I find myself trapped in a rerun of a cop show--not a shoot-em-up, an ensemble drama set in an enlightened San Francisco precinct, as much social work as crime fighting. I recall the scene I'm in--saw it years ago. A female cop I think is cute, one of my favorite characters, visits a little house in the Marina district, and finds the single mom she sought is out, but left the door unlocked and her toddler there alone, trying to reach for food. Mom is a decent sort but clearly overwhelmed; the cop was forced to bring in social services.

But the scene I'm in doesn't go the way I remember, at all. I'm a cop without backup--either here ahead of the TV cop, or instead of her. Alone, I find the door unlocked and baby crying, so I have to go in for the kid's sake. My cop instincts lock the door behind me to be safe.

As I find and pick up the baby... Boom! Knock on the door. BOOM! Like thunder.

Can't be the mom--she'd have a key. Peer through the curtain...

A hulking man, pop-eyed, glaring, veins bulging... with horns. A demon! Lurid-colored, it seems more Tibetan than Christian. I can't possibly fight it--and not just because I'm too small. Such demons can possess people who fight, turn them into temporary demons.

Silent. Lie low. Boom! BOOM! It tests the lock, rattles the door, but doesn't smash the door in. Maybe, like a vampire, it can't enter uninvited.

At last, it leaves.

But later I'm back at the precinct... and the demon's there before me. And it knows its stuff. Possessed the precinct captain! Takes over a lieutenant, too. Both men's faces bulge, turn blotchy colors, chins bulge, then cheeks, noses... no horns, so the demon can't manifest fully or control both simultaneously, but it can distort them, make them both furious, building to a quarrel. Creepy, but at least the demon's stretched so thin I figure the rest of us are safe for now.

Some cops try to play peacemakers, but this IS a police station, so the chorus line of Greek heroes that's resident in every American police station is delighted that their officers are losing it and joining the saintly ranks of berserkers.

"Fight! Fight!" yell the Greek heroes. Well, they're not all Greek--there's a Blonde Barbarian or two in the mix. But in their little blue and white Greek tunics (except for the sequined pink kilts of the Barbarians) they just seem like the butchest, ugliest cheerleader squad in history. With spears.

Gleefully the Hero Squad drags the two blotchy officers out onto the Marina baseball fields to fight.

We cross a footbridge. I pause and toss a discus over the stream. Wobbly, weak toss--it skips once and goes under.

So much for my Olympic chances. Not all of us are cheerleader (oops) hero material.

I tell the other lieutenant "Don't worry. It looks bad, but this demon can't possess either guy longterm."

"Why not?"

"Well, the show's special effects budget isn't huge, and getting their faces to pop out like that really costs. They're blowing it all on this one fight scene--it can't last long. After this you can go back to, you know, real acting."

He looks relieved. I told you, they're more into social work than fighting. Takes a demon to prod them into it.

Notes in the Morning

Kingmakers

• Neglected baby:
  1. I just finished Robin McKinley's Spindle's End--it's fulla babies.
  2. Me! Up late, exhausted from printing music scores for our band.
• Demon: illness! I've had a flare-up of my mystery infection. Overwork triggers it.
• Men manifest weird colors, bulges, spikes:
  1. Echoes from my dream Kingmakers--aliens who color up and grow spikes when they get angry.
  2. Pernicia in Spindle's End
  3. The unstable shipping egg that bursts in China Mieville's Embassytown
• Greek heroes: Spindle's End? A notable absence thereof! Lacking any Heroic Guys, a veterinarian and her animals have to save the day.
• ACTION: Rest & take herbs. Patience! This demon has a limited budget; it'll burn out after a few days.

Later That Day

• Demon: predictive! Later that day I get a library book by Gilbert Hernandez, Speak Of The Devil, without even looking--just check it out hoping it'll be as surreal and mysterious as some of his other recent solo work, like Sloth.

  Took it home, opened it... Yuck. A voyeur in a devil mask peers in windows then goes on a murder spree. Nasty and obvious.

  Well... obvious once you've actually read it, of course. Unless, apparently, you're a predictive dreamer.

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