After our meeting, Lord Fortuna stepped away to deal with casino business, leaving us a guard to escort us about the premise as we wished. I opted to check out our living arrangements before going to do anything that required brain power. I dismissed the guard as soon as we opened the door, assuring them that I would call for someone when I needed them. They nodded and left us alone.
“What do you remember about the night they all disappeared?” Maguire asked.
So much for not requiring brain power.
“Why do you ask?”
“Just curious. We are one step closer to finding out what happened and I realized I've never asked your story.”
“There’s not much to tell,” I admitted. “I didn’t know anything was wrong until the next day. A few of us were meeting up in a cabin in the mountains and I had gotten there early. Spent most of the night reading until I fell asleep on the couch. Woke up around noon the next day and no one was there. I tried to get a hold of my friends, no one responded. By the end of the day, I realized something was very wrong.”
“I can’t begin to imagine how stressful that must have been.”
“I spent a few days coming to terms with the fact that it wasn’t actually just one big prank. Then I went to find the nearest Clever mural to have a chat. Been trying to find a way to bring them back ever since, along with picking up the slack. Made a lot more progress since I got you to agree to join.”
“Was I really the first candidate you came across in all that time?”
“I've made lots of friends in my time with the society. You’re the first person I recruited. The older members told me that I would feel it when the time was right to ask. Didn’t know what they meant until I worked with you at the Pole.”
He started to say something, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“It’s open,” I called. The list of people who would be knocking on our door was short, and I didn’t feel like getting up.
Eve stepped inside, signing to me that she had come to show me to the oracle glass. I signed back that I would be ready in a second, then turned to Maguire.
“I am going to go ask my question. Not sure how long it’ll take or what I'll feel up to after that, but how's about you get us a dinner reservation for 7. Your choice.”
“I can handle that. I might also do some exploring while you’re busy. You need anything, let me know.”
“Will do. Have fun, Maguire.”
Eve and I chatted the entire walk to the vault, rapidly catching each other up on the hijinx of previous months. She had just joined the team when I first met Lord Fortuna and we quickly became friends. She had a wicked sense of humor and noticed more than most people did. More than a few members considered trying to recruit her, but her loyalty to Lord Fortuna was much too strong for that.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t pick her brain for all of the latest gossip passing through the casino. Unfortunately, the walk to the vault didn’t give us enough time to get into the juicy stuff, so we made plans to meet up later.
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She wished me luck and left me alone in the vault.
I stood across the hall from the oracle glass for several minutes before I gathered the courage to approach. I had never seen one before outside of drawings in books. Not much is known about where they came from or how they were made, but the power was undeniable. An oracle glass can answer any question, but each glass will only answer one question per person, or so the stories say. There were countless questions rattling through my mind as I stepped forward and pressed a palm against the glass.
“Show me how the Society of Jacks disappeared,” I said gently. “Please.”
The glass thrummed beneath my hand, sending vibrations through my fingers and up my arm, into my shoulder. The world around me fell out of focus and, while I remained aware of my surroundings, I was also somewhere else.
***
I found myself in a room that could only be described as nondescript. The only thing of any visual significance floated directly in front of me. It was a large globe, like the ones some teachers have in their classrooms. I reached forward and touched it, and while it didn’t move, I could sense it responding to my touch. I reached with my other hand and found it easy to manipulate, turning at the slightest touch and zooming in with astounding precision.
“Okay,” I muttered, “not what I expected but we can work with this.”
I zoomed in on the city that I knew held the most Jacks the day the society disappeared. Sure enough, I found a bunch of them gathered in one of the safe houses. They almost looked frozen in time, yet when I focused in on them, the seconds started to creep forward and I watched them disappear. The same happened in the other four safehouses in the city. And in the next city over. And all across the country.
In the span of seconds that felt like hours, I journeyed all across the world and watched as each and every one of my friends vanished one after another after another. Each time it happened in the exact same manner. It almost looked like a video glitch. They flickered in and out of focus, then they were gone. I studied it closely, trying to memorize every single detail from the looks on their faces to the way the world around them did or didn’t react. Every single time it felt like I stood among them as they disappeared, and it broke my heart a little to know I couldn’t stop it.
I could bring them back, though. I had to. So I kept watching, trying to absorb every detail of what the oracle glass was showing me.
***
I staggered back, bracing myself against the nearest wall while I waited for the world to stop swimming around me. The glass rippled like water for a few minutes before it stilled to a solid silver. I somehow knew that the stories were true, that I would not be able to ask the glass again. It gave me the answer I needed, though, and that was enough.
“Thank you,” I said, inclining my head towards the mirror. I wasn’t quite steady enough on my feet to manage a bow. I don’t think the mirror minded, though.
Eve was waiting for me when I exited the vault. The second she saw me, she held out a notepad and a pencil. I gratefully accepted both and she walked with me to a little alcove where I could sit and start filling up the pad with every detail I could remember. Must have been rather boring to watch, but she stayed nearby anyway, waiting patiently for me to finish.
When I ran out of details, I started writing out theories and questions, scrambling to get the words down as quickly as I thought of them. Somewhere in there, I vaguely noticed my phone vibrating. I didn’t check until I ran out of steam, and I felt slightly less guilty when I saw it was just Maguire letting me know what our dinner plans were.
I sent him a thumbs up, then got distracted by the time.
“That took a lot less time than I thought it would,” I commented. All of my thoughts on the conundrum were somewhat neatly laid out on paper, and I knew I wouldn’t be coming up with anything new until I had time to finish processing things.
Eve nodded, signing that magic is funny that way. I agreed. She asked what I wanted to do now. I asked if there were any good back room games going on. The distraction would do me some good until I had time to start researching and laying out a plan of sorts.
Her wicked grin was all the answer I needed.