Lynn

The walk with Keaton was - well, not bad - Lynn supposed, although she felt awkward, shifting her weight, glancing over her shoulder every few steps. Subtly. You never wanted a tail to know you'd cottoned on. As best Lynn could tell, there was no invisible man trailing them, but even she was forced to admit she had pretty much no way of knowing. Can't Denim do her brain thing and figure it out? Lynn thought. She zoned out for a moment as Keaton was talking, wondering what her role in all this was. Denim's the ticket, Lynn realized, feeling a bit of the fire flicker out of her. I think she could solve this without me. I gotta....I gotta get my shit together. Their conversation was interesting, and Lynn enjoyed hearing more about Keaton. She was different. Real different. But cool. Not bad.

The mall was its own set of problems. The shopping malls that Lynn had frequented on Earth were considerably different from this one, in that this one had all of the lights on and that when you bought things here, you received a receipt. Lynn burned through another cigarette on the walk, feeling an itch crawling up her spine. What if Denim wants to go clothes shopping or something with me? Lynn wondered. Something about that seemed to make the four inches between their heights seem like a mile, something about it drew Lynn's eyes to the curves in Keaton's clothes. The only curves in Lynn's figure were the wrinkles on her hoodie, whose red had faded almost to the point of pinkness.

They entered the mall and the hustle and noise immediately struck Lynn. She'd been in either the steam-filled clamor of the kitchens, a boring ass classroom, or the woods for most of the past four weeks. There was too much to keep track of here, Lynn thought, and the doll in her backpack weighed heavy a stone. Her eyes danced from person to person, Lynn trying to suss them out as quickly as possible. Her fingers curled around the notebook in one pocket and her thin wallet in the other. Lynn was not a usual mark for pickpockets. Something about her demeanor, or perhaps a resting body temperature that could rotisserie-cook a misplaced hand, seemed to discourage it.

"Oh shit, they got those here," Lynn said. Her scowl melted off for a minute as she grinned, looking at the pretzel stand. "You ever had those? They're the shit." Lynn's stomaach rumbled, but she ignored it for the time being. She had managed to put on a fair bit of weight in the last few weeks, although she was sure if those know-nothing doctors tried to check back up on her they'd have more bitchy notes about her. So, Lynn swerved their appointments. "They're all - "

They approached the food court and Lynn's jackrabbit mind, already butterfly-boxing its way through her surroundings (making her heart race, making her knuckles itch, making her see glowing hands that one had glowing hands) took off at a dead sprint.

Archie was with a fucking cop.

Son of a bitch.

It was a set-up.

There was a girl seated next to him, smiling and tall, beautiful, glowing and smiling. Smiling. Why was she smiling so much? What kind of snake shit was she pulling? Her outfit was a puzzle Lynn couldn't have put together if she had all day and the picture on the back of the box. Lynn's gut twitched at that. Don't like her, Lynn thought, an assertion all of her emotional and mental faculties gathered to deliberate upon, voting in unanimous agreement in about two seconds. Why's she here? Why's she here with a fucking cop?.

Lynn had her fair share of times evading the police, or simply needing to reallocate some of the contents of a stranger's wallet and fade back into a crowd. In this regard, being, on average eight inches smaller than the average crowd-goer was particularly useful. Saying nothing to Keaton, Lynn flowed to the left, trying to keep as many bodies between herself and the table some thirty-five yards away as she could. Lynn passed into a nearby store, not particularly caring which one, and putting a few more physical barriers between herself and the fucking narc table. He's been taking lessons from Spoons, Lynn thought, feeling the taste of smoke rise up in the back of her throat. Her gut didn't like that either. Lynn didn't know if Keaton had followed her in or gone on ahead. She wanted to turn back and shout a warning but she figured Keaton was smart enough to handle herself. Lynn closed her eyes for just a moment and tried to recreate the picture in her head, if there'd been anything she could've noticed. The cop wasn't acting aggressively, he seemed to be having a friendly chat. Meant nothing. A spider will sweet-talk a fly. He'd looked normal otherwise, and Lynn didn't think she saw any other officers in the area, even plainsclothes ones. When you're dressed like a divorced dad and stare at anyone but me, you've got a badge tucked under the Hawaiian t-shirt. Lynn frowned, the scar across her nose deepening and darkening. Something. There'd been something off about him, something he'd been wearing, but Lynn hadn't gotten a good enough look at him to tell. Damnit. Didn't matter. Lynn kept one hand locked like a visegrip on her notes, ready to turn the evidence to ash if she saw a uniform.

Lynn looked around. She was in a Bath and Body works. As tense as Lynn was from almost running into their snare like a damned fool, she had to admit this place smelled really nice. Lynn cinched the backpack tighter to her shoulder and glanced to see if Keaton had accompanied her or not. She figured the clever move was for Keaton to split somewhere else. Lynn was going to try and see if there was a back way out from this store, or slip back out in the crowd as soon as she could. Lynn could feel all their eyes upon her - the cameras, the clerks, the attendees. A lesser facet of Lynn's parahuman abilities was an uncanny knack to draw store employees to her presence whenever she entered a retail establishment. Lynn picked up a candle, rolling it over in her hand. Her small fingers could barely fit around it. Smelled nice. Sweet. Like vanilla ice cream. Candles. Who'd had candles? Was it Lucy and her family? Or had it been the Martins, all four months that she'd been there? Lynn couldn't remember the house, in her mind's eye it seemed equally likely it was either one, but she remembered sitting on the floor at night, watching it dance and flicker. No, Lynn thought. It was Lucy. That was what got the Christmas fire going. She put the candle back, rubbing her fingers on her jeans to get the feeling of the smooth wax off her mind. Lynn needed to get clear of all this, and intended to linger just long enough to make a semi-convincing act for the cameras. This was stupid, Lynn thought, grinding her teeth. Why did I let Denim talk me into this shit? This was stupid, stupid, stupid. No way out of here. So many people.

"Can I help you?" a square in a store uniform asked. "We have - "

"No." Lynn said. "Go away."

Natalie Ellis

---

---

Natalie made her way straight to the mall as soon as she received the text to meet at Panda Express, though it took a while as she had almost reached the dorms at that point. She'd considered going back to change, but A) Change into what? She didn't have a large selection. Was probably already wearing her nicest outfit. And B) They would all be there. This was a group meetup. At catch-up as the four hadn't spoken properly in a month.

Arriving at the mall, she felt a little intimidated. It was loud, and it was busy, and the constant worry in the back of her mind that if she lost control here, it'd be a massacre was sticking in her head and keeping her tense. For such a large open space, Natalie was feeling claustrophobic.

She spotted the Panda Express, and not too far away from it, spotted a guard. The uniform drew her attention. Of course, then he saw who he was talking to. Some girl Natalie didn't recognize, and Archie! Nat got a lottle closer, wondering what was going on. It was only when she got closer that she saw that the girl was smiling, and the guard was Radvi, the one who'd questioned her about the body. He seemed nice and seemed like he took his job to serve and protect seriously. Natalie breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that something might be wrong of that Archie was in trouble, but it didn't look like that was the case.

As she got closer, she carried on looking around and to her surprise, saw Lynn, in some kind of perfume or candle shop, peering out from the side in the direction of the meeting place. Natalie didn't need Keaton's powers to suss that Lynn was hiding because of Radvi. Natalie sighed and shook her head. One day, Lynn's complex of acting guilty even when she was innocent was going to get her into trouble one day. Natalie headed into the candle shop and approached Lynn from behind with her arms folded. She wasn't going to broach the subject she wanted to talk to Lynn about. It wasn't the right time and besides, the window may have completely passed on that.

"Hey, Lynn," she greeted, with a slight smile on her face. "Thought I'd come and tell you that you kind of look like a stalker right now."

Lynn and Natalie

Lynn blinked, a jolt of annoyance passing over her before she even looked up to see who it was. If it were possible for a scowl to scowl, the ensuing expression would’ve been named after Lynn’s face in that moment. Spoons was there, looking put-together in her own trainwreck way. She’d grown her hair out and there was still the bags under her eyes - Lynn wondered if they were the sort that never really went away, that after a certain number of sleepless nights, they just wouldn’t come back - but she had everything else put together well. She looked put together. Why? Lynn thought. It roiled her, twisting that feeling in her gut she could not place but didn’t like. It was the Che feeling. Sorta. Some days.

“Spoons,” Lynn said idly, rolling the candle over in her hands. “Although, I guess if I look like a stalker, it means I’m not a good one.” Lynn considered something a bit more barbed in response - she didn’t particularly appreciate Natalie’s jab, but wasn’t about to start any shit. She had too much else going on at the moment. Lynn said nothing more, waiting to see what Natalie wanted to talk about.

”I...” Natalie trailed off. No. She felt she had to at least broach the subject. She suddenly looked apprehensive and sheepish, and more than a little sorrowful.”I saw your face that day, after the breakout. I don’t know what happened. It’s all hazy in my head, but...are you okay? I didn’t know when the right time to bring it up was, but I know that look. I know you...probably don’t want to talk about it. Maybe just forget I said anything.”

Lynn’s fingers dug into the candle, a faint shimmering heat dancing up around the candle wick. Lynn did not know what game Spoons was trying to play here. She had enough to deal with, what with Archie calling them to a brunch with one of Gennedy’s attack dogs, the fact she had evidence of the Promise’s crimes in her backpack, and just - everything else. Lynn looked up at Natalie, who seemed shivery and shaky. Was this a shakedown? Was she trying to blackmail her? Very few people had attempted to blackmail Lynn, for reasons obvious to most casual observers. Lynn didn’t think that was what she was going for her. Spoons would go and tell the cops what was going on before she tried to make a buck off Lynn herself. No, this was some sort of mind game. Lynn started to tell Natalie to fuck right off, but held her tongue. If I piss her off, she goes crying back to the rest of the Breakfast Club, and then the cop knows something up. Damn her. Damn this whole place. As she looked back down at the candle, keeping her heat steady, for a moment she thought her hands were glowing, burning like magma, like melted stars running down from under her rolled up sleeves. She blinked and they were scarred and pale. “The lizard smacked your head around too hard,” Lynn said calmly. “I’m fine. Just another fight.” Lynn kept her tone level, but her words were picked carefully. Nat had been the one to call the cops when they’d found that corpse - she may have suspected what happened with Salamandra, but since Gennedy hadn’t come knocking yet, she figured there was no proof. Lynn wasn’t about to give it to them. Lynn opened her mouth to say something more, a jab about Archie throwing her around, but the image of the lizard cradling Natalie and snarling at her flashed into her head and she shut her lips. Lynn smoothed the candle wax out and put it back on the shelf.

Natalie did notice Lynn stop and start talking a few times, and not looking very happy, but at the same time not exploding. Whether that was a conscious choice or something to do with Radvi, Nat couldn’t guess, but it was clear from her reply it was not something she had any intention of talking about. Nat scratched the back of her head and shrunk a little, eyes pointed down. ”Sorry. That’s been bothering me and I had to ask. Our first one on one conversation and I fuck it up, huh? Sorry...So….How have things been?”

Nat felt herself wincing after asking that.

