Log:Burnt Offering

The Madness of David Flyte 2020/01/29 	 Amelia Bree Dorian Rangel Baker

11



Starguard HQ

Baker emerges from the high-security materiel and morale dispensary known colloquially as the "break room" with a disposable hot cup in hand. He sips from it while looking over some daily briefs on a tablet.

Dorian comes out of his office and catches sight of Baker. "Hey there. Do you have a second, Agent Baker?" He stops in his tracks as he gets a transmission coming from the front desk. The receptionist is glancing over in his direction. That causes his gaze to drift from the desk...to the person standing in front of said desk.

Dorian comes out of his office and catches sight of Baker. "Hey there. Do you have a second, Agent Baker?" He stops in his tracks as he gets a transmission coming from the front desk. The receptionist is glancing over in his direction. That causes his gaze to drift from the desk...to the person standing in front of said desk.

Whistling noises from the hallways leading to barracks are heard intermittently as Rangel practices making the high-pitched sounds, cutting abruptly at the particular sound of receptionist dealing with someone who may not know who they are! It's never someone who doesn't know who they are but Rangel can imagine and amuse herself. Her presence is soon visible, with a casual (yet correct) sort of salute provided for the commander.

Baker looks up from his device. "Sure, what do you need?" After seeing the source, he adds, "Commander."

Dorian turns his attention back to Baker, "I'd like you to check on the mental health of the prisoner in cell C when you get a chance. She suffered some mental trauma from some backlash. Grimm was able to help, but I'd like to get routine status updates, if possible. Once every few hours."

Baker nods to Dorian. "Yes, sir." He goes right back to his device, though is now skipping and searching for specific reports. The whistling does grab his notice, too, and he spares a glance over at, then a nod to Rangel before looking back down to get himself up to speed.

"Good to see the situation changing," Rangel offers. "Anyone get a tracer on one of the bugs yet? Also was that idea spread around or was that just in my head? There's a lot going on in there sometimes it doesn't organize so good."

Bree says, "My name is Briana Criss. I want to see my friend - I need to know that she's all right."

Dorian nods, "Thank you, Agent Baker. I appreciate it." He then heads over toward the reception desk to intervene. "Miss Criss? I'm Commander Perrault. Spirit. You're asking after Zero, I take it?"

Bree says, "Is she alright? Can I see her?" Her stomach rumbles loudly. "Um, do you mind if I..." She gestures toward the pizza box.

Dorian smiles slightly, "Go ahead and eat, if you like." The smile fades quickly. "I am afraid however, that she's not really in a state to see visitors. Your friend suffers some massive mental trauma. And since you're associated with her, I'm sure you know about this...bug hive network. The leader of which attempted to force your friend to kill herself. We were able to save Zero's life, but she's currently getting medical assistance."

Dorian is being a little blunter than he normally would be. But he's also not entirely sure what he's dealing with in regards to the person in front of him.

Dorian watches Bree closely, "Speaking of that...if you have any information at all regarding this network. Or the Mother associated with it, that would be very helpful. It might even speed your friend's recovery."

Bree is reaching to open the pizza box when Dorian tells her about Zero. Her eyes open wide in horror, "She did _what_?" Food temporarily forgotten, she says, "I...I wasn't sure...I don't...I can't..." she runs down for a moment, then says, "I don't know much...can you get them out...?"

Dorian looks confused, "I'm sorry. What do you mean by 'get them out'?"

Staying casual, Rangel gives a nod to Agent Baker, and notes the slight edge to the commander. She does make a point of recording what Bree says openly.

Bree says, "They...they're in my..." Her voice cuts off and her eyes lose focus. Then her head snaps to her left, like she's heard a sudden noise, and she cries out, "Benjy!" she takes a couple of stumbling steps in that direction, then falls to her knees, "Benjy, are you OK? What's all this...is that blood? Benjy? Benjy!"

