Gunnerkrigg Court/Recap/Volume 03/Chapter 027: Spring Heeled

Chapter 27 opens with Jack Hyland, with bandages on his fingers and his mysterious condition seemingly having continued to worsen since, jumping down a flight of stairs and falling in front of Antimony Carver and Katerina Donlan, while unseen pursuers shout after him. Jack stands up, hands Antimony a folded-up note, then dashes over to a window, opens it, and jumps out as his pursuers arrive, revealing themselves to be a young woman, Shell, and a stout, bald man, Aata , both wearing black suits with orange buttons and an orange insignia of a bar over two dots. Shell can't see where Jack went, and is upset over failing to catch him, but Aata, apparently her superior, says she did well. Aata cheerfully tells the crowd of watching students "Nothing to see here, kids. Go back to your educations!", then he and Shell walk off the way they came. Once these apparent authority figures leave, the crowd of students start gossiping about Jack, who one says has "been acting real crazy lately" and another says hasn't been seen "in ages". One student excitedly asks Antimony what the note says, but Antimony says she'll read it later, provoking groans of disappointment from the crowd.

Later, Antimony and Kat read the note— "Meet me at the building by the lake tonight 10:00 13th floor Bring the wolf"

Kat and Reynardine try to dissuade Antimony from going to meet Jack, thinking it's too dangerous. Reynardine particularly worries about Jack's having been "tainted by that demon girl", earning Antimony's reproach for calling Zimmy a "demon girl". Antimony thinks she "shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss Jack" and feels she ought to try to help Jack with his mysterious problem. Reynardine expresses confidence in his ability to overpower Jack should the latter prove threatening, and unsubtly suggests that Antimony is inviting trouble by choosing to "meddle so much", to Kat's agreement and Antimony's annoyance.

That night, under a waxing crescent moon prominently displaying Antimony's fingerprint, Antimony rides Reynardine to the tall building overlooking the lake. Along the way, Antimony tells Reynardine that she's worried about Kat's having been "callous... almost bitter" since they watched the video in about what happened to Jeanne. Reynardine is "not surprised [Kat's] outlook has darkened" after learning that the founders of the Court, which she always has called home, were "willing to sacrifice others to protect themselves", and he reassures Antimony that— "Reynardine: Katerina is a sensitive girl. But also a strong one. She'll pull through."

Climbing the stairs to the thirteenth floor, Antimony and Reynardine meet Jack as he finishes building a makeshift bridge from a windowsill to the top of the wall around the lake. Jack is pleased to see them, scratches his cheek, and announces that they're going to the power station. Not answering Antimony's question as to what's going on, Jack crawls across his bridge, climbs down a rope from the top of the wall to the shore of the lake below, and, with Antimony and Reynardine following, leads them to an inflatable rowboat. Antimony again asks what's going on, and Jack says that he "gotta find out what happened that night" (i.e. in ), that the answer lies with either Zimmy or the power station, that he can't find Zimmy, and that he knows Antimony knows about their getting pulled into Zimmy's nightmare world because he saw her there. Jack says that he called out to Antimony in "that... place", but she didn't hear him. As Jack starts rowing the boat across the lake and briefly describes what he saw in Zimmy's dark Birmingham, Reynardine sympathises with him, saying that "Seeing the world through that demon girl's eyes cannot be easy to bear". Before Antimony can chide Reynardine for calling Zimmy a "demon girl" again, Jack surprises them by addressing Reynardine as "Renard", a name otherwise used only by Gillitie denizens and people associated with the Court medium program. Jack explains that he discovered that "Renard" is Reynardine's "real name" while "root[ing] around" in the school's computer network, via which he found information on all the students (in Queslett, at least). He says he "read all about" Antimony and Renard, including that Renard tried to kill Antimony and that Antimony's father "ditched" her; Jack's blunt raising of these topics leaves Renard ashamed and Antimony angered. However, Jack says that he couldn't access any information on Chester and Foley students (such as Zimmy), and that the school's computer network has no connection to the rest of the Court, such as the power station — our first confirmation that the school merely is part of a larger organization.

Jack says that the Court tracks people's movement and vital statistics (presumably he means vital signs) via "these little... things" that they put in "all the food", and therefore he hasn't eaten in days so they won't be able to track him. Antimony points out that not eating is not good for his health, but Jack laughs it off as not concerning compared to whatever else is wrong with him. Antimony thinks it would make more sense for the Court to put tracking devices in their clothes, which too are all Court-issued. Reynardine insists that Jack not take the same approach with that possibility as with the food.

Jack concludes that rowing is more difficult than he had expected, then is startled as the boat begins to move without his help — as Antimony projects into the ether to push the boat using the telekinesis that Coyote taught her in. Jack looks at Antimony's etheric projection and says he can see her; Antimony, on the other hand, does not mention the etheric spider on Jack's head, which has grown markedly larger and has spun more web since. In silence, they continue rowing and pushing the boat across the lake.

