Rebuilding (Little) Chicago.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Recent WOJ has it that Little Chicago perished in the fire, neither Lea nor Mab saved it.

It was clearly Harry’s masterpiece as a magical artificer, and would have been of great use in BG, but it was not to be.

With Chicago rebuilding Harry has the opportunity to build Little Chicago II, Bigger Little Chicago.

As the Wizard of Chicago it is the obvious move to protect the City, and he could make Little Chicago quicker and easier than before, he has the practice, his hand is much better, and he has the time and money, and the help of the little folk in gathering samples. He has soulpower.

But Harry being Harry he is always thinking about making his stuff better, whether it is giving his staff an extra kick, or making the enchantments of duster last longer. You just have to look at the evolution of his shield bracelet.

There are a couple of obvious things Bigger Little Chicago will need, it will have to include Demonreach so Harry can monitor the locale and route to the Island. He may be able to use BLC to extend Demonreaches demonic reach across Chicago, allowing real-time communication and a massive security upgrade for the City if he can send someone down from within the City. Luring the Titan to the lakeshore shows the need for this, and Demonreach was shown to operate in a limited fashion with Mab’s aid in GS. It would allow for much better protection of St Mark’s and Maggie.

If Harry can use BLC to integrate multiple upgrades, what about one more? If Harry can plug his Amulet with his mothers crystal into BLC then he can use it to identify all way points in Chicago and to monitor them through Bob. Use it as a removable starter key to BLC.

With the NEXT BOOK (I hate the current title) we could see Harry do just this as a big New Years project

[Ed0517]

he better put in fusible links and sacrificial circuits so a Cowl cannot attack him thru it. Ablative armor?

He probably cannot extend the range of Alfred. He's likely limited to the island by the runes in the cottage, etc. He probably only reaches Chicago because he has one foot on the base, so to speak, and does a stretch.

[The_Sibelis]

he better put in fusible links and sacrificial circuits so a Cowl cannot attack him thru it. Ablative armor?

He probably cannot extend the range of Alfred. He's likely limited to the island by the runes in the cottage, etc. He probably only reaches Chicago because he has one foot on the base, so to speak, and does a stretch.

unless he uses the dracula and an earthly coffin idea? Ship a container full of DR elsewhere and use it as the circle or something. We've already encountered the beginning of the idea with eternal silence in GP, though that wasn't his original intent there, it's still a viable idea.

[morriswalters]

Maybe he just copies Odin's map.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

he better put in fusible links and sacrificial circuits so a Cowl cannot attack him thru it. Ablative armor?

He probably cannot extend the range of Alfred. He's likely limited to the island by the runes in the cottage, etc. He probably only reaches Chicago because he has one foot on the base, so to speak, and does a stretch.

Harry has got to do something, either use BLC to transport the bad guys to Demonreach, or have Demonreach come out to play, he just can’t keep sending them notes “Meet me on the Island” they will twig eventually. Even if it is drawing a circle on BLC around the bad guy and transporting him to the summoning circle on Demonreach to be contained by Alfred until Harry can send him down.Harry isn’t using the big circle on Demonreach yet. Previous Wardens must have transported the vanquished to the island.

Little Chicago is more flexible than Odin’s map, remember everyone was trying to get intelligence through spirits, animal etc.

The other thing would be, could Harry use the Placard in conjunction with BLC, protecting the City, or a particular building in the City such as St Marks remotely? Again as with Demonreach I suspect it will depend on the narrative.

I either case though it requires Harry being ambushed away from the Castle.

Whatever he does I wonder if the Geowskwa is going to be the test subject?

[morriswalters]

Maybe Odin's map can do less but it may take less to keep it current. I'm pretty sure that Harry isn't going to have the time to collect samples.

I don't offer this too seriously, but maybe he'll learn to tap something similar to what Mab uses. What is a map?  Isn't it just a weak form of intellectus?  Rashid uses some form of it. Toot uses some form of it tied to Winter that allows him to speak any language. This is why, by the way, Jim saying the English prisoner isn't Merlin because of the language he speaks  strikes me as amusing. Harry's army of faeries is pretty much everywhere all the time in Chicago.  Maybe he'll tap into that somehow.  Maybe even develop some form of intellectus with them.

[groinkick]

I think Harry may benefit from a more efficient Little Chicago.  The previous one took an incredible amount of time, and energy to construct, and I just don't see him being able to get material from every building in the area to connect.

