Chapter Text
Seth was 11 years old when he and his sister, Isis, found a magic slide projector in the Ordinary town dump. There wasn’t much to do in a small town like Ordinary, and children often played in the dump, which was large and fascinating. Well, Seth played there, and Isis felt compelled to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. She was a year older, after all. And with their parents busy, someone had to watch over her more rambunctious sibling.
The projector was interesting, in part because it looked completely new, despite clearly having been in the dump for a while. They’d seen a slide projector at school before, but never been able to handle it themselves, which made it all the more appealing. Weirdly enough, it didn’t need electricity to function, and it was small enough for them to carry to an empty area to turn on, projecting its images onto a wall of junk taller than a house. The projector also came with nine slides, which they tried out.
What was even more interesting about the projector was that the slides not only showed strange places the children had never seen before – far beyond their little town of Ordinary – but that the projections were actual doorways to these places that Seth and Isis could travel through. Places that both children somehow knew weren’t Earth. The air was different in each place, and even familiar-looking dirt or sand seemed to give off a sense of otherness. The strange worlds also always seemed hotter or colder than they should be.
Their parents worked late, so both children were free to explore the other worlds. Seth and Isis didn’t go very far, but they were curious to see just how far they could go, particularly when they saw what might have been strange animals in the distance. They even brought in one of their friends – Anubis – to come play with them. Anubis particularly enjoyed the one place they named the Meadow, which he claimed was more peaceful than the others, though Seth and Isis were wary of it. The flowers were unlike anything they had seen, but both Seth and Isis felt the place had a sense of wrongness to it. Anubis felt right at home, though. He seemed more relaxed there than he did in Ordinary, where he was often bullied for being too shy and nervous.
In one world they named “Hand” after the mysterious five orange rock-like pillars reaching up to the sky, Seth and Isis encountered a mysterious entity whom Seth named Nephthys. She was kind and friendly, and was particularly attached to the children. She didn’t have a shape like people did, but was more of a formless, invisible presence that you could feel in your mind. She most often rested in the back of Seth’s mind, even when the projector was turned off, kind of like a guardian angel to help him relax when he was stressed. He talked to her sometimes before going to bed. Sometimes she even sang to him. She was curious about Earth, but seemed content to stay with Seth. None of the adults could see her, and she was a shared secret between the children.
But everything changed when they brought Osiris into their circle. He was fascinated by the slide worlds. He’d always been the smartest of their small friend circle – namely because he was the oldest – and he’d argue with Isis about the different science things he thought were happening. Unbeknownst to the others, he would visit the slide projector in the dump when the others weren’t there.
Then three of their teachers disappeared, along with two children in their classes. The police investigated, but turned up nothing.
And then all the adults in Ordinary disappeared.
When Seth, Isis, and Anubis confronted Osiris, he said that their parents were always making demands of them, having them do chores or study, when Osiris only wanted to explore, or spend time with Seth and Isis. Seth didn’t like the look in his eyes, especially when he insisted on visiting the Hand. Osiris insisted there was someone there who would give him power to do whatever he wanted. Be whatever he wanted. With no adults ever, to tell him what to do. When even quiet Anubis told Osiris to stop being weird, Osiris… did something to him when Seth and Isis weren’t around. Anubis hid in his room in his empty house and wouldn't come to visit Seth and Isis anymore. Whenever Seth or Isis tried to talk to him, he would only growl or bark like a dog, before hiding under his bed sheets. Seth even thought his teeth were more like fangs, though Isis said that might have been a trick of the light. Nephthys had no idea how to help him.
Seth confronted Osiris about it, demanding he fix whatever he did to Anubis.
Osiris ignored him, and vanished into the Hand.
Nephthys cautioned Seth and Isis from venturing deeper into the Hand after Osiris: it would only lead to worse things. But the pair also knew they had to turn the projector off: it had only led to worse things for them and those they cared about. But if they didn’t seek Osiris out and drag him back, and he refused to return… he’d be stuck there forever.
Seth was afraid if they left it open, that Osiris would return with worse than what he’d done to Anubis. He tried to turn the projector off, with Isis tearily looking on, but the projector refused to stop running. Desperate, Seth asked Nephthys for help again, and she guided him through the process.
