4th March
20:03 GMT
"I stayed with you for.. about half an hour. So I stuck a note on the stone-."
"My forehead.
"
"No, the stone to start with. Then I walked back into town to see how the others were getting on. They were pretty out of it after last night-" I start nodding, then remember she can't see me. "-so I picked up one of the books they'd finished with and came back. Started reading it. Didn't expect to learn how to do magic or anything, but I thought I might be able to pick up enough to make intelligent suggestions. I gave it about another half hour, but I couldn't understand the notation well enough to make sense of what I was reading. Then I got annoyed, stuck the note on your forehead and stormed back into the village. Thought I could make myself useful by collating data on exactly when what nightmares happen."
"Did you sleep alright last night?
"
"Tula woke me up a couple of times. Didn't have any nightmares myself."
I glance below us. The shop is burning well. Everyone seems to be well clear… I create a cold gun construct and put it out. As the flames die down several members of the crowd
cry out in shock.
"
Was that-?" Beryl shakes her head. "Oh, this is annoying."
"I thought I heard a few other people cry out last night.
"
"Gotta be honest, I put headphones on and listened to white noise after the second time."
"Ugh, so we don't know if it actually became
worse. Okay, so you started asking people about it..?
"
"Shouldn't you be, like, doing something about everyone down there?"
"I
could gas them all, but they're not actually dangerous to anyone at the moment and I'm
hoping that this is costing the Terror Thing in concentration or power.
" I suppose a quick check wouldn't
hurt.
"A few people are huddled in various buildings, but most people are cowering around the building I picked you up from.
"
"Rob and that?"
"They're…
" I can't see them.
"Ring? Make an effort.
"
In a matter of seconds the ring switches between infra red, radar, sonic scanning and MRI. Nothing. Try harder. Ah! There! I may have had to saturate the whole area with orange light before I got a return-.
"They're heading away from here in different directions. I'm not sure-.
"
"It's inside me!" /
"It's crawling in my skin!"
The shouts draw my attention downwards. The mob's… No longer a coherent entity. Now people seem blind to one another's presence. They're clawing at their own skin, trying to pull something-. They believe there's something living inside them, something malign and evil. Ah
shit.
"It's turning the crowd against themselves. I'm using gas.
" Filaments shoot down, turning into gas masks and attaching themselves to the faces of the people below as I start transmuting knockout gas.
"How safe is that stuff? 'Cause I remember
that thing in that theatre in Russia-."
"The gas they used was heavier than air.
" People start dropping. Hard ground to collapse on but I can't spare them my attention. The aura of fear is strong enough that I'm really having to focus in order to do this safely.
"Assuming that we're talking about the same incident, Russian Special Forces pumped the gas into the lowest point in the room. Anyone near there got a massively excessive dose. I'm doing the exact minimum-
" I'm forced to use a manacle construct as a woman tries to cut into her own arm with a knife.
"-I can to keep them down.
"
"What about the people not down there?"
"Mob down. We're lucky this is such a small place. Right.
" I drop further down, dragging Beryl with me.
"We can get them next. They don't seem to.. be…
"
"Be
what?!"
The yellow light inside them is too structured. I can see… Separate sets of fears, linked by lines of commonalities to theme. Is it trying to make itself a host, or hosts? Whatever, as long as we can contain it then it shouldn't matter too much. I force holes in walls and gas them unconscious as well. I have no idea if that's actually
weakening it-.
"Ah, Orange? They're getting up again."
What?
"
The people, they're-" I look around as the mob awakens. "-
getting back up. How are they doing that?"
Scan. Shit.
"They're not. They're still unconscious. The Terror Thing's controlling their bodies.
" The patterns of yellow are the same. Was it… Practising? Or… Was it just that those others were asleep and it finds that
easier?
Construct armour time.
"Siskin, can you hear me?
"
They haven't managed to get upright quite yet. From the jerky motions of their bodies it looks like it's having trouble working out how Human bodies function. Individual joints, individual muscles, no trouble at all. The things as a whole? Not happening. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to need to look through their eyes to know what's going on around it.
"Yes."
They also all speak in unison. That's unsettling.
"Would you mind telling me what you're doing?
"
"I hear you. The little voice that once thought to use me as a weapon is here. A part of my greater whole."
"Okay. And?
"
"And I hear more fears." Oh, looks like they're getting the hang of standing up.
"Every fear shall be a part of me and every mind shall shine with my magnificence!"
"Think negotiation's shot, then?"
"Could be. Of course, these people can only move at a maximum of Human running pace. If we pick up the runners and bring them back-.
"
A brilliant golden ankh appears in the air over the mob and oh
heck.
"Witness the power of Fate!" The portal ankh closes as Nabu glides through, his fists glowing. Light flashes and the closest couple of people go down on their knees, the fear structure in their souls straining under the assault. "Fell spirit! Return to whatever foul realm spawned you!"
"Great.
"
"Mobile phones." I glance back as Beryl waves hers to the side. "Wonderful things."
"Yes, I'm.. sure they are.
"
"What?"
"Nothing. Ring, location of Kaldur.
" I see its best guess, a couple of miles down the road.
"Transitioning.
"
