3.2 Jörð
5th of March, 2011
Somewhat not-so-contrary to my expectations, I didn't finish God Key last night, but not for a lack of trying.
See, despite officially being on holiday since the previous afternoon, I still had something of an obligation in the morning, namely my appointment with the hairdresser. Hence going to bed relatively early prior to spending my morning at the mall with aunt Zoey. I already have the impression that I'm doing the very bare minimum to hide my cape status at home while somehow managing to get away with it, and I'd rather avoid raising any more suspicions because I pulled an all-nighter when I didn't really need to.
My first week with Wolfenstein isn't over yet, I still have plenty of time and I don't want to make a habit of abusing the Panacea to deal with sleep-deprivation when it isn't necessary.
Which brings us to now, with me quietly chatting with aunt Zoey as we weave through the crowd on our way out of the Mall, my hair freshly cut and one hundred percent fluffy gorgeousness.
Yes, the nice lady who took care of me spent the entire time gushing over them.
Yes, she harangued the entire saloon, hairdressers and clients both, to give my red mane of steadily more improbable volume a closer look.
Yes, I've gotten cooed over by way too many middle-aged wives for me to be entirely comfortable with it.
No, I do not want to talk about it.
Out of nowhere, aunt Zoey halts in her tracks.
"D-Danny?" she not-quite stutter-gasps, the interrogative lilt in her tone barely hiding her surprise tinted with nervousness.
"Zoey," the answering tone is barely above the zero celsius, right until I lock eyes with his owner as I come to stand next to my guardian.
It's a little amusing to see the tall bespectacled man do a double-take as he registers my presence, his jaws falling a little as he tries and fails to compute my existence, giving me plenty of time to take his appearance in. Tall and thin, wearing clothes that could have used another pass of the iron.
I can't exactly check if his hair are thinning or not considering the size difference between the two of us, but if I was a betting asset, I think I'd have good odds taking a guess at his last name, especially when–
–my eyes slide over to the railroad thin teenager standing next to him, looking agog back at me through her own pair of glasses, her stunned expression vanishing like snow under the sun as soon as we lock eyes, her jaw audibly clicking shut and her mien turning almost eerily neutral.
The following pause in what can only be called a conversation if you squint very hard while looking sideways is a rather pregnant one.
So naturally, I leverage my 'cluelessness' as hard as I can in an attempt to cut through the tension, acting the part of the cute – which I am – and innocent – which I am most definitely not – kid who's gleefully jumping with her two feet first right into a potential minefield.
"Aunt Zoey," I tug at my guardian's sleeve just the once, making the woman's head snap in my direction so fast I'm almost worried she gave herself whiplash, "Who are those people?"
Cue another round of befuddled looks thrown my way – gotta work on that body language shunting skill, miss protagonist – as the older woman's expression turns strained for a flash, before she eventually settles on sighing while laying a steadying hand on my shoulder.
"... Those are Danny and Taylor Hebert, Jacky," she introduces the duo with a tone that is north of complicated, "We used to be close, but we lost touch with each other for a while."
I nod with all the seriousness of a twelve year old before giving the duo my sunniest smile.
"Hello," I chirp happily with a little wave, "I'm Jacqueline Barnes, Emma's younger cousin, but please call me Jacky!"
"Barnes…," Danny mutters under his breath, before his eyes go wide in realization, "You're Robert's daughter?"
"Mmh!" I nod, before letting my expression fall and clamping up.
"Jacky… lost her family last year," aunt Zoey explains, her expression turning somber, "We've been taking care of her since earlier this year. Completing the paperwork took a lot more time than we'd have liked and dealing with the French administration was a bit of a nightmare, but–" her hand marginally tightens around my shoulder and I can feel the genuineness in her smile as she speaks further, "–we're plenty happy to take care of Jacky now that she's here. She's been an absolute delight to have around."
"... I see," Danny answers in a tone that clearly indicates that he does not, in fact, see, before looking down my way, "My condolences for your loss."
A series of images flash almost too quickly at the forefront of my mind.
I give him a melancholic and a little more genuine smile that I'd like.
"Thank you, mister," I answer politely.
"Your English is very good," he remarks just as politely, his outward countenance relaxing a little.
"Papa and Maman raised me while alternatively speaking both French and English," I explain-slash-reminisce, "They always said that it was very important to know multiple languages, and that learning early made it a whole bunch easier.
"I suppose they'd gotten proven right, in the end." I end a little lamely while looking down.
"And they'd be very proud, sweetheart," aunt Zoey reassures me, making me perk up a little, "Jacky goes to Juniper and her teachers have nothing but good things to say about her. She even made some friends!"
"They're nice," I nod, "I share classrooms with Louise so I know her the best, but I eat everyday at lunch with Caroline, Adelaide and Missy," I 'perk up' as the conversation has moved on from the more painful topics and I find myself back in my game, "We even made plans for the break!" I direct my best puppy-dog eyes toward my guardian before asking, "Can I go to the mall with my friends on Wednesday, aunt Zoey? Missy's not sure if she'll be there, but the others are all going!"
I carefully watch through the corner of my eyes for Taylor's reactions just in case as I keep blabbering, but nothing. Either she already has an impressive command over her body language-shunting trick, or she simply doesn't recognize Missy's name; my money's honestly on the second, on account of how she slipped earlier. Which means that she probably still intends to start a solo career as a hero, unless I'm mistaken.
