Chapter Six

Trapped/Better call Oxy

Philip Cook and Walter Grant were rushing up the stairs again, accompanied by some members of the police forensic team and the FRT, when Stuart sent word that Zi had disappeared from the room. Once again, the apartment was crowded with people, looking apprehensively into the old mirror.

"What the hell happened?" Grant asked, aghast.

"I-I don't know, one minute she was talking to us, and the next she disappeared," Stuart explained.

Zi was just as surprised as Stuart. [I didn't notice either, it happened so fast, one moment I was looking in the mirror and the next I was inside.]

"Are you okay?" Philip asked worriedly and approached the mirror.

[I think so.]

No one in the room could see Zi, although behind the glass she could see them all. At least communication had not been cut off.

Stuart took a few hesitant steps toward Philip, "Sir, the comm signal is right where the mirror is."

"Is this thing a fey trap or something?"

"I don't know, sir," Stuart said, matter-of-factually.

Philip bit his lower lip. "Could it have been because of the MAPs?"

Stuart explained nervously. "No, something that could cause this kind of distortion is not possible with the readings we took. There are barely any traces of the particles in the room. It's not even enough to cause something like this."

"Could it be an Oopart?"

"It could be possible. But for the moment I think it's best if she stays where she is," Portman pointed out.

"Are you listening this?" Philip asked.

[Yeah.]

"Could it be possible that those MAP particles are because of the mirror?" asked Grant.

A girl, a member of the FRT replied. "No. We'd have mirror readings if that were the case, but there's nothing like that."

"What the fuck is going on here?" Philip asked, visibly angry, as he examined the hellish object. Zi on the other side looked worriedly at Philip's face. Although she sometimes played jokes on him, she hated it when she worried her fellow adventurer.

Portman spoke. "There are several cases in the files involving mirrors, sir..."

"I know. But is there anything like this?"

"I'd have to check further."

Philip approached the mirror.

"Sir, it's not recommended," Stuart warned.

"Can you at least listen to us clearly?" Portman asked.

[Yes.]

"Well at least that's something."

Stuart took a few steps closer, a safe distance from the object. "If she's really inside the mirror there's something I don't understand. Is the reflection level of the image she sees inside sharp or not?"

[It's the same image outside,] Zi replied.

"That shouldn't be possible in a normal mirror."

"What do you mean?" Philip asked.

"A mirror works by reflecting the image, she should only be able to see just five or two percent of that, which is the absorption level. She shouldn't have to be seeing the sharp image."

Philip gritted his teeth. "All very nice, how do we get her out of there?"

[Better call Oxy,] Zi said.

Philip looked at the mirror, even though he had no way of knowing, he could sense that his partner was looking at him at that moment.

Yes, it's probably for the best. Philip sighed and looked at Grant. "I'm going to call one of our science officers, is that okay? I know it's not within the usual regulation and we need a prior order in case we put another officer on. But I have to share the case information with her, so she can help us."

Grant, in turn, looked at the FRT members. "Aren't they science officers too?"

"They are, but my partner and I have a special science officer, who we consult when something unexpected happens."

Grant looked at him with concern. "…"

"I know perfectly well it's not the usual, but it's also not usual for one of our people to get caught like this. She's my partner."

"All right, all right. Call him," Grant agreed, after all he too had had partners in the police force. He could well understand Philip's concern.

"Her, in this case," corrected Philip.

"But I need to hear the conversation and get the facts," Grant added.

Philip nodded and opened communications over the Neurowire with Grant, Zi and Stuart as well.

First Response Teams were made up exclusively of members who had to have, on the one hand, a speciality in emergency shock force and, on the other hand, had to have a technical functionality in the team. Cryptography, first aid, forensic science, specialists in chemistry, explosives or some other area involving hard sciences. It was a requirement that had to be met to the letter in case of danger. Its members had to know how to defend others and themselves.

However, this was not the case with the special agent teams. They were almost always more trained in areas where evidence gathering, investigation and apprehension were required. Furthermore, ninety percent of the time, special agent missions required support from a nearby FRT team.

With Zi and Philip that was not the case. Having more years of experience and number of ranks in the SID, they had much more autonomy. But for that they also sometimes required support from someone in the hard sciences, to help them when they ran into something along the way. Just as Shin had become Mai's science officer, Philip and Zi also had one.