Lynn walked through the store idly, needing some way to let loose her jitters. Lynn could be cold as icewater when she had to be, but this situation was eight different kinds of twitchy and Lynn had patience for none of them. “Yeah,” she said neutrally, trying once again to figure out Natalie’s angle on all this. If she asks me what my sign is, I’m going to tell her to grow a pair and just ask me out. This feels like speed-dating. “I mean, no ten foot tall lizard has tried to kill me in the last few weeks, so, you know. Decent.” Lynn did not particularly want to bare her heart to anyone, least of all Natalie. There was some angle here Lynn could not pin down, and she did not like it. She knows something, Lynn thought. She’s got some kind of power here and I don’t like it. Her gut nodded. “Been working. Going to classes every now and then.” Lynn tried to keep it shallow, letting her eyes glance back to the exit. Was Keaton coming to rescue her from this? Lynn didn’t know how you were supposed to have small talk with someone, least of all in this situation. She expected, just at the rate this day was going, for Archie to walk in with three more cops at any given moment. The sooner I can get clear of this place the better.

”Cool, cool,” Was Nat’s quiet reply. ”Same here, without the work...” Nat trailed off and let that conversation thread die a death. Instead she walked out the store, saw that Radvi was still with Archie and the other girl and groaned, before heading back into the store and stuffing her hands in her pockets. ”Probably not what you expect me to say given what I think you think of me, but I wish that guard would piss off. Wonder who the girl is, though. Never seen her before.”

Lynn raised an eyebrow. Spoons was pretty much spot on with that one. When did she start hating the cops? Lynn wondered. In the interrogation, maybe? Or just that guard specifically? Lynn couldn’t shake the feeling Natalie wanted something from her, that this was a slow subtle trick to wear her guard down and get her to let loose about something. “Agreed there,” Lynn said. “No idea who the girl is. She’s pretty, though.” There was no calculus to the last few words, and they seemed to stumble out Lynn’s lips before she realized. They were true. Lynn’s hair was shifting subtly from sunflower yellow to a bright orange, streaked with blue. “She’s no fish, though,” Lynn said, something she didn’t know until the words came out. The girl looked older than them - at least a bit older than Lynn, she wasn’t sure what it said on Spoon’s driver’s license - but she had that casual look to her, like she was home when all the rest of them looked like visitors. “Hope she minds her manners. Been a whole month, the lizard might be hungry.”

Lynn’s comment about the girl being pretty got an eyebrow raise from Nat, but she couldn’t say it wasn’t true. She was pretty. And she was sitting next to Archie. As much as Nat had tried really hard to not think about her feelings for Archie, she couldn’t deny that seeing a pretty girl sitting next to him and smiling made her feel...jealous? Was she jealous? Is this was jealousy felt like? She wanted to know who that girl was and what she was doing there, but she didn’t want this group reunion to happen while Radvi was there.

”I want to know who she is,” Natalie stated flatly. ”Is she with Radvi or with Archie?”

“Too young to be a cop,” Lynn said, feeling strangely as though she was the first time actually progressing a conversation with Natalie in a way she could comprehend. Not too late to make a necklace joke, though. If only I’d ducked into a jewelry store. “But probably old enough to be a narc. My money is she’s there with Boat Farmer.” The idea ruffled Lynn’s feathers a bit as well, although she wasn’t quite sure why. Archie, for his idiocy, like calling them to a meeting with a cop, seemed to Lynn like a decent person. And you still have those dead flowers in your room, don’t you, a voice nudged her, one with a lazy Argentine drawl. Lynn shook her head and grabbed a cheap candle and gave the employee some money, mainly to prove that, this once, she wasn’t stealing anything from anyone in the shopping mall. She didn’t even know what she’d need a candle for. “I only got a look at her for about three seconds, but I’d call daddy issues.” Lynn had seen leopard print shoes before, and usually not on well-adjusted individuals. At least, such was the trend in her old stomping grounds. “I’ll tell you that much.” Lynn was surprised she remembered so much of the girl’s outfit. Lynn normally had a sharp memory - it was necessary to not get jumped - but usually not things like that. Whether somebody was walking with a holster limp, or whether they kept their hands in their pockets, or whether they had tweaker eyes. She didn’t care about what brand someone was wearing. Did she? She couldn’t shake it. The girl was taller than her by far, smiling and...ugh. Christ, if this station is making me go soft, that’s one more thing I’ll kick Gennedy’s ass for.

Natalie exhaled a reply, and tutted as her brow furrowed. After a second, she took her hands out of her pockets. ”I’m gonna go over there. I can’t take this. I want to know who she is and what they’re talking about. I’ll try to get Radvi to move along politely. Where’s Keaton?”

Lynn was pleasantly surprised by this turn of events but didn’t want to needlessly piss off Spoons. Sure, she thought it would’ve been really funny, but she needed to mosey on away from here, and that necessitated being nice for a while longer. “No idea,” Lynn said, with half truth and total confidence. “I’m probably heading out.” There was no way she wanted to go to this meeting now. Not if a cop was sniffing around. Lynn would make her way for the far side of the mall and then make the hell away from all this craziness. This mall was a deathtrap between Archie and Natalie, and Lynn was starting to get tired of blowing holes in restaurants - in a flash incinerated, all four, burned to . “Tell the new girl hey for me.”

Nat stopped and turned to Lynn. For a little while the two of them had kinda gotten along. It was a little bit sad that Lynn wouldn’t meet up with the rest of them, but Nat understood why she wouldn’t want to meet up. ”That’s a shame but ok. I understand. I really hope this isn’t the last time we’ll talk on kinda good terms. See you.” Natalie replied, before heading off in the direction of Panda Express.

“Later,” Lynn muttered, watching Natalie leave. As per usual, Spoons was bending her expectations around about the same way she bent spoons. A part of Lynn wanted to go along and hang with everyone, but the rest of her was louder. They’re already going back to a Chinese restaurant together, for fuck’s sake, Lynn thought, thinking of fists reaching up, smashing your side, your hip, your leg, your - the last time, and not particularly wishing to relive any of it. She stayed in the candle store for a minute more, figuring by now Keaton had either gotten scarce or went on ahead. Denim would keep her mouth shut, but she was sure Natalie would tell them Lynn was around. “And then they’ll rope me into whatever bullshit’s going on this time,” Lynn muttered. She wasn’t sure how she’d dodged a hit from the Promise yet, but she was not looking for another shitshow. There was too much at stake. If she’d been able to ditch the doll back at her dorm earlier, then maybe, if Archie hadn’t called them to a meeting with a cop, then maybe. But not now. Don’t be weak, Lynn told herself, walking out the candle store and moving away from the food court casually but quickly. [/i] It won’t end well, anyway. [/i] The twisting feeling in her gut had been intrigued by Natalie’s curiosity, and wanted to know more about this new girl as well, but Lynn’s mind stomped it out. There’s already too much shit I don’t understand with Archie and Nat without adding a new person to the mix.

Lynn’s stomach rumbled with hunger, prompting a string of profanities. She’d just polished off those leftovers thirty minutes ago. Lynn shook her head. Well, Keaton had said to be normal. She had to admit it looked suspect as hell if she walked in, met Natalie in a shop neither of them had any business being in, and then bounced.

“Son of a bitch,” Lynn muttered, rubbing at her forehead and stepping in line to the pretzel store. She was going to take out her anger on these pretzels, and then Auntie Em herself.

Archie

---

"Okay, okay. Take a big breath... So, how about we chat over some food? I'd wait until after but I'm starving. Is that okay? It should only take a minute. Go sit, loverboy. I'll be there soon."

Archie glanced between the woman and the growing Panda Express line behind her, and nodded wordlessly. He understood the need for food more than most teenage men, given his condition and all. While he was certainly desperate, he was not selfish enough to pester someone when they absolutely owed him nothing. Especially a stranger of all things. He nodded, incredibly embarrassed that she had picked his phone up for him like the child he was, and ducked away- just about scurrying over to the table she had nodded to for him to sit at. A few minutes later she rejoined him just as she said she would with a tray of Chinese food and a knowing smile on her face. Archie realized how nice she was, considering he had just about crashed her dinner. He knew a lot of people back home who wouldn't even look his way because he didn't have much in the ways of money.

"So, what's your name? How long have you been aboard The Promise?"

"Oh, uh-" Archie said, looking down at his phone briefly. He had opened Natalie's profile on his phone and had been debating between trying to free-ball a message or throw his whole phone away and had spent the whole past five minutes simply staring at her number. "Sorry," he said, fumbling for the power button and turning his phone off so Nat's profile picture didn't distract him. "I'm Archie. Archie Anderson." he explained, a sheepish smile forming on his face. He extended his hand for her to shake. "I've been aboard about a month and a half. The doctors back home said I gots a condition and all."

She was pretty. And nice. Oh god was he accidentally flirting? He's sitting here bent out of shape over one girl and somehow telling jokes to another in the same breath. This is why you got your ass kicked in 8th grade he thought to himself. He was an idiot. A grade A idiot with too big of a heart and mouth and too small of a mind. His mother would've probably told him that he was just like his father, which was not a good thing because his father hadn't been all that faithful. Among other reasons for why being like his dad wasn't exactly the best. Archie snapped out of his train of thought before he spaced out too much and weirded her out. "And you? It's nice to meet you."

Around the time he finished speaking, another soul joined the fray. They announced their presence suddenly from behind him, and it's so mild and civil that he actually knocks his poor phone off the table with his arm as he twists around- eyes wide in alarm in case that it's Natalie and oh god oh fuck his heart is beating out of his chest again. Archie recognized him almost as soon as he turned around as Officer Radvi, the man who had interviewed him after his unfortunate flower collecting trip. His eyes flash to the ground where his phone still remained and he stooped over to pick it up before Eli can show him how to properly handle the device again, thanking the god above that the screen isn't cracked (somehow). "Officer Radvi, sir." He greets, pasting a smile onto his face to hide his embarrassment. As he looked up to Radvi he happened to catch a glance of Natalie's steadily approaching form and he felt his heart just about jump into his throat. Now, yes, this reaction might be fairly elementary to some- but Archie was not a man who had much if any experience when it came to dealing with emotions. His surrogate father's way of helping him get over his father's death was taking him fishing with a shotgun and his way of helping Archie get over a bad day was smacking him upside the head with a shovel for slacking off at work.

He had never really cared about girls as anything more than people and perhaps that's why interacting with them up until this point had been so easy. Yet one offbeat with Natalie and it was like she was some whole new, strange, exotic, beautiful species that he had never experienced before. She drew him, but he had learned from a young age that pretty colors and beautiful things oftentimes meant they were poisonous. Or was it venomous? Winky had always told him 'If I bite you and you die, Im venomous. If I bite you and I die, you're poisonous' and it had still yet to fully click with him. Fuck it, bad for his health.

If the way his heart was beating was anything to go by, Natalie was certainly not doing his heart any favors. Eli and Radvi probably heard the literal war drum that was in his chest when his eyes broke away from Natalie's approaching form and locked eyes with Eli. His mouth had a smile but his eyes were terrified. Like some gigantic monster was barreling towards him and if he ran he was dead for sure. He was such a wimp, a part of him thought in a moment of clarity, as if sitting back and observing the situation unfolding. He spat back at that part of him, reminding it that Natalie could probably crush his head like a watermelon without a thought. His hidden observer stirred at that, and he was briefly left wondering if that was terrifying or sexy.

