A is For (the) Arcane Abilities Alignment Centres



"If we're going to defend the facility and stop Irie breaking William out, wouldn't it be useful if we knew the history of the centre?" Maggie said.

Nola snorted and rolled her eyes. "You can't find the answer to everything in a book." 

"No, but your sister does have a good point. Sebastian, would the PID system have any information on the Arc?" Betty said. 

"You know, it might. I remember this orientation video when I first joined that gave a history of the facilities. Let me see if I can find it in the archives." Sebastian crossed the warehouse that was their living area and went to the computer desk. 

He booted it up, and then using the loophole he'd put in place, hacked into the PID mainframe. "It shouldn't take me more than a few minutes." 

Georgina continued cleaning away the dinner plates as they waited, and Esmee busied herself by making a pot of tea. She set it, and enough cups for everyone, down on the dining table. 

Then she took a cup for herself and Sebastian over to the computer. "Any luck?" she said sitting on a chair beside him. 

"Yes. Just accessing the archives now. Everyone gather round." 

The thirteen coven members grabbed chairs from around the dining table and pulled them over to the computer area so that they could all see the video Sebastian had loaded. 

Everyone fell silent as he hit play. 

The informational film started. It was in black and white, and the quality was grainy, but the audio was good and the picture could be made out reasonably clearly. 

Standing in front of a screen, with the PID insignia - familiar from Sebastian’s I.D card - printed on, was a woman in her mind forties. 

Her dark hair was styled in a sleek bob with a fringe that reached her eyebrows. She wore a formal suit with a PID badge pinned to the right lapel of her jacket. 

"The first Arcane Abilities Alignment Centre was founded in nineteen-eighty-seven, after the Hartley Incident. With government officials giving the go-ahead for the Paraphysiology Intelligence Division, a facility was needed. The first was built in the nation's capital. Since then another six facilities have been built nationwide; in the South West, Midlands, Wales, the North, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

"The primary objective of the facility is to act as a base of operations for the PID. The Arcane Abilities Alignment Centre, commonly known as the Arc, serves as a home for agents. Additionally, it becomes a refuge for any persons with above human capabilities that can't control their gifts. 

"The secondary objective of the Arc is to act as a facility where Paraphysical abilities can be tested for. Persons the PID suspect of having above human capabilities are taken here for assessment. When it is deemed the persons are of no danger to themselves or the public, they are assigned to a coven with a PID agent to oversee coven activities. 

"In extreme circumstances persons with above human capabilities are deemed too dangerous, usually due to pre-existing criminal tenancies, and are held within the prison facilities of the centre." The video cut out at this point. 

"Well that was interesting … " Nola said. "Now we know the history of the Arcs, but that doesn't help us defend the one Irie plans on attacking." 

"No, it doesn't. But I may be able to pull some blue prints from the archive. Give me a minute." 

Everyone waited with bated breath as Sebastian searched further in the PID's system. 

"Ah-ha! Got it." 

He grinned proudly and pressed print. A moment later five pages, all containing layout information for the Midlands Arc, started flowing out of the printer. 

"Excellent," Betty said. "This should at least give us some advantage over Irie."


Contents of all A-Z posts

31 comments:

  1. That is a fabulously written excerpt, great job!

    I couldn't help thinking of LOST with the orientation videos, though! :D

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    1. Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.

      I admit, the video was heavily inspired by LOST! ;)

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  2. Love that name - Arcane Abilities Alignment Centre :)

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  3. Love it! Although it does slightly scare me...

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    1. The Arcane Abilities Alignment Centres are nothing to be scared of. You'll like it there. It's like a hotel. There's a swimming pool, and other recreational facilities. It will be like a short holiday.

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  4. I love it ! Got totally into it .. sorta reminded me of that academy from X-Men .. I wanna go to a cool school like that !

    Looking forward to your other posts during the challenge :)

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  5. Thank you! :D

    There are certain elements of Xmen in my novel, so that's probably what inspired the centres. But they're not quite as friendly as Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters ...

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  6. Love it! I want to hear more about the Welsh centre, but then again I'm slightly biased. I like how you integrated the explanation without making it an info dump to.

    Jamie Gibbs
    Fellow A-Z buddy
    Mithril Wisdom

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  7. Thank you! Who knows maybe one day they'll visit all the centres. ;)

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  8. Great excerpt! I want more,more,more...:) Can't wait to see more during the challenge.

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    1. Thank you. Glad to hear you enjoyed it. ^_^

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  9. love the name, although I wouldn't be able to say it 10 times fast :)

    Happy A to Z
    baygirl32.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you! LOL that's why they call it the Arc. ;)

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  10. That is fascinating stuff! Good job, Clare.
    Don't forget to turn off word verification.

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    1. Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.

      Did I have word verification on? I didn't know. I hate those things. I know comments are screened until I approve them though.

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  11. Great excerpt, is that the house from Pemberley?

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    1. Thanks. Glad you liked it.

      No, it isn't the house from Pemberley. It's Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Though after Googling the house from Pemberley (Harewood House, Leeds) that would make an excellent Arc too.

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  12. Very cool! I wanna know more. :D

    Happy A-Zing!

    My A-Z!

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  13. Excellent :) yours is the first fiction piece for the A to Z blog challenge I've seen so far! Sebastian... I love that name!

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    1. Thank you! :) Yeah, I haven't come across much fiction in the challenge yet either. Please you liked it, and Sebastian's name.

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  14. Cool A to Z theme. Nice excerpt!

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  15. Love the castle! However, I wouldn't want to be a guest there.
    ScribblesFromJenn
    Happy A to Z-ing!

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    1. Thank you. No, I don't think I'd want to be a guest there either.

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  16. Interesting teaser! Can't wait to see more in the A to Z challenge!

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  17. Great job. Are your excerpts going to add on from here, or be separate?

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    1. Thank you.

      All the excerpts will be from the same novel, but they won't follow on directly. Some will be from the actual story and some will be back story.

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  18. Loving the theme, what a great way to promote your work! Looking forward to the rest of your posts :)

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    1. Thank you. I thought I'd put the challenge to good use. Glad to hear you like what you've seen so far. :)

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Thank you for taking the time to read this entry, and comment. I really appreciate it.