24th September, 8 am. Prison cell.

[therealpm]

*Peter wakes up feeling groggy and disorientated.  Although not as bone tired as yesterday, his muscles still ache and cramp.  Something nags at the back of his mind, something important that he needed to do and he rubs his eyes, mentally replaying yesterday's events, trying to remember.  The first memory that surfaces- being shoved into the wards by Alastair, causes him to shudder and wince.

His fringe drops in his eyes and he pushes it back, noting with distaste the grittiness of mud on his scalp.  Still trying to recall what it was yesterday, he heads off to the shower, limbs protesting against the effort and back stiffened straight more from cramp than good posture.

It is not until he is beginning to wash his hair for the third time (he hasn't felt so filthy since secondary school and it is not pleasant), that he remembers: the conference.*

Fuck!

*He finishes washing, then towels of and dresses rapidly, nearly running (well, hobbling quickly) to the phone.*


Text received from 07### ######

John,

my presence is required at Labour conference next weekend.  Cancelling not an option.  At least one of the events is after dark.

-Peter

Comments

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

*John is getting the children ready for school when his phone goes off.*

No, Freddie, you cannot answer it for me, you have to get your coat and shoes!

*John quickly checks who had sent the message and, upon seeing Peter's name, decides it can probably wait.*

*After a brief struggle with Oliver wanting to take all of his stuffed animals in for show and tell, John finally manages to get them in the car and then to school. He drives home and only remembers the message while making himself some tea. John gets out his phone, reads the message and sighs.*

Nothing is ever easy with you, is it Peter?

*John doubles up the water in the kettle and makes a pot of tea, which, along with a plate of biscuits and a full English break fast for Peter (it is starting to get near the full moon, after all), he takes through the fireplace to the werewolf.*

Good morning, Peter.

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

*Peter is pacing anxiously when John arrives, running through a list of doppelganger potions in his head that can be brewed in under a week, and a list of people he would trust to impersonate him. So far, both lists are rather short.

His musings are cut off by the arrival of breakfast. He hadn't realised how famished he was until a plate of bacon wafted into view. Gesturing for John to sit down, he begins to methodically consume as much of the food as he can in as short a time as possible.*

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

*John pours the tea while Peter all but inhales the plate of food before him.*

This business with regard to conference is a slight kerfuffle, is it not?

Do you have a plan at all?

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

*Peter nods at the first question, then waves the cutlery dismissively at the second. He pauses for a quick sip of tea and replies.*

No. Campbell only told me yesterday evening, and I was too busy...

*He stops. John doesn't need to know about what happened yesterday. It would only lead to Peter being monitored more closely, 'for his own good', of course and that is something he's anxious to avoid.*

...too tired to construct anything feasible.

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

...Campbell "only told you yesterday" that you had appearances to make at Labour conference?

*John smirks into his tea*

I didn't know he'd become your personal assistant.

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

*Peter glares at John*

I don't see how I am expected to remember every engagement without access to either my Blackberry or a computer.

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

"Every engagement"?

It's conference, Peter. These things, as far as I can recall from my party political days, are planned months in advance. They're huge set pieces every year!

*John sips at his tea*

Still, never mind, we shall have to work something out.

A potion, perhaps? No, that's far too tricky and I've no idea how another potion will react with what you're already taking.

A spell then? A simple doppleganger cast would be easy, if somewhat tiring, I suppose...

*He thinks for a moment*

...but impossible since you shall be in wolf-form. Hmm.

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

*Peter finishes the last of his breakfast, the plate practically scraped clean.*

...the only other means of generating a doppleganger, I know of, is The Machine, but Manchester is far outside its usual range.

*He pauses.*

Without the potion, I would not be in wolf form for the two midday sessions...

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

And without the potion, Peter, you would be taken away by DEFRA and shot.

*John sips his tea and thinks back of Peter's comments.*

...The Machine can't generate dopplegangers still, can it? Not after... after...

*John can't quite find the right words to express the "I forced you to gut and dismember your child" sentiment he is trying to get across.*

...not now, surely?

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

*Peter sips his tea, plotting how best to answer.*

It... it certainly cannot at present generate a doppelganger that would fool so much as a child in Manchester. But... the old software is recoverable and if a broadcasting tower... a temporary broadcasting tower...

*Peter hastily amends at John's pointed look*

...were to be set up near the conference centre. It... might be possible.

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

*John sips his tea.*

What other options are there that you can think of?

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

*Peter shrugs*

Someone else takes a potion and impersonates me. The sale of such potions is, obviously, highly restricted. Obtaining one legally is very difficult and requires authorisation. Home brewing is easier, but cannot, I think, be accomplished within a week.

The other option is that I cancel now, raising speculation as to my whereabouts and potentially tipping off Bryant.

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

*John thinks over the other possible solutions. None of them seem possible - Peter doesn't want Chris to know about his condition (John doesn't understand why but he respects Peter's right to privacy) so there's no way Peter can cancel.*

I still don't understand how it is possible for The Machine to be able to create and maintain a plausible doppleganger of you. It simply doesn't have that processing power now, does it?

