Strangerville Mystery - Ch 13 - The Mother

Classified Ministry of Defense Research Facility, Rangerville Crater, Monday, May 17, 2021, 6:45PM

 It towered over them, glowing with its own inner luminescence, vibrant with life.

The Ministry of Defense engineering corps had clearly built the massive chamber around it, carving space out of the bedrock of the crater to house and contain what they had found here. It was just as clear to Molly that all their work and ingenuity hadn't been up to the task. 

This plant, this being, this eldritch horror, was beyond them all.

"What... what is it?" Molly asked, her mouth dry.

"A creature of the Farthest Realms, at the very edge of the Outer Darkness," Lucius answered. "A Mother of Flowers." 

"That... doesn't sound so bad," Molly said hopefully.

"Oh, it's much, much worse," Lucius said brightly. "We... everyone in Rangerville... are in terrible danger. This is the worst possibility that I suspected and desperately hoped I was wrong." 

"Great," Molly chuckled nervously.

"Well, let's introduce ourselves," Lucius said, starting across the massive chamber.

"Sure... wait, what?" Molly said, following him. 

The platform had probably been built as a place to study the titanic being, to observe and take samples. Still, Molly imagined it was ideally suited for tiny creatures like her and Lucius to try to speak with this giant.

"Mother of Flowers," Lucius said formally. "Know me as Taranis Stormcaller of the Tuatha de Dannan. I would approach and speak with you."

The giant plant, ancient being, Mother of Flowers, rumbled and shuddered in response.

"You have slept long, Mother of Flowers," Lucius continued. "The war is ended and by the Treaty of Moy Tura, this Realm was ceded to the Tuatha de Dannan. Your people have withdrawn once more to the Farther Realms. I offer you safe passage, to return to your home."

"TUATHA DE DANNAN!" The Mother roared. " DIÚLTAÍM DO THAIRISCINT."

"The Formoiri and their allies were defeated, Mother of Flowers," Lucius replied. "A second time, I offer you safe passage back to your far Realm."

"IS LIOMSA AN RÉIMSE SEO." The titanic horror bellowed.

"No longer!" Lucius yelled back. "Thrice and done. Return to whence you came!"

"GHEOBHAIDH TÚ BÁS!"

"Others have tried and failed," Lucius sneered.

-------------------------

"OK, what the Hell was all that?!" Molly demanded. "Wars and treaties and tuatha de something or other? What is going on? Who are you?!" 

After Lucius's tense exchange with the Mother of Flowers, they had retreated to the Project Orchid lab.

"I am the same person you've known," Lucius answered. "Over the centuries, I've had other names, but I remain myself. As for the rest..."

"My people - the Tuatha de Dannan - come from another Realm. We were explorers once, sailing in our silver ships amid the sea of stars and crossing the Void between Realms. 

"I was little more than a youth then... what you would call a teen... though among my people I was considered an adult and a warrior. I followed my king, Nuada Silveroak, and Manannan, his sworn brother. In our travels we visited many Realms, many worlds... including this one.

"This Realm, when we came to it, was fair, and green. Some of us longed to make a home here... but others had come before us. 

"They were the Formoiri... our kin but also our rivals. They claimed this Realm for themselves and, under the rule of their cruel king, Balor of the Poisoned Eye, they had already begun to conquer and enslave your people.

"The war between us was terrible. I had left my home a youth, full of dreams of glory and honor. I found the reality of battle to be... much different than my dreams.

"In the course of our war, each side called upon allies and friends made in our travels. The pixies aided us as scouts and a messengers, and svartalf artificers forged for us dreadful weapons. The Formoiri too had allies... and among them were the Mothers of Flowers, whose sweet scent could bespell even the strongest wills and turn friend into foe.

"In the end, at the Second Battle of Moy Tura, we overcame the Formoiri and forced them to accept our terms."

