(Contined from part II.)

The blonde woman sighed. "OK, B̸̨̧̜̬̜̮̘̈͑̍̂̂e̵̤͚̦̻͓͗͛̆̽͐̋̎̈́ĺ̵̛̥̼̣͚̪̇̽̐̕ͅḷ̵̨͉͓̗̻̜̞͗̆́ả̶̲͍̰̖̱̽̌, since you can give the whole version, let me summarize...B̸͖͎͔͕͕̅̀̔̄̄͝e̶͎͂͆̇̐͆̅̕l̷͍̟̏̇̀̀l̴̛̮͇̖͚̦͆͆͊͜͝ȧ̸̡̧̝̟̜̙̰͓̘͜ was a 'vessel' at one point." She looked at the dark-haired woman. "That a fair way to state it?"

Justine slowly crawled out from under the desk. "A vessel for...?"

The woman in pink shrugged. "I would not worry about it so much, Bella. Next thing you know these interesting folk will be telling you the undead walk the earth, that zombies and Vampires are real, and you'll be wary of the cemetery."

Emilly arched an eyebrow at 'interesting folk'.

The blonde woman nodded. "And there is a difference between being a lovely, stable vessel like she is now, and a CRACKED one."

Justine stared at the ground and muttered, nearly inaudibly. "Nothing good. No one is ever a 'vessel' for anything good..."

The dark-haired woman blinked. "A vessel for me, if that makes sense."

Hiro rubbed the back of his neck. "Vampires and zombies are real..."

Emilly sighed. "Well, it may not necessarily matter, if she was, and she hasn't sealed the gaps, so to speak, summoning and unsummoning spirits may affect her. That, I understand."

The woman in pink nodded. "See, just as I said."

Emilly shrugged. "Well, of course they are."

Hiro looked at her, nodding. "And they are least of your worries..."

The dark-haired woman smiled. "<̶̧̼̲̆͋͝b̶̮͚͎̟͐̒͆̋r̴̳̠͈̻͖̤̺͌̽͑̇̿̃͗ͅ ̵̧̡̡̛̥̖͚͇̳̏͗̒͂̚/̶̹̣̘̪͕̤̾̉̕̚͝>̶̤͍͘ has a very powerful ability that borders on magic...she doesn't see anything that can be described as beyond belief."

Emilly rubbed her ear. Was the distortion on certain words getting worse?

Justine nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes. I met the MOST polite vampire ever the other day..."

"Duke," Emilly said slowly. "Let me test my understanding. Did the clown arrive...before, or after, the door was opened?"

Justine blinked, her words trailing off. Emilly smiled tremulously at her. Hiro touched her arm, pulling her attention towards him.

"After," he said softly.

The dark-haired woman agreed, nodding rapidly. "After!"

Great...

"Would anyone like to come visit their neighbor for tea?" the dark-haired woman said.

There was an almost artificial brightness in her voice that was unnerving. She watched Hiro shrug.

"Most vampires are fine," he murmured.

She nodded, but was still concerned. "Even those with...vampiric tendencies."

"Posers!" said the woman in pink. "Ha!"

Hiro took out a tin of what looked like mints, until she peered closer. The pressed letters in the top of the tin said "EXTRA STRONG GARLIC MINTS". Emilly sighed and arched an eyebrow.

"Mint?" he asked calmly, holding them to the woman in pink, who just stared at him contemptuously and sniffed.

Meanwhile, Zack frowned. "Yes...They're fine until they show their true nature, which was to lure you in and suck you up until you die...that is their 'vision' of good."

"Not all of u--them!" Emilly protested. She watched as Hiro looked off into the distance.

"I need to get some air..."

"Well, don't wander too far off, Hiro," said the blonde.

Emilly watched Hiro move away. "He is...safe...at this point, to wander off?"

The dark-haired woman smiled again, brightly. "Well, I could use some help at home...I was hoping one of you would help. I--have a painting that need taken down, and I can't get it off the wall."

"Doc...Em...Girl who speaks Enochian," Hiro said, that odd, faraway tone in his voice again. Emilly looked around.

"Who speaks Enochian?"

"You need to see this," he finished, moving back to the balcony.

"Oh, what now..."

She joined him. She heard the dark-haired woman call after her.

"Don't look, Emilly!"

But of course she did, and saw two more clowns on the street below. She sighed.

"I've seen them before," she muttered. "Especially the fellow in stripes."

"B̴̦̜̯̋̋̏̚͠é̸̡̫̟͓̱̘̒͘͝͝l̷̢̗̩̯͍̼͚̄̊͌͝͝ļ̴̛͙̪̲̀͐͛̚͝a̷͓̲̩̲͉̭̠̽ translated...what I was speaking..."

"Oh, good for her!" Emilly replied.

"After the thing...spat me back out..."

