Chapter 1

The Summit

Hate stepped off the gunship as it landed on the wide pad of the Ziggurat. A skeletal Hater stood next to her, and she thrust her rifle into his arms as she passed. He wordlessly accepted the weapon and saluted. The gunship was black at the bottom and faded to a deep blue toward the rotors. Hate liked to imagine it was the colors you’d see in the ocean if you were about to sink into the depths.

The rotors hadn’t stopped, and as soon as Hate was firmly on the ziggurat the chopper lifted back into the night and roared off into the darkness. Back to the Frontier.

Hate knocked the dust off her fatigues and turned to find the door, but on the horizon, she spotted another aircraft, a much larger one. It was propelled by four massive rotors, and there was a complement of three smaller aircraft guarding it. Hate watched it come up to the edge of the landing pad. It was too big to land anywhere, but it had a wide hangar door that lowered like a drawbridge, offering Hate a look inside. Two ranks of soldiers stood saluting, and between them marched Sloth. Her dress uniform was impeccable, and Hate could see her green eyes darting back and forth between the ranks, inspecting each soldier where he stood.

She walked down the gangplank that a tank could have driven across and stood next to Hate. Neither of them said anything as the giant aircraft raised its gangplank, ascended into the sky, and chugged back the way it came.

“Ridiculous,” Hate muttered.

“It's important to show some decorum for these things,” Sloth said, “it’s rare that every Queen is invited to a summit.”

She looked Hate up and down.

“You look like you spent the night sleeping in the dirt.”

“I did,” Hate said, “I’ve been out in the darkness, beyond the Frontier, dealing with consequences for the last few weeks.”

“Consequences?” Sloth asked sharply, “did something happen that I didn’t hear about?”

“I don’t think so,” said Hate, “we were out in the dark and came across them. They weren’t expecting us, but they’ve been a persistent bunch.”

Sloth sighed.

“I wish you wouldn’t use that term so liberally,” she said, “the term ‘consequence’ implies fault. Not every monster you encounter out there is a consequence.”

“Everything that find’s itself on the wrong end of my gun is a consequence as far as I’m concerned,” Hate said, “if not a consequence of our actions, than a consequence of our ignorance.”

“Someday we’ll teach you some refinement…” Sloth muttered. Then she gestured to the large double doors across the landing pad.

“Shall we?”

“Sure.”

Hate glanced at Sloth as they descended the stone steps that lead deeper into the heart of the Ziggurat. she didn’t mind Sloth’s company most of the time, which was saying something, in fact she found Sloth to be the most agreeable fo the other Queens. She commanded the largest army by far, and even with that she was content to stay out of Hate’s way. The stick up her ass must have been perfectly straight though, because the woman never showed a hint of slouch. It was awkward for her though, because she never knew what to say to the Sloth. Maybe the best policy was just not to say anything, and trust that the other woman valued their alliance.

The meeting hall was a large kiva with tiers cut into the circular walls. Everyonje else was already there. Including Lust. Hate scowled as her eyes fell on the yellow-clad Queen, chatting animatedly to Hope. Hope’s big red eyes had fixated on Hate the minute she stepped into the room. Though she was trying her best to hide her fear, Hate could feel it emanating from Hope like warm sunlight. She smiled, and felt like maybe this summit wouldn’t be as torturous as she had feared.

“Ah, Lust,” came an excited voice, as a woman in sweatpants and a hoodie edged past Hope, “it’s been a while!”

“Ah,” said Lust, “Pride, yeah, it has been a bit, hasn’t it…”

Pride’s black sweatsuit made her look shapeless and amorphous. Her magenta hair was tied back in a messy bun, held in place with what Hate identified as a pair of chopsticks. Well, one chopstick and a mechanical pencil. Hate glanced at Sloth sitting next to her, with her fancy suit and a tit covered in medals, and snickered a little.

“By the Mother and Father,” Sloth swore under her breath, “she’s the one who called the damn meeting, the least she could have done was take a shower…”

Hate noted with delight that Sloth was right, they could smell Pride from where they were sitting. Hate didn’t despise Pride either, if nothing else the woman was good for a laugh. Aside from that though, Pride had a good head on her shoulders. Well, most of the time.

“…Did you see the memes I’ve been sending you?” Pride asked Lust excitedly.

“Oh, no I haven’t been anywhere with internet for a while,” Lust said, flashing the fakest smile Hate had ever seen.

