“Ground three to Overseer one. We’re in position. Status on the target?”

“Ground three, this is Overseer one. Target tripped the theta scanners at four-eight-one and hasn’t tripped another since. Ground one and two are tracking on remote. Eye in the sky is coming into range for visual support. Hold positions until location is confirmed.”

“Copy Overseer one.” The man designated Ground three said.

“I don’t get it, Perkins;” Ground three’s partner sighed. “Four people on the ground, two spotters and a satellite for one girl? If she’s this bad, why didn’t they call in an Enforcer?”

“You read the brief, Evans? Drivers ran a red light, got hit, and dumped her and her cell right in the middle of the street.” Perkins shook his head. “This isn’t something you wait on Enforcers to come in for.”

Evans nodded slightly. “I still wish we had more than tranquilizers. What’s her power supposed to be anyway?”

“Nothing on the report.” Perkins frowned. At that moment, Overseer one’s voice came over their glasses mounted communicators.

“Location confirmed. Proceed to four-nine-zero and engage at will.”

From his roost on a roof, the spotter designated Overseer one sighted his quarry with his binoculars. Servos whirred as the lens focused on a girl of about sixteen with light brown, crimped hair. She was doing her best to stay hidden as she crept along an alley. Even after a full day on the run from her containment, she was still dressed in the hospital gown she had been wearing inside the stasis cell.

A transparent display registered basic vital signs in green. Her heart rate was up. So was her breathing rate. She knew the trap was closing and she was panicking.

“Its all right, little girl.” He smirked. “In a few minutes, You’re going back where you belong.” Before he could say more, the world went black. “What the hell?!”

“I’m really glad you’re such a prick;” A female voice said. “Because otherwise, I’d feel bad for this.” A sharp jab to his solar plexus doubled him over, followed by a blow to the back of the neck that put him down.

Alexis released her command over the black heat and landed on the rooftop next to the spotter’s prone form. She flipped open her cell phone. “Laurel’s triangulation is right, Ian. Stop the men on the ground; I’ll help the girl.”

“Gotcha.” Ian said quietly as he reached the top floor of the building he was in and stood at the door, waiting for the time to be right.

Below, the girl continued along, oblivious to the fact that she was no longer alone in her flight.

The last twenty-four hours were a blur to her. She had awakened in a partially shattered plastic coffin in the middle of an intersection. An overturned pick-up truck was to one side of her, spewing smoke. On her other side was an ice cream truck with a giant, smiling sun painted on the side. It had been smashed in on one side and its two rear doors thrown open.

Shaking memory away, she turned down another alley. She needed to get away. She didn’t know quite why, but she knew that if the men who were after her caught her, she would never see the light of day again. Scars up her arms and a persistent ache at the nape of her neck told her vaguely of terrible things that had already been perpetrated on her.

“Down here.” Someone said, trying to be covert, but failing to account for the echo in the alley. The girl looked up to see Evans and Perkins turn the corner at the other end of the alley. Heavy footsteps behind told her that doubling back was not an option.

“Got her!” Evans said, enthusiastically raising his weapon and firing. Red finned darts leapt from the pistol and through the space the girl had occupied before she dove for the cover of a dumpster.

Perkins slapped the muzzle of his partner’s gun down. “Don’t telegraph you’re shots, Evans. Some of these people had reflexes beyond anything you’re capable of. We’ve got enough trouble without you announcing us.”

“Don’t ride me on this.” Evans said, creeping up on the dumpster. “It’s just a kid.”

The pair swung around the dumpster just as the other two ground units arrived. “Shit.” Perkins said. Behind the dumpster, the concrete wall and the rebar within it had been shattered to powder; creating a hole in the building about two and a half feet in diameter. A thin rime of frost covered the area around the hole and in the heat of the warm July day, a few snowflakes melted in air.

“Yeah. Just a kid.” Perkins snarled. “Griggs, Farmington, secure the front. We’ll go in after her.”

“She just smashed through two feet of concrete.” Evans said. He watched the other two ground units go with a hint of fear in his eyes. “We need backup to handle her.”

“Keep your damn head, Evans.” Perkins said, moving closer to the hole. He slammed the butt of his pistol into the edge of the hole. It shattered like glass. “If she was capable – or willing – to kill us, she would have done it already.” He peered into the hole he had widened and nodded to his partner. “Careful not to let your skin touch this shit. Its still probably hundreds of degrees below zero.”

Evans gritted his teeth but followed.

The hole, as it turned out, provided access to the building’s basement/boiler room after a five foot drop from near the ceiling. The only light was from the government mandated safety lighting along the edges of the ceiling and the dull red of the furnace along the back wall.

The room itself had become an auxiliary storage room over the years, receiving all the junk the landlord deemed too useless to keep, but too valuable to throw away. In any other circumstance, it would be a spacious room, but as it stood, the only clear space was the vicinity of the boiler and a pathway clear to reach the same from the stairs.

Perkins and Evans flicked hidden switches in their sunglasses and the room was suddenly awash with the green hues of night vision for them.

“Come on, kid.” Perkins said. “Don’t make this harder on yourself than it already is.”

“What did you people do to me?!” a surprisingly defiant voice asked from behind a pile of chairs atop an old table.

“Not my place to ask questions.” Perkins answered, giving Evans a hand signal to loop around.

“The plate on the cage you had me in had a medical chart on it. It was cracked, but I saw the words ‘bio-mapping complete’ on it. What does that mean?!” the girl demanded.

“Again, don’t know, don’t care, not my job. Maybe if we get you back, you can ask the people who know.” Perkins said. All he needed to do was keep her talking so Evans could get a clean shot.

“No.” the girl said forcefully. The temperature in the room plummeted. Snow began to fall from a frigid cloud that suddenly formed near the ceiling. “I’m never going back. You can’t take me and neither can your partner.” There was a cracking sound. A chest of drawers toppled over as its base became too brittle to support it. Perkins heard Evans shout as it landed on him, knocking him out.

“How did—“

“I can feel your body heat.” The girl said sharply.

Above them, the door was forced open.

“Then I guess you can feel my reinforcements arriving.” Perkins smiled. “And look – they’re going to have a clean shot.”

