Electra

Erin was relieved to see Singularity give up on her self-harming behavior and go to lay down on her bunk. She did her best to ignore the fact that her deranged counterpart was crying, sluggish silent tears that snuck their way under the blanket of enforced peacefulness. Singularity didn't like what she thought they were going to do to her, but what Alex was going to do could only help. It had to help. How long could Singularity stay imprisoned before she was never going to be fit to release? Closing her eyes, Wander allowed herself to be drawn into the psychic link. She felt an odd sensation, like she was being dislocated without moving, then opened her "eyes" to look around. "I don't understand," she admitted, looking around at the room of doors. "What is this? What does it mean?" The room itself made her feel uneasy, though she couldn't say quite why. Somewhat reluctantly, she followed Psyche's lead and touched the slimy surface of the wall. Immediately she felt a wrenching sensation of illness in her nonexistent guts, as though she'd put her hands in something noxious. "Jesus," she managed, snatching her hand back and wiping it on the blue and gold uniform that was still part of her self-perception.

Erin blinked as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. In the white light, the place looked less like a graveyard and more like a laboratory where everyone had gone home one day and just forgotten to come back, about fifty years ago. Taking one more look around, she stepped into the empty space inside the rings and between the pylons where a victim (patient, definitely think patient) was obviously supposed to stand. She turned in a full circle, looking around at the machinery. "Well preserved," she noted. "I'd have thought it would've rusted out in fifty years in a basement."

Wander wanted very badly to say yes to that, and to stay outside and well away from the suffering and chaos in her counterpart's mind. She had her own memories of pain to deal with, and she didn't want to risk polluting the good ones by seeing them twisted and perverted. But she couldn't ask Alex to go where she herself wouldn't, and how could she look Singularity in the eye if she were too much of a coward to face for a few minutes what the other girl lived with every moment? With a sigh, Wander sat down and assumed the lotus position next to Alex. "Unless it's going to make things harder for you, I'll go too," she said. Inside the cell, Singularity turned away from them and began tapping her forehead against the wall, lightly at first, then with increasing vigor.

Erin didn't share Trevor's distaste for flying, but between her companion's mood, the lines at the airport and the nature of the errand itself, she was decidedly ill at ease by the time they boarded the plane. She still wasn't comfortable with the idea that she had money now, money that she hadn't really done anything to earn and that was somehow for the moment only theoretical anyway. Not to mention the nerves associated with meeting one of Trevor's parents for the first time! She didn't even know what to expect there. Maybe they could get this money and family stuff taken care of quickly and they'd have a little time in Paris before they had to head home. As they boarded, she automatically noted and cataloged the first-class passengers, a weird-looking bunch today. Her eyes widened a little bit as she noticed Ace Danger in one of the seats, but she figured it would probably be very uncool to say anything about it, at least when they were neither of them working. She felt her mood lift a bit when she saw Mark. The trip would definitely be more interesting, anyway, with the luck controller aboard. "Hey," she greeted him with a small smile. "What are you doing here?"

Singularity shrank back from the forcefield as Alex approached, raising her own hands in a futile gesture of defense. She backed into the desk and sent the books tumbling to the floor, then stumbled over them until her back was pressed against the wall of her cell and there was nowhere else to go. "No," she muttered, shaking her head. "No, no, please no, stop, no..." Outside the cell, Wander looked from Alex to Singularity, moistening her dry lips with the tip of her tongue. "You should probably stand back from the field," she murmured to Alex. "When she throws herself at it, it can sometimes bow. You might get a shock."

Singularity froze the instant Alex stepped into view, going still like a bird just spotting a snake. It was hard to tell if she was even breathing. Inside her head, though, the wave of terror and denial and mounting despair was punishing in its intensity. Pathos was back, Pathos was here, and the world was crashing down. She made a soft whimpering sound in her throat, but couldn't even manage a denial. Wander stepped in quickly, her words tripping over each other. "She's not Pathos," she told Singularity firmly. "This is Psyche, she's my friend. She is from here, not from that other world, she's good, not evil." Singularity didn't seem to hear, still staring at her bogeyman and poised on the edge between fight and flight, for all that both were equally impossible.

