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After a two and a half mile walk to the Penn Museum, the siblings followed their grandfather through the magnificent courtyard towards an employee entrance. Corth opened the door and they walked through a network of hallways, labs, and storage rooms until they came to a staircase. They climbed a dimly lit staircase that was crowded with boxes. Dense cobwebs hung in every possible corner.
"Museums never have enough storage, and you gotta love building expansions...a few quick alterations to the plans and you got a hidden wing. It's even easier to do today considering all we gotta do is do a quick hack...then contractors build it for us...then we erase all proof of our modifications." Corth chuckled as they stopped at the third-floor door. The door creaked as he pushed in the tarnished handle. "But, we tend not to get the maintenance or custodial staff in our hidden corridors...anyway, right this way, lads." Corth gestured for them to enter through the open door.
The hallway was still crowded with boxes, books, and papers, which made walking difficult. The walls were covered with peeling wallpaper that was stained with grime. Many of the offices they passed were vacant. The few that were occupied had strange scholarly people in severe need of a makeover absorbed in research.
Old pictures and posters hung from the wall depicting all sorts of diagrams of creatures from folklore. Callen shivered when he saw an artist's twisted rendition of Cthulhu and one of H.R. Geiger's prints of his original design for the Alien.
"Those things real?" Ania whispered with a shiver in her voice.
"Cthulhu? The Alien?" Corth asked. "The world is a dark place. Many times artists get glimpses into hell that even we knights do not. I'm not a scholar, so, I'm not going to even attempt to explain Webb's theory on these modern myths. But, what I do understand is that he believes an important part of protecting society lies in understanding fear."
"You mean chemically?" Callen asked. "It's just a bio..."
"No lad. Not the biological chemical reactions." Corth turned a corner. "It's their effect on man's development he's interested in and how they affect what our interpretation of the beyond. Again, if yeh want a more academic or scientific explanation, I'm not yer dwarf."
They stopped at a room directly across from a door marked Dr. Michael Webb. Ania turned towards Webb's office, but Corth pointed to the door across the hall. "Here lass. Dr. Webb is out. We're in this room." He pulled open the old door.
"Nice of you to be on time, dwarf." A woman jeered heartlessly, as Corth led his grandchildren into a messy conference room packed with boxes. Her stone gray eyes glared over the old oak table at them through her pair of thin glasses and a slight sneer curled in the corner of her angular lips. The woman had a warrior's gaze similar to their mother's. However, it didn't carry the same depth of prowess. Even in comparing her to Eve in her current state, would make this woman seem second rate. Although, second rate to Eve would still place her among the most skilled and experienced demon slayers in the order.
A few feet away from her, a man with dark skin pulled a pot of fresh coffee from a coffee maker and poured two cups. Above the coffee maker hung a rack of books marked 'folklore dissertations' with a bowl of coffee fixings on top of them. He took some creamer and sugar for one of the coffee cups while giving Corth a law enforcement officer's stare.
"We're here Cole," Corth didn't sound happy and completely ignored the man making coffee. "I see you let yourself in." His eyes were fixed on the blond woman and his normally calming voice had been replaced completely with a deep hatred that only grew with time, like roots of a massive tree.
"I did." She cooed. Corth's hatred seemed to satisfy her somehow. "And I see Webb hasn't neatened up his act."
"Well, we're busy," Corth said. "Yeh should try it sometime. The world would be safer."
"Show some respect dwarf." Bethany Cole took the cup of coffee the man handed her. She didn't take her eyes off Corth. "Remember, I outrank you."
"I may have to work with yeh, but respect isn't part o' the deal. Besides, rank can be gained through favors beyond the job description." He pulled out two chairs and motioned for Callen and Ania to take a seat. "I suggest yeh keep it civil for the children's sake."
The woman snickered as she glanced at the two children. "Fine. I'll keep the pleasantries, but not for the benefit of two mongrels like them."
Corth looked like he was going to leap over the table and break her neck, but something held him back. He choked down his anger and glanced at the man. "Who's yer friend, Cole?"
“I'm Sir Jefferson." His voice had a deep resonance. "Jefferson Reeves. Pleasure." He pulled another cup from the cabinet under the counter. "Coffee?" Corth nodded and Reeves poured him a cup.
"Black, Lad." Corth took the cup. "Now, let's get this over with." He reached into his pocket and pulled out two pairs of glasses that looked like safety eyewear. He handed them to Callen and Ania. "Put these on."
"Alright..." Callen looked at the glasses. "What for?"
"You'll see, Lad."
