Unusual Investigations & Thorne
- PoI File: "Nemo"
- MOOT Point
- Crown of Thornes Outline
- 0. Funeral for the Phoenix
- 1. Haunted by the Living
- 2. A Much Belated Inheritance
- 3. Memory of a Murder
- 4. Calling on the Blackbird
- 5. Where It All Ended
- 6. Decryption by a Necromancer
- 7. The Foundation on Trial
Name | "Nemo" |
---|---|
Born | MM/DD/1991 |
Irregularity Cross-reference: American, Anart, Parahuman, Shapeshifter, Three Portlands
Capabilities: Nemo is capable of partial polymorphic shapeshifting, able to adopt the appearance of any human or composite of humans he has seen, although he cannot change his mass, and can only adjust his height and build within a limited range. This ability appears to extend to his internal anatomy, including reproductive organs. His original appearance is unknown, but he most commonly chooses to look like Canadian rock musician Geddy Lee, the bassist and vocalist of Rush.
Reason of Interest: Domestic partner of and romantically involved with Special Agent Robin Thorne.
Background & Biography: Nemo, born John Doe, is an anartist and stage actor from the paranormal enclave of New Amsterdam in New York City. His mother is the notorious anartist Jane -----, best known for legally changing her surname to a sequence of characters that causes most typewriters to jam. He has no known biological father; Jane has claimed that she conceived Nemo via parthenogenesis. The two are estranged, and a geas-backed restraining order is currently in place to prevent Jane from contacting Nemo.
Attended art school in Backdoor Soho. Moved to Three Portlands. One-man play with multiple parts. How did he meet Thorne?
[Actor in 3ports.]
[Florence tale about the formation of MOOT.]
0. Funeral for the Phoenix — Flo's funeral (flashback)
1. Haunted by the Living — Anniversary of Flo's death, Spencer gets Robin a photograph of Flo (there weren't many ever taken b/c of opsec concerns); talking to Kartal about Flo and what happened to the memory gem
2. A Much Belated Inheritance — Breaking into UIU evidence archives to recover Flo's memory gem
3. Memory of a Murder — Flo's death and message to Robin
4. Calling on the Blackbird — Talking to (and confiding in) Merlo; Merlo tries to help, but finds that the relevant files are above her clearance level
5. Where It All Ended — Tracking down and confronting Westbrook, who points them to Corwin
6. Decryption by a Necromancer — Making contact with Adam; summoning and interrogating Corwin's ghost
7. The Foundation on Trial — Going to the Assistant Director, blowing the whistle, demanding reparations from the Foundation
[2019-04-17 16:07:37] <GW> TyGently: hey, how well known/infamous is Adam in 3ports
[2019-04-17 16:07:40] <GW> prior to Comedown Machine, that is
[2019-04-17 16:08:03] <GW> I'm plotting out future Thorne tales, and thinking of having a bit where they need to interrogate a ghost
[2019-04-17 16:08:13] <GW> and wondering at how likely it would be to have Adam show up to help Robin
[2019-04-17 16:08:19] <ch00bakka> writing the deer hub
[2019-04-17 16:09:32] <GW> like, would it make sense for her to track him down and ask for his help, or is he not well known enough for that to be plausible
[2019-04-17 16:09:38] <GW> *them
[2019-04-17 16:10:24] ← Lazar left (~PI.BC859BC5.DE2998B3.A9181642|inretsuyl#PI.BC859BC5.DE2998B3.A9181642|inretsuyl): Leaving
[2019-04-17 16:10:30] → Lazar joined (~PI.BC859BC5.DE2998B3.A9181642|inretsuyl#PI.BC859BC5.DE2998B3.A9181642|inretsuyl)
[2019-04-17 16:10:58] <GW> the specific ghost they want to interrogate is Julian Corwin, aka O5-08
[2019-04-17 16:11:09] <GW> (yeah, he gets promoted eventually)
[2019-04-17 16:13:47] <TyGently> GW: what year
