Session Twelve, Part Two
The room isn’t dark.
Fluorescent lights fill the arrival foyer fully as the group appears on Gaia. The room is large, spacious, clean, white. There are no windows, just a desk with a phone and a computer, and a single door with a thin line of etched wards surrounding it. There are no screams in the distance, no ominous atmosphere, no muted sounds of dripping blood or creaking metal. The walls look plastic, almost antiseptic.
Everyone falls into defensive stances, aiming outward with swords, uzis, shotguns, and fists. Robert and Terry stand in the middle of the group, unarmed. Terry notices the Irish woman, Bonnie, glance over her shoulder at him and do a double-take.
“Who’s this then?” she asks.
“Hi,” Terry says.
Everyone who isn’t a Bureau agent turns and looks. Here on Gaia, ghosts are visible, and a moment of surprise passes through the group as they see Terry for the first time since he died. He had not realized it before, but so far only Scarpedin and Robert had yet worn the bracelet he’s bonded to.
“Good to see you, Terry,” Nathan says.
Terry shrugs with embarrassment.
Ian smirks. “So this is Wonderboy, huh?”
“Cut the chatter,” Balthazaar interrupts, ending the conversation.
“Stay on guard,” Jenny says.
She walks over to the computer, her bonded ghost Pataman standing careful guard beside her. She leans over the desk, looking nervous to sit at the chair, then brushes her hair out of the way and starts clicking and typing.
“Listen, ah, Jenny?” Robert says. “Isn’t this a little less spooky than we were expecting?”
“Everything looks normal,” Jenny says. She frowns at the computer, then shakes her head. “The network’s fine. I’ve even got Bureau email waiting for me.”
She stands up and gives the group a tentatively optimistic smile. “It looks like everything’s under control. I just didn’t imagine two weeks would have passed without them finding some way to get in touch with us.”
John glances at the door. “It could be a trick.”
Nathan shakes his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t feel any great danger.”
John scoffs. “That one as reliable as your
last vision?”
Nathan smiles despite the insult. “Well, it does feel like something’s being suppressed here.”
Jenny nods. “Yes. The majority of the Bureau complex here in Savannah has been warded to make it a bit more like Terra. It keeps most things from just straying into the offices.”
Balthazaar says, “It used to always give her headaches.”
“Look,” Jenny says, “I think we’re safe here. We can check out in the hallway, just to make sure there isn’t a zombie horde, and then I’ll call the Chief’s secretary and let him know we’re here.”
Robert hesitantly asks, “Are zombie hordes something we should expect?”
Jenny smiles widely and shakes her head, and the tension of the situation lightens. But then Ian’s ghost Giovanni speaks.
“I do not like the woman’s flippant attitude. She risks all of your lives.”
Ian leans his shotgun on his shoulder and glares at the Italian ghost. “George, when the hell was the last time you worried about people dying?”
Giovanni stands in silent disdain.
Ian laughs. “Don’t worry, y’all. That’s just George trying to win points by pretending he cares. I think Pocahontas has it under control, but, if ya don’t mind, the man with the shotgun’s gonna check the hallway for zombies.”
While Ian goes to the door, flanked by Ulwelf, Balthazaar, and Bonnie, Robert takes a nervous breath.
“Terry,” he asks, “you can get us out of here in a pinch, right?”
Terry nods. It feels good to be able to use body language, since people can actually see him.
“Alright,” Robert says. “If things look bad, forgive me for being selfish, but it’s better for us to run than risk dying, right?”
John, Nathan, and Scarpedin nod. Jenny is only a few feet away, but it looks like she’s not paying attention, or else she’s giving them space.
“Okay,” Robert continues. “Terry, if I give the word, like if I say ‘now’ really urgently, you grab whoever you can get, and we leave. And, um, try not to leave Jenny.”
John laughs. “Women are bad luck.”
Nathan smiles. “Something you want to tell us there, John?”
Outside the door there’s a faint cry of fright. Everyone tenses, but Ian appears at the door and smiles.
He calls out, “It’s clear. There was a chick out here with some folders, but she’s not a zombie. I think I scared her off, though.”