Poor ol’ Pride had never been able to take a hint, Hate thought to herself. Pride’s attempt to befriend the captain of the Priss Club had caused Lust to look in Hate’s direction though, and the Queen had finally noticed Hate sitting there. From across the room Lust’s face fell into a cold glare as she locked eyes on to Hate. There’s the sincerity, Hate thought to herself. She gave a half grin and cocked her eyebrows, trying with all her might to relay the message, “name a spot and time, bitch.”

Hate really couldn't remember the last time she and Lust had said in the same room. They weren’t at war anymore, according to a phone book of treaties they had filled out, but Lust had a tendency not to show up when there was actually important meetings going on. The summons for this particular meeting had been vague though, which was unusual, but then, Pride calling a summit was equally unusual. She rarely left whatever hole she had crawled into these days. That was fine though, Hate liked her better behind a computer, where she was actually useful.

“Should we get started then?” Hate asked, not breaking eye contact with Lust.

“No,” said Pride, “not everyone's here yet.”

Hate snorted. She and Sloth, Lust and Hope, that was everybody that mattered usually. Having everyone else here might even complicate things, depending on what they were here’s to discuss.

The double doors flew open and Greed marched in. Her pink dreadlocks falling about her shoulders, which were wrapped in furs. Aside from that, she was almost naked, wearing a short skirt and a dozen necklaces made of animal teeth, tiny skulls, little glass bottles, and other various nicknacks. Hates eyes feel on a long anal that was coiled around her wrist. The snake was a machine, made off smooth, interlocking, sections. Is yellow growing eyes surveyed the gathering in the room.

“Hey! You can’t bring constructs in there!” Said Hope, “come on, you know the rules…”

“What?? Silas is harmless!” Greed snapped, “he gets nervous when I leave him in the ship.”

“No constructs! Harmless or not.”

Hate rolled her eyes. Whether the robot snake was dangerous or not, no one truly followed the ‘no weapons at summit meetings rule,’ she had a handgun tucked under her jacket, and she didn’t know for certain but she was nearly positive Lust had some truck up her sleeve. She was too smart to stand in Hates presence unarmed.

“You guys suck,” huffed Greed, as she stomped back out, almost running into Envy and Gluttony, who were coming down the hallway.

“I’m sorry!” Envy squeaked, as Greed shoved get to the side.

“She’s not mad it you,” called List was they found their seats, “she’s just pissy because we wouldn't let her bring her snake in here.”

“Ahh, I see,” said Gluttony, she looked around the room and carefully tried to pick a spot right between the two groups that were forming. Gluttony had always committed to being neutral, which usually made her quite the burden in Hates eyes, because she usually just ended up being another vote against both parties. Not everything had to be a compromise.

Greed came back in with no snake, and planted herself firmly behind Sloth and Hate. Greed didn’t waffle back and forth like Gluttony, she’s knew who the winners were.

“Okay,” said Pride, “looks like we’re all here. I know we have some people here that haven’t been to a summit meeting in a while. I’m glad you all could make it.”

“Well yeah,” snapped Sloth, “you sent me an email and the subject line just said ‘something important’ and you wouldn’t answer any of my follow up emails.”

“I just got a letter with the date and time,” Hope said, “I didn’t even find out it was a summit meeting until I talked to Lust about it.”

“Okay in hindsight that might have come off a bit creepier than I meant it,” said Pride, “but you’re all a little hard to convince sometimes, so I figured I had to get a little unorthodox with things.”

“Well, it worked,” said Hate, she felt a sense of genuine appreciation that she’s made sure not to let seep into her voice, “we’re all here, for the first time in who knows how long. So spill it.”

“My fellow Queens,” said Pride, standing up straight, “as you all know, things aren’t going well.”

And who’s fault is that, thought Hate, glaring at Lust and Hope again.

“The Frontier is overcrowded, the new Memories being founded aren’t yielding the resources we desperately need. The old memories are turning into wastelands. I worry that a total collapse is on the horizon.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Hope interjected, surprising everyone, “we’re just going through a rough patch is all, things’ll brighten up soon.”

“They’d brighten up a hell of a lot faster if some of you would actually come to the Frontier and help me,” Hate snapped, “I’m out there, pushing into the Darkness everyday, trying to break new ground, create new Memories, and no one’s helping me! I might have the strongest army among us, but it’s not infinite and I don’t appreciate the fact that my Thoughts are laying down their lives while you fuckers have tea parties!”

“Ladies, please-”

“It’s real cute hearing that you think we’re having tea parties in Memories that aware mostly fading war ruins,” Lust barked, cutting of whatever Pride was about to say, “places where our own Thoughts are struggling to have dinner every night. No, we’ve been trying to fix all the shit we already have, instead of letting the entire Lifetime fall to pieces for one more barren Memory that won’t support the Thoughts that move to it.”

