The Omen Machine Page 19

  “From the Wizard’s Keep,” Richard confirmed with a nod.

  “So these are emblems like those inscribed on the walls at the Keep, in that they represent specific things?”

  “Something like that, but not exactly. It’s more than that.”

  “How can it be more than that?” Nathan wanted to know. “If a symbol represents something, like a skull with crossed bones under it represents mortal danger, then that’s what it represents. How can it be more?”

  “I believe that what really matters is how the symbols are used in combination,” Richard said. “From what I can gather from this book, these pictorial devices are not simple emblematic representations in and of themselves, like a mug, or a horse shoe, or your example of a skull and crossed bones.

  “It’s true that parts of them are recognizable as independent symbolic entities, but I believe that falls short of the full intent of their use here. By studying this book I can see by the way simple elements are assembled into more complex images that they are in fact parts of a complex language, rather than single concepts. I think that the symbols actually have somewhat different meanings depending on how they’re combined.

  “This one”— Richard tapped a metal strip lying on the table—“is the simplest of them. It’s different. It’s a symbol that represents one thing, from what I can make out of it, anyway. It isn’t combined with anything else, so in this case I don’t believe that its meaning is intended to be modified by any other element. Its meaning is therefore singular. This singular concept is all the machine wanted to say.”

  Zedd shot Richard an incredulous look. “What the machine wanted to say? And what would that meaning be? What did the machine want to say, as you put it?”

  “Fire.”

  Zedd’s brow drew down again. “Fire?”

  “Yes, that’s the symbol for fire. For some reason I can’t seem to work the translation in the book, but I know because I’ve seen it before in the verification web for the Chainfire spell— remember?”

  Nicci folded her arms. “I certainly remember that one.”

  Zedd grunted that he also remembered it all too well. “Why would this machine inscribe ‘fire’— if that’s what it really means in this case— on a strip of metal?”

  “I don’t know,” Richard admitted with a sigh. “I was hoping that you three could go down there and take a look at the machine and see if you can figure out what we’re dealing with. It might be nothing more than a curiosity from an age long past, but if it’s anything more, I’d like to know about it. It must be powered by magic of some sort. Maybe one of you has encountered that kind of power before and you will recognize it.”

  “How do you know that it’s powered by magic?” Nathan asked.

  Richard shrugged. “What else? It’s certainly not run by a water wheel. The light coming from inside looks like the kind of light given off by the proximity spheres. I’m hoping that one of you knows something about the magic the machine uses, maybe even what its purpose was, or is. I’m worried about its location— right in the heart of the palace, under the Garden of Life, the heart of the elaborate spell that is the palace structure.”

  Zedd turned the metal strip around and around, studying it with a leery eye. “All right,” he finally said. “We’ll take a look. Have you been able to learn anything at all from the book about what any of the other symbols on the other strips mean?”

  “So far all I know is that the elements of the various symbols are actually intended to be combined— that the string of them is more than the sum of their parts. At least, that’s what the High D’Haran explanations say, that the string of component parts when put together form a language.”

  “The language of Creation,” Zedd said in a sour tone.

  “Yes. Because of that, I think it’s a mistake to try to interpret the symbols individually. If you try, then you lose sight of the true meaning expressed by the combination. Those strings of symbolic inscriptions are the language of Creation. I just can’t figure out how to decode it.”

  Zedd gestured with the strip of metal. “So you’re saying that these strings of symbols are actually meant to be combined, like the words in a sentence, in order to communicate some kind of information, or to tell a story?”

  Berdine lifted an eyebrow at Richard. “Dear spirits, isn’t that a wonder? I think he’s finally paying attention.”

  Zedd ignored her. “So if you haven’t figured out anything at all of this language from the book, then you can’t even guess at what these longer emblematic statements might mean.”

  Richard tapped the end of his pen on the table for a moment. “I’m afraid not.”

  CHAPTER 33

  Looking more concerned than either Zedd or Nathan, Nicci didn’t appear nearly so skeptical, or dismissive. Kahlan knew that Nicci had come to trust Richard, and believe in him, in a deeply personal way that was ironclad. Kahlan, of course, felt an even deeper sense of trust in Richard that only unconditional love could bring. Zedd had for the most part raised Richard, so he knew him well enough to know better than Nicci how much trust Richard’s word warranted, but having raised Richard, he found it hard to admit it out loud, or to keep from interrogating him to be doubly certain.

  Nicci did not take anything Richard said lightly, and so she wanted to press. “Why doesn’t the book work the way it should? What do you need to make it work? What’s missing?”

  Richard succumbed to a sigh. “I don’t know.”

  Nicci wasn’t satisfied. “You must have learned something.”

  He ran a hand over the open book. “From everything I can tell it should work, but it simply doesn’t. Berdine and I have been going around in circles and getting nowhere. In essence, the book says ‘When combined with these elements in this way, this design means this.’ But when you apply the rules the string of symbols only ends up as meaningless nonsense. I can’t for the life of me figure out why it won’t work the way it’s supposed to.”

