Dyna didn’t often leave the Carroll Institute these days. It wasn’t that she was afraid or anything. In fact, she was pretty sure a small part of her wanted Ignotus to show up. But the simple fact was that her excursions out of the institute in the past had been to experiment with her ability in an environment where the administrators wouldn’t try to shut her down.
Now that she had permission, there simply was little reason to head into Idaho Falls on the regular.
Most days, anyway.
Today, Dyna found herself among a rather colorful group. Ruby walked ahead of the group, walking backwards to face everyone else. Dyna and Emerald followed up at the rear along with Mel, who looked both excited to be included and a bit confused as to why she was here at all. Between them, Matt and November casually chatted with one another in low tones. If someone had seen them walking, they would probably think that there were just a few young adults heading to a movie theater or restaurant. Along with someone’s little sister.
At least until they noticed the armed guards escorting them and the large building up ahead completely covered in a black and gold tent. The latter might have been mistaken for a building undergoing fumigation, but the former? The group of scientists, dressed in protective gear, might stick out even more than the armed guards.
Dyna had to wonder what the people of Idaho Falls thought of everything that went on. The airport had been attacked by ‘terrorists’, then a few months later, a whole bunch of stuff happened. A partial blackout of the city, cannon fire from the mountain man’s gun, and a shootout in a department store. And now…
A few local police officers moved aside, allowing the Carroll Institute team entrance to the striped tent.
The Willard Arts Center, just down the road from the art museum where Dyna and Walter had stopped the tulpa from escaping with the Ouija board, was a large venue building that hosted business meetings, film festivals, and parties. At least according to the report Dyna had read on the way over.
Today, it had been set up for a wedding. White sheer curtains and drapes were arranged against a fairly old-looking brick wall. Flowers and bouquets were stationed around a small platform with an array of uncomfortable-looking chairs set about in two distinct groups. White sheets hung across the ceiling, leaving them loose in the middles which created a pillow-like pattern. Probably to disguise a rather unflattering drop tile ceiling that poked through near the room’s entrance.
A large cake, one of those multi-tiered towers that looked entirely impractical to make, move, and consume, had toppled over, spilling across the wooden floor. Military boot prints had stomped through the cake, leaving imprints and tracking food across the floor. One of the legs of a gift table had broken, leaving wrapped presents in a pile near the toppled table.
Between the two sets of chairs, opposite from the wedding platform area, a large archway made from white plastic slats and fake vines stood tall in the room. The Carroll Institute’s first responders stood around it. The reason wasn’t immediately apparent, but quickly became so the longer Dyna stared.
Within the archway, a shimmering, barely-noticeable field occupied the area.
A spatial anomaly.
“I don’t like looking at that,” Matt mumbled.
“Really?” November said. “It’s quite beautiful. Nostalgic in a way. And there is a lot leaking through. You feel that, Ruby?”
Ruby nodded slowly, keeping her narrowed eyes on the archway as the group approached.
Walter and Sapphire, having already arrived, stood near it. Though Sapphire didn’t exactly stand, but rather floated a few inches off the ground looking like a hanged man without a noose. Strange as always. Walter glanced over at the arrival of the group, but didn’t do much besides offer a small nod of his head before turning back to a woman that Dyna didn’t recognize.
Dyna wasn’t quite sure if she was a scientist or a soldier. She was dressed like the former, wearing a long white coat with thick gloves, several vials of glowing liquid strapped to her hip and a bandoleer on her chest. A mask covered her nose and mouth while transparent yet high-tech goggles covered her eyes. However, she had the posture of someone trained in fighting and a very visible sidearm. While any doctor could carry a pistol, it was her bearing that really tripped Dyna up.
Perhaps it was stereotypical, but there were a great many scientists, doctors, and researchers at the Carroll Institute. Very few of them looked like they could run fifty feet without gasping for breath and even fewer looked like they could lift any amount of weights.
Where Walter turned away almost immediately, the woman stopped and stared at the group once she noticed them. Her eyes, visible behind her goggles, darted from one to the next in a familiar search for threats. Even though Emerald was right beside her, Dyna felt like the woman’s eyes stopped on her for a longer than anyone else.
“November, Matthew. The subject for today,” the woman said in a quick yet polite tone, motioning toward the archway. “The Phrenomorphics team is at your disposal. Any input you can provide as well, Ruby, will not go ignored.”
November didn’t look like she was paying much attention. She wandered away, slowly circling around the archway the way a tiger might circle its prey, looking for the opportune angle to pounce.
Ruby’s face lit up at being included by special mention, though she quickly tried to hide it. Apparently taking a cue from November, she started circling the archway as well.
Matt, on the other hand, tried to avoid looking at it still, focusing on the woman. “Director Gamma? I read the report, but—”
“At oh-nine-five-eight, interrupting a wedding ceremony, three armed soldiers matching Ignotus-33 reports emerged from the spatial anomaly within the archway, moved directly to the table of gifts, removed one, and exited the area through the archway. No civilians were harmed, but many panicked and fled the area before we could contain them. At this time, we are unsure what gift was taken. Interviews with remaining guests are being conducted by Haskwell in an adjacent room,” the woman said, pointing to a closed door. She swept her hand across the room, gesturing toward a white-haired man crouched over the remains of the cake. “However, Stroker requested you meet with him before anything else.”