[2019-04-17 16:14:01] <GW> this would be right after under control, probably
[2019-04-17 16:14:04] <GW> before comedown machine
[2019-04-17 16:14:22] <GW> I want to do a late thorne tale about them investigating their mom's death and unravelling a Foundation conspiracy
[2019-04-17 16:14:32] <GW> and that can't really be anywhere /but/ right before comedown machine
[2019-04-17 16:15:00] <GW> too early before it and it's like "well, why did you trust the skippers" too far after it and it's like "well, the foundation is dead yo"
[2019-04-17 16:17:25] <TyGently> gimme a minute but my gut answer is that he'd definitely be suitable for that I think
[2019-04-17 16:20:03] <GW> I figure that if Samantha could track him down to hire him, Thorne could probably do the same
[2019-04-17 16:21:50] <GW> god, I just realized that this will be /another/ "Thorne does cool things without spencer" series, and it'll probably be longer than vital signs
[2019-04-17 16:22:04] <GW> poor spencer
[2019-04-17 16:22:07] <GW> poor boring spencer
[2019-04-17 16:23:48] <Lazar> write a tale about spencer and an intense dilemma about breakfast cereal
[2019-04-17 16:24:08] <GW> Spencer is the principal from Breakfast Club
[2019-04-17 16:24:27] <TyGently> Lazar: that is almost how an upcoming CM tale starts
[2019-04-17 16:57:30] <TyGently> GW: okay now I can talk specifics
[2019-04-17 16:58:55] <TyGently> as just a public figure adam is only notable for his connection to his father
[2019-04-17 16:59:04] <TyGently> so he's not really well known per se
[2019-04-17 17:00:09] <TyGently> he's presumably blacklisted by many of the corps in 3ports after the redzone incident
[2019-04-17 17:00:21] <GW> mmm
[2019-04-17 17:00:26] <TyGently> but
[2019-04-17 17:00:32] <GW> is his status as an ectomancer or whatever public knowledge
[2019-04-17 17:00:42] <TyGently> exactly
[2019-04-17 17:00:47] <GW> like, if you have a "I need to speak to ghosts" problem, would he be a name people know
[2019-04-17 17:00:52] <TyGently> yes
[2019-04-17 17:00:57] — GW nods
[2019-04-17 17:01:17] <GW> and Thorne would almost definitely know that he had pissed off Redzone /somehow/, if he's been blacklisted by a bunch of corps
[2019-04-17 17:01:28] <TyGently> if someone were to be looking for a person who could contact the dead, he's probably among the best for-sale practitioners in terms of power
[2019-04-17 17:01:54] <GW> and he's not connected to any of the interests potentially involved in Flo's death
[2019-04-17 17:04:11] <TyGently> he doesn't *really* like the UIU but skippers are definitely worse
[2019-04-17 17:04:14] <GW> post-circumstances, I also need to find a way to make Thorne's familiar more of a character
[2019-04-17 17:04:27] <GW> gonna have to explain why it didn't show up in the three ports bomber arc
[2019-04-17 17:04:39] <TyGently> and another good thing about his use
[2019-04-17 17:05:11] <TyGently> most mediums would probably not go anywhere near a job that involved potentially upsetting the Foundation, but that is Adam's exact brand of recklessness
[2019-04-17 17:05:12] <GW> (that's not related to the adam thing, just speculating out loud)
[2019-04-17 17:06:21] <TyGently> also, depending on how involved you might want his appearance to be, he could potentially be working for something Thorne could do for him
[2019-04-17 17:06:40] <GW> yeah, that was the other thing I was wondering
[2019-04-17 17:06:45] <GW> which is how Thorne would pay him
[2019-04-17 17:07:10] <GW> probably can't offer a "get out of jail free" pass, since they aren't 100% certain /they/ won't end up in jail after this
[2019-04-17 17:07:12] <GW> althoooough
[2019-04-17 17:07:20] <GW> they could just offer him an open-ended favor
[2019-04-17 17:07:26] <GW> whiiiich could be cashed in in CDM?
