12. Girls' Day

"Ginormica! Visiting time!"

Susan looked over as the main door opened and Monger's jeep drove in, with Amy in the passenger seat.

"Hey, Amy," Susan said. "Thanks, General."

"Only half an hour today, Ginormica," Monger told her.

"Huh? Why? What's wrong?"

"Her parents won't let her visit unsupervised, so I have to be here," he told her. "You'll have to accept that. And I have a meeting at sixteen hundred hours, so you have until ten to the hour."

"Hey, it's better than nothing," Amy said, bounding up the stairs to the living platform. "My mother wasn't going to let me come at all. I told her she shouldn't believe the news. They're all liars."

"They are in this case," Susan said, fuming quietly. "I did damn well save the town."

Amy nodded. "The General explained that to my mother. That's why I was able to come."

Susan looked across at Monger, and saluted, her face solemn. "Thank you, General. For everything."

Monger gave her a quick salute back. "Make the most of your time. I'm going to catch up on some paperwork."

"So how's things?" Susan asked, leaning sideways on her sofa to get her head at eye level with Amy.

"Oh, you know, pretty good," Amy said. "I think I might—oh my God! What's that! Help!"

Amy jumped up and hid behind the table as Renee drifted over, her form translucent and quickly vanishing as Amy screamed and hid.

"Amy!" Susan called. "It's all right! This is Renee! Don't worry!"

"You sure?" Amy called.

"Yes," Susan replied firmly. "Come out, Amy. Renee's won't hurt you."

"Great," Renee said, reappearing in a chill. "No wonder I have to live here. Look, kid, I'm not going to hurt you. I couldn't hurt you if I wanted to." She glided across to the table, then walked straight through it to where Amy was still crouching, her eyes wide. Renee bent down, her head vanishing under the table top, and gave Amy a lopsided smile. "See? I'm just a ghost."

"A gh-gh-ghost?" Amy stammered, backing away from Renee, out from under the table. She looked up at Susan, her face full of questions.

"Yes, she's a ghost, Amy. Don't be afraid."

"I'm not afraid!" Amy quickly said. "Just a little… uh... surprised."

"You and me both," Renee said. "You got an impressive scream, kid."

"So… how'd... how'd she get like….?" Amy asked, looking over at the ghost girl from behind the giantess's arm.

"Her name's Renee," Susan explained. "And she was killed by the aliens when they mutated the pumpkins. Somehow that made her a ghost. She's got no family left, so she lives with us now."

"With the rest of the freaks," Renee commented dryly. "So what are you? A werewolf or something?"

"Amy's human," Susan said. "She lives on the base. Or under it, at the moment," she added after a brief pause. "They're still in emergency housing."

"A normal kid, eh?" Renee said. "I'd offer to shake hands, but… ghost here." She held her arms up, waggling her fingers. "Can't touch anything."

"I'm… uh, I... My name's Amy. Nice to meet you, er, Renee. I'm... I'm sorry about your, er, death…."

Renee shrugged. "It's a minor inconvenience. At least now that the Doc's finished my voice app."

"Voice app?"

"So she can use her iPad and stuff without being able to touch them," Susan explained. "It's not that easy—his first attempt ending up launching half the surface-to-air missiles in the base."

"Oh," Amy said, giggling. "So that's what all those alarms were about the other day."

"Yeah," Susan grinned. "Luckily they weren't armed or programmed, so they just went straight up and came straight down again. And Bob and Insecto managed to catch them. Monger was pretty mad, though. Still, lucky no one got hurt."

"Ah, good afternoon, my dear Amy," Cockroach said, coming down the steps from his lab. "Tea? Cocoa?"

"Hi, Doc," Amy said. "Cocoa, please."

"Of course. I'm sorry you can't have anything, Renee," he added to the ghostly girl as he ordered the drinks. "However, I do have some interesting progress on that front."

"What, food I can actually eat?"

