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The tall lanky man sat easily on the overstuffed chair. His relaxed demeanour was not matched by his voice which brimmed with disappointment. “I don’t think she’s coming.”
Across from the first man sat a much larger one. As he sat on an equally overstuffed couch alongside two red haired women, he leaned forward in eagerness and hopefulness. “No. She’s gotta come. Maybe she just… you know, doesn’t know.”
By the window stood a third woman. Her hair was a vibrant purple. She peered absently out the window to the sprawling grounds of the Claremont Academy. In a distracted voice she responded. “It’s Emi. She already knows. She’s not coming.”
The large man persisted. “Without Navigatrix, we need her. She’ll come.”
The first of the red haired women spoke. She sat next to the large man with a hand resting across his leg in easy familiarity. “Then where is she?”
“…” The large man remained stubbornly silent.
“?” It was more a subtle eyebrow arch from the red haired woman than any actual word. The woman by the window turned to the rest of the group for the first time to observe.
“… maybe she’s busy.” The large man’s suggestion sounded forced to all present.
“Maybe.” The tall man agreed helpfully. The large man gave him a grateful half smile.
“What if she can’t come?” suggested the lanky man.
The interest of the woman by the window continued to rise. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe we gotta find her.” The tall man mused. “Maybe… maybe Rhymer, as off kilter as he is, is right. Maybe someone is removing key players from the super scene.”
The purple haired woman leaned on the window sill. Her voice was tinged with scepticism. “Like Emi?”
The tall man had a lazy relaxed tone as he explained his thinking. “Exactly like Emi. It makes sense to take out Next Gen, the Freedom League, the Atoms and so on. But Navigratrix wasn’t a field hero. She’s an information and intelligence operative. She locates supers across time and space. If you don’t want to be found then you need to take out Navigatrix and someone has.”
“But Emi?” the first red haired woman still seated beside the man on the couch.
“Emi is the Monitor.” The large man re-joined the conversation. “ She was Navigatrix and more before Navigatrix was Navigratrix. I mean, sure she can’t dimension hop…”
“That we know of.” The first red-haired woman observed.
The second red haired woman, silent until now, finally spoke. She had perched herself on the arm rest of the couch she shared with the large man and the first red-haired woman. “Trust me. She can’t. I’d know.”
The lanky man looked inquisitively at the woman perched on the chair of the arm. “What about that Jane? Can’t you just pop over to another reality and borrow their Monitor?”
“Borrow. Their. Monitor.” Each word was it’s own sentence.
The large man and the first red haired woman remained silent. Their lack of reaction suggested they knew how Jane would react.
“Yeah. Another good Emi. Not an evil one.” The tall man confirmed his suggestion.
The woman by the window wore an expression of curiosity.
“Do you have any idea how long it would take to explain why that’s a bad idea?”
“But you know...” The tall man looked meaningfully at the first red haired woman.
“Okay, let’s be clear. As your resident omniversal expert I’m telling you, Tara and Cara are not doppelgangers. Not. The. Same.” The second red haired woman once again punctuated the last words for emphasis. “Physically, more or less, yes. Also in a relative ominiversal fractal incarnation more or less, yes. But in every other way they are different people. Their respective universes arrived at them in different ways even though the occupy a similar reality niche. The fact that they have deviated into two opposing life paths further diminishes any multiple manifestation resonance and dissonance…”
The room became filled with blanks faces.
“Ah…” the second hair haired woman paused, “so this is what Vicki feels like.”
“Who’s Vicki?” The purple haired woman firmly enquired.
The second red haired woman quickly pressed on. “No one. Never mind. Short version: Tara and Cara can both co-exist here without a problem. Two Monitors…”
The large man interjected. “I think Cara would disagree on the whole co-existing thing.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty much a ‘there can be only one’ situation from her,” agreed the first of the red haired women.
The second red haired woman responded blandly as if she had made the statement so many times she was bored. “Not what I meant you two.”
