Chapter 2.3: Iterating plans

Headquarters is almost as empty as it should be on a Saturday. Astraeus, Phoenix, and Phoenix’s guests/current case are still here.

"So, if I understand correctly, the main reason we are not just incinerating the whole nest is the possibility of surviving victims. Is there some way to detect, for example, functioning human minds in a way that would distinguish them from shoggoths?"

The crew has taken to waiting in the lobby until Phoenix is available to be reported to.

"Mhm, nothing comes to mind immediately. If we get vision on them, we could just look at them. That alone would give us a sense on how many people are in there, and in what state. Otherwise.. Nope, I'd have to spend more time thinking about all this. Inara?"

"Scrying is out of the question — most spells require a connection to the victims, such as a drop of blood or a treasured possession. Our original plan is the only viable option: we have to comb through the hive, room by room."

Whatever I might say, there are numerous ways to figure out how many victims are in the hive. Voron's unblinking eye lets the caster see an area's past. Cedalion's tracing reveals life in an area around the caster, and it can be tuned to search for specific living signatures. Synaptic tapestry does the same, but for minds.

But I don't actually know how to cast any of those, and the last thing I want is to waste more time hunting down a wizard who can. All so we can learn something that won't change anything. Alric would stall til the sun burned out if he had his way. How utterly ironic that I'm the only one willing to go into the hive and save those people — my compassion might be pretense, but I'm so far ahead of Alric that it's like he's not even playing the same game.

"Is it, though? Now that you mention scrying, I recall a whole bunch of different 'detect people and things and whatever' spells in, what was it, 'Filed Rotes'? I'll have to double-check, but maybe they aren't that hard to cast and you can just pick up on them quickly, or someone here can cast it for us. Phoenix, maybe? Who knows, maybe she's also an arch mage."

He snaps his fingers, and points at Inara.

"Oh, while we're here, I need the disk of Weird banishment. Have you stored it in your office?"

I liked it better when he didn't know anything. Fucking Sawyer — and it has to be Sawyer, because wizard texts aren't supposed to be sold to the Giftless. Only an archmage could flaunt the Council's laws with such casual impunity.

"So long as it doesn't take too long." I'm careful to avoid any hint of accusation in my tone. "Every second that we dawdle is a second that countless people are suffering. As for the disk, I moved it to my sanctum for safekeeping. Besides, shoggoths aren't conceptual entities, so I doubt the disk would have any effect on them."

"Well, let's keep the wizardry to the wizard, and the artificing to the artificer." Alric starts moving into the direction of the library, gesturing them to follow. "It might be around, I returned it a few days ago - so we can probably get you hooked up with the book now. Regarding the disk, Monday is fine, you don't have to do an extra round trip today. I'll be busy until then. Just don't forget to bring it with you on Monday."

A moment later they arrive in the library.

The book isn’t where Alric left it.

There’s a young girl in the library, about 8 years old, with long straight black hair and large pale grey eyes. She looks up from the fortress of books she built around herself and the tome she is reading. “Hello. Do you have a threshold?” She asks.

'Adorable!' is Alric's first thought. Children aren't yet beaten into the mold that maps things onto meaning. For them, books aren't just repositories of knowledge. No, they're paper bricks that just so happen to contain words and pictures in them that may or may not form interesting stories and fun facts. And if you happen to be in need for materials to build a fortress, paper bricks work well!

Then he notices the pale grey eyes and remembers where he is.

His second thought upon seeing her grey eyes is 'Shapeshifter'. Immediately after that an image flashes up in his mind, an image of a boy locked in a laboratory, with mirrors and cameras surrounding him.

FAE FAE THAT'S A FAE

TREAD CAREFULLY

Alric squats down. "Hi!" Don't say your name, don't ask for hers, you don't know how that's taken in the fae world. "I can neither confirm or deny that. Would you be interested in telling me what a threshold is?"

