Stopping By For A Nice Little Chat (IC, Closed)

[Heritage]

October 5th, 2010 (Tuesday). 12:05 pm

For some reason she wasn't quite sure of, Lynn Epstein really seemed to come alive in the fall; it had always been her favorite season ever since she was little. Somehow the heady mix of back to school, the High Holidays and the looming specter of Halloween practically made her skin tingle with excitement. This fine autumn day she was flying over Hanover, which really looked amazing from her pixie’s eye view, the tree-lined streets all turned to explosions of red, yellow and orange by the crisp October air.

As she banked over quiet Dyson Drive, she had her eyes peeled for number 1894, the home of her eccentric employer Herr Doktor Viktor Archeville, who had called to invite her over last night. She’d never been to his home, and imagined it looking like something out of a crazy kids movie, like Dick Van Dyke’s home in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; but now as she approached it, she was somewhat disappointed to see it looked much like any other house on the block.

Grim landed out of sight halfway up the block, behind a low fence where she could resume her human proportions safely out of sight. Once back to her full five feet three inches, she happily strolled up the street, smiling at the various spooky decorations Doc’s neighbors were already putting up in their windows and in their front yards. For this visit, she chose her normal face but with her pointed ears molded into a more conventional rounded shape, and she proudly wore a Freedom College hooded sweatshirt with her faded jeans and red Converse Hi-Tops. As she walked up towards Doc’s front door via the cobblestone path, she grinned at his lawn decorations.

Cool, garden gnomes!

She was about to reach out to pat one on the head, but thought the better of it and withdrew her hand; for all she knew, they were real gnomes held in stasis force fields watching over the house, or something equally bizarre. Instead she marched up to the front door, rang the bell and then eagerly bounced on the balls of her feet waiting for a response, hands jammed in her hoodie pockets.

[Dr Archeville]

Were the gnomes watching her? No, no, just her imagination, surely.

Moments after she'd touched the doorbell, the door swung open, seemingly of its own accord. Beyond was a nice foyer, well-lit by a golden chandelier. The stained wood panels along the walls lent an air of elegance to the place, while the colorful mandala design in the tile floor hinted at an appreciation for the exotic, the esoteric. Three hallways, left, center and right, branched off from the room, and simple doors between the halls were, she might assume, coat closets.

It suddenly hit Lynn that this foyer alone should, judging by the outer dimensions of the house, take up half the ground floor!

"Ah, Lynn, welcome!," the Doktor's disembodied voice greeted from everywhere and nowhere. "So glad you could come on such short notice! Have you had lunch yet? I am in the kitchen; the Kammerdieneraffe can show you the way. I hope you like Indian!"

One of the closet doors swung open, and out of it lumbered a silvery gorilla in a butler's suit! A moment's examination revealed that it was in fact a robotic gorilla, and not some sort of mutant; it looked at Lynn as if awaiting for some command.

[Heritage]

"Ah, Lynn, welcome!," the Doktor's disembodied voice greeted from everywhere and nowhere. "So glad you could come on such short notice! Have you had lunch yet? I am in the kitchen; the Kammerdieneraffe can show you the way. I hope you like Indian!"

Lynn's eyes lit up as she rubbed her hands together eagerly as she called out to the empty air.

"Like it, I love it!"

She blinked at the bizarre gorilla-butler-bot for a few seconds, then decided to test out her faerie gift for langauges.

"Uh, okay, 'Bring mich zu eurem Führer!' Ooh, that came out wrong, sorry!"

However, the ape appeared to take no offense (or salute either, thank God) as it turned and ambled along, leading her down one of the hallways from which wafted a delightful array of aromas hailing from the Subcontinent.

"Mmm, it smells amazing, Dok! Gotta say, I love the ape, but have you ever considered Oompa-Loompas? I'm just sayin'."

[Dr Archeville]

"Heh, no, but I would rather not populate my home with something that looks like rejects from The Jersey Shore."

The Kammerdieneraffe led Lynn down the left hallway. They first came to a parlor, with numerous chairs (some with plush cushions, some with slim ones), small tables here and there, an an assortment of periodicals scattered about. A log burned in the fireplace, and windows with the drapes pulled back looked out upon a panoply of scenes, most of which were nowhere near Freedom City. Over the fireplace, and on the wall opposite it, was a matched set of large mirrors. Cabinets in the corners held mysteries -- games, perhaps?

