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Sylvia grimaces and shows Alicia her phone.  "Machine shop.  Why does that sound so ominous?  Why does that remind me of killer robots and metal tentacles and sharpened throwing spikes?"

Alicia grins. "'Cause you watch the same late-night shows I do?"

She waves her hand dismissively. "If I'm reading this right, Billy's just a lead. He's like Gena; he saw something or someone. The worst we'll have to deal with is some guy staring at our tits and imagining us naked."

"It's not TV.  It's life!"


"Yeah, there were like seventeen guys looking at you as we made our way out here.  I counted."

Sylvia takes a moment to focus on the task at hand.  "Okay.  So Billy Peterson might know something about the love goo.  We'll go with your plan.  I'll just see what's on his mind today, and then we can figure out what to do about it."

She heads for their interviewee, invisible to all but Alicia, and keeps her ears up for pertinent psychic noise.

Alicia's grin grows to Cheshire proportions. "Yup. 'Cause TV's got nothin' on reality for us!"


Alicia shrugs nonchalantly as if it's no big deal, but secretly, in that part of her head that evaluates her self-worth, she's pleased.


For all her attention-getting mannerisms, Alicia can be invisible in her own way. She moves along unobtrusively, her own senses on high alert.

Winter has the Auto-Shop's main doors closed.  Students work under the hood or in the pit or at the assorted work benches.  Billy isn't hard to spot, Dave sent along his yearbook picture about a minute after the classroom message.  He's laughing with the guys at his table and they're rebuilding a fuel injector assembly, which Sylvia feels a small joy at being able to properly identify the device without looking in anyone's head.

Alicia hangs back, using available cover to remain inconspicuous, waiting on Sylvia. She tries to get a feel on Billy by his voice; the tones, the type of words he uses.

And yet she has to.  Reading someone's mind, especially when they're happy at ease, can be like dipping your hand into a pail of water.  Everything is clear and sun-warmed, and thoughts sparkle off the surface to be taken in at a casual glance.

Sylvia picks up the thoughts like conversation.  They're talking about gear head stuff.  Custom mods their dream rides.  Each boys tastes are highlighted in what they want, the impressive stereo, the handling package, the drop top.  Billy is a purest, she (his dream car) will have classic lines, a V8 and a stick shift.

Sylvia relates this all to Alicia--and then sticks her with the hard part.  So go do your thing.  Work him over, Mami.

Alicia makes a face. Great. I know s**t about cars. Except knowing which ones not to ride in. I'm guessing he's not a budding criminal, so I won't try the 'looking for a score' route.

She takes a deep breath. I'll go the straight route and tell him I'm looking into some funny stuff involving chemicals and I'm asking for advice. If I start to bomb, throw me a warning and I'll back off.

Alicia heads into the auto shop and to the table.  She doesn't draw too much attention, there are a couple of other girls in the class and she has a way about her that lets her walk through a room and not really draw attention.  She is greeted with smiles and nods when she makes it to the table.

Alicia decides to go for the "cool chica" look. As she gets close to the worktable, she adds a little swagger and sway.

"Hi, guys!," she leans on the table with a smile. "Can you tell me where Billy Peterson is?"

Billy raises his hand from the object he's working on, "Here."  he says, then going back to work on the object.

Alicia smiles to the group in general then sidles over to where Billy is working.

"Hi, Billy, I'm Alicia. Sorry for interrupting, but could I talk to you for a bit? In private?" She injects some earnest sincerity in her voice, dropping the volume enough to make the request sound important and in need of discretion.

Billy shrugs, "Sure."  he hands the screwdriver to one of the other students and heads outside with her.  "What's up?"  Billy is obviously older, probably a Senior. 

Alicia takes a deep breath. Screw subtlety. "Ok, I know this is going to sound weird, but, have you noticed anything weird around school lately? Maybe in Chemistry class?"

"Nothing recently, not since the Howell kid left.  He and his little pals used to spend way too much time in the back of the room whispering.  Probably fags."

Crap. This is what I get for listening to Looney Laney.

"Do you remember who they were? The guys hanging out with Howell?"

Help me out, Syl! she calls out mentally.

"Jerry something.  He was one of them, and his little boyfriend."  Billy seems to be thinking for a moment, "Harry, Harvey, something like that.  They say they aren't gay but I saw them kissing in the storage closet the day after they dumped homemade stink on the red head."

God, I hope Syl's getting some mental snapshots 'cause he's not giving me much to work on.

"So, just the two? Jerry and Harry or Harvey?"

