012. Killer Bunnies

In the aftermath of Zistor's rescue, the motley try to free more of Braum's memories.

## Killer Bunnies

### Play of the Game:

Liz as Sophia, for persuading Zistor Flexx to be at least a little civil (i.e.: not be an asshole).

***"I'm more forgiving of cheating now… But I can understand what it's like to lose."***

The night after Zistor's rescue, everyone rests… except Braum, who is completely unable to sleep. Meeting all together in the Exhaust the following morning, Incisor gulps down a bag of coffee beans, as she's been up during the night, patrolling the basement and guarding the lobby. Having discovered Claude sleeping behind the bar, Braum's questions about why he might be there go unanswered by Sophia, who "neglects" to mention that she spent the night there. Incisor snaps at Braum for his stupid questions and stalks off.

The motley try to make sense of what they now know after their rescue of Zistor. Abford Pharma is clearly an incredibly sinister place in the clutches of Banality, but what exactly are they doing there? Braum compares the Mysterious Scientist's desire to capture and study the Kithain to Roald Dahl's BFG (much to Patches' amusement, who cheekily asks where she could be keeping this Big Effing Gun). The three know they'll have to find out what Zistor knows before setting off to the Duchess Eloyse's domain, and also commit to freeing Braum from his "mind prison".

Speaking briefly to Kyoko, Braum asks her if she can provide any more information about his past. "Braum, whose breastplate is that?" she asks. "It's OK if you don't remember, but you *know* who it belongs to." And with this, they head back to the Exhaust, where Braum shares some of his flashbacks more openly with the group. Sophia picks up on the sound of water that permeates his memories and suggests they try to trigger a flashback in her bathroom by running the shower. When Braum recalls more fully that it must have been a bathtub filling, and Kyoko asks him to try his best to remember who died in Room 3, Braum describes his memory of a woman, gasping for breath, with an injured man reminding her that he "swore an oath" to protect her. Speaking those words again, suddenly Braum is back in Room 3, seeing the people in his mind for the first time. The woman on the gurney appears to be suffering from severe cold iron wounds….

When Braum reports this to the others, they quickly figure out that in order to uphold his oath, Braum would had to have "saved" Kay by killing her before she succumbed to her other wounds. Shocked by this realization, Braum remembers speaking to the injured man, his good friend Celyan, before their mission. Celyan names the other members of the team: Kay, Sir Xaeron, and Helena. He also cautiously suggests that Braum should "maybe think about fixing yourself when this is over". With more information coming out now, the memories start to flood back: a flash of Braum being teased by Kay about "catching" her, making him a "Great Hunter", with the Montreal City Hall fountain as a backdrop; and the sudden understanding that the digits being shouted by Kay in Room 3 are the code to the rocket!

Talus calls up, letting the motley know that Zistor is awake. Patches and Sophia head down to the basement, with Braum taking up the rear, still trying to put all of his new memories in order. The three meet Zistor face to face, for the first time in many months. The nocker closely resembles a mythical goblin: tufts of long white hair sticking out of his head, a single burnt eyebrow, a long hooked nose, and a massive barcode tattooed on his inner arm. The nocker is immediately hostile towards the three, ordering Braum and Sophia out so he can talk to Patches alone. Sophia is offended by his manners and lack of gratitude for saving him from certain death, but Zistor just reiterates that he "called Kyoko's phone to talk to her, not you".

Zistor explains to Patches and Sophia that he "invented something I wish I could un-invent". About 10 years ago, Braum arrived at The Spark, having activated the rocket, which attuned it to him so that only he can turn it off (but remembering nothing of the fact, naturally). Not knowing what else to do at the time, Zistor hid the rocket well and has been working for the past decade to learn how to reverse its effects. When Patches eagerly asks Zistor what the rocket is capable of, he is explains that the device pulls in and collects Glamour from its surroundings, something Patches calls a "fusion cell generator", but Sophia disgustedly labels "a ravaging machine". Zistor is incredibly ashamed to admit that it worked even more efficiently than he thought, making it more of "a rhapsody machine". Sophia goes off on Zistor, berating him for even attempting to build a device that he knew had the potential to be so incredibly destructive, although Patches is more understanding of his need to create.

Zistor finally gets to the crux of the matter: the rocket, still "activated" but hidden somewhere known only to him, stole the Glamour from 10 mortals at the time of its activation, and he has been working on a process to reverse its effects, to which Little One is the key. Sophia agrees that the stolen Glamour must be returned to the mortals, but then the machine must be utterly destroyed.

As the motley prepares for their trip to Quebec City and The Duchess Eloyse, Kyoko asks Sophia for a moment of her time. The pooka is upset: "I don't want to be alone". Sophia offers to help in any way she can, but Kyoko only continues to explain: "I wasn't allowed to feel that way about him… it was impossible. But Kay was sweet… and as perfect as Braum." Finally coming to terms to Kyoko's deep feelings for Braum, Sophia holds her as she cries.