The girl looked up and burst from cover, tearing down the rows of junk searching for a new hiding place as the door opened fully. Perkins leveled his weapon and ripped off three shots.

The sudden snowfall was just as suddenly buffeted by a gale of wind that rushed into the intervening space between the darts and the psionic girl. The darts struck an invisible wall and hung there, slowly falling as if through water.

Mouth agape, Perkins looked up to the landing. There was a man there, hands outstretched toward the darts. But his attention was totally on the other figure on the stairs. The outline was feminine, but it was as if some divine hand had cut a female shape out of the universe and left the void to wander on its own volition. She was definitely a psionic and she was most certainly NOT an Enforcer.

“Where are…” He stammered dumbly into his com.

“Your reinforcements won’t be arriving.” The shade said.

Reflexively, Perkins raised his pistol, but he never fired. At that very moment, he saw the darts he had fired drifting toward him with supernatural quickness. What was more was the ‘bubble’ of near solid air that traveled with them. He tried to dodge, to dive for cover or hide – but the bubble was upon him before his brain could pass the ‘flee’ message on to his body. Then it exploded and everything went dark.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you do a ‘blast bubble’. Alexis smiled at Ian.

“I figured this was a special occasion.” Ian returned the smile. “Now let’s make sure she’s okay.” He headed down the stairs and toward the place the young woman had disappeared. “Juniper?” he called. “Juniper Taylor?”

“Who are you?” a youthful voice demanded from behind a pile of boxes. “How do you know my name?”

“My name’s Ian. This is Alexis. We’re here to help you.”

“Like those men were here to ‘help’ me?” the question had a decidedly acid tone.

“No.” Alexis said, dropping her black heat and coming to Ian’s side. “We aren’t exactly sure what the Academy wants with you, but we’re here to try and make sure they never get a chance to do this to you kids again.”

“Kids? There are more like me?” Juniper slowly emerged from her hiding place. The snow stopped falling.

Ian nodded. “You’d be around the ninth we’ve met.” He gave her a reassuring grin. “We live with four of them.”

“And what happened to the other four?” Juniper suddenly withdrew.

“They decided they didn’t want to come back with us.” Ian said. “We just want to help you; not control you. If you want, we can just get you out of Raleigh, fix you up with some money and contacts and you’ll never have to bother with us again.”

The brunette pursed her lips. “And the other option?”

“You can come with us.” Alexis said. “You’ll have your own room, some spending money and friends – you’ll just have to live by a few rules of the household.”

The girl’s green eyes glittered. “What are these rules?”

“Just to trust that we’re doing what we think Is best to protect you; warn us when company’s coming and not use your powers in public.”

“At the Academy, they taught us not to be ashamed of our powers…” Juniper started.

“It’s not a matter of shame, Juniper.” Alexis’s voice was sympathetic. “It’s about not letting the Academy know where we are. No one checks for names in the days of National Identification, but reports of someone matching your description using your powers would get back to them really quickly. Do you understand?”

Juniper nodded slowly. “I’m still not sure I can trust you though.”

Ian smirked. “You’re sixteen, right? Know how to drive?” Juniper nodded. “Then how about this – you drive us back home.”

“Ian…” Alexis gave him one of her newly patented looks that questioned his sanity.

“Its fine, Alexis. She knows she can trust us because we’re trusting her.” He produced the keys and tossed them to Juniper who goggled at them in disbelief. “You’re in complete control of the situation now, Juniper. In the driver’s seat to be literal.”

“Are you serious?” Juniper asked.

“Completely.” Ian assured her. “So, have any more questions before we head up?”

“Just one. How did you find me so quickly?”

“Online news is a blessing sometimes.” Alexis said. “Our friend has a computer dedicated to combing news sites for things the Academy is up to, psionic related news, and most importantly in this case; any news involving anything resembling a stasis cell. The other kids were also kept in them, so we just figured…”

“A stasis cell.” Juniper said thoughtfully. “My aunt was in one for a while after a car accident. How long was I out? Two… three days?”

“It may be far longer than that.” Ian said gravely. “From your point of view, what year is it?”

Juniper rolled her eyes and scoffed. “It’s 2073 – November.”

“It’s a little hot to be November, isn’t it?” Ian asked. He felt a pang of sympathy for what the girl would soon be going through.

“Yeah…” Juniper started. “So how long have I really been out?”

“It’s July of ’74 now.” Ian said with as gentle a tone as possible. “You’ve been ‘out’ for eight to nine months and we have no idea what they’ve done in that time.”

“But it’s over now.” Alexis said quickly. Thoughts of Melissa’s near decade sealed away still haunted her. “We promise.”

“I don’t see why you’re being so secretive about this new guy.” Cyn said to Laurel as the two of them plus Warrick lounged on the couches in the living room.

“I just think that it’s fairer to them that they get to make their own first impression.” Laurel said with her usual cheer. “Besides, it’s not like you have to wait for weeks to meet them. Alexis said they’d be here in a few hours and that was… well a few hours ago.”

“Hey, I’m all for the new guy.” Warrick said. “A wingman to scam on girls with that knows about my powers is infinitely valuable.” Cyn smacked him in the face with a pillow for that.

“You couldn’t even scam on chicks if that was you power.” The white haired girl said. “Seriously, you’re just going to end up playing videogames and watching baseball with this guy the same as you do with me every night we don’t hang out at the Dungeon.”

Warrick grinned at her. “Hey, I could be a lady’s man. I’ve had tons of girlfriends.”

“Didn’t you tell me your nickname used to be ‘three and out’ because that’s the maximum number of dates you’ve every managed to get from any one girl?” Cyn accused.

He stammered. “Oh, that’s low, Cyn. Anyway, that’s why I need the new guy’s help, see? JC’s in the same boat as me. And Zack… well he’s Zack. I need someone to show me how to get a girl and keep her.”

There was a knock at the door and Laurel stood to get it, shaking her head at the youngsters’ antics.

Cyn scoffed. “You seriously watch too much TV, you know that?”