The Hand disappeared. And it took Osiris with it. Isis, Seth, and Anubis were alone in Ordinary, with a scattering of children who were growing hungrier and more despondent as the days passed. Isis was distraught, and even though Nephthys was still with Seth, Seth was afraid of what would happen next, and horrified about what he’d done to both his friends. Nephthys cautioned him that Osiris was lost, and would kill him if he reopened the projector, and harm Isis and Anubis. When Seth was unable to destroy the projector itself, he destroyed the slides, so no one could use it. Then he and Isis buried it in the dump.
But reports about what was going on in Ordinary got out, and the Federal Bureau of Control arrived to investigate. They looked like more intimidating police officers, and they went into homes, the dump... anywhere.
Nephthys warned Seth that something was wrong, and Seth knew that he was the one who found the projector and brought it out. He was the one who’d decided to turn it on. He was the one who invited Osiris to join them. It was Seth’s fault Osiris killed their hometown, and hurt Anubis. And he was the one who’d trapped Osiris in the Hand, dooming Osiris to death if he wasn’t already lost. Adults always needed someone to blame. When the agents grabbed Isis and Anubis – was who still largely catatonic – Seth ran.
He spent 17 years on the run, paranoid that people were following him, watching him. He didn’t know what would happen if they caught him, but he knew it’d be bad.
Nephthys guided him. She helped him travel under the radar and eke out a meager existence on the margins of society. He learned how to survive: he’d do jobs when he could, steal when he had to. He got by. But he always had the sense he was being watched. Too many times Nephthys warned him to get away, abandon the bit of life he’d found for himself for something new, where no one knew who he was. It was hard, but he’d grown tough to endure it.
His anxiety for Isis and Anubis only grew. And with time, he began to wonder, just who was the Federal Bureau of Control? Sometimes he would go into public libraries and do what little research he could. He discovered that Ordinary was seemingly wiped off the map. No one lived there anymore. It was empty. All the trails he looked up went cold. He couldn’t find Isis or Anubis anywhere. But after further investigation, Nephthys encouraged him to go to New York City. A busy place Seth could get lost in easily if worst came to worst. And supposedly it was the home of the mysterious agency that took his sister and friend.
Seth knew he'd be walking right into the agency's hands, but he decided he was tired of running from his past. And he needed to know what happened to Isis and Anubis. Were they even still alive?
Three days after he turned 28, he was standing in front of the entrance to the illusive Federal Bureau of Control. It was raining. His long red hair was getting soaked because he didn’t have an umbrella. His dark leather jacket would be ruined soon. He’d bought it with a nice bonus he’d gotten from one of his jobs a year prior, and it fit him snugly. His jeans were worn, and he’d need to repair them soon. His shoes wouldn’t thank him for standing in a storm, either. People still walked by on their way to work, home, food, or who knew where. The city was loud around him. Completely ignoring that he was standing right in front of what might be answers he’d been looking for throughout most of his life.
He steeled himself and walked inside. Once he was past the large glass doors, the world beyond was muffled. He found himself in a nice but empty lobby. There was a front desk made out of shiny wood, but no one sitting behind it. Average looking fake plants sat around the room. There was an intimidating federal seal with the logo for the FBC on it: the typical eagle you saw on a lot of American iconography, but under an inverted black pyramid, overtop which read, “Federal Bureau of Control”.
He still didn’t know what they controlled.
There weren’t any guards to stop him. He saw no one. He walked up to the tall security scanners and cameras. No one arrived to confront him. The security booth was empty. Nephthys was there in his mind, like a warm hand on his shoulder, a soft whisper when he needed encouragement. She seemed oddly happy or excited he was here at last.
“You really wanted me here, huh?” He asked as he walked through security. The scanners beeped at him, but there was no one to do anything about it, and the alarm shut off automatically after a minute. He walked around cautiously, since he had a kind of spooked out feeling about the place. He’d done janitorial work in buildings like this before, so he was used to working in big empty office buildings with almost no one around, even late at night. But there was something… off about this. Partially due to the signs that flashed LOCKDOWN at him.
That of course gave him pause: usually, lockdown warnings were for shooters in the building or some other disaster. Was there an active shooter in the area?
Nephthys stayed with him, reassuring him. She made him relax a little and think.
