A lot of things were set up in the last chapter. Time to make use of them. Also, this is going to start jumping around a lot more now. The first chapter took place in one day. This one? Not so much.
So, it's been a week.
Kiara is not happy. Amelia hasn't been able to contact her and isn't allowed out when she's flying, but Kiara is still not subtle. Amelia has watched from inside buildings as she soars lower than usual, flashing fire in obvious frustration, and constantly angling to see through the various windows of the site.
On one hand, Amelia is flattered that Kiara is looking for her. On the other hand, Kiara is almost certainly not getting any favors from management by doing this, which could either go well and encourage them to put her back in Amelia's hands, or result in management putting Kiara under harsher monitoring and restrictions.
So yeah, that's been weighing on Amelia all week. Fun times.
Chatting with Calli has been a source of stress relief, more so than usual. She has a massive array of anecdotes about Kiara to tell, most of which involve Kiara showing up out of batshit nowhere while Calli is in the middle of a reaping and dragging some problem along with her. But she also has a few other stories of Kiara dying in some stupid way and the two of them having a laugh about it during or after the fact (because apparently, and fittingly for a phoenix, she revives herself, albeit with some memory loss).
Talking with Gura is a bit less relaxing, if only because Amelia has to be the one to keep up conversation most of the time because Gura doesn't have a whole lot to say. Thankfully, Amelia knows her uncle's old mission tales by heart, so she hasn't run out of material yet.
She isn't sure if Gura actually cares what she's talking about or if she just enjoys the company. Either way, she's an attentive listener. She constantly asks to have her pool filled the next time Amelia comes by, and she repeatedly has to tell her no.
Eldritch hasn't changed. Neither has Crystal (and thankfully Amelia hasn't had any other incidents of accidentally mumbling nonsense under her breath).
And that brings her to today. The first day of Gura's disposition test. To say Amelia is anxious would be an understatement.
She has the choice of going into the main observation room, but also into the secondary observation room located on the side of Gura's pool. She opts for the latter, because she's fairly sure Gura (well, Siren more than Gura) isn't coming out of the pool with a stranger around unless she absolutely has to.
Amelia is slightly miffed to realize that Siren isn't actually going to have the test explained to her. Yes, she understands that they want an accurate test of Siren's ability to socialize and so don't want to give Siren incentives to act differently by telling her what the test is or why it's taking place, but that still feels unfair.
Both the primary and secondary observation rooms have had their windows tinted so it's not possible for Siren to see out of them, and so she theoretically shouldn't be aware her interactions are being monitored.
(Amelia is positive that the instant someone steps in her cell, Siren is going to know she's being watched. Siren might have a weird way of speaking and lack of a lot of general knowledge, but that's because she's sheltered, not because she's dumb.)
The door to Siren's cell opens, and Amelia holds her breath. Some random D class guy walks in carrying a folding chair, and Siren goes still, watching him from just below the waterline of her pool as he sets it up a short distance away from the pool's edge and takes a seat.
As she predicted, Siren's eyes flick to the main observation window and stare at it for two seconds, then turn to the secondary screen (Amelia tries to make eye contact despite knowing Siren can't see her) before finally looking up at the D class.
"Who you?" Siren asks, her voice coming out smooth and almost childlike. It's nothing like her raspy, distorted, out-of-water voice. The observation rooms have filters to make sure any charm magic in her voice gets nullified to the people within as well.
"I'm, uh, Randal. Randal Winters." The D class says. "I'm just here to chat."
"Chat." Siren echoes. She starts to move in the water, making large, lazy circles near the surface, but turning her head to always face the D class no matter how unnatural that looks. "You?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Uh, it's my job."
"Not Watson? Want Watson."
Some of the researchers in the room shoot Amelia exasperated looks, and she grins sheepishly in return.
"I don't know who Watson is."
"Talk friend. Food friend. Is girl. Hair yellow. Wear funny hat."
"My hat is not funny." Amelia grumbles. One of the researchers shushes her.
"No idea who that is."
