Electra
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That got another chuckle, one that sounded considerably better than the last, as Stesha put an arm around Taylor's waist for an affectionate half-hug. "Roasting coffee beans, if you can believe it. They're growing coffee over at the monastery and roasting it in a proper roaster, but it's caught on in a big way. I don't want to deprive anybody of their share when it's almost as easy to do it myself. I looked it up on the internet," she added proudly. "Four minutes in this thing and they're ready to grind. Tastes pretty good, too! I think I've had about as much wine as my system can tolerate right now, but coffee with cheesecake is just as good. Want to try a cup?"
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The ArcheTech plane was very fast, the ArcheTech pilots very discreet and conscientious, but nonetheless it was quite an uncomfortable flight for the two heroes heading down to Fort Meade. Miss Americana spent most of the flight hunched over a sophisticated ArcheTech tablet, but even though there was a nanofiber glove on her hand that should've given her 3-D screens and twitch command, she mostly stared at it without moving at all. Every so often she'd raise her head and look around, nod at Joe, then return to her work. They were circling to land when she finally spoke up. "Forty-seven injured so far, no deaths. That's not an Anti-Earth or Grue behavior pattern. Somebody's trying to get our attention. We'd better be prepared for a trap the second we step onto the scene."
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Jessie's eyes widened a bit as she took in Phantom's question. She glanced at Aquaria, then at Indira, back to Phantom again, and seemed to work her way through several possible answers. "I don't... think so?" she finally ventured. "I mean, not like what you're asking about. But I haven't seen very much of this world except on supervised field trips until I got released this morning, so it's all weird, you know?" She shrugged, looking and sounding in the moment very much like her doppelganger. "Like before today, I hadn't been in a working grocery store since I was fourteen. It gets... fuzzy, what things are supposed to be like. No portals, though, or monsters, or paranormal stuff."
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That idea made Stesha laugh, a ragged, sorry-sounding thing, but at least a laugh. "No, I don't think that would help," she told Taylor. She gathered the green beans from the counter and put them into a cup, then started rummaging around inside one of the big flowers on the counter. "I think I just need time to process," she admitted. "It's kind of a lot to take in all at once, and there's a lot of emotions to work through. But I do forgive you, I swear." With a small noise of triumph, she pulled a hot air popcorn popper from the flower, poured the beans into it, and plugged it in. Within a few moments, the air began to smell faintly of coffee. "It's just taking some parts of me a little longer to catch up. We're okay."
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Stesha winced visibly at those last words, closing her eyes for a second. The pretty red fruits began to wither and dissolve away as though in time-lapse, leaving green seeds to drop to the countertop with a soft clatter. "I couldn't believe you weren't even around," Stesha muttered at the counter, not able to bring herself to look up. "I called and I went to your house, but you weren't there and nobody knew where you were. I thought maybe something happened to you, maybe you were dead, and I hadn't even known it. And it was just one more weight thrown on top of everything else, what a crappy friend I must have been." She blinked hard, clearing her eyes of any traitorous moisture. "I know you had your own stuff going on, and I understand, and it makes sense what you had to do. But it hurt really bad."
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Stesha folded her hands neatly over her belt and regarded the massive robot with great equanimity. "We'd like to assist your people in recovering their farmland and livable habitat from the ecological disaster that the world has become. The work we can do isn't going to be enough to turn everything around, but it will buy time for the poisons to leach out of the soil and nutrients to seep back in. With good husbandry habits and careful composting, you can speed up the process even more. I'm sure you have information about where our work might help save the most people and be the most helpful. Will you give it to us?"
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"Look sharp, ladies and gents, here comes... hell if I know!" Koshiro called out, both out loud and over Eve's mental link. He stared at the bones assembling themselves into bodies. "It's, um... yeah, giant skeletons over here on the western edge!" Koshiro's plane flew higher, taking him to what he hoped would be a safe distance out of reach of the surprisingly large and agile skeletons. He flicked out an arm, and once again the wild formation of cranes began to organize itself, this time into a large wedge-shaped phalanx. "Fly, my pretties! You can't go for the jugular, so go for the funny bone, I guess!" The cranes dove into the thickest part of the line, flying over, around, sometimes through the bodies of the skeletons, till two of them fell down, injured and too confused to continue.