Callen put the safety glasses over his normal glasses. Graphical interfaces appeared on the new lenses that layered onto some of the furniture in the room. He could see panels of holographic buttons on the wall and on the table.
"Those glasses are linked to our computer network, lad. From what I understand, it lays a virtual interface over reality. Our stuff is completely invisible without specially attuned gear." A proud grin appeared somewhere beneath his heavy beard. "Unfortunately, I can't give those to you permanently, but yeh will need them fer this meeting at least."
He knew companies sold augmented reality lenses, but the technological integration here was amazing. He saw panels that appeared near highlighted sections of the wall that looked like they would move. The lenses then took an x-ray like image of his hands and displayed a brief flash of his unique pattern of blood vessels. There was another indicator that informed him that the glasses were synced to his movements. He reached his hand towards a nearby image and was able to move it with a flick of his wrist. He grinned with excitement and wanted nothing more than a chance to play with these and figure out how they worked seamlessly to add a new layer to the dusty old conference room.
"Yes, let’s get going." Lady Bethany rolled her fingers across the holographic interface on the table's edge.
The table rippled and the wood top rolled from died dark oak to obsidian black as if it were liquid. Several holographic screens expanded in Callen's lens across the table top. Various computer application icons appeared in front of each seat.
Callen sat mesmerized as the technology reviled itself before his eyes. "No one would ever know..." He whispered as colors flashed on the screens and on the table. A floating image of a three-dimensional graphic image of a spinning Celtic cross blended in an intricate design along with a pair of wolf heads appeared above the table.
"Everyone here?" A holographic image of a man dressed in cold weather gear said as he phased into one of the chairs in the room. The man had a thick mustache and a pair of oval glasses resting at the end of his nose.
"Aye, Dr. Webb. We're all here."
"Good." The mustached man nodded. "Unfortunately, I could not let this meeting wait until I return. I thank you, Lady Bethany and Sir Reeves for arriving at our Philadelphia sight so quickly. Sir Corth is in need of assistance and as you know, I'm unable to provide my full direction." Dr. Webb paused. "However, with the boldness of the attacks in Boston we have to be proactive with these new creatures. We have very little information on them. Hopefully, this discussion will help us move towards a definitive solution rather than the cover-up that we have been working jointly to implement."
"What about our mom?" Callen interjected.
"She isn't a priority." Cole jeered with heartless efficiency. "Focus can't be placed on the dead."
Callen's blood bega
n to boil. He felt his lips begin to curl a cutting response, but the weight of his grandfather's arm on his quieted him. Callen controlled himself.
"She is in good hands, child," Dr. Webb reassured him. "This is the first step on the road to helping her. With God's guidance, we will be drawn to a solution. Lady Bethany, the council informed me of your involvement with the Boston cover-up, do you have an update?"
"The cover-up is running smoothly. The government, both local and federal, has been dealt with. If any information surfaces, it will be in the tabloids. All major media have been fed what we want them to know. This one took some real string pulling, but overall, we got lucky." Lady Cole said. "However, there are a few loose ends, but we are working to tighten them up. And a lot of questions to answer..."
"I don't like getting lucky," Dr. Webb admitted. "But, since this didn't blowup, we can only be relieved. I trust that the cover-up will be finished soon."
"Lying's one thing yer good at lass," Corth grunted.
"Sir Corth, when should I expect Sir Dren's report?" Dr. Webb asked. "He hasn't reported into me yet."
"Spoke with him last night, lad," Corth answered. "He's following up some leads. We'll make a report as soon as we have something."
The image of Dr. Webb nodded. "Hopefully, he will learn something new. Now, onward. The point of today's meeting is twofold." Webb explained. "First we are going to document what Callen and Ania Thorne witnessed and then we will move into the details of our investigation."
"Hopefully what we learn will enable us to predict and thus prevent this type of attack in the future." Reeves cracked his knuckles. "Or just a way to put whatever these things are into a grave."
"Agreed." Webb nodded. "But, before we get into the interview, we will open with an introduction by the researcher who has been pooling the information on these creatures these children encountered. Scribe Lannus who is based in Madrid. I asked him to join us to help lay the groundwork for a solution. I hand the stage over to him."
A hologram of a man whose hair was pulled back in a ponytail and features marked him as part Chinese and part Hispanic appeared in one of the empty chairs. "Gracias, Dr. Webb." He said with a Castilian accent. "I will keep this short and concise."
In the inky blackness of the table flashed hand sketches of the creatures that the children had faced in their apartment. They looked like an attempt was made to create engineering specifications, detailing height, weight, and other details specific to the occult nature of the creature, but it was far from complete. A partially complete three-dimensional image replaced the cross and hovered above the table along with scrolling numbers. Nothing, except for distorted skull, was even close to accurate.
