaceful kingdom where you can be a king
    and I can be your queen.

D.  An idyllic lifestyle, but not at the expense of anyone.

N.  How is this going to work out your inner dilemma?

D.  A fairy-tale is incomplete unless the characters are faced with some
    challenge, whether it be an evil person, a foul curse or a voracious
    creature.

N.  So you intend to personify your inner conflict in order to resolve
    it?

D.  Even if it doesn't work, it should prove interesting.  By the way,
    we're probably far enough out now that we should start focusing on
    specifics.

N.  Well, I have some ideas now about what I'd like to see.

D.  Tell me about them.

N.  I like the idea of wide, open grasslands intermixed with heavy wood-
    lands filled with the old lives of trees.

D.  You took a special liking to the Ents, didn't you?

N.  You said that there are no indications in any of Tolkien's works
    that they ever found the Ent-wives again.  Even though it's only a
    story, I'm sad that it was left unresolved.

D.  Do you want to try to find the Ent-wives?  We could do it, you
    know.

N.  Sometime.  Not now.  What do you want in our world?

D.  I was thinking about some mountains and caves.

N.  Are we going to have trouble agreeing on things?

D.  We don't have to agree entirely.  We can probably find everything
    we're both interested in.

N.  There has to be a small castle.

D.  A small, deserted castle.

N.  Right.  You know, Dave, this is very enjoyable.

D.  So what else dost thou wish in thy kingdom, milady?

N.  Extremely enjoyable.


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 5:  Kingdom, a meadow

(Nyssa's TARDIS materialises at the edge of the meadow looking very much
 like a large oak tree.  The pair of time-space-alternative world trav-
 ellers appear from within.)

(Kingdom does not look particularly unusual [yet], but it does have one
 oddity about it: there is always faint music in the air.  Everything on
 this world has a tone and a place in the harmony to play it.)

N.  There's music in the wind.

D.  We're quite a distance along the imaginary axis.  There will proba-
    bly be other things we'll find odd.

N.  I hope that they're all as pretty.  It's a pretty world.

D.  At least we both agreed on that.

N.  It needed some wide-open spaces between the mountains, but the moun-
    tains are beautiful.  It's so much like the place we were thinking
    about that I'm starting to believe that we actually created it.

D.  That would be a mistake.  We're still visitors, even if we play king
    and queen.  It's only a pretense.

N.  You're right.  We don't want to do anything harmful.

D.  Which way do you think our castle is?

N.  Don't you know?

D.  For once, I see nothing but trees.

N.  Maybe you won't experience any more unchaining while we're here.

D.  No, I already know that isn't going to be true.  I can feel that
    something big is being heralded in the music coming from the world
    around us.  It has the feel of a prelude before the opening act.

N.  Then we should find the castle and see if the stage is set.

(She sets off and Dave follows.  They cross to the far side of the
 meadow.)

N.  An overgrown footpath.  Let's follow it.

(And off they go.)


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 6:  a clearing

(A steep ascent to a rocky ridge rises before Nyssa and Dave.  Ancient
 stairs are carved into the rock.  At the base is a small cavern.)

D.  Do you see towers?

N.  Yes.  We're almost there.

D.  I want to look in this cave before we start climbing.

(They enter.  A small rivulet drains from the depths.  We see that it
 doesn't matter that they have no light source: a rusted but solid
 grating blocks the passage about fifteen feet from the entrance.  Dave
 tests the bars.)

D.  I wonder whether it's a natural cave or a mine entrance.

N.  It's hard to be certain.  The rock has been cut to widen the pas-
    sage, but it's similar to other kinds I've seen that have contained
    natural openings.

D.  You can still hear the music.  The rock is only singing a back-
    ground to the counterpoint, but the stream knows something more.
    This cave is part of whatever is impending.

N.  Perhaps there is something sleeping in the depths that is about to
    awaken, like a Balrog.

D.  Don't even think about Balrogs.  We'd be toasted.  Besides, it isn't
    a very forbidding melody.  It's more like Dvorak than Holst.