Dorian blinks. "Agent Baker! Need a hand here now! See if you can break wahtever mental link is going on in her head! Before that bug leader thing tries to hurt her!" He shifts form to his energy one...and reaches out with some bands of light to wrap up Bree for her own safety.

The bands of light wrap around Bree, holding her where she is.

Bree's eyes are still unfocused, and tears are running down her cheeks. "Momma, why ain't dem cops doin' nuttin'? No time!?! Summon kilt Benjy!"

Spirit reaches out with more tendrils of light to pick up Bree...and gets through security quickly into the holding area. He opens up cell 'D' and places her gently inside, locking it up. He then radios to his assistant. "Baker seems to be occupied, and I'm not sure where Grimm is. Get me another Psi operative. We need someone here ASAP to help."

There's a call that comes back to him. "Working on it, sir. I'll keep you updated."

The movement seems to wake Bree from whatever just happened. As she's carried into the Security section, she catches a glimpse of Zero in another cell. "Z!" she calls out. "She's gonna be alright, right?" She asks Spirit. "Also, can I have my pizza? Or some other food? I get _real_ bad hunger pangs."

Spirit finds himself going from feeling compassionate to wary, given the sudden turnabout. "I'll get it for you, Miss Criss. And as far as I know, your friend will be okay. Given time to recover. And proper medical attention."

Spirit has just put Bree in a cell in the detention area, next to the one occupied by Zero. And he's made a call out to his assistant to try to get someone with psychic expertise to give an assist.

Spirit nods to Bree, "I'll be back with your pizza. Give me a moment." He makes his way back out to reception to find the pizza box that Bree dropped by the desk.

Amelia arrives at Starguard and asks to speak to someone who can give her authorization to examine an item of evidence she believes is being held by Starguard that relates to a incident she's engaged in dealing with.

Spirit is right by the front desk as Amelia arrives, "Miss Steinberg, I can help you with that, but I might need some assistance with something else, if you have a moment? Do you have any abilities that deal with things like...telepathy?" Spirit tilts his head, "If you don't, I undersatnd, and I'll be able to help you out momentarily."

Amelia shakes her head, "Apart from being able to form a kind of link with natural animals, I'm afraid not."

Spirit nods, "I'm sorry to hear that. We have someone in holding who is part of this alien bug...hive mind network. She had some kind of reaction, and I was wondering if it was triggered remotely by the 'mother' in that network."

Amelia rubs her chin, "Uh, alien bug hive mind?" she says confusedly.

Spirit nods slowly. "Ah. You saw the recent mention of Zero on the HeroNet, I'm assuming?"

Amelia nods, "Yes. I recall I responded to it. Much to the annoyance of a certain individual. But I've had a lot on my mind, so I didn't follow it up or make any inquires."

Spirit nods. "Well, Zero is in custody. The 'mother' in that hive mind tried to command her to take her own life via their mental link. She's safe however. And resting. And Grimm has been attempting to help soothe her mind. Then we had another person of interest, a 'Briana Criss' show up to ask after Zero." He holds up the pizza, "This is hers. She was asking about Zero, adn then acted like she was hit with some kind of mental flash of something. A vision. Sort of like PTSD, but I didn't see a trigger. So, I'm not sure exactly. It reminded me of what happened when Zero was attacked mentally. So, I detained Miss Criss for her own safety, and I'm trying to get a mentalist to check on her status."

Amelia nods, "The rumor in the magic community is Dr Wyrd is back in the city. But I used to go to Ms Grimm for these kind of issues."

Spirit nods. "She's my first choice, given her connection to SGG. But she's wiped out, as far as I can tell. She's been working hard. Harder than she should, I think. I appreciate the dedication, but still...she needs to look after herself."

Spirit says, "But I've gotten distracted from your request...what was it you wanted to look at in evidence?"

Amelia says, "I was informed you have in evidence lockup the remains of a book used by someone named David Flyte? The first name may not be correct. I have reason to believe it's use may have adverselt affected Ms Grimm. Knowing the contents of the book may assist in finding a cure for the ongoing effects."

