Electra
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"It's your menagerie, silly!" she told him with a laugh. "Whenever we find creatures who are in danger of extinction, you bring them up here for me to take care of until they can be cloned and repopulated! They live in the habitats down in Cargo Bay Two. It's very nice down there, but it's not exactly a forest. I could program a forest for you in the simulator if you like," she offered cheerfully. Persephone obviously didn't need to breathe. "The hydroponics bay does have some trees, if you're more interested in the real thing, but that's more devoted to vegetables and grains and algae, really. Ick, slimy stuff, but it's good for the oxygen you need!" She led him back onto the bridge he'd seen before, lit up with views of the Earth from different angles and illuminations. "All systems are nominal," she reported with obvious pleasure, her outfit morphing now to one that looked like a very fitted version of a space shuttle astronaut's. "We're in standard geosynch orbit over Freedom City, with our next course burn in thirty minutes. Any orders?"
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They arrived at the party all too quickly, but Erin enjoyed every minute of the drive. She hastily put her shoes back on as the valet approached the car, so as not to climb out in her stockings and ruin their entrance. Even at a ritzy place like this, such an unusual car drew a few second looks. Erin had no idea what to do with herself at this point, so she simply held onto Trevor's arm and looked around, as much to drink in all the beautiful sights as to scope out exits and defensive positions. "There are a lot of people here," she murmured.
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"Okay," Erin said, giving him a last cautious look. "Sorry about your jaw." The apology came to nearly half-hearted this time, an improvement. She walked out quickly while she still felt like she was doing pretty good. Sure it was sometimes BS when someone said they'd call you about a job, but Taylor seemed like she'd meant it. Jack... well, she really didn't know what to think of him. He was definitely a weird guy. Vampire. Vampireman. Whatever.
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Erin blinked. "Yeah... um, yes, that's just fine," she replied quickly. That was several times more money than she'd ever made babysitting, maybe it was the built-in hazard pay. It was a lot more lucrative than watching the computer screen for Alex's stocks, before whatever arcane stock options thing her friend had dreamed up. She wondered what else the baby could do besides bite. It was only a couple months old, surely it couldn't be very fast, no matter what other tricks it had. She put her phone number down on the sheet so they could get in touch, then passed it back to Taylor. "Is that good?"
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"Because they think I'm crazy," Erin said flatly. "Because I can't stop jumping at shadows and I have to see Dr. Marquez every day. Somebody played an April Fool's day prank on me by accident this year and then looked like he thought I was going to kill him, literally. I thought I was getting better, but then..." She let out a sharp exhale, knowing she was being silly. "When I was talking to Dynamo, he asked me why I was in the gym alone, then basically accused me of not having any friends. And I know that's stupid, but it's true that there were people in there when I went in there and none when I left, and now I'm obsessing over it like an idiot." She punched the pillow, lightly, then laid her head back on it again and looked over at Alex with a rueful smile. "And they're scared of you because you're smarter than they can even understand, and you can read their minds. Which is stupid too, because you'd never do it to hurt somebody, but people are dumb. At least with me they're half right."
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"No, Trevor's not like that," Erin told Alex, sort of missing the point there towards the end. "I mean, he's got to know I'm not rich, anybody who looks at my clothes three days in a row could guess that. But he's never said anything about it, just said he knew this tailor that would be happy to get his hands on me to put together a dress." She thought about Alex's suggestion then, idly scratching behind Oliver's ears. "Yeah, if things go well at the dance, I guess I could use some of those vouchers and we could go out there. It looked nice from the pictures in the packet." She was quiet a moment, then turned her head to look over at her roommate. "Alex, do you think people here are scared of me?"
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"Haven't got any," Erin said absently, filling in days and times on the sheet. Indeed, she didn't seem to have any jewelry at all, at least at the moment. "It's not really my thing." She made short work of the sheet, filling in the blocks on the weekends when she wasn't in team training and the days nights when she could easily shift homework and solo training around. "How much do you pay?"
