| Logs |
2002 April 03
| Morning Rain |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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| Realms: Morning Rain Logs |
The Tempest, Act I
Devastation rocked central Wisconsin today as what was apparently a duel between transhumans flattened a town park. Two men apparently got into an argument, the argument became heated, words became blows... and then blows became transhuman abilities. The town sheriff said that nobody was hurt, but that both men are being held. The county prosecutor says that she's hoping to see the men charged with aggravated assault and destruction of public property. Town residents actually seem more amused by the incident than anything..."
The new day dawns to some ragged sheets of clouds laid against the ceiling of the sky, roiling clouds that promise rain but are clearly reluctant to deliver. It is one of those unsettled mornings, when the day doesn't feel quite right but you go to work anyway along with the other hundred thousand commuters because you don't feel ill or you have no more sick days to spare. So of course that puts you off all day, almost paranoid with wondering what's going to happen, and when nothing does you feel twice as tired at the end of the day as you should be. For the moment, however, it is morning, and the store is exactly where Bryce has left it.
"In theater news, 'Three Against The Mandate' will still be opening this Saturday at Lincoln Center, despite protests from various theater groups. The Chinese cultural attaché to the UN expressed his 'disappointment' that the production is still being presented. You'll be able to catch a stereo simulcast of 'Three Against The Mandate' this Saturday at 8PM, right here..."
It is the last day of the scheduled book signing at OutWrite. One of the senior managing editors -- that is, an editor who doesn't edit, but rather manages editors who do -- at Jade's publisher has gotten her booked tomorrow at the Fifth Avenue Barnes & Noble, up in Midtown. Said managing editor is very keen on getting Jade's book thrust almost lethally into the public eye, and Jade's regular editor has been very apologetic.
"Residents of a Rochester suburb have refused to comply with investigators from the state Transhuman Incidence Investigation Project, and are obstructing justice. So says Joshua Fairbairn, one of the Justice Department investigators working with the Project." "I can understand loyalty to their neighbors, but that really can go only so far when we still don't know what the Transhuman Incidence Event was, and what the link between that and the increase in natural disasters is." "Mr. Fairbairn is currently investigating the escape of a street gang who escaped custody by way of transhuman abilities..."
Jade looks up at the radio curiously, then muses aloud, "I wonder if one of those gang kids lives there, in Rochester?"
Bryce drifts around the store setting up, which is fortunately accomplished easily, having been mostly arranged the previous evening. Bryce is not a morning person. He pauses before unlocking the main door and looks at Jade. "Which gang kids? The ones that attacked Nunzio?" He slants a look toward Kim, very much in earshot.
Kim is busy fussing with the book stacks, setting things neat and tidy, almost nervously tending them. He repositions one stack of books three times to the exact same position. Oh, and almost as an afterthought, he looks fairly ungood and a bit disheveled. Normally, 'a bit disheveled' is a good look for him. This morning, it just makes him seem sleepless.
Jade sips her hot tea, seated comfortably and ready to start signing when it's time. Her nod of acknowledgement at Bryce's reminder about Kim is discreet, as she muses aloud, "I hope the cop we have while Officer Samuels recovers is as pleasant as he... and that Nunzio will yell for the police if that unpleasant thief turns up again."
Bryce looks harder at Kim, from his own morning fog. "Kim? You ok? You look like you were up all night, and not for a fun reason." He nods briefly at Jade, and watches Kim.
Kim smiles a bit at the thought of being up all night for a fun reason, but it looks moderately ghastly. "Yeah... yeah, I'm okay, Bryce, honest. Just didn't sleep too well. I'd say bad dreams but I can't remember any of them."
Jade also turns her gaze thoughtfully towards Kim... and wonders silently to herself about whether affecting dreams could be a transhuman ability for someone, somewhere. She doesn't see why not, all things considered. Bryce frowns. "Sorry to hear it. You look like hell -- d'you wanna go home and sleep? I'll be fine today. Besides, Jade would help if I needed it."
Jade nods calmly, "Be no problem, certainly." Bryce worries, quietly. Did something happen last night? Or -- horrors -- what if there was another mystical Thingy, and now he's changed too? The thought leads quirkily into a vision of Kim turned into a supervillain, manic arch-nemesis, and despite the ill health of his employee, Bryce has to stifle a smile.
Kim shakes his head. "No! No, honest, I'll be okay." As if to give lie to it, he yawns, though he does try to stifle it. "I'll be fine by noon," he corrects himself sheepishly. "I'm going to head out to the back, wait for the UPS guy, okay? He should be here soon."