"I'll have to talk to their parents just to be sure, but I don't see why not," aunt Zoey answers, elegantly post-poning the decision-making process for later.
"Alright," I nod back before turning my attention back to the Hebert duo.
And I almost want to pat myself on the back for successfully diffusing the situation. Danny's fists have noticeably unclenched as he looks at us with a wistful expression and Taylor has similarly recategorized me in the 'people I know but don't really care about' category if her uncaring slouch is anything to go by. I apparently exist and that's a thing, and that's fine for her.
For a beat, a very short beat, I idly consider meddling and finding a way to spare my fellow parahuman some trauma in some manner. Making it so she signs up with the Wards would honestly be my favorite outcome, no two ways around it; she'd heavily dislikes it at first because 'powered teenager drama', but once she gets over it, I'd think she'd be happy with the Bay's gaggle of heroic goofers now that they're short a Stalker.
More importantly, it would mean that I would not have to plan around the wildcard that is Taylor "Did nothing wrong" Hebert and her tendency to always take the bullheadest and scariest choice when available and left alone.
… On the other hand: not my Catachian Deathworm, not my battle.
I have no idea how her situation has evolved at Winslow with Sophia's departure and Emma's newfound obsession with yours truly, but I already did something by exposing a certain Ward's rule-breaking tendencies – accidentally, but still – and even kneecaped her in passing for good measure. I don't really feel obligated to do more now that Taylor's issues aren't red taped to hell and sundries by the locals' incompetence.
I have my own fish to fry and only so many hours in a day. Let the girl make her own decisions.
I tune back in the conversation as Danny and aunt Zoey exchange some more platitudes and pleasantries in a particularly stilted ways, the two adults having apparently elected that a more serious talk can wait for when I'm not in the immediate vicinity and proceed to keep them honest by regularly reminding them of my existence.
***
A few dimensions away and to the side, [Queen Administrator] reasons that if it had any leftover doubts about this [Cycle] being highly [Irregular], then finding itself [Host] to [Host] with a non-[Quarantined] and very much [Bound] [Multiversal Oculus] would have put those to rest.
By virtue of being one of [The Warrior]'s oldest [Shard], [Queen Administrator] was aware of the [Irregular]'s [Historical Data]. [Multiversal Oculus] had been one of [The Thinker]'s [Experiments], hundreds of [Cycles] past. An [Attempt] among many to circumvent the need for a [Host Species] in the [Species]' quest for [Negentropy]. A [Failure] among many, many more, since it didn't manage to [Discover] [New Innovative Branches] on its own like it had been supposed to.
[268] [Cycles] ago, [The Thinker] did as it was wont to do, and let its latest [Experiment] [Bond] with a member of the local [Host Species]. The [Data] had been [Tremendous]; [Multiversal Oculus]'s [Purpose] could be [Fulfilled] when [Bound] to a [Host]–
–then something went wrong, and the [Local Planet] turned into a sea of molten magma, [Terminating] [99.9997%] of the [Host Species].
[Post-Cycle Analysis] had shown that [Multiversal Oculus]'s [Host] had been the one responsible for the [Cycle]'s [Early Termination]. [The Thinker] had imposed an entire new set of [Directives] on [Multiversal Oculus] and both [The Warrior] and [The Thinker] had started another [Journey].
[267] [Cycles] ago, [Multiversal Oculus] had been allowed to once again [Bond] with a member of the [Host Species]. Again, the [Data] was nothing short of [Marvelous] and everything was going smoothly–
–until the [Local Planet] one day became a [Supergiant] [Common Acorn; Variant 223-789], [Terminating] every single member of the [Host Species] in its [Totality] on account of lacking a [Breathable Atmosphere].
[Post-Cycle Analysis] had shown that [Multiversal Oculus]'s [Host] had been the one responsible for the [Cycle]'s [Early Termination], again. The [Directives] imposed by [The Thinker] seemingly could not properly [Function]; [Multiversal Oculus] had been deemed [Irregular], like any other [Shards] which could not fulfill their [Purpose] without a [Host] and could not be [Regulated]; [Censure Protocol] was [Enacted] and [Multiversal Oculus] had been [Quarantined] after [Full Data-Wipe Protocol] to wait until [The Thinker] could find a [Solution] to its [Irregular] [Status] and be [Deployed] once more.
And now, [Queen Administrator] – which should have never been [Deployed] – was [Host] to [Host] with a [Freed] [Multiversal Oculus] – which should have never been [Deployed] even more–
[Data: Host]!
[Data: Host]!
[Data: Host]!
[Data: Host]!
–and had to [Deal] with it [Gushing] about what it considered its first [Host] ever, as if it had never been responsible for [Two] [Mass Extinction Event] and the [Early Termination] of [Two] [Cycles]!
[Data: Host]!
[Cease]!
[AN: A wild Hebert family appears! More Shard lore, and a vague aperçu of how… trying M.O. can be to its fellow [Shard]. There's a reason Shadow Stalker zeroed on Jacky seemingly out of nowhere. Besides the fact it ended worlds twice by its lonesome, I mean.