Angels In Heaven

It is a quiet and peaceful morning. Distantly down the corridor comes the sound of two Cherubim moving a set of files.

Daimonique leans waaaay back in the chair, and contemplates the fact that Pat really needs a beaded curtain to enter his life.

Mazpatiel leans forward over its desk, cleaning up the remnants of its paperwork.

Daimonique contemplates a screwdriver and about fifteen minutes will get that door off its hinges.

There is a knock on the door.

Sephar eyes the office quietly. (Is there a terminal or anything? Contemplates playing with a mechanical pencil sharpener to see what tunes it'll play...)

<> Demiurge says "Hm. There's a terminal if Pat feels he would have a terminal."

Mazpatiel looks up, and over at the door. "Come in." it calls.

<> Mazpatiel has a terminal, yes.

<> arcangel says "JeanTech, of course."

<> Mazpatiel says "Of course."

A reliever pokes its head round the edge of the door, then flutters in, looking somewhat like a winged Siamese cat. "Is this Mazpatiel's office?" it purrs, looking between the three occupants.

Sephar plays with the terminal, happily helping with records, stopping a bit with the knocking of the door.

Mazpatiel nods. "Yes. I am Mazpatiel."

The reliever ducks its head. "The Lord of Judgement summons you to an audience in the half of an hour, together with Daimonique, Lilim of Creation in service to Judgement."

Daimonique realizes that removing the oak door and replacing it with a beaded curtain would remove the need for knocking, and, towhit, making the office more efficient.

<> arcangel admires Daimonique's urge towards efficiency.

Mazpatiel blinks once, then nods. "Of course. We will be present."

The reliever bows its head again, then turns, and flutters out through the doorway, closing the door behind it.

Daimonique says "Oh boy. Do you have a screwdriver?"

Mazpatiel says "I do not believe so, no. Why?"

Daimonique says "Hrm. I have a small side project that is going to require the use of a screwdriver."

Sephar says "I could probably find one, Daimonique..."

Sephar says "I should probably go back to the Halls of Progress while you meet, anyway."

Daimonique says "Ah, but that will be too late to enact my master plan. It'll have to wait until I forget it and remember it again at a later date."

Sephar laughs quietly.

Mazpatiel says "Write it down. Do you need a notebook?"

Daimonique says "I have a notebook. I have one of these very proper, very correct Judgment notebooks with the little seal on the front and everything."

Sephar says "Would the screwdriver itself remind you?"

Daimonique pulls the notebook from out of his pocket and shows it to Sephar, to see the very important seal and stuff. It's almost better then a badge.

Mazpatiel nods. "Write it down, then. We should have time after the audience. Sephar, can you meet us shortly?"

Daimonique says "Very possibly."

Sephar says "Sure."

Mazpatiel nods.

Sephar finishes off the file it's working on and then tumbles a Kyriotate bow. "Have a good audience."

Mazpatiel nods to Sephar.

Sephar then drifts off down the hallway towards the Halls of Progress.

Mazpatiel rises. "Shall we?"

Daimonique also rises. "Indeed." She sounds nervous, but heck.

Mazpatiel tilts its head to the side. "Nervous?"

Daimonique says "A little."

Mazpatiel says "Why?"

Daimonique says "I'm always a little nervous in the presence of a Superior."

Mazpatiel nods. "There's nothing to worry about, I'm sure."

Daimonique says "Sure, but hey. Some old habits die hard, and this is one of them."

Mazpatiel says "Of course."

Mazpatiel drifts around its desk, and moves for the hall.

Daimonique follows Pat.

It is, as ever, easy for those who serve Judgement to find their way through the corridors to the hall where Dominic gives audience.

Mazpatiel comes to a halt at Saffron's desk, and waits for acknowledgement.

Daimonique stands behind Mazpatiel, hands in the pockets of her black suit.

Saffron looks up, and smiles. "I am afraid you are early. He will be available in three minutes."

Mazpatiel nods. "We will wait."

Daimonique waits. And glances at her watch. About once every 30 seconds.

After six glances, Saffron nods. "You may go in now."

Mazpatiel dips a nod, and moves for the audience chamber.

Daimonique follows Pat.

The large hall is pale and clear, with the fresh light dancing on the crystal and ivory. Dominic is enfolded in his dark cloak, his six red eyes glinting from inside like star-rubies.

Daimonique resists the urge to get down on her knees and grovel.

