WEIRDER STUFF - Rainbow Connection

[WS ST]

About then Cora received a text from Cade. “Cade is going to be late his dad called him to come down to the Sheriff's station. He said he'd catch up and fill us in if her learns anything.”

Jase nodded, “Then we're just waiting on Clara, Lona, Charlie and Cass. Did anyone tell her we were meeting?”

Sara shakes her head, “I didn't, did you Jauntson?”

“No. I thought you would,” he shrugged back as he texted Avalon that she should text him if they needed help. “Maybe someone should call her. I don't have her number.”

“I do.”

Everyone looks at Laurie who was digging her phone out of her back pocket. When she had it out she saw the unasked question on everyone's face. “What? I'm on the yearbook committee.”

She texted Cassandra that they were meeting at Bunnee's and if she could make she should come. “There.”

“And I just sent Charlie one telling him to get his ass down here.,” said Marrissa to more surprise by everyone. “Look with everything you guys are saying about Dark Vader, I'm going to give the drama dweeb the benefit of the doubt. At least he didn't leave a mark, would have been a different story if I'd of had to wear a scarf in this heat.”

 

At that the Fellowship sat, made small talk, ate, and drank their orders while they waited for the rest to arrive or send messages.

 

[Cassandra Allen]

Cassandra's head was somewhere very unusual when the email came. For once in the last few years, she wasn't thinking about the Crossroads prison. Wasn't working on any of her six different ideas for how to get in, find evidence and get out again. This business with the cabin and the utterly bizarre...maybe even paranormal...events surrounding it had actually driven pretty much everything else out of her head. For awhile.

Then her phone dinged at her, and her laptop dinged in eerie unison, and she looked at the email and frowned and started to close it...then stopped and looked again. More closely. A second later she was scrambling to find and turn on the little wireless printer she had, and printing that email out before she copied it onto another thumbdrive. Then deleted it. Then went into the 'recycle bin' and deleted it again.

The images attached to the email were disturbing. The story behind them was horrifying. The prison was at it again...and this time, she just might have them. Her hands shook a little as the pages came out of the printer. The attachments didn't print, and this machine was too crappy to do a decent job of it anyway. She'd just rely on the copies on the thumbdrive. Crap.

In a fit of paranoia, she then copied the images onto yet ANOTHER thumbdrive. Just in case.

Timing was going to be key with this, if she wanted to catch them in the lie.

A few minutes later, she was out of the house and swinging up onto her bike. She needed to hit up City Hall, and the library, and maybe even the local 'real' newspaper. And then she had calls to make.

_______________
Shelly City Hall

Cassandra was squinting as she tried to make out a photocopy of a page taken from a back issue of the local paper and was having a little trouble turning said page because her left hand was holding her cellphone up to her ear. Meanwhile the clerk handling her file request was coming back over.

"Ah, shoot, just a second. Just gotta handle something really quick," she said into her phone and put it on mute. The clerk came over with a very small stack of manila folders.

Cassie looked at the lackluster pile skeptically. "That's seriously it?"

The clerk shrugged. "They have a good track record. It's why the contract keeps getting renewed."

"Okay," said the reporter, knowing this wasn't the hill she wanted to die on, "Thanks a huge amount. I really appreciate you taking the time to actually find these things."

Whatever 'aw shucks' reply the clerk gave was lost though as Cassandra unmuted her phone and said, "Yeah, hi, sorry about that. So you're saying the Medical Examiner did not do any autopsies of inmates at the correctional facility? Okay, no that's fine. Do you know who would perform an autopsy that he wasn't able to perform?" She paused, then said, "Annnnnd he's the assistant coroner? Right, ok. No, no ma'am. Nothing like that. Nobody in your office is in trouble. Thanks for the help."

She put her phone down on the wayward page of the paper that had been suffering bouts of restlessness due to being secured right under a big old air conditioner outlet. The copier from the library had used weirdly light weight paper. Probably wasn't even recycled. But the words printed on those papers were heavy enough to make up for it. The story of an arrest that had been pretty scandalous at the time. One expected embezzlement and fraud in the big city, not clear out here near Shelly. It had been noteworthy enough for a followup piece written when he was sentenced. Information to make her read like a person.

That way the news of his death would have the weight it deserved. The weight it would NEED to snap shut on the trap she was setting on the other end of the story.

Her cellphone abruptly buzzed quietly in her pocket, making Cassie jump slightly in her seat. So much for freaking 'silent mode.' She fished her phone out and gave it a perplexed little frown. Laurie? Really? Sure, she was Sean's sister, but she was also not the sort to run errands for her brother. But, no, they were meeting at Bunnie's, and making Laurie send it for some reason. She texted back, //sure be there in a few,// then collected her odds and ends and papers and folders. At the counter she found a little wire bowl full of rubber bands, three of which she appropriated to stretch around her hardcopies.

Maybe this was actually good, she thought to herself as she got her phone out again to place one last call before riding out. Maybe the Nerd Patrol can help me with this.

"Hey, it's Chance," she said into the phone. "Look, I probably don't need to tell you this, but...you can't post any of this. Not even under a different name. Not now, not ever, I think. This is going to be a big deal. Okay?" She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Good. Better not call anymore either, unless you get some kind of cash paid phone or something."

She clicked her phone off, tucked it back away, and set off riding for best worst food in Montana...at Bunnie's.

__________
Bunnie's

There was not a LOT of time that passed between Laurie's text and Cassandra showing up at the burger place/diner. No more than ten, maybe fifteen minutes. She had what at first looked a little like a cardboard roll with a poster inside it...but as she came up to the table it became clear that the tube was actually pieced together from other pieces of paper, plus the rubber bands that held them together.

"Hey guys, sorry I missed the meeting," she said. "I mean, up until now. I was pretty busy. While we were getting the bejesus scared out of us at a haunted party, there was some pretty serious shit going on over here too."

It didn't take long for Devin and Sara to fill Cass in on the situation at school this morning and what they had uncovered with their talk with Chet.

[Clara Lys Wright]

“. . .Clara?” Charlie asked for the fourth time, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder and giving her a small shake. “Clara!”

She blinked and finally came back to the football field. Charlie. He said something? “Sorry, what was that?”

“Nevermind,” he said, shaking his head. “Let’s not do this right now, okay?” He glanced over at Lona, calling her over with his expression. “I’m gonna go.” He hesitated for a minute more, then backed away as Lona sat down next to her heartbroken friend. 

“So I’m going to invoke Sister Support, and tell you that we’re skipping the rest of school today,” Lona said. Her tone was casual, but the gaze she leveled at Clara was firm. “What’s our cover story?”

Clara blinked several times, then asked in her matter-of-fact-because-that’s-easier-than-thinking, “Do you want to go home or not?”

“Do I -- Clara, I’m not the one doing the million-mile stare across the football field. And while Kyle’s ass is nice, it’s not worth that intensity. Do you want to go home?”

“Kyle?” She managed to spot the senior athlete, not far from where she’d been zoning off, but shook her head. “No. I don’t want to go home.” She winced at the memory of the three of them - Lona, her, and Etienne (not Kyle) - doing a Scary Movies marathon last Saturday night. “Not right now.” 

She rubbed her forehead, her eyes aching from stress. “I need a drink. Coffee or something.” Caffeine had been her drug of choice since starting high school.

“We can do that, the Prairie Peddler is open. So what are we telling Gerault?” Lona asked. 

Clara thought for a moment, staring back across the field again. “I’ll tell him you’re having a rough emotional day and just need some quiet time without dozens of other people crammed into a room with you. It’s vague, but with everything going on with you and your mom, I think he won’t push for more. Peddler sounds nice. They have the couches and the charging stations.” 

“Yeah.” Lona waited until Clara had texted Gerault, then they slipped out through a side door together. Fifteen minutes later, they were settled into a booth with two large steaming mugs in front of them. “So,” Lona ventured carefully, “Wanna talk about it yet, or at we still at Batman levels of broodiness?”

That drew a snort from Clara. “I don’t have nearly enough money for Batman brooding. I’d be tapped out after the first body armor suit. I wouldn’t even be able to get the car.” She sighed and leaned back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “What should I do, Lona?”

“Slash his tires? Take a hayhook to his junk? What do you want to do to him?” Lona asked. “I can give my opinion, but I’m not you, and I don’t know what you need.”

“I need...ugh,” Clara took a long swig of her latte, then finished, “I need to know what’s going on. Like, did he set up our meeting? Do my parents know about this? Did they set it up? And if so, what is going on with them?” She gave her drink a dark look and muttered, “And if they do have something to do with this, then I think they just outranked Adele for worst parents ever.”

Lona scowled, “Yeah, no shit. So do you need to confront him? Ask him all the questions and let him know that we know he’s dirty?”

She thought about it for a minute, but shook her head. “At this point I think I’d just end up angry cry-screaming at him. I-I don’t think I can handle seeing him tonight.”

“Then you won’t have to,” Lona promised, reaching across the table to take her hand. “You won’t have to until you want to. I know that the others want you to be some kind of Black Widow-esque super-sex spy, but that’s not fair to you. So whatever you decide to do, I’m gonna back you.”

Clara let out another snort. “I don’t have the rack to be Black Widow. I’m not sure what to do. I’ll text him...tell him the same thing we told Papa.” She pulled out her phone and thumbed in a short text. Better to say less than more. Her delay of the inevitable sent off, she curled up on the couch in misery. “I hate this.”

