The Aberrations of S.I.D.E.

No. 14: Shit's Getting Serious

"And you love me! Let's do it!" Ricky leaped out of his seat. "I am a dog at a catch!"

"By your lady, sir, and some dogs will catch well," Janus said dryly.

Ricky nodded sagely. "Most certain. Let our catch be, 'thou knave.'"

Adrianna walked onstage. "Um, Larry?"

Larry groaned. "You're not supposed to come in---"

"No, I just picked up a call from the headmaster's office," she said. "He needs Logan and his crew down there."

"Can it wait until we finish this scene?"

Adrianna shook her head. "He needs them there as soon as possible."

Larry let out a heavy sigh and stood up. "Just my luck that one of the best actors I have got himself tied up with a murder cult. Now I gotta deal with him leaving all the time."

"Actually, I don't think the Divinity Circle qualifies as a cult," Janus said, getting off his stool. "They don't really worship anyone. They just want to rule the world."

Virgil and Logan exchanged a worried look. Is it actually Circle-related?

"I don't care, just go, and tell Emile to wait until rehearsal's finished to discuss urgent matters," Larry said, waving his hand around.

"Not how that works," Logan muttered, standing up.

................

"Come on in, boys," Emile said, sounding mildly distressed. "Sit down. Janus, take off the clown hat."

"Oh my goodness, I've forgotten I was wearing it," Janus murmured, taking it off.

"I thought the jingling would've tipped you off," Logan said. Janus slapped him with the hat.

"Boys, boys." Emile ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I'm not entirely sure how to tell you this, but---"

"Oh sweet mother of Barrett Wilbert Weed, don't tell me that you and Remy have ended your engagement," Roman groaned.

Emile blinked. "What? No. Of course we haven't."

Janus pointed at Roman. "Props for acknowledging who God truly is."

"Guys, c'mon, this is obviously serious stuff," Virgil said. "What's up, Dr. Picani?"

Emile took off his glasses and wiped them with a rag. "I recently received an email from an unknown source. It was signed as '07734,' and it told me that there was going to be an attack from the Circle on November fifteenth at 2:30 PM."

And there goes my good mood for this year, Virgil thought, stomach sinking a little.

Logan frowned, sitting forward. "'07734'---that's hello typed into a calculator and held upside down, correct? That's a rather odd pseudonym to choose."

"What's the attack like?" Remus asked. "Is it, like, they wanna blow up the Academy? Because we can take care of that easily---"

Emile shook his head. "According to the email, their intentions are... well, they apparently still want Janus on their side, and they're planning on taking him back."

Janus stiffened slightly, his two-toned eyes filling with a mixture of anger and fear. Remus reached over and squeezed his hand.

"And?" Logan said carefully. "There's more, isn't there?"

Emile nodded, biting his lip. "The Circle's also targeting Patton and Virgil."

Virgil's lungs turned to ice.