“Well. It’s like a door on your house that keeps the baddies out. Dad is looking for one that we can stay in because the baddies are chasing us and our house got broken.” She explains. “I’m Minerva, but my dad calls me Minnie. What’s your name?”

Minnie then catches sight of Inara, and her face lights up with a big hopeful smile. “Hello! Do you have a threshold?” She stands to better look over Alric’s shoulder.

"Of course." I smile delicately down at the brat, wondering if she's smart enough to realize that I have no intention of taking her in. There's only one rule for dealing with fae: don't. Kill them or ignore them, but never make a deal with one or they'll wind up owning your soul for the next thousand years.

“Can Dad and me stay with you?” She says, even more hopeful.

So unsubtle. It's almost disappointing. "No."

My heart.

This whole threshold thing sounds similar to sacred geometries and how their forms build barriers. And vampires can't enter homes without an invitation, maybe, if that folk lore is accurate. Are they looking for the meaning equivalent of walls?

Alric glares at Inara, then turns back to Minnie, giving her a smile.

"Hey, don't mind her, she's always very grumpy. It's a whole thing with wizards. So, your dad is currently talking to Phoenix, the woman with the wild hair, right?"

She deflates back down into her book fort and large winter coat. “That’s ok. No one else wants us to stay with them either.” She moves a slipped book back in place. “Yeah.” She says to Alric, not making eye contact.

Yeah, I wonder why nobody wants a bunch of fae in their houses. I offer Alric a magnanimous grin. "If you want to host a fae family, Alric, by all means, go right ahead."

The girl frowns. “I’m not a fairy. I’m just a little spooky. But you’re spooky too, so I’d thought you’d understand. You’re not a good aunt.”

Aunt?

Alric's confused eyes flit between Minnie and Inara, then settle on Minnie.

"Look, let's just wait and see what comes out of the meeting with Phoenix. There's a lot of people here that can help with all sorts of things, maybe even with thresholds." Alric hesitates for a second. "I personally don't have much of a threshold, if it works like I think. It's just me in a room a little bit bigger than this one." He gestures around. "But you mentioned baddies. Is that something you'd be willing to tell me more about?"

"We kill monsters," I interject. "If the people chasing you are also 'a little spooky', might be that we could do something about them."

Alric rolls his eyes and sighs, annoyed. "Inara, one day you have to teach me your ways. So I can avoid all of them."

He shakes his head and turns back to Minnie.

"But yes, that was the idea. No promises though, this might be out of our weight class, or Phoenix might already have a better solution at hand."

She's a child, not a baby, I think. Alric treating her like she's stupid is just holding her back — by the time I was eight, I was already killing monsters.

What a delightful childhood. The words are sarcastic, but there's something more behind them, a faint sense of bitter longing. Was that your first time, then?

No. Eight was merely when Alina pronounced me proficient at killing. My first time was a mugger in an alley. He tried to throttle me, and I put a charred hole through his chest. Almost offhandedly, I add, Later, I learned that she paid him to do it.

Stunned silence. Then, What? Why?

I push the memory at her. I'm seven, carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle of mana crystals back from the market. Later, the rain will pound down on the house's roof as Alina holds me, but for now there are only gray clouds reflecting off muddy puddles in the alley. Other kids might splash in them, but I'm careful. I don't want to get my robes dirty.

The man emerges from a shadowed doorway, cold gray light glinting off his eyes. He comes at me. The first blow dashes the bundle from my hands and then he's on me, stinking weight squishing me into the cold mud. His hands wrap around my throat as I claw at them. Can't breathe. Can't think.

Maybe that's what saves me — the quiet calm of encroaching oblivion making space for practiced muscle memory. My free hand twists and burning golden light blazes through the alley, sharpening every shadow to a razor's edge. Shock and pain paints his face for an instant and then he goes limp, falling off to one side.

That's why, I say. Some things you can't practice on a warded dummy.