"The Formoiri and their allies were made to abandon their claims to this Realm, and they retreated to the edge of the Outer Darkness, where they wait still," Lucius concluded. "This Mother is, I hope, the last of her kind here.... a survivor of that ancient war. She does not accept her defeat nor acknowledge the Treaty. She was promised rich, green fields to grow her flowers and rule, and she will take what she was promised, if she can."

"So, to sum up, you're an ancient magical warrior and she's a mind-controlling eldritch horror looking to conquer the world," Molly said. "This is, what, Elves vs Flowers, Grudge Match 2021?"

"I rather like the sound of that," Lucius chuckled.

"But you can beat her," Molly said. "You did before, right? You know what she is now. You know her Name. You can beat her."

"Perhaps," Lucius nodded. "I have an idea."

--------------

Author's Note: Translating the Mother of Flowers (via Google Translate and with apologies to native Irish speakers).

DIÚLTAÍM DO THAIRISCINT - I reject your offer.

IS LIOMSA AN RÉIMSE SEO - This field is mine.

GHEOBHAIDH TÚ BÁS! - You will die!

Strangerville Mystery - Ch 12 - Project Orchid

Classified Ministry of Defense Research Facility, Rangerville Crater, Monday, May 17, 2021, 6:10PM

"This is a remarkably uncomfortable suit," Lucius said. "Very difficult to move in."

Making the necessary adjustments to the hazmat suit filtration units had taken Molly most of the day. She'd had to call in a few favors from the fabrication team, while avoiding Bonnie of the Bounteous Bosom and Biobro Brian, both of whom had questions she wasn't prepared to answer.

Sneaking two modified hazmat suits out of the lab just couldn't be done. They were too bulky to hide, too obvious to be anything but what they were. In the end, she'd just walked out the front door with them.  Likeable Lyric hadn't objected... unless the staccato chirps she'd exchanged with Lucius had been objections. He hadn't seemed worried, so Molly let it go.

No one had objected to the two of them lugging the suits across the crater and into the secret government lab either. Molly was beginning to seriously question the Army's security precautions. Maybe they just assumed no one would be stupid enough to try to break in... which, Molly felt, showed a major lack of appreciation for human stupidity.

"Just think of it as armor, Obi-Wan," Molly replied. "These suits should protect us from the spores. I hope."

"Only one way to know for sure," Lucius smiled.

"Right. Let's do this," Molly said, taking a deep breath.

Together, they stepped into the fog filled corridor. The dense purple cloud swirled around them as they walked in silence. 

After a few paces, Molly realized she was holding her breath, waiting for something... anything... to happen. Finally, she forced herself to breathe. The air in her suit smelled of plastic and her own sweat, but thankfully not the pervasive sickly-sweet smell of the spores. 

"Armor is actually more comfortable than this," Lucuis said casually, breaking the silence. "One can do cartwheels in a well-fitted suit of plate and mail."

"Know this from first-hand experience, do you?" Molly asked, welcoming the distraction.

"Well, I've known a few knights who could do it," Lucius said.

"Whatever you say, Merlin," Molly smiled. 

"'Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time,'" Lucius quoted in a remarkably good Ben Kenobi impression.

Molly laughed, though she wasn't entirely certain he was joking.

The corridor ended in another security door, which yielded easily to 'Major Duchovny's' keycard. Molly could see where the door was cracked and damaged by the explosion, but it opened easily enough. Beyond it, stairs descended deeper into the facility.

"Let's see how deep this goes," Molly sighed.

The long flight of stairs ended in a short corridor which opened into a lab, much like the one they had found above. In the dim light, they could see containment units holding strange plants in various stages of growth. Computer towers hummed in the silence.

"Project Orchid, I presume," Molly breathed.

"As we expected," Lucius said.

"I wonder what they were doing down here," Molly mused. "I mean, was it just research or did they have a goal..."

"In my experience, the greatest goal of an army is victory," Lucius said. "You're an intelligent woman, Molly. A scientist and engineer. Can you imagine what uses the military might have for even what little we've know of these plants so far?"

"I don't think I want to," Molly admitted.

"As I said, you're an intelligent woman," Lucius said.

"Looks like damage from the explosion," Molly said, gesturing at the cracked monitors. 

