Game was 12/19/20. We ran from 1:30 to almost 6:15!
Sunday dinner breaks up around 10:00 PM as usual, but this time there's not as much cleanup as Veltis has devoured all the potential leftovers. Abby drives Leta and Veltis home, but they stop to get some additional food for Veltis. Anita drives back to Springfield and immediately crashes. Polly, Mick, and Dr. Ranjip all return to their homes, while at the Troy household, Ray brings Dean upstairs to get ready for bed. Josh turns to William and asks, "So are you sleepwalking in these dreams, or do you stay in bed with the items next to you?" William admits, "As far as I know, I stay in bed and the souvenirs are there when I wake up." Josh isn't thrilled by either option and muses about buying William a sleep tracker or motion detector.
Leta wakes up around 4 o'clock in the morning as she realizes Veltis is not in bed with her. She silently gets up and creeps around the room looking for him, but then hears muffled voices coming from the kitchen. She sneaks out and listens as Abby retells some of their adventures with Veltis, who is stuffing cookies into his face. Abby describes the loggia in Milan, and Veltis realizes she's definitely been there. Leta slips out as if she hadn't been creeping on them, and Abby incorporates her into the story without missing a beat.
Veltis admits he remembers the trip to Milan last year, but he only recalls Leta and Mick being with him. Abby's face falls and Veltis suddenly topples over! Leta darts forward to catch her rat, but spots Abby's geist Petite out of the corner of her eye, lurking near where Leta was just standing. Leta realizes Veltis is feigning sleep - and not very well - as Abby gets up and gently touches Petite briefly before they return to her room. Once Abby's door closes, Veltis whispers, "I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do." Leta reassures him and they head to bed as well.
William is aware of a hand down his pants a split-second before he realizes he's having another dream. He opens his eyes to find Merat-Su practically on top of him as they sit on a wide throne, and then he realizes he's somewhere in pre-colonial Mesoamerica! With dawning horror, William realizes he's in an Aztec city on a ziggurat, with hundreds of people below chanting up to him and Merat-Su as gods! A young woman screams his name with joy as her heart is ripped out of her body and held aloft! William manages to push Merat-Su back and yells, "Stop!"
The festivities immediately stop, and hundreds of pairs of eyes look up at him in total silence. William curses inwardly, as he realizes he has no idea what to do - and is well aware this could turn ugly at a moment's notice. Merat-Su looks at him quizzically, and an Aztec high priest lens in and whispers, "Is something amiss, my lord?" William nods and replies, "Yes. We do the same thing every time, let's try something new. A feast then, for everyone!" Raucous cheers greet his proclamation, and soon the festivities resume. Merat-Su whispers, "Feeling bored, husband?" William shrugs as the feasting begins - as does a ballgame resembling a mix of soccer and basketball, but the ball is a severed head!
With another sickening lurch, William is suddenly aware that everyone is chanting his name, not Ahmekh's, which sounds strange as the Aztec language doesn't have a 'W' sound.1) Merat-Su leans against him and whispers again, "Remember, husband, your training starts tomorrow." William replies quickly, "Can you remind me about tomorrow?" Merat-Su frowns and replies, "You're training for the Utterance, don't you remember?"2) William doesn't respond, but instead wills himself awake. He opens his eyes to find himself back in his bedroom. His relief is fleeting, as he suddenly realizes he's holding the young woman's heart, and blood soaks his pajamas and bedsheets!
William gags at the smell of blood as he checks the time - 4:10 AM - and then quickly heads downstairs. Lacking any better ideas, he grabs the Tupperware that held the eyeballs and shoves the heart in there and then places the Tupperware back into the freezer - without labelling it. He cleans himself up and strips the bedsheets. He changes out of his bloody pajamas and soaks them and the sheets in Oxy-Clean. It's 4:30 by that point, so William just stays up.
