Chapter 4 - Preparations and Analysis

MINDO

"Our preliminary findings, sire, indicate that a living body of approximately 15 ters was the last to pass through the ring."

The king glanced over at the governess, who said, "That is Ingelram's weight."

King Sagard nodded and returned his attention to the Sage. "Where did the circle exit?"

"We are more concerned with how the boy activated the gate," the Sage began.

"No," the king said. "That matters only to your Order. You may make that determination only after you tell me where the boy went. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sire, of course."

"You will tell me as soon as you know, whatever the hour you are successful. You will also be prepared to send a party after him at the earliest possible moment."

"Certainly, sire."

The king waved the Sage and his novices away and gestured Baudier closer. "Once they discover where the boy is, you and a small group will find him and bring him back. Alive and unharmed."

"Yes, sire."

"One of the nursemaids should accompany them, sire," the governess said.

Sagard nodded. "An excellent idea. Also, a witch."

"Sire, this is already somewhat more than a small group," Baudier protested

"Handle it," the king ordered. "And remember, since this involves gate travel, to include a scholar."

"Yes, sire."

SUNNYDALE

At sunrise the next morning, Ann arranged with Gang Long to watch Darcy. He was not enthusiastic about the task, but he agreed. Like Spike, he made a suggestion that they get help with childcare; Ann told him to see to it. Ann ported out to Seattle, where she had breakfast with Claire Galen:

"Blue?" the healer asked at the end of Ann's recital, handing her a cup of tea.

"Between RAF blue and the best turquoise. Do you know of any beings who are bilaterally symmetrical, upright postured, naturally blue skinned and capable of interbreeding with blonde blue-eyed beings, who are even more human in appearance? Both groups are Earth compatible and at least one of them has world gate traveling ability."

"No. I think I need to see him myself. Let me check my appointments," Claire said. After looking at her book, she said: "I'm free from 9:30 or so, to 11:00. Move me down there, feed me a quick and early lunch, and I'll give him a look."

"Give me a call when you're ready to go," Ann said.

"I have a report to discuss with Spike. Is he going to be available?"

"Yes."

"Good. Take this one with you, though. I'll trust your judgment about when and what to tell Dawn." She handed Ann a manila envelope.

Ann opened it, read the contents. "Huh. Those Monks were good. I'm told that not all of them died. I wonder if I can safely look for them, or if my controllers will panic again. I'd like to talk to them about what exactly they did and what Dawn can expect as she matures."

"If the opportunity arises, I should like to accompany you," Claire said.

"Certainly," Ann said, and blinked out.

****

"Good morning, Spike." Claire said as she arrived in Ann's library several hours later. "I'll need to talk to you after I examine the boy."

Claire Galen was about four or five inches shorter than Ann, with curly dark red hair up in an insecure bun. She had a warm, rich, color to her skin and faint freckles on her cheeks and nose. She was rounded rather that muscular and always had a brisk, alert and interested air, no matter where she was. Even when he was calling her an `over-educated sadist,' or when she was turning him into a birdbath, Spike had had to respect her. Now, he counted her as one of his few friends, and he smiled at her.

"Hi, Claire. What about?"

"Your latest test results."

"OK. Gang Long and Darcy are out in the pool."

Ann led Claire to the French doors in the north wall. The two women went out, leaving the doors open. Spike walked over and looked out.

For all Gang Long's reluctance to be charged with looking after Darcy, after he agreed, he did a good job: the blue toddler and Gina were riding around the pool on dragon back. As Spike watched Darcy caught sight of Ann and waved, losing his grip in the dragon's scales and tumbling into the water. Gang Long dived, tossing Gina into the pool, and turned, surfacing beneath the boy and raising him up. As Darcy laughed, Gang Long stretched out his neck to Ann, who caught the boy as he levitated up to her and stood him before Claire.

Gina paddled over to the shallow end, walked out of the pool and shook herself. Her brother and sister were asleep in the sun on mats spread out on the terrace. The young lion looked up as Gina sprinkled him, but the other young lioness paid no attention.

"You're publishing?" Spike asked.

"Just an announcement of the study."

"Claire, if humans know I can't defend myself, how long do you think I'll stay alive?"

"Ann has already insisted I can't publish this part of the full study until we remove the chip from your head," Claire said. "Although your anonymity will be protected, Spike."

"Yeah, sure. What's the title?"