Cockroach glanced at his tablet. "Some very interesting possibilities, without a doubt," he said. "In fact, I am about to run an experiment on how you might be able to eat, after a fashion."

"But I thought I didn't need to eat," Renee said. "I mean, I want to, I really do, but I'm not hungry or anything."

"Yeah, isn't that like kinda low priority?" Susan asked. "I thought you were working on just why she's a ghost."

"It's all part of understanding her nature, my dear," Cockroach said. "In fact, would you all like to come up to my lab, and see what's on the slab?"

"Sure," Renee said with a shrug.

"Come to think of it, I smell something," Amy added as she followed the other two up the steps. "Oh, yum! Doughnuts!"

"Not for you my dear, I'm afraid," Cockroach said, holding up a hand as he adjusted a piece of equipment. Leaning over the lab area, Susan could see that Cockroach had placed a doughnut in the centre of a fireproof slab.

"Please stand clear, girls," Cockroach said, giving a loud, insane cackle as he took a strange device made from a desk chair seat frame, random wiring, parts from a disused lavatory cistern, and six blowtorches, and suddenly blasted the pastry with flames.

"The hell? What are you doing?" Renee gasped as the doughnut was reduced to ashes in a few seconds, leaving behind an acrid smell of burned sugar.

"There, try that," Cockroach said.

"Try what?" Amy asked, looking at the burnt remains and coughing.

"You want her to eat ashes?" Susan asked, clearing away the smoke with a powerful wave from her five-foot hand.

"Not at all," Cockroach said, a slightly smug smile on his face.

"What the hell…." Renee said slowly. "How on earth did you do that?"

"Do what?" Amy asked. "It's just burnt doughnut. What a waste. There's nothing but ashes now."

"No… there's not," Renee said. She stretched out her hand and closed her fingers together just above the pile of ashes. To Susan's astonishment, she saw a pale blue-white, gently glowing torus become visible between the ghost's fingers. Renee picked the torus up, and lifted it to her face.

"Oh, it smells so good," she said with a sigh. Then she took a bite, and Susan realised that the torus was, somehow, the doughnut. "Oh my God, I have missed this," the ghost exclaimed. "Yum! I mean, it's a little bland, but still, yum!"

"How… how in the world…?" Susan asked.

"A hint I picked up in reading old religious texts," Cockroach said, smiling up at her. "Thousands of years ago, sacrifices were made to the gods in the form of burnt offerings. It occurred to me that perhaps some residue, some echo, of the offering was left behind when this happened, and that was the actual meaning of the sacrifice. In essence, it's one of those 'stone tape' ghosts we talked about before. The residual charge or energy of the item, if you like. It requires very intense heat, applied quickly and evenly, and complete incineration. But the end result is that Renee can now eat pretty much whatever she likes. Oh, and they're calorie-free, of course," he added with a light chuckle.

"Any more?" Renee asked.

"Uh, yes, I suppose," Cockroach said, opening a box of doughnuts.

"Woah! What the hell is that stink? Something smells burnt. You been smoking again?" Link asked, ambling over. He spotted the doughnuts. "Hey, Doc, did you swipe those from the officers' mess? Monger was livid when he found they were gone. Better not let him catch you with them."

"I shall ensure he does not," Cockroach said.

"Can I help you dispose of the evidence?" Amy asked, a sly smile on her face.

"Be my guest, my dear," Cockroach said, with a slight bow as Amy quickly took some strawberry doughnuts.

"Oh, wait, what about mine?" Renee asked. "I like chocolate ones."

"I am sure we can oblige, my—Renee," Cockroach said, extracting three from the box and placing them on the slab. He then gave another manic cackle before reducing them into ash. Renee reached out for the ghosts of the food, and Amy took the rest.

"Come on, the drinks will be ready," Amy told the ghost, and hurried down the steps.

"Thanks for that, Jacques," Susan said, giving him a caress with her fingertips. "This should make mealtimes a little less hard for her. You're a genius, you know that?"

