Burning Night: A Tale of the Everburning City

Chapter 13, Part 2: Tabitha

"I need to find Desmond Adams," Tabitha said, as she stepped up to the desk at the precinct on the outskirts of High Central, housing the Central's largest precinct for the Orderlies.

"I, uh, of course, madam Crafter," the surprised and genuinely frightened young man at the desk stammered, as he leafed through his assignment papers.

Around her, orderlies and clerks gave her a wide berth as they passed, and everyone who came close to meeting her gaze had a sudden, profound interest in something on the floor.

"Spare me the abyss," the boy at the desk muttered in relief. "He's in the Ice Box. Started his shift two hours ago, so he shouldn't have wandered off for lunch yet, ma'am."

"Good. How do I get there?"

"Ah, I believe she can direct you," the boy said, pointing towards a woman down the hall, dressed in black clothes, conversing with an orderly. "She's his assigned evaluator. You'll probably want to talk to her anyway."

Tabitha gave him a look that made him shrink in his chair. "Why is that?"

"Well, he stepped on a lot of toes recently. He rewrote an official report. A couple of senior fellows among the Undertakers tried to have him fired."

"Did they?" Tabitha asked, surprised.

"So you're not here about colonel Darrower's autopsy?" the boy asked.

"No. Although I'll admit to being curious," Tabitha replied. Without another word, she walked away and made a point of marching towards the shadow down the hall.

"Madam Crafter?" the shadow asked, the politeness clashing with the woman's terse delivery.

"Your charge, Desmond Miles. Take me to him," Tabitha said.

"Straight to intimidation? Normally I at least get a 'hello'," The shadow replied, her hand resting beneath her coat.

Tabitha smirked at the move, then strode past the shadow.

"You don't want to see Desmond? I can't imagine you've ever been here before," the shadow said.

Tabitha smiled as she kept walking.

"He works in the Ice Box. Which is roughly that way," Tabitha said, pointing with her left hand towards the floor, towards the far corner of the building. "Three stories down. Possibly four. If need be, I'll make my own way down there. Literally, if I'm irritated enough."

The shadow cursed and jogged towards Tabitha. "The stairs are on the left, three doors from here. Care to tell me what this is about?"

The shadow fell into step just behind Tabitha.

"So, your charge is in trouble? That's awkward for you," Tabitha remarked.

"Yeah. Thankfully, it's not 'scourged reject' trouble, or it might have mattered to Oversight. I actually got a visit from a senior evaluator. Told me that officially, the Bureau prefers that rejects stay out of any sort of trouble."

"And unofficially?" Tabitha asked.

"Oversight appreciates the story. It helps mitigate the stigma of being a reject."

Oddly insightful of Oversight. Suspicious, Tabitha asked, "did this senior evaluator have a stupid looking hat? Tall, talks softly?"

"Yeah, that's him." The shadow replied, with a marked change in her tone. "Can't believe I got to meet Mathias burning Aranhall. I now get how Desmond still gushes when he talks about Theo Ratterson. The boy still won't shut up about what that Crafter taught him before he was rejected."