"That I can manage," Leo said, his face contorting into a reasonably bland one as he clambered into the truck.
"There are things I could say here as a warning or a threat, but I have always found that leaving that up to the imagination is far more effective."
When Leo asks who he could trust Richard frowns exaggeratedly, "You mean we are not friends? I sacrificed blood to dark beings beyond the dark corners of our reality to find you, and this is the thanks I get?" He returns to his normal demeanor before saying, "In all truth, there were powers I could have called upon to shake the foundations of your mind like a broken marionette."
Once they start making their way toward the truck Richard tilts his head, "Are we off? If so, then where shall I ride."
"In the back. With the golem." Tomasz says simply.
Katherine clambered up as genteely as she could manage. The idea of examining the Golem was appealing. She had no idea how such a being could work, beyond funnelling something else into the clay, and was curious about it. And how to kill it, if it was ordered to attack her. She wasn't sure it had enough of a mind for her to attack.
"So... we leave together? I was happy to just organise a later rendezvous." Slowly the well dressed woman heads after Tomasz.
Theoretically, a golem could be created by crafting a suitable receptacle with clay and human blood, then summoning one (or some) of the being that lurks at the other side of sanity to animate it. The stronger the creature possessing it, the stronger the golem.
On the practical side, though, outside of legends you have never heard of anyone actually managing to create one: making a simulacrum complex enough to have good motor control while possessed would be superhumanly complex. Reanimating corpses is much easier.
You know that being animated by an inhuman force makes them resistant to harm and most magic, but whether they are completely immune, you are not certain . According to some legends, also, the Golem was easily deactivated by turning the Hebrew word emet (truth) into met (death). You see no such obvious weaknesses in Kleiner, but a canny necromancer might know how to deactivate it.
Covered in a length of fabric, Kleiner is led on the back of the fishery delivery truck, and a canvas cover is draped around, shielding it from observation. On the stage, the pyre that was burning the remains has been extinguished, having completed most of its job. On friendly soil, you would call a very specialized cleaning squad to cleanse the place of the parasites and exorcise whatever remains, but this is not friendly soil. You can hope that the foul feeling of magic will be enough to keep mundane folks away until the parasites exhaust their food and return to their dwelling in the border between nightmare and vision. The risk looks acceptable.
Four men and two women, on a truck with a clay humanoid creature, and aims that may be aligned or conflicting. What do you wish to do? And where are you headed?
"Perhaps a hotel of some kind, or somewhere else suitably private?" Katherine suggested. "I understand you won't trust us newcomers with a safehouse or the like, but we should probably discuss what you can tell us about this task. We'll be a lot more useful to any plan if we can explain how we can help with it."
"Sounds good to me." Ada casts a glance at the Golem. "Our current hosts seem a little hostile - though I can see why if they were in the middle of a mission. Can I ask; what did you see when you arrived? Feeders?"
The mention of Feeders piques Richard’s interest, ”If you’re referencing my arrival, then you’re quite correct. Rather simple beings, simple prices for simple requests. Any complexity is best left to higher powers, though greater risks are likely to be present.”
Titus snorted slightly - with laughter, not derision. "I've found that complexity tends to be what you make of it." he said. "After all, a lot of complicated things are really just simple things done in order." A marathon might be hard, but a single step forward wasn't.
Unease rose. 'If I'm going to jump out of this truck, I need to do it soon. What, exactly, happened?'
"Gentlemen, please; this is hardly the venue to argue complexity and complication. My own initial entry to the building was via projection - so I saw nothing except a rather nice exhibit at the nearby museum."
She turns to the blue eyed man beside her and almost bites through her tongue as the truck runs over a bump. "'Richard'" quotes can be heard in her pronunciation "You saw Feeders when you first arrived? Housed in dead bodies? I thought you arrived with the scarred man?"
She turns to the others "In fact, I'd value what each of you saw when you arrived."
”Ah, a different sort of Feeders, perhaps. I made a minor pact with the Feeders in the Night, beings that lurk just beyond our reality.”
Ada blinks in surprise. "You negotiated with discorporate entities?" She nods "That's impressive, given the risks. Not exactly what I meant, though."
