{"sf1_id":806304,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Starting a Pyramid Scheme","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2644,"posted_at":"2015-01-11T17:37:00.000Z","tags":["Beetle","Human","Jackal","Plot Development","Spellsinger","Story Progression","Time travel","egypt","gods"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/806304-starting-a-pyramid-scheme","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/806304","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=806304\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#36 of Robbin Red\n\nOk folks.It's been a while since I left you hanging with Jon-Tom and his plight in Egypt. It's a slow restart back into the series, but I have to get a feel for it again.","content":"\nIt was some days later that the god Anubis strode down the\nhalls to the throne room of the king. The term pharaoh was not yet in use and\nhe was determined not to start using it now. The king had sent a polite summons,\nand Jon-Tom (aka Anubis) was curious to see what he wanted. It was a ballsy ruler\nwho dared request and audience with his god.\nAs of yet, he had failed to bed the king's daughter. She was a\npatient soul, but his excuse that she might not survive such an encounter was\nno longer holding. She wanted him and she didn't care if she survived or not.\nHe wasn't sure if he was back to thinking she was too young or if it was\nbecause he didn't want to mess with the timeline. He had no idea if his\ninteractions with his own past would have repercussions for his future. As for\nher age, well... \nIn this day and age once a girl was capable of having\nchildren they were considered old enough for marriage. So by the standards of\nthe time, that wasn't a concern. \n Khufu was sitting on\nhis throne conversing with a few men bearing scrolls of papyrus. When Jon-Tom entered,\nthe king immediately left them and motioned for his god to occupy his seat of\npower.  Jon-Tom dismissed his action as irrelevant.\n \"You called me here for\nsomething my king, so what is it?\"\n\"My lord, you must know how much I worship your presence in\nmy kingdom. Therefore, it is with trepidation that I dare to wish a favor from\nyou.\"\n\"If this is about your daughter Khufu, then don't say another\nword. I will consummate the marriage if and when I see fit!\"\n\"No my lord. I would never question your wisdom. I have a\ngreater problem than the mere bedding of my daughter.\"\n\"Oh? Those words sound a bit cavalier coming from her father.\nWhat's your problem?\"\n\"My great work. I have been told by my royal engineers that\nit cannot be done. The groundwork has been laid for it, but they say the stones\nare too heavy for the workers to pull into place.\"\nJon-Tom sighed. He remembered the Greendowns and how he had\nassisted in the fortification of the wall at Jo-Troom Gate. The golden staffs\nhe had created were designed to lift stones weighing many tons as if they were only\nmarshmallows. If he helped the king, would he be affecting the future? After\nall, there was still a great dispute going on in his own time about how the\nEgyptians managed to create such a gargantuan construction project with no\nmodern tools.\n\"Why should I help you? Are not your projects a display of\nyour own inner ego and therefore pointless to the gods?\"\nThe words stung. \"Yes my lord, if you say so. But I have put\nso much work into it! Does not my lord think that it would be a shame to waste\nso much effort?\"\n \"Humans toil at many\npointless tasks Khufu. But I think that I might consider helping you.\" Jon-Tom\nhad to wonder. If the pyramid wasn't able to be finished, then how could it be standing\nin his time? This was just too weird for words.\n\"Thank you my lord! I knew I could count on you!\"\nJon-Tom stalked from the room feeling rather petulant. He\nwent down to the underground chambers where Khepri was staying. The beetle\nwizard was happily draining the fluids from a deceased's body. Jon-Tom found it\na bit disconcerting but as a god, or the semblance of a god, he ignored his roiling\nstomach and waited for him to complete his meal.\n When he was finished\nhe wiped his mandibles and his labrum, dropped the desiccated corpse to the\ntable and gave his full attention to the jackal-headed human. \"What is it my\nfriend?\"\n\"I need your advice.\"\n\"My advice? You have great power and great wisdom of your\nown. What can I possibly add?\"\n\"A different perspective. I have a conundrum.\"\n\"Fine. The worst thing I can do is give you bad advice.\"\n\"True. I want to know if meddling in my own past will affect\nmy future.\"\n\"Yes.\"\n\"What?\"\n\"You asked a question. I gave you an answer. Yes, meddling in\nyour own past will affect your future. It's impossible not to. The question\nyou're trying to ask is, should I meddle in it or not? You have knowledge of\nhow things turn out. You are unaware however of whether or not those things\noccurred because of you.