"The first title is: Classic Vampirism: An introductory study of an infectious syndrome encompassing certain permanent and abrupt physical, metabolic and mental aberrations. The one about you is: An examination of Modified Vampirism; detailing how societal, historical and cultural expectations can be modified by rituals, family support, autosuggestion, bio-feedback methods and dietary supplements."

"You're including Angel, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Where would it be published?"

"The Cauldron, the Journal of the New World Healers Association."

"Which doesn't have that wide a circulation, Spike," Ann Grove said.

"Small favors," the vampire said. "I suppose anyone who will read it will already know how to kill vampires, but anyone who does read it and knows me or Angel will know exactly who you're talking about."

"This paper will come out after the full general study, which is scheduled for the first quarter of the new year. I think you, Angel and Ann are all worried needlessly, since it's the first study that will generate the most interest and probably suggest other studies to other healers."

"You're hoping there will be so much commotion, he and I will be unnoticed? Not a chance. Neither of us is a low-profile type."

"It won't be published until you're free of the chip. Suppose she mentions that it was removed, in the footnotes?" Ann suggested.

"Oh, certainly, I can do that."

"I think I'd better change my hair," Spike muttered. "And my name and residence and profession."

"Be sure to drive different cars," Ann reminded him. "Like VW's or Hondas. Oh, and don't wear leather, or black."

"Funny," he growled.

"Now, Spike: these are your CAT-scan images. Ann? Could I have a display light, please," Claire asked.

"How big?"

"Long, I have a full set of films."

Ann spread her hands, the lights dimmed and a short, wide viewing screen, glowing softly, hung in the air in front against the west wall. Spike pushed his chair back from the computer as Claire walked the length of the screen arranging a series of transparent films in their proper order.

Finished, Claire asked for a table.

"Bridge? Dining? Coffee?" Ann asked.

"Dining." Claire said, and nodded approval as a chair and a small table appeared in the library, between the phone table and the west wall. Claire sat, put her healer bag on the table and, opening it, removed a foil packet. "Air foam," she said. "Ann, can you freeze this when I tell you? Otherwise, it lasts only a moment, and I didn't bring my stereo cameras."

"Of course," Ann said, moving up beside the healer.

Claire held the packet, waved at the X-rays with her other hand as she chanted briefly. Using both hands, she opened the packet and gave the transparent contents a gentle push upwards.

The flat film rose a little in the air and began to inflate, from the bottom up. Spike's head, life-size, transparent and bald, took shape above the new table. Spike didn't recognize himself until his eyes were complete, then: "Hey! Where're my eyebrows? And where's my hair?" He rolled his chair over to Claire's table and inspected his image more closely.

"They aren't important for this," Claire said. "Now, Ann."

Ann froze the air foam balloon, which remained suspended over the table.

"Huh," Spike said. "I look sort of Egyptian."

"More faun-like," Claire said absently. She rose and walked around the table. "Very good," she said. "Now. Here is what I wanted you to see, here is what our problem is. That spot there."

"The chip," Spike said, glaring at it.

"What's it made of?" Ann asked.

"Exactly. It is a bio-mechanical construct. I believe it was tailored specifically for Spike."

"Spike, let me touch you," Ann said.

"All right," Spike said.

"Stay sitting," Ann said, moving behind him. She placed her hands on his head, just above his ears, sliding them forward to meet just above his forehead. Her hands were very warm. "No, I can't sense it at all, even knowing what parts of it look like. That may be mostly Spike's aura." Ann dropped her hands and stepped back.

"What may?" Spike asked, brushing his hair back in place.

"It affects me as sort of a fog. Vampires are not part of my original briefing. The magic that keeps you alive and the magic I use aren't totally compatible. I can't locate you as well as I can locate Gang Long or even the Viper; I can't heal you as well or as fast as I can heal a human."

"What about Angel?" Spike asked. "Can't you find him as well as you can find Giles?"

"No," Ann said. "It's not a matter of familiarity or intimacy. I can't sense Angel at all at this distance, while I can tell that Wesley Wyndom-Price is in the office and is keeping his temper only with some difficulty at the moment. From that, I would surmise that Angel is also in the office, but I can't tell for certain. If you were still fully human, I think I could port the chip out."

"Ah. Of course, if I were still a human, the Initiative wouldn't have installed the chip in the first place."

"Who knows what those fanatics would do?" Ann growled.

"The rest of the bad news is that I am unable to locate a surgeon who is knowledgeable enough to remove the chip who is not also an ex-Initiative member or a current member of a semi-official military organization," Claire said.

"Keep looking," Ann said.