Oh, right. Eli. He was staring at Eli. Fuck. He made a noise that sounded something like a deflating whoopie cushion. "That's her." was all he could muster up, his words failing him for the umpteenth time that day.

E L I

---

Eli decided to chow down on some of her meal as she gave the guy some time to speak. She looked up at him as she chewed, a casual expression on her face. “Oh, uh,” He began, but he was staring at the screen of his phone with a blank expression. Eli glanced between the look in his eyes, the slightly agape mouth, and the tense way he was holding his phone. She guessed that he’d been staring at the messaging app; maybe at the girl’s empty inbox. “Sorry.” He said as he put his phone away and looked up at her. Although it felt like he wasn’t really looking at her. His eyes had this faraway look to them.

“I'm Archie. Archie Anderson." He grinned sheepishly. Eli took his hand, giving it a gentle shake. One side of her lips curled into an amused smile as she did so. "I've been aboard about a month and a half. The doctors back home said I gots a condition and all." Eli grinned and shook her head at his joke. Didn’t everyone have a “condition” on this boat?

She noticed the faraway look in his eyes turn into panick and her eyebrows rose slightly in an expression of concern. What is this guy thinking? He doesn’t think I’m hitting on him, right?

“And you? It's nice to meet you.”

Eli smiled and nodded her head as a subtle bow. She opened her mouth to introduce herself, but was stopped short by the arrival of none other but Radvi. She stared at the officer for a moment, barely noticing that Archie had scattered his phone once more. After all the time Eli spent searching for Radvi, he was going to show up at the mall? With his fancy tech glasses and casual smile. As if he didn’t know Eli had a million questions to ask him.

“Officer Radvi, sir.” Her new buddy Archie said after grabbing his phone from the ground. Eli glanced between the two. How did these two know each other? Archie must be quite a little troublemaker if he had already met one of The Promise’s finest.

Eli took a moment to give Radvi a confused look before shrugging it off. “You’re a hard man to find, Radvi.” She felt no difference between calling him Officer Radvi and Radvi. They were two in the same. “Your cheek is looking better. Would you like to grab a coffee tomorrow to catch up?”

She was just about to mention the blue goop when she noticed Archie staring past Radvi. Her eyes followed his gaze to a girl only a little their junior walking towards them. She had raven black hair, a short but lean build, and walked like she was bearing a heavy weight on her shoulders. Her clothes were dark, but she wore it in a way that made it work. She was a dark type of beautiful, and she could definitely picture Archie with this girl.

When her eyes turned to lock with Archie’s, Eli worried for a moment if he was going to pass out. From far away he would appear to be having a casual chat, but up close she could see how scared he was. He made a noise that sounded like all of the air rushed out of his lungs and spoke. Thank god he didn’t pass out. “That’s her.”

Eli couldn’t help but smile. Love. This guy’s in love. Probably his first, by the looks of it. The first time Eli felt in love with someone, which was a loong, long time ago, she’d felt like there were butterflies in her stomach and a bomb in her heart set to explode in t-minus one second. God, this is painful to see. How can I help this guy out? I don’t know anything about this girl, and by the looks of it I only have a minute to give him advice.

She decided to just tell him what she wished someone had told her a long time ago. “Look, Archie. You’re never going to know if she likes you unless you tell her how you feel.” She leaned in a little so he could hear her clearly.

“Be yourself around her. And be confident too. Girls like guys that are sure about how they feel. You just need to show her. Get her alone, somewhere peaceful, tell her that you feel something towards her, and ask her out.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m Eli by the way. I wish you all of the luck in the world. She’ll say yes. I can feel it in my bones.”

She slowly sat back in her chair and took a bite of her food. Her eyes glanced up at Radvi and she hoped that he understood the situation as well. If he didn’t, then he would in a moment. Hopefully he would respond to her earlier comments.

---

Keaton didn’t like calling herself chatty, but if she was honest, she could be. Spending a lot of time talking to people did that. With most people she’d talked to in the last few weeks, though, Keaton had to constantly stay aware of what she was saying, picking and choosing her words so that they’d feel comfortable enough to open up to her. Lynn was different. Around her, Keaton could be honest, be herself and prattle on about whatever was on her mind as long as it was within reason. Sure Lynn seemed to zone out a few times while Keaton talked, but Keaton didn’t mind. Hearing about her classes and everyday going-ons was bound to get old at one point, and Keaton only had to keep up the conversation until they reached the mall.

During the past few weeks, Keaton had gone to the mall quite a few times. The number of people cycling through every day made it a good spot to meet new people, and the stores and food court gave Keaton excuses to stick around the place. In terms of actually shopping, Keaton had bought only a few basics, including another denim jacket to replace the one at the back of her closet. Most of her money went to buying food when she hung around the mall, which was fine by her. There was nothing for her to save up for around The Promise, so although she retained a habit of saving a portion of her paycheck, the portion was small enough that she had some money to go around.

When Lynn pointed out the Auntie Anne’s, a grin lighting her face, Keaton was a bit surprised. Of all the foods that Lynn could have had a soft spot for, it was pretzels? Something in the past, then.

Unfortunately, Keaton didn’t get too long to dwell on it, with Lynn sprinting away before she finished her sentence. Looking ahead, Keaton saw the reason behind her anger: Archie, seated beside a pretty girl, was being approached by Radvi, of all people. Her surprise was replaced by fear as she stared at the cop, uniform and all. He was on duty, so why was he talking to Archie? And who was that girl beside Archie? She knew Radvi, but she was a civilian, not a cop. What was her connection to the two then? Had Keaton and Lynn been found out? The invisible man, realizing he’d been made, had decided to turn them in and cut his losses?

Exhaling, Keaton forced herself to take a step back mentally. There were more questions to ask than the ones she couldn’t get answers to. Judging by his surprise, Archie hadn’t expected Radvi, and he didn’t know the girl well either. The handshake—he met her just now. The girl was surprised too—knew Radvi, but wasn’t in league with him. Since Radvi’s glasses covered his eyes, and Keaton couldn’t get a good read on him, but his lack of reinforcements said he wasn’t there to bring in Archie, wasn’t there because Archie was. A coincidence? How utterly convenient.

Keaton relaxed a bit, looking around for where Lynn had gone. Instead, she spotted Natalie, who seemed to be heading towards a Bath & Body Works, of all places. Tracing the direction she was heading in allowed Keaton to spot Lynn, whose almost unnaturally yellow hair gave her away despite the fact that Keaton could barely see her behind the display shelves. The two started talking, and Keaton figured she’d give them some space. The less Lynn had to focus on at once, the better. Instead, Keaton headed for the Auntie Anne’s, placing an order for a pretzel bucket. If Lynn didn’t eat it all, maybe Keaton could get her to share it with the others. That was a big maybe, but the headway she was making with Lynn gave her hope.

Thanking the employee as she picked up the bucket of pretzel segments, Keaton turned and spotted Lynn heading over. With a grin, she walked over and pushed the bucket into Lynn’s hands. “Here, and Archie’s not snitching on us. Radvi, the cop, is here by coincidence, so we’re in the clear, and the girl sitting next to Archie is someone he just met. Hunches,” she said, shrugging before flashing Lynn a wry smile. “What do you say we go over there and try getting a leg up on the cops? Our text messages say we’re meeting Archie, so we have an excuse—and an obligation to show our faces now that we're in the mall.”

The last part what somewhat of an excuse, but Keaton didn't want Lynn running off again. This was the first time in a long while that the group had gotten together, and though there'd been rifts in the past, they'd been through a bit too much together to pretend to be strangers. Perhaps it was a desire to connect with the few people who could relate to the experiences she'd had so far, or perhaps it was her wanting to seek comfort in a friend group and do regular friend group things. Either way, Keaton wanted Lynn around for it, especially considering that she and Natalie seemed to have made up somewhat minutes ago. It was a bit selfish, but Keaton doubted that she'd get another chance to get Lynn in the mall again. In fact, if Lynn left associating the mall with patrolling cops, Keaton doubted whether she'd ever willingly step foot in the mall again, so a little selfishness was warranted right now.

Natalie Ellis

---

---

Natalie arrived at the group. Archie looked even more nervous than usual, the girl beside him was happily eating food and Radvi was also there. She decided to tackle this in order. This was supposed to be a meeting between the group of her, Archie, Keaton and Lynn. Who was this new girl? And why was she talking to Archie? Nat turned to her, gave what was to Natalie a smile (her lack of social confidence or people skills was at complete odds with her general appearance. Perhaps she wore lots of makeup so people would think she had it together) and offered her hand.

"Hi, I'm Natalie. I don't think we've ever met. You are?"

Lynn

Keaton was there with pretzels, making Lynn's mind run through its typical thousand-thoughts-a-second scurry to make sense of things. Lynn had missed her - how? Was Keaton fucking with her? And offering her the pretzels was - well, Lynn wasn't entirely sure what to make of that. You had to be careful with stuff with like that. Now, Lynn owed Keaton. It was small. It was a favor. But nobody ever starts off putting the house down as collateral. You get trapped and tangled in the little stuff, and then suddenly someone needs a favor, and now there's no way out, and they've got the leverage. Was that Keaton's move? As much sense as it made to the cold part of Lynn's mind, the part that did sit-ups on a concrete floor to pass the time in juvy and swapped cigarettes with street rats, sitting on a curb, she couldn't quite square it to Keaton. Keaton had made a good point, in that now they had to show their faces. As Lynn grabbed the flickering, fiery part of her that said to get the fuck out of here, that Radvi was bad news, that there was a doll heavier than Spoons' psych dossier weighing in her backpack, but Keaton was right. She had to be cold as icewater. They'd already been spotted, thanks to Spoons, and if they scurried now, it looked guilty as all hell. Lynn hated she hadn't considered that. There's different rules here, and if I don't learn them they'll be scratching my arm with the needle looking for a vein here soon.

She knows how to play me too, damnit, Lynn thought. "Get a leg up on the cops" was a pretty tantalizing offer to Lynn, prompting a smirk at the corner of her chapped lips. And beyond all that - which Lynn was not dismissing, to clarify - Keaton had gotten her the pretzels. The line was some five minutes long. So when Lynn had split, she'd....gotten in line to get some pretzels. Almost immediately. It was a conscious, deliberate choice to acquire these pretzels. Just because Lynn mentioned them. Lynn could not recall any instance of generosity that would have merited buying these pretzels in return. Lynn did not like the idea of her destiny being chained to anyone else's - not again - and was all too aware of the hundred ways Keaton could stab her in the back. This bitch could be walking me over now to set me up, Lynn thought. She tells Radvi to check my bag and it's all over. That was what Lynn would do, if she had to knock a chess piece off the board. I'd tell him that I was forcing her to help, that I said I threatened her. And the other snakes would come slithering out the grass to say that I had, that I'd threatened them before. It made sense. For a moment, it clenched her fist in her pocket, and made her want to knock the pretzels out of Keaton's hand and walk away.