She turns to include the others "Still. I have a lead on a highly valuable artefact being held by a high ranking German. I would like to liberate that artefact." She shrugs "Let me be clear; this is motivated by greed, rather than patriotism. While the act is likely to damage the Axis, that damage is not the primary objective."
"I'd rather a share of success than all of failure, so I am interested in recruiting some assistance. I'm confident those who oppose the Nazis are not going to sell us out to their enemies, so I'm looking to recruit from Allied practitioners. I'm not against independents, but I need to take more precautions."
"Sounds good to me." Ada casts a glance at the Golem. "Our current hosts seem a little hostile - though I can see why if they were in the middle of a mission. Can I ask; what did you see when you arrived? Feeders?"
"Of a sort." Tomasz answered. "The child who began this project," he indicates Kleiner, "he was enraptured, then enslaved by something that was more than a feeder."
Richard smiles once he hears that, ”It seems we have a great deal in common then. Heidrich is certain to possess artifacts of no small amount of power.” He pauses to think, ”Though it seems that my status as an independent practitioner may not fully align with you. Worry not though, though I have little love for the Allied agencies that restrict knowledge of the cosmic truths, the Reich is far worse in that respect.”
"In fairness, the restrictions on such knowledge make sense when you remember that anyone with a good head for numbers can summon things that would feast on humanity's essence, with the right knowledge." Katherine had no wish for a reality destroying entity to show up because someone mad enough to call one of the elder beings here had the knowledge to do so.
Titus was very quiet for a moment - it was always awkward trying to explain the voice in his head. "Well, I for one happen to like this world. I live here." he said with slightly-forced cheer. "I don't suppose you know anything about how this object is guarded?"
Ada's eyes narrow as she sweeps across the truck "I hadn't mentioned a target, but yes, that's who I was targeting. What's your interest, then?"
"Like most practitioners, I'd be happiest if I was the only one who knew the 'cosmic truths'"
"I have only the barest of information." Ada concedes "But the gathering of information is my speciality. Once I start, though, there is the chance of needing to move quickly. I'd rather have a team assembled first."
"Ah, that reminds me, I need to speak to the rabbi and give him the news. Though I very much suspect he already knows," Leo noted to himself.
"We already have a plan for Heydrich, though we're not going to share details for the moment," Leo offered, taking the truck to the edge of town. He was intending to stash the vehicle with Kleiner inside somewhere out of sight. Driving around in it too much before arrangements could be made was a risk.
"You're going after Heydrich as well?" Ada asks "That's convenient."
"Local Nazi officer, isn't he? My package didn't include much by way of information. What's he doing that requires him being removed?" As horrible as the Nazi's were, with there stupid ideas of genocide acting as a signal to the things beyond imagining to come forth and feed, Katherine wasn't used to many that would require such measures to kill.
"Need I really recount the crimes of a high-ranking member of the Ahnenerbe?" Tomasz asks testily. "All the motivation in the world you will have, once you witness their workings."
"There are a lot of crimes, certainly," Katherine agreed calmly, "Some rather horrible. But this kind of force suggests that he's doing something dangerous. Horrible can wait for now, unfortunately." Executing all the people on both sides of this war was going to take a good, long time. But it was a speciality of her magic.
As far as you know, there are political reasons as well for assassinating Heydrich. Before the war, Czechoslovakia had been subject to the Munich Agreement, causing it to lose considerable tracts of land, and that agreement had not been revoked when the war broke out. The government in exile thinks that the assassination of the Lord Protector of Bohemia and Moravia in the heart of his demesne, carried out by Czech agents, will send a strong signal that the Czechoslovak resistance and hate for the Nazis is as strong as could be.
But since Heydrich is a practitioner and the small Czech occult division was dismantled, Laundry operatives have been dispatched as support.
"So long as you're not planning to take the same item I am, I think we can work together." Ada decides. "I'm not really an assassin per se but I can make an exception for one of those Ahnenerbe monsters."
She coughs politely "For the record while I am willing to work together on the mission, I am not expecting to be brought in on confidential mission briefings. If you want to do that, here, I'll step out of the truck, give you some privacy, and catch up later."
Katherine sighed. Politics was...awkward. And frustrating. "Assassination and theft have a lot in common. It's mostly the goal is less tangible and far more valuable."
