Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott laughed at that story, not having heard it before. Based on John's descriptions he knew that the fFash was a good bit younger than the others, and quite a bit greener than the others. He was the guy you wanted to have around for meta human related incidents, and for the most part his moral point was as straight as possibly be. But when things went bad he had either two modes- a beacon of hope so obnoxious that John found the need to balance it out by being even more doom and gloom than necessary. Or the Flash would go extremely Machiavellian, adopting a 'the ends justify the means' approach that left very difference between him and the villains they were meant to be fighting (that approach was usually adopted when timelines were involved. If there was a timeline, a speedster was willing to fuck with it). His inexperience was accompanied by a sense of almost childlike wonder about some things, that suggested to John that this kid had been a sci-fi fan as a kid. His reaction the dragon skeleton in the under crofts inhabited by the Justice League Dark had been pretty hilarious.

Both Cal and Cliff made 'eesh' faces at the thought of tech going through the wash and being utterly destroyed in the process while Jay, through some set of micro-expressions or another, gave a nod that somehow managed to convey 'that sucks'. "As bad as something going through a full wash cycle is, I think blowing up a super suit is worse for the creator." "Can't blame him for being pissed, suits that can resist speedster speeds and friction don't come cheap." "Must have been funny if his royal stony faced brooding highness was laughing at it." Chas added, he'd met Batman before, when suited the man was a stoic, monosyllabic wall of muscle, angst and surprisingly good tactics. "There was no sounds coming out, but it was damn obvious he was laughing. This guy was passionate about a supersuit in the way that only a tech can be. Though it was even funnier when somebody in the background said that there were three others in a 'shut up and stop your bitching' kinda way, only for the tech to retort that there were only two, but he really loved the one that blew up. I'm willing to bet that Batsy has a copy of those audio files somewhere, or at the very least they're still somewhere within The League's databanks." Jay adopted a scheming face, that made it clear that she was at least thinking about looking for such files in the future.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay didn't deny that a fully teched out super suit blowing up was way worse than a music player going through a full cycle wash. It was why she made the quip of it completely beating her own experience with things being destroyed and not by the owner. There was no way anything could beat the blowing up of a super suit in her eyes, or at least very very little could. She could imagine how funny the phone call just have been if even the bat's was amused by it all, knowing only what was ever in papers or the TV news channels showed, but she got a good damn idea from those and from what John spoke of, of just how stoic the guy truly was. She looked between everyone still amused as everyone expressed their opinions and reactions to the story John told before John continued on and giving Jay ideas completely.

"and now Jay is thinking 'I must find those files'" Fia smirked, knowing Jay well enough having had her in her life growing up to recognise when something like this was flashing through her mind. "wouldn't be Jay if she didn't" Kay added with a chuckle, implying that she would be disappointed if Jay didn't try such a move and if she didn't, Kay would wonder who this woman was and what they had done with Jay. If anyone could probably find such a thing it would be Jay or even Rinaa, Fia thought. It wasn't long before Fia remembered that she wanted a shower as they did go for a run a while ago, so she reluctantly pushed herself off of Elliott, "I'm gonna go for a shower finally now all the latest information has been discussed" she declared standing up.

 

[_gallifrog_]

There were smirks all round at Fia's assumption that Jay would now want to go looking for such files, and the way Jay raised her eyebrows, combined with the almost mischievous look on her face made it even clearer that Fia's assumption was right. "Along with whatever other embarrassing footage they have squirrelled away in their data vaults no doubt." Elliott added. "Well obviously, where would the fun in it be otherwise?" Jay replied, reaching for the bulky laptop bag. As well as having a protective compartment for the laptop, there was also space for a large notebook, a hook for keys, pockets for small change, a phone pouch and pen holsters. The bag was well worn and the strap had been replaced with one that was a slightly different shade to the rest of the bag. "There's all kinds of shit in there no doubt." John confirmed as Fia got up, declaring her need for a shower. There was not much anybody could really say to that, so they all nodded as she left.

Pulling out the laptop Jay was surprised by the bulk of it, she could now understand why somebody might use it to hit an intruder overhead. The current trend in Earth tech was to make it slimmer and lighter and this laptop was neither. Looking at the sides explained why, there were two disk drive, a whole host of cable ports (including ones for bio-port cables) as well as an analysing drawer and what looked like a holo projector device of some kind. The laptop was covered in a variety of stickers, which surprised Elliott, he didn't think Rinaa to be the type to decorate her laptop. Most were science related- the solar system, periodic table, atomic structure, biohazard symbols-, but there was also a Doctor Who and Torchwood logo sticker, one of the spinning top from Inception and one that he had no idea of the meaning- an open tie box with a black tie inside and the words 'Black label Contraband' written in red font on the inside of the lid.