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Koshiro's going to spend an HP to power stunt an area attack against the skeletons! Blast 8 (Extra: Area [Targeted, Cone]) {24/24}
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Gina followed Steve to the door, but hesitated before crossing the threshold, her petulant anger dissolving away in the face of actually stepping outdoors. She'd left the house a couple of weeks ago to talk to the psychologist, even though she'd never mentioned that to Steve, but it had been different. Garage to tinted-window car, car to secured elevator, a quick walk down an empty corridor. when her attention was so focused on manipulating both herself and the robot that she'd barely had time to panic. Walking out into the sunshine, into a public thoroughfare, out where people were going to see her... not ready. Not to mention sorely out of practice. The curtains moved in the window of the house across the way. A car passed by, driving unusually slowly so the driver could look around. Everyone was looking. Everyone was going to watch her make a fool of herself yet again. Gina rocked back and forth on her heels, cupping her elbows with her hands. She would've made some sardonic, quippy remark to take focus off the fact she was acting like a complete nutcase, but her mouth was too dry right now.
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Jessie flinched hard at the loud snapping noise, her pupils blowing wide for a moment before she recovered her equanimity. She carefully did not look over at her hungry friend. "I am an anomaly," she agreed, raking a hand through her hair uneasily. "I'm not from here, and there are two others of me here already. It's not normal." She studied Phantom, her forehead furrowed with concern. "Do you see any bad vibrations around me? Am I going to hurt people with the... staticky... stuff?" She waved a hand in the air, trying to pin down a term she couldn't exactly understand. "I can't go back to my world. It's all gone."
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Stesha gave Taylor an arch look. "I went to the same school with my five older siblings, the school that my father taught at. A little humiliation is good for the adolescent soul," she opined. "But you could always summon the magic students to you, do it full Phantom-costume style and intimidate them a bit. It'd be a good test to see who's got the courage to be a good hero anyway, right?" She turned her attention to the little bush on the counter, which immediately began producing copious amounts of cheerful red berries. "It's good that you're back," she told Taylor, her eyes still on the plant. "I can't help but think we're overdue for some kind of reckoning from the Terminus. Lots of rumblies from them in the past few years, but no actual attacks. That's not going to last forever."
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"Yeah, more like there aren't enough hours in the day," Stesha agreed, returning the milk to the refrigerator and pushing Ammy's plate into a large flower. "But just because the Knights of Freedom went down in spectacular flames doesn't mean you're not designed for working on teams. Not every team has a vibe that works. You could always apply to the Aux League," she suggested cheerfully. On the counter, a small bush began to grow, unfolding leaves and branches, then flowers. "Getting paid for the hero work definitely doesn't suck. And maybe you could help me corral the jackass vampire colleague I've been having to work with this past year," she added, her voice teasing. "And there's always new kids coming up through the schools, looking for mentors."
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Erin gave Dancia a suspicious glare that had more than a touch of hostility in it. Who the hell was this woman anyway, coming along and giving Mike alcohol, then trying to pick him up, right in front of his friends? Sure, Mike was handsome and all, but taking advantage of a naive young guy on the worst day of his life, that was just low. Lower than low. "You know, I don't think I caught your name," she told Dancia, with a smile that showed teeth, "and while it's nice that you're trying to help, I think we'd better get Mike home before the reporters sniff him out. His fiancee is really worried about him." She looked over to Mike, her expression softening back to normal. "You ready to settle up here?"
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"I'll be right back." Stesha escorted her small daughter back toward the bedrooms, leaving Taylor with wine and milk and cheesecake all to herself. The house was very peaceful, if slightly on the warm side; its rustling leaves and occasional dapples of sun through the windows making it very akin to resting under a tree on a summer afternoon. Well, with more appliances, anyway. In the back room, Stesha and Ammy's voices were faintly audible as they talked, then sang a song. After about five minutes, Stesha came back out. "So what are your plans for now that you're back? Besides the kids thing, what are you going to be doing?"
