Chasing the Black Dragon, a tale.

[EK WAFFLR]

Chapter Six
Wales[/b]

Arthur and Carruthers had stopped for a cup of coffee in Chippenham, it being roughly halfway between Arthur's house and Pant-Y-Girdle. The café looked like something out of Tim Burton's 70's nightmares. The coffee wasn't good, either, but Arthur didn't care. He was distressed. Even Carruthers was distressed, a fact which scared Arthur like nothing else ever had scared anyone, ever.
"What do you make of all of this, my good man?" Arthur asked his valet.
"You know, sir, I'm afraid I just don't know. Hopefully we will learn something in Wales." Carruthers tried to liik comforting and strong, as he always was, but Arthur could see a small flicker of uncertainty in the manservant's left eyebrow's twitch.
"You know you don't have to come with me, Carruthers? I would never make you do anything that's potentially dangerous." The valet arched his right eyebrow this time.
"I do know that, sir. But I am as curious as you are, if not even more. Besides, sir. I do quite enjoy being your valet, and I am more than happy to provide service that is rather outside the standard contract."
Arthur had to clear his throat. He was touched. And some of his resolve was coming back. He still wanted a cup of tea, and by Jove, he would get one!
"Come, Carruthers, let's press on"

IT followed the car, curious as to where they would go. They seemed to be going slightly southwest, but IT didn't know. He was reluctant to let go of IT's host, as beardy had become quite useful the last few days. This, of course, meant that IT couldn't jump into a more convenient host when he needed to get near at a café. IT had to wait for a good opportunity. IT was good at waiting. IT probably could have had an entry in the Guinnes Book of World Records for waiting. IT pressed his bearded host to follow as the car drove out of the parking lot.

As the car came to a stop outside the abandoned old farm, Arthur wondered what on earth could be hiding in there. He and Carruthers ejected themselves and just stood there, Arthur confused, Carruthers calm and collected, as you would expect him to be.
After a while, someone came and led them towards the ramshackle barn. He unlocked the door, using four different keys. Inside, it looked vastly different. Very clean, sterile, hi-tech. Almost completely noiseless, the only sound a very distinct humming that seemed to come from everywhere at once.
"That sound your hear is our source of energy. Without going into too much detail, I can say that it is quite revolutionary. We harness the power of bees," the man suddenly said. Arthur jumped at the sound of his voice, and nearly fell on a table full of test tubes.
"Watch it, Arthur," the man said.
"That's anthrax."
"Anthrax!?" Arthur screamed.
"What the heck are you guys doing with anthrax?"
Carruthers  had his left eyebrow more or less permanently arched. Many of the test tubes had Latin names written on them. The same with the assorted plants and insects in terrariums around the large room, and you can bet money on the fact that the old valet won prizes for his Latin in school.

The man had come to a door, and motioned for the pair to follow him. They did. They walked down several flights of stairs. When they got to the bottom, he asked how far beneath the earth they were, and the man answered.
"150 yards, more or less."
He showed them the way through a large metal door. When they came into the other room, even Carruthers let out an audible gasp.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I keep reading IT as I.T., which lends a rather interesting effect to the story.

[EK WAFFLR]

I keep reading IT as I.T., which lends a rather interesting effect to the story.

I like that!

[EK WAFFLR]

Chapter seven will be up tomorrow,  hope

[Doktor Howl]

Chapter seven will be up tomorrow,  hope

[EK WAFFLR]

Bah! Lost it completely. Have half a chapter down. Hoping to finish it today, or else I'll have to murder someone.

[EK WAFFLR]

We. See. You. There is no turning back.
Who are we? It depends on who is looking.
Initiate King James Protocol. The code is 24 and 13 and 14. The password is "Proverbs." Transmit!

TSW - The Buzzing - Entry 5

Chapter Seven
Agartha

The room was vast. And everywhere there was huge glass rooms full of bees. Huge bees. This must be where the buzzing came from, Arthur thought. Even the man that had brought them here was reverently silent, and only whispered to Arthur and his valet.
"This room covers the entire area of the farm above, and then some. It is our main hub, so to speak. There are millions of bees here. Ah, there's Penny. She'll take you to your supervisor, who'll, hopefully, make things a bit clearer. Later, gentlemen."
He bowed slightly and retreated back out the door.
"This is...amazing, Carruthers! Have you ever seen anything like this?"
"I have not, sir," Carruthers replied, in the subtle tone of a servant  who desperately wants to choke his master for being singularly stupid.
"In fact, I doubt anyone has, aside from the people invited here."
"Gentlemen, I see you made it with good margin. Still an hour and a half left of the deadline given to you on the phone. Welcome to the right hand of the resistance, Agartha!" Penny laid a hand on Arthur's shoulder. She refrained from doing that with Carruthers. He wasn't the type you became chummy with in that matter.
"Penny! You're tremendously chipper! You must have been traveling here right in front of us," Arthur said.
"Something like that," Penny replied.
"But, come, come. There is much to do and much to be said. Follow me."
Arthur and Carruthers obliged her in silence, and marveled at the sights in this 'Agartha' room. They could see quite a few small buildings, probably offices or laboratories, Arthur thought, and whispered so to his valet, who agreed. The ceiling and walls all had glass chambers extending several feet out. There were bees everywhere. Arthur noticed that some of the chambers seemed to contain very angry bees, while others were populated by docile ones. He made a mental note to ask about the bees.

