I have no idea which story to continue with this prompt! Should Emma and Simon from WrongStart infiltrate the new-founded Kingdom of the (nearly-)drowned children? Should Cutlet and Breaux engage in an infiltration operation? Bill, Ben, and MacArthur all do this kind of thing, in their own ways, a lot of the time. Aubergine and Adrian are in hospital, and infiltration sounds like a kidney thing... the choices are endless! Come to think of it, Dr. C probably knows a thing or two about infiltration as well, and Madame Sosotris's Unreal City can definitely tell a tale or two around that prompt. Curse you....
Infiltration "How does this work then?" Tomasz was sitting with his back against the wall of the stone hut. The sun had set but the quarry had floodlights and a generator, and there was still a small amount of fuel left in the metal cans to run it. It throbbed loudly in the otherwise still night air and an oily diesel reek floated around it. The cold was chilling them fast but there was nothing to burn. Samual checked the straps of Dignity's satchel for the fifteenth time; he'd put it on over his head, and then buckled it to his belt for additional security. Under his breath he was reciting the instructions Lord Derby had given him, determined not to forget anything. He looked composed, but was sweating despite the drop in temperature. "I don't know," said Lord Derby. "It's magic. I've been told how to operate it, and that it will work for anyone, but beyond that...." He shrugged. "Fine, so how do you make it work?" Lord Derby held out a copper disc, something that looked like a large foreign coin. It was as thick as breakfast pancake, almost but not quite thick enough to be called cylindrical. "I think you should use it," he said. "It opens a gate, but I don't know where the gate appears -- in front of you, I should think, but I don't know how far away. I will stand behind you, so that there's no danger of me accidentally falling through the gate. It stays open for fifteen seconds, so you and Samual will have time to see what it is and check that it's safe -- that's something you do, right?" Tomasz looked up, right at Lord Derby, but the Investigator seemed entirely sincere. "Of course," said Tomasz after a moment. "It would be foolish to walk blindly into an unknown situation. Where does the gate take us?" "I don't know," said Lord Derby. "I never thought to ask, and Memnith never thought to tell me. So I would expect it will be somewhere in St James's Palace. You should probably stay with Samual until you can explain your arrival." "A Polish soldier wandering around a seat of English government by himself in the dead of night? I won't let Samual out of arm's reach." "It would look like a spectacular act of infiltration," said Samual. He adjusted the satchel again, though it's weight was practically unnoticeable. "Then let's go," said Tomasz. He held his hand out, and Lord Derby flipped the coin to him. It glittered as it turned in the air, and Tomasz caught it easily.
Tomasz stood up and joined Samual, while Lord Derby took several paces back and stood away from them. Tomasz held the coin out in front of him, and a single, short word suddenly appeared on its surface. Samual tensed, but Tomasz read the word and spoke it with calm determination. The air in front of him glittered and a filigree arch seemed to fade into existence, as though it had always been there but had been hidden by some trick of the light. It was reddish-bronze in colour and inside the arch was a swirl of midnight blue.
Around the standing stones a reddish-bronze filigree arch seemed to shimmer into existence, with a swirl of midnight blue captured in the middle of it. The sickly yellow light that suffused the whole area deepened towards a polluted gold colour, and the zombie mages stiffened, reaching once more for the Power that they had manipulated when they were alive. Each of them turned the Power towards the gate, tying it around the metallic strands of the filigree, forcing it to infiltrate the weave of Power that was already there.
Jakov stood up from the table in the pub to order another round, and hesitated. Something seemed wrong about the bar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what. The Szymon cried out, a short, guttural bark of surprise and pushed his chair backwards. Jakov looked down at the floor, which was glowing yellow all around them.
The arch solidified, and Samual stepped forwards, trying to see if there was anything beyond the midnight blue. For a moment the swirl broke apart and there was a view of a desk piled high with papers, a jade frog sitting on a windowsill, and a globe of light high on a wall. Then there was an ear-splitting screech like a wet finger running around the rim of a wine-glass the size of the quarry.
The mages caught fire as they directed the King in Yellow's Power into the arch. Each burned with a pure white flame, their wretched remains blackening and twisting inside it.
The yellow glow covered the whole floor of the bar, but only touched the soldiers, creeping up their legs like ivy.
Samual stepped back, unsure, and suddenly the arch pulled apart, flew back together again, and then leapt into the air and out across the quarry. It struck the swirl of dark energy above the dead jumpers and disappeared. The screech became the resonant gong of a church bell and the dark circle turned bile-yellow.
The mages collapsed into piles of ash, the white flame winking out and the filigree gate shattering into shrapnel that embedded itself in the circle of standing stones.
The soldiers cried out in fear as the yellow light engulfed them and they felt the floor beneath drop away.
Tomasz and Samual stared, open-mouthed, as three figures -- bodies or people, they couldn't tell -- fell out of the swirling yellow vortex. The coin in Tomasz's hand went dead and cold, and finally the noise stopped.
Elizabeth stared at Memnith. "What the hell was that?" she asked.
Holy hot damn! That was intense. First I was caught off guard, then I kept hoping for the best while expecting the worst, and then that ending... this was excellence, split between three locations. Well, four if we include the final lines. Though I think you've just united two of those scenes, which ought to be very, very interesting indeed.
