Rytius Records (Substack Edition), Ch. 13

Chapter 13. Ex Nihilo and the Exclusion of Possible Pasts

13. Ex Nihilo and the Exclusion of Possible Pasts

There were no circumstances under which Tellem Ralph, Fila’s old friend, would have missed Fila’s daughter’s naming ceremony.

Rytius was still in the home of Prince Appall back when Tellem, one of Fila’s boys from home, was also Fila’s friend and helper, sourcing materials, trading records, finding documentation, calling upon those who might have or know more. The first time anyone ever had what would come to be called a listening party, it was at Tellem’s Crib, his own record store, then devoted to records in the sciences, technology, and economics, opened after he recovered from injuries sustained during the discovery: he and Fila had taken tube packets of gunpowder and plenty of fuses, but the packets were too large for the door, even with the debris. They blasted a section of concrete off of the I-beam crossing the door and it hit Tellem in the quadriceps, just above the knee tendon. It was a curiously undamaging injury, considering the velocity and mass of the shrapnel, and it was miraculous that he walked on two legs ever again, let alone that he hobbled into the main hall of the library, triumphant, three stories above, three stories below, an authentic oldentime collection of technical and economic knowledge. So now Tellem swung and clacked a black walnut cane with an air of affectation, though he never mentioned his injury.