6

Notes:

I own nothing, everything belongs to their respective creators. Except OC's those are mine.

Spice 2.2

"I am the Kwisatz Haderach. That is reason enough."

-Emperor Paul Atreides, Muab'Dib

-March 15, 2011. 12:30 p.m. Stonewell Academy-

"Marie, time to wake up." Emily says as she shakes my shoulder softly. I can feel her lift the veritable curtain that is my hair that covers my face, I open my right eye and stare at her. The library, with its muted greens and brown hues in the background clashed with the blond gray eyed girl in front of me. Part of me wanted to just close my eyes and ignore her, but that's mean and she hasn't done anything beyond waking me up.

"5 more minutes." I mumbled with as much focus as I could manage. God I needed caffeine, I'd even chug the black sludge that Danny calls coffee right now. Steel gray eyes stare at me intently as Emily pokes my cheek.

"Nope, come on Marie we're getting lunch." She chides gently as she grabs my arm, I let her more or less lift me from my seat. The librarian stares at our interaction and shakes her head, muttering softly about kids these days or something like that. My mind can't focus on her right now, it's too busy thinking about spice.

Spice is a tricky subject for me, on one hand prescience, on the other prescience… Let me explain, by seeing the future one locks it into place so in order to preserve the possibility of changing the future one must look without looking, see the bigger picture so to speak. I'm afraid that I'll fail at it. I'm more afraid that Taylor will succeed at it.

Sighing I grab the first thing I see from the cafeteria, it's not bad. Honestly a vast improvement over my own attempts at making fish, yet I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something as I eat. The cafeterias sounds become a background buzz as Emily sits in front of me and begins eating as well.

"Okay spill, who broke your heart?" Emily says as I started drinking some soda. Almost immediately I coughed it out, "What? What are you talking about Emily?" I can feel the blood rushing to my face.

"You're acting weird Marie~" She says in a sing-song tone. "Really weird so either you got dumped or someone died." I can see a mischievous glint in her eyes, I shake my head and reply,

"Can't it be that I didn't get a wink of sleep last night?"

"Hmmm… Maybe. But that's a boring explanation, so spill." She says with puppy dog eyes. I sigh and frown at her, her puppy dog eyes intensifying as my willpower wobbles. Fuck.

"I.." I begin saying as a thought enters my mind, why not bounce ideas? No man is an island and a different insight is always useful. Yet I can't tell her I have powers, it's too early. So a white lie is in order, "I was remembering something I asked mom. It's a bit silly." I begin saying as the lie forms in my mind.

"Oh…" She looks away, I can see her fidget a bit with her hands, her brow furrows slightly as she tries to think of a way to answer me. A few seconds pass before she asks me, "What was it about?"

"Powers. I asked her what power she was afraid of." I lied easily, though to be fair Catherine did discuss powers often with Marie. In a general sense, she kept a decent work and home separation.

"And?"

"And she said, ''Thinkers''. She was afraid of thinkers that could see the future."

"Huh, I would've thought Nilbog or Lung."

"I know, I said Crawler is scarier as well. She merely shook her head and asked me, ''Marie, to see the future is to be held by it. You lose your free will.'' And that scared me. I was like ten back then and she dumped this thing on my head." I laugh a bit bitterly. Emily opens her mouth as if to reply while I'm staring down at the half eaten fish whispering, "I miss her." It was true. This body, the memories of her, everything just overwhelms me at times and I genuinely feel the loss. Emily looks thoughtful again and says in a serious tone,

"Yeah, dad always said that those we lose stay with us. So it's okay to feel sad when we can't see or feel them." I look at her eyes and see no lies, I wonder if she can see my lies. I can't ask her what she thinks about prescience, not yet.

The bell rings and we move to biology class. Today we begin dissecting a toad. God this brings back fond memories for me. Emily unfortunately doesn't get to be paired up with me. A brown haired girl, (Lily Hendricks) Emily's voice in my head helpfully provides, is stuck with me. She's taller than I am, but not by much, stands next to me as I take out the scalpel and look carefully at the blade. It's not as sharp as I remember mine being but it is sharp enough for a half frozen frog.