"I do, actually," he said, giving her a quick smile. "And I couldn't have her sitting alone in her room while we enjoyed our meals together, after all."

"I'm just glad she's starting to settle in," Susan noted, glancing down at the two younger girls. Renee was munching happily on her spectral confectionary, while Amy was eating her more solid version. "She's slowly opening up, at least."

"Entirely thanks to you, my dear," Cockroach said.

"I haven't really done that much," Susan told him. "There's still this gloomy air about her; she's still pretty negative—I mean, I understand why and all; I'd be pretty negative too, but none of us can really relate. None of us have ever died, or lost our families like that. I feel like there's really very little I can do."

"I beg to differ, my dear. You're doing everything you need to. You're always there for her, comforting her, making her feel welcome, offering your friendship, helping her come to terms with her monsterhood and retaining her humanity."

Susan bent down and looked at Cockroach, a tear in her eye. "Just as you did for me. Just as you were—as you are—always there for me."

Cockroach gazed into Susan's big blue irises, his antenna twitching. Then he looked away, fiddling with something on his desk. "I, er, think our drinks are getting cold."

"Yeah, I guess. And If Link's in mine again I'll throw him even harder," Susan joked, taking her seat.

"Right, listen up, monsters!"

Susan looked up as Monger's amplified voice boomed across the common room, quickly followed by the cyborg general himself. He landed on the living platform near the command centre panel, which was rising from the floor.

"What is it, General?" Cockroach asked, putting down his tea.

"We have reports of a possible alien encounter," the general announced. "And you're not going to be surprised where!"

"Modesto?" Susan gasped. "Not again!"

"Uh, no, not Modesto," Monger said. "New Orleans. Strange place down there, what with their voodoos and their bayous. Always figured it was barely real anyway."

"Well, at least it's not Modesto, for once," Susan said with a slight smile. "What's going on, sir?"

"More un-gnomes?" Bob asked.

"That's 'unknowns," Cockroach told him.

"Numerous sightings of small grey-skinned humanoids, with possible UFO activity," Monger said. "And it ain't Mardi Gras yet! So we're going in and we're going to stop this!"

"Splendid! Can we use my new probe?" Cockroach asked, his eyes glinting.

"Maybe!" Monger told him. "Now let me carry on with the briefing!"

"This is great," Susan said. "I'd always wanted to go to New Orleans. When do we leave?"

Monger pursed his lips. "Er, well, there's a slight problem…. I'm afraid that's not the plan."

"What, we aren't going to stop these aliens?"

"Ah, no, no, we are…. But you aren't," Monger finished. "I'm sorry. I've been ordered to leave you off the team this time."

"Leave me off…" Susan stammered. She wasn't sure she had heard him correctly.

"Leave her off? You must be mad!" Link gasped.

"Leave me mad? You must be off!" Bob cried. "No! I want to go with you guys! I'm part of the team! Don't leave me here!"

"Monger, what is the meaning of this?" Cockroach hissed. "You can't leave Susan behind! She's the most important member of the team!"

"Oi!" Link interjected, but was ignored.

"I'm sorry, Ginormica," Monger said. "These orders come from the Pentagon. No deployment of Ginormica pending review of her role in Monster Force."

The small group erupted in chaos, with Link, Cockroach, and Bob all shouting loudly to be heard and the general trying to shout them down. But Susan just sat there, letting the tears trickle down her cheeks unchecked.

"My dear, are you all right?" Cockroach asked, finally noticing.

Susan nodded. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," she said glumly. "I mean, after what everyone was saying after Modesto. I deserve this. I mean, I did hurt and kill people in Vegas."

"Don't you get mopey on me, soldier," Monger called, flying up in front of her face. "I've already sent a strongly-worded protest to the Joint Chiefs. This'll get sorted out soon. So stop blubbing!"

Susan sighed. "Yes, sir. Permission to return to my cell, sir?"

Monger was about to say something, but stopped as Cockroach held up his hand, shaking his head. The general rubbed the back of his neck, then nodded.

