I think we're nearing the end of the this tale, so it might be time to admit that my original plan for it was to be about 15,000 words. So far we have roughly 28,900 :(
The Enforcer Sound came back slowly; first everything sounded muffled and far off, and then it sounded like everything was underwater; things echoed oddly and there seemed to be too much reverberation in the world. Adams was curled into a fetal position and her low moaning sounded burbled. Ethel was stood up, shaking his head as though trying to get water out of his ears. The Inspectral was also stood up, his hands pressed against his head, and Collins realised that the Inspectral was still more solid now than he had been before. There were even, he realised, hints of colours about his ghostly-grey body. The bats seemed to have settled into a leathery, furry blanket across everywhere, and though there were muted squeaks and little squirms and twitches, they didn’t seem inclined to take flight again. White dust was settling out of the air like fine snow on a freezing winter’s night. Collins looked around the room and saw that the walls in here were bleached of colour and he had a strong suspicion that if they went back to the stairwell they’d find Radiance-burn everywhere. “Where’s Timothy?” Ethel had to repeat himself slowly, standing in front of Collins before he could make the words out clearly enough. “I don’t know,” he said, and then had to slow down and enunciate clearly himself so that Ethel could understand him. “He took the gun from William and ran off.” “They’ll come back,” said the Inspectral. Somehow his voice managed to be clear and easy to hear, despite how weird everything else sounded. “They’ll come and see what went wrong and try and fix it again. They’ll expect us to be dead.” “Straight away?” Collins had to think to make himself speak slowly enough. “Is it safe to go out there?” He pointed back towards the stairwell. “They probably have Robes,” said Ethel. “It would make sense. They could have blurph brb hrbble filt mitterwick.” He sped up at the end, but the Inspectral appeared to understand anyway. “That will take time,” he said. “Let’s get after them. William’s still bleeding.” “Badly,” said Collins, glad to be able to help. He pointed at the blood splashes which seemed faded now. “Closer together and heavier.” “Quite so. We will leave Adams here. She would be a liability.” “We can’t,” said Collins. “If she calms down and then realises the whole room is blanketed with bats she’ll be a bigger… liability.” He disliked that word, and it took him a moment to realise it was because Adams would have used it smoothly and easily. Ethel nodded. “Bring her with us and leave her in the tunnel,” he said. “It’s safe now, I’ve been over every inch of it. If there are any more traps, they’re elsewhere.” Both Collins and the Inspectral stared at him. “Well,” he said, shrugging, “I don’t know how many traps anyone would set if they were planning on detonating an ancient Device, do I?” “Sometimes, Ethel, you’re so funny you should be a comedian,” said the Inspectral. “Can you help Collins carry Adams? I doubt we’ll get her to walk without an Enforcer.” “I thought they were military issue only?” Ethel gestured to Adams shoulders while he took up position at her feet. “They are.”
Greg - you have no idea how happy that makes me. I have enjoyed this journey, whether you're pleased with your lack of brevity or not :)
That's kind of you to not leave Adams there alone. And while you don't explain precisely what an Enforcer is in this context, I think I still get the idea of it.
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I think we're nearing the end of the this tale, so it might be time to admit that my original plan for it was to be about 15,000 words. So far we have roughly 28,900 :(
The Enforcer
Sound came back slowly; first everything sounded muffled and far off, and then it sounded like everything was underwater; things echoed oddly and there seemed to be too much reverberation in the world. Adams was curled into a fetal position and her low moaning sounded burbled. Ethel was stood up, shaking his head as though trying to get water out of his ears. The Inspectral was also stood up, his hands pressed against his head, and Collins realised that the Inspectral was still more solid now than he had been before. There were even, he realised, hints of colours about his ghostly-grey body. The bats seemed to have settled into a leathery, furry blanket across everywhere, and though there were muted squeaks and little squirms and twitches, they didn’t seem inclined to take flight again.
White dust was settling out of the air like fine snow on a freezing winter’s night. Collins looked around the room and saw that the walls in here were bleached of colour and he had a strong suspicion that if they went back to the stairwell they’d find Radiance-burn everywhere.
“Where’s Timothy?” Ethel had to repeat himself slowly, standing in front of Collins before he could make the words out clearly enough.
“I don’t know,” he said, and then had to slow down and enunciate clearly himself so that Ethel could understand him. “He took the gun from William and ran off.”
“They’ll come back,” said the Inspectral. Somehow his voice managed to be clear and easy to hear, despite how weird everything else sounded. “They’ll come and see what went wrong and try and fix it again. They’ll expect us to be dead.”
“Straight away?” Collins had to think to make himself speak slowly enough. “Is it safe to go out there?” He pointed back towards the stairwell.
“They probably have Robes,” said Ethel. “It would make sense. They could have blurph brb hrbble filt mitterwick.” He sped up at the end, but the Inspectral appeared to understand anyway.
“That will take time,” he said. “Let’s get after them. William’s still bleeding.”
“Badly,” said Collins, glad to be able to help. He pointed at the blood splashes which seemed faded now. “Closer together and heavier.”
“Quite so. We will leave Adams here. She would be a liability.”
“We can’t,” said Collins. “If she calms down and then realises the whole room is blanketed with bats she’ll be a bigger… liability.” He disliked that word, and it took him a moment to realise it was because Adams would have used it smoothly and easily. Ethel nodded.
“Bring her with us and leave her in the tunnel,” he said. “It’s safe now, I’ve been over every inch of it. If there are any more traps, they’re elsewhere.”
Both Collins and the Inspectral stared at him. “Well,” he said, shrugging, “I don’t know how many traps anyone would set if they were planning on detonating an ancient Device, do I?”
“Sometimes, Ethel, you’re so funny you should be a comedian,” said the Inspectral. “Can you help Collins carry Adams? I doubt we’ll get her to walk without an Enforcer.”
“I thought they were military issue only?” Ethel gestured to Adams shoulders while he took up position at her feet.
“They are.”
Greg - you have no idea how happy that makes me. I have enjoyed this journey, whether you're pleased with your lack of brevity or not :)
That's kind of you to not leave Adams there alone. And while you don't explain precisely what an Enforcer is in this context, I think I still get the idea of it.
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