Classroom
Several rows of combined stool-and-table desks fill a section of this chamber. The frames of old chalkboards still hang on the walls, but the slate that filled them is long gone. Some of the desks are turned onto their sides, and the podium at the front is also knocked over, as is one of the walls of the classroom itself: apparently the larger chamber was partitioned off with freestanding walls originally. A few of the desks still have what appear to be binders on them.

"Hey, it's a school room, I think," Zahnrad comments as he strolls in, looking for all the world invincible. He even marches up to one of the desks and tries to look through a binder.

Jackpot! The resin binder is still intact, for the most part. Inside are pages of translucent plastic with diagrams and schematics embedded within. The normal white paper that once separated the sheets is crumbly though.

"And these are mine!" Zahnrad says quickly as he looks through the transparencies for anything familiar. "Mine, mine, mine."

Alas, nothing in the diagrams is familiar. Each page is only a detail in some larger design that isn't immediately obvious, but none of them look like anything Zahn saw inside Clover's head.

Olivia still looks a little shaken from her encounter with the body of the Skeek that blocked their path, but she manages to keep a hold on the skull and look around the room. While Zahn examines the desks, she makes her way up to podium to see if there's anything interesting. She does roll her eyes at the Kadie's sudden protests of ownership, though.

Zahnrad doesn't care. They have been Kadie-claimed and that is that. Closing the binder, he now gently sticks it into his backpack. Nearly skipping, he goes to the next desk.

The podium is made of dark, polished wood and is still in fairly good shape, except for the lectern top itself. There Olivia sees a big dent, and bits of embedded fur and dried blood. At least the skull has stopped glowing, however.

Olivia shudders at the blood and looks rather warily on the ground around the podium, half-expecting to see another body lying there.

Nothing gruesome is on the floor, not even any stains.

Olivia sighs in relief and now goes to examine the fallen partition and the other room beyond.

Beyond the fallen wall is the rest of the chamber, which looks like it was used for storage. There are more 'walls' stacked and ready to be used, along with racks of boxes and moldering blankets. A few larger items stand by themselves, covered in glass-thread tarps.

Zahnrad takes a second binder anyway. "I bet Gunther would like this," he comments to himself. It goes into his pack too, and he now heads after Olivia while giggling a bit maniacally.

Olivia wanders over to the rack of boxes first, to see if any are worth opening. "Finished claiming everything yet?" she asks Zahn as he nears, albeit somewhat absently.

"Nope!" Zahnrad announces, "I'm certain there is more in here that is mine and just doesn't know it yet."

The boxes are about a foot square each, with basic fitted tops. They're made from resin, though, so are still intact and even come in different colors. Whatever labels they may have had are long gone, though.

"Open one. The worst that could happen is a zombie'll pop out," the Kadie suggests.

Olivia rolls her eyes again (and in a more exaggerated way than before) as she reaches for the nearest box and lifts its lid.

The box has protected its contents from the pervasive moisture, so the paper inside is in fairly good shape. The top sheet is a child's drawing done in crayon or some sort of paint-stick, showing a clearly Skeekish stick-figure family. There are no trees or sun as is typical of such a drawing, but some of the background might be the crystal garden in the apartment grotto.

Olivia takes in a deep breath as she looks at the drawing. "I guess this must be the work of one of the children who went to this school," she says softly, handing the picture to Zahn to see. Then she starts sorting through the other papers inside the box.

"I guess you're going to take them?" Zahnrad asks as he leans into get a better look.

This box contents seem to all be childrens' drawings – a few of them even crudely signed. Most depict Skeeks, or Skeeks doing something, but a few are of machines. And a very few are of nightmarish faces dominated by huge, blank eyes.

"I probably should keep a few for reference," Olivia replies. "But d'you want the drawings of the machines? They might give you clues as to what they're for or how to repair them."

"The machines, yes. And a few of the monsters too. They could be clues," Zahnrad says as he takes a few of them for reference. He uses one of the procured binders to store them safely.

Olivia glances up at Zahn as he puts his drawings away and says with a small grin, "If I took an empty binder, would that be okay? That would be a good place to keep the drawings I'm taking with me, too."

"Feel free to grab a binder. I took four. I think there are a couple others," Zahnrad notes. He looks for another box to open.

Olivia thanks the Kadie and tries opening another box, as well.

The next box, a green one, just happens to be full of empty binders, along with a hole-punch and spools of the glass-cloth 'ribbon' used to hold punched pages in place.

The box Olivia chooses is full of an odd paper, unlike anything she's seen before. It appears to be some sort of flexible plastic layer bound to a thick paper backing.

"Hey, that's convenient," Zahnrad declares as he pulls out a binder, the punch, and the ribbon for Olivia. "Seems too easy … now I expect a ghoul to come up and snog my ear."

"Oh hey, Olivia, check the top of that skull for a series of equally spaced bumps," Zahnrad suggests.

For her part, Olivia takes out one of the strange pieces of paper and holds it up to Zahn's lantern-light. "Um, I'm not sure what this is for… " she comments, looking perplexed.