Anita wakes up at 6:30. After showering and eating breakfast, she heads out to the Montoya Botanica. She parks, heads inside, and counts out the money for Silas Black. She then slips out and walks down to the warehouse behind her shop. She finds Black's limo waiting, and Salvatore greets her in Spanish - with a heavy Italian accent. She greets him back and wonders where exactly he falls within Black's hierarchy. He's young - maybe twenty-four - but carries himself like a made man. Realizing Black has upended the traditional syndicate structure, Anita gives up and slides into the back of the limo. Black greets her politely, and she notices he's got a long box in his lap. Curious, Anita hands him the envelope containing the weekly information money, and then Black slides the box to her! She cocks her head and Black replies smoothly, "A deal is a deal, Miss Perez-Montoya."
Anita opens the box carefully; she finds an expensive-looking tailored suit inside, and Black adds, "We have a hat almost ready; we just need your favorite color." Anita dimly recalls making a sarcastic suggestion to Black about getting his tailor, but she replies, "A dark red." Black nods in approval and then states, "Excellent choice. We will have that ready for you next week, Miss Perez-Montoya. Everything else alright on the home front?" Anita admits her strange rash of business yesterday, and Black grimaces. He admits, "My apologies. A miscommunication. I was trying to help you grow your business and expand your clientele to a younger generation." Anita asks him to run that past her next time and concedes she does have a lot of older clientele, but there are some younger ones, and they are intense.
Black nods as he leans back in his seat. He remarks, "Very well then, I have one last question for you, Miss Perez-Montoya. What exactly did you do to annoy the vampires so much?" Anita sighs and gives Black a synopsis. Black grumbles, "So you murdered the childe of an ancient, powerful vampire. Wunderbar. You all have just waltzed into incredible danger." Anita protests, "Not me! I can't waltz!" Black replies, "Unacceptable. We must change that. Immediately." Anita retorts, "Not here, not now. Some other time, and I get to teach you merengue." Black agrees, so Anita exits the limo. Salvatore bids her goodbye in Spanish, but trips on the pronunciation. Anita still apricates the effort, and gently corrects his pronunciation.
Anita returns to the botanica and slips in carefully. She heads to the basement and pulls out the suit. She finds it's dark gray, and it fits her perfectly. As she admires herself in a mirror, she is forced to admit the severe cut of the suit flatters her as well, and this suit costs around seven thousand dollars! She takes the suit off and carefully folds it up before returning it to the box. She then puts the box in her lockable trunk for safekeeping. Once that's done, she heads upstairs and runs through the morning sequence before opening for 11:00 AM.
Her first task of the day is reorders, and her distributor is very confused by some of her restock requests. Anita concedes, "Weird sales day yesterday." The rest of the morning and early afternoon passes quietly until 2:00 o'clock. At that point, her accountant, Randall Crow, enters the botanica. Anita eyes him and asks, "Not good news?" Randall shakes his head once and replies, "No." Her customers in the botanica quickly finish their shopping and depart to give Anita privacy.
Anita motions for Randall to take the stool by the front counter and he gratefully accepts. He says simply, "Someone is trying to hack into your accounts. This is definitely a targeted attack, as so far, no other accounts have been breached. Currently, your money is safe, but I don't think Westfield Bank is going to have the cybersecurity needed to protect your funds." Anita sighs but agrees, and they discuss moving her accounts to a different bank. She insists on a state-level bank versus a federal one. Randall agrees, although he's a little confused about that stipulation. He suggests Florence Savings Bank as a possible alternative.
Randall also wants to move her accounts to different numbers to protect them. Anita agrees and they discuss how much cash she needs access to for an emergency. Anita has $5,000 in the immediate cash account but decides she can drop that to $3,000. She admits that she doesn't want to pull out entirely, as that would just tip off the hacker that he's been discovered. Randall agrees, and promises to move the money and then try to migrate the accounts. He departs but calls back about 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon to inform her that the money has been moved and so far, everything seems safe.