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

Well... without going into too many of the technical details... The Machine already has a large library of data concerning my habits and so forth. From this is should be possible to build up a statistical model that can handle basic questions- more in depth ones will need to be diverted to Alastair of course, but that's a relatively simple subroutine...

*He gives John a smile.*

Provided I can pre-record the speech and persuade the organisers to plant questions, which shouldn't be too difficult, then it should be within The Machine's processing capabilities to produce a doppelganger. For a limited period of time. That will be able to respond to a narrow range of questions.

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

That still seems terribly... tricky for The Machine after the vast... erm... alterations it's been through.

But then again, you're the magical computer genius, not I.

*John sighs. He can't believe he's actually considering this.*

...how big would the transmitter have to be?

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

*Peter shrugs*

It would certainly have been easier to do, before the alterations, but with a few tricks the code should run fast enough.

*Peter sits back and considers for a moment.*

It does not need to be particularly large. About the size of a human head.

...it is the placement and the power supply, that I think will be a greater issue. I will need to discuss things with Dimbleby. It may be possible that we can simply piggy-back onto the existing TV infrastructure.

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

..."a few tricks"?

So you can still do the advanced computer-things that you installed the updates for, even though you have removed them all?

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

*Peter pinches the bridge of his nose in esasperation.*

No, John.

I can, to some extent, compensate for the loss of processing power by using the inherent symmetry of some of the operations to cut down the amount of processing required. However, it will still function sub-optimally compared to before the decimation of The Machine's facilities and will only provide an approximation of a true doppelganger based around a statistical, rather than physical and stochastic model. The forcings and fudge factors required will be far greater and the scope of the output far narrower than it would have been had you not forced me to lop off-

*Peter stops and sets his jaw.*

Anyway. The answer to your question is no.

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

*John cannot follow exactly what Peter says, but from his tone, John can work out he has annoyed the werewolf.*

...right. Very well, then.

*John sips his tea.*

I would, of course, have to clear this with several authoritative bodies and significant individuals. If this were the plan we decided upon, of course.

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

I can see no other feasible route.

*He sips his tea, then places the cup down quickly, arms still achey.*

Of course, programming also takes time. A decision would need to be made today.

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

*John nearly spits out his tea*

Today?!

That simply isn't possible. I can't get authorisation that quickly - even if I were to allow you to do this.

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

I am quite aware that you could not get authorisation for me to install such a transmitter today, however working on the program would only require your personal authorisation as I would not need to leave the Parliamentary Estate.

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

*If John lets Peter do this, it would, quite possibly, save a great deal of fuss, hassle and running around the less reputable areas of magical London. Then again, it would involve moving Peter from his cell to The Machine's control room, somewhere John cannot ward or guard as effectively. That, combined with John's almost total lack of technical knowledge, would mean putting a great deal of trust and faith in Peter...*

*Then again, from Peter's perspective, if he misbehaves too much he knows he'll be sent to DEFRA and either exterminated or experimented upon and then killed. He's not likely to do anything too damaging... is he?*

*John mentally runs through the list of things he knows The Machine was, at one point or another, capable of: tea maker, invasion of dreams, electrocution on demand, brainwashing, hangovers, diagnostics, transportation... diagnostics. Diagnostics.*

Very well, Peter, I shall let you begin working on the code, subject to a number of requirements.

First of all, you work on the code to create a doppleganger for conference and nothing else, is that clear? Not even improvements to the tea-making facilities.

Secondly, I have the right to impose as many wards and restrictions on you, the control room and any/all places we pass through as I deem necessary in the circumstances.

Thridly, we get The Machine to run some sort of diagnostics program on you as you work - see if it can work out just how you ended up in this situation in the first place.

*And perhaps it can give me an objective list of your capabilities in both wolf and human form, John mentally adds.*

And fourthly - if I think you so much as put a toe out of line at any point, Peter, your twice weekly scheduled exercise with Paddy will suddenly become twice daily until the end of your very short existence.

*John finishes his tea.*

Your thoughts?

[therealpm.livejournal.com]

*Peter was already working on ways to get around restrictions one and two before John had finished announcing three. He mentally shrugged that one off, but his deliberations were brought to a screeching halt as his hind brain, the bit responsible for self preservation, noted the contents of number four and decided to shut down any activity that could be in violation of the fourth stipulation. It made Peter a little dizzy.*

Yes, that...

*His memory helpfully supplies details of the full extent of pain and misery that twice daily sessions would entail. Peter tells it to be quiet and that he will be careful when deceiving John, thank you ever so much.*

...seems reasonable.

[bamfbercow.livejournal.com]

Marvellous!

*John clears away the breakfast things and leaves the cell*

I shall get these put away, go and secure the room and then you can start on the computer-program.

*John disappears through the fireplace.*