8. Immediate Danger (Pt. 3)
August 5, 2009
Two days before the Ares Incident
Soren
[ Startled by her sudden awakening as much as the intercom, he jerks his hand away. Sits back down, more sheepish than afraid. ]
Terra
[ Blinking. The boy in front of her looks tired and wary, but he isn’t hemorrhaging magic. It must’ve felt pretty awful to get his powers like that—or whatever happened. ]
Terra
[ She could go back. Keep investigating. She hesitates. ]
Terra
…Do you know what I was doing? Just now?
Soren
[ He gives her a dubious frown. ]
Soren
…Scry your magical signature. [ Not that he knows what that means, precisely. ]
Terra
[ Four more words, in that same effortful rasp. Is talking difficult for him? Is that why he’s said so little? ]
Terra
Yes. That's right.
Terra
[ She shuffles her feet. ] But I didn't really explain what that meant... Would you like me to?
Soren
[ He rubs the flat of his palm against his mouth, head bowed, but peeps over his fingers at her, enticed against his better judgement. People don’t typically offer to explain the inexplicable things they do at him. ]
Terra
[ She'll take that as a "yes." ]
Terra
Well. [ She rests her fingers on her chest. ] Like almost everyone else at the DSC, I'm a psychic.
Terra
[ With an instructor's cadence. ] As I said, I can scry magical signatures—of people, but of objects as well. Anything or anyone the overground has touched, directly or indirectly… I can observe them and figure out what kind of magic the overground has given them.
Soren
[ Fingers fidgeting towards his fringe. ] The overground?
Terra
That's right.
Terra
[ Unless… was he asking for clarification? Has the boy who may or may not be able to open the overground at will had the talk about the realm of magic? She eyes the white strand in his hair doubtfully. ] You… do know what the overground is, yeah?
Soren
[ He tips his head onto his shoulder, with an attitude like he’s prodding a stick through a pile of leaves to check for bear traps. ]
Soren
[ After a moment, he scoffs. ] Uh. Yeah.
Terra
[ Well, lots of psychics aren’t aware of it. Who knows what higher powers teach their kids? ]
Terra
I go there. [ She swipes her hand in front of her face. ] When I close my eyes.
Soren
[ Forehead wrinkling like an old washcloth at this. The brief glimpse he had of the overground, the rolled ball of buildings, the pink sky... it was harrowing. Seems like it would be distracting to see when you closed your eyes. And how does that allow her to see magic power, anyway? ]
Terra
[ Emboldened by his curiosity. ] Not physically. The DSC calls it "astral projecting." My magic separates from my body and goes into the overground, where I can examine the magic of the people and objects around me.
Terra
Though, it isn't exactly accurate to call it "separation," because that implies the overground and the material world— [ She taps the table. ] —this one—are two separate places you can go to instead of two different ways of looking at the same thing.
Terra
That's what I was doing. Looking at you a different way.
Soren
[ Everyone knows about the overground, but he'll admit that his schooling on the subject wasn't as thorough as he just implied. Mostly, it consisted of stern instructions and proscriptions containing the words "shouldn't" and "never" and "you won't need to". ]
Soren
[ Terra's explanation makes total sense. Cracks are everywhere, after all. Even this magic-proof building has some anemic splinters of light hanging in the air. Obviously you can't really disconnect the two. ]
Soren
[ He nods in furious epiphany. ]
Terra
[ He gets it? He must have some intuitive understanding of how it works, the way any psychic would about their powers. It's a relief not to have to wade through a tangled bed of jargon just to get her point across. She smiles at him from across the table. ]
Terra
—Oh, er. [ She clicks the pen and draws the clipboard near. ] Sorry, give me a second.
Soren
[ Instantly honing in on her clipboard. He curls a hand against the table, warring with himself. ]
Terra
[ Pocket watch: no reaction, she writes. No magic, except for— ]
Soren
Hey. Uh.
Terra
[ —the streak in his hair, and— ]
Soren
[ She doesn’t look up. He must have been modulating his voice too quietly. ]
Soren
[ What feels like much too loudly. ] Hey.
Terra
[ She looks up quickly, pen hovering. ] What is it?
Soren
[ He summons all his reserves, despite anxiety and exhaustion. ] Can I—uh. The, uh. Your. Can I have...?
Soren
[ Frustrated, he gestures at her pad of paper. ]
Terra
Oh!
