The Pharaoh in the Pyramid is Alive

"Does anyone remember the Tri-Main Headcast being off before?" asked Akhenaten to noone in particular.

The response was a chorus of blank stares and murmurs of "no".

He was in a crowd of workers and children, shuffling along the road toward the temple, and the silence was unsettling. Usually there was a steady stream of visuals and audio flowing into his mind, the headcast from the Great Pyramid, but now it was silent. His mind felt oddly blank.

Pharaoh was scheduled to give a speech before the masses of Giza, and the sparse conversation in the throng was mostly speculation about what he was to say.

Jabari, Akhenaten's friend, voiced his theory during a particularly long lull. "I think he's trying to prove he's alive. Most everyone on my block thought he was dead."

Akhenaten frowned.

"Just because we haven't seen him in over a century doesn't mean he's dead. You hear his voice every day, don't you?" said Akhenaten.

Jabari grinned and tapped his temple with his forefinger.

"Only in here. For all I know, it could be the guy cleaning the granaries out," he said.

"Careful," Akhenaten said. "That's treasonous."

"I can love Pharaoh AND be rational!" said Jabari.

They finally reached the temple, and joined the masses around the raised dais. Most of the people were slightly nervous. Without the reassuring flow of reports and commands, the world seemed empty. It was like being half-blind, and half-deaf.

After a long wait, hundreds of soldiers with shields and spears gathered around the platform and pushed the multitude back. The crowd hushed and listened as a large chariot parked behind the temple. Pharaoh walked out onto the dais, and the people in the crowd knelt and prostrated themselves in respect.

From where Akhenaten was kneeling, he could see Pharaoh's nemes, the blue and yellow headwear symboling his connection to the heavens, blue sky with yellow sun. His clothes were shockingly white.

He motioned for the people to rise, and began to orate about his vision for Egypt. The crowd was quiet as a whisper.

First, he discussed the war with the Hittites. Whenever he mentioned their name, he would draw attention to his hand, form it into a cup, then smash a fist into it with his other hand. He described the glorious battles that Egypt had won against the foreign hordes, but then broke the bad news that the military would be drafting younger children in the spring.

There were some audible grumbles near Akhenaten. The war had been expected to end soon.

Then Pharaoh explained that grain rations were going to be tightened for all workers. He explained that this sacrifice was needed to appease the gods, and prove the hardiness of the Egyptian people. Whenever he mentioned the reduced rations, he sucked in his stomach and pulled his belt tighter around his waist.

There were even more grumbles and groans. Near Akhenaten, one man cried out "Oh great Horus, Lord of the Sky! We are already starving! Please ask no more of us!" At this outcry, Akhenaten and many people near him gasped. Even the Pharaoh lost his composure for a moment and glared in their direction.

When he resumed his address, he informed the people that he was lengthening the work day. He explained why--that he intended to build new buildings, three times as tall as a pyramid, with bases much smaller, so that the new buildings would be the same width at the bottom as at the top. Every time he mentioned the longer work day, he flexed his bicep and gave the crowd a stern, confident gaze.

The crowd became even more restless. Akhenaten saw Jabari, in a surge of rage, pick up a rock to hurl it at Pharaoh. He panicked and grabbed his friend to block the mistake, but the throw hit Pharaoh on the ear, and glanced off him. His reaction was surprisingly stoic.

Then a dozen soldiers descended on Akhenaten and Jabari, and used the butt end of their spears to knock them uncouncious.

The next thing Akhenaten remembered was waking up in a stone cell, in a place that seemed underground. The only light came from a torch suspended on the wall.

"Where am I?" He called out to a soldier guarding the brass door to his cell.

"You're in the Great Pyramid, brother," said the soldier. "You guys should be dead. You're lucky Pharaoh values bravery."

"When are they letting us out?" asked Akhenaten.

"Oh, you'll probably never see Ra again," the soldier replied. "Pharaoh is your sun now."