I wasn’t quite finished with the story I was telling by the time 2025 ended and so decided to continue it until it reached an ending point. Then I will start a new one. Besides, I kind of want to see where Penelope ends up. And so we have…
Day 217: Lenore wiped her fingers on her trouser leg as though they felt dirty by association.
Lenore wiped her fingers on her trouser leg as though they felt dirty by association. All three of them looked at the charm leaning forward but not touching it. As Penelope remembered it was a complex looking thing with interlacing symbols all twisted together. Looking at it made her eye want to cross.
“It’s an…evil charm?” Michaelson asked hesitantly.
Lenore laughed. “Evil charm,” she snorted. “Heavens no. Charms aren’t evil in and of themselves any more than a hammer or a screwdriver is evil. It is all in how you use it.”
Michaelson shrugged. “I’ve seen a lot of magic used for evil purposes, that can’t be a coincidence,” Michaelson pointed out.
“And just last week there was a story in the news about a man who killed his wife by driving a screwdriver through her eye and into her brain,” Lenore counted. “Does that make the screwdriver evil or simply a tool that was used for evil?”
“The latter,” Michaelson said. “But you have to admit the potential for evil is there.”
“The potential for evil is in a lot of things,” Lenore said. “Magical charms are just feared because only a select group of people have access to or can use them. That makes them limited use items that others can point to and say oh look that’s an evil charm.”
“It is a compelling argument,” he said. “There is talk of banning certain charms.”
“Because people think they might at some point possibly be used for evil purposes. Not because they have been,” Lenore said. “I think if you went through the list of charms that have been used for evil and counted the number of times it has actually been used in that manner and then compared it to the statistics of how often a hammer has been used for nefarious purposes, from smashing locks to smashing up people the symbols would have a much better track record.”
Michaelson held up his hands in submission. “Fine it is not evil,” he said. “But you did wipe your hands.”
“That is because it felt…greasy,” Lenore said.
“Greasy?” Penelope asked.
“It is designed for getting around locks and slipping past defenses,” Lenore explained. “I’ve handled charms like that before and somehow they always feel greasy as though they are designed for slipping past things so well they leave a trail on the skin.” She shrugged. “Jerome always thought it silly of me as well so I suppose it isn’t a common feeling.”
“So this bypasses locks?” Penelope asked. “Like a magical lock pick?”
“Not exactly,” Lenore said. “It is designed to get past pretty much any now magical or non-magical defense. Electronic devices would de activate as well as physical bolts sliding out of place.”
“I can’t see a good use for that,” Michaelson said. Penelope noticed he avoided using the word evil. Lenore still frowned.
“It could have been designed as a fail safe,” she said. “If there was a secure facility and they need one quick way to get in during an emergency it could have been created for that purpose. However,” she shrugged. “Knowing Peter and his friends I suspect it was designed for nefarious purposes.”
“It would have to be a very secure place they were trying to break into,” Penelope said. “Otherwise why have something so complicated.”
“Indeed,” Lenore said. “It is layers and layers of intertwined methods for getting past multiple systems. Overkill if there aren’t multiple systems.”
Michaelson frowned and Penelope wondered if he was going to start talking about evil magic again.
Ten til Midnight 