Clementine asks many questions, and drags answers out of Bernard, knowing that the Seraph is the appropriate target under such circumstances. Everyone finds that they know Nathaniel's phone number. Lucas (on bike) tries phoning him.
Nathaniel is in Heaven, reporting, when his phone rings, attracting a look from Soldekai. He turns it off and continues the report. He also reports on Lucas, mentioning his enthusiasm. Soldekai says that he's assigning Lucas to Nathaniel for the moment. Nathaniel goes back down, and finds Lucas has left him a message on the mobile phone, asking if it's all right to drive on the wrong side of the road. Nathaniel phones back to say NO.
People agree to go Beanie-transmitter-hunting tomorrow. It's 9pm. Case gives Nathaniel a lift back to the dojo, Zebediah goes back to the museum. Martin considers the CD, and realises he can make it vanish and reappear. He heads for the Lightning-Tether, gives Abdi-bezek a report, then checks the CD. He finds that it stores information and plays Doom. He plays Doom. Abdi-bezek joins in.
Tony writes a report describing the event (for the papers) as a drug deal that went wrong, due to suspected undercover police. He finds that Sheila left everything neat and tidy. He finds the camera has interesting buttons. Fiddling with it, he manages to take a photo of himself with the Kirlian Photo option switched on, though he looks normal in it. He goes out clubbing.
Case and Nathaniel turn up in the dojo, and Lucas also arrives. Nathaniel refuses a lift home. Lucas asks about Nathaniel's time in Heaven, and Nathaniel grunts. He says that Lucas is here for the moment.
Anita, who has turned up, asks Case about stuff, including Esek, and Case is tactful. They train.
Lucas and Nathaniel go out a-patrolling. They spot Tony while going past the Frog and Frigate pub. Lucas goes in, waves to Tony, and persuades Nathaniel to come in too. Tony buys them both beers. Tony and Nathaniel exchange barbed comments (or at least Nathaniel does) while Lucas watches. Lucas and Tony see a woman pass a man some money, and the man pass her back a small packet. They follow the two participants out, and Tony grabs the girl and takes her to the pizzeria opposite to talk. She lies a lot. Lucas tackles the guy (who is already running away) and sits on him, and Nathaniel threatens him till he gives a name. Vanderson. Lucas then phones the police, who says they'll send a car.
Tony talks the girl, who is evidently the mental twin of Cordelia from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, into believing it's cooler not to take drugs. She cries on his shoulder, gives him the packet of drugs (heroin), and goes. The police turn up, and the driver recognises the dealer as Toni, or Antonio. They take him off with Lucas for statements. The dealer's then arrested, and Lucas (who is allowed to go) phones Nathaniel to tell him about it. They head for Case's.
Zebediah has a quiet night.
Case finishes with Anita, heads home, drinks some whiskey from his New Bottle. Well, pours it out first. Lucas and Nathaniel arrive, talking about the efficacy of human punishments. Nathaniel suggests that Case helps hunting the drug-dealers, and Case agrees.
Morning, and Dawn Essence.
Everyone wakes up, some faster than others. Lucas learns about cooking breakfast. Bernard has improves his Tracking Device, which fits in a briefcase. Everyone feels good.
Martin goes to Case's flat in a new student. Bernard also goes there, with the Device. Case eats breakfast, while Nathaniel examines his new phone. Lucas watches the Cartoon Channel and learns how to shuffle cards. Zebediah minds the museum. Tony goes car-hunting, being tired of taxis, and looks for a nice flashy car.
Everyone heading for the Malakim Flat gets there, and they take a bearing on the Beanie Transmitter Frog (which points towards the docks). They then head off to take another bearing.
Zebediah gets a phone call. A female voice says, "Oceanville Marine Centre. Now." Then the phone clicks off. (It's a swimming centre, coincidentally near the docks.) He goes to investigate.
Tony finds a good car, and fast talks the salesman into lowering the price. He then gets a celphone call from his work boss, saying that there's "something odd" going on at the Oceanville Marine Centre, and asking Tony to investigate. Overtime is promised. Tony goes.
The Malakite Mob gets a second bearing, which intersects with the first bearing among the docks warehouses.
Zebediah arrives at the OMV (Oceanville Marine Centre) and notices police cars outside. He goes in, and sees the police talking to a lifeguard. The lifeguard's complaining that all the entries to the pool area seem blocked, and the windows are dark. The police and lifeguard go off to examine the big window (which looks at the underside of the pool) and Zebediah heads for the payphones.
Tony arrives, and sees Zebediah's Morris Minor. He goes in, and sees Zebediah. They talk, and decide to try looking through any windows or doors. Those all seem to be shielded by black fields of force. Tony tries photographing it; the photo comes out black and embossed. They poke around. Zebediah thinks he can see a way to get through (making a Per roll). Tony phones Bernard, and there is an info sharing session.
Martin takes a third reading on the Device, which crosses at the same point as the first two. He flashes this up on the digital speedo on Lucas' bike. A check by Martin reveals that the warehouse belongs to Doctorate Mappings Co.
Zebediah checks other openings, and finds the same black forcefield.