Josh picks up Abby for 9:00 o'clock and jokes, "Do you agree not to stab anyone?" Abby retorts, "We'll see," in a voice heavily colored by Petite. Josh frowns but does not push the point. He drives them up to UMass Amherst and they arrive for 9:30 AM. Josh times their arrival for 9:40 AM so the bursar's staff has time to tackle the morning emails. They arrive on time and there is no one ahead of them in the line. They walk up to the teller, a brusque black woman, and Josh begins with a preemptive apology. He gets her name - Janice - and explains his and Abby's situation.
Janice frowns and asks for their SPIRE numbers; she then checks SPIRE and her frown increases. She calls over another staff member, an Asian woman named Teresa, and asks her why she discontinued Abby and Josh. Teresa explains that she was told to do so via email, so they step into the back for a little bit. Finally, Janice returns to Josh and Abby and says tersely, "We will need time to sort this out, can you give us two hours?" Josh agrees but asks for a copy of the email Teresa received. Janice, through clenched teeth, replies, "Teresa can't find that email. That's part of the problem. It's 10:15 now so be back here for 12:15 and we should have everything sorted for you by then. I do a lot of work with the grants, and I recognize your name from one of them."
Josh thanks her for her help and then he and Abby head out and walk down the access ramp. They see large blobs of students waiting for buses in front of the Fine Arts Center; as it's the Monday of Thanksgiving week, students are already clearing out. Josh wonders if he should get pizza for the people in line, but Abby retorts, "No way." As today is not as cold as the past few days have been, Josh and Abby simply walk into Amherst and get some lunch. As they eat, Josh wonders if any of the information they need about the various topics they've been grappling with could be found within the UMass Amherst library system. Abby accesses the library system, and they spend over an hour combing the records. Abby eventually narrows her search down to six books held in the private collections that might be helpful. Unfortunately, only a graduate student working on an approved project could get access to these collections.
Josh and Abby returned to campus and head up into Whitmore, aiming to be at the bursar's office at precisely 11:55 AM; Josh wants to head off any potential lunch breaks that would drag this out. They head up the access ramp and step into the lobby on the second floor. Although they can hear murmured voices and tapping keys in the Student Affairs office to their right, they're alone in the lobby and there is an oppressive silence. That silence ends immediately when someone screams from the left! No one reacts in the slightest, so Josh and Abby quickly turned the corner and stare in shock as Teresa's body rapidly decays while Janice stands over her, her eyes and hands crackling with turquoise energy!
Janice looks up at them and says, "You are early, Mr. Troy. We will take note of that for any future interactions." Janice's voice is an amalgamation of many different voices, talking in perfect harmony. By now, poor Teresa is nothing more than a black smear on the linoleum, and then they hear the elevator ding behind them. Josh immediately swings behind Abby and sees a custodian with a bucket and mop stride out of the elevator. He heads their way, and then starts cleaning the smear! Josh sees that his eyes also glow turquoise, so he asks, "How often do you clean smears?" Both Janice and the custodian reply in the same legion of voices, "Whenever we find a ghoul." Josh and Abby eye each other before Josh admits, "That is surprising, but somehow I'm not actually surprised."
Josh tries to covertly snap a picture of Janice and the custodian, but they say firmly, "That would not be wise, Mr Troy." Josh drops his hand and realizes the oppressive silence is similar to the weird interstitial space at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, but it is not the same. He asks them, "Do we have time to talk?" The janitor finishes cleaning the smear, and heads right back to the elevator. Janice motions for them to come up to a teller window. To their surprise, they find an Asian female student already in the bursar's office, with the rest of the staff still working as if nothing happened; the student in question trying to get a few things sorted for the spring semester before she returns to China. Joshua deliberately drops some of his papers right next to her, but she doesn't react in the slightest. He asks Janice, "How long will this last?" Janice replies, "As long as we will it."