Spirit nods. "I remember the case. I believe we have hte ashes from the book in question, but not the book intact, I'm afraid. And I think you're correct, the name of the man is 'David Flyte'. Currently held at the asylum, I think. I'm not sure what his case status is."

Amelia smilesa, "Telepathy, no. Restoring a book from askes, yes. Any 'power' the nook possessed will not be restored. Just the physical state. Thus the content can be read but there will be no dangerous enchantments, et al, involved."

Spirit pauses at that. "I won't pretend that I understand that. I'm really more of a...physics person. I usually think that if something is restored to its prior state, then everything woudl be restored. But...let me think about it while I deliver this." He holds up the pizza box. "I'll be right back." From inside her cell, Bree moans in pain.

Spirit makes his way back into security and down to cell 'D', where Bree is. He looks inside to see waht her current state is.

Spirit opens the cell...and places the pizza box inside. "Hang on a moment, Miss Criss." Only once he's back outside the cell and hte door is closed...does he then cause the entangling energy to dissipate.

As soon as she's able to move, Bree pounces on the pizza box. For a moment she eyes the box - and the half-pizza inside - suspiciously, like she suspects Spirit may have done something to it, but then she grabs a piece and devours it. Only then does she look up at Spirit, "Thank you. I needed this. Did I...say anything out there?"

Spirit nods, "You did. You had a bit of an...episode. Something about a friend being hurt. But not Zero. I'm going to have you checked, since I'm concerned about the alien influence on you. It reminded me of when Zero's mind was attacked. I want to make sure you're safe, Miss Criss. I'll be back."

Speaking of, he checks Zero's cell briefly before coming back out to reception where Amelia is.

Bree looks sad, "My brother Benjy. It was a drive-by shooting, never solved." She looks back up at Spirit. "I'll try to sleep. That might be safer."

Bree says, "I haven't thought about Benjy since...since Zero and I got together. I don't want to forget him again..."

Spirit does acknowledge Bree's statement with a nod before he leaves the security area. "Getting some sleep woudl be a good idea. I'll have someone check on you as soon as I can."

Spirit gets back out to the front desk, "I'd like more of those quiet days we had a couple of months ago." He shifts form again into his human one, in his full Starguard uniform.

Amelia is waiting patiently for Spirit to finish whatever he was busy doing. Dorian says to Amelia, "You're sure that restoring this book wont' bring back the evil...malevolence or whatever is in it?

Amelia nods, "Yes. I'm sure. Let me try an analogy. If an animal is killed by a blade through the heart, and that organic damage is healed does the animal come back to life? No. Once the spirit has left it's left. It requires far more than just repairing the physcial damage to restore an enchantment."

Dorian nods slowly. "Again, I don't understand the implications of magic, and how it works. I'll have to defer to your knowledge of it. But it sounds like you're assuming there's an enchantment on the book which is separate. What if the book itself is evil in some way?"

Amelia says, "Then I'll detect it, and stop. Or in the worst case, burn the book to askes again."

Dorian nods. "Okay. Fair enough. Though if you don't mind, I'll observe while you deal with it. I suspect we'll have to keep the book itself in evidence even after it's restored."

Dorian makes a quick call back to the evidence people, and has the ashes taken to one of the labs.

Amelia nods, "I have no objection to being observed."

Dorian leads Amelia down to the lab, "You're researchign what happened to Grimm? What is it exactly. I haven't noticed her being adversely affected. A bit tired, and perhaps a little more cranky than normal, but that's it."

Amelia nods, "I must tell you that what I'm about to relate was told to me by a reliable source but I have no personal confirmation of it. As I understand the siuation, David Flyte used the book, or comtants thereof, to create a riff within Ms Grimm in order to provide a path for one of the Elder Ones to enter our reality. Although that effort was stopped, the riff remains within her. Thus the tireness and negative emotions."

