xp_logs | A day in the life, part 2 (Reply)

A day in the live of Trance

"I've been told good pedagogy dictates that we start with a review." As she strode into the study with a tea tray, Sarah grinned at Hope and rolled her eyes, showing just what she thought about pedagogy. Still, she continued on. "But last time we met, I asked you to go on a fact-finding mission of sorts, using your powers. I wanted you to explore your astral potential." She snorted and wrinkled her nose. "Astral potential? Ugh. Listen to me."

Sarah grabbed the teapot and poured out two cups. She passed one to Hope, then pushed a sugar bowl toward her. "Please, help yourself. Where was I?"

"The assignment you gave me, ma'am?" Hope added a small amount of sugar to her tea and stirred. "To find three things I did not know before?" She had spent about a hour last night moving through the mansion they were staying, trying to remain unseen, unheard not having been a problem. "I was quite surprised at the number of people who are working behind the screens here."

"Please, not ma'am. Scanner, or, jeez, Ms. Scanner if you really must." Sarah took the sugar bowl and added a little of its contents to her own cup. "Elaborate on that, if you will."

"I simply mean the people in the kitchen, cleaning or maintenance. I have seen very little of them, except the older lady who maintains my room... I did find I could not go further at a point though..." Hope innocently inquired. "While this distance is still well within my range."

"Ah, that." Sarah nodded, considering. She sipped her tea. "Do you know the twins? Shieldo and Shielda, I mean. I can't remember if you've been introduced, although even if you had, they may not have made much of an impression. They happen to be very... reserved." She added a little more sugar to her cup. "In any event, my guess you've experienced one of the side effects of what they do to keep us safe here. I can't say I totally understand it myself, but stronger folks than me have tried to get them to explain it and had no luck."

"I have seen them. They do our physical training with us in the morning..." So that was why Holocaust kept them the two around, she noted. She had not disconcerted any powers, but this made sense. "But I understand... I did find three things, as you asked." Hope offered, keeping her voice fairly shy.

"Good!" Sarah smiled, pleased. Actually, she hoped it was good gossip. Having the students surveil each other was a genius idea, whether it was hers or Holocaust's. "So, let's hear them."

"Among a small group of servants there is a lot of talk about the two gardeners who were fired a little while ago?" Hope carefully sorted though the various bits of information she had picked up. "The woman who cleans Mimic's room is with child. I heard her talking to it while she was touching her stomach. And finally, Shieldo and Shielda seem very fond of Darjeeling tea."

"Okay." Sarah nodded, considering. "That's very good, Hope. Very well done." Nothing particularly juicy that she didn't know herself, but Sarah imagined it was a big step for Hope to even get that far. And she was pleased. "It was a shame about those gardeners, though. But the boss man is very particular about people, so..." She shrugged. "Sometimes nothing can be done."

Hope gave a calculated shrug. "I did not overhear the circumstances of their dismissal, so I cannot say anything about that. Perhaps I will over hear more later... at least, if my assignment continues?"

"Perhaps," Sarah nodded, although she doubted it. After the way Holocaust reacted to what those gardeners did, she had a feeling they wouldn't delve into specifics. "And your assignment does continue. I think it's useful for you to explore using your gifts in new ways. You never know what it could be what saves you from a terrible situation."

"How I can gather information with the use of my abilities?" Hope inquired. Somehow that seemed to fit with the KIM exercises they had done yesterday...

"Well, that's the idea." Sarah nodded. "You know, we're trying to teach people to unlock their full potential here - their gifts. As someone who can be intangible herself, I know how useful it can be to be able to move undetected in all kinds of situations." She took another sip from her chipped teacup. "So, tell me about the servants. What exactly did they say?"

Hope narrowed her eyes a little as she thought about everything they had said. "They were wondering how they were suddenly accused, while both gardeners were such upstanding men. At least, that was the main topic of conversation..."

Sarah snorted. That was certainly a skewed version of things. Her eyes darted toward the window, and she looked down at the grounds where — well, never mind. As she turned her attention back to Hope, she noticed a clock on a bookshelf. "Oh!" She pushed back her chair and stood. "I've got another engagements, and there's something I — well, never mind." Sarah smiled at the younger girl. "Come with me. Before I run off, I wanted to show you that we're taking good care of your associate."

"Laurie? I can see her?" Hope eyes lightened up a little at that idea. Especially since Amy still was not talking to her. She kept her voice as businesslike as possible though as she continued: "I would like to know for sure the agreement is being kept..."

"Yes," Sarah nodded, trying to keep an impatient tone out of her voice. She had places to be. "As I said, that's the idea. Follow me." She didn't bother waiting for Hope to stand and strode to a nondescript door near one corner of the room. She pulled a keyring out of her pocket and unlocked the door with a large copper key. The door swung open and she flicked on a light, revealing a set of monitors.

Sarah stepped toward a keyboard in front of the monitors and tapped on the keys. "So, here you are." She pressed the power button on one monitor, and it popped on.

