Caleb leans forward onto his desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose. His eyes are quite a few hours past sore, but he can’t stop reading yet - he hasn’t found what he’s looking for
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The chimp doesn't sleep much. He's currently on his way to the library, a scotch in one hand, while he knucklewalks on his left hand and feet to find a good book.
When the chimp arrives at the library, he’ll find Caleb already there. Even after a good night’s rest, he still feels spent, and it’s beginning to show.
Some of the book shipments have started to arrive, and Caleb is planted next to a few of the open boxes, a modest pile of books beside him. “Good afternoon,” he says, lowering the book he’s on at the moment.
Caleb offers a shrug. “Not so much, I’m afraid. Most of what is here is just scientific or medical manuals, though, uh …” Caleb gestures to the book he was reading. “… some of the demonologist texts have arrived.”
“If you’re interested, though, I think we have a shipment of fiction titles still on a palette. I can’t claim to know what’s in them, specifically - I’ve been too preoccupied to conduct an inventory as yet.”
Caleb slides the box over to him. “It, uh … it’s really funny that you should mention that, actually,” he says through an apprehensive, guilty snicker. “I’m actually at an impasse in one of my cases, and I was, uh … I was wondering if you might be able to lend a hand.”
“Not so long ago, myself and another mystic took it upon ourselves to preemptively deal with a problem waiting to happen - a demon trapped in a church in Mexico. My, uh … associate …. chose to lure it into a trap by pretending to betray me to it, so he could strike with it off guard. During the course of things, he chose to reveal his name, as well as my relationship to a succubus the prisoner was familiar with.”
Caleb sighs. “Despite my best efforts, the, uh … the only information I could find is that it’s name is Calibusk, and, uh … and given that it expressed something of an interest in me, I can’t say I feel comfortable being in the dark about it.”
The chimp sighs and pulls his cap a little lower over his eyes. "You're telling me that this thing has your associate's name, and knows about you... and all you know is that it's called Calibusk, right? Because I can pretty much guarantee you that 'Calibusk' isn't its name. Just something you can call it."
He nods. "I should be able to." He grabs a thick stack of demonology books -- more than it looks like he should be able to carry, unless one remembers how strong chimps are -- and hoists them up.
Caleb leans back, and runs his hand through his hair as he mentally runs off everything he knows about Calibusk. Which, unfortunately, is an unimpressive amount.
“Not much, I’m sorry to say. Thre is one, uh … one noteworthy bit, though. Whatever it is, it … living things avoid it. Non-sentient living things - plants, bacteria. Nothing without the capacity to over-ride it’s instincts and choose to approach it elects to. That must be relevant somehow.”
Caleb raises a single eyebrow. “Two percent goes a long way,” he jabs through a smile. “Seriously, though, be it physically or metaphysically, I felt no repercussion from being in its’ presence. Save, obviously, a, uh … an intense desire to not be."
Caleb is momentarily lost in thought, his attention completely focused on it.
“There might be one other relevant piece of information, now that I’m thinking about it. It, um …. You see, it wasn’t interested in killing us. When we encountered it, it almost seem amused by our being in it’s presence. I assumed that the novelty could be accounted for by it’s extended solitude, but in our line of work, we don’t really enjoy the luxury of assumptions.”
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Some of the book shipments have started to arrive, and Caleb is planted next to a few of the open boxes, a modest pile of books beside him. “Good afternoon,” he says, lowering the book he’s on at the moment.
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“If you’re interested, though, I think we have a shipment of fiction titles still on a palette. I can’t claim to know what’s in them, specifically - I’ve been too preoccupied to conduct an inventory as yet.”
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Caleb sighs. “Despite my best efforts, the, uh … the only information I could find is that it’s name is Calibusk, and, uh … and given that it expressed something of an interest in me, I can’t say I feel comfortable being in the dark about it.”
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"Anything else before I jump in?"
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“Not much, I’m sorry to say. Thre is one, uh … one noteworthy bit, though. Whatever it is, it … living things avoid it. Non-sentient living things - plants, bacteria. Nothing without the capacity to over-ride it’s instincts and choose to approach it elects to. That must be relevant somehow.”
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He takes the stack of books. "I'll get back to you, monkey-boy."
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Caleb is momentarily lost in thought, his attention completely focused on it.
“There might be one other relevant piece of information, now that I’m thinking about it. It, um …. You see, it wasn’t interested in killing us. When we encountered it, it almost seem amused by our being in it’s presence. I assumed that the novelty could be accounted for by it’s extended solitude, but in our line of work, we don’t really enjoy the luxury of assumptions.”
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“Phone me if you uncover anything?”
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