Laurel opened the door to see Ian, whose hands were full of bags. He made a face at what he heard. “The bosom buddies having a fight?” he asked, stepping in and putting the bags on the floor. “Where’s everyone else?”

“I’m here, Ian.” Melissa said hurrying down the stairs. “I was just reading in my room while we waited for you to get back.”

There was a static sound from near the television and Kareem’s voice emerged. “I am here as well, Ian.”

The older man smiled at his young charges. “Great to see our whole little family all in one place. There’s someone here I’d like you all the meet.” He motioned to the door and Juniper entered, dressed in black jeans, white blouse and a jean vest. “Say hi to Juniper, the newest resident of Freeland House.”

Juniper smiled as she looked around at those in the room. Then her eyes went wide with surprise. “I… I think I know you. American Classics class, right? Mrs. Feldman was the teacher? You’re the one who tried to convince her that twentieth century comic books were legitimate literature. I don’t remember your name, but it’s good to see a familiar face.”

All eyes followed Juniper’s gaze to Warrick who was suddenly very confused.

-- • --

There was a confused silence in the living room of Freeland House that seemed to radiate off Warrick as he met the green gaze of Freeland House’s newest resident. He’d been at Freeland House for almost three months and had given up the possibility of seeing anyone he knew in the near future.

Then again, saying he ‘knew’ Juniper Taylor was stretching the definition of the word ‘know’ to it barest limits. They’d had all of one class together at the Academy; American Classics with the overly traditional and elitist Mrs. Feldman. Over the course of that class, Warrick didn’t recall having any more direct contact with Juniper than an occasional nod ‘hello’. The only noteworthy thing he remembered concerning her was that she had seemingly dropped the class near the end of the term. Of course, now he knew the truth behind her disappearance.

Still, he felt a bit cheated; the first person he’d run into from his life before Freeland House wasn’t a family member or a friend, but a girl he’d barely been aware of.

“It’s not that surprising.” Alexis stated as she entered the living room. “She’s been in stasis only a month longer than Warrick has and the Academy isn’t as huge a place as you’d think. I frankly would have been surprised if they hadn’t met one another.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘met’…” Warrick started. Until now, the tentacles had been wrapped tightly around his arms as if asleep. Now they unfurled themselves and extended, intent on examining the newcomer.

Juniper raised a wary hand toward the tentacles. “That’s your power?”

“Part of it.” Warrick said, painfully aware that he was the center of attention.

“You were in his class at the Academy and didn’t know his power?” Cyn piped up. “Yeah, you didn’t so much know each other as much as you just happened to exist in the same general area for a little bit, huh?”

Juniper shrugged shyly. “I didn’t say we were friends. I just recognized him.”

“I’m sure you’ll all get to know each other very well while you’re staying here.” Laurel said, putting on her most diplomatic airs. “Why don’t we at least introduce ourselves?” She gave Juniper a little nod. “I’m Laurel Brant; I’m the one who found the article about the accident that led us to you.” She glanced at Melissa and Cyn in a manner that demanded they follow suit.

“I’m Melissa.” The redhead said. “Forrester.”

“She doesn’t talk much.” Cyn said. “You’re lucky you got ‘I’m’, really.”

“I’m not that bad, Cyn.” Melissa chewed her lip. “I’m just not good with meeting new people…”

“That’s okay. I can do all the talking for all of us.” Cyn said, taking control of the situation. “I’m Cynthia McAllister, resident shapeshifter.” She extended her arm six feet to offer it to Juniper to shake. “Pleased to meet ya.”

Juniper chuckled and shook the hyper extended appendage.

“You already know Kaine, so we can skip him.” Cyn continued, reeling her hand back in. “Floating invisibly somewhere over there” she waved her hand in a vague direction, “Is Kareem. He’s a ghost or an astral thingy or something.”

“Astral projection, Cyn.” Kareem corrected affably via the speakers near the TV. “My body is currently in a coma, Juniper. I can only communicate with my telepathic ability or this device Ms. Brant was so kind as to develop for me.”

“We should be video capable in a few weeks.” Laurel added. “Give or take, of course – I’ve never tried working on an interface on another plane of existence before.”

Alexis released a long breath and looked at the assembled residents. “Great. While Ian and I get a room ready, why don’t you all show Juniper around the grounds?”

“I’m going to have to lay cable into that room.” Laurel noted. “Maybe you all should show her around Mayfield too.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Cyn shrugged. “Let me go get dressed.” Before she left, she grabbed Melissa by the wrist. “You’re coming too. This’ll be good for you.”

Laurel watched the other two girls leave with a smile. “Juniper, you should probably come with me. I’ve got some new ID’s and a phone for you, among other things.”

“Come on in.” Laurel said, switching on the lights to her lab. “Don’t mind the mess.” She weaved her way past piles of what seemed to be junk that had taken up residence on the work tables. Juniper followed cautiously.

The older woman took some keys off her desk and knelt to open a safe beneath it. “I just want to tell you that you made a good decision to come here instead of trying to make it on your own.”

“Alexis told me that there were others that decided not to come.” Juniper said, sliding into one of Laurel’s computer chairs.

“They call themselves the Kin.” Laurel said as she rummaged through the safe. “We keep in touch from time to time. I send them cash and find them safe places to stay while they move around.”

“Why didn’t they come here?”

“They didn’t think it was safe to trust anyone – even us.” Laurel frowned.

“Did they have reason not to trust you?” Juniper asked.

Laurel came up from the safe holding a plastic wrapped bundle. “It was more that they didn’t have any reason to trust anyone.” She sighed and sat in a chair across from Juniper. “Look, Juniper, I can’t make you trust us. All I can do is ask you to and give you every reason to.” She slid the bundle across the desk to the younger woman.

Juniper took the bundle but didn’t open it. Instead she turned her gaze to the racks of servers Laurel was running. “That’s how you found me?”

“My internet spiders turned up the article about your stasis cell in Raleigh.” Laurel nodded. “I try to keep tabs on everything going on with them. It’s a hard task, but it keeps me at least up to date on the world in general.”

“Could you use them to find everyone’s families?” Juniper queried, keeping her eyes on the computers instead of Laurel.