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Though Steve did not hurry through his dressing process, by the time he was finished dressing, there was no sign that Gina was anywhere close to finished. She'd shut him out of the master bedroom, but occasionally he could hear muttered curse words and the closet door opening or shutting. Running water in the master bathroom, a quick conversation by phone with someone who needed advice from Miss Americana, more silence, more cursing. Finally, after more than an hour, Gina slumped out into the hallway, looking like someone ready to be led to the gallows. She'd put on a pair of baggy blue jeans and a blouse a size too big, done her makeup flawlessly, then obscured it with a giant straw sunhat. "How long do we have to do this?" she demanded gracelessly.
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"I'm trying not to think that way, though," Stesha admitted. "I was wallowing pretty heavily in the nostalgia right after everything happened. Like everything was so much better then, I wasn't so busy all the time, I was still creating art at the flower shop, I had... I had Derrick, and I had a bunch of close friends and a social life, but then it all gradually just dropped away. But that's not really true." She stroked a hand over Ammy's curls, then used a napkin to wipe chocolate from the little girl's face, despite her protests. "I have gained so much that I would never have had if things hadn't changed. Now I make art on a scale of acres instead of in a vase, and the work I do saves lives. And I have friends here, and on Prime, and on FL-Aux. And I have Ammy, who would make up for the rest of it by herself." She grinned fondly and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Okay, bathroom time, and say goodnight to Taylor." "Moooooooooom!" Ammy immediately whined. "I'm not tiiiiired!" "The faster you lay down, the faster you can get up again," Stesha cajoled. "And I know you want to play with the bees this afternoon." Amaryllis huffed in great frustration, but slouched over to Taylor. "I have to take a short nap," she announced to the visitor. "After that, you and me can play, okay?"
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Taylor's offer to leave earned her a disbelieving grin. "Come on, you've got one of your own. You know naptime is code for 'let mommy talk to her friend' time." Amaryllis furrowed her brow at that, but was still pretty busy with her snack. "I've been keeping an eye out for any signs that the Terminus might be checking us over, but so far nothing. This is a pretty out of the way universe, and we aren't exactly making a big splash most of the time. But if you'd give me your expert opinion, I'd be obliged." Stesha considered the wine bottle for a moment, frowned thoughtfully, then got up and poured herself a glass of milk from an old-fashioned glass bottle in the refrigerator. "You want some? It's fresh." "I want some!" Ammy called before Taylor had a chance to say anything. "Just a little for now," Stesha agreed. "I don't foresee us taking on any more new residents any time soon, Terminus or no, knock on wood. We are pretty much bursting at the seams as it is, and it'll be another year before I'm comfortable that the people here could feed themselves if anything ever happens to me." She brought the milk bottle and cups over to the table. "And I am proud, but sometimes I miss the days when it was just me and my hoodie and a city full of potted plants, you know what I mean? When did we get so indispensible?"
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Stesha snorted laughter. "Yeah, it was kind of a surprise to me, too. I originally was using the place for a sandbox, you remember, back when I was starting to develop my powers. Nobody wanted me terraforming bits of the city, for obvious reasons, but this place was just the ticket. I built my little HQ for me and Derrick and the baby, started working on cleaning up enough around it to go on walks and not have bad smells in the air. Then Beekeeper had to do his thing with the bees, and suddenly I've got giant bees, baby giant bees, giant dragon bees, and robot giant dragon bees all setting up shop. And then it turns out this world wasn't quite as empty as advertised, so I wound up with a hundred settlers who'd been living on lichen for a couple generations cause the world's so ruined." She passed Ammy her juice as the little girl finished her cake. "Almost time for your nap, kiddo. Anyway, then my friends from the Aux league started building, part to have room to spread out their headquarters, and part to give me a hand so I wasn't alone out here with no backup. And you remember how the Gorgon thing went down, little JJ was here for that while you guys were working. Making Sanctuary a fallback site for evacuation was kind of a crazy desperate idea, but it did get a huge number of sod huts built, water purification facilities constructed, outhouses dug, all the luxuries of home." Stesha grinned a little. "So of course I said yes when Blue Jay, she's a nice girl, went to Claremont, I don't think you know her, when she asked if she could bring maybe a thousand of her people from their world before it fell into the Doom Coil. You can't say no to that kind of request if there's any way you can help, right? Then a thousand turned out to be ten thousand, and it's been a little crazy her for awhile." She chuckled dryly. "But we get by."
