Chapter 24: Through the Door (Part II)

Elaine’s head zeroed in on Roger with the alacrity of a turret tracking a target. “Fever?”

“Uh.” He backpedaled under the unexpected attention. “Well, it’s…”

“Colloquial,” Frog said without missing a beat, she gave him an apologetic look. “It refers to ideas that get into people’s heads, like fads, that seem to spread like illnesses. And he’s right, Emily’s campaign has gone totally viral since you took this case.”

“Why haven’t I noticed this?” asked Elaine.

“You’ve been busy,” Frog said, glancing down at the divining-rod. “Plus, it’s your blind-spot: social interaction. You’ve been running down the tech angle with Zane, haven’t you?”

“He called you, didn’t he?”

Frog snickered. “Of course he called me. How do you really think I figured to come here? Anyway. Your boy, here, has a point that fits my observations. The Early Campaign is contagious.”

Elaine turned back to their bewildered addition to the group, who seemed to be contenting himself with a sheepish smile. She spent a moment of thought and shifted her expression to something she thought would convey a conciliatory nature.

“I think you have made an excellent connection, Roger,” Elaine said. “This whole thing does seem to be acting like an illness. Perhaps it’s being spread by contagion. I will have to test your hypothesis, but first we will need to find someone who has caught the fever and isn’t likely a true believer.”

It took him a moment to recover, but he nodded after a moment after catching up to the conversation. “No way Howie is into anything political,” he said finally. “If you want to talk to him, I can call him. He’s probably hanging outside the gym or something.”

The lights in the hallway rose in brightness for a moment then dimmed again. A few heads poked around the corner towards the elevator, but overall the corridor remained vacant. Elaine and Frog glanced at each other.

“We should really get this show on the road,” Frog said. “Our friend in the coat-hangar is getting agitated, I can feel it. What are we waiting for?”

Elaine reached for her phone.

“Are we getting inside this room or what?” Zane said as he dashed down the hall, motorcycle helmet swinging between his hands. He came to a rolling stop next to Frog, gave her a wink, and the noticed Roger. “Oh, hello?”

“This is Roger,” Elaine said. “You spoke to him on the phone when I was in Tom’s office earlier this week.”

“Hi,” said Roger.

“Back at ya,” Zane said. With a flourish, he removed a small black wallet from his pocket and gestured towards the door. “I brought my tools. Who wants to do the honors?”

Elaine momentarily felt like mentioning that she’d developed a Knock spell for her phone which would easily unlock the door—but then she remembered what happened last time she used it. Every door in the hallway unlocking with so many people milling about the dormitory would surely be noticed. In fact, she noticed that both Frog and Roger appeared a little apprehensive about other people walking by, although their little crowd went largely ignored by passersby.

“Please proceed,” she said.

Zane pulled a pair if thin gloves from his pocket and slid them on. “We are working with gremlins,” he said directly to Roger. “I don’t want one of them thinking the tools are a path of less resistance and giving me a charge.”

Roger watched with curious abandon as Zane removed several tools from the black sheath and applied them to the lock on the door. With a few deft gestures, twisting and turning the lock gave way with a soft click. He tested the door knob to make sure it cleared before replacing the tools in their packet and that into his jacket.

“Do you think the gremlins and Emily’s viral campaign are connected somehow?” asked Roger.

“I haven’t seen any evidence of a connection,” Elaine said, “but proximal supernatural events rarely do not correlate. The gremlins could be attracted to, or fleeing from, something altogether different. I—” But Roger had gone into dummy-mode; she could see his eyes already glazed over. She returned her expression to the gentle smile from earlier. “They’re probably not connected.”

Roger nodded and receded away from the door so that she could move up next to her brother.

“Shall I?” asked Zane.

“Proceed.”

With a dramatic flourish, he pulled the door open. It swung open with a low moan, revealing the flittering glow of a multitude of LEDs and computer monitors. The light spilled out like a bad alien movie SFX, casting flat planes of light through a sudden cloud of dust. The whirr of computer fans rose and fell with their breathing as everyone stood in shocked silence staring into the gloaming within dotted with the formless patterns of cast around the numerous computer screens. The strong scent of bearing-lubricant and ozone breathed out into the hall along with the distinct tang of black licorice. Cables of every size and description from CAT5e to copper flooded the walls, cocooning inwards like arteries feeding a cybernetic organ at the center.

Elaine felt a shiver go through her. “Wow… That’s fragging fantastic!”

Roger and Frog peered in over the siblings’ shoulders. Trying to get a view of an image on one of the central screens—something that had transfixed both Zane and Elaine in stunned contemplation.

“Oh yeah,” Frog said under her breath. “I’ll say they’re connected.”

“Is that a candle?” asked Roger.