Spoiler: The laptop I took inspiration from

Something like this, but with more stickers

 

[MzHyde]

Before Fia went to her shower, she smirked and nodded at Elliott's addition to her assumption and found it even more amusing that not even Jay could deny such a thing. With her telling everyone that she was taking a shower as a way to say no one better need the bathroom for the next few minutes, and getting away with no 'good because you stink' comments being made, she walked off to the bathroom, making a pit stop to her room to grab clean clothes, and the towel she had been hijacking for herself to use. Moments later, she was in the bathroom and in the shower feeling glad for the hot water and shower gel. She even washed her hair whilst she was at it.

In the living room, Kay couldn't help but take notice of how cluttered the laptop seemed to her, especially with the stickers all over it. It felt like a typical teenager's computer in some ways and not at all like a teenager's laptop in others. She had to look at the stickers, making note of the fandom ones and the scientific ones. Though like Elliott, she had no idea what the black contraband one was in the slightest, figuring that it must be only be a thing from Rinaa's timeline. Either that or she was just completely oblivious to certain things when she thought she knew of most fandom and pop culture things. "that's quite the sticker collection she has on the laptop" she just remarked in an off the cuff comment. She was never one for completely covering hers in things, at most she had one or two stickers in the corners way back when, but she never really saw the point of using such things on laptops. Yet she also knew, the only time she ever used a laptop was to research on a particular artist from history, or to use her USB tablet for any digital art she needed to do for university.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Yeah, it is." Elliott agreed, not being one to cover his own stuff in stickers, not even as a kid. Though he supposed he made up for it by doodling in the margins (and across the pages) of books in John's apartment when his English wasn't good enough for him to be able to read them. "I didn't have her pegged as the sticker type if I'm being honest." "Neither did I." Jay agreed, looking at the array of stickers again. The laptop wasn't plastered with them, they'd clearly been placed with precision, the biohazard symbols covering the laptop brand. "I had her down as a tech purist like myself who doesn't see the point of adding any stickers or decoration to tech unless it's for camouflage purposes. Guess I was wrong there." She flipped open the laptop and carefully lifted the charging rig from the box and began hooking it up and unfolding it.

"If it makes you feel any better, I thought the exact same thing." Cliff added, genuine surprise visible in her voice, she wasn't just saying this, Rinaa had never given her the impression of being a sticker person with her tech. Her phone had no ornamentation whatsoever and the most basic protective case possible. "It's like she's deliberately as confusing and contradictory as possible." John butted in, even though he was the same opinion as everybody else. "She's a teenager though, they're not always logical at the best of times. She's hardly typical." "We should know by now not to just assume anything about her." "Don't suppose you know what this one means?" Elliott asked, tapping the sticker of the tie box. "I recognise the rest of them in some way or another, but this is a mystery to me." John shrugged "not the foggiest Ell, I don't recognise it all. I'm hardly the expert on alien pop culture, but neither of those two seem to know it. Maybe it's something from her timeline?" The design was mystifying to him, it was written in English, but it didn't scream 'science' or 'fandom' like any of the others did. "Fia could know." Jay offered with a shrug. "If she doesn't then it must be something unique to her timeline. But whatever it is, it's important to Rinaa."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay never would have taken Rinaa for the sticker type either. Though when she truly thought about her slogan tshirts and the similar little quips she had let their group see of her, she was surprised that none of them took her for the type. She nodded at John's words, having decided that a long time ago ever since they met Rinaa. She watched on as Elliott asked John if he knew what the tie sticker was all about, glad that she wasn't the only one who didn't know what it was all about, as it made her feel less old and less ignorant. She did think Fia would possibly know what it was as she was around the same age as Rinaa, so in her mind, Jay's suggestion was completely possible.

It was soon after they all chatted about Rinaa's computer that Fia had managed to get out the shower, dry off and get dressed into her typical black jeans and dark grey vest. She tied her hair up after drying it and walked back out as Jay said about how shhe might know what something was. "I might know what what is?" she asked, walking over to where she was sat before, bare footed and sat down between Kay and Elliott once again, pulling her feet up off the floor and onto the couch's edge. "what that sticker is all about" Kay pointed out, making Fia lean over and have a look before shrugging, "not a clue, but then again even in my timeline there's a lot of things Leah is into that I've not got the foggiest idea of." she replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The others looked up as Fia walked in, by now they'd all seen Fia's tattoos and were used to them, they were as much a part of Fia as Kay's vibrant hair was to Kay, John's trenchcoat and scruff were to John, Elliott's scar was to Elliott and Jay's liquid silver eyes were to Jay. John was half expecting Fia to know exactly what the mysterious sticker represented, out of all of them she was the only one who could truly claim to know a Leah/Rinaa and what made her tick. John a little disappointed when she didn't know. Out of all the mysteries about Rinaa, surely this should be one of the easiest to solve. But evidently not. "Well it was worth a shot, I guess it will just have to be added to the growing list of mysteries." John replied, lying back into the couch again.