"Spat you..." She peered at the Duke. "You're not telling me everything, I have a feeling.

The dark-haired woman--a native speaker of Enochian, or had she just memorized that one passage that Hiro quoted? So hard to tell--drew a weapon, then yelled up to the balcony. "Okay, WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?!"

Emilly reached out, concentrating, watching the light from the woman's weapon arc towards the clowns. She murmured the spell she used the last time they were here. Nothing...happened. Her eyes widened.

"Hiro! It's not working!"

"Justine...took the watch...it was something....I took..." Hiro mumbled.

"Yes, yes, I know," Emilly muttered, butr he wasn't done.

"...from the Ringmaster at the Dark Carnival..."

She sighed. She was losing him again. And...that set off a bell, somewhere...had she lost the Duke before? Where was that?

While she was struggling to remember, the blonde woman joined them on the balcony.

"Hiro...Duke...allow me to tell you something...you may be wlelcome here...but if H̷̺̹̜͇̱͈̋̅e̷̞͈̬͈̬̾̐̕l̸̢̙̗̝̯͉̄̈́̈́ę̵̨͈͖͎͇̤̔̒̚n̶̦͓̗̈́̈́ͅą̸̻̯̬̟̫̾̔̊̄ thinks you are a threat to the island, things can get unpleasant, and I am not even speaking of B̸̞͕̺͚̩̕͜ė̶̡̳͔͔͎̓̒̂͘l̶͍͓̞͙͙̻̀͐͠l̴̩͙̣̏̂͋̎͐͜a̷͎͒̆̆̆͑'s mother, who has an uncanny ability to know EVERYTHING!"

"Doctor," Hiro started.

The dark-haired woman called up from the street below. "And don't look at me, I'm not the one who tells her!"

(Continued in part IV.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from CXLVI.)



"Wait, I know this, I've...I...seen....have...." Emilly stumbled away from the creature, intoning, "Tsathoggua...Astaroth...Shub-Niggurath..." Panting, she slumped to the floor.



"Emilly, what is that--I've heard those names..." the poet asked. "What the hell is that? A message?"



"A warning. Hiro? Where are you??"



Hiro’s voice came from all around them. "Em...the alien...it is a telepath...maybe transdimensional."



Emilly rose into the air, surrounded by a purple energy haze. "Hi--ro--It's happening again..."



Rusty managed to get himself to a medical bed, weak from loss of blood, he looked up at Em in alarm. "This has happened before? Duchess! You are floating..."

(Continued in part CXLVIII.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CXLVII.)



Emilly shook herself free, shifted to a form with wings, and flew for help.



Hiro watched her fade, reaching for her weakly. "We have to get the thing off the station. [F*ck], we lost Emilly."



Rusty rolled over and got to his feet with difficulty and immediately found himself attacked by another monster. Desperately he struggled to get away from the monster, crawl off to the elevator and get out.



Hiro rose and followed him, catching up and putting a hand on his shoulder. "We have to get that thing off the station, but we have to find Justine."

"STAN: Locate Justine."

The voice came from the ceiling speakers. "Justine is outside of the station, nine meters south."

Hiro starts running, “What the [f*ck]?? Stan, I'm heading to my private hangar on Deck 8. Get my flyer ready."



Scanning outside the station, Hiro spotted Justine floating above the medical bay. Carefully lowering the flyer, he opened the hatch and tethered himself to the landing strut. Leaping from the flyer, Hiro grabbed Justine and pulled her into the flyer.



"I've got you," he said, kissing her. "Rusty, I have her. I'm going to get her to safety."

(Continued in part CXLIX.)

(Roleplay entry. Not entirely connected to the main. Continued from part I.)

Emilly blinked rapidly. "NO funhouse! You want to take her to--NO!"

The dark-haired woman perked up. "Funhouse?"

Hiro just nodded. "We have to take the watch back."

Watch. She remembered something about the watch. Something about...a hospital? Getting Hiro of the hospital? Pocketing the watch and leaving the rest of his possessions, and taking him back to...to...where?

She looked at Hiro in consternation. "Why??" Then the penny dropped, and she hissed at him. "She's afraid of CLOWNS, and you want to take Justine to a place where the CLOWNS ARE ARMED?!"

Hiro nodded, seemingly oblivious to what she'd said. "If he knows I took it--"

"Sorry," said the woman. "I'm a bit childish, but--did you say funhouse?"

Zack, meanwhile, knelt and took Justine's chin gently. "Justine...breathe...look at me. Focus only on me..."

The dark-haired woman looked puzzled. Emilly just shook her head.

"Oh, my gods," she finally muttered. "This is a disaster."