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"Bullets bounce off me and I can regenerate most wounds in a few seconds," Erin offered, hoping she might somehow pull this interview out of the bag yet. "And I'm not poisonous or anything, either," she thought to add. That would be something a mom with a bitey kid would worry about, right? "I have my own truck, so I can drive myself if you need me to, and an emergency teleporter beacon. Just in case of trouble, you know?"
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"I guess," Erin said dubiously. "It didn't used to bother me, having friends buy stuff for me, but I guess it's different now because money is always such a thing. It makes me feel weird. And it was a long time ago too, and I was a lot younger, so I didn't think about money that much. My folks gave me an allowance and that was my money, and if I needed something bigger than that, they took care of it. So if my friends and I bought stuff, well it was none of our money, really, but we could still take turns and..." She sighed. "I know none of this is making sense. I know it's stupid. But it makes me feel poor, instead of just knowing I am." Oliver, who'd been napping on one of Alex's pillows, woke up and stretched luxuriantly, giving Alex a friendly arm-boof before jumping up onto Erin's bed and sitting down imperturbably on her stomach. She petted the cat for a moment. "On the other hand, I'll look like an idiot if I try to find a dress from goodwill or something like that, and I already told him I'd go to this tailor guy."
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Erin thought about that for a minute, also looking over at Jack, His jaw had knit, but he still wasn't looking too comfortable. She turned back to Taylor and cocked her head thoughtfully. "How hard?"
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Erin gave his hand a perfunctory shake and stepped back, eyeing Jack warily as she returned to her seat. She didn't even bother rubbing a pretend ache out of her hand. "Sorry," she said, not sounding immensely sincere about it. She'd gotten lucky in that his own momentum had driven his chin further into her hand, but anybody who attacked someone else for no reason but ego or curiosity deserved what they got. She sat down in her chair again.
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Erin, who had been expecting something like that since he asked the question, was out of her seat in a heartbeat. The problem with not bragging, she supposed, was that sometimes people didn't actually believe you. Just in case it was a trick, she waited for him to actually come at her before retaliating. He could control minds, she knew, and become insubstantial, but she wasn't at all sure how far he intended to take his attack. She made her first shot count. In the blink of an eye, she moved past his leg and drove the heel of her hand into his chin with a loud crunching noise.
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Erin has watched Jack fight, and knows that he is capable of becoming insubstantial. Since she may only have one shot at defending herself proactively, she's going to take it. She readies an action, and the second he goes for the kick, she's going to drive the heel of her palm into his chin. Partial power attack, +3, All Out Attack +3 Wow. 1d20+14=34. A critical hit. Erin's defense drops to +11.
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Initiative= 1d20+13=33
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"I don't know yet," Erin admitted. "It's a really fancy thing, formal dresses and stuff. So that's kind of a problem. I don't fit in a lot of off-the-rack fitted stuff very well. And those things are really expensive." She rolled back onto her back, looking contemplatively up at the springs of Alex's bed. "He offered to take me to this tailor who does work for his family. The guy whose dad designed the original Midnight costume, stuff like that. But if we'll do that, he'll pay for it, and I don't know if I should let him do that. He's rich, I know that, but it feels... weird."
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Erin had no idea what the joke was, but Taylor's laugh was contagious enough for her to smile in a confused way and hope that it was a good sort of laughing. She turned as Jack entered the room, automatically sizing him up before deciding that, real vampire powers or not, he was not a threat at the moment. It was daytime, for pity's sake. What would a real vampire be doing out in the daytime. She must be missing something. "Very fast," she told him simply. She rarely bothered to brag about her physical skills, the truth was good enough.
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Erin turned in her seat to follow Taylor's glance, but she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. If Taylor was actually looking at someone or something, it was apparently something mystical or invisible. The idea made Erin a little jittery, but she centered her attention back on Taylor. "I don't know who it was," she admitted, "I didn't know him and I wasn't paying a lot of attention. Some guy in a gas mask, and then they fought, and your husband cleaned his clock. I left right after that, I dunno what happened then. Is he like a real blood-drinking vampire, or more like "Vampireman," like "Geckoman" isn't actually a gecko?" she asked curiously.
