Phillips Harbour
Tuesday, October 27. Night.
Slate, Bernice, and Caliban ride swiftly back to the boathouse, leaving Shaft and the Mikkelsens to wait with the unicorn in the Still Forest. It's an awkward interval for them; Rae and the unicorn seem to commune in silence, in a language only they understand. Gustav stands with his hands in his pockets, like a man waiting for the other shoe to drop. Or, under the circumstances, the next shoe to drop. Marseilles waits with them, drifting from tree to tree. With Caliban gone, her condition worsens: the intervals between the episodes of dark mottling decreasing, and the length of each increasing.
At length, the doctor and Companions return, bearing the Spirit Lamp and the battery from the Analytical Engine. It was inexpertly disassembled for removal from the Engine -- Caliban's not the tinkerer his master is -- but they've brought all the right tools at least.
At this point, the ghost has reached an equilibrium, of a sort: her eyes burn with a solid blue light in a pale face, but her formerly white dress has turned to black lace, with dangling sleeves that drip from her wrists and a tattered skirt that weaves around her calves. A kind of dark veil is growing over her hair, points of it dipping down her forehead and clinging in curves below her cheekbones. The fox's tail twitches at her back, ears pivoting to catch at distant sounds.
Still astride Slate, Bernice unnecessarily gives the agile chimp a hand down, and gives Marseilles a worried look. "We came as fast as we could."
The monkey waves cheerily at the others. We got it! He pauses at the sight of Marseilles, but concludes that with the unicorn here, how bad could it be? He proffers the box of Spirit lamp bits to his master.
Happy for something to do, Shaft starts connecting the Lamp to the battery. He asides quietly to Caliban, "I've been meaning to ask Marseilles how she felt when I stunned her, but frankly she is beginning to give the heebie-jeebies."
The monkey nods at his master. Just think good thoughts, boss, he advises.
Rae gives Bernice an anxious smile, smoothing the unicorn's mane with one hand. As Herbert works on the lamp, Marseilles drifts around the perimeter of the clearing. She is still unusually solid; she holds out one hand to brush her fingers against the trees, and the bark on them is lightly scored with phosphorous white light where she touches them.
Caliban, helping his boss set up the Spirit Lamp, glances toward town. Wonder how the others are gettin' along?
"Alright," Herbert announces. "I'm ready to turn on the Lamp. Due to the nature of the power source, however, I can't be certain of what effect it may have." He gives the ghost a concerned look, and adds, "Are you ready for it, Marseilles?"
The doctor returns Rae's smile as reassuringly as she can, and dismounts in a swirl of skirts. She touches her forehead to Slate's neck, giving the horse an affectionate stroke before following Caliban's glance. "Trouble probably needed some time to rest, but he seemed to have some ideas." She looks on uneasily now at the device, but quiets down.
Ears pricking at Shaft's question, Marseilles shakes herself loose from her daze. She circles around to the front of the device. Clenches her hands into fist, she nods grimly to Herbert. Everyone else watches as he switches it on.
It hums faintly in the forest gloom, dim-lit by the gibbous moon. Herbert feels nothing, but Caliban's fur prickles, and the scars where St. John bit him itch. Gustav shifts from foot to foot, nervous. Slate noses her mistress's shoulder; Bernice feels a little tug in her chest, calling her to the lamp. Rae's gaze shifts from Kari to the unseen light of the lamp; perhaps everyone is more keenly aware of it than usual, after having been told to expect something.
Marseilles tail bristles, and her hair floats out from her head in a halo, streaks of dark lace streaming past the ends. Like a sleepwalker, the unicorn lifts hooves of cloven silver, picking her way towards the beacon with her nose outstretched. Mirrored eyes reflect an unseen light. The wind stirs, whipping into gusts. The forest itself shivers, trees groaning.
A voice thunders in Bernice's ears alone: MAKE IT STOP!
Miss Pau, Rev. Hale, ... that creepy guy? asks Caliban, oblivious to the voice.
Caliban looks up, sensing something happening.
Bernice shudders, clutching her head in her hands and going pale. "S-stop! The Still Forest.. stop the lamp! Turn it off! Please!"
Herbert hits the power switch to shut down the device, and asks, "What is it, Bernice? We're too close to the Forest?"