“That’s exactly why you should be helping me,” Hate said, “the only way were going to fix this is if we can get new Memories and more resources! Its a waste of time trying to repair the past.”

“If we can’t manage the Memories we already have, then expanding that is only going to stretch us even thinner,” Lust persisted.

“Shut the fuck up!” Pride shouted, “this is exactly what I’m talking about! How many wars have you two had? How many of those ruined memories are crumbling because you two turned them into battlefeilds? How many dead angels are buried under the rubble of those once promising cities? How many of those precious resources you keep harping about were used to make bombs for you to throw at each other?”

Lust and Hate turned their burning gazes toward Pride. She didn’t back down. Envy, who had been sitting close to her, scooted away though.

“We’ve been at each other’s throats for decades,” Pride said, “and that was fine in the early memories, not comfortable, but fine. But we’ve seen or real enemy, and that’s Death.”

She paused, but no one said anything. Gluttony started down at her feet, even Sloth shifted uncomfortably.

“It’s still out there somewhere in the Darkness,” said Pride, “we barely made it last time, and we were twice as strong as we are now. If it showed up tomorrow morning we’d be gone before lunch.”

Hate crossed her arms. Coming to this summit had been a mistake.

“Our infighting had left this Lifetime barren and miserable,” continued Pride, “we need change. My own Thoughts have been hard at work crunching numbers and collecting data.”

“Trading stupid cat videos more like,” muttered Sloth. Pride ignored her.

“We’ve come to an alarming realization,” said Pride, “I think we might be approaching a point of no return. Were at a dangerous crossroads, my fellow Queens. If we keep on going the way that we are, it’s only a matter of time before Death realizes were vulnerable. It might already know, it could just be biding its time.”

“You give that thing too much credit,” said Hate, “it’s not some mastermind lurking in the shadows, it’s a wild beast. It can be manipulated.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” said Sloth, “we don’t know hardly anything about it.”

“We know that none of us could hurt it,” said Envy quietly, “not with all the combined might of our armies.”

“We managed to run it off,” said Hate.

“Did we?” Envy whispered, her eyes fixed at a point on the floor, “or did it just lose interest…”

An uncomfortable silence fell on the room.

“I called this meeting because we can’t continue like this,” said Pride, “we can’t keep sitting here hating each other, vetoing every move the others make, mobilizing soldiers when we get fed up with each other.”

“What are you suggesting?” asked Sloth uncomfortably.

“I’m proposing we reconstruct this council to a republic, with representatives that we entrust to make the hard decisions with our best interests in mind.”

“WHAT??” Hate jumped out of her seat, “How dare you even suggest that?”

“Because I’m tired of all the constant fighting,” said Pride, “do you want to know the real reason the Memories are fading and the Thoughts are running out of resources? It’s because all of us are secretly keeping a stockpile in case something flares up between us and the other Queens. No one’s committing fully to managing their own Thoughts because their preoccupied with defending themselves from everyone else.”

Hate’s mouth fell open.

“We can’t effectively keep one eye on our queendoms and one eye on everyone else in this room. You talk the most about going out into the Darkness, Hate, you boast so much about how you lead your own troops into battle personally, but how are your Thoughts doing? What Memories do they tend to gather in? How many of them are there?”

Hate shut her mouth and looked cautiously around the room. All eyes were on her.

“When was the last time you even checked up on them?” Pride persisted.

Hate glared hot embers into Pride.

“I don’t mean to personally attack you,” said Pride, and her eyes fell on each of the others, who Hate realized were staring at their feet and avoiding eye contact.

“These representatives,” said Sloth quietly, “what exactly did you have in mind…?”

Hate spun around to look at Sloth, aghast.

“Well,” said Pride, “if we split things up into the secret alliances, we’d be talking about two representatives.”

“Pride!” shrieked Hate in disgust.

“Oh come on, the secret alliances are the least secret things about us,” said Lust, “you bastards are even all sitting together.”

Hate fumed as she realized Lust was right.

“Secret alliances?” Envy squeaked, “there are secret alliances between you all?”

“Don’t worry, you two would have been on our side,” Hope said, taking Gluttony and Envy’s hands in hers.

“Why wouldn’t you consult us about that?” asked Gluttony, looking at Envy apprehensively. Envy was almost in tears.

“Well, personally I was thinking that if another war never broke out, we wouldn’t need to,” said Hope with an encouraging smile. Everyone stared at her.

“What?” she said with a frown, “it’s not impossible…”

Even Lust was frowning at her.