[2019-04-17 17:07:28] <GW> maybe
[2019-04-17 17:07:31] <GW> just as an thought
[2019-04-17 17:07:39] <TyGently> that's an interesting idea
[2019-04-17 17:08:04] <TyGently> I was thinking about how this might affect CDM, since robin and adam will 100% meet in the next tale
[2019-04-17 17:08:08] <GW> yeah
[2019-04-17 17:08:17] <GW> depending how quick I write stuff, this might go up before CDM
[2019-04-17 17:08:19] <GW> like
[2019-04-17 17:08:39] <GW> I've gotta write How Did It Come To This and Circumstances, but those'll both go up in May, probably
[2019-04-17 17:08:50] <GW> could do this in June if I stay on my writing kick
[2019-04-17 17:08:55] <GW> would be four or 5 tales
[2019-04-17 17:11:01] <GW> structure would be like [Run in with Lighthouse Mafia/digging into them] -> [Realizing that LM /didn't/ kill Flo/getting ahold of the sealed files on her death] -> [Interrogating Merlo and Westbrook] -> [Summoning the ghost of an O5] -> [Blowing the whole thing apart]
[2019-04-17 17:12:19] <TyGently> I think in general it doesn't really matter the order they show up in
[2019-04-17 17:12:36] <GW> yeah, probably not
[2019-04-17 17:12:50] <GW> I've got references to stuff that hasn't been written yet in a few places
[2019-04-17 17:12:52] <TyGently> we can have them link to each other
[2019-04-17 17:13:10] <GW> hell, vital signs has an orange link to dark room
[2019-04-17 17:13:20] <GW> which will happen eventually, probably
[2019-04-17 17:13:36] <TyGently> your liberal use of orange links disturbs me deeply
[2019-04-17 17:13:43] <TyGently> why not be like me and just cover them in blackboxes
[2019-04-17 17:13:48] <GW> I've only done it a couple of times
[2019-04-17 17:13:54] <TyGently> also: could throw in some dramatic irony
[2019-04-17 17:14:07] <GW> anyways, Dark Room is a url that could be changed at any needed time if someone tries to be a bastard
[2019-04-17 17:14:18] <GW> and the other ones are all so short term that it doesn't matter
[2019-04-17 17:14:38] <TyGently> that's not really what chafes me
[2019-04-17 17:14:55] <TyGently> I just hate that it declares something as an unpolished work in progress
[2019-04-17 17:15:06] <TyGently> nothing worse than sending a reader to the "looks like there's nothing here!" page
[2019-04-17 17:15:16] <TyGently> but on the topic of irony
[2019-04-17 17:15:17] <GW> I mean, for an ongoing series, that's fine
[2019-04-17 17:15:41] <TyGently> after everything has gone down in your tale, he can be like
[2019-04-17 17:16:06] <TyGently> "oh boy, sure did potentially piss of the Foundation huh. guess I should lay low and definitely not do anything risky or dangerous for at least the next several months"
[2019-04-17 17:16:16] <GW> hahaha
[2019-04-17 17:17:19] <TyGently> also I'm interested to hear your thoughts re: summoning the ghost of an O5 because it gives me ideas
[2019-04-17 17:17:54] <GW> so, my thinking is that part of why the Foundation conceals the IDs of the O5s so tightly is b/c it shields against them being summoned like this
[2019-04-17 17:18:02] <GW> you need to be able to Name a ghost to summon it
[2019-04-17 17:18:20] <GW> which is more than just, like, knowing their name, but also who they were and what they did
[2019-04-17 17:19:02] <GW> normally, this makes it /really hard/ to summon an O5, at least in their capacity as an O5, b/c most people wouldn't know who they were
[2019-04-17 17:19:12] <GW> but Thorne manages to get Corwin's name from Westbrook
[2019-04-17 17:19:54] <GW> not sure if you need a ghost's consent to summon them or not
[2019-04-17 17:19:58] <GW> it's probably /easier/ with consent
[2019-04-17 17:20:39] <TyGently> honestly that seems way too easy to me
[2019-04-17 17:20:47] <TyGently> that is security breaches out the wazoo
[2019-04-17 17:21:10] <GW> I mean, not everyone leaves a ghost, either
[2019-04-17 17:21:27] <TyGently> I would bet the Foundation fucking obliterates the ghosts of any dead person with high enough clearance
[2019-04-17 17:21:37] <GW> probably!
[2019-04-17 17:21:38] <tawny> would legal name changes make it harder to summon a ghost
[2019-04-17 17:22:26] <GW> but by their nature, the O5s are kind of hidden even from the Foundation, so it's entirely possible for corwin to have slipped through the cracks
[2019-04-17 17:22:31] <GW> especially if he died unexpectedly
[2019-04-17 17:22:42] <GW> "shit, we lost his ghost"
[2019-04-17 17:22:53] <tawny> so could you change someone's name on their deathbed to something else to hide them
[2019-04-17 17:23:03] <GW> hahaha
[2019-04-17 17:23:16] <TyGently> it would just seem super incompetent to leave such an incredibly important thing without the greatest possible precautions
[2019-04-17 17:23:31] <tawny> well ty there is also no guarantee that you'd get useful information from the ghost, right?