N.  Let's go look at the castle.

(They leave the cave and start climbing the crumbling steps.  We follow
 as they rise swiftly and leave the forest behind.  There are a few
 trees and some undergrowth.  The castle becomes easier to see.  Even-
 tually they reach its gate.  It stands on the top of the ridge and
 looks out over a panorama of valleys and forests and grassland.)

D.  Hold my hand.

N.  Why?  Do you think there's danger?

D.  No, there's no danger.  You can't hear any voices, can you?

N.  No.

D.  I do.  I want to stay in contact with you to keep me in the
    present.  I feel the age of this place drawing me loose.

(Nyssa offers her hand.)

N.  I hope it's enough.

D.  Don't worry about that.

(He kisses her hand.)

D.  Shall we enter our castle, Queen Nyssa?

N.  Yes, my lord and king.

(The gate stands ajar, partially hidden by waist-high grass and weeds.
 Dave and Nyssa push through the gap.)

D.  I wish you could see what I see.  The place is alive with people.

N.  All I see is more grass and stone.

D.  I'm seeing hundreds of years of living all at the same time.

N.  Not just one set of events?

D.  No.  It's like looking through a forest.  I can't see the oldest
    events because the multitude of more recent ones are obscuring the
    view.

N.  Can you control it?  Is there any way to focus on a certain time?

D.  There should be.  Let me concentrate.

(He stares hard at a section of stairs which climbs to a parapet.)

D.  Over there.  I see two men, one much older.  If I concentrate on
    them streaming up the steps, the other things near by become blurry
    and they solidify.

(He moves that way.)

D.  I can almost make out their words.

(Dave climbs with Nyssa at his side.)

D.  They are standing on the parapet looking out over the kingdom.  It
    is the king and his youngest son.  They look out.  They are talking
    about the music and its urgency.

(Dave wheels around and looks back at the gate.)

D.  Nyssa, I wish you could see what I'm seeing.  That gate keeps coming
    and going, being replaced and destroyed and rebuilt.

N.  What were the king and prince talking about?

D.  They were talking about the Gnasher.  I saw it.  It has knocked that
    gate down a dozen times and killed countless people.

N.  Is that what's pending now?  Is the Gnasher coming back?

D.  Now?  What is now?

N.  Dave, look at me.  Please, look at me.

(She shakes him and manages to breaks his gaze.  He looks at her and
 becomes aware of the depth of concern in her face.)

D.  Have I told you that you have riveting eyes?  Have I told you that I
    love you?

N.  Not in so many words.

D.  Your eyes are speaking a poetry of love.  It's drowning out every-
    thing else.

N.  Are you feeling like being impertinent again?

(He kisses her.)

N.  You do have a way with words.


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 6:  a room within the castle, in darkness

(The room will be described momentarily.)

D.  It's dark in here.  What are we going to do for light?

W.  How much light would you like?

N.  Dave, that wasn't you, was it?

D.  No, and it certainly wasn't you.  Who's there?

(Silence.)

N.  It would help if we had light enough to see.

(There is an immediate response to this wish.  The walls begin to glow
 dimly.  Most of the room is still too dark to see, but Dave and Nyssa
 can see each other.)

N.  I think we've encountered another of the oddities of this world.
    May we have a normal amount of light?

W.  Certainly, milady.

(The walls, or rather parts of walls, increase in their intensity.  It
 is a large room, an antechamber, but empty.)

N.  Talking walls that give light.

D.  If the rocks, trees and rivers sing, it's not surprising that there
    are domesticated walls.

N.  I wonder if it knows anything else.  Walls, what do you know about
    the people who once lived here?

(More silence.)

D.  Apparently it only knows a few key concepts.

N.  Let's go in further.  Now we know how to get light.

(They cross the current room and enter another darkened chamber.)