"Yep.  Howell was the type that used you, but you felt good about it.  Like he was doing you a favor."

Alicia grimaces. "So I've heard."

She sighs. "Look, I really appreciate this. There's... some weird stuff going on, and I think they may be involved."

On a sudden impulse, she looks around for a convenient piece of paper and something to write with. Scribbling her cell phone number on the paper (God, I hope I'm not doing something stupid), she hands it to him. "If you remember anything else, or notice anything new, could you give me a call, please?"

Billy takes the paper and shrugs, "Sure."  he says, putting the slip of paper in his wallet.  Then he heads back to class.

As soon as Billy is out of sight, Alicia falls back against the wall and lets out her breath.

"Woah! Damn, I hope this sort of s**t gets easier with practice. It's so much simpler when you can just beat the snot out of them first."

OOC: I'm gonna wait 'til Syliva can chime in before going any further.

[Sorry.  Busy night.

Was Sylvia able to dredge anything substantial out of his head while Alicia directed the conversation?]

Sylvia got some insights from his brain.  She knows what the people he was talking about look like and got his point of view of the kissing incident he mentioned.

OOC: Make a Search Roll

Billy's Brain (1d20+2=11) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1978481/)

[That sucked.  Rerolling with Hero Point.]

Billy's Brain, Again (1d20+2=10) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1978485/)

[Frick.  Wasn't meant to be.]

OOC: A Hero Point is a minimum of a 10, WHICH IS STILL ONLY 10+2 FOR 12.  Not a major issue, it will come up later is all.

[Are we not using the reroll-and-keep-higher-roll rules?]

[Sorry.  I was reading the rules like I read this game--at a blink.  :)  ]

No need to apologize. It was for Darren. He doesn't always have the rules handy. I was just handing him the answer by the book so he can improve upon it as necessary (usually by ignoring it). :)

OOC: So it's add 10 if under 10.  So it's 8+10+2?

[I'll be oh-so-quick to pounce on the rules when they're in my favor.  I believe it's:

10 + 10 + 2 = 22!

Woohoo!]

OOC: Ow. My brain is leaking out my ears.  :8

OOC: You rolled an 8 for the second roll.  8+10 = 18 + 2 for skill is 20.  That's assuming I get the rule as described.  In which case....

While filtering through the details of things Billy finds odd, which is not a totally shocking list considering he's a teenage boy, Sylvia does find that Billy thinks Mr. Hamilton, the AP Chem teacher, is a little too interested in the cheer leading squad.  Billy finds it a little on the pervy side.

[Once again, poor reading comprehension on my part.]

Sylvia's mouth drops open, and she forwards her results to Alicia, along with some editorial commentary.  Eww!  And again.  Eww!  And then some MacBeth, sorta.  What, will this brain ne'er be clean?  Eww!

[Does this happen before or after the ongoing incident in the pep-squad locker room?]

OOC: Billy has noticed it in the last month or so.

Sylvia can see Alicia's mind go cold. Cold and dark, with black shapes slithering around in the shadows, overlaid by the cloying scent of overripe strawberries (?).

Alicia stuffs the image right back into the mental hole it had crawled out of.

She shows no sign of discomfort with mental communication. We'll need to confirm this. That may mean poking around his head. Can you handle that?

There is no challenge or accusation in the question. Just a flat query for information.

Sylvia's discomfort at its core is the little-girl affectation that some things are too gross for her.  Dropping all pretense, she says, Oh, hell, yes.  I'm going to turn him inside-out.

Alicia regards Sylvia with amusement

Bloodthirsty, aren't you? If I recall correctly, last time I expressed that sort of sentiment around the group, I got the third degree.

I can't be bloodthirsty.  I won't spill a drop.  I'll just dig around in his brain until I'm sure he's not trying to hurt anyone.

Alicia arches an eyebrow. I see. Excuse me for not catching the subtleties of 'turning someone inside-out.'

She shrugs. Not that I'm against the idea in general. If this guy's responsible for the goo incidents, he's due some pain.

Pulling out her cellphone, she types out an all-points bulletin.

Got lead on mad chemist. need to discuss plan of attack asap. when & where?

That might be premature, Sylvia advises.  There's always the chance that Hamilton's innocent.

Alicia thinks primly, All the more reason to talk it out with the group. We're not the only ones involved on this.

OOC: for the sake of continuity -- this is lunchtime still, ya?  to all from Sammy:  sorry.  busy right now.  quizzes this afternoon.  busy tonight w/costume stuff.

Sarah taps in a response. 