[2019-04-17 17:23:39] <tawny> they might just refuse to answer you
[2019-04-17 17:23:42] <GW> ^
[2019-04-17 17:23:43] <GW> yeah
[2019-04-17 17:23:46] <TyGently> that's irrelevant
[2019-04-17 17:23:51] <GW> okay, but
[2019-04-17 17:23:59] <TyGently> they would do *something* to ruin the ghost
[2019-04-17 17:24:09] <GW> I feel like if /anyone/ is going to be trusted to not spill secrets in death
[2019-04-17 17:24:15] <TyGently> I am saying this partially for suspension of disbelief and partially because I think there's potential to make this way more interesting
[2019-04-17 17:24:15] <GW> it would be the fucking O5s
[2019-04-17 17:24:25] <GW> alright, what are your ideas then
[2019-04-17 17:24:31] <TyGently> rather than just "oh we have his name"
[2019-04-17 17:24:39] <tawny> well I think it's kind of a tricky balance
[2019-04-17 17:24:53] <tawny> you need something that makes it hard to reach their ghost but not outright impossible
[2019-04-17 17:24:57] <TyGently> well let's say they obliterated or encrypted or scrambled his most significant essence
[2019-04-17 17:25:11] <TyGently> thing is
[2019-04-17 17:25:19] <TyGently> people can have multiple ghosts
[2019-04-17 17:25:38] <GW> this is true
[2019-04-17 17:25:41] <GW> you can die many times
[2019-04-17 17:25:43] <TyGently> they could summon a memetic imprint from the recollections of someone else and then use that partial ghost to jump to the real one
[2019-04-17 17:25:58] <GW> OH SHIT TY
[2019-04-17 17:25:59] <GW> TY TY TY
[2019-04-17 17:26:22] <GW> one of the big plot points in this is going to be Thorne recovering Flo's journal amulet
[2019-04-17 17:26:37] <GW> basically an enchanted necklace that stores 17+ years of memories and journal entries and stuff
[2019-04-17 17:26:55] <GW> could they use Florence's memories of Corwin to do that
[2019-04-17 17:27:25] <GW> actually, wait
[2019-04-17 17:27:26] <GW> wait, yeah
[2019-04-17 17:27:39] <GW> Thorne actually destroys the amulet prior to this in the series, so it would even have a ghost
[2019-04-17 17:27:52] <TyGently> sounds perfect then
[2019-04-17 17:28:01] <TyGently> the amulet gives them a database of information
[2019-04-17 17:28:07] <TyGently> westbrook indicates what they need to look for
[2019-04-17 17:28:08] <tawny> ghost of a ghost of a ghost
[2019-04-17 17:28:20] <TyGently> adam can summon up the necessary spectre string from there
[2019-04-17 17:28:24] <GW> (they also have a backup of it on their familiar, so the have they whole database too)
[2019-04-17 17:28:35] <TyGently> usually ghost summoning is done in parallel not in series so it's a bit risky
[2019-04-17 17:28:52] <tawny> quad core ghost summons
[2019-04-17 17:29:00] <GW> Thorne sort of has a similar mental journal, but instead of storing it on an enchanted item, they store it in their familiar
[2019-04-17 17:29:11] <GW> which has its own pros and cons
[2019-04-17 17:29:17] <GW> pros are that it's a lot harder to lose
[2019-04-17 17:29:30] <tawny> robin's familiar is a golem, right
[2019-04-17 17:29:36] <GW> cons are that if Thorne dies or the binding contract is dissolved for whatever reason, the familiar fucks back off to the outside
[2019-04-17 17:29:41] <GW> tawny: no
[2019-04-17 17:29:44] <tawny> oh
[2019-04-17 17:30:28] <TyGently> and you know this is a good narrative plan because it has three steps
[2019-04-17 17:30:34] <GW> hahaha
[2019-04-21 09:34:21] <GW> idea for a tale
[2019-04-21 09:34:43] <GW> "Memories of the Phoenix", and it's just Thorne going through Flo's wizard journal
[2019-04-21 09:35:10] <GW> the first entry is just "The Foundation cannot be trusted. If they make you forget everything else, remember that."