"Very well. But I won't have you moaning in self-pity. You still have responsibilities!"

"Sir?"

"Miss Geist is still young," Monger told her. "She isn't a member of the Monster Force either, so she won't be going. Since you're staying behind, you can look after her."

"Okay, yeah, I could do that," Susan said, looking a bit happier. "We could have a girls' day, just the two of us. Er, how long will you be away, sir?"

"Two nights at this stage," Monger told her. "We move out in half an hour, monsters!"

"Uh, okay, I guess," Link said. "Uh, see ya, Giny…."

"Yeah, take care," Susan said, giving a half-hearted wave.

"I do so wish you were coming with us, my dear," Cockroach said.

Susan smiled at him, then bent down and gave him a gentle kiss. "Just make sure you come back safe and sound," she whispered.

"I promise," he said.

"And I'll be here waiting," Bob said happily.

"No, Bob, that's Susan's line. You're coming with us," Cockroach explained.

"Fine. Then I'll really miss you, my love," Bob called out.

"And that's my line," Cockroach said as Susan smiled at him.

"Never mind whose damn line it is!" Monger shouted. "Get moving!"

Doing her best look positive, Susan stood and saluted as the other monsters headed off. Once they had gone, however, she ran to her room, her feet thumping loudly on the floor, and threw herself on her bed. The strong bed groaned under the sudden impact of her massive weight, but held.

"Hey." A sudden chill told Susan the young ghost had just materialized in her room.

"Hey yourself," Susan replied dully. "You heard?"

"So…. You're staying here? That's actually, uh, good. You know…. I mean, yeah, it would be kinda dull here with no one to talk to for two days."

"Yeah, I know," Susan said, turning over and putting her hands behind her head. "I guess I'd hate to be stuck here alone. I suppose I don't mind staying behind if I can hang out with you. It's not even not being able to get out. I mean, I'd love to, of course, but I just… I just don't like the hatred."

"The media?"

Susan sat up and folded her arms around her knees, resting her chin on them. "No. It's not just the media. I mean, I know they hate me, and I'm sorta used to it. It's the Pentagon." She shook her head. "I didn't think they'd be so…."

"So lame?" Renee asked. "Yeah, well, government's always lame. That's what Dad always said. He always said we shouldn't rely on them any more than we could help."

"I have to rely on them," Susan said. "I can't survive on my own, out there."

"Sure you could," Renee said. "I'm sure there's something you could do. You're so big and strong, I mean. Loads of people would want to give you work."

"Giant for Hire?" Susan asked with a bitter laugh. "Great for parties! Also helps with moving heavy objects!" She shook her head. "What, I should work on construction sites as a labourer? A crane? Forget it. No, this is where I have to be. The only place where I can really make use of my, er, abilities. Sometimes it sucks, but it's the only place I can really ever call home. That's a lesson I learned the hard way."

There was a short silence. "I suppose that applies to me, too, now," Renee said.

"Well, you don't need food or clothing," Susan said. "I don't suppose you technically need housing either."

Renee looked at her, and shivered. "I don't think I could handle that," she said. "Just drifting around, never having a home. I guess I'm… I'm glad I decided to come here. I… I don't think I could have survived alone, out there, with no one…."

Susan smiled. "I'm really glad you did too. I know I hate to be alone. Especially after my time in the desert."

There was a knock on the door, startling Susan.

"Susan, my dear?" came an elegant voice.

"Come in Jacques," Susan called, smiling as she saw the slim figure of the scientist enter the smaller door.

Cockroach looked up at her, his eyes glistening in the light. "I've, er, come to say, ah, goodbye. I mean, that is to say, just popping off for a bit, you know. I'll be back soon. In the meantime, ah…."

"In the meantime Renee and I are going to have some girl-bonding time," Susan said firmly. She was determined not to let Cockroach know how upset she really was. "Come here a minute."

She held out her hand, and let Cockroach climb on before bringing him up to her face. She smiled, stroking his smooth head with a delicate finger, then kissed him gently.

