Oddity Specialist: Manifestor

by James Courneya

  Oddity Specialist

  Oddity Specialist: Volume 3 –

  Manifestor

  James “DragonMaster” Courneya

  Chapter Listing:

  Chapter 1: The Puzzle

  Chapter 2: Tarot Cards

  Chapter 3: Friday The Thirteenth

  Chapter 4: Extraterrestrial

  Chapter 5: Red Woman

  Volume 3: Manifestor

  Chapter 1: The Puzzle

  The sun rises on a girl who has already started her morning. This purple haired girl is out for a morning run. This would seem like a completely innocuous thing, from the outside. However, this isn’t a regular girl. This Saturday morning, on October 24th Neri has her focus set on one thing. Heading out into her grandparents storehouse, she makes her way over to a particular large object. This complicated looking, wooden piece of engineering, with an immense number of clashing segments, is an incredibly layered, complex puzzle. A puzzle left to this girl, by her mother, who had held the title of world’s greatest Paranormal Detective. As she has done countless times before, she sits down, focused completely on this puzzle and attempts to make progress with it. This time though, she has an extra bit of motivation, that was acquired from a recent adventure. Though, I can let her explain that. “With what happened in Purgatory, I’ve come to realize something. It’s both clear that I have a long ways to go, more so then I had thought, but it also became clear, that I might be able to get their faster than anticipated. I’m going to have to get exceedingly stronger. The entire world might eventually set out to hunt Quinn and Lucifer. I’ll have to be ready, if that were to happen. Though, I also got a good reminder, that even if that is the case, I won’t be alone. I hadn’t really thought about the aspect of having help before, because I knew I would figure it out, even without it. Now though, I think I understand better, what help actually does for me. It’s not about the person helping you, it’s about knowing that they will help if you need it. With that said, it’s clear Quinn has gotten a lot stronger. I need to do the same.

  “Alright.”

  While analyzing the puzzle, she thinks over the past obstacles the separate segments have presented. “I had gotten this puzzle when I turned fifteen. It’ll have been two years of working on it, in a few days here. Over that time, I’ve fought against this puzzle on all different fronts. It’s not about one specific thing, or even a task on par with counting grains of sand. It has various segments, each one leading into, or informing other segments. It has checkpoints, if you will. Finish off five puzzles, then unlock another one, which will have the information needed to tackle another segment, somewhere else. Each segment has its own specific challenge attached to it. One of the segments I didn’t even begin to know how to solve. Then while reading Beowulf, something clicked into place. A piece of the question, was a reference to the story. After that, I began reading through classic literature, from around the world, throughout history. Eventually, coming to the point, where I could solve that segment. It also made me realize, some of these questions would require immense amounts of research. Combing through history books, the arts, speeches, philosophies, and more, in order to stumble across the information needed to solve certain segments. That isn’t even mentioning, the parts where what needs to be researched is clear, but still exceedingly time consuming. Like the mathematical equations, or having to have a deep knowledge of the four Asian cardinal board games of Chess, Shogi, Go, and Xiang Qi. However, each of these types of puzzles where rather straight forward. I always knew, with enough research and practice they could be solved. Where things get difficult, is with the segments, like the one I am on now, where it is purely just a logic puzzle. These provide a very different kind of challenge. Having to shift the way I think, in order to tackle things from different perspectives. That is kind of what a puzzle already is, but because of the length and variety of the segments, I have to immerse myself into this different way of thinking for hours, to days, to months on end. They are my favorite parts. I enjoy having to learn about new things and the results from those segments are crystal clear, but these ones are special. There is something about them, the nebulous nature of the operation. Knowing that there is one true answer, that could come from any place, stretching across anything imaginable in this world. Working away at the options, eliminating the wrong conclusions, narrowing down choices ––– then fully realizing that final deduction and achieving the answer you were seeking. It’s a particularly emotional feeling. One that makes me feel, as if for a moment, I am doing exactly what I should be doing. That the universe is exactly how it should be.”

  She continues to tinker away, with a calm smile on her face, while handling carved and marked wooden pieces. Neri looks down at the brown, crinkled paper, that has detailing for this segment. “This is the last segment I have unlocked... Perhaps, even the last one left. It’s also been the hardest thus far. There are eighteen of these pieces, each with their own slightly different shape and making. They have pegs on the back. There is a grid of thirty-two by thirty-two round holes, equaling one-thousand-twenty-four separate holes. Each peg can be slotted into each whole and rotated three-hundred and sixty degrees. Obviously, the correct piece, has to be in the correct slot, at the correct orientation, placed in using the correct order, twisted into place, using the correct sequence. At least, it seems that simple. To brute force it, could take up to ninety-six million, six-hundred thirty-six thousand, five-hundred and twenty attempts. That is not calculating in the differences in the orientation. Which my rough estimate would be somewhere between ten vigintillion, to one googolplex.”

  “So, a last resort.”