"So Marie right?" She says as I stab a needle into the toad's extremities to avoid them moving as I cut into it.

"Yup." I reply absent-mindedly. Does she want to talk about something? I pin the toad into the board, all limbs are secured.

"..."

"..." Truly I am the master of small talk. 

"Okay, are you going to let me do anything?" She eventually says after I make the first incision, a simple vertical line followed by two horizontals so as to leave the chest cavity open like a book. She sounds a bit grossed out and annoyed. I smile faintly and reply,

"I… yes. You get to gut it while I write down the report." The truth was I was in an autopilot like state, I would've done everything by myself. Old habits die hard rings true again. She takes out the organs with some minimal squeamishness, it doesn't smell that bad in my mind. But I'm used to it, she isn't, so I decided to help her keep her mind off of the smell. And so I start talking to her, on every topic I can think of, we settle on talking about capes in the city as we catalog the organs.

"I'm telling you Vista is held back by the PRT. Spatial manipulation means she can use buildings to punch people if it comes down to it." I said as she finished removing the heart and I cataloged it. Smaller than I remember it being.

"Yeah, but that doesn't matter when you can't be hurt. Shadow Stalker would win hands down." She replies with some ease, as if she's had this argument before; I breathe deeply in order to not say something along the lines of give me a taser and I'll show you how much Shadow Stalker is worth. I really need to either punch Sophia or let Taylor find out about her so she can drown her in bugs… Actually no, I really don't want Taylor to be a villain.

"Same applies to her, since her breaker state isn't biological. Vista could just snap her fingers and spread Shadow Stalker across the eastern seaboard." I counter, hoping that she believes me.

"Really?" She frowns a bit while considering it,

"Shaker 9 is one hell of a rating." 

"Hmmm… Maybe you're right. What about the recent vigilante duo? Weaver and Maeve?" She asks as we give the teacher the report and begin cleaning up the table. We aren't the first ones to finish but we are the cleanest ones so far.

"What about them?" I reply while cleaning the scalpel.

"Well Weaver is just bug control. She must be rather weak." Part of me wanted to scare the crap out of her for calling Taylor weak, 

"How many bugs are there in a building at any given time?" I never said that I wasn't willing to entertain that part of me.

"I…" Her face freezes as she realizes what one can do with insect control. "Oh fuck that's a lot of bugs. And she can control them?"

"Seems like it according to PHO. What about Maeve?" I asked putting away the scalpel.

"According to PHO either she's a striker/shaker or she's tinker. I think she could be a good match for Kid Win and Gallant."

I stall for a second as her words go through my head. "Like in fighting, right?" I ask with some trepidation, if I had found one of those crazy shippers I was going to scream and run away damn the consequences.

"Oh yeah, she could definitely fight both of them. Not sure about Vista or Shadow Stalker. Much less Armsmaster or Miss Militia. Clock would give her some trouble as well." Lily replied before she was interrupted by a rocket that had taken a human shape.

"Hey Marie!" Emily exclaimed as she came up from behind me and hugged me. "Hi Lily, are we still on for the border walk tomorrow?"

"Yeah, Parian said everything is okay." 

"Parian?" I interjected, curious as to why Emily would be talking about her. From what I could remember she hadn't done anything big in Canon yet…

"Freelance cape, does puppet shows and has her own emporium."

"I know that much, but what did she agree to?"

"Oh Emily wanted to play some music for the show and I know one of the employees there, well more like my former babysitter works there, and she did me the favor of asking her."

"So the music club will be playing?" I ask since if it's a club activity I should probably participate.

"Nope, just me!" Emily answered with a smile, "You can come and watch the show!" Her hug tightens as I blush, her enthusiasm is adorable.

"I think I can make it. So that means no lessons tomorrow?"

"Yup, sorry I didn't tell you about it before."

"Eh, it's no biggie. So after school and straight to the border walk?"

"Yup… Hey, you think that you can stay today and help me practice?" Emily asks me as she turns me around, "I want to know if I'm doing it right, please." Her eyes shone like little stars as she pleaded.

