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Sylvia had gotten a copy of Mike Brooks' schedule from Dave and was stalking the halls between classes listening to the noise that passed for thought in most of the people he interacted with.

...wow, I wonder what that one looks like naked...

Mike seemed a little distracted, I wonder why Gena hasn't returned my email.  I wonder if calling her would creep her out.  Maybe she doesn't really like me that much?  Maybe I should invite her to the dance.

For most of the day nothing jumps out at her, until just before last period.  Mike and Cindy Capshaw have a brief chat about class, Mike is only paying partial attention as he watches Gena at her locker down the hall.  I wonder why I never noticed her before?  Has she always been this pretty?

Oh god, why is he looking at her?  I'm right here, talking to him!  Cindy's thoughts race out, hot and sharp.  Grrrrrr, next time I should just snap her neck instead of trying to make it look like an accident!

I knew it! Sylvia broadcasts out of the blue to the nearest Usual Suspect.  It happens to be Sammy.  Gena's being stalked by a green-eyed monster!  Cindy Capshaw!

Sylvia's excited, and it transmits.

Sammy's thoughts tumble back.  Cindy Capshaw?  Who's Cindy Capshaw?  Where are you?  Do you need help?

I'm okay.  I'm just watching.  But, boy, does she look like a prime suspect.  Apparently she's got a mean crush on Mike, and Mike's completely blowing her off for Gena.  Cindy's making death threats in her head, something about snapping Gena's neck.  Does that mean she's a paranormal neck snapper, you think?  We may need John or Jakob before we confront her.

Are you telling me you want to sacrifice Jakob to jealous-crazy bitch so she'll leave the civilians alone?  Mean!  And yet Sylvia takes some curious delight in the idea.

Not sacrifice, not exactly.  We'll just use him to separate this particularly nasty cow from the rest of the herd.  Get her isolated, get her calm, then BAM! hit her on the head with the mallet especially reserved for particularly nasty cows... I forgot, you're a vegetarian, aren't you?  Sorry.  Um... but you know what I mean, right?

To get a conviction we're going to need evidence of her participation in a crime.  That'll take three telepaths unless we can find some real evidence.  Think we should involve the police, maybe through Colin's da--Chris?

Can't hurt.  And I'm still all for providing her with some kind of male distraction, if it'll keep her from hurting somebody just long enough to get what we need to convict her.

If you tell Alicia about Cindy, is--  There's a crackle of mental static that sounds like a string of mumbled epithets.  --your new friend going to come running down here to tear her up?

Don't go there.<flash (from inside Sammy's head) of Sammy asking the school shrink for help with her angry friend Alicia; lots of fear and a healthy dollop of irritation, with some compassion and what-is-that-picture-of-Sammy's-mom-doing-in-the-mix?>  I won't tell her unless she absolutely has to know.  She ignites too quickly.  Jack has to teach her some self control first.  Somebody has to.

Disseminate the information at your discretion, then.  If I tell her, she freaks out because I'm in her head.  If I don't tell her, I'm icing her out.  Lose-lose.  You get to play telephone, my darling.

Nuh uh.  You call Jakob.  He might want to have a chance to scope out this girl before he agrees to anything.  You tell Colin too? or do you want to call the PCD on our own this time?

I'll get Colin in a minute.  Chris seems to have our backs.  If we can just turn things over to him and his partner, we're golden.

Sylvia spends some time picking through Cindy's head.  She learns that Cindy and Mike attend the same martial arts school, and that she like Mike.  Cindy also recently developed a very interesting ability.  She can throw things at astounding speeds.  The image of her throwing a tennis ball for her dog and the ball vanishing on the horizon flash through her memories.  She practiced with it, and got very good.  Sylvia sees Cindy go over the assorted things she could throw at Gena to get rid of her.  Little things, like a marble or a playing card, or a history book.

She fights with the impulse to fix Cindy, to take away the bad thoughts and burn out the neurons that house them, but she doesn't have Smith's light touch or raw power.  And she doesn't want to take that final step away from the inculcated assumption that individual will is sacrosanct.  That will change someday, but for now she clings to her ideals.

Colin?  She shows him what she's learned about Cindy.  We need to protect Gena, but I don't want us to lead the lynch mob on Cindy.  Can you talk to Chris and find out what our options are?

Syl, daydreaming about getting rid of someone and actually doing it are two different things. I'll call Chris, but we'd better be really sure. Is the spike anywhere in her head?

Colin speed-dial Chris.

"Hi. Guess what? I have a problem."

Sylvia sees the memory of her throwing the spike, and then wondering what happened to it.


"Ok.  What do you need me to do?" Chris says.

Yes, I understand that--  She slips the next word in almost subliminally.  --Preachy, but a suspect is a suspect.  They still arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, didn't they?

Colin to himself, unwittingly.
Preachy? So it's fair to dump logs in my memory at any time of the day and night, and I can't give a single piece of advice, especially when I've made the same mistake before? Telepaths aren't immune from seeing what they want to see.