Jade smiles quietly at Kim, then politely turns her regard away, so he doesn't feel self-conscious. Bryce gives Kim a stern look, then shrugs playfully. "Sure, Kim, go ahead. If you're gonna feel better by noon, I won't worry you've changed into a vampire on us. If you don't, though, head home, ok? This isn't a battlefield. You can leave your post, we'll all survive 'til tomorrow." He smiles and turns away, pretending not to look at Kim and not to worry.
Kim grins, playfully bares his teeth to Bryce. They all appear to be standard length and the canines don't show any distinction. "Shouldn't be long!" he says with some of his typical cheerfulness, as he manages to sort of bounce to the back storeroom.
Jade tilts her head to grin quietly up at Bryce... then giggles softly and goes back to her tea. Bryce snorts under his breath and turns to Jade. "Think our UPS man is dealing perky wakeup drugs or something?" Jade giggles again, her grin a bit more mischievous this time. Bryce muses, "Or maybe they're just having an affair. That'd be cute." He grins. "Tell me if you smell sex, huh?" He winks.
Jade sighs and yawns, still smiling, then laughs aloud at Bryce's comment! Her eyes are bright with amusement as she cheerfully tsks, "Voyeur!"
Bryce goes to unlock the main door, calling back "Showtime, dahlings!" He mutters under his breath, "Then at least somebody'd be getting some around here." He answers cheekily, louder, "Of course. I own a bookstore. Most reading is voyeurism." Jade laughs aloud again, lightly brushing back her silky mane of hair... and the "professional" demeanor comes across her. It is showtime now, for her. She remains amusedly silent at Bryce's comment at 'getting some'... although a faintly rueful smile does cross her face.
Not too long after, Nunzio comes up to the store and knocks on the door, then pokes his head in. "'Ey, Bryce! How's it going?"
Bryce waves to Nunzio, "It's ok, for a morning. How're you doing?"
Jade waves cheerfully at Nunzio as he arrives, "Good morning, Nunzio!"
Nunzio nods, "Not bad, not bad. 'Ey, just wanted to tell you, some of th' cops down at the precinct came by, said Merv's gonna be okay." He waves politely to Jade. "'Ey, good morning, signorina!"
Bryce sighs, relieved. He can't hear that too many times. "Thanks, Nunzio. Lightens my heart to hear that. Want some tea?" Jade brightens, and also looks very pleased at the news.
Nunzio grins. "Ah, no thanks, Bryce. Have to go back to the store, get ready for the morning crowd. Talk with you later!" And with that he heads out back across the street.
Jade sighs in faint relief at the news as Nunzio leaves, then beams at Bryce a moment later and adds happily, "Good news, definitely!" Bryce nods, smiling. He starts tea steeping anyway. Chai today, actually.
"And now Cyclone Harry with the weather. Cyc?" "Thanks, Tom. Well, normally we'd be seeing fairly mild weather this time of year, but the sudden appearance of El Niño and La Niña in unprecedented ferocity, and a tropical storm season that started a bit early -- we're going to see some pretty wacky weather over the next few months. Reports that some transhumans can control the weather is making a meteorologist's job pretty difficult. All I can tell you is that we're looking at warm and sunny weather for the rest of the week, but expect the unexpected, bring an umbrella -- we have a low-pressure system sweeping in from the southeast and that might bring some changes with it. Back to you, Tom." "All right, thank you, Cyclone. The time now is ten-fifteen, and you're listening to..."
The morning crowd begins to filter in, not nearly as much as the previous few days. In fact it's very much on the slow side. The lack of customers doesn't seem to be solely the OutWrite's stigma, however; the street outside is having one of those low-traffic days. Jade glances out the window at the scudding clouds, with a faintly rueful smile as the radio weatherman forecasts warm and sunny. However, a moment later she's concentrating more on the trickling crowd. She's pleased, in a way... slightly fewer folks means she can be nice to more individuals, and not worry that someone further back in the line will be slighted.
Bryce blinks as the radio reminds him of the time. The UPS guy usually comes between 9-10. What ate Kim? Hope he's not really ill... He slips over to ask Jade to mind the store for a second, while he goes to check on Kim and probably argue him into just going home this time if he feels that bad... Jade nods to Bryce, then simply shifts her focus and book signing to the counter, with a cheerful explanation to the happy children whose book she's signing. They don't seem to care -- what they really want is the book!