If there was a lockdown of some kind, how had he gotten into the building? Where were the guards? Wouldn’t a federal building have security of some kind? He hadn’t heard any alarms outside, and no one else was panicking. The news hadn’t reported anything, either, from what he’d seen walking past live newscasts in the area in shop windows and advertisements. And there was no police.
He wasn't exactly ready to confront someone with a gun, but if he left, he wasn't sure how easily he'd be able to get back into the building. So he kept on going.
He imagined Isis would yell at him for this. But it was hardly new for her to do that.
Just past security, he wandered up the stairs, still wary, but refusing to back down. He’d come here to find answers. To see what happened to Isis and Anubis. To answer for his crimes if he had to.
He wandered past large, intimidating paintings of who he assumed worked or had worked at the FBC. One portrait was a tall, thin man in a white scientist’s coat. He had long, silver-blue hair going down his back, and smiled at the audience. His painting read, “Dr. Thoth Darling”. Beyond him was someone with their back to the audience, wearing a baseball cap, and the caption read, “The Bureau at Work”. And beyond that, was an image of a tall, muscular woman. She had dark skin and long, dark hair, and a dangerous glint to her golden eyes as she smiled at the audience. She wore a fine dark suit, and with her arms crossed and that gaze, she looked like she might kill you as much as sit in a boardroom meeting with you. Below her portrait read, “Director Ra”.
Seth walked further on, and found a hall surrounded by empty meeting rooms behind glass walls. It was darker here, and still he heard no people.
And then he heard someone humming.
He turned around a corner and saw a janitor in a familiar blue uniform Seth had worn before. They had their back to Seth and were mopping the floor.
“Hello?” Seth asked, cautiously. This was the first person he’d seen, and he felt more comfortable around a cleaner than some agent in a suit anyway.
There was always the chance this was the person the lockdown warnings were about, but he'd never heard of an active shooter pretending to clean an office building.
The person cleaning paused and took their big headphones off, then turned to face Seth. The woman was tall, pale-skinned, and had long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail partially visible under her baseball cap. Her eyes were golden, and she wore red lipstick. She grinned at Seth with bright white teeth. “Finally, you showed up.”
Seth thought that was a strange response, but replied, “Uh, sorry? I’m Seth, and I just got here and I’m a bit confused…”
“You took the job, yeah?” the woman said. “About time. I needed a new assistant. I’m Sekhmet, the head janitor here. You’ll work for me.”
Now Seth was even more weirded out. He'd met some real characters over the years in the various places he worked, but he thought Sekhmet might be a new one. “I uh…”
Sekhmet grinned. “It’s simple, you’ll be good for it. Just report in, they’ll get you sorted out.” She flicked her head behind her, down the hall. “Tell them you’re with me. That’ll get you through things.”
Seth wasn't sure what to do with that. “I uh… don’t really understand what’s going on. I just… wanted to talk to someone. I saw all the lockdown signs, too, and wondered what was going on.”
Sekhmet grinned. ”It’s okay. You’ll see.”
A bit exasperated, Seth figured he could just play along. It would get him further in the building to people in charge, anyway. And if Sekhmet worked here and wasn't worried about the lockdown warnings, maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked. “…Just around the hall?”
“Yup. Take the elevator up. You’ll find your supplies there.”
“…Okay. Thanks.” He supposed she hadn't exactly been rude to him. Just odd.
She flashed him another grin and put her headphones back in, before going back to work.
It wasn’t the weirdest late night encounter he’d had with a coworker, Seth supposed.
“I guess I’ll have to try harder,” Sekhmet said.
Seth didn’t know what she was talking about, but kept walking anyway. Sekhmet was focused on her work, and he didn’t want to bother her. She seemed a decent enough egg, despite the odd comments.
Seth wandered around the bend in the hall and found himself back in the portrait hall from before. But he was surprised to see where before there had been a portrait of someone’s back, there was now an elevator, which opened as he approached. He looked back towards where he’d left Sekhmet, then towards the stairs.
His life had been full of unusual circumstances, but he knew they almost always led to bad things, save for his meeting Nephthys. And here, now, he could leave if he wanted. He could just go.
Nephthys tugged at him.
Seth wanted answers.
He stepped into the elevator.