Next was the dining room, with a table and high-backed chairs for ten. It was bare, and the two small chandeliers above it were dimmed, but she could tell it would not take much to make this place really pop. Her attention now, though, was on the smells coming from beyond, a heady blend of the spices and sauces used in Indian cuisine.

The kitchen was the next stop, and despite there being only one man present, it was bustling with activity. But when that one man was Herr Doktor Viktor Archeville, Genius of Science!, well, one was all you needed to fill a whole room with action. He was flying about the room, tending to several different dishes on two stove ranges and in three ovens, and still pulling things out of the fridge for even more dishes!

Yay, she made it! And just in time for lunch! Oh, I hope these all turn out okay!

"I hope you brought your appetite!"

[Heritage]

Okay, this was more like it! Casa del Archeville was far cooler than she’d hoped; it was like some crazy Escher painting on the inside! She followed her nose (and the robo-gorilla) into the kitchen, where Freedom’s own lovable mad scientist was hard at work on his latest culinary invention.

"I hope you brought your appetite!"

Grim squinted a bit as she hopped up on a stool she conjured for herself; it was sometimes weird to be offered food when she no longer seemed to need it. "Well, yes and no; let's just say I'm eager to eat whatever you put in front of me! Veggie and/or kosher, I hope?â€

The changeling looked around the wonderful kitchen, marveling at both its size and its owner’s enthusiasm for the culinary arts.

“Thanks for having me over, by the way; I was just thinking the other day of asking you to run some tests, or at least help me gauge the limits of my powers. You never know what you can do unless your pushed, right?â€

[Dr Archeville]

"All vegetarian dishes!," he replied with much enthusiasm as he stirred two different pots. "I just got back from Oktoberfest last night -- the 200th one! -- and I had sooo many meat dishes! I need some veggies to balance me out... and, I have been wanting to try my hand at Indian cuisine for a while... so I thought, why not now?"

I love learning and trying new things!

"You were going to ask me to run some tests? Ha!" His laugh was one of true amusement, no hint or snideness or anything else. "That is funny, as that is part of the reason I had asked you here!"

He turned to one of the ovens and pulled out a few covered dishes, using his force field in place of pot holders. He seemed to pull out more dishes from the oven than should fit -- like his home, it was also bigger on the inside! Once all were out, he did a quick scan of everything, then began carrying things into the dining room. "Would you mind helping me carry some of these out?"

When Lynn looked again into the dining room, it had undergone a remarkable change. The table was made, pristine white china atop a red and gold tablecloth; the chairs had lower backs and were of a darker, lacquered wood. Red and blue silk sheets decorated the walls, and the chandelier shone with a golden light.

[Heritage]

"That is funny, as that is part of the reason I had asked you here!"

Grim bounced up and down happily on her stool.

"Oh cool, that worked out nicely then!"

"Would you mind helping me carry some of these out?".

"Sure, no prob." She hoisted a few plates on her arms (as heat wasn't really an issue for her now) and made like a waiter as she followed Dok back into the dining room. "So what, after we nosh, we just head down into your Oh my God, what happened?! Why do you suddenly have a restaurant in your house?" It was only her inhuman reflexes that kept her from dropping every single plate on the floor; as it was, she stood gobsmacked in the doorway, her gaze darting around the drastically-altered space.

[Dr Archeville]

"Ha ha! Caught you off-guard, did they?," he replied, mouth a Cheshire grin and looking around with hands on hips, quite satisfied at his surroundings. "Though I do have to say, even I am impressed at how efficient they can be!"

Such fun!

"Robots, you see?" he exclaimed/explained as he helped Lynn set the dishes down. "There are scores of them skittering all over the place, tending to the day-to-day maintenance of the house, as well as rearranging furniture or other tasks as needed. I had set them to start rearranging the dining room after the Kammerdieneraffe lead you through here -- a recreation of a charming little place in Malaysia I had visited once -- and I had hoped that by the time I got everything out and ready they would be done, but half-expected us to walk in and see them doing some finishing touches."

Robots are awesome! Science!

"And, yes, after the meal, we can go down to the laboratory for some tests," he added as he returned to the kitchen for more items.

[Heritage]

"Robots, you see?" he exclaimed/explained as he helped Lynn set the dishes down. "There are scores of them skittering all over the place, tending to the day-to-day maintenance of the house, as well as rearranging furniture or other tasks as needed. I had set them to start rearranging the dining room after the Kammerdieneraffe lead you through here -- a recreation of a charming little place in Malaysia I had visited once -- and I had hoped that by the time I got everything out and ready they would be done, but half-expected us to walk in and see them doing some finishing touches."