* * *
It takes less than five minutes for the news to pass through the Bureau building. The group gets ushered through hallways, past offices and various departments, drawing attention from employees in white shirts and black ties wherever they go. A handful of agents in black suits meet them and escort them, and the whole trip is a blur, though Terry makes certain to memorize the path they take, in case they need to escape.
Everything looks fine here in the Bureau. Terry can sense almost palpable disappointment coming from Scarpedin, but the rest of the group is relieved. The snippets of information they get as they go paint a rough picture of the past two weeks:
The Bureau was attacked by a mercenary unit of unseelie fey, ogre-like creatures, Knights of the Round, and a large number of general soldiers of fortune who probably hadn’t realized what they would be getting into. In total about five hundred people and creatures attacked, and though they managed to cause a lot of havoc, the Bureau sent up an alert and agents from around the world were able to use keys to gate in and join the defense. The whole conflict lasted less than an hour, but when it was over and the surviving attackers were being rounded up for arrest, they discovered that no planeshifting or teleportation magic was working.
Despite the deaths that occurred during the attack, the Bureau in Savannah is currently overstaffed, since over half of the agents from offices around the world responded to the threat, and have since not been able to return home. They had made little headway in fixing the connection between Terra and Gaia, so the group’s arrival is a relief to many.
They don’t have time for any more questions, because by then they have been ushered into a second-floor conference room with a long table, projector screens, and a thick window – the first window they’ve seen this whole time. Looking outside, Terry can see a truly massive tree, easily hundreds of feet high with branches spreading out hundreds more, dropping the land in a strangely gleaming dusk. Other Bureau buildings dot the landscape, and the shadows between the buildings are deeper than they should be.
Jenny is at the door, talking to a short female agent who looks like she has a faerie for a parent. Terry notices Wiji-wiji watching the half-fey agent with a slightly weaker smile than normal, and it strikes Terry that until just now he had almost forgotten Wiji-wiji was with them.
Jenny finishes her conversation with the other agent, then turns to the group.
“The Chief is on the way. You should all find a comfortable seat, since we’ll be here for a while. There’s so much to report.”
Ian frowns. “So I guess I should put the shotgun away, then?”
A few minutes of nervous chatter follow as the group takes their seats, except for Robert, who seems nervous. When the door opens, everyone looks up expectantly. The man who walks in is clearly in charge, and Jenny and Ulwelf defer to him immediately. Even Balthazaar, a former agent who had been arrested by the Bureau, nods respectfully. It worries Terry a little that his companions don’t look like they’re willing to give any respect.
“Damn,” Scarpedin mutters. “I was hoping for Will Smith.”
Terry squints a bit, and has to admit that the Chief of the Bureau does look remarkably like Tommy Lee Jones.
“Jenny, Agent Fitzgerald,” the Chief says. He pauses for a moment, then, “Balthazaar. Jenny, you brought an odd group with you. I understand the ghost standing by the window is the one who was able to get you here from Terra?”
Jenny nods.
“Good,” the Chief says. “Thank you for coming to help, and now if you don’t mind, let’s get down to business.”
Robert speaks up. “Chief what?”
The Chief stops before sitting. “What?”
“What’s your name?” Robert says. “Y’know, I’m Robert Black. This is Terry. . . .”
“Abrams,” Terry offers.
“Terry Abrams,” Robert says. “I’m here with Nathan, and John, and Scarpedin. Over there’s Ian.”
Ian nods, “Howdy.”
“And his ghost is a creepy guy whose name I don’t remember.”
Ian says, “George.”
“And that’s Bonnie.”
“Aye?” Bonnie looks up as if she had dozed off.
Robert points at the gents. “That’s Jenny Windgrave, and . . . Ulwelf, and the bastard here is Balthazaar. See, that’s us. That’s . . . who we are. We just came a long way, from, y’know, another world, and I thought it’d be nice to know each other’s names before we started doing the whole ‘playing with magic’ thing. So you’re ‘the Chief.’ Chief what?”
Jenny looks stricken. “Robert.”
The Chief shakes his head. “It’s alright. Robert, is it? Thank you for the introduction. You can just call me the Chief.”
“What?” Robert says with a laugh. “You don’t have a name?”
