And If Thou Wilt, Forget

[CLICK]

[ENGINE RUMBLING, TIRES ON ROADWAY]

GERRY

Where did she even get the name Jan Kelly from, anyway?

TIM

Jan after Jan Kilbride, the guy from the Daedalus project who got…messed up by the Vast. Kelly was her mother’s maiden name.

GERRY

…Did she tell you that, or did the Eye?

TIM

Since I didn’t even know about this place until you told me, definitely the latter. Mind the pedestrian.

GERRY

No, I thought I’d just run him over. Picking bits of meat out of the undercarriage is so much fun.

[TIM SNORTS]

[SEVERAL MOMENTS OF SILENCE]

GERRY

She wouldn’t send us there if it was dangerous. Or at least she would have given us some kind of clue as to how to…dismantle her traps or whatever.

TIM

I just hope the bill’s still current. She told me once she always paid her bills as far in advance as she could, just in case she was delayed somewhere, but it’s been almost two years.

GERRY

Surely she wouldn’t have put something so important in a situation so precarious.

TIM

I guess we’ll find out.

It’s down there.

[TIRES CRUNCHING OVER ASPHALT]

[SLIGHT CREAK AS CAR STOPS]

[ENGINE SHUTS OFF]

GERRY

Come on. I remember which unit is hers, so it shouldn’t take us too long to find.

TIM

Sure.

[SEATBELTS UNBUCKLING]

[CAR DOORS OPEN, FOOTSTEPS ON ASPHALT, CAR DOORS SHUT]

[FOOTSTEPS ON PAVEMENT, SLOW TO A STOP]

[FRUSTRATED GROAN]

GERRY

Great. Of course there’s a keypad for entry. God alone knows what combination of numbers she would have used.

TIM

260147.

[BRIEF PAUSE]

[DISTINCT SOUNDS OF THOSE SIX NUMBERS BEING PUNCHED INTO A KEYPAD]

[CHEERFUL DOUBLE BEEP]

[CLUNK OF A LOCK DISENGAGING]

GERRY

…Okay, God and you know.

Did she pick it herself for a reason, or was it random?

TIM

She picked it herself. For the same reason I would have used 140385, and can we please not ask those kinds of questions for a bit? That kind of Knowing isn’t my usual area of expertise, but I’m getting the information anyway and it’s starting to give me a headache.

GERRY

Sorry.

[DOOR OPENS]

GERRY

Come on. It’s this way.

[FOOTSTEPS ECHOING SLIGHTLY ON A CONCRETE FLOOR, BUT OTHERWISE ABOUT THIRTY SECONDS OF SILENCE]

TIM

Any guesses as to what it is she left us?

GERRY

No. You?

…Not asking the nosy bastard, just asking you.

[TIM LAUGHS A LITTLE]

TIM

Not a clue, which is a refreshing change.

Probably something we’d never expect in a million years.

GERRY

Hmm.

Do we think you don’t have a clue because she somehow hid it from the Ceaseless Watcher, or just because it’s letting you build anticipation?

TIM

…

The second one. It’s probably trying to get me curious.

Or maybe it’s just because that’s not the sort of thing I usually can just…do. Most of the information I pull out of nowhere legit is stuff I already knew but had no reason to use, and…I dunno, there’s probably a common theme for the stuff it usually gives me, but I can’t come up with it right now.

Anyway, unless she’s keeping her sister’s skull in there or something, I don’t think I’d just get that information.

[SQUEAK OF SOLES AGAINST THE FLOOR AS GERRY WHIRLS AROUND]

GERRY

Her what?

TIM

I told you, if I’d picked a code I’d have used 140385. That was Danny’s birthday. Gertrude lost her younger sister to one of the Fourteen. It’s why she went to work at the Institute in the first place, and why she offered me the job. We’re cut from the same cloth.

GERRY

Jesus fucking Christ on a pogo stick.

[RUSTLE OF FABRIC AS HE PULLS TIM INTO A FIERCE HUG]

[SEVERAL MOMENTS OF SILENCE]

[TIM PULLS BACK]

TIM

…Thanks for that, Ger.

GERRY

Any time.

Come on. We should almost be there.

[MORE FOOTSTEPS, EVENTUALLY SLOWING TO A HALT]

TIM

This one?

GERRY

Yep.

