Revelations (cont)

[Sally]

Sally scratched at his mutton chops, and looked between Kelsey and Gary.

"Huh."

Brow still furrowed.

"Them angels- well, one at least, came down after Baelor- said his box was too much 'er some such," he shook his head, and looked back down at the drawing.

Took a look minute looking.

"What if it ain't just Baelor- I mean, he was justa 'nother big Spirit, right? We got big Spirits all around..."

Another dry scratch at his jaw, and a glance back towards #3, and a certain big piece of cutlery.

"But he was a big Spirit dat the Darkness got inta. Made worse. What if, him gettin' got is what's got them all so worked up? It took 2 fallen angels- Donn and Arawn- AND the White Lady - AND us to put 'im down. What if they ain't lookin' to see what happens iffin' the Darkness gets inta either of them... o' Ashkairi o' Sammael o' Amarok o' Azeban o' ... the Penance. All of 'em. Any of 'em."

Sally mulled over what both Kelsey and Gary said.

"So the Well bein' stuck could punch thru to other stuff, right? An' if it's stuck 'round here... wouldn't give the Darkness another busted winda' to go crawlin' thru? I mean... what if Madri- if Gary's raight? That well bein' busted open ... o' Qway-zarr labs usin' starry gates o' even Windows bein' walked might not be somethin' them folks Upstairs want anywhere NEAR where the Darkness is pokin' thru..."

He gestured to the map, "Magic. Tech-noll-ojy... is all just hoodoo, man. If you sayin' it shouldn't work together- well you know more hoodoo than I do. We got a way to try it ouselves? Like, see if we can hook up you an' Harry Davenport to somethin' and see iffin it works?"

[Owle Isohos]

Kelsey's face went ashen at Sally's speculation. "Shit. It could, I guess. Isaira didn't say what would happen if the Well punched through, but...it makes sense. I mean, if our universe is a bubble, and the Darkness is between the bubbles..." She shook her head. "I don't know who is in charge of fixing the Well, but you should talk to Rook. The guy we used to call the Professor is the White Lady's Rook, now, and I think they were gathering the stones on his desk. I assumed book club was involved, too, but I figure that about anything magical."

She frowned. "I think the Windows are normal. I mean, they happen everywhere. Especially around Whisper Hill, but..." She cut herself off, then, frown deepening. "Shit. What if they happen more around Whisper Hill because the Darkness is trying to punch through? I never asked Isaira why the Windows form. But the ones we've been using, they shouldn't do any harm. They just go within our bubble. And the fae have been using them for ages, and that...huh. How DID the Darkness get to Baelor, anyway? And what the fuck were those shadow spirits Baelor arranged to attack us last November along with Parsons' forces?"

"Shit," the investigator added emphatically. "If the Darkness got into any of them...well, fuck. I don't think I could blame them for wanting a reset any more. Takes a bit of the pressure off, right? If we screw up bad enough, everything gets wiped out, and we don't have to worry about it any more. One way or another."

Kelsey closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. Opened them again. "I don't think the angels are going to negotiate with us. I'm not saying it's not worth it to try, but...we're fucking ants to them. They barely even showed respect to the fucking Morrigan - if they don't think it's worth negotiating with her, or Don and Arawn, or any of them, how the fuck are we going to get them to listen to us?"

She shook her head. "There's too much to freak out about, and I'm over my quota. I didn't know magic wasn't supposed to work with technology. I mean, I spent a whole night back in May running around, putting together technological panels carved with eldritch designs that made my eyes water, then doing some kind of..." A nod to Sally. "Hoodoo to disable them, that I could do cause the morlocks' fucking scientists planted a chip in my head. Scientist. Priest. Hell, maybe both. Thing is, I don't know there's as much of a divide as you think there is."

[Madrigus]

Gary looked pensive. "As far as I've known the two disciplines have been quite separate. Technology just doesn't mix well, and when you've seen a simple hex cause a computer to short-circuit the proof is there. As for 'hooking' myself and Henry up to 'something,' he waved his hands sarcastically and chuckled, "well, provide something that might look like what Kelsey describes and the two of us could put our heads together at the very least. Like I said, our terrestrial tech might just not be made the right way to handle it. CHUD tech, however..." He rocked his open hand from side to side.

"I'll speak to... Rook, about the Well, but the Windows... Hum. Maybe, as you say, they're created in places where the Darkness is trying to push through. Sounds reasonable. However I would like to postulate further that the Windows are created in places where the fabric of reality is stretched too tightly and is tearing open." He stared meaningfully at them for a moment. "This could be because of the Darkness pushing through, but it could also be from other things, such as breaking the Well. If it rotates through the pattern with the flow of magic, then it standing still will cause not just ripples, but a dam." He shuddered. "I like it not that it is still broken. After I translate my tome I shall have to make it a priority. Otherwise I believe the Darkness can really only get in when people let it in. Such as we could yell through a wall to the person on the other side, so too could the Darkness speak to those who are in a position to hear it, and t speaks to them through the gate. That would explain how it could affect so many around here.

"As for the Angels, you make it sound like there's only one real way to go about it. War. If they really don't pay attention to us then we take the fight to them and prove that we're on equal terms. Maybe then they might be willing to listen. If not-." One hand flashed out, and the top part of the diagram, the circle representing the Empyrium, exploded loudly and showered them with dirt. Gary looked up at Kelsey and Sally cooly, but didn't say more.

[Owle Isohos]

Kelsey looked thoughtful. "I think most of those tunnels ended up getting collapsed or closed, but it might be there's one or two of those plates I was talking about accessible. I can look into it, at any rate."

She frowned when Gary mentioned the Windows. "I don't think that's how they work. Not entirely, at least. They spring up in places where the Darkness doesn't have any influence, and other beings can open and close them. If I had to guess, I'd say they're less about reality tearing and more about it...folding? Does that make sense? Like, if we went through a window here-" She waved a hand at the empty air. "We'd come out on a place that looked like Main Street. Windows go to places that are similar. And I think the ones that go to other bubbles happen when our bubble brushes up against another one. ...well, the ones that aren't created by a murdering, eye-stealing asshole anyway. Or something like one."

Her frown deepened when Gary likened the Well to a dam. "You mean we might have even bigger problems once the Well is fixed? Like a tidal wave of spirits pouring into or out of here?"

She watched the top circle of Gary's diagram explode, and smiled. "Wish it were that simple. They ignore us cause they outclass us. I think we can even the playing field - I think that's what the Fallen are here trying to do - but, remember what I said about the Morrigan? One of the angels took the box away when she, Don, and Arawn were all arguing over it...and none of those three stopped him. The Morrigan said she couldn't have stopped him, and she was the entire Morrigan, the three in one, and we were on her territory. But...if we can take the fight to them, make them listen up? I'm all for it."