[Story] The Future History of Jakob Pettersohn (11/Jul/09 - Final Chapter)

[Tapewolf]

Oh, yes. We get to see Keats doing Croft-style raiding. I can so see it...
Excellent storyline, Tapewolf. Much amusement. I needed a laugh...

Thanks.  Personally, my favourite is Keaton's misunderstanding of Ashford "dying at home, surrounded by his family" but yes, there were a lot of things in that one which I'm quite proud of.  And yes, I'll have to see what we can do about Keaton.  The end-run for her is pretty much worked out, but how we get there is not.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Oh, yes. "murder-suicide? *eyes glow" *mwahahaha*

[Gabi]

CheeseRaider? Now I'm curious about what that game is like.

I'd make more comments, but I have to go now.

[Tapewolf]

CheeseRaider? Now I'm curious about what that game is like.

I'm afraid you'll have to ask Amber that one.  And she's probably forgotten anyway by now 

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I suspect what she had in mind was a thinly veiled allusion to the Tomb Raider series.

[Tapewolf]

I suspect what she had in mind was a thinly veiled allusion to the Tomb Raider series.

That was my assumption.  I almost made my own version up before remembering that Furrae had its own version of the game already.

[Gabi]

Oh, that one!

Yes, llearch, I did get the reference, but I gather replacing tombs for cheese would make quite a difference.

By the way, I liked James's threat to Jakob.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Yes, llearch, I did get the reference, but I gather replacing tombs for cheese would make quite a difference.

Not that much, I'd think. Either you make big, bouncy(!) leaps across the dusty corridors, over the trapped floor, to break into the solid wall and get to the shiny prize...

Or you make big, bouncy(!) leaps across the dusty corridor, over the cat on the floor, to break into the solid fridge and get the shiny cheese...


... Sound similar? ;-]

[Tapewolf]

No further corrections back from James on the final draft, so I assume he's still happy with the dialogue.  If not, let me know and I'll patch it in later.

Can you tell I've been playing Thief 2 a lot lately?

Chapter 43 - Cults

"Have I missed much?"  Jakob asked, appearing on a wall display in the back room of the Islington.

"Not really, Yak," Seth said.  "But... can you please put Daryil on?  I need to speak to him urgently."

"Is something the matter?"  Jakob asked, a look of concern touching his face.

"Definitely."

Jakob touched a button and the screen split.  The right hand side flickered slightly and then began to show Daryil, sitting at the desk in his room.  He had three pairs of shoes on his desk and appeared to be tying the laces together into a ring.

"You bastard!" Sethir yelled.  The fox looked up from what he was doing in surprise.

"'Bastard?'" Daryil's eyebrows raised.  "Is that how you normally address a Clan Founder?"

"Right now, I don't care!  Look what you did to me!"

"And what is it that I did?" Daryil asked politely, putting the shoe down.

"You know very well!  You did something to my brain in the last system update, and now... now I think this guy looks hot!" he wailed, gesturing in the direction of Arcuros.  The feather-winged panther blushed and looked away.

"That's probably because he does look hot," Daryil said.  "Have you got his number?"

"Milord, if you would please stop trying to hit on my assistant," Sanderssen said, "We do have business to attend to.  Can this wait?"

"He started it," Daryil retorted.  "He was being mean to Dorcan.  I wanted to run a full systems test on someone to make sure the sex drive was working correctly.  So I volunteered him."

"We'll settle this later," Jakob told him soothingly.  "Right now we have more important things to worry about.  Seth, we'll fix you as soon as the mission is fulfilled."

"You never know, you might enjoy-" Daryil said and promptly vanished, the image on the screen resizing itself to show only Jakob again.

"Arcuros?" Sanderssen said, looking at his briefcase.  "I seem to have left my notebook in the office.  Could you run and get it, please?"

"Yes sir," the Creature said, glancing at Seth with a slightly surprised expression.  The wolf could not meet his eye.

As he opened the door, Arcuros almost ran into James who entered the room clutching a glass of water.   He took one look at Jakob as he appeared on the wall display, and crossing his arms, gave a sideways glance at the screen.

"Well, look who decided to show his face..." said James, sounding somewhat upset. "You still remember your friends, right?  Even zombies crawl out of their holes every century or so dang it!" James stuck out an accusing finger at Jakob, his face looking serious and wide eyed. "You didn't even show up for free pastry night when the Sleepy Tree's 500th branched opened!  You had me grieving for you when you merely feigned death!"

Joshua's ears pricked up slightly at the mention of the inn.  He'd heard the chain was Angel-owned... apparently he was now face-to-face with the proprietor.