Im all 4 that.  Wnt 2 come ovr 2 my plc 4 nachos aftr skool?
Sammy do u want me 4 costume stuf l8r?  I can prly hold still jus no pokin w/ needlz.

K. See if Colin cn b ther 2.


She looks up at Sylvia. "Sarah says we can meet at her place after school. At the very least her, Colin, you and me should be enough to figure something out."

No needlz.  :)  Costume y unls U wnt Sylz Mitzi 2 fx 4 U.  I cn brng it 2 U frm shop if U wnt dat.  Time/place information is sent separately.

3 texts:

To Colin:

*mwah* Syl & Alicia meetin @ my place aftr skool 2day.  U want to come over?

To Sammy:

Sounds cool.  I B Thr w/ bells on.  :)

To Syl & Alicia:
If my lil bro shows up no talk about anything super.  He's in the dark.  Mom & Dad asked me not 2 tell. 

Understood. c ya then.


Alicia looks to Sylvia. "It'd be nice if we could at least sniff this guy out to get a feel on him before we pow-wow, but that's up to you."

"No time like the present," Sylvia murmurs, bemused, and heads for the A.P. Chemistry room.

Alicia's mouth quirks into a crooked smile and follows along.

She catches up to Sylvia and says conversationally, "So I heard you're in the pep squad now."

[Do they find anything at the classroom?]

OOC: Silly me thought you might answer Alicia before you got there.

When the teens arrive at Mr. Hamilton's classroom they find him in the process of teaching a class.

[Sorry.  Reading comprehension is even lower than usual today.]

"Yep.  Looking to join?  It's a tough outfit.  Other squads go to cheer camp to compete.  We know the only real victory is survival."

Alicia makes a rude noise. "Yeah, right. Sorry, jumping around in a tight little skirt to give a bunch of horny teenage boys some entertainment is not my idea of fun. Besides, c'mon, how hard can it be?"

It's obvious her dismissive attitude hides some underlying issue, although what it is remains concealed under the surface.

Sylvia affects ennui.  "It's not really hard until they start trying to crush you with stadium lights or control your mind.  Or just get you expelled through public humiliation.  Or spray you down with love goo so you do something embarrassing in the middle of the lunch room."

She hops into an impromptu cheer as they cross the field back toward the main school building.

"We are the Oak Park pep squad!  You hate because we cheer!
We started out as bimbos, but now we know no fear!
You love us for our spankies!  You love us for our skirts!
The pep squad gives you spirit!  We give until it hurts!

T-A-R-G-E-T-S!  Oak Park, Oak Park T-a-a-a-a-argets!"

Sylvia rattles illusionary pom-poms over her head and does a couple of mid-air splits.

Alicia stands there dumbfounded for a few seconds, then breaks into guffaws of laughter that come close to having her collapse on the ground.

When she finally can draw breath, she gasps, "Ay, Dios mio, that was... wicked! You should sooo teach them that cheer! I'd actually go to a game just to hear it."

In a more normal voice, she remarks, "So I guess you've got no problem fitting in." The words carry a whiff of yearning almost too faint to notice.

"Alas, I have to hide my cynicism around the others."


"I'm new to this area, did you know?  I'm from San Francisco.  So I was a freakshow from day one, but now I'm a freakshow with super powers.  Do you wish you fit in a little better?"

Alicia chuckles wryly. "I was a freakshow from the day I was born. From what I heard, the doctors weren't even sure what the f**k I was; probably would've ended up in some research center if my mom hadn't made a stink about it."

She turns to regard Sylvia with all the cynical worldliness her teenage face can muster. "'Fitting in' was never an option for me, so why even bother?"

And the door in her mind opens just enough to get a peek: an eight year-old Alicia, gangly in pink tights and dance shoes, rubbing angry tears from her cat-like eyes as a ring of girls of equal age and outfits mock and ridicule her, while an unsympathetic ballet instructor looks on.

"It's nice to be inconspicuous sometimes," Sylvia says, "but it's funny how so many kids here want to stand out somehow.  Think about the tattoos, the piercings, the ones who act out, or even the ones who've just gotta have that Coach purse and super-sleek cell phone.  It's dreary to be normal.  It's exhausting to try, every minute of every day, to be noticed."

Alicia gives Sylvia a sidelong glance. "If you say so. I guess I'll chalk that up to people always wanting what they don't have."

OOC: This might be a good point for them to actually get to Hamilton's class.

Sneaking a peek through the little window in the door, Alicia mentally whispers to Sylvia, Think you can get a read on him from here?