“Stay on target.” The purple haired woman noted. “We get it. Two Emi’s equals bad.”
“Okay, so getting back to the issue at hand.” The purple haired woman spoke with a confidence borne of many years of leadership. “Right now we need someone to track Snare, who so far is, particularly adept at escaping detection. Emi processes information on a global scale. She could locate or track people as easily as Navigatrix… differently but the same outcome.”
“Couldn’t we just ask Big Data or the Search Engine?” enquired the second red haired woman.
“They’re not as good as Emi.” The purple haired woman swiftly dismissed the suggestion.
“You think she’s in trouble?” ventured the large man. “If Rhymer is right, I mean.”
“If Rhymer is right, then yes, I think she’s in trouble.” The purple haired woman continued. ‘If he’s not, then Emi is still our best chance of finding Snare and freeing Next Gen. Either way, we need to find Emi.”
“But how?” the large man observed. “She pretty much dropped off the face of the Earth after New York and we broke up.”
“Maybe she didn’t survive the battle?” suggested the first red haired woman.
The tall man spoke with hesitation. “She… uh… I know she survived.”
All faces turned to the tall man.
“She stayed in touch. At first.”
Everyone continued to stare.
“Look I said I don’t think she’s coming but Emi always had a contingency. You know; a plan. She wanted to know if something ever happened to her someone would be able to come.”
The gazes bore in.
“She left a trail for me.”
All eyes continued to stare at the tall man.
“We were team Stealth. Me and her.”
Awkward silence followed.
“Well it’s a starting point,” the tall man stated, “We’ll need to work together to follow it.”
The large man smiled as he rose from the couch. “Next Gen rides again.”
The first red haired woman rose with him. “You’re not Next Gen anymore, dear. Some of us never were.”
“Okay… so it’s back to ‘the Gang’ for now then.” The large man shrugged.
“Where do we start?” asked the purple haired woman.
The tall man also rose. “She said to start where the carrier leaked.”
The tall lanky man sat easily on the overstuffed chair. His relaxed demeanour was not matched by his voice which brimmed with disappointment. “I don’t think she’s coming.”
Across from the first man sat a much larger one. As he sat on an equally overstuffed couch alongside two red haired women, he leaned forward in eagerness and hopefulness. “No. She’s gotta come. Maybe she just… you know, doesn’t know.”
By the window stood a third woman. Her hair was a vibrant purple. She peered absently out the window to the sprawling grounds of the Claremont Academy. In a distracted voice she responded. “It’s Emi. She already knows. She’s not coming.”
The large man persisted. “Without Navigatrix, we need her. She’ll come.”
The first of the red haired women spoke. She sat next to the large man with a hand resting across his leg in easy familiarity. “Then where is she?”
“…” The large man remained stubbornly silent.
“?” It was more a subtle eyebrow arch from the red haired woman than any actual word. The woman by the window turned to the rest of the group for the first time to observe.
“… maybe she’s busy.” The large man’s suggestion sounded forced to all present.
“Maybe.” The tall man agreed helpfully. The large man gave him a grateful half smile.
“What if she can’t come?” suggested the lanky man.
The interest of the woman by the window continued to rise. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe we gotta find her.” The tall man mused. “Maybe… maybe Rhymer, as off kilter as he is, is right. Maybe someone is removing key players from the super scene.”
The purple haired woman leaned on the window sill. Her voice was tinged with scepticism. “Like Emi?”
The tall man had a lazy relaxed tone as he explained his thinking. “Exactly like Emi. It makes sense to take out Next Gen, the Freedom League, the Atoms and so on. But Navigratrix wasn’t a field hero. She’s an information and intelligence operative. She locates supers across time and space. If you don’t want to be found then you need to take out Navigatrix and someone has.”
“But Emi?” the first red haired woman still seated beside the man on the couch.
