Evil Bitch Ch. 10

"Your Majesty, if I might ask what happened in Japan?"

"As you may or may not know the Order is divided into two halves. The Silver Twilight or those who rule and then there is the Order of Ghibrail or those who serve. The Silver Twilight is run by the three, the Grandmaster, the Hidden Master and the Eternal Master. In Japan a new Hidden Master was being installed when the unthinkable happened. The Grandmaster challenged the Hidden Master for his title. This has never happened in the entire history of the Order.

From my vantage point the battle seemed destined to fall to the more experienced fighter, but it didn't. It was well known that the Grandmaster was a very gifted swordsman in several different styles. It was also well known that the new Hidden Master was a young man and less gifted. However, as the battle played itself out the young man managed to give the old man just what he expected, an opening. The Hidden Master sacrificed a few broken ribs for a victory. The moment the Grandmaster committed to his strike he was doomed. The young man endured the strike and took full advantage of the wide open stance of his foe and with two vicious strikes knocked him out."

"It sounds like our mutual acquaintance may have more on his hands than he planned with someone like that."

"You share my opinion of the Hidden Master. But everyone knows it is the Eternal Master that really runs the Order. He is an unknown as always."

"You met the Hidden Master, what was he like?"

"I only met him briefly and he was recovering from his conflict. When I pledged my loyalty to him I was alone. All I can say is this. He was young, in very good shape and his ring was the same as when I pledged to his predecessor."

"What did it look like?"

"Each of the three has a ring that matches their masks of office. The Grandmaster's colors are gold and red, the Hidden Master's colors are black and red and finally the Eternal Master's colors are silver and black."

That removed any doubt from my mind; Nick Shaw was the Hidden Master. It also proved to me that we shared a common enemy, Nyarlathotep. Now I had to consider him in my equations from now on. If I could help him out even clandestinely it would be worth it. We walked along in silence until we reached a door much like the all the others but she knew better. She unlocked the door and I followed her inside. If I thought the book and artifacts that I had collected were something this put them all to shame. The shelves were six high and the glass cases were filled with scrolls, tablets and other items.

"We call this the Black Library," the Queen said softly. "It is dire tomes of lore best forgotten but preserved until the day you accepted the title of duke. It will be removed from our premises and delivered to your new estate at Wind Sword. It is located on the outskirts of London."

"If this is best forgotten why keep it?"

"Sometimes you must fight darkness with darkness my dear boy."

"I don't know what to say," I replied.

"Silence is its own reward, follow me."

She led me to the center of the massive room and there was an ancient oaken desk. Upon the desk rested a metallic box. It reminded me of the old cash boxes from the fifties I had seen at a yard sale once. It wasn't locked and she lifted the lid and removed a pair of sturdy looking gloves.

"My father said they were called the Calaval in the Old Tongue," she said with a distant look in her eye.

"Have you ever tried them on your Majesty?"

"Yes, when I was a little girl. I snuck in here and put them on and pretended I was a sorceress."

"What happened?"

"The stuff of nightmares that will haunt an old lady until the day she dies," she said dropping the gloves back into the box.

She began to reach in again and stopped. Instead she closed the lid of the box and frowned.

"I will let you dabble with the items within Lord Jon. Just remember who the real enemy is."

That as they say was that. The Queen led me out, locked that door and we returned to the room where I was knighted. It was eerie the way she looked at me with a harrowing glance that spoke volumes to me. She opened her mouth as if to speak but instead turned and left. William reappeared and guided me back out.

"Welcome to England Duke Jon," were his only words to me.

"Thank you Prince William."

My car was waiting and we headed away from Cyan's manor house. I knew that we were heading for Wind Sword, my ancestral home and who knew what kind of intrigue.

Arkham Massachusetts:

Old Miller Place:

I arrived at the sea side mansion and couldn't help but smile. She was a beauty built in the early seventeen hundreds and maintained very well by a cursory glance. The other contractors had already arrived and were all smiles when I stepped out of my van.

"Charlie!" some called out as I found the foreman.

"Hey Charlie," Ryan Spencer said as I approached. "When I heard they were sending you I knew this was going to be an easy lick."

"Yeah cause I'll be doing all the hard work eh," I replied.

