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 Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 7:16 pm
No one was ever very sure what Tracey's job was, but everyone knew he dealt with most of the tedious paperwork which came part and parcel of running heaven's operations. He was a paper-pusher and in the opinion of many angels, a bit of a complainer. His task seemed mostly to delegate work to relevant individuals and this at least he was good at.
Melvin was an important part of that work and as such the blonde man would not be unfamiliar with the strange doorway to Tracey's office which seemed to show up when one least wanted it to. The next door he opened that day opened onto the short black haired angel's office where he was seated at a table much too large for him, carved of exquisite materials but every inch of which was covered in paperwork. In fact paperwork was arranged all over the room, the entirety of which was also lined from wall to wall with books.
He leaned over slightly from his computer screen where he'd been typing slowly (it was old looking, with a CRT monitor) and gave Melvin a reassuring smile.
"Well well, if it isn't just who I was looking for. Please, take a seat." he said gesturing at the only uncluttered chair in the whole room, he looked harried as always. "Have some more work for you to do in a bit. How are things though?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 5:12 am
While opening a door to Tracey's office was not so strange anymore for him, it was always jarring. Having been staring at the newsspaper to check the latest reports for anyything that might still be reported despite his best efforts, he had been opening the door to the downtown transportation office to talk about a chipped road when he glanced up just enough to hopefully greet the receptionist to only seeing the familiar office.
Stopping in his quick stride, he blinked a few times at Tracey, adjusting himself to the disconnect to being firmly set in believing he was entering one building to now being in this room, before he folded up the newspaper.
Tracey's office was always a bit of a puzzle to him, as he always saw it cluttered, but the clutter never seemed the same. In all this time, he had yet to figure out if the piles of paperwork and books were being worked on and then replaced with more, or simply the same work just moved around. He had hoped for all of them that it was the first one.It did warm his heart to see him at his desk, slowly typing away at something or other, and he focused on that instead of the mountains of teetering paperwork as he slowly took the cleared seat.
"Average in regardless to sheer number with nothing too major. I haven't had to be interviewed in some time which is always nice. Just filing a few things from some minor incidents. The usual structual damage. How are you?" He glanced around him at the work but never bothered to ask if he was busy. His environment said as much.
"What kind of work?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 5:42 am
Tracey gave Melvin a polite smile over the teetering masses of paper, always slight in stature and even slighter in build, he was always dwarfed by the office itself which sometimes didn't seem to obey the rules of nature, with relative distance a little skewed and everything always changing, even when Melvin looked away from one stack of papers, when he looked back there was another in its place. It was somewhat disorientating.
"You've been doing a good job." the smaller angel said. "But things have also been quiet for a while, just the usual spats and mistakes."
He sighed at the screen, littered with about half a browser's (internet explorer) worth of installed ad toolbars. "But something is on the cards. I have heard a few mutterings that Hell is up to something. More than usual. There might be some larger cleanups on the horizon if we don't act carefully. But I will keep you informed as and when I hear anything further."
He didn't explain what these things were, always rather secretive about things which didn't pertain to the moment. Getting up he retrieved a folder from one of the shelves. It was thick and bristling with reports and it was frankly a miracle the small angel could carry it back to the desk where he pushed aside some papers and set it down.
"This is my current problem." he said and opened the folder. The first page was a picture of a blurry photo of a human looking figure with blonde hair. There was no true name, only the word "Lawrence" What followed seemed to be hundreds and hundreds of mission reports, kill records and various intelligence on the movements of this individual.
"One of Hell's chief torturers, normally resident down on the lower levels and unreachable by normal means without waging war on Hell itself is up on Earth. OUR Earth, threatening the innocent little lambs and a ticking time bomb waiting to go off from a human relations perspective. He's become your problem in a rather immediate way. Thing is, we can't just charge in with a legion and attack him, it would cause absolute disaster, all we can do is try to keep him out of trouble, find out why he is there and if possible convince him to go back to Hell. We can't lock onto his energy well at the moment, but he was last spotted in Appleton, whose location I can provide you."
He flipped some pages and what followed were horrible and graphic depictions of what had come back from the battlefield, damaged angels mentally skewed and maimed by their encounter and telling only vague disjointed stories about the treatment they experienced at the hands of hell.
