T h e P r o m i s e

---

Generally speaking, Gennedy had seen worse times here in the stars. A few years ago a few trouble makers tried some shoddy, knockoff fight club that had worked out poorly for them. A few months ago, someone contaminated the food. The hospitals were worse than the cleanup, honestly. These incidents had been few, and far between. He prided himself on how tight the operation was. Years of meticulous planning and experience even before his own ability had manifested had done him well in that sense.

Having such noteworthy events in such a short period of time, though? That was new. It annoyed him to no end because it made it all the more likely that some of the other heads would begin to stick their noses where they didn’t belong. He was the only parahuman among them, after all. He expected it, and relished the fact that he so often showed that he was just as qualified if not more so than they were to be in the position that he occupied in spite of their stigma. He was a smart man, though. He did not seek conflict- he had been raised to never start problems, but to always finish them.

Apprehending Ellis and Anderson had been easy enough. Part of him was thankful for that, given their abilities and in Ellis’ case, history. Anderson was no doubt a wildcard, but he was mostly predictable. When he wasn’t turned, he was fairly normal young man. Ellis was much more dangerous, given her history in Project Lion. Thankfully, they had been present at the scene and cooperative when they were brought to their solitary dwellings for the night, and then to the station the following morning.

The night had been long, frankly. They knew the general location and time, but no details could be ignored. Gennedy was far too strict, and far too thorough to miss anything if he could afford it. Given the cameras they had around the sidewalks, it had been pretty easy to see that Holmes, Nelson, and Plasse had been present as well. Plasse had been cooperative as soon as his security team had shown up at her dorm. She was quiet, but observant. Nelson and Holmes, though? Loud. The had not come quietly. Nelson was the easier of the two, being mostly cooperative once they had found her, but seemed to have very little respect for his agents. That pissed him off. Holmes? She hadn’t even answered the door. They had to track down the master keys and almost had to do things the hard(er) way to get her into the station. Upon finding out about the video evidence she had apparent yapped about how she was innocent and the body had no burn wounds. Her words had been valid, but were also free admission that she had been at the scene. Perhaps in the USA her officers would have told her that she had the right to remain silent, but this was not the USA, and parahumans had no such rights.

Gennedy checked his watch. It was 9AM, now. He had prepared a few questions to ask, but was otherwise looking forward to getting the ordeal over with so he could get himself a proper breakfast. He had employed the assistance of Radvi, one of his more capable and the one who had been first at the scene, and his protege- a young man who went by the name of Griffin Aparo, to help him finish the job quickly. They should all be arriving in the waiting room shortly. He or Radvi would go and get them at 9:30, when the questioning was set to begin.

Archie

---

All things considered, this was a far better experience than the first time Archie had been brought into a station. The last time he was brought into a station, he had been fresh out of a transformation. Scared, confused, naked, and bound. It had overall been a horrible experience and even now, despite how nicely he had been treated given how he had cooperated, it put him on edge.

He had been told that they had questions for him. No doubt for the others, too. He had been told that everyone involved would be brought in an spoken to individually. A part of him was glad he wasn't in this alone, but the other part of him worried for how Lynn would react to being brought in. Would she blame him, or worse yet- Natalie? Another part of him all together reasoned that it was valid, though. Amelia had said that she had seen the man before. She had seen him being tortured! The station needed to know about this, and might even offer them some degree of protection. It would be an ease of mind thing, if anything.

The others would be arriving soon. No doubt they'd want to know what the fuck had gone on and in a few of their cases, why they had been dragged to the station. Lynn's threat rung true in his head. If they ask you who else was here when you found the human cutting board, you think about what the cafeteria looked like when you walked out of the fucking freezer before you answer. You think real fuckin' hard.

He eyed the box of donuts that had been placed on the coffee table for what he could only assume was their arrival. It was equal parts unnerving and alarming that they had pieced everything together and prepared for them so fast. He reached out and grabbed a chocolate glazed since he hadn't had breakfast yet.

This was going to get interesting.

---

@SepticGentleman@He Who Walks Behind@Typical@Silver Carrot@Levinfist@DayDreamz

---

With everything that was happening lately - the orientation mess, Freaky-D, Coleman turning up dead - it was understandable that a few things would slip by Radvi’s attention in his mental action-item list. He forgot to get something to eat last night after bringing Ellis and Anderson in. He forgot his baton in his quarters this morning and had to run back for it. And he forgot that he’d been told he would be partnered up with a new security recruit a couple days ago.

His head was a mess. Some coffee on his way to the station helped, though.

As he made his way towards his destination, he started making a mental note of what he had to do. First things first - go meet his new partner. ‘Griffin Aparo’ was the name listed on the small memo he’d been sent earlier. Male, 19, nullifier, practically raised from birth to be a parahuman-beating machine. As far as backstories went, that was certainly a more interesting one than Radvi’s. He was just a beat cop from Richmond.

After that - questioning. Several rounds of it. Ellis and Anderson, plus three other students who had apparently fled the scene, only for the cameras dotted around the brush to spot them. He’d be handling one of them - Keaton Plasse. Someone with… ‘very accurate guessing abilities’ was what he’d been told. Gennedy would be handling the other two, Lynn Holmes and Amelia Nelson.

God help the both of them.

Radvi made his way inside the station, tossing his finished coffee in a trash bin outside. Once within the reception area, Radvi looked around for one Griffin Aparo, who would supposedly be meeting him right…

There he was. Sitting by. Definitely a lot less rugged than the average guard. That would be his youth at work, though. Still, Radvi wasn’t one to assume so much based on appearances - you absolutely cannot do that on a station full of parahumans. Speaking of which, Anderson was also present - just waiting for his turn in the hot seat. Seated near the further end of the reception area. Helping himself to a donut. Radvi shook his head and went back to agenda item number one.

“Griffin Aparo?” He asked, approaching his new partner.

@Daydreamz

---

---

The color of blood was startling, how the supposed bright red was instead a dark color when pooled around. Griffin was currently pinned in such a pool, yells and gunfire all around him. He was vaguely aware of his earpiece blasting requests for an update on his status, but his body wouldn’t work. All he knew was that he was trembling was head to toe, staring straight into hollowed-out eyes that moments ago held a fire. His ears were ringing but he could still hear footsteps pounding right beside his head. Suddenly the weight was lifted from his form and some more blood poured onto his person, covered his face and making his eyesight go crimson. The ringing got louder, oh so loud while a voice cut in. ”Ignore and override, ignore and override, ignore and override kid...

”Griffin! Hey man, wake up! You’re going to be late! Hey! Griff!” Griffin was out of his bed like a lightning bolt. His black hair was matted and sweat covered his body. His breathing was rapid but staggered as if he had just run an entire marathon and he knew his eyes were wild just like on the ride up to the station. He closed those eyes and released the fist that he had raised towards Crispin who was trying to hide his absolute shock. ”You ok Griff? Jeez, that must have been some nightmare.” From the bed that he had sat upon Griffin nodded a few times, his mind waking up fully and dealing with the fires that had been started.

”I’m fine, and yeah. It was a rough one.” Griffin glanced at the other young man and sighed. ”Thanks for waking me, go ahead and get going. I don’t want you to get in trouble for my sake.” Griffin watched as Crispin headed out and then turned to the wall and punched it. It didn’t help anything, and he winced as the aching pain arched from the knuckles and up to his arm. He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head a bit before gathering his belongings and heading to get ready for the day. He was running behind, but he could save some time with his routine and rush it.

And sure enough, with about ten minutes to spare, Griffin was fully dressed in his uniform and ready to take on the day. He made his entrance into the reception area and sat on a chair in the far back, taking to people watching while awaiting his mentor. He didn’t have to wait long, as through the front door walked a dark-skinned man in the same uniform looking around for someone. Griffin didn’t move, waiting for Radvi to spot him and only then did he stand, a half-smile on his face.

”Griffin Aparo?” came the voice, and Griffin gave a respectful nod, offering his hand to shake.

”Er, yup. That’s me. Radvi, right?” Griffin gave the man a glance over, noting the well-groomed facial hair and professional stance. Seemed he got a good Officer after all, but then again, looks could be deceiving.

“Jacob.” Radvi replied, shaking Grif’s hand. “You’ll have to forgive me, it… completely slipped my mind that we’d be getting paired up. There’s been a lot happening on this station lately.”

Griffin made a mental note on the first name and then shrugged a bit. ”Jacob then, you can call me Griff or Griffin. I’ve heard them both, and they all work. And don’t worry about it, I heard you were held up at a call for some time. I understand, and if anything it let me get a better idea of this place.” He gave a lopsided grin at the end, and Radvi would no doubt get a feeling that interactions were a work in progress for the young man.

A nod from Radvi. “Your first day on the Promise and you get roped into questioning students about a murder.” He said, with a bit of a scowl. “It’s crazy. Absolutely crazy.”

Griffin gave another shrug, glancing down to make sure his shirt-stays hadn’t snapped. ”Trial by fire, I don’t mind. So, I assume you’ll be doing most of the talking and I get to wave my fingers awkwardly if they start getting antsy?” He was kidding but also being serious which might be a bit jarring for Jacob to hear.

“Sounds... about right to me.” Radvi replied, somewhat surprised at how casually Griffin has responded to there being a murder. “We’ve got five witnesses, but you and I are only talking to three of them. Gen-... Chief Hardin is handling the other two himself.” He turned his head slightly to look over at Archie, still working on that donut.

Griffin nods, and adjusts his duty belt, shifting his weight to his left leg as he does so. ”Sounds good to me. I’ll just follow your lead, watch and learn. That sort of thing, though I’ll offer my thoughts if you want them.” He followed his training officers' gaze and found a redhead eating a donut. ”That one of them?”

“Yeah.” Radvi replied, keeping his voice down a bit, “Archie Anderson. There was an… incident, involving him and a few other students during orientation last week. He turns into some kind of… big, mean, lizard thing, I don’t know the exact details. But as far as the case of our dead doctor goes, I don’t think he’s responsible.”

”Right, well you know the case better than me. But if it starts going dino I’m putting him down. Figuratively that is. I don’t think the chief would be impressed if I let a big lizard rampage through HQ…” He chuckled and took a sip of the hot cider he had grabbed while waiting. ”Who we talking to first?”

“Well, he’s the only one who’s showed up so far.” Radvi said, “So, him, I guess. But we should wait for the other four to get brought in before proceeding. Until then, just… keep an eye on him.”

Griffin gave a small nod and starting staring over at the redhead, feeling more and more like Mikael by the day. ”Will do.”

Archie

---

The donut Archie had picked, glazed in chocolate goodness, had been far greater than he could have ever possibly thought. His legs quivered as the sugary goodness serenaded his taste buds and granted him satisfaction that he had never felt before.

He wolfed it down, unable to stop himself or show restraint. It was like the very beast inside of him had manifested in some primal, but human fashion.

Then, just as it came, the release had ended. Archie stared at his glaze covered hand, tears welling in his eyes as he realized that the donut was now gone, having been consumed far too fast when he could have relished the treat for longer. "The arrogance of man..." he said to himself, tears falling freely down his face now as he feverishly licked his fingers clean of every last morsel. His lips eliciting a wet pop with the completion of each digit.

The donut may be gone. But the memory? The memory was forever.

Lynn

Lynn walked.

She was fuming.

Literally.

Her ears were ringing and Lynn's hands were buried deep into her pockets. She feared if she had them at her sides, she'd have nothing to keep her from igniting and burning a trail visible from - well, space - through the forest. Faces swam up into her field of view. Natalie. Clarita. Archie. Che. Amelia. Megan. Keaton. Lucy. For a brief moment she couldn't remember if it had been Archie who had stayed behind at the scene or Che, if the dead body had been wearing a Promise uniform or -

Lynn closed her eyes and stopped walking. It had been some twenty minutes, and even she could not stay truly furious that long. Her heart still thundered in her ears but it was slower, more methodical. Amelia and Keaton had come along for a bit before Lynn told them to say nothing to the police when they got brought in. Absolutely nothing. The police had nothing on them. But someone was going to talk.

