RPLog: TheRapist

I'll take The Rapist for 1000 Jack

A nice lunch turns into a discussion of two students' fates when a pair of precogs are involved.

<Distaff>And in Whitman cottage the normal hustle and bustle of cottage life is going on, punctuated by the various oddities only availible at Whateley. Currently, Distaff is attempting to carry a large, three foot by three foot package up the stairs to the frosh dorms.
<Vibrissa> Plenty goes on during the midst of the day, from students studying to the occasional 'thump' of activity upstairs. Vibrissa's in the former crowd, looking over an algebra textbook and getting nowhere fast - before she's distracted by the box passing through the cottage dorm, attached to someone she's not met. 'Well, at least it's a distraction from this,' she thinks, and hops up to see if there's anything she can help with. "Um, hi?"
- Distaff sets the box down for a moment and leans, arms crossed on top of it. She smiles at Vibrissa, "Hi there. I don't think we've met yet. I'm Distaff."
- Vibrissa takes a look over Distaff for a sec, and smiles back, more than a tad shyly. "Don't think we have… I'm Vibrissa." The gal's dressed in - what else - fairly ill-fitting jeans and t-shirt, decidedly tomboyish in appearance, hair 'puffing' out like it's bone-dry. "Are you new around here too?" she asks, looking down at that package.
- Distaff is dressed in cargo shorts and a slightly loose t-shirt. Her hair is shoulder-length, blonde, and slightly wavy. She takes a subtle sniff of the air as she converses. "More or less. I've been here for a few weeks. Here, let me get this out of the way of the hallway." She picks up the package again and half-carries it over to her room, setting it against the wall with another identical pacakge.
- Vibrissa ahs as Distaff drags that package on her own - "Was wondering if you needed any help there, but I guess not." She shakes her head, leaning against the wall in an effort to keep out of the flow of traffic. "Older than I am, then… I've only been here a week or two," she states. "So, um… what's it you do?" the gal asks, words a bit rushed as she gets a better look at the other frosh.
- Distaff shakes her head, "Nah. It's not /that/ heavy, just kind of unwieldly. Wish there was a way they could have folded it…" She looks over at the other girl, "You mean older as in 'I've been here longer', right? Cause I'm pretty sure I'm younger than most of the other freshman." She stretches a bit to work out the slight kinks from dragging the box around. "I'm a wizard. In theory. You?"
- Vibrissa ahs, and nodnods. "Glad it wasn't that bad, then." A moment later, she blinks. "Oh! Right… in Whitman, anyway. And I dunno how old a lot of the freshmen are, anyway, half the time…" A tilt of her own head is followed by the light pop of a vertabra, from sitting too long, and she huhs. "A wizard in theory? Like… it looks like magic, but isn't really? Oh, and I'm…well a PK 'brick', mostly."
- Distaff shrugs a little, "Well, I'm a wizard, but my essence supply is kind of screwy, which makes it hard to cast spells. Or at least anything with any power to do anything. Speaking of…" She grabs a small box off her desk and slips it into a pocket. "So, whatcha got besides the 'mostly'?"
- Vibrissa blinks at the tiny box, wondering what's in it - though she won't be the one to ask. "Oh, sort of a weird thing with vibrations - my PK field makes it so that I can hear what's going on around me, they think, though it might be an ESP thing… that's the other one." She shrugs, scratching the back of her neck, and says, "Well, a precog, sorta. More like a danger sense, or an ability to feel weird stuff that's about to happen."
- Glacial yawns, and comes down the stairs. Tall, white-skinned, ankle-length blue hair, blue eyed, red-lipped, and with a terribly arrogant strut. She yawns slightly as she looks, no surveys her surroundings, before she looks at the two other girls and the package being carried. "Hm. How interesting."
- Distaff ahs and nods, "A danger sense, huh? Man, I wouldn't mind having one of those. Though I guess heightened senses do kind of make up for that a bit. Dunno why I got those, but I'm guessing its tied to my eyes." She lifts her glasses up to show off the slitted eyes, although since the lenses are fake, it's not like they really distort anything. "The extra sensory input can be a pain though."
- Vibrissa takes a good look over Distaff's eyes in turn, blinking at their structure. "Probably more useful than not… though I know what ya mean. I get the weirdest feelings sometimes…" Like right now, for example. Her cheek twitches, and she looks down at Glacial for a moment, though the girl doesn't seem to be doing much of anything beyond being decidedly arrogant. Vibrissa turns back to Distaff after attempting not to stare, and nods, "Sometimes, it's hard… like in the Crystal Hall, when there's thirty different conversations going on at once."
- Glacial had been looking at them, and thus notices the strange look. This only seems to amuse her more. With a small smirk she walks, no pretty much sashays towards the other two girls. "Hello, dears. Is something the matter?"
- Allison walks into Whitman, looking around curiously. Her gaze is a little… off? She'll stare at nothing intently for long moments, and occasionally allow a fleeting moment of expression to wash over her lovely face. That settles down when she catches sight of Vibrissa, and she waves as she calls out, "Hello!"
- Distaff rolls her eyes, "Oh, god. Tell me about it. At least you can't listen to all thirty of them at once, right?" She looks over to Glacial, "Huh? Oh, not really. We're just chatting about powers." She glances over to Allison, "Huh. Is attracting a crowd a power of yours?"
<Vibrissa> Without quite realizing it, Vibrissa's edging slightly away from Glacial, a bit of her reticence returning - doesn't know quite why, though. "No, can't listen to all of them…" She shakes her head in response to Glacial, then blinks, breaking into a smile as Allison pops in. "Hi!" she notes, waving a touch, then headshakes again. "Not as far as I know. I'm not a warper or anything… We'd actually made plans to meet up at lunch, though," she points out, motioning towards Allison.
- Glacial chuckles slightly. She looks over at Allison and gives a bit of an impassive smile. She seems to be able to sense Vibrissa's apprehenion, though, as she gives a bit of a mischievous smile towards her when she edges away.