“Can you do what Bannon asked?” Lona watched her with concerned eyes. “I mean, I could pull it off but I wouldn’t want to. Kiss some asshole while wanting to secretly kick his ass? So can you?”

Clara pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around herself. She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I can’t act and not...not with someone I. . .” She shook her head again and buried her face in her knees, her voice coming out in muffled distress. “No. I can’t.”

Lona slid over to put her arms around her, and for a long time, they were quiet. “Then we’ll go to Bunnee’s tonight and talk to them. And they need to stop telling you what to do in your relationship. Period.”

~  *  ~  *  ~

The two girls walked into Bunnee’s just as the Cass-update finished. Clara looked like a strong word might snap her while Lona glared, seemingly without realizing that she had a resting bitch face at the moment. They joined the others, and Lona said immediately, “Clara can’t what you guys asked. It’s not okay to ask her to do that, either.”
 

[Jaunt]

"'Can't what you guys asked'," Marissa snorted.  "Wow, and you're a junior?"

Lilly side eyes Marissa and gave her a 'really' glare.  "That's not helpful, Marissa."

"No one asked her to do anything."  Devin said flatly.  "We implied, and I say we because just because just because Jason suggests something doesn't mean it's all on him.  We're all in this together and we better start getting that through our head.  If Clara doesn't want to, fine.  We figure out another way.  So, what's not okay, is coming at us like we're the damn problem."

"So, Charlie strangled my sister, Cass has big news, Jason has big news, and we're all lost AF,"  he played the drums on the table with his fingers for a moment.  "So, I think we'll need food, shakes, and bottomless fires.  Order up bitches...we're closing this place, I think."

[Charlie Cole]

Charlie had been staring at the text he received from Marissa wondering whether it was either a sign of forgiveness or the lure for a lethal ambush. The latter of course, knowing Marissa. Well, Charlie squared his shoulders and marched to Bunnee's. He was an actor, so time for some Shakespearean dignity!

It was shortly after Devin's proclamation that Charlie finally entered. Almost immediately, he felt the skewering of Devin's glare, no surprise. Jason's was more surprising, but more scary frankly. But he was Charlie's friend. Surely, he would understand once things were actually explained, since what were the odds of Marissa actually explaining anything in non-self serving detail?

Charlie sighed and met their looks. "I'm guessing Marissa has told you her side of the story. I'm curious. Did she actually describe it in any detail?"

"That you went for a Force Choke on her neck by way of Stretch Armstrong." Sean replied cautiously.

Charlie made another sigh. "So what happened is we were having a very unproductive discussion about the drama club's production because Marissa was arrogant and self-serving, as usual. And I decided to release some frustration by going," Charlie made clenching motions, his hands close together and just in front of his chest, "which would have hurt nobody because I was six feet away from her on the other side of a table and I had no idea I had stretching powers which would activate then and there and... When I realized what was happening, I freaked out, let go and agreed to leave when she asked."

Charlie faced Marissa. "Again Marissa, I am sorry about that, and I had no intention of actually doing anything like that."

 

[Cassandra Allen]

"Wait wait wait," Cassandra said, holding a hand up. "Charlie...strangled Marissa? With stretching powers? Is this some kind of weird game thing?"

[Bannon]

Jase set aside his root-beer float as Max bustled up, giving the collection of ne'er-do-wells a wary glance.

"Hey guys.  I see you all here and I get a sense of deja vu that's giving me conniptions."  the waitress stated without ceremony, as her eyes took in the assortment of teens, wildly different as they were, sitting at the tables.

"Relax, hotness."  Devin drawled, giving her his best come-hither smile and wink. "We're going to want drinks, bottomless fries and burgers.  No fights, no table-dancing this time.  We're working on a group project thing."  There was a few minutes of bustle as everyone pretended all was copacetic and ordered, then with a final 'don't make me regret this' glance, Max headed off.

"If you'd turned up to the breakfast meeting, you'd know."  Jase said without particular rancor to Cassandra.  "But first things first - Sara, is the Dark responsible for what Charlie did?"

Sara frowned, the look she directed at Jason giving him the distinct impression that she didn't like being put in this position, but she turned to face Charlie anyway.

"Charlie, sit here okay?" she asked, patting the chair beside hers.  Charlie looked like he wasn't all very cool with all of this either, "You guys are my friends..." his voice trailed off when he and Sara made eye contact and he was stunned as her eyes rapidly changed color from pale blueish gold to a startling green with shoots of Amber in a ring around the pupil.  Everyone watched silently.  Sara broke contact and twisted around to face Bannon, who upon noticing the blood trickling from her left nostril, tilted his head curiously and passed her a napkin. Nodding in thanks, she took a deep breath and let it out.

"He was angrier than he should have been but no, it wasn't like what I felt with Chet," she wiped her nose and looks at the bloody smear on her napkin. "He was angry, sure.  But he wasn't really trying to strangle her." She looked at Marissa. "I don't know what you call it or how to explain it but his body was just responding to a stimulus." She looks uncomfortable, "It was like... you know... like he was... like he was cumming. But not the same -  fuck I don't know!"  She closed her eyes and makes a face full of distaste at the image in her brain.  A face that a few others mimicked.

"Eww, thanks for that image never leaving my brain."  Laurie muttered.  Marissa gave Charlie a look of distaste, plainly echoing the sentiment expressed by the younger Cassidy.

"Involuntary muscle spasm."  Jason said calmly, and Lilly glanced sharply at him in case he was reaching for a fork once more.  Jase actually seemed calm, rather than cold right now.  "And your gifts seem to be some manner of... hyper plasticity?"

"Still eww."  Laurie muttered.  Devin snickered a little.  

"Suffice to say, the Dark was not responsible for your anger or actions."  Jase stated.  He glanced at Lilly, then sighed and returned his gaze to Charlie with less cold hostility than before.  "I think we need to remember that we are changing somewhat - and to control our frustrations and reactions.  Or we'll hurt each other, ourselves... People we care for.  Sean was right - if I was given to visualising hurting people, I might have choked someone with my gift, or caused a stroke, or sent something sharp at them."   With a twitch of a smile, he pursed his lips and let out a low, eerie whistle, and with a steely slithering sound a knife slid from the cutlery box and rose a few inches, rotating so that it was pointing at Charlie.  Everyone froze as the gleaming blade turned a little, catching the light.  Those who had seen Jase's gift were intent on what use he was currently planning to put it to.  Cassandra was more intent on the fact that a knife was moving itself.  

"What the fuck..." she said in a strangled tone.  Clara winced slightly as she felt the feather-touch of Jase's gift.

"We have gifts, at least many of us who were at the trailer do."  Jason explained as Charlie tried very hard not to make sudden movements.  "Sara can scan minds in a rudimentary fashion, Sean can perceive and manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum, Devin has perfect spatial acuity to the point he can tell you how far away any location you care to name is... and so on.  I appear to have a connection to kinetic energy, to the point where I can close my eyes and touch everything around me - and move small objects."  Everyone listened, but their attention was on the gleaming knife.

"Jase..."  Lilly said, her voice concerned.

"Hmm?  Oh."  Jase gave a ghost of a smile and the knife abruptly pointed vertically once more, then slid back into the cutlery holder with a faint metallic rustle.  "My point-"  he paused at the word 'point' "-is that self-control is a good idea.  Not letting petty frustrations cause us to react is a very good idea."

"Now, we have a lot of information to go over:  I've turned up a trove, and Sean I believe has had some success in his search too.  Does anyone have anything to say before we get into the details?"

"Yeah, how come I'm the only one getting fucking nose bleeds," groused Sara?

[Clara Lys Wright]

Clara had been subdued since showing up. Her movements were quick and sharp - any of the teens used to pulling all-nighters could easily recognize a caffeine overdose. At Sara's question, she finally spoke up. "You're stronger." At the looks from the table, she shrugged and clarified. "When others use their powers, it's like...like a whisper or a spark or light. It's there, I can feel it, but it's not much. When you do things," she gestured to Sara, "it's usually stronger. Maybe....maybe if you're pushing things, it hurts your brain? Gives you nosebleeds or worse?"

She sighed and scrubbed her face, "We need brain scans. And someone with medical training to read them. If that's right then we may end up killing ourselves as much we might hurt anyone else." She rested her chin in her hand and gave the table a bitter little smile. "Etienne said his internship at the Center is for medical technology. Imaging."

[Cassandra Allen]

Cassandra didn't so much sit down as fall down, positioned in such a way as that a chair broke her fall.

"Jesus Christ," she said. "Jesus Christ that's too much. I mean, I thought I had some serious news, you know? I thought...hot damn, I'm gonna blow the lid off...and now I get here and I find out not only has the lid been blown off, but most of the pot's gone too. This is a lot to process."

Abruptly she focused on Sara. "Dark? Is that like, what? Dark side of the force? Actually, no. I mean, yes...but no. Before I spiral down that rabbit hole, I need to tell you guys something."

She tapped the table, leaned forward and lowered her voice. "The night of the party there was this big-ass riot at the prison. People died, and Crossroads is covering it up, and I have proof."

[Bannon]

12 hours ago, Clara Lys Wright said:

"Etienne said his internship at the Center is for medical technology. Imaging."

