35

Stralchus looks at you like you're mad–which is insulting on a number of levels–but then you hear a crisp sizzle, like fat on a frying pan. Suddenly you can hear the low hum of machinery in Dr. Sabbatine's laboratory, as clearly as if you stood in it.

"Thank you, Crowchar!" she says.

"Euphrasia, where are you?" Stralchus asks as whistles pierce the air.

"Nowhere," Dr. Sabbatine says. "I have formed a protective bubble around my laboratory, but the entire world has turned–"

"I know," Stralchus says. "Fix it!"

"This happened because the rift pulled all of you forward in time," the doctor says, "preventing you from stopping the False Icon in the pa–"

"I know!" Stralchus screams. "Fix it!"

"Get to the far end of the alley to the hole in the fence," Dr. Sabbatine says. "Then climb the stairs. I don't know how long I can maintain contact. I am trapped in an increasingly small area. This is all…highly experimental."

More of the men in the tall hats pour into the alley, armed with truncheons and whistles. They don't look like they want to talk.