Lillian was lying on her stomach atop her bed, trying (albeit somewhat unsuccessfully) to fold an origami tiger, when Leslie entered the room and flopped into her desk chair with a somewhat despondent expression.
"What is it?"
"Well, I just got back from the thaumaturgy club meeting," Leslie began.
"And?"
"And they've elected Amandi president."
"What?" Lillian nearly fell off the bed, crushing her misshapen tiger in the process. "Well, I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry." Leslie gave her a stony look. "This means that she looks a lot better in the eyes of the teachers. This means that she can get away with a lot more. Don't be sorry for me. Be sorry for yourself."
"Why did everyone vote for her?"
Leslie just laughed humorlessly. "You can't really lose if you run unopposed."
"Unopposed? But I thought you-"
"-ran for secretary, and won," Leslie finished. "And now I have to deal with her as well. From what I've seen, she's generally pretty nice to people, other than us. I think she's just jealous."
"Of what?"
"Of you."
"Why would she be jealous of me? She's so good at thaumaturgy!"
"Yeah, and you're fifteen. And I'm getting better grades than she ever did. Not to brag or anything." Leslie ducked her head. "She probably feels intimidated by the two of us."
"What about Daria?"
"She spends time with us, which automatically makes her a target. Amandi is... well, she's pretty smart, and she started a year early, and I get the sense that she doesn't want to be outdone. I think it threw her for a loop when we started last semester. Not to say that I like her or anything, but I do kind of feel sorry for her. Still, that doesn't mean that this is going to be any easier for us." Leslie slumped even further down in her chair.
"It's all right, Leslie," Lillian said, tossing the mutilated, crushed origami tiger in the general direction of the recycling bin. "I'll get it all straightened out when I meet up with Kern. When I come out of that appointment I'll be the best student in the class." She laughed lightly.
Leslie levitated the unrecognizable piece of paper across the room and into the recycling bin, her eyes still locked onto her roommate's. "I hope so, Lillian. I hope so."
☙❧
With a few taps of his finger, Dakota opened the shopping app on his smartphone and began typing the desired object into the search bar. "I know what you were saying about not needing the mirror yet, but the one I like takes a long time to ship."
Fine. What are you going to do if it gets here a week early?
"Put it-" Dakota gestured wildly around the office. "I don't know, behind the file cabinet?"
Fine, the voice repeated. In the meantime, why don't you order fifteen Ashes and a book on the full history of the Nine?
"You know I can't get Spalls on this app. And if there even is such a book, whoever wrote it is probably dead. And that wouldn't be available on the app either."
Relax, I'm joking. Why do you have to be so logical?
"It's the only way to deal with you."
There was a slight pause as Dakota added the mirror to his cart and began looking up his favorite brand of sunscreen.
Really?
"It's necessary," Dakota replied, not taking his eyes off the phone.
I think that's the least of our worries right now.
"And you want to get sunburned? You know how it hurts sometimes."
It's the middle of winter!
"I'm out!"
Yeah, well, deal with it then.
"I am! It'll come when the mirror comes, and that's not for a couple of weeks."
Why don't you devote your time to something more practical?
"Like?"
Like getting back the key!
"I don't even know where it is."
Well then, you need to figure it out.
"If I do that..." Dakota shook his head. "But I can't do that. They'll trace me."
You sure?
"Yeah. The Nine know that I use that technique. They know that no one else uses it. Therefore, if I use it, they will find me."
I'm surprised they haven't found us already. They might just be waiting for the right moment.
Dakota lifted his gaze from the phone and twisted his mouth into a humorless smile. "If they had found us," he replied patronizingly, "we would be dead."
☙❧
Galena had finally engaged her mother in an activity which she was now regretting immensely. This regretful activity involved playing a card game which her mother had invented. Confusingly enough, she called this card game Board, and had initially asked Galena if she wanted to play a game of Board, to which Galena had replied that "fine", which board game would her mother like to play. As Galena soon learned, the game involved laying cards down on a table in a particular pattern until you ran out, in which case you threw all of the cards on the floor and ordered your losing opponent to pick them up. It was mainly a game of chance, with the added annoyance of throwing cards in all different directions. After an hour of forced play, they had lost the five of hearts and the two of clubs and Ashley had to run and fetch a new deck.
"Can I ask you something?" Galena began during their fourteenth game, placing the six of spades neatly above the six of hearts and to the left of the seven of spades.
"Okay," her mother responded distractedly, searching for a card in her hand.
"Why are you always bored when you come here?"
"I don't-" Ashley broke off. "Maybe because you're right about there not being much to see?"
"So I am right." Galena put another card on the table.
"You're right," her mother replied, dropping her last card on the table between the ten and the queen of diamonds. "Pick them up!" she cried, sweeping the cards onto the floor. Galena rolled her eyes and bent to sweep up the cards on the floor.
☙❧
A skinny cat leapt onto the table and let out a loud, screechy yowl. Rolf reached over to absently rub its head before pushing it gently off the table and back onto the ground. "Not allowed," he muttered.
Rolf had picked up more than one SD card that morning. He was searching for clues in the original footage of the Thaumatogenesis.
The footage was grainy, of poor quality, and a bit difficult to see, owing to the last-quarter moon in the sky, but Rolf was able to make out the main details. Two people appear, eight people appear, big explosion, only the first two are still there. Baby appears, two people disappear. Rolf squinted. Was that two people or three people who arrived on the scene and then left later? It was difficult to tell. At the end he thought he almost caught several people emerging from the back of the obelisk. Having read both theories on the internet, he didn't feel exceptionally surprised.
He went back over the video and played it at half the speed. Two people appear. Eight people appear. Big explosion, only the first two are still there. Baby appears. Was that a group coming out the back? Two people-
Rolf was interrupted by another screechy yowl and, rising from his seat, paused the video. "Now?"
The cat responded immediately with a much quieter meow.
"Fine." Rolf rolled his eyes and bent down to retrieve the food dish. Opening the closet door, he put his foot on the pedal of what was supposed to be a garbage can and scooped kibble into the metal bowl. When it was full, he let the lid fall closed and quickly backed out of the closet before the cat could get in behind him. He placed the dish back on the floor and the cat immediately ran over to get dinner. "Good girl, Sandy," he muttered affectionately, rubbing her head behind her green eyes as she ate.
He stumbled back over to the computer and sat down, getting ready to play the video again. But there was no need to play the video. Displayed on the screen was the kind of clue he had been looking for.