"Not sure, either," Zahn says as he takes the piece from her hands. Carefully, he tries to see if the plastic peels back.

The paper tears easily enough, despite the waxy plastic layer. The two layers don't seem to want to separate though.

"Hm. I thought it might be for putting over something. I guess not," Zahn says. He takes a few samples to experiment with later."

While Zahn fiddles with the paper, Olivia does as he asks and runs her hand over the top of the skull, feeling for any noticeable bumps.

The thin glass coating over the skull feels smooth, and there aren't any visible pits on the bone itself. It looks like it was boiled clean before being coated.

"Sorry, Zahn, but I don't feel any bumps on the skull," Olivia says. Then she also takes a few of the waxy pieces of paper and sets them aside to carry away with her. That done, she looks for any other boxes that might be worth opening.

There are plenty of boxes to choose from. A bright pink one is next to the one that held the odd paper.

"I need to find that knowledge machine," Zahnrad mutters and rubs his own head. After he spots the pink box, he winces, just knowing Olivia is going to look in it.

True to form, the Skeek reaches for the pink box next and takes off its lid.

This box is full of craft supplies! Crayons (or something very like them), colored pencils, brushes, clear-resin rules, angle-guides and curve and circle stencils. There are even blunt-tipped scissors with blades made from the odd, silvery metallic-ceramic alloy.

Olivia's eyes go very wide and round. "Wow, I could really use some of this stuff… " She trails off, however, and looks at Zahn, as if asking permission. He is the one claiming everything, after all.

Zahnrad slumps and eyes the box. "You want me to carry a bright, pink, girly, box," he mutters, then rubs his forehead. "Fine, fine. Just … don't tell anyone or they'll think I've gone Morgan."

Olivia laughs as she says, "Well, I don't need all of it and we can put what I do need into a box of another color, if you like?"

"Then pick what you want and do that," Zahnrad agrees. "There any other boxes we haven't opened yet?"

"Oh yeah, plenty," Olivia says as she starts pulling out the art supplies she wants to take with her. "Wanna open the next one?"

"Sure, why not?" Zahnrad agrees. He scoots along the floor to the next box. And with an overly dramatic flare, he pulls the top off!

It takes some time to go through all of the boxes, but the search turns up all sorts of useful things. There are drafting supplies ( including mechanical pencils and pens), lined and grid-embossed paper, bound notebooks of various sizes and lots and lots of paper. Some of the paper is fuzzier than the writing weight kind, and is kept near boxes full of bottles of colored inks.

Zahn can't help but help himself to some of the mechanical pencils and pens, not to mention the gridded paper. These he carefully stores into his backpack, making sure they won't get unduly bent or crushed. "Mine, mine, mine," he says after taking each bit.

Olivia looks longingly after the inks but knows they probably won't travel well in their glass bottles, so she leaves them behind. She does take a few of the bound notebooks for sketchbooks, though.

"Wrap the bottles in paper for padding and they would transport fine," Zahnrad comments when he notices the Skeeks longing stare. Curious about the tarps now … that's where he goes next.

Olivia mulls this suggestion over. "Well… maybe just a few bottles. I could take some in the colors I've run out of." She then proceeds to wrap four or five bottles of ink in paper, as Zahn suggested.

The items covered by the tarps aren't very large… and certainly not taller than a Skeek or wider than one of the classroom desks. The shapes under the coverings could be just about anything, though.

Not one for subtlety, Zahnrad pulls off a tarp. The first thing revealed is a machine of some kind, mounted on a desk fitted with lockable wheels. It has a button-board with a letter or symbol engraved upon each button. There's a moving rack for holding something about the size of a sheet of paper, and a plethora of impact arms that hit the same spot. A few levers and other controls are apparent, but nothing is labeled for clarity.

"Hmm, hmm, I think I might know what this is," Zahnrad says and waggles a hand at Olivia. "Gimme a piece of paper."

Olivia hands a piece over to Zahn before going back to her ink bottle-wrapping, but she does glance curiously at the odd machine on the desk.

Zahnrad takes some time in trying to insert the regular piece of paper into the movable tray. "This is some sort of movable type machine. I think the paper slides along and these letter-bars swing up and thwap the paper, leaving a letter," he explains.

There are clips to hold the paper in place, and a bit of fiddling reveals which knobs and levers control the positioning of the paper before the 'target' area.

The Kadie fiddles a bit more, positioning the paper. When it's finally set, Zahnrad pokes a button with a symbol to see if it does anything.

Thanks to the miracle lubricant, the machine still works. An arm flings forward when the key is depressed, and leaves a slight impression of the symbol on the paper. The holding tray automatically moves over one character space.

Zahnrad leans in and looks for anything other than the indention … like, say an inky letter.

There's no sign of anything but a slight impression, and there doesn't seem to be any mechanism for inking the hammers either.

Zahnrad pulls the sheet out. "Hand me one of those weird waxy pages," he tells the Skeek.

