Scene 35 - December 19th

Interior MLED Compound, Evening

Susan Shepard

“...we tried to make an escape once, tried to get the sword away from her, but she just drained our energy,” Abe said, sounding every bit as tired as Loki did. “After that it was all we could do to stay awake, even when Molly’s aura hit us. I saw the kids come - Loki got drained, Quinn managed to hold her off, then Molly managed to convince her to back down.”

I nodded. “Last question. How would you say the blade affected Maxwell and Anima’s mental states? Were there similarities?”

“Shouldn’t that be a question for Anima?”

“I already debriefed her,” I told him. “She doesn’t remember her time holding the sword very clearly. All she could say was that holding it felt good in a way which, no longer under its effects, was ‘creepy’ and ‘too easy’.”

“Alright. Well...” The hero took a deep breath. “It was definitely affecting them - I could see that Max’s emotions were all over the place, and Anima seemed about the same. They were... off-kilter, I guess. But, if I’m being honest... I don’t think it introduced any new thoughts.”

“What do you mean?”

“Arthur Peregrine said that it was a power-enhancing artifact, right?” He said. “It affects the mind in the same way it affects your power, it enhances you to the point that it considers you worthy of ‘kingship’. That doesn’t mean giving you new ideas, forcing you to want something you’ve never considered - but it might mean magnifying thoughts you would never have actually acted on into overriding impulses.” Canaveral sighed. “Max wanted to prove his worth to Peregrine, as though he had failed somehow by not getting that apprenticeship. That’s just the kind of thing you tell yourself when you fail like that, ‘if I could just show him how good I am now, he’d change his mind,’ even though you know that’s not how it works. And Anima... I’m sure every parent has had the thought that if they could just wrap their children in cotton and keep them from the world, they would be safe. And while she may not literally be a mother to any of the Journeymen, she certainly views the Journeymen as her kids - Molly especially.”

I nodded. “That seems like a reasonable explanation of their behaviors. Do you think their exposure will have any lasting effects?”

“No clue,” he said with a shrug. “I’m no mage and certainly no psychiatrist. Ask Arthur Peregrine.”

“Oh, I will.” I saved the file. “Do you think we need to put Anima on temporary leave?”

“Probably for the best. Get her a clean bill of mental health from Peregrine - Wagner, too - before she goes back on duty.”

“Agreed.” I let out a heavy sigh. “Today was a real mess, Canaveral. Have you see what the media is saying about Anima?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t had the time to check yet, but I can only imagine it’s bad.”

“Whatever you’re imagining, it’s worse. There’s a strong possibility that she’ll have to retire because of this.”

“That... would be bad,” Canaveral said. “She’s one of the best healers the MLED has.”

“I know. I’m going to be fighting for her, but...” I growled. “I already have an angry message from Chief Director Redding. We might be lucky if we can keep her as an on-staff healer.”

Canaveral struggled the hold back a yawn as he asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Argue in her favor when Internal Affairs comes to interview you about the incident,” I said. “Other than that... Just go get some sleep.”