The Big O and all of its settings and characters are owned by Cartoon Network, Sunrise, and Bandai Visual. Additional plot, settings and characters are © by Chaosium.
THE BIG O:
ACT 31
DREAMS DARK AND DEADLY
Chapter Seven: What a Body
Roger woke up with a loud snort and looked around in confusion. He was in a strange room. Out of the room's frost covered windows was a heavily shadowed hilly forest. He was alone, and he was lying on a bed nearly fully clothed. According to his watch it was almost seven AM. Where was he? And had he and Dorothy really kissed? Did they stop there? How far did they…?
His head throbbed and he started laughing. He was in his third floor room in the Dinosaur Lodge at the Winthrop Institute for Dream Research. He had fallen asleep while trying to figure out his relationship with Dorothy. And he had an erotic dream about her! Despite the pain from being hit on the head yesterday, he laughed even louder. Dorothy had succeeded. He dreamed about her and in that way no less. The score so far, Dorothy: one, Roger: zero.
No matter how unsettling an erotic dream about Dorothy was, it was better than dreams about books burning, bald children staring into flames and megadeuses destroying cities. What did Schwatzwald say about his visions of Big O, Big Duo, and Big Fau destroying mankind and his creations? They are not megadeuses. Did that mean that his subconscious was hiding something else? What really destroyed the world forty years ago, and how could someone as young as he remember?
He shook his head and walked across the hall to the bathroom. As he washed out his eyes, straightened his clothing and combed his hair he realized that he was going to have to see Dorothy, but not as much of Dorothy as he did last night. He knocked on her door but there was no answer. "Dorothy?" he called. Nothing. "Dorothy are you in there? I'm coming in. If you don't want me to enter you better latch your door!" he announced before he counted to ten. Okay, here goes, he thought. He opened the door and found it empty. Apparently she had better things to do than wait around for him.
He explored the third floor and found Dorothy listening to a door at the end of the hall on the east wing of the mansion. She was in the reddish black dress with the white cuffs, collar and jabot that she usually wore. Sheepishly, Roger was relieved.
"Dorothy?" he murmured softly as he crept up behind her. He had no idea why he was being quiet but the android's pose seemed furtive.
Dorothy put her finger to her lips and gestured for Roger to put his ear against the door. "Listen," she whispered.
Roger did so and heard a guitar being strummed a sad male voice singing:
"Eyes of glass, Arms of steel, Everything you think turns real."
Roger took a breath and darted away from the door. After the dream he had about Dorothy, that verse hit too close to home for comfort. "Who is that?" he asked her.
"Johnny Booger, the greatest song-writer and rhythm guitarist in Paradigm City if his agent is correct," Dorothy replied. "Not only is he Joe Schienfeld's client but he is also the only remaining patient left in the institution."
"So he's the last patient," Roger nodded. "Did you search any of the rooms after you left dinner early?"
"Lawrence Winthrop has a safe hidden behind a particularly hideous painting," the girl replied. "I also found a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings, possibly from before the event. Roger, why are you looking at me like that?"
With her short hair in a red pageboy haircut, Roger could admire the girl's slender and elegant neck. The shape of her throat was really a work of art and he recalled his dream where she tilted her head in order to kiss him. She was really… Uh… That's right. They were in the middle of an investigation to find out if Roger really wanted to expose his Dreams to a mental facility where one of the hired help went crazy. Right. Back to business.
"No reason," he smiled playfully. "Before you continue, let's go for a walk. The walls might have ears. Don't want to be listened in on." They crept down the stairs and walked outside. "You were telling me about Lawrence Winthrop's room?" he asked as his breath became visible in the brisk morning air.
"As I said, he had a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings," Dorothy continued as they went down the walk. "The most arresting was a story about a Douglas Winthrop who discovered a black magic cult at a place called the 'Gilman Lodge.'"
"'Douglas Winthrop'?" Roger repeated as they cut across the road to head to a trail. "Not Lawrence?"
"Yes," Dorothy should have nodded, but she was still stingy when it came to body language. Roger was secretly thankful. After that weird dream he had he didn't trust himself if she acted too lifelike. Dorothy seemed oblivious to his inner conflict for she continued her report like a good little trooper. "When I first met him, Lawrence Winthrop told me his father's name was Douglas. This would seem to be an account of one of his father's adventures."
"'Adventures'?" Roger cocked a windshield wiper shaped eyebrow at that remark, for it seemed that Dorothy was comparing the old man's father to the protagonist in an adventure serial, or to Roger Smith. "What makes you say that?"
"In the newspaper clip Douglas Winthrop stated that he found 'a sacrificial altar at Gilman Lodge with all the trappings of black magic'," the girl replied as they reached the trees. "The authorities found evidence that the Gilmans were responsible for the robbery and murders of at least two vagrants. The clipping used the words 'pagan occultism' and 'ungodly rites.' It also mentioned that the sheriff's office refused to confirm tales of 'ritual cannibalism'."