Placing the warm plates on the table, the tiny shapeshifter looked around nervously as the image of millions of chittering insect-like robots crawling behind the walls and floors rose unbidden in her mind's eye. "Wow, that's pretty...cool." :?

"And, yes, after the meal, we can go down to the laboratory for some tests," he added as he returned to the kitchen for more items.

However it was much more comforting to return to the thought of an amazing Indian meal, followed by doing some cool tests! Grim nodded vigorously as she took her seat.

"Yeah, alright. I'm actually really interested to see how all my faerie stuff reads on your instruments; I'm not a major science whiz or anything, but I'm fairly sure I break pretty much every natural law on a daily basis." :D

[Dr Archeville]

"Well, I know you will be easier to study than Avenger is," he said as he returned with a few more covered dishes, "since my cameras can actually see you! As for 'breaking natural laws'..."

Hrm, how to say 'your understanding of natural laws is far less than mine, so how would you know if you are breaking them?,' without sounding condescending? I do not want to offend!

"... let me be the judge of that. If you break them too much, I will need to give you a ticket!" He laughed again, the looked over the table and nodded, "Alright, I do believe this is everything!" He pulled out a chair for her, and began uncovering the dishes. "I decided to focus on South Indian cuisine, since that is the type served at the restaurant I have the room patterned after, as well as the type I am least familiar with. I considered doing a bit of Hyderabadi cuisine, too, but that is a bit too far advanced for me... for now." He winked as he passed her a poured glasses of ice water for them, "please, do help yourself!"

The food was quite tasty. Lynn'd had better, but she'd had far, far worse, too.

[Heritage]

Grim didn't need to eat anymore, although some days it seemed she ate more now than ever before, even if it was only glamoured food she created out of perversity or boredom. That being said, it had been a long time since she'd had a well-prepared exotic meal, and since Dok had cleared busted his little Deutschländer keister putting it together, it would be insulting not to wade right in and have it. Which she did; the tiny faeling appeared to eat half her weight in spicy veggie manna from Nirvana.

Man, I hope none of these tests are too strenuous, or I'm gonna pop a seam! Dok, you've outdone yourself; seriously, your crazy MC Escher house and levitational gadgets pale in comparison next to your mad kitchen skillz. You need to open a restaurant, with like...nuclear-powered pizza ovens or something…"

She leaned back in her seat, sighed and happily thumped her full tummy.

"Mmmm! Okay, here’s one of the weird things about me and my powers; I just stuffed a ton of high-quality Indian numminess into my gut, but I can still-“

And here she shrank down to pixie size wearing her working outfit (minus the mask), and fluttered to land on the tablecloth beside her place setting.

“Do this. So where did all the food go?†She patted her tiny belly.“I still feel full, but why didn’t I just explode and ruin your nice tablecloth? Très mysterious, no?â€

[Dr Archeville]

Oh, that is just adorable! And I am so glad she liked my cooking!

"Mysterious? Not at all, my perspicacious pixie!" he exclaimed as he wiped the last bit of the saag paneer with a bit of naan. "If you did burst, that would be the unusual thing!"

"You see, most size-shifters, like... oh, were did I put that..." He paused as he patted his pockets, then brought forth his Electromagnetic Screwdriver and set it to display 3-d holographic images to accompany his mini-lecture. "There are several ways a Metahuman might alter their size. The first is Parts Compression: the parts of their body slide together into a tightly compressed fashion, shifting out in the larger mode, like those transforming robot toys." The images shown were clips of various transforming robot cartoons. "And like those action figures, mass remains the same no matter the size, so the larger forms are much weaker structurally than the compacted forms."

"The other manner is Mass Conversion, where the molecules that compose the Metahuman body restructure themselves. Mass Conversion can be further subdivided into three manners: Atomic Dispersal/Collapse, Atomic Gain/Reduction, and Atomic Growth/Shrinkage. With Atomic Dispersal/Collapse, the distance between a Metahuman's own molecules and even atoms are altered, thus increasing his overall size; collapsing the distance causes a reduction in size. Mass remains the same throughout, though, as with the aforementioned Parts Compression, but you get a far finer dispersal. This is what happened to Mr. Mist." The images now were of the gas-like biochemist in his airtight containment pod at Blackstone.