The faces swam back. Someone always talked. Even if they didn't rat her out right away. Someone would. They'd threaten Spoons or Archie or Keaton with jail time and one of them would blubber away. I cannot believe I am fucking thinking this but Amelia may be the one person I can even halfway fucking rely upon right now.

Lynn looked around the forest. It was poorly lit aside from the light the glowing girl gave off, which made the shadows dance behind every branch, flickering and darting away as Lynn turned to face them square-on. She was as alone as she reckoned she could be. The gentle rush of the river had let her a while ago, and Lynn saw no signs of any academic buildings or anything nearby. She thought back to what happened, trying to organize her thoughts. That was how people got caught. They didn't get organized. Lynn closed her eyes, pushing the fear that she'd be killed next out of her mind for a moment. She had practice with that.

Evidence. Lynn didn't touch anything at the scene and didn't leave any hair that wasn't ash. She didn't think there was any hard evidence, and if the ground was muddy, she was sure there were enough footprints to make hers clearly distinguished.

Motive. Lynn didn't know that guy. He wasn't a cop, so he didn't deserve to die out of hand. So there was nothing there.

Opportunity. Lynn frowned. There was no way Lynn could've carved him up, and no burn marks on him, anyway. Plus she had to have tortured him - there was no way she had time to do that in the hospital. She'd been under constant surveillance. Lynn frowned. Cara.

Lynn chewed on her lip, which was already close to bleeding in the brisk air. It didn't matter they had nothing on her. She was an easy fall guy, she knew, and she didn't expect to not get locked up for this, but they had no solid case at all. I was always going to get the needle. Before I came on this fucking spaceship. Before I ever met Che. Before any of this shit. They should've put it in my arm the minute my mother looked in my eyes and saw they'd changed. And they should've stuck her, too. Camera footage of her going in the woods, and that was literally it. They've got me in the hospital, spotted by the nurses an hour before. They have, like, medical logs and shit. Damnit they had nothing on any of them. Nothing. Why did you call the cops? Lynn thought, furiously. Or maybe she said it out loud. She wasn't sure. I could've kept you all safe. I wouldn't have fucked up this time. Lynn stared into the dark, eyes blank. "I could've lived, you stupid shits," Lynn muttered. "We all could've lived." The hit-by-Archie. The Freaky-D thing. This. There was something going on. There always was, but Lynn knew it. Amelia disappearing when the beast came out, and telling them this just crucially, implicating them all. Keaton coming up oh-so-conveniently. Natalie calling the feds. There was something here. Something. Maybe all of them.

Lynn sat down in the woods. She dimmed down her flames and listened for a moment, quiet. She heard nothing.

Lynn took off her hoodie and folded it gently. "Cara," Lynn called out.

There was only silence. Cordelia Lynn Holmes did not own a cell phone.

She waited. "Cara," she said again.

Nothing.

Lynn looked around the woods. "Come the fuck out if you're here," Lynn said into the dark. If there was some fucker out here carving people up, maybe this was what the principal did to get his rocks off or something, Lynn didn't intend to be a sitting duck in a holding cell.

Nothing.

Lynn waited ten more minutes. Then she rose to her feet and put her hoodie back on slowly. She'd calmed down, her mind clear. As clear as it could be. They'd seen too much, Lynn knew. Someone was going to talk. Someone was going to say something. They always did. And if they got to talking, that meant they'd pin this on Lynn. She was the easy fuckin' mark. Fresh out the psych ward and we place her at the scene of the crime. Lynn had a sneaking suspicion there weren't going to be much in the way of lawyers or due process on this ship. Then they'd put the collar in. Then they'd come cleaning house. Che would be fuckin' proud, wouldn't he.

Lynn closed her eyes and focused. She ran her mind at it every angle she could think of, but it didn't matter. She wished Denim was here to Rain Man some other way.

But best Lynn could see it, she was dead in a week. Maybe two. They'd pin her for this. They always did. She'd been guilty of everything from the oven overheating halfway across the house when she was six to the juvy officer burning his toast at home one morning. Then they put a necklace on her. Then she's crippled. Then they get her. Lynn hadn't really expected to make it eight years of probation without getting airlocked. Maybe part of her had. The dumb part. The flowers part. Flowers got you a bullet here. She should've told Archie to fuck off the minute he asked her what her name was. The truth was it wouldn't have mattered. If not today, then it would've been tomorrow.

There were still a lot of kids on here. Lynn closed her eyes. She couldn't fight these fuckers. If she tried to burn down the police station or something they'd just activate the killswitch remotely. Lynn started walking back to the dorms, mind racing. Probably not much time, not much time at all. Lynn walked quickly, tripping and stumbling as she went. Her mind wasn't focused.

Finally, Lynn settled upon a building she had not ever set foot in before. A library. Lynn sat down at one of the computers and was able to get onto the internet. (rebelgirl2016 and tysonVfrazier, respectively, get one into Lynn's gmail, for the curious). Lynn stopped for a moment, trying to figure out who to talk to.

The girls. No. That was...no. She frowned. This was a long shot if ever there was one. It relied on Hardwin being not only smart enough, but giving enough of a shit, to help her. She then typed in the email address of her case manager. Dear Ms. Hardwin, Hey. I am good. Just got out of the hospital but not hurt. I am emailing to let you know things are really good here. I actually think some of my teachers are like Gary. I think I saw Clarita here in one of my classes. Anyway please tell Daniel I'm good as soon as you can because I know he was wondering. I will for sure talk to you again by Saturday. Lynn. she hit send and anxiously watched the loading screen. It appeared to have gone through. Lynn figured maybe they could catch it anyway, but...but fuck it. She had to try something. She ran back through the email, thinking. Hardwin had to have known that was code. There was no way Lynn started off a letter saying dear, and she and her case manager had mutual disdain to begin with. Lynn could not remember addressing her by "Ms." at any point in her life, aside from possibly as "Miss Lucifer". Gary was - well, Gary was in fucking prison, so that ought to ring a bell. She certainly didn't see Clarita up here. And the only person who worked for the government whom Lynn had ever felt a shred of respect for was her public defender.

She turned back to look at the rest of the library. The few students who were in there studying were failing to hide their glances at the tattooed girl who walked in, flickering occasionally, and typed an email with the emotional intensity of a man on death row.

Lynn just laughed, drawing their focus more. Christ, I'm really fucked this time. She wished that butcher knife had hit her a few feet higher. It would've saved her some trouble.

Lynn went back to her dorm and got into her bunk. She slept surprisingly well. Corpses often did.

Lynn came to the room calmly. She had slept the best she had all week, unperturbed by hospital monitors or nurses coming along and taking her temperature a little more brusquely than was strictly warranted by medical science. When they came to her door, she let them knock. She had a suspicion there was no warrant, and she had preparations to make, anyway. Lynn put on as many articles of clothing as she could onto herself, for once not needing to cinch her belt to the final slot. Lynn had dealt with her fair share of power-nullifiers in her time, and did not intend for the world to see her shivering and blue like a little bitch in the middle of the precinct compound.

That, and it was funny to make the cops wait.

Lynn said absolutely nothing as she walked along to the station, aside from idly noting the physical characteristics of her captors/escorts. One was tall. Another had a noteworthy mole. Lynn refrained from asking about its effect upon his sexual life. She could play nice when there was a gun to her head. Or, at the very least, she could hold her tongue until she could really piss someone off.

When she came in, only Archie was already there, eating a donut. Damnit Boat Farmer, she thought. Once you eat the donuts you’re putty in their hands. She gave him a nod that, she hoped, revealed nothing, and kept going to her seat, sitting down calmly. Lynn was used to waiting. Lynn was used to waiting on a police line-up. She was used to the uncomfy chairs and the harsh fluorescent lights. She had been given donuts before, and coffee, and she’d been given a baton to the back. It depended on the mood. Where you got into trouble was you started eating the donuts, and your fat ass forgot they had one hand on the baton the whole time. Lynn leaned her head back and stared ahead aimlessly, saying nothing, staying quiet. She ran over her evidence in her head, but she was not doing it with the ferocity of the night before. Lynn had put it together. They found out too much. Maybe one of the dumb ones got to walk away from this, but Lynn was toast. She was more toast than she had ever been. They will all sell you up the river, Lynn thought. And yet she wasn't upset. She felt weirdly, truly happy. She almost wanted to joke with Archie, or think of something to piss Spoons off before she had to walk inside. I should be livid, Lynn thought, and she was, when she thought about what was going to happen next. They're going to keep doing this. Maybe her email reached somebody. Maybe, maybe.

A death sentence was kinda liberating, Lynn mused, which was difficult for her to wrap her mind around. She had never expected to live very long, but she had never expected to die so soon either. In scary situations, you just didn't think about it, and she'd never much imagined life beyond 22 or 23, but this was different. One day, or the next, or the next, they were going to kill her. She was a burnout with no one to miss her, and she'd seen some Skull and Crossbones shit. It just made sense.

She leaned back and waited, and thought about the kids.

Natalie Ellis

---

---

Natalie nursed her hands, and cleared her aching, strained throat. She hadn't had the nightmares this bad since just after she was rescued. It was probably the shock of seeing a dead body, or the though that she could be in danger from a mysterious murderer. Maybe it was just nerves that if the interview went south she could be a suspect and lose the freedom she'd come to cherish this past week. She had the truth on her side, but was that enough? The system was supposed to be trustworthy, and Natalie trusted the system, but the fact that everyone else was so paranoid and skeptical...it felt like everyone knew something she didn't. But in this situation, Natalie's naivety and lack of knowledge is her greatest strength. All she is right now is a witness. She will tell them what she saw, and she will be completely honest. The body had clearly been dead a while anyway. They couldn't claim she had killed him yesterday....right?

Security came to collect her, nullifier in tow, and recoiled at the sight before him. The solid concrete walls of Natalie's room were covered in dents and scratches beyond what even a frenzied gorilla or fully grown lion were capable of. Natalie's knuckles were cut, scabby and bleeding. The skinny, pale girl looked down and shuffled with her foot.

"Sorry. I, uh, had a nightmare."

---

Natalie arrived at the station a short time after Lynn. Both of her hands were not dressed and bandaged. She was surprised to see she still wasn't the last one in. Already inside the room was Archie, who was eating a donut. They looked good, and Natalie hadn't had breakfast yet, so she took one, before looking over to Lynn. She seemed so angry and confrontational yesterday. Natalie was worried that Lynn would have lunged at her or something, and was glad there were security present to keep everything under control. But today, she was much calmer. Maybe the shock had amplified her paranoia, but now it'd had tome to register, she was back to her normal self. Maybe. The very fact she was here before the interview had even started meant she was spotted. Probably an eyewitness, or a security camera. Natalie thought about telling her I told you so, but that would definitely start a fight, so she looked away, sat down besides Archie (keeping him between her and Lynn) and took a bite of her donut. She really hoped Archie wouldn't ask about her hands, but she knew he would. With any luck, he hadn't heard her scream.

"Hey," she greeted in a croaky voice, looking slightly up at him. "I didn't sleep very well. I had nightmares..as you can see. And hear. Probably gonna need a new room while they repair my old one. What about you?"

---

That surveillance was how The Promise operated became obvious when there came a knock on Keaton’s door. She’d been informed of how little her right to privacy mattered on Earth through a string of events that had brought her aboard this ship, and now she was being informed that that attitude hasn't changed. Perhaps she’d been too optimistic in thinking change was possible, been too hopeful that signing up for the program recommended to her would dissuade any lingering suspicions about her. Or, perhaps, she’d simply allowed herself to be lulled into a sort of false complacency aboard a ship that was starting to seem as false as its name.

Whatever the case, she went readily with the guards, giving up whatever identifying information they asked for. Though it was kind of them to wait until the morning after, she would have preferred for them to fetch her as soon as possible. It would have given her more time to think, or at least steered her towards a better usage of her time last night than trying and failing to sleep, but that was probably why the guards had saved their visit for the morning. As such, Keaton had just the car ride to organize her thoughts—to figure out how compliant would she be, how quiet, how deceptive. Lynn had recommended complete silence the previous day, but here in space where there was no justice system, no indication that anyone wanted to play ball and pretend to rule fairly, silence sounded like a one-way ticket to a guilty sentence. Appeasement, though, was a bit much. While Keaton was obliged to give up information because these guards could quite literally decide life and death for her, she was in no way obliged to give it up readily. She’d answer when prompted, and only when directly so. Otherwise, she’d feign confusion or misunderstanding, give them some sort of vague answer. As for deception, that was off the table. The threat of there being someone with fact-checking powers was too high since many a power had abilities in that vein, and honesty had always been Keaton’s brand, her default. If her honesty encouraged them to be happy with getting a little less information from her, even better.

