The Rook Chapter 5 – Controlling the Action
Heading in to chapter 5 of The Rook, I feel kinda a sense of relief. We got through our first meeting with Gestalt, in the last chapter, without any trouble and we confirmed that the interrogation we’re headed to is not in fact a questioning of Myfanwy.
I’d call that a success though we still are quite a bit away from figuring out who is responsible for the mind wipe. I’m thinking with all the notes Thomas left, things might actually turn out well for our hero. The previous occupant of Myfanwy’s body sure seemed to be able to plan things out and organize a strategy…even if it wasn’t in the midst of fieldwork.
Actually, in chapter 5 we get a front row seat to see how Thomas handled herself in a crisis situation.
Inchoate Thoughts
Summing up where things are…we know someone is out to get Myfanwy, whether they simply wanted to erase her memories or kill her, they got part of the job done. Fortunately her previous self was forewarned about the mind wipe and was able to leave notes and files that could help her figure out who it was and could help her impersonate her prior self.
With her first day at work started in chapter 4 and her first meeting with members of the Checquy Court, things seem to be going pretty well. Now she just has to bear witness to an interrogation that may or may not have anything to do with her situation.
Before that happens though, it looks like we get to see the former occupant of the body – Thomas – work her form of magic…
Ectoplasmic Animals
We get a great example of random presentation of abilities that reminds me of some of the X-Men issues I’ve read recently. In particular, X-Men: Red #1 contains a mutant that displays their abilities for the first time…a kidnapped baby that shatters windows for blocks as she cries. Not only do windows shatter but flesh disintegrates as well. It causes the media to go into a frenzy and brings out a bunch of mutant haters.
This event, for Thomas, with the Argentinean Ambassador creating ectoplasmic animals is prime for creating a situation where people are afraid and hateful of the abilities exhibited.
Controlling the Action
So Myfanwy, or rather Thomas as we’ve taken to calling the original personality in Myfanwy’s body, takes charge of the situation. She certainly seems to be competent and quick thinking in such an odd and dangerous situation. I suppose that might be because she’s not really standing in the middle of the event since she claims to be horrible in the field. Instead, she proves to be very adept at manipulating things from afar, even to the extent that she is able to prevent a media circus like the one from X-Men: Red #1. If only Jean Grey had the talents Thomas had, the mutants of the world would probably not be feared as much. In any case, Myfanwy has some big shoes to fill if she hopes to impersonate Thomas.
The Checquy
The other part of the equation that works for Thomas is that the Checquy seem to be a pretty regimented and organized agency. That’s something I would never call the X-Men in any combination that I’ve ever read or seen before. But then the Checquy are a governmental organization that has access to quite a bit of resources including the ability to turn off the power and communication to a whole city or to freely release animals from the zoo as needed. There’s definitely a benefit when a government works to keep the “mutant’s” secret hidden. And I suppose that’s part of what sets this book apart from the X-Men, this is the government working to keep supernatural abilities secret while the X-Men are more about playing superhero. Part of their whole deal is that the mutants are exposed and people know they are among us.
Retrospective
In this fifth chapter we get to see what the life of Thomas was like before she was mind wiped…at least we get to see her in action when faced with a crisis of the supernatural sort.
She certainly seems competent and good at what she did. Taking care of the situation quickly and efficiently with little loss of life and barely any possibility of the general public finding anything out was a great demonstration of her organizational skills.
So we got a glimpse into the fact that Thomas had plenty of ‘other’ skills beyond her power to control the bodily functions of others through touch. I wonder if those skills will carry forward to Myfanwy? She’s obviously got the superpowers and maybe even has them to a greater degree but does she retain her administrative abilities? I guess we’ll see…
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