AU: Chicago 1926

[aeons_crackshot]

Eventually, the jungle was left behind and the FreakAngels and the members of the Æon Society made their way to Æon's headquarters in Chicago.

The headquarters looks, to the casual observer, much like the home of someone who is very well to do. It is, of course. Maxwell Anderson Mercer is a very wealthy man, philanthropist or no, after all. It's only when you look deeper and realize how solidly built the place is and that certain extra security measures are in place that it begins to reveal itself for what it is.

Namely, the home base of people who, not to put too fine a point on it, quite a lot of dangerous people want dead.

There is an island of calm in the hustle and bustle, the Archives. Every piece of research, every note, every adventure of the Society's members is in here...somewhere.

Comments

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle thinks about this for a moment. "That makes sense, the not understanding bit."

Then she winces at the antisocial bit. She knows full well the amount of deception that can be involved in even a normal conversation. "I expect you would have been."

"All the little lies that people use...." Emotional, mental, verbal, all laid bare.

[leadinghome]

"What makes it worse is that I am attuned to emotions first: I can tell someone is lying, why they think a lie is better. But seeing what the truth is, takes effort, and feels wrong to look."

[aeons_crackshot]

"Interesting. I don't think we have anyone that picks up on emotions first," Annabelle says thoughtfully.

She nods in agreement about the thoughts. "That makes sense, from what I've heard from the other psychics I've met."

"I'm very glad my Inspiration didn't manifest that way," she says with a small smile, "no offense intended."

[leadinghome]

"No offense taken." Connor smiles a bit. "Things got better after we met each other."

[aeons_crackshot]

"I'm glad," Annabelle says with a smile.

"Being with people who understand helps," she adds, reminiscing.

[leadinghome]

"Thing is, we did not understand all that much. We figure out quick that whatever happened to one, happened to all, we all had the same basic package and a few specialties."

"Mine are emotions and memories related to emotions. You can guess I don't use that much."

[aeons_crackshot]

"No, I would imagine not," Annabelle says with a shake of her head.

"We might be able to help you with the understanding, at least a little," she adds.

"Your abilities seem a lot like ours in many ways."

[leadinghome]

"How come?" Connor himself does not see that much similarity, between the Package and most of Aeon's powers.

[aeons_crackshot]

"I don't think we have anyone with all of your abilities, but we have people who are telekinetic or telepathic, or who can do other things, like create fire or heal."

"We can't combine our strength, though, so far as I know." Of course, there are a lot more than 12 Inspired in the world.

[leadinghome]

"And it is very natural for us, to connect and lend each other energy. It makes everything easier, and usually we have more control."

Unless they are very angry, because then it ends with a hole in time.

[aeons_crackshot]

And space, but who's counting?

"Huh," Annabelle says, impressed. "I wish we could do that." It would have made a lot of things easier.

"Oh, I bet that was what your friends KK and Caz were discussing with Dixon this morning!" How much "discussing" is actually happening when KK is present and in the presence of alcohol is debatable. Dixon drinks like a fish and is amiable enough to share, after all.

[leadinghome]

"You mean they were drinking and bragging about the things they build?" Connor grins. "All should go well unless Caz gets drunk enough to mention KK's name."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle laughs, "More or less. I'm almost afraid of what the three of them would build if they worked together."

"Oh? Why's that?"

[leadinghome]

Connor looks around, and speaks in a low voice, as if expecting KK to jump out of somewhere. "Kolfinnia Kokokoho Titching."

[aeons_crackshot]

He has well developed survival instincts where KK is concerned.

Annabelle winces at the name. "I think that name ought to have counted as abuse. What the Hell were they thinking?"

[leadinghome]

"No idea. It's some mix of Nordic language with Japanese, supposed to mean something special... Kirk never finished telling us, because KK jumped for his neck."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle does not put a hand over her mouth to suppress laughter, it's all in your imagination. That's her story and she's sticking to it.

"I can imagine," she says at last. "He knew her growing up, then?"

[leadinghome]

"Yeah, they lived close. If you ever decide you need to make KK go crazy rage, call her Finny Koko, and run for your life."

[aeons_crackshot]

"I think I'll pass on that," Annabelle says with a grin. "I have enough close calls at is."

She's 17 and she's already nearly died twice, and that's not counting all the other incidents of grievous bodily harm.

[leadinghome]

He is 17, and was almost killed more than twice. Just he has less grievous bodily harm to speak of.

[aeons_crackshot]

Well, by "nearly" we mean "Had one foot in death's doorstep".

Still, they have something in common. Yay?

At that point, a bespectacled young man in a suit comes around the corner with a lost and confused expression.

He looks at Connor briefly, but most of his attention is taken up by Annabelle.

To an empath, or someone with a lot more people skills than Annabelle possesses, a lot of his internal indecision is plain to see.

He recognizes her from pictures in the paper, you see, and he's torn between "Damn, she's hot" and being horribly, horribly intimidated.

"Er...I don't s..s.suppose you know wh.. where the in..information on the Death Zeppelins is?" He finally stammers out.

Annabelle is entirely oblivious to the internal conflict. "Sure," she says with a smile. "Hang a left at the spear, go down two rows and take a right at the giant stone head."

The reporter stammers his thanks and wanders off in the appropriate direction before he can embarrass himself any further.

[leadinghome]

"You have fans." Connor could not have missed the conflicting emotions, those always flare high.

[aeons_crackshot]

Connor is the recipient of a confused expression. She hasn't added two and two and come up with four, so to speak.

[leadinghome]

"He finds you very attractive." So does Connor, but he is not mentioning it right now.

And attractive is the polite word for it.

[aeons_crackshot]

Lust, ensuring the continuation of the species since the dawn of time.

"Huh. Well, I suppose that's not too surprising." Annabelle knows she's pretty, she just doesn't feel the need to dwell on it at all.

"Poor fellow, I wonder if the stammer is why he's in journalism. You can't stammer with a typewriter..."

She hasn't made the connection between the attraction and the stuttering, as it's rather foreign to her own nature. Annabelle tends to confront things head on and metaphorical guns blazing, most of the time.