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  "description": "Looks like somebody's not ready for change yet.",
  "description_bbcode_parsed": "<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>Looks like somebody&#039;s not ready for change yet.</span>",
  "writing": "Carrie Oakenfield walked along her beautiful backyard, dressed from head to toe in the baggiest, least flattering clothing she'd probably ever worn- thick trousers, an oversized shirt stained with burns, a welder's apron and a triangle bandana, out of which her clustered curls trailed. Her heavy boots clopped as she made her way toward a diminutive tiger and goat.\n\n\"Wow, you look ready to take a building down, Carrie,\" Gren observed. \"What's with the outfit?\"\n\n\"Yeah,\" Aren added, \"And what's that multimeter for?\"\n\n\"This,\" the cat said between lips tightly holding onto a medstick, vapor escaping her nostrils. \"Is a training exercise. The last time you used your powers on somebody, you almost iced her. Now, Sarissa might deserve to get knocked around a little bit, but [i]in general[/i], we avoid turning people extra crispy. You gotta dangerous power, and you've gotta learn to control it.\"\n\n\"How do we do that?\" Gren ventured.\n\n\"You're gonna hit me with it, seeing as I'm the only one who can take whatever you dish out,\" she explained. \"This volt meter thing's here to tell me how much power you're puttin' out.\"\n\nAren grew bashful, kicking a bit of dirt. \"Aw, but I don't wanna hurt [i]you[/i], Carrie...\"\n\n\"Seriously, forget about it. I licked a loose power line this morning in preparation.\" She grinned when the kids made a face as if they weren't sure whether to believe her. \"Now join hands and bring down the thunder!\"\n\n\"Actually, thunder is just the sound produced by-\"\n\n\"Hit me with lightning bolts, nerd!\"\n\nThe goat and tiger grabbed one another's wrists, and with their free arms, touched forearms. A huge arc of electricity flashed across the distance between Carrie and themselves, striking her directly in the chest and sending her to the ground with a loud buzzing ~SNAP!~\n\nCarrie dusted herself off, rising up to read off the multimeter with a singed glove. \"That was enough to kill three people.\" The kids grimaced. \"Bring down the thunder... fuckin', [i]gently[/i].\" She got into a catcher's stance, gesturing for them to hit her hand.\n\nThe two of them looked at each other, thinking much the same thoughts. \"Just the fingers?\" Aren wondered. Gren agreed, and they touched fingertips to generate a mighty bolt which slammed directly into Carrie's palm, putting her on her butt. Arcs also flared off, making underlighting blink on and off rapidly.\n\nCarrie rose once more, reading off the device. \"Good news,\" she announced. \"That was only enough to kill a child.\" The cat stood, hips canted, hands on them. \"Think you can set that thing to 'stun??'\"\n\nThey regarded each other once more. \"Alright, just you this time,\" Gren posited. Aren nodded in the affirmative, and though they were connected, this time the tiger alone loosed the deadly arc of electric energy!\n\n\"Unh!\" Carrie stumbled back. She read the multimeter. \"Heeey, look at that! Non-lethal force.\"\n\n\"Yeah!\" The kids high-fived, proud that they'd solved the mystery so swiftly.\n\n\"But all that's useless if you can't use it in the heat of the moment,\" the cat explained. \"Let's see you do it again. Boss fight, go!\"\n\n\"Wuh?? Unh! Whoa!\" Gren found herself lifted bodily by the waist, inverted, then dunked head-first into a soft sandbox. \n\n\"H-Hey! AH!\" Aren was pushed onto his butt, at which point Carrie put her boot on his chest and sent him careening along the grass in a full spin. \"AaAaAaAah!!\"\n\nGrendolyn squatted, bent over completely as she pulled half of her head out of the sand. \"Ptuh, ptah!\" Finding her in a vulnerable position, Carrie pulled on her spooky bat-themed underwear (a gift from herself, actually) at the waistband, scooped sand into a plastic pail and dumped the entirety of the thing's contents into them before letting go. \"OH MY GOD?!\"\n\n\"Ah! I'm! C-Coming!\" Aren struggled to run back toward Carrie, stumbling due to his dizziness. She picked up a hose and absolutely blasted him, tossing his already awkward momentum completely off balance and sliding him into more grass.\n\n\"Haaahahaha!\" Carrie laughed maniacally as she kicked Gren in her sand-filled panties, sending her back into the box, then scooping up Aren with her foot and rolling him into it right next to her. It was the most devastating she could be without actually hurting either of them, and it was clear they were both fed up with it.\n\nGren and Aren scrambled to their feet and grabbed for each other inspecifically, not aiming for any particular handholds, just a touch to complete the circuit- and they both absolutely hammered Carrie with a thunderous ~CRACK-DOOOOOOM~ of electric vengeance. It slammed into her, lit up her body, and instantly incinerated all of the incredibly tough clothing she'd brought for the occasion. Comically, underneath all of it was the frilliest, laciest, most revealing set of pink lingerie that even she, the queen of needless frills, owned. She must have put it on out of sheer habit, but both tweens watched gormless and mollified as her deep white cleavage bounced, threatening to burst from its silky prison with every recovering cough.\n\n\"What?\" she asked. \"This is totally consistent with-...\" Carrie tilted her head, spying a tell-tale protrusion coming from the tiger. \"Ohhhh. Heh.\" She took this moment to stretch, arching her back and showing off to the pair of pubescent positrons, whose gazes raised and fell with her bustline. \"Well I don't need to tell you that [i]wasn't[/i] non-lethal.\"\n\n\"O-Oh yeah... sorry...\" Aren's tail curled around his leg sheepishly.\n\nCarrie bent forward, hands on her hips. \"Do you promise to keep working on it until you get better?\"\n\nGren's cheeks flushed and her shoulders bunched up. \"Uh-huh...\"\n\nShe flexed her biceps, bulging both her impressive muscles and her disbelief-inspiring cleavage. \"[i]And[/i] do you promise not to use your powers on anybody unless someone older than you says it's okay?\"\n\nAren blushed furiously, ears hot as he grinned awkwardly. \"Y-Yeah...\"\n\nCarrie stood up again. \"Well then. I'd say it's alright to give you the reward I'd planned on.\" She reached into a bag propped up against the wall, pulling out an odd pair of articles and handing one to each of the kids.\n\n\"... Rubber swim briefs??\" Aren asked, confused. Sure enough, he held out a yellow and black speedo with a simplistic lightning bolt design on the back and front. \n\n\"And a matching top,\" Gren added, noting that she had the sports-bra equivalent of Aren's gift. \"These seem like they'd chafe a little.\"\n\n\"They're for your inkling,\" Carrie laughed. \"It's become kind of a thing that the good guy inklings wear clothes. So when you change, ink over, these can be yours.\"\n\n\"We get costumes??\" Aren cried excitedly. \"That's so cool!\"\n\n\"But I thought you just told us we couldn't use Voltaus unless you said so,\" Gren questioned.\n\n\"No, I said you couldn't use your [i]powers.[/i] Your inkling makes you more durable, and stronger. If you get in trouble, it's totally okay to use their natural enhancements defensively. Got it?\"\n\n\"Okay!\" they exclaimed together.\n\n\"Now who wants popsicles??\"\n\n\"YAAAAY!\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nThump. \"Ha!\" Thump thump. \"Hyah!\"\n\n\"My eyes are down here, Natalie.\"\n\nThump. \"Why does that mat- ow!\" The red-eyed wolf winced as she got hit in the back of the head by an inflated felt sphere. Jacent sat on the padded mat floor, legs crossed, a bucket of tennis balls in his lap; this was the latest of many training exercises he'd done with her in the past few weeks, and today's lesson was defending against incoming hits. \"Why can't I use your skillset for this, again? I don't need to tap the dangerous part, just your reflexes!\"\n\nHe reached into the bucket and pulled out four more balls. \"You and Echelon are extremely powerful together. But what if you can't access someone else's abilities for some reason?\" Thump thump.\n\n\"Ah! Hah!\" She blocked two more, batting them away. \"What? Nobody's gonna take my [i]shoes.[/i] Hanh!\"\n\n\"You cannot underestimate your opponent's ability to put you in a situation you won't expect,\" he explained. \"It happened to me many times, despite my vigilance, and the element of surprise continues to be your own foes' favorite tool. Osoth, Authoritus, Cedric- all of them depended on keeping you in the dark with regards to their plans.\"\n\nNatalie meditated on this as she blocked more and more felt volleys, which bounced off the walls of Jacent's workout room. Not knowing what was coming had been her greatest weakness during the invasion, and she wondered many times what might have happened if Blane hadn't betrayed his allies... or if Osoth hadn't been taken out entirely for them, the second time around.\n\n\"All gone,\" Jacent said suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts. \"You did incredibly well once you focused. I'm still surprised by how quickly you learn.\"\n\n\"Hm!\" Natalie beamed with pride, helping pick up the balls. Even with how human Jacent had shown himself to be, she still felt a little thrill when he was impressed with her.\n\n\"Think fast.\"\n\n\"What? Ah!\"\n\nJacent threw one remaining ball at her when she'd bent over to pick more up, the stray missile bouncing off of her hindquarters and hitting him in the face. \"Ow!\" He rubbed his forehead. \"I always forget that's half muscle...\"\n\nShe grinned. \"Hah! Serves you right!\" They managed to scrape together the last of the misused sports equipment and set it in the bucket. She stopped a moment, sitting in front of him. \"... Hey. Um.\" She looked down, then back up at him. \"I've been thinking, about something. Well, Echelon and me.\"\n\nHe tilted his head. \"What's that?\"\n\nShe scratched the back of her neck, leaning to one side, dreadlocks falling over her shoulder one by one. \"I mean, feel free to tell me I'm wrong, you know, if I'm wrong. But. The times that I used your powers? During the invasion, after, against Osoth, and Floe? I felt like I-... haha, this sounds weird, but I felt like I understood, you know? Where you're coming from.\"\n\nThe tall boy leaned forward. \"What do you mean?\n\n\"I mean, like...\" She gestured with her hands. \"When I was in the moment, the more I used them, the more I felt [i]too[/i] strong. Out of control, you know? Like any minute I'd go too far and just... do something I couldn't take back.\"\n\nHe regarded her silently, unsure what to say, but not stopping her.\n\nShe pushed this time. She had to make him uncomfortable, at least a little. \"And. How can you let go, relax, get close... when you're afraid of breaking everything? Like there's a monster underneath.\" She took his hands in hers. He felt the velvet texture of her fur,  and the smoothness of the underhand grip pads. \"But you're right. I'm not my powers.\" She paused meaningfully. \"And neither are you.\"\n\nHis breathing got a little funny. He ran his thumbs over her smooth undergrips, taken aback by the depth, the texture of her friendship. \"How do I stop being afraid?\"\n\nHer eyes shone. \"Trust.\"\n\nJacent licked his lips. \"... Alright.\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\n\"D'you need help with your stuff?\"\n\nErwin had been doting on Kei for days now. It might have bothered anyone else, but not the twitterpated fox. \"No, I'm okay,\" he answered cheerfully as the ferret pushed him down the school hallway in his wheelchair- the last thing he'd been able to create with Animis' power. \"I've really had a lot of fun these last few days.\"\n\n\"Really?\" Erwin seemed surprised. \"All we've really done is get you settled in to your apartment.\"\n\n\"Yeah! Among other things.\" He grinned. \"Anything is fun with you around.\" He pushed up, and Erwin met him with a kiss. \"Mm. But you keep seeming distracted sometimes...\"\n\n\"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry.\" The ferret reached into his locker and ran his hand through his hair. \"It's about, you know...\"\n\n\"Jacent? Still??\" Kei tilted his head. \"He said he forgave you, didn't he?\"\n\n\"He probably just said that for my sake. I don't think I'd have forgiven me that fast. But it's not even about that, or him, really, for that matter. I just... I can't stop thinking about that thing down there. With her dead eyes, and cold voice. Who would make something like that, and why would they give it free will? ... And why did Widget... ah, nothing about that whole day makes any sense. It still feels like a bad dream.\"\n\n\"'Sup nerds?\" They were accosted by Carrie, drinking a can of Carbolate.\n\n\"Oh hey!\" Erwin greeted her. \"Ah, I gotta get in class; Kei, do you want me to take you to History?\"\n\n\"I'm in History this period, I'll take him!\" Carrie drank the last of the soda, crushed it on her forehead and grabbed onto Kei's chair.\n\n\"Oh, I can-\" he started to protest, but just blushed lightly as walking pressed her huge breasts against the back of his head at a steady rhythm, a melodious hum escaping through her smile. \n\nMeanwhile, further down the hall...\n\n\"Hey! Stop!\" Jessalynn hurried to catch up with Selina. \"Slow [i]down[/i], god!\"\n\n\"Oh, so I have to slow down, but you can just go whatever pace you want?\" The moth kept walking.\n\n\"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Selina, I can't believe you'd be so prejudiced!\" She tsked. \"I literally can't believe it, in fact. There's no way this is just about Foscor.\"\n\nShe finally stopped. \"No. You know what? You're right. It  isn't about them at all.\" She shifted, arms folded. \"It's about how you're going to use them as an excuse to just run around getting into more and more danger. And I'm through worrying about you.\"\n\nJessa looked around, sighing. \"I remember a time that you [i]liked [/i]a few thrills.\"\n\nShe shook her head. \"That is not remotely the same as this.\"\n\n\"Ugh,\" the spider gestured with exasperation. \"You know, sometimes if I don't act, there could be real consequences!\"\n\n\"Yeah? Is that who it's for? Everyone else?\" She pursed her lips. \"You're a superhero now?\"\n\nShe struggled to form a response.\n\n\"Well, you don't have to worry. I won't be getting in your way[i] any[/i]more.\" She turned on her heel and walked to class.\n\n\"Yeah?!\" She shouted back at her. \"Fine! ... Fine... That's just...\"\n\n\"... Fine...\"\n\n\"... Mm?\" Kei's ear twitched as he heard someone yell something, but shrugged it off, refocusing on Carrie. It felt almost inconceivable that this white cat was the same person who'd fought so savagely with him some weeks back. He had, in his bad state of mind, judged her the most harshly- thinking her some kind of remorseless killer wrapped in bows. Being on the other side, however, had changed his mind rapidly; and as a matter of fact, she'd been the quickest to about-face on him as well. Upon entering the classroom, she picked up a desk with one hand and easily moved it aside so he could wheel up to his spot. \"Ah, thanks Carrie.\" He smiled back at her over his shoulder.\n\n\"You got it, Origami Thriller,\" she answered back, ruffling his hair. He hunkered down a bit, giggling.\n\n\"Hey, Kei,\" Bo waved with an easy smile. \"It's always good to see familiar faces.\"\n\n\"I second that,\" Ms. Hendrix agreed, opening up a dusty tome and simultaneously organizing several holographic projections of its contents. \"And hey, you're back in time to learn about the Second Dark Age that ramped into the Neomedieval Period.\"\n\n\"Ms. Hendrix?\" Carrie raised her hand, kicking off her shoes. \"I move that I don't need to learn this 'cause I'm gonna grow up to lift heavy stuff.\"\n\n\"You might want to listen, actually,\" the skunk responded with great patience, taking a drink of her coffee. \"This is close to around the time your friend Jacent lived.\"\n\nShe blinked with interest, bottom lip jut out. \"Hunh! No sh- uh, kidding, huh?\"\n\n\"Indeed. He was frozen right before the Skin Plague.\" She brought up a comic scan of his frozen form, taking great amusement in the fact that she was able to use it in her lesson. \"As we discussed last time, In the immediate years that followed that incident, sick pre-splice humans all moved to major cities to try and pool resources, hoping for a cure and knowing that quarantine couldn't prevent something that had carried on the wind years before anyone knew there was a problem. The New Promise established Post-Splice humanity inside of those cities.\"\n\n\"Ah, Ms. Hendrix?\" Kei raised his hand. \"I haven't been here for quite a few lessons, but, I seem to remember the Skin Plague destroying all Pre-Splice cities?\"\n\n\"Ah ha, you read ahead. No, actually!\" she said with great fascination. \"And that's the very interesting part. For a time, post-splice humans lived inside these major cities with our ailing pre-splice fellows.\" Another illustration popped up, showing a young fox and a sickly-looking pre-splice scientist. \"The Skin Plague was not responsible.\"\n\n\"So what happened??\" Bo asked.\n\n\"That, is perhaps the greatest mystery of all time.\" She drew a line to designate two periods with one big blank in the middle. \"To this day, we have no idea what drove our post-splice ancestors out of those cities, nor why those cities were driven so deep underground so quickly after the pilgrimage.\" A recreated time-lapse of London appeared, and slowly sank into the ground.\n\n\"What?\" Carrie's face scrunched in confusion. \"So the lesson today is literally nobody knows anything?\"\n\n\"There are no records, no historical accounts, no verifiable facts on what happened,\" Hendrix explained, sitting on her desk. \"The only explanations we have are legends and folklore that are too fantastic to be believed. By some accounts, the ghosts of our skin-covered ancestors bade us to leave.\" A picture popped up of fantastical pre-splice spirits terrifying a crow woman. \"Others said they woke up deep in the wilds, with nary a memory of where their old cities were, nor any details about living there.\" Another illustration, this one of a siberian husky man staring out in the unsettled distance. \"Still others- and these are what inspired some of your favorite movies- said that metal monsters that stand like men, red eyes blazing, emerged from the ground, chased the children of humanity away into the forests, and swallowed Civilization writ large into the earth, burying our ancestors and their technology far from our grasp.\" This picture was the strangest of all- an abstract painting from the Neo-Victorian age of towering soot-covered steel colossi trampling sick pre-splicers underfoot, furred and scaled people screaming and running.\n\n\"... Seriously?\" Carrie gave her an incredulous look.\n\nMs. Hendrix nodded in agreement. \"The most commonly accepted interpretation is that it was a metaphor for buildings on fire; that our ancestors finally went out in one last blaze of glory.\" She summoned a much more plausible but no less scary image of major cities being consumed in massive fields of napalm, blackened skeletons locked in mid-scream, mid-fall. \"Keep in mind, this was the initial group of Post-Splice humans. It would take a little while yet to breed out that deep-set belief in the occult, which made life hard for those who dressed in metal for years to come.\" A realistic depiction popped up of Druidic-looking post-splice group nervously warding away knights with torches. \"Our species improves generationally.\"\n\n\"That's not true though,\" Kei objected softly. \"We improve in some ways, maybe, but I've read that our second-generation ancestors didn't need glasses, or inhalers.\"\n\n\"Another mystery,\" she agreed. \"But unfortunately, when those cities sunk, however they did it, they took the equipment that birthed our people with them.\"\n\nSuddenly, the intercom came on. \"Will Remedial Drama please report to your usual room? All of you.\"\n\n\"Aw man, I was actually learning shit!\" Carrie complained. \n\n\"Don't worry!\" Kei assured her, pointing to his notes. \"I'll cover for you!\"\n\nShe got up and slung her bag around her shoulder. \"Thanks, Think Tank! I owe you one.\" \n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nGrass softened the weight of bare feet on the roof of Penceworth Estates. The wolf and the boy squared off, each standing in a corner. A cool, gentle breeze blew, punctuating the silence as they stared one another down. Finishing a long series of stretches, wearing Jacent's old bracers, Natalie held out a hand, pushed her fist into it, and bowed. \n\nShe sailed forward, boost-jumping immediately to close the distance! The startled boy just managed to make the punch that followed a glancing blow, twisting away. He caught a couple of follow-ups, but Natalie didn't slow down; she feinted to the side, spinning with a backhand chop, then spun immediately back the other way, landing an uppercut directly in his gut.