Normally I would've said no, but Taylor said that we weren't going to do patrols tonight given what happened earlier in the morning. I had intended on building a lasgun or two when I got to the warehouse, maybe even begin work on making spice, yet a part of me wanted to listen to Emily play. Whenever she played, I could feel her passion for music. Music… Music is important to Marie, to me, it's relaxing. It reminds me of better and worse days, it reminds me of home. My tired mind and body begged for it.

The waves come and go, following a rhythm.

"Walk without rhythm."

I can almost smell the seas from my memory, "Yeah, I'll have to call uncle Danny though. Just to give him a heads up." I reply, the rest of the class passes quickly and Emily lends me her phone so I can call Danny. The rest of the day flows quickly and Emily plays guitar. 

It starts with a simple rhythm, a familiar one that my heart knows. The song begins, and I lose myself in the familiar tune; in my mind I see hunter seekers, various species of wildlife that I can make like D-wolves, sandworms, I see planet destroying weapons before me as she picks up her pace. Pieces of flowmetal dance along the very edge of my vision, a metal body, highly resistant to damage, perhaps I would've once considered transferring my consciousness into one; but now? Now I wasn't sure it was worth it. Option B was to make a new life through programming, and that was tempting. Another hand to aid me, a body that could save Taylor's life and most importantly, something I could make real.

" In the end, I guess my choice was made for me. I can't allow my fears to control me. " I thought as the formulas for spice, for creating an AI and the Atreides genes appeared in my mind's eye. I would need some stones, but that's not a problem anymore.

Emily played alone for a few more songs before asking me to join in, I picked up my violin and started playing. At first it was stuff that we had played before, simple songs at first then more complex pieces, requiring more focus and yet I could lose myself in it without falling behind. Then she started playing something else entirely. Part of me felt like I had heard it before, yet try as I might I couldn't remember it. Even so, I followed her lead as she played, more diagrams superimposed themselves in my mind, the Holtzman engine, and the null entropy field.

My heart skips a beat, I can feel my blood freeze for half a millisecond. My brain screams in pain even as my body forces itself to continue playing. I had wondered what Truth took from me, what did I give up in exchange for alchemy. My shard knew, my self denied it, yet I could hear it, scratching, writhing inside my mind. What separated us was thinner than a leaf.

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"Fuck you, shitty crystal whale." I think back at it, even as my teeth bite into the inside of my mouth and I taste some blood. Emily finishes playing and grabs a pair of bottles of water, she hands me one which I take with a barely shaking hand. Iron flavored ice cold water flows down my throat, it tastes like heaven. Emily smiles at me and asks,

"So are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I am." I reply sincerely. My body feels lighter.

-Hebert residence, later that day-

Despite my luck with buses, nothing really happens by the time I get home. Taylor has already made some lasagna and left it out so I can eat it. A few minutes later Danny arrives, looking tired but with a smile on his face.

"Hey uncle, what's up?" I ask while eating.

"Nothing much, just got a few contracts signed and a bunch of the guys won't have to go home empty tonight." Despite not looking at him I knew he was smiling, the joy in his tone is clear as day.

"Oh? Who's footing the bill?" I ask, curious to see if it's medhall or maybe some other company. Coil is always an option.

"Believe it or not, the PRT." I freeze momentarily even as he continues saying, "They're going to be expanding their operations and have paid to get some of the boat graveyard moved." The boat graveyard… a veritable trash heap, if the PRT is interested in taking over part of the docks then someone is making moves. I really need to start making an AI to spy on them or at the very least investigate. Still shaking my head I say with as much sincerity as I possibly can,

"Really? That's good!"

"It is, now if we could only get the ferry running again, then we could have something more permanent."

"Maybe if this is successful then the mayor would allow it?"

"I hope so, Marie. I really hope so…" He said somewhat sadly, "Anyhow, did Taylor leave something for me?"

"Yup, it's in the microwave."

"Thank you." He says as he moves to get his food heated up, "So you said that tomorrow you're going to help a friend over at the boardwalk?"

"Yeah, she's playing music while Parian does one of her plays."

