NANCY’S STORY: PART THREE! [Nancy has learned the cause of her colleague’s strange, violent behavior; a sociopathic fourth-grader with the power to control minds! When he seems about to kill another child, she has no choice but to confront the dangerous young telepath. Fortunately, she is able to talk him into releasing his victim.] She shakes her head, still a little dazed from the sudden change of scenery. She sees the two adults running towards her and moves to meet them. "It's all right, Mrs. Bocato," she says when they reach her. "This is Detective Macelli...I had Bonnie call the police." When the supervisor has been mollified and goes back to the children, Nancy says to the detective, "I'm sorry...but it's already over. Chad was making another boy beat himself with a board...I didn't know how far it would go or how long it would take you to get here, so I stepped in and managed to convince him to stop." -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] "I saw the kid with blood running down his face," Macelli says. "Looked like the nurse was about ready to call the ambulance." Another man is approaching. Macelli says "This is my partner, Detective Rick Dell. I, uh, told him about Chad. He isn't sure he believes me, but he's going to play along for the moment." "I'm going to arrest that kid. Rick will be my backup. I'm gambling that Chad can't control someone he can't see, and maybe can't control more than one adult at a time. Rick is going to stay hidden, and I'm going to tell Chad that if my partner sees anything funny happening, like me pointing my gun at myself.....he can try to control a bullet flying through his brain." These two cops are talking about stalking and trapping a ten year-old boy as if he were the most dangerous sort of criminal. And come to think of it...he very well may be. They stop talking as Larry and Daniel come marching out of the woods, slipping through the fence. Daniel is moving quickly, in a panic. As soon as he clears the fence, he runs for the boy's bathroom. Larry walks straight to you, and looks at you with a glazed expression. He speaks in a flat voice, not quite a monotone, but devoid of expression. "Chad says he's leaving now. He says he doesn't have to stay at school, or stay in this town, 'cause he can do anything he wants. He says if you follow him, or get anyone else to follow him, he'll come back, and you'll all be sorry. He says he better not ever see you again." A chill goes up your spine...you are dead certain this is CHAD talking. Larry blinks and shakes his head, before you can respond. He stares up at you, looking frightened, spins around and sees the two men. He starts running after Daniel. Macelli swears and moves towards the gap in the fence. And suddenly he stops, turns around and grabs Dell by the throat. "I mean it." he says. Dell turns pale. "Jesus." Macelli blinks and lets go of Dell, looking stunned. "He can see us, from the woods," Dell says. "We don't dare go after him right now." <><><><><> Nancy steps up to the two detectives. "Please, let me try," she says. "I was almost able to reach him before. Maybe, if he'll let me in now, I can get him to surrender without you having to kill him." If they seem hesitant, she continues, "If he turns me away at the fence like he did the two of you, no harm done. And it's not as if he couldn't do anything he wanted to me from where he is. Please...he's only a child! There's still a chance that we can do this without any bloodshed." -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Macelli says, "I don't know...well, if you're willing to take the chance. I don't really want to shoot a ten year-old." You proceed towards the fence, heart beating wildly. You felt nothing when he controlled you before, but it was still terrifying to suddenly be somewhere ELSE, and know that he just took over your body and moved you around like a puppet. With that kind of control, he could make you do anything.... He doesn't stop you as you come through the gap in the fence, (ripping your skirt on a projecting piece of metal this time.) You call out gently, "Chad?" as you walk into the woods. But he's no longer in the clearing. You call out again, and look around, but he seems to have left the area. Of course the woods are bordered on one side by the town, and on the others by farmland. It's not like it's a deep, dark forest where he could disappear indefinitely. But if he took off, you're not likely to be able to chase him down anytime soon. You return to the fence and call the two police officers in. They search through the woods also (with guns drawn, covering each other), but don't find him. "I'll put out a bulletin on him," Macelli says grimly. Then pauses, and adds "With a warning to regard him as 'armed and dangerous'." <><><><><> Nancy bites her lip, but she realizes there is nothing she can do...at least at the moment. For now, Chad will have to deal with the problems he created on his own. When it's obvious that he's nowhere to be found in the woods, she'll go back to the school. First she'll head to the office and let Bonnie know she's alright, then she'll head back to her own class. -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Bonnie is very anxious. She runs to you and wraps her arms