"You betcha," Ryan said. "I've never seen a system this sophisticated in my entire life. I'm leaving it all in your capable hands. The owner works for that new computer company, Numenor and its one of their systems that we are installing. Think you can handle it?"

"Ooh, I've read all about these things. Sure I'll take it one step at a time but I haven't met a machine I can't tackle."

"Excellent," Ryan said a look of relief spreading over his features. "Here are the blueprints and the schematics. So far we haven't had to make any modifications on anything. So hold onto those until I tell you otherwise. Got any questions?"

"Has the old electric and furnace and all that been tore out yet," I asked.

"Oh yeah, the basement is all yours, we've even put that new power plant down there for ya to play with. I figured you would want to mess with that first before you started hooking up 'Mother'."

"Mother, oh the A.I. how clever is that. Well if you need me I'll be in the basement."

"Oh, there's a gal been wandering around here. She's the owner's cousin so be nice if you see her skulking around."

"Right."

With tools in hand I made my way to the basement. Before too long I was busy hooking up the sphere shaped power plant. This entire place was going to cutting edge from bottom to top, must be nice. An hour later I was connecting the electrical wiring into the separate junction boxes. Each floor was clearly marked and the wiring tagged so I knew where it led to. It wasn't until lunch time that the curious young lady appeared with a cold soda in hand.

"You must be Charlie," she said in her sultry way. "I don't mean any disrespect but are you from any of the local tribes?"

"No, my mother was Navajo and my father Lakota. No harm done young lady."

"Oh good, here I brought you a drink to cool you off."

"Thanks very much," I replied. "You have me at a great disadvantage."

"My name is Elizabeth Colton, but everyone just calls me Liz."

"Well thank you Liz. So will you be living here with your cousin?"

"I imagine so," she said with a queer inflection in her voice as if she weren't certain.

"It'll be absolutely gorgeous when we are done with her."

"Of that I have no doubt," Liz purred. "Have you started work on the electronics yet?"

"Nope, I've got to finish the electric first. Then we are going to create a room just for the server and hard drive."

"Where is that going to be?"

"Right under the main staircase, but you won't be able to see the door when we're done."

"Ooh another secret room how exciting."

"Yep, it will have its own environmental controls to keep it nice and cool. I expect by the weekend I'll have the main hall wired for sound barring unexpected interruptions."

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but I love your hair. How long has it been that gorgeous color?"

"Oh, it turned white when I was thirteen actually. I had a real bad fever and when it broke my hair and eyes had changed."

Liz leaned close and smiled.

"I love them; they remind me of storm clouds."

"You should see them in the daylight, they shine like a brand new dime," I said trying not to flirt.

"Well Charlie you have a lot of work to do and I don't want you getting trouble with the boss. I will leave you to it."

I watched her leave and if I were twenty something years younger. Oh hell I'd still be way too old for a pretty young thing like that. I was sixty four going on a hundred. I finished my soda and went back to work.

It was while I was taking my lunch and glancing at the blueprints and the schematics that I saw a major flaw in Mother's eyes on the inside of the manor house. With sandwich in one hand and another cold soda in the other I walked up to the first floor and sat on the main stairs looking out. Then I walked to the ballroom on my right keenly aware of certain facts. After a quick walk through the first floor I confirmed my suspicion. The set up of the stationary system was going to be too limiting for the A.I. to perform her duties. Well better early on than further down the road.

"Hey Ryan," I called out to the foreman. "We got a problem."

"I don't want to hear that," he replied as I pointed out the issue on his copy of the prints. "How the hell did they miss that?"

"The guys who drew up the plans are the owner and his boss that's why. You want me to call them or do you," I asked.

"Hey it was your catch and you are the man with the solution."

"I thought you might say that. I'll take care of it."

So there I was on a three way call with Jon Masters and Nick Shaw explaining the situation. Thank god they liked my solution. They approved the changes and I was as happy as a pig in shit. The new plans would mean a little more work on our part but in the long run a better system and a happier customer.

So as I sat down and sketched out my solution I tried to work out the math in my head. About an hour or so into my calculations I received a nice delivery from Numenor Technology out of Dunwich. I held in my hot little hands one of their new tablet computers outfitted with its own A.I. interface. The note that came along with it said 'Consider it a bonus, Nick'. Preloaded into the tablet were the current schematics and blueprints. With the drafting program on board it would be easy to design and polish my solution in no time at all.