"I'm sorry," Jakob said, and looked wretched for a moment.  "I didn't want it to leak out that I was alive, or it might have happened for real.  We were about to make a big breakthrough, and the Nagristi clan wanted my head.  I guess they suspected I was still alive.  I'm sorry... I'll make it up to you somehow, I promise."

"What am I, a fruit and veggie strainer?!  I don't 'leak' stuff!" the squirrel huffed. "I kept all your other 'dark secrets' for centuries! But since you are sorry, I guess that will have to do for now...

"Anyways, I'll tell you what I know.  'bout a month ago, an organization calling itself 'The Church of the Omnitheistic Gnosis' set itself up here.  They're a strange bunch.  They dress in robes like it was a monastry, but their gospel is some new-age garble.  Thing is, it wasn't long after they showed up that people started to go weird.  They wind up their affairs and cease to function as normal members of society."

"Hmmm... do you remember the Cakers?" Jakob asked.

"No," Joshua replied.

"They were a fringe religious movement, had a lot of followers back in the day," Jakob said.  "They preached poverty, which saw a lot of people giving up their worldly possessions and living in squalor.  But aside from that, their central belief was that the way to their god's heart was through His stomach, so they set out to try and create a cake delicious enough to tempt Him back to Furrae so that He might finish the grand work of Creation.  Well, that didn't really work out and a century or so later, a heretic priest named Paphlan renounced the poverty business and went off to found a chain of bakeries, taking most of the Faithful with him.  The movement never really recovered from that.  Maybe this lot will evapourate in the same way."

"The Cakers were harmless," James said, starting to pace the floor.  "These guys, I'm not so sure about.  I made a few inquiries and they were quite shifty.  I tried to join them myself, but they brushed me off... said I had the wrong aura. What makes me most suspicious is that they didn't have any flyers about their aims."

"Well, that doesn't sound good, but I don't like jumping to conclusions," Joshua objected.  "For all we know they came here to fight whatever it is that is possessing people."

The squirrel smiled and shook his head sadly.  "You don't understand.  The people who are afflicted join the gnostics.  My guess is that they're somehow brainwashing people."

"There's something I'm not getting here," Seth said.  "If you think the cult is responsible, why don't you just get a 'Cubi to find out?  Read their minds, and the minds of the victims.  Find out what's going on in their heads."

"There are few 'Cubi in Ha'khun these days," Sanderssen said.  "While I believe there is at least one, they are a rare sort and conceal their race.  For one thing, they are considered unwelcome here after Cross."

"So much for my dream of unity," Azrael said, a bitter expression on his face.

"I know," the demon sighed.  "If it were a statute or law I could repeal it, but it is a matter of popular opinion, and that is harder to change, particularly when the Council itself is divided on the issue."

"One question," Jakob suddenly interrupted.  "Where is Arcuros?"

* * *

Keaton extruded a wing-tentacle vertically, melting the Jyraneth head away and replacing it with a seemingly-flat surface.  In reality, the pad was covered with billions of tiny, nanoscopic hairs.  Craning her neck to watch, it reached higher and higher until it touched the wooden beam over her head and stuck there.  The hairs moved slightly, coming into optimum contact with the wood and adhering the pad to it through van-der-Waals force like a gecko's foot.  The first tug came away, ripping the vanish off the surface and exposing the bare wood.  The second tug held, and she rose gently into the air, pulling herself upwards on a rope made of her own flesh.

Eat your soul out, Linda Craft, she thought.

The object of this exercise was to reach a balcony some thirty feet above her within the great hall.  A levitation spell would have been more convenient, but the entire building was warded against magic and so much as a light spell would be enough to set off the alarms and bring half the city guard down upon her like ants on chocolate.

She was almost level with the balcony now.  With a faint grunt, the jackal began to rock back and forth until she was swinging.  Moving her body in resonance with the 'rope', she finally came close and reached out, her claws digging into the balcony.  Pulling herself up, she relaxed.  The hairs vanished and the tentacle drooped down until she finally sucked it back into her wings.  If the plans she'd found were accurate, all the stairs loading up to this level were alarmed.

Crouching in the shadows, she watched as one of the guards walked past.  As soon as they were out of sight, she slipped back through the other door and crept into the Hall of Records.  There was a manifest on the table which she perused... the last-but-one entry was the gemstone containing Ashford's soul.  It was in cupboard 3A.  A few minutes later and she had cracked the lock, pressing one of her wing-tentacles against it and morphing the tip until it had picked all the tumblers.  Come to mommy, she thought to herself.

"WHO'S DONE THIS!?!" someone yelled two stories below.  The stone fell from her hands and skittered across the floor.

