The Mysteries of the Q Files #2: Screens are Cursed Windows

Chapter Eleven - Consolidating Information

Trick was so happy to see Naomi back. He could have cared less about the crumpled pile that was Brandon next to her. Vince and Nate shouted with surprise and leaped back, as the game winked out. He dove for her and helped her get to her feet. Naomi cupped his face with her hands. Oh boy, she was getting the wrong idea! He was only happy that she was back, not like that.... She headbutted him. Hard!

"You owe me for everything that happened! And I lost my sweet sword! For crying out loud, I was going to be Queen of England!"

Everyone gave them odd looks, but then the two friends started laughing together.

"But seriously, you still owe me," Naomi wheezed.

"I'll make it up to you someday, I swear," Trick coughed through laughs.

It took a little while to bring everything under control. Conturbatio thanked Nate and Vince for their services and handed them each a few hundred dollars to keep them quiet. They assured him that they would stay tight lipped and thanked him for the weirdest game they had ever played. They left talking loudly about the newest quests they had to complete in the real Breath of the Wild.

The Jacksons all wanted to talk with Brandon, who now squeaked like a mouse, and shuddered more than spoke. The agents decided it wa best to give them some time to themselves. Miles and Trick's mother comforted naomi, who said that she really didn't need much attention. She was a little frazzled, and mostly she jokingly complained about not having Excalibur anymore.

Conturbatio led the group onto the back porch where outside it was raining and snowing. Trick really didn't like the feel of Utah's weather. He shudder as Naomi shrugged on her thick coat and gave him a twinkling grin.

"Oh stop it! This place is totally unnatural! When does it snow and rain outside of a movie!?"

"Have you ever gone outside during the late winter," Naomi teased. "Or do you just stay indoors and contemplate social mazes and subtleties?"

"Har, har," Trick replied slowly.

"Okay you two, shape up and listen," Susan told the, but Trick could see his mother's lip twitching in a smile.

You had better not be getting any ideas, old woman!

Trick folded his arms and tried to look calm and unaffected by the weather as he rested on the house's side. Conturbatio relayed to the women everything that he and Trick had read from the mailbox.

"It is clear from the blabbermouth that this Tscheapwhetzar is behind what is going on right now. He even controls the man behind the mailbox, and so we couldn't learn more. It is unsettling that 'our' enemies were mentioned. It makes me a little concerned. We'll need to secure multiple copies of everything we can gather from here. I'm going to make sure that the evidence we collect is kept safe," the Sphinx finished with a stern voice.

"Your actions could be misconstrued as withholding evidence," Trick's mother warned. "You will have to tread cautiously Conturbatio."

"I will be, I have already been taking precautions."

"I saw the Tscheapwhetzar when I was coming back to Earth," Naomi suddenly said. "When I jumped through the portal in the game, there was a time that I saw something strange. I was in a place of blackness, but I clearly saw and heard him speak with the princess Midna, from the Twilight Princess. He was promising her a chance to see Link again, if she swore allegiance to him. He called it friendship."

"A man at war will make such promises," Agent Brown said. "It is rare that any ruler actually keeps those promises. This Tscheapwhetzar sounds like a real tyrant."

"I think he is even more than that," the Sphinx said weakly. "But I need to learn more."

Agent Miles then said, "So what exactly will be our plan for dealing with all of this. I think we can agree that the Tscheapwhetzar is beyond our ability to deal with at the moment, but the, er... Blabbermouth, said that we could defeat the chronicler by coaxing him out. How?"

"It really didn't make much sense," Trick spoke up. "He told us not to let the Door open, but this sounds like opening the Door. But, things are getting out of hand right now. Naomi and Brandon getting sucked into a videogame is no small matter."

"Speak for yourself," Naomi grumbled.

"But it requires using innocent people about your age to do that," Miles protested. "I don't think I can condone that."

"Stacey, we have to do it," Susan said emphatically. "This curse, or whatever it is, is getting more and more dangerous. Just like Harrisburg, we need to take action and stop this Door from opening. The chronicler cannot be allowed to escape. Conturbatio, you trust the mailbox?"

"I do. It knew things only half a dozen other people in the world know," he sounded shaken. Trick wondered what that case had been that caused the Sphinx to pale. "I think we can trust the blabbermouth's suggestion. The best thing for us to do, might be to recreate what had happened at the theater."

"No, that is too great a gamble," Trick mother now said. "There must be another way!"

"A giant videogame tournament," Naomi suggested.

"That's a good idea, but it might take too long," Conturbatio said.

Trick pulled out his phone and had a look at the theater's schedule. He thought about what Brandon had said about the incident and what he had read. He thought about everything that he had experienced on this case, and in the previous one.

"What if we used the bait as the trap itself," he suggested. Everyone gave him a confused look. "The theater is going to show Jurassic Park again, tonight. The theater has to keep running after all. Lots of people will go to this movie, because it is a classic, and this is a university town, so lots of young people will be in attendance. Well, what if we get the chronicler to show himself, evacuate the theater, and let a dinosaur eat the chronicler?"

"That is a terrible idea," Naomi said immediately.

"That plan has a lot of uncertainty," his mother said, Agent Miles bobbing her head quickly.

"Look, I'm just trying to throw out ideas," Trick shot back.

"I have a plan," Tiffany's voice rang out.

They all turned to look at the giggling girl. She danced into the middle of the group, wearing hot pink, light hoodie.

"My daddy has an old Ghostbusters costume. Ever since everything here began, it has felt and even acted like ti does in the movie!"

"Your parents let you watch that," Susan asked with surprise.

Tiffany giggled, and said, "Yes. If you are going to catch someone, why not use it and catch him? The things we have seen around here act like ghosts, so maybe something that can be used to fight ghosts will work."

"From the mouths of babes," Conturbatio breathed. "Tiffany, you and Patrick are giving me an idea that just might work!"

"Patrick? That sounds a whole lot stupider than Trick," the girl laughed at Trick.

He shook his head and growled, "So can we go inside now? I'm freezing!"