"Atomic Gain/Reduction is by far the most common method used by those with size- or shape-altering abilities." The image now showed news footage of Maximus and Victoria Atom, and Doc Otaku in his mecha-suit. "Here, the Metahuman creates or gains new atoms and incorporates them into their atomic structure -- either by drawing them in from some extradimensional source or by converting energy into matter -- to grow, and reverses the process to shrink. In this model, mass does increase or decrease along with size, so weight also changes. This is most likely what is going on with you: whatever process you trigger either shifted man of your molecules to another dimension, or converted them to some exotic energy; the food you just ate undergoes the same process since it is in you, a part of you."

"The last form, Atomic Growth/Shrinkage, is rare, but not unheard of. In this model, the atoms themselves increase or decrease in size, either by dispersing or collapsing the subatomic particles which make up their atoms, or by gaining or reducing them via extradimensional shunting or matter/energy conversion. There are a number of side-effects with this method -- as the subject's atoms grow, they would be unable to interact with normal atoms -- like oxygen! -- while a laser rifle grown in this manner would be seen to be spitting out large streams of beach ball-sized photons! There is one advantage, though: this method of size alteration is the only manner that will enable travel to the "microverse.""

[Heritage]

"The other manner is Mass Conversion, where the molecules that compose the Metahuman body restructure themselves. Mass Conversion can be further subdivided into three manners: Atomic Dispersal/Collapse, Atomic Gain/Reduction, and Atomic Growth/Shrinkage. With Atomic Dispersal/Collapse, the distance between a Metahuman's own molecules and even atoms are altered, thus increasing his overall size; collapsing the distance causes a reduction in size. Mass remains the same throughout, though, as with the aforementioned Parts Compression, but you get a far finer dispersal. This is what happened to Mr. Mist."

Though she might be tiny, the way the wee fae leaned forward as Dok talked, eyes squinted and pointed ears twitching this way and that, clearly showed it was an effort for her to follow his detailed explanation. When he finished, she conjured up a minature Lay-Z-Boy to plop down into while she fanned her face with one hand.

"Wow, okay. So I'm guessing you would say I'm somehow what, shuttling mass back and forth between here and Avalon when I shrink? Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Hold on, I'm getting a neckache from looking up atcha."

The recliner disappears, and she zips back into her chair and resumes her regular dimensions.

"There we go, that's better! So do you see Avalon as being like any other dimension? Same laws, same physics and stuff?"

[Dr Archeville]

"Dimensional shunting does seem the most likely method," Archeville replied, nodding, "though as for what Avalon is... well..." The Doktor fiddled with his Screwdriver some more, causing the images to blur, "that is a bit complicated. Dimensions, you see, come in three rough categories."

"The easiest one to understand," he began as the images shifted to various scenes of Freedom City... or so Lynn thought, until she began noticing differences like swastikas everywhere or apes swinging about instead of people walking the sidewalks, "are parallel dimensions. For any even, there are a number of possible outcomes; each outcome leads to more events, each with more outcomes, and so on and so on." An image of a large dot appeared over the parallel world scenes, and out of it spread a few lines. Each line terminated in another dot, which split into more lines, which ended in dots splitting into more lines, and so on until the entire dining room was filled with a bejeweld spiderweb. "For every decision that can be made, it has been made, in another dimension. In this world, the Allies beat the Axis; in another, the reverse happened due to different choices and circumstances. In our world, evolution lead to humans being the dominant species, while on another, apes rule, and on another, life never moved beyond the seas. On most of these worlds, the changes are small, or so insignificant that a traveler wold not notice, but on others, the changes are huge and immediately noticeable. These are the dimensions scientists know best, because they are the ones we seem to find and deal with the most."

"There are also the so-called mystical dimensions," he continued, and the image shifted to showing scenes from assorted fantasy moves and cartoons. "There are realities where the laws of physics are markedly different from ours, or where 'magic' is a predominant force. It is possible they are another form of parallel dimension, one where the divergences occurred as that universe was formed and its natural laws were set. It is also possible that they are created solely from sapient minds, a sort of shared consensual dream made real. Curiously, it seems that most naturally occurring transdimensional portals lead to these mystical realms; whether the tales of these realms spread after some poor fool stumbled into it, or these portals came about because of the belief in them grew after the spreading of the tales these worlds, is something of a chicken-and-egg conundrum."

Sort of, but not quite. The egg came first, from an ancient chicken like creature, that was almost, but not quite, a chicken. A proto-chicken. Its genetic material underwent some mutation, leading to a sustainable change in the inherited traits of the proto-chicken from one generation to the next. Thus, the proto-chicken laid an egg that hatched a true chicken! But I do not know how those portal form! But we can learn!