"Well here's a notebook if you guys want to make a start." Cal offered, holding out a hardback notebook she'd pulled out of some drawer or another. "I'll take first stab." Chas offered, having quite a lot on his mind that he wanted answers to. the notebook was passed over and he began writing, neatly bullet pointing the various questions, thoughts and theories. While he worked at that, Jay set up the laptop on the balcony where the sun was at an ideal angle for mounting the panels. After that she dug out the biocables and began connecting herself to the other 'franken computer'. "I'm gonna immerse myself, Cliff I presume you know the drill?" The doctor nodded. "If I go back pull me out, but if all goes well pull me out after two, two and a half hours anyway, it's been a few years since I last did this, so use your discretion, yah?" "I'll do that, you can trust me."

With that Jay pulled on a set of noise cancelling headphones, connected up the bio-cables one to each arm, booted up the necessary software and lay herself down on her back on the table. The last touch was to put on a pair of glasses that connected to the computer and rearrange herself so her dominant hand was resting on the computer keyboard. It was a strange sight to see Jay lying prone on her back, hand flashing across the keyboard, screens flickering from site to photo to notes document and back again.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia could tell that John was disappointed that she didn't know what the reference was to the sticker but she couldn't hold all the answers to everything. She was tempted to come out with a smart ass remark along the lines of 'sorry pops, some things are even mysterious to me. I can't hold all the answers to all things Rinaa/Leah or the future' but she held back from saying such a thing. She wasn't in the least bit surprised that Chas wad the first who wanted to start jotting down the questions they wanted answered from someone or another. He was always the first in her timeline to do such a thing, his rational mind kicking into full on mode. "at this rate we'll enough to fill the whole book" she joked instead.

Kay was more focused on watching Jay setting up the laptop and connecting herself via her bioports, whilst making sure that Cliff knew what to do and when to do it. Watching her set herself up on the table was highly intriguing and bizarre to see but Kay (and by this point Fia) was fascinated by it all that neither could stop watching the whole process. They watched as the screens flickered through each thing, amazed that Jay could control the computer whilst being quite literally hooked up to it. "this is so strange to see" Kay remarked, "but so interesting and cool" Fia added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"That honestly wouldn't surprise me." John replied in response to Fia's words. Chas was writing frantically, and had even pulled out his phone, where John wasn't surprised to see that he'd already started a questions document of his own. Fia and Kay weren't the only ones watching Jay set up with barely disguised intrigue. Jay had said very little about how one actually worked on the computer once the bio-port cables were put in. Cal, Cliff and Elliott had all seen people hooked up to computers before, but for Elliott it had been a very long time. A long time he'd spent using Earth tech, which was nowhere near sophisticated as most of the stuff on Attil, so it was just as interesting (and kind of freaky) to see. "I'd forgotten just how weird it was to see somebody hooked up like that" he remarked, eyes going between the flickering screens and Jay's mostly prone form (if her right hand was ignored). "Twelve years would do that I suppose." Cal replied, watching Jay like the others. "She's good, for somebody who claims to be out of practice." Cliff's tone made it clear that she didn't think Jay was out of practice.

"You're saying people can work faster than that?" John asked, eyebrow raised, surprise and scepticism as he gestured at Jay's prone form. "Oh waaaay faster, techies get all kinds of ports and implants, enough that they start becoming cyborgs, or hybrids. Those people can do things at incredible speeds, they basically ARE computers with a fleshy, scaly, furry, gelatinous... or whatever other outer shells people can have. Jay doesn't just have ports in her arms, she has chips in her head too, streaming the data into her mind, and syncing with what the goggles are doing. Processing data is completely different when your mind goes INTO the internet. Hence the need for a second to keep watch and make sure nothing goes wrong."

There was something about the sight of Jay lying prone on the table, hooked up to devices that made Chas think of hospitals, or more specifically two times he'd seen John in hospital in a coma. The first had been after John had been beaten into a coma by his father. Cheryl had called Chas, unable to move her brother's unconscious body on her own and Chas (who wasn't old enough to legally drive, but was doing it anyway, had broke every speed limit to get to the hospital (Cheryl had successfully appealed the speeding fines afterwards, as it had been her car they used). The second had been after John's suicide attempt. Chas was pretty sure it was his imagination, but it looked to him like Jay hooked up was significantly paler than she'd been earlier. "Looks creepy if I'm being honest."

 

[MzHyde]

The longer Jay was on the table flat out being hooked up to the computer, there was only one thing that Kay could honestly think of that it all suddenly reminded her of. She nodded at Elliott's words, agreeing that it was highly weird to see, listening to what the others were saying, interested in hearing that others could be greatly faster than even Jay was being at this moment in time. If she had known what Chas was thinking, she probably would have seen how Chas could come to such a comparison. "it's just dawned on me what this reminds me of... Ghost in the Shell and Major Motoko Kusanagi when she plugs into computers or other androids to gain information from the back of the neck via ports. And I'm talking original anime, not the westernised film... As good as it was" she explained, tapping the back of her neck when she said it for extra emphasis.