For that there was Oxy. One of the smartest fey on Siren Island. Unfortunately also one of the most troublemakers.

The call took a few seconds to be answered, by a female voice that seemed to be yawning. [Do you know what time it is? People my age have to sleep eight hours... or more].

"We have an emergency Oxy, sorry. We need you to help us."

[Hello,] Zi greeted.

"Professor Oxy, nice to hear from you again," Stuart said.

"Good evening, ma'am," Grant greeted.

[Wow, it's crowded there. What's going on?]

"Do you know anything about a mirror that catches people?" Philip asked.

[Sorry I'm waking up, I think I heard mirror that catches people?]

"Yep."

[You know you'd have to call the Ooparts Department for something like that, right?]

"Of course I know that, but you were our science officer and the Ooparts Department takes a long time to process a request. I need help now," Philip urged.

[Okay, okay. Let's see... a mirror that catches people?]

"Yes."

[Is that what you' re tracking?]

"Not exactly, I've got it in front of me. I need to get Zi out from inside."

[... get her out from inside?]

[I'm inside a mirror,] Zi explained.

[What? You're trapped?!]

"Yeah, she's trapped and we don't know how it happened."

[I'm in here,] Zi repeated.

[You should have started there. Zi, are you okay?]

[Yes, at least I'm still breathing, although I don't know how.]

"Do you know anything that can help us?"

[Ok... well, let's see. I need those who are listening to share the vision with me, so I can get an idea of where you are and what's going on there].

Philip looked at Grant again, and he nodded.

Those who were sharing the communication activated the sending of images through the Neurowire. Normally an ordinary person could not do that with more than one person, since it required synchronizing the gaze with another. In Oxy's case, she was receiving the live feed from several people to recreate a rendering in her mind that allowed her to see the place almost as if it were a 3D space. At the same time, those sharing the communication saw a girl with tousled brown hair, wearing a crop top and shorts materialize in their vision.

[Okay for starters... get all the non-essential people out of the room. This is not a show.]

[It kind it is,] Zi said.

Grant and Philip ordered the members of the forensic team and the FRT out, so that only those who shared communication with Oxy at the time were left.

[Zi, tell me what you see.] Oxy asked.

[I'm sending you the transmission.]

[I can't see it, I only see a black box on your transmission.]

"You can't see what she sees?" Philip asked.

[No, I don't see anything,] Oxy replied.

[I see the room, Philip, Inspector Grant, Stuart. I see everything as if through an outside window.] Zi explained.

[How much of the room do you see?]

[I see everything.]

[Are you sure?] Oxy asked.

[Yes.]

[What do you see to the sides of the mirror, and up? Can you see the windows and the wall?]

[Ah, that... no. I see the ceiling but the side where it should be leaning is all black, there's nothing there.]

[You're seeing everything as if through a door projection. Fine… but don't even think about touching the black part.]

[Why?]

[Because I'm still not sure what you see and what you don't.]

"Can we take her out?" Philip asked.

[Don't be a pain. First we have to know what the mirror is, and how it works.] Oxy was silent for a few seconds, then continued. [What about your body, can you see it all?]

[Yes…]

[I mean your image in the glass.]

[No, I'm not reflected.]

[Because you're inside... well that brings things a little bit closer together. Basically a mirror is a virtual image reflecting probabilities of a photon. You're there and not there at the same time.]

[We all know what a mirror is.]

[Excuse me, but you don't. You don't know.]

"No... we're not going to start one of your classes!" Philip said grumpily.

[Suck it up. I think this might be easier than it looks…]

"Fine."

[… or not…]

"Which is it?"

[It's a basic physics problem, what you see in the mirror is the reflected image of the incident light.]

"She says she can see the image of the room perfectly, how is that possible if she's behind the mirror?" Stuart asked.

[The light reflecting off the glass is photons, before the image is reflected, the light penetrates the glass, bends... and is reflected off the material behind the glass. It's easy. She is not behind the mirror. It's between the glass and the reflective surface].

"..." Philip and Grant turned to look at Stuart.

"Are you telling me she's squashed like a 2D cartoon?" Jin Stuart asked.

Oxy explained [No... it's a volume illusion. Like a 2.5D. Like those old computer games with glitches that you could walk through the walls of the stages. Basically what Zi is seeing is a five-sided box, which is the room, the sixth side is the window through which the image she is seeing is passing. But it's her perception of what the mirror is reflecting.]

