Chapter 12

Sunday 23 May 2010

Lauren's father was not happy with her when he came to pick her and Kyla up. However, his anger soon went away by virtue of Kyla's cheerfulness and innocence. After only five minutes in her company, he had already agreed to let Kyla live with them, to the obvious joy of the little girl. Sophie, who had also come along, was also quickly swept up by Kyla's boundless enthusiasm and also didn't object to having her live with them. Come to think of it, even before Lauren triggered, Sophie had gotten along great with all her younger siblings and young children in general. Lauren was the only one who she was a bitch to, which might have come to be due to Lauren being nasty to her when she first came to live with them.

Lauren's father and stepmom had proceeded to sign the required fake adoption paperwork for Kyla, which would within a week be followed by identity papers that would 'prove' that Kyla was a cousin whose parents died in a car crash. Afterwards, Kyla would also begin to attend Arcadia Elementary, which already had the necessary infrastructure to help a ward as Vista went there until last summer. Somehow, even though she had no memories regarding her personal life, Kyla still had all the knowledge a normal 2nd grader should have, including even some knowledge of America and Brockton Bay itself. Panacea had been flabbergasted when she observed Kyla's brain, as it didn't look like that of any other amnesiac. There was absolutely no sign of any damage at all. That at least put Lauren's concerns to rest about Kyla being somehow ripped out of another dimension and having her memories manipulated.

"You know, Aisha tried to call us in the middle of the night. She was worried you might have been hurt or killed by the gangs. She laughed when I told her the truth, that you were put into MS quarantine for mastering the whole wards team."

Oh shit. Lauren had totally forgotten to text Aisha about what's happening. Then again, she didn't really have an opportunity between joining the wards, mastering the wards, being bored in MS quarantine, and accidently creating Kyla.

Lauren quickly opened her cellphone and saw what she feared. A large number of texts that started innocently, but got progressively more worried, ending with 'Lauren, please be okay! I'm calling your father now!'. Lauren felt really guilty about this, and immediately texted her back:

'I'm sorry Aisha! I just got out the PRT building. Weird things continued to happen there. So I'm a ward now, and I have a new sister.'

When Lauren came home, she was both hungry and thirsty. To remedy this, she poured some juice and made some sandwiches for both her and Kyla, while using a forcefield clone to show Kyla around her home.

As Lauren drank her juice, it felt like it tasted a tad different from usual, although not worse. Figuring the company made a small change to the recipe, Lauren shrugged and continued drinking.

A few minutes later, Lauren started to feel really tired. The last two days likely took a large toll on her energy and came to bite her in the back now. She dismissed her clones and told her father and Kyla that she was going to take an afternoon nap. Kyla wasn't happy with that at first, but was quickly distracted by Sophie who brought in some of Tia's and William's toys.

After Lauren went to sleep, she had a weird dream involving portals and woman with old fahsioned hats.

When Lauren woke up just before dinner, she felt famished, thirsty, but oddly satisfied. She quickly checked her texts, was disappointed to see no reply from Aisha, and went downstairs to stop her stomach from protesting.

At dinner Lauren remembered something important. She had gotten three autographs from Panacea when she came to inspect Kyla. One was for her, one for Kyla, who wanted one the moment she saw Lauren asking Panacea for one, and the third was to make sure her own didn't get stolen.

"Cameron, I have something for you. Here, an autograph from Panacea!"

Cameron grabbed the autograph, quickly said "Thank you, Lauren!", and immediately ran to his room, ignoring that he hadn't finished eating yet. Once he put it in his collector's album, he came back downstairs.

During his cape obsession phase, Cameron had started collecting autographs from parahumans. Even though his obsession ended, he still continued adding autographs to his collection. With help from dad and his PRT connections, he had somehow managed to collect more than 100 autographs. These included the complete Ward and Protectorate teams of Brockton Bay, Boston and New York, excepting new additions from the last few months. He even somehow managed to convince dad to get an autograph of Über, Leet and Mush while they were in PRT custody, which still baffled Lauren to this day. Unfortunately, as Panacea didn't do any signings and also didn't go on any publicity patrols like her sister, Cameron hadn't gotten her signature until today.