"Great.  Let's just go ask him to take pictures of our brains to go with the n00dz he probably already has of you."  Devin said with an exasperated sigh, then smirked as a thought came to him.  "Hey, I bet if we raided his place we could recover all sorts of useful data.  Secret reports on brain scans, medical records of whoever they're spying on... aforementioned n00dz."  He slapped his hands on his knees.  "This is a great plan.  Who's down?"

"Let's just table that for a moment."  Jase said smoothly as Lona wished for the power to choke Devin with her mind.  "As was suggested earlier, Eddy's position at the medical center is probably exactly suited to keeping an eye on strange phenomena cropping up in brain scans and medical records, further evidence that whoever he works for suspects something like us might crop up."

"And the riot at the prison...  That fits the picture I've been building."  the lanky teen went on, nodding at Cass.  "If I may, I'll present what I've learned about Shelly as an overview, then you can add in details of what you've discovered?"  Cassandra nodded, settling into her chair with her roll of papers across her lap.  Jase glanced around at the group.  "Is everyone ready?"

"Sure."  Lona said, getting comfortable.  Charlie nodded silently, the others likewise indicating assent as Max brought over drinks.  As the busty waitress slid their orders all into place and departed, Marissa gave a sideways smirk at Jason.

"It's sooo hot when he gets professorial."  she pantomimed fanning herself, causing a wave of snickers and smiles to go around the table.  "He should, like, totally go for the TA program."

"Totally."  Laurie giggled, more as a way of breaking the tension than anything else.  Jase said nothing, just twitched a smile as Marissa nudged him

"C'mon, you've got your audience." she grinned.  He nodded, and as everyone settled, he began.

"Perhaps the strangest thing about Shelly is that it exists at all, at least from a perspective of history and how towns form and grow.  It started as a single rail-car, dropped off to serve as a makeshift station at a point where the railroad branched.  Since then it grew into the small town it is today...  Which is odd, because most natural crossroads towns tend to keep on growing, and the length of time Shelly has been here, it should be a fair-size city by now, rivaling Great Falls at least."  He spread a hand in an eloquent shrug.  "It reached it's current size over a hundred years ago, and has since then never really grown or shrunk.  Statistically, that is massively unlikely.  By itself, that would be just a blip, but..."

"...but there more to it, isn't there?"  Lilly stated rather than asked.  Jason nodded.

"There is a strong history of violence in the area, like in most areas settled by whites.  Clashes mostly instigated by white settlers, of course." he continued calmly.  "However, despite that initial bad blood, it quickly became acceptable for whites to tolerate Blackfeet and vice versa, sharing meals and good times, and doubtless mixing.  Conversely, other minorities historically get a cold welcome in Shelly.  There's numerous records of lynchings and beatings in the 1900's. and over the first half of the 20th century most other minorities just up and moved elsewhere.  These days, it's still common for whites native to Shelly in the over 40's bracket to find reasons to leave a meal uneaten if black or hispanic people come to the establishment.  Those same whites, however, see no problem mingling with the indians."

"You shouldn't really use that term..."  Clara said, shifting uncomfortably.  "It's 'Native American'."

"Not according to the Blackfeet.  They're perfectly happy being called 'indians' - lower case - and see the other term as borderline pejorative.  Which I admit is odd."   Jase shrugged and went on.  "So far, so 'strange regional quirks'.  Now it gets odd.  The Blackfeet call this place 'Dawning Dark Light' in their own tongue.  A less formal term for it is 'The Land of Upside-Down Thunder'."

"Going back one hundred and fifty years, records of violent crime in Shelly not associated with other crimes such as robbery hit a strange and anomalous pattern.  The region is usually peaceful, and the anomaly is hard to spot amidst the background noise, but every twenty to thirty years there is an uptick in domestic violence, lovers quarrels turning very bad, fights over a spilled drink turning deadly.  Something that should at worst be a beating... or perhaps some kids catcalling a pretty girl -"  He glanced at Coraline.  "-becomes amplified into terrible acts.  And the most telling part is the amount of inter-familial murder:  siblings, parents and children, spouses.  That really stands out, but only once every couple of decades.  Every twenty-seven years, to be exact."

"Wait, it's that exact?"  Sean asked, blinking.  Jase nodded.

"We're currently in year twenty-six of the current cycle, coming up on twenty seven."  he stated very calmly, his eyes sweeping the gathering.

"The Dark."  Devin said, nodding as he got it.  "Fuck..."

"Wait, that's what the Dark is?"  Cassandra asked.  "It makes people crazy?"

"I also think it has something to do with the strange creatures that appeared on the night of the party.  And the strange trailer someone built with hyper-advanced tech.  And almost definitely the disappearance of Cody Sikes."  Jase laid out.  "My working theory is the Dark is some kind of entity, that comes from the same dimensional anomalies cause smilodons and cephaloginas to roam around the woods.  It's weak in a way - it can't make you do things per se, but it can inflame existing emotions to danger levels.  And, given what we know from sci-fi, fantasy and horror fiction..."

"..it does it for a reason."  Marissa said, looking a little spooked but calm.  "Like feeding on the torment or something."

"Exactly."  Jason smiled a little.  "And the strange critters in the woods have a history here too.  There's Blackfoot tales of the 'Shunka Warakin' - literally 'carries off dogs'. Descriptions of sightings of these as recently as the 1990's seem to match up to prehistoric predators such as hyenadons or dire wolves, which should have died off a long time back.  Smilodon fits in nicely in their company.  Of course, we all know better - there's no such thing as monsters, right?"

"Hey, I'm not arguing."  Clara said.  "I saw it."  Marissa nodded firmly in agreement, as did Sara.

"And we saw something too."  Devin chimed in, Cass hastening to add her support.  "Could the cephalogina be the Dark?"

"Maybe."  Jase shrugged.  "I have no idea... Although..."  He mused for a second.  "The Dark seems to get off on causing others to kill, not killing itself.  At least, from what I can tell.  Maybe the man with the gun was driven mad, and the cephalogina actually saved you two.  There's just not enough data."

"Huh.  More mysteries.  Well, don't expect me to try talking to one!"  Devin said with feeling.

"In addition to the reported violent deaths, there's also a lot of people going missing.  Like Cody, perhaps."  Jase continued, picking up where he left off.  "Shelly is odd, especially the outlying settlements.  It's one of the few places in the U.S. that still has a frontier mentality and feel - people living in the middle of nowhere, connected by dirt roads.  Single families, or small groups of families, eking out a living and only seeing civilisation once in a while.  A lot of those people go missing, especially around this time in the cycle I mentioned."

"Okay, this is so, so much worse."  Laurie said, shivering.  "You were right."  Sean reached out and took his sisters hand, trying to comfort her.

"Finally, I've come to some conclusions that reveal there may indeed be human agencies, probably our government, running their own game here.  There's things about Shelly's infrastructure and what goes on here that just don't make sense.  First is the Medical Center and the school system. Both are, regardless of what the Jauntsens might say-"  he smiled slightly at Marissa and Devin "- top notch high quality institutions. Every child in Shelly has been provided the best medical care and education available in the United States, if not the world. The hospital and trauma center would be rated as one of the most advanced in the world if anyone ever bothered to look at it. The sort of state-of-the-art place that does cutting edge medical research and teaching, or the President himself would be a patient in should he fall sick or need the best possible care.  On the surface, there is no reason for either of these institutions to be what they are - they belong in major metropolitan areas.  Both began this transformation to cutting edge in the 1980's."

"The prison..."  he looked at Cass significantly.  "Privately run, seemingly unaccountable.  Again, economic reasons aside, the location is in an area where there is a lack of law enforcement in case anything goes wrong.  If there's a breakout for any reason, a single sheriff and a few deputies are not sufficient to handle the sort of inmates the prison holds.  That alone would raise eyebrows if Crossroads did not work very hard to keep it quiet.  And finally, the air force base..."  Now he looked at Lilly.  "It's a relic of a past age, strategically it should have been shut down a long time ago for economic reasons.  And yet here it still is. There are much better SFO training locations than Montana, and there is no data about the mysterious 588th Squadron or what their mandate is."

"That's what I've got."  Jason sat back and spread his hands.  "There's a ton of other information I never knew I never wanted to know about Shelly, but this seems to be all the important stuff."

[Sara Hutchins]

Sara ate while she listened to Jason, her plate piled high with two cheese burgers, a full order of cheese fries plus she had a large chocolate shake.  Laurie, who despite her size, was no light weight when it came to food intake but she found the amount the body builder was putting away kind of insane and could not stop staring at the way Sara was demolishing her meal. Sean had to elbow her to make her stop staring.

9 hours ago, Bannon said:

"That's what I've got."  Jason sat back and spread his hands.  "There's a ton of other information I never knew I never wanted to know about Shelly, but this seems to be all the important stuff."

Sara set her burger down and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "What about super-powers," she asked?

"Not super-powers really," said Sean thoughtfully, "most of what we seem to be experiencing are psychic phenomena, most. What we call Psionics in science fiction and gaming even though the term is often misused..." he let it trail off when he felt Sara's eyes boring into the side of his head.

"So not super-powers but Psionics. Anything in your research about that," Sara asked again? 

"I have a theory, based on the anomaly of the school system and med center." Jase replied, narrowing his eyes slightly. "The government, or whoever is spying on Shelly, has reason to suspect some or all of the children of this town to start manifesting gifts, perhaps as a result of experimentation going back to the 1980's when the facilities were upgraded, or even before."

"Or perhaps as a result of the dimensional oddities."

That seemed to satisfy Sara and made everyone a the tables thoughtful. Everyone but Lilly.