- Allison stops dead in her tracks and blushes as far more people than she expected turn to look at her. "I… Umm… The other day? The gym?" She starts to fidget from side to side. She's wearing the standard girls uniform, with the addition of a pair of tights on beneath it's skirt.
<Distaff> "Actually, the smells are more overwhelming than the sounds, but anyway." She leans a little to look past Vibrissa, and waves a little, "Hey." She looks back towards her packages, "Well… I was gonna set these up… But I think I worked up an appetite lugging those over here. Mind if I head out to lunch with you guys?"
- Vibrissa hadn't exactly expected to be part of a crowd right now, but what can you do? She chuckles briefly, hoping her mind isn't playing any tricks on her, her body language still a bit apprehensive in proximity to Glacial - as well as that slightly disturbing smile. "If you say so - though at least there's really good food here!" The gal nods to Allison, then smiles in turn to her and Distaff. "I don't really see why not…!"
<Glacial> "Oh my." She says, looking back at Allison. "Who is your cute friend?" She asks of Vibrissa, her eyes focused on Allison still
<Chess> The stairwell door to the tunnels opens and shuts, admitting a Whateley girls uniform, hovering in the air under a pair of dark glasses.
<Chess> Said uniform starts to scuttle around the groups of people, heading through the common room.
- Allison turns about, "I don't see any reason not to invite you as well." She says directly to Distaff. "If you come with us now instead of later, you won't miss the pie." She tries to edge towards the door as the common room starts to fill.
- Glacial takes a deep breath and sighs… She turns to look away, and notices Chess. "… Oh. Wow, never seen that before. Or, not seen that before."
- Distaff perks up a bit at that, "Pie? I don't suppose you know what kind they're serving?" She checks and makes sure her room's door is closed, then pulls out a card from her box, holding it with one hand while the other is placed against the door. She mutters something under her breath that don't seem to become actual sounds, and removes her hand. "I'm good to go."
- Vibrissa perks up at the thought of pie - then ums, and notes to Glacial, "Um… this is Next…" She follows Allison for a moment, blinking at the weird lack of speech, then nods, her attention seemingly drawn in several places at once. Then there's one more distraction… her eyes squinting as she tries to make sure she's really seeing a floating Whateley uniform. "Huh… oh, you're ready?" She smiles to Distaff and Allison, grabbing her bag.
<Chess> The shirt's shoulders hunch slightly as it starts to move a little faster.
<Allison> Whitman gives Al the creeps, if no other reason than the level of wierdness that seems the norm here. "It's pumpkin at the moment," she says, doing her best to gracefully dodge the empty clothes. "But when that runs out they're switching to cake." With the others ready she retreats as fast as conditions allow, trailing after the ghost clothes to leave the dorm.
<Distaff> "Sweet! I'm already there!" She stows her box of cards in one of her many pockets and hastens out of the front door, more in an eagerness to get to lunch though. "So, Next, I'm Distaff. Nice to meet ya. I /was/ going to ask if it was clairavoyance, but I'm guessing precog based on your codename."
- Glacial shakes her head, but smirks, leaving a mental note to meet that apprehensive girl another time. The urge to leave so quickly bores her. She turns around and starts walking off. She, however, gives Vibrissa another amused smile. "Later dear…"
- Vibrissa is definitely certain that she'll be seeing Glacial later on… and the thought does not please her in the slightest. And, on the gripping hand… there's pie in the cafeteria! So she picks up her bag again and tries to make it through the growing crowd, sliding after Allison and Distaff.
- Chess vanishes into the cottage bedrooms.
- Allison really shines in circumstances like these. Watching her weave around people with perfect grace and economy of motion is like watching some choreographed ballet. "I'm a Precog-3 EX-4." she comments. Once she's out side she looks over her shoulder at the others, giggling!
<Allison> "You guys must really like Pie!"
- Distaff 's periphial vision and slightly better reflexes gives her an edge in navigating a crowd, although she isn't quite up to a precog's level yet. "hey, I carried a moderately weighted package back and forth for a whole several minutes. I'm hungry."
<Vibrissa> A danger sense doesn't exactly help Vibrissa avoid /everyone/, but on the plus side, her PK field's sensitive to vibrations, so she'd probably make it all the way - if not for her sudden distraction at Allison's 'smooth moves'. The girl bumps momentarily into a classmate, apologizing as fast as she can, and does her best to catch up. "Not just pie, really…" she mutters, then speaks up again. "Well, it has been a long morning so far!"
- Allison chuckles softly and walks at a more sedate pace towards the crystal hall. "I really like the food here." she says, fidgeting with her skirt to keep the pleats down. "But I have to eat like a horse or something since I manifested. It's kind of embarrassing actually."
- Distaff nodnods, "Yeah, the selection's pretty good. And the food's definitely better than your typical cafeteria fare." She looks over at Allison, "Hey, at least you're in good company there, though."
- Vibrissa shrugs, "Haven't really eaten more or less… well, save for recently." She looks down at herself, as though her stomach's somehow betrayed her of late. "And, hey, you're an Exemplar!" she responds to Allison. "It's not like you're going to be gaining any weight." She hums, and smiles to herself at the thought of really good food. "Heh…I bet my folks would've come here for the food alone."
- Allison 's eyes flick from Vibressa to Distaff and back. "That's what I was really hoping to talk about." she says softly. "I mean, not your parent's specifically but home. This…" She takes a deep breath, "This is really my first time being away from home. Or away from my mother."
- Distaff falters for a step but picks up the pace again. "I don't know if I'll have a lot to say on that subject… But I'll listen." She takes a deep breath.
- Vibrissa nods… "Same here, for the most part. I mean, my mother does business trips here and there, though my dad generally stays in town, but… well. New England's a good ways off from Chicago." She looks over at Distaff with a curious expression. "You okay? I mean, um… if this is an awkward topic for you…" Her face is a bit red, and she's hoping this didn't trip any unpleasant flags.
- Allison cringes a little as Distaff skips a beat, "Ummm. We could just wait?" she offers. "It's just… Vibrissa and I found out we have a lot in common the other day. I was kinda looking forward to talking to someone else who's in The Loop."