"And you're going to play?" He asks in genuine curiosity and maybe some concern for me,

"No! I mean, no I'm not. I'm just there for moral support… for now at least. Knowing Emily she'll find a way to drag me into it." I reply while smiling. Dinner continues like this, small talk, unimportant talk, yet at the very least things were looking up for the dockworkers union. Danny went up to his room for an early rest and I decided to go and make spice, grabbing various chemicals and several stones from the workshop in the basement before returning to my room. I drew up a circle, and began the transmutation. Changing them took a lot less power than I expected, the stones still held enough charge that I could realistically use them again without any backlash.

I breathed deep as I clapped my hands, the circle in my mind complete and began changing myself. Genetically changing myself is an unpleasant experience I wouldn't wish on anyone else, that is to say I felt like someone poured hot lead into my bloodstream. The scream didn't come, I had better self control than that. It took only a second and it was done, Siona's legacy: her immunity to prescience was mine. Leto's enhancements for the human body? Simple yet effective. Even Miles Tegg would be jealous of what I've done to my muscles. The Atreides genes that allowed a deeper connection to spice? Also mine and in front of me was a pill.

It was light orange, no bigger than half a thumb, it was the spice melange or so my power said, it promised life, death, the future, the past. My hand grabs it and I put it in my mouth. It dissolves quickly and I swallow. It turns to liquid in my mouth. A vague memory flashes before my eyes, blue tears fall for some reason.

"Huh, less like cinnamon. More sugary." I say as I walk to my room. I make it into my bed.

I make it to my bed? The world spins…

I…

I…

PAIN

[PAIN]

The desert sands wake me up, I look up and see a clear blue sky, every horizon looks the same, so I pick a direction and walk. Every step I hear a thumping sound rise beneath me, stopping only makes it louder, so I run. The ground beneath me becomes like the ocean, dragging deeper as I struggle to take a single step. Further and further, deeper and deeper I wade when beneath me I feel something. 

I barely have a second to react as I'm launched far above the sand and I see .

Taylor, in her costume, fighting Grue and Tattletale in a jewelry store. She's surrounded by darkness, her bugs lash out blindly, her body is still. Regent hides and Tattletale plays her mind games. They managed to sneak up on her due to her inexperience. Shadows dance and get close.

Taylor wounded and bleeding, a blue haired girl screams her name as she rushes towards her while a dragon rages on. A spear of light forms in the girl's hand as she leaps towards a fully escalated Lung. The flames lick her body as she drives it into Lung's chest.

I'm covering Emily with her body as a Bakuda bomb goes off. I scream in pain as flames hit my skin. My nerves activate as if they're being shocked. The smell of the sea is no comfort to me.

The simurgh is laughing. A pale blue dot/A sapphire star shines brighter than the sun. My eyes glow gold/My fire burns the sky/I hear music as the missiles collide with her.

Scion screaming in pain. The glow of the cosmos surrounds him. The blade glows blue as it sinks into his chest. I hear the future calamity curse my name.

Fire, Ice, Darkness and Lightning dance around me. The winds call me once again.

A white fox, a black cat, a smiling fiend. All whisper to my ears futures that will be and cannot be allowed to be. My right arm's flesh is peeled off to reveal metal. Emily cries, shadowy hands enter my body, crushing, tearing, ripping it apart.

"You know, looking into the future is a pain. You never know what's real or not, since there's an infinite amount of possibilities. All are real and all are fake. Prescience allows you to choose one in a way. However, remember this above all: Humans exist to make miracles, rise and take hold of fate. And choke that bitch for all the shit it put you through." A voice, familiar and distant, says clear as day. Tears stain my face as I try to remember who it was. Darkness overtakes me once again as I sink deep into the oncoming maw of Shai Hulud. 

The heat increases as more of me is burnt away. I know my shard is in pain as well, at least I'm taking the bastard with me. So great was its desire for data that it tricked me. It gave me exactly what I wanted, spice, amplified into the water of life. I could see my mom again! Except now I would die in spice agony and it would take over. Yet we share the pain now, I can hear it scream in pain, I'm cackling with joy and pain, we're suffering together.

[Data]

"Go fuck yourself." I reply with as much hatred as I can put in my tone.

