Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle

Von Zinzer gently took her jaw in his hand and tilted her head to examine her. She was struck by the change that had taken place in him. Snaug had been in the Castle for close to six months. She had seen von Zinzer arrive and had been unimpressed. As far as anyone could tell, he really shouldn’t even have been here at all. Everyone thought of the little mechanic as a hopeless screw-up who was still alive only because no new prisoners had lasted long enough to force him out of the kitchen. But now… now there was a calm surety to him that was almost unknown in this place. He nodded.

“Nice mouse,” he said with a smile. “But it doesn’t really suit you.” He turned and began to dig through a rucksack. He pulled out a small ceramic pot, opened it, and taking a finger full of the white paste inside, gently dabbed it on Snaug’s eyelid.

“I found this earlier. Up in what the Castle calls ‘the red playroom.’ Just dab that on every hour or so, and it’ll fix it right up.” He resealed the jar and handed it to her.

She took the jar and smiled. “You’re too kind. And, so…grounded.”

Von Zinzer looked at her blankly. “Grounded?”

Snaug waved a hand at Agatha and the others. “Able to work so well with Sparks without getting…you know…It’s a rare talent.”

Von Zinzer gave a snort. “No way. I’ve always been terrified around them.”

Snaug’s good eye was wide. “What? But the way you’re dealing with them is amazing. You stand up to them. You contradict them, and you’re still mammalian and everything.”

“Huh.” Von Zinzer considered this and scratched his beard. “You know? It has seemed…easier lately.” He found himself staring at Agatha. “Ever since she showed up and started dragging me around…”

Hexalena’s face cleared and she looked at von Zinzer with a new respect. “Oh, of course! Dr. Mittlemind says that some people are natural minions, and that their lives are…are all confused until they find their proper Master. And now you have.”

Across the room, even the Sparks flinched as von Zinzer’s scream reached them. They all swung around to see what had happened. From beside the huddled form, Fraulein Snaug waved at them cheerfully. “Just a small existential crisis,” she assured them.

Agatha frowned. “What in the world is Snaug doing to Von Zinzer?” she wondered.

Violetta slammed a tool onto the ground and then picked it back up and seeing that it was undamaged, slammed it down again even harder. “Like I care!” She frowned. Why did she care?

Meanwhile, Gil was talking to Professor Mezzasalma and Zeetha. “What we’re hoping to do is transfer the Castle mind out of the Muse body and into one of the Castle’s own subsystems. That will buy us the time we need to transport it to an area where we can restore its control of the main structure. Our best shot is to use that big watchdog clank at the top of the shaft.”

Mezzasalma frowned “Those clanks are enormous. We might be able to transport it down on the lift, but it would be much easier to take the Muse up.”

Gil shook his head with regret. “Don’t I know it. But all the machinery we need is down here, and there’s definitely too much of it to move.” He looked back to the damaged Muse. “Anyway, we don’t need the whole watchdog clank, which is good. Doctor Merlot shot it up pretty badly, if I remember. No, it’s all right if we can’t get it all down here. All we really need are the cognitive engines and a viable power source to run them.”

Mezzasalma nodded wearily. “The head is still large, and decoupling it will be tricky.” He straightened up and took a deep breath. “I’ll want all my tools then.”

Gil smiled. “Good man. It’ll still be quicker than building something from scratch.” He gazed upwards at the hole in the ceiling. “Now I don’t know what’s waiting up there, so we’ll take—”

Tarvek had come up beside Gil, and now he interrupted. “We’ll send Princess Zeetha, Mezzasalma, Snaug, Von Zinzer, and your man Higgs.”

Gil’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t be stupid. At least you or I should go.”

Tarvek shook his head. “No, we need you down here.” He then leaned in and whispered, “Besides, there’s something we need to discuss. In private.”

Gil leaned back and examined Tarvek’s face. He nodded slowly. “But it could be dangerous up there.”

Tarvek nodded. “That’s equally true everywhere in here. But that’s why I want to send—” He suddenly became aware of Airman Higgs standing silently, right behind his shoulder. “Princess Zeetha,” he said smoothly.

Zeetha grinned. “Ha! He is a smart guy!”

Higgs took a gentle pull on his pipe. “Sure is,” he agreed.

In a few minutes, most of the party once again stood on the platform. Just as it was about to rise, Agatha pulled a small metal ball out her apron pocket and tossed it up to Zeetha, who easily snapped it out of the air. It was the device Agatha had been working on earlier. “What’s this?”

“When you get to that fun-size clank up there—if you need any help, just wind that up and tell it what you need!”

The platform started upward. Zeetha looked at the ball dubiously and tucked it into a pocket.