"Yes," Lucius said softly. "As we guessed, they tried to contain what they had... but the Mother had no desire to be contained any longer."

"You know, don't you?" Molly said. "You know what all this really is? The plants, the zombies, the Mother?"

"I suspect," Lucius corrected. "I have suspected for some time. I devoutly hope I am wrong."

"Whether I am or not," Lucius continued, "it is no great leap to imagine that whatever they found here, whatever has slept here for centuries uncounted, has awoken... and having awoken, has no desire to rest longer in confinement."

Another hallway stretched deeper into the facility, this one covered in vines that seemed to pulse with vibrant life. 

"I think we're getting close," Molly said. 

"Yes, I think we are," Lucius agreed.

The corridor ended in another security door, this one laced through with vines. The plants had plainly found every crack and seam in the door, growing through every gap.

Molly looked at the door and shuddered. One of her exes had told her, several times, that she had the psychic sensitively of a brick. Still, she imagined she could feel Something on the other side of the door... the looming presence of ancient malice and eldritch horror, waiting to be unleashed.

Psychic sensitivity of a brick, Molly thought, but a great imagination. Please, please, let me be imagining this.

She swiped the keycard at the door, half hoping it wouldn't work.

"Access approved, Major Duchovny," the door replied, hissing open.

"Oh. My. God." Molly gasped.

"Ah, I was right," Lucius said.

Strangerville Mystery - Ch 11 - The Bloom

Rangerville Trailer Park, Sunday, May 16, 2021, 7:40PM

The drive back from the crater had been quiet. Molly's mind was already racing ahead, thinking about what she would need to turn the various parts left on her workbench into a working version of the scanner. Lucius, for his part, sat in silence, looking out the window at the desert sky.

Pulling into the trailer park lot, Molly had every intention of simply dropping Lucius off and heading straight over to the lab, but something in Lucius's silence drew her attention. Without a word, he stepped from the car and walked across the trailer park, his eyes still fixed on the sky. Turning to follow his gaze, Molly gasped softly and followed him.

A tower of clouds rose over the distant crater, swirling slowly like a gathering storm. The very sky itself was different, eerie and strange. Molly realized she could still smell the sickly-sweet scent that had filled the air of the secret lab. It was fainter now, but it was everywhere. 

"What... what is that?" Molly breathed softly, almost to herself.

"The Mother," Lucius answered. "She is reaching out now. Her power rides on the wind."

"Crap," Molly groaned. "Did we do this? Lucius? We did this, didn't we? When we opened the door... did we let this out?"

"Yes," Lucius said simply. "I believe we did."

"I was really hoping you'd say no," Molly sighed.

"It would have happened with us or without us," Lucius said. "It's what we do now that matters."

"Right." Molly took a deep breath, tasting the sickly-sweet air. "Right. Let's get to work."

-------------------

FutureTech Labs, Sunday, May 16, 2021, 8:00PM

"Lyric, don't you ever go home?" Molly asked the receptionist. Also, who names their kid Lyric, she wondered not for the first time.

"I pulled swing swift," Likable Lyric smiled winningly. "What brings you in, Dr Prescott?"

"Rush job," Molly said. "Need another working sensor prototype for testing right away, so I thought I'd just come in and get it done."

It wasn't technically a lie, Molly thought. She just hadn't said who needed the sensor, or why. 

Likable Lyric wouldn't argue with the senior project engineer taking the finished module out. It wasn't like Molly Prescott, FutureTech's top troubleshooter, was going to steal company property... or, you know, use it to personally try to stop an outbreak of extra-dimensional plant zombies.

It's like high school all over again, Molly sighed.

-------------------

Western Desert, Sunday, May 16, 2021, 9:00PM

Under eerie skies, the desert around Rangerville was blooming. The strange plants which had appeared a few weeks ago had suddenly blossomed, growing larger and pulsing with an inner luminescence that seemed to echo the uncanny sky. 