"Cameron, you know that you're not supposed to leave the table until you're finished eating. As punishment, you can clear the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher."

Cameron whined a bit, but relented as he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere.

Monday 24 May 2010

Lauren woke up feeling warmer than normal, and not because of her stupid tropical power. No, there was another body in bed with her. Specifically, a seven year old girl who should have been lying on the matrass on the ground. However, Kyla was sleeping so peacefully, that Lauren didn't want to move in fear of waking her up. Instead, she summoned a forcefield clone that grabbed a book and started reading at her desk.

Lauren had thought Kyla would be sleeping in William's room, but that thought was quickly put down by both Kyla and her parents. Lauren's father stated that "If you create a new sister, than you will be the one sharing your stuff with her", and Kyla was just happy to sleep in the same room as Lauren.

Half an hour later, Kyla was still sleeping, and Lauren was getting a bit bored. So she decided to just grab some powers.

Power type: Blaster
Threat level: 4
Duration: 6 minutes
Synchronization: 89%
Wiki article: Kishoge railway station

Power: Host can shoot a locomotive from their hands. It can only travel over the ground in a straight line and disappears after it inevitably crashes into something. It travels at about 80 mph. Host can only have one locomotive out at any time.

Power type: Stranger
Threat level: 1
Duration: 36 minutes
Synchronization: 53%
Wiki article: List of Bristol City F.C. seasons

Power: When Host is asked for documentation of any kind, she can show any kind of paper, document or book and it will appear to the observer to be the correct documentation. This allows host to fake identities, clearances she doesn't have or to be lazy and never bring her own necessary documentation when needed.

Power type: Tinker
Threat level: 1
Duration: 36 minutes
Synchronization: 59%
Wiki article: Johann Sebastian Paetsch

Power: Tinker specialization: Music. Host is able to make mechanical replicas of any kind of instrument, microphones that perfectly catch the sound of the singer without background noise, or any other technology related to music.

Lauren instantly got up from bed, waking up Kyla in the process. She quickly clothed herself and started to walk to the garage, there were still some materials left there after all.

"Lau, what are you doing?"

"Sorry Kyla, I've got all these great idea's in my head, I really want to build them!" Lauren said without slowing down.

"Ooh, I'm coming too!" Kyla said while quickly following Lauren, not bothering to get out of Tia's old pajama's.

The next half hour passed in a blur for Lauren. When she came to her senses, she saw Kyla making the finishing touches on a small drone. The garage where they were working in looked like a small tornado went through it. Junk, tools and leftover materials were everywhere. Lauren even saw part of a reserve car tire, and had no idea what had happened to the rest of it.

"Yay Lauren! The sound distributor drones are finished!"

Lauren suddenly remembered what they had built. She had upgraded her voice modulator so that it could function as a microphone, and had helped Kyla to make drones that were able to function as high quality sound boxes. It would be useful if she ever wanted to give a concert, or maybe even if she wanted to stop a gang fight from a distance thanks to her singing power.

"So girls, you're finally done with building stuff?"

Lauren quickly turned around and saw her father standing in the door opening. He likely had been here for a while, as Lauren and Kyla had not exactly been subtle while working in the garage.

"Yes mr. Porter, err, dad! Come see these beautiful drones!"

Kyla immediately started showing off her drones, which she was somehow controlling via Lauren's mobile phone. Also, why had Lauren let Kyla tinker with her phone again? At this point, it was more of a tinkertech machine than a normal smartphone.

"That's very nice Kyla. However, next time, could you girls try to tinker at the PRT building? They have more and better quality materials for you to tinker with. Also, you wouldn't have had to clean up the garage afterwards."

Oh shit. Cleaning up this chaos was going to take hours!

"However, Lauren has to go to school soon, so I expect you girls to clean this up when she gets back."

Lauren quickly ate her breakfast after that. Just before she wanted to leave she checked her phone again. However, there were still no messages from Aisha. Lauren promised herself that if Aisha wasn't at school, she would call her home phone, even though Aisha had always said to her that she didn't want Lauren calling her father. Ignoring Lauren's texts was very unlike her, even if she didn't like Lauren's decision to join the wards.

Lauren's worries proved unfounded, as she saw Aisha at the school's entrance.