"Wow," Roger hugged himself to fend off the early morning chill. Once out of the sun and in the shade of the forest he felt the temperature drop to seemingly artic levels. "That's pretty twisted. Anything else?"
"During a struggle between Douglas Winthrop and an Abner Gilman the lodge caught fire and burned down, killing the entire Gilman family," Dorothy continued her dainty stride, not taking the slightest notice to the chill in the air. "Douglas Winthrop suffered severe burns but survived. Do you think that Dinosaur Lodge was built over the ruins of the Gilman Lodge Roger?"
"That's a fair assumption," Roger glanced at her to see if her breath was visible too. "The thing is, did those things really happen here and do they have any bearing what's happening now? It's pretty hard to ask Lawrence Winthrop. Those things happened before the big amnesia hit and besides, he might ask us to leave if he discovers we've been poking around in his room. He is the one who owns the property after all." He stopped walking and glanced back in the direction of the Institute in an attempt to gauge if they went far enough to avoid being spied on.
She tilted her head to one side in an attempt at natural body language. "What are you going to do?" Was that concern in the girl's voice? Hard to tell with Dorothy.
"I'm going to arrange a session with the Dreamweb tonight," Roger decided. "If I put it off anymore, I'll get cold feet and never get around to it."
"Roger you said that you brought me along so I could assess your behavior," Dorothy reminded him. "I don't understand why you wish to undergo a session tonight. Didn't you say that you wanted to keep an eye on who comes and goes around here?"
"We're poking into everybody's secrets but we haven't found anything definite," Roger rubbed the back of his neck with a black gloved hand. "So far all I got is my paranoia. Everybody has dirty secrets. That doesn't mean I can't trust them as long as I got you looking over their shoulders, right Dorothy?"
"Something drove Nora Pope insane and they have a machine capable of doing that," Dorothy protested. "Are you sure you want to give them access to your subconscious? It seems likely that Nora Pope was driven insane on purpose in order to hide something she found out."
"Maybe," Roger shrugged. He was still on the fence. Even though there was no proof that Dandridge hadn't invented the Dreamweb, it was still possible that Dandridge might want to arrange an 'accident' to keep his secret. "The thing is, I have a feeling that someone did something like this to me in the past and I'd like proof that it happened one way or the other."
"You act like having someone fool around with your subconscious is a bad thing Roger." Was Dorothy being sarcastic? Her voice sounded sincere, but then she always spoke with a bit of a monotone.
"Isn't it?" he shrugged.
"If it is, why do you want it done to you again?" Dorothy asked. "That doesn't make any sense."
"This time I'll be in on it," Roger assured her. "You can keep an eye on them and make sure they don't try any funny business. If I act differently after a session in the Dreamweb, you can tell me. In the past somebody did something to me that I didn't know about. This time I've got you to stay on top of it the entire time. Unless you care to volunteer for a session?"
"No thank you," she said flatly. "I've had my mind overridden quite enough."
"The Dreamweb can't override a person's mind Dorothy," Roger scolded.
"Can't it?" the girl asked stubbornly. "How do you know?"
"Well if it can, they would have to be pretty subtle about it," Roger insisted weakly. "Let's go back to the lodge and find out when they're serving breakfast. I'm having a tough time thinking straight, I'll be better after a hot meal."
"You go, I'm not hungry," Dorothy said as she looked away.
"You're never hungry," Roger pointed out.
"Yes," she said as she continued to look at the forest.
"Dorothy… you shouldn't get upset about dinner last night," Roger said hesitantly. "They're scientists. It doesn't matter whether you're a human or an android. They're going to analyze you and treat you like a specimen. It's just the way they are. They don't mean anything by it."
"That isn't it," Dorothy said without turning to face him. "I'm going for a walk. I'll see you after breakfast." With that, the synthetic girl walked down the trail further into the forest.
Roger let out a huge sigh as the girlish android left him alone. He put his hands in his pockets, bowed his head and traced a pattern in the dirt with his shoe. Last night he had walked in on her again, and he didn't say anything. He didn't even apologize. Yes he had a rule for apologies, but Dorothy was an exception. Dorothy was in a conservative black dress again. It wasn't even the dark red dress she attempted to pass for black back home. She wasn't even daring that act of rebellion. Did that mean that she was ashamed about last night? Whether he walked in on her on accident or she flashed him on purpose, he wouldn't blame her for being embarrassed. As he turned and walked back to the lodge he wished there was a way he could get some definitive information on Dorothy psychological state so he could help her instead of making things worse. But Dorothy didn't trust the doctors and she was as easy to read as a book written in a foreign language in the middle of a blackout.