No cameras, so that’s good. Although I suppose if someone’s trying to spy on us, they wouldn’t need cameras.

TIM

We’re good. No one’s watching.

[JINGLE OF KEYS]

GERRY

…Sure of that, are you?

TIM

Yep.

[LOUD JANGLING CLUNK AS TIM SELECTS A KEY AND LETS THE OTHERS DROP]

GERRY

Wait, no, hang on. How can you be so sure?

TIM

[Audibly grinning] Finally figured it out earlier today. You know how I have that problem where it’ll randomly just feel like my finger’s swelling up and the ring gets uncomfortably tight?

GERRY

Yeah?

TIM

It’s not random.

I was talking with Martin earlier and he was ranting about a bunch of stuff he’s probably had bottled up for a while, and one of the things he was complaining about was feeling like he was being watched. Mostly as a joke, I put the picture on Sasha’s desk face down, and as soon as I did, the ring suddenly got so loose it actually popped right off. While I was waiting for you, I thought about it, and I realized that all the times it got tight was when we were doing something that someone might have wanted to know, or when Gertrude or Elias—or Jon, unintentionally anyway—was trying to directly Know what I was thinking. It gets tight whenever someone is trying to magically spy on me. Right now it feels fine, so we’re safe.

Let’s see what’s in here.

[RATTLE OF KEY BEING INSERTED INTO LOCK]

[FAINT CLICK OF LOCK]

[MUFFLED JINGLE OF KEYS AND LOCK BEING DROPPED INTO A POCKET]

[RATTLE, CREAK, AND GROAN OF A METAL STORAGE DOOR BEING FORCED UPWARDS]

GERRY

Holy war zone.

TIM

Frith and Inlé. I didn’t expect this much stuff.

GERRY

You know Gertrude. If something’s worth doing, it’s worth…digging through two dozen decaying unmarked cardboard boxes.

Still. She couldn’t have at least left us a map?

TIM

…I think maybe she did.

GERRY

…Oh.

TIM

Probably should worry me that it’s only got my name on it, but…

[TWO FOOTSTEPS]

There’s a recorder here. That’s what was keeping the tape upright. Want to listen to it here or take it home first?

GERRY

…

I don’t think I’ll last the two hours it’ll take to get home. Besides, we want to find…whatever it is she left to stop the Unknowing, right? Maybe she spelled it out on the recording. Let’s listen now.

[RATTLE OF THE DOOR CLOSING]

TIM

Our choices seem to be sitting on the floor or…standing.

GERRY

Yeah, no, I’m lazy. Sit.

[FABRIC RUSTLES, SLIGHT SOUND OF CARDBOARD BOXES SHIFTING MARGINALLY AS THEY SETTLE ON THE FLOOR AND GET COMFORTABLE]

[TAPE CLICK]

[A QUIET SPACE]

GERTRUDE

Tim. And Gerard, I suppose, you two don’t tend to keep secrets from one another. Which serves you well.

The time is seventeen minutes past two in the afternoon, fourteenth of March, 2015. As I record this, you are on your way to Çukurova, Turkey, by way of Istanbul. I have just finished speaking with you about returning to London due to the imminence of the Dark’s ritual, the Extinguished Sun.

If you are listening to this recording, it means I’m dead.

[TIM INHALES SHARPLY]

More specifically, it means that I am dead and that my…current theory was incorrect. There is no real point in repeating it now, I suppose. I’ve taken precautions not to be overheard, but there is still the risk. If I am correct, I will tell you about it when you return to London, as it will greatly inform our path going forward, but if I am wrong, there’s no reason for you to worry about it, and telling you will only send you down the wrong and, may I say, dangerous path.

So. To business. You are hearing this because I was able to disrupt the Dark’s ritual, but it likely cost me my life. This means that Elias will be appointing a new Archivist.

The position will not lie fallow for long. It cannot. The Archives need an Archivist, and so does the Ceaseless Watcher. I assume—or rather, I hope—it will be Sasha James, from Research; her background in Artifact Storage will give her a better chance of understanding. However, it may not be, and Elias may have made a different choice for some reason. Should Elias offer you the position, Tim—do not accept it. It will place you both in grave danger. Even graver than the danger you are already in.

(Momentary pause) On the topic of Elias. I know I don’t need to tell you not to trust him; you are already wise enough not to. And you’ve been good about avoiding him up to this point. That will be…far less simple in my absence, at least for you, Tim, so please listen very carefully to what I am about to tell you, and please, believe what I am saying.

