Chapter Seven: Mystic Monkeys Muttering Monotheism
Just Dice kept an eye on the Elder Simians chattering away at each other while he was pacing back and forth across the room. Without a break in his pace, he kept glancing over at the group making hushed sounds like whispers through the bushes.
He coughed but they didn’t give him their attention. Reaching the table where Gene and Sonoro were an hour before, he stopped his pacing. Reflecting upon the past events, meeting Claudia for the first time, getting aggravated at Sonoro for uttering multiple whats, and trying to figure out to where those four had disappeared, he sighed. The judge’s venerable mind wouldn’t leave himself alone.
“If our…” he stopped because now the Elder Simians were looking at him. “Yes, your reverences?”
“Should we panic now?” One of them asked.
“Not yet, your reverence.” He couldn’t think of what to do next. He slapped himself.
“Oh, why, oh, why did Dahellish Duharma choose such an inappropriate time to ascend from the Chronosplane?” Another of the Elder Simians lamented.
“Should we consult the Oracle?” Yet a third voiced a questioning opinion. From this cue they all returned to chattering away at each other leaving Just Dice reflecting again upon the past events.
“Simius Dei, may you forgive us.”
“But, but…” Sonoro just had this flash of insight and memory. “If Doritos did trespass back into the Chronosplane, there would be three of them, right!” He was proud of himself.
Gene and Simia looked at him dumbfounded for they were able to read his thoughts. Claudia’s face clouded with a vexing look of perplexity that could only have been deciphered by a 128 bit code cracker.
“What is this Doritos you keep talking about?” Asked Gene.
“The heretic.”
“You mean Darius?” Simia asked.
“What?”
Titius was cowering behind some boxes when Darius thundered into their little makeshift headquarters made of evanescent rock-like crystalline things. “Titius,” he said. Not getting a response, he walked further into the room. “Titius?” His voice was a bit louder now. Still, there was no sound. “Titius!” He shouted at something he couldn’t see.
“Yes, yes, sorry, sir, uh, no sir, Darius, sir!” He sprung up into an upright position from the boxes he was cowering behind. “I must have fallen asleep!”
“Will you quit talking so loudly? Why are you so afraid of me?!” Darius walked toward him with clenched fist, his spacesuit and iron mask looking thing still on his face.
“Ah! I’m sorry, sir, uh, Darius…” He calmed down when the iron mask fell from Darius’ face and the Greatest of All Free Thinking Apes sat on the floor with his head downcast. “Uh, is everything all right… is going as planned?”
“Yes, Titius. The String is doing our plan well. Come here, Titius,” and he held out his hand like a father to his son.
“Uh,” and Titius hesitated. “I can hear you fine from here.” The smallish Simianoid was slowly glancing around to see if there was a way out of the room that did not involve going near Darius Protheus.
“Please, come here.”
Titius put his head down, preparing himself for the worst and walked toward Darius. “Closer.” He took another step forward and stopped just shy of an arm’s length of the Great Heretic. “A bit more.” Titus sighed, prepared himself for the end, and walked until he was side by side with Darius. “Are you really that frightened of me?”
Titius couldn’t look him in the face because he was eyeing the door just out of reach. He nodded in ascent.
“Why do I frighten you?”
“You, you are the great Darius Protheus, the only living Simianoid heretic to ever be born in the Chronosplane.”
“If you are so afraid of me, why did you answer my call?”
“Because, sir, I really am tired of being afraid of everyone. I thought you may help me overcome this one deficit of myself and make me a better Simianoid.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s Simius Dei’s fault for turning the lot of you into sycophantic worshipers of Simiala Simitima, who has left us our Will to be done as we see fit. Not for the Will of some insane, crazed, self-proclaimed prophet of our great Creator. Do you believe in Simiala Simitima’s Injunction of Belaboring the Denunciation of the Gathering Around the Bushes?”
“No, sir. I believe that never happened. I think that’s something that Simius Dei and Dahellish Duharma concocted in order to gain the trust of the Circle of Elder Simians. Thereby gaining the right to choose an Oracle of his choosing. Isn’t that a violation of Dayo Kneesos’ second law of Elastic Sybaritic Uniformity?”
“No. But Dayo Kneesos would not approve of a chosen Oracle. An Oracle must rise without a choice.”
Titius smiled. He wasn’t going to die, yet.