Siren's tail lashes the water, though it quickly stills. She makes another silent lap of the pool, and then stops near the edge close to the D class. Her body visibly relaxes as she lets her lower body sink to take a 'standing' position just below the water's surface. When she speaks again her voice is the same… mostly. But there's something else to it. Something almost musical. The D class noticeably perks to attention when he hears it. "You talk then."
And he does.
The D class starts with generic talk about the site, but with a soft "Tell about you" from Siren, he changes track. It starts with a general life story, but each small suggestion from Siren nudges him into giving increasingly specific information, and by the end of the first half hour he's revealing extremely personal stories.
"It was a one-time thing, you know?" The D class says, eyes fixed on Siren's. He's almost leaning out of his chair in an effort to be as close to her as possible. "I was in-between jobs and had to support my grandma. Felt like the only option. Wasn't even a real gun, was a BB, had blanks in it. Got the money, got out, hid the money, told Grandma where it was."
"She listen?"
"Yep. Wasn't happy about how I got it, but she wasn't no snitch, and wasn't gonna be ungrateful. Even after I got arrested, I never told no one where the money was, and Grandma kept her mouth shut too. Any luck, it'll last her two more years on its own, plus whatever money I'm getting here."
"You no keep?"
"Nah, I get free housing and food here, and I'm technically a prisoner, what do I need money for? Grandma might as well keep it."
Siren takes a subtle mouthful of water and breaks through the water's surface. She rests her arms and head on the edge of the pool while speaking. To Amelia's shock, her voice isn't raspy. Was that mouthful of water to allow her to speak normally outside of the pool? How long does it last? "Good grandson."
"I like to think so." The D class smiles, a bit sadly. "Gotta do what ya gotta do."
The rest of their conversation (or really, the D class talking and Siren listening), is much less dramatic and personal than that story. Amelia watches intently as Siren de-escalates her prodding and starts swimming around her pool again, no longer hovering near the edge and keeping a fixed gaze on the D class.
When the full hour has passed without incident, and Amelia almost feels foolish for worrying as the D class is called back out.
Almost.
She saw as much as anyone else the way Siren's eyes tracked every little twitch the D class made, and how deftly she manipulated him with a few words doused in charm. She had him spilling his secrets in thirty minutes with barely any effort.
Still, a success is a success. She hopes Siren can keep this up.
###
Day five of Siren's tests. She's starting to show signs of irritation, both inside the tests and without.
"WaAAtson." Gura whines the instant Amelia raises the black glass so they can see each other. For once, she ignores her meal in favor of staring through the glass. "WAtsOOOn."
"Yes Gura?"
"WhYYY?"
"What's wrong?"
"StrAngers in rOOom." Gura whines. "YoOou no tAaAlk AnymOOOre."
"I still talk to you."
"NOt lOOOng." Gura says, swaying back and forth in front of the glass, face scrunched up in displeasure. Her bucket of meat is still totally untouched. "OOOnly wIIIth foOOd. NOOO extrAAA."
Ah, Gura is unhappy she's not around for the extra half an hour. That stopped when the test started. "Sorry Gura."
Gura wilts. "I dOoo sOmething wrOOOng?"
"No Gura."
Gura lets out a wordless whine.
"Do you not want to talk with other people?" Amelia asks gently.
"Mmm…" Gura vocalizes unhappily, but in a non-committal tone. "StrAAAngers. NOOOT know whAt dOo."
Interesting. As far as Amelia is concerned, Gura has been handling it fine so far. "In what sense?"
"YoUUUr grOOOUp-"
"Cover." Amelia interrupts. "It's called Cover."
"COOOver wAAAnt sOOOmethIng." Gura says, now outright pacing in front of the glass. "WhYYY?"
"I'm not allowed to comment."
Gura whines again, and Amelia's heart squeezes. She really bad about not being able to say anything. She can't comfort her frien- her charge. Yes, her charge.
"But keep talking." Amelia encourages gently. "What's wrong, Gura?"
"WrOng…" Gura mumbles, finally settling down. "Nooo goooal. NooO pOOInt."
"Why?"
"YOOOUUU and CooOvEr not tell mEee."
