Aberrant: Dead Rising - On The Safe Side

[Atomicweasel]

"Um..." Hana looked up, startled, as Ashley seized her by the shoulders. Kristin's cousin towered almost a full head over her. Hana swallowed thickly.

"I can't tell you." Hana said in a small voice.

"You can! We're family. I'm, like, her next of kin, so you're allowed." Ashley answered fiercely.

"I really think it's something she needs to tell you herself." Hana insisted after a thoughtful pause.

"Just tell me, Hana!" Ashley demanded with growing irritation and alarm.

"I can't, okay!?" Hana exclaimed.

"Then we're done." Ashley gave a Hana a little shove as she released her. "I need to find my cousin and find out what happened to her." Ashley glowered, turning to go.

"Wait..." Hana took two quick strides forward and grabbed Ashley by the elbow. Ashley gave a hard yank and jerked free.

Hana stood, watching indecisively, then chased after her and twisted around to stand in Ashley's path. When Ashley moved left, Hana moved with her. When Ashley moved forward, Hana stepped back. Ashley glared at her and feinted hard to her left, then surged...but Hana stuck with her like a shadow, always a step too quick.

"Goddammit, Hana. If you don't get out of my way, I'm gonna kick your fucking ass."

"Just please, wait, okay?" Hana pleaded nervously. "I want to talk to you about what happened last night. Okay? Please? And then I'll help you find Kristin!" she added hastily as Ashley started toward her.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Trying to go around the quick little bitch wasn't working, so Ashley had decided on going through when Hana mentioned 'last night'. Ashley took a deep breath, then stopped her advance, crossing hers arms across her chest, and tapping her foot. Hana though she saw something flicker in Ashley's eyes, but she quickly glanced away, plucking at the frayed cuff of her flannel shirt, and so couldn't be sure.

"Fine!" Ashley said tersely, her eyes locking on Hana's beneath lowered brows, though there was a tenseness to her posture, hips cocked as if ready to move. "What did happen last night? And don't give me any bull about it being a nightmare, I know what I saw, the Dark..." She gave a shiver, but didn't back away, chin jutting belligerently.

[Atomicweasel]

"Okay, well..." Hana nibbled her lower lip and took a shuddering breath. "I probably shouldn't even tell you but--" when Ashley rolled her eyes, Hana blurted "but, okay! Here's the thing, just promise you won't tell anyone, cuz I'm not supposed to know..."

Ashley's eyebrows nearly met, the frown she gave Hana was so deep. "Know what?"

Hana anxiously spun her little friendship bracelet around her wrist. "I overheard Dr. Myfwany talking with Violet...before you and Kristin were rescued from the prison. Violet's got this strange power. She can make you feel whatever she wants you to. Like, happy. Or sad. Or..." Hana paused dramatically. "...scared."

Ashley planted her hands on her hips. "So you're saying Violet made that dark and tried to scare us on purpose--"

"--No! Not on purpose!" Hana cut in. "Dr. Myfwany was telling Violet her powers were dangerous and she shouldn't use them around people if she could help it...because they're so hard to control. I think maybe Violet really was having a nightmare, or thinking bad thoughts or whatever...and it just like, leaked out!"

"What?" Ashley spat. "Violet wasn't even there, remember?"

"But maybe she came back! I mean, we were all asleep when it happened...and she was so upset the last time we saw her," Hana gulped. "remember?"

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Ashley stood with hands on hips, considering Hana's explanation, her frown dubious, but softening, an uncertainty fluttering at the edge of her eyes. The problem was, she was still new here, she didn't know what the people were like. It could have happened as she said, still...

"What about you, you didn't seem to be affected or whatever by the nightmare... thing?" Ashley asked skeptically. "You can't be saying that Violet targeted only us, by random."

"I... Well, I always have nightmares. Ever since Z-day, losing my..." Hana dropped her eyes from the taller girl, sounding melancholy and fragile, the toe of one of her Adidas digging at the dirt. "I - I didn't think it was anything specially bad or weirder than normal - Until you and Kristin screamed of course! Then I remembered what Dr. Myfwany was saying, and..."

Ashley reached out and flicked a loose lock of glossy black hair out of Hana's face with a comforting hand, her frown sliding from mistrustful to sympathetic. Though Kristin and Simon had spared her the worst of Paradise, she still had her own nightmares of the place, and older ones of her and Kristin's fathers leaving. She understood about nightmares being so common, that they were expected.

