G: Be paying attention, I’m trying to tell you something important about Blevins.
M: I understand. But if you pinch my nipple again I’ll flip you over and give it to you up the ass and then I’ll be pinching your nipples and pulling your hair and you won’t be able to do a thing about it except moan like an alley cat.
G: That, and reach up underneath to be grabbing you by the ball sack which is what happened when you tried that yesterday.
M: Yes, I remember . . . or was it the day before?
G: In any case the K-Y Jelly is right over there if you mean it.
M: Kind of them to leave that there for us. I was going to kill that doctor when he shoved his finger up my ass but then I realized the possibilities of that substance.
G: Yes, you could fuck me in the ass and not be seeing my face so you could imagine I was Erszebet.
M: She makes me hot.
G: She makes me hot and I’m not even a woman-fucking kind of woman.
M: I’d like to see the two of you doing it!
G: Maybe soon. Growing close aren’t we, she and I. She has much to say to me.
M: About shock and awe?
G: And other things. She saw the death of magic with her own eyes. Lived through it, so she did, poor lass. So we don’t just talk about your concerns, Magnus, but matters of interest to us witches.
M: I know that, I’m not stupid.
G: You just act that way.
M: Yes.
G: Keep it up.
M: I will.
G: Oh, and be keeping that up too!
[REDACTED]
Post by Dr. Roger Blevins on
“Announcements” ODIN channel
DAY 1890 (1 OCTOBER, YEAR 5)
For fear of “putting a jinx” on it, we’re not having a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony this time, but I wanted to announce that ATTO #1—the first of our new, fully mobile ODECs—went “hot” this morning at 0900 sharp. I’m assured that all systems are working normally, and Gráinne—who is now out of quarantine—reports that she is able to perform magical activities inside of it as effectively as she ever could in Elizabethan London.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Oda on another major achievement. It is going on three years since he shifted to “Emeritus” status in the wake of the successful Chronotron launch, and some of you may have mistaken that for a dignified form of retirement. In truth his work on this project has been tireless and relentless, and a testimony to what may be achieved by a gifted mind when given the freedom to pursue its own interests unfettered by bureaucratic restrictions.
Post by Dr. Frank Oda on
“Announcements” ODIN channel
DAY 1890 (1 OCTOBER, YEAR 5)
Thanks to Dr. Blevins and to all those of you who have sent me congratulatory messages and greeted me in person today. In truth it is a bittersweet day, for I actually am now transitioning to full retirement after three years of work on the Ambient Temperature Tactical ODEC (ATTO). My full departure is still a few months away. In the meantime, here is a little more information for those of you who haven’t been following this closely.
“Ambient Temperature” simply means that this ODEC is capable of functioning without being connected to large, expensive, finicky cryogenic systems. To make a long story short, we have achieved this by replacing the traditional superconductors with higher-temp superconductors that can be kept at the required temperature through a combination of clever insulation and solid-state Peltier coolers.
“Tactical” is a reference to the fact that these ODECs, unlike the ones we are used to, are capable of being moved about. For simplicity’s sake, we have constructed the first production run of ATTOs in conventional, unmarked shipping containers. So this finally answers the question that has been on so many people’s minds during the last couple of years: Why is there a shipping container in Loading Bay 3 with technicians in bunny suits going in and out of it?
Finally, “ODEC” simply means that, despite the innovations mentioned above, this is, at the end of the day, just another ODEC, i.e., an environment in which it is possible for MUONs to conduct MAGOPs. On the inside it is somewhat larger than our stationary “strategic” ODECs in the basement, but as far as the MUON is concerned, it is functionally the same.
As to what uses the ATTOs might be put to, I’ll allow readers of this message to use their imaginations. Let’s just say that when we fired up the first ODEC some four years ago and let Erszebet go to work in it, we learned very quickly that most of the things witches are capable of were not actually that useful, from a practical standpoint, as long as they were confined to a fixed volume the size of a phone booth. We settled on Sending and Homing as the two most useful functionalities, and as you know we have constructed a large organization around that. The new ATTOs (of which we have one up and running, three in final production, and six more in the works) can do everything the old ODECs can do, but our ability to move them around the world and disguise them should enable our ever-growing staff of MUONs to practice their craft in a greater diversity of operational modalities, broadening the palette of force projection options available to our strategic leadership team as they consider how most effectively to project American soft power across time and space.
Journal Entry of
Rebecca East-Oda
OCTOBER 2
Temperature 65F—warm, fair, and dry, with slight breeze from the west. Barometer steady. Foliage turning; about nine days from peak (will be a little early this year).
Didn’t make a journal entry yesterday because feared I couldn’t keep emotions in check.
The day comes for every man when he has to retire. There is little point in pretending otherwise. For Frank that day was yesterday; he has already dropped to fifty percent and will taper to full retirement at the end of the year. I am a little apprehensive as to where he will find outlets for his energies when he is spending all of his time at home again, but the East House Trust can certainly put him to work on innumerable repair and improvement projects, at least for a little while.
For the most part, he is going out on a high note with the ATTO. During the years of his first retirement, when he was living in exile from the scientific community, we were both in denial about how bad things were. Going back to productive work at DODO was the best thing in the world for him. All the politics and the mishaps tempered his enjoyment to quite a degree, but the honors he has received within the secret world of black-budget defense technology have meant the world to him.
He announced his retirement yesterday, but his message to his colleagues was butchered by someone in Macy Stoll’s department who heaped on a lot of gibberish at the end. I can only trust that his treasured colleagues saw through it and found it amusing.
LETTER (HANDWRITTEN) ON PERSONAL STATIONERY OF
DR. ROGER BLEVINS TO
LIEUTENANT GENERAL OCTAVIAN K. FRINK
DAY 1905 (MID-OCTOBER, YEAR 5)
Okie,