Instead Lynn took a deep breath (her hair and eyes glowed as if someone had fanned a campfire) and grabbed the pretzels. Besides, if that happens, I will burn Keaton's face so badly she'll have to wear one of those Vader suits to get someone to fuck her. They'll have to do it through those breathing tube holes or whatever.

They were warm, and salty, and Keaton had balled out. She'd gotten like every kind in there. This was the shit. This was pretty much the best food option you could get a mall, in Lynn's years of skulking around shopping malls looking for wallets that needed reappropriating. Sbarro would give you some severe problems thirty to forty five minutes after consumption, Panda Express was cold like forty percent of the time, but pretzels were steady. They were there. There was the cinnamon kind - Lynn's favorite - and then regular pretzel bites, and the hot dog ones, which were good for protein and stuff Lynn figured. Lynn glanced up at Keaton, chewing on her lip. Sometimes, when Keaton did stuff like this, or when Keaton asked Lynn how her classes were or they had their chats, it...Lynn felt dumb. Or small. Like Keaton was playing her. Like Keaton had figured something out about her. It made Lynn feel uneasy, but what Keaton had said made sense. She's fucked at this point if it goes south, Lynn said. Even if she pulls some Judas shit, she's going down too. She has to know that. Lynn did not know if she could trust Keaton - actually, she did. She knew she couldn't. But she could trust Keaton to do what was smart for her, which was continuing to work with Lynn for the time being. Even telling Lynn she was done and ducking out was smarter than snitching.

Lynn's stomach rumbled. "Thanks, Keaton," Lynn said, looking down at the pretzel bucket. A vague part of Lynn wondered when the last time someone had bought something for her was. Flowers.The same part was thinking maybe after she stayed with the group only as long as was strictly warranted, she could still go grab some more clothes or something. Just for the excuse. She had to look like the sort of square who shopped at a mall to keep her cover. Lynn missed the days when they just told her whose ass she had to go beat and not getting seen by the cops was the only important part. Christ, Lynn. One pretzel and you're standing here missing Che. Get your shit together. "I'll get you back sometime," she added quickly, cementing that this debt was recognized and Lynn was good for her word to repay it, and then Lynn was not one to be strung along unawares by this sort of thing, like the dumb fish who took a free cigarette on the first day of lockup. Lynn bit into one of the pretzels. It was likely due in a large degree to Lynn's presence, but the pretzels were perfectly warm. "Damn these are good," Lynn said, chewing. "You want some?" she offered the bucket to her.

"Let's go deal with their bullshit, I guess," Lynn said, chewing another pretzel bite. "Spoons is probably going to try and slap new girl until she's down to a 4 or 5 out of ten - " that'll take a while " - so at least we'll get a show. I'm not talking to the cop more than I have to. And neither should you." she swallowed. "At least trust me on that shit, there's nothing good from that. He's as gen one as fucking Bulbasaur - " (Lynn had never had the money for any of the newer games, as it were) - "and as crooked as Gennedy." Lynn remembered seeing him from the precinct. She had a good eye for faces. I still need to beat the ass of that Promise guy who strapped me down on the rocket up. "I say we get Spoons talking about her feelings or something or have Archie talk about boats or whatever and run him off as soon as possible. I don't want to linger here." Lynn shook her head and chewed another pretzel. "Either Gennedy's attack dog starts sniffing - and I'm on probation, remember - or another freak thing happens and one of those two flips. I don't think - " Lynn started to say she didn't think it was a coincidence that Archie's freakouts kept happening, that someone was trying to use a chainsaw to do heart surgery on the Promise, to put out a hit and kill everyone the mark ever knew just to be on the safe side, but that wasn't wise to say aloud. Not now. "Fuck." Lynn glanced up at Keaton, a look that was a mixture of annoyance and respect across her features, a few blue hairs free from the lazy ponytail Lynn had pinned back. "The shit you talk me into, Keaton. Damnit. Let's get this over with."

Until the end of her days, Lynn would still have difficulty believing that she voluntarily approached a cop at a sketch-as-hell meetup, one which had a documented narc also on the guest list, in the sort of place where they could have officers waiting at every table to pounce. At least there's no clear shot, Lynn thought. Even if there's a nullifier I've got a chance at running. Lynn approached with Keaton, doing her best to project neutrality. She had a feeling Radvi would've heard of her interrogation, and beyond that, had no desire to really be polite to him on ideological grounds. Lynn looked at Radvi and saw a mountain of the dolls in her backpack, stacked six feet high and wearing a shiny uniform. If she'd come blowing smoke up his ass, he would've known she was up to something. Beyond buying Xanax in the woods. Still, she wasn't going to piss him off needlessly and get arrested on whatever Mussolini-ass law Gennedy had put into place around here. She looked at all of them, sizing them up. Spoons looked like she needed a spoonful of something to calm her down. She hadn't seeen Boat Farmer in a bit. He looked good, Lynn thought and promptly dismissed, because what did that have to do with anything.He looked like he was about to have a panic attack, and all Lynn's instincts told her to bolt. It's a set-up and he knows it, Lynn thought, New girl's a nullifer. Just fucking run. Burn a hole through the cop's chest, see if you can take her out before she takes you. That was how it was. You had to get them before they got you. New Girl looked housebroken, too. She could see it in her stance. She was relaxed around Radvi. That took years. Were you relaxed when they fucked up, and three hundred people died?

Lynn would've considered it. But Keaton was next to her, and something about that made Lynn's runaway thoughts run a little slower, and Lynn told herself, more importantly, she was the only one that could get those kids out. If she roasted this guy today, a dozen little girls died tomorrow, needles in their arms and collars on their neck.

She looked at New Girl. New Girl looked nice. Annoyingly. Natalie did too. Something in Lynn that did not often surface - Lynn's concerns were normally survival, food, and maintaining her respect - came bubbling up. It was the uncomfortable knowledge that she was the ugliest motherfucker at this table. None of the other girl had scars or tattoos - maybe Spoons had some scars, but the kind people pitied and not the kind that made them look away from you. She was short, too, ten inches shorter than Archie and even further from Radvi. Lynn shifted her weight, eating a pretzel and thankful for the bagginess of her hoodie, that a men's XL masked the ribs poking Lynn's pale skin. Spoons had stopped crying long enough to put on perfect makeup. Lynn had never really - well she didn't have a, or - she didn't know...makeup was dumb. It was for people who couldn't accept they were ugly. Lynn ate another pretzel, forcing her heart rate to go down. At the very least, Lynn had practice with a poker face. She'd had to bite her tongue a lot of times in juvy to keep from getting her ass beat, staring down any number of people she'd rather throttle than thank. The cinnamon pretzels helped.

"'Sup." Lynn said, chewing. She wasn't going to introduce herself to New Girl or Paw Patrol. Lynn took a quiet, petty level of enjoyment in that.

E L I

---

Eli was still chewing. The chicken wasn’t spectacular. Nothing like what an authentic earth restaurant would have been. Yet she still craved it every now and then; after eating it, she wouldn’t want it for another month or so. She looked back up at Radvi, expecting his response instead of Archie’s.

But, before Radvi could speak the center of Archie’s life stepped into view. Eli looked up at her, deciding she was just as dramatically pretty up close as she was from afar.

“Hi, I'm Natalie. I don't think we've ever met. You are?” Oh god. She might have looked friendly, but she didn’t sound friendly. Was she jealous? Eli did appear to be hitting on her man. She sort of did that when she first smiled at him. Time to play it cool and let the jealousy affirm Natalie’s feelings for Archie.

Then two extra girls appeared with pretzels. Eli glanced at them as well. Man, how many girls does this guy hang around? She felt a little shy in front of three new people. But, she was always happy to make more friends. The most important part about The Promise was her connection to other parahumans on board. They were her people.

“Hey, I’m Eli,” she said with a casual smile, glancing between the three girls. “I was just saying hi to Archie. He had a question about the food around here.” She looked at the two newcomers. “What are your names?”

---

In the span of just a couple of minutes, three more people had gathered around the table. The remainders of Anderson’s female friends he’d been sticking with since day one. Natalie and Keaton, Radvi had met before - during their rounds of questioning a month back. The other one, Cordelia Holmes, he’d never met directly. All he knew about her was from the various security reports that he’d read. And from what he understood, she wasn’t the sort who appreciated the presence of any figure of authority - which led to the question of why she would approach the table while he was there. But he wasn’t about to go and instigate anything, though he sort of thought Holmes was thinking of doing the opposite. So he tensed up a bit, at least. In fact, there seemed to be some feeling in the air that he was not wanted there. And yet, all he’d done was say ‘hey’.

Oh, well. He should just get back to patrolling and let the kids be.

“Uh…” He began, during a moment when all was silent, “Yeah, Eli, I’ll talk to you later when you’re free, I should just get back to my patrol.”

And as he turned…

“Leaving so soon, Agent Radvi?”

“JESUS-” Radvi blurted out, jolting a bit as the elusive, monochromatic, faceless duo - Black and White - manifested out of thin air, right by his sides.

“We would actually like you to stay for a moment longer, if it’s no trouble.”

Radvi took a moment to collect himself before responding to them. “Don’t you fucking do that! Christ…” He said, regaining his composure. That idling sense of paranoia was starting to get to him.

“We apologize for our sudden appearance.”

“Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“But we wanted to address all of you while you were still in one place.”

“Given everything that’s happened of late, it’s a rare occurrence.”

Black and White faced the table, and everyone around it. Expressions of shock were abound. A little bit of suspicion and paranoia were creeping in as well, as they had expected. But they were being truthful - everyone was together, and that was deemed something rare, so they took this moment as a prime opportunity to introduce themselves to the group whom many events seemed to be revolving around. As their master had wished of them.

“I am Mister White.”

“And I am Mister Black.”

“We are ‘attendants’ to the Promise at large. We generally serve as advisors, counselors, observants, so on and so forth.”

“We have taken a special interest in the lot of you due to the events that took place a month ago - and shortly further back, on your first day aboard this station. We‘ve read all of the reports, you see.”

“There is that helmeted fellow too, though we don’t know where he resides at th-”
_{“AAAAAAAAAA}AAAAA-”

Crash.

Black and White turned their heads as, seemingly out of the sky, Freaky-D had dropped onto the nearest table behind them at the mention of his being. If anyone had looked upward, they might have surmised that he’d leapt from a single floor up. He hit the corner of a table, causing it to quickly flip over onto its side. D fell onto the ground just as fast, sprawling out with his gaze fixed upward. After a brief moment of silence from all surrounding parties, he slowly picked himself up, grabbed the table and placed it back upright, took one of the chairs, carried it to a spot near Radvi, turned it around, and sat with his arms crossed and resting on it. He briefly waved hello as everyone stared at him.

“...Right, then. Moving on...”

Black and White returned to facing the group.

“We consider matters that affect the Promise as a whole as matters that we must see to personally.”

“We apologize that this may come to you as an abrupt invasion of privacy, but we decided it best to be upfront in our conduct.”

