Chapter 2: Part 1c: Fly on the Wall
At the point where Saul talks about Milton and Shakespeare, Tobias uses his resonance to see the Fate/Destiny of Tyler: he focuses upon the symphony itself, tightening perceptions to tune out the overwhelming magnitude of it all, and through the white noise isolates the strings and strains of sound surrounding the timeline of Tyler Matthews.
The first thing apparent is that Tyler Matthews has no Fate. At least, none that Tobias can sense. It is as though there is no dark plan for his quintessence, no scheme that includes him.
His Destiny is to fade from existence with a whimper, yielding up what strength and essence were before devoted to him unto the power of the Higher Heavens. Tyler Matthews was once a god, and the divine plan holds that he should not be.
Tobias has never sensed anything like this before. It is possible that a greater force than his own perceptions can discern is shifting and distorting the line of potential future around this individual. This unlikelihood seems a viable argument only given the nature of what Tobias is sensing.
Tobias considers possessing some flies or mice to observe the bar area after he leaves. Tobias uses his belt and ties Scurvy to him, then releases him to get into a 'vermin suit' and get thoroughly and consistently buuusy...sorry...spying. Scurvy gets a stunned expression, so much so that Tobias/Jared can almost read his thoughts:
*OK... what is going on... I am less hungry, and I am in another place...Who is this guy?*
He eyes Tobias/Jared with suspicion and seems to be considering a howling yelping frenzy of escape... or maybe it is just a cower in fear till the weirdness passes...
Meanwhile, the flies circling the spilt beer inside the bar take on an element of the Other, and through the distortion of size and perspective, Tobias/Swarm listens to events inside the tent.
Tobias/Jared quickly buys a hot dog and feeds it to Scurvy. The doubt in the old dog's eye changes immediately to love. They find themselves a quiet corner to wait and watch. Tobias/swarm hovers by the back of the bar area scenting the spilt beer and worse on the grass. Words come as vibrations in the air, huge against the swarm's feelers, and only the millennia of experience of the Kyriotate allows comprehension of the noise. Layered between many voices and the vibrations of the bands playing on the main stage, a group of particular cadence are focussed upon.
Tobias/Swarm follows events in Three to Tango unnoticed, entering the van unnoticed. Tobias/Swarm *Ahh the multiplicity of singular intent, so few know the bliss of seeing so much at once, beyond mortal mindsets the input crashes over us and we feel alive, unchained to form feeling a myriad of ...ahh sorry, yes as many of us as can will follow them into the camper...*
Tobias/Jared keeps looking for Erika and Jorge, and enjoying the swirl of interesting people, playing with Scurvy, They watch the time too, for our meeting.
Freda said that they would be at 11.00 o'clock from the main stage about 100m back and they would have her accent...so they look for a man and woman in the right area looking for someone. They have no luck finding the people.
Tobias/Swarm senses a symphonic distortion when Freda sings but cannot identify the cause. Some time passes, as he listens in.
Tobias *Points of view...its
always about points of view
As the door to the van opens
we release the swarm into the warm night air and re establish contact with
Scurvy.
What are we going to do !?!
They are not Celestials! What is happening??
Tobias/Jared bends to hug
Tobias/Scurvy as the separate hearts share the same pain... alone/packless... a
deep sigh goes through both and as Tobias/Jared straightens up, resolve takes
the place of pain.
Well we must make our own way.
We are still here, we still have purpose. We will do all we can to help and
find out what is going on, we must do our best to assure that Fate does not
overwhelm Destiny even when the path has been obscured.
I must deal with them, as it
stands, they have done no wrong that I know of **besides existing** hey!
remember what Yves said <nothing that ever existed did so without a
reason> that is no crime **whatever the superiors say...??**
A pivot point arrives, and
Tobias stands on the edge, the proverbial Angel on the head of a pin as
everything he is and was rushes through him trying to tip him one way or the
other.
"Go, leave, find other
Celestials"
"Use them but do not get
involved"
"Trust yourself, Trust
what you have learned, see from all angles"
"Stay, kill the ones that
should not be..."
No.
I will be faithful to myself,
We will be faithful to the Word of Yves, We are His blessed servant, We will
see the Light of Destiny and let it guide our actions, We will not be blinded
to possibility through the prejudice of others...we are set on this course.