-------------------

Rangerville Trailer Park, Monday, May 17, 2021, 6:50AM

"You make your own granola, don't you?" Molly asked. 

She was trying very hard not to think about what was going on in the world, and food had always been a great distraction. A little too great sometimes, she thought. 

"Hmmm?" Lucius remained focused on his book. "Oh, yes... something I picked up from some nice folks who lived in Old New Henford a little while ago. Flower people," he chuckled. "Though they weren't actually. Flowers, I mean. I knew an actual flower woman, once, long ago. Blodeuwedd. Poor woman. Turned into an owl."

"Right," Molly said, bemused. "Anyway... I'm going to take our shiny new scanner out and see if I can get us some useful data on these strange plants. Not that I'm sure what to do with it once I get it."

"Never fear," Lucius said. "I have some ideas."

He has some ideas, Molly thought. The man who learned to make granola from hippies, talks about flower-owl-women and might possibly have shared a beer with the actual Thor has some ideas. This will be good.

At least the scanner works. 

What on earth is this?

 -------------------

FutureTech Labs, Monday, May 17, 2021, 9:20AM

"Good morning, Dr Prescott," Likable Lyric greeted her brightly. 

Really, does this woman ever go home? Maybe she just lives in the breakroom.

"Your guest will have to sign in," Likable Lyric added.

"Of course," Molly smiled. "This is... Dr. Tempest. He's assisting me with analyzing some data from the sensors."

Lucius said something in a rapid, staccato language that caused Likable Lyric to blink, startled, and respond in a burst of the same chirping tone. 

"Of course," a flustered Likable Lyric said. "Just sign here."

"What was that about?" Molly asked.

"Nothing important," Lucius smiled. "She's a nice young person, doing her job. She won't disturb us."

"You know something I don't," Molly said.

"Molly, I know a great deal that you don't," Lucius smiled, "but, of course, as an engineer you know a great deal that I don't. I can barely figure out my phone."

"... and yet, you know how to use a chemical analyzer?" Molly said.

"Well, as it happens, yes," Lucius said. "I've worked with an older model some years ago."

"So, how is it an ancient warlock knows how to use a chemical analyzer?" Molly asked.

"Please," Lucius bristled. "I am a witch."

"Sorry, is warlock offensive or something?" Molly blinked.

"Yes. Extremely," Lucius said. "It means 'oathbreaker,' and there are few greater insults you could offer me."

"Oh... sorry," Molly winced. "I didn't know."

"Which is why you remain un-cursed," Lucius said a gentle smile. "As to your actual question, chemistry is essentially just alchemy with less newt... and I am a very good alchemist. Now, let's see what these samples can tell us."

She'd found them out in the desert, near the strange plants. Lucius had called them 'spore clusters' and believed they were an early stage in the plant's life cycle. He'd insisted they collect as many as they could find that morning.

Molly watched Lucius work with mingled fascination and frustration. She understood the machine he was using. She could probably break it down, tune it up and rebuild it, but she couldn't make sense of what it was telling him. 

So, she watched the ancient being who didn't own a TV and could barely use his phone working the machine like a professional, all the while muttering to himself in a musical language she didn't understand.

"Dyna. There you are," Lucius said at last. "I do believe this is what you needed."

"I do believe you're right," Molly smiled. "Go alchemy. I'll get to work on the hazmat filters."

Strangerville Mystery - Ch 10 - The Door

Classified Ministry of Defense Research Facility, Rangerville Crater, Sunday, May 16, 2021, 5:15PM

"Ready to see what's behind Door Number One, Obi-Wan?" Molly asked, trying to hide her nerves. "If this works at all."

Eccentric Erwin has been thrilled with the dossier, practically giggling with excitement over the evidence they'd collected. He'd assured them that his mysterious contacts would be equally impressed and told them to come back the next day for the security card.

Molly had, once again, wondered whether asking a guy who wore kitchenware and holiday lights as a hat had really been her very best idea. Lucius, however, had been absolutely confident that Eccentric Erwin would fulfill his end of the bargain. Molly had wondered what Lucius's Luxurious Hair would look like under a colander. Of course, since this had been her idea in the first place, maybe she'd need a colander hat of her own.