  She continues to slot the third from last piece in, then proceeds to slowly shift it. “Luckily, I have some information to help me solve it. The previous eighteen segments, each corollate to the top symbol. That info, along with the paper, helps decide where to slot them into to. That’s the easy part though. Getting the exact right orientation, out of all the possible answers, is a bit more complex. Not to mention, having to have a surgeons delicacy, in order to actually get the exact correct orientation for each one, once you do have the correct answer. Each orientation can be found, through answering a question, in line with the segment that the piece correlates to. A final check over, of what I’ve learned along the way, up till this point.”

  Finishing this piece’s position, her intensity drops back down to her normal range.

  “It really feels like this is the last segment.”

  Not dwelling on that thought, she moves onto the next piece. The rest of the morning, into the afternoon, is spent getting this piece, along with the next, into place.

  “Only one left.”

  Thus far, the thirteen pieces, along with how they are twisted into place, make the shape of a jagged heart, missing the last central dip. Neri places the last X-shaped piece in. Over the course of the next five hours, she works on this piece, without a moment of hesitation.

  –Click–

  A noise is heard, as the last piece is placed in. The whole covered board pops out of its place, allowing for Neri to take the panel off. Underneath is a display, with a green and red button below it. The digital display simply spells out: Are You Ready? Which Neri carefully analyzes. She does what she does every time she solves a segment and looks over the whole puzzle.

  “Nothing else seems to have changed.”

  She stares at the message.

  “Is this the last challenge, or something else?”

  Her gaze gains a strong intent.

  “Either way, I know I’m ready.”

  She presses the green button. The second she does, the puzzle activates. The whole box has a designed explosion. Piece
s shoot off of it, things flip around, all new segments reveal themselves. As it does this, a timer appears on the screen. It’s counting down, having started at five minutes. Neri quickly looks over the puzzle. “Looks to be ten new segments.”

  She quickly starts going over the new info available. “If I don’t solve this in time, then what? The number of unfortunate or bad things, far outweigh the positive. That means I must solve this before that timer reaches zero.”

  She desperately begins attempting to solve the new segments. Neri eventually reaches the point, where she feels she has all the information she can currently gather, in regards to each segment. Breathing heavily, she closes her eyes, hands firmly placed onto the top of the puzzle box. Entering into her though domain, she begins going over every single little nuance of each piece of information. Scanning over them, with all her focus. “It’s not enough... I can’t solve this much in that time. Not with my usual pace.”

  Reaching her absolute limits, she keeps pushing her brain. She keeps attempting to process even more information, at a more effective rate. Pushing harder and harder. Fighting with everything she has, until reaching an absolute breaking point; then breaking past it.

  “...”

  Her eyes shoot open, with a purple glow emanating out of them. When this happens, she starts tackling the first segment. Completing it, she moves onto the next one, then the next one. One after another, each segment falls. The very last segment ends with her pressing the green button once again, stopping the timer. Exactly eighteen seconds to spare. As it stops and the puzzle’s menacing aura drops down, Neri’s eyes return to normal. A certain quiet hangs in the air. After a dozen or so seconds, a ding is heard. The rest of the puzzle box falls to pieces. Neri tenses up, ready for another barrage of puzzles, but let’s that tension go, once she sees a letter, resting in what once was the center of the puzzle box. She picks it up, observing the red seal, with an owl crest.

  “It’s her symbol.”

  She holds the letter in her hand for some time, before deciding to open it up. As she had thought, it’s a message from her mother. It reads as such.

  “Hey, so you finally managed to figure out the puzzle. I assume, you also figured out at least one or two more of my secrets in that time. I wonder, if your impression of me has changed at all? Moving on, if nothing unpredicted happens, this should be your eighteenth birthday and your grandmother should still be kicking, at least for a while longer. Talk with her, for your birthday present. If something unpredicted happens and these are not the circumstances, then I left other precautions in place. Take what you have learned in this time and use them for whatever you see fit. However, I already know what you’ll use them for and how. You already know the point of these trials, but one thing I would like to add is, they are only going to get harder from here. Five minutes, is enough time for someone to die. It is also enough time for the world to end. Keep that in mind, if and when the fate of the world hangs in the balance, or even just if someone you love will die, if you cannot come to a solution in time. Anyways, congratulations on solving the puzzle. Sorry I’m and stuff. Love, mom.”

  Neri, while holding her normal smile, gives a nod to the paper.

  “Thanks mom.”

  Her eyes go back up to the line about circumstances.

  “That’s strange, I wonder why I solved it early?”

  She gets up and then heads inside the main house.

  “Oh, finished up for the day-?”

  Neri’s grandma stops, seeing the letter in the girls hand.

  “I see, it’s time for that talk.”

  The two sit down and have some tea to drink. Once they are about halfway through their cup, they begin to speak.

  “You have something for me?”

  “Yes.”

  “You also have a conversation we need to have?”

  “Indeed. About that...”