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Erin cocked her head, looking a little surprised. "Is this about what that guy was yelling at your husband, about him being a vampire? Cause I sort of thought that was a figure of speech. But one of my best friends is a demon, so I guess that's okay. The only, um, movie monster type I have trouble with is zombies." She figured she might as well admit that, as it was likely obvious to anyone who'd seen her in action that night.
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Erin took the indicated seat, crossing her legs and putting her hands in her lap. She already knew this conference room, so she didn't feel like she needed to scope it out the way she would a new place. "I have CPR training," she began, "and combat training as well. I was wondering," she admitted, "if you're looking for someone to protect the baby, or if you think a babysitter will need combat training to look after the baby."
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"His name's Dynamo, he's like in college, not our age. He's on the Interceptors." Erin rolled her eyes. "Everybody I meet on that team is either nuts or a jerk. It's kind of weird." Erin waved a hand, dismissing him. "It wasn't that big a deal I guess." Alex could tell it still bothered Erin, because Erin was not a very good liar, but she did her best. "And the date? Well, Trevor and I went out the other night, like a spur of the moment thing, patrolling on his motorcycle." Erin smiled with honest enthusiasm for that. "It was awesome. He drives that thing like... I dunno, like some people know how to fly. We actually drove up the cables on the Pramas Bridge, over the top and down. I mean, I could've jumped it, but it was a totally different feeling on the bike. And then we stopped a robbery, and went out to have some coffee. And we were talking, and he was talking about how he goes to these fancy parties because of his family, and it sort of ended up that he asked me to come with him to one, and I said yes." She still looked a little bewildered as to how that had happened.
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Erin pursed her lips uncomfortably. "I think I may have met him once," she admitted, "just in passing." Erin guessed she wasn't a very good judge of pregnancy, since when she'd met Taylor before, she hadn't looked at all on the verge of giving birth. But then, Erin hadn't had a lot of experience in that area. "So your baby's very little, then? I haven't babysat any newborns before, but I used to watch my neighbor's kids when they were like a year old."
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Erin had dressed up for the interview, as much as her wardrobe allowed, anyway. Khaki slacks and a dark blue blouse made her look more serious and professional, she figured, and putting her hair up in a bun made her look a little older. She felt pretty good about the interview, for the most part. She'd had babysitting experience, even if it had been a really long time, and she certainly had combat reflexes. She even knew CPR. It would be nice to earn some extra money over the summer, and to get off campus sometimes. This summer would be a lot more normal than last. Her tenuous confidence evaporated the moment she walked into the conference room and stopped in her tracks. The voice on the phone had sounded vaguely familiar, but she hadn't really thought much of it at the time. That had been a tactical error. She hesitated in front of the door and looked at the Phantom with something like consternation. Phantom didn't even like her. This was sure to go well. But Erin wasn't going to turn and run. She tried on a smile and stepped forward, offering her hand. "Hi, you were looking for a babysitter?"
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Erin looked up from the history textbook she was reading, taking a moment to pull herself out of studying mode. "I... I'm not sure," she finally said. "Things have been kind of weird. I got into another argument with this jerk speedster over that stupid zombie. The speedster's coming here to take some classes or something, and he decided to look me up and try to psychoanalyze me or something. That was creepy." She pushed the book away and rolled onto her side. "But I also think I have a date."
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Erin will come in for an interview, she has combat reflexes and likes money. :D
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"That's fine," Erin told him, sizing him and the pixie up with a quick look. "It would be good if you'd concentrate on the emergency room area and make sure no monsters get close," she told the cowboy. "That's the biggest vulnerable spot in the hospital, between the number of doors and the number of civilian targets. If your team concentrates its efforts on keeping that side of the hospital clear, we should be able to cover the rest of the building. Can you get up into the air and give us an idea of what's coming?" she asked the pixie.