N.  Normal light, please.

(We see a library.  Although the castle has been deserted for hundreds
 of years, the books are generally intact.  There is a large table in
 the center of the room, with two chairs.)

D.  A treasure trove.

(Nyssa picks up a heavy book.)

N.  I wonder how they could have lasted so long.

D.  Maybe it's part of the physics or biology of this universe.

N.  But if the books have lasted, what about the people?

D.  The people left.

N.  Maybe they just all died off.

D.  No, they went away.

(He goes to a particular bookcase and unerringly selects the appropriate
 book.)

D.  It's in here.

N.  Your instant intuition is still disconcerting.

D.  Tell me about it.  So what does the book say?

(She sits at the table and begins to scan through the book.  Dave also
 sits.)

N.  It appears to be a synoptic history of the people who lived on this
    planet.  After generations of war -- arising from all the typical
    problems that people go through -- they managed to move into peace-
    ful coexistence.  They all lived in this one region under one
    leader.  They became a peaceful people who loved one another and
    their world.  The world sang its songs and the people listened.
    There was only one darkness that still haunted the land.

D.  The Gnasher.  

N.  The purpose of this particular book is to argue, against common
    belief, that the Gnasher was somehow associated with themselves.
    The author believed that the Gnasher was a manifestation of their
    own repressed evil.

D.  That's a familiar idea.  Remind me to show you a movie called "Fan-
    tastic Planet" sometime.  Were they that repressive of a people?

N.  It doesn't seem that way.  They didn't channel their energies into
    creating a legalistic system.  People was free to think and do
    pretty much as they wished, but they chose against violence and
    greed.

D.  How is it possible then?

N.  Part of it is the world itself.  It is extremely sensitive to the
    minds of its inhabitants.  The planet is full of latent sentient
    energy, which we've seen in the singing and in the walls.  It can
    take physical form.  The argument here is that the Gnasher arose out
    of even the minimal amount of evil that was inherently still present
    in the people and would always be there.

D.  They believed in the inherent evil of man, as in original sin?

N.  They didn't know where it came from.  There are three types of evil
    which he discusses.  For the first he uses a word which is equiva-
    lent to sin, but he balances that with two other words which mean
    sickness and incompleteness.

D.  I think I understand.  The most obvious kind of evil is that which
    arises from willful choice, but evil can also be caused by or
    natural to one's environment.  That's the sickness kind of evil.
    The third kind is the most interesting.

N.  He said that the people had moved steadily away from choosing evil,
    and the culture had developed to the point that the sickness kind of
    evil had also been greatly reduced.  That leaves the third source of
    evil, incompleteness.

D.  Insufficiency or incompleteness as a source of evil.  Seeking after
    something which is beyond one's grasp.  Incompleteness can never be
    conquered.  No one can become God.

N.  But it doesn't have to lead into evil, either.

D.  For them it did.

N.  Only as expressed through the Gnasher.

D.  What was the Gnasher like?

N.  There is not much detail here.  Although it possessed a physical
    form, it was amorphous and would take on a different appearance each
    time it was manifested.  The Gnasher was irrestible.  It would
    appear and do whatever it wished, subject only to its own caprice.

D.  They couldn't fight it at all?

N.  It was impervious to any assault.  I hope we don't encounter it.

D.  Unfortunately, Nyssa, we will soon face it.

N.  Your intuitions are even more disconcerting when they are ominous.
    We should return to the TARDIS.  It would be safer.

D.  We're not going to be able to sleep here anyway, and we brought no
    food.

(They head toward the exit to the chamber.  Nyssa is still carrying the
 book.)


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 7:  the next morning, at the cavern entrance

(Dave emerges carrying the grate.)

D.  I freed it, but it was a lot of work.  These people knew how to make
    things that would last.

N.  I hope they're all right in there.

D.  How many people are hidden in this cave?

N.  There is no hint of the number.  The book didn't say much about the
    plan, but it is quite clear that it involved this cavern.  It was an
    abandoned mine.  Some people refused to participate -- they must
    have been unable to survive on their own.

