C-FOL04 (Aug 25, 2017)
Puzzle
“Old Man.”
Knowledge | 2 Words
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: Of the old members of the First Cafe, who best fits that moniker?
Clue 2: The Owner's right-hand-man.
Clue 3: Number 71?
Answer and Explanation
Answer: Felix Blackwood
Explanation: Felix Blackwood was known as the Old Man, #71, back in the First Cafe.
Summary of Receipt
Summary
Transcript
NUMBER: FOL04
PRIORITY: CAFE
DATE: 25-8-17
CUSTOMER & ORDER: APLUT, COFFEE BLACK
SERVER: PAYROLL
I caught up with Felix, #71 of the old Cafe and Diner. Apparently, Umbra is trying to bring back a Tulpa the original Owner made of Lucifer because he missed her and they weren’t talking. It’s… really weird and sad, but hey, I guess I’ve never dated a Prince of Hell before. The Tulpa came out wrong though, like a weird child of the Owner and Lucifer. Worse, this Tulpa apparently was also able to copy or… I don’t know… invert? The power of the Eight in the Owner, creating a Negative Eight. At least that’s what Felix called it.
S.O.T.
Payroll: I… wasn’t expecting to find you here.
Felix: I’m getting older, you know.
Payroll: Yeah, but, a retirement home? You don’t really need that, do you?
Felix: Ah—sharp as ever. I’m just enjoying the calm and the quiet. They don’t let us old folks drink too much coffee, you know. How’s that new Cafe of yours treating you?
Payroll: New—how’d you know?
Felix: Was it supposed to be a secret? Eh, I suppose word doesn’t travel that fast across the country. Don’t worry. I’m one of the only ones out here who has picked up on it. At least your family hasn’t let on that they know anything about it yet.
Payroll: How… are they?
Felix: You haven’t paid them a visit yet?
Payroll: I’m… I’ve been busy. This is a work trip, after all.
Felix: It’s been… what… Thirteen years? They miss you, you know. Nick misses you, at the very least. Ned and Nancy, well, they have a unique perspective on time, no? Thirteen years to them is not very much. But for your brother… thirteen years is thirteen years.
Payroll: Mm…
Felix: So, you didn’t come all the way back here just to catch up with me, and certainly not them. What brings you back to the Hotspot?
Payroll: Umbra is trying to find a vessel for some sort of Tulpa.
Felix: Tulpa?
Payroll: One that’s tied to Lucifer’s Scrying Mirror.
Felix: …No. Ringan Storm…?
Payroll: Who?
Felix: An anagram. Morningstar. It’s a Tulpa of Lady Lucifer herself. Made by… maybe the Owner.
Payroll: Was that the one you and Sahir dealt with?
Felix: Unfortunately, yes. The Owner, he was a hopeless romantic, you know. When Lucifer left him—he took it very hard. But, he didn’t want to press things further with Lucifer, so he…
Payroll: …made a Tulpa of her? That’s… kinda pathetic. And weird.
Felix: An understatement. It was one of many disasters behind closed doors. The Owner, bless his misguided heart, thought he could control such visceral emotions brought to life. But he was no Tulpamancer. And the emotions he held for Lucifer were not all positive. Worse… the Tulpa did not come out “right.”
Payroll: What do you mean?
Felix: Ah—well, he was attempting to make a copy of Lucifer, no? What he actually made was a malformed copy of himself melded with his thoughts of Lucifer. A child of sorts, in a horribly twisted way. If you ever wish to make a Tulpa, my dear, do not use a mirror, eh?
Payroll: So… it was more him than Lucifer?
Felix: It was both and it was nothing. Worse, it somehow leached the very number from his mind. It had all of the power he had. Or, at the very least, the shadow of such power. A negative eight.
Payroll: He made an evil version of himself?
Felix: Yes. It took every ounce of our combined strength, and a bit of luck, to contain it.
Payroll: Why didn’t you ask for help? Why didn’t—
Felix: You know how he was. He was embarrassed by his failure and didn’t want to put anyone else in harm’s way. Everything we were working toward, stopping Satan, it all could’ve been upended by this childish solution to the Owner’s own romantic woes.
Payroll: I guess… but, hang on, how is Umbra able to bring back Ringan Storm? Tulpas are attached to their creators, right? And the Owner’s dead. Been dead.
Felix: *…Eh.* I suppose it is a mystery, no? Such a powerful Tulpa… well, and it was not entirely him, remember? It was birthed from his thoughts of Lucifer, and she is very much still alive. Umbra, he is looking for something to attach the Tulpa to, yes?
Payroll: Yes.
Felix: Ah—yes… the lingering essence of Ringan Storm must still be swirling within that Scrying Mirror. Without the Owner, Umbra will need to get creative. But… why—
Payroll: CRAP!
Felix: What’s wrong?
Payroll: Look, yesterday’s receipt.
Felix: Ah… always busy running a Cafe. Well, you’d better get going then, eh?
Payroll: Yeah. Thank you, Felix. Tell Nick and my parents—mm…
Felix: You were never here.
Payroll: Thank you.
Felix: Of course, cher ami.
E.O.T.