The wind rises to almost gale force before Herbert cuts the power. The unicorn jerks her head back, ears flattening back. Marseilles's hair floats down again, but her chest rises and falls as if she were breathing heavily.
The chimpanzee looks confused, swiveling his head around.
"I.. I don't know, I'm sorry," says a somewhat shaken Bernice, putting a hand to her chest. She closes her eyes for a moment, and seems to concentrate.
It calls us home. The unicorn lifts her horn to the moon, lost in thought.
"Marseilles?" Herbert asks the ghost. "Was it any different than the previous times?"
"Yes." Little echoes follow Marseilles's voice, reverberating: (yes -- es -- s). She steps up to the lamp, puts her fingers on the lens. Puddles of shadow spread from her fingertips. "Turn it back on."
Do not turn it on, Kari says almost immediately, shaking her head in sharp negation.
The chimpanzee whispers to his master, I think we've discovered spirit opium.
After a moment, Bernice speaks again, looking glum. "We mustn't. The forest is already angered."
"How was it different, Marseilles?" Shaft asks. "Was it in any way similar to how you used to be drawn back to the Manor?"
"We must," Marseilles says. "We'll never understand if we don't. Yes, a little like that, Mr. Shaft. More promise, less threat. Hope." Then she blinks her glowing blue eyes, looks to the unicorn. "It's still a trick, isn't it?" In that sentence, she sounds more like herself again, anxious and childlike.
Boss, how did you come up with the idea of the Spirit Lamp anyway? asks Caliban, now more concerned.
"The design... well, the mathematical formula for the design of the filament was in the Codex," Shaft explains. "I may not have translated into a physical geometry properly, perhaps. It is.. very tricky."
Bernice is correct, the unicorn says. We cannot test it here. Respect the Forest's wishes. She glances to Marseilles, shakes out her mane. Uncomfortably, she admits, I am not sure what it is. It felt like ... home.
Yeah, boss, but what did the guy who wrote it mean it to do? Is it possible it's not really a Lamp, but... The ape fumbles for a way to illustrate the concept. A needle? A way to punch a hole between our world and the other?
"Vat did this Codex say it vould do?" Rae asks.
"Da Vinci wrote that it was a means of luring spirits," Herbert notes. "There wasn't any detail on how it did it though. If it was meant to provide the missing element they need, then I must have made a mistake somewhere. But the Lamp does work as a lure, clearly."
It is not possible, the unicorn says to Caliban, too quickly. The only way to Open is at the Opening, on the second full moon of October, on the thirty-first of the month.
The chimpanzee points at Marseilles, who is clearly longing to see the Lamp turned on again. Spirits need something they can only get from the Other Side. That's the only thing we know all spirits want. Occam's what was it, Shiv?
"Well, given what the Lamp does do then, is there any way to make use of it during an Opening?" Shaft asks, looking around at everyone but settling on Kari. "Would it confuse the spirits on the other side, perhaps? Hide the existence of the portal?"
"Razor, Caliban," says Bernice. She glances between Kari and Herbert, and bites her lip. "I think it's clearly dangerous on some level to spirits. Kari, is the Still Forest a master that came with you?"
No. It is more akin to the Hill in nature, in fact. The unicorn picks her way between the trees, horn upraised. But these spirits grew together, entwined as one by choice, not by force of will, one upon the other.
Bernice nods thoughtfully, wandering amongst the trees again. "They've kept a measure of their strength this way." She looks to the others. "So I think deriving any sustainance from the Lamp is out, but we know it's a powerful lure. I'm sure we can make use of that. What should we do now?"
"So for a composite spirit like that, the Lamp would feel like something tearing it apart?" Herbert asks the unicorn.
Tearing it from its roots, maybe, Caliban muses.
The unicorn is considering Shaft's earlier question, taking a moment to answer. It could not confuse those on the Other side; they already are home, not cut off as we are. Your Lamp may be different for each spirit, depending on how well-grounded they are in this world. I would think the Still Forest grounded indeed ... but perhaps it is not as it seems.
The chimpanzee scowls at the Lamp. Alorn. St. John. Do we wanna call them out? We could turn it on over the Hill...
Bernice says, "They've been of a divided mind. When I first sought them for help, they disagreed on whether they should get involved. Even now, they're uneasy."
