෴Raz෴

෴Hex෴

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

Later:

“So wait, you’re telling me you somehow transfused some kind of power into me so I could release that aspect?” Her tone was incredulous.

He nodded.

She failed to hide a skeptical look. “Honey, I’ve heard about a lot of abilities. However, I’ve never heard of anyone that can give someone else a power boo—” she stopped and thought for a second. “Well, I take that back, I’ve heard of it, but it doesn’t, er, didn’t work like you’re describing.”

[On this topic, we need to discuss the outcomes of that event soon.]

He shrugged. “Yeah. It wasn’t very efficient. In fact it was horribly inefficient. I’d imagine there might be an ability that does it better.”

She arched a brow, leaning back against the passenger seat with her arms folded. “So you’re saying this isn’t your ability, but you can somehow do it?”

“Yeah. That’s about the size of it.”

She looked out the window, her tone casual. “I don’t suppose you can show me how that works?”

[She does not believe you.]

Yeah. I got that.

[Trying to repeat that event would further damage you.]

How bad are we talking?

An immediate low hum filled his mental soundscape.

[My best estimate is that repeating an action like that before full recovery would be catastrophic.]

“Doing it hurt like hell on my end. I felt like I was breaking something inside. I’d rather not go through that again before I’m recovered.”

She frowned. “I hate to ask, but how are you feeling? Mid—He thinks you’re in danger of getting ability psychosis.”

Raz pulled up to a stoplight and considered her question.

[At current energy levels, it would be lethal to you before she even felt anything.]

[If against the odds, you somehow survive, your ability to gain and use energy might be permanently lost.]

Ok, not doing that then. We need to figure out how to heal up then.

[That is what we need to talk about.]

“Hey!” Hex nudged his shoulder. “The light’s green.”

He became aware of the honking and resumed driving.

“By the way, when I ask how you’re doing, and mention ability psychosis, and you just zone out, that’s not a good sign in my book.”

He glanced at her with a chagrined smile. “Sorry, just thinking about what happened. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“Is it possible you just managed to wake me up?”

He glanced at her, his own brow arched. “You tell me. Were you, or were you not, in contact with that aspect at the time? Or by chance, were all your aspects a bit out of it right then, and suddenly you got a little recharge?”

He watched her reaction from the corner of his eye as he drove. Her instant shocked look covered by an imperfect calm mask told him he’d touched a nerve.

“Yeah, I—I guess I can’t deny that something weird happened right about then. I had aspects in reserve, but I overran my ability. Usually it takes an hour or more to recover from that if I can’t use more—of that lotion.”

She glanced out the window at the afternoon city skyline, her expression pensive. “Normally I’d never let myself get so low. Honestly, I thought you were dead when I ran dry.”

“Yeah, that thought crossed my mind as well.” he conceded.

She looked at him with a speculative expression. “So I guess I have to accept that whatever you did, it had some kind of effect. If whatever you did hadn’t worked, I wouldn't have been able to use any of the booster cream.”

“Yeah, if not for you collapsing down to one aspect to carry me out, and those guys with the napalm sprayers, I’d be dead, no question. Booster cream?” Raz admitted with pursed lips.

Her jaw dropped for an instant before she recovered. “You said that before. Why are you so sure that’s what happened?”

“Hey, I’m trying to say something important here!” He exclaimed.

He continued. “I didn’t think things through well enough. I’d assumed I might run into some of the guards, I wasn’t prepared for chimeras, and I sure as shit wasn’t ready for Hutch.”

He reached over and put his hand on her shoulder, willing the analyze prompt away almost instantly. “Whatever else, I owe you big time, and I appreciate you putting yourself at risk for me.”

She nodded, “Ok I got it, I appreciate being appreciated. Show me your appreciation by answering my question!”

He smiled “Ok, here’s how. I can tell you right now, you only have two aspects out.”

She looked at him wide eyed, “What the actual fuck. Ok, I believe you, but seriously, how do you know that?”

“I—can sense you. I can tell right now that you’re low on power, but much lower than you were a few minutes ago when you switched from a single aspect to multiple aspects. You haven't built up enough energy since then to make more, so ergo, you have two aspects out right now.”

She shivered, “Can you tell where the other one is? Or which one it is?”

He shook his head. “No, no idea. I assumed it would be the one that has kids to be responsible for.”

She nodded slightly, “Fuck. I thought your damn Sherlocking me out of my little secrets before was bad. If this is related to your ability, I guess RIP any secrets at all.”

He shrugged.

“Well, I guess you can tell me about the rest of it,” she laughed nervously. “Or you could skip to the part where you stop killing me with suspense and tell me what your ability actually is.”

He changed lanes to avoid the car that was about to slam on its brakes for no visible reason. “Oh, I’m not sure it has an official name. I have an ability from the perception suite.”

[This whole idea of there being “suites” is completely incorrect by the way.]

[A series of interconnected trees would be a far better analogy.]

I’ve realized that, but this is the language she’ll be familiar with.

“Yeah, I got that. It was clear that you had some kind of sensory upgrades. I’m wondering what your real ability is.” she replied.

He sighed. “Look, I thought this might be a problem. The thing is, the answer isn’t as simple as I think you think it is.”

She made a little annoyed sound. “Well, at least that doesn't sound condescending or anything. You know I’ve been in this longer than I’ve known you. How about you just pretend I might know a thing or two about abilities. I know it’s a big stretch, but try it.”

He shook his head in a sharp motion. “It’s not meant that way. I mean, you’ve heard that Ohm’s law isn’t quite perfect, but it’s close enough we’ve built tons of technology around and based on it?”