[2019-04-21 09:35:58] <GW> and then the last entry is Flo leaving a message for Robin
The funeral was nondenominational and nonpartisan, which left a lot of denominations and partisans nonplussed.
Bishop Bishop had wanted to hold a service at Second Saint Lucifer's, using a novel formulation of Pascal's Wager as his justification: since there was no evidence of her religious affiliation, every religion had equal odds of having her as a member, and since Bishop Bishop was simultaneously ordained in the Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican Churches, it was three times as likely that she was part of his parish. No one had been swayed by this argument, but the logical paradox did cause several of the municipal police golems (and one human police officer) to lock-up until someone hit them with a crowbar.
Hazardous as it had been, Bishop Bishop had at least presented an argument. The Discordians wanted to hold the funeral at the IHOP, on the grounds that it was Tuesday.
The UIU wanted a memorial service at FBI Headquarters, but the Veil made that unlikely. The City Council offered the use of Cambium Circle, in a rare display of municipal support for the FBI. Hamilton Burke had the audacity to suggest the Shadow of the International Rose Test Garden as a venue, which very nearly got him shot by an enraged federal agent.
Someone anonymous proposed a private service in Minnesota, which had once been her home. That was never followed-up, and was eventually forgotten by everyone involved — save for one man, who held a lonely vigil on the shores of Lake Superior, and remembered.
In the end, the decision was made to hold the service at the ICSUT Portlands campus — it was a respectably official institution that wasn't directly tied to the city or the federal government, and it had a suitably Gothic architecture akin to a cathedral without the taint of divinity. More to the point, the campus wards were strong enough to fend off any possible spectral incursion, which was always a concern when dealing with a wizard's funeral.
Dean Belmonte performed the rites, which were brief, syncretic, and empirically validated. It was as much spell as prayer, aimed, not at a god, but at the ashes of the deceased, in the hopes that her spirit would hear the words.
Rest. Find peace. Do not disturb or be disturbed by the living. You will not be forgotten.
"Nike" Belmonte, Dean of ICSUT Portlands
Nike Belmonte was old, and old battlemages are no strangers to funerals. It wasn't the first time she'd been called upon to perform the rites, and it likely wouldn't be the last. She closed with a short eulogy — the kind used for familiar strangers and professional acquaintances, meant to be little more than an opening act for the more personal tributes yet to follow.
"Florence Thorne was the greatest battlemage of our generation — of that, I have no doubt. She was also almost entirely self-taught, a rarity these days — perhaps even the last. It gave her a unique understanding of thaumaturgy, one grounded entirely in its practical applications.
It also gave her a great deal of respect for this institution and its mission. For as long as I knew her, Florence Thorne was a friend and ally of the Center, and did all she could to help advance the study and teaching of thaumatology. She conducted seminars here every month on the basics of field evocation. She created new internships in the UIU for students of applied thaumaturgy. She personally exorcised the seventeen major demons that took up residence in the Servane Clocktower last summer, and which threatened to delay the start of the fall semester.
It is in that spirit that I intend to create a new scholarship fund in her name, for the benefit of first-generation students of applied thaumaturgy. It is a small thing, I know, but for as long as this Center survives, the name of Florence Thorne will not be forgotten.
Her death is a great loss to thaumatology, to this city, and to all of us who called her a friend."
Jesse Davis, Special Agent (UIU/MOOT)
[Description of Jesse.]
(Florence was a leader who inspired, lead from the front, and made her people better)
Stephen McClure, Three Portlands Alderman
[Description of McClure.]
"Florence Thorne wasn't a native of this city, but she made it her home all the same. She recognized the importance of what we've built here, a safe haven behind the Veil, and she fought so hard to defend it. Without her help, the Crises of '96 would have been so much worse.
It was Florence who pushed the UIU to do more local recruitment. It was Florence who changed the local FBI office from an occupying force into an equal partner, working hand-in-hand with city residents to keep our streets safe. It was Florence who argued for the hardline interpretation of the Hoover Mandate which has kept the Foundation out of Portlands. It was Florence who, at the request of the Mayor, represented this city during the 4th Convention on the Veil Accords.
More than anyone else, Florence could be trusted to have this city's best interests in mind and at heart.
Florence loved this city, and it loved her back. She was the only federal agent who didn't need a transit pass. Police golems saluted her on sight. The day she died, the Mayor turned off the sun for a minute.