* * *

"Welcome, my child," Father Albina said, with a pleasant smile.  Nikleaus shook his hand.  "All of us go through a period in our lives when fate seems to assail us from every side.  It is part of the natural order of things, the way of the Great Wheel.  While none can stop the Wheel, our order practices a variety of techniques of meditation and relaxation which give one what we like to call 'The Three Tenets'.  In short, they grant us three things - the wisdom to find order within the chaos of our lives, the humility we need to accept our fates and finally, the courage to emerge from the ordeals that shape us as stronger and better people."

"That sounds just the ticket," the stag said with a weary smile.  "Life has not been kind to me of late.  Being at peace with myself is something that seems almost alien to me now..."

"Well, my young friend," the Father said, "Such worries will shortly trouble you no more.  But in order to help you find the peace you seek, we must regress you back to your early life to find the root cause of the strife that plagues you.  Brother Farnighan will assist us."

"Sounds good," he said, and took his place upon the couch.

"Now, I want you to close your eyes and think of nothing," said the Father.  Nikleaus did so.  A feeling of bliss overwhelmed him.
"I want you to go back to your very earliest memories," the Father continued.

The feeling of bliss grew ever greater.  In his mind's eye, Nikleaus saw himself as a fawn, his family home, the stuffed toys on his shelf, the treasures and disappointments that birthdays can bring to a small child.  Primary school became secondary school, became college, his degree, his graduation ceremony, his first job, his fiance, his wife, his second job, being laid off, the divorce proceedings...

"Did you get all that?" Father Albina asked.

"Yes father," the brother replied.

Eh? Nikleaus thought.  Then the dagger entered him and he knew no more.

[techmaster-glitch]

Heh, every time I read 'Arcuros', I thought 'Arcturus' (the guy from StarCraft)

[Tapewolf]

Heh, every time I read 'Arcuros', I thought 'Arcturus' (the guy from StarCraft)

That's because his name is derived from the star.

[James StarRunner]

Ah, so you did post it. I was with family this weekend, so I didn't read the final draft till a few minutes ago. XD

[Eagle0600]

Just read this through, and all I can say is that it was brilliant. Can't wait for more.

[Tapewolf]

Just read this through, and all I can say is that it was brilliant. Can't wait for more.

Thanks.  Enjoy it:



Chapter 44 - Psychometrics

"Any news?"  Sanderssen asked, as James came in and removed his coat.  The squirrel took out a small gold band which Arcuros had been wearing on his wrist.

"This was just outside the Gnostics' church," he said slowly.  "It has his name on it.  I think he dropped it deliberately."  Seth buried his face.

"To this date, the Gnostics have targeted Beings only," Sanderssen said grimly.  "Arcuros is of Angel blood.  It looks like they've stepped up to Creatures."

"Well, it looks very much like they're responsible.  Why don't you stop them?" Joshua asked.

"We still do not have enough proof," Sanderssen said.  "The Gnostics have allies on the Council, so we must dot every 'i' and cross-" his watch rang.

"Make this quick, Rogiir.  I am busy."  The watch was on private mode so he pressed it against his ear for a moment and then glanced up at Jakob.

"Rogiir is a fellow councilman and member of the... Crossites.  He wishes to erect a statue of you in the main square, with the corpses of your victims at your feet."

"Over my dead body!" the incubus squawked.

Sanderssen pressed a button on the watch and then pointed it at the wall-display.  The screen split into two, showing an enthusiastic demon coyote next to Jakob.

"My Lord Cross," he beamed, "I had heard rumours that you lived still!  We are preparing to commission a statue in your honour!"

Back in the lab, Jakob stared at the coyote on his screen as if he was insane.

"What we have done is as nothing compared to the might of your rule, but-"

"No." Jakob said.  The demon stared at him in puzzlement.

"Sorry, Mi'lord?"

"Please do not call me that.  As for the statue, I ceased to rule Ha'Khun for good reason.  I do not need another reminder of my crimes, and nor does this city.  If you must honour me, I would have a statue depicting the days when I ruled jointly with Azrael, not the madness that came after."

"But that was boring!" the Demon whined.  "The great expansionist years under you saw the city rise in power and stature!  Those were the interesting years!  It became a true force to be reckoned with..."

"You weren't born then, were you?" Jakob interrupted softly.  There was a look of pity in his eyes.  "I know Demons worship power, but put that aside for the moment and try to look at this rationally.  Those years weren't 'cool', they were horrible.  I jailed and banished thousands of people who did nothing worse than speak out against me, and I let everyone else think that I had destroyed their souls.
"I abused my power and kept the entire province in a state of constant fear for my own personal gain.  When, in my twenties, I first learned of my heritage, I feared that I might become a monster.  And during the Johan Cross years, I did.  I killed people.  Only a dozen or so in my whole reign, but they still died.  My father always told me that life was sacred and I betrayed his trust.  But worst of all, I betrayed Azrael."