Leo parked the truck in an out of the way spot.
"Alright, any of you claiming to work for the Laundry are going to have your geasan checked. Once we have taken stock of that, we will decide how much to bring the others in on. If there is any doubt, we will have Kleiner twist your head off. Simple."
Katherine smiled. "Certainly." She was intruiged to see what such a reading would say about her.
"While I have my own respect for the Laundry, I do not work for them. I cannot say if they would have even allowed me membership."
"Let me be" Ada states slowly "Very clear. I am not a member of the Laundry. I am an independent contractor. I have done work for the Laundry in that capacity. I believe we are allies, inasmuch as the term applies in our industry."
"I am not interested in your various missions, except that apparently we are all - or nearly all - considering the same target. Coincidence like this screams to me that someone is using extreme techniques to bring us together."
"I am approving of this. I am also not unnoticing of the fact that we are in hostile territory, and may require allies." Tomasz says, shooting Leo a soft look. "War, it makes for strange bedfellows."
Katherine laughed at that. "Only if you promise too much."
The quickest way to an uninhabited part brought you to the east, near a large cemetery. The truck is parked in an alley next to a warehouse, engine stopped, as you are considering your next move. A German soldier patrol passes too close for comfort, but luckily they only give the truck a cursory look as you duck behind the windshield.
Katherine sighed, glad she didn't have to do anything hasty like erase the German soldiers brains. Or look at them. Most soldiers, on both sides, were simply scared little boys who didn't care about the policies of there betters and simply didn't want to die. And then, of course, were the ones who believed in the cause...
"Now, how do you wish to do this?"
"I think next is to return to the Rabbi, and to tell him his son is dead." Tomasz says somberly, looking at Leo. It was a hard thing, to deliver that news, but Lord knows they would all be doing so many more times before all of this was over. If their own parents weren't being informed.
Sometimes it was a blessing, to be old.
"Oui, but first the matter of trust," Leo says, clambering back into the back of the truck. With each in turn, he began running through the checks to make sure nothing had subverted their geasan. It was not a pleasant experience, he uttered a series of code words and the geas took temporary control of certain functions, responding with mechanical precision as to whether or not the individual had been sublimated to the enemy's will.
One by one, those of you being examined by Leo feel the geas implanted in your mind to prevent you from using magic for nefarious end take over for a moment. Your mouth says words that are not yours, answering the query, and reassuring the agent that you are not harm.
"Laundry Field Agent Katherine Anderson, currently attached to RUTHLESS WIDOW. Assignment ANTHROPOID AFFILIATE. No tampering detected."
"Independent Contractor TITUS, registered to the Black Chamber under WISDOM GRIMOIRE BLACK. Currently not under contract. No tampering detected."
"Independent Contractor Lord Richard Farthington, registered to Laundry Central, London. Currently not being employed. No tampering detected."
It's when it comes to Ada that things get strange.
"Ada Babbage, Field Agent under - YOU ARE NOT CLEARED FOR THIS INFORMATION. Current Laundry clearance: REVERSE CHARLEMAGNE - RUTHLESS WIDOW - ANTHROPOID AFFILIATE. No tampering detected."
The clearances correspond, and hadn't she been cleared by somebody high up in the Laundry then she wouldn't have been able to confirm her clearance or declare affiliation.
But you have never heard of any agency or department so deeply classified that its own name is classified deeper than UNDERGROUND STUDENT. Of course, if such agencies exist, by their nature you won't have heard of them.
Katherine's eyes looked over at Ada for a brief moment. She knew there were things that she didn't know - that she didn't have the rank or need to know about - but it was surprising to find something like that here. Still, if her clearance was fine then she could be worked with. It was simply a piece of information to note. That she was could use magic was not a shock.
The other's names were also of interest. A lord was not usually a field agent, regardless of other qualifiers - they were too 'valuable' to risk. It was usually a second son or such that got thrown out into the world, once it was clear there were either plenty of additional heirs or some other guarantee. His abilities must be exceptional - or he must have annoyed someone.
And Titus' single name was interesting. It was true, the information given wasn't Katherine's given name - something even she had no idea about - but most of them had a second name as part of there cover.