She arrived at the station to find most of the crew already present. The boy and girl who’d been talking the previous day were still at it, despite the setting, but just as well. There was no reason waiting in silence was a better tactic than trying to make small talk, though Keaton could understand Lynn’s silence at the moment. They’d walked away from the body because they hadn’t wanted to be tied up in the case, but here they were anyway, waiting to be fully tied in. Silence might not be the most comforting to sit through, but in the lobby of the station precinct waiting to be interrogated, it seemed the most logical. Why give away more than what was necessary? Besides, for Keaton’s strategy to work, she needed to come off as someone who didn’t talk much, which was about what she was feeling right now.

So, giving the others a tight-lipped smile, she took a seat beside Lynn and relaxed into the relative silence, taking in the waiting room as she rubbed one hand over the newly-shortened nails on the other. Donuts—how appropriately unassuming.

Archie, Radvi, and Griffin

---

Radvi sat across from Archie while Griffin remained standing nearby. Radvi’s hands were placed on the table, folded together. His attempt at looking non-imposing.

“Alright.” Radvi began, “Give me a rundown of what all happened last night. Leading up to when you found the body.”

Archie shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This was his first time ever being… interrogated. When he was brought into the station back home, they had skipped all of the formalities. “How far back do you mean? Ten minutes? An hour?”

“Whenever you first showed up in the general area. I assume it was to meet with Miss Ellis?”

“Oh, um.” Archie said, his ape brain acting up for a moment. “No, actually. I had just stopped by the hospital to visit Lynn. Lynn Holmes. I wanted to apologize to her after the cafeteria thing and helped her sneak out so we could go on a walk. We ran into the others by chance.” Archie seemed to relax some at this admission, as harmless as it was, but it seemed like he had more to say that he wasn’t mentioning. His arms were crossed, and he continually averted his eyes as he spoke. Either through embarrassment or something else entirely.

Standing in the corner of the interrogation room, leaning just slightly into said corner, Griffin watched the discussion carefully. His arms were crossed over his chest but hidden underneath they continued flexing, his dark blue eyes staring straight at Archie as if waiting for the young man to start losing it. Aside from the stare, it would be impossible to tell Griffin’s emotions, looking like a human gargoyle standing watch.

“Was Miss Holmes present when you found the body?” Radvi asked.

Archie visibly tensed at this. Her threat, while not aimed at him, rang in his mind once again. He had a feeling that they knew that Lynn had been present, she had been in the lobby after all, but the idea of saying anything and getting on her bad side? It twisted his stomach to think of what she would do if she found out. “No, she wasn’t.” He said, half lying. She wasn’t present when he found the body. He had been alone for that part.

Radvi noted Archie’s sense of unease. He turned his head, giving Griffin a quick look to see how he had gauged the expression. Griffin’s head had tilted, his arms no longer crossed and instead both hands hung near his sides, palms facing forward. When Archie settled himself the hands rested on top of his duty belt.. After that, Radvi turned back to Archie.

“Describe the moment you found the body. And the state it was in.”

Archie breathed in sharply at the request. It was essentially burnt into his mind at this point. “He- it. It was really messed up.” he began. “It was missing its fingernails. And a few fingers. Its right leg looked like it had been run over by a car or something. I’ve seen a broken femur from a car jack failing that looked just like that back home. His chest was collapsed in, too. Lots of cuts. He had been waterlogged for a little while. You saw it, you… you know what I’m talking about.”

“Yeah, I understand.” Radvi replied, in an almost sympathetic-sounding tone. “The body you found was Doctor Arthur Coleman. He was the school’s AP Biology teacher. He went missing about a week before last night, prior to the new students’ arrival. Did you have any prior affiliation with him before the events of last week?”

“I- I came aboard last week.” Archie said. “The cafeteria incident was my first day. Not exactly a good first impression.”

“I’m aware.” Radvi said, “Tell me what you did after you found the body.”

“I, uh. I screamed.” Archie said, cracking a miniscule smile in an attempt to lighten the mood somewhat. Seeing no change in either of the men’s faces, he quickly moved on. “The others came into the woods to make sure I was okay.”

“Others.” Radvi repeated the word. “Who else was there besides Miss Ellis?”

“Amelia, Keaton, Natalie, and Lynn all came.” he said. “I was a pretty good ways from the body at that point- Lynn was talking me down so I wouldn’t… you know.”

“You said before that Miss Holmes wasn’t present when you found Coleman.”

“Well, she wasn’t.” Archie explained. “I, uh, I went into the woods trying to find flowers for Natalie when I apologized to her and found him alone. I- I don’t even know if Lynn saw the body.”

“But she was made aware of the presence of the body.” Radvi replied, “You and Miss Ellis were the only ones at the scene when I arrived. Why did the other three in your group leave before then?”

Archie sighed at this. He cast a glance to Griffin, and then looked back at Radvi. “Did you ever run from the cops as a kid, sir?”

“This isn’t about me.” Radvi replied sternly.

“Well yeah, but-” Archie began, stumbling through his words. “Natalie called, and I was the one that found the body. So we stayed. I don’t know about the other three, or why they left. It was kinda like the cops showing up at a party. Even if you haven’t done anything wrong, you leave. They didn’t touch it, I’m not even sure if they saw it. When Nat told us she called Cara, they didn’t want to be guilty by association.”

Radvi leaned back in his chair. He sat for a moment, pondering. He gave Griffin another quick glance before proceeding to the next question.

“Did anyone else in the group express awareness of the body’s identity?”

“Amelia did.” Archie said, almost too quickly. “She kept saying ‘she’s after me, she’s after me’. I had no idea what she meant by that. She said that when she ran from me in the cafeteria, she ended up in an AP Bio room and saw uh, what was his name again?”

“Doctor Arthur Coleman.”

“Dr. Coleman and another woman. Amelia said that he was hurt, I think.”

Radvi turned back towards Griffin. “Hardin’s talking to Miss Nelson later.” He said, “He should be made aware of this.”

Throughout the interview Griffin had pieced together the story and the more Archie spoke the less likely Griffin thought he actually did anything to the Doctor, he was just a scared kid and so when Radvi turned to him, Griffin nodded. “I’ll stay here, make sure Archie continues feeling nice and relaxed if you want to go let him know.”

“We’re about done here anyway.” Radvi said, standing up from his seat, “Take him back to reception for now. We have to keep everyone here until we’ve run them all.” With that, he headed for the door and exited the chamber, leaving Griffin and Archie to each other.

Archie shifted uncomfortably, and stood up. He awkwardly met Griffin’s eyes and tried not to swallow. This dude looked tough as nails. Just like Lynn did, except he had a weapon. Now that he thought about it, so did Lynn, but something about this man made it feel like he was staring through Archie’s very soul. “So do I go on my- or do you walk me out?”

The sentence was broken, but he was nervous, damnit! This was not something he did on the regular. Upon closer inspection, Archie found that Griffin for all his tough looks, couldn’t have been much older than he was. If he was even older at all. The was simultaneously unnerving and disarming, and he was unsure how to feel about that.

Griffin stepped to the side to allow Radvi to leave the room and when the door clicked shut again, turned his eyes straight back to Archie. The sight however caused him to reconsider a few things. For one, Archie did not look anything like a threat, just a boy who was in over his head and in a location that he probably never expected to be in again. Griffin softened his piercing gaze a bit, and even visibly relaxed his form, though a hand was always out and ready for something to set the kid off.

”You can follow me Archie, this way.” He opened the door and gestured back the way they came and the closer the other young man got, the more details of Griffin’s own features would be visible. Griffin saw hesitation, and curiosity cross Archie’s face and couldn’t help but smirk at the reaction. ”This way.” He pointed down the corridor and started walking, making sure he didn’t make physical contact with Archie as that would be a trip the lizard boy wouldn’t forget in a hurry. ”Thank you for cooperating with us, I know it sucks to be targeted for something you have no control over. You did the right thing by helping us. I’m Officer Aparo by the way, but you can call me Griffin, or Griff if you prefer.”

Archie extended his hand to Griffin for him to shake. “Yeah, it’s-” Archie began, but trailed off. “Thanks.” He said simply, appreciating the man’s understanding. “I’m Archie, but I guess you already knew that one.”

Griffin stared at the offered hand for a moment, and had to mentally stop himself from laughing out loud. Instead he cleared his throat and smiled politely. ”You probably don’t want to make physical contact with me, one of the things about my nullification is that physical contact will drain you faster than anything. And you don’t want that, trust me.”

Archie looked down at his hand, and then back to Griffin, and then decided he had a wonderful idea. His shirt was long sleeved, and because it was still very temperate aboard the promise he had pushed the sleeves up over his forearms. With his offhand, he pulled his sleeve down over his hand, and offered it to Griffin once again with what was possibly the dumbest grin, thinking he was a genius. He had been ostracized for the most part by many people for the incident in the cafeteria, but he had somehow formed an uneasy friendship with the rest of the losers club. “One thing I’ve learned up here is that you can’t let powers hold you back.”

With a raised eyebrow, and a confused look on his face, Griffin watched as Archie pulled down his sleeve and covered his hand. Griffin was still hesitant, having never actually tried to use his power through fabric before but shrugged, and clasped the offered hand. Nothing happened, and Griffin let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. ”Well you’re not drooling on the floor, so that’s a good sign.”

Archie beamed at this. “It’s nice to meet you, Griff.” he said, simply. “You’re on the clock, right? When do you get off? I’d like to introduce you to the others. They’re not as bad as they may seem.”

Griffin would be lying is he said he was ok in this moment. His entire life was spent hammering the idea that Para-humans were the enemy, that they were ruining the world and had to be controlled. But here was this guy, barely younger than Griffin himself asking him to come and hang out with him and others right after being interrogated. At the risk of looking stupid he collected himself and hesitantly nodded. ”Uh, sure.” he said, eyebrows crinkling forward and then back up. ”Thanks?” That was all he could think to say, and as they walked back into the reception area, Griffin left Archie and turned to go back down the hall, glancing back as he did, brows still furrowed in confusion.

---

Written with @SepticGentleman and @DayDreamz

Lynn

”Lynn Holmes? It’s your turn. First room on the right.” Cara announced over the intercom, informing her that her interrogation room was prepared and ready for her arrival. Gennedy had decided that the AI could do the job just fine, so he remained in his seat. It was a quaint room, one side being a one-way window for any potential observers, the room itself was furnished by two foldable chairs and a small table. Given the use case, that was all it needed. As Cara made her announcement, Archie’s own investigators appeared at the doorway and requested his presence as well. Lynn considered telling Archie not to go lizard and eat any of them, but figured some snake lawyer would twist her words on her. Lynn had a strange feeling that she could not quite articulate. She wanted to joke with Archie, but she knew when he walked in those doors, he was going to narc, and that made her want to turn the precinct into a crematorium. Lynn pushed it aside. There were more pressing matters.

Lynn gave it a full ten seconds before she started to rise from her chair slowly - just long enough that the guards glanced about nervously and began to slowly reach towards their belts. Lynn did another glance around. She noted a dark-skinned security guard and a young looking one following him like a puppy. Pretty boy puppy, Lynn thought. He looked young. Real young. Lynn gave him a once-over as she walked to the room, trying to sess him out. They hiring kids for dumb muscle, now?

Lynn came into the room and looked at Gennedy. Old. Pissed off looking. Probably used to scaring kids shitless. Eh. She came and sat down in the chair, resting her hands on the table. Lynn looked at him, smiling softly and genuinely. Her hair was back in a ponytail, which afforded the option of seeing it change color slowly and in its totality. At the moment, it was blonde, campfire yellow.

Lynn said nothing.