Despite the inaccuracy, Callen felt needles run up his spine. Its eyes were dark, like a skull and the tentacles hung lifelessly from the images upper lip. However, and perhaps for the best, there was no flesh stretched across parts of face and body. He saw Ania whimper out of the corner of his eye and held back mentioning the missing detail for both his and his sister's sake when he saw her terrified expression.
"I have just brought up the images that have been compiled from the spotty scans we have collected from the few documented encounters over the last 20 years. As you can see, there isn't much. Unfortunately, we have been unable to classify their mythological origins, occult species, draw any conclusions on the possibility of a mythological blend, or even determine if they are living. We don't even know if they're truly demons. All encounters with these beings have been unpredictable and we have been unable to find any pattern in their appearance. Quite simply, we don't have enough information to gain a proper profile. All encounters have ended in tragedy, with only these children and Sir Corth being surviving witnesses."
"So, you know nothing, Scribe?" Cole sounded disgusted.
"We know very little." Lannus's voice was ripe with frustration. "The creatures seem to disturb our electronic devices. Thus, our collected footage is shoddy at best, even the new stuff that Sir Corth recently gathered. The images we have managed to clean up enough show a creature capable of tearing apart veteran warriors like they are rag-dolls. The drawings were extrapolated from images that we managed to clean up enough to get an idea of what they look like."
"Useless." Cole sighed with even more disgust.
Lannus ignored her. "Aside from these vicious close combat abilities, autopsies of their victims reveal they somehow inject a neurotoxin that systematically shuts down a victim's body causing maximum pain until death. The poison is genetically adaptive and we have been unable to obtain a pure sample to create an antidote. Lastly, they are immune to conventional weapons, including all standard equipment carried by our knights in the field."
"How come you haven't tested non-standard stuff?" Ania asked. She sounded like she was choking down panic.
"Encounters have been sporadic across the world over the last two decades or so. This is the first time they have been involved with anything that would draw any sort of attention. They have killed scientists and knights on research expeditions and been spotted in other random locations. Quite simply, there is no way to be prepared." Lannus answered. "Proper tests, given what we have experienced, have been impossible. Hence, why this meeting has been pulled together so quickly. We are hoping you children can provide some information that will lead us to some sort of way to stop these monsters before something like the Boston tragedy happens again."
"So, we rushed to get here to look at a few pencil sketches and talk to two children?" Cole snapped. "I'm disappointed, Webb."
"Lady Cole," Dr. Webb stated as his image expanded on the screen. "This isn't some coordinated attack plan on some organized group of well-known occult creatures, like a routine case. This is brand new. The United States is in a state of constant change and so are the horrors we face here. I remind you why you have been assigned here. You have a lot to show to earn my vote."
Cole folded her arms and waited with a condescending sneer on her face.
"Alright, we have all read Sir Corth's report." Dr. Webb refocused the conversation. "His exposure was limited compared to these two children, and unfortunately there are no signs that point to why these creatures attacked." Dr. Webb continued after taking a breath. "So, children, please tell us what you know, every possible detail that you remember. Anything could help us stop these monsters and save your mother."
"I don't know much," Ania said. "Except, they were collecting skin from their victims." Her voice shook, but Callen could hear a strength beginning to grow beneath it, a strength shared by their mother.
Callen stiffened his posture and continued to stare the drawing of the demon's face. His sister had surprised him, and he felt less alone in his nightmare.
"Skin?" Reeves stated sounding disturbed. He glanced at Cole, but Callen noticed the glance she gave him read say nothing more.
"Skin collecting? Odd." Dr. Webb asked. "Please continue." He said to Ania.
"I don't know much more, Ania admitted. She looked down, bit her lip and took a breath. "But, I'm an artist. I can make your pictures more accurate."
"That would be appreciated. A more complete image of the creature will, hopefully, give me some clues to help discern the creature's origin." Lannus said. "I will work with you remotely to hasten our results, as long as Dr. Webb agrees."
"Of course. She can work in my library and she'll have access to what she needs. A new set of eyes might also help." Dr. Webb said. "Sir Corth, can you make the arrangements?"
"Aye," Corth said. "Tende will take Ania to the archives tomorrow morning. He has research to do for me. Webb, you'll need to give her clearance."
"It will be done." Webb nodded. "Anything else, Miss Thorne?"
"No." She shivered. "I was too afraid to do anything more than stare. Callen was the one who didn't panic. He was the one that stopped it."
