M20 Chronicle: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream Episode 2

Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition Chronicle: 

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

CAST

Dresden: Currently sitting in his mentors office, having made himself at home after breaking in and seeing it had been several years since anyone had been in the office. 

Joe Nerius: Currently, having dinner with Manolo and his family catching up on the old days, before he heads back to meet up with Dresden. 

Sitting in his mentor Professor Ascroobius's office, Dresden felt he was at an impasse in his search. It was clear to him that he needed guidance if he was going to be able to make any progress in his search he would need to expand his understanding the ways in which things could be connected. He had many pieces to his puzzle, but could not see how the big picture all fit together yet. He decided to visit his demesne and seek answers in the stacks of books and solitude of his mental sanctuary.

His former mentor's office began to blur and the walls fell away to blackness. As the light returned to the room, he found himself surrounded by the comforting dark woods and leather bound tomes of his mental dream space. Resembling an endless library devoid of anyone else to get in the way.

The moment he set out towards his favorite spot by the reference desk the very distinct sound of a rubber stamp being pounded into books began to ring out. As he approached he noticed a man behind the counter pounding a stamp into books and placing them to one side.

Unsure of exactly how to approach this stranger, Dresden fell back to his days of visiting public libraries.

"Uh, Excuse me Mr Librarian, but where could I find books on correspondence. The kind between people places and things," Dresden said in a polite voice.

"Biographical narratives, letters, and personal essays are in isle 83-C," the stranger said without looking up from his work slamming his rubber stamp into books at a steady pace.

Dresden turned towards the stack realizing they were labeled for the first time since he'd been here. He headed towards 83-C, but within a few feet the sound of the rubber stamped ceased. Dresden turned and there was no sign of the Librarian.

Isle 83-C seemed unfamiliar to him. The books didn't seem at all like the ones he would expect to find in his mental library. Mass produced paperbacks and books sold at duty free shops at the airport. The kind of books people owned for the duration of the flight and left at the airport they landed at. Books of the unenlightened is what Dresden would call them. Yet staring at them he began to notice strange similarities among the books and started pulling the similar ones from the shelves.

The books that had grabbed his eye were all published by Arnolds & Son Publishing. They had an address in Los Angeles listed as their main office on the back of each. Their covers all showed pieces of a larger picture. Through Dresden drawing out the length of time he spent in his dream state, he set about trying to figure out the way all of the books were connected. When he had finally pieces the picture together he was able to see the revealed image.

The Librarian with a toothy grin on his face staring out at Dresden from the covers, he could almost swear he heard the echos of laughter before waking up. Back in the waking world, Joe Nerius was looking through the things in the office without touching anything.

"How'd you get in?" Dresden said groggily wiping some drool from his face.

Joe held up his sonic lock-pick and shrugged, "Wasn't that hard. What have you been up to?"

"I'm not sure, but I've got a weird feeling we need to go to this place over in Compton. I think it's a book publishing company," Dresden said, his voice half unsure of the words he was saying.

"Sounds great, but it's almost 3 am. Whatever is there they probably aren't open. We need to find a place to sleep. Not really sure what we're gonna be getting into, so we should get sleep where we can. We could probably crash here for a few hours if we took turns to keep a look out. We'd have to sneak out in the morning though," Joe said as he started clearing floor space.

Dresden sighed heavily, "I know a place we can sleep. My brother lives down in Sunset Beach. He'd never turn us away, but...he's kind of a stoner surfer so I can't promise it won't involve vegan food and incense."

Joe shrugged and Dresden's shoulder fell as the pair headed down to Sunset Beach. His brother Caleb Wyatt lived in a water tower that had been converted to an apartment near the beach.

As they climbed the stairs to the main apartment, the sounds of loud sex and soft music could be heard from outside. Dresden shook his head and let himself in quietly. He motioned for Joe to follow him in. Dresden pointed at the loft area and put his finger over his lips to tell him to stay quiet, then pointed at some couches on the far wall. Joe walked into the darkened apartment and in an attempt to cross the room to the couches Dresden had pointed at managed to trip over a enormous glass bong in a loud shattering crash.

The sex noises stopped immediately. There was a feminine whisper, then silence for a moment before:

"KEEEEEYAAH!" a man holding a rain stick wearing only a small women's bathrobe comes flying off the balcony landing near the pair, "STATE YOUR PURPOSE MAN! FRIEND OR FOE?!?! I MEAN IT! FRIEND OR FOE, MAN?!?!"

"Let's all just calm the fuck down a little. Caleb, it's me," Dresden said in a casual tone, "This is my friend Joe. He's cool too."

"THANK THE GODDESS! My brother has come home," Caleb Wyatt embraced Dresden without covering his body, "How have you been? Has the universe been treating you with kindness? Tiffany, come on down and meet my brother!"