Kari turns her head to Bernice. Moonlight reflects off the length of her horn as she nods. Yes, that might explain it. Some may long to leave the continuum.
"When the portal was opened last time, what did it appear as on the other side?" Shaft asks as he starts disconnecting the Lamp.
Caliban paces around in circles. Spirits, if only we could ask Da Vinci what to do... Or the Old-- hey! Trouble still has his staff, doesn't he? Doc?
Much the same as here. A kind of green glow in a spreading sphere. Except for spirits, any who comes into the sphere becomes present in both worlds. When a spirit leaves the circumference of the sphere, it may -- and must -- choose whether to remain in this one or the Other, Kari answers Shaft.
"That I'm aware of," says the doctor. She makes a face. "I don't know what he's done with it. That old goat Randall might be holding onto it."
Herbert looks to the ghost girl next, and asks, as gently as he can, "Marseilles, both you and the Manor spirit were struck with the Spirit Stunner. Can you recall what it actually did to you?"
It's a Closing artifact, isn't it? They might be tryin' to keep it from us, Caliban points out. But if things don't go well for us fightin' the Other Side, we might need it.
Marseilles thinks about it, and shakes her head. "No. I remember being in your boathouse and helping Trouble. Then I remember being inside the trap again, very close and hot and uncomfortable. Wanting to get out and not being able to. That's when you shot me, isn't it? Before you trapped me. The second time." There's just a hint of rancor in her voice.
Bernice seems to be considering the Artifacts now, tapping her chin thoughtfully, her other arm hugging around her waist. "I'm not sure... it might be more that he intends to have some use for it, but who knows, with Trouble. I think he's less wary of us now, so I don't think he'd keep it from us if we can use it. I'm starting to wonder now how we might, and what St. John and Alorn did with the Horn. I wonder if there'd be any use for the Artifacts to move to animate shells for the coming storm."
I do not think that advisable. The longer a spirit has remained in a single shell, the more difficult the transition to a new one becomes, the unicorn explains. And the Artifacts have been in their present shells since they came to this world.
The chimpanzee asks, What did they do with the Horn? That calls storms, dunnit?
Rae, Gustav, and Marseilles all look blank. The unicorn shakes her head. I do not know.
"Thank you, Marseilles," Herbert says. "Please don't hold a grudge about it though - you were attacking us at the time."
The woman nods at Kari. "Mm." She turns to Caliban, and rubs her arm uneasily again, unpleasant memories surfacing. "It turned my fellow druids into deer, and called an otherworldly Hunt down on them. That's why I wondered if there was some way for it to contact the Other side. The wolves that chased me... like the hounds of Hell." Bernice shivers, and presses a little closer to Slate.
"Spirits contained in the Horn itself perhaps?" Shaft suggests to Bernice.
Marseilles opens her mouth as if to answer Herbert, then scrunches up her face and doesn't say anything. She crosses her arms over her chest, long trailing black sleeves dangling down to her skirt.
The chimpanzee shivers. I saw that... Well, not me, pers'nally, but I saw the memory of it. He looks over at Marseilles. You okay, miss?
"We have a Darklight photo of the Hunt as well," Herbert adds, patting the pocket he keeps the print in.
The ghost screws up her face a little more, gives a slight shake of her head to Caliban.
Diffidently, the unicorn says, Even I myself do not know all the Artifacts any longer. My own memories have deteriorated over the millenia. But I can say that some single spirits have the ability to take the seeming of many creatures at once.
"Er, would it help Marseilles to be in an actual living body again?" Herbert asks the unicorn. "Help her be more.. stable, that is?"
The chimpanzee moves over to pat Marseilles's hand. Miss, we didn't exactly make the best first impression, but you kinda gave us heebie jeebies twice too, so th' honors're even. Call it even-stevens maybe? He smiles up at her closed-lipped.
She could be reborn, yes. As human like Rae or Bernice. But a spirit must take a newborn form. She would be an infant again, and lose all memory of herself. It is also probable that she would fragment in the process, as most spirits do. Kari looks to Marseilles and sighs. She will fragment sooner if she does not. She is part-bound to the Manor, but it has been a reluctant merger for her. She does not want to give up what she was in her last life, and until she does she cannot settle into a new one. I am sorry, my daughter, she says to the ghost girl.
