Agent Diana Berrigan has now been writing Arkham Files stories for seven months. When she started, little was known about the team's target audience—the mysterious cybercriminal nicknamed Azathoth. Over the months, the team has learned his identity and what motivates him. As a result, the subliminal signals embedded within the stories have also evolved.
Warning for spoilers to Arkham Files
In the beginning, the stories were designed to help keep Neal and Peter safe by making Azathoth sympathize with them. By the third story, The Crypt, the team suspected that the criminal organization Azathoth worked for was more interested in recruiting Neal than physically harming him. At that point, Peter requested hidden messages be inserted that indicate he's open to being recruited along with Neal. See my post Subliminal Messages to Azathoth for details.
By the time Diana finished Cinereous Skies, the team realized that Azathoth wasn't just one criminal but an amalgam of Rolf Mansfeld, a computer programming expert, with his younger brother Klaus. Because the two are believed to work so closely together, the team continues to use the term Azathoth when they wish to reference them both.
In the current story, Peter attempts his most daring gambit yet. He suspects that Rolf and Klaus may be chafing at the restrictions imposed on them by working for Ydrus. He hatches a scheme to aggravate that itch to the point they sever their connections. Once Rolf and Klaus are isolated from their organization, he believes they'll be easier to capture. Ydrus will also be considerably weakened.
The title of the story is itself a message. Peter muses about the unusual copper-gray tint to the dawn sky on Merope. Is it the dawn of Neal's rescue or an omen of worse things to come? The underlying challenge is to Rolf and Klaus for they too stand on the precipice.
In California, Rolf and Klaus stole paintings from the Getty Museum's off-site storage vault. In Cinereous Skies, it's Peter and Neal who are stolen from the library vault. The location is designed to make Rolf wonder just how much the FBI knows about their activities. The implication is that their movements are now being tracked.
The crystal manuscript also has a hidden significance. It had been tainted by the Ymar who turned it into an unwitting weapon. Will that make the Mansfelds concerned that White Collar knows about the trigger they planted within Neal? They can't know for sure, but the Mansfelds are aware that Neal was found hooked up to a virtual reality program. Is Peter simply playing with them or does he know something more?
Shapeshifter is a term Peter has used to describe Neal for his ability to transform his personality into another character. Rolf and Klaus have employed plastic surgeons to create doubles in order to fake their deaths. Rolf masqueraded for years as Alistair Chapman, a creative director for Scima Workshop. He doesn't know that his deception was discovered but he may wonder when he learns that Meropians are also shapeshifters.
In subsequent posts I'll discuss more of the hidden messages contained within Cinereous Skies. Coming next week: the role of the Ymar.
Cinereous Skies on Archive of Our Own
Cinereous Skies on FanFiction
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