The coyote looked shaken.  "You banished them?  It was all a hoax?"

"I'm afraid so," Jakob said simply.

"I..." Rogiir said.

"Send someone round," Azrael said sharply.  "Make sure he doesn't do anything rash."

"Lord Page?" the Demon gaped.  Then his eyes widened.  Rogiir threw his head back and laughed.

"Nice one, Sandy!" he said.  "You really had me going there for a moment.  Where did you get these two?  It's a great likeness, but you really need to work out their lines.  So much like you to paint Cross as a sad, misunderstood figure!  Don't take this the wrong way, but you're living in a dream-world where he's concerned.  Anyway, I've got to get back to work on the statue.  See you at the Council."

He cut off.  Jakob pawed his face and sighed.  "I need a break," he said.  "Do you mind if I call you back later?"

* * *

"What kind of fish did you have in mind, sir?" the dalmatian asked.  "Saltwater?  Freshwater?  Tropical?  Temperate?"

"One that will fit in this and still have room to swim around," Daryil said, proffering a mug of steaming tea.

"Man, you're sick," the assistant pronounced at last.

"I don't like fish," Daryil admitted.  "Nasty wet and slimy things, they are."

"Then why in the name of the gods are you trying to buy some?"

"It's for the cause of science," the fox told him.  "I want to know if fish can live inside tea.  Also coffee and soup," he added.  "There are a lot of variations... different temperatures, different thicknesses of soup or strengths of tea..."

The shop assistant turned away and tried very hard to imagine that Daryil was not there.  He looked noticeably upset when he turned back.

"What's the matter?" Daryil said.  "Fish are non-sentient.  I know a few demons who'd like to do this sort of thing to people!"

"Please, sir, just go away," the shop assistant begged.

"Nathir!  Is that any way to talk to a customer?" his manager said, emerging from a door and fixing the dog with a less-than friendly expression.

"I was just asking him... do you think fish can breathe if I keep them in a tank of chowder?" Daryil asked.  "Chowder's fish, right?  That should work, shouldn't it?"

The manager couldn't think of anything to say to this.

"Anyway, I didn't come here to buy fish," Daryil told Nathir.  "I came here for you.  What time do you finish?  Come round my place and we can play join-the-dots..."

"SECURITY!" the manager screamed as the dalmatian began to curl up into a red-faced little ball at his feet.

* * *

"The rite of your initiation is almost complete, daughter." Father Albina said.  "There is but one last step, one which you must take by yourself.  All you need to do is walk through this door."

"What will I find there?" the sister asked.

"Your inner self," the Father told her.  "All the evils that must be purged from your character.  Now, go my child, and do what must be done.  I shall see you afterwards."

The sister entered the room as she was bid.  In the centre of the room was a small table, and sat at it was a nervous-looking figure, one of their newer recruits.  The sister removed her hood and the she-wolf gave a gasp of horror.  It was her face.

"Who are you?" the wolf whimpered.

"My name is Felicia," her doppelgänger smiled.

"But that's my name!"

"My name is your name," the other wolf said, with a tinge of sorrow in her voice.  "I am your replacement."

"But what happens to me?" the recruit asked, but she could already guess the answer.

"I am deeply sorry," Sister Felicia told her counterpart, "But your survival is not part of the Divine Plan.  Be assured, though...  your suffering will be brief and it will help purify your spirit."

Felicia ran to the door.  It was locked.

* * *

Daryil entered the workshop the following morning to see Jakob making his way through a pile of letters.

"Anything good?" Daryil asked.

"A maintenance invoice from the synchrotron people," Jakob said.  "Contract for approval to start work on the second unit... and a restraining order for you."

Daryil beamed, and ran to pin it up in his room next to the others.

"Excuse me," Dorcan said, approaching the wolf with some trepidation.  Asking favours was not something he was used to doing.

"Is there something I can do for you?" Jakob asked, putting down the papers.

"Yes, if you're not busy.  I have a bit of a... problem.  I... I don't know quite how to put this, but... I've just realised that I don't have a single gold dollar to my name."

"Don't you have a bank account?  I understood it was commonplace for young 'Cubi to have a savings account set up when they start SAIA."

"Yes, but the bank froze it when my death was reported and they don't want to re-open it."

"Why not?"  Jakob asked, his headwings pricking up with indignation.  Compound interest over a period of several centuries made accounts like this very valuable.

"Well, I don't know if you know this, but over the last couple of decades, banks have had a real problem with 'Cubi and similar Creatures impersonating the recently-deceased.  Sometimes it's people they've deceased themselves.  Either way, they pretend to be their victim, go to the bank and withdraw all or most of their money before the truth gets out and the account is frozen.  So they've been tightening up security something shocking.