Gennedy met Lynn’s gaze with disinterest. Maybe even indifference to who or what she was. With his right hand, he reached for his cup of coffee, and with his left he produced a recorder from his pants pocket. He finished his sip, and then placed the cup on the table. Once he was ready, he pressed play on the recorder and spoke for the first time.

“My name is Gennedy Hardin, head of The Promise security division, investigating the death of Doctor Arthur Coleman. I am speaking to Cordelia Lynn Holmes on her relations to this incident.” He said, simply. He looked to Lynn’s eyes. “Please state your full name in confirmation.”

Lynn blinked. Hmm. Yes, she remembered him now. This guy had been at the orientation right before everything went to shit. And conveniently gone when it all did. Some head of security I’m looking at. Lynn knew enough about how this worked to know that she had to tell them her name. Beyond that, a slim part of her entertained the notion that some kind of audio trail might behoove her. Assuming that recorder is actually running. This is a kangaroo fuckin' court if I've ever seen one. “Cordelia Lynn Holmes.” Lynn said, her tone neutral. She had not said her full name in a long time. Cordelia. “I want my lawyer.”

“No.” was all Gennedy said in response, his tone more bored than it was anything else. “Today is October 19th, current time is 9:32AM.”

Lynn grinned at that. Well, at least the old fuck was honest. There was a quiet place in her gut that had gathered together since the night before. She’d had her fair share of run-ins with the law before, had her day in court, everything. But not like this. Lynn knew what was up. Lynn knew it was only a matter of time. Maybe days. Maybe in a holding cell for this case, maybe in her dorm, maybe maybe maybe. If there weren't lawyers here, there sure as shit wasn't going to be this much of an investigation for a dead gangbanger. Lynn kept her smile, unforced. “Am I not under arrest, then?”

“You are a Parahuman. You have no rights with regards to penal action or criminal investigation.” he explained. “Now, perhaps I am behind on things, but I believe I am the one to be asking you the questions this morning. Am I correct?”

Lynn shrugged. “Maybe. If I don’t get a lawyer, maybe I get to ask you questions. Hey, doesn’t that mean you can’t be in law enforcement, either? This is all pretty new for me too.”

“Let’s keep it new to you. I don’t want to have to see any of you again if I can help it.” Gennedy stated. He released his grip on the table’s metal leg closest to him, which was now crumpled like tissue paper. His patience was already wearing thin with this one. “You will get no lawyer. You will answer the questions I ask you. You have nothing to worry about if you are innocent. Am I clear?”

“Careful, Ginny,” Lynn said. “You are a Parahuman. You have no rights to penal action.” Lynn leaned back, her feet dangling off the ground. “Let’s cut the shit, man. If I have no rights, there’s nothing keeping you from throwing me away for no reason. And there’s nothing stopping you from beating the shit out of me to get what you want. So why should I help you either way?”

“You are correct.” Gennedy said. “You should help, because your boyfriend out there will probably want someone to take to dinner after all this is over. May we proceed?”

Lynn opened her mouth but closed it wordlessly. Close, you fucking idiot. Lynn thought. If he thinks Archie and I are a thing, that’s a little wiggle room in my corner. And if you ask why he wasn’t around to stop your boyfriend at orientation like you almost did, you’re running face-first into those carving knives faster than the dead doctor did. Lynn smiled. There was a death threat on the recording, now, for whatever that was worth. “Fire away. But I know nothing, and you know I know nothing.” Lynn studied him for a moment. This one is used to bending things the way he wants. And he doesn’t give a fuck about doing it to kids. And the balls it takes to sit in this room without a nullifier on means no one’s ever called him on his shit for it, either. Lynn thought about everyone in the waiting room. She knew...she knew what they were going to say. That she was there. That she’d been there. For all she knew Spoons had hidden a fucking stenographer in the bushes. But for some reason Lynn was still pissed off this fuck was going to do it to them. They were just Clarita and Megan but a little older. Lynn had never felt more like Lucy, squinting into the harsh glare of the fluorescent lights. Dance with me, you fucking meathead. They can’t keep up, but I’ll roast your shoes off your feet and keep on going.

Gennedy snorted at this, smiling and shaking his head. “Let it be made known that I do have a sense of humor.” he said, directing his eyes to the recorder. “Please tell me about the events leading up to the body’s discovery?”

Lynn shrugged. “No idea what body you’re talking about. Sorry about your doctor friend. Don’t know anything about a body.” If this isn’t legal, then lying isn’t perjury.

Gennedy’s grin seemed to fade at this, and he seemed more exasperated than anything else. “Would you like me to show you the video footage that we have of you, Ms. Nelson, Ms. Plasse, and Ms. Ellis entering the woods after Mr. Anderson?”

“First, man, I don’t know these people’s last names. Second, I don’t see every person who took a walk in the woods last night in that holding cell.” Lynn looked around. “I see a bunch of scared kids. Seems to me if, what’s her name, Carrie was watching everything, you might see who killed this friend of yours, and you wouldn’t have to question me.” Lynn nodded her head, as if having a realization. “But, I reckon there’s not this footage, because otherwise you would see who killed this guy. So maybe you’re hoping you can scare a kid or two into confessing to some dumb shit.” Lynn smiled. Behind it, she felt like her heart was burning hotter than a sunny day in hell. She had a soft spot for those stupid kids, for reasons apparent to almost anyone but her. “I’d love to see the footage. You’ll see me walking into some woods. Later, you’ll see me walking out. Red Riding Hood and Smokey the Bear came with me. Smokey and I don’t get along too well most days, but last night we picnicked. Hell, he even got to third base. Can I go yet?”

Gennedy brandished his phone, and turned it sideways. He played a five minute video clip of Archie going into the woods, screaming, and the others piling in after him. Several minutes later, Lynn, Amelia, and Keaton exited alone. “I have just shown Ms. Holmes the video evidence of her association.” He said out loud. He looked to Lynn once again. “During this video, Ms. Ellis called Promise Security informing us of the body’s discovery. There are no cameras in the woods of The Promise. We- I am interrogating you as to what you saw, so we may find who did this to Doctor Arthur Coleman and put them to justice. You are not here under criminal charges. Are you sure you do not wish to change your answer?”

“Make it a true double Jeopardy, Alex,” Lynn said. Lynn's incorrect use of Jeopardy terminology was apparently lost on her.They have no cameras in the woods, Lynn noted. He wouldn’t tell me that if they were going to let me walk. No fucking way. “ You sure talk about justice a lot for a guy who doesn’t give kids a fucking attorney. You have footage of me in the hospital thirty minutes before this happens? Criminal charges don’t mean anything because you just said you could lock me up for no reason anyway. I don’t see me looking at a dead body on that video. I see me walking in the woods. Any half-decent lawyer could get me off, which is why I can’t have one.” Lynn grinned. He said we, Lynn thought. And didn’t correct himself the second time. Someone else is in this room. “Another question, Gin and Tonic. How long can an unsolved murder go on before parents want their kids back home, and you guys lose tuition money?”

“With regards to penal and criminal investigation, yes. I can. I would like to avoid the paperwork, if possible.” Gennedy stated, then looked Lynn in the eyes. “Long enough.”

He bit back the threats. She didn’t need to know that she wouldn’t be the first that had never had the opportunity to contact a lawyer, and likely wouldn’t be the last. He didn’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill. Not over a minnow like this. “Well, should you decide not to say any more. You are free to go. In the event that your friends give us an official statement, we will be in contact. Ms. Ellis seems to be the rule abiding type. Perhaps she will be more cooperative.”

Lynn shrugged. “Sure thing, boss. I just got out of the psych ward though. Who’s to say what my testimony’s worth. Plus, that lizard jostling me around when I was busy doing your job.” Lynn stood up, hands in her pockets. He wasn’t letting her go this easily for no reason. He could bluster all he wanted, but even if they put her at the scene, it didn’t matter, because they could in no way pin her to that murder. She looked him dead in the eyes. I’m already taking the fall for this and you know it, she wanted to tell him. You traitorous fuck. You sit up here and scare little parahuman kids who don’t know any better shitless and tell yourself you’re big and tough. Pussy. If you were on Earth instead of beating up kids and fucking up police reports up here maybe we wouldn't be where we are. “Oh, some advice, man,” Lynn said. “Maybe you should go after the guy who fucking steel booted a child in the face on the first day of class. That’s the guy I’d be looking for. But I’m not one to know how you lawyer-less folks run things up here.”

Gennedy gave Lynn a knowing smile. “Already taken care of, Ms. Holmes. You are free to go.”

So they’ve already killed that fucker, Lynn thought. Or he’s in on it. Either way, Lynn felt fairly confident she came out ahead on this interrogation. Lynn gave Gennedy a smile that she hoped expressed all her hate. “Free’s a funny word, ain’t it, Gin?” Lynn asked. Then she turned and walked out into the waiting room. I need to talk to Denim, Lynn thought. Denim had come and sat down right next to her at the start of this, which moved her up several notches in Lynn's book. Denim has some balls. And she stayed quiet which means she has some brains. Lynn figured there was a good chance all of them had sold her up the river, but if Denim hadn't, maybe there was still a way out of this. They'd hammer the others until they remembered seeing Cordelia Lynn Holmes waving a butcher's knife at the scene of the crime an hour before anyone got there, Lynn was sure, but Denim might just have stayed quiet. If she can figure stuff as good as she claims maybe we can track this bastard down.

“Free to walk, boys and girls,” Lynn said with a smile. “Move.” Lynn said to the guards, walking to the exit. She looked up at Puppy Dog again, trying to study him as much as possible. His eyes, Lynn thought. I’ve seen his eyes before. Lynn stopped at the door. “What are you waiting for, Boat Farmer? Let’s go.” Lynn eyed him, trying to see what he'd said from the way he was standing. Even if he'd snitched, Lynn wanted them out of the station as quickly as possible. These guys would take any excuse to do whatever they wanted. Lynn didn't intend to give it to them.

---

---

“Alright.” Radvi said, “Let’s start with what happened leading up to the body being found, from your point of view.”

”Okay. So. I was sitting on one of the benches by the river, reading a book, when Amelia teleported next to me. We talked a bit. Can’t remember what we said. It was just chatter. Then Lynn and Archie were walking in our general direction and up to us. I won’t say we’re friends but we all sat together the first day. Then there was another girl, but I don’t actually know her name. We haven’t talked.”

“Keaton Plasse.” Radvi replied, “She was present for last week’s incident during orientation, if only briefly. Now, Mister Anderson was the first one to actually see the body. Did you see it yourself as well?”

”Yes. Archie went into the forest, then we heard him scream. When we got there we found the body. It’d been washed up on the riverbank. None of us touched it. At least I don’t think. I didn’t look at it after my first glance.”

“So you don’t recall the physical state the body was in.”

”Oh, I can. Once glance was enough. Chest was caved in. I think the leg was broken. It was already starting to decompose. I...can we stop talking about the body?”

“Alright.” Radvi complied, “Tell me what happened afterwards.”

”I, uh, kinda got taken back to the Project Lion breakout. Came back to my senses two felled trees later. I wasn’t ready to see that kind of violence. I’m taking therapy and I do think it’s helping but...yeah. But then! But then I got in touch with Cara and let her know. As soon as I got a chance to think rationally about the situation.”

“And after that, three of your group left the scene.” Radvi stated, “You and Mister Anderson stayed behind. Which, as an aside, I appreciate. Now… the identity of the body was one Doctor Arthur Coleman, taught the school’s AP Biology class. You have no prior affiliation with him before his death, is that correct?”

”No. No, I don’t. But….but Amelia was saying something about his killer coming after her. I wasn’t exactly listening at that moment. It might have been shock or hysteria but I know fear when I hear it. She genuinely thought someone was after her and...it’s coming back to me, she thought that the body was put there as a message for her, which is ridiculous.”

Radvi sat in silent contemplation for a moment, giving Griffin a quick glance. “Do you have any further knowledge of the individual Miss Nelson was referring to?” He asked.

Natalie shook her head. “No. I don’t. And she didn’t mention anything unusual this past week either. We’ve talked a few times since the first day but it was never really about anything.”