Olivia, who has been watching Zahn fiddle with the machine ever since she finished with her ink bottles, ohhhhs as she fishes out a piece of that paper. "So this is what it's for!" she exclaims.

"I think so. I suspect this weird material changes color when hit. Not sure what else it would be for," Zahnrad says as he inserts it into the machine. He pokes another key.

Using the waxy paper produces a clearer result: the symbol cuts through the coating to the paper backing to create a clearer impression. It still isn't as clear as something written in ink, however.

"Hm. Well, it's something," the Kadie decides. He also tests … well, how heavy the machine is.

The contraption is bolted to the desk, and is heavy enough that it made sense to attach wheels to it. It's still smaller than the bulk of the other tarp-covered item however.

"Bummer," Zahn says. He pats the machine longingly, then goes to the other tarp. Rubbing his hands together … he then yanks it off!

This device is bigger, and sports a hand-cranked horizontal drum with a fluid-reservoir feeding into one end. The drum is perforated with fine holes. Two trays are attached along with a feed mechanism powered by the same hand-crank. The 'in' tray has a few sheets of the raggy paper still in it, but the 'out' tray is empty.

"Okay, I have no idea what this is," Zahnrad admits as he peers and pokes at it. "It looks like some sort of foreign torture device. Maybe you squish people in it to make paper."

Olivia grins and shakes her head. "Well, just don't look to me to be your volunteer to test that theory!"

Despite the guess about torture, a normal person couldn't possibly fit onto the drum-machine.

Zahnrad leans in close to the odd device and sniffs at it.

Up close – really close – there's is still the faintest odor of ink. Specifically, the same ink that they just found bottles of.

"Huh, ink. Not a huge surprise, I guess," Zahnrad admits. Now it's time to check out the fluid drum. He carefully tries to see if he can open it.

There's a catch holding the drum in its mounting, and it looks like the whole thing can be lifted out. One end of the drum's axle is geared to connect to the hand-crank.

Olivia looks at the bottles she's currently wrapping in paper, then looks at Zahn and the machine. "You need one of these?" she asks, holding up one filled with bright purple ink.

Zahn tries to lift the drum out. "Not sure yet. And stand back in case this explodes, demons ooze out, or we're attacked by berserk midget Lapi," he comments absently.

Olivia dutifully takes all of the supplies she's been packing up and moves them and herself away several feet.

The drum lifts out… but is still there! Or rather, an afterimage of it is still in the machine. And it's spinning, with a piece of paper wrapped around it. A thin childlike voice, barely a whisper, says, "I hate running the copier after class, Stetz." From behind Olivia, another ghost voice replies, "It beats cleaning out the chalkboard erasers."

The Skeek starts violently and turns around, toward the sound of the ghostly voices.

Zahnrad's tail puffs out! "Dagh, I forgot about ghosts in the machine," the Kadie complains a moment later, "They're terrible in machines; mess them all up." He tries re-inserting the drum slowly, muttering, "Here you go, little ghosties, no haunting us… "

Is there a slight bit dust suspended in the air behind Olivia, or is it just a trick of the odd lighting? Either way, there's certainly nothing solid or visible there. Once the drum is replaced, the strangeness stops altogether.

"Well, that was more than a little weird," Zahnrad admits and scratches the top of his head. Now curious … he pulls the drum out again!

"Ghosts haunt machines?" Olivia asks, putting her hands out in front of her, "feeling" the air. "Huh. Maybe that explains Loom #4… "

"Mr. Gritch is going to quiz us on the axial motivator circuit this week, I just know it," whispers the first ghost voice. "You said that last week," replies the second one, from right next to Olivia's ear this time.

"Aha! It's a security system. You yank this thinger out and it releases ghosts to scare people off. I could use this to protect my workshop. Bet it would keep the otters away," Zahnrad reasons out.

Olivia moves away from the voice a few inches but still examines the spot, to see if she can discern any ghostly forms.

So far, it's only voices. "Well, this time… did you hear something?" "No. You're just jumpy because of that last raid. But the grown-ups sealed the tunnels to the Old City, so those creatures can't get to us now." "I dunno… Mom is sure they're coming to take back the blood… "

Zahnrad tries to peer into the drum and see if there are any tiny critters talking, maybe. "What was that about blood?" Zahnrad asks the air. "Hey, can you hear us?"

"We've got the guardians now, and they're tougher than the little guys," the second voice, which seems to be following Olivia, claims. "They creep me out more than the others do!" the first voice says.

Olivia's brow furrows in confusion. "What kind of guardians do you think they're talking about?" she whispers to Zahn. "And there were little ones first? Weird."

"Well, there are large trolls and small trolls. Maybe the large ones were the guardians," Zahnrad offers as he shakes the drum.

"I heard it again, Stetz! Someone's in the classroom!" "Fine, I'll go look. It's probably the janitor." The voices go silent for a moment, and then the first one calls, "Stetz? Is that you… wha-" And then they stop altogether, and even the ghost of the drum vanishes.