"To get access to my bank account, I'll need to provide proof that I'm not dead, which is a problem because I am dead.  Now, my mother is happy to act as a witness to state that I am indeed her son, which may help since she originally opened the account in the first place.  But I'll also need to produce my account card, which is in an unmarked grave in Mundesberg, and..." his voice trailed away.

"A biometric sample," Jakob said darkly.  "What kind did they want?"

"They have most of it, actually.  Much good it may do me.  I don't have DNA.  My retinas are silicon.  My irises are micromechanical."

"Well, I'm sure I can lend you a small amount, but for the longer term..." Jakob frowned.  "I think I may have a position for you within my organisation, if you are willing to accept the job."

"What kind of a job?" the Doberman asked him.

Jakob turned away and gazed through the window at the icy wastes outside the base.

"The job is a simple one, well within your capabilities," he said slowly.

"You see, in my position I have a number of... enemies.  I will give you a list of certain people who pose a threat to me, and they must all be terminated.  It must be done this week, and it must be done... nice.  One head-shot each.  Seems fair?"

Dorcan looked on the verge of panic.

The wolf turned back and fixed the Doberman with a steely gaze.  "Do not worry," he said.  "Of course I would not send you out as you are now.  I'll upgrade your chassis to have complete blackmetal protection.  I'll improve your reflexes and install combat software to give your aim total accuracy.  You'll be able to call up a map of your prey's vital organs superimposed upon your vision to help ensure a perfect kill each time.  'Dorcan the Executioner' you shall be.

"A sports-bike and the finest sniper rifles we can obtain will be yours.  All this, and more I can give to you.  All I require in return is-"

"NEVER!" Dorcan yelled, taking a step back.  "I am not a killing machine!  I am not some murderer for hire... I'll not kill on command, not for you nor anyone else!"

"Well, I think you have the moral outlook I'm after," Jakob said happily.  "And the ability to resist temptation.  Sounds like you'll fit right in.  Actually, Ashley is looking for an electronics engineer to take over that role so that he can concentrate more fully on the software side of things.  I can offer you a starting salary of thirty thousand a year.  Are you interested?"

In quick succession, Dorcan's expression turned from horror to disbelief to a mixture of relief and annoyance.  "Thirty-five," he said sullenly.  Then the screen chimed.

"What's news?" Jakob asked, snapping his fingers.

"It's Arcuros," James told him.  "He's come back."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Daryil beamed, and ran to pin it up in his room next to the others.

*rotfl* I love watching Daryil messing with people's minds.

"All I require in return is your absolute, unwavering devotion to my cause."

He was doing so well, right up to this point. I feel this line was stepping just over the line into obviousness; and someone who can read minds doesn't need to be obvious - just obvious enough.

[Tapewolf]

He was doing so well, right up to this point. I feel this line was stepping just over the line into obviousness; and someone who can read minds doesn't need to be obvious - just obvious enough.

You may be right, but he had to add some kind of condition to it all.  In any case, if you were going to turn someone into an unstoppable killer, you'd want to make sure they weren't going to turn against you.

Think it would be better if Dorcan just interrupted him?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

You may be right, but he had to add some kind of condition to it all.  In any case, if you were going to turn someone into an unstoppable killer, you'd want to make sure they weren't going to turn against you.

Think it would be better if Dorcan just interrupted him?

Granted, making sure you aren't on the target list is a good plan. It smacks a bit of Robocop 2, though.

The interruption might be a better way of handling it, yes.

[Tapewolf]

The interruption might be a better way of handling it, yes.

How's that?  Man, I should have added you to my proofreaders...

And for those who haven't read it yet, what Jakob was originally saying was:

"All this, and more I can give to you.  All I require in return is your absolute, unwavering devotion to my cause."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Ah, yes. Much better.

[Eagle0600]

 

Other than that small slip near the end, that was pretty good. I love Daryil's antics. He's like a small child sometimes, and like a man of fifty at others (though I guess fifty IS a small child for 'cubi, right?). This continues to be up there with some of the best writing I have seen. (I read P.F. Hamilton, Larry Niven, Anne Bishop, Trudi Canavan, Garth Nix, etc. so that's saying something.)

[Tapewolf]

Other than that small slip near the end, that was pretty good. I love Daryil's antics. He's like a small child sometimes, and like a man of fifty at others (though I guess fifty IS a small child for 'cubi, right?).

The way I see it, what's the point in living to be four thousand if you can't have fun?

This continues to be up there with some of the best writing I have seen. (I read P.F. Hamilton, Larry Niven, Anne Bishop, Trudi Canavan, Garth Nix, etc. so that's saying something.)