Janice adds, "We have restored your classes, with no penalty." Josh drawls, "Thanks…" He openly probes for more information, but Janice replies simply, "Is there anything else we can help you with today?" Josh asks, "Do you carry candles?" Janice replies firmly, "No Mr. Troy, we do not carry candles." Josh asks, "Can I be blunt? I'd like to ask two questions. The first is, are you related to the strix?" Josh and Abby have the unexpected pleasure of seeing Janice blink in surprise and look at them with a "What the fuck?" expression.
Janice demands, "What exactly are you talking about?" Josh replies, "There is a travel advisory issued by Management for this area, declaring it the domain of the strix." To their surprise, Janice bursts out laughing! The laughter splits among many voices no longer in sync, before finally dying down. Janice looks at Josh and Abby and retorts, "You are the Stryx, Mr. Troy. The Smith Daughters pack, the Troy cell, and the X-Krewe. 'Stryx' is an acronym for your alliance; you are hunters, you carry the candle. A euphemism we find pretentious, but not the most pretentious thing we've heard."
Josh says slowly, "You're Management. Wait, you put out a travel advisory because of us?" Janice snaps, "Yes, Mr. Troy. In the past six months you have exorcised seventeen ghosts, thirteen demons, and three spirits that you confused for ghosts or demons. And all this followed you opening a gate to the Abyss!" Josh and Abby look confused but Josh guesses, "Are you talking about the Nope-box?" Janice stares at them unblinking and Josh quickly explains their encounter with Solomon and the Nope-box at Smith College back in April. He insists that the Nope-box was something that everyone firmly agreed never to touch. He adds, "We did not use the stupid thing! This time."
Janice asks tersely, "Within the past three weeks you have also opened two gates into the Underworld! Two!" Josh attempts to explain, but then realizes and admits he understands Management's travel advisory. Janice mumbles, "You are not good hunters." Josh explains, "We really don't think of ourselves as hunters, per se. We honestly usually don't get along with other hunters. I'm just trying to keep Northampton and Amherst safe, and if we encounter other beings that aren't hurting anyone and also work to keep the area safe, we try to work together. However, I admit that not all of the cell is as enthusiastic as I am."
Abby nods solemnly and Janice eyes them before conceding, "Our restrictions against anyone carrying a candle will be reviewed by the Council in your case." Although Josh doesn't really know what that means, he thanks her before turning to Abby and asking if she has anything she wants to say? Abby retorts, "Nope, I've learned to just let you talk." Josh concedes, "That's fair." He turns back to Janice and asks, "So does Management have representatives in all five colleges?" Janice declares, "That information is classified at vermilion-level clearance. As you can see, we are only turquoise." Josh accepts that without quibble, leading Janice to say, "That was a joke, Mr. Troy."
Josh then asks his second question, "Do you know Silas Black? Do you know what he is?" Janice answers, "Yes, we do." She falls silent, and Josh grumbles, "But you're not going to tell me, are you?" Janice insists, "No, I am not, Mr. Troy. We do not 'out' other beings. Consider it professional courtesy." Josh concedes, "That's fair." Janice adds, "Having said that, we are willing to inform you that your encounter last month with the were-spider? The hive has escaped." Josh carefully asks about Teresa and which vampire made her, but Janice reiterates their stance on professional courtesy. She does allow, "The ghoul was an exception. We do not like having the students or their academic records threatened. Now, we will reach out to the Council regarding Teresa's vampire. The Council may be willing to provide that information to you."
Josh thanks her once again and then probes, "I hope we didn't knock anything of yours offline at Cooley Dick last month. That space was weird, we had to knock on someone's head to enter." Once again Janice stares at them before declaring, "I will only concede, Mr. Troy, that you didn't blow up anything of ours." Abby suddenly interjects, "May we bargain for help with Veltis?" Janice explains, "Normally our arrangement with other shadow-folk is favor-based. A being may request a favor from us for free the first time, but after that it is a favor-for-a-favor basis. We scale the favors we require to the individual's or the group's capabilities. Normally, we do not offer any help, much less a free favor, to those who carry a candle. However, I shall also bring this to the Council, and we will see if we can treat this as your group's free favor."
