Boddy passed the top page of his stack back without writing on it. “This is our crest. Pretty minimalist in style, but I remember Master Carver went through that phase about a century back. You probably saw one of the artworks he commissioned from that era.”

I waited. It took about thirty seconds for them to label each symbol in the stack and hand it back. All in all, there had been nine symbols on the hoop part of the item. I didn’t say anything, though both hobs turned one ear in my direction. Okay, the first one had been Carver’s House. I flipped through to the one that might have been Lady Liu’s heron. Yep, I had guessed correctly on that one. I went back and read the others. Honor, Dignity, Authority, Respect, Beauty, Fortune, Happiness. Lady Liu was the Mistress of Inheritance.

“You know,” I said to Maps and Boddy suddenly, “I never thought to ask. What is Carver’s House?”

Maps seemed startled. Boddy just looked confused. “Community,” he answered. Maps shoved him slightly. Were they not supposed to tell me? Why? “Thought he knew already,” Boddy defended. “We weren’t answering Wanderer of Curiosity, but Mister Daniel should have already known before we ever left the grounds!

“Wait--I saw the contract that Archie wrote up for you. It specifically mentioned that Mister Carver ran the House of Community. Daniel? Didn’t you read your contract?”

“I don’t remember that. I mean, I read the whole contract, but I don’t remember every detail. It must have seemed unimportant to me at the time.” But why? Knowing who I worked for would normally be one of my topmost concerns. Beyond that, I would have been a lot happier knowing I was working for the House of Community instead of like…Cruelty or…

“Every House is a concept, right? Or a--” I tried to remember the exact wording Wanda had used when explaining it to me. ”--a resonance peak in the collective perception with regards to that concept?”

I got the ‘flunked kindergarten’ look again, which I took to mean I had been correct.

“You said that Houses on the Alley were disordered. Disordered in what way?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Maps said, “At least, to humans. It isn’t like Lane Houses are ‘good’ and Alley Houses are ‘bad’. Anger, for example. Most humans would say that Anger is a negative trait. Especially in these modern times. Yes?”

I considered it. Yeah, most people would argue that anger was a bad thing. Not all, though. It probably had a complicated ‘resonance peak’. “Sure, I guess.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Yet Anger is on the Lane. On the other hand, Self-Sacrifice is on the Alley, though most would consider it a benign trait. It has to do with…extremes, I guess. Most Alley Houses are…extreme reflections of one or more Lane Houses.”

“Okay I think I can understand that, more or less. What is this House, then?” I gestured all around us.

“Ostentation,” Boddy answered. Again Maps gave him a nudge. Did Maps not want me to know about the irrealis? Why? I felt a stirring in my brain, like Rookie was about to wake up from his nap.

“Which warps what Lane House?”

Maps stopped Boddy from answering with a hand on his shoulder and a whisper in his ear. Boddy just looked confused. “Why?” he asked. “Later.” Maps explained.

I leaned my back against the wall. It was ostentatious, that was for sure. But why would the duties of Community lead to delivering this particular item to Ostentation? What had Carver said about it? That it was a symbolic duty? So Community owed something to Ostentation? Like…maybe Ostentation was disordered but it somehow promoted those witnessing it to work together? That almost tracked. History and stories were full of monarchs and peasant revolts instigated by the same thing.

But…no. The symbolism would include the nature of the delivery and what was being delivered to. And all those other crests…they would be involved somehow…

The thought clicked in my mind. At the same time, I realized that it had done so before. I felt shards of illusion covering the spot.

Also at the same time, I heard a very different click from my right. The click from my right sounded like the click of someone racking a shotgun. I looked up from my reverie to see that Maps had Boddy’s revolver trained on Boddy, who was glaring up at him from a seated position, hands on the back of his head. I looked to my right to see…myself. Holding a shotgun. I was dressed in my usual delivery uniform. A moment later, I noticed that the name tag read “Rookie”, instead of “Daniel”.

What? I hadn’t manifested Rookie? I turned my thoughts inward. Rookie was nowhere.

“Looking for me? I’m not in there anymore.” Rookie said. I don’t know why, but it was significantly creepier to hear him speak from outside my brain than inside it. “I’ll miss it, though. You have a nice mindscape. Cushy.” Rookie waved his shotgun towards Boddy. I moved silently to join him.

“Now. My friend Maps here is going to go up to the House and bring back the idiot who was supposed to receive this delivery. You, Daniel, are going to give him that delivery. Then, Maps and I are going to leave. You and Boddy can do whatever you like. Though I plan to take your weapons, so…might I suggest requesting asylum here so you don’t have to cross the Alley again? I’m sure they’ll only charge you…oh…a few trillion dollars’ worth of labor. You’ll be done inside the millennium! If you don’t sleep.”