"bloody hell you're right!" Fia replied, finding it surprising she never thought of it before now, but now that Kay had pointed it out, it did look like something out of Ghost of the Shell, "or like those agents that have the ports and extendable fingers that can turn into USB sticks etc" she added. Kay nodded at what Fia was saying, wishing now she could search for some clips to show Cal and Cliff incase they had no idea what they were talking about. She decided she was pretty sure she would never see that series and set of films in the same way again now she was witnessing what Jay was doing.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The reference flew over Cal and Cliff's head, which was hardly surprising, but they could understand easily enough what she was talking about. John was vaguely aware of the original anime, but had never watched it, he wasn't any anime person (hardly surprising to anybody who knew him). It was a similar case with Chas and Elliott. Chas preferring books to film if given the choice and Elliott was still woefully behind when it came to pop culture on Earth (and even more so when it came to Attili pop culture, missing well over a decade of stuff, such as one of his favourite book series being adapted to a series of amazing films). John was using Elliott's lack of pop culture as an excuse to re-watch various things he liked. His lack of pop culture was one reason why movie nights with John, Aj's crew or Chas' family were so important to Elliott.

"Probably makes more sense than me thinking about some weird Matrix-Altered Carbon mash-up" was John's response. "And neither of those really have anything in common with Jay being hooked up, if it was a neck port then maybe the Matrix would sense." He gave a shrug before adding after a moments thought. "Or maybe I'm just thinking of the illegal sleeve and stack cloning device thing." Seeing the mystified looks on the others faces he sighed, knowing that despite Altered Carbon being adapted to a Netflix show, it was a particularly dark one, with some questionable themes and even more questionable settings (the books were even more like that, and attracted a particular type of person). In John's opinion the show had been axed way too early, there was so much potential for world building and to make it even darker and grittier. It was the kind of show that had a dedicated following that would lead it to become a cult classic in the future (which it was in both Fia and Rinaa's timeline). "niche reference, I know."

 

[MzHyde]

Out of Kay and Fia, it was only Fia who truly knew what John was talking about. She had spent her nights watching Altered Carbon with John and was absolutely blown away by the entire concept, but she also had grown up with Ghost in the Shell and that entire universe, having watched every single animated series and film and read the mabga and novels as well. To her, the two things were very similar in premise and she figured that Altered Carbon actually took a lot of their premise from ghost in the shell. In her timeline both were cult classics and still had a very loyal following. Kay had heard of Altered Carbon but when the first season came out, she was still on the streets so for her, she had no idea what John was on about. "dunno about Altered Carbon, wasn't exactly living anywhere when it came out, but from what you say, it's got similarities to Ghost in the Shell. Worth watching, don't like the word 'anime' put you off. The 1995 film is astounding" Kay commented.

"I'm with mum, it's a classic, not to mention there's a whole bunch of novels, TV series and a few films. Then of course there's the scarlet johansson film too. But in my opinion the laughing man saga is the best along with the 1995 film. You guys really need to watch it. A detective show where the Major is mostly a cyborg who can be 'deep dived' into various bodies if one gets destroyed. They use technology like bio ports in the back of the neck to solve all kinds of crimes and really makes you think about humanity and one's existence. I'm pretty certain altered carbon took a lot of its ideas from Ghost in the Shell" Fia added, ending the last sentence with a shrug to show she had indeed watched both things.

Spoiler: Gits references kay used

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Wouldn't be surprised if it did take ideas from Ghost in the Shell, that's what seems to happen with a lot of pop culture/cult culture. Seems like this time both groups managed to make something mind blowing, as opposed to one good and one shittier one." John could tell from Fia's shrug that she had watched in the future, hardly surprising given that Fia had already shown that she'd watched various other things that both John and Kay liked. "The first book came out in around 2002 anyway, so Ghost in the Shell predates it by a good few years. Wouldn't be surprised if it also took inspiration from Blade Runner and the replicants."