"Aisha! What happened? Why didn't you receive my messages?"

Lauren ran for Aisha and gave her a hug.

"Ah, I dropped my phone from the stairs and it broke. I haven't gotten a new one yet. More importantly, what the hell did you do this weekend?! You were the one not reacting to my texts and I even had to call your parents!" Whispered Aisha in a somewhat angry, but also concerned tone.

When Aisha told that, Lauren was hit by information from her tinker power. Aisha was very trustworthy but had a tendency to lie about or not say certain things to not bother Lauren. She also really wanted her mother to stop using drugs and her father to actually care about her instead up just letting her do whatever she wants and giving up on parenting.

Wait

What?!

"Aisha, what is going on with your parents?!"

Aisha looked shocked "Wait, what? Where does that come from?"

Lauren sighed: "Aisha, I have a thinker power that tells me whether people are trustworthy and what they want. If that power is telling me you want your mother in rehab and your father to do his job as a father, then there is definitely something wrong! Why haven't you gone to me, or even the BBPD itself with this?!"

Aisha sighed: "Okay, there is no way I can get out of this now right?"

Lauren shook her head

"Ugh… Okay, I'll tell you about it, but after school, when we're alone in your room."

Lauren accepted this "Okay, sure." This was also the first time in two weeks Aisha was even able to go home with Lauren, due to her detentions.

Until the school started, Lauren continued telling Aisha about her adventures in the PRT building. Aisha didn't seem happy with Lauren's decision to become a ward, but accepted her reasoning.

During the day, Lauren noticed some weird things. For one, all her classmates were oddly calm and focused on their work, but that was easily explained away by her power. Mrs. Wilkinson had also asked Lauren to stay around after class and told her that the PRT had informed her and the other teachers about Lauren's calming aura. She even thanked Lauren for making her job easier with this power.

However, the most striking change was Aisha. Normally, she almost never managed to finish the exercises in class, and stopped paying attention to the teacher before he or she was even halfway the lesson. Today however, Aisha actually managed to pay attention to the lessons. More strikingly, during math class, Aisha actually managed to finish her exercises before Lauren, which never happened before!

Lauren knew that Aisha was rather smart, but she was always held back by her short attention span, hyperactivity and other ADHD symptoms. Did her aura somehow inhibit these symptoms? If that was the case, then just being nearby Lauren could rapidly increase the grades of any children with ADHD.

A plan started forming in Lauren's mind. However, she would have to discuss it with the PRT directors. If it worked, then Aisha might be able to attend Arcadia with her.

Once Lauren arrived at home with Aisha in tow, she realized that she had forgotten something important. Namely the utter chaos in the garage that still had to be cleaned up. However, as Lauren opened the door to reveal a happy Kyla, she realized that she could just use her powers for cleaning.

While she was being hugged, Lauren summoned half a dozen clones in the garage and started cleaning up the room. With the practice from the time in containment, Lauren was now able to at least do simple tasks like throwing leftover materials in the bin without accidently dropping the stuff.

"Oh, by the way Kyla, you won't have to worry about cleaning up the garage. My force field clones will be doing the job. It's good practice for me and doesn't leave Aisha on her own."

Of course, as she said this, one of her force fields dropped a hand full of tools. However, nothing was broken and her force fields could continue clearing up.

"Lauren, your powers are bullshit! I would give almost everything just to get your forcefield clone power, not to mention the hundred other powers you have!"

Lauren winced a bit when she remembered the price she had to pay for her powers, even though she would definitely make the trade again.

After making yet another clone to play with Kaya and make sure she didn't interrupt them, Lauren took Aisha to her own room and closed the door.

"Okay, Aisha, please tell me what is going on in your home and whether I should ask my stepmom to involve the BBPD?"

Aisha was silent for a moment, seemingly preparing herself for what she was going to say.

"So Lauren, you know my parents are divorced right? I lived with my mother after the divorce. During that time, she started using drugs more and more and payed less and less attention to me. At some point, she got a new boyfriend who really didn't like me."

Aisha took a moment before she continued.