Absolutely.  Unless he's wearing a tinfoil hat.

Alicia nods. I'd have to wait until he got out to get a good sniff from him. Right now, I can't tell him apart from all the other smells in there.

She makes a face. Ugh. Someone's anti-perspirant is definitely not working today.

Hamilton's mind is focused on his lecture.  But Sylvia can see a glimmer of interest when he looks towards one of the girls in his class that's on the pep squad.  the eerie thing is that it's scientific curiosity, not lust.

Sylvia's eyes narrow, and she probes him with the delicacy of a prison guard snapping on a rubber glove.  She doesn't even warn him that it may pinch a little.

Sylvia relays this stream of consciousness to Alicia and then, because he remembers so well, to Colin.

She reaches out to John as well and taps them for a brief pow-wow.  He's exposed the pep squad to some kind of mutagen.  My guess?  Girls' locker room.  Alicia and I should head there and check it out, but we might need help finding any device or evidence.

Alicia frowns, and mutters out loud, "Damn, it would help if I could get a fix on his scent. Then I could check to see if it shows up in the locker room."

Her eyebrow arches as a thought strikes her. He looks mischievously at Sylvia and asks with an evil grin, "Could you 'inspire' him to need a pee break?"

As she retires from his mind, she gets the image of a door closing behind her, with an ignored "KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING, PLEASE :(" sign attached to it.

A few rooms away, Colin smiles embarrassedly at his English teacher. "Sorry. What was I saying?"

Sylvia thinks about that.  Her mentor, Smith, always did things cell-up, it seemed, and she's learned a little something about tugging at a person's biology that way.  I'll give it a shot.

She leans on Hamilton.  Too much caffeine, you bastard?  Maybe that mutagen is a carcinogen, too.  How's your prostate?

Hamilton finishes the next part of his lecture and sets down his pointer.  "I'll be right back.  Everyone look over the chart and I'll finish up when I return."  Then he walks out of the room, heading towards the rest room just up the hall.

He smells like a person that showers regularly, and works with chemicals constantly.  Alicia is assaulted with a thousand subtle scents she can't identify.

Away from his lecture Hamilton's mind drifts to his experiment, and the fact that he had been forced to crawl into the air ducts over the girls shower to administer the gas.  There should be signs of effect by now.  They've had two doses of the stabilizer, surely the gator-aide can't break it down?  No, if that were the case they'd be experiencing runaway mutation by now.

OOC: Surprise!  You're welcome.

[What you posted earlier seemed to indicate that he was targeting a specific girl.  Can Sylvia find out which one?]

OOC: He just happened to have one in his class when you arrived.  He's actually wondering which member of the pep squad will develop powers first, and almost wishes he had people to share this with so they could start a little betting pool.

OOC: Assuming Sylvia passes on that last thought thread...

Alicia thinks tautly, Well, that settles that.

She looks at Sylvia, all business-like. Do we still need to check the locker room? Might be better to let someone with more experience at evidence gathering take care of that. Right now, we need to worry about what the hell he's pumped into...

Alicia is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but she gets there eventually. She looks at Syliva, face slack as she realizes, Oh s**t. Sylvia's in the pep squad. That means she's been affected.

The dark cloud is back in Alicia's mind, roiling in anger with the stench of rotten strawberries. The thoughts in her mind are clear in their simplicity. Sylvia's part of my [group/pack/family]. He's hurt her. He must pay.

Alicia stands there trembling, as visions of her marching into the men's room and tearing Hamilton into pieces threaten to overwhelm her tenuous grasp on reason.

Sylvia shows no sign that she's heard any of this, but she does set her hand on Alicia's shoulder.  Easy.  We may need him to figure out a cure.  And we definitely need him to face justice--and get his teeth kicked in.

I guess now would be the time to call the cops, unless you have other ideas.

Sylvia's gesture strangely does a lot to curb Alicia's murderous rage. She takes a few ragged breaths, then thinks bitterly, with clenched teeth. Wouldn't do any good. We have no concrete evidence. It'd be just the word of two high-school girls against his.

She takes one final deep breath to cleanse her mind. It might be a good idea to alert the pep squad of what's going on. Or at least someone who could actually do something to help them.

She grimaces bashfully at Sylvia. Sorry about that, Syl. I guess this is going to shut the squad for sure now.

John is standing behind the pair.  The little breeze announcing his arrival.  "You scare the crap out of me when you do that Sylvia."  he says softly.  

Without a pause, Alicia retorts, "And you scare the s**t outa me when you do that, John."

