A Bitter Pill To Swallow

GRAYBRIDGE, 4 NOV 2023
The Cicada


"My step-brother, Raoul. He was given up for adoption before my parents met. You have just the one brother?"

...
"ASS? You're making that up!" Her mind files that away for later research. Melissa had said there was a security guard driving that truck. Maybe she'd recognize more details if she showed her pics of different security outfit uniforms. Was it the same group from Wyvern Lake?

Speaking of which... she fidgets with her hands nervously.

"Oh, I could have used one of your ASS guards two days ago. A huge truck rammed my car, before I nearly rolled trying to swerve onto a side road and get out of his way. Maybe he was drunk or perhaps it was a hate crime, I don't know, but what's a girl to do? I don't carry a gun."

ANNESBURG, 4 NOV 2023
The Park Outside Brian Floyd's Apartment
As Melissa focuses on - no, behind - the tree, the badge becomes visible through the wood, first unclear but then it comes into focus, making it easy for Melissa to read it. There is some additional information on it, but the name Dave asked for a the top of it is Rebecca Hu.

When she relays that information to Dave and he checks the badge afterwards, he finds the badge still green.

ANNESBURG, 4 NOV 2023
The Park Outside Brian Floyd's Apartment

"Wonderful. So nice to know I am but one in a stream of his lovers. The man is evil. But what's the point of endowing women with these so-called powers? What does that get him? Or is it something he has no control over and when he sleeps with a woman she becomes endowed with something a little extra?"

"Yeah, my bestie, Belinda. And when we went to see her she definitely wasn't herself and was hiding something. But I thought I knew her. Thought we were close. But I guess that's a farce now, isn't it? So everyone's fucking me now, not just Dave."

She was riled up enough now to see red. Perhaps she would see more in a moment.

"Ok. I'll try seeing as my emotional state is one of extreme anger." Staring at the tree, livid with the betrayals that seemed to be following her around, along with the hypocrisy of what she had done to Augusta, Melissa had become so agitated that something popped in her subconscious and suddenly she was able to clearly read the badge.

"Rebecca Hu. Green stripe. Yeah." She hadn't realized her fingers were curled up into fists. Slowly she unfurled them for as soon as she saw the badge, her anger and frustration bled away.

GRAYBRIDGE, 4 NOV 2023
The Cicada
"I'll keep that in mind. I will needed to come up with a specific goal and a marketing plan first. So many noble deeds go ignored because no one thought to build hype and invite the press first."

She leans back and finishes her drink. The bar was nice, the low buzz of conversation around her. It's a place of sex, at least on the surface, but below that, she can see a loosening up, where people are given license to not hide who they wish they could be more often.

She waves off the comment about injuries.

"Graybridge isn't so bad. Okay, that's a lie, it's the worst. Maybe I'm just a clueless tourist, pretending to fit in. But people are mostly okay, right? Many are just at a bad station on their destiny's tracks."

She looks at her drink suspiciously. "Sorry, that was overtly deep. How strong was that drink you ordered?"

GRAYBRIDGE, 4 NOV 2023
Sunny Side Up Diner
"I mean... what happens if we don't take them for an extended period of time. I haven't been out that long. Do we... need them to survive?" Eva asks as the remaining five pills are slid back her way. When Tanya mentions Dartella, the former super-commando looks over at the waitress again.

"Well, you are giving me drugs. She just..." Uncertain of what she's about to say, Eva hesitates, then continues. "She's the first person I came across when I was -- after I got away. She kind of looked after me for a bit, gave me a place to crash and stuff. She knows a little about... you know. That my memory is all jacked up. She's probably concerned you're from... where you're from."

I'm telling her too much. FUCK. This is hard!

