A steampunk retelling of Hypatia, the Roman-Egyptian neo-Platonist philosopher who died in Alexandria in about 415 AD, at the hands of a Christian mob. This story is complete.
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Those who had survived the flood by taking to the mountains or the tops of the highest hills returned to the valleys and plains, and there they found that everything was covered with silt and mud and debris, and they sighed and set to work.
And even though the heat of the sun would sometimes dry the land until it cracked, and other times the rain would come so heavily that the crops were washed away, life went on. Somewhere, animals and seed had survived and what was needed for building was found, and so, although life was harder than it had been before the change, and it was uncertain, it did go on.
But that was all a very long time ago. Things settled down. Today, we have order.
*
"Cardinal Synesius," - I have been asked more than once, in so many words - "you were close to the pagan Hypatia, one of her students - what really happened? And how is it that you have become a Cardinal?"
Very well, I shall break my silence. Here is what happened concerning the pagan Hypatia.
*
"Librarian..."
I am watching the approaching Walkers from the main window of the Soil Feeder Archive. They clank, wheezing steam and smoke, through the corn fields; the foliage thrust aside by their iron flanks, rows crushed beneath their riveted hooves, their crews unaware or uncaring of the damage they are doing to the crops.
I hear her sigh. She has come to stand beside me. "What do they want now? Are we expecting anything?" She says it to herself; there is no use asking me.
Librarian Hypatia is... well, one of them. Half born, half made. She is a relic of the old world; we don't grow them like her any more, and we certainly don't make them like her any more - not that we could; even if we wanted to. We don't stand as straight or tall, we don't think as fast, and we don't remake ourselves the way they are built to. They are from the past, a past not like anything you or I have ever known. Most people these days don't talk about the ones like her. Me? Oh, I want to know...
Hypatia has been the Head Librarian at the Serapeum since her predecessor became something to do with the Cardinals (apparently an offer he could not refuse). He taught her well; she knows where every Soil Conditioner, every Enhancer, every Charm and Relic, every Amulet, every Air, Karma and Water Filter and every book and scroll is kept. I think that the entire contents of the Serapeum Library are catalogued in her mind. And I get the feeling that she understands it all, as well.
When the Walkers bring in shipments from the Cardinals' factories, she knows where each box and crate should go, and when the time comes to send stock out to the markets, she knows what is needed and where. Without her, the markets would barely work. There would be chaos.