"You actually read the book?" Chas asked, surprise in his voice. John shot a look of 'what do you think I am, a philistine?'. "Yeah I did. I read all the Takeshi Kovacs books actually. The first one was a present from Cher, she thought it would be right up my alley and it was. Did you think i just watched the show cos I was bored and scrolling through Netflix?" "Well that is your usual approach to finding more cult-classicy stuff on Netflix" Chas shrugged. "Though at the time I thought it was because you thought the guy who plays the Ryker sleeve is good looking." John put a hand over his heart and made an outraged 'who me?' kind of face at Chas' words. "When I heard they were adapting it, I wanted to watch it to see how shit it would be. Netflix have ruined sci-fi before and this one is particularly gritty and dark, and I expected them to tone it down a whole bunch, make it more kid friendly. They toned it down a bit yeah, but for the most part it was a damn good version." John then gave a smirk. "And yes, the guy who plays Ryker is not only an excellent choice based on the book descriptions, but damn good looking, I'm not gonna deny that."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded at John's reply, he was talking to someone who knew all this, but didn't see the point in saying as such. She knew Kay didn't know about any of it and thus would be relatively interesting to her. She smirked, as did Kay at the shock in Chas' voice at John having read the original Altered Carbon books, Fia half sniggering at John's expression to the question before explaining that yees, he had indeed read the books and liked them. The banter between them was as always entertaining to see, both women deciding to just let them continue their little moment. She even chuckled at John admitting that Ryker was 'damn good looking' as he put it. "he's alright I suppose" Fia chimed in smirking, half saying it because she genuinely didn't think he was all that, and half saying it as bait towards John.

"he's not bad looking by any means but he's not all that either. I've seen better looking people" she added with a casual shrug. Kay instantly figured out why Fia was saying it and she had to smirk, at her daughter's gall for talking such things with her father. She knew this could this either fall flat on Fia's face so to speak or it will be highly entertaining to witness, either way she was ready to see how it all played out. She didn't even speak up into the conversation, just wanted to watch it play out, glancing around at the room to see if anyone else was as intrigued as she was to how this was going to go. She hoped that if questioned to prove her point, Fia had someone in mind to counter with John, which of course Fia did have. Fia was brought up to always have a damn good counter if she was going to start something and this instance was no different.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John, leaned forwards at Fias words, with a look on his face that said he had the prefect retort, only to be cut off before he could even open his mouth, by a groan from Chas. "We're not going to start talking about John's taste in men" he declared firmly "as good... or bad as it may be, it's a rabbit hole I've been down too many times and don't intend to go down it again. Or at the very least until either Cheryl's around to argue my side." John's sister didn't always take Chas' side in arguments, but when she and Chas ganged up two ganged up they were a formidable force when it came to beating things into John's stubborn head. "Or another one of John's more unusual exes shows up and I feel I need an explanation." "You're still not over the whole King Shark thing then?" John asked focusing on Chas instead of Fia. "Well he is a shark."

"Not exactly. He was a fully normal human, a good looking bloke in a sort of vanilla way." John waved a hand as if it would help to illustrate his point. When it came to his taste in men and women John preferred people who were a little different from the norm, whether it was their style, body modifications like piercings, tattoos and crazy hair colours or certain accents (there were a certain few that John couldn't resist). "Then the meta-gene kicked in and he went sharky in most places. But I can tell you he's very much human where it counts." John wiggled his eyebrows suggestively with a look of mischief on his face that Chas knew all too well. the cabbie pulled a face. "Too much information mate. Too much information." "You're just jealous." John shit back with a teasing grin. Chas just gave a snort. "Oh please, you're hardly the only bloke in this room who's ever pulled another bloke."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia saw the look she knew all too well on John's face and she equally gave the look back to say 'well come on then, give me your best retort' wanting to egg her dad on and from her casual body language from her half leaning back on Elliott, it was evident she did this a lot with John. So when Chas shut it down before she could have her fun, she pouted and rolled her eyes. When John brought up the King Shark comment, it was Kay that rose her eyebrows in a 'I'm sorry... What now?' manner. Fia had heard it before in her timeline so wasn't surprised that Chas yet again brought it up. Kay just looked between Chas and John as they had the conversation about what or who King shark was, still finding it mind baffling that John had a relationship with such a meta hybrid. She didn't open her mouth to say anything however as she knew she wasn't exactly human fully herself and it'd be considered hypocritical of her to say anything.

"whatever floats your boat as they say" Fia just said, making it perfectly clear it was no shock hearing all this, even if she didn't particularly want the mental image either. "and Chas you're a spoil sport for breaking up my fun, because I doooo wanted to hear the retort I'd get before giving my examples of actually good looking blokes" she then added cheekily. "you just don't give up do you?" Kay said, looking at Fia who was shaking her head in reply, "nope! I'm the product of you and dad, giving up isn't in my nature" she then stated simply. Kay just shook her head smirking, knowing it was a valid point, both her and John were too stubborn to simply give up easily.

 

[_gallifrog_]

As a teenager it hadn't taken John too long to figure out that he was attracted to both genders. and His father approved (but then again there was nothing about John he actually liked). Most of what his father said, John had taken to heart in some way or another, but when it came to his sexuality, even the most vile of homophobic abuse and slurs Thomas Constantine delivered slid right off his teenager son. When it came to his sexuality John had always been comfortable with it, and had never gone any further with labels than bisexual. Though if somebody was being really pedantic about it, bisexual didn't quite cover it. John was attracted to both genders, but it a person's species didn't matter to him. Downworlder, demon, divine being, metahuman, human, alien (he hadn't had the opportunity to do an alien yet)- so long as the had the right genitals John would have no qualms fucking them (or being fucked by them).