  Zedd gestured dismissively toward the book. “Perhaps this book, Regula, doesn’t really have anything to do with the machine, like you thought it did, or at least not as much as you assumed it must. After all, with a machine hidden away for untold ages, and a book of unknown origin with half of it missing, how can you know for certain that there really is a direct connection between the two?”

  Richard shrugged. “Simple.” He turned the pages back to the beginning and spun the book around to his grandfather. “This emblem, here, taking up this whole beginning page, is the same symbol that’s on the spine. It defines what this book is, what it’s about. It’s the same symbol that’s on all four sides of the machine.”

  “That same symbol is on both— the book and the machine?”

  Richard confirmed it with a nod.

  Zedd thought it over for a moment. “Do you have any clue as to what the emblem means?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  Zedd paced in agitation for a moment. “This is on the machine? This same drawing? The whole thing, exactly like this, every detail the same?”

  “Exactly the same,” Richard said. “The whole emblem, every line, every motif, every detail. I tried to decipher it from the translations in the book, but I can’t make sense of it, either. It seems like it should work out, but it doesn’t.” Richard tapped the center of the design. “This symbol, this here in the center, looks like it might be a stylized figure nine.”

  Zedd eyed it unhappily. “It certainly appears that way.”

  “Why would there be a nine in the center of this?” Kahlan asked. It seemed to her an odd thing to have in the center of so many occult elements. She especially didn’t like the way the top part of the nine looked to be made from a serpent’s head. She hated snakes.

  Zedd glanced momentarily at the complex symbol. “Nine is an important trigger element. It links a number of laws of magic that have powerful influence over events. Threes are elemental in magic. Among other things, they are used in proofing magic. Threes const
ruct nines— three threes make nine. They give nines power, help make them a Creative element.” Zedd stirred a finger over the drawing. “That’s likely the purpose behind the triangle, here, around it. It has three sides. I have to tell you, Richard, multiples of three are often trouble.”

  “You mean, like the three children of trouble? Bad news coming in threes? Things like that?”

  Zedd nodded. “I believe that’s the origin of the sayings. These three symbols at the points of the triangle are supporting elements in the construction of the web. They help tie it to the nine to strengthen the bond, make it more powerful.”

  “So do you have any guess at what it could mean, then?” Richard asked as he studied the emblem.

  Zedd scratched his cheek. “I haven’t the faintest idea.”

  Nicci leaned in, using a finger to trace the figure without touching it. “See the way this nine in the center ends with a hook?”

  With that quiet question it was as if Nicci had slipped on the robes of the teacher she had once been to Richard, his instructor in the use of his gift. It had turned out to be a futile effort, but not for any failing on Nicci’s part. It was simply that Richard’s gift was unlike anyone else’s. Since no one understood it or how it functioned they couldn’t teach him anything about using it.

  By the slight shift in Nicci’s bearing Kahlan suspected that the sorceress knew something about the device in the center of the emblem.

  It was clear to Kahlan that Richard suspected the same thing. “What of it?”

  “Well, what does that hook tell you? What does it suggest? Why would it end with a hook?”

  “A hooked nine makes this more than a web using the simple figure nine,” Richard said, thinking out loud. “So, it’s intended to hook something together, or to hook it to something.”

  “It’s there for a reason,” Nicci prompted.

  “It’s hooking all of this, this”— Zedd gestured irritably around the edge of the emblem—“whatever it is, together.”

  “Or it is hooking it to a host,” Nicci said with demure authority.

  Richard looked up from the emblem. “A host?”

  Nicci had been waiting for his gaze. “Whoever, or whatever, this is intended for. A host. It’s meant to hook it fast to them. So what is the nature of the hook?”

  “The nature of the hook?” Richard was intently focused on the lesson being laid out before him even though he couldn’t yet grasp its meaning.

  “What did Zedd say about this figure?”

  Richard glanced at his grandfather momentarily before returning his attention to Nicci. “He said it was Creative.”

  “And what does that tell you?”

  Richard rested his chin on the tips of his fingers as he gazed down at the curl of the backward nine in the book. “That makes sense,” he said, half to himself. “It has to do with Creation. The curled figure nine almost looks embryonic….”

  “And the hook?” Nicci asked so quietly that Kahlan knew the words were meant for him alone.

  “The nine is Creation, life,” Richard said under his breath. “Life is a cycle. Birth, life, death. Life and death together. Creation needs death to enable life to continue to exist, to continue to come about. Death must eventually follow Creation.”

  Richard looked up suddenly. “The hook is death.”

  The room was dead silent.

  Richard’s gaze stayed locked on Nicci. “The hook is the symbolic representation of death, of the Keeper of the underworld, always waiting to eventually reap the living.”

  Kahlan felt goose bumps tingle up her arms.

  Nicci’s blue eyes revealed her inner satisfaction at his sudden insight. “Very good, Richard.”

  In that instant, as she and Richard, the sorceress and the wizard, looked into each other’s eyes, it was as if no one else was in the room, as if no one else existed. Kahlan wondered if even Zedd had known the shades of meaning Nicci had just taught Richard about that figure.

