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therealpm*He's been told he has another inspection today- apparently it was delayed by a combination of staff cuts and his extended transformation, so Peter's dressed up in one of his better suits and tied his necktie loose enough that the collar can be inspected if necessary.
Bored for lack of work to do- Jo hasn't delivered the next tranch of paperwork yet and he's read all the books, he picks up The Machine's readouts and tries to work out precisely what got him into this mess in the first place.*
Bored for lack of work to do- Jo hasn't delivered the next tranch of paperwork yet and he's read all the books, he picks up The Machine's readouts and tries to work out precisely what got him into this mess in the first place.*
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Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 04:00 pm (UTC)Her interview with the deputy speaker has been...interesting. Dawn is not the most pleasant of people. While she had evidently thought her professionalism would appeal to Molly - and to a certain level it does - the entire interview had been overshadowed for Molly by the roiling thundercloud metaphorically standing over Dawn's head.
Something is certainly bothering the woman. Whether it has anything to do with the current situation, however, is another matter. Perhaps she has a difficult project coming due at work. Perhaps she is prone to muscle pains. Perhaps the DIY automobile work she's tinkering with is causing problems. Perhaps it's just conference season - always a bit irritating.
However much she tries to imagine different reasons for Dawn's obvious disgruntlement, however, Molly has to admit that the most plausible explanation has to do with the being waiting for them in the cell below.
Oh, Dawn's report had been convincing enough, in itself. She had shepherded the other two deputies in at the start, to sign their declarations of free informed consent to guarding a werewolf, and just as quickly shepherded them out again. That could just be the mark of a person who enjoyed attention, or that could be a symptom of a deeper problem here in the Palace.
Molly doesn't have time to look deeper. This visit has already been delayed by weeks due to Cameron's cuts, the flurry caused by the reshuffle, and the level of work currently being shoved at her small department. She only has time to interview the guards and do final checks on the werewolf.
There is no mystery here.
Even as Molly tells herself that, however, she remembers the way Dawn's eyes glittered rebelliously as she told Molly that the werewolf was safe and caused no problems. She remembers the surly look between Dawn's brows as she told Molly that everybody felt safe around the werewolf, that it was taking its potion and well warded and guarded. She remembers the way Dawn's knuckles clenched around her pen as she told Molly that none of the guards felt coerced in any way.
Molly tucks her doubts tidily back behind her eyes. It's time to meet with the werewolf.
Perhaps some of her questions will now be answered.*
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 04:10 pm (UTC)Good afternoon, Ms...
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 04:14 pm (UTC)Cratchett, Molly Cratchett. It's good to see you again, Lord Mandelson. My apologies for the lateness of my return visit.
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 04:17 pm (UTC)Not at all, a visit over the past week or so would not, perhaps, have been productive.
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 04:36 pm (UTC)The man who'd taken her down to the werewolf floor, far below DEFRA, had been taciturn to a fault. "There," was all he said.
And there, stretching away from her in rows of cells, were werewolves, howling up toward a moon they would never see again...
Molly shakes herself. This is no time for memories. She sits, depositing her briefcase next to her and pulling out her clipboard.*
This is a short visit, Lord Mandelson. Before we begin, is there anything you need to bring to my attention?
*An inane question, but one that has proved difficult in the past. One werewolf she visited - Jamie, she remembers how he said his name, Jamie, with a lilt - had broken down in tears and asked to be euthanised. He simply couldn't bear it any longer...
She shakes herself and focuses all her attention on the man in front of her.*
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 04:44 pm (UTC)Could you be a little more specific?
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 04:55 pm (UTC)Perhaps we can return to that at the end.
Ms Primarolo and the other deputy speakers have signed declarations declaring that they are happy to - *guard you* - be of service and that they have not been coerced. Ms Primarolo has also told me at length that there is no need for DEFRA to become directly involved - *by locking you up in the basement for our scientists to prod* - at this juncture.
What I need to ask you at this visit is whether you have anything to add. If you feel like you are still a danger, despite your guards' confidence that you are not, then DEFRA needs to know.
*Molly's frustrated. Dawn looms behind her, and even though Molly knows that certain lines of inquiry have big "Do Not Touch" signs on them, she desperately wants to touch nonetheless. There's a rat somewhere, she knows it, but she's hamstrung by a combination of DEFRA's official hands-off policy - Establish whether the wolf is a danger. If yes, bring it in. If no, let the owner treat it how he or she will. - and Dawn's forbidding presence.*
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 05:00 pm (UTC)I take the potion daily, I wear a... device to limit my physical and magical abilities. During the past week, I never once-
*His eyes flick up to Dawn*
-lost control to the wolf form.
*He shrugs*
Obviously one must always exercise caution, reasonable caution, but I consider the current measures taken sufficient to reduce any risk to an acceptable level.