“Alright.” Radvi said, standing upright. “That’ll be all for the moment. You can wait in reception until we’ve finished questioning others. Griffin will see you out.” He turned to his partner and nodded.

Griffin gave a slight smile from his position in the corner and pushed himself off the wall. He walked to the door that Radvi left and nodded to the girl still sitting. ”We’ll be returning to the reception area, follow me please.” He opened the door and stood just outside of it, letting Natalie have plenty of space to walk the way his finger was pointing. As she got closer she would be able to see his features quite plainly.

Natalie followed the direction of Griffin’s finger to the exit, but turned to look at him. Of course she noticed he was handsome. Lots of boys were handsome. Natalie never really gave a thought to boys’ looks. No, what caught Natelie’s attention were his eyes. They were cold great, and tired looking, and seemed to stare past everything. They were like hers.

”Sorry if this is a really inappropriate question, but...do you get really bad nightmares too? Sorry, it’s just your eyes.”

If Griffin was caught by surprise by the question he didn’t show it. He had been told his eyes seemed to be a blue abyss, that people could get lost swimming in them, and that they were some of the darkest blue they had seen, but Griffin had a feeling Natalie wasn’t talking about that. He saw a reflection of himself in her eyes, though the mirror was disjointed and cracked to show minute differences.

”You’re right, that is inappropriate. Now keep up.” He pushed past her, being careful not to make physical contact and led the way back to the reception area. His mind was plagued with indecision, he had thought he was keeping his flashbacks in check and that no one would notice, but now both Crispin and Natalie were asking him about it. He frowned and when he opened the door to the reception area he was careful not to glance directly at anyone. ”Remain seated until given permission to leave. That’s your only warning.”

He turned back into the corridor before giving her another chance to speak, his mind fully turned to introspection. But she didn’t. She sheepishly returned to her seat and kept her eyes to the floor.

Interview #4: Keaton, Radvi, and Griffin

---

“We’ll start with whatever you can tell me about the events leading up to the body being found by Mister Anderson. From your perspective.” Radvi began.

“Mister Anderson… the boy, right?” Keaton asked, looking between the two detectives.

“Yes.” Radvi replied, “Archie Anderson. The one involved with… well, last week’s mess.”

“Nothing really. I just met him, was talking with the others when he screamed. Then we saw the body, and I decided to walk away.”

Radvi sighed, pausing a moment, passing Griffin a glance. “Regarding last week, do you have any knowledge of what may have been taking place besides Mister Anderson’s ‘outburst’? Involving the deceased.”

Griffin was standing quietly in the corner, leaning gently into the wall. His arms were crossed over his chest and his eyes bore straight into Keaton as she spoke. He stood about ten feet away, respectful but still within range in case she got uppity.

Keaton traced the man’s glance to the boy. Mind Reader? Not sure, but he was standing awfully far away. Did his powers work at a distance?

“No, I got out of the cafeteria pretty quick last week,” she said, her eyes flicking between the two before settling on the one farther away. “I don’t have the powers for that stuff.”

“The body belonged to one of our doctors.” Radvi continued, “Arthur Coleman. From what we understand, one of the other members of your group from last night encountered him during last week’s incident. Has Miss Nelson mentioned any details regarding this with you?”

“Well that’s news to me. You have my file right? So you know that I just got here last week, that I didn’t know anything about powers, even mine, for long before that?”

“I hadn’t personally read your file, no.” Radvi replied, “From what I understand, you… make very accurate observations. Is that right?”

Keaton stared at him. Was he trying to psych her out? Trip her up? They wouldn’t need to do that if they had a mind reader. And, judging by the boy she’d been staring at, it didn’t seem like the two were communicating. Now, telepathy… that was up in the air.

“I think my file would answer a lot of your questions, but yeah, something like that,” she said.

Another pause from Radvi as he sat and thought for a moment. “You didn’t see the body yourself, did you?” He asked.

Keaton raised her brows. “No, I didn’t see the body alone, but yeah, I saw the body.”

“And you, as well as Miss Holmes and Miss Nelson, left the scene afterwards, after Miss Ellis reported it to Cara.” Radvi said, “Do you have any inclination as to why the other two left?”

Well, they for sure had information, and not from her. From the others? Keaton doubted Lynn would talk after she said…

Her eyes flicked to the boy again. So, they had information, probably from a witness, or from cameras. Probably no mind reader, or their questions would have been redundant. To hide a mind reader? It’d be more intimidating to have a public one, prompted honesty, so probably not. Her thoughts were her own then.

“I can’t say I know why they left, no,” she said.

Another pause. “No one else besides Miss Nelson expressed any knowledge of the body’s identity, correct?”

Keaton wasn’t sure who ‘Miss Nelson’ was, but it didn’t matter really. She could guess. “Correct.”

Radvi tapped his fingers on the surface of the table, turning slightly to face Griffin. He gave him an inquisitive look, but wasn’t met with any returning assurance. “Alright.” Radvi said, standing up. “That’ll be all for the time being. Griffin, you can see her back to the reception area.”

At this point Keaton was sure the boy wasn’t a mind reader, but she couldn’t be sure he didn’t have a related power. Whatever the case, one thing was for sure: He wasn’t going to touch her. She’d learned that lesson with Jeira the first day.

The interview was simple enough, though out of everyone Griffin found himself not trusting Keaton the most. Perhaps the way she answered the questions, or kept shifting her eyes to him. He pushed himself off the wall and opened the door, peering towards the girl. ”This way Miss Plasse.” He gestured towards the door and stood just outside of it. His dark blue eyes never leaving her.

Keaton walked towards the indicated door, not liking any of this. Frankly, the interview was extremely unproductive and felt more like a fishing expedition than anything. Or was it routine? She’d declined to properly walk them through the events step-by-step when asked, but they could have insisted. On the other hand, though, they had information they were going by already, so they didn’t need any from her, didn’t think they did. The others that went before her had answered their questions. That wasn't surprising.

Following wherever the model-like boy led, Keaton rubbed her right index over her thumbnail. That was it, right? No more questions? She was free to go?

The walk to the reception area was quiet, Griffin choosing to keep it so instead of making conversation. He didn’t truly blame the girl for being so guarded with her answers but had hoped she would have been more trusting. He supposed there might have been something in her past that kept her from seeking help from authority.

Soon enough they arrived back in the reception area and Griffin gestured to the chairs. ”Return to a seat of your choice, but do not leave the building. That’s your only warning for that. He shot a look to Archie and gave a nod before turning and walking back down the corridor from whence he came.

Keaton picked a random seat, watching him leave as she sat. So it wasn’t over. Or was it? There was no reason why they couldn’t have finished questioning her in a single session, and it wasn’t like she had any more information to give either.

Looking around at the others in the waiting room, who were also still here despite having finished their interviews, Keaton figured they probably weren’t being kept around for another round of questioning. Not about what’d already been covered, at least. So, it was just a matter of waiting now.

A few chairs to her left was the girl who’d cried wolf, who was currently staring at the ground. Keaton looked to the now-empty hallway, then back at the girl. Her call had done nothing, just as Keaton’s choice to walk away had done nothing, so Keaton was willing to look past it. At the end of the day, they were still on the same team.

“Hey, you good?” she asked, her voice soft. “And, uh, I don’t think we got introduced yesterday, with everything that happened. I’m Keaton.”

---

“My name is Gennedy Hardin, head of The Promise security division, investigating the death of Doctor Arthur Coleman. I am speaking to miss Amelia Nelson on her relations to this incident.” the man said simply. It had been exactly what he had said to Lynn when he had interviewed her a few minutes ago. Well rehearsed and uncaring. He dragged his bored gaze to Amelia's. She was terrified, shaking like a leaf. “Please state your full name in confirmation.”

This was the first time Amelia had ever been in this situation. At lease, really in this situation. For all the grand standing she did for sticking it to the man, she had never been face to face with him. It was easier rebelling against some unknown, no faced entity. It was much, much harder maintaining the same resolve with him staring you down. She choked out what she had been instructed to do. "Amelia Nelson."

Gennedy grunted. “Today is October 19th, current time is 9:45 AM.”

Silence filled the room once more. Amelia shifted uncomfortably. Gennedy cleared his throat and began.

“Please tell me about the events leading up to the body’s discovery.”

Amelia gulped, but began reciting her story. She told him about how she had simply been out for the evening, and had met up with the group. She had not seen Archie disappear into the woods, but she had heard him scream. Her and the others had run after him to help him. Lynn looked like she had been ready to fight him again if she had needed to. Amelia wasn't sure how to feel about that. When they found the body, she had recognized it immediately. Gennedy had stopped her there.

"So you saw the body?" He questioned. Amelia stopped cold, realizing that she had incriminated herself. She did not know this man or how he handled situations like this. She nodded slowly, not taking her eyes off of his. He hummed. "Are you familiar with Arthur Coleman?"

"Who?"

"Arthur Coleman. The body."

Amelia's blood went cold. "I- yes? No? I dont know, I-" She said, stuttering her way through the sentence. She inhaled sharply, holding her breath in for a moment in an attempt to calm herself down. "I dont know him, but I saw him. After Archie turned, I ran." She explained, electing to leave out the detail that she had only done so to help Freaky D. "I ended up in a classroom and he was with a woman."

Gennedy raised an eyebrow at this. Amelia pursed her lips.

"No, no. I- listen, he was being tortured, I think."

"Tortured?"

"He looked hurt."

Gennedy's expression hardened. He leaned over the table and Amelia felt herself shrink into her chair. "And why didn't you report this?"

Amelia was at a loss for words.

---

"What are you waiting for, Boat Farmer? Let’s go.”

"Mmph!" Archie exclaimed, surprised suddenly by his nickname. He turned sharply in Lynn's direction, his edges of his lips curling upwards in a smile when he saw Lynn. "Oh, hey Lynn!" he said with his mouth full. He swallowed what was left of his donut and cleaning his hands off. He stood to greet his friend, and in his own mind he questioned that phrase. Friend. Did Lynn consider him a friend? He certainly considered her one. She seemed the type to be hardened, given her 'I eat nails with no milk' attitude and her scarred exterior. She reminded him of his brother some, but she was smarter than he had been. Less of a bully for the sake of it. Lynn was also nicer than his brother was, too. She had been the first on the scene when he turned on the first day and had stayed with him and made sure he hadn't turned again the night before. Every time he had been in a bad situation she had taken the initiative to help him. That's what friends did for each other, wasn't it?

Just as he stood, Cara's voice came on over the intercom.

"Mr. Anderson, Ms. Ellis, Ms. Holmes, Ms. Plasse, you are all free to go under Mr. Hardin's order."

Well, that simplified things. He looked down at the donut box and then over to Lynn again and grinned for her benefit. He was hungry, and it was early. Natalie walked in and had sat down, and Keaton shortly thereafter. They seemed to want to talk to one another some, and Archie wasn't about to butt into their conversation. He was hungry, they were freed, Natalie and Keaton were talking and he was curious, and he probably owed Lynn lunch for helping as much as she had. The triangle shape finally fell into the triangle hole for Archie.

"Hey, do you guys want to get something to eat?" he questioned. That would probably satisfy Lynn's desire to bounce, and his desire to eat and make sure Natalie and Keaton were okay. Plus, they could commune between themselves as to who said what. The thought that someone might have incriminated another didn't even cross Archie's mind. "There's a nice little breakfast place not far from here."

He didn't think about what had happened last time he had elected to take a walk with the group, but that didn't matter all that much in his mind. He left the building with nay a second thought, likely with the others not far behind. The little breakfast place only a minute or so's walk from the station, so getting himself seated took what felt like no time at all.

Today was going to be a good day, he decided. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

Cordelia Lynn Holmes

Lynn took a moment to stare at Archie. Lynn had learned a thing or two about eye contact that did not necessarily translate well to the outside world. Staring at someone, in certain subsections of Lynn's upbringing, was an invitation to a fight - at the same time, it was a declaration that you were watching a motherfucker, and you didn't care if you had to fight them anyway. This time, however, Lynn was for once not really considering that sort of subtext in her actions. Lynn was staring up at Archie's mouth, which was over a foot above her own, and trying to determine if Archie was playing some kind of game, or was truly a giant human puppy dog. He stood there trying to talk through two donuts at once, which was a feat Lynn had never before seen attempted. What did he tell them in there? Lynn wondered. Her eyes fell to his arms and chest, and Lynn found herself how strong he was when he wasn't covered in scales and ten feet tall. Lynn shifted her weight back and forth, uneasy enough at being in a police station. If he's taking their donuts, maybe their nice cop shtick worked on him. Lynn had a bit of a dull headache. I hate this, Lynn thought. There are too many questions and no answers.