"Does it sound doable? You are free to enlist others to help you should you feel you require backup. It might be wise to do so, as if this other thing hits the metaphorical fan, I might need you back in a hurry." Tracey tended to always look in a state of vague worry at the best of times, but he seemed more so than usual, troubled by something he wasn't able to discuss.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:55 am
It had become a trained skill to keep his hands tightly in his lap in order not to reach out and straighten a unbalanced tower of papers or tuck back a piece of paper that was sticking too far out from the main group. Too often he would jerk his hands out if he thought something would topple and had caused himself a few too many heart jumps (his job would have confirmed heart attacks ages ago) when he thought something would fall.
"I like quiet. It gives time for everyone to think everything is fine and stable and creates a calm before something else springs up." It also gave him time to just show up to different departments to say hello and create good relationships that weren't always stressful due to some event. Well, good enough that he would bring groups doughnuts or bagels depending and they weren't groaning when they saw him.
Larger cleanups had him shifting in his seat but the vagueness meant he couldn't focus on certain groups to help prepare himself for whatever would come. His blue eyes followed Tracey as he took a thick folder, placing his focus on the forms inside that peeked their corners from inside.
"I can do that." He said automatically. "I'll have to enlist a few others just for the sake of staking out whenever I am unavailable, but I should be able to focus on him. If I find I cannot put my full attention to him and other fires, I will direct some of my duties to my associates if that is best." He didn't like being sloppy and he knew too many projects best to those who could focus solely on cleanup of other fires was best.
Despite the thick file, he was given the basic info sheet and he resigned himself to just what he needed to know to get the job done. If the other information wasn't needed for the job then he didn't need it - though he was curious and glanced up in hopes of seeing a bit more.
Glancing back down, he looked over at the human staring back and location and frowned. "I wonder why Hell would let one of their chief torturers be at the front of the lines and not heavily protected as before. I have heard nothing about anyone or anything needing such special attention. I hope this does not mean others will be following after. Structural damage is one thing to cover up. Causalities are another mess all together."
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 11:07 am
Tracey looked a little less tired at Melvin's statements. "You are always a weight off of my shoulders Melvin, I can trust you to handle this while I deal with everything else that is on my plate. Please be careful though, despite the fact we can't get a bearing on his energy levels, I would not presume it was safe and you are too valuable to lose old friend."
He shrugged his shoulders weakly at the question. "I have no idea why they would, if there was small task needing done then they could have sent a principality to do the task. It's rather unprecedented and other movements from Hell have me thinking that something is going on, perhaps on a political level, perhaps on some other more ulterior one. We need to be on top of it."
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 11:16 am
"I'll start watching him and send you a report via...." He glanced at the computer. "..email." He said with a unsure tone. "If I find anything. Hopefully I can be on top of whatever this target is up to that might elude to something bigger. If he is here, then he must be returning to someone here to be stationed in Appleton."
Rising up, he slipped the sheet between the newspaper and tucked it under his arm. "As always, do not hesitate to call me if something comes up. I'll do some shuffle work about anything to do with his current location that might provide any clues and set this on the top of my list while maintaining as much distance is necessary unless the situation changes. I can only hope we can prevent as much movement on his part. This does not place things in a great mood to have someone this high up in town." To say he was concerned was an understatement.
"Is there anything else I should be made aware? I am not so much familiar with this kind of demon." His were the more dramatic, messy type and he didn't think this kind of demon would be anything but silent and professional.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2016 4:59 am
Tracey looked just as distressed as Melvin about the idea of email but nodded. "I'll know anyway, one way or another I imagine." he said with a shrug. "I'm grateful, you are doing me a huge favour here Melvin and one which hopefully will protect all those innocent mortals out there from anything horrible."
Smiling he nodded "I'll be in touch and the funds will be provided for you to move people around to help you."
"As far as help, I think perhaps that the less you are aware of the better with this particular demon. For whatever reason those he deems oblivious are more likely to walk away than one deemed scheming or conniving." He shrugged. "The main advice I can give is that being an Envy demon, compliments and flattery will go a long way."
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Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2016 4:57 am
At the advice, he pressed his lips thin. "Flattery......you say."
Looking down at the paper and the human form that looked back, he glanced back up at Tracy. "I'll start immediately. Have a good day, Tracey. Call me whenever you need an update."
He gave a curt nod and went out where he came, back onto the city streets and outside the office building. Sighing, he headed back to his car to head home. He needed to make some phone calls and start packing.
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