At Kay's raised eyebrows Elliott couldn't help but smirk. He'd had a similar reaction when he'd found out that John and King Shark used to be a thing (along with some mental images he never needed to know). "Metas aren't a seperate species of human, they're more of a subset. At least that's my understanding of it"
John nodded in confirmation, had Rinaa been around she could have given them a whole 'metas humans are humans too' speech along with the science to back it up. "That's exactly what it is. I'm no scientist" John shrugged. "But it doesn't take a genius to see that metas are born as human and just go through a really weird puberty that gives them 'superhuman' abilities." He then gave a smirk "As for my boat and what floats it, males and female, race or species doesn't matter. Don't know the fancy label for that, don't care either."

Chas shook his head at Fia's words. "You haven't seen or been through John's teenage years. Those took wild and promiscuous to a new dimension. Any sane person wouldn't have volunteered to be in my shoes. Thankfully he never had a sexuality crisis. Teenage me could have dealt with most things John related. But a sexuality crisis? He'd wouldn't even know where to begin."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay didn't dispute that metas were a different subgenre of human, she held her hands up in that 'no judgement here' manner and it was ALWAYS genuinely meant by her. She never judged anyone for who they were attracted to, Hell's, she wouldn't be surprised if it turned dout any of her one night stands or Sam's on off relationships ever involved a meta human of some level. "no judgement from me. Not that I could judge considering what I am anyway. So.. Yeah. Don't really care who someone is as long as they're relatively decent person and don't wanna kill me for my very essence. They do them, I do me, simple" she smirked but her tone was serious. That was truly how she saw it, if they weren't harming anyone or trying to commit murder of her, her family or anyone on whatever planet she found herself on, then she was cool with them.

Fia just nodded and had heard it all before from John. She grew up with so many family members being either bisexual, pansexual, gay, or straight that literally it didn't bother her in the slightest. All she cared about was possibly finding someone for herself and she didn't care who they were. If she felt that spark fly or those typical butterflies appear when she saw them or spoke to them, she'd persue them. She chuckled at Chas talking about teenage John and his ways, before just shrugging once more. "that was then, this is now and... In your case the future. Isn't every teenager allowed some crazy phase whilst they're a teenager?" she replied, half a general opinion and half a hint to Kay and John that she wanted to experience a normal crazy teenage phase for herself, and if the subtle hint added to the many reasons to not coop her up indoors and the metaphorical bubble wrap, then she will quite frankly milk it whilst she can.

"in my case, I'll just wait for whoever makes me do that double look. Don't care who they are" she added finally. Kay was yet again impressed inside at how mature Fia was sounding, she knew she hadn't figured out what way she fully swung yet and from her upbringing that they knew, it wasn't very surprising to her as her future self hadn't given Fia the chance to explore anything of the nature. But what she did know, was whatever way Fia swung and whoever she dated, she would support her kid in those choices and feel sorry for that person if they ever pissed Fia off or hurt her in any way.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay would resurface three and a half hours later, rubbing her neck, declaring that next time she was going to put a hoodie behind her head. Cliff had kept a close eye on her the whole time and had decided that Jay could take the extra time. To get the message to jay she'd typed on the computer keyboard the words flashing up across the visor. Shortly after that Cliff received the call they'd all been expecting summoning her to work, a shift that was supposed to only be twelve hours, but both Cal and Cliff knew would actually be at least eighteen. Sometimes Cliff was asked to stay, other times she'd hang around the hospital and chat with her patients and the other medics or catch up on paperwork. John couldn't sleep that night, for some unknown reason, and so in order not to be disturbing Kay with constant tossing, turning and noises of frustration, went out for a midnight walk with Jay, neither saying much,lapsing into a silence somewhere between companionable and awkward. Cal also returned to the forge, Elliott going with her out of curiosity, wanting to see his sister in action and Chas because he wanted to see Dan again.

It was evening by the time they were all assembled in the apartment again (bar Rinaa, although she had texted to say she was in an extra lecture and would be home within the next hour and a half). Cal was idly messing around with some metal ingots, melting them with her psychokinetic powers and shaping them into bracelets, while Elliott was sketching her. At first she hadn't been aware Elliott was sketching her, but nice she found out he was, she was more than happy to continue messing with the ingots. Jay was organising data, Chas and John watching on, giving input every so often. Cliff came in the door, shunting it open with her shoulder, the temperatures had dropped slightly, but the door was still swollen. There was a bulky sealed envelope under her arm which she passed to Cal. "Any idea what this is? It was left in the letter hole downstairs and it's clearly not a bill."