[Data]

"Oh that's disgusting, and fuck my mouth tastes like ash."

[Solution]

"We're too close, you damned shard! Truth made it very simple, I die, so do you."

[Fear]

"Ha! You think you're alone in that? Even if we defy the entropy of all, we'll eventually die."

[Refusal]

"Yeah, that's the spirit you leech! Fight as much as you want, I'm still dying!" I scream at the void. More pain comes, yet a single truth remains in the forefront of my mind.

I'm dying…

Maybe Marie will return…

Would she be happy? Can I be happy? Should I be happy? Do I seek to die?

[I don't want to die]

Deeper and deeper I fall, I can see my blood floating above me. A simple change is necessary, a brief moment of clarity lets me understand what's required. A Bene Gesserit would know how to do this better, but I'm not one of them. I'm a cheat, and I still have alchemy. The spice grants me a better understanding of my body, of my blood, of myself. I can feel my shard forcing my real body to move, I can feel its pain as the spice burns it across dimensions, yet it refuses to die. I cant allow myself to be outshone by a fucking shard. I opened my gate once more.

From poison, to life. I'm drowning in spice, the Worm roars in pain, I try to breathe but only spice remains around me. Blue on blue eyes look down on me, I only see a little girl, in pain, staring back at them. There's nothing else reflected in those pools of blue, just me. No Marie, no who I used to be, just who I am now.

" Ah, I get it. I am me. Even here, no matter the form, I can only be me. I can take comfort in that at least. " I think before the darkness finally takes me. 

My body shouldn't hurt, it was burned away. My mind shouldn't hurt, it was lost to the spice. " Why do I feel warm? " I think as I hear a sound. I focus on it,

" Marie, wake up little raven; Annette's little owl needs you ." A voice calls to me. My eyes open and look at Catherine, at mom. She wore her business suit, deep black with a perfectly adjusted tie. The very picture of a professional, I want to cry, to get to her and tell her that I'm not Marie but that Marie loved her and missed her. I wanted to say I was sorry. I wanted so much yet, I couldn't move. My limbs were phantoms, my body was broken and my throat was the desert itself.

" I'm so proud of you, of who you're becoming and of who you were. But remember we're here and you will never be alone. Go and help your cousin . " Catherine adds as she walks towards me and lays her hand on my brow. I feel life pouring itself into me.

" Everything we know, we'll pass to you. Don't fear the past, the present or the future. Be brave, I love you my little raven." Gods above and below I felt it, the sheer emotion drowned me. She sang even as more memories of lives that weren't mine fell into place inside my mind. And with it came knowledge, specifically the knowledge that she couldn't really see me, she knew I was there, she couldn't hear my voice or see my face but she knew I was there and that was enough for her to risk it all. Enough to pour everything so that I may come back from the edge.

"Mom." I managed to whisper before fading under, a gentle smile was her only response. She didn't hear me, yet somehow she knew. 

My body is covered in cold sweat as I wake up, a quick peek at the clock says I was out until 1 am. I barely registered that as I rushed to Taylor's room. She wasn't there, her shield was also hidden away here, dammit. Precious seconds were lost, I put on my costume and rushed out the nearby window. My body moves automatically, it knows where I need to be. 

The city is a blur at this time of the morning, yet a giant cloud of impenetrable darkness is one hell of a beacon. The jewelry shop is the same I've passed dozens of times before, a simple one story building, the interior was clean, glass is bulletproof and has shutters to protect it even more. The owner is an old man that has family over in Boston, he's a good man and will hopefully live to see his grandchildren. Scratch that, I'll make sure of it. The spice reveals a lot, including where everyone is and will be.

