Harvey and Bucket continued following their guide, the trusted friend and ally to all plumbers around Melbourne, for some time longer, creeping closer to the business agency where the narrator worked.
With the ladder up to the street just up ahead, Bucket wasn’t sure what to do anymore. It figured they might as well press forward and at least try, if only as some sort of protest against the narrator. The narrator would probably destroy them forever, as they had shown they could do already. At least then Bucket wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.
“Thanks for the escort, Damon,” said Harvey. “We appreciate the help. Do you think you could tell your plumbing friends to come down here and complete some commercial plumbing services at some point, though? It’s pretty gross down in these sewers.”
Damon, standing with his back turned to them, only let out a short laugh. Harvey furrowed his brow, and Bucket would have done the same had it been given a brow. Suddenly a blinding flash of light appeared in the sewer, and all they could see was white.
“For some reason,” Bucket said, “I don’t think this is something the commercial plumbers offering service around Melbourne taught him.”
When the light finally faded, before them stood not Damon, but instead a woman. She smiled, baring teeth. “Gullible, aren’t you both?” she said. “I can’t believe you thought that a sewer guide was actually a thing. Professional plumbers tend to bring their own light sources and have plenty of maps to get around down here.”
“Who are you, then?” asked Harvey, although Bucket already had a suspicion that made its metal tremble.
“Oh, Harvey,” she said. “I really should have made you a bit smarter, I guess. It’s me, your creator – your narrator. I wanted to make a deal with you both. How about you come up to the office and we can discuss this whole mess over a hot chocolate?”
Bucket didn’t like where this was going, but it wasn’t like they had much choice. Now they were on the back foot, at the complete mercy of the storyteller. Harvey and Bucket moved forward, ready to face their destruction.