Penny led the two to one of the small buildings, which, as suspected, turned out to be a relatively luxurious office. Mahogany desk, fine art on the walls, whisky, cognac, rum and gin on a table in the corner, and chesterfield furniture. Arthur felt right at home.
An elderly military-looking man, complete with large sideburns and a glorious moustache sat behind the desk.
"Ah, Carruthers. Lord Swindleton-Arglebargle. You're early. I like that. Sit down gentlemen."
The man was a definite authority. Even though he was very soft spoken, something about him told you that you'd better obey him. Or else. Or else what, you might wonder. Exactly, your esteemed narrator would then say.
Arthur and his valet sat down. The chesterfields were very comfy. Penny remained standing.

"I'm Dr. Wensleydale, lead scientist and researcher here in Agartha. I oversee all experiments, personally test every new technological or chemical product, and initiate newcomers."
Dr. Wensleydale smiled a bit too wide.
"I haven't slept for two years. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
His laugh was somewhat manic, kind of like a demented chemistry teacher at a Cornish public school.
"Excuse me, sir. How is that possible? As far as I know, the brain will shut down after some two weeks," Carruthers said, his eyebrow shaped like a drunken caterpillar.
"Drugs, simply. They simulate the effect of REM sleep, and they work instantly. I'd tell you about how it works and how we made it, but there isn't any time. You need to get the info you need to proceed as soon as possible, plus you absolutely need your inoculations and nanochips and..."
"Hang on, hang on, hang bloody on!" Arthur said.
"Nanochips? Inoculations? For what?"
"Lord Swindleton-Arglebargle, I assure you, you'll be properly informed as to what will happen to you. Now, let's go."
"But," Arthur said,
"What about the bees?"
"All in good time."

They were led down a hidden staircase inside the office, to an even deeper chamber. The chamber was brilliant white, and there were white clad doctoral persons and nurse types everywhere.
And, most importantly, there were huge bees flying freely, thousands of them.
Arthur swallowed loudly.

[Doktor Howl]

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[EK WAFFLR]

 

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Have the next chapter planned, then it's anyone's guess what'll happen.

[EK WAFFLR]

Does anyone like this enough to want me to continue?

Not trying to be snarky, just genuine curiosity.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

To be completely honest, I have a hard time reading loads of dialogue. Neurotic but true. I thought that what I did read was pleasing, though.

[EK WAFFLR]

To be completely honest, I have a hard time reading loads of dialogue. Neurotic but true. I thought that what I did read was pleasing, though.

That's fair enough. Should I finish it (which I must, for my own sanity), there will be more action and less talking, because that's what I want it to be.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

May I suggest that you seek to devise a way of breaking up the text to make it more scannable, especially for old and easily confused eyes? For example, a blank line pulling out each person's dialogue like so:


The room was vast. And everywhere there was huge glass rooms full of bees. Huge bees. This must be where the buzzing came from, Arthur thought. Even the man that had brought them here was reverently silent, and only whispered to Arthur and his valet.

"This room covers the entire area of the farm above, and then some. It is our main hub, so to speak. There are millions of bees here. Ah, there's Penny. She'll take you to your supervisor, who'll, hopefully, make things a bit clearer. Later, gentlemen." He bowed slightly and retreated back out the door.

"This is...amazing, Carruthers! Have you ever seen anything like this?"

"I have not, sir," Carruthers replied, in the subtle tone of a servant  who desperately wants to choke his master for being singularly stupid. "In fact, I doubt anyone has, aside from the people invited here."

"Gentlemen, I see you made it with good margin. Still an hour and a half left of the deadline given to you on the phone. Welcome to the right hand of the resistance, Agartha!" Penny laid a hand on Arthur's shoulder. She refrained from doing that with Carruthers. He wasn't the type you became chummy with in that matter.

"Penny! You're tremendously chipper! You must have been traveling here right in front of us," Arthur said.

"Something like that," Penny replied.

"But, come, come. There is much to do and much to be said. Follow me."

Arthur and Carruthers obliged her in silence, and marveled at the sights in this 'Agartha' room. They could see quite a few small buildings, probably offices or laboratories, Arthur thought, and whispered so to his valet, who agreed. The ceiling and walls all had glass chambers extending several feet out. There were bees everywhere. Arthur noticed that some of the chambers seemed to contain very angry bees, while others were populated by docile ones. He made a mental note to ask about the bees.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

As a matter of fact, even if you keep in dialogue-heavy, I am noticing that breaking it up like that makes it feel vastly more approachable, so that my eyes don't shy away in anticipation of fatigue.

[EK WAFFLR]

Great advice, Nigel! It's more like. Want to see it myself, but formatting on the iPad is...well..fuck.

Thanks!