I take a step back and snap my fingers, a gout of flame springs out of the darkness, and another, and another. Each snap forces Brian to get closer to Lisa. He tries to move out of the way, but every time he does he gets just a little closer to becoming a human barbecue. The darkness recedes, I break down the wall with alchemy, debris flies and lands next to Lisa and Brian. They stare in shock as I finally enter the place; and I see Taylor on the ground, for a second I consider making living examples of the Undersiders. My cousin looks defeated and I wasn't there to help her. I know what's about to happen, yet I won't run away from it. Lisa opens her mouth, 

"Tattletale, if you say anything I promise you that I'll feed you your damn jaw. So do yourself a favor for once and keep your mouth shut. Grue, what the fuck are you doing here?" I interrupt her as I snap my fingers once again, Alec screams as his ass catches fire, he'll be fine though, it won't take long to take out and the burns won't be anything major. Rachel is busy tonight busting down a dog fighting ring. I can see Lisa's body tense slightly as she stares at me, I can feel her shard's eyes on me. Analyzing how I stand, how I breathe, finding out where and when to strike. I smile beneath my mask as she steps back.

"I asked you a question, Grue." I say taking a step forward.

Chapter 2.2, end .

Interlude: A Cursory Glance

Lisa stared at the fallen figure of Weaver with some trepidation. For a rookie cape the girl had come well prepared, struck fast against Grue and Alec, almost knocked them out, yet she engaged in banter with Lisa. If she had known about Alec's power they probably wouldn't have been able to stop her at all.

"So Miss Bug, tell me, is everything still going according to plan?" Lisa decides to taunt the girl. Her body language tells Lisa that Weaver is gathering her swarm, but Grue's Darkness surrounds the store from all sides. And Grue's Darkness blocked all types of senses, leaving those inside it blind and essentially deaf. It was the perfect cover for this type of job.

And that's when things went wrong for the undersiders, a plume of fire sprouted an inch away from Brian's location. He started spreading more of his darkness around and yet another plume barely grazes him. And another and another, Lisa notices the pattern after a few seconds, Brian lowers the amount of darkness realizing that it wasn't helping him hide and that's when the girl arrives. The groan of the building being broken down signaled her arrival.

Lisa Wilbourn stared at the other newcomer to the cape scene. Her costume was similar to Weaver's, she merely held a tinkertech staff I'm her hands, yet her power told her very clearly that it was best to run. The girl in front of her made her power shudder.

Maeve's shoulders tensed by a millimeter when she saw Weaver. 

[Danger]

[Is willing to kill]

[Will kill you]

Her power almost yelled inside her head.

" Why? " She asked it, yet silence ruled inside her mind once again. She opened her mouth, to explore possible weaknesses,

"Tattletale, if you open your mouth I promise you that I'll feed you your damn jaw. So do yourself a favor for once and keep your mouth shut. Grue, what the fuck are you doing here?" Maeve asked with anger bleeding into her voice. Alec screamed as his ass was set on fire, but Lisa had to focus on the danger in front of her.

" They're clearly family then, sisters? Maybe, but the surprise shown in Weaver's body language indicates that she didn't expect this. So not that close, cousins are more likely. Yet Maeve's own tone and body language points to her being the older of the two despite the clear age gap. There's also the familiarity in her tone, has she researched me? Unlikely. What is her power? Thinker? " Lisa thought to herself as she swallowed her hesitation and used her power on Maeve.

̸̨̨͖͕͕̹̪̲͉͠Ė̸̛̛̜͓̮̳̯̮̺̦̹̞̺̞̘̠͉͗̄̔̊̆̾ŗ̴͕̣̭̦̽́̇̐͊̒͐r̸̨̞̰̘͈̯̈́̅́̀̌͛̈́̽̆̽̓̀͛͜ǫ̶̞̯̗͇̳̖̬̏͒̀̓̓̄̓̌́̔͑̿̄͝r̵̛̰̯̞͔͎̙̲̥͕͍͈̮̮̔͐͛̀͌͑̄̕͜]̷̢̯̘̗̰̼̗̖̙̅͜