3 comments:
I have no idea which story to continue with this prompt! Should Emma and Simon from WrongStart infiltrate the new-founded Kingdom of the (nearly-)drowned children? Should Cutlet and Breaux engage in an infiltration operation? Bill, Ben, and MacArthur all do this kind of thing, in their own ways, a lot of the time. Aubergine and Adrian are in hospital, and infiltration sounds like a kidney thing... the choices are endless! Come to think of it, Dr. C probably knows a thing or two about infiltration as well, and Madame Sosotris's Unreal City can definitely tell a tale or two around that prompt. Curse you....
Infiltration
"How does this work then?" Tomasz was sitting with his back against the wall of the stone hut. The sun had set but the quarry had floodlights and a generator, and there was still a small amount of fuel left in the metal cans to run it. It throbbed loudly in the otherwise still night air and an oily diesel reek floated around it. The cold was chilling them fast but there was nothing to burn.
Samual checked the straps of Dignity's satchel for the fifteenth time; he'd put it on over his head, and then buckled it to his belt for additional security. Under his breath he was reciting the instructions Lord Derby had given him, determined not to forget anything. He looked composed, but was sweating despite the drop in temperature.
"I don't know," said Lord Derby. "It's magic. I've been told how to operate it, and that it will work for anyone, but beyond that...." He shrugged.
"Fine, so how do you make it work?"
Lord Derby held out a copper disc, something that looked like a large foreign coin. It was as thick as breakfast pancake, almost but not quite thick enough to be called cylindrical.
"I think you should use it," he said. "It opens a gate, but I don't know where the gate appears -- in front of you, I should think, but I don't know how far away. I will stand behind you, so that there's no danger of me accidentally falling through the gate. It stays open for fifteen seconds, so you and Samual will have time to see what it is and check that it's safe -- that's something you do, right?"
Tomasz looked up, right at Lord Derby, but the Investigator seemed entirely sincere.
"Of course," said Tomasz after a moment. "It would be foolish to walk blindly into an unknown situation. Where does the gate take us?"
"I don't know," said Lord Derby. "I never thought to ask, and Memnith never thought to tell me. So I would expect it will be somewhere in St James's Palace. You should probably stay with Samual until you can explain your arrival."
"A Polish soldier wandering around a seat of English government by himself in the dead of night? I won't let Samual out of arm's reach."
"It would look like a spectacular act of infiltration," said Samual. He adjusted the satchel again, though it's weight was practically unnoticeable.
"Then let's go," said Tomasz. He held his hand out, and Lord Derby flipped the coin to him. It glittered as it turned in the air, and Tomasz caught it easily.
Tomasz stood up and joined Samual, while Lord Derby took several paces back and stood away from them. Tomasz held the coin out in front of him, and a single, short word suddenly appeared on its surface. Samual tensed, but Tomasz read the word and spoke it with calm determination.
The air in front of him glittered and a filigree arch seemed to fade into existence, as though it had always been there but had been hidden by some trick of the light. It was reddish-bronze in colour and inside the arch was a swirl of midnight blue.
Around the standing stones a reddish-bronze filigree arch seemed to shimmer into existence, with a swirl of midnight blue captured in the middle of it. The sickly yellow light that suffused the whole area deepened towards a polluted gold colour, and the zombie mages stiffened, reaching once more for the Power that they had manipulated when they were alive. Each of them turned the Power towards the gate, tying it around the metallic strands of the filigree, forcing it to infiltrate the weave of Power that was already there.
Jakov stood up from the table in the pub to order another round, and hesitated. Something seemed wrong about the bar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what. The Szymon cried out, a short, guttural bark of surprise and pushed his chair backwards. Jakov looked down at the floor, which was glowing yellow all around them.
The arch solidified, and Samual stepped forwards, trying to see if there was anything beyond the midnight blue. For a moment the swirl broke apart and there was a view of a desk piled high with papers, a jade frog sitting on a windowsill, and a globe of light high on a wall. Then there was an ear-splitting screech like a wet finger running around the rim of a wine-glass the size of the quarry.
The mages caught fire as they directed the King in Yellow's Power into the arch. Each burned with a pure white flame, their wretched remains blackening and twisting inside it.
The yellow glow covered the whole floor of the bar, but only touched the soldiers, creeping up their legs like ivy.
Samual stepped back, unsure, and suddenly the arch pulled apart, flew back together again, and then leapt into the air and out across the quarry. It struck the swirl of dark energy above the dead jumpers and disappeared. The screech became the resonant gong of a church bell and the dark circle turned bile-yellow.
The mages collapsed into piles of ash, the white flame winking out and the filigree gate shattering into shrapnel that embedded itself in the circle of standing stones.
The soldiers cried out in fear as the yellow light engulfed them and they felt the floor beneath drop away.
Tomasz and Samual stared, open-mouthed, as three figures -- bodies or people, they couldn't tell -- fell out of the swirling yellow vortex. The coin in Tomasz's hand went dead and cold, and finally the noise stopped.
Elizabeth stared at Memnith.
"What the hell was that?" she asked.
Greg - hah, you're welcome :)
Good choice, by the way :D
Holy hot damn! That was intense. First I was caught off guard, then I kept hoping for the best while expecting the worst, and then that ending... this was excellence, split between three locations. Well, four if we include the final lines. Though I think you've just united two of those scenes, which ought to be very, very interesting indeed.
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