So it absolutely sounds like Noelle’s seen better days.

“Coil wants to speak to you.”

There was a pause.  “Okay.”

Coil stepped forward so he shared the camera with Trickster.  “Noelle.  I’m sorry the construction work disturbed you.  We shouldn’t have been doing that so late in the night.”

I suppose it makes sense that that would make her “agitated”, though there’s obviously something more to it.

“You locked me in,” Noelle accused him.

“For your safety, and ours,” Coil spoke.

So she is captive, though in a different sense than Dinah.

What happened here? Did her power go haywire or something?

“You agreed to this,” Trickster told her, “We talked about it.  You asked us to do this.”

I… see.

I guess it’s more than her power. Maybe her mind is getting affected by something?

“I know.  I-  I didn’t think it would be this claustrophobic.  Or lonely.  I swear I’m getting cabin fever and it’s only been a few hours.”

Trickster opened his mouth, then closed it.  When he finally found the words to say, he spoke, “You can call me any time.”

Aw. 

I feel like we’re seeing the more caring side of Trickster. He’s kind of an abrasive jerk a lot of the time, so I like that.

“Except when you’re doing a job.”

“You can talk to Oliver, then, or Mr. Pitter.”

“Oliver’s still busy talking to you guys, and Mr. Pitter creeps me out.”

Oliver? Another member of the Travelers, I presume?

“Indulge me.  Would you like me to wait while you wash your face?  Get dressed?”

“If we’re just going to talk to her, and if you don’t have anything else for me to do, I’ll probably go straight back to bed, after.”

“As you wish.”

I mean, fair enough. Even without being called in at 5 AM, being a villain probably isn’t conducive to a normal sleep cycle.

(Unless you’re Hawkmoth from Miraculous Ladybug. He seems to have a fairly normal sleep cycle, since most of the action, which he starts, happens in the daytime. Which also makes it kind of odd that the English dub opening begins with “In the daytime, I’m Marinette” as if most of her time as Ladybug isn’t also in the daytime.)

Trickster pulled on a black bathrobe, cinched it around his waist, then stepped onto the metal walkway.

“Is there at least anything I can tell her?” Trickster asked.  “Anything encouraging?”

I don’t know, but the fact that you need to ask is not encouraging.

“Nothing definitive.  I had intended to introduce Tattletale from the Undersiders to this situation, ask her for her opinions.

Okay, that makes it certain, Noelle and Dinah are separate people. Tattle definitely knows about Dinah, and Coil is aware of that.

That is, if she doesn’t already have some idea of what’s going on.  Either way, her talents might turn up some details we have missed.”

I wonder if Coil has informed the Travelers about what Tattle’s power is.

“Are you really that sadistic, Mr. Pitter?  I get dragging me here at five in the morning if Noelle needs it, but waking me up three hours later?”

Hm. Seems like Coil is using a nickname for Dinah to make the truth of how he acquired her a bit less obvious.

That, or I wasn’t actually off the mark with there being another captive, but I’m far from sold on that.

The ‘nanny’ didn’t reply, instead stepping out of the way, to give Trickster a better view of Coil.  Trickster leaned out of the doorway to look his employer up and down, picked some sleep from the corner of his eye with his thumbnail.  “Damn it.  Okay.”

Hah!

“Thank you,” Coil replied, “I would like to speak with your friend, downstairs.  Past experience has suggested this works best if you act as an intermediary.”

Hm. Trickster being called in in the first place seems to suggest that he has a bit of a connection with “Noelle” that Mr. Pitter doesn’t quite have, but Coil doesn’t seem to have much trouble talking to Dinah directly. Maybe there is another captive in the containment facility.

“I don’t know if that’s a great idea.”

Oh, don’t worry. If it goes badly, it didn’t happen.

Mr. Pitter was one of those particular people who was both useful and bought with stronger things than currency.  He would ensure the Travelers were comfortable and well stocked.  More specifically, he would take care of Dinah, ensure any and all dosages were clean and properly administered, that the girl was kept in the best of health.

…but is that because Coil wants her to be healthy as a human being, or because he wants her to be intact and functional as a tool?

I’m thinking the latter.

All he had required was for his wife to disappear, the chaos and problems the woman had caused him discreetly sorting themselves out in the aftermath of her death.

Honestly? Good riddance.

He had gone from being a broken man to a person who was so unflinching in his duties that it had given even Coil pause.

“Wow, she was really fucking with him.”

“The vault door was placed just last night.  She was-” Mr. Pitter paused, “Agitated.  We had to call Trickster in to talk to her.  He’s here now.”

“She”? As in Dinah, or does Coil have another captive?

Coil didn’t have to walk far to get to her in the other reality, so I guess it’s Dinah.

So… we’ve had several mentions of the Travelers so far, including it being pointed out that the Travelers need something from Coil, and now Trickster is in the base. I have a feeling we’re going to learn what their deal is by the end of this Interlude.

“I’ll speak with them.”

“Yes sir.”

Like right now, maybe.

He didn’t like interacting with people, especially not subordinates as important as the Travelers or Undersiders, without the ability to create or banish the reality if the discussion didn’t go his way.

No wonder he ends up quite persuasive and charismatic.

Here, he was safe.  His other self was giving orders on movements, targets to attack, individuals to watch out for, informed by the night he had spent tracking the deployments and patrol patterns of the Protectorate and Wards.

In other words, if the talk with Trickster and Dinah doesn’t work out, he’s still been productive.