The problem was, she didn't want to believe Hana's story, she really didn't, but she had no way to disprove it either. Violet was sorta... odd, and not just because she looked like a blow-up doll. Then there was the way Hana was acting all coy with Simon. Don't be silly, Hana's just a little girl, twelve at most, and you're a woman. You'll be sixteen next month. No way will Simon choose her over you.

"I understand, Hana and I guess it could be like you said. I still have some doubts, but Violet was weird, and Jennifer too. You better not be lying to me," she added distractedly as she turned to look for signs of Kristin. "Let's go look for my cousin - she'll be wanting to be alone, but she really shouldn't be. Did you see which way she went?"

Hana shook her head negatively, then two teenaged girls walked deeper into the Refuge, looking for a third, Ashley softly voicing another concern, "If Violet's powers are really uncontrollable, we should probably look for somewhere else to sleep, showers or not."

[Atomicweasel]

“Yeah, I guess.” Hana agreed as she and Ashley began to navigate the maze of tents littered across the compound like an overcrowded camping ground. “I mean, I feel bad...cuz of how nice Violet’s been and everything, but” Hana took a double step to keep pace with Ashley “she’s kinda always freaking out, you know? It’s just like...she’s so intense all the time...and I don’t think that’s such a great thing for Kristy.” Hana glanced sidelong at Ashley. “I don’t know what happened to her or anything, we didn’t exactly, you know, talk about that...but before you came upstairs?”

“Yeah?” Ashley prompted.

“Before you came upstairs she was kinda talking a little bit about the prison, I mean, not like a lot, but just sort of telling me how bad it was...and remember how Kristy got all freaked out about that dumb pole in the middle of the floor?”

“That’s a stripper pole.” Ashley pointed out.

“Huh?”

“Strippers use them. To dance with.”

“Oh.”

“That’s why she got so upset...because...” Ashley trailed off. Hana was gazing up at her with those dark blue eyes in a way that made Ashley think the little girl knew more than she let on. Ashley was about to voice that suspicion when Hana spoke up.

“That’s kinda what I mean though. The pole, and now all those women staying there that came from the prison with you guys...there’s like too much stuff that reminds Kristin of that place. And she can’t get away from it when it’s like, practically getting rubbed in her face all the time. You know?”

Hana saw a lot for a twelve year old, Ashley decided. Maybe too much. “You might be right. We should find someplace else to stay.”

“Yeah.” Hana nodded somberly, then suddenly pointed to Ashley’s right. “Is that her? On the wall?”

[SalmonMax]

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

"I see." He moved the rest of the way into the room. "Kristen has her cousin to lean on, I'm sure she'll be fine. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know." He didn't expect there was. The last thing a girl that had been through what she had needed was a man poking his nose in her business.

"As for the other, you can check me out next if you want. Besides being a little tired from all the exertion yesterday I'm feeling fine." He cocked his head in thought, then added, "I'm sure you already plan to, but please be sure to follow up on the ones you find that were effected and keep me appraised."

Myfwany nodded and peered hard at Fox, not bothering with lights in eyes this time. She knew what she was looking for now. After a second she nodded and looked away.

"So far I've seen two sorts of distortions in the...I guess 'energy field' is how it looks to me. The energy field superhumans have in their bodies. There are a series of black streaks that run through it, some more numerous than others, some thicker than others. That I've been seeing since I could see these auras."

She shook her head. "Then there's this overall dimming. That's new, and seems intimately tied to this monster zombie. What's strange is that...well, dimming is misleading. I can tell that the light is just as bright as it ever was. It's more like, there's something between it and me. A thin obstruction. I can tell the difference between there not being light, and there being this obstructed light. It's hard to explain how. My brain interprets all these new senses as if they were sight, but they're not really. I get a lot more information out of them than I would just looking."

"Anyway, I'll want to keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't come down with symptoms, but I don't think they will." She frowned. "Or at least not symptoms of the plague as we know it."

"But what I really need is lab space. Secure lab space. I know it's on the list, and that other things are ahead of it. Just don't forget, alright?"

She smiled.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Ashley followed Hana's finger to the figure sitting on top of the wall, sunlight glinting off gleaming golden hair. Ashley moved towards her, each step faster than the last, waving a hand.

"Yeah, I think that's her, Hana. Kristin! Wait! Please, just-" Ashley hadn't taken more than four strides before Kristin jumped to her feet, and fled, bounding with the speed and grace of a gazelle. "Crapfuck! Hana, come on, we have to catch her!"