"Take care," she whispered.

He nodded. "I will. And you take care of yourself too."

"Don't you worry about her," Renee said. "I'll be here to look after her."

"I think that's Susan's line," Cockroach said as he was lowered again. "Hmm. I wonder, are ghosts also mildly telepathic?"

Susan laughed. "No, she's not doing a Bob. Now get going, before Monger starts shouting. Again."

She gave him a big smile as Cockroach waved quickly then ducked out the door. Then once it was shut she slumped down on the bed again.

"It's only two nights," Renee told her.

"Yeah, I know. I've only been separated from him once since I got here," Susan said quietly. "When I was alone in the desert, thinking I had killed him. That was horrible. So I kinda like knowing he's right there, safe…."

"Alive," Renee added. "Yeah, must be nice to be alive."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I wish there was some way…." Susan started.

"There isn't," Renee said bluntly. "I'm stuck like this. Forget I said anything. Sucks that you can't go, though."

"I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised," Susan said. "I mean, they really hate me, out there. You saw all the news shows. Even after I saved all those kids in Modesto, they still made me out to be the bad guy. Nobody cares about that—it's all about the dangerous monster! Fear and panic! You know, I bet that that's why the government guy was here—he wanted to see me for himself, before he grounded me! It was never about hearing my side of the story at all! And now I've been kicked off, sidelined, grounded!" Susan slammed her fist into the steel-lined wall, denting it.

"Hey, chill out big girl," Renee said. "Seriously!"

"Sorry," Susan said quickly, glancing at the dent and biting her lip. "I shouldn't get so mad. At least I didn't go right through this time."

"Have you?" Renee gasped, looking at the thick steel plate.

"A while back I got pretty mad at Derek for… reasons, and…. Yeah, I ripped the steel plating off like it was old wallpaper."

Renee whistled. "Guess I should be glad you literally can't touch me. I mean, not to say that you'd ever want to hurt me," she quickly added, seeing the stricken expression on the giantess's face. "Sorry, it was just a joke. I know you wouldn't."

"Yeah, I know," Susan said, giving Renee a quick smile. But inside she was feeling as if someone had winded her. Her size and strength made her anger dangerous, frightening. She had already unleashed it before, with devastating results. Susan took a deep breath, and tried to tell herself to control her emotions better, find that spot in the calm blue ocean where she was at peace.


The next morning Susan headed out into the common room, and found it deserted. It was a strange sensation, and she was very glad when Renee drifted out of her room. Cockroach had left a supply of spectral food for the ghost, so they had an enjoyable breakfast together. Renee spent much of the time talking about some music she had downloaded using Cockroach's voice app, which Susan found made a nice distraction from the absence of her other friends.

"So what are we going to do by ourselves here?" Renee asked after Susan had finished her tea. "What's there to do for a giantess too large to fit most places and a ghost who can't touch anything?"

Susan looked over at the pallid child. "Uh…. Is there anything you want to do?"

"I dunno. I just wish I could go outside."

Susan blinked. "Of course you can. Any time you want."

"But…."

"You can. I can't," Susan explained. "I'm still in prison. I don't get out until next year. Apart from official missions, that is. But the others, and you, can go outside whenever you like."

"What's outside, then? It was pretty dark when we arrived, I mean. So I don't really know."

"Nothing really. These secret bases are built in really remote areas that can't really be used for anything else. Just scrubby desert, rocks, and so on." Susan shrugged. "It's pretty scenic, if you don't like trees, I guess. But even Link hasn't been outside for a while, since it started getting colder. And they're still dealing with the remains of the crashed alien ship that's sitting on top of the base. Monger said it'll be months before they finally finish dismantling it."

"What're they going to do with it?"

Susan shrugged. "I think the Panthalassans want to take it back home, or at least the important bits. They're overseeing the dismantling, keeping us poor humans out of sensitive areas. Doc's been barely able to contain his frustration at times."