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 05:15 pm (UTC)Time to bullshit with authority, as her mentor always said.*
Ms Primarolo, I am now going to cast a silence spell around myself and Lord Mandelson. The next question is confidential and involves medical privacy. I am afraid I have to advise you that if you attempt to breach this spell and its confidentiality, you will be appearing in magical court.
*Dawn does not look happy, to say the least, but she appears to swallow the explanation, albeit with a bad grace.
Molly puts up her best silence spell, which isn't particularly good, but it has the advantage of bursting like a bubble if Dawn tries to puncture it. The magical civil service trains its (usually severely magically limited) minions well.*
Lord Mandelson, there is something going on here. We don't have much time. If it's something I need to know, please tell me now.
*Belatedly, a strange vision of Dawn and Mandelson involved in an acrimonious and sarcastic romantic relationship comes to mind. She seems to remember Mandelson being gay - she doesn't really follow politics - but perhaps he's bi. That would explain some of Dawn's strange behaviour.*
If it's something I don't need to know, then on your own head be it.
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 05:29 pm (UTC)Something going on? You mean other than trying to hide a werewolf on a parliamentary estate that hosts on the order of two thousand people every day?
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 05:37 pm (UTC)Dawn is acting strangely. John answered my questions evasively last time. You keep looking in Dawn's direction as if you're afraid of giving a wrong answer. That little deputy looked like he'd lost a stone since the last time I was here.
Something is going on.
*She holds up her hand.*
Like I said, if it's something I don't need to know, don't tell me. But it's my job to make sure that no one is in danger.
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 05:45 pm (UTC)Dawn has just spent a week at conference and is currently buried under backlogged constituency work. John is chronically incapable of being concise. I'm not afraid of Dawn, I merely consider it polite to acknowledge her existence from time to time and Nigel's diet is no business of mine.
*He shrugs*
I appreciate your concern, Ms Cratchett, but nothing untoward is 'going on' as you put it and everyone is as safe as can be reasonably expected, under the circumstances.*
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 06:03 pm (UTC)Given the werewolves in the DEFRA basement, she's not sure if she can blame them.*
Fine. Before I drop the silence spell, is there anything else you need?
*She knows her tone is short, but she can't help it. She wishes her caseload was smaller. She wishes she could actually help these people instead of institutionalising them or leaving them in potentially abusive situations. She wishes she didn't have to walk away, hands tied by bureaucracy.*
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 06:07 pm (UTC)The people I attacked. Have they recovered?
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 06:22 pm (UTC)She'd kept it simple - The werewolf would like your permission to be told whether or not your child has survived - because she knew from experience that the mother of a savagely attacked and brain-damaged person does not tend to respond well to "the supernatural being is so sorry for its attack and is in a lot of distress and pain wanting to know if its victim is okay" approach.
One mother had laughed in her face. The other had nodded numbly, her shoulders slumped.
Molly's stomach aches.
She keeps her sentences short. This news won't be easy for Mandelson, but knowing is better than not knowing.*
The man is recovering. His neck was broken, as you know, and he is a quadriplegic. He also sustained a brain injury from being flung against the tree. He is in cognitive rehabilitation therapy.
The girl's parents did not authorise me to speak to you. Her mother is too busy with her daughter's physical and cognitive rehabilitation appointments to reconsider authorisation at this time.
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 06:29 pm (UTC)Thank you.
*His head is spinning, but he tries to stay focussed. He can go to pieces later, when there's no one to see.*
What is DEFRA's usual process after completion of this inspection?
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 06:50 pm (UTC)What's next, Lord Mandelson? After I finish my rounds for the day, I write a report. I'm your assigned caseworker.
Then I go to the Foreign Secretary and inform him that you are on the no-fly list, now that you are approved for civilian ownership and therefore not going to be simply controlled at DEFRA.
After that, I file all the paperwork and it goes to Lord de Mauley for approval.
If everything is officially approved, then you get to see me on unannounced monthly visits.
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 06:54 pm (UTC)Thank you for the clarification.
I shall hopefully look forward to seeing you in a month's time then.
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 07:02 pm (UTC)Goodbye, Lord Mandelson.
*She leaves her number with Dawn. Just in case.*
Re: Friday 6th October, 2 PM
Date: 2012-10-07 08:12 pm (UTC)Quadroplegia.
He can think of little worse. Bad enough to depend on John to bring him food, without needing to be fed, washed... he shudders. He's ruined a man's life, and the woman's too, by the sound of it.
He curls up on his side, twisting the edge of the blanket around his fists. If they would only let him use The Machine, he is sure he could find some cure, some way to make things better. Sure of it.
He resolves to ask John about it when the man next stops by, loathing the fact that at present, it is the only thing he can do.*