around you when you appear....something she rarely does at school. "Is everything OK?" she asks. "Did they arrest Chad?" * * * * * * * * * * At home that night, Macelli calls and tells you that Chad has disappeared. "Never showed up at home. We're keeping an eye out for him, and we've sent reports about him out to other counties....but with his powers, he could just catch a ride with someone, and probably make sure they don't remember it. He could be anywhere right now. Truthfully, I hope we don't see him again." Afterwards, Mike says "I don't guess there's much more you can do, Nancy. You tried to reach him...and you may have saved that other boy's life." He gives you a kiss, while Jeremy and Stephanie both try to clamber into your lap. "Why don't we go on that trip to the mountains tomorrow?" Jeremy says "Yeah!", echoed immediately by Stephanie. Mike chuckles and musses his hair up. "I'm sorry, honey, but this is a trip just for Mommy and Daddy." Jeremy pouts. <><><><><> "I'm fine," Nancy replies, hugging the youngster back. "But Chad...he got away...snuck out through the woods. I don't think he'll be bothering us again." * * * * * Though she's filled with ambivalence about the whole affair, she decides that Detective Macelli doesn't need her "bleeding heart values" interfering with all of this. Instead, she asks, "So what happens now?", she asks. "Now that Chad...came out of the closet, so to speak, do you think the DA will be willing to drop the charges on Mr. Fennody?" * * * * * "I know," she says sadly. "It's just...I know inside of him is a scared little boy who's only trying to cope with the strange thing that's happened to him. I hope, someday, he'll be able to come to terms with it...because if he can't, it'll tear him apart." Her depression is banished by the two children vying for her attentions. She hugs them both as Mike kisses her. "Cheer up, Jeremy," she says. "You can all go over to Granma and Granpa Hartwick's while we're gone. And next weekend we can go out and do something together." She gives an innocent look (with a conspiratorial wink) to Mike. "I *think* that Six Flags over Great America is still open, isn't it?" [I don't remember what time of year it is. If Six Flags (basically a poor man's Disney World ) isn't open, then she'll suggest a trip to the Brookfield Zoo or something.] -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Macelli says, "I think after I talk to the D.A., he won't be pressing charges. I don't know what we can do about Fennody's reputation, though; he can claim he was mind-controlled, but even with these news stories that are appearing, will people believe him? Of course maybe now that Chad's gone, some more of those kids will tell their parents what was going on. It'll sound crazy at first, but I think the town will have to come to grips with it. There's too many people involved now." * * * * * * * * * * All three children cheer at the prospect of going to Magic Mountain. And they're looking forward to going to see Gramma and Granpa. Even Bonnie seems happier. The next day is Saturday. You take the kids over to Mike's parents' house, and stay long enough to have breakfast with them. Granpa Hartwick winks at you as you leave and says "Don't worry about coming home too soon...we can always keep them overnight." Mike sighs as you slip into the car. "You know, I believe they want MORE grandchildren!" he says. You lean against him while you drive up to the mountains...it's the most pleasant drive you've had in a long time. "It's pretty scary, what some of these superhumans can do," Mike says. "One murderous lunatic in Israel, another one who can destroy cities with tornadoes in France, that fight in New York City....and Chad." He looks at you. "These people are deadly. I hope.....I don't want you getting any heroic ideas, Nancy." * * * * * * * * * * [So, once you get to the mountains, what are you going to do? Give me a range of tests and experiments, and I'll try not to take too much time on just experimenting with your powers.] <><><><><> "Well, I plan on talking to Principal Wilson and trying to get Jack his job back. I mean, none of this was his fault. I think he's suffered enough already." There's an uncomfortable pause on Nancy's end. "I think a lot of people will have things to deal with," she says with a sigh. "Did you ever get the feeling that someone has suddenly changed all of the rules on us?" * * * * * She knew a visit to her in-laws would help the children forget the traumatic events of the last few days. And the visit to Six Flags would be even better. Hopefully, this would soon all be behind them. Nancy laughs. "Well, they're YOUR parents!", she teases. "YOU explain it to them! Besides, like they say, 'Tis better to have tried....'