"The third type are the interstitial or transitive dimensions," he went on, and the image shifted to showing three spheres, one glowing with a soft silvery light, one glowing an angry red, and one of tv static. "These lie 'between' or 'around' other dimensions, the medium through which others travel when moving from one dimension to another, as well as 'insulating' them from one another. The Astral Plane," he said as the silvery sphere enlarged and moved to the front, and pulsed like a steady heartbeat, "connects Earth and all the other 'mystical' dimensions, as well as -- in some way -- all sapient minds. The infamous Terminus," the red sphere moved to the front and pulsed angrily, "is also an interstitial dimension, touching Earth and all other parallel dimensions. The Zero Zone," the tv static sphere moved forward and froze in the forward position, "is... outside even all of that, and has been used mainly as a 'dumping ground' for other dimensions. Centurion even banished a few of his most powerful foes there."

[Heritage]

Grim got about two-thirds of all that, enough to make her realize why she didn't pal around with Dok much in the past. Not that she wasn't enjoying herself or learning new things, but her brain was starting to actually hurt

"It is also possible that they are created solely from sapient minds, a sort of shared consensual dream made real. Curiously, it seems that most naturally occurring transdimensional portals lead to these mystical realms; whether the tales of these realms spread after some poor fool stumbled into it, or these portals came about because of the belief in them grew after the spreading of the tales these worlds, is something of a chicken-and-egg conundrum."

"Uh, wow. I'm suddenly remebering the little map of the known planes from the back of my dad's old D&D books; looks like those nerds were on to something!"

Then her expression became more thoughtful as she pushed tghew last of her dinner around her plate with her fork.

"When I was in Avalon, I met the Queen of Summer, part of their whole Seelie/Unseelie court thing; she said that Avalon, and faeries in general, were just stories, told and retold over and over again. She said what made me special was the fact that unlike every other fae, I still had the spark of humanity, what you might call a soul. It's what allows me to create and feel compassion...y'know, for mortals..."

Suddenly she felt very restless.

"Hey, maybe we should get to those tests, yeah?" She rubbed her hands together eagerly. "All this thinking makes me want to break stuff!" :twisted:

[Dr Archeville]

... wat?

"Ah....," Archeville left eyebrow shot up, "would... would you mind going over that again? Er, your 'origin story,' that is. It would help me in determining which tests to run, and, well, I am honestly curious in hearing it. You see, it ties into why I had originally called you here."

The Doktor paused to take a few sips of water, "I am hoping to take ArcheTech in some new and exciting directions, and one of those is the thorough scientific examination of 'magic' and 'the supernatural'. I have chatted with a sorceress, and a vampire, and a werewolf, and they say they will speak to others to get volunteers for my research. I have even tried giving the vampire I have spoken with a blood substitute, which he has disseminated to others; so far he says it seems they have taken to it."

Though with Avenger and Phantom not returning my calls since the incident at their house back in August, and no sign of Lukos since we chatted in March, I wonder how much further the project will go? The existing samples and test results can only tell us so much; newer ones are needed!

"I was hoping," he continued, leaning forward a bit and flashing a very warm and inviting smile, "that you would let me study you, and if you could take to other 'fae' and see if you could get them to volunteer for my research. Based on what research I have already done, though, I do realize that they may be the hardest ones to convince."

[Heritage]

"I was hoping," he continued, leaning forward a bit and flashing a very warm and inviting smile, "that you would let me study you, and if you could take to other 'fae' and see if you could get them to volunteer for my research. Based on what research I have already done, though, I do realize that they may be the hardest ones to convince."

Grim nodded affably. "Oh, okay, sure; sort of like integrating magic into that whole Unified Fields theory thing? My mom used to talk about stuff like that; actually, you totally have to meet my mom someday. She would understand what you're talking about, like, ninety percent of the time. She went to Princeton for physics, but kinda got sidetracked with having all us kids."

She gave the classic Jewish 'What are ya gonna do' shrug, and then sat up a little straighter as she prepared to start her tale.

"Okay, so just like in most faerie tales, my whole origin is based on threes, as in there were three separate events that made me who and what I am today." She stopped and held out her hand, into which suddenly appeared a Mike's Hard Lemonade. "Need to wet the whistle, y'know?" After taking a nice long swig, she started at the beginning.

"When I first came to Freedom, I was just another street kid, mostly surviving by dumpster diving and shoplifting."

