The snows piling up and the temperatures dropping, Lor says. People are lined up for five blocks, trying to get inside. Generators and gas have gotten scarce. People are freezing to death. Its June in Dublin. Whod fucking believe it?
I chew reverently, listening to him and staring at nothing. Maybe its not after an element like iron or something. Maybe its after a feeling. Maybe someone was having sex at every scene, or eating at every scene, or fighting or praying or something.
Doesnt hold water. There was no life at the steeple.
I knew that. I just forgot for a sec. So were back to the inanimate.
Looks like.
All too soon my meal is over. Ive got the best taste ever on my tongue. I wont eat again until I absolutely have to, and Im not about to brush my teeth for a while. I want to relish the residue from my taste buds till theres nothing left. I may never get this kind of a meal again. After I sop up every drop of beef juice with the last few bites of bread, Lor takes the cart and leaves.
I could almost pass out from the overload of rich food. Digesting it stupefies me for a while and I stretch out on the floor, staring up at the map.
I cant shake the feeling that Im still not seeing the big picture. Im lying here, staring at an enormous map, and I know theres something about these scenes Im missing or reading wrong. I can feel it. Like Dancer, I get hunches and I listen to them. Used to be, when I was little, I couldnt concentrate because of all the things I could hear around me. When Ro took me in, she taught me to plug my ears, shut out the din and focus. Old witch passed on a few good things but theyll never counter all the evil she did.
I dig earplugs out of my backpack. Dancer made them for me out of some kind of stuff that absorbs noise way better than the standard plugs. I wedge them in, tune out the world, and begin sorting through my facts.
One: Its not after iron. Theres none at Chesters. I need to get that info to Dancer ASAP.
Two: Its not after life force because one of the scenes had no life forms and I seriously doubt a mouse would be enough.
Three: Dirt, metal, and plastic are the only physical elements all the scenes had in common.
I start mentally rebuilding every scene I visited, labeling and depositing them in one of the more readily accessible drawers in my brains filing cabinet, right next to where Dancer and me play chess sometimes without a board. Its an important part of your brain to exercise if you want to stay sharp. Being smart is handy, but if you arent mentally agile, it doesnt get you anywhere but stuck in your own fact-ruts.
First up is the subclub. There were over a hundred humans and Fae engaged in various social and sexual activities. I visualize the room in detail, from the torture racks to the sofas, the sexual couplings to the band that was playing in the corner, the food that was on a table, the tapestries and mirrors on the walls. I look for something in the club that I can easily spot at every other scene. Maybe its huntingfor a tapestry or a special mirror. It sounds stupid, but who can say what might draw a creature like that? Maybe it was cursed and it needs some hallowed Fae object to free itself. You never know with the Fae.
Next up is the warehouse that got iced, populated only by Unseelie and filled with crates and boxes of guns. What was in this place that was also in the club? No tapestries or mirrors that I saw, but maybe there was one in a crate somewhere behind all the audio equipment and electronics.
Then there were two underground pubs with the usual stuff: wood bar, bottles, drinks, stools, a huge mirror behind the bar, folks dancing, a few shooting pool in the corner of one place, playing darts in the other. The wood could have come from anywhere: the stools, the bar, the framed pictures on the walls, the floor. The plastic also could have come from anything: bottle toppers, chairs, plates, phones, the list goes on and on.
The fitness center had three people in a building filled with treadmills and ellipticals and all kinds of weight machines and twenty or so of those milky-crystal meditation bowls. I guess the wood at that scene must have come from the framing of the building. I go back and begin mentally breaking down the structure of each scene, too, so I can add all that stuff into the mix.
This is impossible, I mutter. Its worse than looking for a needle in a haystack. Im looking for a dozen needles in dozens of different haystacks that are no longer even there because they all exploded. It could be after a red Solo cup for all I know! Do they have red Solo cups in Morocco?
I go through the rest of the scenes and realize I need more info on the ones that happened while I was gone in order to visualize them. Ryodan might have a kick-ass War Room but Dancers got lists already put together.
Too bad Im locked in.
I look at the door. I dont remember hearing Lor lock it. Lor likes to stir things up, keep them hopping.
I freeze-frame over to it, test the knob and grin.
Dani, I dont think this is a good idea, Jo says.
He said I couldnt leave without one of his people. Listening to you talk, you and him are, like, peas in the Jo-pod. That makes you one of his people. Are you or arent you? Cause the way I figure it, if the dudes banging you every day and doesnt consider you one of his people, youre not just getting screwed, youre stupid. I hate manipulating Jo. When her hearts involved, its way too easy. And her hearts dangling off her sleeve where Ryodans concerned. Dude, you been outside lately? I push. We have to go now. It took me twenty minutes to find my way back to the main part of Chesters from the War Room. I got a bad feeling Ryodan doesnt plan to leave me alone in there too long, with all those computers. I wouldnt. If I really was stuck in there, thats what Id be messing with right now, trying to hack into his systems. The world is falling apart. Folks are dying! I just want to run a quick errand. Thats all. One tiny little errand. It wont hardly take any time at all.