Olivia just looks at Zahn, wide-eyed. "I guess they got raided again," she says, in a very small voice.

"Huh, I wonder if I wind it, will it return?" Zahnrad ponders out loud, seeming oblivious to Olivia's fear. So, he inserts the drum again and tries turning the crank a few times before withdrawing the drum once more.

Nothing happens, other than the paper trays shuffling a bit as the mechanism is cranked.

"Oh well," Zahnrad grumbles and puts the drum back in. "Well, at least we can feel good about whatever it was that attacked them was a long time ago. This stuff is old. Mine! But still old." Tilting his head a bit to look to Olivia, he asks, "Want to haul this stuff out of here before going down one more level?"

Olivia still seems a bit shaken, but she nods to Zahn's question. "Yeah. We should make sure we're not burdened with it all, in case we have to make a quick escape."

Zahnrad puffs up his chest. "I can beat up anything!" he claims, then heads towards the exit to the room and back towards the exit to the whole lab.

"Hey! Get back here and carry your share!" Olivia calls grumpily, picking up what she can.

Grinning, Zahnrad comes back to help Olivia. "I was just testing you," he claims.

No stuffed Skeeks bar the way. And nothing happens when they go up the stairs to the first level. Likewise, the long hall of broken machines is also eerily silent, and nothing waits on the other side of the big door, so the pair reaches the boat dock without dropping anything.

There Zahnrad carefully loads the stuff into the boat, making sure to distribute the weight evenly. "You know, this does make me wonder about my theory on the trolls," he comments absently.

"What was that theory again?" Olivia asks, handing things to Zahn for him to put in the boat.

"That they're mutants of the original people who lived down here," Zahnrad explains.

"Still makes me wonder who was raiding them, though," Olivia replies. "And they were after some kind of blood? Sounds about like what I'm looking for, honestly. Which is… creepy."

"You want blood?" Zahnrad asks and suddenly peers at Olivia. "Have you been snogging a certain vampire, or bitten by one? Like the taste of blood now… ?"

"Bleeding stone, remember? Like the pictures on those containers we found?" Olivia huffs. "You can be so annoying sometimes, Zahn!"

"Hey, you never know. Might have taken up hanging with vampires," Zahnrad quips, grinning. "So, shall we go deeper?"

"All right," the Skeek agrees, still looking a little put out.

Zahn pats Olivia's back and heads back into the lab. "Third floor we go," he says, "Into darkness and certain terror! Or, well, maybe just some really fun stuff."

The the steamy mists are thick on the third level, making it hard to see beyond ten feet or so. The lights are out as well, save for isolated red glows deep in the fog. The lack of visibility makes the trembling of the floor even more pronounced; enough to tell that it isn't rhythmic but random.

"Think we're gonna need your lamp again, Zahn. I can hardly see in here," Olivia says uncertainly.

Zahnrad nods. He fiddles more with his lantern, releasing the shutters and turning up the wick to maximum brightness. "It smells like armpits down here," he comments.

The extra light makes the fog glow a bit without really illuminating much. But at least it's enough to see the edges of the wings. Like above, there should be four radiating out from the central shaft.

"So … door number one," Zahnrad decides and heads towards the neared doorway.

Olivia follows behind him – very carefully.

Just inside the wide entrance to the hall is a wall. Or a machine. Or something. It looks like a machine, but the pipes have bent and warped until they look like roots or veins, and the edges have all gone soft and curved as well, as if settling under their own weight. One thing is clear though: the machine is doing something; vibrating and gurgling.

"Ooooooooooo," goes Zahnrad, "That is just … wow!" The Kadie shuffles towards the monstrosity, eyes wide and tail twitching with excitement.

Olivia, on the other hand, stands still and examines the machine from a short distance. "I'm not so sure I like that noise it's making," she says nervously. "Be careful, Zahn!"

There aren't any visible dials or controls, but between an array of the root-like pipes is a dark, circular opening; just big enough to crawl through.

"Lemme see what's in here," Zahnrad says as he drops to all fours and starts crawling towards the hole. He's at least moving slow enough that Olivia can stop him if she wants to…

Olivia knows she can't really stop Zahn from exploring a cool machine but she can edge a little closer and be ready to pull him out of it if it tries to eat him!

There's less steam inside the opening, and Zahn's lamp shows that it goes deep. It isn't entirely dark, either; there are patches of red light along the irregular walls of the tube, with the greatest glow coming from around a bend to the right.

"It glows some in here. Going to try to see where it comes from!" Zahnrad calls back and shuffles along in the hole. He moves slowly, trying to peek around the bend when he reaches it.

"Tell me if you need help!" the Skeek calls back.

The bend is about a dozen feet in, but it feels longer because of the oppressive heat and gurgle-rumble noises. When Zahn manages to peek around the curve, he sees the source of the glow: a big glass jar, with the bleeding-stone symbol etched on the side. It's full of a glowing red liquid that doesn't look like a liquid should. While it's fluid, it also seems to be faceted somehow. There's something darker floating inside, but whatever it is isn't clear from this distance.