Suddenly Grim was herself several years younger, gaunt with haunted eyes and wearing a patched-up Army fatigue jacket over a gray hoodie. Her face was still pretty, but the elfin quality was not there, and there were scars from physical abuse, including a poorly-set broken nose

"Not a pretty picture, am I right? So I'm living in this sh**y squat in the Fens, sleeping with one eye open and a homemade shiv gripped tightly in one hand."

She held up what looked like a sharpened piece of aluminum, possibly part of a medical splint, wrapped with a filthy masking tape handle.

"So one night in February of I think '06 or '07, it just got to be too much; I was bitter cold, hadn’t had a decent meal in almost a week, and I'd burned all my bridges, so I crawled into a dead end alley...basically, to die."

The shiv disappeared, replaced by a small diorama she made on the table, incredible in its detail; the alley looks cold and dismal, with drifts of snow along each wall and a tangle of fire escapes crawling up past boarded windows towards the unseen winter sky. The shapeshifter reached in to point at what looked like a small bundle, tucked between some dumpsters.

“That’s me down there, looking like a frozen rat.â€

She paused in her tale to give Dr Archeville a sad little smile.

[Dr Archeville]

"I should hope I would be meeting her at the wedding!" Archeville replied while Lynn shrugged.

Then she started in on her tale, and his smile faded.

Aww! That is so sad!

"I... I did not..." he whispered. He turned to her, his voice riding to a normal volume, "I mean, I suspected, based on your attitude and skill sets and snippets of conversations I have overheard, but... but to see it..."

[Heritage]

"I should hope I would be meeting her at the wedding!"

Grim nodded and gave him a little wink that seemed to say 'Don't worry, it's a done deal'.

"I... I did not..." he whispered. He turned to her, his voice riding to a normal volume, "I mean, I suspected, based on your attitude and skill sets and snippets of conversations I have overheard, but... but to see it..."

The shapeshifter chuckled ruefully, a touch of pride in her voice.

"Yeah, the visual aids really give it a little extra kick, don't they? Maybe I should start doing talks at schools or something; that would actually be really cool."

She let the diorama sit there for a bit as she resumed her tale.

"So I'm lying there like a miserable little lump, and eventually the cold doesn't both me anymore, and I just close my eyes, waiting for all the pain to go away. But then the weird stuff happens."

The shapeshifter leaned forward, her face still a gruesome map of suffering, but she got this intense look in her eyes.

"I wake up two days later, in the same spot...naked."

The tiny brunette falls out of her chair and goes into a clenched fetal position on the floor, and all her clothing disappears; from inside the tight little fist of flesh, her muffled, sardonic voice emerges.

"This part would be edited for younger and more sensitive viewers."

Grim raised herself off the floor, and now her face bore the familiar marks of her awakened fae heritage; the pointed ears, the slight upsweep to her eyes and eyebrows, the wild thatch of hair.

"Am I dead? I don't feel the cold anymore, and I'm naked as the day I was born."

The changeling looked around nervously, eyes squinting, ears twitching, nostrils flaring.

"I don't even know where I am anymore; our world doesn't smell like this, or have all these alien sounds. Is this the afterlife? Do I even believe in an afterlife?"

The young woman uncertainly rose to her feet, all hunched forward with her arms shielding her nakedness; she moves like a cat slinking from shadow to shadow.

"I snuck out into the street; where are the people? Now I don't know this yet, but because of how my eyes work now, the sky looks much brighter than it really is, so even though it's just a few minutes after dawn, I think it's much later in the day, so the empty streets have me really freaked out. Plus, y'know, you have dreams like this right? You wake up naked in school or whatnot, so who knows, maybe I'm still asleep. Finally I think to myself, ‘Damn it, what happened to my clothes? I need some clothes here’."

And then there is a swirl of mist around her form, and suddenly she is wearing the same fatigue jacket, hoodie, jeans and sneakers she was wearing before; the outfit looks rather odd on this strange elfin creature. She looks down at herself, an awed smile on her impish face as she pulled at the fabric now wrapped around her petite frame

"And that's when I realized that I'd been changed, in some basic fundamental way; once I got the hang of it, I was ecstatic, because now, the world was my oyster. And as far as I was concerned, it owed me big time."

[Dr Archeville]

Stress-induced mutation? Dimensional portal opening under her by sheer coincidence? Or did they -- whatever they are -- chose her for a reason?

"Yes, I imagine power like that," Archeville mused, "made you a very effective thief and con-man. Er, con-woman. And with you mindset at the time, you likely found all sorts of extralegal uses for your new abilities."