D.  So after a dozen generations had been plagued by the creature, they
    decided that they'd rather go away and avoid it?

N.  They discovered a means of removing themselves from the time stream
    into some kind of stasis.  They hoped that outside help would solve
    their problem and retrieve them from their hiatus.

D.  Let's go in and find out what they've done to preserve themselves.

(One could either follow them in and stay with them as they move deeper
 in the passages or simply skip to the preservation chamber.)

(The preservation chamber is a simple room cut from the hard igneous
 rock.  It is mostly without decoration, except for one wall which is
 very smooth.  A few portions of the rest of the walls contain strips of
 the same light-giving self-aware rock which is used in the castle
 above.  There is a bit of writing above the smooth part of the one
 wall.)

N.  It gives instructions for recalling the people.  We aren't really
    going to do it, are we?  We don't know how to deal with the Gnasher
    any better than they did.

D.  I know that we will awaken them, but I don't know when.

N.  Don't you know how we can destroy the Gnasher?

(He shakes his head.)

D.  I'm unable to see that.

N.  What good is prophetic insight if it doesn't tell you what to do?

D.  It can't do that.  Even if I were completely unchained, I would not
    be able to change or determine the future with the knowledge.  It's
    like Bosco and his notion of the coexistence of determinism and free
    will.

N.  Maybe this isn't the right time.

D.  It might not be.  I'm not going to insist that we awaken all these
    people on the basis of my intuitions.  We will have to make our
    decision together on the basis of everything we know.

N.  It's the same question of incompleteness, isn't it?  We can't know
    what's right in this situation with any amount of certainty.  We may
    bring these people back only to have them all destroyed by the
    Gnasher, which would be an evil thing.

D.  But if we leave them and do nothing, we may be committing a sin of
    omission.  What do we know?

N.  We know that we will personally awaken these people and then face
    the Gnasher sometime in our own future.

D.  We also know that the entire world is singing in building expec-
    tancy.

N.  How long has it been singing this theme?  Perhaps it's long-winded.

D.  That doesn't fit.  The sentience of this world is very fluid.  It
    probably started building the theme only since we arrived.  It knows
    our own pupose for coming here...

N.  To work out your internal dilemma.  Are you thinking that the
    Gnasher will be manifested soon, fueled by the energy of your own
    struggle?

D.  It will.  We don't need to awaken the people yet.  We just need to
    challenge the Gnasher.

N.  If we win, we can recall the people.


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 8:  Dave and Nyssa on the ramparts above the castle courtyard

(They are leaning against the battlements looking out over the green
 world before them.)

N.  In all of this, I find that I don't really understand your con-
    flict.  I know that you're confused by the input you are receiving
    from the past and the future, but what are you looking for?

D.  You know, a few years ago I wouldn't have understood your reason
    for asking that question.  I would have assumed it should be
    obvious.

N.  How have your perceptions changed?

D.  Try to understand my mindset: I am deeply introverted.  To the
    introvert, the inner world is the most important and the most real.
    It is hard to adapt to the reality of the external world.  I grew up
    unaware of my method of perception and was hurt by it more or less
    continuously.  Around the age of 17, I started to become self-aware.
    I could then say to myself, "I need to learn to live so that my
    inner self can survive in some sort of harmony with the real world."
    The benefit of self-awareness is that you can draw the perceived
    conflict between the inner and outer worlds entirely into the inner
    world and then examine it and experiment with it.

N.  I don't entirely understand what you're saying.

D.  You're fairly introverted yourself, but in a different way.  I
    work from ideas and concepts, but you prefer facts.  It wouldn't
    upset you as much if you came across facts about the real world
    that disagree with your inner set of facts.  You'd be inclined to
    trust the new fact.  With ideas it's much harder, especially if
    we're talking about a concept that's fairly nebulous.  Emotions are
    particularly hard to deal with.