“We see all of you, Mister Anderson…”

“Miss Holmes…”

“Miss Plasse…”

“Miss Ellis…”

“Miss Wessex…”

“Agent Radvi…”

“And… you...”

D simply nodded as White addressed him, a soft and synthesized chuckle sounding from his helmet.

“...as ‘core components’ in these events.”

“Things are happening aboard this station that have resulted in great harm, and even death, befalling its inhabitants.”

“It is in our best interests to assist in bringing this matter at large to a close, though we cannot act directly against it due to certain… physical, non-physical, limitations.”

“To be brief, we are incorporeal.”

They both waved their hands through each other’s in perfect symmetry, displaying how their bodies phased right through.

“We cannot harm, and we cannot be harmed.”

“We can do nothing substantial to prevent further disaster from striking the Promise. The security force is also lacking in this capability, from what we’ve seen.”

“Not you Jacob, we know you’re trying your best.”

“Uh…” Radvi replied quietly, not entirely sure how to respond.

“Thus, we both would like to formally extend our aid - in the admittedly limited fashion we are capable of - as we view all of you as being more and more likely to witness the brunt of whatever force acts against this station and its inhabitants.”

“And hopefully, moreso, finding opportunities to stop them in their tracks.”

“We will answer whatever questions you may have towards this rather broad topic, and share any information we feel may aid you. If it falls under our jurisdiction to provide, of course.”

“And if you in turn would share your findings with us, however apprehensive towards the notion you may be…”

“We would be very grateful.”

“So… who would like to go first?”

@JunkMail @He Who Walks Behind @Silver Carrot @Typical @Skai

Archie

---

"“Look, Archie. You’re never going to know if she likes you unless you tell her how you feel. Be yourself around her. And be confident too. Girls like guys that are sure about how they feel. You just need to show her. Get her alone, somewhere peaceful, tell her that you feel something towards her, and ask her out.” "

Archie nodded instinctually at being told to do something, even if it didn't entirely compute. He didn't have time to explain his situation to her. At least, not entirely. He appreciated her words of wisdom, he really did. He agreed with it, even. Dating here and there in high school had been easy because it was just like talking to a friend in a way. He had never felt the need to really impress, not that he had the means to do so anyways. He had subscribed to the idea that love for lovers while different, had the same responsibilities as love between friends. When you didn't care, it was so much easier to just be yourself. Be yourself? Be yourself?! Never mind the logical absurdity of it, it was an incredibly anxiety provoking thing to hear. Did Eli know what 'himself' was right now?

Scared as shit, lonely, anxious to the point on insomnia... being himself wasn't an option right now. He didn't have the tools to deal with those parts! Did she have the rest of the instructions anywhere? What the hell was the he that he was supposed to be being? Okay, okay. In fairness to her he had a pretty good idea of what version of himself he was supposed to paste onto his face, but it still felt like he was in a burning building and being told to relax. That and he didn't entirely know how he felt yet. About Natalie, and Natalie and him. She was a vision in her own right, small and pale but with superhuman power coiling under her skin that gave her the strength of twenty men. She could flick him, and it would be like a gunshot.

What Eli said about getting Natalie alone and talking to her, though? That made sense. There was no fighting that part of her argument because it was irrefutably the truth of how to solve his problems. He wasn't scared of her, because he knew that she wouldn't hurt him. She was good, and he had found that the people that one had to worry about didn't express concern like Natalie did. He wasn't scared of rejection, because at the end of the day Natalie was just a girl and he was just a guy. If she didn't feel the same way, he could deal with that. Honest. It might not be done in the most healthy way and he'd probably bottle it up and lock it away deep down in his chest until it burnt so bad that his skin burnt away to armor and muscle and teeth of his own. But he'd deal with it. What scared him, mostly, was the feelings that he was developing that he hadn't dealt with before. Sitting around and letting it fester would do nothing but bog his mind down further and bother him more.

Thankfully, Natalie didn't pay him too much attention. This was both a good thing and a bad thing in his mind. Yes, it meant he had more time to not do what Eli instructed but at the same time when she didn't recognize him outright it bothered him more than it should and ugh, see what he means? It's so confusing. Fortunately, Keaton and Lynn had arrived as well. It was very quickly becoming a full house, but that didn't bother Archie much. He was an extrovert by nature and if anything having more people around to divide his attention meant that he wouldn't focus on himself and his confusing feelings. What did bother him was the sudden materialization of two men whom he had never seen before, dressed like black and white crayons and fittingly referring to themselves as Mr. Black and Mr. White. Radvi's surprised shout caught his attention, and the sudden arrival of the two just about made him jump out of his skin. He turned so quickly in his chair that he almost threw himself over. Then Freaky-D fell from the sky, and Archie's heart raced, his arms coming up as if expecting to be attacked again. While Freaky-D had done his best to smooth the waters in the hospital bathroom of all places, Archie was still somewhat apprehensive of the mysterious figure. The boot to the face had hurt.

His shoes felt tight, and he momentarily peeked down at his feet. He was growing again, ever so slightly. His heart was racing, too. He hadn't noticed it because Natalie was sitting right across from him, but he was growing some from all the activity. He placed one of his hands on his chest, where his heart was as if attempting to steady himself. Archie breathed deeply and suddenly, his mouth somewhat like a fishes above water, trying to force himself to calm down. He forced himself steady again, squashing down the reds that were leaking into the edges of his vision, and relaxed. He wasn't in danger.

The two men spoke about impending disaster, and how they had needed to speak to them all at once. Archie's stomach churned at this. Disaster? They were core components? His eyebrows quirked at the phrasing, curiosity peaking in his mind. He wasn't sure who was asking when he opened his mouth- himself or the lizard, whom was ever vigilant and ever protective in his mind. "What kind of disaster are we talking about here?"

Lynn

Bullshit, Lynn thought, eyeing New Girl. A question about the food? The fuck? Lynn stared her over, looking past her clothes and skin and features for a minute. Trying to look for sketchy shit. She looked older than Archie, and Lynn didn't remember seeing her on the shuttle up. Something's up. Something about this entire set-up was not what Lynn wanted to see, even before you threw a cop into the mix. Lynn responded with a nod instead of her name to Eli - whatever weird crap was at work here, Lynn was not going to play ball. Sure enough, Spoons looked about ready to carve this girl's eyes out, which Lynn would've paid to see on pay-per-view, especially given her lack of knowledge on what New Girl could do. She was too young to be anything other than a parahuman, so that ruled out the possibility of her being a gen one. Eh. Keaton would do the smiling and pretty talking, as per usual. Lynn didn't particularly care if New Girl liked her or not - or really, if anyone at the table did. Keaton vibing with her would've been nice for business purposes, and Archie for - flowers - some reason she couldn't really place (which in Lynn's book, meant it was either to be trusted unequivocally or was bullshit to be ignored, with little means of determining one from the other. Lynn leaned towards the latter in this case). Radvi stood there, looking pretty sheepish for a wolf. Fortunately, he was turning to leave, and the knot of tension in Lynn's stomach began to un -

Lynn was used to surprises. She'd been jumped in the street, judo flipped by a glowing escaped murderer, had a table thrown at her by a giant lizard, and been up and moving when a robot man fell from the ceilings onto her lunch table. This was beyond the realm of what even Lynn could have prepared for, and her fingers burned their way into the pretzel bucket as Black and White appeared, Lynn flaring up with shock and readiness. It was a set-up, it was a fucking set-up! Lynn curled her fist, ready to flash-fry Radvi's brain inside his skull before they slapped a collar on, before the kids were dead, before they put her in a cell with the leftover Fire Worms and Lynn was counting her teeth on a concrete floor -

He was startled too.

Lynn stayed her hand at her hip, the pretzel bucket falling to the ground as she got her other hand ready to punch, fingers dancing. Her heart thundered in her skull and she was a foot closer to Radvi than she had been a moment before. She looked down and her forearms were glowing and flickering with light, like The temperature of the room was becoming unbearable now. She was terrifying. A living elemental. She pulled her hands away from her face, revealing eyes that were so bright that they were painful to look at for long. “I’ll kill you!” - like someone else Lynn had known. Lynn's face tensed and her whole skull seemed to clench. "What the fuck is this shit, Anderson?" Lynn hissed. The two began talking, some call-and-response, choose-your-own-adventure bullshit, and the whole time Lynn's head was ringing with anger. She was sick of this. She was sick of people dropping this shit on her, sick of being the joke, sick of being the pawn they would push around the board. How long have you just been waiting around this station? How many kids have you watched get dragged into their little holding cells?

Then it got better. Lynn listened to their speech with literal steam curling off her exposed skin, her fury a snarling dog held by a fraying leash. "Oh who wants to go first? Eat my ebony and ivory dick. You can't do anything? You're so helpless? You fucking pussies. No, fuck this, I'm not playing these reindeer games. Neither should any of you." Lynn spat on the ground. Smoke curled from the floor. "Here's my question. How the fuck did skater boy get on the station and start assaulting kids if you two have been lurking around? Where the fuck have you been when they interrogate minors without lawyers? And for two invisible fuckers, how come you haven't seen shit about the murdered professor? Was it not in your jurisdiction to save three hundred people last month? Or - " Or to tell whoever a three six zero five is that it'll be okay? To tell them they haven't been fucking abandoned and left alone? Lynn wanted to shriek, but she bit her tongue. Radvi was there. Radvi was Gennedy and every other snake who sat at their high table on the first day, crying out the laws and punishments and running when Archie had turned into a beast. Radvi would take her in if he knew what Keaton and Lynn knew. It's not worth it. It's not worth it.

Archie! Lynn turned and saw Archie was beginning to flip and stepped forward to grab him, but he had calmed himself back down. Lynn's head was still throbbing. She should've gone for him first. "The disaster is everyone in this shopping mall dying because you dipshits thought it would be a good idea to jumpscare the human T. rex." Lynn took a few steps back, shaking, but under control. She couldn't lose her shit. She couldn't give Radvi an excuse. If she gave Radvi an excuse, they found the doll, they killed her, they killed Keaton, and then they kept killing kids. They were going to kill Lynn anyway, but if she could make it a little longer, maybe they could save one or two. Maybe she gets Keaton what she needs. Maybe she gets to go a few more weeks without having to - four people - to...to do things. She was so pissed at the nerve of these two she couldn't even bring herself to want to beat Freaky D's ass - whom Gennedy had told her was for sure dead. Either Gennedy lied to me, or he's got leaks on the inside. "No, yeah, go fuck yourselves. Even if you two were on the level, which invisible motherfuckers usually aren't, we've got no reason to trust you. You want us to cough up everything we know to the invisible bastards who need eighteen year olds to narc for them? I got here a month ago and wash dishes in the fucking taqueria. What do you think I know? How about instead I keep stopping all the shit that goes wrong on this station, and you two keep creeping around on kids. You should be good at it. You've got both fucking halves of Michael Jackson to work with." Lynn turned and stormed off, shoving someone aside as a mild exodus had begun taking place. The last time Freaky D dropped out of a ceiling, things had not gone well for the room's inhabitants and the Panda Express' denizens were responding accordingly.