Erin took him at his word, removing her belt and setting it aside, then automatically running her hands over her hips as though she expected pockets to magically appear in the skintight uniform. She ran a hand through her hair, setting it comically on end in several places, and took a deep breath. "Right, all ready." She followed him through the forest of shrouded old machines, her nostrils twitching at the smell of machine oil, ozone, and the faintest hint of rust. If this was a gadget graveyard, there was certainly enough stuff playing the part of the ghosts. "It's very... secure down here," she said, her voice echoing off into the dark.

"All right," Erin nodded. "You can listen in if you want. Maybe you can give me some ideas." She took a deep breath and ran her fingers once through her short hair, then opened the door at the end of the high-security psych corridor. The guard called out her presence, causing a flurry of activity behind the heavy metal wall that enclosed the prisoner Erin had never met. Strange scrabbling, skittering noises came from the small porthole, but she didn't stop. She had more important things to do than indulge her morbid curiosity. Walking past the empty cell that should've housed Dr. Archeville, she came to a stop outside the faintly glowing forcefield on the third cell. Singularity was waiting for her on the other side of the field. The nullifier bracelet was still on her, but the bruises and contusions had vanished now that it was being kept at half-strength. She looked healthy and alert, and there was a pile of young adult books on the metal desk in her cell to indicate what she'd been up to. She blinked and narrowed her eyes as she took in Wander's new appearance. "I got a new uniform," Wander explained, and a haircut. I told you about how I graduated high school, right?" That had been an interesting conversation, trying to explain what had happened with Omega to her damaged alternate self, but she'd known her counterpart deserved to know that there had been retribution made. "I wanted a new look." Singularity considered that, then nodded slowly. Wander decided to take it as approval. She stepped back from the field a half-step. "I brought someone to see you today," she informed her counterpart. "She's waiting outside, but I wanted to talk to you first. Things have been going pretty well here, right? They're treating you well, taking care of you, keeping you safe, right? Nobody here has hurt you." Singularity mirrored Wander's movement, stepping back and furrowing her brow as she listened to the question. She suspected there was a trap in there somewhere, something she wasn't going to like. But it was true that this cell was much better than the other one, the white box. When she left this cell, it was to have a shower or to play with a ball in a little exercise room, not to fight and kill things. She was fed every day, more than once, and there was a TV to look at and books to read. Some of the guards even talked to her. And most importantly, there was no Pathos. 'Right," she finally allowed, cautiously. "It's pretty good." "Good," Wander said, smiling in a way that was more nerves than smile. "You trusted me that I would take care of you, and help you get better. I want to help you do that. The person I want you to meet today is someone you've never met. She's really a nice person, a very good person. She can help you, and she isn't going to hurt you, I promise. It's just that she has a... a familiar face." Wander looked towards the hallway door and Singularity followed her gaze, for all she couldn't see the end of the hall. Wander looked nervous, Singularity distinctly uneasy. "Just remember it's okay, and you're safe here."

Erin squeezed his hand and resisted the urge to leap off the stairs just to shorten the trip. It wasn't wise to do that when there might be sensitive equipment right at the bottom of the stairs. "You could have a hell of a Halloween party here," she observed, her words echoing and bouncing off the walls. "All dark and creepy and kind of cold and dank." She looked over at him, furrowing her brow. "This isn't going to be like a naked scan, right? Cause otherwise I'm going back for a heater." Complaining was petty, she knew, and she could handle a little cold, but the complaints made her feel just a little bit more in control as they marched ceaselessly into the darkness.

"I'd have to battle Mr. Archer for the job, and he fights dirty. I think I'll leave him to it for a few more years." Erin took a deep breath and got out of the car. "Guess I'm not going to get any more ready," she decided. "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work," she said, a reminder to both of them. "If we have to leave and don't accomplish anything, it's still better than if we didn't try." She took her bat from its holster and tossed it under the seat of the car, then closed the door. "Anyway, they're waiting for us.