Laurel pursed her lips. She knew this question was coming and she was worried about the reaction to the answer. “I can, Juniper. And I have. But there are more problems with reuniting you kids with your families than just finding them.”

“Like what?” The question was loaded and accusatory.

“For example… none of the kids’ parents have filed a missing person’s report.”

“What does that matter?” Juniper sat up in her seat. “Just because their parents don’t want them—“

“That isn’t it, Juniper.” Laurel said, holding up a hand to silence the girl. Taking a calming breath, she tried to make her face as reassuring as possible, despite the news she was delivering making her want to cry. “There haven’t been any missing person’s reports because none of the families know they’re missing.”

Juniper’s confused expression spurred Laurel on.

“The Academy has been fabricating communications – letters, emails, sometimes even phone calls from those missing. They always make up some excuse and stonewall any family that try to visit. I don’t even know how they’re doing it because if they’re doing this for every person they’ve put in stasis for at least the last ten years, they’re sending hundreds of communications each day; personalized for each family.”

“That’s insane.” Juniper shook her head. “We’re not the only ones? I mean the eight or nine Alexis and Ian were talking about?”

Laurel swallowed to get rid of her rising bile. She’d had this conversation with the others before and it didn’t hurt her any less to explain it again. “Juniper, there are hundreds – maybe thousands stashed away all over the country. We’re doing our best to find them… but the Academy has a longer reach and deeper pockets than even my hacking can keep up with.”

The brunette was in tears now, shaking almost uncontrollably. Laurel steeled herself against the next, inevitable question. “W-why?” Juniper forced out.

“We’re not sure.” Laurel wheeled her chair over so she could hug the shaking youngster. “But it was bad. They’re working for a group called Project Tome – studying psionics and performing horrible procedures on them.”

“B-bio-mapping.” The word started as a stutter and ended as an angry hiss.

“How did you know that word?” Laurel asked, stroking the crying girl’s hair.

“That cage. The stasis thing. There was a chart on it, like one you’d see in a hospital? I couldn’t read most of it, but part of it said ‘bio-mapping complete’.”

“Oh my god…” Laurel murmured, hugging the girl even tighter. “I’m so sorry, Juniper. I wish we could have stopped it but—“

“I don’t remember anything.” Juniper said quietly. “Don’t be sorry. You’re doing everything you can for me.” She hugged the older woman tightly before releasing her. “I can tell that now.” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

“You bounced back a whole lot faster than I would have.” Laurel said, sitting back in her chair.

“Not yet.” Juniper said. “But I’m just really glad I’m here now.” Her hands found the bundle. A welcome distraction from what she had just learned. “So what is this?”

Laurel wiped away her own tears, which she had just realized had formed. ”I call it a care package. Cell phone, hacked ID cards, and a new bank account to draw funds from. At the very least, we can make you comfortable while we figure out how to get you back with your family where you belong.” Realizing she was drifting back to an emotional minefield, Laurel forced a smile. “There’s also a disk in there that’ll set your computer up on the house LAN – You play Death Gate?”

Taking Laurel’s cue, she smiled back. “Level fifty-four Spawn-hunter on the Orion server.”

“Warrick and Cyn are going to love having you around.” Laurel smiled broadly. “So will Melissa, since you’ll buy her some peace and quiet.”

“So, how long before the new girl replaces me as your pet project?” Melissa frowned into the mirror as Cyn stood behind her, attacking her hair with a styling bar.

“Oh, don’t worry, Melissa, I’ve got time enough for two pet projects.” Cyn cooed, curling a strand of Melissa’s hair with the electrostatic bar. “Besides, she actually talks and stuff, so she won’t take nearly as much work as you.” She teased.

“Oh joy.” Melissa rolled her eyes. “So, what do you think of her?”

“Eh, she’s okay.” Cyn shrugged. “But how much can you learn about someone in a two minute conversation?” She gave Melissa’s hair a few more passes with the bar. “You know, except her thing with Warrick.”

“What?” Melissa asked.

“You heard her. ‘Oh, it’s sooo nice to see a familiar face.’” She mocked. “Seriously, I think she had a crush on him back when they were at the Academy.”

“You do realize that she didn’t say that even remotely like the way you just did, right?” Melissa asked, flinching away as Cyn’s strokes with the bar became more erratic.

“I can tell it in her voice.” Cyn said. “She’s going to be all over him inside a week.”

“Why do you even care?” Melissa said, finally moving away from Cyn. “Didn’t you say that he wasn’t even your idea of a ‘guy’?”

Cyn put the bar down rather harder than she strictly intended. “I’m just worried about my friend is all. I mean this new chick is going to be all over him and he’s dumb and weak and she’ll have him wrapped around her little finger in no time. Then who’s going to play Death Gate with me and Laurel, or help me and Kay formulate obnoxiously long, yet entirely possible coffee orders at the Dungeon?”

Melissa shook her head and smoothed down her now electrically fried hair down. “He’s not going to ignore you if he gets a girlfriend, Cyn.” She said sympathetically. When Cyn didn’t return that with a smart-alecky quip, she sighed. “Fine. So what do you propose we do to keep Cupid from hitting the unsuspecting Mr. Kaine?”

“I’m not sure.” Cyn said. “But I’m certain something will come to me while we’re showing the new girl around the city.”

-- • --

“So this is Mayfield.” Juniper said, looking around. The taxi the quartet had called had dropped them off at Westinghall Plaza, just across from the giant ornamental fountain. “I’ve heard a lot about this place – never thought I’d get to see it though. I figured that I’d get shipped right back to San Jose as soon as I got done…” She looked around at the people who passed by all around. “Uh… you know.”

She wore a dark green sundress that was weighted at the bottom by a number of thick, metal rings. Vaguely, she remembered having one like it in blue, but a lot her memory of the period surrounding her disappearance was spotty at best.

“Yeah, keeping in mind not to talk about that’s the hardest part.” Warrick said, trying to be helpful. “Well, not… you know, using what we can…” He just nodded to indicate ‘using their powers’. “That’s the real hardest part, but it gets easier.” He finished with a hollow lie.

“Thanks.” Juniper said, smiling at him. It really did help to have someone she at least recognized around.