Mazpatiel folds luminous fingers together in front of itself, and dips its head briefly. "Lord."

Daimonique does the exact same thing Pat does.

Dominic's voice is like deep organ tones. "My servitors. Mazpatiel, Daimonique."

Daimonique suddenly remembers to furl her wings.

Dominic says, "I have news that concerns you both."

Mazpatiel nods, listening.

Dominic says, voice cool and deep, "Prince Kobal has been released, and again occupies his Principality."

Daimonique says "Um."

Mazpatiel says "An innocent verdict, Lord?"

Dominic says, "I believe, "Not proven on grounds of forged evidence for conviction," would be more accurate."

Dominic's cloak ripples as he moves slightly.

Daimonique attempts to look cool and calm and raptly attentive. Mostly the cool and calm part fails, but one out of three is okay.

Mazpatiel says "I see."

Dominic says, "I charge you both to behave with due care."

Mazpatiel says "Is there to be a change in assignment, then?"

Dominic shakes his head, though only the movement is perceptible under the cloak. "You are likely to be needed more than ever."

Dominic says, "However, there is another matter that I must raise with Daimonique."

<> Demiurge says "Daimonique, how _big_ was the Geas that Daimon gave to Dominic? A Geas/4, 5, or 6?"

Daimonique . o O ( What did I do _now_? I thought the office looked better with the shag rug. )

<> Daimonique says "Oh, I'm sure it was huge."

<> Daimonique says "Either a 5 or a 6."

<> Demiurge nods.

<> Daimonique says "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

<> arcangel says "You were just taken in by the cute Seraph."

Dominic's voice lowers several tones. "You still have some time to spend in service to me, according to your Geas. Whether you continue service after that is your choice."

Daimonique says "Yes, sir. I was under the impression I was staying, at least for the duration of the promised indentured time."

Dominic's voice falls still lower, till it is full bass viol. "However, at my request, the Archangel of Trade acquired certain of your Geases from the Princess of Freedom. She should now only hold that one which you gave for your friend Sephar."

Daimonique goes several shades whiter.

Mazpatiel blinks.

Dominic says, "The majority of those Geases he has given to me."

Daimonique . o O ( I'm about to become a drone. )

Dominic says, "You may choose to work for me and pay for them."

Dominic says, "Alternatively, I may require your service at some time, or one of the other Archangels may do so."

Daimonique sighs. "Oh boy."

Dominic says, "I thought that you might wish to know the Geases were no longer in the keeping of Hell."

Daimonique has this "thinking" look on her face.

<> Mazpatiel idly resonates Daimonique.

<> Mazpatiel rolls the d666 and gets 1 2 CHECK: 3.

<> Mazpatiel says "Lay it on me, babe. :)"

Daimonique says "If I work for you, of my free will, through the actual indentured time period, would they require to be activated?"

<> Daimonique says "Nervous as all hell and very uncertain right now."

<> Mazpatiel says "Why?"

Dominic tilts his head very slightly. "No. I would return them, and you might dispose of them as you wished."

<> Daimonique says "One, because doesn't want to KNOW the price of those geasa. Second, because doesn't want to become a mindless geased drone. And very afraid of saying the wrong thing."

Daimonique says "And if I take the 'work for hire' option?"

<> Demiurge says "What does Daimonique mean by "work for hire"?"

<> Daimonique says "Means the Geases get passed around to whomever."

Dominic says, "I imagine that the Archangel would merely expect you to make your best efforts in their service, and would then return the Geas, rather than enforcing it literally."

Daimonique chews her lip thoughtfully.

Mazpatiel remains politely silent.

Daimonique says, suddenly, "I think I would rather stay with Judgment throughout the duration of what is owed."

Dominic says, voice rising again to baritone notes, "You need not make your decision now. I merely inform you of the situation."

Daimonique says "No, I think I've made my decision. I mean, okay, it's a snap decision, but I have my reasons."

Dominic inclines his head. "Very well. Though if I ask you to work with Servitors of other Archangels, or to follow their orders, I will expect you to heed this."

Daimonique says "Yes, sir."

Dominic says, other tones adding themselves as he speaks to create a chord, "Then return to your duties, my Servitors, with my blessing."

Mazpatiel dips its head.

Daimonique does as well.

Dominic inclines his head in dismissal.

Mazpatiel, being dismissed, turns to leave the audience chamber.