The bookstore at the moment is empty. Or at least it was empty when Bryce looked around a few minutes ago. The aisles are clear and their usual twisting meanders a ragged path through to the back room, as straight as an arrow for Bryce's familiarity with the store.
Thus it is a bit of a shock when he steps past one intersection of aisles... and sees a young girl standing there, holding a white ball in her hands, and looking, unblinking, up at Bryce.
Bryce skids to a mental and physical halt, seeing the child. "Ah... may I help you, ma'am?" His tone is entirely unsarcastic.
The girl is young, possibly about five or six, but she stands very still, holding the ball in front of her. She's dressed plainly, with jumper and blouse suitable for a mild clime, and her skin is a bit dusky if unremarkable. The ball itself is also plain, about the size of a soccer ball, a bit scuffed and used, the sort that kids would kick around after school on back streets free of workaday crowds and watchful parents. Her eyes are large and dark and yet at the same time bright, inquisitive and seeming moist, as if about to cry but nothing in the girl's expression even remotely looks like she's about to break down, or even that she's upset.
With Bryce's question, she gives a single, slow nod. And still says nothing.
Bryce blinks. Someone has to. You're trying to creep me out on purpose. It's working. "What would you like me to do, then?"
The girl's eyes widen a little bit, black pools that hide a light, and the moisture forms a single tear that trickles down her cheek -- is that a ghost of a smile? She reaches up with a tiny hand, a hand that barely seems capable of even opening the top of a jar of preserves, and she simply points to Bryce.
Bryce doesn't even try to suppress the shiver of fear that hits him, though he tries not to let it show on the outside. Why did I know she wasn't gonna talk? Jade! I need you here! With a mostly steady voice, he says to the silent girl child, "You want... me? Can you explain?"
Jade, who is idly sipping tea between customers, raises her head sharply, turning her gaze towards the back. Strange... she got an oddly... hackles-raising feeling from... from Bryce? She sets her teacup down, frowning slightly, and quietly locks the front door, turning the 'back in 5!' sign outwards. Then she drifts silently across the room, entering a different aisle than Bryce took, and letting her entrancement cover her... there's no Jade here...
The writer ghosts through the stacks to the back of the store, coming upon the small scene in the dim -- dim? -- back reaches of the bookstore, as the girl lowers her hand. The impression of a smile disappears, though, and she moves her head once to each side, a slow, single shake of her head. Curiously, she actually breaks eye contact with Bryce for a moment, looking over her shoulder -- and Jade finds the girl's gaze cast squarely upon hers.
Jade's eyebrows raise -- that's a first, that someone actually sees her! Then she smiles... oh, of course... she must be another supernatural. She kneels quietly so she's closer to eye level with the child, letting the entrancement fade quietly as she murmurs, "Hello. What do you need?"
Bryce does not feel more at ease. Shit. I shouldn't have asked two questions of a person that refuses to talk... oh hell. There's Jade, and no surprise the girl's as turned as us, but... Jade's in easy face-clawing range. That might be bad. He murmurs to Jade, "Hope you're better at Twenty Questions than I am." Jade grins momentarily at Bryce, then turns her curious gaze back to the girl.
The girl makes the same slow gesture Bryce saw before, an almost timid pointing towards the woman. Her eyes seem large enough to drink in all the light of the small nook -- and yet somehow serene and quiet, even as the tear traces a small path of moisture to her jaw.
Jade gets a slightly puzzled look, but reaches her hand out slowly towards the child as the girl points, palm up. She adds softly, "Are you all right, child?"
Bryce waits, very uneasily... Kim. He was going to look for Kim. Who has still not shown up. "Jade? I'll just be a moment, I want to find Kim right now."
Jade nods to Bryce, her expression still puzzled. She can't detect any scent on the girl... no, wait, that's not right... she has a scent, but it's very subtle... confusing, even. Like... like a roomful of people of all genotypes and genders, placed somewhere between a large coniferous forest and a desert, with a rushing river there, too and... this is just confusing. Definitely a supernatural. The girl gives that faint smile again, and still moving slowly draws her hand back, away from Jade's hand, and reaches up to just lightly touch at the tear that dances down her small cheek.
"Oh, hey, Bryce, what's up?" Kim's voice.