She turned and looked at Keaton and Natalie, who were talking over in their chairs. Everything in here is wired, Lynn wanted to scream. And what were they discussing, anyway? Lynn was more and more sure that Keaton was the only one who really stood a chance at getting Lynn out of this whole ordeal. If she could pick needles out of haystacks like she claimed, maybe she could help Lynn track down some dirt or something. They injected us when we came on-board, Lynn remembered. She'd melted the first needle they'd brought out, just to spite them, before they'd slapped a nullifier collar on her, and held her shivering arm steady against the cold steel of the surgical table. The faces of the Promise's staff who'd done it swam back into her field of vision and Lynn ground her teeth for a moment. There must be some way to control it. Some central unit or...or something. Lynn did not want to entertain the notion that there was any semblance of a happy ending for her on this ship. For a few foolish days she might've thought so, might've half-heartedly entertained the notion that this place was going to reform them and get them jobs and Get Them Out, but Gennedy had broken that apart. They want lapdogs like him or they want corpses. Lynn thought.

She looked back up at Archie, and without realizing, a melancholy smile stretched at her lips. She turned and followed Archie out, grudgingly admitting that she wanted food. Lynn was still not used to the regularity and availability of meals here on the Promise. As much as a group picnic with Narcy Narc and the Funky Bunch disinterested her, she had to admit that she would need to keep her energy up if she was going to be throwing any kind of weight around later, which she felt very certain she would. Friends close, enemies closer, Lynn thought. Besides, Lynn was reasonably certain, just based off how these sorts of conspiracies operated, they would want as few witnesses as possible. The threat of Archie flipping out over seeing her brains get blasted open from a grassy knoll somewhere was enough to reassure her she was not in immediate danger.

Lynn chewed on her lip. At least, assuming they weren't going to trigger another event like Freaky D had. Now did they really airlock him, or was Gennedy lying? Lynn had difficulty believing someone was able to outright sneak on-board the Promise. If he was able to, it raised interesting possibilities. Smuggling possibilities. Lynn a year before would've seen this as a way to make some side money, a few extra bucks - but this was different now. Figuring out a way off this might be the only way she survived. We saw too much, Lynn thought. Whoever narc'd - and Amelia's been in there a damn long time - is gonna get me locked up in a day, maybe two. Whoever was willing to torture a professor would kill a witness or two without any scruples.

Lynn followed Archie out, having to powerwalk to keep up with him (this put a scowl on her face), rolling her hoodie's sleeves back up as they fell down every minute or so. Lynn glanced around as she often did, eyes flickering here and there, shoulders back and fingers dancing in her hoodie pockets. They stopped walking for a moment. Two guards passed by - both older than the dead eyes puppy dog she'd seen back in the precinct - with a girl behind them. A young girl. Lynn stared at her. She had a pretty round face, and a blue skirt, and light brown skin and dark brown hair, and -

Lynn's eyes drifted down to her wrists, where she fiddled with a bracelet around her wrist. It was small and fraying, worn out cloth with a few beads on it. A camp bracelet, or something like it, made by the clumsy but practiced hands of a girl her age. The girl made eye contact with Lynn and her eyes widened for a moment, but Lynn did her best to give her a smile back. It didn't seem to set her much at ease, but the girl sheepishly smiled back and turned away, following the guards off down a path. Lynn watched them go, lagging behind Archie for a moment. No lawyers. No fucking lawyers.

Lynn closed her eyes and focused on breathing for a few seconds, then shook herself and caught back up to Archie, keeping pace with him much easier this time. Whether Natalie or Archie or Keaton or Amelia narc'd didn't matter. She'd beat their ass for it if they did, maybe leave a nice little SNITCH brand on their asscheeks or something, but it wasn't what was pissing her off now. Without realizing, smoke curled up off Lynn's hair, a ragged shock that was blue as her eyes down at the roots, the color creeping up to the red tips. Keaton. I need Keaton.

"Where are we eating?" Lynn snapped, staring at the walkway ahead of her. "I don't - " she stopped talking, biting her tongue. Archie wouldn't get it and Archie would just want to hug it out if he did. If there was one thing she'd figured out for sure about him it was that she was confident he'd never done time or skidded onto the wrong side of the law. Now Lynn figured maybe his upbringing was rough - he had gaunt enough eyes and a nice checkerboard of scars on his arms - but Archie, Lynn was willing to bet, didn't really Get It. Archie hadn't asked for a lawyer, Lynn thought. Maybe Amelia had, before she narc'd. Maybe Keaton. Not Natalie and Archie. Lynn couldn't hold their faces in her mind's eye for terribly long. It was the guards, and Gennedy. I will burn them all. Damn them. Damn them.

Natalie looked up. The girl she didn’t know the name of was asking her if she was okay, and introducing itself. Natalie sat up straight, and cleared her throat. ”Yeah, I’m fine. Just made a fool out of myself on the way back. Didn’t the younger of the two staff have....kind of a thousand yard stare? His eyes looked like mine. I asked about it and he told me to mind my own business. Anyway. I’m Natalie. Ellis.” she replied, reaching over to offer her hand.

“Keaton Plasse,” Keaton said, taking the offered hand after a split second of hesitation. This was the girl with super strength, after all. “And yeah, he looked like he’d seen some things, but he’s a member of The Promise’s disciplinary force, so that’s probably natural. You tried talking to him though? I didn’t bother. We were here to get interviewed, so he probably just wanted to maintain some professional distance,” she said, shrugging. “I’m sure you’re fine though. You meant well, even if your question was a little nosy.”

Nosy? Was Natalie being nosy? Maybe she was. She wanted to share her thoughts with others and find out about them. After two years of no normal conversations, she was in a sense, craving them. But at the same time, she was very bad at them. Natalie didn’t reply, just looked a little sheepish and stared at her hands which were folded on her lap.

The intercom came on overhead, announcing that the four in the waiting room were free to go. However much Keaton was relieved to hear that she’d been cleared, she still felt a stab of alarm. Amelia—why hadn’t she been cleared? Should they wait for her, or was this something more?

The nearest guard betrayed nothing, and the hallway remained empty, as far as Keaton could tell. But, if Amelia really got detained, she doubted that the police would let them all leave. They were witnesses, in one way or another, so maybe her interview was just dragging out. That could happen; Amelia hadn’t exactly been in a talking mood the last time Keaton had seen her.

Natalie saw that Keaton was still looking down the hall. She sussed that Keaton was wondering why Amelia wasn’t with them. Natalie leaned forward again and spoke in a hushed voice. “Remember. Amelia said she saw something weird in a classroom on the first day. I think we’re all clear, but what she knows might be helpful information in catching the killer.”

“True. I didn’t say anything about her telling us about that,” Keaton said, her voice dropping as well as she looked to Natalie. “Did you?”

“I left out the actual details but I told them she said something. It’s ultimately her decision how much she tells them. But we’re innocent. It’s not like we need to lie in order to protect each other. The truth is on our side. I’m just going to keep telling it if we’re asked any more questions by staff.”

Keaton stared at her for a second. Natalie was being practical, but was there a shade of willingness to hang others out to dry in there? At the moment, Keaton felt a certain loyalty to this group, having spent the last eventful day or so together, but that was in comparison to the loyalty she felt to the system aboard The Promise. Whatever system was running this ship, it was neither one Keaton had lived with on Earth nor one she’d wanted to be subjected to. That didn’t mean she owed loyalty to her fellow parahumans, but she certainly felt an air of a us-and-them situation, so Natalie’s words were a blunt reminder of reality.

“That makes sense,” Keaton said. “I deflected instead of lying. I doubt they’d let me out as fast if I had lied.”

Natalie wondered why Keaton would need to deflect. Between everyone leaving the crime scene, to Lynn’s paranoia, to even Keaton’s apparent skepticism of the staff, Natalie was starting to wonder if there was something they knew that she didn’t. Their paranoia was almost giving her a little herself. Natalie was no expert on anything. Person A beats a dog for two years and then person B gives it a bath and a treat, the dog is inevitably going to trust person B. But was it right to do so?

Before she could communicate any of this to Keaton, Archie asked the group as a collective if they wanted to get something to eat. Natalie was admittedly scared of being so close to Lynn for that long but she did want to ease the bad blood between them, however it got this bad. Natalie nodded at Archie, and walked behind him and Lynn as they left the waiting room.

“Food sounds good,” Keaton said, glancing at what was left of the donuts Archie was eating. Whether or not she was actually hungry didn’t even matter—she just wanted to get out of here. Maybe try and take her mind off this all while she was at it, if that was even possible.

At Lynn’s question, Keaton looked at the girl, her eyes widening slightly when she saw the smoke curling off her hair, which was now a mix of bright red and blue. Her powers included changing her hair color, apparently, but why? Was it a completely separate power? Was she one of those people who’d won the power lottery and drawn a pack of abilities instead of just one?

Keaton made a mental note to ask about that later, preferably in a way that didn’t set Lynn off. “Breakfast or brunch, so pancakes?” she said, standing from her seat. “There’s a waffle house around here right?”

---

Though he had only lived on the station for a short time now, Archie had very quickly memorized that station's layout. It wasn't exactly a big place, after all. For what it was, as a space station? Enormous, but as school and training grounds? He was surprised that they had managed to fit a Best Buy in here. Not that he was particularly tech savvy. If there was one thing that Archie was good at though, it was sniffing out the best places to eat around. While roaming the sidewalks and street of the station a few days ago a nostalgic heart had led him to a small local called Café Kina. It had very quickly become one of his favorite places to eat.

It was very similar to a Chinese dim sum atmosphere, and perhaps that's why he loved it so much. One look at the absolutely enormous list meant that there were always so many foods to try, which Archie supposed was a necessity given that there were relatively few options aboard, but the whole place felt friendly. You would seat yourself, upon entering, or join a table if you were alone as he had been in the days before. A waitress comes by to refill tea and offer little snacks and desserts, and while reaching across the table to steal a bite might be frowned upon elsewhere, it was the normal here. The entire place seemed more friendly, in that sense. He remembered what he had overheard someone say in one of his previous visits: Friends don't let other friends order too much. It wasn't just a group of people talking over a meal—it was sharing.

The door of the café suddenly opens, and a silvery bell above the frame jingles to announce the arrival of a new customer. Or, customers in Archie's case. The maitre d', a young Asian woman, smiles at him- immediately recognizing the young man's tanned face and unkempt hair. She wordlessly points towards a window booth, and Archie nods with a bright smile for her benefit.

Archie grabbed a seat without much thought, and another person- a young Caucasian man this time, brings a teapot and several porcelain cups as company, one filled with white tea for him and the others empty. Archie was a romantic, and it was for this reason that he had found this place. It reminded him of home in a way. He would spend a lot of time in the all you can eat buffets and while this was certainly not that, it was similar enough to have drawn him in. It's almost frustrating that the thought of home isn't as heartwarming or exciting as it used to be; instead, the mere thought of visiting that little island again make him painfully nervous, very different from how he had felt throughout his whole life up until a few weeks ago.

All the shock has worn off now, and, having regained a somewhat clearer mind, Archie notices that a cautious barrier has intruded into his heart and mind, ready to intervene. Perhaps that's what happened when you spent your entire life in one place and then were suddenly thrust into outer space, ruined the first day, and discovered a dead body. It was like being roused from an amnesic dream— Archie remembers why he he was here in the first place, why he had been moved away from his home. It had certainly ensured a fresh start to a new life, and when he looked around himself it was more and more clear that this was his new home. There was nothing left for him on Earth.

