Exciti

Chapter 19 (Liam)

Lib stared at Adam with her arms folded, waiting. Lucy kicked him in the shins when he continued staring. He winced and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry if I was rude, I'm new to all of this," he told Lib, rubbing his shin.

Lib's features melted into a heart-warming smile. "Thank you, dear. Now, how can I help you, children?"

Lucy took the lead, "We are looking for the records of certain Exciti, but...errr...we are trying to surprise Dr. Little with helpful information. So, can you keep this a secret from him?"

Lib winked, "Absolutely, how sweet." She then gave Lucy a big smile, "What kind of records? You can tell me whatever about it, and I can find it. I'm better than any of those so-called search engines."

Liam and Adam started describing Ms. White, but Lib interrupted them as soon as they got to her effect on memories, "Memory Exciti records are restricted to full Antiquarians, sorry dears."

Lucy took over, "What about Iron maidens, the torture Exciti?"

Libs eyes widened, "Oh, no...dear me. Of course, that is restricted." She wagged a finger at Lucy. "Darling, you better not be chasing after those nasty things on your own without Dr. Little! The visions alone would..."

Lucy shook her head and lied through her teeth, "I'm not, really."

Adam tried not to laugh when he saw her cross her fingers behind her back. He thought of the other Excitus he encountered that night. "There was this other guy who had this weird pendant,".

"Pendant? Exciti jewelry are very interesting. Describe it to me" Lib frowned.

Adam described Ricky's pendant and what it did to the nurse. Lib tapped her chin, "That sounds like a Schimmelbusch mask."

"Gesundheit?" Adam offered.

"Thank you... What? No!" Lib chuckled, "Shim-mil-bush masks, after the inventor. Hmm, perhaps you know them by their other name, Ether Masks?"

The three of them gave Lib a vacant look that said otherwise.

Lib laughed, "Oh, dear me. Well, this is why I'm here."

She started to rummage in the folds of her skirt, babbling, "An Ether Mask is an old medical device made of a wire mesh that covered the nose and mouth. Layers of gauze were then applied on the mask before Ether, or other drugs were dripped on the gauze. The patient would then wear the mask and fall asleep before a surgery. It is a tool for anesthesia."

She reached her hand deeper in her skirt, "As an Excitus, however, an Ether Mask's user can put their target in a state of absolute obedience. They are incredibly effective on humans, but don't work on Exciti. They are also incredibly rare."

Adam tried not to get his hopes too high, "Can you find it?"

Lib looked up.

"Please?" He added quickly.

She smiled at him, "Yes, the records for ether masks in North America are...here!"

She lifted a file full of yellowing pages and flattened it between her palms. When she separated her hands, the folder split into two identical copies. "Here, you can have a copy." She handed one to Lucy, who started thumbing through it right away.

She extracted a paper. "Aha, found it!" she said.

Adam had barely had a second to rejoice when a familiar baritone voice nearby made him and Lucy stiffen. "The party can wait. Uzmanda, this is urgent!"

"It is always urgent with you, Trackers. Don't you have some Exciti to go after?"

Liam looked inquiringly at the other two. A pale Lucy looked like she was announcing doomsday when she answered in a whisper, "Dr. Little is here."