"Uhhhh … " Zahnrad calls back with a hint of worry in his voice, "I think I found your bleeding stone!" He starts shuffling along more, trying to get closer to it and get a better look at the object floating in it.

Olivia blinks in stunned silence for a moment, then calls back, "Are you serious? What does it look like?"

"A big pickle jar full of red liquid and something floating in it," Zahnrad answers.

Up close, it's pretty obvious that the object in the jar is the severed head of a young Skeek. It's eyes are wide and staring, and Zahn feels a tickle in the back of his head when they turn and focus on him. "Is that you, Stetz?" comes the familiar ghostly voice.

There are also some circular burn scars atop the floating head.

Olivia thinks furiously for a minute, then says, "Er… I'm not entirely sure I should be asking this, but is there a way to get it out of there? Or is that gonna bring the whole place down on our heads, ya think?"

"Oh dear Gods," Zahnrad squeaks loudly then covers his mouth! Shaking a bit, the Kadie then says (through his hands) to the jar, "Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you, what kind of question is that?" Olivia says in confusion.

"Stetz? I can barely see you. I've got wires coming out the back of my head, Stetz. I dream about… things," the voice replies.

"I'm Zahnrad Wingnut," Zahnrad tells the jar. "I'm sorry, I don't know a Stetz. Uhm, what happened to you?"

"It's a head in a jar," Zahn calls back to Olivia, "And it talks."

This information gives Olivia pause yet again. At last, she calls back, "Ummm… can you ask if it remembers trying to contact me in the Chalk warrens? Near the end of a magic ritual?"

"Is that you, Stetz?" the head repeats. "I can barely see you. I heard you get hit."

Zahnrad tries to circle around the jar, looking for connections … and if he could possibly move it. "I don't think it can hear me. I also don't think it's the one you talked to. This one is … well, it's one of those kids we saw in the classroom," he tries to explain to Olivia, ears and tail now drooping.

The top is fused or screwed into the machine, and there are indeed wires or tubes connecting to the head that go up through the top of the jar into the machine itself.

"What do you dream?" Zahn asks it as he starts examining the connection point to see if there is an obvious removal mechanism.

"Is she out there with you, Stetz?" the head asks, trying to follow Zahn with its eyes.

"Is who?" Zahnrad asks.

Olivia scratches the end of her nose idly. "Well, dangit, then whose was that shape in the chalk dust?" she asks, to no one in particular. "Still sure you don't need any help, Zahn?"

"Well, come in and meet, er, it," Zahnrad calls back to Olivia. "I'm trying to see if I can unhook it… "

"The girl. The girl. The girl who is one of two," the head explains. "Half of her is waiting, dreaming. At the Stone. We shouldn't have taken the blood. It was a mistake."

"What is the blood?" Zahnrad asks as he taps lightly on the glass. "And oh, you do mean Olivia! Yes, she's with me."

"Blood from the Stone. From… the ancient temple. He needed it, and we… " the head's voice says, trailing off.

Olivia gathers up all of her courage and says, "All right, then I'm coming in!" She drops her puffy pack to the floor and carefully crawls into the opening within the machine. "Got any directions for me, so I get to you and not somewhere else?" she shouts to Zahn.

"Who needed it? The Overseer?" Zahn asks, frowning. "Where is the stone?" Back to Olivia, he calls, "Straight ahead, then to the right. Follow the glow."

"I hate making the copies after class," comments the head.

"Thanks!" Olivia calls to the Kadie boy, then crawls in that direction.

"Why? Don't like seeing your name over and over?" Zahn asks, then lies in hopes of getting more information, "I always thought it was a pretty name."

It doesn't take long at all for Olivia to catch up, although getting past Zahn's steam-dampened tail is another issue.

"Stetz… they killed you Stetz! I'm sorry I couldn't do anything. It was so fast. They killed you and cut off your head and fed it to him."

"Who was he?" Zahnrad asks again as he … lies down so Olivia can just crawl on top of him to see it.

There doesn't seem to be any way to remove the jar short of breaking it with something; it's firmly attached to the machine.

Olivia ack-thpp-coughs as she tries to shove the Kadie's fuzzy tail out of the way. "You need fur conditioner in a bad way, Zahn," she comments.

"Yeah yeah," Zahnrad grumbles to Olivia. Back to the head, he repeats, "Who is he? What happened to you?"

Olivia watches as Zahn flattens himself against the floor of the tube so she can get a closer look at the thing. As she takes the hint and crawls over him, she says, "Uh, just don't tell Amy about this, okay? I wouldn't want her to get the wrong idea or anything… "

"He… He… He was why… we were here," the head starts to say, until its eyes turn to stare blankly at Olivia. "It's you. One of Two. Dream Girl. You have to find the Bleeding Stone. She's waiting for you there."

Olivia stares right back at the disembodied head, but her short Skeek's fur is standing completely on end now. "Did you have a name, before this happened to you?" she asks softly. "And where is the Bleeding Stone now, do you know? I've been trying to find it. That's why I'm here. Someone tried to contact me about it, but I don't know who it was."

