She’s Alive. Yes.
Wednesday, November 7, 1973.
Michael
Lunchtime, middle of the week at the Caffè Med. The place is busy; the crowd is half students, half older locals to Marshall's eye. The Authoress, an "older local" herself, is sitting in a plush but frayed faux-velvet red armchair in a corner of the café. A nearly-empty cup of tea and a small teapot sit on her table; she is writing or sketching in a small notebook. The floors of the Med, in their black-and-white checkerboard pattern, along with the decor's old-school ironwork, make the whole place feel oddly, vaguely Masonic. Viv feels Marshall's presence in the room, and she raises her head from her work.
"Doctor," she says, her eyes perhaps surprisingly merry, a smile on her face as she gestures to a nearby chair. "Fancy seeing you here. I suppose I'm easy to find most afternoons lately." Her affect is (ironically?) friendly but underneath it, Genevieve's body language is betraying just the slightest sense of uncertainty under her jolly coolness. "Please, sit! It's been so long since we've caught up."
Brant
“Hello! I was just in the neighborhood and just thought I’d pop in for a coffee! Haha, but you know that’s not true.” He sits. “How’s things? What’ve you been up to? Spending time with Andy?”
Michael
"Oh, Andy... Andy's been writing. Feverishly. It's one of the reasons I'm here stag today." Viv signals to the girl at the counter to bring more hot water for her pot of pu'erh, and another cup if Dr. Redgrave is indulging. "The past, well, four or five weeks he's been positively eremitic, holed up in that apartment of his. And he had such bad writer's block after WesterCon, it's so good to see him at it again."
"I've been doing the same. Longhand, of course." She points at her (closed) notebook. "Mostly poems and prose fragments—nothing's been quite coalescing into actual narrative for me since we had our last chat."
Brant
“Interesting. You’ll have to tell Andy to give Arch a call. I’m sure he’d want to know what Andy’s up to. And what about our work? Notice anything strange recently? Trends, people?”
Michael
"If you're asking after a specific and unique event I might have heard of or witnessed, I'd have to say 'no.' If you're asking after 'vibes,' on the other hand... there are plenty of those, most of them bad. Nixon slowly rotting away in the Oval Office has radicals feeling emboldened again," she says, obviously thinking of last night's shooting of Oakland School Superintendent Marcus Foster. "The war in the Middle East and gas prices have ordinary folks spooked. A few weeks ago, you know the TV stations set up cameras trying to catch the supposed '500th suicide' on the Golden Gate Bridge?"
Genevieve sighs; there's a look of genuine pain in her face that Marshall can see, as if every one of her 44 years were on display. She doesn't look as young as she did when URIEL first encountered her five months ago, and the joyful, youthful political idealism Marshall's read about in her files seems to be curdling a little bit. "But if you're asking if anything comparable to the St. Francis has happened or feels like it's bubbling under the surface since we last spoke, I'd have to say 'no.' Frankly it feels like people are too beaten down to be dreaming those kind of dreams at the moment."
Brant
Marshall thanks the server when she arrives with his coffee, giving her a wink as she goes.
“Sounds like we’re doing our job, then,” he says, sipping his coffee. “Well, this certainly beats what they were serving in Alabama, let me tell you. You seem down, Genevieve. Is something troubling you? Having second thoughts? I’d hope not — you still have a role to play in all this.”
Michael
"Second thoughts? No, not at all, Marshall," Genevieve says assertively, consciously straightening her posture and meeting Marshall's eye. "In fact it's quite the opposite. I was wondering for a while if I'd been... permanently sidelined." She smiles. "But if you have a new assignment to propose to me, I'm very enthusiastic to hear what you might have in mind. Time and space away from the team—time to consider all that data I digested back in July, the unfortunate timing of the book tour, and then the past month or so of you all being out east—it's all only given me more of an intense urge to contribute directly. I miss you all. What can I do to help?" She holds her hands out, gently, plaintively.
Brant
Marshall takes her hands and makes eye contact, then withdraws and crosses his legs, leaning back in his chair a bit. "That's good to hear. Once the honeymoon is over, some people start having doubts about the choice they've made. Happens more than you'd think. Anyway." Marshall changes his cadence and mannerisms, unspooling NLP to create the "cone of disinterest" he's used in prior public discussions with Archie and Mitch. (I think we've decided this is Enthrallment [Sway Emotions] but let me know).