He knew some of what she'd done, from his initial investigations of her when he first assembled the Interceptors. He'd read the police reports on the wealthy and the haughty who had been struck down, and a small part of him had even cheered for the mysterious assailant at some of the incidents. He'd even talked with a few low-powered superheroes who'd gone after her. Her steadfast respect for life was one of the things that told him she was not a lost cause, and could be turned into more than what she was; her change from selfish larceny to a more Robin Hood-like MO show she was able and willing to change.

He turned to face her, and an odd look was on his face. There was curiosity there, but also compassion, of acceptance. "So what changed you from the amoral con-artist and forger you were to the heroine you are today?"

[Heritage]

It felt good to get this stuff off her chest, to say them to someone who was not a lover for a change. Her host's mixture of sympathy and scientific detachment made it much easier to let it all flow out of her.

"So what changed you from the amoral con-artist and forger you were to the heroine you are today?"

At this point, Lynn actually squirmed a little; this was not her favorite story to tell. "Uh, alright; now keep in mind, this was a few years ago, before I met Nightrival, Father James or any other heroes." She listed the priest who worked at the Southside shelter among their ranks with good reason, because he really was a hero to her. She flashed a nervous, sickly smile. "My, uh, moral compass wasn't quite working yet, so..."

She began to twist her cloth napkin into funny shapes as she spoke.

"So I'm on this date with a mark, a nice enough guy, but not one of my favorites. We're in the Theater District just after a show, and we're both in a real good mood; I think we were going to some bebop or swing club or something, 'cause I remember I was planning to knock his sox off on the dance floor, even though I had no idea what I was doing."

Grim stopped herself for a few seconds.

You're trying to hide it, to hold back and lose him in the details; just tell him the truth.

The changeling cleared her throat awkwardly, had a sip of hard lemonade and ran her fingers through her hair.

“So there we are, just walking along, tra-la-la, and I hear something down the alley, this horrible muffled cry, like...like someone holding a pillow over a cat." She visibly shuddered at the memory. "To this day, I don't think I’ve heard a more horrible sound; I don't know what it is, it's so faint even I can barely hear it, but I tell the mark we have to see what's going on. He, needless to say, does not one to go down some dark and scary alley looking for trouble. But I insist and have to practically drag him along after me."

Her fidgetiness continued to become more pronounced; napkin twisting followed by thumbnail biting, followed by digging at the label on her bottle with a stout claw with intense focus.

“So Rich Boy is on his cellphone, but he’s not moving fast enough for me, so I let him go and slip ahead. I come round the corner, and there’s this guy, this hateful f***ing scumbag on top of this, girl, with a knife-" She accidentally knocked the forgotten diorama of the table, and it shatters into vapor on the floor, but she barely seems to notice. “Oh God, so, so Rich Boy sees this sh** and he screams, and the guy with the knife...cuts…†Grim bites her fist so hard she nearly draws blood; tears are streaming down her face.

“And now she’s dead, right there, right in front of me, and I want to kills this bas***, to rip his f***ing throat out, but Rich Boy grabs me by the arm, and says, ‘Let the cops handle it’, and then I nearly rip his f***ing throat out, and now the guy is gone, but I can still smell him, this nasty-a** imported aftershave he must have dunked his whole head in that night, it smelled so strong...â€

The shapeshifter took a deep breath and held it for several seconds before letting it out slowly; when she speaks again, her tone is calmer, but there is an undertone of dry ice as she sniffles and wipes her eyes with the heel of her hand. “So; cops show up, useless as they often are in the Fens, because really, they don’t care all that much about what happens to…a bunch of junkies, hookers and other human refuse. So that night, after I kiss Rich Boy goodnight, I return to the scene of the crime and track that sick mofo down by scent. And I took my claws and ripped him into tiny pieces.â€

Grim got up and paced around the room, arms wrapped tightly around her chest, but then she suddenly stopped in her tracks, frozen in the memory. “There was this moment, where it was like I was looking down on myself, on both of us, and at that very moment, I knew I held his very life in my hands, like a little butterfly made of flame. And if I just opened up my fingers, just the smallest movement, that little flicker would be gone, snuffed out forever. He would be dead, but that girl would not come back, no matter what I did.â€

She sighed and let her arms drop limply to her sides; for several seconds she was silent, and when she finally did speak, her voice was toneless.

“I never did that again, never struck that viciously, with so much hate; I was like an animal, like something out of some werewolf movie.†And then she covered her face and broke down again, sagging against the wall until she ended up on the floor, her whole body wracked with sobs.

[Dr Archeville]

Oh! That is so sad!