Wow.  Well, I'm not sure I deserve to be compared to Niven, but I have read most of his output.  You may possibly have noticed a slight similarity to Fendrick's plan and Wavyhill's in What good is a glass dagger?.  It wasn't intentional - I spotted it about halfway through.
And while I've only read the Night's Dawn trilogy, I do subscribe to PFH's model of how souls would work, insofar as it can be applied to the DMFA universe.  The other writers sound familiar, but I can't quite place them.

[Eagle0600]

Anne Bishop wrote the Black Jewel trilogy, and the Sebastian/Belladonna duology(?). Some others as-well.

I've only read Trudi Canavan's Age of the Five trilogy myself.

Garth Nix wrote the Old Kingdom trilogy, as well as many short stories, including the hilarious choose-your-own-adventure entitled Down to the Scum Quarter.

Also, I haven't read close to all the books from these writers, so I don't recognise the name What Good is a Glass Dagger?


Anyway, yes, while I won't flatter you too much and say you're quite as good as them, you are up there.

[Tapewolf]

from these writers, so I don't recognise the name What Good is a Glass Dagger?

One of Niven's best, IMHO.  It's a short story which can be found in the "Playgrounds of the mind" collection, and IIRC, "Flight of the Horse".
I'm more than 90% sure that it was this story which invented the concept of having mana (or spell points) in D&D and pretty much every fantasy videogame.

[Eagle0600]

Really? I should prolly read that. Then again, there's lot's of books I should prolly read and I'm not gonna get round to them all. For a long time, anyway.

Also, this is a little off topic now.

[Tapewolf]

Chapter 45 - Wings

"I was about halfway to the office when someone hit me from behind," Arcuros said.  "Next thing I knew, I was being dragged to the Church in a state of concussion."

"So it was the Gnostics!  What happened next?" Sanderssen asked, giving the half-Angel a cup of hot coffee.

"They left me in one of their cells."

"Cells?" Seth's expression hardened.  "Prison cells?"

"Not really.  You know the little quarters you get in a monastery?  Pokey little room with a wooden pallet to sleep on?  One of those.  It was barred from the outside, though.  Probably a quick makeshift lock or something.  It felt very much as if they did it in some kind of a last-minute panic," he added, putting the drink down untouched on the floor.

"Do you know what they had in mind for you?" James asked.

"Oh yes, I let them think me unconscious.  Said something about taking me in for 'treatment', by which I guess they meant brainwashing."

"I knew it," Sanderssen said.

"Did they get the laptop?"  Azrael asked quietly.  Arcuros expression flickered with alarm for a moment.

"L-laptop...?  I don't know.  Better go and check it," he said helpfully.  The councillor frowned slightly, but said nothing.

"One question, if I may..." Seth said, taking the jaguar's hand and examining it carefully as if it had been injured.  "Where do you normally wear that gold band?"

"Huh?" the feline asked muzzily.

"His left wrist," Sanderssen said.

"Oh shit," Seth muttered, looking at the pristine and unruffled fur on the Creature's wrist.   The jaguar's expression became one of utter panic.  He punched Sethir, sprang across the room and drawing a wicked knife made straight for Ashley.  Joshua leapt onto the table and delivered a roundhouse kick that sent his assailant flying.  The half-Angel crashed into the wall and slumped to the ground.

"Oh my gods, you've killed him," Seth whimpered.  'Arcuros' shuddered and rolled over, a look of sheer despair entering his eyes.  He'd failed.  With a sob of anguish, he pressed the ring on his finger and held it.  "I love you, Father," he wept.  Moments later his form was consumed in a searing wave of energy, setting light to the carpet and the wallpaper.  All that was left was the ring.  It was glowing cherry-red.

"Oh... oh...  Please tell me he only teleported..." James blurted as Sanderssen and Azrael rushed to douse the flames.

"No," Ashley said, trying to suppress the grief he felt.  "I'm afraid not.  I felt his soul's release.  I... it's been a long time since I've felt that.  I'll be alright in a moment."

Jakob's expression was dour.  "If he was a Creature, they wouldn't have bothered to incinerate the corpse.  And he refused the drink, didn't he?"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Joshua asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Fendrick may not have been the only android made without my consent.  Do you suppose there's any link between them?"

"But even if he was an android, why did they destroy him?  Why not just deactivate him?"

"In-depth mind-probing by an incubus like Ashley would no doubt have revealed things they'd prefer to keep hidden.  Even dead, we could retrieve vital clues from the memory strains in his neurocircuitry."

"But if they've replaced Arcuros with an android..." Sethir began.

"...then it's safe to assume that the real Arcuros has been murdered," Sanderssen said darkly.  The white wolf began to sob gently to himself.

* * *

In his richly-decorated bedroom, Father Albina stared at the email alert indicating the detonation of ring number 137.

Dammit, that bumbling little turd has blown the mission, the wolf thought angrily.  What a waste of energy!  Ah well... plenty more where he came from.