Justine opened her mouth, and Emilly flinched at the sound from her. "f̶̗̼̒Ư̷͖̐̈́̈̃̎͜N̷̼̘̩̳͇̫͍͔̏̇̄̊ḩ̶̨̢͙̰̪͋̌̒́̆̅͋͝o̵̠͖̠͔̠̗̽U̴̟͍̩͌̑̐͐̐͊̋͝š̶͉̖̯̔͝ȩ̸̩͓̟̪̞̰̖̍͐̈́ ̷̤̹̯̹̦͂̋͌̉̎̒̒͝i̶̒͒͜S̵̢̹͕̠̮̼͔͐̊̏ ̴̛̥͇̩͎̃́̆̑̊ń̶̡̛̖̈́͋Ǫ̷̨͓̭͓̳̻̪̉͒͑̀T̷̙̤̘̗͂͒̃̓͒͝ ̸̨̩̱̳́͂́̏̀̏͑ḟ̶̠̟͍̬͈͗͆̏̽ͅỤ̷̥̭̩̔̓̌̄̓̍͝N̵͓͇̖͖̄," she intoned, trembling.

Dear GODS, what WAS that??

"We have to give it back!" Hiro thundered. "Or he will keep looking..."

Emilly nodded at Justine, watching her carefully. "Right. It's not fun. You're right."

The dark-haired woman looked on, confused.

Justine looked up, blinking. "The...watch. The watch? The one I found? What?"

Emilly nodded. "Yes, the watch you..." She paused. "Where did you find it? Exactly?"

Justine looked down, concerned. "I...don't know," she finally murmured. "I was...exploring...it was..." She trailed off, eyes going blank.

The platinum-haired woman rolled her eyes. "I will try to summarize, B̴͈̱̞̖́͂̚ę̴̛̳̤̳̘̓́͆͆͜͝l̸͎̯̱̇̉͛̾̾ͅḽ̸̲̆a̸̡͙̜͇̓̋--"

Emilly winced at the burst of sound again, only slightly less strident than what Justine had intoned.

"Certain foolish people like to play with artifacts...They brought it here, disaster ensued, the end--" She abandoned the polite tone she reserved for the woman, and gave Justine an Hiro a look that could freeze vodka.

Zack turned towards her and Hiro. "I will take care of Justine, while you take care of...this mess....It is my responsibility as her gege to make sure she is safe."

The dark-haired woman looked uneasy. "So...it's NOT safe for one like me here."

Emilly inhaled, chanting a minor spell under her breath, changing outfits to something closer to 1930's evening wear. It was far from era-perfect, but it should work for now.

"Good of you, Zack, thank you," she said. She looked at the platinum-haired woman. Who frowned.

"Let's just say Ḃ̴͙͇̺̑͗͘͜é̸̲͆̏̽͋̈͆̂l̶̜͓̬̝͒̆̿l̸̟͚͗a̸̡̖͉͕͈͎̹͑ is...allergic to some of this."

It was getting easier to deal with the bursts of discordant sounds. "Define safe," she asked cautiously.

Well....define safe...What is--" She paused. No. She wasn't up to trying to make those sounds herself. "--she allergic to?"

The dark-haired woman shifted, looking down. "Anything that tampers with spirits."

Emilly walked over to the the blonde, pocketing the vial she held out. "Anything that tampers with--you might need to be clearer than that?"

The woman stared at her.

"Banishing, you mean? Or summoning?"

The woman blinked. "Yes," she said softly.

"Oh..." Emilly thought that through. "Then...possibly."

The woman sighed. She looked at the blonde woman. "Am I going to have to shoot myself in the head again to explain? That gets annoying."

Emilly widened her eyes. "No no no no--"

The blonde shook her head vigorously. "No, don't, please."

Emilly agreed. "No dramatic gestures, I do believe we've had enough of those."

(Continued in part III.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CXLV.)



Rusty laughed ruefully, slumping to the floor. "Is that all?" Lifting his hand from his abdomen, they could see blood seeping through his clothes.



Emilly knelt beside him, trying to stop the bleeding. "That's not enough?



Behind them, whatever had been holding Justine began to pulse widely and before they could react, appeared to lift her up to and through the ceiling where she disappeared.



"Where is Justine?" Rusty asked in a choked whisper.



"Gone." Emilly pulled out her pad, scanning the vicinity.



Before either of them had a chance to recover at all, the attacks renewed, and Hiro's body floated above the table, just as he regained consciousness. "Em..."

(Continued in part CXLVII.)

(Roleplay entry. Separate from the main chain. Part one of...?)

The Duchess was elsewhere when the pull came. Dressed in a black plastic skirt, a corset top in red and black, and neon blue earrings, she had a notepad out at the rave and she was talking to the kid who said he'd seen the walker in the woods.

"And that's when you dove under the bush?" she asked, and the world dissolved around her. When it resolved, she swayed a bit, placing her hand on a stained wooden wall. She frowned, looking around the room.