"Okay that is a theory, but Sara asked what you found. So did you find anything about weird powers in those histories you were pouring through all day during classes?"

[Clara Lys Wright]

"Maybe it's why the medical center is here." Clara had been thoughtfully picking at her food while Jason spoke and debating setting Devin's precious Ducati on fire sometime soon. "I mean, if there's something going around influencing people's minds, feeding off violence and rage, then how would you fight it? Both the US and Russia have had military projects about trying to develop psionic abilities. Maybe Shelly is one big lab for that." She ticked off points as she made them: "Keep the population small and controllable, with different small test groups semi-isolated from each other. That's size and the various farmsteads there. Have the best equipment around to gather the data and control as many variables as you can. That's both the Medical Center and the schools." She sighed and glanced at Lona, "Maybe even my parents. They're geneticists with a lab on the estate. Maybe that's what Etienne was doing their. They've gotten several long-term study contracts with the Blackfeet reservation. The prison provides a population that you can experiment on - both for psionics and for how the Dark functions - that not many people are going to go looking after when people die or go nuts. And the Air Force base is a military presence for when things go totally sideways and that one sheriff and two deputies absolutely can't do anything about it. The base is how Shelly doesn't wipe itself off the map every 27 years."

She gulped down some of her water and shrugged again. "I mean, it sounds crazy. But Jason's telekinetic, I'm a weirdness detector, and apparently Charlie is that guy from the Fantastic Four. Everything is crazy at this point."

[Sean Cassidy]

Holding his sister's hand wasn't just to provide only Laurie with some comfort. With the advent of The Dark and its apparent influence on the environs about Shelly over decades, Sean couldn't help but consider how that might recontextualize things. The catcalls and harassment had been more frequent, more direct, over the last year. Was that simply because he was older and had grown even more shapely, or the influence of the Dark? Or, what about - no! He didn't want to think about that. He compressed and encrypted that thought and hid it away in his mind for another time.

His Dad had a brother Sean had never met, an Uncle his parents never talked about, who had left Shelly, left Montana, way before he was born. Just a hard falling out or something more sinister? Hell, the Cassidys had settled the Shelly area since near its founding, having worked on bringing the railroads out west like many Irish. There used to be many more Cassidys in the Shelly area, but the family suffered a sharp decline around the turn of the last century and now there was only Sean's parents and two siblings. Sean hadn't looked into the reason for the decline, but now he thought he should. Did anything match up to the twenty-seven year cycle?

Sean shook off a shiver, took a deep breath, then reclaimed his hand from Laurie with an encouraging grin. There was a stubborn jut to Laurie's jaw as she refolded her arms, as though she'd just been humouring Sean instead of finding a bit of comfort with the contact. Sean sighed, then considered Clara's suggestion.

"Maybe. But rather than the government developing these powers with super secret experiments - which I can't completely discount, considering someone managed to conceal the existence of portable atomic generator - maybe its the Dark that is the progenitor of them. People develop Psionics as a sort of immune system to counter the Dark. People could have developed them before and hid them as it seems so much other shit has been hidden here, or its taken this long, this many cycles for the psionics to develop, and the government agency mostly just watches and researches, to imitate or force the process.

People mock the inefficiency, waste, and competence of government, but there's at least one thing government is aces at," Sean said, nodding at Jase in agreement. "Information, specifically, collecting it. So much of it, in fact, the problem is sifting through it to find what you are looking for. Evidently, somebody noticed something going on here and are doing something about it. And decades ago, going by the aerial photos and that damned generator! I'm not even sure how to go about trying to figure out where it might have come from. May-"

"You are not opening it up!" said more than one person at the table with particular emphasis.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sean lied. He so wanted to know how it and even the radio worked. The radio had vacuum tubes, fucking vacuum tubes, or what looked like them. "Speaking of the photos, I did find out something about that, though it seems incredibly banal in comparison to what Jase found out."

"Banal, perhaps, but hopefully important," Jase said pragmatically.

"We'll see," Sean replied with a half grin. "I narrowed down the model of the plane to a Cessna 172, which caused a different problem. It's a popular plane, first produced in '56, and still being made now, so there's over forty-four thousand of them, the majority still in use, surprisingly. I won't bore you with the details--"

"Thank gawd!"

Sean shot the Jauntsens an irritated glance, but continued, "-- but eliminating dates and math hammering some other parameters, I found three planes that could be the one we're looking for, all 1967 Cessna 172H Skyhawks. One is listed as destroyed in a crash in 1986, so we'll discount that one unless both of the others are busts. One is owned by Montana by Air LLC out of Cut Bank International  Airport. The other by Groggins Flight out of Toole County Airport. A Rick Geiger owns and operates Montana by Air, Jerry Groggins Groggins Flight. Trying to find out past owners of the planes will requiring filing for the information with the FAA, which might raise a flag to... whoever is watching, other wise, it'll take some finessing. Not as spectacular as what Jason found out, but we now have two solid leads on the plane."

[Lilly Pryor]

Lilly listened and took in info dump and ideas of the others as she ate her grilled chicken burger, thinking about it all and trying to reconcile it all with what she already knew, or at least strongly suspected as she chewed. Finally she put the burger down and picked up a piece of one of her guilty pleasure foods... fried zucchini, waving it around a little as she spoke.

"Okay. Well, seeing as Groggins Flight operates out of the county's airport, it would seem to be a slightly more promising lead, but I would not discount the crash so easily either. Maybe it was covering up or tying up loose ends or something. I think we should look into all three regardless, personally." she said as she popped the slice of fried zucchini into her mouth, chewing for a moment before tucking it to one side to speak further.

"When my dad got stationed at Bulwark, my mom though that, at best, she would be working in some rural doctor's medical office or something. She was super surprised and impressed at the medical center here as she did not expect it. The school too, really. Way better than she expected. Maybe they are ways to encourage people to stay in the area too. No need to go to Great Falls for your treatment or education or whatever if there is like state of the art facilities and programs here. Huh. I had never considered that."

"I still have lots of questions about the trailer? So yeah, it would seem that whoever built it was onto The Dark™ then, or at least was on the way there, putting pieces together or whatever. And If that generator is over forty years old and super advanced, then whoever put it and the trailer there, if not government, must have been an absolute genius. I mean, heck, if it is atomic, then doesn't it need like plutonium or uranium or something that would be super hard to get too? I mean, if they didn't fill out forms and get permits, which could maybe be a paper trail to be tracked, then they had to have got it illegally. Who in the hell in Shelly could get, or could have, gotten something like under the table?" she asked and swallowed the fried zucchini before picking up another.

"Is there anything about some super smart or inventor guy or something in the area back forty or more years ago?" she asked Jase before continuing.

"I want to know how Cooper found the trailer too. Blind luck? Did he learn about it or discover it doing something for the 588th? Did The Dark™ lead him there, maybe trying to get ride of evidence about itself?" she asked as another thought struck.

"And something else. Now stick with me here... Cooper was a remote vehicle pilot and I checked on base, there is a Captain Cooper who is art of the 588th Special Operations Squadron. So if Cooper was a RPV pilot and part of the 558th Special Operations Squadron, then it stands to reason that the 588th is a a RPV or 'drone' squadron, most likely piloting Reapers. Which means.. ugh... several things.

One; if you have the 588th on base, and they are a RPV squadron, then they must have RPVs and a control center... and there is none of that on base. That would suggest that there's a clandestine RPV control center somewhere on base and probably the drones too. Though it is possible to launch them from another base and control them from Bulwark.

Anyways...

Two; RPV pilots have shown to be highly affected by conducting remote attacks. Civilian families prolly never really hear about it, but those on base do. Like, they know it's not a video game and that they are actually killing people and stuff, it has an impact on them. So there would be a constant population of emotionally unstable people on the base then. Well..maybe, I dunno, maybe The Dark™ uses that emotional instability as an entryway to our world from wherever the heck it is from? Maybe that is what it did to Cooper?" she suggested and then looked at Devin and Cass.

"I mean, you guys said he was acting all zombie-like." she recalled, to which Cass nodded.

"And if non-whites or Blackfeet are not well received in the area, that could be the influence of The Dark™ and maybe Cora's ethnicity was also a factor in things escalating to attempted rape or worse, had they gone unchecked? It's weird that it's the Blackfeet and whites that are good in the area. Like, I get the Blackfoot since they are natives, but why whites? Unless this all started happening after it was settled or something. I dunno." she said, trying to make sense of it all and popping the fried zucchini into her mouth, devouring it quickly as a revaluation came to her.

"Oh damnit." Lilly sighed, "That means Cora's parents and Cade's stepmom and sister need to be on the watch out too. Ugh."

"Also...

Pararescue, also know as the PJs, train at Bulkward. That is kind of the official reason for the base, actually. I'm not sure what any of you know about them, as they are much less known special forces to the civilian population than the SEALS or Green Berets or whatever, but the the PJs are ALL super badass combat medics. Their mission is to go into hostile or unreachable areas and recover downed pilots, airmen or whoever in need of medical assistance, so they all train in every environments. They are skilled parachutists, scuba divers and rock climbers, and they are even arctic-trained in order to access any environment to save a life when they’re called to do so. They each carry everything needed to stabilize and care for a patient with pretty much any injury for 72 hours. So with the medical center and stuff, if this is all a big government plan, it certainly would not hurt to have a group of badass, highly trained combat medics nearby if things go bad during 'a cycle' or whatever." Lilly explained.