"What if she went to the other side?" Herbert asks. "Is it anything like living in our world?"
Marseilles makes another face at Caliban, then ducks her head in a nod. "Okay." She turns her hand over to clasp his, then looks to the unicorn. "I don't want to forget."
You mean, if the way were Opened? Then she would be enslaved. As would we all. Even I am far too weak to hold my own against the Masters today, the unicorn says.
"We have to defeat them somehow," Shaft says. "It's the only way. We have a few weapons, but the Artifacts will need to fight."
The doctor wrings her hands. "But how do we overcome our weakness? Kari, how many would we be facing? Do they outnumber us as well as overpower us?"
The unicorn shakes her head. The Artifacts have more power than I, but they cannot hope to match the strength or numbers of the Masters. To Bernice, she continues, Yes. I do not know their numbers or their powers now, for it has been centuries since I glimpsed through the Veil. But I believe there to be hundreds of Masters on the Other side, and each a dozen times more potent than an Artifact. If you hope to win against them, you must find weapons of this world that can content. And I cannot imagine what could.
Patting Marseilles's hand, the chimpanzee assures her, You may be a strange ghost-girl-fox, but you're okay by me! He gives her a wry grin.
"We have a device that acts like a spirit trap for very large spirits," Shaft tells Kari. "It drains their power and transfers to whatever we wish, be it an Artifact or a spirit or another device."
Marseilles grins back, and squeezes Caliban's hand. The dark lace that had been creeping over her face seems to have stabalized for now.
That news makes the unicorn's ears lift. Truly? Then ... perhaps there is some way. She sounds heartened, for the first time since Rae and Bernice met her.
"We also have some materials that may offer us protection or hide us from their sight," the Englishman adds.
Bernice hears the positive note in Kari's voice, and almost seems to feed on it, perking up a bit. "That reminds me. Would the Other have to take bodies in our world?"
"That draining-transfer-thing isn't as great as he makes it sound." Marseilles scrunches her face up again. "Believe me, I should know. Can you, um, tune that or something? So it's not so hard to use?"
"Well, the Amplifier is different from the Trap that you drained the Manor spirit out of," Shaft explains. "It is meant to process a spirit into a purer form of energy, whereas the Trap just.. traps one."
If they stayed for long, yes. More than a few years. But if the portal remained Open, they would not need to stay. They could return to the Other, draw strength for a new journey. Still ... there is a lure to anchors, here. Similar to the lure of your spirit lamp. It is hard not to want a shell on Earth, the unicorn says.
"Oh. How's that work? Can I try -- no, never mind. I don't want to try." Marseilles sticks her tongue out. "Maybe you should have someone else see if it works. I bet Trouble'd eat a spirit if you asked him to."
The chimpanzee sits on a rock and glances about while the adults talk. If they see the Amplifier at work, they'll try to destroy it before it can be used on more of 'em, he suggests to his master. We'll need to protect it.
"Ah, there is a difficulty there, in that we cannot test the device until the banefire occurs," Shaft says. "It can only be triggered by an intense amount of spirit energy, more than even you or the Hill could provide, Marseilles. As a weapon, it can be used against the Masters, but will ignore anything smaller." He pats Caliban's shoulder, and says, "Don't forget, the Amplifier itself is shielded due to it's nature. To attack it, a Master would need to take on a body. I hope. We've not actually tested the shielding against a determined and powerful spirit yet."
Rae and Gustav look totally lost. Marseilles and the unicorn very slightly less so.
Bernice's brow knits as she tries to follow all this, not looking any less lost. "Is it possible to channel any of this into... erm.. my spirit? Even my very tiny one?"
Herbert hmms, and lifts up the battery that Caliban brought. "This battery is also shielded. It's casing is make of oricalchum, an alloy of gold and a rare mineral from a deposit called The Black Stone. If you can get past it, then you could draw power directly from the battery, Marseilles."
The doctor seems to meander on her train of thought. "In fact, if I took on the piece of the Manor that is troubling Marseilles, would I be better able to hold onto it since I have a body?"
The chimpanzee looks worried. Doc?
"Right. I did that earlier. When it was overflowing and hooked to the trap. Well, kinda, anyway. I guess I didn't get it out of the battery." Marseilles turns her glowing blue eyes to the battery. She reaches out to touch it, leaving faint phosphor marks on the outer case.