She recognized no one but the Duke, but...he didn't look...quite...right? He walked past her to a folding gated door, opened it, and left the room. She followed.

"Hiro?" she asked faintly, and heard a loud "HA!"

She walked away from the rest of the strangers standing around the room, and walked through the still-open door. She found herself on a narrow balcony with an ornate--steel? Iron? railing. She kept her distance, but there wasn't a lot of room to stay back from it. Bending forward, though, she saw two people on the ground. One she'd never seen before, a small woman, lithe in build, dark-haired, and the other one was--Justine? Was that Justine?

Why was Justine here?

The dark-haired woman took a knife from under her skirt, and threw it. She followed the trajectory and saw it hit the dark red nose of a clown. She blinked. Why was there a clown on whatever side street this was?

Hiro leaned over the railing, shouting. "Justine! Give it back!"

She blinked. Give what back?

Justine yelled and threw something shiny and round up towards the balcony. Hiro snatched it out of the air, sighing. "Justine..."

From the room behind her she heard muted voices. "...is going to have a bloody fit."

Another voice. "Clowns need psychiatric help more than killing. Though it is a tough call."

"I'm sorry!" Justine wailed. "It was pretty!"

Hiro just shook his head, flipping open the case with a clawed digit. She walked closer. It seemed to be some sort of timepiece, the size of his palm. It looked...familiar? He turned a dial on the watch...

...and she found herself on another stool next to a bar that looked cobbled together from abandoned doors and shelving pieces. She turned to her right, and there was another young man. She looked down. Her pen was glowing under the blacklight.

This was not the same rave.

She heard a click, and the balcony came into sharp, painfully bright focus. She fell to her knees, gasping.

"I can't be around too many types of magic!" the dark-haired woman called up from the street below. The Duchess reached out, trying to breathe, her hand closing around a bit of the balcony railing, and hissed at the sudden burn. Iron, then. She staggered upright, wide eyes turning to the Duke.

Hiro sighed. "Oh," he said softly. She narrowed her eyes. Justine screamed from the room behind her.
She turned, looking at the now-closed door into the room from the balcony. Wasn't Justine--she looked down at the street. What on earth--

Justine screamed again, and she threw the door open, running inside.

"Help," Hiro said softly, behind her. She blinked.

"Help with WHAT?" she cried.

"Uh...Justine opened the door..."

She peered at him, then into the room. There was a door, near dead center of the wall across from where she stood. It stood open. Darkness was all that was beyond the door. There was a disaffected pale-haired woman with heavy black glasses, dressed in vintage pink, tapping her foot. Justine was cowering under a table covered in--leaves? Herbs? There was a small possum's skull, several stones, and vials full of dark liquid. A woman with victory rolls in her platinum hair grimaced, hissing.

Hiro stepped forward, walking closer to the open door. "I guess I didn't lock up the watch from the circus..."

She blinked. Wait. That rang a bell. She thought for a moment.

"You always lock up the--"

"Just hocus-pocus," the woman in pink said. "No worries."

Justine screamed again. "I didn't know!"

Memories were slowly starting to coalesce. All right. The watch manipulated time. She remembered that. Did it pull the threads in straight lines? Because this didn't feel like the reality stream she was accustomed to.

The platinum-haired woman turned on her. "Your house guest made an unwelcome appearance. Give Hiro the same bath as last time--"

Last time? she thought, a tad hysterically.

"--though double the salt I gave you."

She blinked at the woman. The woman threw her hands up and stalked across the room.

She watched as a slim young man, dark hair bound up in a topknot, approached Justine, cowering under the desk. He leaned over, putting a hand on her arm. Wait. She knew him to. His name was...

"Justine," he said softly. "You...and I..." His words fell into inaudibility, then resumd. "Downstairs...outside..."

She nodded. "Probably wise..."

"It's all good but you--" Hiro started. Emilly blinked when the penny dropped.

"Wait. Who opened the door?!"

Justine remained crouched under the desk, seemingly too scared to move. This was a catastrophe.

"I think," Hiro began, then fell silent again. She narrowed her eyes at him.

The dark-haired woman looked confused, and worried, as she came through the archway on the far side of the room. "Will I have to worry much about you all unrooting me or being a direct hazard to my health?"

The Duchess blinked. "Unrooting you? You may have to define that?"

The woman just looked at her. She looked down at the woman's feet.

"Do you have roots?" she finally asked.

"I am still a little dis...disoriented..." Hiro murmured.

The woman shifted uncomfortably. "Perhaps another time...I think there is enough chaos...and I do not wish to be in a bad position while explaining."

