I think your enthusiasm for the new job is showing already :) Did you have one more public works shift to do when you posted this (I realise that 'today' becomes complex when I'm in a different time zone and your posts are going up automatically) or were they all over and it was just waiting to start the new job?
Walking out the door Lord Derby was studying the cell, or escape tunnel, or whatever had been locked away behind the door, and Samual was still sat outside the young man. He'd volunteered, late, in Samual's mind, that his name was Tomasz. "Where do people live here?" asked Samual, his thoughts and curiosity about the place finally cohering. "There's these few buildings, but there's no food round here. I don't even know what these places are used for." "There's not that many people," said Tomasz. "There's a...," he trailed off, searching for a word, his eyes on the horizon but darting back and forth. "A community," he said slowly, drawing the word out as though checking it for correctness. "Maybe forty people, maybe fewer. Off that way." He pointed to his left. "If there are more, I've not met them." Samual frowned. "Men and women?" he asked. "Children too, but not many. They grow up." "Does no-one here have children?" "Would you?" Moments passed. "Well, why are you here then? Why don't you leave if no-one likes it?" "How do we leave?" "That's a very good question," said Lord Derby. Samual started, and then jumped to his feet and bowed. Tomasz watched, a smile tweaking the corners of his mouth. "You're assuming indigines, Samual, whereas I suspect we have refugees." "I am, milord?" "You would be, I think, if I were clearer. Tomasz's people are not here by choice, and I think they're probably just like us. Non-magical, stranded in a distant world for purposes of other people. The questions that we have are: what are those purposes, who are those people, and, recently, why are the demons here not like the demons we were told about." "So... we go and meet Tomasz's people?" Tomasz looked away, over to the horizon where he'd pointed earlier. "I think we have no choice," said Lord Derby. "I need more information, and Tomasz, while helpful, doesn't know everything himself. But first I need something a little harder to obtain, and that's information here. I need to know what's at the bottom of the pit in the room with no floor." Tomasz's head turned back to them. "Nothing," he said. "It goes on forever, it falls through the world until it breaks through the demon membrane and goes to new worlds." "I hope so," said Lord Derby. "Maybe it did once, but now, I think it just goes down a way and then stops. And I need to know why." "Need? Or want?" Lord Derby shook his head. "Need, Tomasz. Very much need. Because I need to know if she succeeded in walking out the door, or if the door was just an illusion." "She succeeded." His voice was flat, empty, and he stared at the horizon again, refusing to look back at either of them. "How can we get to the bottom of a bottomless pit, milord?" asked Samual. "The quickest way, unfortunately, is probably lethal," said Lord Derby. He smiled, but no-one else did. "The next quickest needs a little preparation and maybe a little help. So we will need rope, probably a lot of it." Tomasz blinked and looked at them, quickly looking away again. "Next building," he said.
Greg - I worked Thursday at Public Works (7 to 6), then worked Friday night (4 to 8) at the community centre. So I had a less than 24 hour break between shifting to the new job. I did not have time to mentally prepare for that. Starting to get used to things now though.
Hmm, more interesting developments. I like the name Tomasz, by the way.
Also: not sure there's enough rope in the world to get me to check that hole out...
2 comments:
I think your enthusiasm for the new job is showing already :) Did you have one more public works shift to do when you posted this (I realise that 'today' becomes complex when I'm in a different time zone and your posts are going up automatically) or were they all over and it was just waiting to start the new job?
Walking out the door
Lord Derby was studying the cell, or escape tunnel, or whatever had been locked away behind the door, and Samual was still sat outside the young man. He'd volunteered, late, in Samual's mind, that his name was Tomasz.
"Where do people live here?" asked Samual, his thoughts and curiosity about the place finally cohering. "There's these few buildings, but there's no food round here. I don't even know what these places are used for."
"There's not that many people," said Tomasz. "There's a...," he trailed off, searching for a word, his eyes on the horizon but darting back and forth. "A community," he said slowly, drawing the word out as though checking it for correctness. "Maybe forty people, maybe fewer. Off that way." He pointed to his left. "If there are more, I've not met them."
Samual frowned. "Men and women?" he asked.
"Children too, but not many. They grow up."
"Does no-one here have children?"
"Would you?"
Moments passed. "Well, why are you here then? Why don't you leave if no-one likes it?"
"How do we leave?"
"That's a very good question," said Lord Derby. Samual started, and then jumped to his feet and bowed. Tomasz watched, a smile tweaking the corners of his mouth. "You're assuming indigines, Samual, whereas I suspect we have refugees."
"I am, milord?"
"You would be, I think, if I were clearer. Tomasz's people are not here by choice, and I think they're probably just like us. Non-magical, stranded in a distant world for purposes of other people. The questions that we have are: what are those purposes, who are those people, and, recently, why are the demons here not like the demons we were told about."
"So... we go and meet Tomasz's people?"
Tomasz looked away, over to the horizon where he'd pointed earlier.
"I think we have no choice," said Lord Derby. "I need more information, and Tomasz, while helpful, doesn't know everything himself. But first I need something a little harder to obtain, and that's information here. I need to know what's at the bottom of the pit in the room with no floor."
Tomasz's head turned back to them.
"Nothing," he said. "It goes on forever, it falls through the world until it breaks through the demon membrane and goes to new worlds."
"I hope so," said Lord Derby. "Maybe it did once, but now, I think it just goes down a way and then stops. And I need to know why."
"Need? Or want?"
Lord Derby shook his head. "Need, Tomasz. Very much need. Because I need to know if she succeeded in walking out the door, or if the door was just an illusion."
"She succeeded." His voice was flat, empty, and he stared at the horizon again, refusing to look back at either of them.
"How can we get to the bottom of a bottomless pit, milord?" asked Samual.
"The quickest way, unfortunately, is probably lethal," said Lord Derby. He smiled, but no-one else did. "The next quickest needs a little preparation and maybe a little help. So we will need rope, probably a lot of it."
Tomasz blinked and looked at them, quickly looking away again.
"Next building," he said.
Greg - I worked Thursday at Public Works (7 to 6), then worked Friday night (4 to 8) at the community centre. So I had a less than 24 hour break between shifting to the new job. I did not have time to mentally prepare for that. Starting to get used to things now though.
Hmm, more interesting developments. I like the name Tomasz, by the way.
Also: not sure there's enough rope in the world to get me to check that hole out...
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