Josh shrewdly asks, "I'm going to guess that out here your resources are a bit thin?" Janice snarls, "Boston, man. Fucking Boston! Boston is on fire, Cambridge is at war, and Somerville is sinking into the swamp from whence it came!" Josh offers his support for their endeavors out here, but admits he often straddles the line between 'helpful' versus 'utterly confused.' Josh emphasizes, "I just want to help." Janice only replies, "Is there anything else we can help you with today?" Realizing their time with Management has come to a close, Josh thanks her and they quickly leave the bursar's office. As they walk away, they feel the oppressive silence suddenly pop, and all sounds return to normal.
Josh immediately pulls out his phone and texts the group, "I found out what the Stryx are!" followed by three smiley-face emojis. Abby smacks him lightly upside the head twice and snaps,"Just tell them!" Josh texts, "It's us! We are the Stryx! We're what Management was afraid of!" Anita and Leta text that they want more details, and Josh proudly texts back, "We met with Management! We are the terrifying thing this time!" Mick interjects, "Why don't we meet tonight so you can tell us what you did." Anita immediately texts the 'This is gonna be good' GIF, and Mick suggests, "Why don't we meet at Fitzwilly's tonight at around eight? That gives Anita time to get up here if she wants to join us." Anita immediately agrees and the rest of the cell decides it is a good idea.
The afternoon passes quietly as Leta determines that if she just puts food in front of Veltis and he awakens and devours it, the faster he falls asleep. Realizing she might be overfeeding him, Leta decides to let Veltis wake up on his own and ask for something to devour. Meanwhile, William enjoys the now-rare luxury of peace and quiet in his own home, and he lets the Curran boys sleep in as long as they want! Eventually, Dean trundles downstairs, turns on the TV, and settles into watch whatever is on the channel. William exerts a little control and changes the channel to Cartoon Network, and inwardly concedes Dean is a little immature, even for a ten-year-old. He thinks back carefully on all the interactions he's had with both Curran brothers and realizes that he sees signs of parental neglect in both boys; Ray is eager to please and be helpful, while Dean entertains himself and will watch whatever channel the TV is currently on. Josh returns around 2:00 PM and tells William that he's back in school. William is thrilled, but deliberately does not mention the heart in the freezer.
The hunters gather at Fitzwilly's at 8:00 PM and Josh manages to sweet-talk the host into giving them a table on the upper level, so they can talk relatively undisturbed. A waitress brings them up and they settle in, realizing that Josh is so excited about whatever he has to tell them that he's practically bouncing in his seat. Leta carefully scoops out Veltis - who is now a chinchilla - from her front pocket and places him carefully in a blanket in her backpack just in case he shifts size again. Ray and Dean sit at the far end, and Leta tells Dean that he can order whatever he wants. Although the hunters are a little leery of discussing anything with Dean around, Mick simply hands him his cell phone and the boy starts playing games! Mick shrugs and admits that he has a lot of games on his phone to pass time during stakeouts.
After the waitress takes their drink-and-appetizer order, Abby clears her throat and announces, "Dear friends, we've gathered here today to witness my boyfriend so happy he's about to pee himself." That elicits many chuckles and Josh just shrugs. He then explains, "The Stryx aren't a new problem; they're us! So, we're in just our usual danger. So, we got to UMass this morning and then fuckery happened, followed by more things happening that I can't quite explain." Josh then details his meeting with Janice and Management's apparent hold on UMass Amherst. He reveals what he learned, and specifically what he did not learn, and the reasons why. The hunters absorb this, and Abby corroborates the Stryx acronym.
Doctor Ranjip leans back in his chair with his drink and declares, "Congratulations, Josh. You confused Management." William cautiously says, "Maybe they can help with the other thing," as he gestures vaguely to the hieroglyphs on his body. Mick asks, "So does Management control Boston and they're now at UMass?" Leta shakes head and explains, "Nope, it's not outright control, it's more like influence." Abby interjects, "Soft power," while Doctor Ranjip muses, "This is the first confirmed appearance of Management this side of the I-495 corridor."
