Or has Brockton Bay been close to condemnation in the past?
Tag: chapter 15.i1
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“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.
He set down the food and then turned to leave.
“Thank you!” she called after him. She saw him hesitate.
You okay there?
The door slammed shut after him.
If I’m right about who we’re dealing with here, Trickster’s behavior surrounding this situation has changed. It seems like he’s no longer giving Noelle the time of day, possibly out of guilt.
“You thanked him?” The words were accusatory.
She couldn’t justify it. Her heart was pounding. She stared at the plate. Soup and bread: enough food for one person, barely enough for two.
This feels wrong too. Coil has resources above all else, and even with the mess Leviathan and the Nine have made of Brockton Bay, he should be able and willing to give these two more food than this.
She could have said she did it in the hopes that he would feed them more often, but she wasn’t sure she would be telling the truth.
“Let’s… let’s just eat,” she spoke.
“Thank you for feeding us anything at all!”
It’s… hrm.
Reaching out, she fumbled, felt the dim warmth of skin. An arm so thin she could wrap her hand around it, middle finger and thumb touching. Her hand slid down the arm and her fingers twined with those of a hand smaller than hers.
A child?
The physical contact seemed to put the physical sensations of air on her skin into a kind of context. The sense of pressure faded.
Maybe if it’s fading, we can figure out what’s going on here.
“I’m hungry,” the girl beside her spoke.
“I am too.”
“I want to go home.”
“I know.”
Hmm.
How about this: Cauldron test subjects?
There was the sound of a key in the lock, and her heart leapt.
The light felt like knives being driven into her eye sockets, but she stared anyways. A man, tall, tan and long-haired, entered the room, a lantern in one hand and a plate of food in the other.
…Trickster, is that you?
If not for the child I would take this to mean we’re in Noelle’s head… that might still be the case, but we need to figure out what’s going on with the child.
Is it Dinah? Did Coil decide to store her with Noelle while she’s recovering? That seems like a tremendously bad idea.
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.
Interlude 15 (Donation Bonus)
Well, that’s a surprise! An Interlude this early in the Arc? Sure, why not.
So who are we following today, then?
I’m inclined to think we’re about to learn a thing or two about the Travelers and their perception of Coil. Maybe one of them finds out what the Undersiders are up to somehow.
Perhaps more importantly, a Traveler Interlude would give us a chance to find out what the hell their deal actually is. I’m thinking Trickster’s perspective would be ideal for that, but Ballistic is more likely because we don’t know him as well as the other main Travelers. Maybe Ballistic finds out the 325?
If it’s not the Travelers… I have no clue who it’d be. Who else is relevant to this Arc that hasn’t had an Interlude? Brian, I suppose, but I don’t think we’re getting him right now. Rachel’s minions (I feel like Barker and Biter might be put to use at some point), but they don’t seem important enough to get an Interlude yet…
I don’t know.
So let’s find out!
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