Pinny, Slaying
Part Five
by Eric Jablow
Synopsis: Pinny, first Slayer for Flatland, has just
dreamed of a hexagon-vampire attacking and murdering a
triangle and a line. But, is this dream real? What can
she do about it? Will her father's attempt to marry
her off keep her from her fight; will it separate her
from her friend and ally, Lil?
Rating: PG.
---
Pinny's mother leads her through the buisness district
of Thinton; Pinny chafes at her mother's matronly pace.
"Mother, where are we going? And could we get there
faster?"
"We shall be dignified, daughter. We must not disgrace
ourselves. It is our only hope of dignity."
"Yes, Mother. Where are we going?"
"Your father wants you to be well-groomed and polished
for our dinner with Norris and Declan tonight."
"I wish he wouldn't."
"It doesn't matter, daughter. If Declan doesn't marry
you, someone similar to him will. Do try to accept it,
Pin. Fighting it will not serve you at all."
"Do you dream, Mother?"
"What sort of nonsensical question is that?"
They turned into the women's door at Linnea's Salon,
and two 33° iso attendants greeted them. They followed
the attendants to two adjoining pinholes in the south
wall, and they inserted their afts for safety. The
attendants withdrew, and were replaced by a pair of 55°
isos. The near-eqs proceed to apply unguents and
fragrances to Pinny and her mother, and then they
massaged and polished the women until the light
reflected off them with a glossy sheen. "The massage
felt good, but I preferred Lil's kiss," Pinny thought.
"I'll never be able to tell anyone though."
As they dried, Pinny's mother took the opportunity to
chat with the other mid-gons' wives. Pinny didn't
listen to the inane chatter; she had more pleasant and
more scary things to think about. Thoughts of Lil, of
her parents, and an of unwanted future with Declan
entered her mind; then she had another vision of the
hex-monster:
In the dim of late evening, a square artisan closes
his shop with an iso's aid. The two part, and the
square heads East. A few streets later, he turns
onto a street Pinny recognizes; it's two streets
away from this salon. A hexagon calls out from the
alleyway between two buildings:
"Excuse me, but can you help me load this
package?" A rectangle rested in front of him.
Pinny recognized him as the hex-monster.
"Of course. You know, you really should get an iso
to carry for you. What happened?"
"He was sick today, and I must have knocked this
against the door when I left. My right-front side
should still have enough glue."
The square tried to tip the package up so the hex
could stick it on; while the package blocked the
square's vision, the hex transformed again! It
turned on the square and plunged its spike into the
square's side; this time the monster used only the
tip of its spike while draining the square's
humours. This would would be as fatal as the last,
though.
Pinny shuddered in her cradle.
The square loosed a terrible keening cry as the
monster drained his essence, and then the monster
retreated from him. The dying square turned grey,
and his wounded side began to curl up, and then the
monster moved to his mouth dot and dropped a single
drop of fluid onto the square. The square
shuddered and became still.
The monster nodded with his spike as he watched the
dead square. Pinny waited for the square's form to
collapse; she had no idea what the monster's
benediction had signified. Suddenly, the wound in
the square's side uncurled and closed! The
square's color returned to its usual black, and
soon there was no sign he had ever been wounded.
The monster spoke with great satisfaction, "I shall
return, my son." Then he returned to his normal
shape and left. The square looked asleep; he began
to shift slowly from side to side. That seemed
normal; Pinny sometimes did that herself when she
slept.
"Daughter! Pin! Wake up!"
"What, mother?"
"You were asleep, and moaning. Straighten up! It's
time to go. What's wrong with you today?"
Pinny mumbled, "Had a bad dream."
"Control yourself, daughter. We return home now."
---
Despite her anger at her parents and the world around
her, and despite her fears about her two dreams, Pinny
actually felt good. The massage and polishing left her
relaxed and satisfied; her concerns mattered little to
her. She suspected that she would have to fight the
monster, but that could wait.
A few minutes later, they entered one of the town's
open areas. A group of agitated polys stood before a
bulletin line; she knew that the town would attach the
local broadline to it for the benefit of the poorer
workmen.
"I wonder what is disturbing them." Pinny waved in the
polys' direction.
"Oh, daughter. Mens' affairs are not your concern."
"I wonder if it has to do wih the rogue iso Father
mentioned the other day."
"Pinny, come with me."
"I'm going to ask." Pinny moved toward the group of
polys. Her mother called out a warning, but she
continued until she was ten feet away from the bulletin
line. "What's going on?" An eq spoke without looking
back: "An artisan couple was murdered last night.
Hey!" The eq turned around to face her; she fled back
to her mother, her Peace-Cry a loud wail.
"Let's go home. Now."
"Yes, Mother." "And I didn't get to glance at the
broadline, damn it," Pinny thought.
---
Her mother had banished her to her room to await the
evening visit of Norris and Declan; Pinny glided around
her room, occasionally batting a pong disk around. She
heard the uproar that signified her brother Norval's
return from school, and then the house was blessedly
quiet again. "How can I be strong if I run away from
an eq at just one cross word?" She ended up
pinwheeling; she often did that when she was disgusted
with herself.
A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. "What is
it?" "It's me," called Noeval. "Go away!" "We need
to talk."
Pin halted her spin and slid the door open, and Norval
moved into the room. The room was quite small for the
two of them; Norval was growing up. "Close it." Pin
did.
"What have you been doing?"
"What do you mean, Norval?"
"Hector was in a bad mood today; some of his gang
taunted him at lunch about how a couple of ponging
girls had batted him around. Were they talking about
you and Lil?"
"Why would you think that?"
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps it's because you are the
most avid ponger I know."
"Yeah. It was me."
"Why in the name of the Great Circle would you do
anything like that?"
"The little thieves stole my disk. I'm tired of men
treating me like a dot."
"You and Lil showed your afts to them. What do you
think Father will do when he finds out?"
"You aren't going to tell him."
"Why not?"
"Because I'll have to tell Mother about you putting
itching dots into the household glue."
"Who cares about--I didn't do that!"
"Norval, you cannot fool me. Father expects nothing
from me; I'm just a girl. But he expects you to be an
honorable nonagon. How could you do something like
that to Penfield? He's served the family since long
before we were born!"
"It was just a prank."
"Men torment women all the time. Now you have
graduated to tormenting isos. I hope you're proud."
"Okay, okay. I won't say a word to Father."
"And keep Lil out of it at all costs. I won't have you
hurt her."
"Okay."
"And one more thing. I'm going to need to tell Lil
about this. Can you cover for me tonight? I'll have
to sneak out of the house after dinner."
"Um. I'll try."
"Thanks, Nor. Now go. Please." Norval left.
Pinny sighed. "And tonight, I go hunting. If I
survive dinner, that is."
--
Respectfully,
Eric Jablow
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