Josh's cell phone rings, but no number pops up. He answers, "Hello?" The same legion of voices answers, "Good evening, Mr. Troy. The Council has debated the matter regarding the demon-rat-chef-thing. We would like to discuss this further. You are at Fitzwilly's?" Josh replies in the affirmative and switches his phone over to speakerphone before placing it in the center of the table. Suddenly, the cone of silence emerges from his phone to smother all sounds around their table! Anita exclaims, "What the fuck?" while Leta jokes, "We got managed!"
Anita retorts, "You can't make Management into a verb!" Management replies, "Certainly not, Miss Perez-Montoya. We have submitted Mr Troy's requests to the Council; a decision was made to assist you in this case. We will be offering Mr. Troy the Elder, Miss Mackenzie, Detective Wagner, and Officer McManus financial recompense to cover the next two months of bills and rent. With respect, Doctor Ranjip does not need any financial assistance, and to be honest, we're not sure why he remortgaged his house in the first place."3)
Management continues, "We've spoken to the Kindred in Springfield and learned that Obadiah is essentially a rogue factor. He is not part the officially recognized power structure down there. Regarding the late, lamented Teresa, she served a vampire named Pedro, and he serves Obadiah. Pedro makes his lair in the Red Knight Inn along Route 9 in Hadley." Leta asks, "The rub and tug?" Management replies, "Correct. Moving on to the demon, we promise not to make any Ratatouille jokes. Before we discuss that, we did discover something else of interest to you. William Troy is being watched by the Malleus Maleficarum. Or the Shadow Congregation, or the modern-day Inquisition, pick your term."
Leta and Anita joke that there after that Troy body and start discussing William's booty. William quickly asks, "Watching me? How and why?" Management replies, "They bought the house two doors down from you, 57 Sovereign Way. They've kept you under surveillance for months, and they were the ones who delivered the tape of Ada Henley in October of last year. As to why, they believe that you were originally a candidate to recruit but are now an active threat."
William is stunned, and demands, "Why?" Anita retorts, "Because you're sexually attracted to knives?" Management interjects, "TMI." William again attempts to redirect the conversation back to the problem at hand and asks, "Why do they consider me a threat?" Management replies, "Presumably because you have strayed from the teachings of the Catholic Church, and associate with shapeshifters and sorcerers. They have Kirlian photos of dead Swiss Guardsmen. They are also watching Washington D.C., Milan, and Athens carefully, and will likely intervene in your conflict with the Aegis Kai Doru. However, we do not know which side they will join." Anita mutters, "Those AKD fuckers!"
Leta reminds Anita of her relationship with Silas Black, and Anita does admit to agreeing to learn how to ballroom dance. Management interjects, "Moving on, please. We will upgrade our travel advisory to western Massachusetts. We must also admit that while this is not the strangest conversation we've ever had; it is in the top ten. As we told Mr Troy the Younger, we operate on a favor-based relationship. We help you out, and then you help us out." Leta is immediately on alert, but Management retorts, "We tailor the favors we require to the group's capabilities. In your case, for example, if we ever needed a house burned to the ground, you are excellent at that." The others eye Leta pointedly, and she grudgingly concedes Management's point.
Management continues, "Mr. Troy the Younger and Miss Henderson have passed on a request for a favor to assist the demon-rat-chef-thing." Leta protests, but Management firmly insists, "We find speaking a demon's name is incautious. However, we can dispatch a mental health professional to your location tomorrow to help." Leta is uncertain but takes Veltis from her backpack and places the sleeping chinchilla-demon on her lap. Veltis wakes up a bit and looks around, and Abby slides him some food. As Veltis devours the appetizer, he gets some gentle ribbing about shapeshifting into small fluffy animals. Annoyed, Veltis jumps from Leta's lap and shapeshifts into his incubus form!
