The man nods. "Thank you. And what can I do for you? I assume you aren't just here for the, um, sights.
"Ya'll can start by telling us what happened to Protector, and then let us know anything you know about Devorado. We're gunna be trying ta race someone named Overlord to it."
Lightning Blade acts tense and reserved throughout the conversation, refusing to participate unless addressed directly.
"Yes, any experience from your active days which you feel might still be pertinent could help. We seem to have an issue of something big and bad on the horizon. "
The man looks past Longbow. "Devorador. I've heard the name before. The Devourer. Tell me, are you familiar with the Black Stanzas?"
"Never heard of them, but I'm no scholar. "
Grayland walks over to a particularly large book, in one of the shelves.
He recites:
“In Darkness strung between the Stars they brood;
Unknown, unknowable, and ever curs’d
By Those who see them not, yet feel them in their Blood,
Like seeping Poison, Canker, or the first
Black-threaded Parasite that spawn’d their damned brood.”
Thus spake the silver-bearded Seer,
And gasping forth his final Breath, he wept, and shook for Fear.
We gathered round to hear our direful Doom
Proclaimed by this frail Elder in that dismal Room:
“Beware the Void that Binds!” he feebly cried:
The Warp! The Weft! All Life bereft!
He pauses. "Doggerel, I'm afraid. From some 19th century pamphlet. But it has survived, for various reasons. The Void that Binds, we know of now. It goes on, to talk of other things. The Many Angled Void. The Dwellers Within. The Lurkers at the Gate. 'Devorador d'estrelles' - the Eater of Stars."
"Did the speakers at Hyperion tell you about her? She's been awakened, somehow. Attracted. On her way. I wonder how long we have."
"What was the author's name?"
Crane answers: "We've no idea. It's from a Codex bought at an auction in Edinburgh just before the war. Taken to Germany. All details of the seller erased. But the key words match some of those in the Hyperion communications."
Grayland nods. "What I have here is a copy. The original is in the vault at DICE headquarters. Is that all you came to ask me about, though?"
Grayland shakes his head. "This Overlord - from the brief description I had - and I note you all seem to assume I have been comprehensively briefed on the background to this meeting, while in truth I have not - sounds to me like a petty criminal. It seems there are at least two different threads here - the Devorador and this Overlord character. There's not necessarily an association between the two, is there?"
"Do you know of any other references? That's pretty vague, which you know of course. Hard to prepare when we don't have any idea of capabilities. "
Gracie listens quietly for awhile, then interjects when she notices one subject brought up has been ignored. "Our friend in the hat here asked about Protector -- do you know what happened to him?"
Grayland looks sideways at Challenger. "Then, ask the right questions, young man."
He moves towards Gracie. "I'm sorry, do you mind?"
His hand reaches out to touch her face, gently testing the contours. "I was sure ... you remind me of someone I used to know."
He withdraws his hand.
"What happened to Anderson is what happened to all of us. His flame burned too bright. Became too visible in the darkness. Drew the moths to the flame. And worse. What these people have done ..."
He pauses.
"What these people have done is what had to be done. For all of us. This Devorador, if she is what I think she is; he more than most, he brought her here. Me as well. But Anderson burned far too brightly."
"My pa always used to say that when people start talking all cryptic like, you should ask them to be direct."
Longbow pauses for a moment and says "Please, be direct."
Lightning Blade smirks and nods at Longbow's comment.
"I'm all for dramatic tension, but this is getting ridiculous."
"So beings of power are what brings in this Devorador? Is it all types of powers? Is there some threshold under which one isn't noticed? And you say 'if she is what I think she is'- what do you mean by that?"
"Yes, please tell us what you think she is," Juliana chimes in, but ends by biting her lips and looking frightened. Should have stayed out of adult business. Learn more by listening and not speaking.
Grayland sighs. "Oh, I'll be more direct, more direct than you'll ever want me to be."
He slams down the book in frustration. "But first, tell me what Anderson said when you captured him."
"Why, Anderson is the reason we're here now. He kept chanting 'Devorado is coming' to himself, over and over. It piqued our curiosity, so we decided to investigate the subject of his ramblings."
He moves towards Gracie. "I'm sorry, do you mind?"His hand reaches out to touch her face, gently testing the contours. "I was sure ... you remind me of someone I used to know."
He withdraws his hand.
"What happened to Anderson is what happened to all of us. His flame burned too bright. Became too visible in the darkness. Drew the moths to the flame. And worse. What these people have done ..."
He pauses.
"What these people have done is what had to be done. For all of us. This Devorador, if she is what I think she is; he more than most, he brought her here. Me as well. But Anderson burned far too brightly."
Gracie is taken aback from Grayland's reaching out, though does not prevent him from touching her. She wants to bring up her aunt, she wants to ask what happened, but something in his strange manner frightens her and she can't quite bring herself to. She watches the back and forth fly between her teammates as she tries to gather thoughts.
Finally she brings herself upright to her full six feet, finally summoning in herself the inner strength often muted by her anxieties.
"WAIT a minute. LOOK. Perhaps we should just start over. I think each of us is assuming we know things we don't.
"And to be absolutely clear, none of us bloody well know what is bloody going on! Sorry for the strong language." She sighs. "So look: I'll say what I've got out of this whole experience so far. I was afraid of doing that, for fear of violating the OSA or something. But we've got to, I guess, or we'll go around in circles. And if I end up saying something I shouldn't have, I accept full responsibility for whatever comes next." She holds her head and shoulders high.
She looks at Grayland. "I don't know what anyone else was told when they were hired, but I usually work with the police in London. In fact before I revealed my... talents to them, I just worked as an office worker for them. I'm well versed in bureaucracy, but I'm still a civilian muddling through all this. All I know is the government passed on a request to my station that I lend the government my talents for a time. I agreed, believing I could help people."
She pauses. "Much like my Aunt Bertha used to do," she adds, especially eying Grayland for his reaction.
"I was told I'd be joining a team of others," She waves to the people around her. "We'd barely learned each others' names, let alone become aware of what we could do or why we'd come, when we were thrown onto a helicopter by a pompous stuffed-shirt of a military officer--may he rest in peace--to intercept a convoy transporting Anderson and ensure he got to the safe hands of the government, as they were worried the convoy was going to be attacked.
"Two enhanced criminals, later claiming to work for someone called 'Overlord' indeed attacked the convoy along with some kind of military truck with cannons on it. The truck apparently had equipment that jammed something being used to keep Anderson pacified. If we can't recall exactly what he said, do please bear in mind we were being shot at by cannons, and attacked by enhanced beings, and dealing with our support team being killed, so stopping to listen wasn't exactly our priority. Moreover, he was speaking bloody gobbledygook! The only things we got out of it is what my associates have already said, in full. 'Devorado' and 'Doggerland.' Oh, and 'she is coming.'"
She takes a breath. "Then we were sent here to speak with you and get more information about what it is we might be facing. So if there is anything you know, please tell us, and if you don't--then I'd suggest sir, finding a new place to hide, because I reckon things are about to hit the fan in a rather unpleasant fashion, and we'll hardly see it coming."