Chapter 12

ASHLEY BAOK

Two Months Ago

Saturday

Dear Diary,

It's the weekend. Yay.

It was a long week. I stayed up too late for a few days. No, I do not recommend pulling some almost all-nighters. It's not fun. Humans need more than, like, three hours of sleep to classify as 'functioning.'

We did catch two poachers, though, so I suppose that's good. Makes the exhaustion worth it, cuz... fewer poachers going after the Pocket Forest's plant and animal populations. Always a good thing. We brought them each to the Moonfall Precinct after their arrests, and then we celebrated by stopping by Deanna's Bakery and picking out a pie. I mean, they're just so delicious! How's anyone supposed to resist?! We got a Grasshopper pie, per Charlie's decision. Its bright green color did make it stand out, so of course it drew her attention. Despite how its name makes it seem, at least to me, like it's got literal grasshoppers in it, I was pleased to find out that it did not, in fact, contain grasshoppers and it was actually pretty good. We finished that one off in a single night.

But as nice as it would be for the offenders to work nine-to-five, Mondays through Fridays... that's just not going to happen. For all I know, the next Camera Trap will go off three seconds from now. Or Kristin could come barging through the door and pull me into motion because someone caught wind of a poacher in one of the parts of Pocket Forest that Zip has yet to wire the Camera Traps in.

No, poachers, you may not hunt the Forest's animals or steal the Forest's plants. We will stop you, and we will arrest you, and we will be enthusiastic as we cart you off to the Moonfall Precinct.

Maybe I'll take a nap, Diary. I'm really quite tired. What do you think of that? I've heard that catnaps are good for you. Sleep is sleep, I guess. And everyone needs sleep, no matter how much they seem like they're actually a very realistic human-like robot.

You know, I'm not sure I've EVER seen Ferris sleeping. I can't ever recall seeing him asleep, and we've been the SFPU for months. Like, every time I go into the kitchen, there Ferris is, sipping away on a cup of coffee and reading through one article or another or drafting a letter to President Cynthia Corville. Yeah... still can't believe he actually knows her to some extent. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to wrap my head around it.

Or maybe the next day. Or maybe next month.

Charlie got a picture of the Silverlight Pack at Silverlight Lake, though. She was awfully psyched about that.

I mean, I'll admit it's rather grainy. Way zoomed in picture on a phone that was taken in half a second for fear of the wolves running away will do that. But Charlie now has a picture of the entire Silverlight Pack in all of their wolf-y glory: Ten, Madaket, Selene, Red, Anastasia, and Beck. The whole pack of wolves. All six of them.

I can't fault her for her excitement, though. Really can't. Like, eighty percent of the stuff we know about the Silverlight Pack is general wolf behavior from textbooks I've found while on supply runs, mostly from Books Galore when I've been perusing their Science section. The rest —the stuff more tailored to the Silverlight Pack specifically— is mostly circumstantial. You know, like, kills, paw prints, their den when they've been away (cuz I'd really rather NOT become a wolf chew toy, thank you very much).

But now we've got a picture of all of them!

Maybe Charlie will paint them all on a rock like she did Somnus on Ren's doorstop to the dogs' building. Maybe this time the wolves will look like wolves, and not the rat that can only be identified as Somnus by his name having been written on the collar. And hush, no need to tell her that— don't you know she'll get annoyed cuz she's got 'wonderful art skills and she doesn't need to listen to your criticism so you may kindly be quiet while she works, please and thank you?'

Anyway, hopefully this weekend will be uneventful and relaxing. I could really use some good rest.

Until next time,

Ashley Baok

Monday

Dear Diary,

The weekend was not restful.

Nor was it uneventful.

Actually feelin' pretty salty about that one. Really salty. I mean, I just wanted to sleep. Is that really too much to ask? I mean, really?! I want my sleep!

Anyway, so I was doing some digging, right?

Remember when I told you about that time I was in the Valleyfield Market in Dal and I overheard that brief bit of conversation about that mine collapse possibility in Spider Ridge? Well, I was looking into that, Diary.

It's rather unfortunate, cuz there really IS that possibility. Unfortunate, ya know? People are still going into the mines— money to be made, and all that jazz. In all honesty, that doesn't seem like that world's BEST idea. Suppose they've got pieces of glass over the concerning-looking cracks. Like, the glass breaks and that's an issue cuz it means the rock is shifting... and that's never a good sign.

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Imagine the damage that would be done if even one of the mines collapsed? Even if it was toward the end of the mine, still got a decent chance that someone's gonna wind up trapped. Or maybe it would just make the whole entire mine unstable... and then that's an even bigger problem. Or, worst case scenario, one of the mines collapses right at the entrance to the mine. Then a whole lot of people are stuck.

Imagine the effects of a massive collapse in the mines though. Spider Ridge is where so many of the mined materials come from, including Arkreon. Leviathan Inc. powers some enormous percentage of homes and businesses. It's really rather ridiculous, but it's how it is. Massive collapse means Spider Ridge gets shut down. Spider Ridge shut down means no more removal of mined materials. No more removal of mined materials means shortage of aforementioned mined materials. Shortage of aforementioned mined materials means lots of things shut down, power shortage, businesses likely go out of business, and lots of other bad things.

It was honestly kinda depressing how much of an effect one thing going wrong can have on everything, Diary. We're basically just one disaster away from... well, disaster.

I think I need to go do something else.

Goodbye for now,

Ashley Baok

Tuesday

Dear Diary,

I'm less sad now.

