No comment on the aches and pains? Or the fact that you're sure you don't have muscles where some of the pains are coming from? ;-)
Making waves Fabian spent the morning in the meeting room, deciding that he may as well be nearby the office in case the forensic team had any questions for him, and because it was near his office and he felt uncomfortable being too far away from it. This had the result of mildly frustrating him all morning as everytime he wanted to check something, or find something in local storage, he would start to get up, remember that this wasn't his office, remember that he couldn't go into his office yet, and then sit back down and stare at the wall grumpily for a few moments. Finally Dread appeared in the doorway. "Team's done," he said. "They called me back a couple of minutes ago. You should be safe to go into the office now." "Did they find much? Any sign of the boogeymen?" "The boogeymen?" Dread's lips quirked into a smile. "The auditors. Who you adeptly stopped me mentioning in front of the police earlier." "Ah yes, well, walls have ears. At least some do, and you've probably got an example of one in here somewhere. But it's best not to make waves unless you're sure who's going to get splashed." "No," said Fabian, and a moment of sadness washed over him. "The Tyrex was in one of the stasis cylinders that failed, apparently and when it was discovered it had gelatinized. All that was left was a swimming pool's worth of yellow gel and about sixty five ears. We've kept the ears as they all seem to be from disparate species, but if you spot another Tyrex we'd love one." Dread seemed momentarily taken aback. "Really?" he said. "Well... I'll add it to the list of things we keep an eye out for then. I think there might be some in the Kyprite Ruins. Anyway, that aside -- that was a nasty spell that was being set up outside your door. We're going to be talking to the security team and going through camera footage; between you and me this is looking quite serious. The spell would have settled onto you more like a cloak than a tick and would have very gently encouraged you to do things. And every time you did, the cloak would tighten, just a little. We think it would probably be about a year before you were pretty much doing whatever it told you, and worse, no-one around would probably notice because you'd spent a year slowly changing your habits." Fabian looked around for his chair and sat down. "That's a lot to take in," he said. "I'd have been taken over by some... one? -thing?" "No clue," said Dread. "It's definitely wisp-elf magic, but then that's the only magic that's really good at that kind of thing so it's not quite the narrower-downer I'd have hoped for. We have to go through the evidence and see what we can find though." "Have to?" Fabian was distracted by the idea of being controlled and wondering how different it would be to being married to his ex-wife. He shuddered. "Yes. When this gets out, it will make waves of its own, right at the top levels. Not least because everyone, and I mean everyone, will be under suspicion of being controlled." "Funny," said Fabian slowly, "but I'd have expected this from the auditors. Not wisp-elves."
2 comments:
No comment on the aches and pains? Or the fact that you're sure you don't have muscles where some of the pains are coming from? ;-)
Making waves
Fabian spent the morning in the meeting room, deciding that he may as well be nearby the office in case the forensic team had any questions for him, and because it was near his office and he felt uncomfortable being too far away from it. This had the result of mildly frustrating him all morning as everytime he wanted to check something, or find something in local storage, he would start to get up, remember that this wasn't his office, remember that he couldn't go into his office yet, and then sit back down and stare at the wall grumpily for a few moments. Finally Dread appeared in the doorway.
"Team's done," he said. "They called me back a couple of minutes ago. You should be safe to go into the office now."
"Did they find much? Any sign of the boogeymen?"
"The boogeymen?" Dread's lips quirked into a smile.
"The auditors. Who you adeptly stopped me mentioning in front of the police earlier."
"Ah yes, well, walls have ears. At least some do, and you've probably got an example of one in here somewhere. But it's best not to make waves unless you're sure who's going to get splashed."
"No," said Fabian, and a moment of sadness washed over him. "The Tyrex was in one of the stasis cylinders that failed, apparently and when it was discovered it had gelatinized. All that was left was a swimming pool's worth of yellow gel and about sixty five ears. We've kept the ears as they all seem to be from disparate species, but if you spot another Tyrex we'd love one."
Dread seemed momentarily taken aback. "Really?" he said. "Well... I'll add it to the list of things we keep an eye out for then. I think there might be some in the Kyprite Ruins. Anyway, that aside -- that was a nasty spell that was being set up outside your door. We're going to be talking to the security team and going through camera footage; between you and me this is looking quite serious. The spell would have settled onto you more like a cloak than a tick and would have very gently encouraged you to do things. And every time you did, the cloak would tighten, just a little. We think it would probably be about a year before you were pretty much doing whatever it told you, and worse, no-one around would probably notice because you'd spent a year slowly changing your habits."
Fabian looked around for his chair and sat down. "That's a lot to take in," he said. "I'd have been taken over by some... one? -thing?"
"No clue," said Dread. "It's definitely wisp-elf magic, but then that's the only magic that's really good at that kind of thing so it's not quite the narrower-downer I'd have hoped for. We have to go through the evidence and see what we can find though."
"Have to?" Fabian was distracted by the idea of being controlled and wondering how different it would be to being married to his ex-wife. He shuddered.
"Yes. When this gets out, it will make waves of its own, right at the top levels. Not least because everyone, and I mean everyone, will be under suspicion of being controlled."
"Funny," said Fabian slowly, "but I'd have expected this from the auditors. Not wisp-elves."
Greg - it actually didn't turn out too bad. Maybe I'm in (slightly) better shape than I'd realized.
Jeez, that was a really, really nasty spell. I am grateful that Fabian has such... useful friends.
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