Daimonique follows Pat, feeling a bit, well, deflated.

Mazpatiel, once past Saffron's desk, comments. "You are not a slave, Daimonique. And you will not be."

Daimonique says "Oh, I know. I was just not clear where people stood with geasa. Usually those suckers get invoked, and I get to live in a little space in the back of my head until it wears off. Oh, geasa have their good points, let me tell you. But I like to make decisions for myself."

Mazpatiel nods, as it leads the way back to its office. "Of course. And that was recognized. I do not think you will be in danger of being compelled into service anytime soon."

Daimonique looks at Pat's door, trying to remember something vaguely important. "No. Apparently not. Although, my mind boggles at the sheer cost."

Mazpatiel says "I have deliberately avoided more than a passing curiosity about it."

Daimonique says "I mean, why?"

Mazpatiel says "Why?"

Daimonique drops heavily back into the chair she was previously inhabiting.

Daimonique says "Why purchase them? Why cough up such great cost?"

Mazpatiel sits down in its own chair, looking across the desk at Daimonique. "Because the salvation of a soul is worth nearly any expense."

Daimonique says "Hmmmmmm."

Mazpatiel says "Hm?"

Daimonique just thinks this over.

Daimonique says "It's a very strange feeling, you know."

Mazpatiel says "What is?"

Daimonique says "Having them owned by someone I trust."

Mazpatiel nods. "I imagine so."

Daimonique says "Geasa are funny. I can't be me without them, and I'd rather live an eternity without them. I'd miss the feeling of one being invoked, but I would rather never feel their touch again. And normally, part of being Lilim is the every day knowledge that someone, somewhere, has this little piece of your soul to do whatever they want with, at some random undetermined time in the future. It's living with constant fear that someone will make you do something you find morally and ethically reprehensible. Normally, this is Lilith, and commonly, if she doesn't trade them away or hand them off, she can certainly be trusted not to send us off into suicide mission or the like. But you never really know these things. Why knows what might happen. And now... it feels very strange. It's not entirely fair that I have to work off being born, but such is life and TANSTAAFL, you know? If I didn't want to live and work them off then I didn't have to live - and let me tell you, there were times in the past that I didn't. It's just an odd feeling. Very strange. A little unsettling."

Daimonique shakes the shackles down out of where they are normally hidden up inside the sleeve of her suit, and pokes them.

Mazpatiel gestures to one of the shackles. "May I?"

Daimonique reaches out an arm. "Sure. They don't come off."

Daimonique says "Dominic is... making me an offer to be Free of this. The entire concept of doing what I am doing because I enjoy it and not because it's a job is very strange to me. It's very alien."

Mazpatiel nods, reaching out to touch one of them. "In a way, it's a more formalized procedure. I was created by Dominic's will, and I have served him for nearly half a millenium. I suppose one might draw the parallel that I am working off my birth, informally."

Daimonique pokes at the geasa that hang off her arms like heavy shackles, then performs a deft, practiced manuever which effectively conceals them beneath her suit. "For us, there is an end to the point in which we stop paying. We are born, we're asked if we accept our lives, we're bound nine times, and then we begin to live lives as Lilim. And that's it."

Mazpatiel says "Is there an end, though? You've been alive for how long?"

Daimonique says "245 years and counting. Is there an end? That's the big Lilim dilemma. I've always surmised that the ultimate goal for a normal run of the mill Lilim is to wait them out. Sooner or later, they will all be called in, and if you don't Bind or get hooked or messed up somehow, then they'll run out and you'll be truly Free. But it's a myth, Pat. It's a fairy tale."

Mazpatiel nods. "How long do they last, the nine?"

Daimonique says "Total? 9 weeks. Not too much, really."

Mazpatiel nods.

Mazpatiel says "And the one you promised to Dominic?"

Daimonique says "A bit longer then that."

Mazpatiel says "So, in that time, plus nine weeks, it's safe to say you will have fulfilled all of them."

Daimonique says "There are others. Little favors, things I've wanted and bargined for. Not much, just a little here and there. And the one that cost me Sephar's freedom, which I do not regret."

Mazpatiel nods. "But Dominic does not hold those."