Colin to Sylvia.
I could go on a great length to explain why that is possibly the worst example ever, but instead I'll show my amazing gift of self-restraint. I'm calling Chris. I'll let you know.


"There's a girl at our school who could be the target of a maniac. She has already tried to kill her, but it's not like I can really prove it. Well, I don't know how, at least, but maybe you do. Can you assign protection to her? And I don't mean a patrol, I mean someone able to protect her from an accident of the paranormal kind."

"Well, we can use the excuse that our CI, that's you, has never been wrong before.  But aside from putting her in protective custody I don't really have someone I can assign to look over her.  I can certainly talk to her folks though and we can put them in protective custody if they'll take it.  Try to explain to them that we have reason to believe their daughter is in danger.  That will get her out of harms way, give us a chance to try and gather some evidence."

Colin thinks about it.

"Chris, what about a bug? You could plant a mic on me and I could try to make her talk."

[If Sylvia can listen in on this conversation, telepathically, she injects:]

They'll admit a mind reading as evidence if three telepaths will corroborate the same story.

[If she can't, never mind.]

"We could do that, but this borders on the territory your mom has described as me putting you in danger.  I'll set it up if you want to do it though."

"I'll think of it. And.. uhm... Chris, I've read somewhere that mind reading is admitted as evidence if three telepaths corroborate the same story. Is it true? Could it be arranged?"

"That's usually only after you go to trial.  If the person behind this is a juvenile, then it's likely she'll never make it to a trial if we get evidence enough to make a case.  It'll be handled through a plea bargain or something.  But I can look into it if we get that far along."

"I see. Then I'd try with the bug first, and then resort to this if it doesn't work."

Syl, you should get out of her head. If she gets a good lawyer, who hires a telepath to say that we messed with her head to make her confess we're in trouble. I have a question to ask, though. Remember the bee guy? He looked like a total psycho, but he did the right thing in the end. You've been in her head. Do you think there's a way to reason with her, or she's too far gone?

Telepaths don't make people confess.  We don't have to.

And she did try to kill Gena over a boy, of all things.  She saw an opportunity during the robot attack to eliminate a rival, and she took it.  I don't think you can reason someone out of that kind of kneejerk immorality.  It's not like she and Mike were dating.  This isn't about her losing her boyfriend to another girl.  This is about her wanting something and doing anything to get it.  Sylvia's tone grows resonant with conviction.  That's the essence of evil.

So you want me not to pacify her or anything, and you're going to go up to her and say, "Cindy, we know what you've done.  Turn yourself in and seek help."

I've read a lot of comic books since meeting Donnie.  Does that ever work?

Sylvia thinks about the difference between Sammy's secret admirer and Cindy Capshaw.  Darla was a special case.  The bee guy committed his crime in the heat of the moment.  Cindy, however, had the presence of mind to try to kill Gena under cover of another incident, and she doesn't seem to have any remorse over having done it.  She's thinking about herself, about what she wants, and it's not heartache that moves her.  It's the urge toward self-gratification.

But if you want to talk to her, I've got your back.

Colin nods mentally. If that's the case, talking would indeed be useless.

I'll let you know when Chris is ready.

OOC: This assumes Colin gave Chris the particulars about Gena so he and Kevin could go talk to her folks.  If he didn't then I can edit.

Chris calls back about an hour later.  Class is out at this point and people are heading home or to other destinations.  "Ok, we've talked to the Ballestra's and they've agreed to go into protective custody.  Apparently they think someone has been hanging around the house the last week or so, but weren't sure.  So they were already spooked.  I've got the wire for you to wear.  But, and I can't stress this enough.  If something goes wrong your mother will kill me."

"I'd have all my friends watching my back, Chris. I'm not really worried. But if you prefer, I can talk with them to see who else can do it."

"Shifting the guilt from one kid to another wont help.  Where should we meet so I can get you wired up?  When do you plan to do this?"

"Well, invulnerable kids should cause less guilt. I don't know who of us would be best at egging her on. Let us figure it out, Chris. I'll call you back as soon as we decide."

What an interesting question, Sylvia says.  We should line John and Jakob up and throw things at them until we know the answer.

Bait?  I can convince her that Gena's walking around, making herself an easy target.

Huh?  Sylvia's not a big George Clooney fan.

She gets a quick recap of a scene of clever deceiving.

Basically, goading her into saying something incriminating.

Oh!  You mean like A Few Good Men.  Jack Nicholson invades Colin's head.  You want the truth?  You can't handle the truth!

I guess, but if you don't want me leaving fingerprints in her brain, I can't help beyond having 911 on speed dial.

Memory alteration leaves a mark I can find, and sometimes I can piece together the evidence of mind control, just by looking at the inconsistencies.  Telepathy?  I don't think I can find that, and I've never read anything about anyone who could.

Okay.

OOC: We done with this thread?

[I think so.]