Official RP Thread: The Evolutionist's Stone (10)

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Dallas==

The Texas Hold 'Em tournament had been a real joy to watch. Overlord Lynch's friends were playing against one another, since nobody else in Texas dared challenge them, but it was all for the best. Either way, one of his friends would walk away with a cool million. And if somebody was a sore loser? The stakes could go up as high as they pleased. What else were tax payers for, if not for picking up where the rich and privileged slacked?

And while Buck himself didn't join in on the game, he had his own fun, harassing and fondling waitresses as they came and went. But now was the time for an interlude, before part two of his guys' day out.

He headed upstairs to his room, disrobed save his briefs, and called for his servants. They selected a casual afternoon ensemble for him to wear, and as he dressed, he told the last leaving servant to send in one of the sentries.

"So?" Buck demanded, "You found out word where they went yet?"

"Uh...no, sir." the sentry answered sheepishly, "It's...it's like they disappeared completely off our grids. No precogs or postcogs have seen them; no espers have sensed them; supersensors follow their scents for a little distance, and then...nothing. If they're out of state--"

"They shouldn't be outta state." Buck interrupted, "And if they are outta state, then heads're gonna roll. You got me?"

"...Gotcha, sir."

"Good." Buck hocked and spat into a spittoon, with expert accuracy, despite the fact he didn't chew tobacco, "Cause Ma and Pa ain't gonna wanna come home to a state worse ran than when they first left it. I said I want 'em caught, and that's what I meant. Ugh, dammit, now you got me all stressed out...I can't go out and enjoy myself at the football game feelin' like this. Send that black girl back up here. I need to release some tension..."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Indianapolis==

Images unfolded before her eyes, as though from a dream. A tall, muscular man, though weak in mind and heart. Handsome externally, with an ugly personality. Skin white, heart black. Deception dripped off his tongue, though he imagined his lies were true. He was ignorant, though his mind had been filled with so much. And hateful, like his parents, and their parents before them had taught and been taught to hate. The latter was the only thing about him that was not contradictory.

Voices scattered in the otherwise silent darkness. Flashes of dirty faces, crying children, screaming babies. Women of different colors and background, resenting this man, resenting themselves. Wounds afflicted for no reason. A sea of white faces, content to live in what they knew as nothing short of utopia. Lives uninterrupted now by those wretched stains in their white society.

Then she felt Chicago.

And after, the sounds, the smells, the tastes of horrid, bloody battle. Hatred coming now to a fervent boil. Even from this far vantage point, the violence was jarring. The smell of magic, and ozone, and the afterlife, of the elements, and of abstract thought.

Blue eyes opened, and the new Overlady of Indiana pushed a tress of blonde hair from over her face.

"Eddie..." she said, remembering quite well now, why she did not often stick her nose into the Astral Realms.

The super-nerd looked up from his contemplation, "Yes, Mistress Maiden?"

"...Maiden will do just fine, Eddie." The Overlady said flatly, "And anyhow, I just thought you should know...I received some pretty...startling intel. And I don't think I should ignore it."

"Really? What was it, Mistre--er, Maiden? A vision? I can round up some forces at the flick of a pen, if you'd like."

Maiden looked down, and then returned her glance back to Eddie, "That's not quite what I had in mind. Just...get some rooms ready in the Manor. I think...five should be good. Fetch some laurel leaves, too, in a wicker basket. And some incense."

Eddie blinked, a bit confused for a second, before deciding resignedly that he trusted her judgment enough. That, and the fact that Maiden was growing increasingly impatient set him on about his way, post haste.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Indianapolis==

Maiden found herself unable to sleep after her self-imposed vision, and so she did not sleep. Rather, she shifted herself to near zero gravity, and drifted in the silence of night, to contemplate the implications of her vision. Naturally, she had no intention to peer into the future (maybe past?) again. Still, she had to admit to herself, that the vision intrigued her.

Maiden had grown quite fond of Indiana, since Jack and Wayne had come into her life. Though, she noticed now, since she had been freed from The Mover's regime, and set up as Indiana's ruler, she had very rarely even considered life outside of Indiana. It was quite a shame really. She suddenly felt the knowledge quite clearly; there was so much for her to see and do, that had very little to do with Indiana. Or, at least, had so little to do directly with Indiana.

Then again, aside from her past with the Mover, and her current rule, Maiden couldn't be absolutely certain that even her own allegiance was restricted to Indiana.

In her laboratory days, it had come up many times that neither she nor the annoying Virago, nor the even-more-annoying Lady, had any idea where they came from. By Eddie's narration, they had simply showed up in desperation on The Mover's doorstep, at different times-- Maiden first, Virago second and Lady last. And Eddie had been gracious enough to take them in, at The Mover's behest (with the condition that they wouldn't leave his compound...for their own safety).

Though, in the meantime and since, Maiden had rarely considered the thought of what family she had outside of that compound. She doubted she had left behind a boyfriend or husband, but possibly an ex. She imagined her parents were stoic, stern, intelligent folks, who had a soft spot only for her, and whatever siblings and relatives she might have. And her grandparents would be soft and philosophical, the obvious root of her parents' genius.

Only the thought of potential children troubled her. Imagining children she might have left behind was pretty difficult. Had she wanted them? What was her relationship with them? She decided, at last, that she wanted one of each, and if not one of each, two of each.They would be precocious and playful, and bring out a softer side in her parents. She'd love them unconditionally, remember them fondly, and defend them fiercely.

At that last thought, Maiden finally found herself able to drift slowly into sleep...

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Indianapolis==

The next morning found Maiden awake after everyone else at the manor. She stretched out of her sleep, and drifted to the floor without a sound. Instead, sound came from servants bustling about to tidy up the manor.

As she dressed, there came a knock at the door.

"Mistress Overlady?" the female voice called, "Mistress Maiden?"

"Maiden is fine." Maiden pulled on a shirt, "What is it, Sophie?"

"You have visitors. They say they come from Texas. And they claim they're not emissaries of Overlord Lynch."

Maiden stopped in her tracks, "...Send them in. And tell Eddie to make sure that their rooms are prepared for them."

"You...you know these people? They said they were refugees."

Maiden sighed, "Does it matter if I know them, Sophie? I may, I may not. Just...just do as I say."

Sophie exhaled, "...All right. Do you, at least, want me to increase security detail around them? I can do that..."

"I'm my own security detail." Maiden snapped, "I keep you all around to create jobs; stimulate the economy. Otherwise, I can take perfect care of myself. Now, go do as I said, before I have to ask a third time. I'll be down to greet the guests in a minute."

Sophie rolled her eyes on the other side of the door, "But, Mistress Overlady!"

"I'm fifteen feet away from the door..." Maiden replied, with a threatening edge in her voice. Sophie replied only in her mind, and under her breath. Aloud, she conceded, and then left to do as she was told.