Daimonique says "No. Dominic does not hold those. Those are wildcards. Malik, I think, holds a majority of the small ones. What she'll do with them is probably equally small - heavenly relics, gossip, pictures of Malakim, that sort of thing. Harmless, she's not a vicious, cruel person. The one Lilith holds on me, well, I barginned high so it will not be traded to another Prince. Will she hand off pieces to Dukes? Will she keep it all for herself? I don't know. And maybe, if she does.... if someone does, or something happens, or someone gets to me, Dominic will have to invoke those he has."

Mazpatiel says "To counteract them."

Daimonique says "To kill me."

Mazpatiel says "Pardon?"

Daimonique says "The invoked geasa will likely conflict, and the conflict will cause dissonance. Enough of that, and it's just a matter of time. It's how most Lilim die - not being soul killed in combat, just a simple matter of conflicting geasa where neither can be fulfilled satisfactorily."

Mazpatiel says "There is no sense of priority?"

Daimonique says "I have a personal sense of priority, but when geasa are called in, there is little choice. I would think the larger the geas, the more it's going to ride me until it's completed. A large one will likely drown out a small one, although the small one will create dissonance much faster."

Mazpatiel considers this. "Have you spoken with Dominic about this?"

Daimonique says "No. I assume he knows how it works. Pat, if given the choice between going back to Hell and death, I will take the latter choice."

Mazpatiel says "Yes. You will."

Mazpatiel says "Can you remember who holds them?"

Daimonique says "Lilith holds the big one. The others are so small - 1 hours, 1 days - they really don't matter. I owe the seneschal of the freedom tether for my stuff, I owe my sister for little things. Nothing that will ever cause me to go the route of high treason. Maybe some polaroids, but nothing serious."

Mazpatiel nods.

Mazpatiel says "Are you allowed assistance in fulfilling them?"

Daimonique says "Oh, sure. Just as long as they get done under the time limit."

Mazpatiel nods.

Mazpatiel says "Could I ask something, then?"

Daimonique says "Anything."

Mazpatiel says "If you are called to perform, come to me."

Daimonique says "If my brain doesn't completely shut down, certainly."

Mazpatiel nods.

Daimonique gazes out the window at the little ant-like beings outside in the City.

Mazpatiel says "Are you adjusting, Daimonique?"

Daimonique says "It's slow. It's hard. But yeah, I'm adjusting. It's just very different."

Mazpatiel nods. "I have no doubt of that."

Daimonique says "But it's much better then it was. Of course, a blow to the head is better then it was."

Mazpatiel smiles, very slightly. "I can imagine."

Daimonique says "It was like standing on a sill, and getting ready to jump. And you cling to the building thinking about how horrible your life is and what a mess you've made of things and how terrible the world has treated you. People are trying to drag you off of your sill, but you're stubborn, and besides, you're learning the names of the pigeons and starting to dig them. And then, a gust of wind comes along and you're airborne. Halfway down you change your mind, and by then it's too late. And then... splat. Except here you don't splat, you just change, and you aren't who you were when you crawled out on the ledge to jump in the first place."

Mazpatiel says "If I remember correctly, that is what you were afraid of in the first place. Becoming a different person."

Daimonique says "It happened anyway. It's too late. And besides, I don't know if I like the Kobalite much anymore, who was always looking for approval and recognition and someone to pay attention and care."

Mazpatiel nods. "And now that you have it, it is less a concern."

Daimonique says "That's a whole bunch of mixed emotions, there. I'm still very confused, and I will be until I confront it. And I'm afraid that it'll come and track me down and find me instead of letting me bury them. It might be for the best, and it might kill me. We're going to find out, though, the hard way."

Mazpatiel says "Then we confront it."

Daimonique says "And either we die or we come out stronger."

Mazpatiel nods.

Daimonique says "Heh. I can see it now. 'Boss, the only way to ensure your freedom was to Redeem and join Judgment. Think of it as a last gift, the last ironic moment.' I miss the stage, Pat. I miss writing. I miss working. I want to do it again, but I don't want to go back to what I was."

Mazpatiel says "There is a middle ground, Daimonique. There is always a balance."

Mazpatiel tangents, abruptly. "Is that what you would tell him?"

Daimonique falls silent for a while. And then says, "I'll tell him I did what was right, if he demands an explanation. And that's all."

Mazpatiel says "I almost think it would amuse him."

Daimonique pauses for a bit. "Maybe. It's the truth. My emotions there are a real mess."

Mazpatiel says "Could you describe them?"

Daimonique says "The last vestiges of loyalty. The profound - I dunno, sadness - for my friends and comrades and coworkers who are still trapped in Hell, likely with no way to ever escape. And..."