Bernice shakes her head, fingering her braid. "It's... it's stupid. I've heard of possessed people, I'm sure I'd be no better able to handle the spirit than Marseilles, and the witch hunters would probably shoot me on sight."
The chimpanzee pats Marseilles's hand. Acquisitive little thing, aren't you? He grins wryly. That was, sorta, y'know, 'fresh from the spirit'.
Marseilles plucks at one dark sleeve. Her voice echoes as she says, "I don't want to let it go." (it go -- go -- oh -- oh .... )
"The material conducts spirit energy," Shaft explains. "Depending on the way it is produced, it can reflect or transmit. The crystals of the trap are made from the Black Stone, and reflect internally, for example. The crystals are more fragile than the alloy, however."
"Did you want me to see if I can get through it?" Marseilles asks.
The chimpanzee catches his boss's eyes and shakes his head quickly.
"Well, it probably wouldn't be good for you get another dose of Manor spirit energy right now," Shaft admits. "I have less dangerous things you can try with back on the Babbage. If you can't break through one, then perhaps we can see if Kari can. Otherwise, we may have a defense of sorts."
The unicorn dips her head, and Marseilles smiles. She looks a little relieved. "I'd rather try on something that doesn't have yuckiness inside it anyway."
"We can even try to block your mind-control trick," Herbert promises the ghost.
Caliban gives his boss a sidelong, long-suffering look that says You're going to have her try on me, aren't you?
"Okay!" Marseilles says cheerfully.
The doctor begins looking the machine over again. "You say this material has some way of... disrupting, or blocking, or otherwise adversely affecting spirits? Mm... but you said it was rare, right?"
"Yes," Shaft replies to Bernice. "I have some of the mineral with me, of course, since I need it for just about everything Game-related. Although I'm limited to producing the alloy only at the moment. Crystals take much longer."
Bernice starts to actually nibble on the end of her braid now, still exploring down mental avenues. This one dead-ends again, however. "Probably impractical and silly to try to cast bullets or whatnot out of it."
"I'm not sure they would... wait," Herbert says, then looks thoughtful. After a moment, he shakes his head. "Not enough time to produce the bullets and long lengths of wire for a long-range stunner."
The unicorn touches the tip of her horn to the battery, investigating it. I do not think this would harm us. But it does have an odd quality to it. Where did you find this mineral, Mr. Shaft? Is it naturally-occuring?
"There's one known deposit in Eastern Europe," Shaft says. "It's a great monolith of the stuff, apparently exposed by erosion. There were some cults who worshipped it, but they were exterminated a century ago. I've honestly no idea what the Stone's origins are. It might be the core of an ancient meteorite, or some natural extrusion. It could even be a reaction to the first Opening."
The chimpanzee yawns. Perhaps the long-winding discussion and the lateness of the hour is getting to him. Was it in the Codex? This Da Vinci guy, he seemed to know an awful lot about these things. Wunner how?
Amazing. I do not recall hearing of it before. Her horn draws a little scratch on the shell of the battery, and she pulls back before damaging it.
"He was a genius who had access to centuries of research done by the Church," Shaft notes. "He even thought that the Stone could be used to build a time machine, or the elixir of life, but never fully explored those lines of thought."
The group discusses how best to get at least one of the spirits becak into town. Marseilles doesn't seem capable of not being tangible any more, and her current appearance is very conspicuous -- they smuggled her out under a cloak and even that surely raised eyebrows. Herbert asks the ghost-girl if she can still turn into a fox. She wrinkles her nose, which flickers and turns into a muzzle. Then the rest of her is wrapped a swirl of shadow and shrinks into a fox-shape.
A red fox shape wearing a kind of cloak of black lace, clinging down her back and dangling around her sides like barding on a horse.
The fox-ghost wrinkles her nose and shakes herself, then yips.
The chimpanzee claps his hands. Hey, neat trick!
The fox yips again, then bites at one of the dangling bits of lace. She pads in a circle around Caliban.
"That should keep you from notice at least," Shaft says, nodding in approval. "Although it may appear that you've raided a clothesline, and spark rumors of just who hangs out black lingerie, but that shouldn't be too dangerous."
The unicorn dips her head to the Closers. Good night to you, and good luck, she says. The Mikkelsens likewise take their leave, Rae yawning and hugging Kari's neck before she goes.