\n\n\"UFH!\" He stumbled. \"... You've been practicing...\"\n\n\"Are you kidding me? Every [i]night[/i],\" she said with seriousness. \"I've wanted to move this way my entire life. I'm not taking it for granted.\" She waited just long enough for him to get his composure to drop slightly, push in a few jabs, swing a stinging hook and try to force in an uppercut, which just missed. \"When I go, I mean [i]really[/i] get going... it's like I'm flying,\" she remarked as if recalling a dream.\n\nHe laughed a little, shaking his head and pushing into a long, complicated series of moves that each came out of nowhere to the uneducated eye. Natalie knew what was coming, twisting out of the way each step. \"Hah! You remind me a lot of Jasmine. Fighting was such a rush for her!\" He quickened a double palm strike, but it missed completely.\n\n\"Bet she couldn't do [i]this![/i]\" Natalie grabbed his outstretched arm, threw him forward over her shoulder, pulled back and hit [i]him[/i] with the palm strike instead, a burst of force sending him sliding across the roof and into the corner, overlooking the lush vista.\n\nJacent pushed himself up, agape. \"It... it doesn't burn you. But why? My powers are so different now...\"\n\nShe shook her head with great confidence. \"While you were healing, I was training. When you were having nightmares about Grendel, I was training. And while you were wandering the city, feeling sorry for yourself? I. Was. Training. You know what I found out?\" She gestured with a shrug. \"You were right the first time: The Dragon only burns you if you're angry, or afraid of it. Your powers didn't change.\" She rolled her neck minutely. \"You did.\"\n\nHe narrowed his eyes, getting up. \"But I've [i]always[/i] used anger to summon The Dragon.\"\n\n\"No!\" She rushed him, laying in with a series of strong kicks and hammer swings. \"You used to do this with love! With joy! I remember those early issues, you had [i]passion![/i]\"\n\nJacent found himself in the odd position of literally and metaphorically defending himself, arms blocking and deflecting her. \"No I... I don't remember that...\"\n\n\"Then maybe you should go back and read them!\" Natalie boost-jumped over him in a wide arc, landing hard, then turning to face him. Slowly, roughly, a boosted kick, punch, swing and palm strike, the wind from the enormous force of them blowing his hair back.\n\nHe just stared at her, blinking dumbly. \"I don't... I don't understand. You can't. You just [i]can't[/i] invoke The Dragon without inciting its wrath...\"\n\nShe tromped over, grabbed his waist with both hands, struggled, and bodily lifted Jacent into the air, her muscles quivering from the feat, the grin never leaving her face. \"I'm Natalie Grayswift!\" She shook him for emphasis. \"Nobody tells me what I can't do!\"\n\nJacent's heart soared. The fire re-lit in his eyes for the first time in a long while, and he slapped Natalie's grip away, dropping to his feet once more. \"Come on then!\"\n\n[i]Spring's Dragon for the first time looks with eyes open. This shade is no shadow at all! His blackened twin races with him toward the heavens, long tails entertwined, until the sky can hold them no longer. Gales of fury race past, strong as the swell of a heart in Summer's day. Trees bow in deference to the twins' sheer power, and though leaves blow in torrents, nary a branch is broken. The winds have not found each other wanting.[/i]\n\nNatalie blinked, heart pounding, breathless. \"Oh my god. What was that??\" she asked, trembling with a giant grin.\n\n\"A feeling,\" he answered, turning away to face the empty sky, eyes tracing the Ring's segmented line. \"One I haven't had in a long... long time. You've given me a lot to think about today.\"\n\n\"I told you to just listen to your Alpha,\" she smirked, her PET going off. \"Oh, hold on, Drama alert.\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nMax was first. He was always first. \"Oh man I couldn't wait to get outta there! Science class always makes my head spin. ...Can I literally do that? Koralo you should totally develop that as a secondary mutation.\"\n\n\"[i]You're[/i] a secondary mutation, Max,\" Carrie grinned and ruffled the boy's head, frills flapping this way and that. With a dial of her PET, she conferenced in Natalie, who looked sweaty and tired.\n\nErwin smirked as the iguana laughed. \"He's just excited about his birthday tomorrow. By the way, do we have anything planned for that?\"\n\nNatalie blinked. \"Oh! Sorry, guys, I've been so busy lately, it just slipped my mind.\" She considered it shortly. \"Well, Mega Molly's is still down for renovations.\"\n\nMax tsked. \"Aw, I wanted to dress up the animatronics like mariachi!\"\n\nThe wolf snickered. \"Max, I've seen you dance to Mariachi; that place would be totaled inside of an hour. How about Roland's?\"\n\nHe waved it away. \"Nah, that place is haunted, and my powers don't let me transport to the Land of the Dead anymore.\"\n\nNat tried not to laugh. \"Okay? Well. Where do you want to go? I'm off, and I put in for the vacation days from school weeks ago, we're set for whatever.\"\n\n\"You might not want to plan out too far.\" Murphy turned around in her chair dramatically, the rainy faux-Chicago background drizzling in the background behind her, looking like she hadn't slept much. She looked like that a lot these days. \"We've got a problem. A big one.\"\n\n\"C'mon,\" Max said, crouching in his chair. \"We're such super pros by now. What is it, a crawler stuck in a cat kennel? Some B-rate nobody who wants to try out their powers? Alliston took a dump in the mail tube system? ... Aw man I hope that last one's not it.\"\n\nMurphy took a deep breath. \"There are police randomly attacking people. We don't know which ones.\"\n\nEveryone tensed and froze.  Natalie's confusion looked palpable. \"Wait... what??\"\n\nThe labrador licked her lips. \"As of two nights ago, no fewer than four different cases of assault, battery and attempted kidnapping were reported. All victims- themselves hosts to various inklings- described the assailants as police officers wearing power suits previously put into lockdown for destruction following the cancellation of the Ink Tank Project.\"\n\nEveryone stared at her dumbly. Carrie blinked with protracted disbelief. \"Hold the fuck on. One, doesn't that make it your problem, not ours? And two, how did they get things that were on lockdown? Who has access to-\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" Murphy said hurriedly, letting out a shaky sigh. \"They were shipped out to be dismantled. By me.\" She shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her muzzle. \"Naturally I'm now under investigation. We want to know who did this as much as Internal Affairs does, but we can't [i]get[/i] that information, and you know why? Trust in the police is at an all-time low, with the initial failures during the invasion, then the Ink Tank Project putting us on the wrong side of History. Then add in the fact that these people were assaulted by the Police, and you might see why they don't feel like talking to [i]the Police[/i].\" She let out something that almost sounded like a sob of exhaustion, but she quickly took a swig from her thermos and regained composure. \"I want to be with you here, to tag in and give you police resources but [i]right now[/i] I can't offer you a damn thing. I'm begging you for help and I have nothing to give you except that the victims want to meet you at the Burger Dic's-\" she stopped and grunted, answering her PET. \"Sorry just a- hello! Hi, yeah, hello sweetie, are you-...? Yeah, I know, you're not feeling good, I'm really sorry. I know I said I'd be home and I [i]will[/i] I promise, I just-\"\n\n\"Wow,\" Natalie said in hushed tones, her hologram huddling into the group's center. \"She's at the end of her rope on this one. Looks like we're totally on our own this time. Are you guys ready?\"\n\nMax pounded his fist into his hand. \"Ready to get Rough!\"\n\nSam flourished with confidence. \"Team Reference is on the case.\"\n\nGren excitedly joined in, \"And Team Reactor too!\" \n\nAll eyes turned to the kids, and with a nervous grin Aren quickly appended, \"But we totally promise not to use our powers unless you say so!\" To which Gren nodded immediately.\n\nMurphy looked put-upon. \"Honey, please, you know I'm sorry about your recitals, how many times do I have to-\"\n\n\"Murphy.\"\n\nThe labrador blinked and looked up at the projection of Natalie, now covered in ink and speaking with stern authority.\n\n\"You can't do anything else. Stop drinking coffee and go take a nap with your son. We'll handle this.\"\n\nMurphy was quiet for a few moments. Then, her voice filled with warm relief. \"... Sweetie? Tell Mr. Combs I'll be there in ten minutes, okay?\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nAfter getting the timeframe from Murphy, the group of teenagers all climbed into Samantha's PeTra and made their way toward the Burger Dictator. That is to say, most of them climbed into it, while Max climbed on top, arms to his sides as he surfed it. Sam gave token protestation to this, but naturally there was no stopping a boy who wore goggles everywhere [i]anyway.[/i]\n\n\"Is he safe up there?\" Jacent asked.\n\nCarrie rolled her eyes. \"Maybe? Hey. I said quit squirming! Now you get a reason to squirm!\" \n\nAren, sitting in her lap, now giggled and kicked and generally made a fuss. \"Noooooo~!\"\n\n\"Alright, alright, settle down,\" Samantha insisted, parking and watching the iguana jump down with some muttered protestation as to the finish on the roof.\n\n\"Aw man, it's so good to be back here!\" Max exclaimed, taking in the newly-repaired exterior of the Burger Dictator, pushing on the door to get inside. \"Good ol' Biggy D's, just like I-... remember it?\"\n\nThe fast food fascism-themed restaurant was covered in their faces. 'Eat at Echelon's rebel headquarters!' exclaimed one banner. 'The nexus of the fight for intergalactic freedom!' boasted another. \"Ah!\" A large polar bear with an exaggerated Russian accent greeted them. \"The heroes return to their place of victory! What will it be?? A Triple Dictator? A Gulag Gulp? Don't worry, friends, you always eat free here!\"\n\nCarrie snickered. \"Have you seen Natalie? You're gonna go outta business [i]tomorrow.[/i]\" She absorbed a punch to the arm with a grin of expectation.\n\nMax blinked. \"Dude, Ivanovich, what the heck man? What is all this??\"\n\n\"What is what??\" he asked, grinning with forced innocence. \"Max, have you seen what comes with our Generalissimo Meal?\" He held up a green and yellow slime toy. \"Why don't you sit down and have a blackberry milkshake??\" He pushed a plastic glass full of black liquid, permeated by a suspicious pink accent which floated about it like oil on water.\n\nNatalie stared at it like it was full of nuclear waste. \"Are you serious? Who wants to [i]drink[/i] Echelon?? ... Erwin, no, ew.\"\n\n\"Alright, alright!\" Ivanovich put up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. \"Look, this place took a real beating during the Invasion, so to drum up business and make back the investment on rebuilding, the owner decided to push the 'inkling headquarters' angle. To be fair, it's working! Everyone with one of those things wants to eat here. To say nothing of the alien enthusiast tourists!\"\n\n\"Yeah, okay, that's fair,\" Erwin accepted. \"I mean, that's still pretty weird, but...\"\n\n\"Natalie, I think I've found our rendesvous point,\" Sam pointed to a large group of people sitting around a table full of mostly-eaten food. Assorted kids and adults looked around discomfited, until one of the younger ones spotted their group.\n\n\"They're here!\" said an older stoat, motioning to the others, who all looked to Natalie and her friends. Some of them looked shaken, others angry, still others just confused.\n\n\"Hi,\" Natalie offered, taking chairs from nearby tables to sit next to the group. \"I guess you were expecting us?\"\n\n\"You're gonna get 'em, right??\" A young frog asked, his lip jutting out with hurt indignance. \"The people that did this? You gotta get 'em!\"\n\n\"Alright, slow down,\" Erwin insisted. \"Could you tell us what you saw?\"\n\n\"It's the same story between all of us,\" the stoat said. \"Each one of us was out somewhere different- I work the mail tube lines, Benji was playing in the thicket, Ella was surveying escaped wildlife- when we were suddenly overtaken by one of those jack-booted, faceless thugs.\"\n\nElla, a skink, looked up from her half-eaten burger. \"It happened so fast. I tried to fight them off- I even did the ink thing! That you do. Mine... my inkling, she told me to, for both our sakes. But... they were as strong as a [i]giant[/i]. It wasn't even close...\"\n\n\"That does make sense,\" Shelly posited. \"Those suits totally have strength modifiers.\"\n\n\"No,\" a forty-something red panda nurse said, shaken. \"My packmate works in freight, and they use the exact same technology in the lifter suits. Whoever it was in those suits, they were [i]strong,[/i] even before they climbed in.\"\n\nSamantha hmmed. \"You said 'suits.' There was more than one in your attack?\"\n\nHe sniffed. \"Yeah. There was... I counted two. Different heights. But strong as a truck.\"\n\n\"If you'll pardon my asking,\" Carrie started, \"How'd you make it away? It sounds like they could've done... whatever they wanted to you.\"\n\n\"We don't know.\"\n\nCarrie made a face. \"What?\"\n\n\"Every instance, in each one of our experiences, they caught us by surprise, scared us into inking over, brutalized us... and then stopped. Left. Without a [i]word.[/i]\" \n\n\"Did anyone else see this??\" Natalie asked.\n\n\"Yes! That's the [i]strangest[/i] part,\" The stoat gestured in exasperation. \"There were witnesses everywhere! Doctors, park-goers, train riders, even I had a partner working with me on the lines. But it's pointless to question them; even though they saw each part happen, [i]none of them[/i] remember a thing. They're not lying, either, these people are some of our best friends. They just... can't remember, somehow.\" He sighed. \"Now... you know as much as we do.\"\n\nSamantha scrunched her brows together, clearly caught off guard by this. \"This is quite bizarre. It sounds like intimidation tactics. But to what end? And did these witnesses just... block out the memory?\"\n\nNatalie held out her PET and pulled up a map of Locksmouth. \"Alright, we'll investigate the areas in question. I want a dispatch from Team Ref at each spot, protected by a member of Team Rough. Erwin, you're with Carrie at the train stop. Shelly, take Max and scope out the hospital. Gren, Aren, you're with me in the forest. Sam...\" She hesitated, remembering earlier that morning.\n\n\"I'll go with Sam in the tunnels,\" Jacent said.\n\n\"If you're not up to it yet...\" Nat replied quickly, not wanting to push him too hard all at once.\n\n\"It's okay,\" he assured her, a big smile on his face. \"I won't even help; I'll assail her with kisses so she can't do her job.\"\n\nA small snort of laughter escaped Natalie. \"Alright, that's everyone then. Stay in contact, stay [i]safe[/i].\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\n\"'Scuze me! Comin' through!\"\n\nLocksmouth was like most towns of its time: woefully underpopulated, and too big for its occupants. Thanks, however, to the influx of workers from neighboring cities, journalists wishing to cover post-invasion life, alien enthusiasts bringing in a surge of tourism and the need for all of these people to get from one place to another, the train was the exception to this rule. Carrie muscled her way past several people in the packed mass trans car, having to push through as her fat baps wedged her between an overweight gentleman and a stocky construction worker.\n\n\"C'mon, Carrie, we've gotta- UNGH!\" Erwin almost fell over as Carrie broke free, breasts smacking him across the face. \"S-Sheesh...\"\n\n\"Quit goofin' around,\" Carrie suggested, placing his glasses back on his face. \"We got work to do. Well,[i] you[/i] got work to do, I'm just here to stand around and look tough.\"\n\n\"Yeah, duly noted,\" he shook it off.  The train station was busy, making it hard to scour for clues. \"Hmmm...\" He inked over completely. His perceptions sped up, and the throng of people slowed to a crawl. His eyes scanned over the walkway, the buoys, the train, searching for any sign of the previous night's altercation. He took a few steps forward, everyone resuming speed at almost normal clip until he slowed, and they slowed, and both stopped again. The little things, objects that had recently changed, started coming into view. One of the buoys had been serviced recently, having an old bottom component and a new translucent colored light top. A single jagged bead of broken glass laid on the concrete. A single handrail bowed to one side slightly. \"There was a fight here. A big one.\"\n\nCarrie regarded him with disbelief. \"You figured that out in three seconds?\"\n\n\"Carrie, take a look at this bar for the handrail. Can you bend it back into shape?\"\n\n\"Oh hey, somethin' to do.\" She ambled over, grasped the middle of the bar and slowly pulled it back... until it cracked down the middle. \"Oh, shit. Whoops.\" An passing dolphin just looked at her disapprovingly. \"I was as gentle as I could be!\" she called after them, to no avail.\n\n\"I believe you,\" Erwin agreed. \"When you tried to bend it back, it just snapped. Something altered its delicate heat-treatment and made the metal more brittle. I think something heated it up before bending it.\"\n\n\"Yeah! ...So it's not my fault...!\" she hollered to the person minding the ticket booth, who just cocked a brow.\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nThe service tunnel was dark today. It wasn't uncommon; there were a ton of them, and not many people to service them. It was likely that the one person who would have worked that day was their friend who had been attacked- them, and their partner, for safety. As a result, Samantha navigated it with tongue clicks and the occasional, almost inaudible squeak. Jacent followed, holding onto Sam's scarf and listening to the sounds. \"So can we talk, or is this the sneaking part of the mission?\"\n\n\"Of course we can talk,\" Samantha replied easily. \"Stealth is unnecessary for the Sleuth when the Muscle is present.\"\n\nHe smiled softly. \"Why did you want to become a doctor?\"\n\nShe clicked and tilted her head, amused. \"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I want to become a doctor?\"\n\n\"I mean medicine is just such a dry field, and unpleasant more often than not. I would think you'd go for something with more style.\"\n\n\"Yes, I suppose there's really little similarity in dressing friends and dressing wounds.\" Producing a small flashlight, she turned it on and shone it on the wall, walking into a smaller service tunnel made expressly for the mail tube system, turning on a system of dim red lights throughout the entire tunnel. \"And I know what you're getting at,\" she intuited. \"You think I'm only interested because it's what my parents do.\"\n\nHe ducked down and followed her into the smaller tunnel. \"Am I wrong?\"\n\n\"... Yes and no.\" She climbed up an access ladder that overlooked a complex mail tube junction. \"Papa, Mama and perhaps even Mhend did push me toward wanting to make people better, and that's... not totally what I want.\" She looked down. \"I want to make people [i]better.[/i]\"\n\nJacent looked up. \"Right, of course. ...Huh?\"\n\nShe fiddled with an inoccuous-looking set of brick-work, using her PET to bring up internal displays on its maintenance. \"I never realized how advanced my body was until I met you. You're... oh I don't mean to make it sound insulting, but-\"\n\n\"Inferior,\" he finished for her. \"Your physical body is just much better than mine in virtually every way. It's what happens when one race is forged from surviving animal attacks and the other is designed in a lab.\"\n\n\"... Right,\" she agreed, reaching a series of metal-mesh walkways. \"Well, then I got this leg and... Jacent, I swear I just... I can't give it up! The thought of going back to my flesh-and-blood leg is so... disappointing to me now.\"\n\nHe reached the top as well, stopping to feel her smooth, engineered prosthetic ankle. \"I suppose power is hard to part with.\"\n\n\"It isn't even about that,\" she disagreed, pulling him up with her robotic leg, smirking when he shot her a look of doubt. \"Well okay, that's a bit of it. But... all the time, I'm faced with the fact that I can change my clothes, but I ultimately will always have this body. I can't change it. Well, I suppose I could lift weights and eat cake like Carrie but I'll still be this frame.\"\n\n\"It's a nice frame,\" Jacent mentioned, crouching down to look her in the eye. \"I like it a lot.