"Recently there has been a sort of ... realignment within the organization. A lot of pieces getting moved around. Some taken off the board. Our group's role has ... I guess you could say expanded. Archie's been promoted and is moving down to Hollywood, at least part time. Mitch is talking about moving up north, to Shasta. Charley's coming off field work -- and we found her mother." He lets that last statement hang in the air for a moment.
"So, things are a little uncertain right now. Our mission statement has changed, and I'll be heading up the Livermore office with Archie gone. As part of that transition, I'm gathering a few people to act as a sort of advisory committee. To help me think differently. Part of our new portfolio requires us to be more ... dialectic. Open-minded. Able to work with contradictions. I'd like you on that committee."
Michael
Genevieve feels the zone of disinterest surround the two of them, the occasional stares that the Berkeley student patrons might have been shooting both of their ways due to their fame subside; the overall emotional tenor of the room soon shifts into, well, how boring those two middle-aged people are in the corner.
(If you want to roll Public Speaking-22 and then Enthrallment (Sway Emotions)-18 just so we have a baseline of effectiveness of the zone, that would be great.)
"Charley's... mother. Oh. She's alive and well? That reintegration... for both of them, my goodness. I first want to offer any help I can, any help they're each or both willing to receive, there. You just let me know what your professional opinion on the situation is, and if needed, I'll be there and apply myself fully."
Then to the other business, Viv says, "And yes, of course, I'm more than happy to contribute to this... philosophical committee, Marshall. Just point me in the right direction to get caught up on this new mission statement and which dialectics you're looking to explore and integrate into the team's worldview, and I'll be there to throw in. I'm excited to hear who else I might be working with!"
And then, finally, "Archie's going to Hollywood?" she says brightly. "Well isn't that something. That sounds like a promotion to me, and knowing what he does and what he's good at, I think he'll shine in that role."
Brant
Public Speaking-22.
>> SUCCESS by 9
Enthrallment-18
>> SUCCESS by 8
Michael
(Good enough for Berkeley undergrads I think)
Brant
"She's alive, yes. Well? In a sense. She's missing some memories and seems a little ... fraught? Hard to say since we don't know exactly what was done to her. We're getting her set up at Berkeley in a guest lecturer role. Charley seems less than thrilled at her return, to be honest. Charley seems less than thrilled about everything lately, to be quite candid. One gets the sense that she's bored, jaded perhaps, by her time in the field. 'The soul is born and unfolds in a body, with dreams and desires and the food of life. And then it is reborn in new bodies in accordance with its former works. The quality of the soul determines its future body — earthly or airy, heavy or light.' And I think Charley's soul is quite heavy now.
"I'd like to get you introduced to the mother. Her name is Rose, by the way. She will need some counseling and someone with experience in familial psycho-social matrices to get her back on firm footing, if such a thing is even possible. Charley ... Charley, it's probably best if you let her come to you. If she does."
Another sip of coffee as Marshall looks around to make sure no one is actively listening. "So, the committee ... I have two people, besides yourself, I want on board. I'm hoping you could make the arrangements for our approach. The first person is your friend Terence," Marshall smirks, "because I haven't given up on looping him into my orbit. The second is Alan Watts. Do you know him?"
Michael
Genevieve nods. "Yes. Charley will ultimately need to find her own path. We can offer help, but... she exists at one end of a long line of mutually-conscious past lives. She is older than all of us in that sense. I wager we could all do with listening to her more. Her mind and soul will continue to conceive of things that you or I might not be able to perceive, and we all need to receive that ability with gratitude and joy, not fear. Her sense of curiosity will always sustain her, and we just need to continue to be ready to receive her when her spiritual wanderings bring her back home."
"And yes, I'd be more than happy to work with Rose in whatever capacity. Charley can dictate the terms of her involvement in a family psychodynamic, if any. It may end up being the work I do with Rose will be a way for both her and us to appreciate who Charley really is. Christ, it really is like Asimov's Childhood's End, isn't it."
