xp_logs | New Orleans Is Sinking

Amanda and Wanda, having pulled an all-nighter, come up with a possible cause for the storm. Set before this log.

In many cultures, water and storms were a sacred thing and so it featured heavily in many aspects of their lives. Many, many, many aspects and it seemed as if they were reading through all of them. Wanda felt her eyes glaze over for a moment as she flipped through more pages of something dealing with a storm sacrifice, her thoughts ghosting over to Marie-Ange.

Across the table, Amanda made an impatient noise, flipping the book she was paging through almost roughly and casting it aside to reach for another. The blonde witch's eyes were heavily shadowed, both of them having gotten very little sleep over the past night and day. After a few pages, she slammed this one shut too, with a muttered curse and something that sounded close to a sob.

For a moment, Wanda didn't speak and instead she leaned over to mark something in the database they had up and running on the laptop. Once that was done, she leaned back, head rolling slightly so she could bring Amanda clearly into her line of vision. "It is not our fault that we have only been able to rule things out, not rule things in," she said, sounding as sincere as she could possibly get under the circumstances. But it was true, even if they didn't believe it and even though they would run themselves into the ground in order to find out the truth.

For a minute Amanda didn't answer, her hands pressed to her temples and hiding her expression from Wanda. Then she dropped them, lifting her head. Her eyes were slightly reddened, and she blinked back tears. "I know," she choked out. "I know this is how it happens. It's just... we don't have time for this, Wanda! Those bastards nearly killed Angie, I just want to go out there and make them pay for that."

"And we will," Wanda responded, her hand going to rest on Amanda's knee and squeezed once. "But until we find someone to pound their face in, this is how we make them pay. Papercut after glorious papercut." She gave her friend a small smile before nearly exploding up out of her chair. "But, yes, time is running very short. We have looked up nearly everything we can on storm based rituals--some with just even water elements and no storms--it feels like it is just beyond our finger tips."

"Maybe we're being a bit too literal?" Amanda said slowly, rubbing her eyes. "We're concentrating on storms 'cause of what 'Ro told Remy - maybe it's something a bit more general? Weather, instead of making a storm?"
At that, Wanda paused thoughtfully. "Well, we know that manipulating the weather in general is possible under mutant powers and I think someone with enough magical power would be able to do something like that as well. How much energy would it take to create a storm bad enough--or weather--to do what Angie's predications have been hinting at, Amanda?"

"To create one... nah, too much. But if there was already a storm, you could bulk it up, make it worse..." Amanda lunged at the piles of books on the table, scattering several as she pawed through them until she unearthed a slim volume. "I remember something, a sort of ritual. South American or African, one of those..." She flipped through the pages, skimming over text.

"All in all, I know very little about New Orleans itself," the older mutant muttered, peering over Amanda's shoulder, "but if someone were to bulk up a storm big enough, a hit on any city would be damaging, yes? I have experienced some bad storms and by the time they are done, it is almost like a war zone." There was a feeling in her gut that was telling her they might be on the right track.

"And New Orleans is in a basin. Hell, it's a bloody swamp, if you want to get down to it - 's been reclaimed and built on. You ramp up one of their hurricanes enough, you could wipe out a good chunk of the old city." She made a triumphant noise, her finger stabbing at the page. "Here! African ritual, tied into the whole voodoo thing. 'S supposed to be able to build up existing weather patterns - make a dry spell a chronic drought, that sort of thing. You use this on a storm, you've got yourself a major problem."

Even before Amanda was done talking, Wanda was reaching over to slide the laptop closer to them. "I'm emailing everyone else this information because it is our best lead yet. All the pieces are starting to fit together and this information will hopefully help them with their searches." As she started to type, she tilted her head at Amanda, new energy flowing through her as her excitement grew. "Now that we know what it is, let us see if we can't find anything else on it. Having a point of reference will make this a lot easier."

"Already there, Boss Lady." Like Wanda, the lead rejuvenated Amanda, and she was pulling out her PDA with its list of books. "Lets nail this bugger down, and work out exactly what we need to do to stop it."

And then they'd be able to get their hands on the people who'd hurt Marie-Ange.