A/N: (Updated March 25, 2022) Hey everybody! Sorry to keep y'all waiting so long. Writer's block is a bitch, and so is life when it gets in the way -_-' But before we begin, shoutout to the awesome Snxwhite, Guest, and Guest for reviewing! You rock, my friends! :)
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Snxwhite–––Nope, I'm still around. Lol. I plan on finishing it, as well as my others. It's just been hard for me to write lately. *shrug* I dunno why. 2020 has been shitty. And I'm very flattered that you're hooked on this story. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I'm so glad you're having fun with it. Thanks for reading!
Guest–––Glad you're vibing this story! Me too. Lol. Thanks for reading! _
Guest–––Hiya :) Lol, yes I'm gonna finish it.
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Disclaimer: Me no own ASOUE.
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Chapter 6:
SPYglass
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"Ah, Jacques, welcome back," an old man behind the counter greeted warmly as we approached. "What'll it be today?"
"Two please. An adult and a minor," Jacques told him, offering him a twenty dollar bill. "For Zombies in the Snow."
"Zombies in the Snow it is, then," the old man said, punching in his selection. "And I'm sure you know that you're getting the Verified Film Discount, yes?"
"I do," Jacques winked at me.
The old man tore the two tickets and handed them to my superior.
"Thanks," Jacques smiled at him, then led me inside to the concessions counter. "Hi there. Could we get a large popcorn and drink please?"
In no time at all, a giant bucket of buttered popcorn and a large fizzy drink were set on the counter before me, and instantly, my mouth began to salivate. It had been awhile since I'd been to the movies, and I'd almost forgotten how good the concessions were here.
"Thank you," Jacques said. Immediately, I grabbed the popcorn and drink and followed him to the specified theater on the tickets. Hopefully whatever he was going to show me with that spyglass was far more exciting than the movie we were watching tonight. I couldn't bear to sit through another showing of it.
Jacques led me down the dim-lit aisle to the seats in the seventh row and we settled in the two closest to it, hopefully for a quick getaway from the poor quality of the movie. He snaked a few handfuls of popcorn before proceeding with his plan. "So as I was saying earlier," he began quietly, wiping his fingers on a napkin and taking out the spyglass. "This isn't just a spyglass. It's a V.F.D. spyglass. It has all kinds of features that are useful. Like this one."
Taking a few bites of popcorn myself, I watched him twist the end of the spyglass this way and that. He pressed a tiny button just before the golden rings and the lens was now a ray of gleaming white light right before my eyes. My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what I was seeing right now. He was right––it did do more than offer an up-close view of an opera.
"Flashlight," Jacques replied with a smile. "For those nights when you just can't put down a good book. There's also this one." He twisted one of the golden rings a click, and at once, the ray of white light dimmed and faded into a blood red. "Heat. It's useful for making important documents float to reach your associate on a higher level when you have no access to an elevator."
"How did you do that?" I asked, overcome with shock more than I thought.
"Like this," Jacques pointed at the golden rings. What I didn't notice earlier was that there were little black symbols carved in them. He was pointing at what symbol setup was lined up with the arrows above them. Immediately, I took out my notebook and jotted the two configurations down before I forgot. "There's also this one," he said when I finished. He twisted the same golden ring another click to another combination. The ray of red light faded into an icy blue one. "Fan. For those days when you're on the lam in the desert."
I made another note in my notebook. Man, this thing is useful. I couldn't wait to try it out myself. "What else does it do?" I asked.
"It mainly deciphers codes––that's what these symbols here are for––but it has a few more useful features," Jacques explained. "I'll show you the rest of them another time."
"Can I try it out?" I asked, almost eagerly.
"Sure." Jacques handed me the spyglass.
Wow. A spyglass with built in utilities…or should I say, a spy glass? Okay, okay, not funny. But now I've seen everything. As gingerly as I could, I toggled between the three features, just to get the hang of using them. They might come in handy someday, who knows? Better get them under my belt now before a day when I really need them.
Just then, with a touch too much power, I shot past the fan setting into a different combination. I inhaled sharply, bracing for the worst, but nothing happened. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived, as Jacques looked at me curiously.
"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied casually. To my surprise, I didn't turn it back to any of the other combinations. Instead, I just sat there with baited breath, wondering what this particular combination did exactly. I tried to act as normal as I could, looking around for any clues as to its abilities. But nothing happened. Maybe I was worrying about nothing.
Suddenly, Jacques's eyes honed in on something up ahead. What, I wasn't sure, but he seemed pretty focused on it. He opened and closed his mouth several times before uttering, "Is that…?"
I looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. What was Jacques so worried about?
"It is," Jacques confirmed under his breath, leaning forward. "Um, excuse me, sir," he said to the man a couple rows ahead of us. "But I believe your hat is on fire."
I looked at who he was talking to. Sure enough, the silhouette of the man's hat had spontaneously combusted. My eyes widened in terror. What the––?! How did it––?!
The man looked around at Jacques, puzzled by his comment, but after reaching for it, he was horrified to find that he was right. "My hat!" he cried, racing up the aisle out of the theater.
I watched him leave, then looked around. How did that happen? It's too dark to see anything in here.
Jacques looked over at me. He too was trying to put the pieces together. "Quigley, what configuration is the spyglass on?" he asked.
I looked down at the spyglass. Unable to accurately articulate which one it was on, I handed it back to him. Jacques took it from me and observed it. After a moment of watching him play detective, I watched the look on his face fade into one of uneasy realization. "Ahhh. I know what happened," he breathed quietly.