The Malakite Mob heads for the OMC at Bernard's suggestion, as it's roughly on their route. Gee, how odd. Lucas and Nathaniel, on Lucas' new bike, get there first, and the car with the others shortly after. They find Tony and Zebediah, and discuss what to do. Everyone except Bernard goes through the field. Bernard finds it still seems to be there to Celestial form. He phones Abdi-bezek and requests an infosearch on similar fields.
Martin goes part-celestial inside, using the Forces that aren't in his current host, and sees no difference. Tries phoning Bernard, can't make contact. Nathaniel tries his phone, gets through. They agree to stay in contact.
The group inside go down to the pool, where everyone seems to be frolicking cheerfully in the heated large pool, with waterslides and fake plastic palm trees. Case checks the staff entrance, finds a black barrier in the corridor there. The others search around. They notice the clock is precisely one hour off. Nathaniel discovers a pile of clothing - two male suits, one female. They remember a particular woman in a sunlounger in a black lace bikini, which, now they think about it, looked rather more like underwear. (Tony rolls a 666 on this.)
Abdi-bezek phones Bernard and says nothing specific so far. Bernard hunts around, and runs into the police, who tell him to leave the area.
Lucas goes down the waterslide. Fully clothed. Tony resonates the woman in the Black Lace Bikini, and picks up that her name is Lucille, or Lucy, a Lilim of Theft, with two friends here. He tells the others.
Zebediah prods the shield. No luck. Bernard sneaks down to the machine room, sees nothing unusual. He sees a black shield in front of the maintenance stairs there, too. He finally realises it as the Song of Seals, a rare and unusual song. He phones Abdi-bezek, gives him Nathaniel's phone number, then goes through the shield. He comes up the maintenance stairs into the ladies' showers. He then phones Nathaniel, and shares information.
The clocks all click back precisely half an hour. Everyone reverts to the way they were acting half an hour ago (except the angels, as far as they can see.) Nobody seems to notice anything out of the ordinary. The clocks are now an hour and a half behind.
Nathaniel goes into the mens' showers, goes Celestial, and tries tearing at the shield with flaming hands. No go. The woman and one of two men in a corner of the pool react at the sound of his going Celestial, which is noted by our angels. Tony tries talking to the woman, and she looks him in the eye and says they should cooperate. Case edges round the pool, and tries resonating the two guys, and gets clearly-Vapulan results from one. He goes to hunt for trunks in the staff room.
Lucille (the woman) talks with Tony, claiming she and her friends aren't responsible. Zebediah gets close enough to resonate her, and picks up that her most ignoble deed of the week is skipping out on duty, and her most noble is wanting to save the humans here.
Bernard and Nathaniel talk some more via phone. Case saunters out of the staff room, in trunks, carrying his wakizashi bundled in a staff top. Martin starts possessing inlet valves and closing them.
Tony uses Zebediah as a negotiating tool. Zebediah smiles a lot. Lucille tells Tony that "their instruments" showed some sort of being coming in along "the signal" and pausing here, and that they came to investigate and got stuck.
Case slips into the water, and swims up behind the two men with his wakizashi, then puts it to the back of one and demands answers. He makes them edge towards the shallow end.
It is noticed that the water is rising. Despite the fact that the inlet valves are closed.
Tony and Zebediah question the woman further. Case tries questioning the two men. The one with the katana in his back admits that they came there to track something that was following their signal.
The water rises further, and shark fins appear at the centre of the pool. People start screaming and scrambling out. Nathaniel dives in and attacks with flaming hands, Case with his katana, Lucas with a plastic palm tree, Zebediah with Case's gun, and one of the guys who Case was questioning Sings Claws and pitches in. Bernard organises people up to the balcony, while Lucille and Tony try to keep people calm. Martin watches.
The sharks get fought, and are driven back, or at least round in circles, and several are killed. Martin sees something blurred and glowing at the centre of the pool, and sends his Celestial portion (not currently being used for possession) to have a look. He sees a glowing form there, like a hole cut out of light. The feelings are of the same time of near-worship and total loathing. He hears a voice like a rushing wind, "WHO AM I WHAT AM I NEED I AM DESTROYER WHAT AM I." He tries to draw back, disorientated. He finds he can't.
The water is now at waist-depth on the sides of the pool. In the balcony, Bernard is organising a hymn-singing of, "Eternal Father, Strong To Save."
Martin tries hitting the thing, and feels it begin to come apart. The sharks turn in the water, heading for the centre, and the other angels follow, attacking again. Martin strikes the thing again, and feels it disjoint and fall apart, with utter disjunction and a scream of pain, "WHO AM I WHAT AM I NEED DISSOLUTION."
Everyone finds themselves on the side of the pool, dry and unhurt. No sharks, no water level rise, nothing. The clocks have snapped to the correct time. People are still frolicking. They see the demons on the other side of the pool, looking confused, also fully clothed. The demons make a bolt for the ladies' entrance, when the police come bursting in through there. The angels decide discretion is the better part of valour, and make a run for it themselves via the men's entrance, getting out safely.
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