̷̛̱͓̩̄͆̆̂̊̀̊͑̄̆́̀̅͠ͅͅ

̸͎̯͇̪̦̞͙̯͔̆͂̅̈́̂̊̎[̸͎̪̱̫̄̆̇͒̄́̉͒Ą̸̡̛͚͈͉̻̝̳̙̘̮̲͖̪̀ͅb̶͎̳̩̞̊̒͛̈́̆́́e̷̪̙̥̯̻͍̬̠͉̬͖̬̋̈́͆̑̀͗̀̅̍͜͝r̵̢̧̺̼̮̠̺̯̲͉̈́͂̎̑̉́͛̌̕͜͝r̸̛̲̤̙͓͓͍̫̱̻̳͆̀̀͐̀̏̈̽͊̓̇̚a̷̟͙̝͋͛͋̌̑̈́̋̓͗͊t̸̢̧̛̝̙͙̍̎͆̾̏̉̌͌̚͝į̷̢̺̬̦̭̻̳͉̟̍̎̆̇͒̂͜͝ͅͅỏ̸̧̙̰̳̐͂̀̀̿̀̓̌̿̏̽n̴͉̪̘͇͕̣̪̫̬͓̮̎]̷̱͑̆̔̓̾

̸͈̂͐̽̐̅̈́̓̌̔̏͑̽̇̀͝

̶̧̯̼̾̋[̸̢̱̾̽̑͋̈́̃̌̓̎̿̊̕T̶̡̨̺̰͈̞̈́͂̃̆̑̋͐̕͜ŗ̷̣̦͍̫̍͑́̒́̓̊͌̈́͋̎͂͝ͅu̴̧̧̻͕͉̦̝̓̀̊t̷͓͉̰̠̠̤̭̆ḩ̵̧̱̳̺̆̈́͊̇̈́]̸͍̳̓̃̋͑́̒̿̀̃̀̾̈́̚͝

̸̜̻̠͖͛̀͂̐͌̅̈́̃̓́̉͘

̷͈͇̩͉̱̦͕̖̮̀͆̎̂̓̋̋̏́͒̚͘͜͝͝ͅ[̸̢̩͚͚̞̖̩͉͇̳̲͎̟̀̌͜ͅ

C̵͓͓͔̳͖͆̄̀̽͂̏̚͜ờ̸̬̩͚̳̖̪͈͎̺̃̊͆̋̅͆ͅṁ̶̰̖̩͒̅̇̒́̑̔͗̊̔̏̾ͅu̵̢̧̲͓̠̦̲̩̭̳͚̖̭͓͐̈́͐́n̴̨̧̡̩̣̺͉̻͇̭̅̈͛̌́̈͒̃͋̕̚͘͘i̵͍̩̮̹̞͕͕͒̿̏̌̃͑̓́̍͂̉̒͘c̸̼̝̳͇̐͒́̈́̑͝a̶͎̝͆̏̉̀̊̿̇͊͆̓̀̎͠t̷̛͍͔̞̙̥̟̖̭͍͓͈̥̀̓͐̈́͝i̵̬̼̮̞̓̇͂̒ͅô̵̳͓̮̣̥̲͔̞̞͕̝̰͈̰ņ̴̧̩̙̭̙̲̭̗͔͓̜̣̙̔͛͋́͝ ̸̢̧̜̦̭̞̱͎͍̱̣͍̩̍̍̌̎͋͒̔̌́̈̿̚͝ͅd̶̢̢͖̭͎̪̘͍̦͕̦̀̾͊i̵̫̠̝̔̌̓́̽̑͗͆̌͌͠͠s̸̛̤̱̬̺͈͉͕͚̼̀̔̈́̔̽̾̐͐̚͝ḁ̵̧̩̪̦̟͚̖̣̽̍̓́͛͠b̶̢̛͉̲̟͕̖̭̖͕̩̣̼̝͔̠̐̀͊͒͗͛̽͌̅͂̈́̀͝l̴̖̣̹̯͎̠̍͑̍̀̊̕͘̚͘ȩ̷̺̥͇͎̺̹́̊̅̾̒̊̏͛́̔͊̍̊̚͜d̴͉̙̯̻̻̞͉͌͗͗́̃̌̋͐̾͂͛̀̈]̸̹̞͎͇͇̜̐̽̓̅͋͜