Still, less than an hour ago, Eccentric Erwin had handed them a card with the confident assurance that it would work. 

"I have every faith that the card will work," Lucius said calmly. "Whether we're ready for what is behind this door, I am less certain of."

"Terrific," Molly muttered.

The door beeped, an oddly cheerful sound in the ruins of the abandoned secret lab. Then it announced, in a calm, recorded voice, "Access granted. Welcome, Major Duchovny." 

With a smooth hiss of well-oiled machinery, the doors slid open. A wave of cool, wet air rolled out of the open door, carrying with it a perfumed smell that reminded Molly of a flower shop.

"Oh, just terrific," she coughed as the sickly-sweet air caught in her throat.

Beyond the door, stairs descended into perfumed darkness.

At the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a dimly lit empty room with two corridors stretching deeper into the darkness. Down one, Molly could see distant light. Down the other...

"What do you think that is?" Molly asked.

Thick purple fog filled the passageway, hiding whatever was beyond.

"Here be dragons," Lucius said softly.

"Yeah," Molly sighed. "Wait, you don't think there are actual dragons down there... do you?"

With a wry smile, Lucius pulled what Molly could only think was a magic wand from his belt. 

"Let's see, shall we," he said.

He spoke again in those musical Words that sent a chill down Molly's spine. Motes of light, like conjured stars, spilled from the wand as he waved it in graceful arc. 

Molly held her breath, waiting. 

Finally, she said, "OK... what happened?"

"Nothing," Lucius said, almost cheerfully. "Absolutely nothing. I am accounted the greatest weather witch alive today, and my magic cannot touch that fog. Which is very interesting."

"OK, what does that mean?" Molly asked. "You said before that you couldn't magic the strange plants, or the zombies, because you didn't know their Name. So, the fog has a Name you don't know?"

"Precisely," Lucius smiled. "Which means we are definitely on the right track. I believe they are all parts of the same whole... the Mother."

"OK, I take it that's a good thing," Molly said. "Just, you seem really happy about it."

"Molly, I've been doing this kind of thing for a very long time," Lucius said. "I haven't encountered a truly novel and unexpected challenge like this since the Dark Ages." 

"OK, yeah... I get that," Molly nodded. "I enjoy a good challenge too. Just, this a little bigger than missing a project deadline and losing my bonus."

"Agreed," Lucius said. "I suggest we try the other passage first. I don't relish breathing in a mysterious fog. In my experience, that ends badly."

"Yeah, right there with you," Molly nodded. "Let's try Door Number Three."

Door Number Three, and the corridor beyond it, led to a well-appointed laboratory. White walls and tiled floor gleamed, and somewhere a humming ventilation system breathed cool, dry air - finally clean of the perfumed smell that had dominated the lower level. Computer towers and display screens lined the nearest wall and in the center of it all, a glass-enclosed clean room contained chemical analysis stations.

"OK, feeling more in my element now," Molly said. 

"I imagine so," Lucius replied, wandering around the room.

"Woah, this is interesting," Molly said. "They've definitely been studying those strange plants. I'm guessing this is like a life cycle... the ones we've seen might be an early stage."

"So I see," Lucius said from across the room.

"It looks like they were growing these before the explosion," Molly said, examining the data on the screens. "They tried to cultivate the plants... and they succeeded. If I'm reading this right, the plants reached maturity and started releasing some kind of spores... as well as growing those strange fruit." 

"They have certainly cultivated these plants," Lucius said mildly. "Or at least attempted to. These don't look healthy."

"These... ?" Molly asked, coming around the clean room to join Lucius. "Holy crap... those are the containment units Dylan and I found blueprints for."

"I believe so," Lucius nodded. "I credit your MoD for trying to take precautions, but I expect their experiment moved out of their control. It may be that once the plants reached maturity, they could no longer be contained."

"These look pretty contained," Molly said.