"So I guess that's off-limits," Renee said. "What about in the base itself? Anything to see?"

"Probably. It's pretty big, and I sure haven't explored it fully."

"So we can go wherever we like in the base?"

"Well, some areas are restricted. This may be our home, but it's still a military site." She looked over at the ghost. "Of course I guess you could just go straight through a locked door."

"And you could just rip it open," Renee countered.

Susan's face fell briefly. "I did that once," she admitted. "I… I found something I never wanted to find. I… I don't want to talk about that," she quickly added to forestall Renee asking anything about Nancy Archer's skeleton. "Come on, we can take a walk around the underground parts of the base, at least. It's actually pretty cool. The whole place is built inside these massive old caverns."

"Yeah, okay, we'll do that," Renee said, floating up to Susan's eye level as the giantess stood up.

Susan glanced over at her, and smiled. "It's nice not having to keep looking down to talk to someone, or worry about stepping on them."

"So, anywhere interesting in this base?" Renee asked as she followed Susan.

"Uhhh…. Wanna see the robot that wrecked the Golden Gate Bridge?" Susan asked.

"That's here?"

"Well, it's mostly here. The Panthalassans removed most of the tech stuff. They said we weren't ready for that yet. So it's mostly just an empty shell."

"Still, might be worth a look," Renee said as the platform Susan was riding started moving sideways, crawling around the side of the massive concrete shaft that housed the monsters section. "I can't get over the size of this place," she breathed as she gazed around the massive chamber. "I never imagined these secret bases were so big."

"They have to be," Susan said. "I mean, you saw Insecto. And they were afraid there'd be even bigger monsters."

"Were there?"

Susan shook her head. "The really big ones were the ones mutated by atom bombs, like Insecto. Doc said that since they stopped above-ground testing there weren't any more. At least that we know of. He thinks the Russians might have had some, but they didn't say."

"Look over there," Renee said, pointing into the gloom. "What's that?"

Susan looked over where Renee was pointing. "I think that's, uh…" She scratched her head. "I don't know, actually. I keep getting confused by this place."

"No sense of direction?"

"Not a great one, no," Susan admitted. "I mean, down here it's a total labyrinth. I think if I wasn't so big I'd be totally lost. I mean, if I could fit down the human-sized corridors. There's a whole heap of them, and I haven't been down them a lot, of course."

"I would imagine," Renee said with a laugh.

"Yeah. Anyway, we're headed towards that section over there," Susan said, pointing as she stepped off one moving platform and onto another, which crossed a bridge that soared above inky blackness.

"What's down there?" Renee asked, glancing beneath them.

"An underground lake, apparently," Susan said. "It's not that far down, but it always gives me the shivers crossing it."

"Yikes. You think there's something in it?" Renee asked.

"No, or well, at least I don't think so," Susan said. "I just don't want to fall in. Oh good, here's the end of the bridge."

They left the platform and headed down a wide corridor that was nearly a hundred feet high. A few electric jeeps and carts were scuttling about, but Susan made sure to give them a wide berth. After a short while they arrived inside the vast chamber where the alien artifacts were stored. This time they were allowed free entry, and no guards challenged them.

"Woah, you defeated that?" Renee gasped, looking at the massive metal beast. "Look at the size of that thing!"

"Well, the others helped," Susan said. "Especially Insecto."

"But it was mostly you," Renee told her. "I couldn't believe it when we saw you on TV. I thought it was an ad for a movie at first."

"Huh? A movie?"

"Well, come on," Renee said, looking up at the huge giantess. "Alien robots, strange monsters? What would you have thought?"

"I guess, yeah," Susan admitted. "Ah, see, that's the head section, where Doc tried to short-circuit the thing's brains."

"And that's the claws?" Renee asked, dropping down to the ground and gliding up to one of the huge metal hands. Even lying isolated on the ground it was massive, a gigantic steel monstrosity. She remembered the video clip the news had shown of Susan holding it open, and shuddered to think of the sheer strength required. Looking closer, she noticed four shallow indentations in the steel, disturbing its smooth polished surface. They were large parallel depressions and ridges, nearly two feet long. Then she felt a chill rush down as her spine as she realized that they were the marks left by Susan's titanic fingers as she held the giant claws apart.