Bernice looks on curiously, never having seen this before. She hides a small smile at Marseilles antics, then glances at Herbert. "Well, given what's gone on lately, I suppose a fox in town would be the least strange thing to happen recently."
It's pretty late when the party returns to the houseboat, and few are about after dark in Phillips Harbour, especially after recent events. Most likely, no one noticed the small fox in the darkness, but Slate isn't as quiet. Anyone who did see them will probably add to the rumors about Miss Townes's unladylike and unchaperoned behavior.
Rumors notwithstanding, they reach the boat without incident, and Islington welcomes them back. All quiet on the southern front, he reports, with a sleepy tongue-curled yawn. How'd it go?
Oh, got a forest mad at us, Marseilles wants to see the Lamp on again, the chimpanzee reports to Islington. The usual sorta thing. Now the boss wants to test if this 'spirit shield' stuff really shields.
After retrieving the spirit-secure box from the safe, Herbert puts a cookie inside for extra incentive. The box itself is about the size of a dictionary, with a black-lacquer. He sets it on the parlor table and nods in satisfaction. "This should work. First, Marseilles can try to lift the lid off," he says.
Bernice stifles a yawn of her own, stooping down to give Islington a rub around the shoulders with her fingertips. "It was all Greek to me," she says. "We left with as many questions as we came with, but it looks like Mr. Shaft may try to answer some with some new ideas."
"Some of it is Romanian, actually," Herbert corrects Bernice absent-mindedly.
Marseilles un-foxes herself with a swish of her tail. She reaches out for the lid, closes her fingers on it, and tugs.
Nothing happens.
She frowns at it, puts both hands on either side, and pulls. Then tries from just one side. Then tries shoving it on the table. Her grip seems very solid on it -- her fingers don't go into it, and leave faint phosphor marks where she touches -- but otherwise have no effect. She lifts her hands away, crosses them over her chest, and glowers at it, tail swishing. The glow from her eyes brightens, but nothing happens to the box.
The chimpanzee fixes himself a late night snack, involving sliced bananas, bread fried up in a pan, and jelly. He offers some around.
"Hmmm, that seems promising," Shaft says of Marseilles' efforts. He opens the box and offers her the cookie. "Next we can see if it will block your psychic power as well." He does this by holding up the box in front of his face, to hide it from the ghost.
Marseilles takes one absently and munches on it. Islington stares at her. Y'know, I really don't think dead people are supposed to be able to do that.
The ghost girl finishes her bread and jelly and wipes her mouth on one black lace sleeve. She focuses her glower on Mr. Shaft.
Bernice looks startled to see this as well. "Curiouser and curiouser." She shakes her surprise off, and unshoulders a heavy-looking satchel she arrived with, letting it thump a bit against the ship's deck. "I've brought you Girard's books, Islington."
"Ah!" Shaft cries and drops the box, looking around the cabin in terror! "The Portal, it's.. here?"
Got it, ma'am -- what? Islington is half on his feet and towards the satches when he stops to stares at Mr. Shaft. He whirls around, fur fluffing. Marseilles spins to, then gives a guilty start. The glow in her eyes dims.
She gave the boss 'heebie jeebies', the ape explains to Islington. His worst nightmare.
"He told me to!" Marseilles says, defensively.
If Bernice was startled before, she's much more so now, and she hops to her feet to hurry to Shaft's side, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Mr. Shaft, it's alright! Shh, it's alright." She remembers what it was like to feel that scare, and hugs the man sympathetically and spontaneously.
"Oh.. oh, never mind," Shaft says, face red. He picks up the box again, and says, "Well, at least a simple line-of-sight shield is ineffective. I suppose we could try putting a mouse inside of the closed box to see if it offers any better protection, but that really wouldn't help us and Prayer would likely be upset. But how many spirits have abilities like Marseilles? It would seem the sort of thing a Master should be able to do, in order to control others."
It's okay, Marseilles, but I think those shields aren't goin' to do much about it if they can do the same thing to us, the chimpanzee reassures the girl, patting her hand.
After straightening his jacket from the hug (but not losing his blush yet), Shaft asks, "Have you ever tried that trick on another spirit before, Marseilles?"