Let us find the Others. The
time for charades between us is over.*
Tobias/Jared and Tobias/Scurvy
set forward as one moving towards the tent and Saul, and hopefully alliance.
They takes a few minutes to
get to the backstage area again, and this time has few problems when confronted
by the bouncers. His name has been left with them. Saul, however, is nowhere to
be seen. It was not completely clear wether he would be present, his only words
were that he would leave Tobias' name by the door, but something in his tone
made Tobias think that he meant to be here to speak with you. But he is not
here.
After the security people
check the name he gives off the list, they nod him through. He heads to where
he knows the van will be parked.
As both of Tobias
walk towards the van, they are caught in a sudden wave of fear. Tobias/Scurvy
smells something unfamiliar, but frightening. Like a forest fire, or exposed
electrical circuit. They pay sudden, closer attention to their surroundings.
They hear people talking up ahead in the darkness, but the location of the
parking bay where the van was supposed to be is still obscured by other
vehicles. Nothing else stands out...
Orchestra strike!
Sudden violence in the Symphony, like all instruments playing at once, but
unlike a normal Song there are no common notes, it is as if every performer
turned the page, and discovered a random refrain to be played as loud as possible.
It mingles with a Corporeal sound that sets Jared/Tobias' nerves on edge, metal
rending from metal. Tobias/Scurvy almost howls in fright.
Tobias tries to
make sense of it all: A celestial; destroying something large; and a mortal has
been harmed; directly ahead, no more than 50 meters in the darkness...
*Damn, something
has been drawn to the concert as well as us, we knew this might be so.*
Tobias/Jared
circles one way and keep on the lookout for a piece of tentpole or bar of some sort
in case things get rough, while Tobias/Scurvy goes the other so that we can
arrive at the scene from different angles. We will hurry then move quietly for
the last few meters.
A few seconds of
running brings Tobias/Jared to the wreck of the van. It looks like it has been
peeled open like an overripe fruit, using the side door as a grip. From this
vantage point, he sees a long metal pole that may once have been a part of the
vehicle, and picks it up. He notes that it is rusting at both ends as though aged
for many years in the exposed air. It disintegrates a moment later while in his
grip, Symphony wailing quietly all the while. Tobias/Scurvy sees a figure
fallen out onto the ground behind the van, moving on hands and knees away from
the wreck.
Tobias/Scurvy has
run around to the front area of where the van was to be parked, and discovers
that it was left some way back from it's original spot, possibly to give the
occupants some time to act after they stopped... From here he sees several
figures near the wreck of the van moving around rapidly.
And the Symphony
erupts again.
A female human voice screams out a word, a long, unbelievably loud "ASTERION" in intense agony, a noise so loud that it dampens out all other sound, so loud that it can be heard within the Symphony as a crescendo of cymbals crashing, drums beating, trumpets wailing, strings being played with sandpaper.
Tobias/Scurvy
watches as all figures but two drop to the ground. The three are Tyler and
Freda (wielding a bottle), side by side, both standing woozily and facing a
third figure on the ground, a female human that Tobias does not recognize from
this distance or angle.
Tobias/Jared finds
another implement, this time a little further from the centre of destruction: a
chain used to secure trailer to car, left by the side of the lane. This proves
more sturdy.
Thus armed, he
takes a better vantage point to look past the van, and from this angle, behind
Tyler and Freda. He takes a look at the one they face. Something about her is
familiar but the fact that she is horribly burned and steaming, and spluttering
rage out of her damaged face ruins any chance of recognition. She is in torn
jeans, tee shirt and has a bike chain with padlock as a belt.
Punk Girl gets up
from the ground, and takes another breath. Some black liquid has eaten great
gaping burns deep into the flesh of her face and torso. The Appetite for
Destruction tee shirt has become melted into the flesh beneath it, half of the
letters unreadable. One of her eyes is ruined, but the other stares out with
the same ghoulish intensity, locked on Freda. Horrible blackened gaps gape in
her exposed flesh, showing bone and burned muscle underneath. One arm hangs
useless by her side. Shaking, she raises the other, and the symphony begins to
distort in agony once more.