Dusk, Halloween 2024. Sylvie’s Underground home.

  Less than an hour after Sylvie sent Cisco the message for the list of supplies she would wilight tonight had e to the home and unloaded all of the items. Waiting until the garage door had closed to avoid the remaining rays of the sun, Sylvie and pa out and looked over the truck full of equipment that had been delivered. Walking through the rows of eleics, metal and things that looked like wheels and gears, Sylvie scratched her head. “I wouldn’t know what the heck I am looking at other than the lead boxes there.” Sylvie poio the four well-made metal tainers. “Four is an odd number, Kody.” She squatted doicked up one of the small gears and flipped it through her fingers long enough to hear Casey begin ughing. “What?” Sylvie put dowtle cogwheel and put her hands on her hips. “What is so funny?”

  “You.” Casey snickered and patted Kody on the back. “You have successfully stumped an old dy, Kody.” Keeping her smile sly smile wide, Casey grabbed her partner and pulled her into a hug. “You watched Kody for how long? You don’t know what this stuff is?” She snickered, “Didn’t they build anything while you watched? Or was it all just drawing and blueprints?”

  “To be fair…” Sylvie ughed at herself and did her best to avoid the blueprint ent, given she was still holding onto books full of Kody’s designs from their college days as a human. “...I know some of it. The wheel things there? See the copper wire? I think Kody pns to use some sort of eleag.”

  “Yes, Sylvie.” Kody calmly spoke, as their power button irises flickered between green and gray. “You have tive me, Sylvie but I have a fair bit of work to do before we load up the small truck.” They poio the right of the supplies. “ you two let me work on this? recious little time if the television is right.”

  Nodding in agreement, Sylvie grabbed Casey’s hand and headed for the door to the house. “Are you going to work out here? I go get you the office desk if you want it..” No soohan she’d suggested a work table, Kody poio the far side of the garage and the reinforced metallic table folded against the wall. “Ah, I didn’t see that.” Sylvie shrugged and waved to Kody, “We’ll just leave you alone.”

  “That would be perfect.” Kody ftly responded and suddenly realized how cold it might have sounded. “Sorry about that, I am just focused. I don’t mean anything by it.” Slipping their pho, Kody looked at the time. “Thankfully it is autumn, so we have a little more night.” Kody ran over a up their workstation ahe phone on it. “I have to work fast. I will see you all in a bit.” With an uny smile of reassurance, Kody waved their hands to shoo Sylvie and Casey out.

  tent to leave Kody to their work, Sylvie entwined her fingers with Casey’s and made her way bato the living room and started to sit on the semi-circur sofa when her phone began t. “It’s Jason.” Sylvie showed Casey the s. “I wonder what he wants.”

  “He’s fused.” Casey spoke trance-like, then blinked her golden orbs, “A..silly.”

  Wiggling her hand free, Sylvie sat down in one of the small swivel chairs and answered the call. “Jester. What’s up my friend?” Sylvie crossed her legs and bounced her foot while she spoke. “I hear Amber in the background. Why is she back?” Sylvie fluttered her eyes towards Casey and pressed the little button to turn on the speaker. “Casey hear you now as well. What’s going on?”

  “Look, I don’t have a bunch of time.” Jason quickly spouted, “Just know that the others are missing. Right now it seems we have myself, Daniel and Amber.” He paused, “Daniel and I got the message from Casey a bit ago, and never checked ohers.”

  fused as to why the couple wasn’t in the darker part of the shelter with the other members of the new Veil cil, Sylvie asked the question. “Where were you and Daniel? I know that Amber was chasing down our friend Veronica.”

  “Vera made the whole pce pitch bck, since we were cramped down there. Daniel and I spent our time together.” Jason added quickly. “That really doesn’t matter right now. Daniel has a theory as to what is happening and that is why I am calling.”

  “Theory?” Sylvie queried, “What do you need, I’ll help however I . Just know that we are going to be on our own little mission that I discussed as soon as Kody gets everything created.”

  While he was surprised that Kody had returned, Jason didn’t take the time to dwell ourn of events. “Wait a moment, Sylvie.”

  Even though the tone was muffled, Sylvie heard Amber perfectly clear and looked up at Casey. “You heard that. Brienne and Krystal are captives and Nathahrew himself into the portal.”

  “Fuck.” Casey uttered her most frequent line. “He’s still fused about something, Sylvie.” Casey added softly.

  A few seds ter Jester resumed talking to Sylvie. “Based on what we know about how this portal worked before, we just want to either stop the song from attrag vampires, or switch it back to its normal fun.”

  “Attag and attrag Shadewraiths.” Sylvie solemnly added and pihe bridge of her nose. “Let me pose a message with all of the information that I remember about the song, Jester. I know that it was trolled by the crystals there. It all stopped when Franco sealed the door with the silver.”

  “What about Tatum, Jason? We see her standing on the portal hill…” Casey had a weird look e over her face, “...or was. The camera feed was cut off.” She ged els and all were no longer live, but just talking about unheavenly fires that ed the small city. “Do you have a pn for her..oh wow…” Casey stomped her foot on the floor. “Tatum knows everything, Sylvie. Fug mage.”