Minerva nods ever so slightly at Alric's assurances. She looks up and notices Hope. "Hi. Do you have a threshold?" she asks the last person in the room.

"I live in motels and tents, so I'm pretty sure I don't. Good luck though."

“Oh. That’s not as fun as I thought it would be, before. I hope you find a threshold too soon.” She nods solemnly.

"Thank you."

Alric stands back up again. "Alright, we'll leave you to your building project. It was nice meeting you, Minnie."

He turns to Hope and Inara, and gestures them to leave the room. "Let's talk to Phoenix."

Phoenix's office's door is open and she's talking to presumably Minerva's dad. A fit man in his thirties, blond hair, storm grey eyes, bedraggled but focused in appearance.

"Thank you again. I hope Reverend Neilson will be able to help with this thing hunting us." The man says.

"Rest assured Reverend Neilson is a very capable fighter, and sympathetic to complex cases like these." Phoenix spots the field agents through the open door. "Ah. Is there something you all needed?"

"Hi." Alric nods towards Minerva's dad, then turns his attention to Phoenix. "We talked to Minnie and wanted to offer our help. Shoggoths are a bust for the time being. We managed to deliver eight of them, but the rest keep away. We'll pause that plan until we come up with something better, so, we're available."

Fucking Alric, giving up at the first sign of trouble. He doesn't have what it takes to be a monster hunter. Unfortunately, now that he's offered his help — my help — I can't withdraw it without looking bad. Besides, this isn't the worst thing to focus on. Two random nobodies probably won't do much to raise the Sellain name, but it's a lot better than saving a few brain-dead victims nobody cares about.

I nod agreeably as Alric finishes talking, keeping my face serene and confident without a hint of my thoughts. I'm a cooperative, helpful person. The kind of person who wouldn't turn away a family in need. I shouldn't have indulged with Minerva. It's important to stay in character, especially around Alric, no matter how tedious and annoying it is. Have to remember that.

Phoenix nods. "Mr. Jorgensen, Ms. Sellain, Hope, This is Mr. Allman. Mr. Allman, these are the Dawn Commission's field agents."

The man offers his hand to the nearest agent, Alric, to shake. "Steven." And then the other two in turn.

Phoenix continues, "Mr. Allman and his daughter have been looking for a place to stay. I believe we've just found an adequate place though."

Steven gives a wry smile. "I hope so. Excuse me, I need to collect my daughter." He grabs the two backpacks by the door - a rugged adult-sized one and a child-sized Elsa-themed one - and exits for the library.

"Awesome, glad to hear that you found a solution." Alric says, with a smile on his face. He waits for Steven to be around the corner and somewhat out of earshot, then continues speaking, volume dialed down a little, and a bit more serious. "There's something hunting the two of them? Anything we can do on that front?"

Phoenix likewise waits. “Not realistically, no. Some form of summoned nightterror is stalking them, likely summoned by the Cult of Velvet. And if it is, that’s not a fight I want to pick, due to political alliances. I’d rather keep the Dawn Commission out of the vampire war if possible.” She says lowly. “Please don’t pursue this on your own time either. What you do reflects on our organization whether you are on the clock or not.”

In a more conversational voice, she says. “Tell me more about your excursion this morning. It doesn’t look viable to bleed their numbers from the perimeter?”

~~Okay, I'll just take a peek then.~~

There's, somehow, some unease in that thought. It takes a few seconds for him to pinpoint what exactly is causing it.

Okay, nevermind. I'll first research if there's magic capable of marking or tracking people looking for specific information, or knowing specific information. And if I'm good on that front, then I'll take a peek at the cult.

Outwards, Alric just stares into the air for a few seconds, then nods.