"I don't think we shiould go to the funhouse," Hiro murmured. Her eyes flew wide. The FUNHOUSE?! But they'd taken that down, they'd sent the Circus far away, almost a year ago--

The platinum blonde looked at her. "Emilly, B̵͔̃́͛̆͛̚ȅ̶̛̤͍̅l̷̘̩̭̖̠̦͔̂̈́̏̂́̈́͝ḻ̸̹͓̍͂͒͂́̑͘ạ̵̢̣̗̠͍̇́͊͝ is not a mundane, and she can explain more later."

Emilly shook her head. That was almost like a burst of static in her head. What--"

"I do thei..." Hiro began, and she slowly turned her head to look at him. "Kwe needdd..."

Oh, gods, what now?

He stared fixedly at the door, whispering. "...to go to the funhouse..."

Oh no. NO no no no NO--

(Continued in part II.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CXLIV.)



Emilly looks up. "Hmmm...there is something watching us."

Rusty looked up, spotting the floating green creature that appeared to be mostly eyeball.



Justine ducked, shooing the creature away from the Duke, and tending to him. The medical bay arrived as the same time as an alien apparition which began attacking the Bard.



"[F*ck]!" He shouted, running away.



"Em," Justine shouted from the Duke’s side, "help me get Hiro onto the bed, please?" The two of them wrestle the Duke's body up onto the table. Justine began maneuvering the bed out of the module, while Emilly returned to help Rusty.

"There's a lot of blood. I can't tell if it's Rusty's or Hiro's." Putting an arm around his waist, she helped drag him away from the alien. "Can you walk? Should Justine call another bed?"

Nodding, Rusty leaned heavily on her, following to the Medical Bay.

Once on medical level, the hover bed transported the Duke to an open bay. Before she could connect him to diagnostics, Justine found herself engulfed in a field of energy that threw her into the air. Emilly and Rusty arrived just in time to see her lifted and spun.



"Justine!"



"Emilly help!!!"



"I...can't move!"



Emilly struggled to free herself, dragging herself to Rusty and muttering, "This is...novel. Hiro's talking to something invisible, you've been wounded, Justine was wrapped up in tentacles, and I was pinned into the corner by....eyes."

(Continued in part CXLVI.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CXLIII.)

Emilly nodded slowly. "Yes..." she murmured, and heard the door iris open behind her.



Justine and Rusty walked into the containment pod.

"It is creepy," Hiro was saying. "Is this related to the mind flayers?"

Emilly tsked. "Oh, dear." Peering through the misted glass she added, "It could be..."

Justine stepped up to the box. "There are similarities between the creature and the visitors."

Emilly moved to the controls on the containment cell. "Fairly sure there are connects to sample the atmosphere without opening the cell, but not sure about taking physical samp--"



Her voice cut out as Hiro pulled out a gun and started shooting at the containment cell.

"Hiro!"

"Wait! No!" Justine wailed, ducking ricochets.

"Containment is solid," Hiro said, holstering his pistol, oblivious to the panic he'd just caused. He stepped up to the cell--and through the supposedly solid field.



"Ah, [f*ck]. Help."

Emilly and Justine ran to the cell, shouting. From inside, Hiro beat on the now-solid containment field.

Justine ran to the control panel and started mashing buttons. "Hiro!!!"



Inside the cell, Hiro was alternating between wrestling with the creature and trying to get out. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh...[f******k]...help."



Seeing an opportunity, Justine grabbed Hiro by the tail and pulled, getting him clear. Falling to the floor Hiro started throwing up, gasping for breath. "Uh, [f*ck]."

Emilly looked over at him. "Are--you--okay?"

"Uh I...uh...[f*ck]...I need to get to sick bay."



Speaking into her wrist com, Justine called for a hover bed from medical. "It's on its way. Hang in there, Hiro."

(Continued in part CXLV.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CXLII.)

Encrypted transmission: An intruder was detained on Deck 8 of Tannhauser Gate Station. It is of unknown origin and classification.

It is currently detained in a thaumaturgic kinetic containment cell. Given the unknown classification, it has been secured on Deck 3 for review by the Duke and Regency Council per Ducal general order 36:

(DGO 36: all phenomena experienced of unknown technology or metaversal or magickal agencies shall be reported to the Sovereign and Regency Council and shall be classified until further inspection)

The Duchess walked behind the Duke, trying to catch up. A door ahead irised open, and she skipped through behind him before it closed, then stopped, blinking.



"Um. Wait. This...Isn't this Rusty's studio chamber?"

"This is a hold," said Hiro. "It will be, but for now, it's an alien zoo. We captured this."



He pointed to the large cell in the center. An unearthly creature with undulating tentacles and glowing eyes--stood? Sat?--inside it.

"What--is it?"



Hiro shrugged. "Some transdimensional thing. Maybe related to the eggs and tentacles."

She peered at it. "That's...somewhat unsettling."

"We might need to take samples," Hiro said. "Send them to the biolab."