"Just a thought." she said with a shrug as she popped another piece of fried zucchini into her mouth.

"Oh, and I am pretty sure that the Air Force can't use drones and stuff over US soil except for training. Operational ones are launched and recovered in theater, even thought the pilot can be here. So to use an operational drone over US soil would need some super high level authority or something, because it is technically spying. Same goes for the 'civilian' plane think. And if that is the case and they are using planes and drones to spy over US soil, then this is, at best, some very high up and super shady or, at worst, flat out illegal, stuff we are dealing with."

[Jaunt]

"Super powers?  Psionics?  Okay, are we serious right now?"  Devin kept his voice low and didn't seem to be in denial.  He couldn't help but interject some reason the moment Cassidy started making gaming references.  "Don't look at me like I'm one-eighty-ing or anything, because I know what I saw and what I've seen."

"I mean, okay, I get the this is some weird stuff that's happening, but, super powers?  Why would humanity hide these powers if we all had them.  It couldn't be exposure, because only Cass and I saw the cephalogina and she doesn't have abilities and as cool as it is, Google Maps in my head is not a super power."  He shoveled in a few fries and sipped his mint chocolate shake.

"Devin, I did the numbers.  Your mapping ability... fist, no one should have been able to control a bike at the speeds you were going on our trip, and the trip with Lona."  Sean pointed at him with a fry.  "Not with a passenger and the weaving through traffic, physics can onlt expain so much away before it got weird.  Second, you did an hour and fifteen minute trip in only a fraction of the time, and that time got lower and lower each time you made the trip... four times and each one is getting lower and lower... even at at hundred miles per hour, Devin... you're getting faster and faster even though your base speeds aren't changing, frankly, so far, I have no scientific reason why."

His chewing slowed as he took that in.  "But, only on my bike, right?"

"When was the last time you tried it with out your bike?"  Sean asked with a smile.

"I... havent."  He dropped a fry to his plate, unsure if his brain could handle processing one more bit of insanity.

"All he's saying, Devin is despite how this might work, we have no clue how it works, or the limits," Jase said reasonably.  "We have a lot on our plates, but the extent of our abilities and pushing them is on the list too."

"But," Marissa chimed up quietly with some measure of concern in her voice.  "What about... side effects?  I mean, you guys could be in danger of health issues if these abilities aren't tested, medically.  I hate to agree with Sleeps-With-The-Enemy, but... we need to know if this is hurting you guys at all, and you guys, I mean my brother."

[Coraline Hess]

Lilly earned a slight narrowing of the eyes for her little tangent of applying a racial motive to their hypothetical IT demon. But the tall brunette bit her tongue.

"Okay. How about we dial back the conspiracy theories until we have a *little more evidence*," she offered softly, hands held up in the 'woah woah woah' position, "Yeah, weird scary shit, but until we have a nice, long productive talk with Eddy and what he may or may not be aware of, I'm a lot out of my depth. We all are. Just because there's bigfoot doesn't mean he drinks tea with aliens. And my Dad's a good man, hard but fair. If the prison was half as shady as you're making it sound when he took it over four years ago, *he'd* have fixed it or I'd be back somewhere with a decent public transit system by now."

Her voice was unwavering on that last point, faith absolute.

"Anyway... Marissa's right. Before we start pushing these powers, we should know if we're all going to start leaking or cooking ourselves. Heck, I'll risk getting scanned first."  

[Cassandra Allen]

Cassandra shook her head. "Okay, this is all really complicated. There's a lot going on, and it's getting all mixed up, and we can't keep straight what's what."

"I think we need to do one of those...conspiracy boards."

At everyone's blank look, she added, "You know, those...like pushpin boards you see where you put each thing on it, then connect with string or yarn or whatever, the things you know are related? So we could have, 'Dark' over here..." she put a hand down on the table, "And then...I don't know, 'powers' or something over here..." Her other hand followed suit. "And as we figure stuff out, we can fill in the connections between them. Because right now I only understand maybe five percent of what anyone's saying at any time. It's a mess."

"I think once we get what we know organized, it'll be easier to tell what we KNOW and what we SPECULATE. And it'll be easier to figure out how to test things, and what needs to be investigated...and remember it as we go."

"It'll take some time and effort to do, but it will save us a ton of both later on."

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Even as Cass was explaining conspiracy boards, Marissa leaned over to Coraline and murmured, "Public transportation?  Oh, no sweetie, that will not do. No one hanging around me will be seen on a public bus, school or otherwise, ew. Call me next time."

What Cass said was pretty much lost to Lona, who was staring at Coraline like she’d never seen her before. It took her a moment to gather her words. 

“Well, we are aware of the fact that Etienne is a lying fuck, so right there, we have all the proof I need to deal with him with extreme prejudgice,” Lona growled. The long conversations at the table had done nothing to cool her temper. Those who knew her knew that it took a bit to get her angry, but once there, she didn’t cool off quickly. “Even if he has a good reason for any of it, he still choose keeping secrets from the girlfriend he chased down to continue a relationship with over his job. So, no, I’m not down for talking nicey-nice to him, unless Clara wants it. 

“Also, Clara still hasn’t decided how she wants to approach him, and that is something that she needs to decide before we decide how to deal with him. Her feelings should be considered before we do anything with that asshat,” Lona continued. “She’s the one whose emotions are getting abused and violated.

“As for ‘looking for more evidence’, Coraline, what exactly do you want?” Lona glared at the taller, prettier girl, her own feelings of jealousy and pain adding to her outrage at Etienne. “Do you want a signed confession from the celoph-thing that I refuse to name, or maybe another missing kid, one who we like? You’re ready to discount whatever Cass has on the prison because your dad runs it. You think parents are perfect? Let me fucking tell you, they’re people like the kids we go to school with, and they can be as terrible and shitty as our classmates, present ones excluded. So drop the Pollyanna act and deal with the fact that shit isn’t roses and rainbows.”

[Bannon]

"I don't think it is an act."  Jase had actually looked at Cora after she spoke with something approaching amazement, his eyes widening in what, on him, passed for shock.  Now, however, his normal cold aplomb was restored as he realised that yes, she really was for real.  "I think she genuinely believes that daddy is perfect and mommy is perfect and we could all just get along if we sing a campfire song.  Or perhaps through the magic of interpretive dance?"

"Uh, Jase...?"  Sean started, but the fire had been lit.  Jase was not, as many thought, without emotion or nerves, he just channeled the excess energy into a massive internal spring rather than expressing it as normal people did.  Right now, though, some of that energy had just found someone who was, in his eyes, thoroughly deserving of a little rancor.

"Do you actually use that pink stuffing between your ears? Do you know what 'my Dad's a good man, hard but fair' means to everyone with two synapses firing?  It means 'he's an utter bastard, but I have a vested interest in not believing it'.  He runs a private prison with a history of mysterious deaths that the corporation that runs it spreads a lot of money and influence around to keep quiet."  Jase's voice held the same drawn-out menace as the rattle of a diamondback with a hangover, his pale eyes not leaving Coraline's gaze.  "And you want us to 'dial back the conspiracy theories until we have a little more evidence', ignoring that Cassandra has already said she has some evidence to present.  Willfully ignoring the evidence that has already been presented.  Did you pay any attention to what I just told everyone else?  Are the patterns that obscure to you?  I find it hard to believe that someone qualifying as homo sapiens can be that empty-headed, but every time you open your mouth to contribute anything except meaningless pleasantries to a serious discussion, you actually make everyone around you lose brain cells.  I don't actually think I've heard you contribute anything useful.  'Just because there's bigfoot doesn't mean he drinks tea with aliens'?!  What in the name of the Goddamn Batman does that even mean?"

"Why are you even here, Coraline?  You only joined the gaming group because you wanted to sit on Cade's lap.  You only went to the party because you wanted to ride his bologne pony.  You wander around alternating between a pink haze of hormonal love and bitching about going back to New York and Juilliard as if that's even important compared to what's going on here."  Acid contempt dripped from his tone.  "Juilliard!  Where you will dance and twirl and generally do irrelevant shit, because that's what pretty princesses do until some handsome older director either knocks you up or gives you herpes on the casting couch, or else you end up a bitter diva in fifteen years time watching the next hopeful pretty young thing come along and get all the attention.  That's if you're even still in dance and not working as some 'aspiring whatever' behind a counter in Starbucks, serving mediocre coffee to mediocre people who, and lets be honest, will still be less mediocre than you."

"In case I lost you there, let me sum up.  One: Your dad is likely dirty.  Two: There is a conspiracy and only a moron wouldn't see it.  Three: You are a moron."  He picked up his root-beer float, still glaring at her.  "Right now you are probably considering a put down, or the classic 'last word and storming off to cry' gambit, or some other utterly meaningless action.  You might even be tempted to attack me, though in the mood I am in right now let me warn you - that would be exceedingly stupid even for you.  Right down at the bottom of the list of probabilities is that you will sit down, shut up, and try to learn to be of use.  So go ahead, surprise me."

[Cassandra Allen]

"Jesus, you guys," Cassandra shook her head. "Leave her alone, okay? It's her dad we're talking about. I'm the one who brought this to the table, but if you're going to use as a bludgeon to brutalize her with, I'll take it right back off again."

[Coraline Hess]

Coraline sucked in a breath. And held it. Just long enough to rein in the 'fuck you' she had on her tongue, a dizzy light-headed feeling of rising heat pouring into her head. She stood up, grabbing her duffle bag.