Daimonique sighs.

Daimonique says "I still am in this infatuated/love thing."

Mazpatiel nods, listening.

Daimonique says "It's hard to just give up, you know. You don't just wake up one day and say, 'I was madly infatuated with a demon prince, but now I'm not anymore and all is right with the world.' Or maybe you do, who knows."

Mazpatiel says "May I ask how it started?"

Mazpatiel says "I assume you didn't just wake up one day."

Daimonique says "No, of course not. Working for Dark Comedy was really the last thing I had ever expected. But by the time I did, I had pretty much done the Tour of Princes. I was profoundly depressed, insanely poor, moving my addiction discord from one interesting substance to another and had decided my drug of choice was going to be good old Kentucky Whiskey, losing my mind. I signed up on a whim, and well... I got dried out, given a small apartment in a barracks, suits, a new vessel, a new life. He sent me off to school, kept renewing my contract even when I was an awful servitor, kept sending me up to Earth. And I got better, and things got better, and like all Lilim I wanted to give back. Oh Pat, I can remember when I got the servitor attunement. For a Lilim to be _rewarded_ with a major toy, no strings attached, just for service, it was like I had a place and a home for the first time in my life. It was so important..."

Daimonique says "No pressure to bind. More and more important assignments. Finally loosed on the earth to run around like a nuisance by myself. The long leash, the trust. It was a big thing for me."

Mazpatiel nods, steepling its fingers as it listens.

Mazpatiel says "If I may....it was like Heaven."

Daimonique says "It was a poor facsimile. One always had to eventually come home."

Mazpatiel says "To Hell."

Daimonique says "To Hell. Oh, I had friends. I had comrades. I had good times. I had a Balseraph agent who kept me filled to the eyeballs on coke and chicks. I thought I was happy, and for a while, I was. The thought of leaving or defecting or redeeming was the furthest from my mind."

Mazpatiel nods.

Daimonique says "There are two kinds of demons, Pat, and always remember this. There are those who really deeply enjoy being demons, and they are those who are lost forever. And there are those who simply see being a demon as a job, not a political stance, not a way of being. Just... a job. You go to work, you draw a paycheck in essence, you pay your bills, you do what you are told because you have to pay rent. You aren't evil. You're aren't good. You're just someone who does what you're told and hopes you live to see tomorrow."

Mazpatiel says "Yes."

Daimonique says "Most of those with earth assignments are the first kind, because they do the best work."

Mazpatiel says "Because Hell cannot afford lackluster evil."

Daimonique says "Not when it comes to pushing Words and moving humans around to march the War onward, no. I was, for a while, a very good demon."

Mazpatiel nods.

Daimonique says "Who knows what happened. My brains started working. Maybe I came out from under the alcohol and cigarette smoke and looked around. Whatever it was, it was a while ago. And then, the normal crap with me. Depression, and hiding it, and acting happy, and then getting pissed at acting happy..."

Daimonique waves a hand. "Doesn't matter now. It's over."

Mazpatiel says "Is that the totality of the confrontation, then?"

Daimonique says "What do you mean?"

Mazpatiel says "You said that it would not be over until you had confronted it."

Daimonique lowers her eyes for a moment, and then says, "When He comes looking for me, and I tell him that I did this because it was Right and what was Needed, for everyone involved, then it will be over."

Mazpatiel nods. "It will be soon, likely."

Daimonique says "And then I can move on with my life, and Hell will start to become a memory."

Daimonique says "Not saying I'm about to go locking myself into any bathrooms. Just that, all the issues will begin to be resolved. Oh, not with my friends or my family, that'll take years. And not with my emotions, that'll drag on forever. But the main stuff will be over and done."

Mazpatiel nods, once. "Just remember one thing, Daimonique. Remember it at all times."

Daimonique says "Hrm?"

Mazpatiel says "You need never be alone. Ever again."

Daimonique grins, slightly. "I know."

Mazpatiel nods. "All I ask is that you remember it."

Daimonique says "Sure. I'll write it on the inner flap of my Judgment Issued Notebook (tm)."

Mazpatiel chuckles, a brief chord. "It's official now, you know."

Daimonique says "I know. It's something I have to do. I don't mean, 'I'm geased and I'm hired and I'm dragged into the job.' I mean, it's something I have to do. Me. In my soul."