Switching the terminal off in irritation, the Father picked up a bound compilation of Thornir Kultheim's most popular plays and lay down upon his sumptuous four-poster bed to read.  As he relaxed, a small, black pair of leathery wings began to sprout from the back of his head.

* * *

"Emergency services are still working overtime to rescue citizens of New Valakir after the sleepy mountain town was unexpectedly hit by massive flooding," the stag said.  "Initially believed to be some act of petty vengeance by the Fae, it now appears to have been a freak accident.  We have with us in the studio Joachim Franz, head of F-Tech Salvage Incorporated."

"The incident appears to have started in our laboratory," the lion told him sullenly.  "We had a consignment of artifacts from a wreck off the shore of Dugrobnir which we believe to have sunk over 50'000 years ago.  My chief technician was tasked with analysing them.  What we first assumed to have been a stasis container turns out to have been a Bag of Holding.  Over the aeons it lay submerged, the thing would appear to have filled with water.  I do not think I need to elaborate further."

"Were there any casualties among your staff?" the anchorman asked.  "Did your technician survive?"

"Fortunately he is an incubus," Franz said.  "Hence the... uh, breakthrough... occurred during the late shift when the building was mostly deserted.  If he had needed to breathe we might have had another tragedy on top of this disaster."

Niall changed the channel.

"-llowing her arrest as she turned herself in at the local police station?" the newscaster asked the resident legal expert.  Niall smiled to himself as a library photo of Keaton appeared on the screen.

"Well, Manuma does not have the death penalty for civilians, and even if it did, her repentance would surely influence the prosecution," Itaari said crisply.
He was an incubus of Istharya's Clan, which was composed almost entirely of lawyers.  Their most bitter rival was Clan Duskayne and the two had been engaged in a protracted dispute after the Istharya Clan narrowly won the Furrae News Network contract.  To date there had been no hostilities, and none were anticipated.  However the blizzard of subpoenas and affidavits emanating from the two sides was expected to keep the local courts tied up for more than a millennium. 

"So she may get off scot-free?"

"Hardly.  While she has not admitted to causing the carnage at Manuma City, the theft of the evidence against her is highly suspicious.  Of course it could have been an accomplice... there were surprisingly few deaths compared to previous rampages.  Either way, she is likely to stand accused of at least four murders..."

Niall's contented smile evaporated like mist to be replaced with an expression of horror. No, you crazy bitch, I was only kidding...!

* * *

There was a knock at the door.  "Enter, my child," Father Albina said, switching off the terminal in his study.  A young puma, Brother Abidan, entered the study, bowing respectfully at the Father.

"Father, is it truly necessary for us to kill?" he queried.

"Death itself is necessary, my son.  It is the way of the Great Wheel."

The puma remained silent, but the doubt in his eyes was plain to see.

"It was his deepest fear," Father Albina continued patiently.  "We have helped him face that fear, and overcome it."

"But he is dead."

"Are we not all One, my child?" the Father asked.  "It is not him that has died, it is me.  It is you.  His ego, that is a part of us all, shall be reborn through the Great Wheel as a stronger and better Being.  The Third Tenet.  Meditate upon this, my son, and all shall become clear to you."

"Yes, Father, thank you, Father," the brother replied, bowing respectfully and leaving.

I'm going to have to keep an eye on that one, Father Albina thought to himself.  Alone again, he sat back and relaxed.  Moments later, the bat-wings upon his head were gone, and behind him hung the duck-egg blue wings of an Angel.

* * *

Azrael walked through the streets, his heart soaring.  Okay, there were a few changes which made him go "Oh, who did that?", but by and large, being able to walk once more through his city was a moving experience that brought him close to tears of joy, while behind him, Ashley and Sethir were close to tears of frustration.

"Will you please stop that?" the lynx snapped, as Sethir glanced with a wistful expression at yet another random passerby.  "At the very least, can you be a bit more discreet?"

"You did this to me, you stop it!" Sethir said, temper flaring.  He pushed Ashley, hard.

"Oh shit, sorry..." he said, as the incubus was caught off-balance and fell into the fountain.

"Children, play nice," Azrael told them.  Seth buried his face in his hands as the lynx shapeshifted his fur and feathers away, the water showering to the ground in shimmering droplets.

"I'm sorry, Ash," he said again, "I don't know my own strength."

"I'll try and fix it," Ashley agreed.  "But I don't have the tools.  I never was a very powerful 'Cubi, and I don't think I can teleport the both of us back to base.  We'll have to look for a nearby Jayhawk branch.  Has anyone got a phone?"

Sethir did, but it had gone flat.  "We'll have to find a payphone then," Ashley decided.