Ashley grabbed Hana's slender hand and pulled her along as she tried to confront her distraught cousin. But it was no use. Kristin was just too fast. Whenever they finally managed to find where she was hiding, she was gone in a flash. As the sun began to set, Hana pleaded exhaustion, and begged off the search.

Ashley was growing frantic and a bit angry, and rounded on the smaller girl with a fury, grabbing her wrist in a tight grip. "Fine! Leave! But first, tell me what the doctor said to my cousin?!"

"I - I can't! I promised Dr. Myfwany I wouldn't. I wasn't even supposed to hear-" Hana looked up at the anxious Ashley, her deep blue eyes wide, seeming almost to glisten with fearful tears. Ashley wasn't sure she believed them.

"Dammit! Go then, you little- But if Kristin ends up hurting herself or... or something, I'm blaming you!" She gave Hana a shove to get her going, then went back to searching for her cousin.

Another hour later, even she had to agree this was futile. There were just too many nooks and crannies for Kristin to disappear in, and that was only if she had even stayed within the boundaries of the Refuge. With a heavy heart, Ashley headed back to their room at Violet's intending to pack up their belongings and maybe go see about finding alternative lodgings. If nothing else, they could set up their tent like everyone else.

Seeing the large sign surmounting the entrance to Violet's, a pensive light brightened her eyes. Maybe it was time to do some subtle questioning of the other women that had stayed in the strip club about what they had experienced last night. And maybe Jill or Jennifer would reveal something about their housemate?/lover?/friend? with some covert prying.

I also need to find Simon, he'll have an idea on how to help Kristin, she thought, straightening her shirt and smoothing her hair back over her shoulders.

[Atomicweasel]

Click to reveal..

Hana's adventures continue from this point in 'Simon Says'.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Ashley took a deep breath, then entered the ground floor of Violet's, a soft smile of honest concern on her face. She had been lucky, the actions of both Kristin and Simon sparing her the worst that Paradise had inflicted on the women, though there was a strip of burned flesh down her back as a sign to Kristin of the cost of defiance. Most of these women had many more wounds, and deeper.

Ashley went among them, helping them as she could, just like she did when they had first been released from the Prison. She helped them settle, setting up bedding or with the cooking, and redressing wounds. And she talked, offering what comfort she could, commiserating, or just being a non-judgmental ear - Ashley had been there and knew what it was like.

They all suffered nightmares, and though not everyone admitted to it, Ashley could see the tightness around their eyes, the way fingers would fidget or twitch towards a hurt, real or remembered. There were dreams of the dark, locked for days in solitary. There were nightmares of the crushing weight of spent men laying upon them, cruel hands forever grasping.

But not a single woman mentioned the ominous mass of tangible shadows, darkness writhing like snakes before their eyes that Ashley had seen last night. Amber-brown eyes narrowed, an ephemeral suspicion beginning to solidify. Politely excusing herself, Ashley went up the stairs, then paused outside the door to Jennifer and Jill's room.

Where the Prison had torn Kristin down, Simon and Paradise had built Ashley up, strengthening her resolve and sense of self. If someone was playing with her, and more importantly, Kristin, then she would do what she could to help her cousin.

She dried her suddenly sweaty hands on her jeans, then squared her shoulders and knocked on the door, wondering who would answer it: Bodybuilder Barbie, the flighty supermodel, or the living wet dream who was the possible source of Kristin's - and her own - distress.

[Venus]

"Hold on a sec", a female voice could be heard from inside. Ashley easily recognised it as Jill's and a second later the Bodybuilder Barbie opened the door. She was wearing a white tank top and cargopants that hugged her hips and ass tightly. All in all Jill was a sight to behold, ripped muscles covered her arms and her exposed abdomen was not showing a six, but an eight pack.

"Hey...", she greeted Ashley furrowing her brows briefly. "I'm sorry, I can't remember your name. Aren't you one of the girls staying in one of the rooms down the corridor? Come in.", Jill offered and went to the kitchenette opening the fridge and taking a bottle of water out.

"Want some?", she asked as she poured herself a glass of the precious cold liquid. The buff woman turned around and rested casually against the fridge as she watched the young teenager enter the room with careful steps and waited for her response.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Ashley's back stiffened imperceptibly as she suppressed the urge to shrink back from the large woman. She's even more muscular than Kristy. Did she change too? There had been men bigger than her - if not many - in Paradise, and even being sacronsanct, Ashley had always been aware of the danger. But Jill didn't seem as casually intimidating and Ashley returned her welcome with a careful smile.