A white girl with very blond dreadlocks tangled with beads and shells came down the stairs wearing a large man's robe, she waived timidly as Caleb Wyatt grabbed her and pulled her close, "This guy knows more about books than anybody else in the world. Do you two want something to eat or drink?"

"No that's okay, just need a place to sleep," Dresden  called after his brother as he went into the kitchen returning a moment later with a large serving dish of finger foods.

"I could eat," Joe said sitting down to have a bite before bed, "Sorry about your bong."

"Hey no problem. If I had a dollar for every time I did that myself. I'll get it fixed in the morning."

Almost as soon as Caleb Wyatt and Tiffany returned to the loft the sounds of soft music and sex could be heard again. The rhythm had a strange calming effect and they both fell asleep without a problem. The next morning they were awoken by Caleb offering them breakfast. Tiffany had gone already. Though Caleb couldn't be sure that had actually been her name.

"You guys enjoy breakfast. I am gonna go do my sun salutation facing the sun. Let it know I'm grateful for it being there," Caleb said after Dresden and Joe sat down.

After breakfast Joe stood on the balcony over looking the beach, he felt lost since Manolo had told him almost everyone he knew had left the area or just disappeared. He thought of finding his way home again, but before he started to wonder about where his home actually was anymore he saw his Avatar come bounding down the beach. Joe walked down to greet the great Direbeagle

"Heya Joe, what's up? You look like you got a question about stuff. You got a questions about stuff?" the giant dog said frantically as it licked Joe's face.

Joe pat the Direbeagle on the back of the head and scratched it's ear. He discussed his desire to increase his understanding of matter so that he would be able to will the materials he needed into being.

"Hmm, yeah that's a tough one...hmm. You should blow some stuff up. I'd like to see you blow something up. A big something. Something I could see from here. Cause this sandy spot has just the right angle for the sun," the Direbeagle said with a yawn as it curled itself up onto the sand, "You should definitely blow something up." 

The Direbeagle began to snore. Joe knew he would be no more use, but he didn't really know what he was meant to do. On his way back up the water tower, Joe could see the wreckage field of half sunken container ships. They seemed like big somethings he could blow up. He was gonna need to find a boat. When he got into the apartment Dresden was giving him an odd look.

"My Avatar stopped by, I think I need to blow something up," Joe said.

"Your Avatar is a heavily tattooed Hispanic gentleman on a chromed out low rider beach cruiser?" Dresden said with a raised eyebrow.

"What the hell? No, it's a direbeagle," Joe said feeling defensive.

"Hey, I'm not judging. All I know is from up hear it looked like you met a guy on a bike, rubbed his tires, said some stuff to the front of the bike while he talked to the back of your head, then he lay his bike down on the ground and lay down on top of it to nap," Dresden said with his hands raised up slightly, "I'm just telling you what I saw. We need to get to Andersons & Son Publishing today."

Joe didn't see the point in correcting him about the Avatar and the pair headed out to Compton to find the publishing company, "I'm gonna need a different car. One with a little more power and preferably one that isn't stolen. Who knows who will pull us over for that these days."

"Sure, after the publishing company. It won't take long I don't think."

A sign that said "98 cents + Store" was painted on the side of the windowless stucco front of the building. Stepping inside the room was divided into distinct regions, each had a different theme and type of antique or collectible in it. The entire place seemed to vibrate with Magick resonance.

"May I help you?" a man stood behind the counter decked out in neon clothing with a name tag that said Willis Drummond.

"I'm looking for any information you could give me about Andersons & Son. I got this address from a book," Dresden asked not entirely sure he was in the right place.

"Haven't seen any of those in years," the reply came from another part of the store, the clerk was standing over there with a different outfit and hair style, "I think I heard of a collector from back in the day that might have had that index of their's everyone was after when Andersons & Son were in."

Dresden turned to face the clerk again, ignoring the location change, "You don't have any info on this collector or the index do you?"

"Totally. Me and Susan go WAAAAAAAAY back," his voice erupted from another part of the store and he stood there again in a new outfit and hairstyle, his name tag said Arthur Windslowe, "It's up in San Jose. Last I heard it was headed to the Winchester place for safe keeping. I'd look there if I were you."

"Thanks," Dresden said turning to leave. The clerk's name tag caught his eye one last time, but this time the name was scratched into the surface: Nameless Elsewhere.

"Don't mention it," said the clerk from some unseen corner of the store.

Joe was standing by the entrance with his arms crossed waiting impatiently for Dresden to finish, almost as soon as they got outside: "I'm gonna need a boat and enough explosives to sink a wreck for good."

Dresden stared at him from the passengers seat, confused for a moment, then said: "Well alright then, let's have you lead the way then."

To be continued...