The Rook Chapter 13 – Bureaucracy

The letters Thomas left Myfanwy are good for her to learn about the Court, historical enemies, and her life before the memory wipe, but they certainly can’t prepare Myfanwy for dealing with the British bureaucracy. And I think that’s why the chapters are expanding to cover not just the notes but also current events that affect things in the present rather than just focusing on the past.

Read more if you’re not worried about spoilers…

Inchoate Thoughts

Summing up where things are…the Checquy have learned that the British Isles could very well be facing imminent invasion from a group of scientifically created super powered Belgians. Of course this possibility is given credence because they themselves are supernaturally enhanced mutants tasked with defending the country.

Someone or some group of people, supposedly part of these two groups, assaulted our hero and erased her memory. She was once Thomas, who ranked among the top of the Checquy officers but now that her memories are gone, Myfanwy has been forced to rely on notes that Thomas left her about what is going on.

Things have been proceeding at a breakneck pace but finally Myfanwy was able to sleep in her own bed. Perhaps this will help her assimilate everything that’s happened so she can figure out who is responsible for the attack on her so it doesn’t interfere with her defense of the country.

Home is Where The Heart Is

So Myfanwy finally got to spend a bit of time in her home, but can it really be considered her home? I mean, this is the first time she’s set foot in the place and she wasn’t even sure she slept in the right bed. At least Wolfgang knows who she is and doesn’t bite her.

Eckhart

I suppose more important than the acceptance of the rabbit, Myfanwy felt comfortable enough to get some rest before she had to study her coworkers some more.

But then we dive into Major Joshua Eckhart and his background and abilities and he’s definitely got some interesting powers. While not quite as dramatic as Magneto’s ability to control metal, Eckart’s ability to sculpt it is pretty cool. He could make a penny into a shiv or a hammer into a frying pan and when you consider all the metal we use everyday, this seems like a pretty powerful ability.

The other big part of Eckhart’s background in my view is his family. The fact that he has a wife and children of his own make me feel like he’s less likely to be the person behind the attack on Thomas. Coupled with the fact that he’s very well liked among the Pawns of the Checquy leads me to think that it would be outside his character to betray the organization.

But if the attack on Thomas were to be orchestrated by the government then I could see him assisting because of his military training. The problem I have with that scenario is that I would expect him to be prepared for contingencies if the memory wipe assault did not work properly the first time. So for now, I’m thinking he’s not involved but he could be a good asset for Myfanwy if she can draft him to her side.

Dr. Crisp

With her studying done for the moment, we head with Myfanwy into the office where she is bombarded with meeting requests and adjustments. Dr. Crisp takes precedence though since he’s already there.

And this is a pretty good exchange between two people with somewhat similar skills. We learn that Crisp controls people’s compulsion and that’s how he’s able to be a good interrogator. He doesn’t cause pain but manipulates people so they want to cooperate with the questioning. We also learn that Myfanwy’s interference in the interrogation was not related to Van Syoc’s death.

It was pretty obvious that Van Syoc somehow killed himself based on the details of chapter 6 but here we learn a dreadful secret…the Grafters were present in the detention room (through Van Syoc’s eyes) and know everything that occurred. It was actually they who pulled the trigger to kill Van Syoc. And the fact that they created Van Syoc as basically a remote controlled spy is something the Court needs to know about.

Bureaucracy Level 1

But here we are…stuck in meetings. Sure, the meeting between the Rooks and Chevaliers managed to disseminate information and highlight points that will be important going forward it kinda just reiterated what we already knew.

The main thing we learn is that the male members of the Court seem to be pretty good a shirking responsibility for actually doing anything. None of them want to play the go between between the lower levels of the Court and the Bishops so Myfanwy is forced into the role. It certainly seems that’s what she had to do when Thomas was in charge, but her new Myfanwy personality doesn’t seem like she’s gonna put up with having everything dumped in her lap. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time for her to get comfortable in her role in the organization but I think she’s gonna be putting these men in their place pretty soon.

Bureaucracy Level 2

And so we level up the bureaucracy and see a meeting between Myfanwy and the Bishops. Repeat the same information but with a twist for the fact that these men are attractive and we haven’t learned everything we can about Alrich.

Retrospective

So here we are…this chapter brings the focus away from the assault on Thomas and more to the bigger issue of the Grafters. With the information overload that Myfanwy has thrust on her I think she’s doing a great job but with two mysteries she’s kinda torn. But we kinda see a reduction in the intensity of worry about the Grafters as it seems they can’t possibly be prepared for a full blown invasion and I think that de-escalation in concern might come back to hurt the Checquy in the long run, we’ll see.

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