“That’s it.  What are you doing?  Are those the files from downstairs?”

Carol nodded, glancing at the crate of paperwork marked ‘1972’.  “We’ve been saying we would copy them over to digital format the next time business got slow.

Old files… very old for anything relevant to this story, given that it took another decade before Scion showed up.

It won’t get much slower than it is now.”

“The idea was that everyone in the office would pitch in,” Alan answered.

“Everyone in the office is pitching in.”

So… Carol?

“Except you’re the only one here,” Alan said.  His brow creased in worry, “What’s going on?  Are you okay?”

I too would like to know what’s going on. We’ve got two people here with names that possibly break the One Steve Limit, only two chapters after the name one of them is bearing was last mentioned. Neither of them are acting like the people they should be by their names…

…

Maybe we are in the past, even more than I thought. Maybe this is in the 70′s or very early 80′s, before capes were a thing, and that’s why they’re both businesspeople of some description? Hell, maybe we’re even about to see these two learn about Scion’s, uh, arrival?

There’s also the question about whether the dark room scene happens before or after whenever this is. Is what I’m reading right now a flashback from the perspective of the lady in the darkness, who may or may not be Carol? (We haven’t had any descriptions looking into Carol’s head in the scene with Alan yet. Though Alan did just say Carol was the only one here.)

Or has Brockton Bay been close to condemnation in the past?

■

“I knew you were here when I was a block away,” Alan spoke.

Woah.

Either we just broke the One Steve Limit at an inopportune time, or we’re in the past.

With that in mind, who is the POV character? Burnscar?

And why are we reading about this in this particular Arc?

“The number of lights on in these offices is asking for troublemakers to notice and come by.  And the doors were unlocked.”

Carol looked up in surprise.  Composing herself, she answered, “I’m not concerned.”

Carol, as in Brandish? She knew Alan before he became Mannequin?

So is Carol our POV lady in the dark?

The man laughed, “No, I imagine you aren’t.”

“You’re back?”

“For a little while, at least.  The partners asked if I could come by in case we had to close up shop in a hurry.”

Partners? Close up shop in a hurry? None of this sounds like something I’d expect Sphere to be talking about.

“In case the city is condemned?”

…

What.

We’re in the present.

And there’s an Alan.

Did we just break the One Steve Limit? Or is everyone mistaken about who exactly Mannequin was? I think that would take away from Mannequin’s character, though.

I’m confused.

Darkness.  Almost a physical presence, bearing down on her as though she were deep underwater and the weight of all of the water above her was pressing against her head and shoulders.

Alright, so we’ve got a female POV. There go most of my suggestions.

Is this Grue’s darkness, which is indeed a physical presence with a sense of pressure and resistance?

And if so, who would be describing it as if unfamiliar? Are we dealing with a female Coildier here? Except this is not the kind of tactic the Undersiders were going to go for, at least not to begin with.

Civilian bystander?

Some of that was fatigue, some of it was hunger, some was thirst.  She had no idea how much time had passed.

I guess it’s not Grue, then?

Where is this person? Lost in a desert or something?

She might have been able to guess from her period, but her body had decided such would be a waste of precious resources.

Okay, wow, if she’s right about this being the reason and not just “it hasn’t actually been that long”, it’s been pretty damn long.

It hadn’t come, and she had no idea how many weeks or months it had been.

Darkness, so absolute she couldn’t tell if her eyes were open or closed.  As she breathed, it almost felt like the dark was pressing down on her, making exhaling harder with every breath.  It didn’t help that the room smelled like an open sewer mingled with body odor.

Again, the implication that the darkness is a physical thing.

Whatever the case, this gal is clearly not having a great time.

I’d suggest Shatterbird, but from Regent’s Interlude, it doesn’t seem like being under his control should make things like this.

Hmm. I do suppose this sounds a bit like Cherish’s predicament, but a second Cherish Interlude would break what’s been a pretty solid rule so far: No repeat Interludes.