!" She gives Mike a little squeeze and a kiss. "Honey, it's sweet of you to worry...but...I just can't let these abilities go to waste. So far, no, I don't have the skills to do anything about people like Deathstorm and Cyclone. And I'm not planning on hunting them down. But I'm not going to stand by and watch while those...supervillains hurt innocent people. Not if I have the power to protect them." * * * * * [Okay, here's a couple of things Nancy wants to try/find out.... How big of an object can she affect with her gravity powers? Does it seem to depend more on size or weight? Do her powers work in reverse? If she can negate gravity...can she increase it too? She'd like to see if she can use this to defend herself, having Mike throw rocks at her...one at a time at first, then a bunch at once. She also wants to see if the power works on her...she has a vague idea that she'd like to see if she can fly doing this (by slowly negating the Earth's pull and then attracting or repelling herself with respect to other objects...kinda like what she did with the weight at the gym, but using herself as the weight ). That's all that come to mind at the moment.] -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Mike's worried look is not eased. The idea of you pitting yourself against malevolent superhumans obviously does not please him at all. * * * * * * * * * * [For the sake of expediency, I am presuming certain actions on your part, but they fall along the lines of what you said you wanted to do, and I think are in- character, so hopefully you won't mind....it makes the narrative more interesting than "You attempt X and it seems to work with an object up to Y pounds..." ] In the mountains, you find a nice secluded spot, and begin your tests. The only really handy objects to throw around are rocks of various sizes, and a few fallen trees. But these are easy for you to manipulate....frighteningly easy. You start with the rocks. You toss a few around, like you did with the concrete block, but progress up to small boulders, weighing at least a quarter of a ton. While concentrating on making such a chunk lighter, you find that you don't even need to provide the initial force manually- you can feel the lines of force holding the rock to the ground, and when you begin severing them, it occurs to you that perhaps you could *reverse* them... and five hundred pounds of granite rips out of the earth and begins floating skyward (spraying you with moist dirt and various creepy-crawlies that were living under it...). Mike gasps, as do you, and while you are shaking the assorted debris off, you halt the rock in mid-flight. Then you give it a "push", and it moves laterally. Another push, and it changes direction. You allow gravity to *slowly* reassert its hold on the boulder, and it settles to the ground. You and Mike exchange looks. "Maybe we should hold off on anything larger, for now," Mike says, hesitantly. "We don't- you don't- want to rip up the landscape too much...." You agree, for the moment, turning to other possibilities. You're not sure how to go about testing an *increase* in gravity, but you try concentrating on that rock. Making the lines of force pull harder against it. There is a soft rending sound as grass and dirt are compressed. The rock sinks partway into the ground. You test with a smaller rock; you toss it into the air, letting it fly in a normal arc, then concentrate on making it heavier. The arc is abruptly shortened as the rock vectors straight down and slams into the ground. "Wow," Mike says. He doesn't seem thrilled with testing "defensive applications", but agrees to start out tossing a few very small stones at you, underhanded. Very lightly. You concentrate, find that you can actually sense the small objects coming toward you, and you deflect them easily. Mike increases his speed, gradually, but a thrown rock still doesn't travel that fast, and you can always "grab" it and deflect it before it hits you. "OK, but what if you don't know it's coming, or from what direction?" Mike says. You try closing your eyes, as Mike circles you and tosses gentle, underhand pitches at you again. Even with your eyes closed, you realize, you can track Mike's exact location by his mass, and you can sense the rocks coming and deflect them. "Rocks are one thing," Mike sighs. "What about a fist, or a bullet? Not much way to test that, at least not safely." You discover another application, though, when you get an inspiration and ask Mike to try grabbing you. He does, and instead of pushing him away specifically, you try to create an omnidirectional force, radiating from you. Mike's approach slows, and as you increase the power, he is straining, digging his feet in to the ground, and still being forced back. When he picks up a handful of pebbles and tosses them at you, you don't even try to pick them off individually. Your anti-gravity force deflects them before they reach you. Mike throws larger and larger rocks, with increasing power, and you keep still, forcing yourself to simply maintain the "aura", rather than seizing the rock itself. Mike is finally pitching them like baseballs, hard enough to really hurt if they make contact. They keep changing trajectory, inches from you.....but one comes dangerously close- you actually feel it scrape past your cheek. Mike cries out and runs towards you as you put a hand to your face. He comes up short until you turn off the aura. It's a small cut, but Mike refuses to throw any more rocks. "I think that proves you can't be sure you'll stop everything," Mike says. "And we certainly don't want to find out if you can deflect anything faster!" But you're thinking about how you made yourself radiate anti-gravity force. If you can do that....you should be able to affect your