N.  All right, I think I see what you're getting at.  I did understand
    what you said about drawing the conflict within and examining it and
    trying to extrapolate from it.

D.  I learned that there is a lot of value in consulting the external
    world for new ideas and perspectives to feed my personal inspira-
    tions.  Of course, I then take peoeple's ideas back into my inner
    world.  In a way, this business over becoming unchained is just
    another part of my more global conflict.

N.  How so?

D.  It all becomes an issue of how to react to the conflicts.  I've
    followed a variety of methods, including denial, reconciliation and
    fantasy or even near-madness.  Having ideas pop into your head out
    of nowhere is a good way to start down the path to insanity.

N.  Trefusis mentioned that.

D.  He was right.  If one is unaware that the thoughts and visions are
    real, and an outworking of becoming unchained, that person will most
    likely crack.  It has a lot in common with being strongly intro-
    verted, because the introvert is very much in touch with memories of
    the past and dreams of the future.  He also has an inherent doubt
    about the reality of the external world.

N.  You're still afraid of going insane?

D.  The allure of staying with the present can be a very weak incen-
    tive.  If you weren't here, I might be totally lost in the memories
    of what has happened here.  Fear, you know, is one of the most
    frequent ways in which our incompleteness leads to evil.

(They stop talking and watch.  The Gnasher is out there somewhere.)

D.  There are heavy clouds moving in.  Did that book perhaps mention
    that changes in the weather might accompany the appearance of the
    Gnasher?

N.  Frequently.

(A strong breeze rises and a few drops of cold rain splatter across the
 stones.)

D.  Let's go wait for it in the library.


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SCENE 9:  the library

(Dave and Nyssa are sitting at the table, waiting in silence.  The
 silence, of course, does not include the external world, which is
 howling and screaming.  The planet itself -- all of its trees and rocks
 and so on -- are contributing.  The sound is rising to its crescendo.
 This time Holst would be appropriate.)

(There is an incredible rending sound from not far away.)

N.  There goes the gate.

(A door is slammed open so hard that the wood and stone crumble; this
 is much closer.)

D.  The door to the castle.

(Wet, heavy footsteps.)

N.  It's in the antechamber.

(Suddenly the heraldic symphony is cut short and replaced by total
 silence.  It lasts for at least a minute.)

N.  Where is it?

(The door to the library begins to swing open slowly, as if only the
 victim of moving air.  The antechamber is dark and reveals nothing.)

D.  It likes to make an entrance.

(The footsteps begin again but become more and more faint.)

D.  Did the book mention anything about the creature ever being in-
    visible?

N.  No.

D.  The monster in "Fantastic Planet" was generally invisible.

(The sound of footfalls returns.)

N.  It went away for some reason.

(The camera pans to Dave's face.  His expression changes to that of
 good, honest fear.)

D.  Oh, my.  I'd forgotten about this.

(Step by step the creature enters the light and passes through the door-
 way.  It is a demon.  Not the devilish kind one often sees: nothing
 reptilian.  This is bones and a skull with two horns of bleached white
 sprouting over the ear canals.)

(It stops.)

D.  Here's a bit of my childhood for you.  I was afraid of the dark,
    afraid of what might creep out of it.  Especially closets.  I got
    this book when I was maybe 11 or 12 years old, with a story in it
    about a demon that would show up next to someone's bed.  There was a
    line-drawing that looked like that.  It kept me scared for the next
    two years.

N.  I don't know what a demon is, but it's got me scared, too.

D.  So, Gnasher, what's on your mind?

(It turns its head slightly, then walks slowly toward Dave's side of the
 table.  Nyssa can feel its chill even from where she is sitting.)

(It stops about a foot directly behind Dave.)

D.  I'm sure you can tell what you're doing to me.  My heart is thud-
    ding against my ribs, and I can hardly sit still because of it.  I
    haven't a clue what to do about you.  If you have no choice but to
    kill us, then I guess we'll be dead soon.