"Thanks, Cass. but I think the jury's in and out in two minutes here" she offered, posture stiff, "You know what? I think there's a reason you call this thing the Dark when it *could* be a mirror. Look for the worst in people and you'll find it Every. Single. Time. I'm as guilty as anyone, today especially, but I'm trying, okay? Enjoy your meeting."

She turned and hurried towards the door, forcing herself not to run. Fucking Bannon.   

[Jaunt]

Marissa exhaled and fanned herself.  "I... Wow.  I am so turned on right now.  Between and being choked earlier and now that, you guys are never boring..."

Devin glared at Jason.  He had no room to judge, sure, but that much at once was the exact sort of cruelty he tried to keep reigned in at Shelly High for the last three years.  The part that tore him up the worst was... he didn't disagree.  From Marissa's and his own side of the camp though, even if it's true, a certain level of decorum should have been observed.

He didn't fault Jason, he knew the guy had issues of his own, hell, they all did, but right now, a fuse had been lit.  "Dick move, Bannon."

He moved to getup and his sister rolled her eyes with a huff, placing her hand on his to get his attention and slow him up.  "She doesn't need a hero, Deej, she just needs to make room for the reality Jason opened her mind to."  When he didn't stop she just shrugged and shook her head in irritation.

He hopped up and followed after her, meeting her outside and she stormed away.  "Cora!  Cora, hey..." he slowed his pace as he approached.  "Look, uh, that wasn't cool, sorry it happened that way.  I'll understand if you don't wanna come back inside but..."

He sighed.  He didn't have good rapport with Cora, barely knew her compared to a few of the others.  "You, uh, wanna ride?  I don't mind and there's no sense in walking or taking the bus so people can see you like this.  Wind in the hair does wonders for the mood."

[Bannon]

"Option two it was."  Jason's lips curled slightly in a smile that didn't reach his eyes as he watched Cora stalk off.  "A bold play, Cotton.  Let's see how it pans out for her."

8 minutes ago, Jaunt said:

"Dick move, Bannon."

"If you say so."  Jase shrugged as Devin chased after Cora.  His pale eyes swept the others.  "My, aren't we all feeling judgey today.  Lets have it, then.  Tell me you think I'm mean - I don't care.  Tell me you are deeply offended - I don't care.  That twit needed a splash of ice water to wash the cotton candy from her eyes if she's to be of any use as more than a twinkle-toed brood mare - or Dark fodder."

"Preach on."  Marissa muttered, barely smirking as her dark eyes likewise glanced around the table.

"Well, that was helpful." Clara arched a brow at Jason. He wasn't necessarily wrong about Cora's overly-optimistic hopes, but that had been about six feet of 'too much' in her opinion. "Way to strike a blow for group unity."

"If she gave two shits about group unity, she'd have been at the breakfast get-together at my house and pitched in with the work we all did on the files."  Jason returned without a second's hesitation.  "She was probably off hugging her pillow or drawing 'Cora hearts Cade' in her Bratz journal."

Clara shrugged, conceding that point somewhat. "She could have been busy or thought there wasn't anything she could contribute. I'm just saying, that was a bit over the top on the shredding her to pieces. We've got real monsters prowling the woods and something messed up with most of the adult authorities around here. We need to stick together and that means not popping off on each other when we're annoyed."  Jase snorted.

"She's self-involved, willfully ignorant, and overall a hindrance. One of those I can handle. Two I can tolerate. All three is beyond my limit. Let her go play pattycake with Cade while the grownups work."

"How has she hindered anything?" Clara fixed him a direct stare, her tone not sharp but genuinely confused on that point.  Lona sat in dumb silence, staring at Jase as she had since his verbal explosion.

"She caused Devin to stalk off at the lunchtime meeting with her thoughtless words. We lost time getting him back. She tried, just now, to argue with the available evidence because it affected her personally. And overall, she's been zero use that I can think of.  She's not even particularly stimulating company.  If I missed some glowing contribution, by all means correct me."  He started to slide out of his seat.  "And while you rack your brains, and Cassandra decides whether she's going to be part of this or just dangle her evidence to browbeat me into apologising -which, and let me be frank: is never going to happen - I'm going to have a smoke."

Grabbing a few fries, he finished sliding from the booth and headed for the side exit, not in the mood to run into Devin or Cora outside right now.

[Lilly Pryor]

Lilly matches Lona's expression, stunned by what she had just seen Jason spew at Cora, while Laurie glared at him with an intensity that one could almost image would set things aflame, giving a new meaning to the term 'fiery redhead'.

Lilly blinked, trying to compose herself, but it was not until Jason slid out of the booth that she finally pulled herself together enough to actually act. She extricated herself from the booth, along with Lona and Laurie, and the three L's walked out the side door right after Jason.

"Dude." she said, still kind of stunned by it all as she stepped out into the cool-ish night, "You can not talk to people, especially friends like that." she stated firmly.

Jase's face, now totally calm, glowed faintly for a moment at the flame of his lighter kissed the end of his cigarette. She could see the flame reflecting in his eyes and silently hopes that they were not the reflections of a bridge he might have just burned. Once lit, he shook out another cigarette, offering it to Lona without even being asked, which she quickly accepted.

"I mean, you physically, mentally and socially can... you just totally proved that, but... you can't."

"I didn't speak to a friend like that. She hasn't been a friend to me. And honestly, I don't feel the lack." he retorted.

"She might be a little... head in the clouds or whatever, and need a dose of reality, but that was not the way to do it. All that did was set her even more firmly against you, us and the ideas presented, alienating her.

"Oh no. Whatever shall we do without Cora?" he asked with mild sarcasm, reining it in because he actually liked Lilly.

"It is not a matter of her contribution. She's... You just can't, okay?"

"Your logic is beyond reproach." Jase said with a faint grin, teasing Lilly a bit.

"Not funny." she said flatly.

"It was kinda funny." Jason shrugged.

"Tell you what. Next time I'm feeling the urge to sandblast an idiot, I'll give you a secret signal." he said to her with his faint grin lingering.

"Jason." Lilly said firmly, "It was too much, and said too harshly, to unload on anybody all at once. It was just mean, however warranted as you may feel it was. Nothing good will come from treating people like that. She might be new, but she is still one of us. It took us all a little while to find our place and a point of equilibrium with the group. She's brand new, so you need to cut her some slack" she tried to explain to him.

Lilly sighed and tried to look at it from a perspective more relocatable to Jason.

"If absolutely nothing else, even from a purely calculating view, she has unmatched access to the Warden, and that might be a huge help to us." she sighed.

Sara had sat stunned from the emotional displays and she watched as Bannon left to go smoke. She didn't take her eyes off Marissa while the other three girls had left but then she scrapped her chair back and diggin some cash out of her jeans walk to the side door handing the cash to Max, "That's for mine and Corraline's." Then she followed them out.

Once outside she walked past Lona and Laurie and stood close to Lilly and looked into Jason's eyes. "Congratulations Jason Bannon, you just skipped over pulling wings off flies and torturing animals and went right to destroying your fellow human beings. Good Job. How'd it feel?"

[Cade]

It was at that point that Cade finally arrived.  He'd had a rough and uncomfortable afternoon.   It wasn't just the conversations he'd had, but part of him was bothered by how he knew what he'd learned was right, without anyone saying any of it out-right.

Seeing Clara, Cass, Sean, and Marissa through the window, he made his way inside.   He took a moment to place an order for a couple burgers and a drink,  then made his way to where they were all sitting, along with Charlie.  "Sorry I'm late, The Sheriff wanted to talk to me.   I did find out some things,  but should we wait for the others?"

He looked around, not seeing the rest of the Fellowship, or Devin, which made him curious, as he couldn't imagine Marissa being there without him.   "Did I miss something?  I mean we seem to be short  by half a dozen. Where's Cora?"  He took note of the number of drinks and such and clearly the others had been here, so what had happened to cause them to leave.

[Cassandra Allen]

Cassandra glanced up at Cade and nodded at him in greeting, but something was bugging her too much to just let it go.

She looked at the others at the table and asked what was on her mind.

"Is this how 'this' works then? I mean, I know I'm new to the group dynamic here, but I'm really confused by the mixed signals I'm getting about Jason. He flat-out attacks one of you, viciously, for no real provocation. A few of you get pissed off and go after him, one of you goes after the victim, and most of you just kinda...'meh' about it? This is normal? Because I'll tell you all from where I'm sitting, kind of on the edge here, it doesn't look great. Next time he could do that to me. Or someone else I care about. And what, I'm supposed to just shrug it off?"

"Why aren't we all out there telling him that wasn't okay?"

[z-Avalon Wilson]

It was muggy outside as Lona mulled over how to broach the subject with Bannon. She’d had an idea, and rather than blurt it in front of the group, she’d wanted to run it by someone. And since she’d need Jase’s ahem pharmaceutical help, he seemed as good of a person to ask as any. She took the cigarette out of habit, drew in a lungful, and… nothing. Not a buzz of pleasure, or sign of delight. God damnit. I bet it’s the same with everything else. So fucking unfair. 

She listened tersely as the conversation went further and further south. In the silence after Sara’s question, she readied herself for the worst. Sara had handed Jase a bomb and he liked to throw those. Usually right where it did the most damage, too.

Bannon eyed Sara sideways as he politely blew the smoke away from her. "Honestly?  It felt like taking a dump I'd been holding in too long."

