Tuesday, May 24, 2005

An acute ringing settled in my ears as I stepped through the doorway, vaguely aware of my missing shoe and the imbalance it caused. I clopped awkwardly into the building with Muse. We found ourselves in a long, white hall framed in garish fluorescent light, antiseptic down to the last perfectly cut tile. Wasn’t this place supposed to be old? Why did the Auditor keep it so clean? How was it poss–

The door clicked shut.

A woman, or at least it resembled a woman, stood with her hand on the knob, patiently waiting for us to acknowledge her. She was tall and wore a crisp uniform that culminated in a nurse’s hat, which somehow covered her face entirely. Did she even have a face? I looked at her from different angles and, in a ghastly moment, realized I would only ever see her hat. The ringing in my ears grew louder.

“I am the Minder,” she introduced herself mechanically. “The Auditor is my charge. He welcomes you both.”

She motioned to the hallway gracefully, hypnotically, and we were compelled to follow. Our feet rapped loudly against the cold floor, composing the only harmony to an overwhelming silence, when the Minder suddenly gestured to the bare walls.

“Here we have our newest acquisition, a beautifully restored work from Lamehr’s darker period. Now if you will–” she said dreamily before stopping abruptly and turning to us.

I grabbed Muse’s hand.

“I am sorry,” declared the Minder in jarring staccato. “I thought I was a curator again. Before he took me. I will be punished for this.”

I later learned the Minder was one of the Blotted or, more accurately, a Halfblot, another poor soul whom the Auditor cursed but also liked well enough to spare a few extra words. I didn’t know this at the time, however, and each shred of ignorance only amplified my unease.

We came to a heavy steel door at the end of the hall. It opened to a small, bare room with naught but a chair and a blue door, presumably the entrance to the Auditor’s chambers. The Minder closed the metal door in one smooth motion, and then she lurched toward Muse and grabbed her by the jaw. She ignored Muse’s cry of surprise and continued to examine her as if she were livestock.

“I have seen you before,” the Minder said in her clipped way. “He will be pleased.”

She released Muse, who shot me a troubled yet resigned look. We exchanged a few hushed words, a quick embrace, and then the blue door opened. Her meeting began.