CHAPTER NINE
Two days later, SPLAT, Michael and Kate were back at the Cybercafé. On the way there, Lloyd had reminded everyone that today was the day that they would meet the mysterious 'Plum' and 'Jelly' for the first time. Everyone had been excited, save for the Hyperbrain. Instead, she was intrigued. If the pairing ran a risk of ruining her plans, then they would have to be eradicated, and quickly.
Now, the eight of them were gathered around one of the larger tables, plastic cups of coke in front of them. Michael's watch beeped, signifying the arranged time. The majority of the group's eyes flickered over to the entrance, but after five minutes of no one walking through the doors, attention turned towards another topic.
"Harvey! You've changed your hair!"
The Hyperbrain curled her lip at Kate, replying in a patronising manner. "So glad that you finally noticed. I was tired of sporting the boy band look, so I cut my hair, in order to make my appearance neater."
"You cut your hair yourself?!"
Throwing the girl an irritated glance, the Hyperbrain sneered: "Yes."
Kate seemed affronted, which caught Mandy's attention. The older girl directed a frown onto the Hyperbrain.
"That wasn't very nice, Harvey. Kate was only asking."
Wincing at her fatal mistake, the Hyperbrain forced a gasp, and sputtered: "I am s-sorry, Kate! I did not mean to antagonise you! I changed my hair because I want to look more mature, and I changed my style of clothing to reflect that as well."
Kate glossed over Harvey's earlier spite, and smiled. "It's alright." She eyed up his attire, which consisted of a designer jumper and a pair of tailored trousers, black branded shoes on his feet. "And you certainly look the part."
Beside the Hyperbrain, Ingrid reached over, her hand settling on top of her boyfriend's. She purred:
"You're still fucking handsome though."
Immediately, Lloyd snapped: "Ingrid!"
"What?"
Mandy shook her head in exasperation, then nodded to Michael and Kate. "There's kids here."
Kate and Michael simultaneously raised their eyebrows, saying in unison: "We're not the only kids here."
"Sorry." Mandy winced. "Force of habit."
Lloyd shared a look with Dinah, which caused Ingrid to snap, Ian's laughter cascading in the background.
"Don't give that look at each other! I'm allowed to swear!"
"Yes." Dinah murmured. "But you shouldn't really do it in front of everyone, especially in public."
"Alright, Miss Goody Two Shoes." Ingrid sneered. "But I was only stating the truth."
Dinah simply stared at Ingrid in response. Hastily, the Hyperbrain leapt into action, wanting to draw the attention away from her 'girlfriend' and onto a topic of more importance.
"So… how is our site doing?"
However, no answer was given, as Ian's laughter took centre stage, the tall boy himself doubled over. Amidst the grins and disapproving frowns, the Hyperbrain scowled. The stupid moron was interfering!
Before she could tell him to be quiet, a new voice piped up from a few metres away from the table.
"What's so funny?"
The eight of them stared at the source of the voice, only to find two young children, slightly younger than Michael and Kate. The girl, who had been the questioner, was short, and wore a baggy shirt and denim knee-length shorts. Her auburn hair was loose and dead straight. She wore battered hiking boots on her feet, and around her wrist, was a multi-coloured bracelet.
Next to her was a boy. His hair colour was auburn as well, suggesting to SPLAT, Michael and Kate that the two children were related in some way. Like the girl, the boy had a round face, but he had a small scar on the underside of his chin. His clothes consisted of a long sleeved shirt and a thin pair of trousers, his own set of battered hiking boots on his feet. The boy also had a bracelet looped around his wrist, his one a darker shade compared to the girl's.
The two children shared a look, before both of them piped up:
"Are you guys SPLAT?"
Momentarily stunned, Lloyd blinked, then promptly took charge. "Yes, we are. I'm Lloyd, the Chairman." He pointed his finger at Dinah. "That's Dinah. She's an Orphan, but my parents adopted her a few years ago." After Dinah had greeted them, Lloyd moved onto Michael.
"Michael. He's not part of SPLAT. We've only known him a few weeks, more Dinah's friend than anything, but he's useful."
The two children raised their eyebrows at Lloyd's blunt summary, whilst Michael himself seemed quite disheartened.
"The same with Kate. We met her here when we started coming to the Cybercafé, which was a month back. She's a total computer whiz."
Kate grinned, and waved at the two strangers.
Pointing at Mandy, Lloyd said: "As well as me and Di, there are four other members of SPLAT. This is Mandy. She's the 'Mother Hen', and the peacemaker of the group."
Mandy scoffed. "Don't underestimate me, Mr Chairman."
Ian's laughter, once again, attracted everyone's attention. "This is Ian. As you can tell, he's the resident joker."
The two children grinned at this, causing Ian to pull a face at them. As they giggled, the Hyperbrain sighed and rolled her eyes. Unfortunately, this caught Lloyd's eye.
Scoffing, Lloyd waved at the Hyperbrain. "Meet Harvey, my little brother. He's my biological sibling. It goes me, Dinah, Harvey. I don't know why he's being so dramatic today. He never usually is."
The Hyperbrain sneered, forgetting that her behaviour was uncharacteristic for her vessel. She was distracted by Ingrid, who moved her chair over and cuddled up to her 'Harv-Harv'.
"And lastly, that's Ingrid. She's the youngest member of SPLAT-"
"But by no means, the thickest!"