Lona choked on her exhale and started coughing. Then Sara moved, and Lilly moved, and Lona was flatfooted and staring as friends started to attack each other.

[Clara Lys Wright]

“Because Cora’s upset and running after when she wanted to leave seemed pushy. Devin went after her and they’ve left. Call if you want and have her number.” Clara sighed, just looking worn out and completely drained. “As for Jason, my guess is he’s getting a lecture right now and piling on that is just going to have him retreat somewhere we all can’t go.”

She gave a small defeated shrug toward Cassandra. “We can either all break up at this point and be whatever shade of ticked off, upset, hurt, or whatever until we figure out how to talk to each other again, or those of us still here can share the rest of the information people have dug and then at least this whole fiasco had a point. At least we’ll have less of a game of telephone later on if we do that.”

Out of the corner of her eye Clara caught the flash of something through the windows of Bunnee’s. She shot out of her chair, the clattering drawing attention from around the restaurant, and sprinted for the side door looking alarmed. 

[Lilly Pryor]

Sara had come out hot, and her words only made that even more apparent. She could see the cords of muscle tensing beneath her flesh and her body language was screaming for Jason to give her an excuse.

"Honestly?  It felt like taking a dump I'd been holding in too long." 

Lilly heard the words almost in slow motion as she saw Sara clench a fist and her muscles tighten, preparing to explode. 'Shit!' she thought and began to move. Lilly did not want anybody to fight, especially not physically... that would just escalate the shit storm to a whole 'nother level. She was unsure if she could even deflect the punch that Sara was beginning to chamber, giving the other's girl's strength, so she did the best thing she could and stepped between them, resting her arms on Sara's bulging biceps, preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.

Thankfully, Sara stopped, but she was fuming with anger.

"Stop it! BOTH of you." she said firmly and then looked into Sara's eyes. 

"We're all running hot right now, but this helps nothing other than make you feel better for a moment. Don't you think I have wanted to do the same to... people?" she said in her own frustration, not naming names but everybody present totally knew the pair she was talking about.

"This situation is bad enough, do not make it worse." she pleaded to Sara and then turned her head to look back at Jase before returning to Sara.

"Please."

Sara breathed heavily and looked at Lilly defending him, she wanted to hit his stupid face so much. She lifted her eyes from Lilly to look at Bannon again. "I thought you were better."

She pulled away and walked back inside to the ladies room, ignoring everyone on the way.

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Clara burst out right behind Sara as she came inside. She glanced at the fuming weight lifter as she passed by, frowning deeply. “What is going on out here?” she asked, looking between Lona and Lilly. Jason seemed spoiling for a fight tonight, so Clara wasn’t inclined to listen to his point of view at the moment.

Lona shakily put out the cigarette and handed the remaining bit to Jase. “Uh, Sara tried to hit Jase because he said what he was thinking without filters.” Clara rolled her eyes as Lona continued, “I was just out here to ask… nevermind. Seriously, I’m really done with people trying to punch people out at Bunnee’s.”

She turned to Jason and looked at him for a moment. “I’m not going to lecture you, but for all that you probably feel better for having spoken your truth, you’ve probably done irreparable damage to the Fellowship of the Scoobies. It’s not a matter of shutting up and never saying your truth, it’s a matter of finding a way to make your point without attacking. 

“I get both sides.” She rubbed her arms and looked away finally. “I spent four years saying whatever I thought would make Dad happy at that moment, and six months saying what I please. Both are good and bad, Jason, but you have to find a path between those two extremes.”  She stepped close and put her arms around his waist, giving him a hug -- the first one ever. “Please, Jason. I don’t want to lose friends or family because we can’t work together against the real threat.”

“Speak of real threats, can we please get back to the nosebleed-causing powers and probably multiple massive cover-ups going on around here? Cassandra hasn’t shared yet and she may decide we’re all too insane to trust if we keep this up.” She motioned back into the restaurant impatiently.

[Bannon]

The quiet reason that Lona used was an echo of the same tone Lilly had been employing, only a little more coherent and logical.  It surprised Jase, who'd been expecting another emotional upbraiding and was prepared to crush that with cold logic as well.  The hug, on the other hand, was enough to cause him to blink, looking over Lona at Lilly, Laurie and Clara, who also looked a little surprised.  He looked down at Lona hugging him and gently returned the hug one-handed, his other hand keeping his cigarette down and to one side away from her.  She felt rather than heard him sigh.

"I'm not apologising." he stated calmly. gently even.  "I meant every word, and an apology would be a lie.  I find her annoying for a number of reasons, and her comment in there cemented it - it's not optimism, it's willful blindness.  She doesn't want to see anything that she is not comfortable with."  He sighed again, then glanced at the others.  "But it upset you - my friends...  And so I will try consider your feelings before speaking or acting in such a fashion again.  It's... not easy for me."  he admitted. 

"Thank you." She smiled sweetly at him, her chin poking him lightly in the chest before she gave him a final squeeze and stepped back. "For trying."

"I'm not walking back my words.  They were considered before I said them, I meant them, and stand by them.  But I will try to moderate myself in future."  he said, meeting each of their eyes in turn.  "And Lilly, thank you for intervening.  I will remember not to allow Sara within arms length of me again."

"Dude, that is so not the takeaway from this."  she frowned at him, maintaining the stern expression despite the charming head-tilt and faint smile he gave her, though it was hard.

"Not the only one, perhaps." he said.  "Come on, lets get back in there before Cade comes out next with a hair up his ass."  He dropped his smoke on the floor and ground it out, then opened the door for them all to precede him.

[Marissa Jauntsen]

"So," Marissa smiled at Cass like a hungry Cheshire cat.  A fight was either start or ending outside involving someone she supposedly cared about and she did... nothing.  "Midnight rendezvous and your hands all over my brother?  I've been so curious... what's up there?  Haven't seen much of you since the late night walk of shame from our driveway that night?  Was it that good or... just feeling awkward around him?"

She raised a brow and took dainty bite of her bunless burger with all the fixings, burger salad as Devin called it.  "I've been dying to know."

[Cassandra Allen]

Cassandra lifted her eyebrows. "Wow. I'm not sure if that's meant to be an insult to me, or him. But I think we both know that if you really thought there was something going on between me and Devin, we'd be having a different conversation, yeah? Probably less faux-casual curiosity and more drizzling contempt?"

She waved a hand airily. "He was actually pretty nice, overall though. One might even say gentlemanly. We saw something genuinely fucked up, and he needed to talk about it. So we did. I guess I kind of needed to too, even if I didn't think about it that way right away."

[Marissa Jauntsen]

Marissa narrowed her eyes and chewed daintily while she listened.  A slim smirk pressed through the matte maroon of her lips.

She pointed her fork and let it tap the air a few times in Cass's direction.  "I like you, Allen.  You're acceptable, and moderately tolerable.  Despite  your abysmal sense of style."

Without another word she went back to eating and treating Cassandra like she was invisible.

[Lilly Pryor]

Lilly sighed and reached down, picking up the ground cigarette butt.

"Really?" she said, holding it up and then throwing it in the trash. "We like this place."

"My bad." he replied soberly, despite the twinkle in his eye as he waved her through the door gallantly.

Lilly walked past him and into the diner again, surveying the place to see who was still there.

"Did Sara leave?" she asked with a sigh as she tried to look outside for her motorcycle or the wrecker.

"Brawlzilla's in the ladies room." Mari said, nodding toward it. "Looked pretty ticked too." she added casually without even looking up from her burger.

As the others took their seats again Lilly turned and walked toward the ladies room, trying to think about what to say, but figuring it would be better just to speak from the heart with Sara. She stepped up to the door and reached out to knock, but paused. She wasn't sure.. about almost anything right now, but she had to try to fix things... to keep them all together long enough to understand each other so this wouldn't happen again... hopefully.

Finally Lilly knocked.

"Sara? It's me. Lilly." she announced through the door.

"Not now Lilly." she heard back sternly.

Lilly sighed, closed her eyes, and rested her forehead against the door. This.. wasn't how she hoped this meeting would go.

"I know. I just... I wasn't defending him or taking his side or anything. I know you want to hit him and I don't blame you at all. Hell, I want to hit him too, and others, in the past.. like, more than you know. What he did was mean and uncalled for. We were already out there giving him what for about he did. But.. infighting is bad enough. Actually throwing punches? That's... we can't have that.

Look.. I couldn't stop, or I guess didn't, stop what he did to Cora, because I was caught off guard. So I stopped the fight I could, or at least tried.  I'm not done talking t him either. I just.. I wasn't taking side. You are all my friends and I was looking out for all of you. I know you are angry, and that is totally valid. I just.. I dunno. I just don't want my friends to fight. Any of them. And I count you among them. I hope you are okay and will give us another chance..." she ended with a sigh, her eyes still closed and her head resting against the door, her anger with Jase and her frustration with him, others and the situation bubbling up, causing her to close her eyes even tighter in a futile attempt to hold back tears which she silently wiped away.