- Distaff turns her head slightly to glance at the other two girls. "I don't really mind talking about whatever… Or I can split off if you guys need to talk… No big." She stares down at the ground, shoving her hands sullenly in her pockets.
- Vibrissa winces a bit at Distaff's reticence, too, and ums. "Well, I don't mind you being around, so long as it's not making you uncomfortable or anything. Besides, I dunno how much there is to say about myself, and if you're a floormate too, we might as well get to know each other, right?" Of course, there are things she's not yet willing to talk about, herself, but still!
- Allison tries to smooth things over, since Distaff doesn't seem to be a bad sort. "We were going to tell stories about how embarrassing it is having super powered parents." As many awkard moments as this short walk has produced Al breathes a little prayer of relief when they enter the doors of the Crystal Hall and the smell of food wafts out.
- Distaff keeps walking along, "Ah, yeah… Always nice to know the people you'll be living with…" She shrugs a little, "I don't really have a lot of stories to tell in that department. My…" She searches for the right word, "… father is pretty cool." Inwardly she cringes. That was way too long a pause there. But the smell of food seems to perk her up. "Ahh, almost there."
- Vibrissa catches the pause - how could she not? - but doesn't press the point, instead nodding to Allison. "Embarassing, mortifying, and occasionally boring as hell," she points out, looking over at the opened doors and catching a long whiff of delicious foodstuffs. "Great! Food, food…" Come to think of it, she didn't eat breakfast, either. Hard to catch a good meal when you're too embarassed to share the showers.
- Allison gets the ball rolling as they fall into line, the golden haired girl grabbing two trays for herself. "I mentioned the other day that I once saw my mother throw a tank. Sha manged to chunk it clear over Grant park into the Lake. "
- Distaff grabs a single tray for herself. "You know, that's kind of awesome. Although I can really see that kind of escalating pretty quickly. 'My mom can throw a tank!' 'My dad can throw a /building/!'"
- Vibrissa chokes a bit at the thought of tanks flying everywhere, but whistles under her breath. "Wow… though I wonder how the EPA would've responded to that. One charge of littering?" She ehehs, then thinks. "So my mom's getting ready for this big showing, you know, teleporting everywhere, and one time she lost her focus? Hundred thousand dollar painting, sheared right in half. If it weren't a clean cut…"
<Vibrissa> The girl shakes her head, grabbing a tray and starting to load it up with some bread. "That's after hours, you know, so it's not like she was showing off in public or anything. Only folks there were museum security."
- Allison giggles, high and girlish as she reaches for an entire meatloaf. "Oh god, that's terrible!" she snickers of Vib's story. To Distaff she nods, "My Mom is like, stupidly strong. But she's not always got the best judgement when it comes to using it. So when I was 9 I had to sit in her lap and comfort her as the police and the national guard yelled at her for injuring the guys in that tank."
<Jack_Simons> "Distaff!" a young, but maturing southern accent calls across the cafeteria. A tall, blonde, rather muscly exemplar beefcake slows his step as he notices the rest of the group.
- Distaff shakes her head a little, grabbing a burger and stacking all the fixings on it, followed by a pile of fries. "Ouch… Yeah, I can see how that wouldn't go down well… To say nothing of replacing the tank." She turns her head and waves, "Oh, hey Jack."
- Vibrissa nodnods, "Yeah… she's not really allowed to do curations that way anymore." The gal blinks as a guy approaches the three girls, and nods a bit to him, grabbing a few slices of meatloaf, a good salad, and an apple as well. Well, and a large cola. "Uh, hi," she notes briefly, finishing off the tray with a slice of - what else? - pumpkin pie. "Lessee, my dad's a techhead, too… our kitchen's ridiculous, I swear!"
- Jack_Simons has a served up tray already, and appeared to be headed towards an empty table prior to catching sight of his friend. "Pleasure to meet you."
<Jack_Simons> "Uh, sorry, am ah intrudin'?"
- Allison chuckles, "We have Mr. T where I live. He's got these little T spheres that he tinkers with to do anything he doesn't want to. One of them makes fresh twinkies! But I learned a long time ago to never let my mom near the kitchen. Between the broken counters and the bent pants nothing gets done!" When Jack walks up she looks at him VERY oddly.
- Jack_Simons glances at Allison. "Is something wrong?"
- Distaff grabs a quarter-slice of pumpkin pie and a coke onto her plate to finish off her lunch. "How do you … bend pants. What, were they metal or something?" She glances between Allison and Jack, not needing esp to get a bad feeling. "No, not intruding on much… We were just grabbing lunch."
- Vibrissa is definitely getting a weird vibe off Jack, for some reason - certainly not a positive one. Still.. she starts heading towards a table after tossing some ketchup (!) on the meatloaf. "Mine does… well. Ever seen that 'Breakfast Machine' video? He's got one of those set up so that he doesn't have to get up before six, but it's loud enough to wake ME up." She sighs, "Mom's constantly trying to convince him to get rid of it."
- Allison is supremely distracted, starting at about ten seconds before Jack arrives. Which coincides with her bout of nonsense. "Errr, pans. She crushed… a.. Umm… pan." She slides up to Distaff and leans over to whisper to her.
- Jack_Simons blinks. "Uh… Ah can leave if you don't want me here…"
<Distaff> "Ah, pans. That makes a bit more sense…" She looks at Next, with her eyes flicking over to Jack for a moment before leaning in to whisper back softly. She also glances at Vibrissa, really hating this vague unspecified feeling of impending doom.
<Allison> » "He did say Jack right? Jack Simons?"
<Distaff> » "I didn't get a last name, but yes. His name is Jack. So?"
<Allison> » "He's a rapist. Last weeks security reports brief said he was involved in the attempted rape of another student."
<Distaff> » "Technically that means he's an attempted rapist. And he told me he'd done some thigns he wasn't too proud of."
<Allison> » "I'm not really comforted by the fact that he's a bad rapist. I'm going to tell Vibrissa."