"Why do you need us for that?" Amelia says, hoping that this doesn't count as saying too much.
Gura stills, staring contemplatively at the screen. "YOu sAy… mAAAke OOOwn?"
"I'm not saying anything, just asking questions." Amelia says casually, while subtly winking at the girl.
Gura's tail starts to wag. She doesn't smile, but her eyes sparkle a bit. "JUUUst quEEEstIOns. HUngry nOOOw."
"Then let's eat."
Gura's tail doesn't stop wagging for the entire meal.
###
"You've got something in the basement, don't you?" Calli asks bluntly.
"Well yeah, obviously. They're not just empty rooms." Amelia says, because really, there's a million things Calli could be referring to. They've got all sorts of horrors packed away on the lowest levels. "Gonna have to be more specific."
"It feels… distorted." Calli says. "The soul, I mean. Not trapped, just changed, different, outside. Ain't many souls like that, and I've seen plenty of weird souls."
"That's still pretty vague."
"I don't know what you want me to say, man." Calli shrugs. "I've seen a bunch of shit before. Gods,, aspects, demons, and all sorts of half-breeds. Gods know Clara's soul is some crazy shit, but even by that standard you've got something weird down there, and I can feel it now."
Still vague. Also, Amelia is going to figure out who the fuck Clara is now.
"It's something pretty strong too. Dunno how I missed it before." Calli says, chewing on her food. "Maybe it was sleeping."
"Sleeping?"
"Yeah. Sleeping souls always have a pretty small profile. Easy to pass over. It's how damaged gods stay incognito, you know? Go to sleep to recover and reduce your energy signature in the process."
She did not know. That sounds like incredibly important information. "So what does the fact you can sense it now mean?"
"Either I got lucky to finally notice, or it's waking up."
Ha. Ha. Okay. Yeah. That's not ominous at all. "Great. So if we all die in the next month, you can say 'I told you so'."
"Hey, worst comes to worst, you're pretty much guaranteed a nice afterlife." Calli offers reassuringly. "If you're even half as nice as I think you are, you've got nothing to worry about."
"Except the dying part."
"Eh, that's not a big deal."
"Says the reaper who is already dead."
"Technically I was never alive to begin with."
Smart ass.
###
The change in Siren's approach to her conversation partners is immediately obvious. Amelia is quite aware of the disapproving looks pointed her way by the researchers, but she doesn't care. She's focused on Siren.
Siren is asking questions now. She's engaging right from the start, prodding with her words, getting her conversation partners to talk and talk and talk.
She's also beckoning.
Not literally. She's not waving her hands or tail in an obvious 'come here' motion, but she is making these small backwards sways in the water, prompting the D class to lean forward or shift their chair up, or she's speaking quietly to get the same response.
Siren is also angling for confessions. She always asks about their hobbies, their likes, dislikes, and then more personal things. Their life story, desires, fears, regrets…
Their greatest crimes. Whatever landed them a slot as a D class.
It doesn't pass by Amelia's notice that whenever Siren is manipulating a grand confession out of her conversation partner they're always poised right near the edge of her pool, and she's hovering below them, tail coiled like a spring.
"I killed an old man for his money."
"I bankrupted a company and their whole upper management out of spite."
"I crippled someone for dumping me."
Siren listens to all this, face carefully neutral, never obviously judging, but her body language is a giveaway. Her arms might look lazy, splayed out in the water as they are, but they're actually meticulously held in position. Her legs are slowly treading water, keeping her in place.
Amelia can see how Siren eyes her partner's neck. She keeps quiet about this, hoping the researchers don't notice. Siren never acts on her obvious ready position though. After her partners' big confessions, she relaxes and starts swimming in lazy circles, releasing the tension in her body and abandoning her ready posture to something properly casual.
It was only a matter of time before something set her off.
Over the weeks, they've been gradually sending more and more disagreeable people. People with darker secrets, people who are more aggressive or unfriendly, or people who plain old don't want to be there.
Siren drags confessions out of all of them anyways, layering her gentle, melodious voice with enough charm to tempt even the most bitter asshole into spilling their guts.