"I was… was… Glim!" the head says, and the edges of its mouth actually try to turn up in a smile. "The old stones. City of stone. Older… older than… I've been noticed. They're coming."

"Who are they?" Zahnrad asks from underneath Olivia (and looking a bit squished).

"I think that's our cue to get the hell outta here," the Skeek mutters. To the head, she says, "What will happen to you when they come?"

"They'll take your heads," Glim warns. "Or worse. They weren't our Guardians at all. They belong to He Who Hungers. Run."

"Olivia is right, what will happen to you?" Zahn asks worriedly.

"Copies. I hate making copies," the voice says, fading.

"Wait!" Zahnrad pleads as its voice fades, "Do you want me to break this jar? To … free you?"

"We gotta leave. I don't think Glim is going to talk to us any longer, anyway," Olivia says, although she turns hopeful eyes to the jar as Zahn speaks.

"Pump. Pump. Filter. Pump. Maintain pressure," Glim mutters, or chants, in a whisper.

"Go. I think they need her to keep this place working. They won't hurt her … any further," Zahn says quietly as he looks towards the jar, ears wilted. He strains one hand out to touch it, adding, "I'm sorry for what happened to you."

"So am I," the Skeek adds, looking again at the jar. Then she starts scooting backwards, over Zahn and back down the tube, the way she came in.

Zahnrad follows once Olivia has climbed back over him. As he retreats backwards, he can't help but look at the jar before he turns the bend. A shake his his head and he mutters, "I should be able to do something. Dagh take it, I should be able."

Heading backwards out of the tube is a bit nerve-wracking when there might be a monster at the other end. But nothing waits to grab their tails as they exit the machine. Not yet anyway – there are sounds of movement from deeper down in the shaft now, muffled by the steam.

"Maybe later, Zahn," Olivia says to him. "But if you lose your head to these Guardians, you won't be able to help anyone. Move!"

Zahnrad pulls his large wrench from his belt and snaps his wrist. The heavy adjustment lug whirls and the jaws of the wrench clench tight. "Yeah, let's go," the Kadie mutters, sounding somber … and slightly mad. Back the way they came he heads.

Olivia scoops her pack up from the floor and follows along hastily.

The sounds of movement fade as the pair reaches the top level. Perhaps they're only checking on Glim and not concerned about intruders yet. There aren't any trolls, Guardians or other creatures standing between Zahn, Olivia and the main doors though.

Zahnrad peers down the shaft, glowering. He shakes his wrench at the darkness, then turns and heads back towards the doors. "I guess at least I know now, I did save Clover's life," he admits, "In a huge way."

"Yeah!" Olivia puffs out from behind him. "You saved her from being a severed head in a jar! Not a good way to go."

As Zahn heads towards the door, he says, "We should tell Buffy about this. She needs to keep watch closer. I want to know if these things even so much as sneeze towards the surface. I also … I can't believe I'm thinking this; I need to work with Gunther."

The key still works, and the door opens and then closes securely behind them.

"Ummm, okay. Contact Buffy, lemme see… " the Skeek says, stopping outside the doors for a moment. "I do have some of the chalk from the warren. Maybe that will help. I know it has some kind of magical properties." She searches in her pockets for a hunk of it.

"What, you draw a door with it and she can step through?" Zahnrad has to ask.

"I have absolutely no idea," Olivia comments absently. "I have an approach in mind, though. If it doesn't work, I'll try your door theory." Then she takes the chalk and starts sketching on the door. Quickly, the simple shapes of a Kadie and a Skeek take place on its surface. One she marks with "Olivia" over its head, and the other gets labeled "Zahn." "So, tell me what you want your figure to say."

Zahnrad looks at the picture funny. "Uhm, hey, Buffy, can we talk for a second?" Zahnrad suggests.

"His tail should be fluffier," Buffy comments as she looks over Olivia's shoulder.

Olivia acks and jumps about three feet straight up in the air! "Gah, how did you do that?" she asks.

"You summoned me with the chalk, didn't you?" the black Lapi asks. She's wearing her raggedy wedding dress still, and her eyes are glowing. "I mean, unless Zahn just wanted another kiss?"

Olivia gets control of herself again and grins. "Nah, I think he just wants to talk to you," she says.

"While a kiss would be nice, no, that's not why … well, it is a way you could see what I wanted to tell you about," Zahnrad admits. "I know what would have happened to Clover now. I guess we did save her life. It was horrible what would have become of her."

Buffy drapes her arms across Zahn's shoulders, and asks, "Nice? You really think so? Oh… Clover. What happened to her?"

Zahn smiles nervously being this close to a vampire. "Didn't I tell you about it?" he chitters. "Maybe I didn't, uhm. Er, well, I should show you, I guess."

Olivia hides her face behind her hands. "Maybe I don't need to see this… " she mutters.