\"\n \"But how could I be\nthe causation for something that happened before I was born, or my mother was\nborn, or her mother? I'm several thousand years in my own past!\"\n\"The universe is dynamic my friend. It is larger and more complex\nthan we can ever know. If you can retrace your steps down a road, why then not\nin time? I believe you think too much on things. If this is truly your past,\nthen there is nothing that you do here that will change the future, because you\nyourself cause the future that you already know. It hardly matters that you\ndidn't know it when you were a grub. It only matters that you know these things\nnow.\" \n\"You're talking about predestined events.\"\n\"If you wish to view it as such, then yes. You are here now\nbecause you were always going to be here now. And by the same reasoning, so were\nI and your little friend. We match the concepts of the gods these people\nbelieve in. Is it merely coincidental?\"\n\"That's what I'd like to know. There seems to be another\n\"god\" on the loose too. When I can catch up to her, we're going to have a few\nwords.\"\n\"Four of us? Who else got pulled over do you think?\"\n\"I don't know. But I do know I'm tired of this shit. I want\nto go back home and stay there for a while.\"\n\"I thought this was your home world?\"\n\"World yes, time no. And I don't think I could even live in\nmy own time anymore, even if I was dropped back in somewhere and some time that\nmade sense.\"\n\"I see. Well, I wish you the best of luck. Now, you had a particular\nincident in mind with your original question?'\n\"Yes. The king wishes to complete a project of immense\nproportions. He wants my help to do it.\"\n\"Will completing it affect your future?\"\n\"The thing he wants to build is there in my time, yes.\"\n\"Then build it. Does it matter who built it? It only matters\nthat it exists.\"\n\"Do you think it's that simple?\"\n\"Yes my friend, I do. Much of what we do gets mixed and\nmuddled through time. Tales of heroes often forego the grizzly deeds they did.\nNo one is perfect. Neither is any situation. I admire your morals my friend,\nbut life often has little use for them. Look at me. Technically, I should hate\nyou, but now that I know you, I find it difficult to waste the energy on such a\nviolent emotion. If I make it back, I will once again be expected to serve the\nqueen and then I must hate you again. Does it make sense? No.\"\n\"You could come back to Hobarrow with me.\"\nThe sound of an insect laughing was something indeed. \"My\nfriend, I would rather suffer the wrath of my own kind than that of yours.\nWarmlanders have no love for my kind.\"\nJon-Tom thought it over. \"You're right. I don't know what I\nwas thinking.\"\n\"You were thinking that here, we are all on equal footing.\nBut back home, we will be enemies again. Nothing can change that. However...\"\n\"What?\"\n\"Are we enemies in the future?\"\n\"I'm afraid so.\"\n\"Then maybe we should try to change the future. One grain of\nsand can start the avalanche rolling.\"\n                \"What are you suggesting?\"\n                \"Nothing really. I was just\nthinking that if maybe I could get back and convince my people to reconsider\ntheir incessant need to conquer the world; maybe we all could live in peace.\"\n\"That would be changing history.\"\n\"Maybe. But weren't you thinking the same thing, only in a\nmore destructive way?\"\n\"Sadly, I was. But all the killing is stupid. I thought if I\nstopped one side from doing it, it might give the other a fair chance.\"\n\"And which side would you chose? Which side is the correct\none? I'll answer that for you. It boils down to personal perspective. I have no\ndoubt that once we return  you could\ndestroy every one of us in a sheet of fire. But what chance then would we ever\nhave to grow as a group? Who knows; maybe one day it's the Plated Folk who come\nto the rescue of the entire world. Will you be around until the end of the planet's\ndying days?\"\n\"I hope not. But Eve should be.\"\n\"Yes, about her. I am unclear about who she is and would love\nto have a chance to meet her.\"\n\"I think that if we get out of this, you'll have your\nchance.\"\n\"Until that day then, I think we will have to live as this\nworld expects us to; as gods. I for one do not mind. I could even get to like\nyou warm-blooded types, may my blasphemy never be found out.\"  \n\"I'll never tell!\" said Jon-Tom, looking pensive. \"I guess\nI'm still not satisfied with this situation, but I will do as you suggest. It\nseems that if I don't help, then I may actually alter history by my inaction.\"\n\"And I may yet have a chance to change the future of my world\nif I ever get back. We never know what we can do until we try.\"\nTheir conversation was interrupted by Hesmetep. \n\"I am so very sorry my lord, but when you are finished with your\nfellow god, would you consider engaging me in conversation? I wish to have a\nfew words with you.\"\nThe beetle waved him off. \"Go, Have many fruitful hours of copulation.\nI am sure that more of your seed will only improve the future generations.