Terra
[ She looks down at her half-finished note. There’s nothing wrong with giving him something to write with, surely? ]
Terra
[ She snaps open the clip, removes the notepad, and tears the top sheet along the serrated edge. This she puts face down on the board, which she sets aside. The notepad she slides across the table, pen wobbling on top. No stern announcement from the intercom interrupts the exchange. ]
Soren
[ Hope flutters in his heart. He seizes paper and pen and launches into a ballistic scribble. ]
Soren
Okay. Here. [ Thrusting the sheet back towards Terra with a tap. ]
Soren
Where's Ellie right now?
Can I have my flute back?
Are you here to help me?
Terra
[ She leans over the notepad with a deep frown. These questions aren't curious—they're desperate. Of course. The conundrum of what to do with Soren matters most to Soren himself. ]
Terra
[ She opens her mouth. Clicks it shut. ] … Would you like me to…? [ She mimes writing. ]
Soren
[ He shuffles his feet against the floor, deliberating. It would be slower, but far more equitable. The alternative might involve pre-empting what he was about to say, which would be completely intolerable. ]
Soren
[ A shrug. ] Mmhm. I guess.
Terra
[ She takes the pen and addresses them one at a time, writing slowly so her scrawl is legible. ]
Terra
She's in one of the dormitory rooms.
Your flute?
Terra
[ The nib hovers over the last question. She's here to help the DSC by determining the cause of the explosion. But the longer she's with Soren, the more certain she is that he's an inquisitive kid who didn't intend for this to happen. Couldn't she help both? That's what the DSC does. ]
Terra
Yes. I'd like to.
Terra
[ She passes the notepad back to him. ]
Soren
[ He scans her answers. Whatever Ellie told him, he's not foolhardy enough to grant Terra his implicit trust. She does work here. But she's been okay so far. He's willing to believe Ellie's safe, for now. ]
Soren
[ As for the flute, he draws it: an egg-shaped ceramic instrument with four holes of varying sizes, hatched to indicate depth. ]
Soren
This. They confiscated it for no reason. It's not valuable or anything, but it's mine. [ He passes this back rather plaintively. ]
Terra
[ His quick sketch isn't half bad. She's not surprised that the flute was confiscated. Dr. Sebastian wouldn't have taken kindly to intermittent whistling. ]
Terra
Want me to ask about it?
Soren
[ A sharp, hopeful nod. ]
Terra
[ The chair scrapes against the floor. She collects the notepad. ] Be right back.
Terra
[ She marches to the heavy steel door and raps her fist against it. ]
Felix
[ The field agent on duty is the one to open it, giving Terra the once-over. ] Everything okay, fledgling?
Terra
[ Thumbs-up where Soren can see. ] All good. Can I come back in for a minute? I've got a question.
Felix
[ He glances to the director for confirmation. ] Uh, yeah, sure.
Terra
[ On her way out, she gives Soren an encouraging smile. ]
Soren
[ He watches her leave, wringing out his hand. ]
Yasmine
[ The atmosphere in the observation room is tense and expectant. All they know of the conversation inside are the emotional impressions of her former teacher. ]
Yasmine
[ She approaches Terra with a tight-lipped smile and touches her shoulder. ] How is it going? Were you able to scry anything?
Terra
Er... a bit. There was no response from the pocket watch.
Yasmine
That's good. [ Ruminating, she glances at Dr. Sebastian. ] You're doing a good job. Was there anything else?
Terra
[ Of course. That mysterious glowing figure—which she neglected to investigate, thanks to a certain meddlesome shard. ]
Terra
It’s hard to say. There was… another source of magic interfering, like you thought. But I didn’t get the chance to fully pick it apart.
Dr. Sebastian
[ From the console, he observes their bright young intern over his glasses. ] No? Did the boy make your task too difficult to carry out? Or did you take it upon yourself to ad-lib?
Terra
[ Her face heats. Tersely: ] I wasn't ad-libbing. He wanted to talk.
Dr. Sebastian
You are in a very dangerous situation, young lady. We'd simply like you to think carefully before going off-script.
Director Lennox
[ She pushes off from the wall and claps the doctor's shoulder. ]
Director Lennox
I think we're all feeling a wee bit tense at the moment. Let's just take a deep breath.
Director Lennox
You're handling yourself well, lass. You've not done anything wrong. [ She juts her chin at the notebook. ] What did Soren have to say?
Terra
[ A short inhale through her nose, and she flips the notebook to show them the drawing. ]
Terra
He'd like to know where his flute went.