"Yeah, Frank's dad, I think, did up uniforms and clothes and stuff for Trevor's grandpa, so it's a big family thing. He makes Trevor's uniforms too," Erin explained. "I'll get Trevor to give you his contact information. I really like what he did with my uniform." She looked down at her uniform, smoothed down the cuffs. "Definitely a lot better than blue and gold. Still feels weird to know we'll never go back as students, though. I still find myself heading that way sometimes at night, thinking like I'm going back to dinner and the dorms."

Erin's grin broadened. "Frank, you know the tailor I was telling you about, the one who made my prom dress? He made my new uniform, and he's been trying to talk me into getting a new dress made up, like I have the money for that. But while I was getting my fitting, he was whispering in my ear all these features he can put into formal clothes for superhero work. Like my prom dress had a tearaway skirt, but he was telling me how he could make one where the neckline fits my uniform so if I needed to I could wear the uniform and pull the dress off entirely in one pull." She arched an eyebrow at Alex. "I was just inferring what might happen if there wasn't a uniform underneath."

"You're just going to have to be a little more aggressive," Erin decided. "And by the wedding, he'll have totally run out of excuses. We'll make sure he gets some champagne, or that you get some so you can project to him, and nudge you along out of the reception early. Frank can tailor a dress so that it comes off with one button. You pop that button and show off your... whatever it's called, wedding underpants, and see what happens." She rolled her eyes. "As long as you don't electrocute yourself. That's just a horrible, stupid plan, okay?"

It was always just a little bit unnerving to see Alex take her attention off the road while driving, especially since Erin had been in Driver's Ed with her, but being a powerful extrasensory psychic did make it a lot easier for Alex to multitask. "It's beautiful," Erin said sincerely, looking over the dress. "I don't think white would suit your coloring anyway but this is so... you. Mike is not going to see anyone else in the whole building except for you when you're wearing this." Her lips curved into a grin. "And I know this guy who can make it quick release, for when you finally get him alone afterwards," she teased.

Erin glared at Trevor for his flippancy, but it held no real heat. "It had better be a good one," she muttered darkly. She looked around as they went, filing away information and quashing the voice inside that was nervous about going down into the unknown darkness. "I don't think I've seen this part of the manor before," she commented. "I didn't really realize how big it was. It's bigger underground than the house is up top, isn't it." Given the size of Hunter Manor, that was definitely saying something.

"Yeah, of course," Erin replied with a grin, relaxing a little herself. "I'm going to get Trevor to dye my new bat to match so in case anyone tries to disrupt the ceremony, they'll wish they hadn't. That's somewhere in the job description, right? Or you could just invite Mark," she suggested with a tilt of her head, "and so long as he doesn't get it into his head that he' bored and what we really need is an old fashioned superbattle, everything will go totally smoothly. And maybe people won't care as much as you think about the terminus baby thing. It's been almost twenty years now. Nobody knows for sure that just because you were in Freedom City and a baby in 1992 that your powers have anything to do with the Terminus. Maybe by fall there'll be a whole new bogeyman for people to worry about. We probably know people who could arrange it."

"You could mind-whammy her into being calm," Erin suggested halfheartedly, but she already knew that was off the table for Alex. Despite her power to effortlessly cloud the mind, Alex dealt in truth and reality, however painful. "Yeah, it'll be bad," she agreed, resigned. "Maybe you could give me a minute with her first when we get there," she suggested. "She kind of trusts me a little bit, because I've been visiting and bringing her stuff. She probably won't believe me when I say you're not Pathos, but it's worth a try, maybe. Can't hurt." She shrugged one shoulder. "You and Mike set a date yet" she asked abruptly, hoping for a more fun topic.

Erin considered that seriously for a moment. She trusted Dr. Atom, had to after what the one on her world had done to save her life and bring her to Prime. But that didn't mean she didn't remember that his science wasn't always flawless. Plus, he had a lot better things to be doing today. "No," she said after a quiet moment, "let's go ahead, unless it's rusted clear through or something. A nanite can't be any harder to find than a shrunk-down alien." She sighed, then changed the subject. "Speaking of, when are we going to look at your grandpa's flying saucer?"