>
"Stopped it?" Cole laughed. "A mere boy stopped an unknown monster from slaying his family? How quaint."
"Luck had nothing to do with it," Corth growled.
"Go ahead Callen," Dr. Webb said. "Tell us what happened. In your words."
Callen glared through the screen at Lady Cole. "I woke up to use the bathroom and when I got back to my room, my computer was flashing an alert. Someone was hacking my network. I made sure my defense programs were up and began a scan. I saw glyphs and hieroglyphics appear in my coding screen and as network icons for the attacking system. But before I could get much more beyond that, the monster leaped through our window."
"Your electronics didn't scramble?" Webb asked.
Callen shook his head. "They worked fine."
"Strange," Webb admitted. "We'll have to look into this."
"And the Hieroglyphics?" Scribe Lannus asked. His eyebrows wrinkled with curiosity. "What did they look like?"
"There were many." Callen sighed. "Some looked Egyptian, some Chinese maybe, most I've never seen before. I have some of the code on my computer, if you want to look at it."
"I'll look at it later; right now, just continue with your story," Dr. Webb said.
"The thing battled with my mother. And..." He stuttered as the horror of the battle flooded his mind.
"Spit it out," Cole stated. "We don't have all day to listen to these children whimper."
Something changed in Callen with that insult. His fear and irritation turned to focus. He looked at Lady Cole with the same resolve that his mother looked at the demon. "We're not whimpering," Callen stated. "If you have been listening you would realize that these monsters would have torn you apart like you were paper. My mom stood toe-to-toe with the creature and lived. You don't look half as tough as her...and besides, my mom wounded it with her tomahawk."
Cole narrowed her eyes at him and said nothing.
Callen caught his grandfather smirk out of the corner of his eye.
"Wait, she wounded it?" Webb asked. "With a tomahawk?" He eyed Corth. "Was it made of something special?"
"I don't know, Lad," Corth grumbled, but Callen could tell the old dwarf was lying. "It may be one of my tribes missing heirlooms, but I can't be sure."
Callen wasn't sure if he should tell them about his grandfather picking up the tomahawk. But, before he said anything, Cole cut in.
"Did you retrieve the weapon?" Cole hissed. "If you did, I suggest you hand it over."
"No lass," Corth growled.
"You left a family treasure that managed to damage a new type of demon and blew up a building?" She sounded disgusted.
"The way I see it, I got my family treasures out safe and sound," Corth growled. "If yeh think otherwise, it's no wonder that yer alone and yeh would be lucky to have a pigeon show up at yer funeral to shit on yer fookin' grave."
"Sir Corth, keep it professional," Webb ordered. "And Lady Bethany, try to show a little more respect. Lives are more valuable than items." He looked at Callen. "Please continue, son."
Callen nodded. "During the fight I noticed a symbol carved into its skull was one of the ones that I saw in the computer code. So, I hacked it and sent a virus to shut it down. It worked, and then my grandpa pulled us out."
"You hacked it real-time?" Dr. Webb sounded deeply skeptical.
Callen nodded. "I noticed it was continuously relaying information, so I modified my code and injected it into the lines of code. Everything lined up perfectly."
"That's amazing." Reeves gasped. "I'm pretty damn good with computers and something like what he just described is nearly impossible with mainstream computing technology. Assuming these creatures are more advanced than what is in every household in America..."
"His shutdown only worked temporarily," Cole stated as if unimpressed. "And he wasn't quite quick enough to save that bitch of a mother of his. Such a pity."
"Watch your tongue, Cole, or I'll rip it out." Corth barked.
"Enough." Dr. Webb scolded. "Lady Cole, Sir Corth, leave your personal feelings out of this. Don't let me have to say it again. But, thank you, Sir Jefferson for offering your expertise. Our technical support currently has his hands full."
"You're welcome," Reeves stated. "So, it was communicating. But with what?"
"I assume you didn't get that information, did you boy?" Cole asked giving Callen the Librarian stare.
Callen shook his head. "Computing capacity isn't unlimited. My system was built and programmed to give me the greatest advantage with the technology I had. But, I couldn't do the hack and trace everything at the same time. That would have slowed everything down to a crawl, and I didn't have the time to steal computing capacity from other places."
"Figures." Cole scoffed. Callen knew from her tone that her computer skills were more than lacking. He had seen it before, with older medical employees, when the younger ones fixed simple computer problems that baffled them. The disgust in her voice did nothing to hide her inadequacy. "You should have done the trace."
"If he didn't do what he did we would be dead!" Ania yelled. "What is your problem?"
