do: read; don't: visit 214

[giftedandtalented]

Mehitabel reads a lot.

She starts calling herself "Tab", for short, not that anyone calls her anything apart from Kers. She writes suitably encrypted emails to Aelise about ideas for fixing the world - mostly she asks questions, to start, forming a picture of the exact problem she has to solve.

She misses her parents, but not very much. At least she got to say goodbye.

When her brain won't absorb new information, she bounces around in zero-g.

After six months, Aelise visits again.

Tab says, "Anybody you store up here must be important somehow. If I don't know about the other secret person, I won't know how to come up with ideas that work with them being important however they're important."

Comments

[giftedandtalented]

At Aelise's prescribed time, Chelsa experiences a split-second... outage.

[warmfeelings]

It's like dying.

The worst death, drowning in cold, like the world is made of frigid motionless hate, like there is nothing else but chill animosity.

Chelsa screams.

And then the world comes back, every pinpoint of warmth a lifeline in exquisite detailed liveliness - there's her pretty Tima and her devoted Amdon and her gentle Anneia and her warm sun -

Her warm sun.

And another very like.

The sensitivity is gone almost as soon as the cold is, but now she knows.

There were only two like that.

Harley is on the planet.

[lookingforwardtoit]

Anneia is closest; she runs to the sound.

[warmfeelings]

Chelsa throws herself into Anneia's arms immediately. "My Gift, it was gone, just for a moment, but totally - it was so cold -" She's crying and she doesn't care. She twists her hands around, behind Anneia's back, pulling on the near warmth.

And because Aelise broke her word, Chelsa sees no reason to keep her agreement.

She reaches for the far sun and pulls on that one too.

[lookingforwardtoit]

Anneia cuddles her helplessly.

[warmfeelings]

Chelsa clings and sobs and kindles everything she can reach as hot as it will go.

[alicornucopia]

Tima sits up in Corona's room from where she's been snuggling, when Chelsa screams. "Did you hear that?"

[pythbox]

"Yeah," says Corona. "Who was it?"

[alicornucopia]

"It sounded like Chelsa." She swings her feet out of the bed, brow furrowed in confusion.

[pythbox]

"...it kind of did," he says. "What the hell's she screaming for?"

He gets up and goes to investigate.

[warmfeelings]

They find Chelsa with her face buried in Anneia's shoulder, sobbing, hands plucking frantically at the air.

[alicornucopia]

Tima unhesitatingly turns this into a group hug. "What's wrong?"

[pythbox]

Corona also cuddles up.

[warmfeelings]

"My - my Gift broke - just for an instant but it broke - and it was so cold -"

[pythbox]

Corona wriggles in close and hugs her tight.

[warmfeelings]

"Oh my warm sun," she sighs.

It takes about an hour of group hug - other friends filter in and crowd around, too - before Chelsa feels well enough to disentangle herself and confront Aelise.

[salus_populi]

Aelise is in her office.

[warmfeelings]

Chelsa doesn't bother knocking.

"You lied to me."

[salus_populi]

"About what?"

[warmfeelings]

"What, is there more than one thing? Harley! My power - glitched or something - but when it came back everything was sharp for a second and I know that warmth when I feel it! You didn't even put him far away, let alone in orbit!"

[salus_populi]

"I put him in orbit," she says. "It's harder to keep an eye on him in orbit, and there's a lot of mischief he could get into up there if he put his mind to it. I took him back down when he looked like he might be getting into some. I didn't mention it because I didn't want to upset you. Are you all right?"

[warmfeelings]

"I am now," says Chelsa darkly.

[salus_populi]

"I'm sorry," she says. "Harley's ten kinds of trouble, but I need him in reach if I'm going to use him to keep everyone immortal. I've been keeping him unconscious most of the time; he wakes up when I drain him and that's it."

[warmfeelings]

"Consciousness doesn't make a difference to how it feels. It never has."

[salus_populi]

"I am hoping," Aelise says dryly, "that it will make a difference to him."