Archeville knelt down beside Lynn, and held her. "I am sorry... I am so sorry... but, hey, look, you.. you chose to let him live, right? You held back, you did not carve bloody vengeance out of him, did not give in to your hate... and that is good! That is very good! That shows you had the heart of a hero, deep down -- a burning desire to right wrongs, yet tempered with compassion and justice -- even back then!"

He gave her a moment to collect herself; despite her own glamour-produced hankies, he offered her one of the cloth napkins from the table. Once her sobs had quieted, he continued, "and that is when you began patrolling the Fens, yes? Bringing justice to the few innocents there, the ones the police and most of society overlook."

Should I being up that Japanese cyborg she palled around with, Nanowire? I read that he was killed in an encounter with Yakuza on the Wet coast, up in Seattle, so that might be too much to bring up right not.

[Heritage]

"I am sorry... I am so sorry... but, hey, look, you.. you chose to let him live, right? You held back, you did not carve bloody vengeance out of him, did not give in to your hate... and that is good! That is very good! That shows you had the heart of a hero, deep down -- a burning desire to right wrongs, yet tempered with compassion and justice -- even back then!"]

Grim sniffled and laughed mirthlessly. "I guess; I didn't have much of an M.O. beyond 'hurt the bad guys at first'. God, just thinking back on it...the decisions we make when we're young and stupid, huh?"

"and that is when you began patrolling the Fens, yes? Bringing justice to the few innocents there, the ones the police and most of society overlook."

She nodded as she gently disentangled herself from Dok and returned to her seat, much more composed now.

"Right; I figured out right away that I needed to learn some new moves fast; just because you're sneaky as all get out doesn't mean you can't still get your butt kicked. That's when I sought out Nightrival, to become like his apprentice; right about the same time, I also met Nanowire, and we started dating..."

She smiled at the happy memories of time spent with these brave, good men.

“I learned a lot, from both of them; it was a simpler time, y'know? For me at least.â€

[Dr Archeville]

Archeville grinned at her talk of youthful stupidity, "I have heard worse. I will have to tell you someday about some of the 'wacky hijinx' I got in to when I was in college."

I really do need to call some of my old classmates sometime, see how they are. Not just Google them, really reach out and talk to them. It could be fun!

He noted her change when she spoke of Nightrival and Nanowire, "It is good you found allies and friends. I am passingly familiar with both of them, though I have not heard anything from either in some time. Nightrival was some sort of martial artist, I believe, and Nanowire a rather advanced Japanese cyborg, yes? How did you two start dating? Er, if you do not mind me asking, that is."

I will let her decide if she wants to tell me Nanowire is dead. If not, I will not push. And if she can give me some advice on relationships between two seemingly incompatible people, all the better!

[Heritage]

"It is good you found allies and friends. I am passingly familiar with both of them, though I have not heard anything from either in some time. Nightrival was some sort of martial artist, I believe, and Nanowire a rather advanced Japanese cyborg, yes? How did you two start dating? Er, if you do not mind me asking, that is."

Lost in her own thoughts, it took Grim a moment to respond. "What? Oh no, it's fine. Uh, yeah, Rival was a working class guy who used martial arts to deal with the scumbags in Southside." She chuckled as her eyes twinkled with mischief. "We had quite a few encounters with some neo-Nazi skinhead idiots who were active back then."

Then she stiffened up a bit and looked uncomfortable. "We had...a bit of a falling out. Well, that's not the right word; I went undercover to infiltrate the local mob, and I...I wasn't ready for it. I freaked out, and me and Nano skipped town." She took a deep breath and looked profoundly sad.

"I couldn't face him; I was ashamed and freaked out, so I ran; when I came back a year later, we only spoke once..." She turned her head away. "And then he just disappeared; I don't really wanna talk about it."

After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again. “Ren, I mean Nano, was awesome; so supportive. We had our ups and downs, but he put up with all my craziness; he was a lot like Colt, that way.†She turned back to Dok and smiled. “We met during that time travel incident; y'know, the one I mentioned back at my party? And we just clicked; he was on the wrong side of the law at the time, and I tried to pull him back into the light.†Suddenly a portrait of a young Japanese man appeared in her hand, handsome and smiling. She traced the line of his jaw with her finger. “He would have made such a great hero; hell, he was a hero, as far as I’m concerned. He gave up his life to save mine.â€

And then the portrait melted away like vapor from her fingers; she smiled, though there were tears in her eyes once again.

"He always said I told the most depressing stories." :cry: