Days Until Lidia Dies: 11
Days Until Someone Else Dies: 5
Days Until Adeline’s Report is Due: 5
When I woke up the next morning, Zacharias had already left for a fresh day of spying, but he’d left a neatly written report log on the desk. I made the bed before reading it.
“RAAM” Observations - Day #1
Subject #1 - M. Reider
Role: The Watcher
Mood: Anxious, masking
Managing Anima stability for Subject #2 by providing:
? Constant companionship
? Emotional support
? A steady home base
Patterns: A tendency to shift his weight to the right when lying or withholding truth.
Subject #2 - H. Varis
Role: The Destabilizer
Mood: Volatile
Temptation to feed on Subject #1 mitigated by:
? Constant companionship
? Emotional support
? A steady home base
Patterns: The act of brewing tea appears as a grounding action. Over the course of twelve hours, ten cups were made. None were consumed.
Subject #3 - R. Sinclair
Role: The Anchor
Mood: Stable
Observed:
? Bonding with Subject #1 and Subject #4
? Bonding with Ivana Novak
? Begrudgingly building relations with the villagers who:
① Feel secure
② Appreciate directness and candor
Patterns: Three cycles of calisthenics suggests a dedication to physical fitness as a means of emotional regulation.
Subject #4 - A. Blanchett
Role: The Spark
Mood: Anxious, ecstatic
Observed:
? Bonding with Subject #3
? Prototyping her take on an old world weapon: the cherry bomb
? Dancing in the kitchen
? Talking to herself
Patterns: Appears to stabilize bouts of chaos against acts of order.
With my new employee doing my job—and doing fine work, I might add—I went to see Tanis about securing a few shifts at the Gander to fund his payroll. I also wanted to return Everleigh’s violin ahead of her set the next night, but she wasn’t available at any of her usual haunts.
I kept it with me behind the bar through my shift that night.
Jack Finnegan was back, and Jack Finnegan did as Jack Finnegan does.
Days Until Lidia Dies: 10
Days Until Someone Else Dies: 4
Days Until Adeline’s Report is Due: 4
Nothing major had changed with RAAM according to Zack’s latest report, and the next night’s shift at the Gander was more of the same, but now with the added benefit of having a healthy stash of alcohol that would actually get me drunk. Thanks, Everleigh. I returned her violin.
That night, Tanis came by the bar to ask how I’d feel about entertaining a couple that were looking for a specific experience.
They were cute, so I said I’d do it. But Tanis knew how I felt about getting paid for cookies, so they paid her for renting the room, and Tanis paid me a premium for my above-and-beyond bar service. I made a killing in one go, and then even more in the next, and—that there, folks, is the story of how I occasionally had sex for money. Later, I was rounding the corner back to the bar after finishing with my third client, and I felt great. I had fun, everybody was satisfied, and I was, too.
Except, I wasn’t.
Lately, I'd been experiencing a new kind of niggling, mates.
I don’t know if I was just getting bored, or if it was because I’d seen things. Namely, the way my sister and Strauss were with each other, the way Della and Derek were with each other, the way Della and Derek were with me. The way I felt about Derek, how nice it was being with V. The way Zacharias still loved his wife after a thousand years, and that even after everything, he was scared to go home because the idea of disappointing her was still too overwhelming.
…the way she tapped her spoon against her mug three times before taking a sip...
I made myself a Piglet and drank it.
Days Until Lidia Dies: 9
Days Until Someone Else Dies: 3
Days Until Adeline’s Report is Due: 3
A Conversation With Everleigh Gloom:
“Anything I need to know?”
“No.”
“Anything I need to know?”
“No.”
“See you.”
“Bye.”
Obligatory Ivana Check-In:
- “Cookies.”
- Little to no Anima activity with most of them busy fretting over Zacharias.
Obligatory Alexander Check-In:
- Told him my spying was going so, so well.
- Learned he and Rhian had plans to travel to Verena for silver.
Back at home, it was time for another serious conversation with my roommate.
“There’s a problem with your latest report,” I said.
Zack scanned the pages between us on the desk. “I don’t see a problem.”
“You’re not supposed to include me.”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Are you not a factor in the dynamic and overall effectiveness of the group?”
“I’m not being asked to report back on myself, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. And it’d be considered highly unusual if I did. It’s a waste of time.”
“Is it?”
Subject #5 - F. Finlay
Role: The Facilitator
Mood: Restless, conflicted
Observed:
? Returning home by dawn, drunk
? Avoiding emotional intimacy with self by way of:
① Substance abuse
② Excessive debauchery
③ Redirecting self-care to care for others
? Eating snacks (again) for breakfast
? Made the bed two days in a row, however
Patterns: Periods without external focus and/or socialization correlate with separation anxiety, over-indulgence, or humor-driven deflection.
