Black Spiders

[Malindle]

A writing room! Neat! While I'm new to these boards, I love stories of all kinds. That said, while I go through the library already jotted down, here's a contribution of my own.

Let me know what you think. I welcome comments and criticism of all kinds.

Black Spiders

Perry stumbled past the threshold to his office. He grabbed at the door to regain his balance, the stack of papers he clutched slipping free to scatter to every corner of the little room. His fingers only brushed the doorknob, pushing it further away. Perry fell to the wooden floor in an undignified heap.

Laughter echoed in from the hallway beyond. Two burly guardsmen chortled. The third pulled back the boot he'd tripped Perry with.

"Chrissakes Perry," he said. "With reflexes like that, s'no wonder the first pioneers failed." The man nudged his fellows and then they continued their way down the hall.

Perry rolled over with a groan. He listened to the boot steps fade. "I wish I'd never told you about my granduncle," he said aloud.

The office's only other occupant moved over to help Perry up. "Well you have to admit," said James. "It's kind of a rubbish tale."

"It's something to be proud of," replied Perry. "My great granduncle was one of the first people to step into Malifaux, back before anyone else had tamed it."

"Yes. And just like everyone back then he died horribly." James rolled his eyes.

Perry regarded his co-worker. They were complete opposites. Both were of average height and a little thin, but where Perry Williams was scrawny, James Anderson was wiry and lean. Where Perry was nebbish, James was outgoing and sociable. He smiled a lot, and all his dispatches out to the badlands were giving him a healthy tan. Whereas Perry was increasingly shut-in and pale. James read about all the weird and dangerous fauna of Malifaux. Perry had a crippling fear of spiders.

"Look friend," James continued. "I've told you half a hundred times. People don't like to be reminded of what happened during the first migration. They like to think that we're the pioneers. Hell, that's the official word from above. 'This time we'll do the job done properly.' You know that."

"I know," said Perry. "But I'm still proud of him."

He shut the door and gathered his fallen papers, watchful for any leggy arachnids that might be scuttling about. The office of the Assistant Directors of Transportation Matters in Malifaux was a small one, though there were many places that the hated creatures could creep. Wooden pigeonholes for storing paper documents adorned all four walls. The ceiling overhead hid behind a mess of brass water pipes and steam baffles for the floor above. In the center of the room were two desks, pressed up to face against each other, the space beneath them dark. The newfangled coffeemaker in the corner near the cast numerous shadows behind it. Even the one window looking out onto the city of Malifaux held a large sill, perfect for the smaller creatures to crawl under.

Perry cleaned up his paperwork and returned to his desk. He rifled through the reports and restored them to order. Outside, the hot sun of the alien world reached its zenith and he considered going to lunch. Then the office door banged open.

Lucius, masked secretary to the Governor of Malifaux himself, entered. Behind him followed two bodyguards, hard-bitten men with ugly scars and uglier eyes. One turned to ward the door from entrance. The other moved to a discreet place against one wall.

Perry stared. The Governor's secretary never came down here. Perry was terrified of the man, though he'd never spoken a word to him before now. For years Perry had thought he was a construct. That rumor had been quashed, but it was still said that only dead men knew what Lucius looked like under his gilded mask.

"You are the Assistant Directors for Transportation Matters in Malifaux?" asked the secretary, voice echoing slightly.

"Y-yes," stammered Perry.

James was more smooth. "Yes sir. James Anderson for Badlands Transport. And this is Perry Williams of Railway Division."

Lucius nodded, facing Perry. The secretary tossed a folder down onto his desk. "Here is a list of engineering reports from studies of the Breach railway line. There is concern that energies from the rift are stressing the rails beyond the usual tolerances. You are to audit this information and prepare a proposed railway timetable to accommodate repairs. The Governor himself will be reviewing it."

Perry stared at the folder. After a moment he looked back up to Lucius. "Shouldn't Mr. Wrightby be handling this?"