\"\n\n\"... And you're adorable,\" she admitted, smiling with near-exasperation at his sweetness. \"But... this leg. If I wanted to, I could make it look different every day. I could change the design of my own body part to accent whatever I wanted. And if I could do that with the [i]rest[/i] of me? If it were possible to replace everything??\" She twirled about and gestured. \"My entire body could be my canvas!\"\n\nHe blinked. \"... Like Widget?\"\n\n\"I'm so jealous of her!\" she raved. \"She can completely change her entire shape, anytime she gets bored! It's just a matter of mixing and... matching and...\" The bat slowed down, lips pursed. \"And this idea is upsetting you.\"\n\n\"A... little.\" Grendel. Automa. Overnauts. Myriad, violent machines. To say nothing of her own culture's strange but present discrimination against such things. All of these were on the tip of his tongue. But instead, he took a deep breath through his nose. \"For years, I have learned only how to hate robots, to violently dismantle them. This knowledge has burdened me greatly- to a degree that I only now have begun to really understand. So!\" He looked down the tunnel's curved reach. \"If I am to become the kind of person I wish to be- one that's worth your love- then I must un-learn these things.\"\n\nThis caught Sam completely by surprise. \"... I don't think I understand?\"\n\n\"And yet, it is you who will be [i]my[/i] teacher,\" he said calmly.\n\nThe bat paused a moment, then smiled, resuming her search along the mail tubes. \"You know, being mysterious is only going to make me think you're sexier.\"\n\nHe betrayed a hint of a smile. \"I will consider that a bonus.\"\n\nSamantha followed the tubes for several yards, then shone her light along a scalded, melted stretch of the constructive plastic. \"... Well now. Isn't that curious.\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nThe edge of the Residential Sector was where the houses got emptier, and the foliage got thicker, engineered genetics permitting. Sure, the grass could only get so tall, but there was no limit on how many trees could germinate and prosper. Because of this, it wasn't uncommon for nature to reclaim houses, trails, and even parts of the midwalk. Plenty of areas were just out-and-out forest. \n\nNatalie and her two tagalongs had made their way to the place that the frog child had said he was attacked, but of course his assailant wasn't just standing around, waiting to be discovered. \"Alright, you two, don't wander off. This is Cedric's territory, and I'd really like to limit the number of problems we have to deal with today if at all possible.\"\n\n\"Don't worry,\" Gren snickered. \"Aren'll never stop following behind you.\"\n\n\"You're lookin' at it, too!\" He punched her arm. \n\nShe punched his back. \"Yeah, but I'm being subtle about it!\"\n\n\"Well if I'm not [i]blocking your view,[/i]\" Natalie started, \"Maybe you can keep a look out for one of those Ink Tank cops?\"\n\n\"All I see is a buncha trees,\" Aren groused. \n\n\"Wait wait! I see something!\" The kids ran behind Natalie, who braced as the silhouette of a rather large, armored individual made its way through the leaves. \"Ohgodit'shuge!!\" It approached slowly, pulling away branches, trodding everything underfoot. A large motorized saw revved menacingly!\n\n\"Oh hey kids!\" Terra greeted them from the inside of her Deforestation Suit, friendly as could be. \"Fancy runnin' into one of you on my work day!\"\n\nNatalie visibly un-tensed. \"Small world,\" she answered wryly. \n\n\"Oh man I wanna ride in that...\" Aren marveled. \"Hey!\" He pulled on Nat's hoodie. \"Maybe he knows something!\"\n\n\"Yeah, good point! Hey, Mr. Goldstein? You were working out here yesterday, right? Did you see anything strange happen?\"\n\n\"Yeah!\" Gren added. \"Like a frog kid getting jacked up by a huge armored cop??\"\n\nTerra considered it, leaning against one of the trees. \"Well! I was out here, alright, but I don't remember any frog, [i]or[/i] a police officer at all. Truth be told, it's a bit rare to see anyone out here. Gosh though, that sounds terrible.\"\n\n\"... Hunh.\" Nat looked confused. \"That's really weird. This is exactly where he said it happened...\"\n\n\"Sorry!\" Terra even apologized pleasantly. \"Well, I gotta get back to work, hope you kids find what you're looking for!\" With that, she made her way through the thicket, disappearing into the trees.\n\n\"That makes one of us,\" Gren muttered. \n\nAren tilted his head. \"Hey, wait! I'm havin' a brainstorm!\" He pointed into the small forest. \"If this person wanted to hide their armor and stuff after they attacked the kid, they'd probably hide it in the trees!\"\n\n\"Great idea!\" Natalie praised him, activating the navigation app on her PET. \"Stay close now.\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\n\"This is just like the time I defended the Emu Dimension against the baseball-playing yak milkers!\"\n\n[Fabrication. Nonsense.]\n\n\"We fought hard, until they knocked me out with a Louisville Slugger made completely of cookies.\"\n\n[Further fictive imagining. Humor.]\n\n\"We were stuck in a weasel grease canoe with only our laser paddles to navigate by!\"\n\n[Chaos. Speaking in tongues. Possibly Sexual?]\n\n\"Max!\" Shelly interrupted the ranting iguana, leaning on a hospital wall as she desperately tried to look up from her PET. \"I can't follow like, anything you're saying. Could you just talk normal for a minute??\"\n\nHe cocked his head at the butterfly. \"Dude. Have we even met?\"\n\n\"Okay! That's better! Regular sarcasm, I can get that!\" She shook her head. \"You're like Conversational Hard Mode or something.\"\n\n\"Nah, I'm tellin' this story so I can [i]stop[/i] being Hard Mode,\" he said offhandedly. \"Have you found somethin' yet?? Whoa!\" Matching holographic black and yellow caution lines appeared in the hallway. He pulled Shelly against the wall with him- flattening her wings in the process- as a number of orderlies rushed someone through the hall on a hovering gurney. They missed Max entirely, but one of the nurses almost wiped out entirely running into Shelly's fat chest, recovering in a spin to keep pushing the patient down the hall.\n\n\"Like, [i]ow[/i].\" The miffed butterfly rubbed her breasts sorely. \"Oh hey, did you see that guy?\" Her antennae changed orientation with interest. \"He was totally inked.\"\n\nThey made chase, trying to catch up to the gurney. \"Hey! Heeey! Dude, what happened??\"\n\n\"Please stay back!\" a nurse said. \"This man is badly injured!\"\n\n\"By what though??\" Shelly asked.\n\nShelly found herself crashing chest-first into the arm of a security guard just outside the operating room, but before they lost sight of the patient, they groaned, just audibly. \"It's... s-still... coming...!\"\n\nMax pivoted his head in confusion. \"Man, what's still coming??\"\n\nShe thought for a moment. \"... I think I know.\"\n\nHeavy bootsteps echoed through the hall behind them, a nurse screamed, and the security guard was visibly alarmed. A towering Ink Tank Trooper marched toward them.\n\nShelly's expression soured. \"I [i]hate [/i]being right all the time.\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\n\"So what you're saying,\" Carrie said over the din, \"Is that whatever hit this thing was hot. What are we talking, here? 'Pizza' hot? 'Mashed potatoes' hot?\"\n\n\"Heating element in your expensive bathtub hot,\" Erwin responded, bumping elbows with someone as he opened the PET lines.\n\nCat let out a low whistle. \"That's fuckin' hot.\"\n\n\"Too right,\" Samantha agreed holographically, pointing to the melted freight tube. \"We found similar damage here, to much greater effect.\"\n\n\"I got it!\" Carrie exclaimed. \"Cedric stole a bunch of armor, dressed up, went to town on some rando inked people to make 'em distrust the police. Threw around some lava, spooked 'em, BAM!\" She hit her hand with her fist. \"Brain muscles! Doin' your job [i]for [/i]you.\"\n\nErwin considered it. \"Yes! That's a good theory.\" He breathed in deeply, waiting for a noisy crowd of passengers to board the train. \"Except for the parts that are impossible. See, Cedric's magma venting would have melted this hand rail, or at least left some discoloration. And while that mail tube did get melted, it has several impact points that suggest something more forceful than a squirt-gun level blast of liquid rock. To top it all off, he would have had to remove the suit in order to fire, which would have given away the whole ruse.\"\n\n\"Damn!\" Carrie groused. \"I thought I could shut the case. Well what the hell was it, then?\"\n\n\"I don't know. I have a theory, but without any proof to-... substantiate it, there's-... nothing to-\" he faced a border collie who'd been insistently tapping on his shoulder. \"Yes, what??\" \n\nThe fearful dog man pointed at the entryway toward the train station, from which a growing rash of terrified cries were coming... as was a juggernaut of an Ink Tank soldier, prepping a fusion cannon.\n\n\"Oh god!\" The startled ferret fell onto the guard rail before righting himself. \"Carrie!!\" he called, watching as the silent sentinel raised the cannon to eye level with him.\n\n\"On it!\" The inked cat side-stepped in time to eat a huge repeating blast of heated gas. She stood, arms at her sides, taking the barrage straight to her sternum and showing not so much as disomfort for it- aside from the fact that it was batting her huge breasts in every direction. \"No sell, chump! I'm not even feelin' it!\"\n\nTheir armored attacker stopped firing at her chest and lowered their aim, intensely hot pockets of gas blowing the cemented ground beneath her into rubble, and then, moments later, into slag.\n\n\"Ungh!\" Carrie tried to walk forward, finding herself sunk knee-deep in the melted road slurry. \"Ah, shit.\"\n\n -\n- -\n - \n\n\"Natalie! Natalie, I can hear it coming!\" Cried a fearful Gren, terrible whispers filling her ears.\n\nThe wolf couldn't help but quicken her pace as she heard loud bootsteps. \"Terra?? Is that you??\"\n\nA tree crashed down, having been ripped out of the ground, pushed over and cast aside. The Ink Tank unit walked out, its mysterious user saying nothing except a series of inaudible whispers as it reached for its fusion cannon.\n\nNatalie managed to back into a clearing, readying herself. \"Alright! I don't know who you are, but you messed up big time! Whoa!!\" She ducked a wide swing, then rolled into another one, passing over the thing's big powered arms. The swing went too wide and impacted a tree, cracking the wood and splitting the thing down the middle with a visible crevasse. \"This is your last chance to give up! Whoop!\" A huge hand picked her up by her small waist, and the other pushed the cannon into her gooey face, the energy charging from inside.\n\n\"Natalie!!\" the kids called, frightened for her safety.\n\nShe slapped it away, hot blasts soaking into a now-blackened patch of grass. \"Arus!\" Nat pulled its grip loose, sliding down and out of its hand hold. \"Actima!\" As she hit the ground, Natalie was already running away, parkouring off of a tree and then dashing for the Ink Tank, passing it by in a flash.\n\nThe attacker felt around for their weapon. Instead, Natalie held the fusion cannon in her hands.\n\n\"Looking for this??\" She gave a cocky grin from the other end of the clearing, prepping the weapon. \"Hey, looks like someone knows how to use this! Aaand now so do I.\" She opened fire on the towering soldier, unheated blasts hammering into their huge form. \n\nThey stumbled, shielding their face from the blasts... then slowly, unbelievably managed to stand up against the incoming force, walking forth one haggard step at a time.\n\n\"No way!\" Natalie marveled. \"Floe!\" She inhaled deeply and blew a freezing breath onto the stream of projectiles. Frost collected onto the arms, chest and face unit of the mysterious attacker, but they showed no signs of slowing. \"This guy's unbelievable... Gren, Ten! Get ready to- UNGH!\" She was slapped away by a backhand from the huge trooper.\n\n\"Pick on someone your own size, jerk!\" Terra cried, latching her power suit's trunk winch to the Ink Tank's torso and pulling at their helmet with the stump clamp.\n\n\"Mr. Goldstein! Nice!\" Natalie cried, jumping to her feet. \"Arus!\" She slid her fingers into the entry crease located underneath two layers of interstitial padding, and pulled. \"Let's see who this is!\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nMax had a hard time when it came to gradual transitions. He tended to go from zero to full bore at a moment's notice, which made social situations hard. This all-or-nothing energy had certainly been the reason why he had trouble making friends. But this, too, had its advantages at times. \"Take this!!\" His full running start, inking up halfway there, ended in a flying dropkick. The Ink Tank trooper was caught mid-step as it connected, throwing them backward as the iguana's full force met them in the chest.\n\n\"... Whoa.\" Shelly paused in surprise. \"Heh, haha! Go Max!\"\n\nHe'd already flipped backward on the rebound, now crouching. The trooper pulled out their fusion cannon. \"Bleh!\" His tongue shot out of his head and snatched the weapon before they could fully grip it, throwing it backward at the shocked security guard, who did manage after a few fumbles to catch it. \"Nope!\"\n\nHis huge opponent got to their feet somewhat hastily, taking the momentum of rising to start a full-on bull rush. Max looked for an opening, but they took up most of the hallway by themselves, and soon he was caught on its mass like a cattle guard. \n\nShelly went one step further, stretching her mass to take up the entire width and height of the hall, creating a thin membrane of orange butterfly for Max to get pinned against, rather than a hard wall. Their combined forms bulged her stretched wall-body as she grunted. \"Ohhhh god this [i]suuuucks![/i] UGH!\" Finally she managed to repel them, bouncing the two of them off of her like a trampoline.\n\nMax took full advantage of the momentum, wrapping his thighs around the trooper's head, swinging around and ensuring that they landed completely on their face, rattling the power suit and the brains of the occupant. \"Give up yet?!\"\n\nShelly dropped to her feet again, once more butterfly-shaped. \"Like, wow! I thought I was totally screwed getting put together with the weakest member of Team Rough.\"\n\n\"Weakest?!\" Max griped. \"Geez, thanks a lot!\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nSamantha watched with great concern as the various battles unfolded before her eyes via holographic capture. \"Oh dear. [i]That's [/i]a problem.\" She put her PET away. \"I think we've made as much progress as we're going to in this part of the investigation; the others need us!\" She made her way down the ladder and back through the small service tunnel, Jacent silently agreeing and following her out. \"I think we should move to help Natalie and the children, they're the most isolated and vulnerable- oh. Oh, balderdash!\"\n\nHeavy bootsteps echoed down the huge tunnel, and of course, they belonged to an Ink Tank trooper, insistently making its way toward them. \n\nSamantha turned to Jacent. \"The other side of this tunnel leads to a section of the Subtran Station still under reconstruction; it would be dangerous, but-\"\n\n\"The Muscle is present.\" Jacent spread his legs at shoulder width, bent his knees and breathed in, gesturing as if gathering power from the air around him, his palms finally pointing toward them, forming a triangle between his thumbs and forefingers. \"We're not moving.\" Surprised but nonetheless accepting, Samantha nodded to him, covered in pink as she retrieved two guns from her leg.\n\nThe trooper was on them quicker than seemed feasible for someone that large to move. They reeled back, bringing their arm to one side, clearly intending to backhand him out of the way. His preferred method up to this point had been to evade these; they were too much to risk, and to be caught aflame made it a zero-sum game. This time? He met it with equal force, a boosted sidelong palm strike slamming into the armored limb and denting the thin metal. It surprised both Sam and the trooper, the latter of whom staggered a moment before taking another strike with the other arm, again, having it boost-palmed away harder than the initial blow. No fire, just force.\n\n\"You are defeated by your own actions,\" he said, taking great effort to remain calm. The barely-audible whispering coming from beneath their helmet was odd, and seemed familiar, but he was far too focused to think about that. \"Continuing is pointless.\"\n\nThis seemed to anger them greatly. They reeled back this time, and instead of swinging, they thrusted their entire outstretched hand at the boy, a furious mirroring of his palm strike. Jacent saw it coming, grabbed the thumb and middle fingers in his hands and exerted a small but incredibly potent inch of force, twisting as he shoved back. The trooper found themselves not just rebuffed, but flying backward, spiraling as they fell onto their head and back, sliding backward along the floor.\n\n\"Wow,\" Sam said breathlessly. Jacent got down onto his knees, sitting, hands on his thighs. The actions themselves seemed effortless, but it was clear by the sweat running down his forehead that this zen exercise was taking an absolute boatload of concentration and focus. \n\nTheir attacker drew the fusion cannon from their back, their bleary-eyed disorientation pushing them to shoot into the side of the tunnel and correct their aim with automatic fire, pulling the line of projectiles toward Jacent with all the splashing sound of a pulsing showerhead. Sam watched it get closer to him with concern. \n\n\"Ah, Jacent?!\" \n\nHe sat still, staring at them. Clickclickclick. The hot gas pockets never reached him, getting as far as blowing his hair before the gun failed. Samantha vaguely recalled something Murphy had said about the power suits' bulky hands blocking the vents on them, finding relief in this.\n\nFrustrated, they threw the weapon itself at his head. A loud discharge sounded, the thing clattering against the wall. \"Ah, [i]no[/i].\" Sam twirled the air compressor pistol. \"Look! You can throw as many hissy fits as you like! But whatever secret anti-Inked section of the police department you make up is doomed to fail; we're to be judged on our own merits, and you can't simply bully us out of town!\"\n\nThe trooper then stopped. They stood there, staring from behind the faceless visor, deliberating on her words. The nameless armor-bearer looked up again, leveling its gaze, and the black plastic lit with two large red ovoids underneath like a ceramic cook top set to boil.\n\nJacent lost focus completely, eyes widening. \"That's... unusual.\"\n\nThe trooper's armor opened, panels sliding back. Slick black hands and arms reached up to remove the helmet, and equally smooth, shiny legs and feet stepped down out of it. But instead of a face, which they supposed must belong to a scared, angry officer, the first visor was removed only to make way for a second glass screen, behind which two large red eye-shapes set themselves above a matching mouth shape, pursed, had they lips with which to do it. Triangular shapes on their head and a mane of fine fabric on their head added to the confusion.\n\n\"It's a robot...\" Jacent remarked, confused.\n\nSamantha tilted her head. \"And it... looks like Natalie...?\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nIn an almost childish move, Carrie twisted as her attacker tried to walk by, and simply grabbed onto their armored legs, pulling tight and beginning to crush them before they could go for Erwin. \"Stop your shit! Give up or I'll break your real legs too!\"\n\nInstead of doing so, they simply opened the armor and jumped out. A clean, shiny, bright white (if short) bat-shaped robot emerged, orange eyes and mouth lighting up their face.\n\nCarrie stared at the silent machine, brows knit. \"Whaaaat the... fuuuuuck???\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nMax was thrown from the armor as a robotic cat freed itself from it, her cold, judgemental expression never changing as its springy blue curls came loose.\n\n\"W-...\" Max blinked. \"What is that?!\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\n\"Natalie watch out!\"\n\"Behind you!\"\n\nShe didn't get a chance to check her six; instead, a huge armored hand threw her into a tree. \"Agh, guhhh, damn it!\" By the time she got to her feet, she saw a second Ink Tank trooper had snuck up on her, somehow, and now, confusingly, was finishing the work she started, opening the first one's armor despite the frost. Out of it popped a rough approximation of Erwin in robot form, brown eye shapes and all. Their savior, who had knocked Terra down on his way in, showed himself to be a similar duplicate for Max.\n\n\"Natalie, those look like Automa!\" Aren blurted out before gasping and covering his mouth, ears flush.\n\n\"They do though...\" Gren admitted.\n\n\"Wuh-... who are you...?