"It wasn't your handiwork," Erin reminded Alex as they headed towards the car. "You're nothing like Pathos, you could never be anything like her. She's..." Erin paused for a moment, repressing a shudder. "She's evil. But you're right that you're probably the one who's going to be best at figuring out what Pathos did and maybe how to undo it." Climbing into the tiny VW bug that Alex was so attached to, she buckled her seatbelt and sat back. "I don't know how you're going to start, though. She freaks out at telepathic contact, and she's going to flip out when she sees you. She didn't like Eve one bit, and Eve was a total stranger."

Erin looked a little dubious, and Alex didn't need her psychic powers to know that her friend was torn, but after a moment Erin closed the binder and tucked it under her arm, smiling maybe a bit bigger than she actually felt. "It's not a present if it's already mine," she pointed out teasingly, "and if it is a present, you spent way too much." Truthfully, Erin wasn't sure she wanted to take the gift, as much because she had no idea what to do with that kind of money as because she didn't want Alex's carefully devised charity. But she didn't want to disappoint Alex either, not when she looked so hopeful. And it wasn't as though she didn't need the money... She pushed the entire thing out of her mind for the moment, There would be plenty of time later to obsess about it. "Are you, ah, ready to go?" she asked Alex. "We could maybe wait another week or two, see if the doctors there make any more progress."

Erin took the binder automatically and opened it, but stared at its contents without comprehension. "But you paid me for watching your stocks for you, it was how I bought cat food for Oliver and Christmas presents last year." She dimly remembered Alex saying something about paying in stock like all good startups, but she'd sort of ignored that. The point of the endeavor had been to get money for Zoe's future, even if it had expanded beyond anything Erin could've imagined. "I don't think this can be right," she told Alex, looking again at the final figures. "I didn't even do that much work, I just put in the trades you told me when you told me to. You're the one who had all the ideas and did all the planning and stuff."

"A graduation present?" Erin looked blank for a moment, then briefly guilty herself. She'd gotten a few presents for graduation, the bat from Mr. Archer, a little money from her Prime family, a blank journal from Dr. Marquez, the picture from Corbin, but she hadn't realized that it was good form to get presents for her friends that were graduating as well. She thought about making up an excuse, but realized just as quickly how useless that would be. "You didn't have to get me anything," she said instead, "I mean, just coming with me to do this today is way more than enough." Inwardly she cast about in her mind for a gift she could pick up for Alex. It was not easy to shop for a girl who had more money than God, even more money than Trevor or Eve or James. Why did she have so many rich, hard to shop for friends?

Despite the nature of the errand, Erin couldn't help but smile broadly as she saw her best friend for the first time in weeks. They'd both been consumed by work of various sorts, and it was hard to get away! She gave Alex a quick hug as she stepped out the door, clad in her new purple and black uniform, though she was foregoing the mask today. She didn't want to deal with her counterpart in her civilian guise, for reasons she couldn't quite articulate even to herself. Besides, if something went bad and there was a fight, she didn't want to risk her fragile regular clothes. "It's so good to see you!" she said with genuine pleasure, grinning at Alex's cheerful ensemble. "I didn't realize things were going to still be so crazy after finals were over. How have you been? How's Mike?"

"Last time I saw Dr. Tomorrow he yelled at me for hanging out with Quark," Erin muttered. "Still hung up on the whole half-century thing. If this gives me some kind of disease or mutation or turns me invisible, I'm going to be really mad at you," she warned half-seriously. Despite her complaints, she didn't waste any more time as she followed him down the stairs and into the depths of Midnight Manor. She'd seen it many times now, but it was still quite an impressive sight, all the dark walls and gleaming stainless steel that had been there since long before her parents were even born.

"The Patriot?" Erin asked, her lips thinning dubiously. "He was active like back in the fifties, wasn't he? Are you sure a machine that your grandpa used on him would still work now? Or be, you know, safe?" Her steps lagged just that much more as they headed for the clock that led to the basement. "Maybe waiting till Dr. Atom or Daedelus aren't so busy or something would be a better idea. This is just a precaution, anyway," she pointed out. Despite the invulnerability of her body, she was a bit nervous trusting herself to medical technology built before people knew that stuff like X-Rays was unhealthy.