Chapter 2: Grey Dawn

The City is stirring awake after a night of half-remembered dreams. Dreams of silver knights, long serpents, and a woman plucking strings with her many arms. The rain has held off for now, waiting in the blanket of grey light that settles over the streets. You can still find shadows, though. You can always find them in the City, where secrets are guarded with hungry abandon, and there is no memory too far in the past. One of those secret memories is a dark and ruined room. It had a history of sterility, once; of stainless steel, and somber duties. Now, amidst the growing rust and gathered dirt, only the sadness remains in the old morgue. In one corner, a painfully unhappy fluorescent lamp still works, fluctuating in fits of illumination. It is enough for her, the morgue’s only visitor, and sole supplicant.   At the bent sink, she washes her knives with a loving efficiency. Blood spirals slowly down the drain, eventually replaced by nothing but harshly cold water. Each little soldier is dried and tucked back into a old leather case, sleeping until they are called again. Her fingers longingly trail across them, aching to wake them once more. But that must wait for the right time. With one ritual complete, she begins another.   She places a thin, black candle on the counter next to her, and then uses her sleeve to wipe clean a space in the mirror above the sink. She’s greeted by her own, unremarkable reflection. She lights the candle, and turns off the protesting fluorescent. The flame throws new shadows across her face, highlighting a sharpness to her features that almost borders on memorable.   With a hushed voice, she murmurs something to herself. Once. Twice. Three times.   A new face twists into view, shaped by the shadows and the light. She is a beautiful woman, the one in the mirror, with pale skin, crystal gray eyes, and a perpetual smile haunting her crimson-painted lips. Occasionally, for less than a breath of wonder, her features are gaunt like a skull, and there is a hint of red falling from her eyes, but it is so easily dismissed as a trick of the half-light.   “Good morning,” the woman in the mirror says, her voice lilting. “I assume the loose thread has been addressed?”   “Yes, it was an easy cut,” says the other woman, reaching out to caress her knives again, reliving the thrill of the moment. “But I had an unexpected audience. A Theta. Fully functional.”   Eyes widen in the mirror. “That is most surprising. I was led to believe that the Theta line was a complete failure.”   “Apparently not.”   A moment of silence from the mirror. And then, “It seems no one is able to put their failures to rest appropriately. Do we suppose it is coincidence that this Theta emerges as you are cleaning up from Kappa?”   “Possibly not,” she replies. “I would like to look into it more. There’s much we could learn from it, even if it is unlikely to survive much longer.”   “Agreed,” her companion replies. “Although I will need you in attendance later today. I am hopeful our own Epsilon line will soon bear fruit.”   “You have a new candidate?” she asks, her muscles flexing in anticipation of what that means.   The mirror becomes flush with a smile. The two know each other well, their passions and their vices. “Oh yes, just arrived last night. Has the right look in its eyes. And just in time, too, as I believe there’s been a complication in our agreement on the river.”   She returns this news with a concerned frown. “Should I look into that at well?”   “No, no, the Board has made it clear that they expect certain investors to shore up their own missteps. We have enough to do. If you could be a dear and come to the hospital around noon, that would be delightful.”   “Yes, Doctor,” the woman in the morgue says, reaching to snuff the candle out.   “Thank you, Doctor,” the woman in the mirror responds as her face recedes into the dark.   The doctor gathers her candle and her knives carefully, stowing them away in the back of a twisted drawer. With the grace of a practice routine, she navigates her way out of the old morgue in the pitch black. The tortured squeal of an opening door, and the heavy thud of its closing, echo in the ruined room for far too long, as if the forgotten place were loathe to return to sleep.   ~ ~ ~   Eugenia Excalibur returns home and spends a few moments of her morning looking into Aegis Securities. There is nothing alarming that can be found – they are a reputable company with solid client recommendations, and absolutely no employee bios. As far as she is aware, Empire Corp. does no business with them, and for certain Avalon does not.   Enter Percival Excalibur, fuming in his wheelchair and nearly choking on the gasps of oxygen he is forced to take. His nurse Theodore looks as harangued as usual. Percival has heard of the break-in, and is in one of his rageful states, demanding answers and accountability. During standard family breakfast, Eugenia tactfully avoids the flying accusations and egg-based debris that her grandfather flings about. Eventually, Priscilla makes herself know clandestinely, and Eugenia chooses to receive the visiting Lawrence without her grandfather present.   Lawrence is as nervous and hesitant as he was earlier, only now more disheveled and exhausted. He presents Eugenia with the compiled list of losses, and explains that compensation will be dealt with between the two insurance companies. The police have no further details. He will of course remain in touch, and is told politely to not allow anything to go to Percival without Eugenia’s knowledge. He is then dismissed.   ~ ~ ~   Deidre Lestrange awakens on the couch on the shop floor. Gio stands in the doorway to the back room, lit from behind, with a swaggering lean against the frame. Cautiously, Dee’s fingers curl around her gun. Gio comes forward, his hair waving in an invisible wind, calling out to her affectionately. Confused, Dee remains still. When the shop begins to slowly rock back and forth, and Gio declares his undying love, it is clear something is off. And when a full-sail mast erupts from the shop floor, reaching for the clear sky of the ocean that is suddenly overhead, it becomes painfully clear this is a dream…   She awakens again, this time to an insistent knock at the shop door. Sure to take her gun with her, she looks out the door to find a thin, androgynous figure waiting politely. They wear a long hoodie that obscures some of their face, with a surgical mask covering the rest. They tell Dee that they would love to review the wares in the store, and Dee tells them to come back in half and hour when it will be open.   Gio is anxious to leave after hearing that a visitor has come by unexpectedly. He packs his goods into his Yugo, thanks Dee for the sanctuary, and heads off to complete his transactions. Dee prepares the store to open.   ~ ~ ~   Kitsune is wracked with self-doubt over the events at the park with Katuri. They fire off several noncommittal text messages, but receive no response. Eventually, they shuffle off to school, only to find PS 192 closed due to damage in the basement and unknown structural issues. With no school to distract, Kit makes a daring move and calls Kat directly. It goes directly to a cheeky voicemail message.   Kit travels across the city to the Ikeda residence in the Old Quarter. They find the narrow streets crowded with cars, all leading to Kat’s house, which appears to be overflowing with visitors. Kit cannot see Kat in the house – just scores of relatives. The backyard is empty, except for Kat’s younger brother Toma playing by himself.   Summoning unheard of strength, Kit knocks on the door, and has the misfortune of being confronted by Great Aunt Gemma. Asking for Kat, Kit receives the full barrage of the mourning woman’s complex reaction – over-dramatic grief mixed with cautiously gentle patronization. She explains that Kat cannot accept visitors, but promises to pass along a message. She then somewhat abruptly shuts the door.   Toma has come to the front porch to witness the end of the exchange. Kit shows Toma a few tumbling tricks, and wins an instant friend. Toma agrees to give a message to Kat on Kit’s behalf. Before returning inside, though, Toma gives Kit a small origami fox – something that should bring luck. “My brother makes these all the time. Always make me feel better when he gives me one,” Toma says before disappearing.   ~ ~ ~   Francis wakes up to find missed text messages from Felicity. She’ll be discharged around noon, and Emma’s school has been canceled for the day. He finds Emma looking over his artwork, disturbed and yet drawn to it. Francis decides to take her out to breakfast at the 24/7 dinner, exciting her to no end by letting her ride on the back of his bike. She wolfs down her meal, and they have as much of a heart-to-heart as they can.   He takes her to the Brewery, where she immediately hops off and tries to see who was impressed by the fact that she showed up on a motorcycle. Her friend Ravyn was the only one, but it was enough. She waves her uncle off, and Francis drives to Saint Sanctuary to get Felicity.   Passing through the lobby, he is again accosted by the same resident who is very concerned about his appearance and health. He brushes the resident aside. He doesn’t see anyone else from the morning, including the eerie doctor.   Felicity jumps when Francis enters her room, expecting Lukas to be the one to pick her up. They discuss the break-in briefly, and Felicity confirms that her laptop was at work rather than home. Francis pushes her on what she’s involved in, and she reveals the story she is working on. Someone in the neighborhood was complaining about the treatment her husband was receiving in prison. Felicity thought to start digging, in case there was a case of authority corruption and brutality to expose. It would be her big break. She started getting in contact with sources when the ‘accident’ happened.   She’s concerned and wants Francis to bring her to the newspaper office so that she can grab her laptop with all her work. Francis begrudgingly agrees.   ~ ~ ~   Mora is trying to assess the situation: a target dead by someone else’s hands, a message scrawled in blood, a gun, and a ‘suicide note’. Precursory googling doesn’t turn up anything worthwhile under ‘Theta 315’. The gun is pretty basic with identifiers scrubbed. But examining the note, Mora finds trace handwriting that must have come from the sheet of paper above it in the stack. It reads “Felicity Burke”, and an address that is NOT the brownstone.   Mora immediately heads out to check on the brownstone. She only finds Lukas there, cleaning up after the break-in, and dancing like no one is watching. (Mora is, and it’s ABBA that’s blasting through the speakers). Believing that Felicity is not in immediate danger, Mora moves on to her next reconnaissance location – Buzzy’s.   Those Two Guys are already there, drinking at the bar, with a few other early patrons scattered throughout. The lighting in Buzzy’s can make even a corpse look only-half-bad, so Mora is a little more confident in hitting up the bartender for a drink and the scoop on Albert.   The bartender is reluctant to share much, but let’s Mora know that Albert had been reclusive for a while since a severance ran out. He was back buying drinks the previous night because he had found a ‘new paycheck’ in the form of informant to someone. Not much else could be gleaned.   ~ ~ ~   After reviewing the list of losses from Prydwen, Eugenia sends a brief message to Dee on some of the objects to see if the antiques dealer might have any insight. Then she decides it is time to face the dragon: Percival needs to know what was taken.   The rage-induced spittle flies as expected with each item, and Percival grows more and more incensed at the affront to the family. He seems particularly furious about the chess pieces, but grows uncustomarily quiet when the missing coins are brought up. Eventually, Theodore insists that he take some medicine to calm himself down. Theo advises that in order to recover from his most recent ‘incident’ a month ago, he needs to remain calm. That means keeping agitating news like this away from him for at least a few weeks. And perhaps under more sedative drugs. Eugenia agrees.   ~ ~ ~   Dee is ready to receive her customer, opening the doors to let in the petite and thin androgyne. They ask for amber, of any sort or in any form. Dee takes them through the store, pointing out the small quantities that she has – a broach here, a cameo there. Surprisingly, the customer finds every small piece of amber Dee misses along the way, from the handle of an old cane to the smallest pieces in a mosaic on an old cabinet.   Sadly, the customer declares that none of it suits their purpose. They give Dee their card to call if she comes into any additional amber samples – the card reveals the customer’s name as Cy Kissa, proprietor of a local tea house. With a polite bow, Cy departs from the store, saying, “I do hope our paths will cross yet again, Deidre.”   Just as Dee gets rid of one visitor, she has another. Michel has arrived to visit his neighbor, suspiciously close to the timing of Gio’s exit. Of course, Michel is only interested in Dee’s well-being, but did you say Gio was here? Ah, no, he left? Oh….   Michel knows a little of the tea house that Cy works at, but not Cy themselves. It seems it is a pleasant enough place, very old school. He makes no move to leave Dee to herself. Knowing the quickest way to Michel’s heart (and potential departure) is a fancy new rug, Dee offers to show him a few that she has in the back room. But as they cross the threshold, a very familiar light begins to engulf them both.   “Que diable?” Michel mutters.   ~ ~ ~   Still processing the meaning of the little paper fox, Kitsune heads to Naga’s. But there, they find Naga in the middle of rather tense conversation with three thin, androgynous, and very polite individuals. Naga sees Kit, and tells them to leave as if they were any other customer wandering into the store. Kit walks out, then circles around to the back, where they help themselves to a cookie and a little eavesdropping.   They don’t hear much – an argument about things that are due, and promises made (which Naga of course vehemently denies). Eventually, they leave, and Kit wanders out, only to be bombarded by Naga with venom. She is incensed that Kit didn’t leave immediately, and seems concerned about what they might have overheard. To calm herself, Naga asks for her daily blessing.   When Kit can’t produce one (due to giving it to Kat earlier that morning), Naga goes from explosively angry to dangerously cold. She demands to know who they gave it to. They lay the guilt on hard. Kit has had enough of their very bad, no good, horrible day, and brushes Naga off on their way out the door to the Brewery.   Someone follows them. It is unclear if they are unskilled at sneaking or just unconcerned, but Kit has no interest in finding out. They stalk ahead quickly, but in their haste get their earbuds tangled in a fence. They elect to leave them behind. The follower halts to collect them.   ~ ~ ~   Felicity thanks Francis for the ride to her office, and wants to send him on his way. But he’s still concerned for her wellbeing, a concern she at first really wants to shake off. In a rare moment of intimacy, she tells him that she is scared, scared for herself and for Emma, and she needs his support. He agrees to come with her up to the office.   After the briefest of encounters with Babette (leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouth), Felicity and Francis get to her desk. There is a phone message waiting for her. Her next informants have canceled their agreement and don’t want to meet with her. They are plumbers who had a contract with the prison she is investigating. Again, Francis wants her to drop the case, but Felicity instead manages to convince Francis that they can do this together. But she’s driving this time.   ~ ~ ~   Mora decides that the next stop on her investigation is the address she found on the suicide note. It brings her to Paile Family Plumbers in Cross End, coincidentally just as Francis and Felicity arrive. Francis and Mora have a quick aside, and determine that the situation is as suspicious as all fuckity-fuck. They decide to call in some reinforcement.   Eugenia has had enough sitting around the house for the day, and so agrees to assist the crew in approaching the plumbers’ abode. She loads her motorcycle onto the family helicopter, and is quickly transported across down to the docks, where she descends with her bike’s wheels roaring.   Kit notices the helicopter racing across the sky, and so shifts direction to head to whatever Eugenia might be up to. Felicity is greatly confused by what is going on. Particularly the part where her name is hidden in a blood-soaked note.   ~ ~ ~   In 1898, two figures appear on a ship in the City’s harbor. In outlandish fashion, they seem to argue with each other loudly in an otherwise quiet night in the pier. At its height, one figure cries out “I poop where???”