A tall man with a buzz cut and short-trimmed beard and mustache walks through the doors to the entrance of the Fillard Goldman Museum, nodding at the guards with his neutral expression as he walks through the metal detectors towards the desk where the receptionist usually sat.
Sometimes, you don't know what you'll miss until you need to leave it for months... Jack thinks with a sigh before reaching Gina's usual haunt, song and dance. "Is Dr. Primoria available?" he asks bluntly, for that seems to be the way of greeting the bubblegum blower lately, even if he didn't know that that was the trend.
Gina is, as always, at her post, practising her art. Pop... pop... pop. When Jack speaks to her, she stops, all of a sudden, and looks at him, surprised. She glances at "the sheet" for a moment. Then back at Jack. "Um, yeah, sure," she answers with a thumb hooked to point down a hallway.
"Thanks," Jack says, then quirks a small smile just to show his appreciation. Hopefully that didn't give her the wrong idea, he thinks after the fact.
He follows the hallway to where he remembered the Curator's office being, cracking his knuckles and neck on the way to make sure he doesn't do any of it in front of the head of the Mysterium. Once the Acanthus arrives at the door, he knocks three times with the back of his knuckles and waits for her reply.
Before Jack's knuckles can touch the door a second time, the Doctor's voice comes from inside the office. "Come in Mr Falley."
Tyria is, at the moment, busy reading over a sheaf of papers. Exceptionally, she is standing, holding a styrofoam cup in one hand, and the papers in the other. At Jack's entrance, she turns to look at him. "What brings you?", she asks him, with a hint of what is probably surprise at seeing him.
Jack nods to the woman and says while closing the door behind him, "Curator." He then faces her properly and keeps a neutral stance as he answers her question.
"I have returned recently from my emergency leave, and was wondering where I could be put to the best use for the Mysterium or our Consilium. I figured that you should be the first to know and that you could provide me with an update on what events, if any, have occurred since, if you so choose."
"Ruby led an expedition to Granite Park. As I understand it, they've managed to clean away the taint, or at least keep it quiet and manageable for the time being." The Curator takes another sip of her latte before continuing, stating matter-of-factly. "The Consilium is out getting the soulstones that powered the bridge. As I understand it, they split up to get two of them at once. One group with the Hierarch, another with the Magister." She looks at Jack, calmly, seeing what he thinks of those particular bits of news.
Jack processes the information, then says, "Oh, I'm glad that Granite Park got cleaned up. I'd heard about the one expedition before I first moved to Sacramento and the sacrifices made that day.
"And progress on the bridge sounds like it's coming along, which is good... But, um... What are soulstones..? If they were powering the Bridge, though..." he drifts off, recalling scrutinizing the landmark under the Sight and how so many Arcana were used, how the Veil undulated when not pierced, how the Ley was flooded with sigils from the book Jordan was holding until Andrade traded it for her brother's life at the hands of Vector.
And yet, you were willing to do anything to save your sister...
Jack shudders before continuing where he left off, "It seems like some sort of powerful dark magic..."
The Curator flips a page on the report in her hand, neatly tucking it away. The cup in her hand never even gets in the way. Hardcopies were always so much easier to manipulate.
"Soul stones," she explains in a soft voice, almost a sigh. "Pieces of a Awakened soul, split off from the greater whole. A piece of the truth in everyone, turned into a piece of crude matter." She shrugs. "Apparently they are being used to anchor this spell, this 'dark magic'." All that's missing there would be airquotes to complete her impression of that expression.
"So no more stones, no more spells," she concludes. "At least that's the way it seems to be turning," she adds.
Jack frowns. "That seems kinda stupid... If you'll pardon my candidness. The splitting part. Why would someone want to sever off a part of themselves? But then, we are talking about Banishers...
"Anyway, what can I do to help? Should I contact them and get involved in one of the searches? Or is there something else that needs to be taken care of?"
"Not so stupid," she answers him slowly, "if it lets them keep in place the kind of spell that hung over the bridge. Especially if, as some evidence points out, they haven't been using their own souls." She makes a moue of disgust at the idea. "They shouldn't be underestimed. They know how to do something to the lines some of us have spent a long time looking into. They are most certainly not stupid. Children playing with matches, at worst."
"Speaking of the lines. Once the others manage to break the hold over the city's ley lines, they'll need to be put back into place. With the anchoring removed, helping them back to their natural paths should be a priority." Another sip from the cup. "You could start on that," she suggests.
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