"The Director of Railway Transport has been... inconvenienced." Lucius tapped the chin of his mask, white-gloved finger against burnished gold. "His corpse was found a short time ago. Dr. McMourning is performing an autopsy, but I suspect the conclusion will be poison. Witnesses placed him last evening down at the Star Theater." Lucius shook his head. "Both of you will report to me directly for the time being. I will require the report two mornings hence."

The Governor's secretary turned and left, his thugs moving to frame him. Perry and James watched them go. When the door shut James turned to Perry with a smile.

"Acting Directors! Reporting to Lucius himself! There's a feather in our caps, eh?"

Perry winced. "This is going to end terribly."

"Oh stop it. This is our chance to shine! Besides, this should be a piece of cake. Do the job well and maybe we'll make this permanent."

Perry nodded. "You're right." He gathered up the folder. "Time to get to work."

The next hour was spent sorting through the engineering reports. Perry categorized them by date and usefulness. Even casual review made it plain; the Breach railway lines were degrading far faster than they should be. The only question was whether that was due to the arcane energies of the Breach itself, mundane wear and tear due to Earthside traffic, or sabotage.

James was called away to deal with some mad Ortega request and Perry was left alone. He didn't mind, really. This was important, and he worked best when alone. He was reviewing a tangential document about the Jack Daw sightings when a spider crawled across his desk.

It was a big one, almost as long as his thumb. A local breed, with only four legs and a shiny black carapace. Baleful red eyes glimmered from the front of its beady little body.

Perry froze. Instant revulsion writhed in his gut. He pushed his chair backward, staring in horror at the creature. Perry wanted to jump up, yell for help, have James or anyone else squash the thing. But he was alone. He swallowed, desperately wishing the arachnid would go away.

The little spider didn't seem to notice; more likely it didn't care. It continued skittering across his desk, stopping for a moment to hide underneath a sheet of paper.

Perry wanted to cry. If the little vermin had moved out of sight he would be okay. But it was just sitting there. He knew what James would say if he were here. He was always trying to get Perry to face his fears, kill his spiders himself. But he couldn't. The sight of the little vermin always shut him down. Still... it was hidden for the moment. Maybe this was his chance.

He grabbed up a heavy ledger. Perry all but threw it at the desktop where the spider hid. The tome landed with a satisfying thump and a sickly crunch was muffled beneath it.

Perry waited a moment, then crept back over. He took a breath and then pulled back the ledger. The paper beneath was torn and ruined, but so was the spider it had hidden. Its dark chitin was mangled and strangely dry; a single leg-tip stuck out from underneath the paper. Perry grabbed his wastebasket and scraped both the paper and the dead spider into it, shuddering as he did so. Then he shoved the wastebasket near the door with his chair.

He just sat down with a sigh when James entered the office. His co-worker stopped and sniffed.

"Hey. You burning something in here?" he asked.

Perry shook his head. "No. Why?"

James frowned. "Something stinks like a fire. Oh. You got the window open. All that coal smoke from the Yards creeps in you know."

Perry turned to the window. It was ajar, lifted a few inches. "I didn't open that. I thought you did."

"Nope. Left it shut. Anyway, go close it eh?" James went back to his desk.

Perry moved to shut the window. It closed with a click when he threw the latch. Turning back to his desk, Perry froze.

Dozens of red eyes glared at him from the dark recesses of the pipe work near the ceiling.

* * *

"But they were everywhere," Perry almost wailed. "Black all over and gimlet-eyed."

The janitor snorted. "Look. I've checked up an down, and the few spiders I did find, which were the nothing like what you're reporting, are dead. I went ahead and blocked the two mouse holes I found. No more spiders are getting in, and I didn't find your 'spider swarm.' Now clear off, that Criid woman leaves a trail of ash wherever she goes. Who do you think gets to deal with it? I'll tell ya who; me."

He turned and stalked down the corridor. Perry swallowed and opened the door to his office. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, nothing scuttled across the floors. The window on the wall opposite looked out onto the city of Malifaux, wreathed in early morning haze.

Perry took a deep breath and stepped into the room. He glanced immediately up at the ceiling. The brass pipes there hid deep shadows, but nothing scuttled through them, that he could see.