Florence loved this city, and in the end, it killed her. A common thug with a gun, working for the Lighthouse Mafia, caught her by surprise and shot her in the back. It was a cowardly and vile act committed by a gang of villains who have plagued the people of this city for years.
Well I say, never again! I am pledging all of the resources of the city police department to assist the UIU in bringing these gangsters to heel. We will hunt them down and drive them from our streets. We will ensure that they will never threaten our shops, our homes, our very lives, ever again. And before the next election cycle, I will see Hamilton Burke rotting in Paramax where he belongs!
We'll do it for Florence, and for this city that she loved so much."
Renee Morin
[Description of Renee]
"Miss Thorne saved my life.
Me and my sisters were made in a lab. We grew up in cages. Our creator was a madman and a monster. The plans he had for us were horrible. I still have nightmares about it.
Miss Thorne rescued us from the nightmare. I remember when I first saw her, I thought she was another monster. A pillar of flame shaped like a woman. It hurt to look at her, the flames were so bright. And when she saw us, she screamed. She was so angry.
Then the flames died down, until they only covered her hands. She used them to melt the locks off our cages, one by one, and then she extinguished those flames too. I could see that she was crying.
She told me that it was safe, that she wasn't going to hurt us. And I knew I could trust her.
She was the first person to ever hug me.
She hugged all of us. Then she told us to stay there, just for a little bit. There was something she needed to do. Then she would be back to take us away.
I learned, later, that she went and killed the men responsible. She said she didn't intend to do it — one of them pulled a gun and she just reacted — and she never got in trouble for it, but I know that some people were mad at her for that. Heroes aren't supposed to kill.
But Miss Thorne wasn't a hero. She was an angel. The kind of angel that has to tell you not to be afraid. An avenging angel with a flaming sword. And on that day, she rescued us from hell."
Jordan "Submarine" Raybon
The man they called Submarine almost hadn't been allowed to speak. He was four years into a six year sentence in Paramax, and his natural talent for Wayfinding made him a flight risk. But after seeing the draft of his proposed remarks, Assistant Director Arkwright had granted Jordan Raybon supervised release to attend the service, with the understanding that anything less than total cooperation would result in a severely lengthened sentence.
"I am a criminal. For fifteen years, I made my living as a smuggler and a fence. It was strictly non-violent crime, at least the way I did it, but it was still a crime. It got me arrested, more times than I care to count, and most of the time the person arresting me was Agent Thorne.
I liked being arrested by Agent Thorne. She understood that we were playing a game, and she played it with style. She was always the first to vouch for my character — 'criminal by consequence, not by nature,' she would say. She was always willing to make a deal, to trade information for a few more weeks of freedom. I got very good at acquiring information for her, and didn't even realize she had turned me into an informant. She changed the rules of the game until it was her game, and I had no choice but to keep playing. I respected the hell out of her for that.
A lot of people have wondered why she did that. Why would she keep cutting deals with me? Didn't she see that I was an unrepentant criminal? She would tell them that I was a useful idiot, that the harm my one-man smuggling ring did was insignificant, and the intel I provided about the criminal underworld was invaluable. I'm sure she believed that, but it wasn't the only reason.
Agent Thorne believed in me. She believed that I could be more than I was. When everyone else, even me, thought that I would always be a petty criminal, she saw that I had hidden depths. And she made me see it too. Every time she arrested me, every time she cut me a deal, she pushed me to be just a little bit more like her, a little bit closer to the light. I only wish I had seen it sooner. Before anyone got hurt.
I wish I could tell her that she was right. All I can do now is try to live in a way that would have made her proud.
That's all any of us can do."
Josef, the Golem of Prague
Josef had not been invited to speak. No one had thought to ask him. But the Golem of Prague makes his own invitations, and nobody was prepared to deny him — probably, he would accept it quietly and peaceably, but when dealing with a half-ton man of clay, few people are willing to test the difference between probably and certainly.
"Florence Thorne was a remarkable woman, and I count myself fortunate to have known her. She was a flawed woman — rash, vindictive, at times arrogant — but she found ways to channel her flaws into virtues: rashness became boldness, a willingness to face any danger to do what was right; vindictiveness became righteousness, a never ending quest for justice; arrogance became leadership, tempered by the wisdom of experience.