The person you know as Elias Bouchard was originally known as Jonah Magnus—

[RECORDER CLATTERS TO THE FLOOR]

TIM

What?!

GERRY

No, no, I must have—we had to have misheard that, play that again, that can’t—

[TAPE REWINDS]

[TAPE CLICK]

GERTRUDE

—and please, believe what I am saying.

The person you know as Elias Bouchard was originally known as Jonah Magnus, the founder of this Institute. I have also known him as James Wright, and before that as Richard Mendelsson. He has found a way to extend his life by…placing it in other bodies, and taking on their identities. A slightly less obvious method than that employed by Maxwell Rayner, I suppose, but no less insidious.

[TAPE CLICK]

[SEVERAL SECONDS OF SILENCE]

TIM

Fuck me sideways and call me a snake.

GERRY

(With a pathetic attempt at humor) I know it’s serious when you aren’t swearing in Lapine.

TIM

I just…I…fuck.

Elias Bouchard has been Jonah Magnus this whole time? No wonder…

GERRY

No wonder what?

TIM

No wonder I can’t figure him out. He’s had—what, two hundred years of being…

GERRY

An asshole?

TIM

The Grand Mystic Pooh-Bah of assholes. And also a servitor of the Ceaseless Watcher.

He’s…he’s old, Gerry. Not just old, but ancient. And I don’t mean that in the sense of “he’s past his prime”, I mean that in—

GERRY

I know. You mean “ancient” like “ancient power.” Like the kind that gets written about on temple walls and whispered about behind closed doors.

TIM

Yeah.

And I think I’m strong enough to keep that out of my head?

GERRY

You are. He believed you when you said you didn’t have the keys to the Archivist’s office, right?

TIM

I mean, I assume so, but—

GERRY

No. No, you’re right, he has to believe it. You said he was disappointed, yeah? Probably because he made plans assuming you did, that you’d lie and say you didn’t but keep them and could…do exactly what you just did and break into Jon’s office when he wasn’t aware. Make him more paranoid. But you convinced him you didn’t and that threw off his plans.

TIM

…Which is why he suddenly remembered he had the key to the trap door and gave it to me to give to Jon. Either in hopes I would “forget” to give it to him, or that I’d make a copy before I did.

GERRY

God. He’s such a bastard.

What’s he up to, anyway?

TIM

Maybe we should keep listening and find out.

GERRY

…Yeah. Yeah, go ahead.

[FABRIC RUSTLES AS HE PULLS TIM CLOSER]

[TAPE CLICK]

GERTRUDE

You’ve worked out, I’m sure, that he has certain…abilities of clairvoyance. On the off chance you haven’t worked out exactly what those abilities are, he has the ability to perceive out of any eye, real or symbolic, which is why I never keep photographs in the Archives. I’m not certain if Gerard’s tattoos are the exception or if he’s not aware of them or if it’s simply that the two of you have the skills to ward him away without knowing that you are doing so, but whatever the case, he doesn’t seem to be…entirely aware of your presence, Gerard.

Use that to your advantage.

I know that you are both well capable of protecting yourselves, both mentally and physically. Your bond to one another is a source of strength. Your knowledge is another. Keeping the Archives in a state of chaos is a third, and I trust you enough to help maintain that; I believe Elias’s plan would benefit from their organization. But I also know that you are both quite skilled in the mental shields I have instructed you in, and that you have developed on your own. Keep using them. It is not only the Ceaseless Watcher that may seek to slip past your defenses, so be on your guard.

It is also up to you to protect the new Archivist, whomever she—or he, I suppose—may be.

The Unknowing is approaching fast. You know this. I am still not certain of the timeline for it, but if you are listening to this tape it is still coming. Perhaps you have been able to ascertain that information by now, perhaps not, but either way, the new Archivist will not be prepared for what is to come. Even if it is Sasha, she may be prepared to accept the paranormal and the dangerous aspects thereof, but she doesn’t know the details like you do. The Archivist will need that information to succeed.

That being said.

