Publishing House Xiomondis (Ch.13e : Part1)

Chapter 13e : Publishing House Xiomondis (Part 1)

 

And so it was with some trepidation that he left his rooms to make his way across the city by Network to visit the offices of House Xiomondis.

 

He laid his palm on the visitors pad so that the security computer could check him out before entering.  No one with a recent or serious criminal offence would be allowed in without a manual override.  The link to police databases which enabled this remarkable technology to function must cost the House many credits and regularly; Janus did not see its value.  What could anyone steal within a publisher’s?  There were few physical books in this day and age.  All money transactions in the modern age were computerised.  There were no notes or coins to be thrust into the hands of the undeserving poor on street corners or dropped into collection boxes for charitable institutions as there would have been in centuries gone by.  The only risk was that intruders might try to operate the computers.  Sabotage could be carried out against works which were being stored in the House database and had not yet been published into the Vidbank.  Theft of a work could take place if someone at Xiomondis sent it to another address.  However for well over a century since the introduction of computer technology the use of passwords, changed regularly, and identity checks, prevented these abuses except by authorised personnel armed with greed or a grudge.

 

The door security like so many things deemed to be necessary by businesses and individuals in the modern world was an unnecessary cost.  It was surprising that the cost managers and auditors had not spotted these areas of waste, but they had not.  It was the common wisdom everywhere that security was necessary.  For all Janus knew it may even be enshrined in anti-crime legislation or business legislation.  Maybe the banks required it before they would lend money or the investors before they would invest, or the insurers before they would insure.

 

The door opened and a receptionist who repeated his name to him led him into a lift and up a couple of floors to the office of the Editor.

 

‘Have you worked here long?’ he asked, hoping to get into some kind of interesting conversation.  It was a good opportunity to say hello to another human being.

 

‘Ten years,’ she said in a monotone voice which belied her well turned out appearance.  She must be in her mid thirties he judged by the maturity of her face.

 

 

‘Fully qualified yet?’ he asked politely.

 

He guessed it was a sensitive question when she replied, ‘No,’ and said nothing else.  He was unsure whether to ask her anything else.  He got the impression she wanted to say as little as possible to him.  She was only doing her job and she didn’t get paid extra for talking to customers or revealing private details of what he might well have regarded as her personal failures.

 

He decided to try again on a similar tack.  After all in a moment they would be out of each other’s presence and apart from possibly being shown out he would probably never see her again.  ‘It is terrible how long it takes everyone to qualify these days.  We never seem to be able to relax and enjoy life.  I’m sure a lot of what we have to learn isn’t necessary.’  It was a statement of sympathy and of his own deeply held view of modern life.  He was canvassing her.  What did she think? 

 

As might have been predicted she replied with minimum politeness, ‘Yes it is.’  He could take that whichever way he wished, read as much into it as he wanted.  Was she in full agreement that society or at least the overbearing methods of  training and education should be changed, or did she merely agree that it was terrible for her and yes she would like to relax.  He felt sure that even if they stayed in this lift together for a few hours she would still not have told him at the end of it what she really thought.  Her brain had been dulled by a limited experience.  She was not used to these questions, to thought, or to meeting strangers.  He was not part of her world view.  There must be something she would like to talk about, he thought, as she ushered him into the Editor’s office and announced him, but he would not get the chance to find out.

 

He stood before a traditional office desk.  There was no computer terminal on it.  This was for interviews and negotiations.  The man behind the desk waved the receptionist away.  ‘Thank you, Belinda,’ and stretched out a hand to him across the desk.  ‘Hello, Janus, it’s good to meet you.  My name is Xiomondis.’  Janus was slightly taken aback by the familiarity of the handshake.  He had read about such practices of greetings in the literature of the past, but it was no longer a common greeting.  It was as if this man wanted to emphasise that he was old-fashioned.  He was indeed much older than Janus, probably being in his sixties, but it was not fashionable for that generation either.  Besides, Janus had not met many people recently and those whom he had spoken to he had to work hard to fall into conversation with.  ‘I am very pleased to meet you.  So many of our clients these days refuse to come in and see us.  They prefer to do business on the Vidnet terminal.  We go through long working relationships without ever meeting them.  It is so nice to know who you are doing business with.’

 

Xiomondis was definitely a talkative man, the kind you could have a good conversation with although he would probably do most of the talking.  Janus’ first impression was favourable.  It was rare to find someone who would enter into conversation.  Xiomondis was “old fashioned” in more ways than one.  It bode well for a future working relationship with someone like himself who was critical of society.  Nonetheless Janus was wary of the man’s charm.  He had to concentrate on the details of the deal and not be swayed into agreeing anything which was unwise.

 

‘It is good to meet you, Sir.  I felt the same way.  I would rather know the House I am dealing with, particularly if the relationship becomes a long one.  I have other books up the pipeline, which you may also be interested in,’ said Janus, businesslike.

 

‘From your book, Sir, most of which I have read personally,’ he winked with humour.  ‘I gathered, reading between the lines, you understand, that you have more in you yet.  Your opinions are strongly held and I can see you have a coherent view of our place in the world and history.’

 

‘I am pleased to hear that you can see that I would like, ideally, a publisher who understands my books and how they should be marketed, whether or not you agree with all the opinions I hold in them,’ said Janus, sensing approval from the man, but still not sure whether he really cared what he had written.  After all he was only a businessman who needed something to sell to the Network and the Vidbank.  He was not going to scare off potential suppliers of product unless he had  a good supply of alternative works to publish.  However he judged that he would not have been invited here if the man had not decided he wanted to publish.  Janus had come here to negotiate terms if necessary and to find out whether he could trust this House and whether they intended to change or sabotage his work if they did publish.