(The demon puts a very cold, bony hand on Dave's shoulder.  Then he puts
 the other one on the other shoulder and moves them so they are around
 his neck.)

D.  What sort of creature are you?  This planet isn't inherently evil.

(Eight bony fingers are wrapped beneath his chin.)

D.  In spite of my pounding heart and your clammy hands, I want you to
    tell me what you are.  You're using my mental energy, my fear.  But
    you must also be feeling the intensity of my curiosity and of my
    determination to know.  You don't know how to deal with both of
    those emotions, do you?

(The hands slide away from Dave's neck, then drop to the demon's sides.
 Dave turns.)

D.  Tell me.

(The demon stumbles back to wall and hits it very hard.  It appears to
 be stuck to it.  In fact, it is dissolving into the stone.  We see the
 arms flailing and being drawn backward.  Then, in an instant, the
 original form disappears completely and a new partially formed one
 breaks free of the wall and falls to the floor.)

D.  I think it's your turn, Nyssa.

N.  My turn?

D.  It isn't through with us yet.

(The creature stands and it is an evil-looking Tremas.  To Nyssa, this
 is worse than the Master.  It begins to walk around toward her.)

N.  No!!

(Dave puts his hand on hers.  She doesn't notice.)

D.  Nyssa!

N.  I can't...

D.  Nyssa!  You must question it, demand to know what it is.

N.  I know what it is.

D.  What is it?

N.  My father...

D.  No, it's not.  It's only a manifestation of your fears.  Remember
    the difference between your inner reality and the real world.

N.  My fear...

(The creature takes up the same stance behind Nyssa as it had behind
 Dave, and places its hands around her neck.)

N.  What are you?  Why should I fear you?

(The dirty hands begin to tighten.)

N.  Kill me if you must.  But I do not believe that you have no choice.
    You know that I am afraid of you, and you can feel my tears running
    onto your hands.  You must also know that I faced this fear once and
    passed through it.  I should have known it would come back from time
    to time.  Just like Dave, there is more to me than fear.  Is that
    why you hesitated when you first entered?  Are you confused?

(The corrupted dopple of Tremas turns suddenly and runs into and through
 the wall.  Nyssa goes slack and starts to cry earnestly.  Dave goes to
 her and holds her.)

D.  Now it's over.


          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


SCENE 10:  Dave and Nyssa back in the cavern's preservation chamber

N.  I'm still not sure we should awaken them.

D.  I know.  We didn't exactly find a way to destroy the Gnasher.

N.  It will still kill a lot of people.

D.  It's the way this planet works.  For that matter, it's the way life
    works.  On Earth, for example, fear can still drive people to do
    great evil, and we don't have a Gnasher.  I destroyed several rela-
    tionships before they could ever get anywhere out of fear that they
    wouldn't work out, which only reinforced my fear when other rela-
    tionships came along.

N.  I still have my pain and fears.

D.  Don't lose your courage, Nyssa.

N.  I'll try not to.  Remind me from time to time, all right?

D.  Remind you of what?

N.  That the pain is a part of me, but a part I've accepted.

D.  I'll do that.

N.  It won't be easy to help these people.  It might take some time.

D.  For a time, we will be their queen and their king and serve them as
    well as we can.  We'll do what we need to do.  It might help if we
    find some of the introverted people who will understand and then
    train them to help the others.

N.  Your way of seeing reality saved us today.

D.  It can be useful as well as a liability.  Let's get to work.

(Nyssa looks at the instructions and presses some places on the wall.
 A man steps out of it, looking disoriented.)

N.  Welcome back to life.

(She shakes the man's hand and Dave pats his shoulder.)


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-- 
Joseph Young, Systems Programmer
KSU Department of Computing and Information Sciences
Manhattan, Kansas 66506  FAX: (913) 532-7353  Phone: (913) 532-6350   
Internet: jfy@cis.ksu.edu  UUCP: rutgers!depot!jfy