"Now that our credentials have been examined," Katherine said, smoothing down her skit, "Perhaps we could reintroduce ourselves. I am Katherine Anderson, assassin and spy for the Laundry. I specialize in magically extracting information, altering the minds and memories of a target, and when required using magic to kill them in an untraceable fashion. They simply explode, and no one suspects the woman who left a minute before or who is screaming at the sudden explosive dismemberment. I currently speak five languages perfectly, including German and Czech, and another 5 wellenough to be understood, and of course Sanskrit, Latin, Gaelic, Hebrew and Sumerian." She smiled and curtsied politely. "How do you all do?"
At the revelation of Ada’s affiliation with an organization so mysterious that not even a geas would reveal it, Richard feels an odd sense of giddiness wash over him before regaining his composure.
After Katherine introduces herself Richard speaks up, ”I am, as I said before, Richard Farthington. Though I am a Lord in a sense, I am third in line to the title and if my family was to have their way, not be in line at all. In any case, my skills lie in a direction rather different than those of Katherine. Though I do specialize in procuring knowledge, it is of a more unearthly sort. Whether it is through pacts with beings from beyond or simply the knowledge that I already possess, I know a rather formidable amount about the arcane and preternatural.” He pulls out the Stone from the pocket he had carried it in and displays it, it’s ichthyic coils twisting ever so slightly and says, ”This is what gave me said knowledge. I cannot say what it is, or where it came from. All I know is that it possesses a good deal of power.”
"I'm not so fancy as that." Titus said with a faintly amused smile as he peered at the item in Richard's hand for a moment. "I'm Titus Martillo, a detective - although lately, I've spent most of my time hunting down things that ought to not trouble normal people and sealing them away so they don't cause anymore trouble. If we get into trouble, I specialize in distance-based combat - and I've got a few medical salves if you get hurt. They're not miracle-workers, but they usually get the job done."
"Monsieur Szymanski, if you would kindly illuminate les enfants as to the particulars of our plan now that a basic level of trust has been established. I will focus on getting us to the rabbi," Leo noted, clambering back into the front of the truck and starting up the engine.
Katherine nodded as Richard and Titan explained there background a little. That was something she had no paticular intention of talking about, herself. After all, it was...complicated. Then again, she suspected it was probably so for the rest of them too.
Tomasz nods, leaving the eyebrow-raising subject of Ada's employer for another time. Still, Leo is being rude - Tomasz's lined face turns up a tired smile as he looks across the truck. "It is good to be finally knowing you all. I am Tomasz, of Biuro Szyfrów Pięć, and this here I believe is Leo - it is the name I was given, at least. We are here, as some of you maybe have already guessed, to kill Lord Protector Heydrich.
It will not be an easy task. For this we have recruited some members of the underground, and now our new clay friend." He raps on Kleiner's tarp-covered form. "On the Fifteenth of May, this Hangman will be moving along a forested road. We have plans to kill him then. Any help, I believe would be appreciated."
Ada's eyes bulge a little as the Geas controls her tongue, and by the time she has regained control the others have moved on.
"Fine. Ada Babbage. I'm a practical mathematician, clockmaker and necromancer. My speciality is long term, deep cover infiltration" she turns bitter "Assuming breaking cover hasn't just gotten me relegated to the typing pool."
"Heydrich has an item. It must be collected, and needs to go to very secure storage at the Laundry. My orders don't care whether he's dead or alive - but I'm happy to help you kill him, and happy to help make sure he stays dead."
"My orders are suspiciously weak on details regarding the item in question. If we're full up on dedicated information acquisition, I'd appreciate help finding out what it is, and whether he'll be carrying it with him." She sighs "Sadly this is one of those situations where the knowledge itself is dangerous. I'm hopeful we can use Katherine's abilities to remove that knowledge once we've formulated our plans."
"It can be done, yes." Messing with memories - adding new ones and removing old ones - was a very useful skill.
"If you need help scouting the place, I think I can manage a few tricks." Titus offered. "It's always better to know what you're getting into before you go in guns blazing. For one thing, the noise." he shook his head a bit and began muttering. "Freaking rocket in a guitar case, who builds that...?"