Eventually, they arrive at the island in the middle of the lake. Jack rushes to the power station, with Antimony following a bit behind. Sneaking into the power station, Jack spots a robot guard, who has an electric torch, a cap with the bismuth symbol, and a painted-on necktie, and is trying to whistle by saying "whistle whiiistle". As the guard thinks aloud that 'saying "whistle" just doesn't sound ri—', Jack picks up a length of rebar from the floor and smashes in the robot's head with it (destroying the CPU ). As Jack does so, the darkness around his eyes intensifies slightly and starts dribbling down his face, which is implied to reflect his actions. Antimony, catching up to Jack, is shocked and saddened over the robot, but Jack brushes her off with "So what? It's just a dumb robot.", contrasting with his affectionate and cooperative interaction with the laser cows in, and walks off further into the power station.

As Antimony and Reynardine follow Jack through the moonlit halls of the power station, with shadowy machines and catwalks looming over them in intricate detail, Jack stops and sticks several devices from his backpack onto a wall, saying they're for notifying him in case anyone else passes by them. Climbing some stairs, Jack finds his goal: the power station's control room, the door to which is locked. Antimony identifies the lock as an RFID lock, presumably immune to her lock-picks, and telekinetically opens the door from the inside.

Inside the control room stand a few desks and office chairs, with a sleeping desktop computer on a desk in the centre, while control panels covered in mysterious switches and lifeless indicator lights ring the room. Jack sits down at the computer and plugs a USB flash drive into it, causing the computer to wake up, while Antimony and Renard look at the control panels. Antimony finds a sign identifying the place as an "ether station", at which Renard protests that he "cannot imagine a hell-hole further removed from the ether". Antimony further finds a diagram suggesting that this ether station is one of a chain of five such stations, "stretching out into the Court", and labels suggesting that the station is "some sort of collector and purifier". Jack, at the computer, interjects an explanation that incenses Renard— "Jack: Ether. It extracts, filters and transmits energy through an antenna array. I guess you'd call this energy "ether". Reynardine: What? They would meddle with the very fabric of existence in such a way?! To what end?!"

Antimony asks Jack what else he's found on the computer, and whether he's found the answers he wanted. "Oh, I wasn't really looking for information. I already knew what this place was." says Jack, grinning and clicking a button labeled "Startup Procedure".

The control panels and their indicator lights click and blink to life as, throughout the station, lamps power on, machinery hums into action, sirens wail, alarm lights flash, and gas flares ignite. On the lake, a much larger boat than Jack's approaches the island. Manically flipping switches on the control panels, Jack gloats that activating the ether station surely will draw out Zimmy so he finally can find her. Antimony says he needs help "and this isn't the way to get it"; Renard urges her to leave Jack and flee before someone notices the station's activation — but it's too late for that. Noticing a security camera monitor showing the larger boat having docked and unidentifiable people debarking, Jack wonders how they managed to arrive so soon, then realises that they could have been tracking Antimony all along. As Jack turns to leave, Antimony encourages him to stay so they can explain the situation to the arriving people and get him the help he needs, but Jack shouts that he doesn't need their help; leaving the control room, he continues more softly, "I just need to see her again..."

As Antimony and Reynardine follow Jack back the way they came, he stops them in the same place as before, in front of the devices he had stuck to the wall earlier; pulls a different device with a button from his pocket; and presses the button. Reynardine snarls in pain as the devices on the wall light up and project blazing purple arcs to form Anja Donlan's Reynardine-binding symbol, which forces him out of Antimony's toy and traps him in midair in fiery spirit form, his face contorted in agony. Jack explains that this is his modified version of a binding program he found while snooping around in the school's computer network, and he intends to leave Reynardine bound as a distraction for the Court authorities to handle while he escapes to find Zimmy. Antimony demands that he release Reynardine, but he insists that he's "doing [her] a favour" and gleefully offers to "carry" her "back across the lake". Antimony says he's insane; Jack grabs her arm, says she's insane, emphasises that Renard tried to kill her, and urges her to abandon Renard. Antimony shoves Jack away, saying she doesn't care and Renard's her friend; Jack stares at her in what looks like momentary disbelief, then begins levitating, resolves to leave Antimony and Renard both to distract the authorities, and flies up to an open window near the ceiling, with ghostly spiderwebs trailing off him. Jack and Antimony exchange parting glares, then he flies away as a team of humans and robots burst into the room, demanding to know what's going on, and the chapter ends — "to be continued".

Meanwhile, in the bonus page, a worried Kat gives up on trying to sleep, decides to get some work done while waiting for Antimony to return, and immediately falls asleep on her desk.


 * Just a Machine: Jack's smashing of the guard robot's head and his "just a dumb robot" line currently (August 2018) provide the trope image for Just a Machine, as they have since some time between 8 June 2011 and 8 July 2011.
 * Sanity Slippage: Jack's worsening condition, culminating in his state in this chapter, currently (August 2018) provides the trope image for Sanity Slippage, as it has since some time between 9 August 2011 and 2 September 2011.