Dorothy walked through the forest alone, undeterred by the morning chill. Roger had told her once that animals were rare and valuable, but she heard a raucous croaking of crows that let her know that life still existed outside of the rural domes back in Paradigm City. She followed the noise until she found a large number of the large black birds congregating on the shoreline of the lake separating the Institute from Electric City.
The birds seemed to be pecking and squabbling noisily at something protruding from the sand. Dorothy approached, but the birds remained where they were, refusing to abandoned their meal until the last second. With a thunderous rush, they all flew up at once, obscuring the girl's vision and drowning out all other sounds with their croaking protests.
When the birds flew away the girl could see what they had been feasting on. It was then obvious why a group of crows was referred to as a 'murder'.
Roger was finishing breakfast while making small talk with his quirky hosts. All technical questions about the Dreamweb Dandridge had Fielding answer, confirming Roger's suspicions about which one was lying. Questions about the lodge's past was met with shrugs from Winthrop, who claimed that he knew nothing about the property's history prior to forty years ago but that he did manage to find some books published before the Amnesia hit, and would Roger like to see them? Ivanovna was friendly but distant and Weemes offered to show Roger some of the trails he had found during his time here.
The young investigator's attention was diverted to the sight of Dorothy Wayneright standing outside the window of the dining room. Although the ground floor was elevated, Dorothy was far enough away from the building to allow herself to be plainly visible from inside the building. She was watching the dining room windows like a guard at her post while standing as still as a statue. Roger excused himself and went outside to see her.
"Are you okay?" He asked was he approached her. "Look I know that I haven't said anything about last night…"
"It's not my body I want you to see Roger," Dorothy interrupted him. "There's one down the trail near the shore of the lake that might interest you though."
The corpse lie face down, half buried in the soil exposed from the waist up. It was rotting and partially eaten by the crows. Whoever buried it, put it too close to the edge of the lake and didn't dig the grave deep enough. Roger wore white latex gloves that he had got from his car and held a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. Dorothy obviously didn't have a sense of smell as humans know it, for she didn't gag, flinch or cover her nose. She did, however, stand at least ten feet away from the body and wait for instructions.
"I've got some bad news," Roger announced when he entered Dandrige's Dinosaur Lodge office in the west wing of the first floor.
"Oh no," Torrance Dandrige tutted as he closed a folder on his desk. "Called back to Paradigm City on business?"
"No, but I did find a dead body," Roger said in sarcastic nonchalance. "Is there any way to contact the Electric City constable, or is somebody going to have to drive into town?"
"There's no phone line into…" Dandridge's voice trailed away as he leaned forward to scrutinize Roger's face. "Did you say that you found a body?"
"Yes," Roger nodded.
"A human body?" Dandridge asked.
"Yep."
"A dead body?" Dandridge seemed to be having a hard time accepting it. "A human dead body? A dead person you mean? Someone has actually died?"
"That's right," Roger put his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wall. "While taking a walk I found a dead body. Don't know whether it's a local or a refugee from Paradigm City, but whatever passes for the law around here should be notified. Say, isn't Doctor Weemes a medical doctor? He could do an autopsy."
"An autopsy?" Dandridge frowned. "What for?"
"To determine the cause of death of course," Roger smiled at Dandridge's distress. "If somebody is murdering people and dumping their bodies in the woods I think that it's in everyone's best interests to find out, don't you agree?"
"I'll… I'll send Rita Maeter to town to fetch the constable," Dandridge stammered. "She's from Electric City and knows everyone there."
"All right, in the meantime Dorothy is keeping an eye on the body," Roger nodded. "In the meantime, I think I'll go inform your colleagues."
"Is that necessary?" Dandridge moaned.
"I don't know, is it?" Roger shrugged. "When the constable gets here, he's going to have a bunch of questions for all of us anyway. Might as well let everybody know so they can get their stories straight."
"Yes," Dandridge nodded weakly. "I guess so… You said that Miss Wayneright was watching the body?"
"Yes that's right," Roger nodded. "Don't worry; she's not going to catch cold."
"I mean leaving her all alone out there," Dandridge clarified. "Is it safe leaving her out there by herself like that?"
Roger's smug smile vanished as a gasp escaped his throat.
Meanwhile back by the lake Dorothy watched impassively as the birds went back to their grisly meal. She threw another rock at them to scare them away. Roger had said things like 'coroner', and 'determine the cause of death', and asked her to 'prevent anything from disturbing the corpse' so she assumed that he wanted the body as intact as possible, and not eaten by a flock of hungry birds.
The stone caused the murder of ravenous birds to rise into the sky in a raucous black cloud. So loud and piercing where the crow's protests that Dorothy didn't notice a masked figure creep out of the woods and sneak up behind her. A rough hand grasped her bangs as something metal was placed at the girl's neck…
On a desk filled with hourglasses a phone rings. Roger's hand picks up the receiver and a sinister voice says:
Next: Off the Road