"Yeah, the lot plan probably won't work. They kept their distance after we got our hands on the first eight. I reckon we could repeat that process every few hours, however, that's very little bio mass taken away per day. I'm somewhat sure there's a better solution at hand, I just have to actually find the time to look for it." Alric snaps his fingers. "Oh, and, it seems the shoggoths actively manipulate the vegetation on the lot. They seemed to have bio engineered it and thrown in some Shoggoth DNA or magic or something to make it grow really fast. They even pull the vegetation into the ground to protect it from damage, repair it, and push it back out again. Super weird to watch, but yeah, the whole lot is effectively a trap set by shoggoths, kind of like a giant spider's web but for animals and the occasional human or two."

For a moment he seems to finally pause, but then continues. "Also, speaking of which, an eldritch - I sure hope that term is not racist or something - hybrid will sometime next week do some exposure therapy with us. To check in a controlled environment whether shoggoths, or, you know, a whole hive of them, are too much for our feeble human minds."

He takes a deep breath. "I think that's all? Oh, after paying off my student debt of six shoggoths, two were left over. I don't know the exact figure yet, but if I understood it right, it should be about ten thousand dollars in store credit for the Dawn Commission. Okay, that's all."

"There is one other thing," I say. "The plan to draw out the shoggoths failed, but we were always planning to head into the hive itself, since that's the only way to rescue the trapped victims. You expressed a willingness to help with that, Phoenix — when would you be available? Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of dealing with this problem as soon as possible, since we have no idea how many people are trapped in there being tortured even as we speak."

Alric cuts in. "To be exact, we were planning for the combat oriented members of our group to go into the hive. Artificers and Seers would be more of a liability than an asset in that environment."

"We'll need all hands on deck for this one, Alric," I say. "Besides, you're being modest — I've seen you torch a vampire with nothing but a bag of flour and a leaf blower."

Phoenix nods. "I am available, and Saint should be available too." She addresses Alric. "I certainly don't want you to go into any situations riskier than you think you can handle. Ideally, no one should." She gives Inara a slight reprimanding look. "This seems like a situation where it is preferable to fail but survive rather than the opposite." She looks to Alric again. "You are the best judge of your capabilities; place yourself accordingly."

I shrug and smile, letting Phoenix's implied criticism roll off my back. There were no losing outcomes here — either Alric came and exposed himself to danger that I could save him from, or he admitted his uselessness in front of Phoenix and the entire team. It's a small advantage, but the greatest of spells are formed from countless tiny gestures.

"If that's what you think is best," I say. " But I still think we should act soon, with or without Alric. A team of four should be more than sufficient, particularly if it includes you and Saint."

Upon hearing Phoenix's response, Alric blinks a few times. Her not just trying to order Alric into the hive is a rare instance of sane decision making in this insane world.

"Thank you. I can see if I can come up with something. It will take me a while though, and even then it's only a maybe. However, if we exclude me from the equation here, there's little reason to wait: I'm the one in most need of weapons training, eldritch exposure therapy, and several days of preparation time. So, I think the math boils down to: Either go in now with just four strong fighters. Or we roll the die and wait a week to see how useful I can make myself in that time, or if I can come up with other angles of attack, and then we re-evaluate."

More like we wait a week and then he chickens out. "The people trapped in there can't wait another week. We should go as soon as we can."

I glance at Phoenix. "Though of course the decision is yours."

"Mmm. I'm inclined to act now. Plans delayed tend to become deprioritized. And an uncertain benefit in the future is not worth the cost of waiting."

She smiles at each of the team in turn. "Good work, you three. You've accomplished a lot already, and I am glad to see you taking initiative. Let me make sure Mr. Allman is safely on his way, then I'll contact Saint and see how soon he is available."

She excuses herself.

10 minutes later she is back and confirms that Saint can join immediately. Phoenix will need some time to get kitted out. The agents can head back to Arkham, and she and Saint will arrive shortly.

Alric wishes them the best of luck, then leaves, finally able to get a few hours of research in.

Having arrived at home, he starts to dig into the tome to find out how to put together a device that allows him to cast Relief.