  She rubs the hand holding her cup, feeling the older skin, that she is both used to and not. Looking up, she lets out a breath.

  “I wish you had told me you had almost finished the puzzle. I feel like I’m on the spot, all of a sudden.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t really think about it.”

  “I know dear.”

  She takes a sip of her tea, finishing it off.

  “Your mother never told me much about what she does. Though, she still felt it best to leave me with something to pass onto you.”

  “That would be?”

  “Her place of business. The building she used as a detective agency, along with the materials inside. I was happy to take the key to it, but I wish I had realized how much extra dusting it would have taken.”

  Neri lights up at this news.

  “You mean?”

  The woman pulls out a key and places it into Neri’s hand.

  “It’s yours.”

  Neri jolts up.

  “Where is it? How do I get their? Is it cool? Don’t answer that, I don’t want it spoiled and also of course it is!”

  “Calm down.”

  “Yes.”

  Neri sits back down calmly.

  “It should have a lot of information inside of it, all of what you would expect a detective to have on hand. I hope it’s useful to you.”

  “I’m sure it will be.”

  “Yes, I’m sure your mother felt it would be as well. Though, I do want you to take a moment to think things over. You get so overexcited and forget to think at times.”

  “Not really anymore...”

  “Still, the place has been there for a few years already, it’ll be their tomorrow. Think about what this means, why your mother made the decisions she did and what type of decisions you will make going forward.”

  Neri gives a subtle nod, while slightly biting her lower lip.

  “Understood.”

  Later that night, while lying in bed, Neri holds the keys over her head. She stairs up at them, letting her subconscious run through things.

  “The decisions I want to make? I already know what I want to do, but I guess, there is a bit more to it now.”

  The next morning, Neri wakes up earlier and makes a phone call.

  “...Hello?”

  The boy answers with a groggy voice.

  “Quinn, I’ve got some news, come over as soon as humanly or inhumanly possible.”

  “Wait, what’s going on? Is there a problem?”

  “I solved it.”

  “...I’m on my way.”

  Neri hangs up.

  “Okay.”

  She stands up, to get ready for the day. Once Quinn makes his way there, the two-start making their way over to the outskirts of the commercial area. The now trio stand outside an older building. A one and a half story brick building. It has a presentable enough front, with three indented archways. The outside arches have two bottom story windows, with two circler upper windows. The middle arch has a wooden double door, with another circular window above it on the second floor.

  “This is it.”

  Neri looks up to the place in awe.

  “Come on!”

  She marches towards the front door. Quinn looks over to Lucifer. The man simply stairs up at the building.

  “Familiar?”

  “Yes, very.”

  The three walk inside, being greeted by a relatively sparse area. An empty planter box runs along the left side of the door, with a front desk on the opposite side. A large wood table sits in front of various cabinets on the right. The left has a much smaller table and seating, somewhat what sectioned off from the rest of the room. They look around this front room, then check on another room to the left. Inside is a huge amount of file storage, books, research material, along with some miscellaneous items. The right-side room appears to have been a staff room at one point. Neri examines it, then goes into a monologue on exactly how it must have been set up before.

  “They must have used this both as a resting room, a place to prepare food, but also as a place to sleep.”

  Q
uinn looks over to Lucifer, as Neri frames the room with her fingers. Lucifer simply gives a knowing, agitated nod, in regards to her deductions.

  “Okay, let’s head outside.”

  Neri states.

  “Why?”

  “To get upstairs.”

  Quinn gives a quizzical look, while pointing at the stairs inside the room.

  “Yeah, but the outside stairs are more interesting and I want to see them.”

  “Okay...”

  They go around the back, then head up the metal fire escape. Neri unlocks the door and enters into an office. This room, unlike the others, looks as if it was still in use. Papers and books spread across the whole place, with work supplies visible. The whole room is packed to the brim with stuff. Looking around, the upstairs at first looks like a chaotic mess, but upon closer inspection, seems to have been tailored exactly to a particular persons specifications. Everything has a place, even if the reasoning for it doesn’t seem readily apparent. Neri walks over to the central desk and sits down into the dark oak, red upholstery chair. When Quinn sees this action, even he is unable to fully tell what it represents.

  “Okay.”

  She places her elbows down onto the desk, then rests her chin onto her crossed fingers.

  “Did you see the amount of information on display?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I took a peek at some of it and it’s clear that most, if not all of it, is about oddities and the truths of the world.”

  Quinn gives the room a look over.

  “It’s a lot.”

  “It could have been more, could have been less. I’ll take what we have.”

  “Do you know how long it’s going to take to read through it all?”

  “Not a clue. I’m not even sure if it won’t be encrypted, or too complicated, or if theirs an order to it. Even just getting a grasp on it may take a long time.”

  “Yeah, I can see that.”

  “You two are actually going to read this?”

  Lucifer asks, he is currently sitting in a chair off to the side, looking unenthused.