  Nicci’s smile ghosted away. “I don’t like this, Richard. I don’t like it one bit. People don’t go to this much trouble and effort with such things, only to bury them … unless it had turned out to be great trouble. To see such elements dealing in such dark powers at the center of it all confirms it.”

  Richard puzzled at the symbol for a moment. “Why is the nine backward?”

  Everyone leaned in, gazing down at it, as if seeing it for the first time. Nathan frowned at the book, unable to offer a reason. Nicci shook her head, not even able to venture a guess.

  “Backward?” Zedd asked as he peered down at the symbol.

  “Yes. The whole emblem is backward. You can tell because the nine is backward as well.”

  “Good question,” Zedd said. “I just assumed it was intended to be that way. But now that you mention it, it does seem backward.”

  Richard stared at the drawing for a long moment. He suddenly looked up at his grandfather.

  “Backward … that’s it!” He shot to his feet. “Zedd, you’re a genius!”

  “Yes, I’m well aware of that.” He cocked his head. “But … how exactly have I outdone myself this time?”

  “You’ve just helped me figure out how the book works. You’ve given me the key to get past the locks.” He looked down at Berdine. “It’s backward. Everything in this book is backward.”

  Berdine made a face. “Backward?”

  Richard nodded, then turned back to his grandfather. “The rules we’ve been applying don’t work, and as a consequence the translations don’t work. It should be a relatively straightforward process to translate the elements so we can begin to understand the language on the strips, but the translations aren’t working properly. You just helped me figure out the reason.”

  Zedd looked more than a little suspicious. “And what would the reason be?”

  “It’s a trick meant to protect the information.” Richard dropped into his chair. “It’s all backward from the way the machine sees the emblem.”

  “What do you mean, the way the machine sees the emblem?” Nicci asked in a careful tone.

  CHAPTER 34

  Zedd waved a hand, insisting on being the first one to ask the questions. “What do you mean it’s backward? What’s backward?”

  “The symbols in the book,” Richard said. He lifted the book to show Kahlan the emblem on the spine. “This symbol is the same one that’s inscribed on the machine we found. Remember?”

  “I remember.” Kahlan couldn’t understand what he was getting at. “They’re all the same— the ones on the sides of the machine, the one on the first page of the book, and that one on the spine. If they’re all the same then they must have been deliberately drawn that way because they’re part of the language of Creation. So what makes you think they’re backward?”

  “That’s right,” Zedd put in. “You said yourself you can’t make the book work at decoding anything, so for all you know the nine in all of these emblems is supposed to be backward. It’s stylized, after all, not necessarily intended to be literal.

  “Symbolic elements are often stylized. They don’t always look exactly like the thing they represent. The serpent head making the top of the nine is stylized, not an exact representation. The symbol for fire on that other strip doesn’t actually look like fire, it’s stylized. It very well could be as Kahlan suggested, that it’s meant to be that way because it’s part of the language.”

  “They’re not right,” Richard insisted. “They’re all flipped around backward from the way they’re supposed to be. All of them are wrong.”

  Zedd threw his hands up. “If every one of them, in every place, is the same, then how can they all be wrong?”

  Nicci hushed the apoplectic wizard, then turned toward Richard, intent on hearing him out. “How do you know they’re wrong? How do you know they’re backward?”

  “Because,” Richard said, “this is what we see when we’re looking inward. But it’s not what the machine sees.”

  Nicci’s brow
lowered in a way that would have halted most people’s breath and maybe made their heart skip a beat. Her intent gaze remained locked on Richard’s. “You said that before, that it’s backward from the way the machine sees the emblem. What are you talking about, the machine seeing?”

  Richard pressed the heels of his hands together, pointing all his fingers up and out to demonstrate. “The machine used light to project the symbol upward, like this, the same symbol as on the spine of this book. It projects it out from down inside its metal box, up onto the ceiling.”

  Nicci straightened with the disquiet of comprehension.

  Zedd, still not understanding, planted his fists on his hips. “So?”

  “Well, all the other symbols— on the sides of the machine and in the book— are the same, but the one projected by light from within the machine up onto the ceiling was reversed. Up on the ceiling, the nine wasn’t backward. That emblem, projected from inside the machine up onto the ceiling, is what the symbol looks like from inside the machine, looking out. It’s what the machine would see on the ceiling. That’s how it sees its own emblem.”

  “How it sees its own emblem?” Zedd repeated in frustration. “You can’t be serious.”

  Richard pulled a piece of paper close and dipped his pen in an ink bottle and drew a large, boldly dark figure nine on it. He held it up for Zedd to see.

  “This is what the machine is drawing with light, what it sees: a nine.”

  Zedd rolled his hand. “Go on.”

  Richard turned the paper around and held it in front of a lamp so Zedd could see the nine through the back of the paper. “When you look down into the machine at the light, at what the machine sees as a nine, what it is drawing with light, you see the nine like this— backward.

  “The emblem, as we see it marked down everywhere, the impressions, the imprints, are what we would see looking down into the machine, at the designs in light it would be creating and projecting outward. But that’s backward from the machine’s view out onto the world”— Richard flipped the paper around so Zedd could see the front with the nine the way he had drawn it—“of the way it sees the emblem it projects onto the ceiling.”