The Andre Miller Saga

Andre Miller 75 The Fates

Three days had passed since Conroy introduced Andre to the spirit of Birmingham. In that time, they had had daily meetings with it and were learning more about how it had come to be. Andre was back and forth between the interrogation of Fontaine and the time with Birmingham and was starting to run ragged again.

The interrogations had started to become more and more confrontational. Fontaine was still answering the questions honestly but they were coated in venom. She would snap more and more often and it was obvious that she was getting frustrated by Andre maintaining his cool in the face of her continued pushing and his ability to leave at his choice.

The meets with Birmingham were slightly confusing as it was unlike any other kind of spirit that either of them had dealt with before. It wasn't karmically neutral like an elemental, nor was it aligned like a celestial or infernal. It was closer to the habits of mortals taking on karma as they made decisions. Understanding whether it was good or evil was a conundrum. It seemed at once extremely curious about humans and their well-being and then the next moment dismissive of them as temporary flickers in the night.

After a long day of dealing with first Fontaine, and then Birmingham Andre was exhausted. "Birmingham worries me, Dad. They're very unpredictable in how they react to different pieces of information. One second, they want to be helpful, and the next they seem almost disinterested in the effects that its decisions have on the humans around it."

"I don't think it knows how to directly interact with humans. It's never been needed before. In the past, it has always been a passive effect in the background, now for the first time it getting to be an active participant in the conversation." Replied Conroy.

"I am just worried we are going to say or do something that we see as inconsequential and it's going to take offense to it. We don't even know how to classify it on a scale of power. If we anger it, are we dealing with the equivalent of an elemental lord or worse? There are just too many unknowns."

"I don't think that it is malevolent by its nature." replied Conroy, "More like it's a force of nature, more than an elemental, tied directly to a place, in this case here."

"That's what worries me. It can go from clear skies to a storm with little warning. If that happens with Birmingham that's going to be a serious problem." Said Andre with a foreboding look.

They spent the rest of the evening watching the news and talking about other things, but it was easy to tell they were both distracted.

The next day Andre made his trip to the FBI's secret location and SSA Dalton ushered him into the control room.

Deputy Director Becker stood by the control panels looking at Fontaine in her cell and the empty interrogation room. "I don't think we'll have much in the way of an interrogation session today. Ms. Fontaine attacked and injured a guard yesterday after being returned to her cell after your questioning. The guard will require time to heal from his broken arm. It was partially his fault for speaking to her in a crass manner. We've restated that extra care is to be taken with her during transport and that no further bad behavior will be tolerated on the part of the guards."

"If we're not doing an interrogation cycle today, then why am I here?" asked Andre.

"We've reached a roadblock with one of Jay's accomplices. Grace Kulik, the summoner, has stopped talking and we thought that by introducing you into the mix it might shake something loose." Replied Becker.

"I didn't sign up for that."

"True, but if there's information that she's hiding you're going to want it as much as we do. We figure introducing you should elicit some kind of reaction."