A snippet from "Cowboy" by Alexandria Christina Leal, a short story that will be appearing in Clade — A Post-Self Anthology, out August 1! Pre-orders are now open for paperbacks and ebooks. It will also be available to read for free in the browser.
CW for a massive panic response and an awful lot of skunks.
As she watched, Evi retracted her now free arm, and held her hand up to her ear in a cupped gesture, still making the shh gesture with her free hand. She nodded silently in the direction of the skunk, and that's when Zia realized that the expression on Evi's face was one of horror.
In the corner, the skunk had stopped flickering. She was instead, curled up, clutching the timepiece to her chest and reciting vaguely familiar scripture that made Zia's heart sink and Evi's hands tremble.
"Eili, Eili, lamah azavtani..."
Zia realized that she had, in fact, fucked up. And, looking over at Evi, the fact that they were separate and all its ramifications hitting home, she felt her own panic start to rise. Although the skunk's creepy, pitiful behavior elicited some sympathy from her, she was also an asshole and a potential threat. She would analyze whether she had gone too far later. (Or, she would hear about it from Eliah). But what, exactly, had she just done? And where, she wondered, was Eliah? If she couldn't feel him, and she couldn't, then that would mean that. She stared at Evi, who was frozen in place, staring at the skunk. Oh fuck no. Oh fuck no. And so of course, that was when she noticed the timepiece started ticking louder.
My God, my God,
why have You abandoned me;why so far from delivering me
and from my anguished roaring?
And in the meanwhile...
...two skunks forked into being, reciting the same poem...
My God,
I cry by day---You answer not;
by night, and have no respite.
...four additional skunks. Evi began to walk forward...
But You are the Holy One,
enthroned,
the Praise of Israel.
...there were sixteen skunks.
"Fascinating." Evi said, pausing to look at the row of chanting, curled up skunks, before moving towards them. Zia had never been the best at math, but she knew what was happening here. And with a start, she realized she knew the name for it too: exponential growth.
In You our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and You rescued them.
The chanting was deafening. The skunks were piling on top of each other. She could no longer even see the original one. Evi held up her hands protectively, as if the sudden instantiation of tens of who knows how many skunks had suddenly displaced the air (did this place even have air?) previously occupying the now fluff covered space.
"Evi, wait! I just want to talk!"
The newly straight-laced protector paused with military precision, further tightened the bun she had pulled her black hair into, then turned and shot a glance full of daggers at Zia.
It was if a fire had been lit under Evi's ass, although quite why the change was this dramatic, Zia couldn't begin to comprehend. Was this simply what it looked like from the outside when the other members of the system jumped into action to protect her? She didn't have time to think about it further, because three identical Evis forked into being, rushing towards Zia. She tried to dodge, but one of the them circled right and grabbed her. Together with the other two, they held her against the non-wall.
"Hello Zia," one of them said. "I'm listening." The System helpfully informed her that the Evi talking to her had two tags, Evi#1 (canonically Evi#00000001), and that the other two were Evi#2 and Evi#3.
Zia struggled. "Not to you, to her!"
To You they cried out
and they escaped;in You they trusted
and were not disappointed
The skunks extended a third of a way across the room. Like a great black-and-white-furred jungle. Evi stood tall before it, looking up and down as if sizing up a tree to cut down. Zia tried her best to yell, but the chanting of the increasingly numerous skunks was starting to drown her out.
"Evi! We can't do this alone! You know we can't do this alone."
The Evis holding her down frowned in near unison.
"Oh?" one of them asked.
"And who would you suggest?" Another finished.
"Eliah?" the third sneered with disdain and sarcasm.
Zia struggled with all her might, biting and thrashing against the combined hold of the Evis, but to no avail. "I don't know! Maybe! Do you have a better idea?"