“Chief,” Jenny says, “you’ve got to forgive Robert. When I tell you what they went through to get to us-”
“Don’t defend me Jenny,” Robert says. “No, all I asked is a simple question. We’re doing your little club a favor, and excuse me, but I’m a little tired of all the mystical ‘we use magic so we don’t have to make sense’ crap. I mean. Really. How hard is it for you to answer that question?”
The Chief considers for a second. “If this is going to be a problem, Mr. Black, I can have you escorted outside while we address the threat to the public’s safety. You are doing us a favor, and you know, that gives you points in my book, but son, you’re not in charge here. Now, if you’d please, take a seat and let’s get to work.”
“No, I don’t please,” Robert says.
Nathan whispers, “Oh dear.”
“I’ve been hauled off to Gaia, where I was attacked by a nymph and a giant black puma. I was nearly blown up in a bus, in a mansion, and in a Starbucks. I’ve been shot at.
Terry’s been shot at and
killed. I think I’ve earned to have things go my way, don’t you?
“Look,” he continues, “I’ve been trying to find a way so I can just drop this whole ‘magic’ thing and go back to a normal life, and that means I’ve got to find someone who’ll make sure people aren’t trying to kill me or trying to steal Terry and do whatever
crazy Dr. Evil plan they’ve cooked up. If I can’t trust you to tell me your name, how do I know I should trust you with Terry?”
John and Scarpedin are laughing. Terry can’t help but smile too.
The Chief leans in slightly, points at the bracelet Robert is wearing, and says, “If the ghost bonded to that bracelet is the only way we can fulfill our mandate, then whether you respect our authority or not, we will have the bracelet. It is a courtesy that we’re even keeping you here. Your tone sounds a bit uncooperative, and at this moment, in this situation, with that bracelet as your only bargaining chip, being uncooperative is pretty damn close to being threatening, and I don’t take well to threats.”
“
Oh?” Robert says, smiling. “
You don’t take well to threats?
“Terry,” Robert says, his expression tough and empowered, “
now.”
Disappointed but not surprised, Terry concentrates on Robert, Scarpedin, Nathan, John, and Jenny, figuring the rest might be a threat if he brought them along. At the last moment he remembers Wiji-wiji and focuses on him, then attempts to plane shift back to Terra.
When the world should fade away and become starker and more real, instead everyone just looks at him expectantly.
“Terry?” Robert says through clenched teeth. “We’re supposed to be making our spiteful escape now.”
“It’s not working,” Terry says. “Something’s stopping me.”
“What?” John says. He looks for a moment like he’s about to go for a gun, but Nathan stops him.
The Chief claps his hands once and starts to walk around the table toward Robert. Terry sees for a second that Robert has dropped his hand to his pocket where he keeps his straight razor, but he isn’t making his move yet.
“Son,” the Chief says, “you might not like us, but we’re not incompetent. You brought us the most important magic item in the world right now. We’re not going to let you just run away with it.”
“Hey!” Terry says. “I’m not some
thing, man. Don’t you f*cking try to hurt them, or even if you do get the bracelet I’m stuck in, I damned sure won’t help you. Back the f*ck off.”
The Chief stops a little more than an arm’s length from Robert, and he glances at Terry. Then he turns casually and walks back to the head of the table.
Robert whispers, “Um, good job Terry. Next time let’s try to be a little more diplomatic, okay?”
Terry grins despite himself.
From the head of the table, the Chief says, “Let’s say that we were being cautious in case tempers got out of control. You yourself said that you wanted to hand the bracelet – and the ghost – over to someone. Don’t let a little frustration cause you any trouble. C’mon, sit down. We’re wasting time with all this.”
Jenny looks up at Robert. “Please Robert. Once we’re done, I promise I’ll explain and this will make sense.”
Robert rubs his chin, then shakes his head. “No, tell me now.”
Jenny’s demeanor is not at all aggressive like the Chief’s was, but when she speaks it is undeniable that she’s in charge. Reasoned, calm, like she’s talking a good friend out of a bad decision, she says, “No Robert. Come sit down with the rest of us.”
Robert glares at the Chief, then takes a seat.
“Alright,” the Chief says. “It’s good that we can all trust each other.”