Cal shook her head as she reached for the slim blade that served as a letter opener. "No clue." She carefully slit the envelope and slid the contents out onto the table. It was a set of files with a handwritten note attached to the front. Cal removed the note, her eyes narrowing at the handwriting. "Qui... take a look at this will you?" she asked, trepidation in her voice. Elliott, sensing that something was up, set down his sketch pad and came over. He too examined the note. "Is that our..... his writing?" "It certainly looks like it." Cal agreed.

 

[MzHyde]

That night Kay slept soundly by the time it came round, completely oblivious to the fact that John couldn't sleep and went for a midnight walk with Jay. Not that she would have said anything even if she did know. Her night wasn't completely devoid of dreams or weird imaging rushing through her mind, because it was filled with it. She had almost gotten used to it happening now that it got to the point she didn't even mention it to anyone anymore. She didn't want to be used to it, but she had fallen into that mindset where she was more surprised if she didn't dream of something but was equally glad that she hadn't been having any night terrors for a little while now. Her dream this time consisted of blurry silhouetted images mostly like usual, and the sound of her mother's voice but it was interlinking with another voice and she couldn't quote tell if it was her own voice or another's.

By the time the next day passed and the next evening arrived, she had finished the book Fia loaned her, and feeling quite sad that once again she was without such an item to get lost in. So she spent some of the time just chatting with Fia, getting to know her more whilst every now and then looking over at Elliott's sketch of Cal, it reminding her if the time shhe did the sketch for Cliff and Cal of Cal working in the forge. When Cliff came in, the last thing she knew any of them were expecting was an envelope with files and a handwritten letter in from the twins' father. "so what does dear ol' father want from you two?" she couldn't help but find herself ask, the name for their father being meant completely sarcastically and ironically.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff made her way to the kitchen to get a drink (still dressed in the grey-green scrubs she worked in). Usually she'd have made herself coffee (which she could still do if she sat on the roof with it) but she was also curious to see what was in the envelope. She settled for a large mug of milk and plopped herself down on the couch with sigh, letting the sofa sag around her. She was snapped out of hr blissful relaxation by the notes of tension and trepidation in her wife's voice. And she wasn't the only one, everybody fell silent, all eyes turning towards the files on the table and the note in Cal's hand. It was a little bigger than a post-it note and had been left unsigned. Elliott read the note aloud, first in Attili, then in English. "You'll need these for what comes next. But if anybody outside of your crew asks, you've never seen them, they don't exist" Elliott paused. "The note is unsigned before you ask, I can't say that it is from our" there was a slight pause before he said the next word "father. And I haven't seen his writing in years it could have completely changed since then. But my gut says it's him."

"That's a pretty backhanded way of helping" John remarked"if it even is helping that's he's trying to do. How'd we know it's not some kind of trap?" A slight pause, then in a more curious voice. "And what's in the files anyway?" Cal passed the note over to Cliff for her to read, before picking up one of the file dossiers and flicking through it. "Speaking of the other in-law" Cliff's chosen name made the 'us' and 'him' division of the new extended family pretty clear "Zan was in the hospital today." Cal raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Any idea why?" "He wasn't seeking me out to congratulate me on our marriage if that's what you're asking. I saw him leaving the building by the exit at radiology. No idea why he was there."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia listened to Elliott read the letter out loud first in Attili then in English. Both of them thought it sounded completely strange if it was their father, but then they also though if it was, it also fitted a little with how he turned up at the wedding and agreed to talk with the two of them when Elliott was still in a cell. "I mean it's always possible that it isn't him, and yeah, handwriting changed a bit as you get older but the basic ticks in someone's handwriting usually stays. The fact they made a point to say 'if anyone outside your crew' says to me it's possibly him, as he knows of us lot. From what I know of the other people you guys trust round here, they wouldn't be so secretive with leaving these files somewhere unattended. Surely they'd hand them in person?" she theorised.

"I kinda agree with where mum is coming from. He's certainly the type to do all this so secretively and stuff. And we barely know the guy. But dad is also right, for all we know it's a trap, but it also couldn't be. It could be a number of things, but I'm also curious to what's in the files" Fia chimed in as Cal and Cliff spoke about what Cliff saw at her work. If it was anything else and any other situation she wouldn't have hesitated in just taking the files and taking first look, but she knew her place in this situation and stayed on the couch. "either way this is just getting more and more curious as it goes on" Kay added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal couldn't help but let out a little snort at Cliff's 'well he hardly came to congratulate me on my marriage' remark, knowing full well it was true. The time they'd talked in the cell, the marriage hadn't even come up, and Cal was glad in a way that it didn't. It would have been pretty awkward as usually somebody had to ask the parent's blessing to marry. But given how strained non existent the relationship between Cal and her father was, she couldn't acre whether he approved or not. "If it is him, then it does fit with his pattern." Cal agreed slowly. "He's not going to just hand any files to me given that we aren't even on speaking basis with each other, and he damn well knows that he's not welcome here."