(Continued in part CXLIV.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CXLI.)

The doctor sat down at his desk, slipping out the slim volume of his journal, rubbing his forehead and wincing slightly. He exhaled, steadied himself, and put pen to paper.

Journal entry 4

Dear diary,
It's now been almost a year that I have been in Gearhaven running the clinic, and been the healer here. Recently, it's been quiet on my end, too quiet in fact. Not much to say or to do--except maybe for one thing.

I've not been feeling very well recently, both physically and mentally. It is not because of a sickness and I know it...it is a feeling of disturbance, something related to the arcane inside of Gearhaven.

I am not sure myself what would have caused it but there is something that changed since the Duchess has destroyed the rift, something else have appeared. I felt multiple source of arcanic energy all around Gearhaven but i am unable to locate exactly where they are.

I am hoping someone will probably find something and bring it to me, or the captors will indicate maybe something that will help me find the source of those strange energy I've been feeling lately. I am about to request a call to all in that matter to salvage anything they may find related to that energy.

Who knows, maybe some of the citizens will also feel what I felt and will also investigate.

Until then, I am here studying and waiting, hoping that there will be any news of it.

Zack sighed again, shook his head, and tucked the diary away once more. He needed to get back to work.

(Continued in part CXLIII.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CXL.)


Time passed in a series of disconnected events. There was a giant cyber spider thing. Justine ran, the spider creature in hot pursuit. More visions followed: terrifying creatures, burning vistas. At one point there were nuclear missiles. Why? Her head pounded from the noxious odors and shrieking. She was shrieking.

Justine heard something like hysterical laughter nearby. Or maybe it was screaming. Or maybe it was both. Or maybe it was nothing? But there was pain. And there were questions.

"Where. Are. They?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

More pain. Images. Crystals. Six colours. She knew. She remembered. She told them.

"Take me there."

She took him there.

The backhand was strong enough to land her on the floor, but that didn't hurt as much as the spikes of pressure inside her head.



"There are only four here!”" Weats said, "Where are the other two? Where are the white and the blue?"

"I don't know!"

Weats walked over her and gripping her head in one massive hand, lifted her off the floor. Leaning over, he hissed in her ear. "You're going to find them. And you will tell me."

Justine answered in a monotone, "I will find them. I will tell you."

"Good girl." The ulitharid released her and she crumpled back to the floor of the fringe lab. Sweeping the four crystals into a bag, Weats left, thumbing 8its comm as it stalked to the lifts. "Fire her up, Oz, it's time to go."



"Tannhauser Gate Control, this is SS Kthanid. Transmitting coordinates for transit through the Stargate. Ready to transit on your command." The ulitharid in the frog onesie stuck the lollipop back in its mouth and looked over to its partner. "Shall we leave a little something else for them to remember us by?"



Weats smirked. "You bet."

(Continued in part CXLII.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CXXXIX.)

The ship flew through the dark, quiet and still. The two aboard watched Tannhauser Gate station approach. It seemed quiet. Peaceful.

Easy prey.

"Tannhauser Gate station, this is SS Kthanid on approach, requesting docking clearance."

"Acknowledged, Kthanid. Please send through your flight plan, cargo manifest and crew complement."

Justine watched the details of the incoming ship in one part of her feed, while directing the cleaning and repair crews in the Nuclear and Plasma Cores. The fire suppression systems had made a mess of everything, and several redundant wire harnesses had to be replaced, but for the most part they'd been lucky.

"Kthanid, this is Tannhauser Gate Control. You are cleared for landing in Hangar Bay 2. Transmitting docking transceiver frequency now."

"Acknowledged, Control."

=====

"Welcome to Tannhauser Station."

Inside the visiting ship, Weats turned to Oz. "You're sure they're in there?"

Oz nodded, pulling the lollipop past his writhing face tendrils. "Mmhmm. The auguries were clear. There's a girl. High status. We will know her by The Marks upon her skin. She has them."

=====

"Commander, this is Control. The captain of the SS Kthanid has requested to see you. They're waiting in Security."

"Acknowledged, on my way." Justine thumbed the comm. "Rusty, can you meet me at Security on Level 1?"

"You bet!" came the reply.

=====

Coming out of the lift, Justine and Rusty headed towards security.

"What is this all about?" Rusty asked, hurrying to keep up.

"Not sure. Ship arrived earlier and they asked to see me." Turning the corner, Justine gasped, stumbling against the wall.

"What is it?" Rusty asked, reaching out to steady her.

Justine replied through gritted teeth, "Tattoos...burning...aaahhh!" Catching her breath, she straightened, "It's okay...let's go." But with every step the burning, itching sensation on her belly, back and legs increased. Arriving at the security desk they were directed to an interview room where the visitors were waiting.