Curiously enough, the thought of home is often associated with the thought of family. Having lost so many people in his life due to a variety of reasons, Archie had become incredibly familiar with the phrases 'home is not a location, it's a feeling', and that 'friends are family that you choose.' He watched Lynn enter first, with Natalie and Keaton just behind her, and realizes in that moment that they're probably the closest he's got aboard. It was a simple thing, but it’s also a lovely thought.

Archie's gaze didn't waver from them until they are seated by him in the booth. He quickly snatches the teapot next to him and pours the steaming tea into an empty cup, sliding it over to Lynn- since she had sat down first. He had come to the realization that all of Lynn's movements since leaving the station had been stilted somewhat, marred by... nervousness? Caution? At least, more so than usual. The realization that this gang of misfits was all he had in the world (and off it) had taken from his own liquidity some. Well, at least this put them on equal footing. May takes a deep breath and gathers herself, inwardly scolding the heart now singing wildly in her chest, making itself known in the most obnoxious way possible.

"Thanks for uh, looking out for me." he says quietly, giving Lynn a small smile. "Again."

He's unsure of what to say after that, but thankfully another waitress drops some menus off for them. This is a good thing, because it made him feel less awkward and gave them something to focus on. He wanted so badly to earn this group's friendship, and he felt like he had been making great strides with Natalie, but Keaton and Lynn? Still mysterious And, if he did remember correctly from the first day, the one thing she and Archie indisputably shared was a love for food.

"How did your inter- what was the word, interview right? How did your interview go?" Archie said, intermittently looking up between Lynn, Natalie, and Keaton from his menu, offering the question to any the would like to answer.

---

@Typical@Silver Carrot@He Who Walks Behind

Lynn

Archie had seemed to know where he was going, which Lynn wondered if that was some subset of his powers or something. Don't lizards have like internal compasses and shit? Lynn thought. Maybe that was birds. Lynn studied him from behind as he walked in and got a table, smiling at the hostess. No, wait, he just had time to walk around when I was in the hospital. Lynn frowned, making the scar across her nose deepen a bit. I don't like this place. It was big and open and Archie had gotten them a booth in the middle of the restaurant, which Lynn grimaced at. She sat on his side - figuring it was probably wise not to sit next to Natalie, all things considered - halfway off the booth seat, with her back pressed up against it. She was situated where she could see the restaurant's entrance from where she sat, although the flurry of commotion from behind her made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

This white guy then brought tea, which made Lynn blink. She had never had hot tea. The guy reached across her to put it down before Archie and Lynn visibly tensed for a minute before unclenching her jaw and exhaling slowly. It's different here. Lynn grabbed her hot tea after Archie passed it to her, muttering a thanks as she looked down into the liquid. It stayed boiling hot in her hands, which didn't bother her, but Lynn had no idea if that would affect the flavor or whatever. She sipped on it and wrinkled her nose. Ugh. Lynn sat it down but kept a hand near it, her small fingers drumming the table. Archie said thanks for looking out for him, and Lynn glanced back at him for a moment, taking her eyes off the door. Lynn had two simultaneous thoughts, each furiously vying for her attention: He stayed with the snitch and Archie is not Che. Lynn opened her mouth and closed it. "Yeah," she said back, lamely even to her. She didn't know what to say to shit like that. Lynn wasn't watching out for them, not really. If they got taken down, Lynn's ass was as good as dead. And she figured the clock was already ticking - especially with Amelia taking her sweet, sweet time back in the station - but Lynn wasn't one to roll over and die. Lynn looked up at Keaton to ask how her powers worked but closed her mouth. Cell phones. Cara's listening. Lynn chewed on her lip as she opened up the menu, not recognizing or knowing how to pronounce anything on the menu. Isn't there General Tso's or some shit? Lynn wondered. What was a dim sum? She didn't really care. She was real hungry, and the bright side to realizing the clock was ticking was that she didn't need to worry about conserving credits. Lynn for a moment considered telling them to bring out enough food for one day in Beijing and that she'd foot the bill, but decided against it.

Archie asked them how the interview went, which did admittedly pique Lynn's interest. Spoons is about to start sweating out some of those steroids, Lynn thought, her dancing fingers an inch away from her teacup, looking back over at the two of them. Now this was where the game got dangerous. They were listening. They had to be. Or maybe being followed or something. The oh-so-friendly AI peeking out around every corner. No way. If Lynn even had a cell phone, she would've snapped it in half the minute she heard that robot chatter. But Gennedy had admitted it had blind spots. Unless he's really setting us up, Lynn thought, They've got blind spots in the woods. Could the whole thing have been charades? Lynn gave it a moment's thought. Maybe the heartless Gen Man was letting them go so they'd go off in the woods, where it was "camera-free", and get caught plotting. It was possible. But Lynn didn't see the point. If they wanted to pin a case on her, they could just go ahead and do it. Not like she had a lawyer to defend herself. The boy was what swayed her. They've got that new puppy running around, nipping at their heels. No way he keeps his trap shut about that. "Interrogation," Lynn said. "Wouldn't give me a lawyer and bent a table in half to prove a point." Lynn took a drink of her tea just to feel something boiling hot rush down her throat. She had a sober feeling that a collar and the cold was coming soon. They already had that on tape in the room, so none of this was damning to Lynn. She figured there might be a chance of swaying a few of them with how fucked things were here - with Keaton, Lynn thought she might be able to chain together what was happening. Archie happens to flip out on the first day? There's a guy who sneaks onto Star Wars Alcatraz? And they carved up the fucking biology teacher worse than anyone I've seen. Lynn coughed on her tea for a second, remembering something she'd forgotten. Almost...worse. She put her cup down, wiping her mouth off with the back of her sleeve. "You know. The way you're supposed to treat kids. Because they have nobody to fucking defend them." Lynn shook her head, her tea bubbling as she gripped it in her hand, staring down at the liquid, eyes off the door for a moment. "Gennedy. What a fuckin' traitor."

Lynn let her eyes flicker between them. If Natalie had narc'ed, she'd get proper justice for it at some point, but Lynn had to admit that the bubbling rage down in her stomach for Spoons spoon-feeding the feds all they needed to give Lynn the needle was not the biggest problem on their hands. This shit was like, institutional. Even if Lynn rotisserie'd Spoons to prove a point, there'd be another Spoons tomorrow. Because nobody got it. They didn't get it. They can do whatever they want to us. Archie sat next to her, a full foot taller than her. He was next on the chopping block, or maybe Spoons. Tough call. Keaton would probably be able to squirrel away if they believed she knew nothing, which was pretty unlikely. She was like the AskJeeves of people. In juvy, Lynn would've been gunning for her from the get-go. Keaton was like the ultimate human narc, but Lynn's gut told her Keaton hadn't said anything. She'd been playing it close to her chest in the station. Amelia screamed flight risk if ever there was one. If it was her, she'd trigger the lizard, set him up for some carnage they wanted to cause anyway, and then give him the needle in the name of public safety. He'd probably take her or Spoons in the process. Then it was easy to scramble enough evidence to kangaroo court the others. Easy. More needles than the trash can at a methadone clinic. Tick tock, drip drop, they all fall down.

The waiter came back by and Lynn pointed at like three separate dishes, entirely unsure of what they were, but figured there'd be at least one decent thing amongst them. She didn't particularly care what she ate, for once.

And the whole time, there was a butcher running around. She thought of the girl in the dress. She would've smiled back at Lucy. Lynn chewed on her lip. But Gennedy could break the smile off her face and never go to court.

---

After the all the rounds of questioning were all wrapped up, Radvi was excused from the security station to carry on with his midday patrol. Before beginning his loop around however, he’d decided something to eat was in order. Cup of coffee’s nice, but it’s not a whole day’s worth. Griffin had excused himself from accompanying Radvi to do… something else, he wasn’t really sure. But that was fine.

There was a nice little place he frequented called the High Rise. A pleasant, nothing-fancy, generous-with-its-open-hours breakfast spot, operated by a supposedly ex-parahuman woman named Noelle. Both of her arms were gone and replaced with advanced prosthetics. How that all happened, Radvi didn’t know. He never pressed her about it.

All he ordered was a small hot chocolate and a bagel with cream cheese and strawberry filling. He often didn’t eat much for most meals. He found a seat at an empty table - of which there were quite a few - and sat down to enjoy his meal, in relatively short order. He decided to check his phone for the morning news.


And a little bit below that...


It would make sense that Gennedy would want the removal of that roller skating fool to greatly overshadow any mention of Coleman’s sudden disappearance. Fog up the real goings on with some boasting about getting rid of someone who, yes, kicked a student’s face and set off a very unpleasant event, but in the end did nothing of note afterwards, save run around leaving his graffiti all over the station. Radvi didn’t want him sticking around anymore than the next guy, but spacing him? He still felt a knot in his gut over it, but the feeling was soon interrupted.

“Agent Radvi.”

Radvi raised his head upward, his attention turned to a pair of monochromatic figures who’d just… showed up out of nowhere, when he wasn’t looking. Two colorless, faceless men, dressed in opposing suits and counter-opposing ties. They stood before the table with their hands behind their backs, in what could very well have been perfect symmetry.

“Haven’t seen you two in a while.” Radvi said, in some sense of disbelief. Mister Black and Mister White were rarely seen outside of their office… wherever the hell their office was in the first place. They were probably two of the most secretive people on the whole station, only ever talking to a scant few random people, like a handful of staff or a scant few students, the latter of which weren’t always signed up for their counseling sessions. Honestly, it barely seemed like they worked on the Promise at all.

“We have been preoccupied.” White said.

“Apologies for our absence.” Black added.

“It’s fine but, I mean-” Radvi began, “H-how does student counseling keep you that busy?”

The duo simply looked at each other without a word. Radvi sat there, waiting for an answer, but didn’t receive one. After a moment of silence had passed, he decided to just push ahead and say to them, “Forget it, do you need something?”

“Not at all. We are simply here to ‘check in’, as it were.”

“We were present for your questioning those five students this morning.”

“Not perceived by any parties present at the time, however.”

“You’ll have to forgive us for that.”

“Y-...” Radvi stammered, “Yeah, sure, fine. What exactly do you know about all this, as it stands?”

“It would seem that the most noteworthy events taking place on the Promise as of recent, have consistently involved the same collection of five students.”

“Last week’s ruckus, last night’s scare, all very unexpected and, dare we say, concerning for the station at large.”

“And all of this, with some unknown party operating in the shadows, if what Miss Nelson stated is to be believed.”

“Very exciting.”

“Very dangerous.”

“Okay, okay-” Radvi said, raising his hands in a halting gesture. “But what is your interest in all this?”

“Concern.”

“Curiosity.”

“The Promise’s continued stability.”

“The wellbeing of its inhabitants, parahuman and otherwise.”

“Our interests as counselors, and yours as an agent of the law, always end up being quite similar.”

“Wouldn’t you agree?”

“...Right.” Radvi replied, after a moment’s hesitation, “And yet you two will continue to be, just… non-participating bystanders?”

“For the most part, yes.”

“We’re not what you would call ‘men of action’.”

“Sure.” Radvi said, nodding. At that moment, the High Rise’s clerk, Noelle, came around towards the table the trio were all situated at. “All good here?” She asked, looking at Radvi, to which he nodded in affirmation, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. Noelle then turned her head towards Black and White then, saying to them, “And how are you two doing?”

“We’re just fine. Thank you, Miss Cambry.”

“How are the arms?”

“They’re doing just fine too.” Noelle replied, moving away from the table and back to the counter. As she did, Radvi returned his attention to the monochromatic duo. “Will that be all, then?” He asked, “I gotta get on patrol here in a bit.”

“Of course. Take care, Agent Radvi.”

“We’ll be seeing you again soon, we suspect.”

“Right.” Radvi replied with a nod, taking a bite out of his bagel as Black and White seemed to simply vanish, into thin air. And Radvi was left, just about alone, to his own devices, inside the High Rise.

---

Archie led the way to a quaint little cafe that exuded an air of Chinese dim sum. Keaton had checked the place out once during the past week, mostly as a means to try all the food options The Promise had to offer. Though she hadn’t yet exhausted the list, she’d been pleased to find that decent food was not something the station lacked. At this point, Keaton wouldn’t have been surprised if there were powers out there that boosted cooking ability.