Marseilles sits in one of the chairs, looking a bit glum. She nods to Shaft. "Yeah. I did it to Trouble when we first met. He scared me first, though! I just wanted him to leave me alone."
Bernice flushes a little herself, shuffling back to her satchel of books a little awkwardly and kneeling down by the cat again. She strokes Islington once more, ostensibly to help smooth his puffed up fur down, but a little to soothe away her nervousness as well. "Don't worry, Marseilles. Nobody's accusing you of anything. Even with me... you just wanted to help Trouble."
She laces her fingers together and rests her chin in them. "I think the Manor did it to me. Well, not that. But something like that. Controlled me, or my mood, or something." Her tail twitches again.
"Hmm, but Trouble also has a body," Shaft comments. "And if I don't have a spirit, then we can assume your trick works on living brains. But what you say about the Manor indicates it will work on disembodied spirits. Could you tell, now, when something like that was being done to you?"
Islington settles, with an absent purr to Bernice. Don't have enough of that stuff to make armor, I suppose? he says to Shaft.
Herbert grins to the cat, and says, "Well, not very comfortable armor, and certainly not in time. But we have enough made already to use as more tradition shields. I think I can do one more test with the box though, to see how it affects a spirit's perception."
Marseilles lifts her gaze in inquiry, waiting to see what Herbert means.
The chimpanzee munches on his own jelly-banana sandwich, looking a little restored by the high-sugar snack.
The doctor looks on, unpacking the satchel while she does so.
Herbert hands the box to Caliban, and says, "Go into the darkroom, close the door and put something in the box. Then bring it back out."
"In the meantime, can you tell what's in my pocket, Marseilles?" Shaft asks the ghost, and pats the vest pocket that has the first Darklight photograph in it.
Caliban scratches behind his head, then ooks. Okay, boss. He does as instructed, closing the door behind himself.
Marseilles doesn't look at Herbert, her gaze following Caliban as he goes to the darkroom. "A photograph. A strange one of Caliban and a coach and a white deer and wolves," she says, absently. When Caliban closes the door behind him, she blinks and jumps to her feet, knocking back the chair. "Where did he -- " she runs to the door, taps on it, and peers to either side, fox ears swiveling.
Some rustling later, the chimpanzee emerges with the closed box in his hands. Oh hi there, miss! he says to Marseilles, then hands the box to his master.
"Very good!" Herbert says. "Now did you actually see the photo in my pocket, or see it in my mind?"
"In your pocket," Marseilles says. "I can't read your mind. I can only put ideas into it. Well, sort of put ideas into it. Put feelings into it, I guess. Like I told you to be scared, and you decided to be scared because the portal had opened."
She looks at the box, and then at the door. "It's so strange. Like they're not there. Like there's nothing in the box. Almost like the box doesn't even exist."
"So, it seems we can hide from spirits to some degree," Herbert muses. He turns the box away from Marseilles and just opens the top. "Now that the top of the box is open, can you see 'around' it to peek inside?" he asks.
The fox-girl nods, looking puzzled and sort of relieved. "Yes. There's a playing card in it. The three of hearts."
Huh, spirit vision is strange stuff, the chimpanzee opines, watching this performance.
She takes the cookie Herbert gave her earlier and nibbles at it. Meanwhile, Islington is pawing at Girard's books, nosing them open and peering at the writing. Ugh, French drives me nuts, he says of the first, moving on to the next.
"Hmm, clearly we need full coverage for hiding purposes," Shaft says. "We can block physical attacks with a simple shield, but not psychic ones. I might be able to make a small armored box from the darkroom shielding for Caliban at least."
Great. So that's one of us who'll survive an Opening. Islington glances up from the books with a grim look.
The chimpanzee looks bemused. Boss, it's great we can do that, but what can I do from inside a box like that? The Amplifier has to be able to reach the spirits, so they have to be able to reach it, right?
"Possibly helmets too, although the air and eye holes might make them useless," the man adds in reply to Islington. "It may be worth testing."
Bernice kneels by Islington, helping him turn pages and opening covers. "I know a little bit, I can translate some. Just... not so much the notes in the margins, please." Her cheeks get a little hotter.
Mm? Islington gives Bernice a bemused look. Ah, Latin, that's better. Lemme see. He paws through the pages. You're looking for a way to contact him, right?