<Distaff> » "Well you can't hide the truth, but I think the guy deserves a second chance."
<Vibrissa> Some folks seem to simply embody trouble, and Vibrissa's more than slightly concerned that Jack might just be one of them. Still, she tries to put that off for the sake of not causing a scene in the Hall, though she leans in to try and catch what Distaff and Allison are whispering to one another. "Well, I don't know. I mean, three's a crowd, more's a war… or something."
- Allison looks at Distaff with more than a little surprise, and then edges over to Vibrissa to lean to her ear and whisper again. It seems an odd abuse of her Exemplar status to use the enhancements to carry two heavily laden trays while whispering and not looking where she's going.
- Jack_Simons glances down. "Okay. Sorry to waste your time."
- Distaff lets out a sigh of exasperation. She grumbles to nobody in particular, 'This is why I stay out of high school politics.' She looks over to Jack, trying to at least spare his feelings a little bit, "Look, it's a… girl-chat kind of thing. We'll catch up later though, okay? I promise." Okay, never thought she'd have to try using that kind of excuse. What's next, synchronized bathroom visits?
<Jack_Simons> It's worth noting that Jack has a UV band.
- Vibrissa goes a tad grey at what's being whispered. Could be anyone, indeed… at least that pins down the slight sensation of danger - and the UV band that Jack's wearing - oddly muted as the former may be. "Yea… sort of like that." Well, /Whateley/ girl talk can't be far removed from what they're going to be discussing, at least. "Maybe later," she mumbles, sliding over to a table that seems vacant.
- Allison is acting much like a skittish mouse in the presence of a cat, and can't get away from Jack soon enough. She's pale, clammy, and so agitated the gold in her eyes is moving in nasuea inducing non patterns. "Yeah. Girls should stick together. In large groups. In public. In brightly lit areas."
<Jack_Simons> Jack blinks. "I-is this about what happened with George?"
- Distaff glares at Allison a little bit, "Hey, go catch up with Vibrissa. I'm just gonna talk to Jack for a second, okay? I'll be right here in case you need me, /alright/?" Her voice drops a bit to add a barely audible scowl to the last word.
- Vibrissa looks over at Allison and the others, feeling a little more grey - and wondering just how many futures the other precog's seeing. Clunk goes the tray, clunk goes the drink, and whump goes the girl who was trying to put off the realization that ' that can happen here'.
- Allison doesn't linger, glad to give Jack and Distaff whatever space they might require. When she sits she's sure to take a seat that lets her keep an eye on him, preferably one with the back to the wall. "I'm worried about her." she says softly. "How do you forgive someone like that?" She fidgets at speed with her spork, trying to hide the slight tremble of her fingers.
- Jack_Simons takes one glance at Allison… and turns. "Ah… ah'll go. She knows what ah did. No way ah can make it up to her, no matter how hard ah try…"
- Jack_Simons looks on the verge of tears. "Ah didn't… ah wasn't gonna do anythin' like that…"
- Distaff glances around, sets her tray down on a convenient surface, and pulls her pack of cards out. She flips through them, selecting one and uttering a few words that don't quite resolve into sound, and suddenly the cafeteria noise around her and Jack is a lot more dampened. She puts the cards away. "Look, I'm sorry about that Jack. I was trying to handle this gracefully for everyone involved."
<Jack_Simons> He shakes his head. "Ah don't deserve to eat with you, anyway. What ah did… even if it wasn't what… what it looked like… it wasn't right."
- Vibrissa sighs at that odd whisper Distaff makes again, looking back and forth between her and Allison, then tries to pick up her drink - but it's hard to hold anything, the way her hands are shaking. "I don't know. I didn't even…" Barely a whisper there. "Any clue… who was involved in that?" she mutters, wondering silently what drove that guy over there to such an act.
- Distaff rubs the back of her neck, "Yeah, well… I still think you need someone to talk to. And as long as you realize it wasn't right, maybe you can change your behaviour. But maybe the lunchroom won't be the best place to do that. At least if I'm eating with friends."
<Jack_Simons> "So ah should just be a social outcast?"
<Distaff> "I don't know…" She shakes her head, "There's no good answers here, you know."
- Allison tries to eat, even if her heart isn't in it anymore. "I don't know. The Security department has a mailing list you can join. They summarize all their calls for a week and mail them out. All I know is that he was involved in a reported attempted rape. Apaprently of another boy if this is about 'George'"
<Jack_Simons> He sighs. "Ragers at this school have killed people. Psychics have turned people into sexslaves. What ah did was wrong, but all ah wanted was a picture. Proof. So ah'd know ah wasn't imagining it all."
- Vibrissa swallows slowly. "I'll… have to sign up for that. Sorta like a blotter, I guess?" She looks down at that meatloaf, cursing the choice - it looks especially unappetizing even now, so she starts on the salad instead, chuckling without even an ounce of humor. "What's in a name?"
- Distaff studies Jack, "Imagining what?"
<Jack_Simons> "Guy here who turns into a girl.
- Allison nods, glad to be talking about anything else. "It's exactly that! It's the security blotter." She fidgets a little with her spork, and then stabs her meatloaf. "I always sign up for stuff like that. I figured, now that I got powers I should be a hero right? But just being around that guy scares the pee out of me."
<Jack_Simons> Ah dunno. Ah needed proof that… that he was really a girl."
<Distaff> "I could understand why he might not want that getting around."
<Jack_Simons> "It wouldn't have! Ah… Ah just fucked up."
- Vibrissa swallows tightly, then nods a bit. "Probably useful for all sorts of folks. Do they publish the codenames, then, or does that rely on the rumor mill?" She's still in shock, occasionally looking over to where those two are talking - it's a good thing that she can't hear them over the rest of the commotion in the hall, come to think. "Guess I know what you mean…jeez, first that girl back in Whitman, now this."
<Distaff> "Sorry, but I think that's a bit of an understatement."
<Jack_Simons> "Just a bit. Ah… ah wish I could go back."