Dorian raises a brow at that. "A rift? To bring some kind of...creature from another dimension through?" He shakes his head, "I am...somehow not as surprised as I should be."

Amelia points to a fractional distillation setup on a bench in the lab. "Five hundred years ago that would have been called Alchemy. Now it's Chemistry. What I do is called magic. In a few hundred years it may be called Manadynamics."

Dorian nods. "Well, perhaps. My specialty is really nuclear physics. So...it might as well be all Greek to me." He chuckles quietly, and a technician bring in the ashes, in a plastic bag. It is set on the table, and the tech leaves the room...but intends to watch over the feed in the room.

Amelia goes to the table. Looks at Dorian, "May I proceed?"

Dorian nods. "Please. Go ahead. I'm just on standby in case something goes wrong."

Amelia starts with a detect magic on the ashes. If the ashes are 'magically clean' she opens the bag and pours the ashes out onto the table in a pile. Then casts 'Good as New' spells, checking with detect magic scans between each spell.

No magic is sensed within the ashes.

Amelia glances to Dorian, "No residual magic at this point. Starting the reconstruction."

The book doesn't feel like it's from this dimension at all. It resonates with the Sundering Dark realm.

Amelia stops. "This isn't from here, Dorian. It's from a dark place, a dark and forbidding dimension. I'm going to go a little slower. Just in case."

Amelia continues but at, as she said, a slowly pace, with more check scans. Dorian nods slowly. "Hmm. Okay. Good to know."

The ashes and burned, unreadable pages begin to draw together and reassemble. The spine of the book rebuilds itself. Pages reattach. Ash flows in and fills in gaps, returning to unburnt paper. The book's exterior remains black, bound in twisted black leather that is shaped and pinched organically. The spine artistically resembles vertebrae with skin stretched taught over it. A series of bulges with a single crease through each, varying in size, make one think of closed eyes. The book smells like old paper, copper, and smoke.

Dorian manages to control the urge to just shift back to his energy form instinctively. He watches closely, making sure nothing odd happens. Or rather...nothing unexpected.

Amelia twists her mouth im disgust, "That," she says, "should not exist in our reality. I'm going to recond the contents and then, if you allow, Dorian, I'll burn it to ashes again."

Dorian nods slowly. "I think...I'm good with that. If it'll help Grimm, checking the contents might help."

Amelia sends a stream of the scans to Connor as well as recording, flipping over the pages to make a recording of the text within.

The book is written in black ink, with illustrations in a rich sepia tone ink(?). The illustrations look like mad doodlings that are trying to tell some sort of story, but it doesn't make sense during a flip through. Eyes are prominent in the artwork, as are inky spread out marks akin to branches or vines, curling and snaking throughout. Some of the illustrations include small, wretched, cowering humanoid things in supplication. Also pages of text in some foreign alphabet.

Dorian looks at the book, but also keeps an eye on Amelia, to see if he sees any major changes in temperament.

Amelia continues scanning, checking the scans are readable while trying her best to NOT read sufficient of the text to allow any influence.

Amelia scans the last page and closes the book. Rechecks the recording. Just to make sure its there and okay. Then, with a sigh of relief, extends her hands above the book and happily burns it back to ash. "I feel like I need a long shower." she tells Dorian.

Amelia turns, "Flyte is in the Asylum you said?" she asks Dorian.

Dorian nods. "That's correct. That's the last I heard."

Amelia tells Dorian, "Keep him there. Anyone who has used this book is irredeemably corrupted."

Dorian smiles slightly, "That almost sounds like a challenge. But...I'll admit my lucky on redeeming people has been due to picking hte correct folks I thought could be redeemed."

Amelia bags the ashes and hands the bag to Dorian. "I hope this can help Ms Grimm. Because we cannot allow the Elder One to enter our reality. The consequences would be... horrific on a more than global scale."

Next: Log:Seek Ye the Lost