“So…” Cyn said, stepping in between the two so fast that Warrick could have sworn she’d ‘shifted into that position. “Where do you want to start the tour?” She gestured up to the mammoth building at the end of the plaza. “We’re already at the Westinghall Building. The Gates Center is only a few blocks down…” Her gaze went a bit unfocused in thought. “There’s the zoo, Dayspring College, and the National Museum of Sciences. We could hit the Lexington Gallery too.”

“The, uh, Westmoreland is holding a craft fair.” Melissa offered shyly.

Cyn snapped her attention to the redhead. She was about to say something smarmy about the fact that Melissa was finally contributing, but realized that she was helping her out. “That’s a great idea! How’s that sound, Juniper? It’s got to be better than all that touristy crap I was talking about.”

The new girl smiled. Cyn didn’t like that smile. It was the kind of smile that wasn’t hiding anything. It was pure and honest and at the moment, Cyn was looking for sinister and scheming. Liking the other girl was not on the menu.

“That sounds perfect.” Juniper continued smiling. “So, you’re into crafts, Melissa?”

“A little.” The shy girl admitted. “I did pottery when I was little and I still like looking at it.”

“No kidding?” Warrick said. “We’ve been here months and I’d never have taken you for an artsy person.”

“Probably because it takes one to know one.” Cyn teased playfully.

“Hey now, I’ll have you know I’m real artsy.” Warrick placed and hand over his chest as if to indicate his passion for the arts. It came off as melodramatic.

“Warrick, you’re more in the ‘demand’ category for art than the ‘supply’ line.” Cyn said. “Then again, comic makers and TV producers owe their wallets to you, I guess.”

“Just because I haven’t had time to do any of that stuff since we came here doesn’t mean I didn’t – or that I won’t.” Warrick pointed out with a wounded voice.

“So what is it you do?” Juniper asked, jumping into the conversation before Cyn could think of another smart remark. It took a considerable amount of facial control on Cyn’s part not to glare daggers at the intruder. Some primitive, sadistic part of her mind giggled over the fact that as a shapeshifter, she quite possible could glare daggers at the other girl.

“I do all sorts of things.” Warrick said, responding to Juniper, but looking pointedly at Cyn. “I drew a lot, even at the—at school.” He caught himself before he mentioned the Academy. There wasn’t anyone around to hear him, but he decided that things would be easier on Juniper if they didn’t tempt her to mention it. “I painted some too. I like to think I was pretty good at it.” He shrugged and started walking toward the bus stop. The Westmoreland wasn’t what any sane person would classify as ‘within walking distance’. “And I did some acting even.”

Cyn blinked. “You? An actor?”

“Sure, it’s in my blood, Cyn. My dad’s a voice actor only on the account of him not being good looking enough for movies.” He turned to walk backward and shot all three girls a wolfish grin. “Me though, I got all my pretty from my mom’s side.”

“What have you acted in then?” Cyn had the next question ready. She asked partly because she wanted to know and partly to steer the discussion away from families.

“Only a couple things.” Warrick admitted, sitting down at the bus stop. “I was Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet; the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, and my favorite – Master Sanzo in Journey to the West.” Sprawling on the seat, he gave another shrug. “They weren’t leads or anything, but I really liked doing them.”

“Mayfield has to have some theater groups or something.” Juniper offered, sitting down beside him. “You should find one and try out.”

For the second time in so many minutes, Cyn blinked. “Uh, yeah.” She nodded in agreement as she leaned on the clear plastic overhang that theoretically (in the same sense that the Flat-Earth Theory is a theory) protected the bench from rain. Helpless, she looked over Warrick and Juniper’s heads to Melissa for help.

The redhead bit her lip, and then sat down next to Juniper. “So, Juniper… do you do any crafts?” She was totally out of her element attempting to guide a social situation and that was all she could muster.

Juniper gave a thoughtful look. She remembered being in an art class at the Academy, but the instructor had made her focus on freezing water vapor in the air into structures and patterns. It wasn’t the kind of art Juniper liked doing and it made her powers feel cheap.

“I do a little origami.” She finally said, “And those little animals you can make from pipe cleaners.” Her smile was a little weaker now because for whatever reason, she was embarrassed about being what she suspected was the least artistic person in the group. “Anything you can get out of a kit basically.” Turning it into a weak joke didn’t help much, so she decided to shift focus to someone else. “How about you, Cynthia?”

Cyn avoided Juniper’s gaze. “Nothing.” She muttered.

Warrick gave her a disbelieving look. ”Really? I thought by the way you laid into me about it, you were into all sorts of stuff.” He looked off into the distance as if visualizing his memory. “Huh. Guess that explains why that sort of thing never came up.”

“It just wasn’t on the menu for me as a kid, okay?” Cyn snapped defensively. On the one hand, she had succeeded in deflecting attention from Juniper. On the other, she didn’t like where this was going. Luckily, her fervent prayers for interruption were answered by a twenty-five ton angel with the words ‘CITY OF MAYFIELD TRANSIT’ stenciled on its side. “Oh look, the bus is here.” She said, letting a bit more relief slip into her voice than sounded in any way natural.

The Westmoreland Hotel was an impressive thirty story structure in downtown Mayfield. Its convex façade wrapped elegantly around an ornate white marble dome that protected the entry way from the elements. A less than characteristic marquee placed above the dome scrolled the text ‘THE WESTMORELAND WELCOMES THE TENTH ANNUAL MAYFIELD CRAFTS EXPO JULY 17-20’ in black text on a white background.

“They made sure we knew this was the place.” Juniper said, walking a bit ahead of the rest of the group toward the welcoming dome.

“So what should we look at first?” Melissa asked; her head buried in a brochure for the Expo she had printed at the tourism board kiosk on the bus. “I’d really like to see the glassblowing workshop they have set up.”

“I’m more interested in the art restoration thing you mentioned.” Juniper admitted, dropping back to walk with the redhead. “new stuff doesn’t really interest me as much as the really old stuff.”

Cyn imposed herself between Warrick and the other two girls. “Let me guess…” she said to him. “blacksmithing demonstration?”