Lynn turned back and grinned. "And I clocked you fuckers in the interrogation room, by the way. You're not as sneaky as you think you are." Let 'em chew on that for a minute. Lynn turned and kept walking, fingers curled into her hoodie pockets. Keaton can stay and ask questions if she wants, Lynn fumed, But this shit is a set-up. Keaton may be smarter than the rest of us put together but she doesn't know how people work. Whatever that bitch has on Archie got them here and got him to call us all over. I fucking knew it. I fucking knew it.

Keaton didn't know how to tell what people would do before they did it. She was unlucky. She'd never known a Che.

Archie

---

"What the fuck is this shit, Anderson?"

Archie's attention shifted instantly, and he recoiled in surprise at the venom in Lynn's voice. The wrinkles of her forehead, the crows feet at the corners of her eyes. She was angry at him, she was so angry at him and he didn't know why. His mind raced, trying to grasp what he had done to earn her ire. She immediately looked away, dismissing him as if someone had thrown out a piece of refuse and continuing on in one hell of a tirade. Lynn looked herself, but didn't. The way she sneered, the crinkle of her eyes, they all reminded him of his mother. Archie hadn't spent much time in his life with people angry at him, but those that had been had stuck with him.

Under the fire Archie saw the signs of a brunette woman six inches taller than Lynn was. He saw it again when Lynn stepped towards him and his chest thundered, the great being that resided in him stirred when he saw her reaching. He gripped his chair so hard that his knuckles turned white, and he almost felt himself let it out. His eyes were wide, and in that moment he was terrified of Lynn. Completely and utterly stunned.

He didn't move, his heart thundering on in his chest even when Lynn seemed to have decided that he wasn't worth the effort and pulled away. He watched her every movement, refusing to move for a number of moments until Lynn had turned tail and stalked off. As she left he felt his grip slacken, and he saw Lynn for what she was again- his friend. Or at least, the closest he had to one aboard the station. Everyone that had come to the table was more of less his friend now, aside from Radvi and Freaky-D. He wasn't sure how either of them felt about him. Or if they even cared. He looked to Mr. Black and White for a moment and decided that he had to go after her. He'd get his answer in a minute, this mattered more. Lynn had gone after him when he found the body. She had been there to help him as soon as he was kicked on the first day. Lynn had helped him before and she was angry with him and he didn't know why and-

Archie slid out of his chair and his feet carried him after Lynn. Her back was turned to him and in his much less hardened mind that didn't mean much of anything. "Lynn, wait! What's-" he wanted to know what he had done wrong. Needed to know, so he could fix it. Or at least, try to fix it. He reached for her as he rounded a corner after her and caught up out of sight from the rest of the group, his hand reaching out and grabbing onto her upper arm. Time seemed to slow down for a moment. Archie was unused to parahumans, and their effects. Up until his capture he was the first parahuman he had ever met. Sure, he knew Lynn could get hot. He had seen the recordings of her facing off against the lizard, and felt the heat radiating off of her and Salamandra in the Dim Sum restaurant but he himself had never really experienced it. He felt like he had grabbed onto a hot stove pan or rested his hand against a radiator. "Ow!" he said, almost instantly letting go of her and pulling his hand to his chest and cradling the red and hurt appendage. It wasn't burnt that badly, he had taken much worse working on engines or touching parts that clearly hadn't had enough time to cool down, but the shock and surprise got to him the most.

He stopped where he stood, still holding his hand with the other against his chest. He didn't feel the hammering in his chest like he had earlier. He wasn't scared of her, at least not in this moment. Not anymore. But he had never once thought that she would hurt him- on purpose or not.

Natalie Ellis

---

---

Natalie tried not to let it show on her face that she was skeptical of Eli's claim that she was just asking Archie about food. Luckily, Radvi mentioned that was about to leave and let them talk among themselves, which Nat was pleased about. But before that happened, there was a disembodied voice, and two men materialized out of thin air. Natalie turned to face them. They now had her full attention.

She listened, and noted that Radvi knew who they were but wasn't exactly on good terms with them, meaning that they were staff or otherwise in there in some official capacity. They chose this moment to talk to the group. They introduced themselves as Mr. White and Mr. Black. Could these two look or act any more like shady henchmen from a James Bond film? Still, Natalie would hear them out. They didn't seem to be the violent types. They were explaining that they were interested in this group, which was, Nat supposed, understandable as they'd been at the center of every significant tragedy thus far.

Freaky D chose this moment to drop from the ceiling and Natalie's knuckles tensed. The last time she saw him, he'd kicked Archie in the face. In a way, he'd caused a lot of the events that had led to the four of them being in this situation. But she still wanted to hear more of what the Agents were saying so she looked away from him, failing to hide how pissed off she was at his presence.

The agents went on to reveal that they were incorporeal, which made sense and also explained how they were able to appear out of nowhere, and also explained how they knew so much. Maybe Lynn and Keaton were right to have been paranoid seeing as how there were invisible eyes watching them all along. However, it was clear the Agents needed their help. They needed the group to be their hands, and their muscle. They didn't know much more about what was going on than Natalie did, it seemed, but the drawback was Natalie didn't know anything that they didn't either. She was fairly sure of that.

Archie was the first to ask a fairly basic question, but before it could be answered Lynn started to heat up. Nat could feel the sweltering heat from where she stood. She watched Lynn go on a tirade, that Natalie actually found herself almost completely agreeing with. Natalie found herself envying Lynn. Lynn had no fears about speaking her mind. About letting you know when you were pissing her off. Natalie was. She was terrified of getting angry. She suppressed those emotions. She suppressed those thoughts. She was positive and optimistic out f necessity. She needed to believe in the establishment because how else should she keep things together? Right now, Natalie was grateful that the questions she dare not even ask herself were being asked.

But then she noticed that Archie was growing slightly, and he had his hand on his chest. Nat turned and was about to approach him but Lynn got there first, still high of that furious energy. She grabbed him, chastised the Agents more, and stormed off. Archie was no longer turning, and he followed after her. Natalie watched them leave until the disappeared from view, and audibly sighed. She had made a promise to look out for him and protect him. She failed to stop him turn on the first day. He'd turned in the restaurant after she'd fled like a coward, and it was Lynn, not Nat, who's stopped him turning when they found the body, because Natalie was too weak to even look after herself in that moment. And again now, it was Lynn who's snapped him out of another transformation. Archie had helped her in the forest, and had been single-handedly responsible for her not killing more people the day of the breakout. Who was she kidding? She couldn't look out for Archie. She couldn't even look out for herself.

She turned back to the Agents, sighing and snorting and looking like she was trying very hard to remain calm with the emotions running high inside her. "I don't know anything that you don't. You already know so much. Why do you need our help? I came here because I'm mentally sick! Because I need help!" She explained, her voice getting louder with every sentence and her face creasing with frustration. Her eyes were like the weary, aggressive eyes of a hissing cat. She was almost starting to shout now as she got closer to them, and her eyes were glistening. "I came here to get treatment! Because there was nothing Earth could do for me anymore! How am I going to be of any help to anyone else?! That's supposed to be your job!"

Lynn

They wouldn't fucking get it. They wouldn't fucking get it. She'd been set up. She'd been set up again. She'd known coming into this it was a terrible idea and she let Keaton talk her into it. How foolish had she been to think Keaton was bound so tightly to her that it was smarter to keep her mouth shut than narc? I have to get clear and ditch this doll, Lynn thought, her mind feverishly trying to run through possibilities. It had to be the woods. She'd get out of range of the cameras and burn all the evidence. Lynn considered a brief foray into the bathrooms to dump her drugs, but at this point a handful of misappropriated anxiety medication wasn't going to save or damn her ass. You're still that stupid little girl who gets burned, Lynn cursed herself, rage almost to the point of tears boiling up inside her. You never fucking learn. Lynn fumbled, taking off her hoodie, red and noticeable as it was, cinching it around her waist. The black t-shirt underneath was from back home: it read Mike's BBQ.

And yet all her anger seemed to be hitting some kind of wall. Radvi had been surprised - really surprised. She'd seen a few too many shitty narc actors in her day to know when somebody was really surprised by the cops and when someone was trying to look surprised. But Anderson had called them all there, which didn't track. Had he brought Paw Patrol too? But why? Just to arrest her? I'll kill him, Lynn thought. He's sold out. She should've stayed and slugged his teeth out - but the more Lynn thought, the more that seemed to burn out as well. Archie had been starting to transform - so there's no way he could've expected those two. Could he have called the cops? Lynn's mind raced through all the avenues as she darted through the crowd, thankful once again God cursed her with her stupid little body. While she got pushed around, at least she was darting in-between open gaps in the crowd more easily. If Archie had called the cops, that still didn't track, because why would there just be one? No one else had reacted to the monochrome duo, which didn't track. Surely they would've been all over, unless -

Someone grabbed Lynn from behind and she turned to swing, to take one or two of them with her when they already stumbled away. It was Boat Farmer. He was cradling his hand, burned, she'd burned the hand, Megan curling it close to her. Lynn remembered that hand, the mark of the burn. She'd seen it...she'd seen it the very last day she saw Megan. "Christ, don't - you can't, you can't do that," Lynn said, moving over to her, pulling her sleeves up and grabbing the girl's arm through them.

"Ow! Ow, Lynn, it hurts, it - "

"I know, I know, you can't do that, okay? You can't...you can't sneak up on me. Not here."

Megan nodded, wincing and nodding her head. She was tough. They all were. Lynn glanced around, cursing to herself - but not aloud. She took Megan gently into the side alley, pooling up some snow in her hands and melting it with her breath and the radiant heat of her hands. She let the cold water drip over Megan's hands, the water a cooler touch of lukewarm by the time it touched the burned skin.

"That feels nice," Megan said, smiling.

The smile untwisted Lynn's stomach. "Good. I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I don't...I don't mean to sometimes. It just..."

"I know." Megan nodded. "Che said to come get you. He said the deal was off."

Lynn gave her a nod, but inwardly cursed again. If there was no deal, that meant there was no hand-off for Lynn to intercept, which meant there was no fucking money that week. Lynn looked down at Megan, skinny, skinny as death, eyes wide and staring up at Lynn with her snow-water hand clutched to her chest. She rubbed at her eyes. A few more hours until the foster parents started to wonder. Enough time to get back across the city. Maybe. She could still lift a wallet, if she was lucky, or find...or find something. "Is your hand okay? I'll take you b-"

Lynn blinked. She was in the mall. Archie was hurt. Archie was hurt. She'd burned him. Christ. Get it together, Holmes, she said. You're fucking losing it. "No, no, no no no," Lynn murmured. Lynn lived in a somewhat constant state of being angry at God for dealing her such a shit hand in life, but moments like this brought it to bear. The fruit of the garden is poisoned, Che would sometimes say, and she never got what that shit meant until now. "Christ, I didn't...you came up and...." the doll and getting clear had melted out of Lynn's mind. She took a step forward and stopped, biting her lip. You burn everything, you stupid girl. Lynn reached her hand back and closed her eyes, taking deep, deep breaths. Her hair and eyes slowly settled down to a red. It was a brighter shade than any hair that didn't come out of a bottle, but the flickering glow that normally danced across it was scarcely noticeable. "You - are you okay, Archie? Shit. Fuck. I'm sorry, I didn't..." Damn those black and white bastards. Damn them. Damn Gennedy and this whole station. Lynn glanced around. It was always a sick joke nobody could kill her without her body stitching it up, but she could never fix anything she fucked up. "Here - you need...you need to run water over that. I..." Lynn's voice trailed off, the words jumbled in her head and throat. I'm sorry I thought you set me up, you big dumb puppy, you don't get how fucked we all are, I'm sorry, Lynn wanted to say, to just blurt at once and rip the band-aid off, but she couldn't stop looking at his hand, and then his face.