"It doesn't match the patterns of what any of our friends would do" Cliff agreed"though it's hardly a secret that everybody in the crew is super loyal to each other, we're not just a military squad, we're a sports team and close friends too. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that they'd be helping us. So either it's somebody else we know who wishes to remain anonymous because these files have classified stuff in them and they can't risk being caught or..." Jay finished the sentence for her. "Zan is playing his own angle and we have no idea whose side he's on anymore. He could be giving these files to us because he's seen the error of his ways and switched sides and turned mole." It was clear Jay didn't really believe that could possible the case. "Or, like John said, it's a trap. OR he's pitting both sides against each other for some even more unknown and unlikely reason."

Cal nodded, passing a file to Cliff and Elliott who began to flip through them. They were written in Attili, dense pages of text with only a few images (headshots of people) clipped to the top of the respective pages and neither John nor Chas (let alone Kay or Fia) had the level of language necessary to be able to read and fluently understand formal documents. A couple of the documents had sticky notes in them with added notes, somebody else's opinion, though not necessarily the person who'd passed on the copied files. The three began discussing in Attili, quoting bits back and forth to each other. Cal and Elliott hadn't slipped back to their native tongue to exclude the others from understanding what was going on, but as the documents were in Attili, it was just easier to speak that language. At one point Cliff reached over to grab her laptop and began searching things. After maybe ten minutes of this the three turned to explain to the others."It appears to be a list of politicians and prominent figures both from Attil and off world who will potentially be involved with the trial." "Along with their viewpoints and political alignments, if they have such a thing." "Credit where credit is due, this isn't going to be a farce, looking at the credentials here, these are all people who base their lives and work on sticking to their principles no matter how unpopular they are. If this is real, it's going to be INCREDIBLY useful. I might have to call Alex, see what he thinks on all this and how we can use it to our advantage." Cliff sounded incredibly positive, her earlier scepticism all but gone.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was pleased with herself for having been able to read their father correctly enough to say something that was agreed upon by everyone in the room, particularly Cal and Cliff. Her and Fia both listened to Jay finish Cliff's sentence with three options, two of which didn't sound all that appealing to either woman. "two out of those three don't sound good in the slightest but when does anything revolving us lot ever sound appealing when it comes to these things" Kay commented.

As the other three spent ten minutes discussing and looking through the files, both Fia and Kay occupied themselves whilst waiting for one of the three to explain what they had read. So when that ten minutes was over, it was a great relief that they'd finally be able to understand what was being discussed. They listened intently so they could make sure they understood, hearing the more positive ton win Cliff's voice, made it sound like this did prove there'd be some form of hope for Elliott finally being a truly free man. Or so Fia in particular hoped as she didn't want Rinaa's timeline to win out and he dies. It was a selfish thought in some ways, but she knew none of her family would cope with his death, Hell, she wouldn't cope witnessing it when she had known all her life to having him in it.

"let's hope this brings this whole thing some hope" Fia commented, showing once again that she still believed in such a thing as hope and it was so deeply ingrained into her that it would take something catastrophic like Elliott dying to break that.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"That's what I'm hoping too. We could do with a good turn, even if our source isn't somebody we'd even have considered." "It's unexpected, but if this is real, we can definitely use this to our advantage, and yes, definitely get in touch with Alex, we now he's on our side." "Given that he volunteered his brother to help, I think he'd definitely." As Elliott, Cal and Cliff had started to explain what the files were, Jay to took the opportunity to pick up the file and take her own look through it. It was a copy of an original document, that much was obvious from the black and white headings. The photos were colour however, and Jay took a few moments to look through them, dredging up her out of date knowledge about the political climate of certain systems, vaguely recognising a few of them.

"I have a plan." Jay declared, not looking up from the file she was reading through. All heads turned to look at the assassin. "Do tell." Cal replied the 'you have our complete attention' part of the sentence was implied in her tone. "What I propose is this, I call Dakkon and call in on one of the many favours he owes me. He can't say no really, we've got an agreement. Either we get him to check these documents" she tapped the file she was holding against the pile on the table "are legit OR we get him to acquire the real files of the people for the trial and compare them to see if they're the same. Either we find out if they are the real deal. If they ARE real or when we get the real ones, then we start our own planning, figuring out whose on our side, maybe recruiting some people of our own. No point threatening anybody with torture or mutilation, that makes us as bad as them, we need to keep the moral high ground AND start figuring what EXACTLY we want to get across at the trial, what possible defences and attacks the opposition could be cooking up and make our own, stronger counters." Jay had clearly thought his plan through and Elliott was starting to see why Rinaa was such a planner and strategist, she must have learned it from future Jay.