“It crossed my mind.” He nodded as the quartet entered the main lobby of the hotel. Steel scaffolds were arrayed throughout, supporting digital signs directing guests to the various exhibits, panels and demonstrations. “I mean why not learn how to do it the right way? It may help me get better at it.” He gave her a grin.

Cyn smiled back at him, and then noticed one of the digital signs. “Glassblowing demo starts in ten minutes, Melissa. How about you take Juniper to see?”

“You’re not coming with us?” Juniper asked, with a little shrug that indicated that she didn’t especially mind one way or the other.

“I figure the two of us can scout out the rest of this place.” Cyn returned the shrug. “Never hurts to have a game plan.”

“I don’t know, glassblowing sounds pretty cool.” Warrick said. “You can’t go wrong with melting down stuff that was never meant to melt.” He glanced over to Cyn. “Besides, when do we ever have a game plan?”

“We usually aren’t trying to show a new person around.” Cyn defended her position.

“If you think it’s important, you can scout yourself.” Juniper offered. “The glassblowing demonstration is only a half hour long, after all.

Cyn felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. This just wasn’t fair. Somehow, the new girl had turned the tables on her and now she was left wandering around alone. “Fine.” She snapped and stalked off through the crowd.

Juniper blinked. Hadn’t scouting around been Cyn’s idea? “Why’s she suddenly so mad?”

Warrick gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. “No idea. Sometimes, Cyn gets like this.” He peered through the crowd. She was already lost within. “Look, you two go ahead, I’ll go after her and see what’s wrong.”

“Alright.” Juniper said. “I hope it’s not something I did.” This caused Melissa to make a face, which she hid behind the brochure.

“I’m sure it’s not.” Warrick assured her. “Back in a bit. We’ll meet you two at the glassblowing… thing.” He rushed off into the crowd.

Juniper heaved a long sigh. “And then there were two.” She said to Melissa. “Come on. After this, we should check out the artist’s alley. I need something to hang up in my room.”

The Westmoreland’s White Room was given over to the Expo’s silent auction room. The evening auction featured art pieces from the estate of a local philanthropist, Vincent Liedecker. The proceeds were supposedly going to the Windsong Project, a scientific endeavor to revive extinct species such as the black rhinoceros and the Tasmanian wolf through cloning technology.

Cyn didn’t really care what animals were brought back to life. The room was away from the bustle of the main rooms and it was quiet. She found a bench in a corner that was obscured from view by the various displays and sat down to think.

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there when she heard the voices. All she knew was that the minimal foot traffic was all but non-existent at the moment. But two people now stood on the other side of a display of 20th century modern paintings, speaking in hushed tones.

“Quickly now – we don’t have much time before someone else comes in here.” A female voice said. “Let’s make sure you have the plan straight.”

“It isn’t exactly a complicated plan, Nightshade.” A deep, male voice said. “I start some chaos, you nab the painting, and I get sprung from jail six hours later with a new identity. Everyone wins.” There was a pause that Cyn could only interpret as the pair nodding to one another. “The only thing I don’t get is why just the one painting? There’s about four million worth in here easy. That thing ain’t even worth much.”

“I don’t ask questions, I just do the job. My boss says to get Portrait of Morganna le Fay by Unknown; that’s exactly what he gets.” The woman called Nightshade responded.

There was another pause. “Fine. I know I’m getting a new ID from this. What’re you getting?”

“What does it matter?”

“Because I don’t like working with people whose motivations I don’t know. It makes me nervous.”

“I’m not getting paid at all.” Nightshade replied. “I’m just in this for the daring daylight art theft. Something like this will definitely reach the papers.”

“Oh. You’re on of those.” The man said dryly.

“Don’t give me your attitude, Cinder. Just get your part of the job done.” Nightshade’s steps began to move away from the display, followed by Cinder’s.

Cyn blinked in confusion. Had she just heard what she though she did? Her mind raced at the kind of ‘chaos’ someone calling themselves Cinder would decide to cause. Someone had to do something. No, she corrected herself – Lifesavers, Inc had to do something before anyone got hurt.

Her fledgling rivalry with Juniper forgotten, she stood up and stretched a bit, awakening her shapeshifting ability. There was no time to find Warrick. She would just have to assume that seeing Facsimile in action would tell him all he needed to know.

Stretching her new, golden wings, she prepared to fly out of the White Room, only to be stopped by a sudden realization; she didn’t know what either Cinder or Nightshade looked like.

Finding a specific person in the crowded hotel was harder than finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. In fact, it was on par with finding a specific needle in a stack of needles; provided the needles were constantly shifting.

Warrick shook his head and leaned on one of the scaffolds holding up the digital signs. I occurred to him the Cyn may even have left the hotel altogether. He just wished he knew why she was so upset. Frowning, he pressed his fingers to his temples. Today had promised to be fun too. They had a new friend to show around, there were all sorts of cool things to do at the expo… then Cyn had just gone spare and walked off in a huff.

Part of him wanted to say ‘screw it’ and go find the blacksmith exhibit. Most of him, however, took his role as Cyn’s best friend very seriously and wouldn’t let him rest until he found her and at least offered comfort – however well that would be received or not.

There was the possibility that she would still answer her phone; the logical part of his mind pointed out. That would make things move a lot faster. He headed for one of the more out of the way rooms to try and get a signal.

From somewhere at the other end of the wide hall, there came a sound that overcame even the loud din of convention goers. On a smaller scale, it would have sounded like the noise a gas pilot light makes when ignited. Only this was much larger.

Warrick looked up to see a ball of fire bloom over the heads of the milling crowd. It boiled and undulated in a most unnatural way, sending twisting tendrils down among the crowd that only just missed them.

Beneath and just behind the living cloud of flame stood a large man dressed in a camouflage jacket and pants. He grinned with sadistic glee as the crowd broke and fled. “Run, run, run!” He taunted. “Or we’re going to have some barbeque!” He drew the last word out far longer than was tasteful.

Cursing, Warrick tried to move out of the way of the wave of humanity that surged toward him, only to be slammed against a door, which broke, dumping him unceremoniously into a darkened room.