"Ooo, you will?" Buffy asks, and then dips Zahn back and snogs him! She even makes wet slurping sounds while she does it, and seems to determined to see how long the Kadie can go without breathing.

After the first thirty seconds, Olivia says (from behind her hands), "Are you two done yet?!"

"Glorf!" goes the Kadie, whose arms and tail sticks straight out. Trying to not get distracted too much, he dips back into his mind and tries to replay through finding her in the tunnels, the dreams she had, the theories on her injuries … and the poor child's now severed head in the tank down below.

The Lapi spirit breaks the kiss finally, and looks thoughtful. "Hmmm. Maybe I need a second perspective… come here, Olivia!" she says, smiling at the Skeek.

Zahnrad wobbles and steps back, looking rather woozy and drunk. "It doesn't hurt," he slurs, "Just feels kind of … draining."

Olivia retreats in such a hurry that she bonks the back of her head and shoulders against the closed doors! "Er, no thanks. I already have Liliana after me – I don't need to add you, too!"

Zahnrad tries to stand up straight, but tends to sort of sway and wobble in place. "Well, she's missing," he comments drunkenly, "So maybe Buffy is filling in."

"I could make myself look like Djivan," Buffy offers, and then shrugs. "Well… head in a jar of blood. Hmmm." She taps her chin, and paces back and forth.

"It wasn't exactly blood. More like … liquid red glass. I was tempted to break it and … let her die," Zahnrad admits after shaking his head a few times.

Olivia's sigh of relief is audible. "While you're thinking about that, you don't happen to know anything about someone referred to as He Who Hungers, do you? The child's head in the jar mentioned the name."

"Oh, she's already dead," Buffy says with a wave of her hand. "Didn't sound very lucid. I mean, would you be lucid after a few centuries in a jar of goo? The machine is just using her head for… whatever. I mean, if you could use a living heart to pump water, maybe it would be easier than building a pump?"

"No, it wouldn't. Harder to fix when it breaks," Zahnrad points out.

"But I don't think that's what was going to happen to Clover," Buffy notes, stopping and turning to face Zahn. "They put stuff into her and sent her back. What was the point of all that… stuff… in her head if she was just going to be a gear or something?"

"What would be the point? It's not like we have the equipment to get it out. Or even see it! So trying to lure me down to something, for example, seems a silly explanation," Zahnrad points out as he paces. "And it's not the first time they did that to someone. They did it to Abner way, way, back."

"Maybe they have other uses for heads that don't involve sticking them into jars," Buffy suggests. "That spread in the workshop sure looked like it was set out to attract someone just like you, Zahnrad. This stuff about the Bleeding Stone though… hmmm. I think it may be separate."

"But what would be the point of attracting someone?" Zahnrad counters, "They don't do anything with it. Nor seem to have any desire to."

"Fishermen don't have much use for worms except to catch fish," Buffy comments, and shrugs. "I don't really know anything about this place. It seems… newer. The Bleeding Stone though, that's old. I remember something about it. Maybe something Old Orifice mentioned. I think maybe he had some of this 'blood' stuff… "

Zahnrad throws up his hands, then runs them through her hair. "Well, the Bleeding Stone stuff is all about Olivia, I think," he comments.

Olivia glances at Zahn. "I guess it's back to the castle for me," she says. "I should check that out. If Dr. Pike doesn't mind, of course."

Buffy turns to look at Olivia, or look through her. "Oh right… you're a twin, aren't you?" she asks the Skeek.

Olivia's expression seems to close off, just a little. "I was, but my twin died at birth," she replies shortly.

"Mmmm… that sounds familiar too," Buffy mutters, twitching her ears around in thought. "Oh, now I remember… red liquid crystal… Orifice called it The Philosopher's Stone. Or maybe that's where it came from? He was always talking in alchemical gibberish."

Zahnrad looks like he has a headache as he rubs his forehead. "Olivia, uhm, I hate to ask this, but, uhm, what happened to her body?" he asks quietly.

There is a pause, but finally the Skeek says, "It was burned in a funeral pyre. I saw the memory of it when Natasha and Isolde checked to make sure that I wasn't a troll. They went back through a lot of my memories. That was one of them."

"Er," Zahnrad says, looking more uncomfortable. "You do remember that little charred box we found in the tunnels, don't you?"

Buffy slinks up behind Olivia and rests her hands on the Skeek's shoulders. "Memories? Like the way Natasha and Qing helped me to remember?" she asks.

Olivia turns very slowly and looks at Zahn now. "You think her body was taken by the trolls, don't you?" she asks, sounding rather lost. She doesn't even seem to register Buffy's hands on her but she does answer, "It was part of a magical ritual. Natasha used some sort of spirit-form to help her. It looked like a dragon."

"Hmmm, can I have a look at those memories?" Buffy asks. "I don't have to kiss or bite you, if you can just give me a little… blood."

Olivia still doesn't face Buffy. Her gaze seems to have wandered off beyond Zahn's shoulder now. She does, however, nod once.

"Yes, that was what I was thinking," Zahnrad admits a little timidly and dips his head in a nod.