<Distaff> "Well, if there's anything that I've learned, is that you can't go back. But that doesn't mean it's hopeless either."
- Jack_Simons suddenly doubles over, clutching his stomach.
- Allison shovels food into her face like something big and yellow at a contruction site, downing most of a meatloaf in moments. When she's done she daintly wipes her lips and responds. "Most of the time it's code names, when they mention names at all. I guess there's some law about disclosure regarding sex offendors, and frankly thank god for that. It had his picture in there, which is what I recognized first." She blinks as Vibrissa mentions another victim, "What girl in Whitman?"
- Distaff frowns and moves slightly to try to get a better picture of what's happening to Jack. "Hey, Jack? Tell me what's wrong."
<Jack_Simons> "Sh-shifting…" he gasps.
<Distaff> "You look like you're in pain. Want me to call medical?"
<Jack_Simons> "NO! N-not… medical…"
- Vibrissa is surprisingly eating in a slightly more dainty manner - picking at her food, particularly that meatloaf. Hunger fights against her distaste, and wins - but it's a pyrrhic victory indeed. "Surprised he wasn't expelled, though… is it right to keep him around here, especially after that?" Now there's a double meaning for you - and she blinks. "No, no, I meant the girl that was talking to me earlier. I don't think SHE was…"
<Allison> "There's something wrong with the administration if people like Bloodwolf and Nexus and that guy can just swab out some toilets and then walk around free."
<Jack_Simons> By this point, Jack's begun sobbing in terror. "Oh god… not here…"
- Vibrissa demurs, "Yeah… I mean—" Something catches her eye, and she takes a look over at the guy who's clutching his stomach, doubled over - then at the meatloaf. "Uh. What…do you think's going on over there?"
<Distaff> "C'mon, Jack. You look like you're in pain, and I can't do anything for you except that." With one hand she gestures into the air, with her other hand she's reaching into her pocket and pulling out a cellphone, flipping it open in a smooth motion. She hits the speed dial for medical and then cradles the phone in her shoulder, pulling out her pack of cards again.
<Jack_Simons> "P-please… no…" he sobs, as his hair twists and merges in an almost sickening matter, his rapidly shrinking frame twisting in places it shouldn't.
<Allison> "Ugh. He's shifting. I bet he's doing it to not be recognized." Cell phone deploy! Allison takes out her own phone to take video of the event.
- Distaff flips through the pack of cards and pulls out two, a slight shake of her hands betraying her nervousness. She draws out two and slams them onto the floor with an odd uttered syllable, speaking quickly into the phone. "I'm in the Crystal Hall. There's a student involuntarily shifting and he looks like he's in pain. I'm putting a ward up but I'll watch out for them. And bring a blanket."
<Distaff> At the uttered words, the space around them suddenly becomes very uninteresting. They're still in plain sight, but it just doesn't seem to matter for some reason.
- Vibrissa looks over at Allison's phone, and decides not to follow suit - something about this situation is ringing /weirdly./ "I dunno… doesn't look like he's doing it on purpose." That's quickly followed by sudden uncertainty, though that creeping sensation is still there. It's just harder to pin down. "Wait…" The girl looks around the room, knowing they were there just a moment ago, but can't seem to place them suddenly.
<Allison> "Your friend is a good Wizard." she says, keeping her eye on the phone screen instead of trying to look with her eyes. "Maybe he's got some sort of psi power too? Mind control?" She chews her lower lip. "Maybe you should ask her to go to the Psi building and get checked out, make sure she's not being manipulated."
- Jack_Simons is sobbing in pain, as his figure shifts into that of an exemplar girl. One of the really, really pretty ones - almost on par with Allison, in fact. Well… if it wasn't for the arm covered in scales, the fishscales on the cheek, and the tentacle-hair.
- Distaff adds one final note to the phone call in a quiet voice, "And send a security officer our way please, just in case." She stays on the line with medical, answering questions about Jack's status as best she can, while keeping an eye on the doors. At the sight of the medical uniforms she says, "Wait here" and then stands up, and takes a few steps, at which point she becomes perfectly visible.
<Distaff> She waves to attract the medics' attention.
- Vibrissa demurs again, "She's not a friend; I just met her in the hallway earlier…" The other precog leans over to take a good look at the screen of Allison's phone, and nearly falls over. "…I thought a lab was bad enough…" she mumbles, adding in a slightly louder tone, "Or we could ask the psychic instructors if they know 'im…" That last is spoken without actually thinking, Vibrissa somewhat horrified by the sight of the shifter.
- Jack_Simons blinks as he - or perhaps she, now - spots Medical. "N-no! I'm fine!"
<Distaff> "Yeah, they're here. Thanks. I will." The medics head over her way, and she leans towards the field and says, "Look, I'm sorry, but you didn't sound fine a moment ago. I can't just ignore someone in distress." It takes a moment to convince the EMTs there is, in fact, someone there, finally just dragging them into the field.
<Distaff> "Miss? We're here to help you, okay?" says the first medic.
<Jack_Simons> "Trust me! Ah'm fine!" she says.
<Distaff> The second medic says, "Involuntary shifting can be very dangerous. You need to be checked out."
- Jack_Simons glances at the Medics. "Please… please don't…"
- Allison keeps filming away. "That looks magical. Maybe you're friend is being effected by some sort of magical compulsion?" As Vibs and Al sit side by side, watching her little display Al just has to brag a little. "Isn't this a cool phone? I hit one button and it uploads the video to MySpace."
- Distaff crouches next to Jack, "Look, I'm trying to make it so that this doesn't get out in a really bad way, but if you don't get checked out this will happen again, and I may not be here to help you."
- Vibrissa flinches once again. "Is that.. really a good idea? I mean, mutant-only websites and whatnot, sure… besides, it looks like he's turning into a girl, of all things!" Freshmen might not have much in the way of a social conscience, but the fact that Jack's turning female does resonate to -some- extent.
- Jack_Simons blinks, glancing around at Allison, sees the phone pointing at her, and slumps.
