MAG 128: Heavy Goods

Breekon and Hope by Aedeagus.

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Statement of the surviving half of the being that calls itself Breekon and Hope, regarding its own existence. Statement *extracted* from subject.

## Pre-Statement

Breekon is in the Archives. When Basira finds him, she tells John to get Melanie, but he already knows that Breekon is here and imagines that he is here to make a delivery. Breekon proves him right, saying he is here to drop off a package. Basira asks if Breekon is after revenge and John compels him to answer. Breekon admits that he is here for revenge, just like when he fed Daisy to the coffin. He has realised that he is not tied to the coffin anymore and thought that the Archives could have it, to pay their respects.

John wants to know exactly why Breekon is here and compels him. Breekon is unsure, he is lost without Hope and he does not know what happens now. He thought he might kill John, but missed his chance, and figured he might just deliver something. So he brought them the coffin, in case the rest of them want to join Daisy.

Basira tells Breekon to get out, but he refuses. John starts to use his powers on him, and Breekon makes uncomfortable choking sounds as static rises. He cries out in distress as he flees, or is expelled, from the Archives. As the static recedes John asks Basira to get him a pen and he starts to write.

## Statement

Breekon and Hope started in a plague. They had a cart of corpses with screaming, twisted faces and leaking pus, that was led by an old mule. They would knock on doors and cry for people to bring the dead to them. Everyone feared Breekon and Hope when they came towards them, not because of the plague or the death they awaited, but because of them: two strangers with faces they would only half remember, who were unstoppable and uncertain and would bring a fate they would beg their god to forget. People did not know them, but they knew what they did. Villages who had no bodies before they arrived would pile high their cart before they left. They did not kill people, they were only the bringers of their awful fate. When they left their destination, Hope would reach onto the cart and find a new face from a corpse and place it over the one he already wore. Breekon kept the face that they chose, but he loved Hope for his levity.

They served as deckhands aboard the Robert Small as it made its way to Australia. Enlisting was not needed, but they were on the list for any crew that deserved them. The quartermaster noticed them when counting rations and saw them for what they were, so Breekon ate his pen and Hope ate his tongue. They enjoyed the journey which was magnificent for them because there was no waiting or searching for a delivery; they were being moved towards the completion of their task. This was the first time they saw what would become of the place: The Eye's pedestal, but they were too drunk on the approaching horror to notice. A young man called Jack tried to jump overboard, but Hope caught him. Jack started begging and pleading to just be able to drown, but he died on land like he was supposed to.

They were conductors of a train, one that never seemed to get you where you wanted to go unless that place had something dreadful waiting for you. They threw those overboard who looked like they were having too good of a time. They did not like this job, as too many stepped off with a smile despite their work. They once had some luggage, a thrumming silk-wrapped thing of The Web, hiding away in an old steamer trunk. They found an old woman near the caboose who they led to the luggage car; she followed but was crying silently. The Web was always an easy job for them, as it knows too much to be a stranger but hides its knowing well enough to endure. They knew the old woman would not scream, but Hope still thought to cover it up with laughter.

Breekon and Hope worked for London auction-houses. They stole their first automobile from two men. They moved a lot of things in those years. Breekon's favourite was an old knife delivered to a leering banker who, upon seeing the two, knew exactly what they had done. The banker stabbed the two with the knife, but no blood flowed. The knife turned and cut the banker to pieces. The two delivered the knife back to Christie's and that was the end of their auction jobs. They would take whatever jobs they were offered, delivering things that would bring fear and misery, but there was no joy in carrying meat or spiral things.

Then the good times were when they joined the circus. Now, they were with their own kind at last. Their kind all had names, but no one would pretend they were real and faces changed more often than clothes. The only recognizable fact was their function in the show. Breekon and Hope carried and helped move the circus to the next town. Sometimes they even joined in, lifting weights and things that looked like animals. Sometimes they lifted audience members, and sometimes they even put them down. People always feared them. Russia's cold air made the absence of their breath apparent, but no one ever mentioned it.

They did not like the puppet when Orsinov began to carve it, as it seemed wrong to try and bring one like them about. However, when Orsinov carved into the thing that once called itself Grimaldi and fed the unneeded pieces to the shuddering organist, even they were impressed. When the faceless puppet peeled its creator and moved with its tendon strings, Hope looked at Breekon and laughed and laughed. They followed her a while but she was unpredictable and they broke off from her when she lost the ancient skin.

They found themselves a lorry and took empty crates to and fro. It was not their cargo that brought fear, but they who brought fear to their cargo. However Hope was not content and he did not laugh like he used to. Driving aimlessly and waiting for the cargo sat badly with them. They were meant to have cargo and an address, so they found a man named Breekon and broke him. They took the van and started delivering again, but they were reckless and desperate for the surety they had not felt since they left the circus, so they took the coffin. It was one like them (the man known as “John”) that found it, thinking that it would be easy to control because it was in chains. When a victim passed the test, the coffin fed on the one that had tried to master it. There was no mention of accomplices like Breekon and Hope in the coffin's test, so they were not eaten but were now stuck carrying it for a long time.

Even when the mannequin, Nikola Orsinov, came back to them and told them they could help with The Unknowing, they still had to carry the coffin, but Breekon thinks it was worth it in the end because when the hunter, Daisy, killed Hope, the coffin was there and Breekon fed her to it. As punishment for making the two of them a one, she will live trapped, helpless, and entombed forever; this is his remaining comfort after their failure.

He can feel himself fading and weakening, with no reason to move and nothing to deliver. He is no longer tied to the coffin, so the Archives can have it and know that their friend is in there. When they cannot bear it anymore, they can join her inside. He has never felt hate or loss before now, and now he wants to share them with the Archives' group.

## Post-Statement

The coffin leads to The Buried and Daisy is alive inside, but Basira and John both agree that they cannot open it. They are not sure why Breekon gave it to them; John thinks he just wanted to make another delivery.

Basira decides she has to leave for a week or two to follow up on some leads. She tells John she survived The Unknowing by reasoning her way out, and she can only trust herself. She does not want him to use his powers to know anything about her.

## Notes

* Breekon rarely uses names when speaking, and does not call himself and his counterpart "Breekon" and "Hope." The two are "we" and his counterpart is "he."