̵̡̛̗̙̘͍̼̲͓͇̙̳̿̒͊͐̍͗̇̀̎͘ͅ

̵̛͚͔͖̼̆͛̇͗͑̔̽̕͘

[̴͖̮̮̘̰̖̻̯͕͐̿͊̎̊̋̎̀ͅḴ̴́̈n̸̜̙̱̋̑̏́̏̋͗̎́̍̍̚o̵̧̲̯̣̱̫̮͙̬̘̭͖͖̭͍͒̍͛̾̔̎̕̕w̷̧̢̞͔̝̲͕̙͔̬̽͆̀͋̍͌š̵̨̤̬̗̆͒͂̓͒̊̈́͠ ̶͙̌̆̀̎̚͠Ś̷̢̧̤̖̥̥̤̪̫͎̲̻͓̬̻͑͑̽̏́̓̌͘͠ą̸̛̘̟̥̝͇͉̺͒̀̏̎̒͜͝͠͝͝r̸͔̲͎̮̍͗a̷̙̭̻̯͚̭̝̼͈̪̟̽͗̎͊̂͊̕̚ͅh̶̢̛̬͙̭̟͍̮͛̀͌̉̏̋̉̑̾͒̒͛͜͠͝]̸̜̫̙̰̘̬̦̻̻̗̥̃̂͊̿̋͊͋̋̍̿̀̕͘̚̚͜

Lisa felt like puking from the pain. Her brain was on fire, the amount of information that entered her brain was staggering. The girl in front of her was simultaneously there and somewhere else, it was worse than when she used her power on Coil, at least he seemed limited to a couple of possibilities. But Maeve? There were dozens of her, millions even, each breath was a lie and truth at the same time. Her power screamed in pain as more information flowed. Though she couldn't see her face Lisa knew that Maeve was smirking smugly, and why wouldn't she? After all, Maeve knew Sarah and that information chilled Lisa's blood.

Interlude C

-March 15 late night- March 16 early morning-

Her headache came back with a vengeance, several paths turned to ash in her mind. Her passenger, her shard, screamed in pain as the future set itself in stone. The paths felt like they had been burned away by the sun itself, every step that even tangentially involved Brockton Bay came back as gibberish. She didn't understand why, everything had been perfect up until a few hours ago. Number man found her puking in a trash can, cursing Brockton Bay as her shard tried its best to see a different path. A fleeting light appeared and a single step was identified. A path to victory, assured.

"Tell Legend to go to Brockton Bay in 3 days." Was all she was capable of saying before more paths burned in front of her. Yet every path that remained ended the same, the chance of victory against Zion increased to 80%.

Thomas Calvert found that smashing his nose against his desk was only slightly less painful than what just occurred. Normally a timeline crashing was only a slight pain, yesterday however had been the first time it felt like he had been shot in the leg. Now? Now it felt like someone stuck a pitchfork in his guts and kept stabbing until every inch of his torso had a new hole. He barely had the wherewithal to recognize that unlike last time he was in a safe timeline.

"Fuck." Was all he could mutter as he forced himself to move towards the first aid kit he had secreted away in his office. The painkillers knocked him out within 5 minutes. He dreamed of vultures pecking at his corpse. A gleeful and cheery fairy healed him even as the birds ate him alive. It's blue eyes promising more pain.

Dinah Alcott had the best sleep of her life. She dreamed of flying above a field of flowers. A tower in the distance shone like a new dawn. A white fox lounged softly in her lap. It was very soft, and yawned often.

Yăngbăn number 78 screamed as he saw a great Worm rise from the ground beneath him and devour him. He screamed as he saw the base be swallowed by the fire of a black dragon. He screamed as he saw a girl freeze him alive and shatter him in one punch. He screamed as the universe itself collapsed all around him. He screamed as the plague ravaged the earth. He screamed so much that the guards didn't stop hitting him until he wasn't alive anymore. They thought he was possessed by another parahuman, rather than overloaded by possible futures.

All across the world clairvoyants screamed in pain and above orbit the simurgh stopped smiling. The carefully curated paths had died, something impossible had occurred. This was a threat, this was war; and she would make whatever hurt her plans pay. She looked above her to see blue on blue eyes staring down on her, the level of hatred in them made her shudder as more paths, past, present and future were buried under the sand. She smiled, her victory will occur.

Her smile was gone.

Interlude Clairvoyance, end.