"Yes, but as I said, these don't look healthy," Lucius pointed out. "There may be another lab, like this one, down the other corridor..."

"Which might have had a better crop and be what caused the explosion," Molly said. "Once that happened, they abandoned the lab... but the spores got out. You know, Biobro Brian's crop is probably FutureTech trying to pick up on the MoD's work here after they abandoned this lab."

"Because making the same mistakes again is always productive," Lucius said.

"Except, Biobro Brian isn't using these containment modules," Molly said. "So, no explosion."

"Just more spores," Lucius pointed out.

"Right, that's bad," Molly said. "They'll contaminate everyth... Wait. Contaminate. Son of bitch! The sensor module. The project I got called in on... a sensor module to detect and analyze biological contaminants! They've got the same problem you do! They don't understand the plants or their spores... so they can't fight them... or guard against them! The hazmat filter team... they're waiting on specs from MoD for a new filter... to filter out the spores. They're trying to go down that corridor... back into the original lab." 

"We need to get to that lab," Lucius said earnestly. 

"Which means we need hazmat suits with upgraded filters," Molly said. "Which means we need an analysis of the spores. For that, we need a working sensor module."

"Do you have one?" Lucius asked.

"The prototype is in testing," Molly said, "but I have all the components I need back at FutureTech. I can build us one. Let's go!" 

Strangerville Mystery - Ch 9 - Eccentric Erwin

Rangerville Trailer Park, Thursday, May 13, 2021, 8:25AM

"You can't really imagine that this Eccentric Erwin really has a keycard to the secret lab's security door," Lucius said. "Can you?"

"Never underestimate the resourcefulness of nerds, Obi-Wan," Molly said. "Especially crazy nerds." 

"Obi-Wan," Lucius chuckled.

"Sorry, Star Wars reference," Molly smiled, adding, "It's a movie. Obi-Wan Kenobi is the wise old advisor character. You kinda have that vibe. Not that you're old."

"'When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not,'" Lucius quoted in a remarkably muppet-y voice. "My daughter is a Star Wars fan," he added. "So, I've kept up with it. I quite like Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"That's right, you mentioned you had a daughter before," Molly said. "Is she back in Henford?"

"She is. We aren't in contact," Lucius said a little sadly. "She's grown and has her own life. She doesn't want to see me... but perhaps someday."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Molly said. A sudden thought occurred to her. "Say... you're not actually 900 years old, are you?"

"No, no," Lucius replied mildly. "It's been a long time since I was only 900." 

"Welcome to Curious Curios and More," Eccentric Erwin greeted them.

"Erwin, I want to ask you about the 'and More,'" Molly said, interrupting him. 

"Uhhh... what can I do you for?" Eccentric Erwin said, looking suddenly suspicious.

Molly exchanged a look with Lucius. When they'd discussed how to approach this, he'd been insistent that they be honest with Erwin. From his expression, even the sight of Erwin in his holiday-light-colander-hat hadn't changed his mind (like she'd inwardly hoped it would).

She took a deep breath and said, "We're investigating the explosion at the government lab in the crater and the strange things that have been happening since."

"Right," Eccentric Erwin said cautiously. "So, you guys cops? Army? Agency? Aliens?"

"Molly is an engineer at FutureTech, and concerned about her friends," Lucius replied calmly. "I am a lord of the Tuatha de Danann and am investigating in service to the Witch's Council." 

"No shit?" Eccentric Erwin breathed.

"No shit," Lucius said earnestly.

"So, what can I do you for?" Eccentric Erwin asked again.

Pushing back the thought 'what the hell is a lord of the Tuatha de Danann' as something to be discussed later, Molly took a deep breath. In for a penny, in for a pound.

"You wouldn't happen to have a keycard for the security doors at the secret lab in your 'and More' inventory," she asked. 

"Are you kiddin'?" Eccentric Erwin grinned. "Ain't no way I could have somethin' like that in stock."

Lucius shrugged with what Molly felt was an annoying smug hint of 'I told you so.'

"I can totally get one," Eccentric Erwin continued. "But it's a strictly special-order item. Gotta talk to my contacts about it... and they's gonna want proof."