He walked over to his desk and set down his report. After fleeing the room yesterday, he'd gone straight to janitorial services. The man was busy though, and could not deal with the... infestation then. Perry had refused to return to his room, instead persuading James to bring him the engineering report so he could finish his work. In spite of the disruption he had worked fast, collating the audit into a coherent form and working out a proposed train schedule to go with it. He was pleased with himself; he had finished two days early.

Perry exchanged pleasantries with the mail clerk as the man made his rounds, then sent a message to Lucius that his report was ready for review at the secretary's convenience.

The minutes ticked by. Perry walked around, tidying up. This had to be perfect. He adjusted papers, rearranged pens and his inkwell, and straightened a picture of the Governor. When the heavy tromp of guard boots echoed down the hallway, he opened the door and waited.

The Governor's secretary looked just as he did before. "You have the report?" he asked.

Perry nodded. "Yes sir. Just over here." Perry turned back and led the man into his office. "It's still inconclusive whether or not the degradation is sabotage, or something more naturally occurring. But-"

He fell silent as he took in his desk. Everything was just as immaculate as before, except for his report. The thick folder was soaking in a pool of dark blue ink. His inkwell was toppled just at the corner of the stack of papers, and the pool was spreading with alarming speed.

"No!" Perry shouted in surprise. He ran over to the report, but it was too late. All his work was ruined.

Perry turned to look back at the Governor's secretary. The man was impassive behind his golden mask. But he tapped his cane against the wooden floorboards of the office impatiently. Perry felt a lump of cold fear settle in his stomach.

"Uh, it appears there's been an accident sir," said Perry.

"So it does," replied Lucius.

The silenced stretched out. Perry swallowed. Lucius abruptly turned on his heel and moved to the door.

"Tomorrow, Mr. Williams," said Lucius. "See that you are finished. And mayhap you should take more care with your workspace. Then I won't need to inform you of what happened to the last clerk who failed me."

The secretary left. Perry looked down at his ruined report like it had personally betrayed him. Then he paused.

The pool of ink spread uniformly, the inkwell knocked over just perfectly enough to spill on his report. It touched nothing else, save for a few dappled spots upon his desk running from the inkwell to the edge and below.

Like the footsteps of a spider.

* * *

The little pocket-watch in his waistcoat chimed. Perry blinked, stretched, and pulled it out. Eight o' clock, on the nose. He nodded, then yawned.

Perry had spent most of the day recreating his report. James had left hours ago, after spending a good portion of his day convincing Perry that what had happened was a simple accident. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that the black spiders were responsible for the ink spill. Fortunately, he still had just enough time to prepare the report for the Governor. Assuming he stayed a few hours late.

The work was done now though. He could finally clock off and go get a bite to eat. Perry put his watch away, standing and stretching again. He picked up the folder holding his report, opened his desk drawer and placed it neatly inside, safe from anymore 'accidents.' Turning out the lamps, he locked his door and moved down the hall to leave.

By the time he reached the main lobby, Perry was convinced he had forgotten something. He stepped out onto the marble floor of the room and paused in thought. Around him stretched the cavernous entrance to the building, numerous doors and passageways threading back into its depths. A single pair of high double-doors opened out onto the world outside. Standing before them was a man with bright ginger hair and a long hooked nose.

"Hello there," said Doctor Douglas McMourning. "Perry Williams, isn't it?"

Perry was startled out of his reverie. "Oh! Hello Doctor. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." There was something about the Guild's coroner that put Perry off, though he would never be able to put his finger on it. Now that he looked, he saw that the man was not alone. A short, wide finger in an all-concealing greatcoat and wide hat stood in the shadows beside the mortician. There was something familiar about the fat fellow; he somewhat reminded Perry of his ex-boss, Mr. Wrightby.

MrMourning smiled. His teeth were white, and his grin over-broad. "It's quite all right. I myself didn't expect anyone else to be out at this hour. Working late? You look somewhat preoccupied." The coroner fingered something behind his back in one hand.

Perry smacked his forehead. "My jacket! That's what I forgot." He turned to climb back upstairs. "Thank you doctor, I would have forgotten my own head, I've been so preoccupied of late."