"Renee, are you all right?" she heard Susan call.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she replied.

"Oh, okay. But you kinda went faint and see-through on me just then. I thought something might be wrong."

Renee turned and looked up at the kind, concerned face of the fantastically powerful being whose grip alone could dent steel armour, and managed a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Got any other things here you demolished?"

"Uh, there's that," Susan said, looking a little surprised as she pointed over to a huge bucket wheel.

"Oh, I remember that," Renee said, following the giantess over. "The Romebot excavator thing. The news said you were injured trying to stop it."

Susan nodded. "Yeah, I slipped and got a nasty gash in my arm. The bucket caught my arm and jammed. So I managed to stop it, but by accident."

"That must have hurt," Renee said, looking up at the great hundred-foot wheel with its huge metal buckets.

"Damn right it hurt," Susan said with feeling, rubbing her arm. There wasn't even a scar there now, but she had vivid memories of the blood and the pressure and the pain.

"Let's go somewhere else," Renee said quickly. "Anything else of interest here?"

"Well, apart from the alien things…." Susan tapped her lip with a finger as she thought. "I think there's some weapons research labs and stuff, but they're all way top secret. I mean, this base isn't just for housing monsters and aliens. There's a lot of really advanced stuff being done as well."

"Sort of like Area 51?"

Susan smiled. "Yeah, pretty much. Only Area 51 is for planes and all that. It's run by the Air Force. Area 52 is Army-run, so we have some kick-arse tanks and stuff. I know because once the general got me to try and break some samples of this carbon nanotube armour they've been testing."

"And could you?" Renee asked.

"It snapped like dry toast," Susan said with a laugh. "You should have seen the faces of the scientists developing it. I thought they were going to wet themselves!"

"So just how strong are you?" Renee asked. "Seriously?"

"Pretty strong," Susan admitted. "Okay, we need to head out that way. Come on!" She didn't really feel like discussing her strength too much. It always reminded her of the harm it had caused when she had lost control. And the harm she still could cause if she ever lost control again. She could never let that happen again.

.


NOTES:

First up, apologies for the delay. I've been very busy with Real Life lately, and I didn't realise it had been two whole weeks. It's a slightly longer chapter to make up for that, over 5,000 words.

"Come up to the lab…and see what's on the slab" is from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Always wanted to incorporate that into something….

The idea about burnt offerings and it being a way for ghosts to eat is just something I came up with, based on the idea that such offerings are more about the essence of the item rather than the item itself. So I used complete physical disintegration to turn it into "ghost" food. Also I wanted to have Renee able to be more social.

I recently realised I have my dates all wrong. I had assumed there was no specific time of year that Susan got married, so chose June as a classic "June bride" thing. Then I realised there was a huge hint: in his weather broadcast on the wedding morning, Derek refers to the temperature as being 75°F. And if you check the climate data for Modesto, you'll see that June is far too hot—Modesto gets surprisingly hot over summer. In fact, 75°F is the average high for April. I'm not sure if I'm going to actually change all the dates I've mentioned in the previous story (things like the Mutant Pumpkins can't change of course), as that would mean re-uploading the old chapters, but it's something I might try and fudge a bit more in the future. Perhaps.

To Dlh024:

A: A Mary Sue that actually undergoes character growth is a rare beast, as growth implies she needs to change, implying she wasn't perfect to begin with. I'm sure there might be some out there, but they're not common.

B: I think you have a slightly incorrect understanding of the Law of Conservation of Energy. The "energy" used to make up our consciousness comes from the same source all our energy does: the calories we consume. Any unused energy is then recycled (usually as matter) into the earth or wherever when we die. What I'm saying is that there's no mystical "energy of consciousness" out there.

[Posted 3/3/14]