"I don't think they've had those for decades," Joshua said.  "But I was sent here a few years back to try and apprehend a succubus.  There is a worldnet café down the road.  Or was..."

So saying, the husky darted into a nearby alleyway.  A dark shape suddenly leapt out of the shadows, knocking him against the wall.

"Your money or your life!" the gecko said, pressing a knife against Joshua's throat.  The canid spun around, grabbing the lizard and rolling, pinning him to the floor and banging his head hard against the ground.  As the robber's vision came back into focus he found that he was staring into the triumphant eyes of an evil demon... an incubus.  Sleek blood-red feathers adorned the husky's head and back, the primaries fading to a fiery orange hue.

"Your money or your soul," the Joshua instructed him, baring his teeth in an uncharacteristically wicked smile and pressing his palms hard against the side of his erstwhile robber's head.

Moments later the gecko was running off at full pelt, Joshua's pockets brimming with gold dollars.

"Holy mother of..." Azrael exclaimed as he caught up.  "Since when did you have headwings?"

The husky smiled a confident smile.  "Since the day before we left.  It was one of the upgrades Jakob gave me.  He said that the best way to overcome my fear of 'Cubi was to become one.  What do you think of the colours?" he added, swishing his wings.

"Joshua," Ashley said severely, "I hate to stomp on your moment of glory, but let's not beat about the bush.  You got a kick out of doing that, that can become a bad habit if you're not careful.  It's not nice, and it's not good for you."  He sighed, and looked at the husky with an imploring expression.

"You're not an incubus.  You're just a Being with wings on his head.  You don't even have tentacles, let alone mental powers.  Yes, showing your headwings works nicely enough for intimidating other Beings, but if that had been a Demon or heck, a real 'Cubi you would have been in very deep shit, android or no.  Please, Josh... don't let it go to your head."

"Very well," Joshua sighed.

"You!" a voice cried out.  He glanced and saw a number of guards heading towards them.

"You're under arrest," he said, his expression changing to one of mild disbelief at the husky's pockets.

[techmaster-glitch]

Wait, what's up with Keaton? Last we saw, she was heisting Ashford's soul-gem...

[Tapewolf]

Wait, what's up with Keaton? Last we saw, she was heisting Ashford's soul-gem...

Yes.  You might want to re-read that bit.
In a nutshell, she breaks in, steals the gem, the guards descend on her.
Next thing Niall knows, Keaton's turned herself in (which he expected) but now faces a rack of additional charges for the mess she made during said heist.

One thing I actually forgot about was that she has to pass the gem onto Niall and company.  That might have to turn up in the post now.

[Gabi]

I've caught up! Sorry about the delay.

I see that Jakob still has it in him to be cruel sometimes. And Daryil is definitely insane, but we knew that already.

I've realized I hadn't commented on chapter 43. I really liked the meeting between James and Jakob.

Wow, chapter 45 is up! Iguess Joshua got in trouble much faster than Ashley expected.

As for techmaster-glitch's question... it would look like she took both suggestions. I'd like to see what she will do now.

[techmaster-glitch]

but now faces a rack of additional charges for the mess she made during said heist.

Yes, that's the part I'm confused about. I'm also missing whatever these "suggestions" are that Gabi is alluding to, which I'm guessing is connected to this:

Niall's contented smile evaporated like mist to be replaced with an expression of horror. No, you crazy bitch, I was only kidding...!

Which is the other part I'm not getting...

[Tapewolf]

I see that Jakob still has it in him to be cruel sometimes. And Daryil is definitely insane, but we knew that already.

For what he did to Dorcan?  There's two reasons for that.  Firstly, he wanted to see how Dorcan would react.  Essentially, a personality test.  That's probably all he'd need given that he can scan Dorcan's emotions while he's going over it.
Jakob was still rather bitter about what the demon coyote guy was saying about the statue of Johan Cross, so he may perhaps have taken it out on Dorcan rather more than he should have done.

In some ways I'm also trying to paint Jakob as not working in quite the same way as a human would.  He does like provoking fear in people.  He knows it's wrong, but it is a clan trait and so he still does it from time to time, sometimes unconsciously.
(Also it's fun to write.)

Yes, that's the part I'm confused about. I'm also missing whatever these "suggestions" are that Gabi is alluding to

Chapter 42.  Specifically, Niall's line:

"Turn yourself in.  Tell the judge that you're really, really sorry and that it won't ever happen again.  If we can convince Daryil, he may be able to influence them to reduce your sentence.
"The only other way I can think of to settle this mess is for you - armed with only a small pistol - to break into the evidence chamber like Linda Craft did in CheeseRaider and bring Ashford's soul to us so we can resurrect it.  The choice is yours."

...basically, he was being facetious and Keaton took it at face value.