"Thank you. Yeah, I'm Ashley, Violet gave us - me and my cousin - the room across the hall, along with the girl, Hana." Ashley entered the room, surreptitiously eying the belongings scattered about, before taking a seat at the small table. Ashley gave Jill a gracious nod at the offer of a glass of cold water. Ashley bought herself some time before asking her questions by taking a long sip of water, then swirled the glass on the table top, considering how to begin.

"Okay, I'm not sure how to ask this without sounding paranoid or accusatory, but here goes. Jill, you know Violet pretty well, right?" Ashley saw those incredibly broad shoulders tense, but at Jill's cautious nod, she continued in a rush before she stopped herself. "Um, well, I've heard that Violet... has... powers - more than looking like how she looks like! That she can make people feel... things - anything. Happy or sad or - or scared or whatever."

Ashley let out a long breath, tucked some loose, chestnut hair behind an ear with an agitated gesture, then took another long sip of water. Finally, she met Jill's eyes with a composed, direct gaze and asked what she wanted to ask, her tone surprisingly firm for a fifteen year old girl. "What I'd like to know is - did she use her power on us last night, even unknowing? I thought we were just having a normal nightmare, but the darkness - I'm sure I saw it moving, it touched me - us! I felt it! Did Violet make us see that? Someone... suggested it might have been her doing. I have to know!"

Ashley stretched her hands out across the table pleadingly. "I guess I can understand if Violet can't control what she does, but Kristin, her nightmares are really bad, and stuff like this, it's not good for her. We'd have to find somewhere else to stay."

[Venus]

Jill's eyes taxed the young teenager for a moment before she answered. She took one more sip of her glass and put it aside taking enough time to prepare what she was about to say.

Her first thoughts were Who told you that crap?. Then she realized that some people might be talking in order to damage Violet's reputation so her next thought was It's not your business! but then she realized the young teenager couldn't have known better. So if something strange happened last night it was easy to put the blame on Violet. She was already responsible for virtually every bad thing - why not nightmares and palpable darkness?

A smirk crossed Jill's face then she finally spoke, "I know you can't know better and you're right assuming I should know. Violet and I are... close.", Jill wasn't sure how far she could go with Ashley but she decided the teenager was old enough to handle it. "We're lovers - so I guess I should know quiet a deal about her gifts. Violet can make you feel whatever she likes you to. I guess that would also include fear. She can make you believe things you didn't believe before, she can make you change your mind on almost everything that seems important to her. BUT...", Jill's voice and demeanour got more serious now.

"But she would never do what you just asked. I've been sleeping next to her when she had nightmares but she never projected any of those feelings to me or anyone else. I've never heard or seen her summon darkness and I'm sure that's beyond her abilities. Everything Violet is about is... emotions and... sex. I know that's a topic you don't want to hear about coming from the prison and all - but you asked a straight question and I gave you a straight answer."

Just when Jill was about to pick up the glass and take another sip she quickly added, "Wait a minute? Did you say last night? Violet wasn't here, I was with Jennifer, alone."

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

"Oh, reeeeally, Violet wasn't even here?" Ashley mused, a peculiar inflection to her tone. She finished off her glass of water, then gave Jill a grateful smile, though the muscular blacksmith had the distinct impression that Ashley was thanking her for something else entirely.

"Thanks for telling me all that straight up, Jill, for true. I - I didn't mean to imply anything about Violet, it's just - like you said, I'm - we're - new here, and don't know anybody or what's what, y'know? Hell, before you guys came to Paradise - the Prison - I didn't even know there were other people like Kristy." Ashley stood up, brushing aside Jill's mention of her lover and her lover's... personification of sex. It made her a little uncomfortable, but it didn't matter to her at the moment.

That little cow fuckin' lied! She has some 'splainin' to do!

Ashley reached across the table and gave Jill's strong hand a grateful squeeze. "I have to go find Kristin and tell her this. Please give our regards to Violet, 'kay? Me and Kristin really appreciate the room she - and you, right? - are letting us use, and I didn't mean to think anything bad about her, honest. Ciao."

She gave Jill a nod, then left the room with a determined stride. Ashley had been waiting in her and Kristin's - and Hana's - room only for a few minutes, tidying up, when Kristin came in, wearing a new shirt, looking more weary than she had ever seen her. In a voice drained and devoid of almost any hint of emotion, Ashley's superhuman cousin told her what the doctor had said and about her talk with the teenaged angel.