own ties to Earth's gravity field. You reach out for those lines of force, and warp them around you. Mike, still holding your arm, gasps as you lift off. Laughing gleefully, you lighten his mass, and the two of you float into the air. Mike looks around in amazement as you start pushing in a new direction. You're not sure what you're pushing against, but you're actually moving perpendicular to the ground. You can fly! You pull Mike with you by the hand, floating like Peter Pan and Wendy. Finally you settle down to the ground, and give Mike a kiss. You can feel gravity all around you, the way most people can sense air, if they bother, but usually take for granted. You feel suddenly empowered, in a way you can't begin to describe. Your mind reaches out and caresses the lines of force that radiate from the center of the Earth, and pull everything against it in an all-encompassing blanket. You warp lines here and there, watching over Mike's shoulder as a wave of anti-gravity rolls down the hillside, yards away, sending rocks and leaves and grass flying into the air. You reverse it, and watch grass flatten itself to the ground, as if an invisible giant was running its hand along the surface. Gravity is a omnipresent force, continuous and almost always undisturbed, eternally constant in every location, and with a capricious thought you can play with it, warp it, bend it, reverse it, disrupt it. People walk around every day, absolutely, unquestionably secure in the knowledge that gravity will hold them to the ground, anything else being so unthinkable that they take it for granted, like air and light. You have the power to literally turn the world upside down for them. What could anyone do, if gravity is suddenly turned off on them, or reversed, or magnified? They would be so helpless....you shudder at the power you have. It's exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Mike holds you, and you wonder what he's thinking. It would be easy for people to become scared of you. <><><><><> She pulls back and just looks at Mike for a moment. Then she sighs and asks, "What do *YOU* think I should do then?", she asks. "I've got these powers...should I just pretend they don't exist? Should I just let people get hurt even if I have the power to prevent it? You're the one who seems to have the problem...why don't you tell me what I should do?" * * * * * Once again, she's caught up in the elation of these new feelings. It all seems so simple now...it's almost as if she was blind before and has been given eyes to see with.... And, in a moment of stunning realization, she thinks she might know, just a little, how Chad must have felt when he discovered his abilities. She prays that she'll be able to handle them better than he did. She nods as she presses against the bruise on her cheek to stop the bleeding. "I think you're right," she says. "But it's nice to know that I'd have some means of defending myself if push came to shove." As she holds him close, she wonders if her display has affected Mike. "Honey, what you you thinking?", she asks in a soft voice. <><><><><> [GM] Mike sighs. "I don't know." He holds your face in his hands and looks at you. "I'm not thinking you're some kind of freak that I should be afraid of, if that's what's worrying you." He gives you a long kiss. When you separate, finally, he says "It's just....unbelievable. I guess there have always been legends of superhuman beings, but I don't believe anyone has ever had power like this. We'd have known about them long before now. So why is it happening? And why to you?" "I know you feel that this kind of power gives you a responsibility. But I can see someone like Deathstorm showing up, and you thinking you have to try to stop him. And getting killed. This is real life, not a comic book where the good guys always win. I know you couldn't just stand by if you thought you could help people....but I wish you didn't have this power. All I can think about it is that it's likely to endanger you." <><><><><> Nancy seems relieved that her husband isn't intimidated by her newfound powers. "I know. All of this...it's just so much...so different. Things are on an entirely different scale now." She shrugs. "Who knows? There have been fairy tales and mythological stories...maybe those stories about gods walking amongst men weren't all fantasy. But I think if there were such people before, there haven't been any for a long time before now. Or we would have known, like you said." "Why now? I'll admit I haven't got the slightest idea," she replies. "But as for 'why me'...well, maybe this thing has a...balance to it. The only people we've seen with this kind of power, with a couple of exceptions, have been 'bad guys', for lack of a better term. They use their abilities for personal gain, without any thought of responsibility or the rights of others. Maybe my purpose is to equal things out, to help make sure that humanity is protected." "Well," she says reluctantly, "I wouldn't trade this for anything. The sheer THRILL of what I can do now...it's intoxicating like nothing I've ever felt before. But is it wrong to feel a responsibility as well? I mean, I don't HAVE to become a superhero, I suppose. But somehow, all of this would just be a waste if I didn't