"That's a trip," Stuart said, smiling.

[Believe me it's not... and I can prove it.]

"How?"

[With a reality check. It's easy. Zi, what you see on your sides, are you sure it's the same thing you see on the other side of the mirror?]

Zi, she turned to her right, which was where she could now see Sil Moore's bed with its sparse furniture. Then she turned to her left and looked at the kitchen and the refrigerator from where earlier she had stolen the slice of pizza. The bathroom, just beyond, still had its lights on. Everything seemed to match what was visible through the glass.

[Well?

[Everything looks normal.]

[Ok... now please bring your hands forward and tell me what you see.]

Zi held out her hand, but saw nothing but the back of her hands, still wearing the latex gloves.

 

[Everything still normal?]

[Yep.]

[Touch the back of your neck and tell me how it feels.]

Zi did as Oxy asked without complaining. She had done that reality check test before, but it was something she limited herself to using many times in dreams. She had never done it in that situation. But certainly touching her body proved that it didn't feel any different at all. [It's all right.]

[Now turn around and walk slowly to the first person in front of you, but don't touch them. Now, for everyone in the room, don't move. Everyone stay still].

Zi once again obeyed and walked to the reflection of Philip, which was the closest, and looked at it. Then as she moved a few centimeters she noticed it. [What the fuck?]

"That's interesting," Stuart pointed out.

"The what?" Philip asked.

"What she's doing is checking how much the mirror is showing. Basically a mirror reflects what it sees, so how do it see what it can't reflect? The hidden part."

"Hmm…"

"When you look in a mirror, you see your reflection. If you touch the back of your neck, for example, you can feel it there. Now imagine from the point of view of the mirror, that it is only reflecting what passes through the glass. How would it represent that which it cannot show?"

"It can't."

"Exactly, if you were walking like Zi, the only thing you would see of those parts that the mirror cannot represent would be like an empty shell. An incomplete image."

Zi moved in for a closer look, and there she saw how Philip's image in the mirror was cut off in certain parts. The parts that the mirror failed to show. It was like looking at an empty black eggshell. It had the shape of her partner, but it was missing parts, and those parts were hollow. Not only him, Stuart, Inspector Grant also had the same characteristics. And looking from another angle, the kitchen and Sil Moore's room, she noticed that there were parts of the scene that also looked like the people in the room, cut and incomplete images.

From the angle she was standing in front of the glass she couldn't see it. But now she could. Parts of the scene were missing on several sides. Pieces of the floor, behind the people, that the mirror could not show were also black as the darkest night.

[Well?]

[It's like it's all black in certain parts…]

[That's what I was afraid of. Go back to the part in front of the glass and stay there in the middle. For the rest of you, you can move, but try not to get near the front of the mirror].

"Why couldn't we move?"

[Just in case, imagine that she is seeing the scene, but she is also feeling it by touch. She has no reflection, but she can feel her body and she can walk around, so Zi can interact with it. What would happen if one of the reflections passed through her?]

"Wouldn't it be like a ghost?"

[I don't know, but I don't want to find out either. That one of the reflections could accidentally kill her is also an option. The safest space for her right now is to be as close to the glass as possible, and as far away from your reflections as possible. Philip do me a favor, you and someone else examine the wood on the edge of the mirror.]

"You just said it's not safe for her for the reflections to be near."

[No problem if she stays in the middle. You guys just have to be on the sides. I want you to look at the wood on the edges and behind the mirror and tell me what you see. If there is anything that I don't pick up with the transmission. Needless to say, don't break it, or we'll probably lose Zi forever.]

"Is it safe? Zi was caught, isn't it possible the same thing could happen to us?"

[From what I'm seeing in the report, forensics and you guys have been near the mirror taking samples all evening and nothing has happened. I think you Philip were right, whatever this thing is it seems to be something that can only affect feys.]

The two men obeyed and stood on either side of the mirror, trying to move it as little as possible and carefully. It was already too much of a hassle to move around considering the scene markers were everywhere. Even though the ones on the far sides had moved closer, the ones in the center of the room had not changed position when they deactivated the SDD. That part was the core of where Sil established the distortion.