"You do?" I asked.
"Yep." Jacques held out the spyglass for me to see. "Do you see what setting this is on?" he said, pointing at the configuration I'd accidentally set it to.
"Yes," I said slowly, dread starting to creep in. Oh no. Where was he going with this?
"This…is a setting I pray you'll never have to use," Jacques said, seeming a bit wary.
"Why?" I asked.
Jacques looked at me, and amongst the pain in his eyes I found something else, something he was hiding from me. "For those days when you need to permanently erase evidence. For those nights when you're on the run and need something to keep you warm."
He pointed the spyglass at the floor, and on the black carpet, I saw a bright red dot. Wait, a laser pointer? This thing had a laser pointer built in? The dot began to hiss slightly and a wisp of smoke wafted up to us. Uh oh. Wait, was it...? Just then, a tiny flame flared up and Jacques was quick to stomp it out. My eyes went wide as I looked at him.
"Firestarter," Jacques said quietly, almost ashamed, twisting the ring again so that the laser was off.
The pieces now began to fall into place, and I shrunk back into my seat, gulping. Did I just…set that man's hat on fire? Wow. So that's what that configuration did. I took out my notebook and made note of what configuration not to use. That was not going to happen again.
Just then, the lights in the theater dimmed until we were in complete darkness. Oh great, time for the movie to start, if you could call it that. Jacques scooped another handful of popcorn out of the bucket and popped it in his mouth. He wiped his fingers on the napkin again and adjusted the rings on the spyglass. He peered through the lens at the screen, scanning for…something. What, I wasn't sure.
"Quigley, there's something else I want to show you," Jacques whispered, though it was unnecessary. Nobody was going to remotely pay attention to this film.
"What?" I whispered back.
"This spyglass can detect messages on screen. That's why this movie has subtitles," Jacques replied, still peering through the spyglass. "Find the V.F.D. eye on screen and I'll show you."
"V.F.D. eye?"
"You've seen it before. On the trapdoors in the tunnels, right?"
My eyes lit up. So that's what that eye meant! I never knew V.F.D. had a symbol. "Oh yeah! I've seen it before."
"When it pops up in that corner of the screen, I'll give my spyglass to you. Then you can see one of the many ways we communicate."
"Okay." I couldn't wait to see this.
Before long, the first scene was on the screen and I was ready to leave, but I had to keep a lookout for that eye. Nothing. But when the second scene came around, relief washed over me. I caught the brief flashing of the eye I discovered in the tunnels in the upper right corner of the screen.
"There!" I told Jacques, pointing.
Jacques handed me the spyglass. "Read me what it says."
I looked through the spyglass at the screen. Everything looked normal except for boxes that surrounded each letter of every word in the subtitles. Wait. Why were there boxes around––whoa! Just then a majority of the letters faded, leaving only a few left, just dark enough for me to see. Then the remaining letters congregated in the center of the screen to relay some kind of message.
"'Hello, Jacques'," I read quietly, gaping at what I was seeing. Now I knew why Mother and Father had watched this movie. It wasn't for entertainment–––it was for the message hidden in the subtitles!
"Wait for the next eye, then read me what it says," Jacques said.
"Alright." This time, I watched intently for my cue. I couldn't believe the sneakiness of V.F.D.. They hid messages right under my nose this whole time and I never knew it. Well, at least I know one way of how they communicate. Maybe if I pay more attention I could pick up on them.
Before long, the eye reappeared and the spyglass shot up to my eye. The same thing happened: some letters faded, then the remaining letters came together in the middle of the screen.
"'Find the Baudelaires'." Stunned, I lowered the spyglass and looked at Jacques.
Jacques winked at me. "Pretty neat, huh?"
"Yeah," I breathed.
"If you ever need any updates on anything, be sure to check out a Gustav Sebald movie. They'll tell you everything you need to know. And it has to be a Gustav Sebald movie––you won't receive these kinds of messages from ordinary movies."
"Gotcha," I said, nodding.
Jacques held out his hand and I returned the spyglass to its rightful owner. He tucked it away in his pants pocket and stood up, adjusting his blazer. He looked down at me. "Ready?"
To go? Already? Not that I cared to stay behind and have my eyes burned out by the abomination on screen, but I anticipated this to take much longer, at least a half hour. "Yeah, I'm ready," I said at once, jumping up out of my seat. Thank God. I thought I'd have to suffer through that entire thing again. Thankfully, the volunteers kept things short. And for that, I was extremely grateful.
Jacques led the way out of the theater to his shiny yellow taxi parallel parked right in front of the ticket counter. Still spellbound by the things he showed me, I hopped in the front seat carefully with our popcorn and drink. But before he climbed in with me, Jacques scanned the perimeter, almost warily. Up and down the street, in every nook and cranny, no detail was left unexamined by my superior. I probably should've done the same thing, but I didn't know what to look for. After another brief survey of the bustling activity around us, Jacques slid behind the wheel and started the car.
"So," he said, buckling his seatbelt. "How did you like the V.F.D. spyglass?"
"It was awesome!" I marveled, grinning at him. "Can I have one?"
"Sure. If we can find one around the house," Jacques said, pulling out into traffic. "That spyglass is a volunteer's best friend. You'll definitely need one if you're going to take on the evils of this world."
I popped a handful of popcorn into my mouth and munched on it thoughtfully. My own spyglass. I hoped Dr. Montgomery had a spare one lying around someplace. I had to get my hands on one of those.