use it to help people." "I realize it's dangerous...that's why I didn't just jump on a plane and head out to France or Israel. I need to know the extent of what I can do before I go out and try to save the world. And given what we did today, I think I'd better see if I can get some kind of protection like Kevlar just in case. I just want you to know I'm not going off half-cocked...I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that I'll be able to come back to you." <><><><><> [GM] "You'd better!" he says, and gives you another long kiss. When the two of you finally head back to the car (), you try one more test while Mike is unlocking the doors. You place your hand on the car and try to lighten it. You see the tires expand as the weight comes off of them. The body rises slightly, and then, with a creak, the tires lift off the ground. Mike stops dead, wide eyed. You give the car a little push, and it moves, very slowly, away from you a few inches. "You know, once it builds up inertia, it won't be as easy to stop as it was to start," Mike says. So you let it settle to the ground again. "I guess sometime we'll need to figure out your exact weight limit," Mike says, as you get in. "But I don't think I wanted to see if you could get it moving like you did that concrete block." * * * * * * * * * * You collect the kids from the grandparents (after they extract promises for you to bring them by again, soon.) The children are cheerful but tired on the way home, kind of like you and Mike. Feeling better than you have in several days, though you still have ahead of you the job of trying to save Jack Fennody's reputation and career, you tuck them all in, spend a little extra time with Bonnie, reassuring her that she won't have to worry about Chad anymore. Then you and Mike cuddle up in bed and fall asleep. Sometime later that night, something wakes you up. In that half-state between asleep and awake, you try to figure out what it is. You've come to take for granted your new sense, of gravity awareness. It comes in kind of handy, because you can sense things behind you, or with your eyes closed, by their mass, but for the most part, it's a background awareness. Gravity itself hums steadily all around you, eternal and unchanging, *except* for when you use your strange new power to warp it. And now. Something is disturbing the gravity field nearby. What you are sensing is as if you were floating on the surface of a pool of water, with the water placid and undisturbed all around you. But something is moving in the water, sending ripples that wash against you. And nothing you know of, except yourself, sends ripples through a gravity field! <><><><><> She's rather impressed, despite herself, when she manages to lift the car. [I assume it's some kind of station wagon or van...is it fair to say that it probably weighs at least 2 tons?] "Oh, sorry!", she answers when Mike gently chides her. She smiles. "True enough...while we've had this car for a couple of years, I don't think we're quite ready to get a new one yet." She snaps her fingers. "You know, I just had a thought...we might be able to figure out how much force I can exert using one of those truck scales." "Well, I hope that friend of yours from the university will be able to help me," she says. "But there's some things I'm going to have to learn on my own...like how fast I can fly." * * * * * She looks over to Mike, who's still asleep. Deciding that she doesn't need to disturb him, she throws on a robe and tries to find the source of the disturbance. -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] [Two tons is about right.] It's definitely coming from outside the house. You cautiously walk out onto your porch, and try to figure out where the source of the disturbance is. You close your eyes, feeling for the slight "ripples" that wash around you. They are very faint, much more faint than when you woke up. As you stand there, they fade completely. You're deciding whether to go back inside, or try pursuing it, when you start to feel rippling again. The source of the disturbance is moving. And it's headed back in your general direction. Concentrating with your eyes closed, you can almost picture the spot in your mind, a moving nexus. You're guessing it's about thirty feet up, and coming over the street, on a path that will take it over the house two down from yours. With the source, whatever it is, firmly fixed in your mind, you open your eyes to look at the exact spot. And see nothing. <><><><><> [Okay, question...when Nancy moved things at range, were there any lines of gravimetric force that led back to her or were her manipulations invisible to her gravity sense (perhaps on another "wavelength")? I'm just wondering if she can track this back to the source if this phenomena is being produced by someone not right on that spot.] First, Nancy reaches out and sees if she can get a "grip" on this strange disturbance...if it's tangible or not. If it is, she tries to bring it to her. -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] [You didn't sense any lines of force leading from you to the objects or areas you manipulated. The gravity fields just warped where you concentrated.] You reach out, and pull. There IS something tangible there! And