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Back Truth of the Divine Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Also By Lindsay Ellis and Available From Titan Books
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Author’s Note
  7. Part 1: It’s A Fool Who Plays It Cool
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. Part 2: Love Has A Nasty Habit Of Disappearing Overnight
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. Part 3: A Crowd Of People Stood And Stared
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. Part 4: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. A Fiction Agreed Upon
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. About the Author

“Well, I’ll tell you right now, that’s not how it works here. And if they grant you personhood, and I hope they do, you won’t even be allowed that option.”

“YOU WOULD DENY ONE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE WHEN TO DIE? HOW BARBARIC.”

“There are some places that do allow assisted death under certain circumstances, but you wouldn’t qualify for any of them. However, we do have a wide array of ways to treat mental illness. I don’t know how effective it would be to translate things designed for a human to you, but it’s worth a try.”

“I WOULD NOT CONSENT. THAT IS NOT WHY I CAME HERE.”

“Well, plans change. Cora told me that you have a custom of sorts, that you choose when you’re going to die, and you die at the same time as your . . .”

“SYMPHYLES.”

“She told me that before you were— well, the word she used was purged— you had a date you were scheduled to die, and I presume Ampersand with you, correct?”

“YES.”

“But due to tragic, unforeseen circumstances, you lost all your other symphyles prematurely. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“And now you’ve come to be with your last one when you die. Correct?”

“Yes.”

He grasped his sponge in front of him. “I understand that this custom is very important to you, and I don’t doubt that you intended to get it over with quickly because you were under . . . an influence. But when you say, ‘I came here to die with my last remaining symphyle,’ what I think you mean is, you came here to be with him, whether you die together anytime soon or not.”

He wrung the sponge out in the dirty water bucket, Enola’s eyes following the movement of his hands.

“You didn’t just come here to die, you came here because you wanted help. Because you needed help, you literally ripped open the fabric of space because you needed help.”

The luminosity in Enola’s eyes dimmed. Kaveh ripped off another few sheets of paper towel and ran them over his handiwork. Not quite clean yet on the left side. “So here I am. I’m here to help you. Welcome to Earth. I’m not going to punch you in the head.”

“YOU DO THIS OUT OF COMPASSION.”

“In part. I also do it out of curiosity, to learn about you.”

“ARE YOU UNIQUE AMONG HUMANS IN YOUR COMPASSION?”