McMourning waved him on. "Yes, yes, lost heads. We've all been there. Be seeing you."

Perry climbed back up to the fourth floor where his office lay. He tromped down the hallway to it, pulled out his key and unlocked the door. The hallway lamps shed a knife of illumination into the room. Perry stalked in, hand out towards his jacket where it lay on the back of a chair.

He stopped. His desk drawer was opened, the folder removed. It lay about the tabletop in shreds.

Five small dark shapes skittered away from the work, dropping to the floor and scuttling into dark spaces, their red eyes glimmering.

* * *

Perry tried to breathe.

The office around him was disorganized chaos. Folders and their contents were scattered all about. Pens, paper, and office supplies of all sorts were tossed across the floor. Books lay on the floor, on the desk. They were unopened, as if thrown. Through the window on one wall of the office, the sun hung a foot above the horizon.

Perry sat back from his desk, several heavy books in his lap. One he held in both hands, waiting. Out of the corners of his eyes he saw them. The spiders. Their black forms wriggled in cubby-holes and skittered underneath desks and shelving. A dozen red eyes watched him from the pipe-works near the ceiling.

They were actively opposing him now.

Eventually last night's panic had calmed. He knew his enemy, had known since the first time he'd seen them. The spiders. They were the ones that had ruined his first report, and now his second. But he didn't have time to worry. Lucian needed the document and its attendant schedule that next morning. Perry didn't dare displease the Governor's secretary.

He rolled up his sleeves and got to work. And that's when they came. In ones and twos, threes and fours they tried to disrupt him, to terrify him, to ruin his work. At first it had succeeded, and they shredded his freshly written paperwork while he cowered in a corner. After awhile however, fear of Lucian, and James' own words came back to him. Perry found that if he threw things at the black arachnids from a distance, then he could stand to kill the things.

He spent the whole night fighting off the spiders. After a while he almost felt he understood them; they hated Perry just as much as he hated them. But why? Was it because he'd killed the one? That didn't make any sense. They were simple insects.

The battle had been long, and hard. In the end he'd triumphed, though only through constant vigilance. His finished report, and the updated train schedule, lay in a folder on his desk before him. Perry held a tome, fresh ammunition for any of his foes who made too daring an attempt.

Perry closed his eyes and yawned. Then he blinked them open again. He was drowsy, exhausted from the nightlong struggle. But he couldn't give in or they would win again.

Perry felt his head droop. He closed his eyes. The thump of jackboots in the corridor awoke him. Perry felt sheer, blind panic for a moment. He had fallen asleep, and Lucian was on his way. He leapt to his feet. The books in his lap tumbled to the floor. Then he stopped. The folder lay where he had left it. No spiders crawled across it. Perry gave a sigh of relief.

The door to his office banged open. Lucian entered, the tap of his cane measuring each step he took. His two bodyguards followed the man inside.

"Perry Williams," said Lucian. "You're prepared and waiting. Excellent." The secretary paused to take in the state of the room. "I trust that the report is ready?"

Perry snagged up the folder and set down his book. "Yes it is sir. I, uh, I ran into some difficulties, had to work on it all night. But here it is." He passed the folder to Lucian's gloved hands and stood back, beaming. Then he notice movement out of the corner of his eye.

A spider crawled across the floor. It was only out in the open for a minute, then it disappeared into the shadows under his desk. Perry saw something else down there as well. A stack of papers dumped haphazardly. He recognized the paper. It was his report.

"The Governor's Mule? What is the meaning of this?"

Cold fear settled like a lead weight in Perry's gut. He glanced back to see Lucian with the folder open, a single sheet of paper in his hands. The mask of the man was featureless, but the cold timbre in his voice was unmistakable. Perry recognized the title; it was a bawdy music-hall piece, one that poked fun at the Guild, and especially the Governor.

"I-I don't know how that could have gotten there. It's, it's a mistake-"

"Indeed it is," said Lucian, voice frosty. "You were to have a report for me. Instead I find you partaking in subversive entertainment." Lucian crumpled the paper and threw it over his shoulder. His two thugs moved in to grab Perry by each arm. "I told you that you wouldn't want to know what happened to the last clerk who failed me. I guess you're going to find out after all."

