(So because I don't have enough going on in my life writing/drawing three separate comic strips, I'm also writing a sci-fi novel. I'll be posting sections as I write here in Hive. I'd love to hear any comments, criticism, or suggestions.)
Chapter 1 (continued)
The temple came into view as they cleared the last of the tree cover. The main structure of the temple was within an enormous dome. The interior of the dome was illuminated a sky blue with holograms of clouds slowly floating by on an endless loop. The outer walls of the temple were covered with contoured sculptures depicting numerous historical and mythological scenes of warrior monks battling with demons or some other creatures. On one of his previous visits here, Harrison noticed that in most of the scenes, the monks were losing. He had asked Grand Master Shu about this. The old master simply nodded and said, “Our monks train from childhood in discipline, strength, martial prowess. All these things are useless against an otherworldly demon. Only a monk that has mastered the path of flowers, who has mastery of his Chi, can hope to prevail against a demon.”
“How many monks have mastered the path?” Harrison had asked him.
“Out of every ten thousand that walk on the path of flowers only three ever complete the journey to mastery.”
Grand Master Shu had many philosophical and theological debates with Harrison over the years. He enjoyed the old man’s company, considered him a friend. Grand Master Shu had introduced him to Master Kau and appointed the younger monk as Harrison’s guardian. Shu and Kau were polar opposites. Kau was stern, ever-vigilant, never smiling. He seemed to take no joy in any food or drink, any music or sunrise. He was a ball of tension, a cobra waiting to strike. Harrison had once caught him giving a cursory glance to a beautiful woman, but within a second he knew that his guardian was ascertaining her threat level as she rummaged through her pockets. Master Kau rarely commented on anything unless asked and then only gave terse answers. Harrison never considered Kau a friend, never knew if Kau thought of him as one. Kau-Chien-51 died to protect Harrison Medina. He was completely loyal, but Harrison wondered if his loyalty was to him or simply to his oath and his order.
As they walked through the hallways of the temple, the augmented-reality holograms changed the intensity of the continuous, sculpted panorama carved into the walls. The images became darker and infused with red. Harrison winced as memories of blood and fire came back to him. The faces of the warrior monks dying in battle became more tortured. The monk, possibly Lee, prodded Harrison, “Your thoughts are dark, father…”
“Yes, sorry.” Harrison muttered and avoided looking at the details on the walls. The holo display adjusted the scene based on the emotional state of those walking past them. At least as perceived by the rudimentary AI that controlled it. On several occasions, Harrison had tried spoofing the AI by feigning misery or happiness in his countenance but it never seemed to work. Thinking of Master Kau, of Grand Master Shu, of his own visions. His thoughts were indeed dark. “Lee” stopped in front of a door. “We are here.”
Harrison shifted his eyes upward and unconsciously looked into the face of one of the carved warrior monk images. For a suspended moment the monks faced looked to Harrison like Kau-Chien-51. He paused for a few seconds then placed his hand against the door. A soft tone like wooden wind chimes echoed lightly beyond. The door slid open with a whisper. “Lee” bowed and was about to leave, but a gruff, grating voice from within halted him. “Wait outside the door, Lee-Yuan-223. Send in the Vatican priest. He will not be staying long.” That didn’t sound promising. Harrison nodded at Lee who bowed back at him.