He had the same look he'd had when Salamandra dragged him across the floor.

E L I

---

Eli's smile remained as the super young looking girl stared her down, but on the inside she couldn't help but feel tense. They don't believe a thing I just said. What the hell am I gonna do? The blonde nodded, but gave no indication that she was going to speak. Maybe I should have told Archie to run. These girls mean business.

Sure, Eli knew that most of the parahumans that ended up on The Promise weren't goody two shoes, but she'd always managed to steer clear of the nasty ones. Well, there was that one "fight" she had with another girl her age in her freshman year of secondary school but that was nothing. Had her luck finally run out? These girls didn't appear to be the nasty type, but appearances meant nothing on the boat.

"Uh..." Radvi began. He hadn't even been acknowledged by the three girls yet. Eli looked over at him and she knew by the look in his eyes that he was going to leave. "Yeah, Eli, I’ll talk to you later when you’re free, I should just get back to my patrol." Eli felt disappointed. Now she'd never get to hear about the goop. It had taken a month to see him, and she was trapped by this awkward situation now. For a second she felt like ditching Archie and his friends. She could just walk with Radvi and ask her questions. What did these girls offer Eli other than hard stares and scrutinizing eyes?

She was just about to get up and follow Radvi when the entire group was startled by another sudden appearance. Misters Black and White stood two feet from Radvi, facing the entire group as if they knew that they would gather here at this time. Eli froze in her seat, shivers crawling down her spine. She stared at the faceless men. In the four years Eli had been on board The Promise, she'd only seen these men (if they even were men) a few times. Each time they'd given her the creeps. They always seemed to appear when she least expected; when she was at her most vulnerable. The first time she'd met them, she had just begun counseling. It wasn't a fun introduction. Even so, the two were always harmless; they even guided her into realizing a few things about herself. But why did she always feel so uneasy around them?

The resulting chaos of the black and white men's appearance snapped Eli back into a state of awareness. Radvi cussed them out, which normally would have gotten a chuckle from Eli. Archie nearly threw himself out of his seat, his fight or flight response battling for control. The blonde girl's forearms began to glow like nightlights and she nearly attacked Radvi, "What the fuck is this shit, Anderson?" Wait, is she blaming this on Archie? She looked like she was, and Archie looked terrified.

<sup>“We apologize for our sudden appearance.”

“Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“But we wanted to address all of you while you were still in one place.”

“Given everything that’s happened of late, it’s a rare occurrence.”</sup>

Eli's brows furrowed as she stared at the two. The creepy feeling these two gave her increased, with a little apprehension mixed in there too. While all of us are in one place? We just met.

The two continued, explaining to the newcomers who they were and what they did. Eli knew that this is what they did, but she always had a feeling that they were reporting their "attendant duties" to someone higher up. Someone that didn't want them to know who they were.

“We have taken a special interest in the lot of you due to the events that took place a month ago - and shortly further back, on your first day aboard this station. We‘ve read all of the reports, you see.”

Eli gripped the back of her chair, her body tensing. She never wanted to be on these two's "radar"; it worried her that she was drawing the attention of the higher ups. When the people around her started to draw too much attention, they tended to disappear. Where they went, Eli had no idea. Maybe they were sent to a "stronger rehabilitation sector", or maybe they were just put in jail. Either way, Eli always feared that it would one day happen to her. Was this because she used her powers against the escaped inmates? That was self-defense, so that surely wasn't the reason... right?

And now the rollerskating bobble head fell from the sky and crashed into a table. What the hell was he doing up there? Was he following Radvi? Did he have the same questions for him as Eli did? She stared him down as he sat in a chair near Radvi. This was the second time she'd been this close to him. Something about him gave her the creeps like Misters Black and White did, but a part of him didn't seem threatening. I really need to find that article about this guy again.

<sup>“...Right, then. Moving on...”

Black and White returned to facing the group.

“We consider matters that affect the Promise as a whole as matters that we must see to personally.”

“We apologize that this may come to you as an abrupt invasion of privacy, but we decided it best to be upfront in our conduct.”

“We see all of you, Mister Anderson…”

“Miss Holmes…”

“Miss Plasse…”

“Miss Ellis…”

“Miss Wessex…”</sup>

Eli held her breath after her name was mentioned.

^{“...as ‘core components’ in these events.”}

Core components??

<sup>“Things are happening aboard this station that have resulted in great harm, and even death, befalling its inhabitants.”

“It is in our best interests to assist in bringing this matter at large to a close, though we cannot act directly against it due to certain… physical, non-physical, limitations.”

“To be brief, we are incorporeal.”</sup>

Eli released an incredulous puff of air, staring as the two phased right through each other. Her suspicions were right. These holograms, if they were holograms, were nothing but two faceless pawns.

<sup>“We cannot harm, and we cannot be harmed.”

“We can do nothing substantial to prevent further disaster from striking the Promise. The security force is also lacking in this capability, from what we’ve seen.”

“Not you Jacob, we know you’re trying your best.”</sup>

Eli looked over at Radvi with one eyebrow raised. Did he think that this was the weirdest situation he's ever been in too? That these two were just stating facts? Eli certainly felt that way.

By the time the two finished their little "speech", Eli didn't know what to think of them. Could she really trust them? Well, not them, but the person controlling them? The wizard behind closed curtains? That was the only question she wanted to ask them.

The blonde girl suddenly released a slew of accusations, questions, facts, and a few cuss words in the mix. Actually, there were a lot of cuss words. Eli stared at her, in awe of her confidence to speak out against these two "authority" figures. She made some extremely good points in the literal heat of her argument. Eli's eyes darted towards the bobble head when the blonde accused him of assaulting kids, which explained why Archie looked like he was going to explode when he saw him. That must be how the others were connected, but where did Eli fit in here? Yeah, she'd met bobble head on the day of the prison break, but it was just a handshake. He knew Radvi much better.

The blonde grabbed Archie's shoulder and Eli prepared for the worst. To her relief, the angsty teen relaxed. "The disaster is everyone in this shopping mall dying because you dipshits thought it would be a good idea to jumpscare the human T. rex." Eli stared at Archie for a moment before looking around at the girls who knew him.

Did she just say human T-Rex??

The girl spouted a few more things before storming off. Eli blinked for a few moments, as if stuck in a daze from the whirlwind of information that had just assaulted her peaceful evening. The girl had reasons to be distrustful of Misters Black and White. Really good reasons. Was this what Eli needed to hear to realize how she felt about the two? Or was this girl just blaming The Promise's mistakes on a pair of incorporeal men? She stared at the two as her curiosity grew. What was the truth, and what were lies?

"I don't know anything that you don't. You already know so much. Why do you need our help? I came here because I'm mentally sick! Because I need help!"

Eli's attention slowly moved onto Archie's crush, who looked distraught.

"I came here to get treatment! Because there was nothing Earth could do for me anymore! How am I going to be of any help to anyone else?! That's supposed to be your job!"

Her words made Eli's heart twinge. She was suddenly filled with empathy for this girl. What had happened to her to make her this way? Why did these two pawns think that she was going to team up and fight The Promise when she was fighting her own battles alone? Eli looked back at the two. It was just herself, Radvi, and Natalie now. Was it her turn to speak? She felt like it was.

"So," she began quietly, staring at the two beings standing before her. "You've been watching us, as you always have. You've taken interest in the way we've reacted to the absolutely terrible things we've seen here. You think we can dig up some dirt on The Promise because you can't. Even though you technically could because you've already snuck your way into the human space heater's interrogation?"

She shook her head and sat back in her chair. Her arms crossed in front of her, and she adjusted her jaw as she looked between Mister Black and Mister White. "I have questions. I've had a million questions in my mind since the day I came aboard. You know that. But-" She paused, hesitating for a brief moment.

"I want to ask the person that you answer to."

---

Things were great for a few minutes. Keaton, having finished her pretzel segment, introduced herself to Eli with a wave and a friendly smile, her eyes flickering between Archie and Natalie. Though the two seemed to be trying to cover up whatever they had going on, a few stray glances and nervous fidgets spoke volumes for Archie. Natalie was a harder read, but only for a moment. As soon as Archie’s actions cleared up, so did the conflicted expression she had on as she looked at Eli. At this point, teasing them would have been easy, but Radvi was still around, which encouraged Keaton to keep her thoughts limited to an amused smile. There’d be time for that later.

Radvi trying to leave was when things started going downhill. Just as Keaton started to register relief, it was gone, replaced by icy fear as two slenderman figures with all the normal proportions yet none of the normal features flashed into existence at Radvi’s side. A flash of heat prompted her to shy away from Lynn, who had lit up in anger, but Keaton was too busy in her own mind to dwell on it. For a moment, she feared the worst: that Lynn had been right, that the invisible man had already cut his losses, that this was the end. Transfixed, Keaton watched the black and white duo speak, watching them trade off sentences of apology and introduction, which were polite enough to tell Keaton that they were trying to sound honest. That wasn’t to say that they were being honest, though, and their lack of facial features, body language, and other visible tells wasn’t giving Keaton much to work with. It wasn’t until Freaky-D dropped down from the sky—the second story of the mall, by the looks of a few interested shoppers behind the railings above—that Keaton registered Radvi’s shock, registered that she wasn’t about to be arrested, that the Faceless pair weren’t here to take her and Lynn in. There were far easier ways of doing that, and none of them involved polite introductions and a public encounter like the one in the mall here. In fact, the mall was far too public a place for the staff to try and vanish anyone, unless they had the means to quarantine and replace a good portion of the population on board. So, no, Keaton wasn’t about to be arrested. The Faceless pair were opening themselves up for questions, for whatever reason, and Keaton would be lying if she said she didn’t want answers.

Listening to Lynn and Natalie’s outbursts, Keaton ran them over mentally for gaps—for things they wouldn’t cover, for things that still needed to be addressed. What was her angle for this? Play dumb and passively gather information? Assume this duo was likely omnipresent and was just doing this as a test, a means to gauge the degree to which Keaton and Lynn were willing to go? Lynn storming away uninterrupted was more proof that the pair didn’t come to the mall to arrest anyone, but that didn’t mean they were on anyone’s side either. They were part of the staff, and Keaton wasn’t about to trust them on anything, especially without confirmation. Thankfully, there was something her powers could check that was more accurate than physical tells: cold, hard facts.