\" Natalie managed, getting up. Damn it. She'd been prepared this time! But even with all the preparation in the world, how could she have seen this coming? \"Answer me!\"\n\nErwin-bot took one look at her, opened a chest panel...\n\n~(_)~\n\n... Took a strange cuboid object out of her robotic bat body...\n\n~(_)~\n\n... Raised it in her shiny, black hand...\n\n~(_)~\n\n... And set it off. The entire hospital shook as an extremely bass-heavy wave of sound and force emitted from the object. A feeling of extreme nausea and dread overcame every last person, sending the lucky ones to their knees, and others flat onto the floor. The sound was so loud it was impossible to even hear the groans of great discomfort. Sound distorted, feelings numbed, and everything.\nWent.\n\nB l a c k .\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\n\"Is she awake yet?\"\n\"I think I see eye movement.\"\n\"Hey, wake up, c'mon. You've had enough beauty sleep.\"\n\n\"Mmmmhn...\" Samantha's eyes opened, her mouth curled down in a pained frown. \"Ohhhh, what a headache...\" When her vision focused, she found herself back in Remedial Drama class, being held by a very concerned but relieved Jacent. \"Hhhhn. What happened??\"\n\nJacent tilted his head, clearly just as confused as she was. \"I... do not know. That thing activated the device, a loud sound came from it, and you fell down, looking extremely ill.\"\n\n\"And so did the rest of us,\" Erwin added. \"Everyone except Jacent, it seems.\"\n\nMurphy, who looked more refreshed than she was that morning, ran a hand through her hair. \"But you have witnesses now, right?\"\n\nCarrie shook her head, eyes wide. \"Okay check this out. I wake up first, right? I see people get up too, and they're just standing there, staring at nothing. More people get up, and then everybody's standing still, their eyes open, not blinking like they were on drugs... then they just start walking, acting like nothing happened at all. I stop 'em and and ask 'em about the damn Ink Tank, the robot, anything- and they look at [i]me[/i] like [i]I'm[/i] crazy.\" She shook her head. \"I've seen some spooky shit, but that was like an episode of Consequence.\"\n\n\"Damn it!\" Murphy pounded the table. \"How is that possible?? These freaks attack you in broad daylight, in crowds of people, then hit a button and suddenly nobody saw a thing??\" She shook her head. \"Alright. I guess we don't have time to go through official channels on this one. Fortunately, we learned the one most important thing: they're robots. And that means we know who did this.\"\n\nNatalie sighed deeply. \"Yeah, I guess.\" She looked aside and muttered, \"Geez, Mom, I was just kidding...\"\n\nCarrie recognized that look in her partner's eyes. \"Aw, babe, it's not your fault.\"\n\n\"No, it kinda is!\" she insisted. \"I... I should've been more supportive, but all I ever did was make fun of her, and fantasize what it would be like if she were evil. But the fun kind of evil! You know, easily thwarted, never doing anything that bad? Just, not following the rules.\" She looked up to a bunch of blank stares. \"I know that sounds dumb, shut up.\"\n\n\"Look, kid, I know you're upset about this, but your mom's been through a lot. I'm not saying this is right, but she's obviously not well. You gotta come with me.\"\n\nNatalie looked up sadly. \"So that she'll come along quietly?\"\n\n\"So that I have something between me and five killbots.\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nThe march to the Grayswift residence was a grim one. Murphy had driven one squad unit to the area, and Sam had taken the other, both parked a block away. It was Natalie, however, who took the lead. She was the only one who had an inkling and hadn't formed up; instead, she wore red capri pants, a black spaghetti strap top that showed off her arms and allowed her movement, a pair of kung fu slippers and a black flat cap with a stylized 'X' on the front- her 'Punk Buster' outfit. She poured herself into her role. \"Jacent. What do you remember about the attack you fended off?\"\n\n\"Keep your eyes peeled and your ears keen,\" he warned. \"Based on the small sample, they like to attack suddenly, and in numbers.\"\n\n\"Right. Team Ref. Thoughts?\"\n\n\"From the attacks, it's clear they're geared to fight inklings,\" Erwin observed. \"We should expect heavy resistance...\"\n\n\"Dr. Grayswift doesn't cut corners,\" Sam agreed. \"If the work on my leg is any indication, they'll be extremely strong, but I still can't run at full tilt; speed may be on our side.\"\n\nShelly chimed in. \"So like if Jacent's description is totally accurate, their power cores probably go inert on interruption of the vacuum; like, they shouldn't blow up if we slag 'em.\"\n\n\"Good. On that note, Team Rough. Are you ready?\"\n\nCarrie nodded. \"Set to waste some tin tools.\"\n\n\"I'm totally pumped!\" Max boasted. \"Bring it on!\"\n\n\"Alright. Gren, Ten? You're here [i]just[/i] to observe. If things get hairy you [i]get out[/i] and you [i]hide[/i]. When you think it's safe you call the Police and let them know what happened. Got it?\"\n\n\"But we're totally made for this!\" Gren protested.\n\n\"I know,\" Natalie agreed. \"Which is why we can't [i]possibly[/i] risk our trump card in the first go. You need to be able to help if we... if we can't stop them. Understand?\"\n\nGren and Ten swallowed hard, nodding.\n\n\"Alright.\" She nodded, taking a breath. They would not be surprised this time, not thrown for a loop in a situation they hadn't prepared for. This time, they were [i]ready. [/i]\"Let's get in there.\" She waved her PET in front of the door and opened it. They all took positions in the entryway.\n\n\"GOD! You [i]idiots![/i]\" bellowed Dr. Grayswift from further inside the house. \"This is the last time I trust you with anything. You had one job!\"\n\nNatalie turned to Murphy as they crept closer to the sound, the living room. From either side of the archway, they nodded to each other silently.\n\n\"POLICE, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!\" shouted Murphy with a brazen authority they hadn't heard from her possibly ever. \"Dr. Lorna Grayswift you are under arrest!\"\n\nLorna looked up from the couch in her pajama pants and an oversized shirt, a bowl of popcorn between her legs as she watched the intercity Dodgevolley game with Wade and Widget. \"... For... what?\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\n\"Jacent, our little sit-down was a... well, it was a huge wake-up call.\" Lorna led them down into her garage, lights activating as she made her way down the stairs.\n\nTo their astonishment, there was no sign of the robots. No ghoulish skeletal frames, no limbs hanging everywhere, no buckets of parts. The place was completely clean, tools put away, fabricators spotless. There was not a single sign of the doctor's encroaching madness from before. \"Wait, wait... wait.\" Natalie rubbed her eyes, as if she were dreaming. \"You just... got rid of it all?\"\n\n\"Yep. Slagged it.\" She patted a large, smooth metal cuboid resting on the bench. \"Inefficient shape to put it all in, but I wanted a symbol of starting over.\"\n\n\"But...\" Carrie let Arus recede, gesturing around the room. \"This is your life's work. I've known you for years now, Dr. G, and this is the one thing you want the most!\"\n\nLorna nodded sympathetically. \"Well, Carrie, I just realized that this was the wrong way of going about it. I'm still going to work on artificial intelligence, I'm just going it my own way: by programming increasingly articulate learning systems.\"\n\n\"Which is still against the law, by the way!\" Murphy said.\n\nThe older woman leveled a critical look at her. \"It's against regulation. As in, something you can harass me about during a town meet, but not arrest me for.\"\n\nMurphy sighed impatiently. \"Look! I know you made the robots. You know you made the robots! It doesn't matter if you cleaned up your workbench, there's only [i]one person[/i] in this entire city who could've made them!\"\n\nLorna folded her arms. \"Alright. How?\"\n\nThe canine cop seemed uncharacteristically thrown off balance. \"W-... What do you mean 'how??'\"\n\n\"With what material?\" She leaned from one leg to the other. \"Metal isn't free. It isn't cheap, either. I have to fill out a request form for every scrap of steel, copper or even [i]plastic[/i] I order from the Fabricatory, which is the only source of any of those materials in workable condition for miles. If I took the brain units out of my only three and turned them into this handsome paperweight, where on Earth did I get the material to create- what was it- [i]five[/i] new custom robots and build them practically overnight? It would've taken me days just to draft out the designs, and let me tell you, I am [i]not[/i] an artist.\" She brought up some of her old schematics. \"To that point, all my robots look the same, or have a simple geometric design. Now, I am [i]flattered[/i] that you think I could conceptualize, design, build and error test five fully autonomous units in a timeframe that would have made me laugh in my boss's face, but- and I am trying really hard not to be condescending about this-[i] that is not how it works.[/i]\"\n\nMurphy turned to Team Reference, the question of validity on her face.\n\n\"I mean, she's not wrong. We could check the Fabricatory records,\" Erwin suggested. \n\n\"And the records of all the other 'Bric workers,\" Shelly added.\n\n\"And the school's records! 'Cause they have that stuff sometimes!\" Aren offered, earning a chest-jostling high five from Shelly for his lateral thinking, which was fully two rewards in one.\n\nSamantha, however, seemed reserved as she sat on Jacent's shoulder. \"We can and will check those leads, but... I have to say, I'm slowly beginning to appreciate when I have a hunch, and my intuition is telling me that we're not going to find anything.\" Several murmurs of agreement filled the room. \"What's more, she seems... different than the Lorna who would have done something like this. Better. More well-adjusted.\"\n\nWidget piped up. \"Yeah, that was kinda why I've been hanging out with her so much ever since that night. Wanted to make sure she was on the up and up.\" She looked at Lorna, who seemed dubious. \"What? I liked making cupcakes too!\"\n\n\"Geez...\" Natalie shrugged, not sure what to do with herself. \"I'm sorry, Mom.\"\n\n\"No, [i]I'm[/i] sorry,\" Lorna corrected. \"It was my fault I was ever on the radar for this in the first place. I definitely messed up before. That's why I'm making sure to do things right this time.\"\n\n\"Well... that's great!\" Nat said with relief. \"I'm glad it wasn't you. I'll... try to be more supportive in the future,\" she promised, hugging her mother tenderly.\n\nMurphy stared at the metal cuboid, holding her head in her hands. \"I'm happy for you, Grayswift, I really am, but that's[i] not[/i] great. This means that there's someone [i]else[/i] out there who knew what you would do, sent creepy custom-made doppelganger death robots to intercept you when you were split up, and created a [i]magic mind control machine[/i] to take away all the witnesses who don't have their own personal slime buddy!\" She subconsciously gripped her neurod, muscles trembling. \"Is there anyone else who could do all that??\"\n\nThey all shared some uncomfortable looks. Samantha took a deep breath. \"We don't know [i]whom[/i], but we have some idea who, in general, might be responsible. But... it's very important that we keep it a secret.\"\n\nMurphy actually growled. \"No! None of this secret clubhouse bullshit! This is not a game; people need to know about dangerous things lurking in the dark!\"\n\nWidget let out a deep breath. \"It's fine. Can't keep it a secret forever.\" Her hologram dropped completely, revealing the glass-faced Automa underneath. She reached up, pulled her head out of its neck socket, and held it in her hand, facing it toward the labrador. \"You might wanna sit down.\"\n\n -\n- -\n -\n\nIn the living room of Chateu D'Grayswift, many kids and a few adults sat, speaking and mostly listening as a robot explained her own existence. \"... So, lop-ears? What's your precinct gonna think about that?\" Widget asked.\n\n\"They aren't,\" she replied immediately, surprising the others. \"Nobody else gets to know about this.\" Her face looked haunted. \"If someone asks, you [i]lie[/i].\"\n\n\"Whoa, Murphy.\" Natalie knit her brows together. \"I thought you said people should know about this?\"\n\nThe labrador gave her a severe look. \"Grayswift. We are [i]just barely[/i] getting to the point where people are starting to feel okay with the idea of alien pudding cups living inside people, and when you get outside the dome, that varies a lot. If everybody on the PETnet learns that we've got an underground city of ancient rehabilitated murder-bots who're holding crazy, scary technology, they will hold a global special session, decide our spooky port town is not worth the trouble anymore, and [i]rip this fucking city off its moorings.[/i]\"\n\nNatalie's face was frozen in shock.\n\n\"Cupcakes~!\" cried Shelly, who bounced into the room with a sticky-faced Gren and Aren, carrying a tin full of frosted treats. Everyone stared at them awkwardly. \"... Wow, tepid response to cupcakes.\"\n\nNatalie blinked, licking her lips and taking a breath, finally. \"... [i]Oh[/i].\" She looked at Widget, then back. \"I... I hadn't thought of that.\"\n\nMurphy nodded rapidly. \"So yeah! Good instincts, kid! Just... just keep that lid on it. I'll... do some digging for a while, see what I can come up with.\" She got up, shaking her head. \"You... you keep talking to anybody with an inkling! Find out anything you can! If they attack again, you shut 'em down.\"\n\n\"Yeah, uh, right!\" she responded. \"No problem! O-On it.\"\n\nDr. Grayswift nodded. \"I'll... do some diagnostics. See if I can figure anything out.\"\n\n\"Good! You do that!\" Murphy agreed. \"Because if the public finds out about these things, the public police position will be that we highly suspect[i] you[/i] made 'em.\"\n\n\"WHAT?!\" Lorna called after the cop, who was already on her way out the door. \"You-... but I-... you can't!\" Slam.\n\n\"Oooooooh,\" Max sucked air in through his teeth, frosting all over his nose. \"Sorry, Dr. Natalie's Mom.\"",
  "writing_bbcode_parsed": "<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>Carrie Oakenfield walked along her beautiful backyard, dressed from head to toe in the baggiest, least flattering clothing she&#039;d probably ever worn- thick trousers, an oversized shirt stained with burns, a welder&#039;s apron and a triangle bandana, out of which her clustered curls trailed. Her heavy boots clopped as she made her way toward a diminutive tiger and goat.<br /><br />&quot;Wow, you look ready to take a building down, Carrie,&quot; Gren observed. &quot;What&#039;s with the outfit?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yeah,&quot; Aren added, &quot;And what&#039;s that multimeter for?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;This,&quot; the cat said between lips tightly holding onto a medstick, vapor escaping her nostrils. &quot;Is a training exercise. The last time you used your powers on somebody, you almost iced her. Now, Sarissa might deserve to get knocked around a little bit, but <em>in general</em>, we avoid turning people extra crispy. You gotta dangerous power, and you&#039;ve gotta learn to control it.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;How do we do that?&quot; Gren ventured.<br /><br />&quot;You&#039;re gonna hit me with it, seeing as I&#039;m the only one who can take whatever you dish out,&quot; she explained. &quot;This volt meter thing&#039;s here to tell me how much power you&#039;re puttin&#039; out.&quot;<br /><br />Aren grew bashful, kicking a bit of dirt. &quot;Aw, but I don&#039;t wanna hurt <em>you</em>, Carrie...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Seriously, forget about it. I licked a loose power line this morning in preparation.&quot; She grinned when the kids made a face as if they weren&#039;t sure whether to believe her. &quot;Now join hands and bring down the thunder!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Actually, thunder is just the sound produced by-&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Hit me with lightning bolts, nerd!&quot;<br /><br />The goat and tiger grabbed one another&#039;s wrists, and with their free arms, touched forearms. A huge arc of electricity flashed across the distance between Carrie and themselves, striking her directly in the chest and sending her to the ground with a loud buzzing ~SNAP!~<br /><br />Carrie dusted herself off, rising up to read off the multimeter with a singed glove. &quot;That was enough to kill three people.&quot; The kids grimaced. &quot;Bring down the thunder... fuckin&#039;, <em>gently</em>.&quot; She got into a catcher&#039;s stance, gesturing for them to hit her hand.<br /><br />The two of them looked at each other, thinking much the same thoughts. &quot;Just the fingers?&quot; Aren wondered. Gren agreed, and they touched fingertips to generate a mighty bolt which slammed directly into Carrie&#039;s palm, putting her on her butt. Arcs also flared off, making underlighting blink on and off rapidly.<br /><br />Carrie rose once more, reading off the device. &quot;Good news,&quot; she announced. &quot;That was only enough to kill a child.&quot; The cat stood, hips canted, hands on them. &quot;Think you can set that thing to &#039;stun??&#039;&quot;<br /><br />They regarded each other once more. &quot;Alright, just you this time,&quot; Gren posited. Aren nodded in the affirmative, and though they were connected, this time the tiger alone loosed the deadly arc of electric energy!<br /><br />&quot;Unh!&quot; Carrie stumbled back. She read the multimeter. &quot;Heeey, look at that! Non-lethal force.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yeah!&quot; The kids high-fived, proud that they&#039;d solved the mystery so swiftly.<br /><br />&quot;But all that&#039;s useless if you can&#039;t use it in the heat of the moment,&quot; the cat explained. &quot;Let&#039;s see you do it again. Boss fight, go!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Wuh?? Unh! Whoa!&quot; Gren found herself lifted bodily by the waist, inverted, then dunked head-first into a soft sandbox. <br /><br />&quot;H-Hey! AH!&quot; Aren was pushed onto his butt, at which point Carrie put her boot on his chest and sent him careening along the grass in a full spin. &quot;AaAaAaAah!!&quot;<br /><br />Grendolyn squatted, bent over completely as she pulled half of her head out of the sand. &quot;Ptuh, ptah!&quot; Finding her in a vulnerable position, Carrie pulled on her spooky bat-themed underwear (a gift from herself, actually) at the waistband, scooped sand into a plastic pail and dumped the entirety of the thing&#039;s contents into them before letting go. &quot;OH MY GOD?!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Ah! I&#039;m! C-Coming!&quot; Aren struggled to run back toward Carrie, stumbling due to his dizziness. She picked up a hose and absolutely blasted him, tossing his already awkward momentum completely off balance and sliding him into more grass.<br /><br />&quot;Haaahahaha!&quot; Carrie laughed maniacally as she kicked Gren in her sand-filled panties, sending her back into the box, then scooping up Aren with her foot and rolling him into it right next to her. It was the most devastating she could be without actually hurting either of them, and it was clear they were both fed up with it.<br /><br />Gren and Aren scrambled to their feet and grabbed for each other inspecifically, not aiming for any particular handholds, just a touch to complete the circuit- and they both absolutely hammered Carrie with a thunderous ~CRACK-DOOOOOOM~ of electric vengeance. It slammed into her, lit up her body, and instantly incinerated all of the incredibly tough clothing she&#039;d brought for the occasion. Comically, underneath all of it was the frilliest, laciest, most revealing set of pink lingerie that even she, the queen of needless frills, owned. She must have put it on out of sheer habit, but both tweens watched gormless and mollified as her deep white cleavage bounced, threatening to burst from its silky prison with every recovering cough.<br /><br />&quot;What?&quot; she asked. &quot;This is totally consistent with-...&quot; Carrie tilted her head, spying a tell-tale protrusion coming from the tiger. &quot;Ohhhh. Heh.&quot; She took this moment to stretch, arching her back and showing off to the pair of pubescent positrons, whose gazes raised and fell with her bustline. &quot;Well I don&#039;t need to tell you that <em>wasn&#039;t</em> non-lethal.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;O-Oh yeah... sorry...&quot; Aren&#039;s tail curled around his leg sheepishly.<br /><br />Carrie bent forward, hands on her hips. &quot;Do you promise to keep working on it until you get better?&quot;<br /><br />Gren&#039;s cheeks flushed and her shoulders bunched up. &quot;Uh-huh...