Tiny Storms

Ends
 Previous chapter

"Tiny Storms" is the twenty-eighth chapter of One Rainy Day in May. It is the second and final chapter to be narrated by Catherine "Cas" Stern, aka The Wizard.

### Chapter Quote

"You reached for the secret too soon..." - Pink Floyd

### Summary

The chapter opens up on May 10, 2014 at 18:47:44 in Marfa, Texas. Cas and Bobby have gone to the Hotel Paisano to meet with Deakin. They search around the lobby and in the bar but they are unable to find him. They ask the receptionist to call his room but he doesn't answer. Bobby asks the receptionist if she could take them up to his room, making up a lie to trick her, but her supervisor does not allow this. They continue waiting for him in the lobby.

Cas begins to grow worried and she begins worrying that someone could find the Orb while they are away from the Airstream. She and Bobby are approached by Kirby, the night manager. They ask him if he can take them to Deakin's room and he decides to lead them there. Kirby knocks on Deakin's door but the door does not open. He takes out his key and decides to open the door. As soon as the door begins to open, smoke starts pouring out of the room.

Cas has owned her Orb for sixteen years. She has named it "Scry Baby." The text explains that whenever she turns on her Orb there are "faint flickers resembling smoke." The text shows what the Orb looks like when first activated. "VEM" is at the top of the page, followed by omitted text. Below that, at the center of the page, is the Orb. Afterwards, the Orb is capable of showing "Clips," or various moments in time. One such Clip is "Clip #1," which depicts a girl named Audra, the daughter of a man named Toland, drowning in the Pacific Ocean in 1962. Cas found the body herself in 1964. Another Clip depicts someone named Alvin Alex Anderson as a baby lying down in his crib. Cas and her associates still do not fully understand how to make the Orb work properly but it seems they have been trying for a long time. These days, Bobby only wants Cas to use the Orb as a way to track Recluse so they can more easily avoid him.

Not too long ago, Cas and Bobby ran into an incident with a cop while they were in the Airstream. Bobby saw the police car and he told Cas to quickly power off the Orb. He threw a sweater over it to quickly hide it. Cas suspected that they were not really cops. She feared that they were actually sent by Recluse. She worried that if the Orb were to be taken from them, it would lead to their Distribution failing and "Recluse's VEM Identity triumphing, instituting a culture of sustained oppression lasting potentially centuries if not longer." She saw then that it actually was a cop. There were two people - the sheriff and the man who rented them the property where the Airstream is stationed. They informed Cas and Bobby that they were there due to suspicions of them being involved with making drugs. These reports came from various people who had driven past the Airstream beforehand. Bobby shows the two of them the chemicals in their refrigerator. He then shows them the JEOL electron microscope, which Bobby refers to as "Joel." He tells the two of them that he and Cas are meteor hunters. The sheriff notices the Orb and asks about it. He shows it to them and convinces them that it is their best find yet. The two then leave.

Deakin has a profile on Parcel Thoughts that he uses to update Cas and the rest of their associates whenever anything important happens. Some of these updates include posting that "Thanatos dead in New Haven," "Thaumaturge dead in Islip," "Artemis dead in Berlin," "Pythia arrested in Fort Myers," "Endoria arrested in Portland," "Circe missing in Cedar Rapids with two witnesses calling in a possible abduction," "Lilith arrested in Richmond," "Treebeard dead in Redwood Shores," and "Sibyll missing." Bobby had also discovered that back in April, Realic S. Tarnen was tortured, cut into pieces, and smeared across an intersection in downtown Los Angeles. Several years ago, Cas began sending Realic cryptic hints to follow. Realic was never told about Recluse, the Distribution, or VEM.

Cas and Bobby are still unsure of where Sorcerer is. Deakin, Cas, and Sorcerer all seem to be the best at using the Orb. There are apparently five Orbs in existence. Cas, Bobby, and Kirby are still standing outside of Deakin's hotel room. The three of them enter the room and they see that Deakin is not inside. There is not even a suitcase. Kirby opens the window to let out the smoke. When Cas and Bobby inspect the bathroom, they see bits and pieces of Deakin's Orb. He destroyed it, which they then realize is the reason for the smoke. They are still unsure of where Deakin could be now but they decide to leave the hotel. They get on their motorcycle and drive back to the Airstream. Once back, they cinch the motorcycle to the back of the Airstream and begin packing all of the equipment they had set up around it. They are planning on changing their location.

They see a new post on Parcel Thoughts, made by Sorcerer. He wants to meet with them. Cas decides to power up the Orb again and she watches Clip #6. It is not her first time watching this Clip. Sorcerer has also seen it. The Clip depicts a man with his daughter. To everybody's surprise, Sorcerer claims to know the people being shown. He says he was once good friends with the father. Cas asks the name of the daughter. Sorcerer tells her the daughter's name is Xanther.

The chapter ends on May 10, 2014 at 19:06:32.