[Bannon]

He moved back to the corner booth behind Laurie, Clara and Lona as Lilly hurried to the bathroom, his demeanour calmly introspective as he resumed his seat with a glance around the table.  Laurie made a point of not sitting down back next to him, taking a seat beside Sean with a sniff of disapproval.  The others seemed quiet, Marissa shooting him a speculative look and a smirk whilst the others seemed to be weighing what to tell Cade, who was plainly confused as the goings-on.  For his part, he was in no hurry to have yet another person take a swing at him, and briefly pondered palming a knife while reaching for his drink.  For him, a punch was a stab was a car rigged to explode - violent means of conflict resolution were not half-measures to be taken purely out of pique.  And yet...  He pictured Lilly's, or Lona's faces if he actually did employ lethal force, and so left the knife on the table.  His friends would defend him, or they would not and he would have to resolve the issue himself afterwards.

Laurie was still glaring daggers at him, alternating with some puzzlement.  She knew he was odd - he'd always been her brother's odd friend - but had never seen him get mean.  And what was that out there about him not finding it easy to consider his friends' feelings?!  And why did Lona hug him and smile?!?!  She looked at Sean, who was silent, deep in his own thoughts.  She looked at Lona, who was murmuring quietly to Clara.  And then she tightened her lips and went back to glaring at Jason, who met her stare and didn't even react beyond a faint twitch of his eyebrow before looking away.  He didn't care, and she didn't get it.  Earlier, she'd been impressed with all the information he'd presented, even if it was spooky as all hell.  Then she'd been shocked and outraged by his utterly brutal evisceration of Coraline.  Now she was uneasy.  He was not reacting in any way she understood, and yet the others - some of them at least - seemed to get him.  And he had powers as well.  It was unsettling.

Jason was mulling over his words, his responses, running them through a critical toothcomb.  He had told the truth as he saw it, and there had been some frustration empowering his words.  He considered Coraline to be essentially a prey animal - beautiful, nice-natured, but no strength of character where it counted.  He was open to the concept of being proven wrong, but thus far he did not feel any such proof had been provided.  That she had apparently had powers as long as everyone else bar Charlie, and yet had not even learned basic control over them was another tick against her.  She'd thought it was ghosts, for crying out loud, not even trying to correlate the happenings with her own actions or moods at the time and just burying her head in the sand.  The sheer lack of curiousity she'd displayed when weird energy fluctuations happened around her, was frankly as incomprehensible to him as he likely was to her, and was symptomatic of the wider malady.  She was dead weight.

And yet...

Perhaps there would have been a more creative tack to have taken.  Perhaps, had it been Lilly acting in that way... But that was one hell of a hypothetical stretch.  Laurie, perhaps?  No, not even her.  The youngest Cassidy had a strong practical streak.  Okay, so make the stretch.  Thought experiment:  Lilly is being a ditz with zero awareness and willful refusal to examine unpalatable facts.  His mind rebelled a little at considering such an unlikelihood, but he pressed on.  Would some patience and repeating salient points perhaps change her mind?  If not, why not?  Work through the problem...  Persistence and patience, ignoring the more frustrating aspects of her behaviour, might pay off with more open mindedness...

There was no doubt about it.  People were a lot of work.  Hopefully they would be worth it.

[Sara Hutchins]

Sara was leaning over the sink splashing cold water onto her face and letting it drip back into the basin. Lilly knocked and Sara told her to go away, but she didn't and she had to listen to her through the door. God Lilly had such a big heart and such surety.

11 hours ago, Lilly Pryor said:

 I just don't want my friends to fight. Any of them. And I count you among them. I hope you are okay and will give us another chance..." she ended with a sigh, her eyes still closed and her head resting against the door, her anger with Jase and her frustration with him, others and the situation bubbling up, causing her to close her eyes even tighter in a futile attempt to hold back tears which she silently wiped away.

Lilly flinch when the bathroom door jerked open in front of her with Sara, stony faced with the front of her shirt damp with splashed water. "He is dangerous Lilly, and getting worse. He would have stabbed Charlie with that fork if I had not explained what I thought happened with Marissa, if i'd have just simply answered his question. And Coraline, so what if she hasn't contributed anything, so what if she thinks her father is a good man. She was there with us when all this shit began and she is one of us. If anything he should be protecting her. Instead he attacked her, and not with a logical argument and pointing out facts but with gratuitous and almost vindictive personal attacks with the intent to destroy her. That wasn't tough love or trying to wake her up. That was a pure savage wild animal taking down the weakest prey."

Sara shook her head, "What if next time, and there will be a next time, he doesn't use words? What then?"

[Sean Cassidy]

Sean had been as shocked as anyone else by Jase's savage take down of Coraline as anyone else. Jase may have been his friend while Coraline was still mostly working up from acquaintance status and a friend's girlfriend, but Sean found it hard to defend him in this, even accounting for Jase's social... eccentricities. It had been harsher, more vindictive, than nearly anything he had seen or heard from Jase. Lilly, Lone, and Laurie had already gone out after Jase, and while Sean wanted to have his own words with him, he wasn't about to pile on with the ladies - he'd talk with him later man-to... well, one-on-one, at least. Through the window, Sean saw Devin approach Cora and didn't think another person needed to be involved in that, except for maybe Cade.

Sean slid a thumbnail between his teeth, deep in thought considering the Dark, its apparent influences, and the changes all - or most - of them were experiencing, trying to figure a way to measure the influence, the changes. Sara seemed to detect them, after a fashion, but there had to be another way, a way that would make it accessible to all of them. He was willing to go for a MRI or CT scan, even if it risked Eddy - or his handlers - getting his hand on them - he was going to assume they already had his extensive medical file. He could probably talk to Dr. Cook about it, and maybe get a look at a clean, anonymous brain scan and have Dr. Cook mention any odd differences between the two. Some at Marias Medical might be suspect, but after being a patient of Dr. Cook for over six years, he trusted the man.

Deep in thought, he barely heard Cassandra's comment on the group's social dynamics, Clara's counter, or the back-and-forth with Marissa, save to offer them a faint, distracted tight-lipped frown. The fluorescent lights were irritating him, his pupils mere pinpricks in deep, vibrant seas of turquoise and peaks and valleys of teal. When Cade arrived, Sean updated him quietly, terse and quick, ending with being a bit vague on what exactly Jase had said to Cora, but suggesting Cade might want to talk to her sooner rather than later.

Sean gave a small start when Sara stormed back in and stalked to the bathroom, followed shortly by the others. He could practically feel Laurie seething, and Sean gave Jase a disappointed glance, a hitch to his shoulder indicating that he would want to talk to him privately, later, but there were more pressing things to talk about right now. Rousing from his thoughts, Sean nodded at Cassandra.

"Most of us are here now, Cassandra. Before the next bomb drops, you said you had news about what was going on at Crossroads?"

Damn, Cora should have stayed here to hear this, even if would be hard to hear.

[Lilly Pryor]

Lilly listened and nodded as Sara spoke, frowning as the list of what Jason did was gone over again, disappointing her more.

"I'm not defending him or attacking Coraline, Sara. Not in the slightest. What he did was... more than excessive and uncalled for and I won't stand for any of us treating any of us like that. She was there and is one of us. I've never said different and I was telling him that chewing his ass outside when you walked up.

We are all stressed right now, and that is have not the best impact on us all, causing some of us to speak and act, without any filter, to put it mildly. I know I have had to catch myself several times. But no matter who it was,.. you and Jase, or Devin and Cora, or anybody else, I would have stepped in just the same. I am not judging you for wanting to hit him. He was brutal to Coraline and then smartass to you. I totally get that. I want to punch him in the face too, as I have others in the past. But we can't let ourselves do that. Violence.. it would change things is a very bad way and we can't have that. We all need each other and have to watch each other's backs, even if we do not all understand that yet.

Most of us, have known Jason for years, and know that he is a decent guy. I'd hope you might have seen some of that already. Tonight caught us all off guard. I guess because we never saw him get pissed like that, none of thought he would or something. I dunno." she sighed.

Lilly glanced back across the diner at the table for a moment and then back to Sara.

"But Jason... Well, some things are not my place to say. They are his when or if he ever feels he can. But know that you don't have all the info about him. I also think part of it is Devin and Marissa's influence lately, and I am countering that and making clear to him that some things are not acceptable. And I was already on top of the fork thing. I am not going to let anybody physically assault anybody. It's unacceptable." she said emphatically.

"Just... you know I would not be friends with Jason if he went around acting this way. This is out of the norm and I am sure stress it a big part of it. That doesn't make it okay though. He's my friend. Just let me talk to him, figure out what is up and explain to him that some things can't ever happen again." she asked as she reached down clasped her hands around one of Sara's for a moment before letting it go with a small sigh.

"And if you are so upset that you can;t look at him and need to go, I totally understand and am not gonna stop you. But I hope that we can table some things and try to work together for the good of us all." 

[Sara Hutchins]

Sara had looked down at their hands when Lilly grabbed her hand and back up when she let go.

1 hour ago, Lilly Pryor said:

"And if you are so upset that you can;t look at him and need to go, I totally understand and am not gonna stop you. But I hope that we can table some things and try to work together for the good of us all." 

"He needs to be on a leash," she said to Lilly as she pointed surreptitiously in a way only the two of them could see, across the room at the table and Marissa, "and not on hers."

Not waiting on a reply Sara returned with a scowl and without a word to anyone sat at the end of the table where Devin had been seated. She gave a slight nod to Cade.

It was obvious she was still angry, but keeping it in check for the good of the Fellowship.

 

As Sara walked back to the table those who were looking could see that Bunnee had come out of the kitchen and was talking to Max, his big mustache dropping with his frown. He eyeballed the Fellowship as Max went on to tend other tables, then he went back into the kitchen.