Catching his breath, Warrick glanced around him. A number of portable forges had been set up here, along with a number of other tools of the trade, including raw bars of iron, waiting to be hammered into shape.

“Right.” Warrick noted with a mental roll of his eyes. With a thought, he called the iron to him and formed his armor.

-- • --

Energy manipulation was one of the more common psionic abilities. Some only manipulate existing sources, such as the flame of a candle or the sun’s light. Others convert one form of energy, such as kinetic energy, into another form, such as heat. It was uncommon, but not particularly rare for a psionic to be able to shape and sculpt their energy once it was released.

It was funny how little factoids pop into one’s head when one is faced with a rolling cloud of flame, Warrick thought as the tentacles lifted his now armor encased body above the fleeing convention goers.

As he watched, a whirling funnel extended from the cloud to connect with a table, which shattered as if under tons of force and was drawn into the fiery maelstrom. Behind it, Cinder continued to laugh and taunt the fleeing bystanders, oblivious to Warrick’s presence.

Allowing the tentacles to swing him closer, Warrick called the flame wielder out. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but it’s going to stop right now, pal.” He reached out with his metal sense and seized the copper wiring in the nearby walls.

Cinder laughed. “I didn’t think I rated Mayfield’s homegrown heroes.” The flame-cloud coiled menacingly. “Look here, tin can; your armor may make you bulletproof, but against me, it’s just your own personal pressure cooker.” A finger of flame leapt out of the cloud toward Warrick.

There was a rending sound as copper wires exploded from the wall. The lights when out, leaving the large windows along the hall as the only light source. Liquid copper solidified into a wall between Warrick and the oncoming flame. A wash of uncomfortable heat was all that reached the young hero.

Parting the wall, Warrick sneered under his armor’s visor. “You’re going to have to do a hell of a lot better than that to put me down, Smokey.”

“You can’t do that forever. And without the golden girl, you’re outnumbered by me and my cloud.” Cinder had time to notice a light breeze behind him before Cyn dropped from above, planting her now pointed toes into the backs of his knees. With an oath, he crashed to the ground.

Cyn had not time to recover before he rolled onto his back and reared back onto his shoulders, delivering a kick to her chest that launched her into a display of figurines. Shards of broken ceramics flew everywhere.

“Hey, even with her, you’re not doing so well.” Cinder laughed, regaining his feet. The flame cloud dropped down to envelope him, bathing him in sinister orange light. “It’s been fun, but I still have a job to do. So it’s time to put you Prelates out of commission.” He launched another line of flame toward Warrick.

“What’s going on?!” Melissa asked, huddling with Juniper under a table as a herd of humanity thundered past.

“I have no idea.” Juniper said. “But they’re going to trample us to death if we stay here much longer.”

Melissa tried to catch her breath. Juniper was right; the panicked crowd had already knocked over most of the tables nearby and she could see some people already on the ground, stamped to unconsciousness by the fruits of other people’s fight or flight responses being violently thrown toward ‘flight’. “I… I can stop them.” She finally said. “But you need to go find Warrick and Cyn. If anyone can stop whatever caused this, they can.”

“Aren’t they going to be running with everyone else?” Juniper asked, the question of how Melissa intended to stop the fearful mob completely eluding her.

“Not if they know what’s going on.” Melissa admitted. She felt bad telling someone else about the secret of Lifesavers, Inc, but she was more concerned with so many people getting hurt. “Juniper, they’ve been using their powers to help people… in secret.” She stressed the last word.

“They’re prelates?” Juniper blinked. “But how? I thought we weren’t…”

“Ian, Laurel and Alexis don’t know.” Melissa said quickly. “Cyn said they’d stop them if they found out.” She looked into the other girl’s eyes and pled for her to help her.

“Alright, Melissa. I’ll find them.” She looked out at the crowd. “If I can survive that.”

“Go. I’ll take care of it.” Melissa said, already tapping into her power. Juniper noticed an edge of white suddenly circle the redhead’s pupils. Without another word, she ducked out from under the table. The crowd was already slowing, moving around the fallen instead of over them. Melissa could calm them, elevate their mood, but they still knew to move away from danger.

Weaving her way through the sea of people, Juniper thought about Warrick and Cyn. Most psionics were free to use their powers as they saw fit (within the law), but the Freeland House residents couldn’t for fear of discovery by the Academy. Never before did prelates have a better reason to conceal their identities behind costumes and codenames.

A booth caught her eye. It was overturned, but much of the merchandise was still intact. And idea formed in her head. If Warrick and Cyn could do it, so could she.

Another gout of flame broke against the hastily erected copper shield. The carpeted floor had burned away to the cement beneath some time ago. The heat that radiated off the copper was becoming unbearable. Warrick was having trouble breathing. Beside him, Cyn shifted her skin to form fireproof, red scales, but even she was having trouble in the heat.

“Just so you know…” Cinder shouted matter-of-factly over the roar of the firestorm, “I’m not going to kill you. I’m just going to bake you until you pass out from heat stroke. I’m sure big, strong prelates like you will be fine after a couple days.”

“I really hate this guy.” Warrick hissed, pulling more bits of metal in to reinforce the shield. “I can’t even see where he is the send the boys after him.”

“You know, he can’t hit both of us at once if we come from different directions…” Cyn considered. “I’m about as fire resistant as I can get and the shield should protect you for a little while… We could rush him.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Warrick nodded.

“I think that you two are just a little too comfortable behind that thing.” Cinder called. “Let’s see if I can turn up the heat.”

Warrick felt the heat moving through the copper. It was the worst possible shield against heat and the next blast would likely transfer enough heat to knock them both out. “Go, now.” Warrick said, pressing both hands against the shield in hopes of strengthening it with his powers.

The copper shield was red hot, even through his armor as Warrick forced his will into the metal. In his metal sense, he felt every molecule and desperately reached out to steady them against the assault. There was resistance – the heat energy pushing back against his attempts. His metal sense strained, as did his powers.

Then something broke.