Yasmine
That? [ She retrieves the flute, a ceramic egg on a nylon cord, from a plastic basket at the other end of the intercom table. ] It's here.
Yasmine
I wanted to run a few tests on it, just in case. But the flute is perfectly ordinary; I see no reason not to give it back to him. [ Except for the noise. ]
Terra
[ She holds her hand out, relieved. Knew Yasmine wouldn't let her down. ] Thanks, Agent Béchir.
Yasmine
[ She hesitates, still holding the flute. ] ...
Felix
[ Stepping in. ] Hey, how about I do that?
Felix
I mean, great work, Terra, you softened him up. But we can take it from here, eh?
Terra
[ Her fingers wilt. Behind the one-way glass, Soren looks smaller than ever. ] What?
Yasmine
Terra. [ Her tone is both practical and sympathetic. ] We all appreciate what you've done, but... you are sixteen. If you want to continue scrying, perhaps you should do it out here, with us? There is no reason for prolonged contact.
Felix
Yeah, c'mon, fledgling. Don't give your brother a heart attack.
Terra
But— [ Her head whips between her mentor and the only other fey at the DSC. ] But I was making progress with him! If I have just a bit more time, I know I can figure out what really happened. Without tests or scrying.
Dr. Sebastian
We already know what happened. What more you can discover now, Miss Harlow, is irrelevant. This insistence on prolonging the inevitable—
Felix
Oh we are so not doing this again! Director Lennox already said—
Director Lennox
[ With a word, she cuts through the chaff. ] Terra.
Terra
[ The observation room feels primed to explode, and not from anything Soren's done. They're all terrified. She seizes to the one voice of authoritative calm. ] Yes?
Director Lennox
Can you do it?
Terra
Yes. [ The notebook paper crinkles under her fingers. ] I can. Absolutely, Director.
Director Lennox
[ She nods to the door. ] Then go. Find the truth, and then we'll decide. Yasmine, give her the flute.
Yasmine
[ She shields her reluctance, handing Terra the instrument with what she means as a reassuring face. ] Be safe.
Terra
[ She holds the egg-shaped flute to her chest. With a final, resolute nod to her mentor, she pushes back into the laboratory. ]
Two days before the Ares Incident
Soren
[ Startled by her sudden awakening as much as the intercom, he jerks his hand away. Sits back down, more sheepish than afraid. ]
Terra
[ Blinking. The boy in front of her looks tired and wary, but he isn’t hemorrhaging magic. It must’ve felt pretty awful to get his powers like that—or whatever happened. ]
Terra
[ She could go back. Keep investigating. She hesitates. ]
Terra
…Do you know what I was doing? Just now?
Soren
[ He gives her a dubious frown. ]
Soren
…Scry your magical signature. [ Not that he knows what that means, precisely. ]
Terra
[ Four more words, in that same effortful rasp. Is talking difficult for him? Is that why he’s said so little? ]
Terra
Yes. That's right.
Terra
[ She shuffles her feet. ] But I didn't really explain what that meant... Would you like me to?
Soren
[ He rubs the flat of his palm against his mouth, head bowed, but peeps over his fingers at her, enticed against his better judgement. People don’t typically offer to explain the inexplicable things they do at him. ]
Terra
[ She'll take that as a "yes." ]
Terra
Well. [ She rests her fingers on her chest. ] Like almost everyone else at the DSC, I'm a psychic.
Terra
[ With an instructor's cadence. ] As I said, I can scry magical signatures—of people, but of objects as well. Anything or anyone the overground has touched, directly or indirectly… I can observe them and figure out what kind of magic the overground has given them.
Soren
[ Fingers fidgeting towards his fringe. ] The overground?
Terra
That's right.
Terra
[ Unless… was he asking for clarification? Has the boy who may or may not be able to open the overground at will had the talk about the realm of magic? She eyes the white strand in his hair doubtfully. ] You… do know what the overground is, yeah?
Soren
[ He tips his head onto his shoulder, with an attitude like he’s prodding a stick through a pile of leaves to check for bear traps. ]
Soren
[ After a moment, he scoffs. ] Uh. Yeah.
Terra
[ Well, lots of psychics aren’t aware of it. Who knows what higher powers teach their kids? ]
Terra
I go there. [ She swipes her hand in front of her face. ] When I close my eyes.