- Distaff follows Jack's gaze and sighs. Camera phone. Of course. Well, she knew the weakness of the spell when she designed it… "Look, Jack, I'll try to talk to Next. But you really need to get checked out."
- Jack_Simons sobs, but nods. "T-tell George… ah'm… ah'm sorry…"
- Allison 's face is firm, and she only stops filming once Jack has looked straight at her, and given a great face shot. "Well, maybe not myspace. But Melville has it's own webpage. I just need to change the publishing URL." She hums to herself as she taps away at her phone, pecking away at the small keyboard. "I'd say it's a great idea. There's no way anyone would connect that face with the old one."
- Distaff nods, "I'll do that." She reaches an arm around Jack's shoulders to give him a hug. She looks at the medics, "You brought the blanket, right?" The second medic holds it up, and Distaff takes it to wrap around Jack to give him some semblance of anonymity.
- Jack_Simons sobs as she goes off with medical.
- Vibrissa shudders, thinking to herself, 'Well… if it's just Melville. It's not like he's going to be there anytime soon, it looks like…' Out loud, she notes, "Just so long as you're sure. I hope nobody gets in trouble for it, though." A glance at her plate is followed by a shudder - if there's one thing that'd cause her to lose her appetite, it's this change, even if the sight of the shifter's… other features didn't.
<Allison> With her flawless memory it's the work of seconds to type in the new address for the video. "I need a good caption for it." she muses. "Maybe something like, Sex Offender Jack Simons' new face. Watch out!" She looks over at Vibrissa, "Who would get in trouble?" she asks. "If taking pictures was a crime we wouldn't have to worry about Peeper."
- Distaff takes a few breathes to center herself, suddenly feeling a bit out of sorts. Luckily, she's still inside her field, so it gives her a breather to get herself back on track. She puts her phone away, then snatches her cards and stows them, coming back into focus as she grabs her tray and heads over to sit with Next and Vibrissa.
- Vibrissa mumbles, "Couldn't say… I've never been good at writing captions." She stares down at the tray, then drains her glass in two sips - more than slightly shaken, as much by Allison's cavalier attitude as anything now. Turmoil indeed. "True… usually those pics are under codenames, though, aren't they?" Either way, she takes a deep breath, trying to clear her head by shaking it, and looks over at Distaff with a definite uncertainty.
- Allison chews her lip a little at that. "True. As many different watch lists as this guy is on that shouldn't be too hard to find out. I know there's a listing of all the Ultra Violents." Now that Jack's being led away she cheerfully contemplates destroying what remains of his social life as a matter of civic duty.
<Distaff> "Look, I know we just met, and that you really don't have any reason to do me a favor, and that you /really/ don't have a reason to do Jack a favor. And I totally understand where you'd be coming from. But from where I'm sitting, I see a guy who's been dealt a messed up hand and wants to fix his mistakes. Please don't use that footage against him."
<Distaff> "I think he at least deserves a chance to try to make up for past mistakes." No point denying that the footage exists despite her spell. With that, she sets about to practically devouring her food.
- Vibrissa asks quietly, voice shaking, "Is there a reason he… did what he did? Not now, but earlier." Her spork is currently turning that excellent meatloaf into a red and brown mush, none of which even comes close to dry lips.
- Allison looks over from Vibrissa to Distaff and pinches her lips into a tight line. "I really don't see what sort of excuse would justify sexually assaulting anyone." she says. "That boy, or girl, or fish, is a danger to anyone that comes near them. And I think it's not only the student body's right to know that such a dangerous person has changed their face, but it's my responsibility to make sure that it's known."
- Distaff uses the time chewing to pick her words carefully. No reason to accidentally expose /another/ student's secrets. "Jack says that was a misunderstanding that got out of control. I know it doesn't excuse anything, but… I believe him, anyway. I'm not happy about it, believe me, but I'm not just going to ignore someone who needs help. Besides, they already know he's a danger. —
<Distaff> "He's got the armband. Showing a video won't make him any less dangerous."
<Distaff> "And soon medical and security will know, so he won't be able to escape the armband that way, or they'll come down on him."
- Vibrissa finally nibbles on a piece of lettuce, then sets her spork down again, shaking her head. "A misunderstanding… ? What kind of misunderstanding could cause…" She remembers what was said about a girl named George, and goes nearly ashen once again. "Oh," she mumbles in a small voice.
- Allison sighs deeply, "How would you feel if you were the victim of that sort of misunderstanding?" she asks, looking at Distaff directly. Her brow quirks up as Vibrissa makes some connection that she's not yet party too. "What? What am I missing?"
- Distaff looks like she's about to say something quickly in response to Allison's question but stops, her mouth hanging open with the first syllable dying in her throat. "You know what, I haven't been the victim of an attempted rape, so I can't say how I'd feel. But let me ask you this:
<Distaff> Is it more important to drive his life into the ground, or can we perhaps turn him around and set him on the right path?"
- Vibrissa picks up her glass with a shaking hand, forgetting that it's empty already - and misses the table as she goes to set it down. Doesn't seem to matter much, though. "Can't say… if I'm right, you don't want to know, and if I'm wrong, then it'd be a bad rumor to start…" She leans down for a moment to pick up the discarded cup, and crushes the paper by mistake. "And… wouldn't destroying his life make him more dangerous…?" —
<Vibrissa> "If he's got nothing left to lose, I mean… what's to stop him from going out there and doing that sort of thing to baselines?"
- Allison chews her lower lip in contemplation. "Neither one of you are considering the rights of the victim. This "George". If it's at all possible to rehabilitate someone, does that trump the right of the victim?"
<Allison> She turns to Vibrissa, "And if he's that dangerous an ultra violent, thats a pretty strong case for locking him up and throwing away the key this very moment. He'd be a terror among baseline women. I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be any attempteds in his raping. We have power, and the responsibility to use it correctly."
- Allison sighs deeply. "Look. I can't make this decision. So I'll find this George and ask them."