"Things got worse until my brother, who was living with my father at that moment, visited. That day, the boyfriend beat up both me and my brother. Luckily, after that, the social workers finally decided that I shouldn't live there anymore. I've been living with just my father ever since, as my brother has moved out early. He at least doesn't use drugs, and keeps me fed and clothed. However, he also doesn't do anything more than that with me, so it's almost as if I was living on my own."

Lauren thought that Aisha had understated how the boyfriend was treating her, but was reluctant to go back to that topic. Unfortunately, Lauren didn't see a good way for Aisha to get into a better living situation. Aisha's father did meet her bare needs, so social workers wouldn't see a reason to get her away from there. The other options were even worse, being going to a foster home or even getting send back to her mother. Lauren also knew her brother Brian was not yet 18 years old, so living with him was not an option.

"I'm so sorry Aisha, for letting you bring that up! Now you say it, I can see why you think bringing in the cops won't help you."

"Yeah, there's nothing to be done about this. I just hope my mom realizes at some point that she really needs to stop using drugs."

Lauren then quickly changed the topic to something less depressing. Namely her plan to get Aisha into Arcadia and help her with her studies at the same time. Aisha was delighted when she realized Lauren's aura was inhibiting her ADHD symptoms, and was very much in favor of Lauren going through with that plan. The rest of the afternoon was spend doing their homework in record time, followed by Lauren showing off the powers Aisha had not seen yet. In the meantime, Lauren's forcefields managed to clean up the garage before her father came home, as well as keeping Kyla entertained with Williams's toys and a Tia that had quickly latched onto her new sister. Before dinner, Lauren decided to grab some new powers to hopefully show something cool to Aisha.

Power type: Trump/Striker
Threat level: 0
Duration: 2 hours
Synchronization: 66%
Wiki article: Rio Grande da Serra

Power: Host is able to make any plant she touches More durable and healthier, healing them from sickness and 'wounds'. This effect is permanent, but host has no control over it or the plants that are affected.

Power type: Tinker
Threat level: 1
Duration: 2 minutes
Synchronization: 6%
Wiki article: Ronald De Witte

Power: Tinker specialization: human-powered transportation devices. Host is able to build or upgrade bikes, ski's, skates and other devices which help users move faster without outside power (like electricity or gas). The objects build or upgraded can move significantly faster than their non-tinker counterparts.

Power type: Stranger
Threat level: 4
Duration: PERMANENT
Synchronization: 59%
Wiki article: 2018 Liga 3 Southeast Sulawesi

Power: It becomes impossible for anyone to aim at Lauren, or to aim anywhere using Lauren as a reference frame (like '2 meters left from Lauren'). This effect is permanently active unless Lauren actively focusses to inhibit this effect, and even then people will find it somehow hard to aim at her. This effectively makes it impossible to snipe Lauren, although she can still be injured by an AOE effect in her vicinity, by physically attacking her, or shooting blindly. Power synergy: It becomes very hard to aim at Lauren's force field clones, and impossible if they're standing next to her.

Lauren again had the urge to build something. Realizing there was no time to go to the garage herself, she made a new clone there. The clone put on some gloves, as Lauren had realized gloves would make it possible to hold small stuff without it slipping out of her hand, and proceeded to grab some tools to improve William's ridiculously low quality children's bike to something reasonable.

Two minutes later, Lauren realized what she had done. William's children's bike could now easily move up to 40 km/h, even with the training wheels on. Dad was definitely not going to like that, even though she had repurposed the leftover rubber from the tire into an airbag that somehow fit in the handlebar.

Lauren then also realized she got yet another permanent power, which seemed like it somehow made it impossible for people to aim things at her. Asking Aisha to throw a ball at her confirmed that it worked perfectly, as Aisha grew frustrated at not being able to throw the ball at Lauren despite her standing only a few meters away. It seemed very useful for hero work, as it would prevent her from getting shot, but could easily out her during gym classes where they had to play dodgeball or anything similar. Fortunately, some more practicing with Aisha revealed that Lauren could reduce this effect from 'aiming is impossible' to 'aiming is hard', which might be enough for Lauren to play dodgeball without inevitably outing her. All in all, this seemed to easily be one of her best defensive powers.

Finally, just before dinner, Lauren tested out her plant strengthening power by improving all houseplants and those in the garden. Now her dad and Sophie wouldn't have to worry about them dying anymore.