By the time they got to the interview room, Justine was pasty white, a thin sheen of sweat on her face. The burning had subsided to a dull, mostly ignorable ache. When she saw the visitors, her discomfort became a little more understandable. Roughly humanoid, the newcomers had green-black skin, facial tendrils and four arms a piece. One of them was incongruously wearing a frog onesie. Justine rubbed her eyes and looked back. Yes. A frog onesie. But other than that, they looked like a picture she’d seen in a book in the Gearhaven library at one point. Something-thrid? She wasn't sure, she couldn’'t think, the burning of the tattoos was making any thought difficult, and the sound of distant screams was very distracting. Four flat, expressionless eyes locked on her as they walked in, and their face tendrils began to twitch excitedly.

"What can I do for you?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Not what you can do for us," one hissed, "what we can do for you?"

Justine leaned heavily on the wall, making a mental note to have the screaming sounds investigated. "Yeah? And what's that?"

"We hear you have an...infestation. We can help clean that up for you."

Justine looked over at Rusty, then narrowed her eyes at him. Did he always have face tendrils? And why did he look so pained?

Shaking her head, she turned back to the visitors, and slurring her words a little, she said, "Let’s say we do have an issue you could help us with. What do you want in return?"

Frog-onesie replied with what appeared to be their version of a smile, an expression that was the opposite of reassuring in any way. "Not much, not much. We need some repair parts for our ship, resupply..."



It trailed off and the more somberly dressed of the two finished, fixing its opaque gaze on her. "And an hour alone with you."

Next to her, Rusty giggled. "I can watch?"

Justine put a hand to her forehead. "No...wait..." Something was wrong here, but she wasn't sure what. "You can get rid of the things in the station? All of them?"



"Absolutely."

Rusty leaned down to whisper excitedly in Justine's ear, "I can help, I have my thing...the music thing..."

She looked up at him. "Oh yeah, your thing. Cool. Yeah. You can help too."

She turned back to the visitors. Nothing was wrong. This made perfect sense, and it would be fine. "Deal. Let's do this."

Again, the eerie not-smile. "Of course."



Justine flicked the visitor’s supply and equipment request to the station quartermaster. Her head was pounding. The ride to Level 8 seemed to take forever. Once there the visitors commenced pouring fire power into the eggs and tentacles that had continued to spread. Rusty summoned his musical energy weapon and added his power to theirs.



The air filled with a fingernails-on-blackboard screeching that crescendoed in a spray of sparks and foul-smelling tentacle bits.



When the smoke cleared, the three of them stood there, the decks clear of tentacles and eggs. Justine looked up from her hiding place to see one of the visitors reach down and grab her by the arm. "Who are you?"

"I am the Mind Flayer, small thing, and now you are going to return what is mine."

(Continued in part CXLI.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CXXXVIII.)

Hiro parked up the street from the Doctor's house. He watched from a distance. The doctor had intended to have him arrive at 9:30. He was watching by 9.

Cars arrived; several well dressed people went inside. He sipped the coffee in the paper cup. It was harsh, bitter coffee. This timeline has lousy coffee. From a can. Hiro hated coffee from a can.

There was no moon tonight. The sky was black. Even the street lamps seemed to not project enough light to illuminate beyond their own shadows.

Hiro slipped quietly with feline agility over the garden wall. He silently slipped in the back, kitchen door of the house. Gun drawn.

He could hear murmured voices up stairs. He moved quietly. Up the staircase. There was one figure, hooded at the end of a long hallway. Holding a candle.

The Leopard Duke in Human form slipped in the darkness into an adjacent room. Not seen. The figure had its back turned and was watching the ceremony.

He could hear a woman’s voice speaking the leader.

"What do you get when the moonlight is murdered?"

A large chorus of voices replied, "A darkness, blacker than night."

The woman asked confidently, "And yet the Moon still exists?"

The chanting chorus replied: "Aye, but it is hidden in darkness."

"A Black Moon."

All the Cult in Unison: "A black moon, dead but dreaming. Hidden from all sources of light, showing its fragility and its weakness."

Priestess: "The black moon is the symbol of of aspirations.. Hiro recognized the priestess. Elizabeth Short. Her black hair and bright red lipstick. Her eyes had a different quality he had not noticed in the photos.

Cult: "No false light to expose our frailty."

Priest: "In darkness we have the comfort and safety of our unity."

Cult: "In the absence of light no one can outshine the other. We are all bonded in our darkness."

"Drink, brothers and sisters, to the holy darkness that protects us from the evils of an unpredictable future, and stifles the hurt of failure. Drink to the murdering of the light!"

Then Elizabeth sliced the candle top with her knife, extinguishing the light. All the congregants also blew out the candles. The house was in total darkness. Hiro felt an odd sensation like the dropping of pressure suddenly. He felt some vibration in his head. Something was happening. In the darkness, it seemed like things were moving. He couldn't be sure. His mind was playing tricks on him.