&quot;<br /><br />She flexed her biceps, bulging both her impressive muscles and her disbelief-inspiring cleavage. &quot;<em>And</em> do you promise not to use your powers on anybody unless someone older than you says it&#039;s okay?&quot;<br /><br />Aren blushed furiously, ears hot as he grinned awkwardly. &quot;Y-Yeah...&quot;<br /><br />Carrie stood up again. &quot;Well then. I&#039;d say it&#039;s alright to give you the reward I&#039;d planned on.&quot; She reached into a bag propped up against the wall, pulling out an odd pair of articles and handing one to each of the kids.<br /><br />&quot;... Rubber swim briefs??&quot; Aren asked, confused. Sure enough, he held out a yellow and black speedo with a simplistic lightning bolt design on the back and front. <br /><br />&quot;And a matching top,&quot; Gren added, noting that she had the sports-bra equivalent of Aren&#039;s gift. &quot;These seem like they&#039;d chafe a little.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;They&#039;re for your inkling,&quot; Carrie laughed. &quot;It&#039;s become kind of a thing that the good guy inklings wear clothes. So when you change, ink over, these can be yours.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;We get costumes??&quot; Aren cried excitedly. &quot;That&#039;s so cool!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;But I thought you just told us we couldn&#039;t use Voltaus unless you said so,&quot; Gren questioned.<br /><br />&quot;No, I said you couldn&#039;t use your <em>powers.</em> Your inkling makes you more durable, and stronger. If you get in trouble, it&#039;s totally okay to use their natural enhancements defensively. Got it?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Okay!&quot; they exclaimed together.<br /><br />&quot;Now who wants popsicles??&quot;<br /><br />&quot;YAAAAY!&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />Thump. &quot;Ha!&quot; Thump thump. &quot;Hyah!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;My eyes are down here, Natalie.&quot;<br /><br />Thump. &quot;Why does that mat- ow!&quot; The red-eyed wolf winced as she got hit in the back of the head by an inflated felt sphere. Jacent sat on the padded mat floor, legs crossed, a bucket of tennis balls in his lap; this was the latest of many training exercises he&#039;d done with her in the past few weeks, and today&#039;s lesson was defending against incoming hits. &quot;Why can&#039;t I use your skillset for this, again? I don&#039;t need to tap the dangerous part, just your reflexes!&quot;<br /><br />He reached into the bucket and pulled out four more balls. &quot;You and Echelon are extremely powerful together. But what if you can&#039;t access someone else&#039;s abilities for some reason?&quot; Thump thump.<br /><br />&quot;Ah! Hah!&quot; She blocked two more, batting them away. &quot;What? Nobody&#039;s gonna take my <em>shoes.</em> Hanh!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;You cannot underestimate your opponent&#039;s ability to put you in a situation you won&#039;t expect,&quot; he explained. &quot;It happened to me many times, despite my vigilance, and the element of surprise continues to be your own foes&#039; favorite tool. Osoth, Authoritus, Cedric- all of them depended on keeping you in the dark with regards to their plans.&quot;<br /><br />Natalie meditated on this as she blocked more and more felt volleys, which bounced off the walls of Jacent&#039;s workout room. Not knowing what was coming had been her greatest weakness during the invasion, and she wondered many times what might have happened if Blane hadn&#039;t betrayed his allies... or if Osoth hadn&#039;t been taken out entirely for them, the second time around.<br /><br />&quot;All gone,&quot; Jacent said suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts. &quot;You did incredibly well once you focused. I&#039;m still surprised by how quickly you learn.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Hm!&quot; Natalie beamed with pride, helping pick up the balls. Even with how human Jacent had shown himself to be, she still felt a little thrill when he was impressed with her.<br /><br />&quot;Think fast.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;What? Ah!&quot;<br /><br />Jacent threw one remaining ball at her when she&#039;d bent over to pick more up, the stray missile bouncing off of her hindquarters and hitting him in the face. &quot;Ow!&quot; He rubbed his forehead. &quot;I always forget that&#039;s half muscle...&quot;<br /><br />She grinned. &quot;Hah! Serves you right!&quot; They managed to scrape together the last of the misused sports equipment and set it in the bucket. She stopped a moment, sitting in front of him. &quot;... Hey. Um.&quot; She looked down, then back up at him. &quot;I&#039;ve been thinking, about something. Well, Echelon and me.&quot;<br /><br />He tilted his head. &quot;What&#039;s that?&quot;<br /><br />She scratched the back of her neck, leaning to one side, dreadlocks falling over her shoulder one by one. &quot;I mean, feel free to tell me I&#039;m wrong, you know, if I&#039;m wrong. But. The times that I used your powers? During the invasion, after, against Osoth, and Floe? I felt like I-... haha, this sounds weird, but I felt like I understood, you know? Where you&#039;re coming from.&quot;<br /><br />The tall boy leaned forward. &quot;What do you mean?<br /><br />&quot;I mean, like...&quot; She gestured with her hands. &quot;When I was in the moment, the more I used them, the more I felt <em>too</em> strong. Out of control, you know? Like any minute I&#039;d go too far and just... do something I couldn&#039;t take back.&quot;<br /><br />He regarded her silently, unsure what to say, but not stopping her.<br /><br />She pushed this time. She had to make him uncomfortable, at least a little. &quot;And. How can you let go, relax, get close... when you&#039;re afraid of breaking everything? Like there&#039;s a monster underneath.&quot; She took his hands in hers. He felt the velvet texture of her fur,&nbsp;&nbsp;and the smoothness of the underhand grip pads. &quot;But you&#039;re right. I&#039;m not my powers.&quot; She paused meaningfully. &quot;And neither are you.&quot;<br /><br />His breathing got a little funny. He ran his thumbs over her smooth undergrips, taken aback by the depth, the texture of her friendship. &quot;How do I stop being afraid?&quot;<br /><br />Her eyes shone. &quot;Trust.&quot;<br /><br />Jacent licked his lips. &quot;... Alright.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />&quot;D&#039;you need help with your stuff?&quot;<br /><br />Erwin had been doting on Kei for days now. It might have bothered anyone else, but not the twitterpated fox. &quot;No, I&#039;m okay,&quot; he answered cheerfully as the ferret pushed him down the school hallway in his wheelchair- the last thing he&#039;d been able to create with Animis&#039; power. &quot;I&#039;ve really had a lot of fun these last few days.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Really?&quot; Erwin seemed surprised. &quot;All we&#039;ve really done is get you settled in to your apartment.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yeah! Among other things.&quot; He grinned. &quot;Anything is fun with you around.&quot; He pushed up, and Erwin met him with a kiss. &quot;Mm. But you keep seeming distracted sometimes...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Huh? Oh, I&#039;m sorry.&quot; The ferret reached into his locker and ran his hand through his hair. &quot;It&#039;s about, you know...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Jacent? Still??&quot; Kei tilted his head. &quot;He said he forgave you, didn&#039;t he?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;He probably just said that for my sake. I don&#039;t think I&#039;d have forgiven me that fast. But it&#039;s not even about that, or him, really, for that matter. I just... I can&#039;t stop thinking about that thing down there. With her dead eyes, and cold voice. Who would make something like that, and why would they give it free will? ... And why did Widget... ah, nothing about that whole day makes any sense. It still feels like a bad dream.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;&#039;Sup nerds?&quot; They were accosted by Carrie, drinking a can of Carbolate.<br /><br />&quot;Oh hey!&quot; Erwin greeted her. &quot;Ah, I gotta get in class; Kei, do you want me to take you to History?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;I&#039;m in History this period, I&#039;ll take him!&quot; Carrie drank the last of the soda, crushed it on her forehead and grabbed onto Kei&#039;s chair.<br /><br />&quot;Oh, I can-&quot; he started to protest, but just blushed lightly as walking pressed her huge breasts against the back of his head at a steady rhythm, a melodious hum escaping through her smile. <br /><br />Meanwhile, further down the hall...<br /><br />&quot;Hey! Stop!&quot; Jessalynn hurried to catch up with Selina. &quot;Slow <em>down</em>, god!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Oh, so I have to slow down, but you can just go whatever pace you want?&quot; The moth kept walking.<br /><br />&quot;Hey, what&#039;s that supposed to mean? Selina, I can&#039;t believe you&#039;d be so prejudiced!&quot; She tsked. &quot;I literally can&#039;t believe it, in fact. There&#039;s no way this is just about Foscor.&quot;<br /><br />She finally stopped. &quot;No. You know what? You&#039;re right. It&nbsp;&nbsp;isn&#039;t about them at all.&quot; She shifted, arms folded. &quot;It&#039;s about how you&#039;re going to use them as an excuse to just run around getting into more and more danger. And I&#039;m through worrying about you.&quot;<br /><br />Jessa looked around, sighing. &quot;I remember a time that you <em>liked </em>a few thrills.&quot;<br /><br />She shook her head. &quot;That is not remotely the same as this.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Ugh,&quot; the spider gestured with exasperation. &quot;You know, sometimes if I don&#039;t act, there could be real consequences!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yeah? Is that who it&#039;s for? Everyone else?&quot; She pursed her lips. &quot;You&#039;re a superhero now?&quot;<br /><br />She struggled to form a response.<br /><br />&quot;Well, you don&#039;t have to worry. I won&#039;t be getting in your way<em> any</em>more.&quot; She turned on her heel and walked to class.<br /><br />&quot;Yeah?!&quot; She shouted back at her. &quot;Fine! ... Fine... That&#039;s just...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;... Fine...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;... Mm?&quot; Kei&#039;s ear twitched as he heard someone yell something, but shrugged it off, refocusing on Carrie. It felt almost inconceivable that this white cat was the same person who&#039;d fought so savagely with him some weeks back. He had, in his bad state of mind, judged her the most harshly- thinking her some kind of remorseless killer wrapped in bows. Being on the other side, however, had changed his mind rapidly; and as a matter of fact, she&#039;d been the quickest to about-face on him as well. Upon entering the classroom, she picked up a desk with one hand and easily moved it aside so he could wheel up to his spot. &quot;Ah, thanks Carrie.&quot; He smiled back at her over his shoulder.<br /><br />&quot;You got it, Origami Thriller,&quot; she answered back, ruffling his hair. He hunkered down a bit, giggling.<br /><br />&quot;Hey, Kei,&quot; Bo waved with an easy smile. &quot;It&#039;s always good to see familiar faces.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;I second that,&quot; Ms. Hendrix agreed, opening up a dusty tome and simultaneously organizing several holographic projections of its contents. &quot;And hey, you&#039;re back in time to learn about the Second Dark Age that ramped into the Neomedieval Period.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Ms. Hendrix?&quot; Carrie raised her hand, kicking off her shoes. &quot;I move that I don&#039;t need to learn this &#039;cause I&#039;m gonna grow up to lift heavy stuff.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;You might want to listen, actually,&quot; the skunk responded with great patience, taking a drink of her coffee. &quot;This is close to around the time your friend Jacent lived.&quot;<br /><br />She blinked with interest, bottom lip jut out. &quot;Hunh! No sh- uh, kidding, huh?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Indeed. He was frozen right before the Skin Plague.&quot; She brought up a comic scan of his frozen form, taking great amusement in the fact that she was able to use it in her lesson. &quot;As we discussed last time, In the immediate years that followed that incident, sick pre-splice humans all moved to major cities to try and pool resources, hoping for a cure and knowing that quarantine couldn&#039;t prevent something that had carried on the wind years before anyone knew there was a problem. The New Promise established Post-Splice humanity inside of those cities.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Ah, Ms. Hendrix?&quot; Kei raised his hand. &quot;I haven&#039;t been here for quite a few lessons, but, I seem to remember the Skin Plague destroying all Pre-Splice cities?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Ah ha, you read ahead. No, actually!&quot; she said with great fascination. &quot;And that&#039;s the very interesting part. For a time, post-splice humans lived inside these major cities with our ailing pre-splice fellows.&quot; Another illustration popped up, showing a young fox and a sickly-looking pre-splice scientist. &quot;The Skin Plague was not responsible.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;So what happened??&quot; Bo asked.<br /><br />&quot;That, is perhaps the greatest mystery of all time.&quot; She drew a line to designate two periods with one big blank in the middle. &quot;To this day, we have no idea what drove our post-splice ancestors out of those cities, nor why those cities were driven so deep underground so quickly after the pilgrimage.&quot; A recreated time-lapse of London appeared, and slowly sank into the ground.<br /><br />&quot;What?&quot; Carrie&#039;s face scrunched in confusion. &quot;So the lesson today is literally nobody knows anything?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;There are no records, no historical accounts, no verifiable facts on what happened,&quot; Hendrix explained, sitting on her desk. &quot;The only explanations we have are legends and folklore that are too fantastic to be believed. By some accounts, the ghosts of our skin-covered ancestors bade us to leave.&quot; A picture popped up of fantastical pre-splice spirits terrifying a crow woman. &quot;Others said they woke up deep in the wilds, with nary a memory of where their old cities were, nor any details about living there.&quot; Another illustration, this one of a siberian husky man staring out in the unsettled distance. &quot;Still others- and these are what inspired some of your favorite movies- said that metal monsters that stand like men, red eyes blazing, emerged from the ground, chased the children of humanity away into the forests, and swallowed Civilization writ large into the earth, burying our ancestors and their technology far from our grasp.&quot; This picture was the strangest of all- an abstract painting from the Neo-Victorian age of towering soot-covered steel colossi trampling sick pre-splicers underfoot, furred and scaled people screaming and running.<br /><br />&quot;... Seriously?&quot; Carrie gave her an incredulous look.<br /><br />Ms. Hendrix nodded in agreement. &quot;The most commonly accepted interpretation is that it was a metaphor for buildings on fire; that our ancestors finally went out in one last blaze of glory.&quot; She summoned a much more plausible but no less scary image of major cities being consumed in massive fields of napalm, blackened skeletons locked in mid-scream, mid-fall. &quot;Keep in mind, this was the initial group of Post-Splice humans. It would take a little while yet to breed out that deep-set belief in the occult, which made life hard for those who dressed in metal for years to come.&quot; A realistic depiction popped up of Druidic-looking post-splice group nervously warding away knights with torches. &quot;Our species improves generationally.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;That&#039;s not true though,&quot; Kei objected softly. &quot;We improve in some ways, maybe, but I&#039;ve read that our second-generation ancestors didn&#039;t need glasses, or inhalers.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Another mystery,&quot; she agreed. &quot;But unfortunately, when those cities sunk, however they did it, they took the equipment that birthed our people with them.&quot;<br /><br />Suddenly, the intercom came on. &quot;Will Remedial Drama please report to your usual room? All of you.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Aw man, I was actually learning shit!&quot; Carrie complained. <br /><br />&quot;Don&#039;t worry!&quot; Kei assured her, pointing to his notes. &quot;I&#039;ll cover for you!&quot;<br /><br />She got up and slung her bag around her shoulder. &quot;Thanks, Think Tank! I owe you one.&quot; <br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />Grass softened the weight of bare feet on the roof of Penceworth Estates. The wolf and the boy squared off, each standing in a corner. A cool, gentle breeze blew, punctuating the silence as they stared one another down. Finishing a long series of stretches, wearing Jacent&#039;s old bracers, Natalie held out a hand, pushed her fist into it, and bowed. <br /><br />She sailed forward, boost-jumping immediately to close the distance! The startled boy just managed to make the punch that followed a glancing blow, twisting away. He caught a couple of follow-ups, but Natalie didn&#039;t slow down; she feinted to the side, spinning with a backhand chop, then spun immediately back the other way, landing an uppercut directly in his gut.<br /><br />&quot;UFH!&quot; He stumbled. &quot;... You&#039;ve been practicing...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Are you kidding me? Every <em>night</em>,&quot; she said with seriousness. &quot;I&#039;ve wanted to move this way my entire life. I&#039;m not taking it for granted.&quot; She waited just long enough for him to get his composure to drop slightly, push in a few jabs, swing a stinging hook and try to force in an uppercut, which just missed. &quot;When I go, I mean <em>really</em> get going... it&#039;s like I&#039;m flying,&quot; she remarked as if recalling a dream.<br /><br />He laughed a little, shaking his head and pushing into a long, complicated series of moves that each came out of nowhere to the uneducated eye. Natalie knew what was coming, twisting out of the way each step. &quot;Hah! You remind me a lot of Jasmine. Fighting was such a rush for her!&quot; He quickened a double palm strike, but it missed completely.<br /><br />&quot;Bet she couldn&#039;t do <em>this!</em>&quot; Natalie grabbed his outstretched arm, threw him forward over her shoulder, pulled back and hit <em>him</em> with the palm strike instead, a burst of force sending him sliding across the roof and into the corner, overlooking the lush vista.<br /><br />Jacent pushed himself up, agape. &quot;It... it doesn&#039;t burn you. But why? My powers are so different now...&quot;<br /><br />She shook her head with great confidence. &quot;While you were healing, I was training. When you were having nightmares about Grendel, I was training. And while you were wandering the city, feeling sorry for yourself? I. Was. Training. You know what I found out?&quot; She gestured with a shrug. &quot;You were right the first time: The Dragon only burns you if you&#039;re angry, or afraid of it. Your powers didn&#039;t change.&quot; She rolled her neck minutely. &quot;You did.&quot;<br /><br />He narrowed his eyes, getting up. &quot;But I&#039;ve <em>always</em> used anger to summon The Dragon.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;No!&quot; She rushed him, laying in with a series of strong kicks and hammer swings. &quot;You used to do this with love! With joy! I remember those early issues, you had <em>passion!</em>&quot;<br /><br />Jacent found himself in the odd position of literally and metaphorically defending himself, arms blocking and deflecting her. &quot;No I... I don&#039;t remember that...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Then maybe you should go back and read them!&quot; Natalie boost-jumped over him in a wide arc, landing hard, then turning to face him. Slowly, roughly, a boosted kick, punch, swing and palm strike, the wind from the enormous force of them blowing his hair back.<br /><br />He just stared at her, blinking dumbly. &quot;I don&#039;t... I don&#039;t understand. You can&#039;t. You just <em>can&#039;t</em> invoke The Dragon without inciting its wrath...&quot;<br /><br />She tromped over, grabbed his waist with both hands, struggled, and bodily lifted Jacent into the air, her muscles quivering from the feat, the grin never leaving her face. &quot;I&#039;m Natalie Grayswift!&quot; She shook him for emphasis. &quot;Nobody tells me what I can&#039;t do!&quot;<br /><br />Jacent&#039;s heart soared. The fire re-lit in his eyes for the first time in a long while, and he slapped Natalie&#039;s grip away, dropping to his feet once more. &quot;Come on then!&quot;<br /><br /><em>Spring&#039;s Dragon for the first time looks with eyes open. This shade is no shadow at all! His blackened twin races with him toward the heavens, long tails entertwined, until the sky can hold them no longer. Gales of fury race past, strong as the swell of a heart in Summer&#039;s day. Trees bow in deference to the twins&#039; sheer power, and though leaves blow in torrents, nary a branch is broken. The winds have not found each other wanting.</em><br /><br />Natalie blinked, heart pounding, breathless. &quot;Oh my god. What was that??&quot; she asked, trembling with a giant grin.<br /><br />&quot;A feeling,&quot; he answered, turning away to face the empty sky, eyes tracing the Ring&#039;s segmented line. &quot;One I haven&#039;t had in a long... long time. You&#039;ve given me a lot to think about today.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;I told you to just listen to your Alpha,&quot; she smirked, her PET going off. &quot;Oh, hold on, Drama alert.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />Max was first. He was always first. &quot;Oh man I couldn&#039;t wait to get outta there! Science class always makes my head spin. ...Can I literally do that? Koralo you should totally develop that as a secondary mutation.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;<em>You&#039;re</em> a secondary mutation, Max,&quot; Carrie grinned and ruffled the boy&#039;s head, frills flapping this way and that. With a dial of her PET, she conferenced in Natalie, who looked sweaty and tired.<br /><br />Erwin smirked as the iguana laughed. &quot;He&#039;s just excited about his birthday tomorrow. By the way, do we have anything planned for that?&quot;<br /><br />Natalie blinked. &quot;Oh! Sorry, guys, I&#039;ve been so busy lately, it just slipped my mind.&quot; She considered it shortly. &quot;Well, Mega Molly&#039;s is still down for renovations.&quot;<br /><br />Max tsked. &quot;Aw, I wanted to dress up the animatronics like mariachi!&quot;<br /><br />The wolf snickered. &quot;Max, I&#039;ve seen you dance to Mariachi; that place would be totaled inside of an hour. How about Roland&#039;s?&quot;<br /><br />He waved it away. &quot;Nah, that place is haunted, and my powers don&#039;t let me transport to the Land of the Dead anymore.&quot;<br /><br />Nat tried not to laugh. &quot;Okay? Well. Where do you want to go? I&#039;m off, and I put in for the vacation days from school weeks ago, we&#039;re set for whatever.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;You might not want to plan out too far.&quot; Murphy turned around in her chair dramatically, the rainy faux-Chicago background drizzling in the background behind her, looking like she hadn&#039;t slept much. She looked like that a lot these days. &quot;We&#039;ve got a problem. A big one.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;C&#039;mon,&quot; Max said, crouching in his chair. &quot;We&#039;re such super pros by now. What is it, a crawler stuck in a cat kennel? Some B-rate nobody who wants to try out their powers? Alliston took a dump in the mail tube system? ... Aw man I hope that last one&#039;s not it.&quot;<br /><br />Murphy took a deep breath. &quot;There are police randomly attacking people. We don&#039;t know which ones.&quot;<br /><br />Everyone tensed and froze.&nbsp;&nbsp;Natalie&#039;s confusion looked palpable. &quot;Wait... what??&quot;<br /><br />The labrador licked her lips. &quot;As of two nights ago, no fewer than four different cases of assault, battery and attempted kidnapping were reported. All victims- themselves hosts to various inklings- described the assailants as police officers wearing power suits previously put into lockdown for destruction following the cancellation of the Ink Tank Project.&quot;<br /><br />Everyone stared at her dumbly. Carrie blinked with protracted disbelief. &quot;Hold the fuck on. One, doesn&#039;t that make it your problem, not ours? And two, how did they get things that were on lockdown? Who has access to-&quot;<br /><br />&quot;I don&#039;t know,&quot; Murphy said hurriedly, letting out a shaky sigh. &quot;They were shipped out to be dismantled. By me.&quot; She shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her muzzle. &quot;Naturally I&#039;m now under investigation. We want to know who did this as much as Internal Affairs does, but we can&#039;t <em>get</em> that information, and you know why? Trust in the police is at an all-time low, with the initial failures during the invasion, then the Ink Tank Project putting us on the wrong side of History. Then add in the fact that these people were assaulted by the Police, and you might see why they don&#039;t feel like talking to <em>the Police</em>.&quot; She let out something that almost sounded like a sob of exhaustion, but she quickly took a swig from her thermos and regained composure. &quot;I want to be with you here, to tag in and give you police resources but <em>right now</em> I can&#039;t offer you a damn thing. I&#039;m begging you for help and I have nothing to give you except that the victims want to meet you at the Burger Dic&#039;s-&quot; she stopped and grunted, answering her PET. &quot;Sorry just a- hello! Hi, yeah, hello sweetie, are you-...? Yeah, I know, you&#039;re not feeling good, I&#039;m really sorry. I know I said I&#039;d be home and I <em>will</em> I promise, I just-&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Wow,&quot; Natalie said in hushed tones, her hologram huddling into the group&#039;s center. &quot;She&#039;s at the end of her rope on this one. Looks like we&#039;re totally on our own this time. Are you guys ready?&quot;<br /><br />Max pounded his fist into his hand. &quot;Ready to get Rough!&quot;<br /><br />Sam flourished with confidence. &quot;Team Reference is on the case.&quot;<br /><br />Gren excitedly joined in, &quot;And Team Reactor too!&quot; <br /><br />All eyes turned to the kids, and with a nervous grin Aren quickly appended, &quot;But we totally promise not to use our powers unless you say so!&quot; To which Gren nodded immediately.<br /><br />Murphy looked put-upon. &quot;Honey, please, you know I&#039;m sorry about your recitals, how many times do I have to-&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Murphy.&quot;<br /><br />The labrador blinked and looked up at the projection of Natalie, now covered in ink and speaking with stern authority.<br /><br />&quot;You can&#039;t do anything else. Stop drinking coffee and go take a nap with your son. We&#039;ll handle this.&quot;<br /><br />Murphy was quiet for a few moments. Then, her voice filled with warm relief. &quot;... Sweetie? Tell Mr. Combs I&#039;ll be there in ten minutes, okay?&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />After getting the timeframe from Murphy, the group of teenagers all climbed into Samantha&#039;s PeTra and made their way toward the Burger Dictator. That is to say, most of them climbed into it, while Max climbed on top, arms to his sides as he surfed it. Sam gave token protestation to this, but naturally there was no stopping a boy who wore goggles everywhere <em>anyway.</em><br /><br />&quot;Is he safe up there?&quot; Jacent asked.<br /><br />Carrie rolled her eyes. &quot;Maybe? Hey. I said quit squirming! Now you get a reason to squirm!&quot; <br /><br />Aren, sitting in her lap, now giggled and kicked and generally made a fuss. &quot;Noooooo~!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Alright, alright, settle down,&quot; Samantha insisted, parking and watching the iguana jump down with some muttered protestation as to the finish on the roof.<br /><br />&quot;Aw man, it&#039;s so good to be back here!&quot; Max exclaimed, taking in the newly-repaired exterior of the Burger Dictator, pushing on the door to get inside. &quot;Good ol&#039; Biggy D&#039;s, just like I-... remember it?&quot;<br /><br />The fast food fascism-themed restaurant was covered in their faces. &#039;Eat at Echelon&#039;s rebel headquarters!&#039; exclaimed one banner. &#039;The nexus of the fight for intergalactic freedom!&#039; boasted another. &quot;Ah!&quot; A large polar bear with an exaggerated Russian accent greeted them. &quot;The heroes return to their place of victory! What will it be?? A Triple Dictator? A Gulag Gulp? Don&#039;t worry, friends, you always eat free here!&quot;<br /><br />Carrie snickered. &quot;Have you seen Natalie? You&#039;re gonna go outta business <em>tomorrow.</em>&quot; She absorbed a punch to the arm with a grin of expectation.<br /><br />Max blinked. &quot;Dude, Ivanovich, what the heck man? What is all this??&quot;<br /><br />&quot;What is what??&quot; he asked, grinning with forced innocence. &quot;Max, have you seen what comes with our Generalissimo Meal?&quot; He held up a green and yellow slime toy. &quot;Why don&#039;t you sit down and have a blackberry milkshake??&quot; He pushed a plastic glass full of black liquid, permeated by a suspicious pink accent which floated about it like oil on water.<br /><br />Natalie stared at it like it was full of nuclear waste. &quot;Are you serious? Who wants to <em>drink</em> Echelon?? ... Erwin, no, ew.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Alright, alright!&quot; Ivanovich put up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. &quot;Look, this place took a real beating during the Invasion, so to drum up business and make back the investment on rebuilding, the owner decided to push the &#039;inkling headquarters&#039; angle. To be fair, it&#039;s working! Everyone with one of those things wants to eat here. To say nothing of the alien enthusiast tourists!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yeah, okay, that&#039;s fair,&quot; Erwin accepted. &quot;I mean, that&#039;s still pretty weird, but...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Natalie, I think I&#039;ve found our rendesvous point,&quot; Sam pointed to a large group of people sitting around a table full of mostly-eaten food. Assorted kids and adults looked around discomfited, until one of the younger ones spotted their group.<br /><br />&quot;They&#039;re here!&quot; said an older stoat, motioning to the others, who all looked to Natalie and her friends. Some of them looked shaken, others angry, still others just confused.<br /><br />&quot;Hi,&quot; Natalie offered, taking chairs from nearby tables to sit next to the group. &quot;I guess you were expecting us?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;You&#039;re gonna get &#039;em, right??&quot; A young frog asked, his lip jutting out with hurt indignance. &quot;The people that did this? You gotta get &#039;em!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Alright, slow down,&quot; Erwin insisted. &quot;Could you tell us what you saw?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;It&#039;s the same story between all of us,&quot; the stoat said. &quot;Each one of us was out somewhere different- I work the mail tube lines, Benji was playing in the thicket, Ella was surveying escaped wildlife- when we were suddenly overtaken by one of those jack-booted, faceless thugs.&quot;<br /><br />Ella, a skink, looked up from her half-eaten burger. &quot;It happened so fast. I tried to fight them off- I even did the ink thing! That you do. Mine... my inkling, she told me to, for both our sakes. But... they were as strong as a <em>giant</em>. It wasn&#039;t even close...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;That does make sense,&quot; Shelly posited. &quot;Those suits totally have strength modifiers.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;No,&quot; a forty-something red panda nurse said, shaken. &quot;My packmate works in freight, and they use the exact same technology in the lifter suits. Whoever it was in those suits, they were <em>strong,</em> even before they climbed in.&quot;<br /><br />Samantha hmmed. &quot;You said &#039;suits.&#039; There was more than one in your attack?&quot;<br /><br />He sniffed. &quot;Yeah. There was... I counted two. Different heights. But strong as a truck.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;If you&#039;ll pardon my asking,&quot; Carrie started, &quot;How&#039;d you make it away? It sounds like they could&#039;ve done... whatever they wanted to you.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;We don&#039;t know.&quot;<br /><br />Carrie made a face. &quot;What?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Every instance, in each one of our experiences, they caught us by surprise, scared us into inking over, brutalized us... and then stopped. Left. Without a <em>word.</em>&quot; <br /><br />&quot;Did anyone else see this??&quot; Natalie asked.<br /><br />&quot;Yes! That&#039;s the <em>strangest</em> part,&quot; The stoat gestured in exasperation. &quot;There were witnesses everywhere! Doctors, park-goers, train riders, even I had a partner working with me on the lines. But it&#039;s pointless to question them; even though they saw each part happen, <em>none of them</em> remember a thing. They&#039;re not lying, either, these people are some of our best friends. They just... can&#039;t remember, somehow.&quot; He sighed. &quot;Now... you know as much as we do.&quot;<br /><br />Samantha scrunched her brows together, clearly caught off guard by this. &quot;This is quite bizarre. It sounds like intimidation tactics. But to what end? And did these witnesses just... block out the memory?&quot;<br /><br />Natalie held out her PET and pulled up a map of Locksmouth. &quot;Alright, we&#039;ll investigate the areas in question. I want a dispatch from Team Ref at each spot, protected by a member of Team Rough. Erwin, you&#039;re with Carrie at the train stop. Shelly, take Max and scope out the hospital. Gren, Aren, you&#039;re with me in the forest. Sam...&quot; She hesitated, remembering earlier that morning.<br /><br />&quot;I&#039;ll go with Sam in the tunnels,&quot; Jacent said.<br /><br />&quot;If you&#039;re not up to it yet...&quot; Nat replied quickly, not wanting to push him too hard all at once.<br /><br />&quot;It&#039;s okay,&quot; he assured her, a big smile on his face. &quot;I won&#039;t even help; I&#039;ll assail her with kisses so she can&#039;t do her job.&quot;<br /><br />A small snort of laughter escaped Natalie. &quot;Alright, that&#039;s everyone then. Stay in contact, stay <em>safe</em>.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />&quot;&#039;Scuze me! Comin&#039; through!&quot;<br /><br />Locksmouth was like most towns of its time: woefully underpopulated, and too big for its occupants. Thanks, however, to the influx of workers from neighboring cities, journalists wishing to cover post-invasion life, alien enthusiasts bringing in a surge of tourism and the need for all of these people to get from one place to another, the train was the exception to this rule. Carrie muscled her way past several people in the packed mass trans car, having to push through as her fat baps wedged her between an overweight gentleman and a stocky construction worker.<br /><br />&quot;C&#039;mon, Carrie, we&#039;ve gotta- UNGH!&quot; Erwin almost fell over as Carrie broke free, breasts smacking him across the face. &quot;S-Sheesh...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Quit goofin&#039; around,&quot; Carrie suggested, placing his glasses back on his face. &quot;We got work to do. Well,<em> you</em> got work to do, I&#039;m just here to stand around and look tough.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yeah, duly noted,&quot; he shook it off.&nbsp;&nbsp;The train station was busy, making it hard to scour for clues. &quot;Hmmm...&quot; He inked over completely. His perceptions sped up, and the throng of people slowed to a crawl. His eyes scanned over the walkway, the buoys, the train, searching for any sign of the previous night&#039;s altercation. He took a few steps forward, everyone resuming speed at almost normal clip until he slowed, and they slowed, and both stopped again. The little things, objects that had recently changed, started coming into view. One of the buoys had been serviced recently, having an old bottom component and a new translucent colored light top. A single jagged bead of broken glass laid on the concrete. A single handrail bowed to one side slightly. &quot;There was a fight here. A big one.&quot;<br /><br />Carrie regarded him with disbelief. &quot;You figured that out in three seconds?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Carrie, take a look at this bar for the handrail. Can you bend it back into shape?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Oh hey, somethin&#039; to do.&quot; She ambled over, grasped the middle of the bar and slowly pulled it back... until it cracked down the middle. &quot;Oh, shit. Whoops.&quot; An passing dolphin just looked at her disapprovingly. &quot;I was as gentle as I could be!&quot; she called after them, to no avail.<br /><br />&quot;I believe you,&quot; Erwin agreed. &quot;When you tried to bend it back, it just snapped. Something altered its delicate heat-treatment and made the metal more brittle. I think something heated it up before bending it.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yeah! ...So it&#039;s not my fault...!&quot; she hollered to the person minding the ticket booth, who just cocked a brow.<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />The service tunnel was dark today. It wasn&#039;t uncommon; there were a ton of them, and not many people to service them. It was likely that the one person who would have worked that day was their friend who had been attacked- them, and their partner, for safety. As a result, Samantha navigated it with tongue clicks and the occasional, almost inaudible squeak. Jacent followed, holding onto Sam&#039;s scarf and listening to the sounds. &quot;So can we talk, or is this the sneaking part of the mission?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Of course we can talk,&quot; Samantha replied easily. &quot;Stealth is unnecessary for the Sleuth when the Muscle is present.&quot;<br /><br />He smiled softly. &quot;Why did you want to become a doctor?&quot;<br /><br />She clicked and tilted her head, amused. &quot;What do you mean? Why wouldn&#039;t I want to become a doctor?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;I mean medicine is just such a dry field, and unpleasant more often than not. I would think you&#039;d go for something with more style.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yes, I suppose there&#039;s really little similarity in dressing friends and dressing wounds.&quot; Producing a small flashlight, she turned it on and shone it on the wall, walking into a smaller service tunnel made expressly for the mail tube system, turning on a system of dim red lights throughout the entire tunnel. &quot;And I know what you&#039;re getting at,&quot; she intuited. &quot;You think I&#039;m only interested because it&#039;s what my parents do.&quot;<br /><br />He ducked down and followed her into the smaller tunnel. &quot;Am I wrong?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;... Yes and no.&quot; She climbed up an access ladder that overlooked a complex mail tube junction. &quot;Papa, Mama and perhaps even Mhend did push me toward wanting to make people better, and that&#039;s... not totally what I want.&quot; She looked down. &quot;I want to make people <em>better.</em>&quot;<br /><br />Jacent looked up. &quot;Right, of course. ...Huh?&quot;<br /><br />She fiddled with an inoccuous-looking set of brick-work, using her PET to bring up internal displays on its maintenance. &quot;I never realized how advanced my body was until I met you. You&#039;re... oh I don&#039;t mean to make it sound insulting, but-&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Inferior,&quot; he finished for her. &quot;Your physical body is just much better than mine in virtually every way. It&#039;s what happens when one race is forged from surviving animal attacks and the other is designed in a lab.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;... Right,&quot; she agreed, reaching a series of metal-mesh walkways. &quot;Well, then I got this leg and... Jacent, I swear I just... I can&#039;t give it up! The thought of going back to my flesh-and-blood leg is so... disappointing to me now.&quot;<br /><br />He reached the top as well, stopping to feel her smooth, engineered prosthetic ankle. &quot;I suppose power is hard to part with.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;It isn&#039;t even about that,&quot; she disagreed, pulling him up with her robotic leg, smirking when he shot her a look of doubt. &quot;Well okay, that&#039;s a bit of it. But... all the time, I&#039;m faced with the fact that I can change my clothes, but I ultimately will always have this body. I can&#039;t change it. Well, I suppose I could lift weights and eat cake like Carrie but I&#039;ll still be this frame.