And his voice is almost drowned out by the titanic crash of what seems like God's wrath outside. Thunder rumbles outside, a rolling tremor that seems to reach from the sky into the very earth, echoing through the steel-and-glass canyons of the city like the rumbling of a dragon, a deep and basso grande roar that would surely shake the island to its foundations. Yet the thunder is only the herald for torrents of vicious rain that hiss and slide down from the sky in almost solid sheets of water, slamming down as if to beat down every last thing standing. The snarling, spitting rain can be heard through the back room's door, which Kim has just opened.
And the girl... is simply not there.
Jade is looking right at her as Bryce stood, and heard Kim's voice, but with the thunder there is simply no girl standing there. Jade starts at the thunder! -then takes a slow breath, her eyes still on the spot the child had been in only a fraction of a second ago. She raises her voice slightly to be heard by Bryce, although her gaze doesn't waver for a moment, "Bryce? Ask Kim if he was just dreaming, please?" There's a slight tenseness in her tone.
Bryce blinks, not understanding, but says, "Kim? Were you dreaming just now? It's ok if you fell asleep, man... I was just getting worried."
Kim himself gives a start with the boom! of the sudden thunderstorm, but doesn't come close to dropping the brown-box packages in his arms. He blinks a bit at the question, frowning a bit, but not sounding hurt or nervous in its asking. "Er, no, I wasn't. I'm sorry I took so long. I might've dozed off for a bit, but the UPS guy came by at about 9:45, and we were talking about, you know, clubs and stuff, like what they're going to do with that guy DJ Mutant Z since he's pretty much erased his career." He looks a bit crestfallen. "I'm sorry I got you worried, Bryce. It won't happen again." He glances behind him. "Man, I'm glad he went off when he did -- that rain sounds bad!"
Jade rises smoothly to her feet, stepping forward to lay a hand on the ground where the girl was, and scenting the air carefully, searching for anything, any clue the child left behind. She can find that weird scent she caught before there, but it's fading quickly -- gone. She finds, oddly enough, that she remembers it almost as if it were but a very vivid dream, in fact. She sighs softly, then turns and peeks around the corner of the aisle at Bryce and Kim. "Good, you're all right." She smiles up at Bryce, "I'll be back in front!" and heads thoughtfully back to unlock the door.
Bryce frowns, nerves taut and worse from the crash of storm. He tries to reassure Kim that it's ok, he was just worried about him, not about his work ethic, with a smile, before heading back over to Jade. Kim is gratefully reassured, and is also extremely flattered that his cute boss was worried about him. Dissuading, Bryce is obviously not being. Kim provides helpfully, "We got that stuff from Greenery Press today. I'll put it in the 'erotica' section..." And he is back to work, a bit more awake now that he's been on the job for about an hour.
Jade stares quietly for a moment at the rain outside, then mutters to herself, "Warm and sunny, my foot!" She waits for Bryce to return, then casually tops off tea for him, standing next to him and quietly murmuring what happened, and struggles to describe the odd scent. She glances gravely at Bryce when she's done, adding softly, "Did you catch anything else?" Bryce shakes his head, frustrated. Jade straightens with a small gasp, "Oh! Bryce, I know! -er... well, I have a thought..." She pauses, frowning and thinking, then nods and adds quietly, "Do you suppose that was Ariel? Er... Caliban's father manifesting something, that is?"
Bryce frowns a literary frown and says, "Caliban's father didn't sound like he did that kind of thing, only prophecy... and Ariel was Caliban's chief tormentor in the Tempest, not kin. He manages a ghost of a grin at the silly quibble.
Jade says, "Oh, shoot, I got mixed up... I meant the daughter, Miranda." She adds thoughtfully, "We've certainly got the tempest here, now," as she glances out the window. She doesn't expect many more customers, on a day of driving rain like this. Indeed, most of the pedestrians are scrambling, not for shelter so much as cover from the veritable deluge. Jade adds even more slowly, "Bryce... I didn't get that creepy tingle of danger at all, either, around her."
Bryce looks lost. "Who's Miranda? The kid? The prophet ought to be Prospero, if anything, though frankly Sycorax might work better, gender aside... or Cassandra... heck if I know what's up. I do believe it's supernatural, though. Maybe the kid did it. Maybe the kid is it." Jade nods, teacup almost forgotten in her hands as she studies the rain outside, a puzzled look still on her face. Bryce says, "Maybe she's not really a child, but a weather pattern. God. This is all confusing. I'd say let's go home, except she seemed to need something and I won't feel ok again 'til I know what she wants."
Jade grins quietly sideways up at Bryce, but nods at his comment about not feeling okay. She adds quietly a bit later, "Bryce... maybe it's time to see the prophet. Do you want to call?"