- Distaff finishes cramming the last of her food in her mouth, stiffles a hiccup, and rubs her temple. "Man, I hate not seeing the world in absolutes sometimes." A thoughtful look passes her face for a moment. It's a long shot, but…. "Maybe he does deserve to know."
- Vibrissa sighs, "At least that keeps us from turning into nutcases. Though another type…" She looks down at her nearly-full tray again, then pushes it away. 'Eh… shouldn't eat so much anyway.' "Who's that?" she asks Distaff curiously, before turning back and nodding slightly. "Might be a good idea to get in touch with them… at least then you'll have as much of the story as they want to tell." Oh, how she hopes her assumption's wrong.
<Allison> "If things were absolute I wouldn't be thinking about calling every George in the directory right now." Allison grumps. She flips open her phone and calls up the student directory, her eyes stirring up until they're hard gold disks. She sits that way for minutes, until her thumb glides across the pad and she dials the correct George.
<Allison> "George, this is about Jack."
George‘: A voice with a slight tremble responds. "Who is this?"
<Allison> "My name is Allison. I don’t think I've ever met you. But I'd like you to listen. I read the security report about Jack. He said your name."
- Distaff blinks, "There must be… Oh, precog. Doesn't causality have a say in things here?" She shakes her head slowly, "Look, I need a chance to speak to him when you're done."
- Vibrissa ums. "I think a teacher told me that 'if you drop a ball, it'll land'. Sounds kind of like an abstraction, though…" She's clutching the edge of the table, now, knuckles white.
George‘: "You’re not after me as well are you?"
<Allison> "No. I'm not after you." she says, her tone slipping into something soft and maternal. "Something happened to Jack here in the cafeteria. Some sort of shift. Jack looks entirely different now. If your phone accepts pictures I can show you."
- Distaff nods to Vibrissa, "Yeah, but how does predicting the future outcome of actions you've never taken work?"
George‘: "… ok. My phone accepts pictures."
- Allison just sticks her tongue out at Distaff as she sends George the tails end of the video.
Allison: George gets about four seconds of video, showing the now fish faced and female girl looking straight at him.
- Vibrissa ums once again, and tries to remember how it was explained, both in class and at the gym. "Like… I think the way she does it is that she can start doing something, see how it turns out, then change her mind right afterwards. So she was dialing one number, then erasing it and going onto the next number."
George`: "Are you sure this is Jack?" The voice replies disbelieving.
<Allison> "There’s more video. It shows the whole thing from start to finish." She pauses. "My question is… What should I do with this? I want to post it on the campus net. I think anyone as dangerous as he is should be recognized."
- Distaff nods to Vibrissa, "Yeah, I get that part. But now it means she has knowledge of something that never… will have… potentially… Okay, regular verb tenses don't work here."
George‘: "I don’t know. "
<Distaff> "Please let me speak to him before you get him to decide."
- Allison tries hard not to roll her eyes. Really she does. "And a friend of Jack wants to talk to you too."
George‘: "I don’t want that responsibility. He's …. I'm terrified of him…"
<Allison> She looks like she sucked on a lemon at what ever his response was. "George, I understand that he terrifies you. That's why I feel everyone should know what he looks like now."
- Vibrissa looks over Allison and Distaff, then notes in response - trying to detach herself from at least PART of the conversation - "Well… knowledge of what would've been? I guess…" She shakes her head; "Don't we all get that, though? We make a decision, knowing what'll happen right after in either case. We just don't look as far, or as clearly." Her precognition's nowhere near as absolute as Allison's… for which she's admittedly glad
George‘ sounds like he is on the verge of crying. "This friend does he want to take revenge? And I don’t know about the video ok. I really don't want that responsibility or the consequences."
- Allison looks over at Distaff, covering her phone with her hand. "He started crying when he heard that a friend of jack wanted to talk to him. He wants to know if you're after him too." She sighs. "This kid if a wreck. What ever Jack did, it must have been awful."
<Allison> "George. There's not going to be any responsibility for this on you. I promise. I just want to make sure Jack doesn't have a chance to do to other people what was done to you."
- Distaff takes her glasses off and rubs her eyes with her hands, "Oh boy. Tell him I'm not after him. Tell him I'm playing Devil's Advocate for Jack."
- Vibrissa feels a slight pounding in her head, rubbing her forehead with the hand that's /not/ clutching the table like a death grip. Where has she seen this before… oh yeah, political debates which start with one side immediately dehumanizing the other. Quietly, she murmurs, starting to feel a sarcastic streak returning, "Won't somebody please think of the baselines?"
George‘: "I don’t want this to happen to anyone. "
- Allison nods, "Right." She takes a deep breath. "I'm going to put you on speaker phone now, ok? She wants to talk to you, but she's not going to know who you are."
George‘: "Ok," *sniff*
- Allison punches a button and looks to Distaff to speak.
<George> "Ehm… Hello." an unsteady voice says.
<Distaff> At the mention of speaker phone, her hand immediately goes to her pocket, where she pulls out her cards and lays down the muffling charm again. The sounds of the rest of the cafeteria grow muffled. "Okay. First off, my name is Distaff. I’m not here to intimidate you, or anything else. I will state up front that what Jack did was completely wrong, and there can't be any excusing that."
<George> "Ok, I believe you."
- Vibrissa listens further, shaking her head quietly… and trying to think of how this situation could get any more awkward. She does remain silent, though it's clear that she's aching to speak; it might be something that'll have to wait until later, though. Preferably in private. For now, she just commits George's voice to memory as best she can.
- Distaff lets out the breath she had been unconciously holding. "Thank you. Now, I've spoken with Jack a couple of times. The first time he admitted to me that he had done some awful things, and from my point of view, he really seemed bothered by his own actions."
<George> "He seemed really mean every time I met him. He even broke a friends ankle."
- Allison gives Distaff a look.
<Distaff> "I think Jack is in a bad situation that he doesn't know how to deal with, and that people in bad situations that are beyond their control may not always make the best decisions. He said that the incident with you was a misunderstanding, and that he was trying to find out something. All I have is his word to go by. But you've seen the video, right?"