\"\nThe girl giggled and turned red. \"I'm not here for that my\nlord. I am here to ask again for favor my father has requested of you. He is\nmost impatient to have an answer.\"\nJon-Tom's jackal head winced and licked its lips. \"That was\nwhat I was just discussing with my compatriot. He agrees that unless I assist\nin its construction, I may alter events irreparably.\"\n\"May I take that as a yes?\"\n\"Of course. Tell your father that I will help.\"\n\"Oh thank you my lord!\"\n\"Please quit calling me that.\"\n\"I will when my status is equal to yours my lord, and even\nthen I will hold no promises.\"\nHe stopped and glared. \"I see you are still firm in your\nresolve in this matter. What would you say if I looked simply human?\" Without\nwaiting to hear her reply, he forced his body to change. It was mildly\nuncomfortable being without a steady influx of magical energy, but he was able\nto do it. \nShe stared and smiled.\n\"Handsome either way my lord. If you thought to scare me off\nwith a display of your power, you have failed miserably.\"\nHe was working his jaw back and forth. The change in anatomy\nwas still settling into place. \"Then what about leaving your world forever?\"\n\"To be with you? There is no choice in the matter. I will go\nwhere you go.\"\nHe sighed audibly. This would only lead to trouble when he\ngot home. And what would a girl like this have in common with a world like\nthat? True, she seemed ready to accept some rather strange things, but the\nmagic and oddities of the other might overwhelm her. Looking it over however,\nit seemed to him that the choice was no longer his to make, it was hers. He was\ntoo old for this sort of dilemma. He was, of course,  very thankful that Eve had pulled Sybeele\nover, for her life would have remained dismal and lonely. But Hesmetep had\nfamily.\nHe drew up the reins on his thoughts abruptly. She had a\nfather who was more concerned with building a damn pyramid than he was in seeing\nto the future of his daughter - his own flesh and blood. The king assumed that\nbecause the  \"god\" had chosen her, that\neverything else was going to fall into place. Maybe she would be better off coming back with him. There was a school where\nshe could learn and adapt to her new surroundings. Of course, in Hobarrow, he wasn't\na god. He was only the mayor. At the point at which he returned, they would be\non equal terms.\nHis head began to hurt so he quite thinking. Time travel was\nbest left to strange men in blue police boxes.\n\"Fine. I hereby name you a consort to the god, and as such, I\ngive you every right and privilege that comes with it. But....\"\n\"Yes?!\"\n\"You will wait until such a time as I deem proper before we\nwill bed. As fetching and beautiful as you are, the situation I am in demands\nmy full attention. I have already frittered away my time on things that I\nprobably should not have been doing.\"\n\"The goddess Bastet?\"\n\"News travels fast around here, doesn't it?\"\n\"What the gods do among themselves is none of our business\nunless my lord does it in full view of the staff.\"\n\"Yeah, I guess that was a little arrogant of me. I'm sorry if\nthat hurt your feelings.\"\n\"Not in the least my lord. I have no right to judge you.\"\n\"Well, maybe someone should. I could use a little direction\nabout now.\"\n\"If I might speak?\"\n\"Yes?\"\n\"The goddess said that you would follow your heart until such\ntime as she would appear again.\"\n\"Did she now? A lot of good that does me. My heart is rather\nroomy, and it takes on boarders somewhat indiscriminatingly.\" \n\"My lord speaks in riddles. Am I not pleasing to you?\"\n\"You are.\"\n\"Then I still do not understand. Are you saying that you have\na harem?\"\n\"Something like that Hesmetep. I have responsibilities lined\nup all throughout time.\"\n\"And this is too much for you to accept?\"\n\"I accept it. I do not know if I can handle it.\"\n\"I see. This is beyond me, but I think I see. It is like\nfather's dream. He knows what it is, but he worries that he cannot finish it\nwithout help. Perhaps you should seek assistance in your great works.\"\nHe smiled. \"It's a nice thought my dear, but I don't think\nthere is anyone out there who could possibly take up my slack. I have a great\ngoddess backing me, but sometimes I think she is simply backing me into a\ncorner. I don't like pulling people into my life when I can't guarantee their\nsafety or their comfort.\"\n\"As for comfort my lord, I trust you to always make me\ncomfortable. As for my safety, I am capable of handling myself. If someone\ndesires your company, and you find them desirable in return, then why do you\nagonize over something that already seems set in stone?\"\nHe nodded, a smile coming to his face. \"Why indeed?\"\nShe was right of course. It would be one thing to take her\nand force her into situations she didn't want, or were ill prepared for. She was\na bright kid who seemed to know her mind.\n\"Fine. But first things first. We have to build ourselves a\npyramid!\""}