I spent a while yesterday afternoon looking at cute kitten and puppy videos on Muse. That always helps. Who knew a sleeping puppy could be so adorable? The puppy was hardly doing anything except breathing!

And yes, I probably should've done some more work yesterday, but none of it was crucial. And there was this puppy that looked like a mini Pyxis who was all fur and oversized paws. I think my heart might have melted in my chest!

Ren asked me for help in training the dogs. The only time they do that is when they either need someone to create distractions for the dogs to ignore... or the really fun job of being the 'enemy.' Please note the sarcasm, Diary. Somewhat sarcasm. The dogs need to practice biting people, of course, but they've got TEETH! And JAWS! It hurts! But worth the pain if it means we can arrest more poachers and ease the strain on Pocket Forest, since there's already enough of a struggle for the wildlife without humans going on in there and being stupid jerks. Mother Nature is merciless... people don't need to be sticking their fingers where they don't belong.

Anyway, I agreed to suit up so the dogs could practice bite work. Hopefully it won't hurt too much.

Wish me luck!

Ashley Baok

Wednesday

Dear Diary,

It was lunchtime and we were all craving danishes so I went to Deanna's Bakery. Might've been a bit of a waste to drive all that way for one thing, but can't convince me it wasn't worth it. I mean... it's a danish.

I went on out there, and I saw someone struggling with their car. It had a flat tire, and they were trying to put on a spare tire. I offered to help, and they accepted. All those times of changing the SFPU car tires came in handy!

It felt nice. And it was hardly any effort. They offered to buy me something from the bakery, but I declined and wished them a nice day.

It's always such a wonderful thing when I can do something. Maybe that's why I'm always so interested in learning something new— maybe it'll come in handy in the future.

I think I'm getting to the point where I could fix just about anything in our cars, and that would probably translate at least roughly to other cars. I can change a tire and the basic stuff like that, it's that subtle stuff in the engine that still gets me though. You know, when it's not all that obvious?

I'm glad the person's car troubles were only a flat tire and nothing more. It was an easy fix that likely won't be anything more than replacing the tires.

Bite work with the dogs went well yesterday. Except for when Somnus slammed into me and got his jaws around my leg. Pretty sure my leg isn't supposed to bend that way. It's usually Ferris who volunteers to be the 'doggy chew toy' but it was me today since Ferris is working on some of the permits we have and making sure they're going to get renewed properly. So many hoops to jump through.

But regardless, now I've got this lovely bruise on my knee. Sure glad I'm not the one Ren is sending the dogs after. Kristin took a look and said I'd be fine. More of a superficial injury, as opposed to really getting deep in there and messing with all the internal parts of my knee. So I suppose that's good.

I'll volunteer again if Ren needs someone to play the role of the chew toy, but it doesn't feel good having a dog come barreling into you and snapping their jaws shut on one of your limbs. Somnus's jaws were like a vise, and Morpheus's usually calm temperament just flipped off and he was like a rocket. Pyxis is usually sweet and cuddly, but not so much when you get a face full of her long fur when she's shoving you to the ground and she lands with all of her weight on your chest.

I can laugh about it now, cuz that really did happen— Pyxis charged into me, and I got the wind knocked out of me when she send me slamming into the ground and she was on my chest. I was spitting her fur out of my mouth when I was trying to breathe. Ren had to call her off early so I could catch my breath.

Looking back, it was mildly amusing, just not so much in the moment. You know, people gotta breathe and all that.

Oh, and I've been looking into some more things.

Until next time,

Ashley Baok

Thursday

Dear Diary,

Four days in a row? That's gotta be some kind of record, right? Well, anyways.

I was pondering that Pockets of Gold and Silver book, right? That one about those kids who go on an epic heist to rob that bank?

Yeah, that one.

So I was thinking that maybe there's a sequel. Many books get them, don't they? The first story wasn't enough, and so another was made to continue the story. The characters gotta carry on.

Maybe Caspian Lyon wrote another story. Pockets of Garnet and Sapphire, maybe? Thrones of Salt and Sand, because nothing lasts forever?

Those kids couldn't do it alone. The bank they were trying to rob was just too big for only them.

The first bank they robbed —the one they infiltrated in Pockets of Gold and Silver— they robbed successfully... but they only got a few Corvilles. Not nearly enough.

But this one promises to be much more rewarding— what they'll get when they rob the bank is beyond their wildest dreams. They'll get that stability they wanted, Diary.

Cuz when you're going after Snakes and Sirens, you gotta be prepared, you know? Snakes have sharp tongues, and Sirens have a deadly song. They're those fairies with those trickster magic spells up their sleeves and changing faces, because even the prettiest of looks can hide scalding sugar.

You gotta watch out for those serpents and monsters— the banks have security. And security doesn't always look like anyone. Sometimes it slips away into the crowd. Forgotten completely.

And watch out for what's under your bed. You never know what may be lurking beneath where you lay your head to rest at night. Maybe it's just something wrapped up in sheep's wool, hiding what it really is. Playing innocent when it's truly a wolf, something far more dangerous. Some monster that lives deep within a mountain, some demon prowling within the depths of a network of tunnels and caves.

I mean, it can be really quite fascinating all the things that come alive once the sun sets. You can say hello to that monster beneath your bed. Reach out and run your hand across its side, feel the heat coiling beneath its skin, see the yellow of its flesh, hear the wheeze in its breath.

Don't you want to see that monster? Don't you want to see that Eidolon?

Ashley Baok