C-ND1803 (Nov 16, 1995)
Puzzle
WORD PUZZLE
9 CHARACTERS 1 WORD
“Totes f m r al”
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: Sounds alright?
Clue 2: Just speak it out loud.
Answer and Explanation
Answer: Ephemeral
Explanation: "F m r al", when sounded out, gives "ephemeral".
Summary of Receipt
Payroll says that Umbra basically travelled to another dimension, along with his two accomplices (Duplicity and Anastasia/Slon) and the Third Cafe. Slon can open portals to other dimensions, as long as she has a fetish - an object imbued with supernatural power, not any other definition don’t be weird - or any sort of object in said dimension. With Umbra gone, presumably Aka or Pleasant will be in charge, with Mare and Flanders active as well. Payroll mentions using her ‘Red Eye’ to see what Aka’s doing, but that would apparently be pretty bad. (it’s probably either a VERY vague reference to Lucifer somehow, linked to her former codenamed ‘Scry’ or linked to Aka’s strange ability to cause her to bleed from her eye in C-DDD05.)
Transcript
NUMBER: ND1803
DATE: 16-11-18
ORDER: COFFEE BLACK
CUSTOMER: THE DARK
SERVER: ALL STAFF, PREP BY PAYROLL
It seems Umbra is no longer… “here.” He jumped ship to another dimension, taking most of the Third Cafe with him. Umbra took over the Third Cafe’s systems, essentially locking them inside, from what I understand. Umbra then sent in Duplicity, the “Bravo” agent, and his other new Dark member, who the Third Cafe has codenamed “Slon.” Slon’s powers allow her to open gateways to other dimensions as long as she has a fetish or object tied to the dimension. Duplicity had such an object as a pin with a strange smiley face. Slon then used that to open a gateway to another Dimension, and Umbra took the Grimoire and escaped with Slon and Duplicity. I guess that was their getaway plan. However, the Third Cafe’s 8 and her employees followed Umbra through the gateway.
There’s… not much we can do about any of that. At least, as far as I know. We have no way of knowing which dimension they crossed into, and even if we did, we have no way to follow them. All we can do now is hope that the Third Cafe can handle Umbra, Duplicity, and Slon and whatever else that dimension has in store for them. Meanwhile, I assume Aka or Pleasant has been put in charge of Dark operations here. This also leaves us with Flanders and Mare to deal with still. I wouldn’t be surprised if Umbra set up a few other surprises for us as well, so be prepared.
It’s hard to say how long Umbra will be gone, but maybe this will give us an opportunity to get ahead of him. We just have to deal with his lackeys first. I could tap into my Red Eye to see what Aka’s up to, but doing so would open a whole new can of worms. I haven’t even used my Red Eye in, like, years. Decades at this point. So… Before we do anything drastic, let’s catch our breath for a bit and trust that the other 8 and her team can handle themselves.