- Distaff rests her eyes in the palms of her hands. If she doesn't phrase this next bit right…
<George> "I've seen it. And… I don't really know what happened then. All I really know is that he ripped of my… skirt."
<George> "The rest is just so hazy. All I really remember is fear and shame." Then George starts sobbing softly.
<Distaff> "George, please stay calm, okay? I may be speaking up for Jack, but I won't let him do this again if I can help it, okay?"
<George> The sobbing stops and a weak okay comes from the phone.
- Distaff takes a deep breath, trying to keep her voice even, "You now have the power to expose a secret that Jack is embarrased about and desperate not to reveal. If your situation were reversed, and he had the same power to reveal a secret about you, what would you want him to do?"
<George> "No…I don't want that."
- Allison blinks, "Wait… skirt?" She looks between to other two girls, than tries to lower her voice to where the phone wont pick it up. "You mean you're worried about outing someone who was trying to violently out this kid?"
- Distaff lowers her voice, "You know what I think? And this is based purely on conjecture, but I think Jack was confused about his changes and looking for someone in a similar situation. But I have /nothing/ to back that up."
<Distaff> "You don't want what, George?"
<Vibrissa> The table creaks as Vibrissa stands suddenly, letting go - well, forcing herself to. She's pretty much trembling, and thinks she'll call off sick from the rest of her classes… something that, in all likelihood, is pretty easy to rationalize. "I… think I agree, but… I think I need to lie down," she mutters quietly… weaving through the crowd to drop off her nearly-full tray, then returning a moment later.
<George> "I wouldn't want him to reveal the secret."
<Distaff> "Then please don't use this video to out Jack's secret. I know he hurt you, but Jack will never do any better if all he has are people slapping him down. And I think if you really think about it, you'll realize that maybe your situations are not so different. That's what I believe, anyway."
<Allison> "He won't learn if there are no consequences to his actions. He needs to think about what he did, and I can't think of a better way of enforcing that."
<George> "This is why I-I didn't want the responsibility. How am I supposed to know what should happen. What gives me the right…"
<Allison> "Jack gave you the right when he tried to take yours away." Al says with perfect conviction.
<Distaff> "I don't think /any/ of us have that right."
<Distaff> "Look, it's no fair of us to put you on the spot like this. What if we give you some time to think it over, without the two of us trying to convince you?"
<George> "I won't get to an answer, the consequences of either option could ruin his life. I don't want to keep wondering if I made the right decision for the rest of my life. I already have enough problems."
- Allison chews a strand of her hair in frustration, but can't speak out against that. "I'm going to give the video to security." she says. "Anything beyond that… I'll wait."
- Distaff nods, "I suppose I can live with that. George, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. Jack asked me to pass along a message. He wanted me to tell you he was sorry."
<George> "He… I…" George seemed at a loss for words. How do you respond to that?
- Allison lets George speak his peace, but covers the phone mic with her thumb. "That is really despicable." she says. "I really hope you have some magic potion to make Jack less of a bastard, because he really doesn't deserve the sort of compassion you're showing. He totally deserves to experience what he had planned for George."
<Distaff> "Look, I'm not a precog. But I can still look to history and extrepolate from that. The best thing we can do, for all parties involved, is to stop this cycle that Jack's gotten himself into, or it WILL happen again."
<Allison> "Wouldn't happen if he was in prison." she mutters. She lifts her thumb off the mic. "George, I'm going to hang up. But if you have any more problems, I want you to know you can call me. My name is Allison."
<Distaff> "Likewise, I'm free to talk too. Ask for Distaff at Whitman."
- George takes a deep breath that can clearly be heard through the phone. "Ok, and I'm sorry for acting like that. You both wanted to do the right thing."
<Distaff> "It's a tough choice. Thank you for giving it the consideration it deserved."
<Allison> "I'm sorry I had to bother you with it." Allison says. She hangs up on him, and then leans face forward on the table.
- Distaff rolls her shoulders a little bit to get the tension out. She dryly comments, "I can't wait to see what we do for an encore."
- Allison looks up at her, he face seamed with tension lines and her eyes haggered. "How can you not be moved by that poor boy? He's like a whipped puppy." She starts eating again, her metabolism not giving her the luxury of being put off her meal.
<Distaff> "No, no, I feel for him. I really do. And I mean everything I said about what Jack did was wrong. It's just hard for me to let things go without seeing all the viewpoints being represented."
<Distaff> "Sorry, I suppose the sarcasm is just my way of dealing with the tension."
<Allison> "Jack's just a big bully, whatever his reasons. Whats worse, he's a bully with super powers. That makes him a super villain as far as I'm concerned." She fiddles with her phone, sending video emails.
<Distaff> "For what it's worth, I'm only sticking my neck out for him because I believe that he truly regrets his actions. If he does anything to change my belief in that, I'm done."
<Allison> She sends the full video to the security email address. And then she replies to the blotter mailing list, updating the entry on Jack with a link to the video. "And if he doesn't?" she asks. "Are you willing to be an accomplice for him?"
<Distaff> "I won't cover up for him, if that's what you're asking. But I believe he's entitled to at least a chance to change his ways."
<Distaff> "If I find out that he's done anything immoral, I won't hesitate to tell security."
- Distaff adds, "Anything /else/, that is."
<Allison> "I really hope you know what you're doing." she sighs, clearing out all the food on her trays in an orgy of culinary consumption. "And I really hope you never find out what it's like to be attacked like that." her tone when she says that doesn't inspire hope.
<Distaff> "I haven't the faintest clue what I'm doing, honestly. I'm just doing what my gut tells me is right." Let's hope she's an unrated Paragon. To the rest of your statement there's a sad, quiet pause as she looks at her plate, before picking it up and standing. "Look, I hope that because we view… Justice, I guess, from different angles doesn't mean that we have to view each other as adversaries."
<Distaff> And with that, she busses her table and leaves.
- Allison looks undecided, but not repentant for what she did and said. After all, when she updated the blotter email, she hit "Reply All".

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