On the other hand I think it could be a good idea to build a type of perimeter around his location, and places of importance like Mac's place, Michael's place and so forth.  There will be gaps in his information but he could have a reliable warning system that something is happening, and a way to check in on places.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Harry doesn’t have to get a sample from every building, the Little Folk can, which means BLC will be hellaciously accurate as regards every Pizza S’press. This means his time isn’t spent going out and cataloging only on the build. He could probably rebuild in 3 months whilst Maggie is in school.

Here is a thought though, at what point would BLC cease to become a tool and wake up and become the self aware genius loci of Chicago? An AI equivalent of Demonreach? Created in months rather than evolving through geological epochs all that magic floating around in BG...... it would then be self updating, rebuilding itself in real time to match the work outside. This would make it an appallingly powerful magical artefact, the first of Harry’s construction. Perhaps a friend for Demonreach?

That would make for a typical Harry “oh shit” moment, on a par with the sanctum invocation for Demonreach. Fortunately it would be benevolent Harry has always sought to protect Chicago despite all the property damage. However whilst Harry considers he is the Wizard of Chicago would a genius loci of Chicago consider Harry to be ir personal wizard? Who is who at the end of that particular leash?

BLC would be perfect to monitor the wider city, when CCTV cameras are working Bob can hack those as well, I am sure Gary would help, but this doesn’t help on magical disturbances. If he can trace an monitor the ways as well he can cover all entrances to the City.

[morriswalters]

Which, would again, set up the need to be in one place to use it. If he gets cut off from that place then he doesn't have it.  Which is why, in it's place, he's been using the little people.

Molly gives a glimpse of what it might work like.

She blinked several times, focusing on me by degrees, coming up out of the state of concentration she’d been in, and as she did her eyes changed color again, lightening to their natural sky blue, pupils shifting back to circles. “Give me a second, Harry. I’m . . . tracking about two dozen conversations. . . .” Then she exhaled, sighed, scratched at the end of her nose, and said, “What can I do you for?”

Butcher, Jim. Battle Ground (Dresden Files) (p. 60). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

And then read the rest of the chapter.  Seeing Harry with those creepy eyes might be cool.  But I think Harry will build the successor, just way bigger.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

It means Harry has to get to his castle rather than Demonreach, but if Harry builds BLC as an artificial genius loci then within Chicago then it should with the sanctum invocation provides him with some advantages whist he is in Chicago. I doubt at Intellectus level, but the way he can run through Demonreach without tripping or bumping into things. To some extent Demonreach must have been modified  by the original Merlin to become the prison that it is.

By the way Chicago is a corruption of the Algonquin word  “shikaakwa,” meaning “striped skunk” or “onion.” According to early explorers, the lakes and streams around Chicago were full of wild onions, leeks, and ramps.

This means Harry is the Wizard of Onion. Listens to the Wind will laugh himself silly when he hears Harry has declared himself to be the Wizard of Chicago.

[The_Sibelis]

And his warriors are the knights of the bean 😂

[morriswalters]

How would he do that? Don't answer that.

[EBRIEN]

I'm rereading Small Favor. Luccio pulls out a map of ley lines that was given to her from  Listens to Wind. North and South Manitou Island(s) are listed as a source of dark power, but two hundred miles north of Chicago.

I wonder if all these Ley Lines create nexus points that can be exploited by Harry, as the Warden. I'm just thinking that with all the baddies currently jailed on DR, you'd think there would be a hack for getting them there. If anyone can, Harry will figure it out.

Anyway--Maybe BLC can be working into the Ley Line maps and then connected to the Castle and the tower on DR. Or something like that.

[groinkick]

I'm rereading Small Favor. Luccio pulls out a map of ley lines that was given to her from  Listens to Wind. North and South Manitou Island(s) are listed as a source of dark power, but two hundred miles north of Chicago.

I wonder if all these Ley Lines create nexus points that can be exploited by Harry, as the Warden. I'm just thinking that with all the baddies currently jailed on DR, you'd think there would be a hack for getting them there. If anyone can, Harry will figure it out.

Anyway--Maybe BLC can be working into the Ley Line maps and then connected to the Castle and the tower on DR. Or something like that.

Gate Keeper warned him to NOT do that.

[TrueMonk]

Which means he is certainly going to do it before the series is is over.

For a fair amount of the baddies i guess the easiest  is to ask them to come to the island i.e. summoning them. Then you of course need to figure out how to do that, but that is why they are wizards.