The last time she’d been here, she’d ordered a pretty standard fried rice dish, having decided that she’d judge by the basics. As an L.A. native, Keaton liked to think of herself as someone well-versed in cultural food, be that Mediterranean, Asian, or Middle Eastern. Finding that such options were available to her on The Promise, then, gave her a pang of nostalgia for the cheap Chinese and Mexican options she had at home. Even worse was knowing that she couldn’t call it home anymore; The Promise was where she was trapped until further notice, until she passed whatever tests and trials the system had in store for her and was branded as ‘safe for society.’ That her trust in this system was now wavering didn’t help her situation, especially since there seemed to be nothing the system could do to help win back her trust. After all, it’d been marketed to her as a safe place with a zero-death record, but none of the officers at the station seemed surprised by the corpse that had washed up. Rather, they seemed to go about it like routine, neither announcing it to the station’s occupants nor asking the public to help them find the killer. The whole situation was hushed up, shrouded in secrets that only helped to further Keaton’s distrust.

Sitting down at the aisle seat beside Natalie, Keaton watched as Archie poured Lynn a cup of tea, slightly surprised he didn’t fill the other two cups while he was at it. Was this a sign of solidarity, a show of camaraderie against Natalie and for Lynn? Or was it just a lack of culture and mannerisms, a sign of a hard and lonely childhood? A lack of culture, probably, since Keaton figured she was likely rather sheltered compared to her current companions. While she wouldn’t have called her childhood ideal, it was more happy than fraught, especially in memory.

Picking up the teapot, Keaton filled the other two cups before setting the teapot aside and wrapping her fingers around the cup. It was warm, comforting even, for no apparent reason, but Keaton was fine with that for now. The station was behind her, hopefully, even if the corpse and the killer weren’t.

The waiter dropped off menus, which Keaton opened, looking over her options. Maybe she’d order soup. She could do with something warm. A glance from Lynn, though, prompted her to stare at the girl, but Lynn closed her mouth, dropping her eyes to her menu. Did she have a question? Something to say? Whatever it was, she was nervous, judging by how she chewed her lip. Keaton would ask her later, after food. Ask her alone. She was jumpy, and Keaton did damage control better one-on-one.

Archie opened the conversation with a question about their interviews, which Lynn answered, looking between the table. Her answer hinted that she’d been uncooperative, though Keaton opted to nod instead of smile at her note that she wasn’t provided a lawyer. Surely Lynn hadn’t expected a version of the American justice system up here, complete with judges and juries? At best, they had a room of surly-faced white-collars reviewing their cases. At worst, the police on the station were in charge of policing themselves.

“My interview went fine. I went last, so they already had a narrative in mind when they asked me questions. I mostly just agreed to whatever they were saying, and I recommended that they look at their files on me if they wanted more information,” Keaton said, shrugging. “The older dude that interviewed me said he didn’t read my file, and I believe him, but there’s no way they don’t have files on all of us.”

When the waiter arrived back, Keaton ordered a bowl of wonton soup before settling in and waiting for Natalie’s answer. They’d talked about their interviews briefly at the station, and Natalie said she’d left out the details, so hopefully she wouldn’t set Lynn off again. If anything, Keaton had been surprised at how little Natalie said she’d given away, considering her pro-police agenda the previous day. Perhaps she was more reasonable than Keaton had initially written her off as.

---

The stage had been set.

Weeks of planning were paying off, and slowly but surely the pieces were falling into place on her not so little game of chess. Setting a trap to capture the king was much easier to manage when the other side couldn't see your pieces. But, as with anything she was up against an entire organization. Industrialized education and rehabilitation. Down below she was legion, an army of one. Here in this little fishbowl that careened thought the ink darkness of space however, there was a distinct absence of manpower available to her.

Being invisible to the opponent was was a powerful tool, but it was nearly worthless if she could only make one move at a time. So she had set about solving this problem. The man she had abducted, Arthur Coleman, had been... somewhat useful to her. He hadn't known much, but enough to set her on the right trail. As if he had given a vulture the scent of rot. His security credentials had been taken and used, but she was smart enough to know that the powers that be would catch onto her meddling quickly if she did not continue to change the game. Maintaining her unseen advantage was imperative to her operation. She had set her trap while he was declared missing, tampering with seals, disabling some alarms, arming others, and most importantly- figuring out who would be added to her game. The man might be many, but if she could spread The Promise' power thin? Then she could really get to work.

When she dumped the corpse, she dumped his access card with it as to not rouse suspicion. There was no reason to search for something that wasn't missing, after all. She was counting on this fact, because her usages of his credentials could be tracked if someone were to look into them. The damage had already been done, though. All she needed to do was wait for her last confounding variable to be dealt with. See, a young woman had seen her when she was, erm... on the clock. She had kept tabs on this girl, and by extension the group that she fraternized with. A few other women, and a young man whom had all caused quite a mess on their first day. Her heart probably would've hummed at how similar they were to her- but she no longer had the anatomy. To her elation, they had been the unlucky to find the body she had dumped, and the girl that had seen her had yet to be released from Gennedy's questioning. She cracked a wicked smile in her mind's eye. Things were going swimmingly.

It was time for the games to begin. From her little hidey hole she chewed through her final set of wiring. She had done this several times over the past week, slowly lowering the resistance over several points. This, at least based upon her many hours spent reading electrician textbooks, would be enough to pop the breakers and disconnect the power that this particular branch of the tree powered- the penitentiary cell doors. When the carnage first began, a guard had pulled the emergency alarm- which instead sound in an entirely separate penitentiary facility. Guards would no doubt begin flocking to the entirely wrong section of The Promise- where she intended to seal them there so she could further her mission. They would eventually free themselves, and stop the escapees of course, but that was the plan from the beginning. Sometimes you had to sacrifice a few pawns to gain the absolute advantage- and in this case, the pawns being sacrificed weren't even hers to begin with. Now that is a sacrifice she is willing to make.

She could see the red caution light flashes of the lock below her as they released. Her plan finally falling into motion.

Game.

Set.

Match.

---

"Wouldn't give me a lawyer and bent a table in half to prove a point. You know. The way you're supposed to treat kids. Because they have nobody to fucking defend them... Gennedy. What a fuckin' traitor."

“My interview went fine. I went last, so they already had a narrative in mind when they asked me questions. I mostly just agreed to whatever they were saying, and I recommended that they look at their files on me if they wanted more information,”

Archie shifted some, making a face at Lynn's comment about Gennedy's behavior. "Shit, that sounds a lot like how dad used to be. Sorry you had to deal with that. At least the power was coolish, right?" His comment about the power was meant to be disarming, in that there was some sort of entertaining silver lining, but it probably came off as moronic more than it did anything else. Desperate to avoid Lynn's smoldering gaze, he shifted his eyes to Keaton and smiled a bit at the first part of her comment. "Well, I guess that makes your life easier, having the story already told and all. The files thing makes sense- hope my incident on the first day isn't too much of a red mark. Worst I've had up until now on any kind of record was a detention in 10th grade."

The waitress comes back at that moment to take his menu, and Archie's almost grateful for the distraction; unwillingly, they have arrived to a disconnect, and the momentary rift has left an awkward emptiness in his gut. His chest stirred, and his eyes wandered to the window for a moment. Archie shook his head and sighed. "I didn't, uh, say anything. Aside from that I saw it. Cause I dont know if-" the memory of Lynn's threats flashed in his mind's eye, and the rapidly warming tea in his hands reminded him that he would have to tread carefully. "Cause I don't know if you all saw it. Was dark and all and-"

Mercifully, the waitress returned once more. Archie let the words die in his throat and as the woman began to set the table with cute little dishes of food. Desperately trying to fill the awkward gap, Archie snatches a slice of pork stuffed dumplings while at the same time pushes a plate of sugar-coated fried dough in Keaton's direction. For the next few minutes, they stuff the silence with the sounds of their chewing and tinkling cutlery.

It was quaint, in that time. But something in Archie felt wrong, like he was standing in the low pressure eye of a hurricane. Dark and looming over him. It twisted his gut, and he would’ve dismissed the discomfort had another person not loudly busted into the restaurant. She was tall, wearing blue scrubs, and was built like a barn for a woman, sporting broad shoulders and a grizzled exterior. In a way she reminded him of Lynn, except this Lynn was brunette had just come back from a five year long gym session. Something about her wild eyes immediately put him on edge. He pushed away from the table, the chair scraping loudly and aggressively against the floor as he did so. He did not know who she was, but anyone with any knowledge of the crime world in the past ten years might recognize her as Salamandra- the figurehead of the infamous Los Angeles Fire Worms gang. The gang had long since lost their mascot, but Prison had made her no less infamous in her own right.

“Fuckin’ finally!” the woman singsonged with a harsh South African accent to her words. “Heard so fuckin’ much about this place from the guards.”

Archie turned his head to the window. There was screaming outside. A woman was being attacked by- god, he didn’t even know what it was. Some tall, shirtless figure, clad in an unreasonable amount of musculature, as if parts of him were fit to burst. His skin was obsidian, with the faintest hint of a metallic, navy blue gloss. But his head - there was the striking part. No skin, no meat, just a skull. Somehow a dull red, like a dimmed light. The skin around his neck seemed to fade as it went upward.

He grabbed the woman by her head with both of his hands, picking her up and slamming her against the window in freakish, brutal fashion. And he did it again, and several times more, until blood splattered over the cracks, and the woman fell quiet and limp. He then proceeded to raise her body above his head, as if wringing out a rag, opening his exposed jaw to let the woman’s blood drip into it. As he did, his skull began to brighten, shaking violently, veins detaching from it and floating freely. Once it had reached a great, crimson glow, he tossed the woman’s body aside like a rag doll. And he shrieked, like some unholy wraith.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” the woman shouted, “We get the day off, and he only thinks about ‘emself. I’m tryna get a meal too!” she hollered. In the distance Archie could see there were emergency lights. People were running. Archie’s flight instinct took over and he ran, his legs trying to take him away from here. He didn’t know where- just not here.

“Where do ya think you’re goin’?” the woman said, reaching forward and grabbing Archie by his pants collar and almost effortlessly pulling him back- sending him onto his ass but otherwise unharmed. His chest was on fire now. The woman cracked her knuckles against one another. “I dont plan to eat alone, and you look good enough ta eat.”

She turned her gaze to the rest of the room, her forearms super-heating as she did so. The very air around her arms contorted and waved off, and she looked down at them questionably, but did not seem to dwell on it for long. “I’m feelin’ a bit shy, so why dont you lot run off before the show starts.” she smiled and turned her head to address the occupants in every area of the room. “Cause you’ll fair better out there, with them, than in here with me.”

Natalie Ellis

---

---

"I only told them the truth," Natalie answered. "Didn't go into any real detail either." She hoped it would be left at that as Archie started talking. Natalie didn't meet the eyes of the other two. Everyone but her seemed to think it a good idea to be secretive. Why? What would that achieve? They had everything to gain by being honest and everything to lose by lying when they were completely innocent. Was there something that Natalie was missing? That she was too naive to understand? It was possible, but Natalie's mindset of a regular civilian with faith in the system was a valuable point of view, right?

The food came and Natalie was nervous to try it. She'd been very unadventurous in the week since she came here when it came to food. Lots of sandwiches for lunch. Dinner was usually fast food or canteen grub. This was her first time in a proper restaurant since she was fifteen. She took a dumpling, dipped it in the sauce and took a bite. She coughed once or twice and her eyes were wide in amazement, and glistening wet.

"This the best food I've eaten in a long time!" She choked out in a wavering voice as she ate the rest in one go. It was while she was chewing that she saw Archie tense, and could feel the change the atmosphere. She looked round, following his gaze in time to see the woman get attacked and, as far as she could tell, killed, by a large man with a skull for a head. Natalie violently shot out of her chair, sending it clattering to the floor, and backed away. She looked terrified. Here were people who were clearly dangerous, and a threat to her No. Nononono. She didn't want to hurt again. But it was clear from the feral look in her eyes and her poised stance, that while she was scared, any attempt to get closer to her would be like trying to grab a snarling wolf. She watched this new arrival with unblinking eyes, paying attention to everything she did and everything she said.