Lucius just blinked, clearly stunned.

"Proof?" Molly said. "Proof of..."

"Well, first off that you ain't workin' fer the gov'ment," Eccentric Erwin said. "An' second off that you's committed to findin' the Truth about Strangerville."

"Oooo-kay," Molly breathed. "How do we do that?"

"Well, you put together everythin' you know," Eccentric Erwin said. "Copies o' all the evidence you got, everythin' you know 'bout the lab, 'bout FutureTech's involvement, an' whatever you can find 'bout what they's lookin' for in the library ('cause I really wanna know 'bout that). Put it all together into a whatyachallit... a doss-ee-yay... an' give that to me an' I'll talk to my contacts 'bout getting you the keycard you need to get more."

"Right." Molly seriously wondered if this had been as good an idea as it had seemed.

"We give you a dossier of all the evidence we collect, and you give us the keycard we need," Lucius said evenly. Clearly, he'd gotten over his initial surprise.

"That's right," Eccentric Erwin grinned.

"Done," Lucius smiled. 

Molly hoped she only imagined the sudden chill breeze that blew up around them and seemed to settle in her bones. Probably not. She resolved to be very careful about making any more agreements with Lucius of the Luxurious Hair. 

Rangerville Trailer Park, Saturday, May 15, 2021, 4:30PM

"There we go, Obi-Wan; one dossier containing every clue we've found," Molly said. "Copies of every torn note, faded picture, newspaper clipping, scraps of local history and legend, printouts of blueprints and transcripts of conversations..."

"Courtesy of that contraption of yours," Lucius said.

"That 'contraption' happens to be the most sophisticated (and illegal) eavesdropping station I could build out of whatever I could find the local electronics store, plus some items of questionable legality Eccentric Erwin had in his 'and More' stock," Molly said with pride. 

"And let's not underestimate the considerable personal sacrifice I made in planting the listening device in the first place," she continued. "I mean, I let that creep Biobro Brian buy me drinks... and grope me... so I could get close enough."

"Your courage and fortitude in the face of such trials are noted and appreciated," Lucius said with absolute sincerity. "Even if they will not be included in song or story."

"Damn right they won't," Molly huffed. "We're not telling anyone about that part. Ever."

"As you say," Lucius nodded. "But you do feel that results were worth the trials."

"Well, we confirmed that Biobro Brian is growing those strange plants on instructions from the MoD, by way of Bonnie of the Bounteous Bosom," Molly said. "And there was that bit he said about 'not knowing anything about space rocks' which backs up that bit of folklore you dug out of the library.  The First Nations story about the purple light in the sky and a big explosion, which probably caused the crater. Strange plants from another world."

"Another Realm, I think," Lucius said. "You do understand that there are Realms other than this one."

"Is this the part where you draw a picture of Yggdrasil and explain about the Nine Realms?" Molly smiled. "Because I liked Thor too."

"Oh, did you know him? Entertaining fellow. We might do better if he were here. Alas, you have me instead," Lucius smiled. "Still, there are many more than nine Realms. 

"I have a dread suspicion," he continued. "I believe the source of all this... the Mother, your possessed friends called Her... fell to Earth thousands of years ago, through a great rift in the Veil between worlds. I fear She may have come from one the Far Realms, frightening places on the edge of the Outer Darkness where my people do not venture."

"That sounds bad," Molly said.

"An Elder Being from the Far Realms... yes, that could be very bad," Lucius said. "I hope I'm wrong. Regardless, I didn't include that particular thought in the dossier. It's only a guess and not, I think, one that would be meaningful to our Eccentric Erwin and his mysterious contacts."

"I don't know," Molly shrugged. "I'm guessing Eccentric Erwin has read Lovecraft. I hope you're wrong too, Obi-Wan. I'd really rather not fight any Eldrich Horrors this weekend. Let's get this over to Curious Curios and see about putting in our special order."

Strangerville Mystery - Ch 8 - Of Names and Cats

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!"