More than anything, however, Florence Thorne was a woman haunted by her power.
It weighed heavily on her, even when she was young. She recognized the enormity of the power she held, and understood the responsibility it laid upon her — excessively so, perhaps. She labored under the misapprehension that to try and fail is no better than to not try at all, and considered herself complicit in the misdeeds of others. She was deeply moral, wracked by guilt for past mistakes and inescapable misdeeds, and it drove her towards martyrdom. As a result, she spent most of her life striving for greater control over her power, so that she could wield it more effectively.
I gave her what advice I could, when I could, but it was up to her to choose her path — and she chose the hardest path of all.
Faced with a world of injustice, beset by enemies and allies that sought to turn her into a weapon of war, Florence Thorne became an agent of law, a warrior for justice. She harnessed her power, which so naturally lent itself towards destructive chaos, and made it a tool of order. She dedicated her life to others, and when the time came, she died for them.
Where so many before her have taken the left-hand path, Florence Thorne chose the path of righteousness.
The world is that much darker for her passing."
Virginia Kartal, Special Agent (UIU - Retired)
[Description of Kartal]
(Florence was a good partner, genuinely believed in the UIU's mission)
Robin Thorne
[Description of Robin. Merlo leaves while Robin is speaking.]
"My mom… my mom never knew her parents. She grew up an orphan. She left my father before I was born, and she never talked about him. She raised me as a single mother.
My entire life, it was just the two of us. No grandparents, no siblings, no father. But it was never lonely. I had a mother who loved me, who was always there for me when I needed her. Oh, Aunt Kartal babysat for her sometimes, but there was never a day she didn't speak to me, never a night she didn't tell me she loved me. She'd be out on the streets getting into firefights with terrorists, but she always came home.
And then, one day, she didn't. A week ago, I spoke to her for the last time ever.
It's been the loneliest week of my life.
And I realize, now, how strong she must have been. I've been an orphan for one week. She was an orphan her whole life.
It makes me realize just how important it must have been to her to be a good parent — how terrified she must have been of not being there. I think, maybe, that this must have been her nightmare, to hear me giving her eulogy. To know that she had failed.
I'm sorry, Mom. I miss you so much."
"These files are above my clearance level. I'll need to get authorization from Holman—"
"No."
"Thorne, be reasonable. We've both worked with him for years, you can't seriously believe that he would—"
"That he would what? That he would never authorize an illegal operation in Three Portlands?"
"That's different, and you know it."
"All I know is that my mom didn't trust him. Until we have proof that he wasn't involved, I'm going to follow her lead on this."
"Fine. But without Director-level clearance, you aren't getting those files."
"… Who's the current Director of Site-246?"
"The Draintrap? Cody Westbrook. Why?"
"You're better off not knowing. Will anyone know you've been looking for these files?"
"Maybe. The RAISA request will be logged, and it might trip a flag if anyone is worried about someone digging. But I can pull some more of our files on the Unit to cover our tracks. If anyone asks, I'll just say that I was doing research for an assessment on whether we should try to recruit you and Spencer."
"Not happening."
"Well, yeah, that's obvious now, but it wasn't the last time Holman asked me about it."
[Robin tracks down and confronts Westbrook]
They didn't need to use thaumaturgy to track down Westbrook. Florence had already told them where to go.
Robin had never been to Duluth, but they recognized the old pier immediately. Even after three decades and change, it remained nearly identical to the image of recorded memory that Florence had left in her journal. Only when they pressed a hand to the gem and called up the memory for a direct comparison did the differences become apparent — there was more rust and grime, the smells of industry had faded, and a creeping sense of decay now loomed over the waterfront. Duluth hadn't yet gone the way of Detroit, but it was on that path. In the end, entropy would claim its toll from the town, as it had done for the rest of America's industrial heartland.
They found Westbrook at the end of the pier, exactly where he had been in Florence's memory. It was clear as they approached that, unlike the rest of the memory, he hadn't been able to evade the rigors of time. His once-blond hair had faded to gray, and his face was worn with weariness and age. He seemed thinner too, no longer lanky but now lean and gaunt, like a starving buzzard. There was an eerie stillness about him, as if he had surrendered to death long ago and was merely waiting for it to notice. Looking at him, Robin almost felt pity for the broken man before them.