Ashley didn't know what to say - she had never even thought of that! That little bitch should have told me! She held Kristin close, feeling her steely muscles slack with emotional exhaustion, promising that whatever she decided, she'd be there for her. Kristin just made a noise that might have been thankful, then said she just wanted to sleep. Ashley nodded sadly, not having the heart to mention the lies that Hana had spewed and wrapped the blanket around her as Kristin once more pressed herself into the corner.

A minute later, Kristin was still, emitting a soft snore as weary somnolence claimed her. Her sleep was so deep, even her nightmares couldn't seem to find her this night. Ashley softly ran her fingers through her cousin's silky hair, a melancholy smile on her lips when Kristin made a murmur and snuggled in the blanket and corner. Hasn't she suffered enough?

With Kristin seeming to be okay - as much as she'd ever be at the moment - Ashley got their small tent and the air mattress out of one of their packs and headed outside, around the edge of Violet's. Simon had said he was staying close, but he only had a sleeping bag. For all he did for her, being a friend in a place where friends didn't belong, she wanted to give him what comfort she could. Maybe he'll have some advice for me and Kristin, to help with her... problem. A baby?! Oh, Kristin...

Setting up the small, dark blue dome tent only took a few minutes. While waiting for Simon in the deepening gloom, Ashley steadily stepped on the pump to inflate the air mattress and kept on eye on the front door from the corner of the building, looking for a small, slight, dark-haired girl. Let's see Hana bullshit her way out of this one!

[Mr Fox]

Fox nodded to Myfwany. "It's on the list and at the top, that's for sure. Once the community decides on a government we'll see what we can come up with. That should be only a couple weeks away I hope. I'll make it a priority that we find you a secure location, I think you are our best hope for getting some results on things like the crop problem and this new thing with our auras." He said auras like it was an unfamiliar concept, but he definitely took it seriously.

[SalmonMax]

"And the fertility issue," Myfwany reminded him. "That's the real priority. There's a clock ticking on that one. It's going to be hell to experiment though, just because I'll need..."

Her face went blank for a second, and she snapped. "I do need Gabrielle's university. Not permanently, but a visit. They may...if they have the right kind of labs...have frozen donor eggs. With those, I could start doing experiments without having to collect new eggs from donors here in the refuge. They'll have equipment I'll need too."

She looked back at Fox and asked, seemingly appropos of nothing, "Do we ever see zombies coming our way still? I recall we used to get a few every so often, just wandering past."

[Dawn OOC]

Fox's eyebrow rose, but he said, "Yes, we still get them wandering by. I imagine we'll always have them, at least until the zombies are gone." He said it firmly and with utter conviction: the zombies will be gone. If he doubted that, Myf couldn't see it in his green eyes.

He leaned casually against the examination table and said, "We can arrange a visit to Hays, but I'd like to know if that's related to the zombie request you're about to make. I'm guessing it will be something I don't care for, but let's hear it."

[SalmonMax]

"The visit to Hayes is first and foremost about seeing if they have a supply of human eggs frozen in vitro," Myfwany replies. "If so, I can use them to research this fertility issue. That said, there's another thing I need to research, and that's zombies. I want a live zombie, under restraints, that I can do physical tests on, as well as keep under observation. I realize I've asked for that before, but if the university has appropriate facilities, then I could use them right away, at no cost to the refuge."

[Dawn OOC]

Fox leaned back. "I understand the need for this research," he said and Myf heard the 'but' before he said it, "but I don't think our facilities are capable of holding a zombie. I'm mostly sure, but mostly isn't going to be enough if it gets out and someone's kid dies because I okayed this. Now, the evil bastard in me says 'better at Hays than here', but that's not enough for me, either. Jon's place would be nice, but honestly, I'm not sure I can trust him.

"At this point, I can't allow a live zombie here. I don't think I'm comfortable with you having a live zombie anywhere near human inhabitants. Now, before you start to think I'm just saying no, I had another idea. I've been flying around and there's a nice farmhouse not far from here. I've been looking at it as a secondary location; it has some supplies already there, but no inhabitants. With some work, you and an isolated team could alter that place to meet your needs.

"Or you can wait until after we move, and either find facilities there, or use the base here. I could warp in on occasion to shift supplies and check in on you," Fox said. "Or, you can get Gabrielle to agree to use Hays. I just wouldn't feel comfortable with that, myself, or with helping you set that up. Do you understand?"