Looking to Caliban, Shaft says, "We should contact Miss Pau and learn if she has any way of protecting against psychic attacks."
Okay, so what's the idea? We hide the Amplifier in the box with me, then we spring it like a surprise when the spirits think they've got the field to themselves? asks Caliban.
The doctor bobs her head, braid flipping over her shoulder. "Right. Or heck, anything else that'd be useful at this point. I'll clutch at all the straws I can."
"Well.. they shouldn't be able to affect the Amplifier or know what it does," Shaft says. "And I need to be able to operate it, of course. But if we can protect our minds from manipulation, then we can use the stunner and other artifacts and spirits to fight them. The Portal starts out small, so with luck they can't all attack us at once."
I'll see what I can work out, Islington promises. His whiskers flick forward, perusing one page.
The chimpanzee ponders. So we're not really sure yet, we're just getting all the tools we can an' figurin' out what they can do with spirits?
Herbert nods to the ape, and then snaps his fingers, and says, "Oh my, the Portal! We forgot to check if the Engine has finished the latest location plot for it."
"I think if I can see your eyes I can still put feelings in your head," Marseilles says, a little hesitant. The open box doesn't obscure the thing inside at all, really."
"Hmmm, if only we knew just how a spirit 'sees' in the first place," Herbert notes. "For instance, can you see your own reflection in a mirror, Marseilles?"
The ghost says, "No. I don't have one."
"I can see other people's reflections, though," she adds.
"So, dark glasses or similar may be enough to hide our eyes," Shaft says, rubbing his chin. "Even better would be half-mirrored glass, but I can't make that in time."
"But it doesn't," Marseilles says, looking puzzled for a moment as she works it out. "I mean ... I don't see like you do. I can see through masks and stuff. Or ... around them, or something. I can see the photograph in your pocket, but I can also see your jacket, too. Seeing the one doesn't stop me from seeing the other."
"Drat," Herbert swears, then apologizes to the ladies for it. "We don't know how clever those Masters are either. They'll have never encountered physical beings before, so could be confused about us at first."
Boss, that sounds a li'l like wishful thinkin', the chimpanzee warns. He is familiar with the pursuit, of course. Let's stick with askin' Miss Pau if she knows anythin' about these psy-chick shields first, an' see if we can get the Doc's staff back.
Bernice shakes her head. "I think it's more of an 'awareness' than 'seeing', Mr. Shaft."
"Apparently," Shaft agrees. "That means those of you with spirits will be the first ones noticed."
"Maybe." Marseilles nods. "Like I know Miss Townes just shook her head even though she's behind me."
"At the very least though, we can prepare an enclosure for spirits to hide in from the Masters," Shaft says. "But they'd have no way of knowing what was happening outside of it."
"Um. And not having a spirit doesn't protect you from them," Marseilles says, a little uncertain still on the whole 'spirit' concept.
The doctor looks mildly surprised, but she drops her fist into her palm. "It makes sense. Marseilles is tangible, but spirits don't have organs or eyeballs or anything like that, no need to perceive light. Sort of like how I can sense spirits as well. Their awareness of their surroundings must be a general one. The box and anything in it just doesn't seem to exist to them, I suppose."
"Not once they notice physical beings as being threats, no," Herbert says. "We only have one stunner, and can feed it a great deal of power from the Amplifier. It seems to knock spirits unconscious, so that could possibly break a Master spirit's hold over its slaves too. There are just so many unknowns."
Yawning cavernously, the chimpanzee nods agreement to his master. I hope Miss Pau, Rev. Hale, and that Randall guy have some answers for us.
"We have offense covered, I think," Shaft agrees. "We'll have to leave defense up to those who can use magic."
"I'll keep trying to get a hold of Girard, with Islington's help," says Bernice. "I can think of precious little I can do otherwise."
Want me to come home with you and your books, Miss? Or look at 'em here since you've brought 'em all? the white cat asks.
Bernice smiles down at Islington. "Whichever you'd like. I should probably retire to my cabin for some rest, so if you'd like to come with me, we can continue studying there. The least I can do is cook a meal to thank you, though I don't know if I'm as good as Caliban."
Sitting down now and finally availing himself of Caliban's snack tray, Herbert muses, "Well, if all else fails, perhaps we can bribe them with cookies."