Keeping a hand on their mother's necklace, they thought about Westbrook. The spells laid into the gem were idiosyncratic in the extreme — reflecting Florence's largely self-taught understanding of occult theory — and they hadn't fully mastered them yet, but whatever magic powered the journal was able to recognize the nature of their query.
Cody Westbrook is the most deceitful, manipulative human being I have ever known. Florence's voice sounded in their mind, full of a venom that Robin had never heard from her in life. From the very first moment I met him, everything he did and said, every facet of his personality that he presented to me, was carefully crafted to deceive. He is such a skillful liar that he even managed to make himself believe he loved me. I hope that you will never meet him, but if you do, trust nothing he says or does. He is not your father, and you owe him nothing.
That banished any hint of sympathy they might have felt. Drawing on the memory of their mother's anger to steel themself, they stepped forward into Westbrook's peripheral vision.
"Director Westbrook?"
"Unfortunately." He turned to look at them. "This used to be her favorite spot on the lake, you know. We used to come here on shore leave, to talk or just to watch the ships. She would—"
"Don't." Robin cut him off. "Just don't. You're not my father, you're not going to win any brownie points with me by reminiscing about my mother. I mean, I knew her a hell of a lot longer than you did — she was with the Foundation for, what, barely five years? You can't tell me anything I don't already know."
The barest hint of a smile crept onto his face. "Oh, I very much doubt that. She never told you about me, did she?"
"She never told you about me either, and I think that says a lot more about you than it does about me," Robin countered. "I have her journal, I know exactly what she thought of you, and I know better than to trust you."
"Why are you here then? Just to torment an old man with the price of his mistakes? To show me just how much I lost? Some final act of misguided revenge on her behalf?"
They looked him dead in the eyes. "Did you kill her?"
He recoiled as if he had just been slapped. "What?"
They grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him closer. "Look at me when I'm speaking to you. Did you kill her? Did you order her death?"
"How could— no, of course not! How could you even ask that?"
[text — Westbrook explains that the O5 council ordered Florence's death, and that he learned this from Corwin (who had been promoted to the council). Robin wants to know who specifically, but Westbrook explains that only the council would know that, and Corwin was the only one he knew was on the council — and Corwin is dead now. Westbrook tries to apologize, which just pisses Robin off.]
Robin nodded slowly, then removed the necklace and offered it to Westbrook. "Here. She would have wanted you to have this."
A flash of gratitude sparked in his eyes as he looked at them in surprise. Smiling broadly in the first true sign of happiness that they'd seen from him, he reached out to take the gem from their outstretched hand.
They clenched their hand into a fist and punched him in the gut.
The blow caught him completely off guard, knocking the wind from his lungs and sending him stumbling backwards. He doubled over in pain, unable to do anything but gasp for air.
"How dare you," Robin said, eyes blazing with fury as they loomed over him. "How dare you call yourself my father. How dare you say you loved her. How dare you consider yourself the victim here, after everything you did. You have no idea how much you hurt her, how much pain you caused her. But you will."
Grabbing his wrist, they pressed the gem into the palm of his hand. As they did so, they reached deep into the matrix of the spell and called forth the memories buried there — some of the earliest memories recorded in it, from the exact moment when, thirty-four years ago on this very same pier, Westbrook had destroyed Florence's life with the revelation of his treachery. They called up all the pain, the rage, the despair, and the hatred that Florence had felt in that moment, and in all the moments since then whenever she had thought of Westbrook. Then, using that unbreakable link that was the terrible evidence of their parentage, Robin forced him to experience all of it.
He opened his mouth to scream, but there was only enough air in his lungs for him to choke out a whimper. What they were doing was dangerous — as the target of most of the emotions that he was now receiving, experiencing them like this could shatter his psyche and destroy his sense of self — but Robin didn't care. They were getting all of those emotions too, and right now they were gripped by a ferocious hatred of Westbrook — a hatred that Florence had concealed from them, even as she had nurtured it over the years.
Robin had come to the pier fully prepared to kill the man who should have been their father. But now they realized that was too good for him.
He didn't even notice as they took the necklace from his unresistant fingers and slipped it back over their neck. They gave him one last contemptuous look before turning to go.
"So glad we had this talk, dad. Enjoy the rest of your life, because you're going to die alone."
Robin Thorne stalked away down the pier without looking back, leaving the man who had never been their father crying and shivering in the cold.