Abstract Theorems and Actuations
Who: Chase and Uther
What: Books!
When: Mid October
Where: Starts at Bookshop Cassanova
Rating: W.T.F
Status: Once more, to the breach!
The first chilly breeze of the evening brought Chase to a musty window of an old book store: it was the sort of place Gert would have gotten lost in for hours, and it was Chase's last hope. He needed to figure out how to repair what parts of the Stein Bus that were still solidly in 1978, and not some bizarre fusion of Stein-tech and the Yorke's future technology. He wanted to give her a proper tune up before it got any colder.
Return of the cooler temperatures reminded him with a pang that he'd be approaching his first year in Aternaville, and no matter how he looked at it, it left a sour taste in his mouth. Uther and the twins were great, and meeting Clarice had felt like winning the jackpot in the inter-dimensional lottery, but he found his mind wandering more and more often back to the Malibu house: to Molly, Karolina (poor Karolina, had Xaxin ever found her way back?) Nico, Vic and Klara. For a second he could see their faces in the whorls of dust on the glass, cursed and muscled his way in.
His initial assessment of being able to get lost wasn't too far off: the place was deceptively big, lined with tall, narrow shelves packed with books in all states of decay. Not bothering to ask for help, he wandered, calloused hands brushing over rough, cracking spines until he found what he needed: automotive. It would be his luck that the only bookstore in a pocket dimension would have the users manual for a Mark II VW Bus. Chase shrugged to himself. Stranger things had happened. As his hand passed over one of the higher shelves, a glint caught his eye from the dark gold band on his ring finger: the decoder ring for the Abstract flashed brightly for a moment then dimmed.
'But there's no light up there...'
The sun had gone down so that the whole shelf was cloaked in dim shadow, and none of the store lights illuminated it.
Heart pounding for reasons he couldn't name, Chase passed his hand back over the spine of a thick, dark leatherbound volume, squinting as the band shone dazzlingly bright; fingers gripped it and pulled, but it wouldn't budge.
"Come on you stupid jerk-- OW!" With one final yank the book came loose, bashed into Chase's head and fell, cover up onto the floor at his feet.
"Oh fuck me." It was one of the first things he'd said upon arrival to Aternaville. Staring up at him from the well tread tile of the book shop floor was an Abstract, the same tome of ritual dark magic and arcane knowledge his own parents had used to conduct the Rite of Blood and gift the world to him. Or, they'd *tried*-- like any sane human being he'd thrown the offer back in their face. All of the children of The Pride had.
'Aside from Alex, but fuck him too.'
The temptation to put the book back on the shelf and run for hills was more tempting than he cared to admit. Chase hadn't managed to translate as much of the Yorke's Abstract as Alex had, but what he *was* had since been locked away in a part of his brain only accesable via copious amounts of alcohol and/or suicidal tendenacies. But then, what he understood of each Contract was that the capital T, capital C Terms and Conditions were always a little different. It depended on what the contractee wanted. And if his parents had wanted to destroy the world, what had the previous owner of *this* Abstract wanted?
"Philoprogenitiveness." Chase said under his breathe, holding his be-ringed hand over the book. It flew open to the exact page he thought it would: the incantation for the Rite of Blood. He squinted; there were notes in scribbled in the margins, annotated with two sets of initials: RM and TM.
'RM? TM? Waitaminute. No. No no no. Robert and Tina Minoru? Get the fuck out. Fuck this, fuck me, what the fuck.'
A quick glance around for security cameras or markers revealed none, and Chase quietly slipped the book into a battered messenger bag and made his way towards the door and out into the street, where he bounded back towards the castle.
What: Books!
When: Mid October
Where: Starts at Bookshop Cassanova
Rating: W.T.F
Status: Once more, to the breach!
The first chilly breeze of the evening brought Chase to a musty window of an old book store: it was the sort of place Gert would have gotten lost in for hours, and it was Chase's last hope. He needed to figure out how to repair what parts of the Stein Bus that were still solidly in 1978, and not some bizarre fusion of Stein-tech and the Yorke's future technology. He wanted to give her a proper tune up before it got any colder.
Return of the cooler temperatures reminded him with a pang that he'd be approaching his first year in Aternaville, and no matter how he looked at it, it left a sour taste in his mouth. Uther and the twins were great, and meeting Clarice had felt like winning the jackpot in the inter-dimensional lottery, but he found his mind wandering more and more often back to the Malibu house: to Molly, Karolina (poor Karolina, had Xaxin ever found her way back?) Nico, Vic and Klara. For a second he could see their faces in the whorls of dust on the glass, cursed and muscled his way in.
His initial assessment of being able to get lost wasn't too far off: the place was deceptively big, lined with tall, narrow shelves packed with books in all states of decay. Not bothering to ask for help, he wandered, calloused hands brushing over rough, cracking spines until he found what he needed: automotive. It would be his luck that the only bookstore in a pocket dimension would have the users manual for a Mark II VW Bus. Chase shrugged to himself. Stranger things had happened. As his hand passed over one of the higher shelves, a glint caught his eye from the dark gold band on his ring finger: the decoder ring for the Abstract flashed brightly for a moment then dimmed.
'But there's no light up there...'
The sun had gone down so that the whole shelf was cloaked in dim shadow, and none of the store lights illuminated it.
Heart pounding for reasons he couldn't name, Chase passed his hand back over the spine of a thick, dark leatherbound volume, squinting as the band shone dazzlingly bright; fingers gripped it and pulled, but it wouldn't budge.
"Come on you stupid jerk-- OW!" With one final yank the book came loose, bashed into Chase's head and fell, cover up onto the floor at his feet.
"Oh fuck me." It was one of the first things he'd said upon arrival to Aternaville. Staring up at him from the well tread tile of the book shop floor was an Abstract, the same tome of ritual dark magic and arcane knowledge his own parents had used to conduct the Rite of Blood and gift the world to him. Or, they'd *tried*-- like any sane human being he'd thrown the offer back in their face. All of the children of The Pride had.
'Aside from Alex, but fuck him too.'
The temptation to put the book back on the shelf and run for hills was more tempting than he cared to admit. Chase hadn't managed to translate as much of the Yorke's Abstract as Alex had, but what he *was* had since been locked away in a part of his brain only accesable via copious amounts of alcohol and/or suicidal tendenacies. But then, what he understood of each Contract was that the capital T, capital C Terms and Conditions were always a little different. It depended on what the contractee wanted. And if his parents had wanted to destroy the world, what had the previous owner of *this* Abstract wanted?
"Philoprogenitiveness." Chase said under his breathe, holding his be-ringed hand over the book. It flew open to the exact page he thought it would: the incantation for the Rite of Blood. He squinted; there were notes in scribbled in the margins, annotated with two sets of initials: RM and TM.
'RM? TM? Waitaminute. No. No no no. Robert and Tina Minoru? Get the fuck out. Fuck this, fuck me, what the fuck.'
A quick glance around for security cameras or markers revealed none, and Chase quietly slipped the book into a battered messenger bag and made his way towards the door and out into the street, where he bounded back towards the castle.