the gravity disturbance it is creating increases, as it suddenly tries to resist the pull....actually, what it's doing is generating a field that neutralizes your own, or tries to. But you can squash its own field, and pull the thing closer to you. When it's about over your front lawn, you see the air ripple and shimmer. The effect is something like that "Predator" creature, in that movie you let Jeremy and his friends watch at your house until you saw how violent it was and turned it off. Suddenly there is a silver, mirrored donut, about two feet across, hovering over your lawn. Its resistance increases as it becomes visible. <><><><><> Nancy is astonished...for a moment, she'd thought it was just a hallucination of some kind...a trick of her imagination. But this was real. But nobody would believe it if she didn't have any evidence. She decided she at least needed another witness. She walks over to the master bedroom window and raps on it. "Mike!", she calls, not too loudly to avoid waking the children. "Mike, wake up! Come over to the window!" -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] The....thing, keeps trying to get away. You can't pull it very well, because it effectively shears your gravitic pull with its own field. But you can neutralize its field, putting it in a gravitic "vacuum"; then it has nothing to push against itself. At least, that's the best way you can understand it. Mike knows more about physics than you do. After a moment, you hear an exclamation, then Mike almost falling out of bed. He pulls open the window, and says, "Nancy, what on Earth are you doing out there?" Then he sees the silver donut. "Oh my God! What's that?" <><><><><> "I felt this thing flying around the neighborhood," she replies. "It flies with gravity, like me. I don't know what it is...I just know that nobody will believe we saw it if we don't have any proof. I'm kinda busy right now...get the camcorder so we can have some pictures of it...then we can figure out if we want to try to do anything else with it." -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Mike gapes for a moment, but finally recovers and fetches the camcorder. He films it hovering in the air, while you try to decide what to do now. Although it's early in the morning, someone else might be up early, or a police car on patrol could come by. This would be hard to explain. <><><><><> "Mike, I can't hold onto it too much longer," Nancy says. "You're the scientist...what should I do? I should I let it go or should we try to keep it? I don't even know if we have anywhere we COULD keep it...and just because it hasn't done anything yet doesn't mean that it might not be dangerous." -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Mike stares at it. "What the hell IS it? It's not making any noise, there's no features on its surface....you said it was flying by cancelling *gravity*? Nobody has technology like that!" "Can you destroy it? Or....if it flies away, how far away can you sense it?" <><><><><> "Maybe it's from that space ship that that Pulsar was talking about," Nancy replies uncertainly. It's obvious she doesn't know quite what to make of it either. "Probably not too far," she answers. "When I felt it before, it was just a couple of houses away. I just don't know. And as far as destroying it...well, I might be able to crush it under something I make heavier...or concentrate its own gravity...I just don't know!" She looks up at Mike. "On the other hand, maybe destroying or capturing it wouldn't be right. I mean, maybe they're just observing us. After all, it hasn't done anything hostile since I captured it. Maybe we should just let it go as a gesture of good will." -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] "Umm, I'm not sure how seriously I take the claims of someone who breaks in on international broadcasts just to call the entire world names." He looks again at the silver donut. "You're right, though. It hasn't done anything hostile yet, so it might not be a good idea to initiate hostilities. Still, I'm not comfortable with the way it suddenly appeared HERE, of all places. It seems too much to be a coincidence. If aliens or the government or whoever is trying to spy on you, that doesn't make me too comfortable." Thinking a moment, he says, "I wonder if we can attach something to it...I don't have any radio transmitters handy." He laughs. "But we do have a couple thousand yards of fishing line. It may be a silly idea, and certainly won't work if it goes back into space," he looks up and shudders. "But if it came from somewhere around here, it might actually work. I mean, whoever built it might be able to detect electronic devices before it returns, but they might not expect someone to just tie a string to it..." <><><><><> Nancy nods in agreement with Mike's assessment of Pulsar. "I don't know what the world is coming to," she says. "And that 'Paladin' fellow is almost as bad! Trying to portray himself as some kind of a hero when he's just some kind of...mercenary. A day is going to come when I'm going to see that young man and give him a piece of my mind." "Well, if we're thinking that it came from around here," she answers thoughtfully, "I could just try to follow it. It was invisible before, but