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Pursuit
There was another shuddering impact into the locked double doors of the Richmond-Brown wing of the British Museum but the doors held. I looked over the pile of strewn antiquities piled up in front of them, willing them to hold off my pursuers for a little longer.
"Release me" croaked the bronze-plated head in the glass case before me.
I swung the butt of my empty pistol against the Plexiglas but it bounced off leaving only a smear. The brass eyes swivelled up and looked straight at me.
"Release me" said the metal head with more urgency this time.
In desperation I kicked over the entire plinth the case was resting on and the impact cracked the bond between plinth and transparent case. The head bounced free from its cradle and rolled to a stop like a discarded football helmet.
"Release me, now" demanded the head. Behind me the door received another juddering impact and began to buckle.
As I picked up the bronze head several metal plates broke free from the scalp and I spied the copper wiring and cogs beneath. Something beneath the workings caught the light though. I knew that the metal head had been in the possession of Alan Turing during the forties, but could he have been building upon something much older?
A loud cracking noise from the doors to the Richmond-Brown wing told me it was time to run again. I tucked the head under my arm and fled as an arm reached through the crack in the door and began to push away the pile of detritus with inhuman strength. The agents of the Mythos were getting too close, would I have enough time?
"Release me" reiterated the head, nestled into my ribs as I ran. I realised I was still holding the empty gun and as I ran I started to beat the pistol against the buckled panels of the head. Wiring and clockwork cogs fell free as I ran, tinkling on the marble floor and snaking out behind me; it was like shelling an ostrich egg.
Finally the last of the metalwork fell free, and I caught the brass eyes in one hand and dropped them into a pocket. Revealed in all its glory was the Richmond-Brown crystal skull that had been wrapped up in machinery devised by Alan Turing. Two long thin screws had been bolted into the depths of the skull at strange angles for no apparent reason.
"Release me" said the skull, the jawbone moving with ease and the voice issuing forth now with crystal clarity.
The skull was no longer imprisoned in glass or coated in its bronze exoskeleton. There was nothing left to remove but the screws. I ducked into the Egyptian exhibit and paused beside a sarcophagus. In the distance I could hear the wet slapping sound of webbed feet chasing after me, getting progressively louder.
I put the useless gun down and began twisting the screws with my bare fingers, shearing through my own fingernails as I tried to gain enough purchase. Finally one screw began to twist and I spun it until it fell free.
The skull began to vibrate and issue a warm glow as I began to twist the second screw.
"Release me..." began the skull once more, trailing off as I at last removed the final piece "...from this ethereal prison that I may once more rule this world"
A wet, webbed hand closed over my face and started to smother me as I watched the ghost of an elder Mayan god begin to form, towering over us both.
Jul.27.2006