Ray is utterly horrified at the sight, but luckily Dean is completely absorbed in his game. Veltis starts eyeing Polly, who looks at him dead in the eyes and retorts, "Wrong team." Veltis pouts but then reveals, "It's OK, I can shift into a woman!" Leia cries out in disbelief, but Anita is clearly interested. However, when Veltis tries, he accidentally shapeshifts back into a chinchilla and lands back on the table. That catches Dean's attention, and he asks, "Pet?" to Leta. Leta tentatively agrees, and Dean gently pets Veltis.
The waitress shows up, and somehow misses the chinchilla on the table. She gets their orders for second drinks and desserts, and Dean immediately orders two desserts! The waitress departs with a smile, and Leta admits, "Well played, little man." Dean goes back to his video games, and once he is distracted, Veltis tries again, and this time successfully shapeshifts into a succubus! 'She' still retains the golden skin, exquisite proportions, and facial structure! Anita definitely admires Veltis's appearance and advises him, "Don't walk around Smith like that!" Leta mutters, "Not again. We're not doing that again!" as Josh wriggles uncomfortably.
Despite the inanity of the situation, Veltis frowns and says slowly, "I remember that. I think. Did I fall into a portal?" Leia winces but nods, and Veltis slowly looks around the table at everyone before turning back to William. He says slowly, "You're William, right? We don't get along?" William replies, "We don't not get along," and Anita rants, "You're both grumpy old men!" Leta puts her fingers to her lips and points to the still-active cellphone on the table. As if sensing her concern, Management repeats, "Would you like us to send the mental health professional?" Leta derides the idea of a therapist, but Management replies simply, "They're more like a specialist." Leta picks up on the unspoken assertion and turns to Veltis.
Veltis looks deeply troubled and admits, "My memories are still fading. I accept their offer." To cover for his moment of weakness, Veltis then turns again to Polly and demands, "How about now?" Polly concedes, "Much better, but I'm in a relationship and my fear of a ten-foot-tall killing machine overrides my libido." Veltis looks confused until Leta explains, "That's Polly. Her girlfriend is a werewolf." Throughout this, Josh focuses on Abby to prevent any jealousy, until Abby eyes him and snorts, "It's OK, I'm looking!" Josh grins and turns to look, but at that moment Veltis suddenly shudders and shapeshifts back to his normal-sized rat form! He looks up at William in confusion and demands, "And how did you get bigger?" William shrugs and then Veltis demands, "And how did you get immortally married, while not immortal?"
Leta immediately hangs up Josh's cell phone, and there's a sudden pop as the cone of silence vanishes! Unfortunately, this is precisely when the waitress comes back with their desserts, and she stares at Veltis in horror. Leta scoops Veltis up and explains that he is her emotional support animal, and she's brought him in here many times without a problem. The waitress insists, "Next time, you have to inform the front desk!" The waitress delivers their food and drinks and quickly walks away. Veltis frowns and tentatively identifies Josh as Sunshine Boy; everyone - including Josh - shrugs and agrees. William gestures to his marks after rolling up his sleeves and admits he is entangled with a Judge of Duat. Veltis retorts, "That's a special kind of stupid! May I see your hand, please?" Josh blurts out, "Hopefully not the one you stuck in my car!"
William ignores his grandson and holds out his right hand. Veltis studies the hieroglyphs while William describes this morning's dream, concluding with the fact that he was about to begin training for the 'Utterance.' Leta mumbles, "That does not sound good," as Veltis nods in agreement and states, "So the good news is you probably have a cult somewhere!" William admits that he is kind of married to Merat-Su. Veltis grunts and argues, "You are in a lot of trouble. Your death might end this, or the Judge might simply resurrect you!" Veltis suddenly sways and then passes out right on the table! Josh tucks him into his blanket before handing him back to Leta and then he declares, "Granddad, I think you need to call your wife!" Surprisingly, William admits, "I think so too." Leta suddenly realizes that they can also call Hakim, but decides to hold off on that for now, as she doesn't know if the two mummies get along or even know each other.