I could 'see' it with my gravity sense. If it doesn't go too far, I could find out who sent it out and deal with them now. I don't know what kind of 'sensors' this thing has, but it's at least seen the both of us and the house." -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] "How do you intend to follow it?" Mike asks. "We can go in the car, but if it picks up too much speed, or takes a path we can't follow by road...." "No, Nancy, you're not flying after it! You can't turn *yourself* invisible, can you? Even assuming this thing isn't armed itself, and I admit, I can't see where it could have any weapons, there's no apertures, but- the people waiting for it, assuming they're around here, could be." And there's also the fact that you'd have to leave your kids alone while you chase it, something neither of you are willing to do. You can guess what Mike's reaction will be if you suggest taking the car after it by yourself. [Ain't easy to be a superhero with a concerned husband! ] As you and Mike try to figure out a solution, you receive another sensation: more disturbances in the gravity field! But these are stronger "ripples", and they're erratic, like pulses of varying frequency. Stronger than what the small object was emitting...and coming from outside the limits of your sensing radius. (Which, as you think about it, you would guess to be somewhere between 20 and 50 yards.) <><><><><> In the middle of a sentence, Nancy suddenly stiffens in alarm. "I think there are more of them coming," she says. "But bigger. There isn't any more time to argue, darling." She floats up to his level and kisses him. "I'm going to take this thing over to the fields behind the house. If whoever it is is hostile, I don't want them hurting any innocent people." She reaches out and grabs the area of null gravity, doughnut and all, and ties it to her own gravity field. Then she flies up and over the house and out towards the field. There, she awaits the sources of the new pulses. -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Over Mike's protests, you fly off with your silver donut in tow. You wait in the field for a long time. The pulses continue, but nothing approaches. They do feel different than the ones that were generated by the object. Which, you can feel, is still trying to warp gravity around itself, but your own field is stronger. <><><><><> [How long is long? She'd probably wait for a couple of minutes, but if there was no significant change in the pulses, she would head back. After all, even a few minutes is a long time if you're standing out in the middle of a field dressed only in your nightie (not that I know from personal experience, mind you! ).] Nancy sighs and looks over at her captive doughnut. "Why don't you just talk to me?", she says, half in jest, half in frustration. "I'd like to communicate, if we could. There's no reason for all of this. I'm tired, I'm cold, and I want to go back to bed." She takes a moment to analyze the "ripples". Can she tell what direction they're coming from? Can she make out any pattern at all? -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Well, it's certainly more than a few minutes, and nothing happens. The donut doesn't answer, or show any sign that it heard you. It's hard to make out any pattern to the "ripples", but they definitely have varying wavelengths, not consistent like the ripples that the silver donut was making as it moved. You can tell generally what direction they are coming from; you can't tell whether you'd be able to pinpoint the source as you got closer. <><><><><> The stress is beginning to get to Nancy. Her protests to the doughnut before were quite heartfelt and she would like nothing better than for this mystery to be solved and to be allowed to go back to her nice warm bed. With a sigh of irritation, she rises up into the air and starts heading towards the source of the ripples. -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] The source of the disturbance takes you out of town, and you find yourself heading into the farmlands. And wondering if you really want to face whoever sent this thing, alone. Aliens, or government agents, either one might prove not particularly hospitable... <><><><><> "Fine," she says in an edgy voice. "Look, just go back where you came from and don't bother me any more, all right? I don't want to have to deal with this again." She moves into a small stand of trees on the edge of a field and pushes the bubbles out into the middle. She then releases the gravity field and watches to see what the object does. -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] The silver donut immediately takes off at an upward angle, moving at least 60 mph and accelerating, heading in the general direction of the ripple source, and ascending. After a second it shimmers and then becomes invisible again, though you can still track it with your gravity sense. But it will be out of range in a moment. <><><><><> Nancy lets it get beyond her range and then turns back and flies home. When Mike asks her what happened, she tells him, "Nothing. A big fat zero. I took it out into the field, but nothing came. Then I tracked down the other waves I felt, but they were a long way away and I might not have been able