She paused, then shook her head. “No, I have not heard that, I think I’ve heard of Ohm’s law. It’s something about electricity, right?”

He nodded with a smile. “Right! So it’s like that. I think—I think, to put it bluntly, that the common understanding of how abilities and catalyst work is way off.”

“So you’re right and everyone else is wrong and only you know the re—huh. That sounds like something he would say. So ok, let's say I accept that everyone else is wrong. You have all the answers?”

He laughed, a short harsh sound. “Oh hell no. Not even close. But I think I’ve figured some things out that aren’t in the common body of knowledge.”

“Ok, I’m not sure I’m up to an in depth discussion about that, so let's table it for now and you tell me what happened when we got outside.”

“So you popped in naked. The Tris aspect I think.” He started. She nodded.

“You only had one aspect out. Then, you said you were sorry, and we teleported. I barfed everywhere when we arrived next to the van, and you acted like someone sucker punched you in the head.”

She gave a small nod. “That’s congruent with what I remember. But those gloves shouldn’t have come with us. You weren’t even wearing them were you?”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t. I had to take them off. But they were in the front pocket of that vest.”

He put his hand to his chest. “Oh shit. That means the special armor is gone! That was good stuff!”

She nodded with a sad expression. “Yeah, I was thinking about that. I really hoped I could get you out of there, but when I saw the response team outside, and that thing was so close behind us I knew that option was gone.”

She looked away, out the window. “I don’t understand why they came with us though. I know how much I can carry when I’m at my strongest, and bringing you, even on such a short hop was about my limit.”

She looked at him and then her gaze flickered to the gauntlets and back at him. “Bringing any gear with us was a huge risk. I had to carry you, and only you. I have no idea what happened there.”

He shrugged. “You got me, I’m just glad we’re ok, and honestly, a little bummed about losing your, well, all that gear.”

It was her turn to shrug. “That’s just stuff. I’ll admit, losing the armor could go badly, and I don’t see us being able to—well, hold up. I suppose we could visit Brock and see about one for you—but no, that's a dumb idea. Forget I said anything. Everything he makes is way too expensive.” she said in a rush. She shook her head in negation. “Anyway, it’s all just stuff, and we’re alive. That’s the important thing.”

“Well, I guess I should be glad you feel that way, since those guys napalmed the place right after we—”

“Nano-thermite.” she interjected.

He paused. “What?”

“They don’t use napalm. It doesn’t burn hot enough, and it’s full of nasty shit that's released when it burns. They use something called nano-thermite.” she explained.

“That sounds like a made up sci-fi thing.”

She smirked. “Nope, totally real. Could tell you all about it. It’s all microscopic particles of various metal oxides and extra oxygen binders to make it burn really fast and ridiculously hot. It’s the only way to be sure you’ve killed everything on the premises, and upside for us, it destroys any evidence we leave behind. It’s SOP if they even suspect chimera infestation. Otherwise they end up with another mini-Zone before you know it.”

“Nano-thermite” he repeated, as though trying the words on for size. “Ok, so anyway, they sprayed the place down with ‘nano-thermite’ and as far as I could tell, they burned Hutch down with it.”

“Oh thank god for that!” she blurted out. “I don’t know what his damage was, but that guy was scary.”

“Yeah. He interrogated me while they had me. I had no idea he was such a monster. It makes me wonder how Braithwaite kept him in line.” Raz said, mostly to himself.

He looked around at the familiar sights. “We’re almost back, I think you were going to tell me your side of the story?”

She licked her lips with an anxious expression but nodded. “Yeah, ok.”

She sat in silence long enough for Raz to get impatient. “If you’re planning to tell me the truth it shouldnt take a lot of time to think it through.”

She nodded quickly. “You’re right, but you try telling a multi part story in the first person! It’s just, well, stuff I don’t usually talk about. So for starters, you were right, about pretty much everything.”

He nodded, but didn’t interrupt.

“When I managed to release the aspect that got a little blown up.”

“And stabbed.” he added.

“Right, and stabbed. I was already getting set to deal with something like that guy, at least as well as I could. I got the shotguns ready with incendiary rounds, and told my parents they needed to watch the kids.” She stopped and chuckled. “Honestly, it takes longer to tell it, than it took to do it all at once. I started bringing in aspects. I’m not sure how it works, but the more of me there are, the weaker my teleporting is. On the other hand, the fewer aspects out, the more foreign living mass I can carry, further. It’s the living tissue thing that’s usually the issue. I can have—er, a number of aspects out, and still be able to transport myself and my gear. But even with just a few out, I couldn’t even carry a cat.”

[She still doesn’t want to tell you specifics.]

Meh, let her have that. It’s not an important secret in my eyes.

She shrugged, “I’m not really sure I understand it that well myself. Usually I just say I can’t carry people, period. The truth is too complicated most times.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I definitely get that.”

“Anyway, like you said. When we landed I felt like someone had straight up cold cocked me. I should have been fine, not great, tired as shit, but fine, when we arrived.” she paused and put her fingers to her right temple briefly. “Instead I felt like I had a hardcore hangover and I’d just finished a marathon.”

He nodded. “Well thanks again.”

“Anyway, that's really all there is to it. I’ll answer questions if you need more.” she offered.

Raz pulled into the parking structure. “Well, I do have some questions about New Kids on the Block, but they can wait till we’re in a public place, with lots of witnesses.”

“Don’t you even think about it!” she hissed with a grin.