Jane and Cessily - July 19

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Jane finds one dense teenager clinging to a light pole.



A silvery hand rose from the muck of flood waters to grab at the partially submerged light pole. Cessily pulled herself up out of the murky water to try to get a look around. She really had to figure out which way to find the shore.

She tried not to think about Jay. She'd do him no good at the bottom of the river.

Jane 3 slipped out from a window back onto what used to be a street and was now a muddy pond. The level of devastation was incredible, and she couldn't imagine having to try to recover from it. The section of town she was in was weirdly quiet, and the sound of the water lapping against the buildings was oddly soothing. It was so very deep, cresting just below the roof line of many structures.

She wasn't expecting the loud splashes that greeted her as she drifted around the corner, or the figure that emerged from the waters, reflecting light every which way. There was only one person she knew like that. Cessily, is that you? Are you okay?

She looked around in confusion, slightly dizzy from trying to walk along the bottom of the river bed. "Hello? Is somebody there? I need- Jay- Somebody help Jay!"

#Cess, calm down a second. You're gonna be okay. Can you hold onto that pole until I can get someone here to get you? We'll get someone here in just a moment.# Jane 3 asked her while Jane 2 over by City Hall talked to one of the rescue boat crews. # What's wrong with Jay?#

"He went overboard, I couldn't hold on," her voice seemed to shrink with every word. "I lost control and fell in after him. But... but I SANK."

Oh, cripes Jane 3 swirled down beside the girl. She'd been about  to pull in Janes 1 and 2, but the news about Jay slowed her. #Did you see him come up, Cess? Where were you?#

               "We were looking for people, on a boat." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying  to remember. "There was a church, Green Street Baptist, I think." She shook  out her hair. "I got lost under there, I don't know how  long I was down."

               The news was alarming, but Jane 3 kept her voice calm and reassuring while Janes 1 and 2 scurried off to try to find out if anyone had heard about Jay. <em>#Okay. We're trying to see what we can find out about him. Was there anyone else in the boat with you guys?#</em>

               Cess shook her head again, this time in a definite negative. "Just us." She laughed dryly. "Stupid boat is probably still floating down the stupid river." She rested her head against the pole. Her heart twisted, knowing that if she were a real human being ("I want to be a real boy!" her subconcious taunted.) she wouldn't be alive.

               <em>Thank goodness for small favors,</em> Jane thought to herself with a touch of tense relief. It worried her that she hadn't heard about the boat going down or whether or not Jay had been found. It didn't bode well for him if no-one had sounded the alarm that Cessily had gone missing as well.

               <em>#Maybe. It's probably halfway across the state by now,#</em> she replied with gentle humor in her 'voice', hoping to keep the girl distracted until help arrived. <em>#Did you guys find anyone?#</em>

               "No, it was kind of creepy, actually," Cess admitted. She batted at some floating debris to keep it away. "Like something out of a horror movie, actually." She closed her eyes on a shudder. "I looked the other way, then he was falling in. I- I- I panicked," she stuttered. Her guilt over losing Jay made her completely forget that her clothes were still on the bottom of the river.

               <em>#It's very creepy, I'd have panicked as well.#</em> Jane 3 agreed, floating down low beside Cessily. Jane 1 had just reported back with no word on Jay, but that a rescue team had headed out in their direction and she as following. Jane might not have modesty issues herself, but this was probably not the time to find out of Cessily shared her views. <em>#There's a boat on the way for us. It'll be here in a minute or two and your clothes seem to have disappeared. Do you want me to kind of, um. This?#</em> Jane swirled around the teen briefly, draping her in a thin shield of clouds.

               Cessily thunked her head against the pole with a defeated sigh. "Thank you," she murmured. "Any word on Jay? Everyone else manage to avoid a dunking?" The attempt at humor felt flat, even to her.

               The pole made a weird, dull noise as Cess's head hit it that would have made Jane's skin crawl had she had any.<em>#Not yet, but I haven't heard back from 2. We're so far apart right now that the connection gets all fuzzy if we don't work on it.#</em> The Janes were really pushing their limits on this one, to the point where they were starting to feel more than a little weird. It was a relief to see 1 come skimming across the water, and not just because that meant that the rescue boat wasn't far behind.


               It suddenly occurred to Cessily that she was talking to a <i>cloud</i>. She pursed her lips and blinked a few times, feeling all vestiges of self-pity melt into a vague sort of embarrassment. "You're talking to... yourself?" She asked curiously. "Doesn't that get confusing?"



       <em>#No, actually. You'd think it would, but we're all connected so usually we all know what we're doing. It's almost like having smart cameras I can send around.#</em> it was weird and Jane knew it was weird, but it was also what passed for normal for her. The buzziness of the connection to 2 seemed to be clearing and she prodded at it as a small boat full of medial personnel motored into their street. <em># Hey, look! Help. Yay!#</em>

Cessily's eyes followed the oncoming boat. "Maybe he'll be in the med tent or something?" She thought hopefully.