“Emi is the Monitor.” The large man re-joined the conversation. “ She was Navigatrix and more before Navigatrix was Navigratrix. I mean, sure she can’t dimension hop…”
“That we know of.” The first red-haired woman observed.
The second red haired woman, silent until now, finally spoke. She had perched herself on the arm rest of the couch she shared with the large man and the first red-haired woman. “Trust me. She can’t. I’d know.”
The lanky man looked inquisitively at the woman perched on the chair of the arm. “What about that Jane? Can’t you just pop over to another reality and borrow their Monitor?”
“Borrow. Their. Monitor.” Each word was it’s own sentence.
The large man and the first red haired woman remained silent. Their lack of reaction suggested they knew how Jane would react.
“Yeah. Another good Emi. Not an evil one.” The tall man confirmed his suggestion.
The woman by the window wore an expression of curiosity.
“Do you have any idea how long it would take to explain why that’s a bad idea?”
“But you know...” The tall man looked meaningfully at the first red haired woman.
“Okay, let’s be clear. As your resident omniversal expert I’m telling you, Tara and Cara are not doppelgangers. Not. The. Same.” The second red haired woman once again punctuated the last words for emphasis. “Physically, more or less, yes. Also in a relative ominiversal fractal incarnation more or less, yes. But in every other way they are different people. Their respective universes arrived at them in different ways even though the occupy a similar reality niche. The fact that they have deviated into two opposing life paths further diminishes any multiple manifestation resonance and dissonance…”
The room became filled with blanks faces.
“Ah…” the second hair haired woman paused, “so this is what Vicki feels like.”
“Who’s Vicki?” The purple haired woman firmly enquired.
The second red haired woman quickly pressed on. “No one. Never mind. Short version: Tara and Cara can both co-exist here without a problem. Two Monitors…”
The large man interjected. “I think Cara would disagree on the whole co-existing thing.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty much a ‘there can be only one’ situation from her,” agreed the first of the red haired women.
The second red haired woman responded blandly as if she had made the statement so many times she was bored. “Not what I meant you two.”
“Stay on target.” The purple haired woman noted. “We get it. Two Emi’s equals bad.”
“Okay, so getting back to the issue at hand.” The purple haired woman spoke with a confidence borne of many years of leadership. “Right now we need someone to track Snare, who so far is, particularly adept at escaping detection. Emi processes information on a global scale. She could locate or track people as easily as Navigatrix… differently but the same outcome.”
“Couldn’t we just ask Big Data or the Search Engine?” enquired the second red haired woman.
“They’re not as good as Emi.” The purple haired woman swiftly dismissed the suggestion.
“You think she’s in trouble?” ventured the large man. “If Rhymer is right, I mean.”
“If Rhymer is right, then yes, I think she’s in trouble.” The purple haired woman continued. ‘If he’s not, then Emi is still our best chance of finding Snare and freeing Next Gen. Either way, we need to find Emi.”
“But how?” the large man observed. “She pretty much dropped off the face of the Earth after New York and we broke up.”
“Maybe she didn’t survive the battle?” suggested the first red haired woman.
The tall man spoke with hesitation. “She… uh… I know she survived.”
All faces turned to the tall man.
“She stayed in touch. At first.”
Everyone continued to stare.
“Look I said I don’t think she’s coming but Emi always had a contingency. You know; a plan. She wanted to know if something ever happened to her someone would be able to come.”
The gazes bore in.
“She left a trail for me.”
All eyes continued to stare at the tall man.
“We were team Stealth. Me and her.”
Awkward silence followed.
“Well it’s a starting point,” the tall man stated, “We’ll need to work together to follow it.”
The large man smiled as he rose from the couch. “Next Gen rides again.”
The first red haired woman rose with him. “You’re not Next Gen anymore, dear. Some of us never were.”
“Okay… so it’s back to ‘the Gang’ for now then.” The large man shrugged.
“Where do we start?” asked the purple haired woman.
The tall man also rose. “She said to start where the carrier leaked.”
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