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more_magicFor Darlington, the idea had been there for a while, a seed that needed time as much as opportunity to germinate. There was and had always been something strange about the Darrow History exhibit--the doors to the gallery always locked, exhibit installs perpetually in a state of setup or teardown, burst pipes and other renovations continually in need. Once, he'd even found the whole wing closed for a wedding the events staff said had been booked for months. When he'd pressed, however politely, for more details on any of those, the most he ever got was blank stares or the same bland non-answers all of the city transplants grow to expect from Darrow's native residents.
It was a mystery, bizarre and complicated, exactly the kind of thing that wouldn't have been within his purview with Lethe but that he'd have unabashedly wished could be. Something was behind those doors, and the longer he went not knowing what it was, the more appealing the idea of finding out became.
The strange, slow vanishing of the non-transplanted Darrowites was unnerving, to be sure, but as the museum grew quieter and more deserted, the louder the thought of taking this opportunity became. This place has to have a history, a concrete narrative that explains what it is now and what it had been in the past, a cohesive whole instead of the oft-conflicting memories of its citizens. The possibility of finally getting there, of the satisfaction of discovery, keeps him up some nights and makes him distracted on other days; without really realizing it, Darlington starts to think of it as inevitable. To no surprise, Alex wants nothing to do with the idea, but it's no work at all to involve Palamedes--and Camilla, for where one goes so does the other, and God knows they could use the backup--in roughing out a plan, debating this detail and arguing over that bit of timing until they have something that feels as though it's going to work.
If they get caught, it's more than grounds for Darlington's termination, even arrest for all three of them--but in a vast complex of empty exhibit halls and abandoned offices, who's going to be there to know? On the appointed day, Darlington ignores Alex's huffy, pregnant glares and heads into the city, driving along eerily empty streets until a snarl of stalled and vacant cars forces him to park the car on a--hidden and nondescript, because the last thing he's prepared to do is explain to an already-irritated Galaxy Stern that their car was stolen on top of everything else--side street and walk the rest of the way.
They'd agreed to meet around the side of the building, near the smaller and less conspicuous staff entrance. Darlington checks again that he has his keycard and looks through the bag he'd brought, full of tools that might or might not be necessary depending what they find. In a city as empty as Darrow is now, even the quietest approach is noticeable; hearing footsteps coming closer, he looks up, relieved to see the twin figures of his friends.
And, for today, partners in whatever kind of mystery this turns out to be.
It was a mystery, bizarre and complicated, exactly the kind of thing that wouldn't have been within his purview with Lethe but that he'd have unabashedly wished could be. Something was behind those doors, and the longer he went not knowing what it was, the more appealing the idea of finding out became.
The strange, slow vanishing of the non-transplanted Darrowites was unnerving, to be sure, but as the museum grew quieter and more deserted, the louder the thought of taking this opportunity became. This place has to have a history, a concrete narrative that explains what it is now and what it had been in the past, a cohesive whole instead of the oft-conflicting memories of its citizens. The possibility of finally getting there, of the satisfaction of discovery, keeps him up some nights and makes him distracted on other days; without really realizing it, Darlington starts to think of it as inevitable. To no surprise, Alex wants nothing to do with the idea, but it's no work at all to involve Palamedes--and Camilla, for where one goes so does the other, and God knows they could use the backup--in roughing out a plan, debating this detail and arguing over that bit of timing until they have something that feels as though it's going to work.
If they get caught, it's more than grounds for Darlington's termination, even arrest for all three of them--but in a vast complex of empty exhibit halls and abandoned offices, who's going to be there to know? On the appointed day, Darlington ignores Alex's huffy, pregnant glares and heads into the city, driving along eerily empty streets until a snarl of stalled and vacant cars forces him to park the car on a--hidden and nondescript, because the last thing he's prepared to do is explain to an already-irritated Galaxy Stern that their car was stolen on top of everything else--side street and walk the rest of the way.
They'd agreed to meet around the side of the building, near the smaller and less conspicuous staff entrance. Darlington checks again that he has his keycard and looks through the bag he'd brought, full of tools that might or might not be necessary depending what they find. In a city as empty as Darrow is now, even the quietest approach is noticeable; hearing footsteps coming closer, he looks up, relieved to see the twin figures of his friends.
And, for today, partners in whatever kind of mystery this turns out to be.
no subject
Date: 2021-09-02 06:21 pm (UTC)With a soft puff of breath, he lets the thought go. It’s a little too painful to contemplate for long—all the more because of how tantalizingly possible it is that they might appear someday. “To be honest, the very presence of ghosts in Darrow is a bit of a puzzle, don’t you think? Has Alex said if they’ve gone with the rest of the long-term residents?"
no subject
Date: 2021-10-11 01:02 am (UTC)"The Fifth House specializes in speaking to spirits," she says to Darlington, for some better context. "And beauracracy," she says with a little wry smile. "It's the largest in the system --" Cam goes through the little mnemonic she's learned that they use here and counts out from Dominicus, or Sol as it is now, she guesses. "Analogous to Jupiter, as you'd know it, I think. They're the core of the Empire, and very traditional, but they've always been spirit adepts and concerned with other kinds of history. Watchers over the River.. Abigail Pent was a very good example of her house."
They don't speak of spirits quite enough for the word Greys to not still sound a little funny to Cam: at home, if someone had said it, it'd almost certainly have been a -- probably derogatory -- nickname for the Sixth. She glances at Pal with a little curl of a smile, wondering if he ever thinks it too.
She lifts an eyebrow at the possibility. Either way -- that's fascinating, and something she hadn't thought of. "Darrow seems to delight in oxymoron," she points out, waving her fingers at the museum, the vast history contained by a place that should be devoid of it -- even if this isn't Darrow history specifically, it seems to have access to the remnants of a world you can't get to from inside it. She lifts her head as they turn a corner, instinctively listening for footsteps, glancing around for security measures.
no subject
Date: 2021-10-11 07:18 pm (UTC)"They've gone with the rest, according to her," he says. "Which is its own kind of mystery. She's elated, for obvious reasons, but the lack of them is...I wish I could explain it."
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Date: 2021-10-14 02:19 am (UTC)He shoots Darlington a grin at the joke about bureaucracy. “Lethe sounds more and more Sixth every day, you know. Anyone in the Library who actually does need to call a revenant as part of their research needs to fill out four forms, submit a statement of interest, and have the whole application examined by a review panel—“ He cuts himself off, eyes alighting on an illuminated manuscript resting open under a plex vitrine. “Cam, come look at this!”