"Spike?" Claire asked. "You are my patient. Ann has a problem with encouraging the remnants of the Initiative by informing them that their program was a success, at least with you, but they are the only competent surgeons I can find."

Spike glared at Ann: "You think it was a success?"

"Why do you think I object to Claire's paper?" Ann asked. "Yes, I'm afraid I do. You're not totally controlled by the vampire syndrome any longer, you have a lot your human free will back. You don't automatically attack humans when you're hungry, you don't even try to feed on any of the non-human people you've met recently--not me, not Filis, not Berengar--and even when you beat up people for information, like poor Mudar, you can stop short of killing them if you want. The fact is, the Initiative restored much of your former freedom of action by violating your free will, which is a paradox I'm glad I don't need to resolve. You decide."

Spike turned to Claire and shook his head: "No, Ann's right. Keep looking. I won't encourage them. I won't willingly trust my head to anyone who could install that damned thing in the first place. God, I do want it out, though."

"It does occur to me, Ann, that the Initiative may have implanted chips in non-human, non-vampiric, beings," Claire said.

"Yes, they did," Ann said. "I may have more success with pure demons. I'll ask around at Willy's. There was certainly enough time from your party's escape, Spike, to the arrival of the military re-inforcements for any surviving demons to make their way out of the ruins."

"They may not want to cooperate," Claire said.

"I'm easy to talk to," Ann smiled, "and hard to avoid, when I put my mind to it. If I can examine a sample, I may be able to visualize the chip in Spike's head. If I can visualize it, I may be able to port it into my hand."

"Ann," Spike said, "if you remove a demon's chip, you may get an uninhibited demon. The Initiative was staffed by humans, you look human. A demon may remember only what the Initiative did and not that you helped them."

"I'll explain the conditions, offer repatriation, whatever. Don't worry."

"I'll come along."

"Later--I'm taking Darcy and the Mercedes over to Northwoods, to the Montessori kindergarten a woman I know runs over there."

"You're sending the boy off to school?" Spike asked. "He's a little young."

"He'll play with other five year olds, have lunch, take a nap and play some more. That's not an arduous schedule. If we can't find his home, he'll need to become more at ease around humans, at least while he's here, so we may as well start now."

"What do you mean?"

"Spike," Ann said. "Darcy is at ease with Dawn, you, me, Gang Long and the cubs. He is nervous around Giles, the Witches, and even Claire. There are more humans than there are people like us in the world and many of them have something to teach."

***

"Hey, it's been swept," Spike realized. "It's better lit, and the license plates are gone. Is this the right place?"

"There have been a lot of changes over the last few weeks. There's a new owner, for one thing."

The place had been rearranged: there were more tables, scattered around the edges of the room, there was a new pinball machine near the back door behind a pair of lattice-work screens and the old one had been moved to the right of the front door where the row of booths along the south wall began.

"Why do you let this bloodsucker hang around with you and the dragon?" the bartender asked. He put a selection of bottles down behind the bar.

"He amuses me?" Ann asked. "You have to admit, Jason, he hasn't killed anyone here in a very long time."

"He hasn't been let in here in a very long time, but Willy says he can come back as long as he behaves himself," the bartender said, pulling the door in the west end of the wall behind the bar shut and fastening it.

"Baboon blood and a shot of bourbon," Spike said. "Thank god there isn't a mirror. I hate seeing my glass floating in mid air. That's a new mural, though."

"And pays his tab," Jason growled. "All of it."

Spike produced his VISA card. "What is it?" he nodded at the mural. "It's not really an Escher, is it?"

"The Maze of Art. Now," Ann said to Jason. "I have two things I want you, Joshua and Jesse, to do for me."

The bartender growled again, but nodded.

"I want to talk to survivors of the Initiative experiments. Whoever arranges the meet gets a fee and the survivor gets paid for her time. I'll come here, and I'll use the back room, which I will rent. The rent goes to Willy."

"God, that's awful," Spike said, putting down his empty shot glass.

"Why here?" Jason asked.

"Why not? It's centrally located and the new privacy spells make it eminently suitable."

"Humph," Jason said. "And the other thing?"

"Gate traveling strangers. If any show up, let me know."

"From any place in particular?"

"Alvish speakers," Ann said. "Tell me about them at once."

"Let's get back," Spike said. "I have to finish the kids' bedtime story before Gang Long and I go out."

Jason's eyes flickered at the vampire, then down at the bar.

"Just so," Ann said. She and Spike left the bar, walking out the back door into the alley.

"I thought you said there was a new owner?"

"Who is also called Willy," Ann said. "It's complicated."

***********

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