Wilson walked faster than usual back to his house, jumping at the smallest sounds and glancing over his shoulder now and then. Paranoia and the vivid warning Maxwell gave them clawed at the back of his mind, slowly making his headache worse. The Cotex Umbra contained descriptions and spells from the darkest corners of Umbra, making it the most dangerous text ever conceived.

And now it was in the hands of the most unstable god in Umbra.

Wilson held his head, groaning. Why was he thinking all of this over when he was already overwhelmed? Because stress gets to him. That's why he didn't like being around the others. They often caused him to think about things so small and seemingly harmless that he thinks about it the wrong way. To him, everything worked like a clockwork creature. One small mistake in build or programming could fail. That's how his mind worked. Everything had to be perfect.

Finally arriving at his own house, he slammed the door behind him, like there had been something following him and it couldn't get into his house or else. Sitting down at his desk, he looked over a blueprint for a new clockwork. It resembled a rhinoceros, but it only had two legs and its front horn was almost as big as it was. Good for ramming into things, but rather destructive in nature. Probably shouldn't place it in an area with many marble trees.

Thinking about how to place a clockwork in a good area often soothed his mind. It took his mind off the little things so he could focus on the big (sometimes literally) things.

There was something off, though. Something was nagging about this design. A single black splatter of ink on the blue paper. Hardly noticeable, but there. The bottom right-hand corner, where no scientist would just randomly drop a pen or such. Besides, Wilson's inkpot was in his drawer, and he hadn't taken it out ever since he began this design. It was dry, so he couldn't clean it off. Peculiar...

Brushing it off as his memory being bad or WX-78 coming in and doing it, he stood up. Even if it was the middle of the day, he felt rather exhausted. Maxwell's drainage on him must have been stronger than he thought.

...

Wilson blinked open his eyes, confused. He wasn't in his house.

Standing up, he surveyed his surroundings. The Council room. The entrance to his left and the Queen's corridor on his right. Wilson stares at the doorway to the Queen, concern drifting at the edges of his mind. Has something happened and I was summoned here in my sleep? He thought, beginning to walk to the ominous arch.

Looking inside, there was only darkness. None of the torches were lit, keeping the room a cold black hue. Odd. Charlie loved firelight, even if Wilson didn't share her opinion.

Stepping into the dark room, the first pair of torches came alive, making Wilson flinch. Gods of Umbra... Wilson thought to himself. A new trick Charlie learned. Wonderful.

Continuing, the flames lighting themselves, Wilson reached the Nightmare Throne. With no Charlie anywhere in sight.