Matt kept far from the archway as he rounded it to reach the cake. Just before Dyna turned away, she noticed a little plastic statue sliding across the cake-stained floor on its own. The white haired scientist swung a camera over immediately, bristling with visible excitement.
“What are we here for?” Mel whispered, leaning close to Dyna.
“Security,” Dyna said, then motioned between herself and Emerald. “At least we are.”
Mel had no weapon on her person. With the fog machine, she could create one instantly but as far as Dyna knew, Mel had not been training in combat. Emerald and Ruby clearly enjoyed their jobs, but after having met Hematite, Dyna was quite positive that it wasn’t for everyone. Based on everything she knew about Mel, it probably wasn’t for her either.
Gamma stepped closer, looking over the remaining three. “You are Melanie Murdoch? Phrenomorphics is a new division of the Carroll Institute. We are not quite sure of all of our needs at this time, thus, given your ability, we requested your presence. Doctor Gimball, the man in protective gear near the gift table, will inform you of needs. Please do your best to fulfill them.”
Mel puffed up a bit, inflating her chest as she gave a serious nod of her head. She… liked making things. Real things. Maybe it stemmed from her past, but she was always asking everyone around if they needed anything that she could provide. To Dyna, instant equipment manufacturer seemed like a job that would become frustrating and dull after ten minutes. Mel enjoyed it, however.
“Miss Onyx,” Gamma said as Mel hurried over to her spot. “Exciting to finally meet you.”
“Is it?”
“More than you can imagine. Or…” she paused, letting out a muffled laugh behind her mask. “Perhaps exactly as you can imagine.”
Dyna blinked twice, feeling like she was missing a joke.
“Administrator,” Walter said, mild warning in his tone.
“Oh?” Gamma turned. “I thought you wanted to tell?” The skin around her eyes wrinkled before she shook her head. “Ah well, the others would castigate me if I said anything more on the matter. In time, in time, I look forward to seeing what you do with yourself, Onyx.”
“You’re an administrator?” Dyna said, now narrowing her eyes. She had a whole list of things she wanted to complain about. Although… most of her complaints had actually been resolved in recent weeks.
“Administrator Gamma and temporary head of Phrenomorphics until I find a suitable replacement. At your service.” She paused and glanced over to Dyna’s side. “Emerald. Staying out of trouble?”
“Not if I can help it.”
“So long as the trouble is directed outside the institute,” Gamma said, hard voice taking on a resigned tinge. A series of beeps coming from a blinking light on the wrist of one of her gloves, echoed from a number of the other scientists around the room, had her sighing. “I’d love to stay and learn more about you, Onyx, but duty calls.”
“Right…”
With a curt nod of her head, Gamma stalked off, following a few of the other doctors who had beeped. November joined them, interestingly enough.
“Onyx, Emerald,” Walter said, turning to them fully. “I have a job for the two of you.”
“Oh? Something beyond standing about like a tin soldier?” Emerald asked with a smile. She turned her head slightly to where one of the Carroll Institute security team stood guard next to the archway in a silver protective suit. “No offense.”
The guard shrugged. “Didn’t sign up for the uniform, that’s for sure,” he said with a tinge of humor in his tone.
Dyna ignored the byplay, focusing on Walter. It irked a little, being called for security. She had been the first person to engage with tulpa, both the Hatman and November, and had been the first person to witness a spatial anomaly as well. Unfortunately, for all that experience, she wasn’t an expert. She hadn’t even read all the reports that Emerald went through; there were far too many reports for anyone who didn’t have a dedicated job of reading reports… or could stop time.
Her thumb brushed over the glass of the watch on her wrist. In the week since she had created it, Dyna had lived—or experienced—a few more hours than everyone else. She could throw her current self backward up to sixty seconds. Not much time. And she couldn’t go back further than sixty seconds from her current perspective. After throwing herself backward, the bezel would only turn up until that point.
It was not convenient for something like reading reports.
Fighting, however?
She hadn’t tried it out in training yet, but it was the gadget she was most excited about. Even more so than the causality-breaking laser aim assist. Using it outside of controlled testing situations…
“First, do either of you detect any artifacts in the vicinity?”
Emerald sniffed at the air twice despite her having said that the sense of smell was purely psychosomatic. Maybe it helped her concentrate. Dyna, for her part, simply took a moment of self-reflection, looking for that unnatural feeling of calm. She hadn’t been particularly agitated today, but didn’t feel especially soothed by anything either.
“No.”
“Can’t say that I do.”
Walter nodded his head and glanced to Sapphire. Neither said anything and Walter quickly turned back. “Sapphire read the minds of those present for the incident,” he said, speaking quietly. “One of the individuals in attendance, who none of the minds present recognized but all assumed someone else knew, matched the description of Harold Porter. He fled before our team arrived, but Sapphire’s intel suggests that he was the one to have brought the stolen gift.”