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;It&#039;s a nice frame,&quot; Jacent mentioned, crouching down to look her in the eye. &quot;I like it a lot.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;... And you&#039;re adorable,&quot; she admitted, smiling with near-exasperation at his sweetness. &quot;But... this leg. If I wanted to, I could make it look different every day. I could change the design of my own body part to accent whatever I wanted. And if I could do that with the <em>rest</em> of me? If it were possible to replace everything??&quot; She twirled about and gestured. &quot;My entire body could be my canvas!&quot;<br /><br />He blinked. &quot;... Like Widget?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;I&#039;m so jealous of her!&quot; she raved. &quot;She can completely change her entire shape, anytime she gets bored! It&#039;s just a matter of mixing and... matching and...&quot; The bat slowed down, lips pursed. &quot;And this idea is upsetting you.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;A... little.&quot; Grendel. Automa. Overnauts. Myriad, violent machines. To say nothing of her own culture&#039;s strange but present discrimination against such things. All of these were on the tip of his tongue. But instead, he took a deep breath through his nose. &quot;For years, I have learned only how to hate robots, to violently dismantle them. This knowledge has burdened me greatly- to a degree that I only now have begun to really understand. So!&quot; He looked down the tunnel&#039;s curved reach. &quot;If I am to become the kind of person I wish to be- one that&#039;s worth your love- then I must un-learn these things.&quot;<br /><br />This caught Sam completely by surprise. &quot;... I don&#039;t think I understand?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;And yet, it is you who will be <em>my</em> teacher,&quot; he said calmly.<br /><br />The bat paused a moment, then smiled, resuming her search along the mail tubes. &quot;You know, being mysterious is only going to make me think you&#039;re sexier.&quot;<br /><br />He betrayed a hint of a smile. &quot;I will consider that a bonus.&quot;<br /><br />Samantha followed the tubes for several yards, then shone her light along a scalded, melted stretch of the constructive plastic. &quot;... Well now. Isn&#039;t that curious.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />The edge of the Residential Sector was where the houses got emptier, and the foliage got thicker, engineered genetics permitting. Sure, the grass could only get so tall, but there was no limit on how many trees could germinate and prosper. Because of this, it wasn&#039;t uncommon for nature to reclaim houses, trails, and even parts of the midwalk. Plenty of areas were just out-and-out forest. <br /><br />Natalie and her two tagalongs had made their way to the place that the frog child had said he was attacked, but of course his assailant wasn&#039;t just standing around, waiting to be discovered. &quot;Alright, you two, don&#039;t wander off. This is Cedric&#039;s territory, and I&#039;d really like to limit the number of problems we have to deal with today if at all possible.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Don&#039;t worry,&quot; Gren snickered. &quot;Aren&#039;ll never stop following behind you.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;You&#039;re lookin&#039; at it, too!&quot; He punched her arm. <br /><br />She punched his back. &quot;Yeah, but I&#039;m being subtle about it!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Well if I&#039;m not <em>blocking your view,</em>&quot; Natalie started, &quot;Maybe you can keep a look out for one of those Ink Tank cops?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;All I see is a buncha trees,&quot; Aren groused. <br /><br />&quot;Wait wait! I see something!&quot; The kids ran behind Natalie, who braced as the silhouette of a rather large, armored individual made its way through the leaves. &quot;Ohgodit&#039;shuge!!&quot; It approached slowly, pulling away branches, trodding everything underfoot. A large motorized saw revved menacingly!<br /><br />&quot;Oh hey kids!&quot; Terra greeted them from the inside of her Deforestation Suit, friendly as could be. &quot;Fancy runnin&#039; into one of you on my work day!&quot;<br /><br />Natalie visibly un-tensed. &quot;Small world,&quot; she answered wryly. <br /><br />&quot;Oh man I wanna ride in that...&quot; Aren marveled. &quot;Hey!&quot; He pulled on Nat&#039;s hoodie. &quot;Maybe he knows something!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yeah, good point! Hey, Mr. Goldstein? You were working out here yesterday, right? Did you see anything strange happen?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yeah!&quot; Gren added. &quot;Like a frog kid getting jacked up by a huge armored cop??&quot;<br /><br />Terra considered it, leaning against one of the trees. &quot;Well! I was out here, alright, but I don&#039;t remember any frog, <em>or</em> a police officer at all. Truth be told, it&#039;s a bit rare to see anyone out here. Gosh though, that sounds terrible.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;... Hunh.&quot; Nat looked confused. &quot;That&#039;s really weird. This is exactly where he said it happened...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Sorry!&quot; Terra even apologized pleasantly. &quot;Well, I gotta get back to work, hope you kids find what you&#039;re looking for!&quot; With that, she made her way through the thicket, disappearing into the trees.<br /><br />&quot;That makes one of us,&quot; Gren muttered. <br /><br />Aren tilted his head. &quot;Hey, wait! I&#039;m havin&#039; a brainstorm!&quot; He pointed into the small forest. &quot;If this person wanted to hide their armor and stuff after they attacked the kid, they&#039;d probably hide it in the trees!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Great idea!&quot; Natalie praised him, activating the navigation app on her PET. &quot;Stay close now.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />&quot;This is just like the time I defended the Emu Dimension against the baseball-playing yak milkers!&quot;<br /><br />[Fabrication. Nonsense.]<br /><br />&quot;We fought hard, until they knocked me out with a Louisville Slugger made completely of cookies.&quot;<br /><br />[Further fictive imagining. Humor.]<br /><br />&quot;We were stuck in a weasel grease canoe with only our laser paddles to navigate by!&quot;<br /><br />[Chaos. Speaking in tongues. Possibly Sexual?]<br /><br />&quot;Max!&quot; Shelly interrupted the ranting iguana, leaning on a hospital wall as she desperately tried to look up from her PET. &quot;I can&#039;t follow like, anything you&#039;re saying. Could you just talk normal for a minute??&quot;<br /><br />He cocked his head at the butterfly. &quot;Dude. Have we even met?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Okay! That&#039;s better! Regular sarcasm, I can get that!&quot; She shook her head. &quot;You&#039;re like Conversational Hard Mode or something.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Nah, I&#039;m tellin&#039; this story so I can <em>stop</em> being Hard Mode,&quot; he said offhandedly. &quot;Have you found somethin&#039; yet?? Whoa!&quot; Matching holographic black and yellow caution lines appeared in the hallway. He pulled Shelly against the wall with him- flattening her wings in the process- as a number of orderlies rushed someone through the hall on a hovering gurney. They missed Max entirely, but one of the nurses almost wiped out entirely running into Shelly&#039;s fat chest, recovering in a spin to keep pushing the patient down the hall.<br /><br />&quot;Like, <em>ow</em>.&quot; The miffed butterfly rubbed her breasts sorely. &quot;Oh hey, did you see that guy?&quot; Her antennae changed orientation with interest. &quot;He was totally inked.&quot;<br /><br />They made chase, trying to catch up to the gurney. &quot;Hey! Heeey! Dude, what happened??&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Please stay back!&quot; a nurse said. &quot;This man is badly injured!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;By what though??&quot; Shelly asked.<br /><br />Shelly found herself crashing chest-first into the arm of a security guard just outside the operating room, but before they lost sight of the patient, they groaned, just audibly. &quot;It&#039;s... s-still... coming...!&quot;<br /><br />Max pivoted his head in confusion. &quot;Man, what&#039;s still coming??&quot;<br /><br />She thought for a moment. &quot;... I think I know.&quot;<br /><br />Heavy bootsteps echoed through the hall behind them, a nurse screamed, and the security guard was visibly alarmed. A towering Ink Tank Trooper marched toward them.<br /><br />Shelly&#039;s expression soured. &quot;I <em>hate </em>being right all the time.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />&quot;So what you&#039;re saying,&quot; Carrie said over the din, &quot;Is that whatever hit this thing was hot. What are we talking, here? &#039;Pizza&#039; hot? &#039;Mashed potatoes&#039; hot?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Heating element in your expensive bathtub hot,&quot; Erwin responded, bumping elbows with someone as he opened the PET lines.<br /><br />Cat let out a low whistle. &quot;That&#039;s fuckin&#039; hot.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Too right,&quot; Samantha agreed holographically, pointing to the melted freight tube. &quot;We found similar damage here, to much greater effect.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;I got it!&quot; Carrie exclaimed. &quot;Cedric stole a bunch of armor, dressed up, went to town on some rando inked people to make &#039;em distrust the police. Threw around some lava, spooked &#039;em, BAM!&quot; She hit her hand with her fist. &quot;Brain muscles! Doin&#039; your job <em>for </em>you.&quot;<br /><br />Erwin considered it. &quot;Yes! That&#039;s a good theory.&quot; He breathed in deeply, waiting for a noisy crowd of passengers to board the train. &quot;Except for the parts that are impossible. See, Cedric&#039;s magma venting would have melted this hand rail, or at least left some discoloration. And while that mail tube did get melted, it has several impact points that suggest something more forceful than a squirt-gun level blast of liquid rock. To top it all off, he would have had to remove the suit in order to fire, which would have given away the whole ruse.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Damn!&quot; Carrie groused. &quot;I thought I could shut the case. Well what the hell was it, then?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;I don&#039;t know. I have a theory, but without any proof to-... substantiate it, there&#039;s-... nothing to-&quot; he faced a border collie who&#039;d been insistently tapping on his shoulder. &quot;Yes, what??&quot; <br /><br />The fearful dog man pointed at the entryway toward the train station, from which a growing rash of terrified cries were coming... as was a juggernaut of an Ink Tank soldier, prepping a fusion cannon.<br /><br />&quot;Oh god!&quot; The startled ferret fell onto the guard rail before righting himself. &quot;Carrie!!&quot; he called, watching as the silent sentinel raised the cannon to eye level with him.<br /><br />&quot;On it!&quot; The inked cat side-stepped in time to eat a huge repeating blast of heated gas. She stood, arms at her sides, taking the barrage straight to her sternum and showing not so much as disomfort for it- aside from the fact that it was batting her huge breasts in every direction. &quot;No sell, chump! I&#039;m not even feelin&#039; it!&quot;<br /><br />Their armored attacker stopped firing at her chest and lowered their aim, intensely hot pockets of gas blowing the cemented ground beneath her into rubble, and then, moments later, into slag.<br /><br />&quot;Ungh!&quot; Carrie tried to walk forward, finding herself sunk knee-deep in the melted road slurry. &quot;Ah, shit.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;- <br /><br />&quot;Natalie! Natalie, I can hear it coming!&quot; Cried a fearful Gren, terrible whispers filling her ears.<br /><br />The wolf couldn&#039;t help but quicken her pace as she heard loud bootsteps. &quot;Terra?? Is that you??&quot;<br /><br />A tree crashed down, having been ripped out of the ground, pushed over and cast aside. The Ink Tank unit walked out, its mysterious user saying nothing except a series of inaudible whispers as it reached for its fusion cannon.<br /><br />Natalie managed to back into a clearing, readying herself. &quot;Alright! I don&#039;t know who you are, but you messed up big time! Whoa!!&quot; She ducked a wide swing, then rolled into another one, passing over the thing&#039;s big powered arms. The swing went too wide and impacted a tree, cracking the wood and splitting the thing down the middle with a visible crevasse. &quot;This is your last chance to give up! Whoop!&quot; A huge hand picked her up by her small waist, and the other pushed the cannon into her gooey face, the energy charging from inside.<br /><br />&quot;Natalie!!&quot; the kids called, frightened for her safety.<br /><br />She slapped it away, hot blasts soaking into a now-blackened patch of grass. &quot;Arus!&quot; Nat pulled its grip loose, sliding down and out of its hand hold. &quot;Actima!&quot; As she hit the ground, Natalie was already running away, parkouring off of a tree and then dashing for the Ink Tank, passing it by in a flash.<br /><br />The attacker felt around for their weapon. Instead, Natalie held the fusion cannon in her hands.<br /><br />&quot;Looking for this??&quot; She gave a cocky grin from the other end of the clearing, prepping the weapon. &quot;Hey, looks like someone knows how to use this! Aaand now so do I.&quot; She opened fire on the towering soldier, unheated blasts hammering into their huge form. <br /><br />They stumbled, shielding their face from the blasts... then slowly, unbelievably managed to stand up against the incoming force, walking forth one haggard step at a time.<br /><br />&quot;No way!&quot; Natalie marveled. &quot;Floe!&quot; She inhaled deeply and blew a freezing breath onto the stream of projectiles. Frost collected onto the arms, chest and face unit of the mysterious attacker, but they showed no signs of slowing. &quot;This guy&#039;s unbelievable... Gren, Ten! Get ready to- UNGH!&quot; She was slapped away by a backhand from the huge trooper.<br /><br />&quot;Pick on someone your own size, jerk!&quot; Terra cried, latching her power suit&#039;s trunk winch to the Ink Tank&#039;s torso and pulling at their helmet with the stump clamp.<br /><br />&quot;Mr. Goldstein! Nice!&quot; Natalie cried, jumping to her feet. &quot;Arus!&quot; She slid her fingers into the entry crease located underneath two layers of interstitial padding, and pulled. &quot;Let&#039;s see who this is!&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />Max had a hard time when it came to gradual transitions. He tended to go from zero to full bore at a moment&#039;s notice, which made social situations hard. This all-or-nothing energy had certainly been the reason why he had trouble making friends. But this, too, had its advantages at times. &quot;Take this!!&quot; His full running start, inking up halfway there, ended in a flying dropkick. The Ink Tank trooper was caught mid-step as it connected, throwing them backward as the iguana&#039;s full force met them in the chest.<br /><br />&quot;... Whoa.&quot; Shelly paused in surprise. &quot;Heh, haha! Go Max!&quot;<br /><br />He&#039;d already flipped backward on the rebound, now crouching. The trooper pulled out their fusion cannon. &quot;Bleh!&quot; His tongue shot out of his head and snatched the weapon before they could fully grip it, throwing it backward at the shocked security guard, who did manage after a few fumbles to catch it. &quot;Nope!&quot;<br /><br />His huge opponent got to their feet somewhat hastily, taking the momentum of rising to start a full-on bull rush. Max looked for an opening, but they took up most of the hallway by themselves, and soon he was caught on its mass like a cattle guard. <br /><br />Shelly went one step further, stretching her mass to take up the entire width and height of the hall, creating a thin membrane of orange butterfly for Max to get pinned against, rather than a hard wall. Their combined forms bulged her stretched wall-body as she grunted. &quot;Ohhhh god this <em>suuuucks!</em> UGH!&quot; Finally she managed to repel them, bouncing the two of them off of her like a trampoline.<br /><br />Max took full advantage of the momentum, wrapping his thighs around the trooper&#039;s head, swinging around and ensuring that they landed completely on their face, rattling the power suit and the brains of the occupant. &quot;Give up yet?!&quot;<br /><br />Shelly dropped to her feet again, once more butterfly-shaped. &quot;Like, wow! I thought I was totally screwed getting put together with the weakest member of Team Rough.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Weakest?!&quot; Max griped. &quot;Geez, thanks a lot!&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />Samantha watched with great concern as the various battles unfolded before her eyes via holographic capture. &quot;Oh dear. <em>That&#039;s </em>a problem.&quot; She put her PET away. &quot;I think we&#039;ve made as much progress as we&#039;re going to in this part of the investigation; the others need us!&quot; She made her way down the ladder and back through the small service tunnel, Jacent silently agreeing and following her out. &quot;I think we should move to help Natalie and the children, they&#039;re the most isolated and vulnerable- oh. Oh, balderdash!&quot;<br /><br />Heavy bootsteps echoed down the huge tunnel, and of course, they belonged to an Ink Tank trooper, insistently making its way toward them. <br /><br />Samantha turned to Jacent. &quot;The other side of this tunnel leads to a section of the Subtran Station still under reconstruction; it would be dangerous, but-&quot;<br /><br />&quot;The Muscle is present.&quot; Jacent spread his legs at shoulder width, bent his knees and breathed in, gesturing as if gathering power from the air around him, his palms finally pointing toward them, forming a triangle between his thumbs and forefingers. &quot;We&#039;re not moving.&quot; Surprised but nonetheless accepting, Samantha nodded to him, covered in pink as she retrieved two guns from her leg.<br /><br />The trooper was on them quicker than seemed feasible for someone that large to move. They reeled back, bringing their arm to one side, clearly intending to backhand him out of the way. His preferred method up to this point had been to evade these; they were too much to risk, and to be caught aflame made it a zero-sum game. This time? He met it with equal force, a boosted sidelong palm strike slamming into the armored limb and denting the thin metal. It surprised both Sam and the trooper, the latter of whom staggered a moment before taking another strike with the other arm, again, having it boost-palmed away harder than the initial blow. No fire, just force.<br /><br />&quot;You are defeated by your own actions,&quot; he said, taking great effort to remain calm. The barely-audible whispering coming from beneath their helmet was odd, and seemed familiar, but he was far too focused to think about that. &quot;Continuing is pointless.&quot;<br /><br />This seemed to anger them greatly. They reeled back this time, and instead of swinging, they thrusted their entire outstretched hand at the boy, a furious mirroring of his palm strike. Jacent saw it coming, grabbed the thumb and middle fingers in his hands and exerted a small but incredibly potent inch of force, twisting as he shoved back. The trooper found themselves not just rebuffed, but flying backward, spiraling as they fell onto their head and back, sliding backward along the floor.<br /><br />&quot;Wow,&quot; Sam said breathlessly. Jacent got down onto his knees, sitting, hands on his thighs. The actions themselves seemed effortless, but it was clear by the sweat running down his forehead that this zen exercise was taking an absolute boatload of concentration and focus. <br /><br />Their attacker drew the fusion cannon from their back, their bleary-eyed disorientation pushing them to shoot into the side of the tunnel and correct their aim with automatic fire, pulling the line of projectiles toward Jacent with all the splashing sound of a pulsing showerhead. Sam watched it get closer to him with concern. <br /><br />&quot;Ah, Jacent?!&quot; <br /><br />He sat still, staring at them. Clickclickclick. The hot gas pockets never reached him, getting as far as blowing his hair before the gun failed. Samantha vaguely recalled something Murphy had said about the power suits&#039; bulky hands blocking the vents on them, finding relief in this.