Soren
[ Forehead wrinkling like an old washcloth at this. The brief glimpse he had of the overground, the rolled ball of buildings, the pink sky... it was harrowing. Seems like it would be distracting to see when you closed your eyes. And how does that allow her to see magic power, anyway? ]
Terra
[ Emboldened by his curiosity. ] Not physically. The DSC calls it "astral projecting." My magic separates from my body and goes into the overground, where I can examine the magic of the people and objects around me.
Terra
Though, it isn't exactly accurate to call it "separation," because that implies the overground and the material world— [ She taps the table. ] —this one—are two separate places you can go to instead of two different ways of looking at the same thing.
Terra
That's what I was doing. Looking at you a different way.
Soren
[ Everyone knows about the overground, but he'll admit that his schooling on the subject wasn't as thorough as he just implied. Mostly, it consisted of stern instructions and proscriptions containing the words "shouldn't" and "never" and "you won't need to". ]
Soren
[ Terra's explanation makes total sense. Cracks are everywhere, after all. Even this magic-proof building has some anemic splinters of light hanging in the air. Obviously you can't really disconnect the two. ]
Soren
[ He nods in furious epiphany. ]
Terra
[ He gets it? He must have some intuitive understanding of how it works, the way any psychic would about their powers. It's a relief not to have to wade through a tangled bed of jargon just to get her point across. She smiles at him from across the table. ]
Terra
—Oh, er. [ She clicks the pen and draws the clipboard near. ] Sorry, give me a second.
Soren
[ Instantly honing in on her clipboard. He curls a hand against the table, warring with himself. ]
Terra
[ Pocket watch: no reaction, she writes. No magic, except for— ]
Soren
Hey. Uh.
Terra
[ —the streak in his hair, and— ]
Soren
[ She doesn’t look up. He must have been modulating his voice too quietly. ]
Soren
[ What feels like much too loudly. ] Hey.
Terra
[ She looks up quickly, pen hovering. ] What is it?
Soren
[ He summons all his reserves, despite anxiety and exhaustion. ] Can I—uh. The, uh. Your. Can I have...?
Soren
[ Frustrated, he gestures at her pad of paper. ]
Terra
Oh!
Terra
[ She looks down at her half-finished note. There’s nothing wrong with giving him something to write with, surely? ]
Terra
[ She snaps open the clip, removes the notepad, and tears the top sheet along the serrated edge. This she puts face down on the board, which she sets aside. The notepad she slides across the table, pen wobbling on top. No stern announcement from the intercom interrupts the exchange. ]
Soren
[ Hope flutters in his heart. He seizes paper and pen and launches into a ballistic scribble. ]
Soren
Okay. Here. [ Thrusting the sheet back towards Terra with a tap. ]
Soren
Where's Ellie right now?
Can I have my flute back?
Are you here to help me?
Terra
[ She leans over the notepad with a deep frown. These questions aren't curious—they're desperate. Of course. The conundrum of what to do with Soren matters most to Soren himself. ]
Terra
[ She opens her mouth. Clicks it shut. ] … Would you like me to…? [ She mimes writing. ]
Soren
[ He shuffles his feet against the floor, deliberating. It would be slower, but far more equitable. The alternative might involve pre-empting what he was about to say, which would be completely intolerable. ]
Soren
[ A shrug. ] Mmhm. I guess.
Terra
[ She takes the pen and addresses them one at a time, writing slowly so her scrawl is legible. ]
Terra
She's in one of the dormitory rooms.
Your flute?
Terra
[ The nib hovers over the last question. She's here to help the DSC by determining the cause of the explosion. But the longer she's with Soren, the more certain she is that he's an inquisitive kid who didn't intend for this to happen. Couldn't she help both? That's what the DSC does. ]
Terra
Yes. I'd like to.
Terra
[ She passes the notepad back to him. ]
Soren
[ He scans her answers. Whatever Ellie told him, he's not foolhardy enough to grant Terra his implicit trust. She does work here. But she's been okay so far. He's willing to believe Ellie's safe, for now. ]
Soren
[ As for the flute, he draws it: an egg-shaped ceramic instrument with four holes of varying sizes, hatched to indicate depth. ]
Soren
This. They confiscated it for no reason. It's not valuable or anything, but it's mine. [ He passes this back rather plaintively. ]
Terra
[ His quick sketch isn't half bad. She's not surprised that the flute was confiscated. Dr. Sebastian wouldn't have taken kindly to intermittent whistling. ]
Terra
Want me to ask about it?