"Regarding Terence, and Alan..." Here Viv pauses. "You know, Marshall, I think I was being a little too protective when we had our unfortunate discussion back in September. And I don't just mean protective of Terence." She smiles knowingly, a flash of the "old" Viv on her face. "The reason I said I thought Terence might change you back in September is because he and his mushrooms changed me. And part of me, at least then, still kind of hated him for it." She pours some tea from her pot into her cup. "That trip that night, I saw my real role in this group, going all the way back to 'Camelot.' And it was that of... a supporting character. A Lady in the Lake dispensing strategems and swords to the real heroes. A victualer, a... mom sending her kids off to school with a bagged lunch. And oh, Marshall, I had been the main character of my own life for so long, so long." Another smile, more sheepish this time. "But quiet, and time, and deep thought and meditation on that mystery has allowed me to not only accept this role, but enthusiastically accept it. Why do you think I sought out those presents for all of you on tour?" She laughs merrily. "See, I was going against the flow of this for so much of my life. It managed to create wonderful art, that tension! But that night with Terence, that trip... my ego was rocked. For the better, but the scar tissue took some time to thicken up. You caught me when I was still hurting, and that colored both my attitude towards you, and towards Terence. I'm sorry I let my own trauma affect my relationship with URIEL."
"Terence's archetype, on the other hand, is as clear as day to me. He thinks he's a shaman, but he's not. He's a trickster. He's the dog the Fool follows off the cliff. You know back a decade or so ago, there was this genie released on us all, the psychedelic. And it made some of us humble and some of us proud. Terence is very proud for someone so young, and unlike Charley, he has little awareness of his higher self to temper that pride. Marshall, he pushed his own brother into taking a reality-shattering amount of vegetal and fungal medicine down in South America two years ago. Made him into an experimental subject. And yes, they both now say they brought back riches from the other side..." Viv drifts off. "Of course I think he'll be an excellent addition to a committee looking to think differently—there's possibly no one out there with a more encyclopedic knowledge of practical psychedelic experience right now—but please, do not forget that trickster nature when you deal with him. It is who he is, and my fate sight does not see him changing."
"As for Alan... God, this is starting to feel like a gossip session. I love Terence, and I love Alan. But like Terence, Alan is an imperfect man clothed in the mantle of a guru. Marshall, Alan is profoundly unwell. And while the grapevine says the illness is recent, I know where it comes from. He drinks. He has drank for a long time, in a serious, problem-drinker kind of way. And the people around him don't have the courage to ask him to stop. They figure, a man like Alan who has life and the universe and existence all figured out, well, he must also know his limits with alcohol. But he doesn't. I think he drinks to take away the pain and existential discomfort that has come from true enlightenment. Because he is enlightened; time and practice and teaching has crafted a beautiful soul with perfect awareness. But that soul as a result is so, so lonely."
Brant
Marshall takes all this in, nods, and then waves off Viv's apology. "Please don't worry about it. My ego was rocked as well, being challenged in that way. It's all part of the work, though. Vietnam taught me you have to be willing to get a little hurt if you want to accomplish anything.
It's precisely that Terence is a 'trickster' that I want him on board, preferably at the Mission. It takes a trickster to spot a trickster and there will be more of that coming down the pipeline, I'm sure, over the next several months. Between the two of us, I'm sure he can be somewhat bridled.
But this thing about Alan ... this is news to me. How quickly can you facilitate an introduction? I cannot risk him as an asset; he is too valuable."
Michael
"Let me give the houseboat a call this afternoon. I'm sure your name will open doors. He's still very much taking visitors—sometimes I think they're the only thing keeping him in his right mind—but I haven't been up there since the spring, before I met you all. I'll need to speak with Jano, his wife. She's his social secretary and gatekeeper. Frankly speaking between us, she's also somewhat of an enabler of his behaviors. So we'll also need to keep that in mind while we're up in Sausalito. How many people shall I tell Jano to expect?"
Brant
“Three. You, me, and Mitch.”
Michael
"All right. I'll head home and give Jano a call. I don't think I'll have much difficulty getting us up to see Alan. Let me know where I can best reach you and Mitch and I'll call when I've gotten us the appointment."