"Yes, thank you, Ingrid." Lloyd lowered his voice. "She can be… feisty…"
"Oi!"
"Oh yes, and her and Harvey are in a relationship, have been for about a year and a half now."
The two children smiled at the couple, the girl piping up: "Congratulations, Ingrid and Harvey!"
Ingrid smiled happily, whereas the Hyperbrain curled her lip at the children, as they announced:
"Even though you've probably guessed already, we're Plum and Jelly." The boy pointed to himself. "I'm Plum." He nodded to the girl. "That's Jelly."
"You're Plum and Jelly?!" Ian asked in astonishment.
'Fool.' The Hyperbrain hissed in her mind.
Plum and Jelly nodded, beaming when Dinah voiced a question. "You are related?"
"Twins." They chorused.
Ingrid shuddered, and crept closer to the Hyperbrain, muttering: "I'm not having no Shining Twins, no way."
The Hyperbrain snorted, aghast when the children pulled up chairs for themselves and plopped into them, 'Jelly' addressing the rest of the group.
"So, shall we start from the beginning?"
After discussing everything from the formation of SPLAT up to present day, the children moved off into little groups. Plum and Jelly, still reeling from the amount of momentous information that they had been provided with, sat down at one of the computers with Kate, the latter showing them SPLATweb.
Meanwhile, Lloyd, Mandy, Dinah, Michael and Ian went over to the vending machine to obtain some more drinks, a quiet discussion brewing up between them.
The Hyperbrain found herself being dragged over to where Plum, Jelly and Kate were seated at, by Ingrid. The Hyperbrain huffed as Jelly spoke up.
"Harvey, Kate was just saying that you've recently changed your hair cut and style of clothes."
'So precocious…. Pathetic brats.'
"Yes, I recently have." The Hyperbrain replied stiffly, her body tense.
Jelly nodded, her brother asking: "Are you Immune to hypnotism then?"
"Of course." The Hyperbrain looked down at them, and snapped: "I am strong-minded, not like the rest of the fools at St Champions, who were susceptible."
"Isn't Dinah susceptible?"
Suddenly, the Hyperbrain loomed over the trio, hissing: "Do not undermine me, fools. I am aware that my… sister is susceptible."
"So why did you-"
"Shut your mouth… please." Ingrid advised Jelly, pulling her boyfriend away from the trio and over to the corner. Although she would usually leave out the 'please', she had only said it to keep on civil terms with the recent additions. Now, she had to deal with Harvey's weird behaviour.
As Kate, Plum and Jelly watched from afar, Ingrid looked her boyfriend dead in the eye, and whispered:
"What's wrong?"
The Hyperbrain shook her head in exasperation. "Nothing."
In reality, she was kicking herself. Her abilities were sub-par at best, as even though she was superior to all of the detestable humans around her, she realised that she needed to work on her behaviour. She was clued up on her vessel, but her current behaviour was so uncharacteristic of Harvey Hunter, that she was drawing negative attention to herself!
Attempting to regain control, the Hyperbrain was not prepared for the advances of her 'girlfriend.'
Ingrid smiled up at the Hyperbrain, murmuring: "I meant what I said earlier. You do look so handsome."
The Hyperbrain forced a smile. "Well… you're very pretty yourself."
A slow brush spread across Ingrid's cheeks at the compliment. The Hyperbrain loathed flirting, but she had to pretend to be Harvey, no matter what. As Ingrid continued to gaze up at her, the Hyperbrain suddenly got an idea. In order to entice Ingrid more, and influence her into thinking that she really was the girl's boyfriend, the Hyperbrain decided to tell Ingrid about her little sordid secret.
Smiling down at Ingrid, the Hyperbrain whispered:
"The other day…. I was in my bedroom, and I was… bored. So… I… pleasured myself."
Ingrid's eyes lit up, an excited whisper slipping out of her mouth. "You serious?"
The Hyperbrain nodded. "I know that I never mentioned wanting to do something like that, but… Oh, Ingrid, it was…. Glorious."
The Hyperbrain could feel herself getting hard just remembering the experience, and she smirked as Ingrid bit her lip suggestively, eyes half-lidded in lust.
The Hyperbrain forced out a squeak when Ingrid slammed her hands onto her boyfriend's backside, caressing the covered flesh gently. The Hyperbrain moaned, her moans heightening upon feeling a warm hand cup the aroused flesh.
Putting her mouth to the Hyperbrain's ear, Ingrid purred: "That turns me on… Let me reward you…"
She pulled back slightly, only to press her lips against her boyfriend's mouth. As Ingrid closed her eyes, the Hyperbrain's own ones widened. The kiss was not providing her any further stimulation, meaning that the action was pointless.
Her erection decreased, and the Hyperbrain fitted in her mind as the kiss showed no sign of stopping. Fortunately for the Hyperbrain, thirty seconds later, Ingrid pulled away abruptly, eyes flying open.
She panted deeply, sputtering: "W-W-Wow, you didn't e-even have an a-asthma attack!"
The Hyperbrain laughed stiffly. "Yes. It must have given me an off day."
Giggling, Ingrid beamed up at the Hyperbrain. "H-How about a date? Soon? At a restaurant?"
At these words, the Hyperbrain found herself utterly dreading the upcoming date, but understood that to attempt to get out of it, was a death wish. Slowly nodding, the Hyperbrain half-grimaced, half-smiled.
"Lovely."
