Carlos picked Simon up directly from work. It wasn’t exactly raining, but it was good weather not to have to wait for the bus in. When they all had a slice and some cola they found a comfortable booth.

It was actually a good pizza parlor for a private talk. Some seats in the corner booth were a little hard to get into, but they were out of the stream of traffic. With the noise of conversation they were unlikely to be overheard.

Phil started to speak. “This is a little embarrassing, but –”

Simon interrupted him. “It’s fine, I already know I’m strange and I get on people’s nerves. I try to be a bit more normal sometimes, but I don’t seem to have the hang of it. Speaking of which, I’m sorry but I have to ask you a question.”

He was surprised at how different he sounded from the person he had been yesterday. Instead of somehow hoping people would fail to notice his lack of social skills, he moved past it. He had bigger fish to fry.

Phil told him to go ahead, but tensed up at the same time.

Simon asked, “Supposed the Eightfold and the delirium were real, and Adam had erased some of your memories. Would you want them back?”

Phil grinned in relief. He was perhaps expecting something more personal, rather than delirium games.

“Yeah sure. Bring them on, but don’t go erasing any yourself. And Carlos, if you brought me out here for Eightfold crud with a group I don’t even game with, good thing you’re paying for the pizza. And you’re buying me a cannoli too. With chocolate and powdered sugar.”

Obviously he hadn’t taken Simon seriously, but this was as close to permission as Simon was likely to get. If there were a gamemaster here, it wouldn’t make sense to give Phil an active resistance roll. Hopefully he had forfeited his passive resistance too by agreeing, even in jest.

Simon looked for the well of sorcery within himself and saw … nothing. He almost panicked then, but remembered that this was about the safest test he could devise. If it failed he was not facing an enemy.

He could almost remember what it felt like to be Lord Regal or Erd using sorcery, but not quite. Their brains had taken a lifetime to understand being themselves, and he didn’t have that time.

Then he remembered the other Simon. Now it felt almost right. Not quite, but he could only try. As he was about to speak, he remembered that even Doc had feared to mess with Adam’s sorcery, and felt a sudden jolt of fear.

Lord Regal had known tricks designed to foil other sorcerers though. And Simon almost remembered. One thing that would help is for him to seem confident and not hesitate. Or was it too late for that?

Simon said, “Normally vulgar sorcery wears off after awhile. What I’m saying now won’t directly affect anything, but you’ll find you yourself can open doors in your mind to memories you were temporarily unable to reach, if you want to.”

Phil grinned skeptically. “Yeah, well –”

Then Phil interrupted himself, “Hey! Ohmygod! That felt real and I’ve felt it before, seen it before.”

Simon almost asked Phil what he was talking about, but the strange expression on Phil’s face made it unnecessary. Simon remained silent, giving him a few more moments to sort through the rush of repressed memories.

Carlos pitched his voice softly, leaving Phil to his thoughts as well. “Holy shit, this stuff isn’t just real, it’s really real.”

For an instant Simon wondered about the uses of sorcery that might be both practical, lucrative, and ethical. Because of the lessons he had learned from himself, could he practice sorcery more safely than Doc? Dare he even offer to use it under Doc’s direction, for a fee? He knew bad things often happened to untrained sorcerers, but Doc was smart, knowlegeble, and restrained.

Phil said, “Uh, my brain feel weird, and it’s going to take awhile to sort itself out. There’s one thing you should probably know right now though.”

Simon was proud to say, “I think we already know. Mr. Sharkes is involved with organized crime, isn’t he?”

Phil shook his head, but his expression didn’t indicate good news. “No. He works at Senator Mann’s district office. Adam wants the Senator to get funding to investigate sorcery.”

Simon stared blankly. “But he can’t. He can’t tell anyone the Eightfold is real. The delirium won’t let him.”

“It doesn’t seem to work that way exactly. You can show people sorcery, and they know something is real. You can invite them to Eightfold games. I don’t know if the rules are really supposed to work that way, but for now they’re getting away with it.”

Suddenly Simon froze in horror. He saw a clear path from here to the nightmare world of civil war and death. The government could discover sorcery and the Eightfold, first be unable and then not want to tell the public about it. Unscrupulous factions would vie for power.

Suddenly, a cold part of him wondered if he cared. Humanity had never done much for him. Most of the people involved he had never known, and most of those he had met he didn’t like.

But it was the world he lived in, and he would like the world of nightmare Adam even less than he liked this one. Much less. As would the few people he actually liked.

And that world would have Adam in it, an Adam who would both consider Simon a threat and have a subconscious urge to see Simon again to bring back the days he was still significant.

It was Phil who said, “We’ve got to stop him somehow.”

And it was Simon who answered. His throat was dry at first, so he waited until he could sound clear and almost confident before he spoke.

“So he works in Senator Mann’s office? Do you happen to have the address and phone number, or should I find it online?”

Carlos objected, “He won’t even have time to talk to you. When he hangs out with Adam’s group playing Eightfold, he’s just slumming. He’s a busy man who won’t even give you an appointment.”

For a moment Simon wanted to agree with him, wanted to abandon the crazy plan that was forming in his head. But if he didn’t do it, nobody else would, and his timeline would turn into the nightmare universe.

With more confidence than he felt Simon said, “He’ll talk to me. I have something that he wants. Two things. I know what sorcery feels like when it happens to you. I think he’s still wondering if it’s really that awesome, or just a combination of hypnotism and suggestion. Two, he wants a demonstration of sorcery. I can give him that.”

Carlos’s eyes widened. “But the whole idea is to keep him away from sorcery, isn’t it?”

Simon had an impulse to keep his whole crazy plan secret, but he would need all the help he could get. “I’m going to use sorcery to make him not want to learn or be involved with sorcery in any way.”

Phil asked, “Um, can you do that? And what happens when it wears off?”

Simon said, “As far as I’m concerned it makes so much sense that it won’t. I’ll think over carefully what I’m going to say.”

“Want us, I mean me to come with you?”

Simon almost smiled as Phil realized he shouldn’t make the offer on Carlos’s behalf. A moment later Carlos offered, “I’ll come too.”

Simon found himself deeply touched but he said, “This is more likely to work if I look confident, not like I need moral support. I’d better go alone.”

“You sure? At least let us drive you.”

Simon smiled but shook his head. It felt good that they offered, but what could they really do? His new ability was all that stood between humanity and a much darker future.