to handle whatever was there by myself. So I let it go." She gives him a "I'm not going to talk about it anymore" look and continues, "I'm going to bed." -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Mike looks nonplussed. "But...what about- you just let it go?" You go upstairs and get into bed, and after a bit, Mike joins you. He waits a while, and just as you're about to fall asleep, he says "We can't just ignore this. I mean, if someone is spying on us...." "Nancy." There is a nervous, almost scared tone to his voice. "I think we really are talking about aliens here. I've been thinking. You said this silver donut thing was actually manipulating gravity waves? NOBODY on Earth has that kind of technology. I mean, I haven't really kept up with what's going on at the fringe of theoretical physics research...." he sighs, and you realize that he is questioning, not for the first time, whether he really is happy as a high school teacher, rather than the research scientist he once wanted to be. "But I know that manipulating gravity is WAY out there, the sort of thing they're still trying to write field equations just to describe how it might be done in *theory*. There are undoubtably technologies that the government, and private companies, have developed which haven't been released to the public....but nothing like this. If someone had actually uncovered the means to make a breakthrough like this, you couldn't keep it quiet. The scientific community isn't that large, and this isn't the sort of thing that one mad genius is going to come up with." "I could be wrong. I kind of hope I'm wrong. But if I'm not, if we now have extraterrestrials to deal with, along with everything else....what are we going to do? And why would aliens be interested in you? Nancy, if they have gravity manipulation technology, maybe it was YOU they sensed. If you can detect their gravity manipulations, they can probably detect yours..." <><><><><> Nancy turns around, her eyes bleary, a drawn and tired look on her face. "Yes, I just let it go. If you wanted it that badly, you should have thought of some way to keep it." Her eyes are still closed as she murmurs in reply. "'Course they're pro'ly aliens. That Puls'r guy said there was spaceship up there...no reas'n not t'believe 'im now." "Maybe they c'n sense me goin' t'sleep...can't this wait t'll mornin'?" -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Mike sighs and lets you sleep. In the morning, everything seems almost normal, as you all get ready to go to church. <><><><><> Nancy is a little slow first thing in the morning. If she doesn't get her solid eight hours, she's usually a wreck the next morning. Once she gets some mental equilibrium, though, she'll seek out Mike and get him alone for a few moments. "I'm sorry if I was rude to you, honey-wumpus," she says in a sweet, sincere, and extremely apologetic voice. "I was just exhausted from holding that...thing. And I was cold and wet and tired from being outside in the middle of the night with nothing on but my robe...." She looks up with her big baby blue eyes with a look that would melt stone. "Forgive me?" -Nancy- <><><><><> [GM] Mike puts his arms around you and you lock in a very warm kiss; making up is such fun! "Of course I forgive you, sweetie!" Mike murmurs. "All this....stuff, going on lately, it's hard to take, and it's been putting more stress on you than on anyone else." He looks off into the distance (the wall, actually, but that's not where his mind is at.) "That thing though....I'm still very concerned. If we really have...*aliens*, sending probes flying around....I don't know. Maybe it is just a secret government project, and not aliens. I still doubt that anyone on Earth could have built something that controls gravity, though." With such thoughts to ponder, you and Mike drive in separate cars to church services. Bonnie and Jeremy with you and Stephanie with Mike. Jeremy is being rambunctious, getting at the age where he's seeing how much he can get away with pushing his older sister's buttons. Bonnie is still enough bigger than him that she can squash such adventurism when she gets annoyed enough, but she is naturally rather quiet, while Jeremy is shaping up to be quite the extrovert. Especially lately, Bonnie hasn't been reacting too well to Jeremy's pushing and grabbing her things or teasing her, and you start thinking you need to find an outlet for Jeremy's energy, like Little League or Cub Scouts or something. You park in the church parking lot, take the kids to Sunday school, then head for the main building to join Mike for services. You notice a teenage girl you don't recognize emerging from a car. Another woman is still sitting in the driver's seat. The girl is about 5'7" and very skinny, with a wirey build that still seems very athletic, and she walks with a confident stride. Her brown hair is short and wavy, hanging down loosely around her head. She smiles at you, showing freckled cheeks. She's about twenty feet away. And suddenly you hear a voice in your head. **Please don't be afraid. We mean you no harm.** She speaks out loud, saying, "Hi, I'm Kim." And you hear her voice in your head again: **You spoke with one of my friend's drones this morning, and said you wanted to talk**.