"Do you have a clean knife?" Buffy asks of both Zahn and Olivia.

"I have sewing needles in my hat," Olivia offers, her voice still faraway.

"I'm sure I have something," Zahnrad answers as he digs around in his pack. "Or, there is that, too," he admits at Olivia's comment.

"Think on the memory then, and give your palm a prick," Buffy instructs.

Olivia gets out one of her needles and pricks the palm of her left hand. She holds it in the Lapi's direction, watching the blood well to the surface.

Buffy takes the hand and squeezes it a bit before licking the blood. Her eye flare brighter red for a moment, and she lets go of Olivia afterward. "Your mother watched. If trolls came for the body, she might have seen them," she notes. "You could ask her."

Olivia shakes her head almost instantly. "She'd never talk to me about that," she says. "She wants to throw me out of any room the two of us are in already, as it is."

"Well… who does she talk to?" Buffy asks. "What about one of the witches?"

"The gypsy Natasha is more of a mother to Olivia than her own mother is," Zahnrad comments quietly from where he stands, left arm awkwardly held with his right hand.

"I think the only one she really listens or talks to anymore is my father," Olivia reasons slowly. "It wouldn't be the easiest conversation I've ever had with him, but he wouldn't scream at me through it all, either."

"Hmm, maybe your mother did see trolls then," Buffy remarks. "I think seeing your dead baby carried off by monsters would skew your mind a bit. Better that than to worry about it being hereditary!"

Olivia lets out a long breath. "Okay, then I'll ask my father if he's ever heard her mention anything… odd… about the day she died. Or if not, I'll try to get him to ask her about it. Poor man – I don't envy him that conversation," she adds, looking at the floor.

"Hey, you could use that chalk stuff and let Buffy have a talk with your mother about her … issues," Zahnrad half-jokes. "Or scare her, if you're mad at her… "

"Well, you don't have to do it!" Buffy notes, rolling a hand. "I mean, there must be some other way to confirm it. Was there anything to indicate the box was a coffin, or that Olivia is connected to the trolls?"

Olivia smiles weakly back at the Kadie. "I'd never do that to someone I like," she says softly. To Buffy, she offers, "Well, a thread found in the box was confirmed to be from a burial shroud."

"I thought you hated her," Zahnrad comments quietly.

"I meant, I'd never do that to Buffy," Olivia replies.

Buffy smiles proudly at that comment. "Oh, a burial shroud? Okay, so assume your twin sister was taken by trolls. Have you ever met a troll?"

Olivia nods to that, too. "First, when I was very little. Then again not very long ago. A troll snuck up on Djivan and I in the night."

"Snuck up on you?" Buffy asks in surprise, and then asks Zahn, "Does Djivan smell dead?"

"Sometimes," Zahnrad admits and shrugs.

"But that's it, a few random run-ins?" Buffy asks. "I mean, it's not like you were being stalked or watched or anything, right?"

"He'd just had a bath that night, fer crying out loud!" Olivia huffs, exasperated. "And anyway, it seemed more interested in me than him. It was playing with my hair when I woke up and saw it."

"There was that shrine under your house," Zahn comments.

"And the dream I had that led me back to where Djivan and I saw the troll," Olivia adds. "So, um, yeah. I don't think they're random incidents."

"Shrine?" Buffy prompts. "Nobody ever made a shrine to me! I deserve a shrine, don't I?"

"Bet that weird bat would make a shrine to you," Zahn mutters.

"ANY-way, didn't you want to ask Buffy to keep an eye on this place?" Olivia asks Zahn.

"Well, keep an eye on the entire area under Stonebarrow if she can. I don't want those … things coming up and grabbing more heads," Zahnrad nearly growls.

"Well, I don't think it's trolls doing this head-hunting," Buffy comments. "Not from those memories. It's something else that sounds like… well, like something made to drive trolls off. Super trolls. I'm sure they've got all the heads they need though by now. Olivia is certainly connected to the regular trolls somehow, and this Bleeding Stone probably is as well, if that's where her sister is."

"Do you know how to get down to the Bleeding Stone?" Zahn asks.

"Ummm, no," Buffy says, and looks around. "This is the first time I've been outside of the catacombs since… uh… since I moved into them."

Zahnrad runs his hands through his hair again. "Well, thank you for your time, Buffy. We should probably head back to the surface. I need to check on Clover anyway," the Kadie says.

"And I guess it's more searching through the castle for me, or at least through more of the papers of Dr. Pike's crazy ancestor," Olivia adds.

"You both sound sooo thrilled," Buffy notes. "Cheer up! You've got a boat full of… uh… junk! And you're alive! And… hey, Olivia, do want to know what Zahn was thinking about you when you were smooshed up together in that tube?" The bunny grins wickedly."

"I was thinking Olivia has put on some weight," Zahnrad quips and goes to hop in the boat.

"Spoilsport!" Buffy chides as she starts to fade away.

"Yeah, that's about what I figured," Olivia grumbles as she, too, walks towards the boat.