She glances at Sylvia, "You called him? What's he gonna do?"

"He's our resident medical expert, and he doesn't have to take a deep whiff of mutagen to find it.

"We're thinking girls' locker room, John.  You're not shy, are you?"  Sylvia has a sadistic streak.  She smiles oh-so-faintly as she says that.

Alicia humphs, then joins Sylvia in smiling, a lot less subtly. "Oh, this I have to see. John sneaking into the girls' locker room."

John looks at the pair of them.  "I can see through things."  He says flatly, "So I may not have to actually go inside."  He grins, and then he's gone.

Alicia mutters softly, "Cocktease."

Her mood shifting again, she looks concernedly at Sylvia, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Sylvia says.  "Just pissed.  I think the mutagen worked--not on me so much but on some of the others.  And, dammit, I liked this squad."

The mention of Sylvia's anger causes Alicia's to come back up to a brisk boil. "Don't worry, Sylvia. If the bastard manages to weasel out of the cops, I'll track him down."

He mind flits through images of imagined offenses to nature she considers inflicting on Hamilton.

She looks worriedly down the hall. "But even if John does find something, what do we do with it? I made a point of having people get together after school to talk this out. Colin seems to have an in with la jara. Maybe we should work it out with them."

Sylvia nods and sighs like the routine has become all too familiar.  "I'd really like to kick him in the head once or twice, but that's not what we're going to do.  We're going to hope John finds some physical evidence and then turn it over to the PCD."

She frowns with dissatisfaction over that and then looks at her hands as if to check for webbing.  "I hope the school nurse has something for rapid mutation."

Alicia stands there biting her lip, her voice tinged with anxiety. "Ah hell, Syl. Maybe that stuff of Hamilton's only works if you're not already powered.

"Besides, didn't he think somethin' about putting, like, an antidote or somethin' in the Gatorade? Maybe we just need to track that down and have you chug a couple of bottles."

"Nothing in the locker room or showers that didn't look like it belonged."  John says from behind the girls.  "Next?"

Alicia gives John a somewhat exasperated look. "You check the air ducts? Oh, never mind."

She heads off in the direction of the locker rooms with a determined step.

OOC: Unless stopped, Alicia will come up to the entrance to the locker room and start using her nose. She's searching for any distinct scent markers that match Hamilton's. If there's anybody in the locker room, they'll be treated to the sight of Alicia walking slowly about the room, eyes closed and nose twitching, droitly avoiding any obstacles along the way.

John just looks at Alicia wondering if she's serious, and then watches as she walks off.

In the girl's locker room Alicia can pick up a faint scent of Hamilton, but it's not in the room itself.  After wandering around some she feels she can isolate it to the air ducts over the girl's shower.

With some work she can follow it from the vent over the showers to an access panel on the roof.

Alicia can't help but feel smug.

Standing next to the access panel, she calls out, knowing that John can hear her. "Ha! So there, Mr. Faster-Than-A-Speeding-Bullet. I tracked the pendejo to a panel on the roof. Care to join me?"

John doesn't ask Sylvia if she wants to go, but she senses the thought a fraction of a second before she's on the roof and he's putting her down.  "Ok.  So you tracked his scent.  Now what?"

Alicia stands there, hands on her hips, and shrugs. "Beats me. I could go through the ducts and see if he left any physical evidence behind, but how the hell would I know what it was if I came across it?"

She waves her hands in emphasis. "Unless you two have any better ideas, I'm all for filing this away and sharing it with the rest of the group over at Sarah's tonight. Let the ones with brains figure it out. I'm late for class as it is."

"Sounds like a good idea.  No sense in crawling around in there, if there is evidence it's something too small to see so we might destroy it."  John is looking at the roof under his feet, and his gaze follows something unseen.  "Nothing left in the ducts up here either."  he says evenly.

Alicia says, flatly, "Thanks for the support."

She turns to Sylvia, and in a softer voice, asks, "You sure you gonna be all right, Syl? If there's anything you want me to do, just say the word."

Sylvia flicks a wry look at Alicia and manages an indifferent shrug.  "I'm okay.  Donnie likes scales."

John looks at Alicia, obviously confused, but let's the comment go.  Sylvia's comment draws his attention though, and then he lets that go.  "What now then?"

Alicia shakes her head in mock exasperation at Sylvia, and sniffs at John's question. "Dunno about you, but I gotta book. My History teacher already hates my guts. Missing her class will just make her day."

Waving an indifferent farewell, Alicia takes two skips and a cartwheel to reach the edge of the roof and flips over the edge out of sight.