Eli’s hesitation was vastly overshadowed by her request. ‘I want to ask the person that you answer to’—Keaton’s brows shot up at the comment, her eyes flickering between the Faceless again for answers that they weren’t yet providing. Were they even human? Either way, there was no way she was leaving the sanctuary of publicity before she got solid answers she could check. The chance of the Faceless leading her to some dark alley to off her first chance they got felt a lot higher than zero, and this encounter seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime, life-or-death opportunity.

“Letting us know who we’ll ultimately be helping is important, but so is winning our trust. Why should we trust you? Why do you see us as ‘core components’?” Keaton asked, looking between the Faceless. “Trust is a two-way street, so if you could explain in a way that helps us come to the same conclusion, that would be great.”

Keaton was referring to her power, and she had no doubt that the Faceless understood that. As staff members, they had access to her files, and if they’d really been as interested as they said, they would have done their homework—known that in Keaton’s world, everything was flimsy unless her power confirmed it. Of the people still left at this table, there was only one person Keaton trusted: Herself, because her power was the only thing that would never directly lie.

“A few more things. To confirm, were you in the room during Lynn’s interview? If you don’t mind me asking, could you explain why you were able to do that, able to watch us in this mall and know precisely when and where we’d all be gathered together if you can’t even locate a suspect for a staff murder?” she asked. “And why was Salamandra aboard the ship? She was arrested years ago, and there was absolutely no reason she shouldn’t have been sentenced to death. Why was she aboard this ship? Why were any of those criminals who escaped last month aboard this ship?”

At this point, Salamandra was public knowledge. Cara’s cameras ensured that, just as they ensured that the staff had every other piece of information available to them, which is why Keaton had one last request to make.

“And, one more thing: If you want us to dig up information for you, want us to share everything we might have or find, how about you give us access to everything you have first? If we’re really so key to this all, really so ‘core’ as you claim, surely we deserve to be on a level playing field with you?” she asked, her gaze transitioning slowly between the Faceless. “Give us access to Cara—not the censored, tame program you have installed all over the ship. The real deal. The one that has access to the cameras, the files, and everything else we might need. Give us what we need to help you."

The Faceless were going out a limb, coming here and asking for help, so it was clear that this group’s involvement mattered somehow. The questions, then, were why—why this group, why now, why like this—and how—how much they mattered. Because, fortunately or not, it seemed they mattered a lot.

ARCHIE

---

"What kind of disaster are we talking about here?"



NATALIE

---

"I came here to get treatment! Because there was nothing Earth could do for me anymore! How am I going to be of any help to anyone else?! That's supposed to be your job!"



ELI

---

"I want to ask the person that you answer to."



KEATON

---

“Letting us know who we’ll ultimately be helping is important, but so is winning our trust. Why should we trust you? Why do you see us as ‘core components’? Trust is a two-way street, so if you could explain in a way that helps us come to the same conclusion, that would be great.”



“A few more things. To confirm, were you in the room during Lynn’s interview? If you don’t mind me asking, could you explain why you were able to do that, able to watch us in this mall and know precisely when and where we’d all be gathered together if you can’t even locate a suspect for a staff murder?”



“And why was Salamandra aboard the ship? She was arrested years ago, and there was absolutely no reason she shouldn’t have been sentenced to death. Why was she aboard this ship? Why were any of those criminals who escaped last month aboard this ship?”



“Give us access to Cara—not the censored, tame program you have installed all over the ship. The real deal. The one that has access to the cameras, the files, and everything else we might need. Give us what we need to help you."



RADVI

---

“What about you, Agent Radvi?”

“Is there anything you’d like to share?”

Radvi stood there for a moment, as it dawned on him that he had something that may improve his chances of getting these other ‘core components’ on his side. Or rather, both he and Freaky-D had it.

He took out his phone, but then briefly thought of an alternative, better method that was available. He looked at D and snapped his fingers at him, and as if in some form of perfect synchronization, D knew exactly what to do - he balled his hand into a fist, gave his own helmet a knock, and his jolly toothy grin was suddenly replaced with a playback of all the POV footage he’d sent to his friend the cop.

First, the few seconds of footage from day one, showing the woman - Arianna - standing by a not-dead-yet Dr. Arthur Coleman in mid-torture.

Then, the footage from the day of the breakout.

“Well, can't have you running around anymore and ruining my fun. Or food.”

“Pay the court a fine or serve your-”

“Y’know a lot of people die quieter than you.”

“Dead or alive, you’re comin’ with me!”

And then D getting his ass beat, a full display of his enemy’s abilities, and finally the weaponization of incredibly loud noises (the playback having cordially lowered volume so as to not blow anyone’s ears out), and him scooping up a lump of her in a mason jar.

And the last shot was him handing that jar to Radvi.

@JunkMail @He Who Walks Behind @Silver Carrot @Typical @Skai

E L I

---

Eli listened to the two beings answer the rest of the group. So, they were aware that some one had been behind the breakout. Big news. As if everyone believed that it had just been a technical error. They also wanted a shared network of information, but surely they understood that it would put the group's safety at risk if the rest of The Promise staff knew they were snooping around. That is if these two weren't here to dig up dirt on the group either.

Eli was watching the friendly girl as she asked her round of questions. This girl was smart. Was she already investigating on the side? She was just as ballsy as Eli, too. Absolutely no parahuman was ever granted access to cameras or files, unless they'd been given a job by The Promise staff. She liked to assume that Noelle, the woman with metal arms, was probably one of those persons. Her eyes moved onto Radvi, and then slowly turned towards the LED-display-for-a-head. The guy hadn't even said anything yet.

“A party concerned for the future of both the Promise and beyond.”

“As well, wishing to remain unidentified, and we intend to respect said wish.”

“We understand this answer is unsatisfactory.”

“But even we have rules we must abide by.”

Eli frowned as she looked back at the pair of monochrome men. It was true. The answer was extremely unsatisfactory. Why would the "party concerned for the future of both the Promise and beyond" want to hide in the dark? If they had sent these two here to act as information gatherers, why were they afraid to show their faces?

“We understand trust is an issue, and of course, we don’t expect all of you to trust us right away. Miss Wessex and Agent Radvi have their own opinions by now.”

Eli looked back at Radvi. She didn't have a clue how Radvi felt about Misters Black and White. She definitely trusted Radvi. Could she trust that he would be right about the men, no matter what he thought about them? She really didn't know. She wasn't that close to him, but he was the only human on board she truly respected.

“What about you, Agent Radvi?”

“Is there anything you’d like to share?”

The officer pulled out his phone, and Eli immediately thought of the blue goop. Maybe she'd hear his opinion and hear about the remains of the culprit at the same time. He and Freaky-D exchanged looks, and the latter suddenly stood and changed the image on his helmet.

Eli leaned forwards as she became absorbed by the footage on his helmet. A woman stood in front of a bloody man, and then a second later the camera was quickly advancing upon the same woman. Holy shit. He fought this chick? Her mouth dropped open a bit as she watched the woman's body morph and contract in the same plasma shape as the goop. How did he do that to her? Was it the vibrations from the music? The video stopped after helmet handed Radvi the mason jar.

Giving herself a moment to collect her thoughts, Eli sat back in her seat and took a deep breath. She looked around at the others, her gaze remaining on Radvi and helmet for a few seconds longer than Natalie and the smart girl.


Eli understood what they meant, now. Somehow, each of them were connected. This encounter with Misters Black and White somehow brought all of the evidence out into the open. The friendly girl asked about the missing professor, helmet had footage of the blue goo woman murdering him, and Radvi was the one who ended up with the mason jar. So, where did Eli fit in? Was she simply there because she had been with Radvi that day, or was it because Misters Black and White sincerely thought she would help them?

"So, that woman is the one that has been causing trouble?" She asked helmet. After seeing this footage, she was definitely taking him more seriously. He was more than just a rollerskating bobble head. She then looked at Radvi and finally asked him the question she'd been waiting for. "What did you do with the jar after that day?"

Archie

---

"You - are you okay, Archie? Shit. Fuck. I'm sorry, I didn't... Here - you need...you need to run water over that. I..."
Archie flinched away from her reach, taking a half step away from her as she advanced on instinct. He kept his hand close to him protectively and his eyes kept flashing to her own hands, as if she was going to burn him again. With shaking fingers, he collected himself, taking another half step away from Lynn as he did so. Archie shoved his injured hand into his pocket.

"I- yeah." he said, his face straight but his voice cracked some as he spoke. He really was mostly okay. Physically at least. He had taken worse burns. He opened his mouth as if to say something more, but seemed to decide against it. Lynn was leaving and there was nothing he could do to stop it. All he could do was deal with it, like when mom up and left. She could hurt him again if he tried to stop her. Lynn seemed concerned now but when she had turned around she had been ready to swing. Her eyes and face were contorted with anger and in that moment Archie was brought back to when he was just a boy. His shoulders lift as he inhales a shaky breath; lips pursing into a thin line and jaw setting into something determined and knowing. His remaining hand clenched into a fist and then released.

He's not sure if it's his to say, but he says it anyways. Out of habit, because things like this were his fault in some way or another. "I'm sorry." It's so quiet he can't even be sure that he said it at all, but it's the only two words running through his mind. "I'm... gonna go back. To the table." he says, trying to sounds as casual as he could. He turned, walking away as quickly as he could without running from her without so much as a goodbye. That would just make things worse. Mr. Hyde stirred in him, never liking when Archie was hurt or upset, and he squeezed his burnt hand as if to prove that the pain was not from a direct threat.

Archie didn't go to the bathroom, or run water over his hand. He went straight back to the group, stuffing his other hand into his pocket so that he didn't attract any extra suspicion. He could hear Mr. Black and Mr. White speaking to the group in carefully worded sentences and hushed tones. Archie positioned himself next to Natalie without thinking, she looked upset. She looked as upset as he felt. Despite his earlier thoughts and what had just happened with Lynn, Archie found himself placing his hand on her upper arm. It was a small contact, but he found himself drawn to her body heat and noticing how her muscles felt like stone under her hoodie. Like Lynn, he was reminded very quickly of just how different parahumans were from normal humans. How capable she was of hurting him if she wanted to. He didn't want to believe Natalie would, but the throbbing heat of his pocketed hand served as a powerful reminder.

He pulled his hand away, and put it back in his pocket. He frowned some, to himself and his thoughts, and decided to focus more on the group again. Cara was named Caroline Fuller, they had sat in on the interviews, and there was a party that was concerned for them and the future as a whole. They had circled around Freaky-D now, who was displaying a recording of his skirmish with a woman that seemed oddly familiar. He wracked his brain for why this might be, and found himself thinking back to that first day, when he took his first step onto The Promise.

"One hell of a ride, huh? Nothing quite like it. The first steps are a special thing. It's tradition to take them on your own."

Her short brown hair, the angular features, the piercing hazel eyes that made him feel like she was staring straight through him even through the recording. The accent, too. It was all coming together.

"What's your name?" he had questioned.

"Arianna."

"I know her." Archie announced to the group, suddenly. Suddenly he felt like all eyes were on him, and he scrambled to recover, bringing both hands up as if in surrender, exposing his burnt hand. "First day, she helped me out of the shuttle. She said her named was Arianna." he explained, putting his hand back into his pocket. "She was... odd. I guess this explains why."