I chew reverently, listening to him and staring at nothing. Maybe its not after an element like iron or something. Maybe its after a feeling. Maybe someone was having sex at every scene, or eating at every scene, or fighting or praying or something.
Doesnt hold water. There was no life at the steeple.
I knew that. I just forgot for a sec. So were back to the inanimate.
Looks like.
All too soon my meal is over. Ive got the best taste ever on my tongue. I wont eat again until I absolutely have to, and Im not about to brush my teeth for a while. I want to relish the residue from my taste buds till theres nothing left. I may never get this kind of a meal again. After I sop up every drop of beef juice with the last few bites of bread, Lor takes the cart and leaves.
I could almost pass out from the overload of rich food. Digesting it stupefies me for a while and I stretch out on the floor, staring up at the map.
I cant shake the feeling that Im still not seeing the big picture. Im lying here, staring at an enormous map, and I know theres something about these scenes Im missing or reading wrong. I can feel it. Like Dancer, I get hunches and I listen to them. Used to be, when I was little, I couldnt concentrate because of all the things I could hear around me. When Ro took me in, she taught me to plug my ears, shut out the din and focus. Old witch passed on a few good things but theyll never counter all the evil she did.
I dig earplugs out of my backpack. Dancer made them for me out of some kind of stuff that absorbs noise way better than the standard plugs. I wedge them in, tune out the world, and begin sorting through my facts.
One: Its not after iron. Theres none at Chesters. I need to get that info to Dancer ASAP.
Two: Its not after life force because one of the scenes had no life forms and I seriously doubt a mouse would be enough.
Three: Dirt, metal, and plastic are the only physical elements all the scenes had in common.
I start mentally rebuilding every scene I visited, labeling and depositing them in one of the more readily accessible drawers in my brains filing cabinet, right next to where Dancer and me play chess sometimes without a board. Its an important part of your brain to exercise if you want to stay sharp. Being smart is handy, but if you arent mentally agile, it doesnt get you anywhere but stuck in your own fact-ruts.
First up is the subclub. There were over a hundred humans and Fae engaged in various social and sexual activities. I visualize the room in detail, from the torture racks to the sofas, the sexual couplings to the band that was playing in the corner, the food that was on a table, the tapestries and mirrors on the walls. I look for something in the club that I can easily spot at every other scene. Maybe its huntingfor a tapestry or a special mirror. It sounds stupid, but who can say what might draw a creature like that? Maybe it was cursed and it needs some hallowed Fae object to free itself. You never know with the Fae.
Next up is the warehouse that got iced, populated only by Unseelie and filled with crates and boxes of guns. What was in this place that was also in the club? No tapestries or mirrors that I saw, but maybe there was one in a crate somewhere behind all the audio equipment and electronics.
Then there were two underground pubs with the usual stuff: wood bar, bottles, drinks, stools, a huge mirror behind the bar, folks dancing, a few shooting pool in the corner of one place, playing darts in the other. The wood could have come from anywhere: the stools, the bar, the framed pictures on the walls, the floor. The plastic also could have come from anything: bottle toppers, chairs, plates, phones, the list goes on and on.
The fitness center had three people in a building filled with treadmills and ellipticals and all kinds of weight machines and twenty or so of those milky-crystal meditation bowls. I guess the wood at that scene must have come from the framing of the building. I go back and begin mentally breaking down the structure of each scene, too, so I can add all that stuff into the mix.
This is impossible, I mutter. Its worse than looking for a needle in a haystack. Im looking for a dozen needles in dozens of different haystacks that are no longer even there because they all exploded. It could be after a red Solo cup for all I know! Do they have red Solo cups in Morocco?
I go through the rest of the scenes and realize I need more info on the ones that happened while I was gone in order to visualize them. Ryodan might have a kick-ass War Room but Dancers got lists already put together.
Too bad Im locked in.
I look at the door. I dont remember hearing Lor lock it. Lor likes to stir things up, keep them hopping.
I freeze-frame over to it, test the knob and grin.
Dani, I dont think this is a good idea, Jo says.
He said I couldnt leave without one of his people. Listening to you talk, you and him are, like, peas in the Jo-pod. That makes you one of his people. Are you or arent you? Cause the way I figure it, if the dudes banging you every day and doesnt consider you one of his people, youre not just getting screwed, youre stupid. I hate manipulating Jo. When her hearts involved, its way too easy. And her hearts dangling off her sleeve where Ryodans concerned. Dude, you been outside lately? I push. We have to go now. It took me twenty minutes to find my way back to the main part of Chesters from the War Room. I got a bad feeling Ryodan doesnt plan to leave me alone in there too long, with all those computers. I wouldnt. If I really was stuck in there, thats what Id be messing with right now, trying to hack into his systems. The world is falling apart. Folks are dying! I just want to run a quick errand. Thats all. One tiny little errand. It wont hardly take any time at all.