Hope titled her head as she studied Laurie, sitting at a desk, surrounded by various thick books and busily making notes on various pieces of paper. Remains of a platter of food could be seen in one corner and a bottle of water with glass was perched next her. "She seems well taken care of..." She commented neutrally.

"Of course she is," Sarah turned from the monitors to face Hope, a smile on her face. "I'm an honest woman, you know. I always hold up my end of a bargain."

***

Where the boys and Amy had disappeared of to the three other girls were not sure.

It even didn't really matter. Their own assignments in front of them were more then enough to keep them busy and each of them knew that soon they would be called in Holocaust's office to show them what they had made of it, with the threat of Goose looming over them.
CJ leaned back in her chair, her hands coming up to cover her face and dragging downward as she released a frustrated sigh. The case she was supposed to be researching had no precedence she'd yet been able to find, nor did she think she would given the case involved the trial of humans by mutants. Blinking a couple times she took a deep breath and tucked back in, trying to ignore her companions as they worked on their tasks.

"Done." Suki clicked a button and looked around the room at everyone else. The other girls were still working hard on their projects -- in fact, it looked like they weren't nearly as close to it as she was. Nothing new. She leaned back in her chair, twirled a long strand of brown hair and looked at her work. "Statistical analysis of stocks prior to mutant outings and then after. Honestly, it's disgusting. I barely kept down the vomit doing this report. You guys done yet, or what?"
Hope rubbed her forehead as she looked up from her tablet, having been looking through some of the information of the background check, so she would be able to eject this man from his social circle. "I am making good progress, but not yet completely done. I could use some further information on a certain company or NGO but alas... that is not yet possible."

CJ glanced up and have the new girl an appraising look, "It lies beyond your capabilities to find it, or it doesn't yet exist?" There was no malice in her tone, it was a simple question, but her peers had often unconsciously expressed discomfort around her.

"Mostly unable in place where we are unable to go. I would need feet on the floor so to speak. Though I can always simply note that one down." Hope glanced over at CJ. "How about you? You do seem quite... vexed with your challenge?"

"Information isn't difficult," Suki pointed out. "It's people who get difficult.". She tapped her fingers on her closed laptop before opening it suddenly.

"Fine. You all get a free pass to the wonder that is Suki's brain. Come on peeps, tell me what I'm looking for. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can move on to our next task."

***

"Is she serious?" Hope accepted the stick and blind fold that were handed to her and looked over to Gabe. Around her Ian tied the blindfold before him, before extending the stick to CJ, while Suki and Amy were quietly discussing something. "So... do you wish be blinded or play guide?"

"We once had someone who didn't take these things seriously," Gabe casually intoned while grabbing the blindfold from Hope's grasp without asking, "They didn't last long." He shrugged as his tied the blindfold over his eyes, stance casually aloof. His words, however, were crisp and precise, belying his nonchalance. "Treat me gently."

"Alright." Hope gently put the stick in his hand, her eyes still questioning at the idea of what would happen if people failed. Rumors about a man going by the name of Goose she had heard, but she had never even met him. " Are you ready?"

"Stick it to me."

"Of course." She replied drolly and shaking her head at his words, Hope carefully started to guide him around the room. "An interesting name for that man..." She fished carefully. With a bit of luck, his guard would be down as he was focused on not trying to run into people or things, even with her guiding him.

"Hope. Trance. Azazel. Romeo. Juliet. Horatio. Names are troublesome because there's no choice in them." He glided along as if the blindfold wasn't there, no anxiety bleeding through to his word-dump, "There are more useful tools when it comes to control."

"Not all names are unchosen by the person themselves." Hope commented. "Some are chosen to impress, some are chose with a different goal." She guided him close by a chair, testing how much feeling he had for his surroundings.

" Shii--" He pretty much stumbled directly into it. The sound was muffled, but he straightened like a plank, trying to make as little movement as possible, as he collected himself. And then, like nothing happened, "That's pretty fatalistic. I believe the more interesting thing is examining the name we take for ourselves and why. That's the key to getting ahead."

She eyed him for a moment, forgetting he could not exactly see her. "My apologies, I miscalculated..." She guided him a little more to the open space of the room, carefully steering around the others. "The names others take for themselves are intriguing as well though. Why Garrulous?"

"It rolls off the tongue and requires a strong vocabulary," he responded in a very practiced way. "You can buy important time when someone is challenged by a word they do not know."

"Or divert someone from how dangerous they are." Hope tried a slighter more open gambit.

Gabe smiled. "Language is an amazing tool with many practical applications."

At the sign from the front of the room Hope stopped guiding Gabe around the room and reached up to help him remove his blindfold. "Okay, let us see if I would be good at any of this..."

"In all honesty?"

Gabe grasped her gently around the wrist, leaning forward. "You are asking too many questions to things that do not have pleasant answers." It was barely a whisper, and he disengaged quickly. His usual, cheery tone was back. "I think one could learn a lot from keeping their eyes closed and ears open..."