Zi in turn discovered how the image inside changed, blackening certain parts more. As if the shadow area grew a few centimeters now that they were moving the mirror forward.

Philip looked at the wood, running his free hand along the varnished edge and other rougher areas. The quality of the engraving was incredible. Whoever the craftsman was, he had put all his skill into giving maximum quality to the scribbles and patterns on the surface, even if it was on a side that wasn't going to be seen. That caught Philip's attention, paying so much attention to details that were most likely hidden didn't make much sense. Unless the mirror was some sort of door or screen to begin with.

"Wait a second." Philip examined more closely and found that there were two parts on his side that were not varnished, but had some sort of indentations as if something had been screwed into them.

"Hinges," Philip said, "Chief Stuart, on your side there are some holes to screw something into?"

"Of what?"

"Is there something to screw something into the surface of the wood?"

Stuart examined the edge more closely and there he found them on his side as well. "Yes I have two on top and two on the bottom."

Oxy, on the other end of the line, didn't seem too happy with the find. [Oh, no…]

"Why oh, no? What happened?" Philip asked.

[Look up at the top, at the top edge. There are holes at the top and at the bottom too?]

Philip asked Grant to help him hold the mirror while he reached behind it and there he found them, an area above free of varnish with holes for two screws and two below as well, a bit covered by small cobwebs, courtesy of the antique store.

"They're there," Philip said, stepping out from behind the mirror.

[That's what I was afraid of... Zi is inside a mirror box. More precisely inside one of the parts of a mirror box].

"Ah, shit," Stuart said, with a serious look.

"Then we know what it is."

[Yes…]

"Can we take her out?"

[Technically I would think so.]

Philip could tell Oxy's tone was hesitant. "What's wrong?"

Stuart looked at him, looking like he wanted to get away from the mirror as soon as possible. "Nevermore has a couple of these things in the ark in Antarctica."

[Yes, they were put in a special container and sealed.]

"Why?" Grant asked, leaning the mirror against the wall slowly. Stuart did the same on his side and moved a few feet away from the blissful glass.

[Because mirror boxes are dangerous for the feys.]

"What do you mean?" Philip asked.

[Mirror boxes like this, besides being an Oopart, are objects of the Other Side. They react to feys]

"How does it work then?"

[That's the weird part. When it's armed and there's someone inside, whatever's inside can disappear. But I've never heard of it working without been put it together.]

"How do we get Zi out? That's all I'm interested in right now."

"Technically there's a way to get someone out who's inside a mirror box," Stuart said, trying to remember what he knew about that type of artifact.

[It's the same procedure. When you assemble it and close it, whatever is inside should reappear when you open it again. It works like a camera obscura inside if I'm not wrong.]

"That's it?"

[Yes. Those things have been used throughout history as a mode of entertainment, but the real ones are very few. Almost all the mirror box stories, including the Munich Codex are based on legends of these things.]

"All very nice. How do I get my partner out of there?"

[First you have to find the other parts of the box. Put it together and close it. That would be the whole procedure].

Philip scratched his chin. "Isn't it easier if we ask Leon to lend us one of his?"

"That's not going to work... mirror boxes are all different," Stuart said.

"Fuck me. What if we can't find them? Or if we can't complete it?"

[Well... Zi then it's going to be a long time in there.]

"Maybe we'll get lucky," Grant said, as everyone turned to look at him. "I mean, earlier I was talking to the victim's neighbor and she said the girl bought the mirror just a few days ago, it's practically the last talk they had before she turned up dead."

"Do we have the place of purchase?"

"Yeah, an antique house not too far from here."

"With any luck, we can track down the other parts, if the owner has the record of where this one came from."

[Well, let's go there then,] Zi urged.

"Saturday night, the owner is going to love us."

"I can't go. I'm not going to leave my partner here," Philip said.

"I can go with some officers," Grant said.

"We have to go too," Stuart pointed out and Grant turned to look at him. "I mean if Philip stays, the FRT has to go if or if. This is already an official Dark Event case. It needs our intervention. We can split up the team that's going to the morgue and have another five of us accompany them to that store."

[Inspector Grant, Agent Stuart, I'm going to join the group if that's okay. In case you need backup. I'm not going to be able to sleep anyway now.]

"I appreciate the assistance, Professor," Stuart said.

"Thank you Oxy," Philip thanked.

This just got messy, Grant thought.