ANNESBURG, 4 NOV 2023
The Park Outside Brian's Apartment

"Batting a thousand so far... Answer was right in the money." he went to retrieve the badge, looked at it for a second before putting it back in the bag and shoving it in his coat pocket. "Good news is, you're not giving anyone cancer when you look at 'em that way. Radiation sensor on the tag is clean so you're probably not using projected energy to see through things." Although, the expression of hurt, betrayal and anger on Melissa's face, if she could've burned a hole through the tree with her glare she definitely would have. "It's not your fault you fell in with this douche nozzle, ya know. He's in a position to use and abuse people at will and no one's stopping him. Yet... You could be the beginning of Karma coming around on him." He sighed, expecting the breath to come out as a fog but ended up disappointed. He fidgeted, weighing the moral value of what he was about to say. Whether he'd be any better than Floyd by getting Melissa further tangled up in this very dangerous high stakes game. "BUT..." he said, conscience getting the better of him. "...only if you want to." He still felt like an ass for even bringing the idea up. Of course she'd want a bit of revenge on Floyd at the moment. Her expression had that written all over her face but there was a big jump between being an accomplice and a conspirator. A dangerous jump and not just for her.
He took a handful of index cards out of his pocket and thumbtacked them to the back of the same tree. " Take ten steps back and try to read the top card then take ten more steps back and read the next one down. Repeat until you get to the last card or can't see them anymore. Let's test your range." As an added bit of complexity, the cards were marked with letters that were easily mistakable if reversed. If Melissa chose to get mixed up in things, he definitely wanted her to know the limits and advantages of the abilities that Floyd had given her.

ANNESBURG, 4 NOV 2023
The Park Outside Brian Floyd's Apartment

"Whoopie." Mel couldn't have said that with less enthusiasm. She had a dark outlook on life at the moment and all the glasses in her world were half empty. She did perk up however when Dave mentioned Karma. He now had her complete attention.

"Oh I want to. You bet I want to teach that motherfucker a lesson."

Now she was excited. The glasses were filling. Following Dave's directions she was able to see and read the cards until she reached a distance about three times farther than she would normally see an object, such as the bark of a tree when her vision wasn't hopped up on anger.

"Huh. Imagine that. My regular distance vision has improved. I guess I have the asshole to thank for something. So what's the plan for me to seek my revenge on the bastard? Maybe Augusta will want to come too. Actually probably not. That woman is just too nice. Too forgiving."

GRAYBRIDGE, 4 NOV 2023
The Cicada

"I looooove pineapple," Augusta drawls, suddenly feeling a little tipsy. Her own alcohol of choice, Baijiu is stronger but it's intended for light sipping. It's also the drink of her traditionalist parents, and as her and Bree have talked about, her own path may lead to different harvests. This cocktail is watered and masked with sweet fruit juices so you don't notice the burn that warns you with Baijiu.

"What would you want to do for Plaxo? I didn't quite catch what your specialty was. Pharmaceutical chemistry was it?"

Augusta nods at the mention of Dave and Eva. "Eva. Dave is a life saver. When I went through some trauma recently, he helped me get a hold on what was important. Really was there when I needed him. He helps Eva too, but she's so competent and daunting, I just admire her so much. There is this vulnerability to her, too, that grounds her. I really know little about her, though. Some people are like that, where you could know them for years and then realize you don't even know their zodiac year!"

ANNESBURG, 4 NOV 2023
The Park Outside Brian's Apartment

Dave burst out laughing at Melissa's characterization of Augusta as 'too nice'. It took him a moment to reign it back in, wiping his eyes. "Yeah. I guess maybe that's the way you see her but that's not her. Not really." he stifled a few remaining chuckles before continuing, "She's keeping a very tight lid on things because underneath all that she's got a fight going on with her 'goblin half'. I think the fight was going on way before her powers showed up though... But that's her story to tell, not mine."
He shifted the subject back to Melissa, "So, there's a good chance your abilities are more mental than strictly a physical effect. Like when people have premonitions or dream things that come true or move things with their mind. That's what my friend in the TANC, Danvers, can do. They call what you can do 'Remote Sensing' and it looks like a pretty handy ability so far. I know people that'd hand over suitcases of small unmarked bills to employ someone with your skills." He let that line drop and instead pulled a sealed box out of his coat pocket, "Can you see what's inside the box? So far we know you can see things that are in the light but how about things in the dark?" He wiggles the box between his fingers, the object inside rattling, "There's an object inside and a piece of paper with a word written on it. Can you see either of them clearly?"