I assume that if there is a new Archivist, there are also new assistants. Sasha may not appoint others, as I have mentioned to her that I don’t need any more help than you, Tim, but she may, and a different Archivist will also likely want a full staff. Which means you are likely dealing with a minimum of two new assistants—Martin Blackwood will, presumably, be one, but I cannot even begin to hazard a guess as to the second, and I don’t intend to try. It doesn’t matter. Be extremely cautious of them, and of how much information to divulge to them. I trust your judgment, but please be sure to weigh in your decision where they came from and why they are in the Archives. And if the new Archivist asks you to keep them ignorant, you will need to defer to their decision. At least to begin with.

(Deep breath) I will be recording a tape for the Archivist to come after me sometime before…before you return, or before the Extinguished Sun is due to…occur. I plan to give them enough information to get started with, but not the full details. I will also instruct them to play that tape for you, Tim, making no mention of this one. Be warned that if they do not—or have not done so, should you for some reason be listening to this after the new Archivist has taken the position—they may not have the best interests of the world at heart. They may also simply be skeptical, or perhaps simply willfully ignorant, pretending to ignore the truth as a defense mechanism or a pathetic attempt at safety. Whatever the case may be, if the current Archivist has not or does not take you into their confidence…trust no one but each other.

…

I don’t enjoy this level of paranoia. I certainly don’t enjoy that I am handing it on to you. But if it keeps the two of you safe, and if you can save the world in the bargain, I’ll accept it.

I am…fond of you both. I can admit that here and now. I’m fairly certain that this room is warded enough that anyone who may use that against me won’t be able to hear, and if they do, hopefully there won’t be time for them to use it against me. I…I hope you’re able to listen to this, and I’ve not put you in danger just by admitting that. (Heh) I suppose I must be getting sentimental in my old age. I’ll have to tell you about a few. If for some reason you’re listening to this even though I am still alive, likely because I’ve forgotten to actually destroy it, remind me to tell you about Emma. And Michael. I suppose I should tell you about Michael.

I hope you’ll both forgive me when I do.

(Sharp inhale) Right. I believe I’ve rambled long enough. You have work to do.

Hold onto the key to the storage unit until you are certain you can trust the new Archivist. Either wait for them to get up to speed on everything that they need to know or, if the Unknowing is too close to allow them that kind of time, bring them here. Hopefully they will not get quite so…obsessed that they gain powers too quickly, which means your abilities will be the more prominent, but nevertheless, between you and the Archivist you ought to be able to locate my contingency plan. Unless you and Gerard have found a better option. I rather hope you have, as this one may be…drastic, but regardless, this ought to be a good place to discuss. Everything here is safe. At least from Elias.

I don’t have much to leave behind, but what I do have is yours, Tim. Use it well and in good health.

One final request, and I hope you have returned in enough time to fulfill it for me. I registered a plan some time ago that when I die, I wish to have my remains cremated. I updated my will after returning to London from Chicago to state that I wanted them sent to you, but if that does not go through, they may be sent to the Institute, in which case you will need to find some way of intercepting them or obtaining them from Rosie.

There is a disused burial ground in Dover with the stones overgrown, one that no one bothers to visit anymore. Somewhere in that ground is a stone for Grace Robinson. I…I ask that you scatter my ashes on her grave, and tell her…

Tell her what you wish you could say to Daniel.

Whatever else comes…good luck.

[TAPE CLICK]

[SEVERAL LONG MOMENTS OF SILENCE]

GERRY

Oh, Tim.

[TIM GIVES A SLIGHTLY BROKEN LAUGH]

TIM

You know what the worst part of it is?

GERRY

That none of that surprised you? Well, except the part about Elias Bouchard being Jonah fucking Magnus. I don’t know that I’ll ever be over that.

TIM

Honestly, no. That’s the second worst part.

The worst part is…I was just about to the point where I trusted him. Jon, I mean. Not Elias. There was never any conceivable universe where I trusted Elias. But Jon? I was ready to believe he was on the up and up.

GERRY

Bang goes that theory.

Do you think he killed Gertrude?

TIM

I don’t know. I don’t know that that matters anymore, honestly. If it was Jon or a random intruder or someone taking revenge for whatever she did to stop the Extinguished Sun or, hell, maybe that was how she stopped the Extinguished Sun, get into an old fashioned pistol duel with someone.

The important thing is that Jon knows about all this, and he’s chosen not to believe it, or else he’s chosen not to trust me. And that means I can’t trust him.

It means we’re on our own.

GERRY

Again.

TIM

Or still.

…

So I guess the big question is…now what?

[CLICK]