Zacharias still didn’t see the problem on the page, so I flipped it over, beginning my own report on the reverse side. I covered the paper strategically with my arm while I wrote. When I was done, I spun the page around on the desk for him to review.
Subject #6 - S.R. Pie
Role: Daddy
Mood: Daddy
Observed:
? Being a daddy
Patterns: Periods without order and/or external focus correlate with control-based anxiety, mood disruptions, or sleeping for four hundred years.
“…Accurate.”
“Aye,” I said. “Yours, too.”
Days Until Lidia Dies: 8
Days Until Someone Else Dies: 2
Days Until Adeline’s Report is Due: 2
I woke up to another detailed report on my desk and Zacharias gone again.
Obligatory Ivana Check-In:
- Breakfast.
- A cuddle and a nap.
- Asked me to swing by Alexander’s to borrow a corkscrew.
- He wasn’t home, but Peter was.
Later that night, I worked another shift at the Gander.
I didn’t take any clients, but my office was busier than ever.
Days Until Lidia Dies: 7
Days Until Someone Else Dies: 1
Days Until Adeline’s Report is Due: 1
With the deadline looming, I realized I had better get started on the actual report, so I stacked together Zacharias’s pages on Adeline and hunkered down at the table in the cabin.
“…oscillations between anxious, ecstatic, focused, and anxious again…”
I tapped my cheek with the quill, and wrote: “Adeline has shown herself to be optimistic, motivated, and emotionally balanced.”
“…dancing in the kitchen, talking to herself…”
After a filler sentence or two, I continued, “She displays high levels of verbal communication, reasoning, and engagement.”
“…excessive energy requiring frequent self-regulation…”
I dipped my quill. How about: “…productive under pressure.”
“…risky experimentation with unstable materials…”
Let’s go with: “…innovative.”
“…compulsive tendencies…”
I rubbed my beard. Compulsive? Try, “…organized…”
“…good for morale…”
That one was fine as it was.
When I was finished, I signed it STFIN17, blew on the page until the ink was dry, folded it, and sealed it for delivery.
Days Until Lidia Dies: 6
Days Until Someone Else Dies: 0
Days Until Adeline’s Report is Due: 0
I didn’t think Alexander would be back from Verena yet, so when I arrived at the estate, I was expecting to leave my report with Peter. I was wrong. There was a Drop wagon parked in the circular driveway, and inside the house, Peter was there, but so was Councilwoman Faust. Her cheeks were still rosy, so it seemed she had just recently arrived, and if her driver was waiting, that told me she probably wasn't staying.
I greeted them both and handed over the report. Faust tucked it away in her feathery coat.
“Where’s Alexander?” she asked.
Certainly not in Verena with someone he wasn’t supposed to be helping, and it seemed Peter was deferring to me on this one.
“Debauchery party,” I said. “A whole multi-day extravaganza.”
Faust rolled her eyes. “I should have guessed. I can’t stay long, but I really was hoping to catch up. Oh well. Thank you for your diligence in this matter, mister Finnegan.” Faust patted her chest where she’d tucked the letter.
I nodded. “I’m surprised you’re heading back so soon. I can’t imagine you came all the way out here to pick up my homework.”
“No—no, and on that note, may we speak in private a moment?”
Again, I nodded. Peter offered to take her coat, and she declined.
We moved near the library, lingering in the doorway.
“There’s been a development,” she said. “The Assembly—Blanchett, Number Two, and Oranen—have been under the impression you’ve been stationed in Endica all this time. But now, Blanchett needs your help for a delicate political matter in Delphia, and Kelly and Hall are running out of excuses for keeping one of our most effective operatives tied up.”
Well, that didn’t sound so bad. I could use a trip to Delphia, get some sunshine, see Sebastian and try to convince him to come home again. “You need me to work a job in Delphia, then?”
“No. We’ve decided to kill you.”
No joke, mates: Councilwoman Faust could kick my arse, if she could catch me. But that wasn’t what she meant. “You’re faking my death?”
“Correct. Your Jack Finnegan alias continues to be unknown to them, and you’ll work for us while the other half of the Assembly believes you out of the picture. This solves a number of problems for us, expands your options, and presents an opportunity for further testing on your companions.”
“What do you mean?” I knew well what she meant, but I wanted her to say it.
“A Strachan messenger is on his way to alert Rhian Sinclair of your death.”
A Night at Home With Zacharias - Entry Log #2
“Welcome home, Feargus Finlay.”
“Hi.”
How are you this evening?”
“Dead.”
“Ah—well. Me, too.”
“…”