The One That Comes Before E-Book

Livia Llewellyn

• Herausgeber: Independent Legions Publishing
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

The machines have been running overtime in Obsidia's Becher District and everything seems a touch out of sync. Epoch II is about to begin and the Ministry of Obstetrics is making preparations, but whether homicidal Alex is a problem or an asset to this long-awaited transition has yet to be determined in The One That Comes Before, a novella by master Mythos author Livia Llewellyn. Cover art by George C. Cotronis

Leseprobe

THE ONE THAT COMES BEFORE

by Livia Llewellyn

ISBN: 978-88-99569-47-1

Copyright (Edition) ©2017 Independent Legions Publishing

Copyright (Text) ©Livia Llewellyn

May, 2017

Editing: Jodi Renée Lester

Cover Art by George C. Cotronis

Digital Layout: Lukha B. Kremo

Livia Llewellyn

The One That

Date: 7:17 AM, Friday, August 22, 2079

From: TMO

To: +All at North Spur M37; +All at South Spur M37; +All at +East Spur M37; +All at West Spur M37

Subject: Epoch I End Plans

She’s ready – Epoch II is about to begin!

ALL Team Members: please assemble in the sub-basements of your buildings to go over game plans at noon today. Ministry offices on every floor should be cleaned out and all confidential materials delivered to your floor administrators by EOB today, no exceptions.

Floor Administrators: you are to report back to Ministry headquarters with all confidential materials by Saturday 8:00pm at the latest.

Lead Supervisors: email us ASAP with confirmation that your tenant emails have been approved and are ready to send to building management at our go-ahead; and send us your final status reports on the readiness of your floors. And, please be diligent checking/scrubbing individual company responses - you should know by now who your problem companies and individuals are and how to handle them. As you know, it is absolutely imperative that ALL tenants and their employees be in the building on Monday, and that they be loaded into each floor’s anchor room by no later than 6:00pm - our keys’ power is dependent on the full complement of their energies and biomasses, including, of course, your own. Your teams should use any means necessary to complete this critical last phase of Epoch I, and be appropriately equipped for all circumstances that arise. Becher District’s entire raison d’être depends on it, and you.

This will be our last transmission to you until Tuesday morning. We’ve all been training and working long and hard for this moment, and we have the greatest faith in you. We will see you all on the other side!

In Her Name,

Date: 7:25 AM, Friday, August 22, 2079

From: Diogenes.Sepú[email protected]

To: TMO

Subject: RE: Epoch I End Plans

DiogenesSepúlvedareplied:

Understood. FYI, the M37 tenant email is approved and ready to send as soon as I have the go-ahead. My floor admin is on schedule to depart for HQ later this evening.

FYI, as previously discussed, due to the nature of their work, all 40th floor LBA Press employees have varying degrees of immunity to magic, but our engineers confirmed that this won’t affect the quality of their biomass additions - it will, however, make it more difficult to move them, as conventional means won’t work, and they will therefore be less susceptible to the chymical transition agents that are being used throughout the rest of the building. (Actually, we still have no idea how they may react.) However, by 1pm Monday, the engines in the sub-basement should be fully operational, and I will report to 40 with Palgrane to facilitate getting them into their anchor room before the deadline.

Also, as discussed, there’s been no decision yet on the passing, non-trans employee working at the press. No magic properties - she can’t conduct or transmit, therefore her biomass may not work in the anchor room. Precautions will not work on her, she’s basically a walking Elder Sign. Also: severely mentally unstable. After many years of observation, my 40th floor administrator (who, I’ll remind you, is the replacement for my original 40th, whom she tortured and dismembered) advises that she be dispatched, but of course I need your approval for go-ahead. Please advise ASAP.

Diogenes Sepúlveda

Lead Supervisor

MO Becher Project

Anchorage North Spur, M37

Date: 7:29 AM, Friday, August 22, 2079

From: TMO

To: Diogenes.Sepú[email protected]

Subject: RE: Epoch I End Plans

TMOreplied:

We can’t take any chances with that floor, it’s too problematic. Close it off the second the last employee arrives, and don’t let her near the anchor room. Kill her and toss her out a window.

Date: 3:47 PM, Sunday, August 24, 2079

From:Rucapillán-Tenants.Announcements

To: +All at Becher.Merchants.Association; +All at CadwaladerandPitts.LLP; +All at Eichmann.Financial.Services; +All at FrankandFreisler.Associates; +All at Hulth.&.Company; +All at Lenkiewicz.Belanger.Apostolicum.Press; +All at Riverside.Café; +All at Sutavara.Surveyers; +All at Ui-te-Rangiora.Shipping; +All at Gyneas.Nuevo

Subject: Building Heat Advisory for M37, Monday August 25

Due to complications in repair work to the basement and sub-basements at M37, Anchorage North Spur, air conditioning will be shut down this afternoon through Monday, August 25. Maintenance crews will be working throughout Sunday night to ensure that the system will be up and running by no later than Tuesday morning. There may also be intermittent power and water outages throughout the day as we continue to repair damages from heavy sub-basement flooding due to the recent river surges, which means water to kitchens and bathrooms will be turned off. However, the building will be open for regular business hours, and your work attendance will remain mandatory as usual. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes, and will keep you appraised of any developments as they occur. We regret that portable fans will not be available in our management offices, so feel free to bring your own - building staff will be working emergency schedules,and will therefore not be able to accommodate special requests. As usual, we ask that you do NOT open your office windows without first making sure your thaumaturgical/pollution safety filter screens are properly installed.

Even though these are extenuating circumstances, building management will of course not be held legally accountable for accidental dismemberments, transformations, and/or deaths.

MONDAY, AUGUST 25

3:32 AM

Alex wakes up out of dead sleep, lets out a single gasp, and freezes.