Soren
[ A sharp, hopeful nod. ]
Terra
[ The chair scrapes against the floor. She collects the notepad. ] Be right back.
Terra
[ She marches to the heavy steel door and raps her fist against it. ]
Felix
[ The field agent on duty is the one to open it, giving Terra the once-over. ] Everything okay, fledgling?
Terra
[ Thumbs-up where Soren can see. ] All good. Can I come back in for a minute? I've got a question.
Felix
[ He glances to the director for confirmation. ] Uh, yeah, sure.
Terra
[ On her way out, she gives Soren an encouraging smile. ]
Soren
[ He watches her leave, wringing out his hand. ]
Yasmine
[ The atmosphere in the observation room is tense and expectant. All they know of the conversation inside are the emotional impressions of her former teacher. ]
Yasmine
[ She approaches Terra with a tight-lipped smile and touches her shoulder. ] How is it going? Were you able to scry anything?
Terra
Er... a bit. There was no response from the pocket watch.
Yasmine
That's good. [ Ruminating, she glances at Dr. Sebastian. ] You're doing a good job. Was there anything else?
Terra
[ Of course. That mysterious glowing figure—which she neglected to investigate, thanks to a certain meddlesome shard. ]
Terra
It’s hard to say. There was… another source of magic interfering, like you thought. But I didn’t get the chance to fully pick it apart.
Dr. Sebastian
[ From the console, he observes their bright young intern over his glasses. ] No? Did the boy make your task too difficult to carry out? Or did you take it upon yourself to ad-lib?
Terra
[ Her face heats. Tersely: ] I wasn't ad-libbing. He wanted to talk.
Dr. Sebastian
You are in a very dangerous situation, young lady. We'd simply like you to think carefully before going off-script.
Director Lennox
[ She pushes off from the wall and claps the doctor's shoulder. ]
Director Lennox
I think we're all feeling a wee bit tense at the moment. Let's just take a deep breath.
Director Lennox
You're handling yourself well, lass. You've not done anything wrong. [ She juts her chin at the notebook. ] What did Soren have to say?
Terra
[ A short inhale through her nose, and she flips the notebook to show them the drawing. ]
Terra
He'd like to know where his flute went.
Yasmine
That? [ She retrieves the flute, a ceramic egg on a nylon cord, from a plastic basket at the other end of the intercom table. ] It's here.
Yasmine
I wanted to run a few tests on it, just in case. But the flute is perfectly ordinary; I see no reason not to give it back to him. [ Except for the noise. ]
Terra
[ She holds her hand out, relieved. Knew Yasmine wouldn't let her down. ] Thanks, Agent Béchir.
Yasmine
[ She hesitates, still holding the flute. ] ...
Felix
[ Stepping in. ] Hey, how about I do that?
Felix
I mean, great work, Terra, you softened him up. But we can take it from here, eh?
Terra
[ Her fingers wilt. Behind the one-way glass, Soren looks smaller than ever. ] What?
Yasmine
Terra. [ Her tone is both practical and sympathetic. ] We all appreciate what you've done, but... you are sixteen. If you want to continue scrying, perhaps you should do it out here, with us? There is no reason for prolonged contact.
Felix
Yeah, c'mon, fledgling. Don't give your brother a heart attack.
Terra
But— [ Her head whips between her mentor and the only other fey at the DSC. ] But I was making progress with him! If I have just a bit more time, I know I can figure out what really happened. Without tests or scrying.
Dr. Sebastian
We already know what happened. What more you can discover now, Miss Harlow, is irrelevant. This insistence on prolonging the inevitable—
Felix
Oh we are so not doing this again! Director Lennox already said—
Director Lennox
[ With a word, she cuts through the chaff. ] Terra.
Terra
[ The observation room feels primed to explode, and not from anything Soren's done. They're all terrified. She seizes to the one voice of authoritative calm. ] Yes?
Director Lennox
Can you do it?
Terra
Yes. [ The notebook paper crinkles under her fingers. ] I can. Absolutely, Director.
Director Lennox
[ She nods to the door. ] Then go. Find the truth, and then we'll decide. Yasmine, give her the flute.
Yasmine
[ She shields her reluctance, handing Terra the instrument with what she means as a reassuring face. ] Be safe.
Terra
[ She holds the egg-shaped flute to her chest. With a final, resolute nod to her mentor, she pushes back into the laboratory. ]
Leave a comment