GRAYBRIDGE, 4 NOV 2023
Sunny Side Up Diner
"That's the part I don't understand," Eva replies, increasingly unable to separate what she wants to say from what she should say to draw the other woman in without tipping her off. "I thought they did want me back there. And the people I remember, my handlers... they wouldn't be cool with you just... like... making trips to the city on your own."

A deep breath punctuates Eva's thought, then she asks, "How often do they let you go, you, Olivia, and Nadine? And was... is Belinda in TANC because of something she did during one of these visits?"

ANNESBURG, 4 NOV 2023
The Park Outside Brian's Apartment

She was surprised at his reaction to her assessment of Augusta, but at the mention of money, Melissa's eyebrows wing up, and she immediately loses interest in Augusta. She'd always had aspirations of wealth and it sounded like she now had a valuable service to offer. Suitcases full of money kind of worth apparently.

"So what kind of people need my special vision services? I presume they are dangerous people?

She then looks at the box. Tries to see inside, but nothing happens. She's excited about a new lucrative career. It's not the stuff that makes her angry. Anger seems to power the special vision.

"I don't think it's the lack of light. I'm not angry anymore."

ANNESBURG, 4 NOV 2023
The Park Outside Brian's Apartment

"Yeah. You could say that..." he stuffed the box back in his pocket and nodded his head further down the park's walking path. "Just take it as a general rule that anyone with a suitcase of unmarked bills is dangerous." He started slowly strolling down the walking path, "What you've got isn't flashy. I couldn't see a difference when you were using your ability and when you weren't. That'll come in handy with not being singled out if you use your ability for less than noble purposes..."
The mention of money certainly perked up her interest and he filed that tidbit of information away for a bit. He knew she worked at a department store but definitely had some 'champagne tastes' on a beer budget. Maybe that explained her association with Belinda, Augusta and especially Brian Floyd.

"All angered-out for now? Maybe we can try again in a bit." He turned over a few ideas about how to get into Floyd's apartment as the pair walked in the pleasantly cool fall air. "This would be a lot easier with a shape shifter or a teleporter..." he remarked. "Getting into Floyd's apartment, that is. You've been in there. What's the security like? The building have a doorman or security? Floyd have a security system in his apartment? How many locks on the door? He got a balcony?" A few scenarios popped into his head about both how to trip Melissa's anger again as well as a couple to get into Floyd's apartment as he walked.

ANNESBURG, 4 NOV 2023
The Park Outside Brian's Apartment

She knew she needed a little more excitement in her life and with Brian now a no-go she was kind of tickled by the prospect of getting involved in some nefarious activities while garnering a little attention by using her newfound skill. She'd have to work on having some control over it.

"Yeah. It needs somewhere to go. The anger. You know?" Dave's mention of shape-shifters and teleporters has her hearing the Twilight Zone music in her head. "So yeah, there's a doorman. Fred. And when he's off, it's an old guy, Harold. They won't let you in unless you are on their list. Now with you being with me, that might be good enough but I've never been there with anyone. I've always been alone or with Brian."

She thinks about what other security measures Brian has for his place. She never paid much attention to all that. "I think he has some kind of entry pad to get into his apartment. He can activate it with his phone. It's near the door, to the right I think. No wait, it's on the left. I don't know the code though. It locks automatically once you are inside. And he has a balcony. But I've never been out there. There are long curtains next to it. I suppose there could be another keyoad but I don't know."

GRAYBRIDGE, 4 NOV 2023
The Cicada
As much as she is on a path of discovery away from the instruction of her parents, appreciation of music is one thing that has grown in adulthood rather than diminish. When Bree mentions dancing, she replies, "Only if you lead." and wonders what is going on. Is she being honest with this woman? Or with herself?

There is music, that's all that matters, and even badly crafted it is always still better than the lack of it. Her orchestral instructors would heartily disagree of course, but they don't define her either.

She offers her hand.