moonshadows

“Okay, so that’s Hugo and Steve and Helena down,” Claudia said, pleased both with the act of teaching and her own cleverness in identifying favored artifacts by linking them to events and actions. “Now for Dr. Calder. Her name is Vanessa, and she’s the one who comes in every time Artie’s appendix grows back to take it out again.” Claudia bit her lip, thinking. “She and Hugo used to spend time in the Dark Vault together.”

Oh. “Taunted bad artifacts.”

There it was, that sidetrack into curiosity. “Taunted? Oh, right. Artifacts want to be used, so for the ones in the Dark Vault, it would be like dangling raw meat in front of starving lions. Who are also chained up. How did they get past the sec- right, the security probably didn’t exist back then. Never mind. Alright, can you tell me anything about Vanessa?”

“Artie like.”

“Yes!” Sparkles of pleasure. “Yes, Artie likes Vanessa a lot. That’s very good, you’re doing great.”

Above, outside, two artifacts were approaching. Artie didn’t know yet.

“Hey, are you listening to me?”

“No.”

Shock, a little bit of anger, wary curiosity. “Why not?”

The shabti had to be moved to the Core; there was no time to use the communicate-with-others artifact. “Stay. Good Claudia.”

In the Core, Artie was unaware of the two artifacts now entering.

“Artie.”

“Ah! Oh, it’s you. Now I know where Mrs. Frederic gets it. I thought- weren’t you with-”

One ebony finger on its lips. “Artifacts come. Artie like Vanessa.”

“Well, yes, but-”

“Artie hurt Vanessa.” A current of stern, but not angry, chiding flowed under the words. “Fix.”

Chastisement, fear, hope. “O-Okay. Um. Thank you.”

Smiling, radiating reassurance, the shabti hugged Artie briefly. “Like Artie. Fix Artie.”

“Like you too.”

The door opened, startling the artifact. The instant it looked away, the shabti was moved back to Claudia’s location.

“Vanessa here. Artie hurt Vanessa. Artie fix.”

“Dr. V’s here? Why-” The question died, unasked. “Probably checking on Artie. Yeah, they haven’t talked since, um, Alice came out of the mirror and everyone almost killed everyone.”

Sadness and regret. “Mirror broke. Liked mirror.”

Claudia’s curiosity came back. “Yeah? So it’s not just agents you’re fond of, you like actual artifacts, too?”

“Some.” It was a new word, like hurt, that Claudia had explained.

“Probably the tame ones, right? Ones that have been here a while?”

“Yes. Artifact break, sad.”

“Awww.” Claudia hugged the shabti, radiating reassurance and attempt to comfort. “Are you mad at Alice for breaking it?”

“No. Artifact, all artifacts, break. Sad.”

“Wow, that’s depressing,” she muttered. “You’ve been around for a hundred years – that you remember, anyway – and you’ve seen every single Warehouse agent except us die, turn evil, go crazy, or a combination of the above. You probably really liked a lot of them, too. And you’re less than a day into learning how to express concepts, but one of the concepts you’re able to express is the inevitable mortality and equally inherent destruction of everything you’ve ever known and loved.”

“New artifacts come.”

“Life goes on, huh?” She hugged tighter. “I’m next in line for Caretaker and it’s sinking in that, like you, I’ll watch all the agents come in, grow to care about them, and then lose them. It’s a little hard to try to swallow when I’m still too young to even rent a car. Does explain why Mrs. Frederic is so not touchy-feely, though. And why she still dresses that way. I imagine that if someone’s a hundred years old, a little clinging to what’s familiar is not only justified but rightly so.”

“Yes.”

A pause while she wrestled with the ideas, then straightened up and smiled. “I am going to scandalize the crap out of my agents when I’m seventy.”

Gently, the shabti petted her hair. “Good Claudia.”

Pleased sparkles as the smile broadened. “Okay, now spill, what’s going on with Artie and Dr. V?”

In the Core, the other artifact idled while the named artifacts were a tentative tangle of hope and wariness. Then Artie solidified into determination, and Vanessa bloomed with relieved delight. The determination faded into gratitude and love and a hint of excited anticipation.

“Artie fix.”

“Woo! Go Artie!” Claudia hugged the ebony figure in sympathetic, overflowing joy. “Wait. They’re making out, aren’t they? Don’t answer that, I don’t want to picture anything.”

“Other artifact bored.”

“Other...okay, it’s not anyone you know by name, which means it’s one of the Regents.”

Regents. That was a word heavily laden with emotion, the same emotions the Caretaker often felt. A familiar word, but one that didn’t quite apply. An in-between word was needed here; the shabti shook its head. “Some.”

Claudia frowned in momentary confusion. “Okay, no, wrong word. Some is a word in between all and none. If you need a word in between yes and no, you can either use maybe if it’s too complicated to explain, or not quite if it’s mostly right but not completely.”

“Maybe not quite.”

“Now you’ve got me curious. Is there anything you can tell me about this Re- artifact?”

“Good artifact.”

“So it’s someone you don’t completely hate. That’s good to know. Anything else?”

Frustration; words were clumsy, concepts too complex to confine in sound, the trickle not yet wide enough to support more than faint echoes of strong emotions. “Pete fight. Myka fight. Steve…..no. Hurt Claudia. Claudia angry, fight.”

“Hurt me?” Confusion, even as her energy leaped into action. “Someone who fought with Pete and Myka and hurt me, I got angry and fought and Steve…no? What does that mean, no what? That he just wasn’t?” Her eyes widened, the vortex of her emotions collapsing into cold certainty and the memory of old fury. “Jane. Jane Lattimer.”

The emotions matched. “Yes.”

“I guess she is a good artifact, isn’t she? So, d’you want to go say hello, or…”

“No.”

“Alright.” Claudia shrugged. “Let’s see if we can’t expand your understanding of language to include pronouns.”