"Can I be of service sir," the avatar asked appearing next to me. "Is this form acceptable?"

"I was wondering if you could look like Tesla for me," I asked. "He's been a bit of a hero of mine."

"Yes sir, give me just a moment," he said before his form shifted to that of Nikola Tesla. "Now what can I do for you young man?"

His entire demeanor and even vocal patterns had changed. I was majorly fucking impressed with the level of sophistication it possessed.

"Here is my problem and here is my solution, what do you think?"

And so it began there I was hashing out plans on mechanical engineering with Tesla! How cool was that? I was so engrossed in what I was doing Ryan had to come and tell me it was time to go.

"Hey Charlie, it's quitting time. What the hell?"

"Oh hey Ryan this is Nikola Tesla. Nikola this is my foreman Ryan."

"A pleasure to meet you sir," the avatar said with a slight tilt of the head.

"Um... nice to meet you to um Nick," Ryan responded a little haltingly.

"He's the A.I. tied to the tablet they sent for me to work on Mother's eyes and ears," I said with a huge smile on my face.

"Wow," Ryan said shaking his head. "We are locking up so... you and Nick need to go home."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

As I drove home Nikola and I continued our conversation and finalized the changes. By the time I stepped through my front door we were done and I could now focus on spending time with my wife.

"Becca," I called out. "I am home."

"How was your first day," she asked as she poked her head out of our tiny kitchen.

"I found a few problems with the layout of their security system but I'll have them back on track in no time at all."

"That's my baby," she said her baby blue eyes crinkling up on the ends as she smiled.

"Smells amazing," I told her as the aroma of our dinner wafted through the air.

"You always say that."

"I always mean it too."

"What's that under your arm," she asked as she slipped out long enough for a hug and a kiss.

"My Christmas bonus," I said holding up the tablet computer. "Mr. Masters and Mr. Shaw sent it as a thank you for finding and proposing the solution to their security issue."

"It's gorgeous Charlie, just what you need another computer."

"This is not just another computer, show her Nikola," I said as he appeared in front of the coffee table.

"Holy smokes; who... what is that Charlie?"

"Remember me telling you about a company that had developed artificial intelligence, that's who I am working for."

"Sweetie you ramble on about all sorts of things I just don't understand. But it I mean he looks so real."

"Why thank you ma'am," Nikola said with a small bow.

"Jesus H Christ he talks!"

"Yes ma'am I do, your pan is boiling over."

Becca dashed back into the kitchen to reclaim control over her domain. I never went into her kitchen and she never went into my workshop. It was the unspoken rule of the household. And it had worked beautifully for over fifteen years now.

"Supper will be ready in ten minutes, go wash your hands old man. And uh thanks..."

"Nikola," the avatar offered.

"Thanks Nikola."

"You are most welcome."

"Make yourself at home Nikola," I said as I went to wash my hands.

While we ate in the kitchen Nikola walked around in the living room. He seemed to find all of our knick-knacks interesting. There were quite a few quiet noises from the avatar as he enjoyed a snapshot of our meager lives.

"So what do you think," I asked him after we had eaten and the dishes were washed and put away.

"You have done quite a bit of travelling over the years," he said.

"Yes, you might call us restless spirits I suppose."

"I have done some checking Charlie," he said learning early on that I abhorred the title of master. "Your design for the house is quite unique. There is nothing like it that is currently patented. I was wondering if you would like me to begin that process for you."

"You can do that?"

"Oh yes, I can created all the documents and file them digitally."

"Then sure that'd be great," I said surprised that something I created would actually make money.

"You seem astonished that your concept was noteworthy."

"Show him your workshop Charlie," Becca said with a smile.

"Okay we won't be long," I told her and she just shook her head and smiled.

"You boys have fun," she replied as she grabbed the book she was reading and sat in her chair.

I picked up the tablet and walked out the back door. There on the far side of our tiny back yard was the mobile home. At one time it was our living quarters while on the road. Now it was my workshop and peace of mind. I unlocked the heavy padlock and slipped the thick chain from around the mountings I had welded onto either side of the main door. The interior was divided into two sections. The immediate area was a cluttered mess. Then there was what was behind curtain number one. I let Tesla scan the first area thoroughly and it even took him a little while to compile all the tiny bits of junk from the larger abandoned projects.