Mazpatiel nods. "And that is the key of it, Daimonique. That is how the majority of the Host exist. By service."

Daimonique says "I mean, there is a whole list of reasons why I did what I did. But that's likely the most important one. It's just something I have to do to be whole."

Mazpatiel says "May I ask the others?"

Daimonique says "I dunno... There are stupid things like 'learning the process and the rules' and 'staying with a single Superior for a stable length of time' and crap like that. And there are other things, like how much he must have paid for my -at the time- crummy black little demonic soul and how much I just owe, not because I'm geased, but because it's someone who saw me once and only once, and thought I was worth saving."

Mazpatiel says "That is his nature. And it prompts me to confession."

Daimonique says "And there's the big one. The knowledge that I can't ever let anyone ever GO there, where I was. Into that black pit, and it's mostly mental and emotional. When people Fall, they change and they aren't who they once were. They don't know where they are going. They don't understand that they are better off being No More then being demons. And I would rather be there to stop it before it comes to that. Before it comes to anything. This just puts me in that position."

Mazpatiel nods.

Daimonique says "I don't want to go back and... and I don't want anyone else to go, either."

Daimonique says "I'm going to make a crappy cop and a crappy Inquisitor, lemme tell you. I'm way too emotional."

Mazpatiel says "That is in keeping with Judgment. But are you willing to bear the corollaries?"

Daimonique says "Which are?"

Mazpatiel says "We are not welcomed, for the most part. Amongst Michael's Host and Gabriel's Host, especially. As well as the children of the Wanderer."

Daimonique sags a little bit. "I know. I heard it all from Aron. And I know what I am now, which makes me like some sort of creature from Bizarroland, a freak to the last. I'll survive. I can bear it."

Mazpatiel says "They do have cause, on occasion. Judgment has taken on itself a task that is anathema to the ideals of Heaven."

Daimonique says "I realize this, and politics are politics. But this is something I personally need. If it gets rough, well, that's what friends are for."

Mazpatiel nods.

Mazpatiel says "I must confess, Daimonique."

Daimonique says "Sure."

Mazpatiel says "Until that night in the Opera, I judged you unfairly. I refused to see any light in your soul, until the Most Just pointed it out."

Daimonique says "That's history, Pat."

Mazpatiel says "Yes. But I had to let it be known."

Daimonique grins. "I think I'll survive that you thought a demon was a demon."

Mazpatiel nods. "Thank you."

Daimonique says "Good thing I proved you wrong! You need to have your synapses jingled every once in a while."

Mazpatiel says "Indeed. It would be definitively bad to become stuck in one perspective."

Daimonique says "And now you have me sitting in your office plotting better curtains for it. Not a bad win-lose situation."

Mazpatiel chuckles. "There are those who accuse Dominic of being humourless. I dare say this partnership proves otherwise."

Daimonique says "I don't know. Maybe I'm Dominic's Big Magic Experiment. Let's see if we can take a Lilim, who traditionally hate rules and laws and procedure, and turn one into a mad Judgment machine."

Mazpatiel says "Hm. It's possible."

Daimonique says "Likely not. I'm just a freak. Which is not a bad thing."

Mazpatiel says "No. It's not."

As Sephar tumbles across the skies of Heaven towards the Halls of Progress, it sees that they are as busy as ever. Some sort of new exhibit involving superstring research is being put together.

Sephar wanders over to look and see how it's being put together...

It is being assembled by several Elohim and Mercurians, with a number of relievers passing small pieces, and a emerald-scaled Seraph supervising the entire job.

Sephar watches curiously and if anyone looks like they need help, or could use a hand, will lend one.

At present, the work seems to be proceeding efficiently and does not actually acquire assistance.

Sephar just watches then, enjoying the complex beauty and organized efforts.

One of the micrometer-precise clocks in the room shows that it is nearly time for its appointment with Jean.

Sephar sighs softly and then moves to Jean's offices.

Sephar presents itself to the receptionist a couple minutes early.

The receptionist - a different Seraph this time, with sleek onyx feathers and scales - nods, checking her computer diary. At the appropriate moment, she nods Sephar towards the inner door.

Sephar drifts in quietly.

Jean is standing by one wall, fingers flicking over a selection of screens that float unsupported. Graphics flicker behind his hand, forming a set of graphs, as he turns towards Sephar.

Jean says, entirely calm, "You have requested audience."

