Rangerville Trailer Park, Wednesday, May 12, 2021, 9:05PM
"'Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home,'" Lucius said with a grin.
"I've stayed in worse," Molly said with an answering smile.
"As have I," Lucius said. "I recall nights sleeping under the stars, resting my head on tree roots and rocks, with only a threadbare cloak for a blanket."
"Well, that's taking LARPing a little far, even for me," Molly chuckled.
"What's LARPing?"
"So, you're saying people dress up and play act at being heroes or wizards or monsters," Lucius mused. "That sounds very interesting."
"It can be fun," Molly said. She always felt slightly embarrassed explaining some of the odder hobbies she'd gotten involved with over the years. "I guess, being a real witch, you think it's silly."
"You know, I've never understood why people seem to think 'silly' is a bad thing," Lucius smiled. "As if being dour and grim were somehow virtues. Much better to take joy in life, I assure you. Now, you should get some sleep. We have much to do and you'll need to be clear headed."
"About that," Molly said, feeling a little worried. "You only have the one small bed and um..."
"It's yours," Lucius said without hesitation. "I don't need as much sleep as mortals. Get some rest and I'll see you in the morning."
"Right," Molly said. "Thanks."
Mortals?
Rangerville Trailer Park, Thursday, May 13, 2021, 7:40AM
"I'm going to need some clean clothes," Molly said. "After hiking out to the lab and back last night, these are dusty and a little ripe."
"You're my Guest," Lucius said. Molly got the sense the word carried more weight to him than she was used to. "You are quite welcome to take whatever will suit you from my clothes. Later I'll venture a brief visit to your house to pick up some your own clothes."
"What will the Men in Black staking out my house think if they see you coming out the front door carrying my suitcase?" Molly asked.
"I won't use the doors, but still it would be best if I waited until after dark," Lucius smiled. "For today, as I said, you're welcome to whatever you can find among my things that suits you."
"Meanwhile, I am hoping you have some ideas concerning that rather impressive door," Lucius continued. "I'm afraid the lock proved quite resistant to my magic. All my other ideas for removing it risk bringing down large parts of the surrounding building."
"Wait, you're telling me it's a magic-resistant security door?" Molly blinked.
"Not, I suspect, intentionally," Lucius smiled. "Magic does have limits. I can't use a spell to open the door because I don't understand it... the mechanisms of it and how they form the whole."
"So, if you had diagrams of the workings of the door, you could open it?" Molly asked.
"Simply seeing the diagrams wouldn't be enough. I would need to truly understand them and the door itself," Lucius nodded. "Witches often speak of needing to know the Name of a thing... by which we mean understanding its essence, and how that essence exists in relation to the greater harmony of the Realm around it. By understanding a Name and the Words of Power associated with it, we can use our magic to influence it."
"So, to magic open the door you would need the blueprints and, what, an engineering degree?" Molly asked, shocked.
"Just so," Lucius smiled back. "By the same token, I am unable to use magic on these strange plants, or on the zombies, as you call them. I don't understand them and so they are beyond the reach of my power."
"Well, that sucks," Molly sighed. "I was kind of hoping you could just... you know... magic all this. Like open the door or even just magic Dylan and Jess free of... whatever."
"Sadly, it is very the 'whatever' of it that makes that impossible," Lucius explained. "For now, the Sigworth parents must remain under the influence of the 'whatever.'"
"Parents... oh God, Christie!" Molly gasped. "If this got Dylan..."
"Christie is free and will remain so," Lucius said reassuringly. "I sent Huntress to look after her while you slept."
"You sent your cat to protect Christie?" Molly blinked.
"I assure you, Huntress is more than capable of keeping young Christie safe," Lucius smiled. "In fact, I'm more worried about our safety in her absence."
"Right," Molly said, slowly processing. "Huntress isn't just a cat, is she?"
"She is most assuredly a cat," Lucius smiled. "Though I have never known one who was just a cat."
"Well, that's not even close to the strangest thing I've heard lately," Molly said. "So, I'm just going to go with it."
"Very wise," Lucius nodded. "Still, even with that settled, we are left with a rather large door to deal with."
"To open that door, we need a keycard," Molly said. "I don't know any other way around it. Unfortunately, you can't buy keycards for MoD secret lab security doors at S-Mart. Maybe at Spy Gear and More..."
"I don't know that store," Lucius said.
"I was... joking," Molly said slowly, as a thought formed. "... and More. No one ever asks about the 'and More.'"
"You have an idea," Lucius smiled.
"One person we can talk to who might know more about all this than either of us," Molly said. "Eccentric Erwin!"
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