Antie EM

Back in London, Kimbo is stuck doing midnight duty at the CANS office when he receives a peculiar call. Someone is asking for the time. Annoyed at the seeming inanity of the question he is about to hang up when the man explains all electronic devices throughout the city have failed. Suspecting no more than a mundane power outage, Kimbo nevertheless decides to investigate. Immediately confirming the caller's story, he finds cars stalled at intersections and the city darkened by a total lack of electric lighting. Intrigued, he traces the extent of the power outage, discovering it covered an erratic pattern inconsistent with the power grid. Wandering into one of the "hippy" cafes, he engages a number of patrons in conversation. The multi-tattooed young people, seemingly led by a distinctively pierced woman, speak mysteriously of "electromagnetism" which they style "Auntie EM," a "bloodless coup," and of "taking over the world by becoming kings and queens. Before he can discover more about the wannabe conquerors, they disperse, leaving him with more questions than answers. Kimbo and Gypsy investigate further and discover there had been two other such incidents where power in an irregularly-shaped area had occurred. The first was at an exclusive grammar (high) school and the second was across Theatre Row. Investigating the school first, they learn the power outage happened just before final exams and permanently postponed a play the seniors were scheduled to perform that night. Discovering the title of the production was "Auntie EM," supposedly a farce on The Wizard of Oz," they establish a tenuous connection between the disruptions of electricity and the "Auntie EM" thespians. Alarmed at the potential for real destruction and a devastating disruption of society, Kimbo and Gypsy search for the leader of the group. Returning to the café, Kimbo obtains information that puts him in contact with the group. He discovers, not surprisingly, their pseudonyms are characters from Oz, the leader being Dorothy, followed by the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and Toto. Representing himself as a famous writer and recipient of the DOA Excellence in Writing award, they confess their need for an editor to sharpen and write an ending for their play. He is admitted him into the coterie and from that point, it is up to Kimbo's writing prowess (with a few moral lapses) to bring the play to a proper conclusion.