“Hope, nothing got resolved from the last war,” she said, “nothing is even different.”

“Well maybe we’d all mature up a bit,” Hope muttered, “you never know…”

Hate shook her head and glanced at Pride.

“Well, I’m certainly regretting adding you to our side.”

“You don’t mind me when I’m sending you research and intelligence,” Pride said, “or would you and your cronies like to bushwhack in the dark without any direction?”

“Would there still be a need for that if we had these… representatives of yours?”

“Of course,” Pride said, addressing the room again, “this isn’t to take power from us, it’s not to further divide us either. I want another level of decision making that can commit to a direction for us. If you look at the Memories we already have you can see the pattern. One Queen is in power and we move forward for a few years, then a war breaks out and another Queen takes over and undoes everything her predecessor set up, and no progress is made in either direction. Years of Lust that brought about social skills and bright new experiences, followed by years of Hate where those social skills atrophied from disuse and those experiences were abandoned for lucrative opportunity.

“We can’t keep doing this, we’re treating it like we’re doubling back and forth, but the truth is that time is marching on in a linear fashion, and it’s slipping through our fingers. We need direction, and certainty. We need someone who can keep us moving forward while not neglecting any of our concerns.”

Hate crossed her arms. That point at least made some sense. All the good she had brought to this lifetime had been an uphill battle against almost everyone else in this room.

“I agree with this,” Envy said quietly. She rubbed the tears out of her eyes. Hate cocked an eyebrow at her in surprise. Envy was usually a pushover who would side with anyone that asked her to. It was rare to her to state an opinion, and especially now, over so controversial a motion.

“Why?” Hate asked.

“Because I feel like I don’t have any power in this council,” Envy said, “every time I come here, I can’t make my voice heard. No matter how hard I try, you all treat me like you already know what I’m going to say in every situation, like you already know what side I’d join if a war broke out. Besides, Lust and Hate already act like they’re everyone’s representatives, and if anyone else wants anything the have to convince or manipulate either of those two to get it for them.”

Lust’s eyebrows shot up, and Hate snickered, despite herself. As far as she could remember, Envy had never said anything so ballsy to anyone. Then she glanced over her shoulder just in time to catch Greed and Sloth sharing a meaningful glance. Her snicker died in her throat.

She looked across the room to Lust, who had steepled her fingers and was ruminating on what Envy had said. Hate watched her carefully. The two of them had been through some pretty dark times together. She had made Lust’s angels fall like rain, and Lust had turned the trenches Hate’s soldiers had dug into mass graves more than once. She realized, suddenly, that while Sloth was probably the closest thing Hate had to a friend, Lust was the one she knew the best. Know thyself and thy enemy, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Lust had surprised her throughout the years, but she had come to know what to expect by now. So she knew Envy’s complaint had cut deep.

“Oy,” Hate whispered, glancing over her shoulder. Greed and Sloth jumped at being suddenly addressed, “you guys don’t feel like I override you, do you…? Like I’m a control freak or something?”

They exchanged glances.

“Of course not,” Greed said, a little too quickly. Hate nodded and sat forward. They were scared of her, she realized. Her eyes flicked up to Lust who was now looking over her steepled fingers at her. They looked at each other, and for the first time in memory, there was no animosity in that shared stare. There might have been a whole conversation conveyed in that look, but for the first time it wasn’t one of hostility.

The decision was made, Hate realized, and if she didn’t say it first she’d look like she was conceding.

“I agree with the proposal as well,” Hate said, “it was never my intention to become some kind of overlord, or to impose authority over my friends.”

Lust rolled her eyes.

“I do too,” she sighed, “I’m sorry we made you feel like that, Envy.”

Hate cracked a smile. Then suddenly, she realized that if reorganizing and getting representatives really did fix the infighting, then she and Lust might never go to war again. That little contest just now, might have been the last she had with Lust. She felt a massive emptiness open up inside her at the thought.

Everyone looked around in shock, unable to believe that Lust and Hate had mutually agreed on the restructuring. Even Pride looked dumbfounded. It gradually dawned on the other Queens that they were supposed to be voting too, and they all also pledged their support for this new movement. In the end, the most controversial proposition that anyone could remember being proposed was passed unanimously.

“Okay,” said Pride, looking around, she had the daze of someone who had just witnessed a miracle, “we’ll split up into our two alliances, and make our representatives. We can convene back here in thirty-three days, that should be enough time, right?”

The other Queens seemed to be waiting on Lust and Hate.

“Sounds like a decent amount of time to me,” said Lust.

“Ditto,” Hate said, as she stood up, “no point in delaying then.”