White sparks raced over the surface of the copper. Where they danced, the shield shrank and turned black. The burst of flame impacted the shield and – Warrick felt only the smallest traces of heat radiate through. The force of the attack chipped away a few flecks of the black tarnish, revealing smooth white tinged with metallic pink beneath.

Surprised that he had staved off the attack, Warrick breathed a sigh of relief. Then his metal sense detected something unfamiliar. “What the hell did I just do?” He asked himself.

Meanwhile, Cyn beat her wings furiously, keeping just ahead of the whirling vortex of flame Cinder sent after her. The madman actually laughed as he scorched a line across the walls she passed. “One down, one to go, lady. I can keep this up all day! But how long can you keep running?”

“She doesn’t have to.” The air became noticeably more chill, a thin mist rising up along the scorched floor. The fire cloud suddenly flickered out, its fuel of burning tables and other combustibles encased in a thick frost.

“What the hell?” Cinder swore. Even as he formed a new flame in his hands, he found the source of the voice.

She stood proudly on the far side of the hall, a white cloak with green trim wrapped tightly around her, with its hood over her head. She also wore a ceramic half mask that covered the top portion of her face above the nose.

“The paper only said there were two of your people.” Cinder said, causing his flame to wrap protectively around him as he glared at Cyn, who had turned to see who it was that had stopped the assault. “Who are you supposed to be?”

The newcomer smiled a predatory smile. “Call me Zero.”

“Well, Zero.” Cinder mocked her. “I’m Cinder. And I’m going to melt you.” The flame whipped toward the woman in white with deadly intent.

A disc of some pinkish material whipped out ahead of her, borne forward by one of Warrick’s tentacles. The flames scattered before the shield. “What was that about one down?” Warrick asked.

“Son of a bitch.” Cinder growled. “I was pretty damn stupid going easy on you. I’m not a killer… but now…” An aura of flames exploded around him. “I’m going to make an exception!” Before he could manage anything however, he was engulfed in a cloud of white gas and his fire winked out.

“You know…” Cyn say, winging over to him, a fire extinguisher in her hands. “I’m just stupid sometimes. This was the most obvious thing ever and it slipped my mind until just now.”

“That only bought you a second.” Cinder snarled, starting to summon more fire.

“Oh… putting out the fire wasn’t the obvious thing.” She said, “This is.” With that, she swung the safety device underhanded, catching the pyrokinetic in the chin. As he reared back, she expanded her hand to enormous proportions and punched him in the chest, sending him flying into the wall. He bounced once, and then lay still, knocked out.

“Looks like Lifesavers, Inc triumph’s again.” Cyn declared, tossing the extinguisher aside. “Let’s get out of here, Alloy; all that shifting has me starving.” She headed toward Warrick, and then turned to the newcomer. “Oh – thanks, by the way… Zero, right? I didn’t know there were other prelates around here. Anyway, I owe you one.”

“There weren’t until about ten minutes ago.” Zero said. “I almost had the shortest prelate career ever too. Thanks for protecting me, Warrick.”

“Uh…” Warrick started. “I’m pretty sure I have no idea who this Warrick guy is.” The tentacles tried their best to look nonchalant.

“Oh. Sorry.” Zero said. “Alloy. Right.”

“Oh. My. God.” Cyn said. If she wasn’t in her Facsimile guise, she would have flushed. “You’re—“

“Yup. I bet it’d be easier to tell if you’d known what my powers were.” Juniper shrugged. “Anyway, your secret’s safe with me. If you ever decide you need a third…” she left the last part hanging. Glancing back the way she came, she remembered something. “I left Melissa back near the main hall. We’d better get out of costume and go back to her.”

“Yeah.” Cyn said, a bit embarrassed to have been saved by her perceived rival. “Oh no!” She suddenly exclaimed.

“What is it?” Warrick asked.

“The painting! This guy was just a diversion. Some chick called Nightshade was using him to cover her stealing the painting!” Quickly shifting back to normal, she sprinted toward the White Room.

“Daring Art Theft Covered By Psionic Battle Royale” read the next day’s Scribe front page. A thin smile crossed Tatiana Farnsworth’s lips. She’d finally made the front page. Not by name of course, or even in the name of Lady Nightshade – but what mattered was that here crime had been front page material.

She traced a finger around the article and the paper parted as if she had cut it with a razor. Her first front page crime and a big payday from her employer; the day was looking fine indeed. By chance, she caught sight of her desk calendar. ‘Dinner with Lisa’ was clearly displayed in red marker. Lady Nightshade smiled; she did enjoy her niece’s visits. And this week, she had something to celebrate.

Across the room, the reason for her celebration, Unknown’s Portrait of Morganna le Fay, lay quietly in a plain brown package.

“Oh, come on, Warrick, just jump in the damn pool.” Cyn commanded, bobbing up and down in the water. She had added webbing between her hands and toes to help her swim better.

The tentacles wrapped themselves more tightly around Warrick’s midsection and seemed to shiver with fear. “Sorry, Cyn, but these two are afraid they’ll rust if they get wet.”

“Then un-summon them.” Cyn pouted.

“No can do.” Warrick defended “I figure that it’s bad enough that I un-summon them whenever we’re out in public. It just doesn’t seem fair to them.”

There was a splash and a spray of water crashed over both Warrick and the tentacles.

“Sorry about that.” Juniper said, paddling over to where Cyn was bobbing. She gave Cyn an amused nod.

“See?” Cyn said, taking the hint. “Now they’re going to rust or not rust no matter what. Now get in here!” She extended her arm to catch the Italian’s leg and pull him in.

“Shouldn’t we say something to them about roughhousing in the pool?” Alexis asked, reclining in a deck chair poolside.

Laurel shrugged. “One’s just shifted gills for herself, one has ice powers and the last one has a pair of tentacles that all indicators say could toss a truck if need be. I figure that if they actually start rough housing, we’ll need to move anyway.”

Alexis smirked at this. “You have a point. But really, by now I’m sure they’re more than used to not throwing their powers around.”

The caramel skinned woman shrugged. “I’d like to point out that you and Ian have been throwing your powers around a lot lately. I mean first with the Kin, and then with Juniper?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Laurel smiled. “I’m just saying that you two are great role models for the kids.”

End Issue #4