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"Are you serious?" Gina's face fell, and then her head fell as well, as she thudded her forehead lightly against the table. "I thought you wanted to do something fun, and instead we're having a "Let's work on Gina's issues" encounter-session day? That sounds like a way more productive use of my time than any of the actually enjoyable things I was planning on." But she didn't actually come right out and say no. She'd made the stupid promise, she was over a barrel, and she knew it. That didn't mean she was going to submit with any kind of grace, however. "It's gross out today, anyway, the dew point temperature's like 65 degrees." She pushed away her plate, suddenly much less enthused about her intricate toaster strudels.
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Papercut goes on 23, quite impressive for him!
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"It's good," Stesha told her with a nod, "even if I end up being a little overbooked a lot of the time. Most of the pay I just dump into the coffers for this place, but there's enough to put some into the college fund, pay for the apartment in Freedom City for when we need it, things like that. And I like my team, they're mostly great people, and it's good to be able to help. I feel like without the League, I'd probably start feeling really separate and remote from Freedom City. I spend so much of my time here on Sanctuary, get really caught up in everything going on here, and Earth Prime seems really far away. But with Tarrant and Carson living here and being on the team too, we've all got a lot in common. Have you met them, Gabriel and Gaian Knight?"
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"Oh, we should take him to League Headquarters!" Stesha suggested enthusiastically once her coughing subsided. "I've got a little office there now, but it's pretty boring, but I bet he'd get a real kick out of the statues in the library, and the Centurion's get-ready room, and all the video monitors with old news programs and documentaries. We get school groups going through all the time to see it." She took a napkin and wiped Ammy's face, nearly unnoticed by the little girl still deep in the throes of dessert. "How's Jack doing with the whole being back thing?" she asked. "Did some big vampire power vacuum end up forming while he was gone?"
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Gina shrugged, drizzling icing over her toaster strudel. She was very precise with her lines, so that the completed pastry looked as though it were topped with a circuit diagram. "I dunno, got some projects I haven't been able to work on for awhile, the responsive home theater lighting in the living room, designing Miss A's winter wardrobe for this year, tweaking my private investment portfolio. Maybe do a quick pass as Cyberknife, make sure nobody's sneaking around online where they shouldn't be. Maybe just sit around in my pajamas all day and play Minecraft. Could go either way." She glanced up as she took a bite. "How about you?"
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Erin cast a quick glance over the two heroes she didn't know, briefly assessing the potential threat each one posed. When both seemed reasonably unlikely to be any danger, she gave each of them a brief nod of greeting. "I'm Erin, and this is Mark," she said with a nod to her much better-known colleague, then focued her attention back on Mike. "I'm sorry it happened this way," she told him sincerely. Even if they'd all seen the disaster coming, it still sucked to have it actually strike. "I know you were hoping for a lot more from the police academy. Do you need a place to hole up for a few days? We've got lots of extra room, and it's very private."
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Jessie pushed the rented cart into the empty shop, then moved without apparent thought or intent to put her back against the nearest wall in a spot where she had a good view of the entire dim and slightly spooky space. She'd been persuaded to surrender her bag of fish for purchase and bagging, so now she was unarmed, but it really didn't make her much less dangerous. She didn't seem in a combative mood right now though. "What did you want to tell us?" she asked Taylor, even as she kept one eye on Indira and avoided looking at Aquaria and her lobster entirely. It was making weird crinkly-paper noises in its wet prison, and every time it made a particularly loud crinkle, Jessie twitched slightly.