Sephar rolls the bow, "Greetings, Sir. I have. It..." it breathes quietly, once, "concerns the fact that I am dissonant."

Jean says, "I perceive. What is the cause of this?"

Sephar says "A host which I possessed was killed the instant I had finished possessing her. I... she died instantly of a hawk's strike."

Sephar's cloud shivers very quietly with the memory.

Jean says, "And what is your motivation for asking me to remove your dissonance, rather than working it off at a Tether?"

Sephar blinks quietly, "I would be glad to work it off, wherever I might be useful."

Sephar says "And Judgement advised me to inform you of my condition."

Jean inclines his head.

Sephar says "In the last week, I have not been able to do the work necessary as I've been working with and guarding Daimon and the others. But once it frees up, and if I'm not required elsewhere, I will seek service."

Jean says, "That is logical. Under the circumstances, it would be inefficient to continue bearing dissonance."

Jean extends one glass-smooth hand, and there is a brief sensation of dislocation - and then the dissonance is gone.

Sephar blinks quietly again and sighs a deep slow sigh, "Thank you, sir."

Jean says, "Now, enumerate your current objectives."

Sephar says "To keep those that I was working with safe, and to help Daimonique stabilize as an angel. To stay out of the way of harm from the troubles others have said would happen this last week."

Jean nods.

Jean says, "Kobal has been released from imprisonment. Treat this as an important factor."

Sephar blinks at that, all eyes.

Jean says, "Further details are being researched."

Jean says, "You are also to keep watch on any Vapulan activity noted, especially if it might be involved with Makatiel."

Sephar says "Yes, Sir."

Jean says, "Also give all possible cooperation to the Servitors of Dream, in their investigation of the brainwashing matter."

Sephar says "Definitely, Sir. Should I look more into the places that we found that box?"

Jean says, "If you believe that there may be more data available there."

Sephar nods, "The mechanisms they were using were fascinating."

Sephar says "Frightening as well."

Sephar nods at Jean and thinks that through.

Jean says, "Such mechanisms are often used to trap Kyriotates or Shedim."

Sephar nods and shivers quietly.

Jean's voice is calm, reassuring, practical.

Sephar's breathing evens with the tone.

Jean says, "What is your evaluation of Daimonique's current mental state?"

Sephar says "Better, now. I think the time has helped, and with Mazpatiel's work, she is more stable."

Jean inclines his head neatly. "This is a preferable state."

Sephar bobs its body in a nod.

Jean nods, and flicks his hand over a set of wall graphs, which promptly alter themselves to three-dimensional projections.

Jean says, "I expect you to be wary."

Sephar says "I will, Sir. To the best of my abilities and those with whom I work."

Sephar says "It will be interesting."

Jean nods.

Sephar rolls its bow and quietly drifts towards the door.

Jean says, "I will contact you later if certain matters come to fruition."

Sephar says "Thank you, Sir. It would be good to know more."

Jean says, "Travel in illumination."

Sephar rolls the bow in Jean's direction and slides out the door quietly.

Outside, the Seraph is collating a set of documents, though it flicks one wing at Sephar in acknowledgement.

Sephar flicks a few of its smaller silver wings back.

<> Sephar says "Who would have knowledge of Orc's schedule and if he'd be available to talk to sometime?"

<> Demiurge says "You could always access his public file on the Lightning Servers. :)"

<> Sephar hehs and does so, then.

Sephar drifts to a nearby terminal to look up Orc's records.

The file gives his current location as "subject to change", but does also give an email address for those wishing to contact him.

Sephar notes the email address and will think on it

Sephar then drifts to the tools area to look for a screwdriver.

All kinds of screwdrivers are findable. Thousands upon thousands of screwdrivers.

Sephar hrms at the various sizes of screwdrivers and not knowing if Daimonique wanted one for her glasses or one to pry open a box, decided to pick a medium sized one, a glasses sized one, and a nice hefty one.

Sephar is issued these screwdrivers, together with a form to sign for them so they can be restocked.

Sephar signs for them, "And can I bring these back when I'm done with them?"

Sephar . o O ( can't help but remember all those manual forms required by Fate )

The Cherub on duty says, "Certainly."

<> Demiurge says "Actually, you probably sign on a computer terminal with a light-pen. Whoops."

Sephar smiles with the mouths on that side, bobs a nod, and drifts back towards Pat's.

<> Sephar giggles.

<> Sephar says "Sure."

---

Fiat Justitia