<br /><br />Frustrated, they threw the weapon itself at his head. A loud discharge sounded, the thing clattering against the wall. &quot;Ah, <em>no</em>.&quot; Sam twirled the air compressor pistol. &quot;Look! You can throw as many hissy fits as you like! But whatever secret anti-Inked section of the police department you make up is doomed to fail; we&#039;re to be judged on our own merits, and you can&#039;t simply bully us out of town!&quot;<br /><br />The trooper then stopped. They stood there, staring from behind the faceless visor, deliberating on her words. The nameless armor-bearer looked up again, leveling its gaze, and the black plastic lit with two large red ovoids underneath like a ceramic cook top set to boil.<br /><br />Jacent lost focus completely, eyes widening. &quot;That&#039;s... unusual.&quot;<br /><br />The trooper&#039;s armor opened, panels sliding back. Slick black hands and arms reached up to remove the helmet, and equally smooth, shiny legs and feet stepped down out of it. But instead of a face, which they supposed must belong to a scared, angry officer, the first visor was removed only to make way for a second glass screen, behind which two large red eye-shapes set themselves above a matching mouth shape, pursed, had they lips with which to do it. Triangular shapes on their head and a mane of fine fabric on their head added to the confusion.<br /><br />&quot;It&#039;s a robot...&quot; Jacent remarked, confused.<br /><br />Samantha tilted her head. &quot;And it... looks like Natalie...?&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />In an almost childish move, Carrie twisted as her attacker tried to walk by, and simply grabbed onto their armored legs, pulling tight and beginning to crush them before they could go for Erwin. &quot;Stop your shit! Give up or I&#039;ll break your real legs too!&quot;<br /><br />Instead of doing so, they simply opened the armor and jumped out. A clean, shiny, bright white (if short) bat-shaped robot emerged, orange eyes and mouth lighting up their face.<br /><br />Carrie stared at the silent machine, brows knit. &quot;Whaaaat the... fuuuuuck???&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />Max was thrown from the armor as a robotic cat freed itself from it, her cold, judgemental expression never changing as its springy blue curls came loose.<br /><br />&quot;W-...&quot; Max blinked. &quot;What is that?!&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />&quot;Natalie watch out!&quot;<br />&quot;Behind you!&quot;<br /><br />She didn&#039;t get a chance to check her six; instead, a huge armored hand threw her into a tree. &quot;Agh, guhhh, damn it!&quot; By the time she got to her feet, she saw a second Ink Tank trooper had snuck up on her, somehow, and now, confusingly, was finishing the work she started, opening the first one&#039;s armor despite the frost. Out of it popped a rough approximation of Erwin in robot form, brown eye shapes and all. Their savior, who had knocked Terra down on his way in, showed himself to be a similar duplicate for Max.<br /><br />&quot;Natalie, those look like Automa!&quot; Aren blurted out before gasping and covering his mouth, ears flush.<br /><br />&quot;They do though...&quot; Gren admitted.<br /><br />&quot;Wuh-... who are you...?&quot; Natalie managed, getting up. Damn it. She&#039;d been prepared this time! But even with all the preparation in the world, how could she have seen this coming? &quot;Answer me!&quot;<br /><br />Erwin-bot took one look at her, opened a chest panel...<br /><br />~(_)~<br /><br />... Took a strange cuboid object out of her robotic bat body...<br /><br />~(_)~<br /><br />... Raised it in her shiny, black hand...<br /><br />~(_)~<br /><br />... And set it off. The entire hospital shook as an extremely bass-heavy wave of sound and force emitted from the object. A feeling of extreme nausea and dread overcame every last person, sending the lucky ones to their knees, and others flat onto the floor. The sound was so loud it was impossible to even hear the groans of great discomfort. Sound distorted, feelings numbed, and everything.<br />Went.<br /><br />B l a c k .<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />&quot;Is she awake yet?&quot;<br />&quot;I think I see eye movement.&quot;<br />&quot;Hey, wake up, c&#039;mon. You&#039;ve had enough beauty sleep.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Mmmmhn...&quot; Samantha&#039;s eyes opened, her mouth curled down in a pained frown. &quot;Ohhhh, what a headache...&quot; When her vision focused, she found herself back in Remedial Drama class, being held by a very concerned but relieved Jacent. &quot;Hhhhn. What happened??&quot;<br /><br />Jacent tilted his head, clearly just as confused as she was. &quot;I... do not know. That thing activated the device, a loud sound came from it, and you fell down, looking extremely ill.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;And so did the rest of us,&quot; Erwin added. &quot;Everyone except Jacent, it seems.&quot;<br /><br />Murphy, who looked more refreshed than she was that morning, ran a hand through her hair. &quot;But you have witnesses now, right?&quot;<br /><br />Carrie shook her head, eyes wide. &quot;Okay check this out. I wake up first, right? I see people get up too, and they&#039;re just standing there, staring at nothing. More people get up, and then everybody&#039;s standing still, their eyes open, not blinking like they were on drugs... then they just start walking, acting like nothing happened at all. I stop &#039;em and and ask &#039;em about the damn Ink Tank, the robot, anything- and they look at <em>me</em> like <em>I&#039;m</em> crazy.&quot; She shook her head. &quot;I&#039;ve seen some spooky shit, but that was like an episode of Consequence.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Damn it!&quot; Murphy pounded the table. &quot;How is that possible?? These freaks attack you in broad daylight, in crowds of people, then hit a button and suddenly nobody saw a thing??&quot; She shook her head. &quot;Alright. I guess we don&#039;t have time to go through official channels on this one. Fortunately, we learned the one most important thing: they&#039;re robots. And that means we know who did this.&quot;<br /><br />Natalie sighed deeply. &quot;Yeah, I guess.&quot; She looked aside and muttered, &quot;Geez, Mom, I was just kidding...&quot;<br /><br />Carrie recognized that look in her partner&#039;s eyes. &quot;Aw, babe, it&#039;s not your fault.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;No, it kinda is!&quot; she insisted. &quot;I... I should&#039;ve been more supportive, but all I ever did was make fun of her, and fantasize what it would be like if she were evil. But the fun kind of evil! You know, easily thwarted, never doing anything that bad? Just, not following the rules.&quot; She looked up to a bunch of blank stares. &quot;I know that sounds dumb, shut up.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Look, kid, I know you&#039;re upset about this, but your mom&#039;s been through a lot. I&#039;m not saying this is right, but she&#039;s obviously not well. You gotta come with me.&quot;<br /><br />Natalie looked up sadly. &quot;So that she&#039;ll come along quietly?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;So that I have something between me and five killbots.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />The march to the Grayswift residence was a grim one. Murphy had driven one squad unit to the area, and Sam had taken the other, both parked a block away. It was Natalie, however, who took the lead. She was the only one who had an inkling and hadn&#039;t formed up; instead, she wore red capri pants, a black spaghetti strap top that showed off her arms and allowed her movement, a pair of kung fu slippers and a black flat cap with a stylized &#039;X&#039; on the front- her &#039;Punk Buster&#039; outfit. She poured herself into her role. &quot;Jacent. What do you remember about the attack you fended off?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Keep your eyes peeled and your ears keen,&quot; he warned. &quot;Based on the small sample, they like to attack suddenly, and in numbers.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Right. Team Ref. Thoughts?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;From the attacks, it&#039;s clear they&#039;re geared to fight inklings,&quot; Erwin observed. &quot;We should expect heavy resistance...&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Dr. Grayswift doesn&#039;t cut corners,&quot; Sam agreed. &quot;If the work on my leg is any indication, they&#039;ll be extremely strong, but I still can&#039;t run at full tilt; speed may be on our side.&quot;<br /><br />Shelly chimed in. &quot;So like if Jacent&#039;s description is totally accurate, their power cores probably go inert on interruption of the vacuum; like, they shouldn&#039;t blow up if we slag &#039;em.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Good. On that note, Team Rough. Are you ready?&quot;<br /><br />Carrie nodded. &quot;Set to waste some tin tools.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;I&#039;m totally pumped!&quot; Max boasted. &quot;Bring it on!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Alright. Gren, Ten? You&#039;re here <em>just</em> to observe. If things get hairy you <em>get out</em> and you <em>hide</em>. When you think it&#039;s safe you call the Police and let them know what happened. Got it?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;But we&#039;re totally made for this!&quot; Gren protested.<br /><br />&quot;I know,&quot; Natalie agreed. &quot;Which is why we can&#039;t <em>possibly</em> risk our trump card in the first go. You need to be able to help if we... if we can&#039;t stop them. Understand?&quot;<br /><br />Gren and Ten swallowed hard, nodding.<br /><br />&quot;Alright.&quot; She nodded, taking a breath. They would not be surprised this time, not thrown for a loop in a situation they hadn&#039;t prepared for. This time, they were <em>ready. </em>&quot;Let&#039;s get in there.&quot; She waved her PET in front of the door and opened it. They all took positions in the entryway.<br /><br />&quot;GOD! You <em>idiots!</em>&quot; bellowed Dr. Grayswift from further inside the house. &quot;This is the last time I trust you with anything. You had one job!&quot;<br /><br />Natalie turned to Murphy as they crept closer to the sound, the living room. From either side of the archway, they nodded to each other silently.<br /><br />&quot;POLICE, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!&quot; shouted Murphy with a brazen authority they hadn&#039;t heard from her possibly ever. &quot;Dr. Lorna Grayswift you are under arrest!&quot;<br /><br />Lorna looked up from the couch in her pajama pants and an oversized shirt, a bowl of popcorn between her legs as she watched the intercity Dodgevolley game with Wade and Widget. &quot;... For... what?&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />&quot;Jacent, our little sit-down was a... well, it was a huge wake-up call.&quot; Lorna led them down into her garage, lights activating as she made her way down the stairs.<br /><br />To their astonishment, there was no sign of the robots. No ghoulish skeletal frames, no limbs hanging everywhere, no buckets of parts. The place was completely clean, tools put away, fabricators spotless. There was not a single sign of the doctor&#039;s encroaching madness from before. &quot;Wait, wait... wait.&quot; Natalie rubbed her eyes, as if she were dreaming. &quot;You just... got rid of it all?&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yep. Slagged it.&quot; She patted a large, smooth metal cuboid resting on the bench. &quot;Inefficient shape to put it all in, but I wanted a symbol of starting over.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;But...&quot; Carrie let Arus recede, gesturing around the room. &quot;This is your life&#039;s work. I&#039;ve known you for years now, Dr. G, and this is the one thing you want the most!&quot;<br /><br />Lorna nodded sympathetically. &quot;Well, Carrie, I just realized that this was the wrong way of going about it. I&#039;m still going to work on artificial intelligence, I&#039;m just going it my own way: by programming increasingly articulate learning systems.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Which is still against the law, by the way!&quot; Murphy said.<br /><br />The older woman leveled a critical look at her. &quot;It&#039;s against regulation. As in, something you can harass me about during a town meet, but not arrest me for.&quot;<br /><br />Murphy sighed impatiently. &quot;Look! I know you made the robots. You know you made the robots! It doesn&#039;t matter if you cleaned up your workbench, there&#039;s only <em>one person</em> in this entire city who could&#039;ve made them!&quot;<br /><br />Lorna folded her arms. &quot;Alright. How?&quot;<br /><br />The canine cop seemed uncharacteristically thrown off balance. &quot;W-... What do you mean &#039;how??&#039;&quot;<br /><br />&quot;With what material?&quot; She leaned from one leg to the other. &quot;Metal isn&#039;t free. It isn&#039;t cheap, either. I have to fill out a request form for every scrap of steel, copper or even <em>plastic</em> I order from the Fabricatory, which is the only source of any of those materials in workable condition for miles. If I took the brain units out of my only three and turned them into this handsome paperweight, where on Earth did I get the material to create- what was it- <em>five</em> new custom robots and build them practically overnight? It would&#039;ve taken me days just to draft out the designs, and let me tell you, I am <em>not</em> an artist.&quot; She brought up some of her old schematics. &quot;To that point, all my robots look the same, or have a simple geometric design. Now, I am <em>flattered</em> that you think I could conceptualize, design, build and error test five fully autonomous units in a timeframe that would have made me laugh in my boss&#039;s face, but- and I am trying really hard not to be condescending about this-<em> that is not how it works.</em>&quot;<br /><br />Murphy turned to Team Reference, the question of validity on her face.<br /><br />&quot;I mean, she&#039;s not wrong. We could check the Fabricatory records,&quot; Erwin suggested. <br /><br />&quot;And the records of all the other &#039;Bric workers,&quot; Shelly added.<br /><br />&quot;And the school&#039;s records! &#039;Cause they have that stuff sometimes!&quot; Aren offered, earning a chest-jostling high five from Shelly for his lateral thinking, which was fully two rewards in one.<br /><br />Samantha, however, seemed reserved as she sat on Jacent&#039;s shoulder. &quot;We can and will check those leads, but... I have to say, I&#039;m slowly beginning to appreciate when I have a hunch, and my intuition is telling me that we&#039;re not going to find anything.&quot; Several murmurs of agreement filled the room. &quot;What&#039;s more, she seems... different than the Lorna who would have done something like this. Better. More well-adjusted.&quot;<br /><br />Widget piped up. &quot;Yeah, that was kinda why I&#039;ve been hanging out with her so much ever since that night. Wanted to make sure she was on the up and up.&quot; She looked at Lorna, who seemed dubious. &quot;What? I liked making cupcakes too!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Geez...&quot; Natalie shrugged, not sure what to do with herself. &quot;I&#039;m sorry, Mom.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;No, <em>I&#039;m</em> sorry,&quot; Lorna corrected. &quot;It was my fault I was ever on the radar for this in the first place. I definitely messed up before. That&#039;s why I&#039;m making sure to do things right this time.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Well... that&#039;s great!&quot; Nat said with relief. &quot;I&#039;m glad it wasn&#039;t you. I&#039;ll... try to be more supportive in the future,&quot; she promised, hugging her mother tenderly.<br /><br />Murphy stared at the metal cuboid, holding her head in her hands. &quot;I&#039;m happy for you, Grayswift, I really am, but that&#039;s<em> not</em> great. This means that there&#039;s someone <em>else</em> out there who knew what you would do, sent creepy custom-made doppelganger death robots to intercept you when you were split up, and created a <em>magic mind control machine</em> to take away all the witnesses who don&#039;t have their own personal slime buddy!&quot; She subconsciously gripped her neurod, muscles trembling. &quot;Is there anyone else who could do all that??&quot;<br /><br />They all shared some uncomfortable looks. Samantha took a deep breath. &quot;We don&#039;t know <em>whom</em>, but we have some idea who, in general, might be responsible. But... it&#039;s very important that we keep it a secret.&quot;<br /><br />Murphy actually growled. &quot;No! None of this secret clubhouse bullshit! This is not a game; people need to know about dangerous things lurking in the dark!&quot;<br /><br />Widget let out a deep breath. &quot;It&#039;s fine. Can&#039;t keep it a secret forever.&quot; Her hologram dropped completely, revealing the glass-faced Automa underneath. She reached up, pulled her head out of its neck socket, and held it in her hand, facing it toward the labrador. &quot;You might wanna sit down.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;-<br />- -<br />&nbsp;-<br /><br />In the living room of Chateu D&#039;Grayswift, many kids and a few adults sat, speaking and mostly listening as a robot explained her own existence. &quot;... So, lop-ears? What&#039;s your precinct gonna think about that?&quot; Widget asked.<br /><br />&quot;They aren&#039;t,&quot; she replied immediately, surprising the others. &quot;Nobody else gets to know about this.&quot; Her face looked haunted. &quot;If someone asks, you <em>lie</em>.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Whoa, Murphy.&quot; Natalie knit her brows together. &quot;I thought you said people should know about this?&quot;<br /><br />The labrador gave her a severe look. &quot;Grayswift. We are <em>just barely</em> getting to the point where people are starting to feel okay with the idea of alien pudding cups living inside people, and when you get outside the dome, that varies a lot. If everybody on the PETnet learns that we&#039;ve got an underground city of ancient rehabilitated murder-bots who&#039;re holding crazy, scary technology, they will hold a global special session, decide our spooky port town is not worth the trouble anymore, and <em>rip this fucking city off its moorings.</em>&quot;<br /><br />Natalie&#039;s face was frozen in shock.<br /><br />&quot;Cupcakes~!&quot; cried Shelly, who bounced into the room with a sticky-faced Gren and Aren, carrying a tin full of frosted treats. Everyone stared at them awkwardly. &quot;... Wow, tepid response to cupcakes.&quot;<br /><br />Natalie blinked, licking her lips and taking a breath, finally. &quot;... <em>Oh</em>.&quot; She looked at Widget, then back. &quot;I... I hadn&#039;t thought of that.&quot;<br /><br />Murphy nodded rapidly. &quot;So yeah! Good instincts, kid! Just... just keep that lid on it. I&#039;ll... do some digging for a while, see what I can come up with.&quot; She got up, shaking her head. &quot;You... you keep talking to anybody with an inkling! Find out anything you can! If they attack again, you shut &#039;em down.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Yeah, uh, right!&quot; she responded. &quot;No problem! O-On it.&quot;<br /><br />Dr. Grayswift nodded. &quot;I&#039;ll... do some diagnostics. See if I can figure anything out.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Good! You do that!&quot; Murphy agreed. &quot;Because if the public finds out about these things, the public police position will be that we highly suspect<em> you</em> made &#039;em.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;WHAT?!&quot; Lorna called after the cop, who was already on her way out the door. &quot;You-... but I-... you can&#039;t!&quot; Slam.<br /><br />&quot;Oooooooh,&quot; Max sucked air in through his teeth, frosting all over his nose. &quot;Sorry, Dr. Natalie&#039;s Mom.&quot;</span>",
  "pools_count": 1,
  "title": "Issue 14 - A Few Bad Apples",
  "deleted": "f",
  "public": "t",
  "mimetype": "text/rtf",
  "pagecount": "1",
  "rating_id": "1",
  "rating_name": "Mature",
  "ratings": [
    {
      "content_tag_id": "2",
      "name": "Nudity",
      "description": "Nonsexual nudity exposing breasts or genitals (must not show arousal)",
      "rating_id": "1"
    },
    {
      "content_tag_id": "3",
      "name": "Violence",
      "description": "Mild violence",
      "rating_id": "1"
    }
  ],
  "submission_type_id": "12",
  "type_name": "Writing - Document",
  "guest_block": "t",
  "friends_only": "f",
  "comments_count": "4",
  "views": "870"
}