"Webb, with all due respect, this is all just too convenient." Cole shook her head. "The one of the most significant encounters with these creatures is directly connected to Alexander Thorne. How can you not question this connection?"
"Wait, what's this have to do with my dad?" Callen asked, but they ignored him.
"We are Lady Cole," Dr. Webb said. "But, that is not the purpose of this meeting at the moment. As for what we can deal with right now, Callen found an Achilles heel. I suggest we exploit it."
"How do you suppose we exploit this weakness?" Reeves asked. "The kid's laptop isn't exactly designed for combat..."
Dr. Webb rubbed his mustache and after a moment, he smiled. "The boy's ingenuity produced results with tech far below ours. Let's see what he can make if we improve his options. I guess I will have to rearrange Felix's list of priorities and get the gear authorizations he'll need to equip the boy. I'll arrange everything so he can start work tomorrow morning."
"Here that, lad?" Corth whispered as he watched Lady Cole's face twist with irritation. "You're gonna help save your mom."
Before Callen had a chance to react with more than just a nod, Cole stood up and smashed her fist into the table. "You overstep your bounds, Webb! The council will never approve! Protocol has already been bypassed just with this meeting! But, those decisions were made before I was put in charge. He obviously got lucky and our circles of the order are there for a reason. Even if you make the bloodline case, there is no way we can trust this boy after..."
"I am well aware of your opinion as is everyone else here, Lady Cole." Dr. Webb cut her off. "However, they gave you authority over the investigation, cover-up, and the hunt, as defined by your rank in current circle. Not anything related to developing our technology to further enable us to defend against these creatures. The information Callen gave allows us to proceed with the development of technology that will dispatch these demons. At the point where it is field ready, that's where you have the authority."
"But, what about my dad?" Callen yelled, again falling on deaf ears. "What does this have to do with my dad?"
"This has everything to do with your father," Cole spat. "Your father is responsible for the existence of those monsters! How quaint it is that YOU are the one who revealed a weakness in them!"
"You have your baseless theories, Cole." Corth spat. "Ours are different. Keep your accusations to yourself. The judgment of the Thorne bloodline is still in limbo."
"Fine, but I do have say over where we place our non-technical resources in relation to this case. I will not put any personnel under my command at risk to test a toy cooked up by a terrorist's son." Cole stated. "Even you, dwarf."
"Yeh have no evidenc
e Alex did anything that...!" Corth stood up and pounded his fist into the table.
"Sir Corth," Webb forcefully cut off the dwarf. "This is not the place. The trail on Dr. Thorne has been cold for ten years. We have matters at hand that need to be addressed."
Corth's heavy beard wrinkled around his mouth with anger. "Fine." He grunted and glared at Cole. "Leave Alex out of this, or I'll put me fist down yer throat and rip out that block of ice yeh have fer a heart."
"On the contrary. I think Dr. Thorne is involved, you don't." Cole grinned coldly. "It looks like we have a negotiation point. A quid pro quo. I'll allow whatever solution he creates to be field tested under my watch under two conditions: Release to me investigation files for Alexander Thorne's disappearance and whatever the boy makes, he tests...personally."
"No," Corth growled. "I will not let him face those things again. He is just a child! I'll test it."
"Technology is neither of our strong points, dwarf," Lady Cole stated. "And I'm sure you are aware it is rare inventions work as intended and who's to say that these monsters didn't already adjust to the weakness he exploited? He may need to make adjustments on the fly."
"Good point, Lady Cole," Webb admitted.
"I'll test it," Reeves interjected and looked at Cole. "No arguments, Bethany...you know I have a son about his age and a daughter that's a little older. There's no way I would allow either of them or any other child to face those things alone. He can teach me to use whatever electronic disruptor weapon he makes. Besides, necessity is the mother of invention, and to a child, his mother's life is a necessity. I expect if he was able to do what he did almost by accident under duress, he will do something even more amazing with our resources and without one of those things staring him in the face..."
"You're a knight, Sir Reeves. Your background isn't in developing our technology." Dr. Webb stated. "You sure you can handle this?"
"After my knighting, I got my bachelor's in computer engineering from Virginia Tech while dealing with a cluster of possessions there. Since then, I learn whatever I can on each of our assignments." Reeves explained. "I have a lot of combat experience and I've done a lot of undercover hunting in the computer industry. I'll be just fine with the tech."
“Impressive.” Dr. Webb sounded relieved. "I think you may be one of the first knights that bridge the gap between those who make our gear and those who use it."
Lady Cole flared her nostrils and glared at Reeves. "Fine. Make the arrangements. But Webb, I want the files. That is non-negotiable."