"No!" Perry wailed. "No, please! It wasn't my fault. It was the spiders. You've got to believe me, it was the spiders!"

Lucian left the office, his two guards hauling Perry away as he raved.

* * *

Victor Ramos frowned. He wasn't averse to getting his hands dirty. But coming to this part of the city by himself was dangerous. The Guild Yards filled the block on the opposite side of the street, bastion of his enemies and their corrupt regime.

Beside him the primary, or Parent Spider chattered, a quick hissing vent of steam that echoed sharply through the narrow alleyway. The sub-units clung to its back, dozens of shiny black arachnids, miniatures to the Parent. Ramos looked them over again with a professional eye; the units appeared flawless. Still, they had been acting oddly these last two days. Nothing beyond the normal parameters, aside from failure in the task assigned. That by itself was not enough to warrant a full re-programming of the mechanika cortex. Any number of things could have gone wrong, hence why he'd finally requested the services of Colette Du Bois' protégé. Still. There was something... off... about his latest creation. It almost seemed smug.

A woman exited the entrance to the Yards across the street. She was stunning, even in the more conservative apparel he had requested she wear, even hiding beneath her parasol. Blond, confident, and dangerous, Cassandra crossed the street with a walk that made men passing by stop and stare. Ramos frowned. The woman attracted far too much attention. But her assets were unquestionable, and he had run out of options.

Cassandra stopped to chat with a fruit-seller hawking his wares, bashfully took an apple from him gratis, then slipped into the alley when no one was looking. She walked up to Ramos, winked, and took a bite of the apple.

"Well?" asked Ramos, voice cold and precise.

She shook her head. "Sorry sugar," she said in a voice like silk. "Nowhere to be found. Finagled my way into a tour on the arm of a guard that happens to be a fan of mine. Something happened up in the office you told me about though. Looks like the guy writing that schedule you want went crazy. Whole room is trashed. Didn't find your document."

Ramos found himself frowning again in vexation. "Irritating," he said. "I need that proposed railway timetable if we're to make any timely shipments earthside."

Cassandra shrugged. She blinked down at the Parent Spider beside him. "What's this thing?"

"A prototype," said Ramos. "A swarm unit, modified for infiltration; blackened steel and small chips of soulstone byproduct. The Parent Spider acts as a 'hive' and control, though the swarm as a whole has some very little independent direction. I had initially utilized it in this endeavor, but it was unable to locate the document either. Thus I acquired your talents."

"Ah," said the showgirl.

Ramos sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Enough," he said. "If the timetable is not here, then it is not here. I have wasted enough time on this endeavor. Come."

He turned and walked away. The Parent Spider and its swarm skittered to follow. Cassandra watched it a moment longer, wondering at the odd, almost pleased gait of the construct. The she shrugged and followed.

[the_madhatter1]

I liked well written and very professional, surprised no one ever commented on it!

[Sholto]

Very good

This story does just about everything right. The title is intruiging and the beginning grips quickly, and once the spiders (and Lucius - not Lucian) turn up it really starts motoring.

I loved the fight between Perry and the Spiders, and it was a slight parody of a game of Malifaux, with deadly combat being waged over, err, a report!

It has a few first-draft errors that are easily fixed (spelling etc). The only adverse comment I would make is that you end on two characters who have not been in the story up to the final scene. You might want to consider if you could rewrite the ending to avoid that. Also, you introduce the idea of Perry's greatuncle and then go nowhere with it. I expected something to come of that.

Loved the joke about Sonnia Criid, btw

[rascally]

As an Arachnophobe myself I sympathise with Perry.. Poor chap.

Nice story - apart from the spiders ;-)

[Cambrius]

Proof that all spiders must be squashed.

This was a fun read, and I'm glad you pulled it up from the depths. The dialogue is jaunty and even the "heavy" stuff has a light-hearted feel, which contributes to the fun.

[edonil]

Woah. I really enjoyed that, it was fun. Poor Perry...