He didn't remember when the screaming started, or if he actually could smell the blood--or if that was a memory invented later.

What he was sure of, is he took a knife and sliced his hand, beginning to start a banishing spell with his blood dripping down his wrist.

He did not remember the invocation. But he must have said it.

The entities sometimes referred to as archangels hit the entity that was connected to Elizabeth Short hard.

Later, Hiro wondered if what he saw was a trauma-induced fever dream or a real image. Elizabeth Short with multiple arms, holding knives and killing and feasting on flesh being sliced at the torso by the blade of an archangel.

At some point, Hiro felt like he was falling. He could smell roses and sulfur at the same time. [F*ck] he hated Los Angeles.

Some time later...

The entire trigeminal nerve in his head excreted pain. The pain oozed into the optical and maxillofacial nerves. Light, sound, pressure--all normal external stimuli that would exacerbate a typical headache--were not factors into this sensation. The pain was internal. It radiated out of him into the world flowing over his awareness. Existence was comorbidity. Pain was reality, his base reality.

"Mr. Stonecypher?"

Hiro ignored the uniformed police officer standing over what he assumed was a hospital bed.

"Mr. Stonecypher, I am Officer Desantis of the LAPD."

Hiro's hand was bandaged. He was fatigued, he had bled out.

"Mr. Stonecypher, you have had an accident. Head trauma."

"Something like that." Hiro thought of the demonic talons ripping into his flesh.

"Can you tell me what you remember?"

Hiro was aware of others in the room. A nurse, a doctor and...a man in a suit.

"Nothing."

"You have no memory of anything?"

"Driving up Los Feliz...and that's it."

"You don't remember entering the house?"

"No."

The man in the suit nodded. The officer stopped asking questions. He motioned for the others to exit the room. Everyone walked out--except for the man in the suit.

He had a pale complexion. Gray short hair. Once they were alone, he said "Stella mane lux hominum." He made a gesture with his hand over his face. The sign of salutation.

Hiro replied weakly "E tenebris ad lucem movemus." He crossed his fingers in a specific pattern and raised his hand.

"We recovered the Codex, your Grace."

"Thank you," Hiro said weakly. "The adversary?"

"We have moved the remains to Leinert Park. LAPD is cleaning the house. The victims are being hidden for now."

Hiro nodded. "The thuamturgic nullification devices are in the superstructure of our ship out in the high desert."

"Our client believes it's important that we have them in this timeline."

"The Tartarian Complication. I know."

"Shōmetsu no dōhō-dan will use it, when they get it. We have a carrier group near Alaska; they will hit the site."

"The Tartarian Empire used eldritch forces and power amplification. If the Cult obtains the artifact..." Hiro's explanation was interrupted by wheezing and coughing.

The man handed an oxygen mask to the Duke. Deep breaths into the mask calmed him after half a minute.

"Thank you, Mr. Enzo."

"Of course, your Grace. I'll ready the delivery for Mr. Parsons."

(Continued in part CXL.)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CXXXVI.)

Justine shook her head. "Something is definitely...odd here."



"Yeah," Emilly said. Then she grimaced at the eggs. "And I am not liking that we have these back suddenly...I thought you got rid of them!"

Justine shrugged, tapping her padd as the drones arrived, directing them to realign--and rebuild--the passageway. It didn't take that long, and she dismissed the maintenance team.

"I'm going in," she said decisively.

Emilly nodded. "I'll let you."

"We did burn out the infestation in Steam," Justine muttered as she took various readings around the plasma core. Emilly sighed.

"But not up here."

Justine looked up. "You know what would be cool?"

"What?"

"A fire extinguisher."

Emilly blinked at her. "We don't have fire suppression systems?"



Justine blinked back, then rubbed her forehead. "Right." She tapped a set of controls, activating the fire suppression systems. "I'm calling in a second repair team, and...oh dear."

"What?"

Emilly climbed up the side stairs in the room with the plasma core, reaching the catwalk, carefully following the curve towards the back of the core, and stopped dead. "What is--THAT?"

A spray of white forced her back down the stairs, and she watched as the crawling orange flames--somehow surrounding the plasma feeds into the core--died to nothing.



"I'm not sure," Justine said, "but it's out now."

Emilly nodded, moving back toward the nuclear reactor. Justine followed. "I'm calling in a second repair team. And then we'll see if we can get the systems back online."

Emilly nodded.

"So that's one less thing...do we just warn people to avoid deck 8 for now?"

Justine thought, and then nodded, and Emilly sighed, pulling out her padd. To all Gearhaven residents, she typed. "Avoid deck eight of Tannhauser Gate station for now, until we declare the all-clear...

She just hoped they could do that soon.

(Continued in part CXXXVIII.)