Dyna narrowed her eyes, glaring toward the toppled gift table. Harold Porter was the hypnotist who used to work as Doctor Cross’ assistant. The man who had tried to sell her out to Id’s people and then later stole the Aztec calendar artifact while defecting. Needless to say, Dyna had a bit of personal beef with him ever since he disappeared that night.
They had thought for a time that he had gone to work with Id, but during the Hatman incident, Id had specifically requested he be released from the Carroll Institute’s cells.
With him having been a part of the institute, Dyna wasn’t surprised that he had evaded them. He knew protocols and methodology. She was, however, surprised that he had reappeared so close by. If she were him, she would have been on the other side of the world by now.
“Is he involved with Ignotus?” Dyna asked.
“Unknown.”
“None of the wedding guests knew him?” Emerald asked, looking to Sapphire. The way he shook his head while still floating limp was a tad disturbing. “And yet he brought a gift. A gift that was stolen.”
“He probably brought it for Ignotus,” Dyna said. “Whatever deal he had with Id must have fallen through. He can’t come back to the institute. Ignotus is probably the new power on the block that caught his eyes.” Frowning, Dyna thought back to the brief conversation in the car after capturing him. “He told me he didn’t want to hurt anyone,” she added more to herself than anyone else present. “Then he goes and joins up with the guys literally opening fire with cannons in public streets.”
“Nothing is confirmed,” Walter stressed. “Even his presence here is uncertain. No one knew him by name and memories of his face faded rapidly. Especially with all the chaos of Ignotus charging in.”
“Investigation time, huh?” Emerald said, rubbing her hands together. “Unfortunately, I’m going to need a little bit more than he was here but isn’t now.”
Sapphire’s head lifted slightly. “None of the wedding guests recognized him.” “Hardly any remember him.” “One spotted a tag poking out of his suit.”
Sapphire’s voices, as usual, came from impossible directions that were probably all in Dyna’s head.
“Oh?” Emerald said, not reacting in the slightest. “Couldn’t get a proper rental? Had to tuck the tags so he could return it later? Not very classy, Harold.”
“Would he even go return it after everything that happened?”
“If he doesn’t have a job, he probably doesn’t have proper income. He’ll want to keep what he can.”
Dyna wasn’t so convinced. “Counterpoint: he is a hypnotist. A good one. He’ll just say something like ‘I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle,’ and people will give it to him.”
Emerald raised an eyebrow, then shook her head. “Why not cut off the tag then? Unless you’ve got a different lead, Sapphire, then we’ll have to check it out.”
“No leads.” “There are too many minds—” “Noisy minds.” “—to focus on a store clerk in the city.” “We can focus on you.” “Find our lead and call.” “We—I will read his mind and discover his secrets.”
“Right. Where to?”
“Men’s Wearhouse. East 17th Street.”
Emerald looked over to Dyna and winked. “Race you there?” she said.
Dyna didn’t get a chance to respond before Emerald simply vanished.
“Hold—” Walter started.
He didn’t get a chance to finish before Dyna grabbed her watch bezel and rotated it a full sixty seconds.
“None of the wedding guests knew him?” Emerald asked, looking to Sapphire.
Unlike the previous time around when Sapphire gave a disturbing shake of his head, this time Sapphire shook. His whole body underwent a little seizure for just an instant.
“Disturbing.” “Disjointed.” “Continuity broken.”
“Excuse me?” Emerald asked, smile turning concerned.
Dyna had been planning on running away immediately, but with both Emerald and Walter looking at Sapphire, she couldn’t help her own concern. “Are you alright?” she asked.
“You know?” “She heard me.” “We didn’t speak.” “Didn’t we?” “She heard us.”
Dyna made a mental note not to use the watch around Sapphire in the future. “Sorry,” she said aloud. “I—”
“Foolish competition.” “Emerald started it.” “We’ll wait five minutes.”
“Five minutes?” Walter asked.
Dyna took a moment to realize what Sapphire meant. Once she did, she turned around. “Sorry again,” she said, pulling out her phone to check how far away 17th was.
“Wait, where—” Walter started, only for Sapphire to lift a hand and grab the sleeve of his shirt.
Maybe Sapphire was a bit upset with Emerald for causing this, but Dyna would take it. Unfortunately, the location was bit far. And she couldn’t use her watch again. It threw her thoughts back to her physical location and she couldn’t go beyond sixty seconds. Thus, she would never actually physically progress toward her goal.
For a moment, she considered calling Beatrice for help. But that seemed a bit much for a, as Sapphire put it, foolish competition. A small part of her wondered if she was being incredibly immature, but, as Sapphire had said, Emerald started it. Besides, she was leaving a minute earlier than she otherwise would have. So she was still going to get there sooner than if this hadn’t happened.
Justifying that to herself, Dyna headed straight toward their vehicle. Emerald had driven their little group in her old station wagon. She had the keys, but Dyna had something a little better. Pulling out the bobby pin from her pocket, she slipped inside and started the engine without trouble.
She probably should have driven a little slower. A little more carefully.
Yet, when Dyna pulled up to the Men’s Wearhouse, she couldn’t help but scowl.
Emerald shoved off the wall near the entrance and sauntered over to the station wagon’s open window. “What kept you?”