 

‘Do you have other works ready also?’  Xiomondis asked, leaning forward enthusiastically.

 

‘Yes; not quite ready but almost.  You see I write whatever I feel most compelled to write at any one time.  This means I usually have a few projects on at the same time.  It is a good way. I work because I am interested, not because I have to finish one before I start another.  One of my projects will interest me sufficiently for me to choose to work on it.’

 

‘What else are you working on, may I ask?’ asked Xiomondis.

 

‘I have written most of a history of the period of Deneldinhew, the twelfth century High King of Gallanol, who presided over the break up and decline of Gallanol at the same time as the rise of Martainia.’

 

Xiomondis interrupted.  He evidently wanted to know what the other works were about.  ‘So is it a straightforward history text, such as has been written before?  I thought your Creadd history would be like that when I first began to read it, but I soon realised that you wished to compare and contrast our present day world, and to make political remarks of your own.  What would you be able to say about Deneldinhew’s Gallanol which had a bearing on our own world?  I would not have thought such ancient history would provide you with relevant material for criticising the present.’ 

 

Xiomondis was surprising Janus more and more as the conversation developed.  Involuntary hopes began to rise as Janus began to suspect that here was an idealist, perhaps like himself, who at the least had knowledge about the past and its relevance to the present unlike almost everyone else Janus had ever met.  But maybe he was just an astute publisher who wished to find out whether Janus’ other books would find any kind of market in the Vidbase.

 

‘My history of Deneldinhew’s times is a brief history.  It outlines what happened.  However it is my analysis of what was going on in society, the pressures between a desire for a powerful and protected Gallanol in the midst of a dangerous world, and the desire for older Gallanolian values, representation, harmony with nature and other nations, and economic balance over greed.  This was a time when Gallanol was changing for the worse under the impact of military and economic rivalry.  Within society, forces of greed and corruption were encouraged for the first time.  The old order of the Creadds was making way for the new.  The new order was like the one we have today.  Its effect was to move individuals into a position of economic and military servitude.  The whims of exploiters were increasingly followed and excused.  But the new ways of Unificationism and greed were wholly unsuccessful.  Within decades Gallanol was weak and defenceless, badly led.  It was not like today where our system has, I believe, succeeded in controlling our lives and shaping our society.  In the twelfth century the new forces were not successful in dominating and perpetuating Gallanol. Instead they helped to destroy it.  I see the twelfth century as the beginnings of the movement towards today’s world.’

 

‘Ah, I see,’ said Xiomondis, thoughtfully attempting to take in this new understanding.  ‘I must admit I know very little about that period, like most people I suppose.’  He spoke apologetically, conveying the impression that he wished he knew more about ancient history.  If he knew more he would be better able to discuss it.  ‘I think I would like to read your book, when it’s finished, of course.  I believe you can teach me a lot.

 

‘To be frank with you I don’t know what kind of market there is for your opinion-based history.  We cannot guarantee anything.  You do know that publishing is only an acceptance by ourselves that your work has some value and a belief by us that a certain minimum of people will choose to select it, enough to cover publishing costs.  We might be wrong.  It is a gamble for us as much as for you.  We might lose our own investment in you.  However we are definitely willing to take that risk with your book because we feel it has potential value.  I do not expect it to sell much, but hope to sell enough to cover our costs and earn some profit for ourselves and for you.’

 

I do understand,’ said Janus.  ‘I write in the hope rather than the expectation of reaching a large audience.  The people today are dulled by their lives of routine, and most of them have ceased to think imaginatively.  They have lost interest in the past and do not believe the present can be changed.  Their horizons have diminished over the years and most of them can see no further than the way they live.’

 

‘Do you think so?’ asked Xiomondis, feigning shock in his expansive manner.

 

‘Oh yes.’

 

‘I think you have become just a touch too cynical.  There are markets to be tapped out there.  Why do you think we have the Vidnet and the Vidbase?  They exist to entertain.  Most of what goes into them is escapism of some sort or another.  People do aspire to something greater, or at least something more varied, although they would not watch the Vidnet or read from it.  If you ask the average person what they enjoy most in their daily routine, they will probably reply that they enjoy watching the Vidnet.  What more evidence do you need that people aspire to more than the life they are living?’

 

‘Well up to a point,’ said Janus, pleasantly surprised to find himself unexpectedly in a deep conversation.  It must be the deepest conversation he had had with another person for many months, perhaps even years.  He was not sure that he felt up to it.  It was so rare that he was able to express the ideas in his head to other people.  That was partly why he wrote so much.  He had no one to talk to so he expressed himself to others through his writing.

 

‘Yes, people do have higher aspirations than the life they lead,’ said Xiomondis.

 

‘Yes, I do believe that,’ accepted Janus ‘But they are not searching for the solutions to the problems.  They are not finding out about the past and questioning it.  They are not thinking about why we became like we are and how we might have prevented it.  They are dulled into watching fanciful or mundane entertainments which do not encourage real thought.  They watch programmes or read books about love and romance but they do not think of ways in which love and romance might be encouraged by social and economic change.  They watch programmes about crime and murder but these subjects have little relation to most people’s lives and contain few ideas about change.’

 

‘Ah, but at least it shows an interest in the human being as an individual.  People are thinking about their own circumstances as individuals and comparing them with fictional characters who in one way or another lead more exciting lives,’ said Xiomondis wisely.

 

‘I suppose so, admitted Janus.  It was refreshing to receive comfort in the ideas of another person.  Xiomondis was more than the average apologist for the state of the world.  He seemed to contain a real understanding of the balance of influences which motivated people.