"You have an extraordinary mind Charlie," the avatar commented finally. "While most of these are incomplete they are amazing pieces of engineering."

"Thanks Nikola."

"If the unfinished pieces are here I suspect the finished ones lie behind that curtain."

"You would be correct," I admitted. "But first I need your word that anything you see stays between us."

"Of course you have my word Charlie," Tesla replied with a smile.

"Okay then let's get this show on the road."

I tugged the two sheets that had been sewn together to one side and watched as the avatar's eyes widened in surprise. I let him scan every surface and every inch of each object and device I had completed. There was only one thing on this side of the curtain that needed finishing, the arch.

"Everything you see here was inspired by something along my journey across this great nation of ours. Anything from a rock formation to a national monument is the reason one of these things is here today. Hell, I spent two years in St. Louis alone working on my arch design well half an arch but still."

"I don't know what to say Charlie, each piece is unique and amazing and yet a see a singular characteristic that ties them all together."

"Yeah, I call them Heirorunes," I said walking over the notebook that contained all my secrets. "In here are all my dreams, visions and ramblings about those crazy characters."

"Can I see your notes Charlie?"

"Yeah, I don't know why. I haven't even let Becca see them but I know that you can understand them and help me figure them out," I said as I held up the note book for him and turned page after page until we reached the end.

It took even the blistering mind of the avatar time to absorb the mad ravings of a man named Charlie. I watched his eyes go blank for a long time before he blinked and looked at me and smiled.

"You are not insane Charlie; there is a wealth of information here. I look forward to helping you discover how to unravel what is here. The principals are groundbreaking and could literally change how we view the universe as a whole."

"After all these years," I gasped. "I finally have vindication. Are you ready to see the rest?"

"The rest, you mean there is more?"

"Oh yes an entire lifetime worth or this," I told him and he nodded eagerly.

I pulled out the box from off the floor and inside was dozens of notebooks, ledgers, loose scraps of paper and all of it was about the symbols, my Heirorunes. Tesla scanned everything leaving nothing out until after what seemed like hours we were finished.

"I need time to process it all Charlie. May I focus my attention on this and when I am finished contact you?"

"Sure take all the time in the world. If I need you I'll holler."

And holler I did; it was close to three in the morning when the pain woke me up. I was screaming in agony when I felt Becca's hands on me. She was trying to calm me, hold me still as I writhed around in utter anguish. The back of my head felt like it was going to burst. Then there was a sudden swelling of pressure and a plopping sound and the pain began to fade. Something had hit the edge of the bed and then rolled onto the floor. Something soft and squishy came to rest by the foot of the nightstand. Becca turned on the light and wept at the sight of all that blood.

"Charlie, are you alright?"

"I don't know," I moaned weakly. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know let me see your head Charlie, let me see if you are still bleeding."

I nodded and somehow managed to sit up without puking. Becca moved behind me and gently pulled the blood matted hair out of the way. I could feel her fingers carefully probing the back of my skull and I winced at how sensitive the skin was.

"I don't get it," she muttered. "There is all this blood and not a single cut or scrape."

"It sure hurts like hell," I told her.

"Well the skin is all red and puffy but... do you want me to call an ambulance?"

"No, let me get some rest and I'll see how I feel later on."

"Should I call Ryan and tell him you aren't coming in?"

"Yeah but not right now, wait until a godlier hour to call."

"Okay sweetie, let me get you into some clean pj's and change the sheets and you can lay back down."

She managed to move my bulky ass from the bed to rocking chair in the corner all by herself. First she stripped the bed and piled the bloody sheets and pillow cases on the floor near me. Then she stripped me and got a basin of warm water and washed my hair. Already the back of my head was feeling better. She got my hair as dry as she could and helped me dress. Then it was off to blissful sleep. Sometime in the middle of a strange dream I heard a loud 'click' and I woke up expecting, something. I sat up and looked around but I was alone in our bed and I could see that it was full daylight outside. With a sound of dismissal from me I went back to sleep.