Eventually, that becomes literal.
Amelia only half heard the confession, because Siren very obviously didn't like the guy from the start. He's a tall, well-shaven, man with slick blonde hair who sits with impeccable posture and speaks with smug confidence. Siren barely has to say anything to get him to start bragging, and Baelz, what a sad excuse for a human being this guy is.
Even the researchers don't look particularly comfortable while they listen to this guy talk, and being a researcher isn't a job for the soft-hearted.
"-asking for it, you know?" The man laughs. "Dressing like that all alone at night."
"The child?" Siren clarifies.
"Yeah."
"Hmm…" Siren's tail coils, and she sinks in the water. Her eyes droop to half-lids. "Child? Like me?"
Amelia knows that Siren knows full well she's not a kid. That's an intentional bait.
"Oh?" The man leans forward, eyes suddenly attentive.
Amelia shudders. The standards for D class are really low. Heck, it's intentionally made up of criminals because they're disposable, but the idea of D class workers is that they do dangerous work to lower their sentences. She doesn't ever want this guy let free. He shouldn't be D class. He should just be in a cell.
"I new." Siren lies, eyes lazy but clearly fixed on the man's face… no, on his neck. "Strange place. Strange men."
"It is rather strange here, isn't it?" The man asks, shifting a bit forward in his seat, edging towards the side of the pool. He gets out of his seat to look over the edge. "I could-"
Siren's tail uncoils and her arms pump the water. She breaks the surface at high speed, jaw unhinging to her ears and then snapping down around the man's neck before her momentum stops and she uses her weight and the imbalance in the man's stance created by her attack to drag him into the water.
And then, she twirls, the same as a crocodile's death roll. She spins her body, twisting the man at the neck, killing him in an instant and tearing his head from the rest of his body.
Amelia isn't sad to see the man go. If anything, she's relieved.
But this is an absolute fail for the test.
###
"What do you mean I can't go in?" Amelia snaps.
"I mean what I mean, Caretaker." The overseer says irritably. "No one is allowed in 4-8999's cell at the moment without a reinforced hazard suit. The little monsters are up in arms about something and management doesn't think it's safe."
"What about the anchors?"
"That's what the hazard suits are for."
Amelia purses her lips and stares out from the observation deck into Eldritch's room. She can see the takos crowded around Eldritch's bed, crawling and hovering and clinging like a rogue swarm of bees.
"So let me use a hazard suit." Amelia says. "I have a job to do."
"That's…" The overseer frowns.
"Not against protocall, is it?" Amelia asks, starting to walk towards the equipment locker.
"I guess not." He doesn't sound very happy about it. "Fine, I'll arm the defenses."
Amelia isn't listening any more. After 'I guess not', she tuned right out and started suiting up. She slips on the heavy, thick fabric of the bulky suit and fumbles her fingers into the oversized gloves so she can grab her backpack from the floor and carry it in her hands.
The takos don't greet her at the door like they usually do, but Amelia knows she's been noticed. Their eyes all focus on her in an instant, and a solitary tako floats down to hover in front of her face.
It takes Amelia a second to realize the takos didn't recognize her with the suit on. When she is recognized, the tako chirps, and the noise is much more subdued than usual. Still, the other takos echo the noise like usual, and the tako settles onto her head.
Amelia doesn't brush it off. Best not to antagonize the takos right now.
She starts the slow climb up the stairs, her eyes fixed on the mass of takos, waiting for any sign of aggression.
The takos have stilled. They watch her approach silently. Their little tentacles pump the air in unison to keep them aloft, and they look more than ever like a hivemind.
When Amelia steps up the last step, the takos part like a curtain, allowing her access inside the protective bubble.
(There weren't this many takos before, were there? There's definitely more than twenty now. Amelia can't count all of them, but she'd ballpark around seventy. She didn't bring nearly enough cookies.)
"Right, uh…" Amelia mutters, setting down her bag. "Gonna look over E now. You guys okay with that?"
The takos don't respond. When she takes her seat, half of them swivel in place to watch her. The tako that had been on her head has left to rejoin the crowd.
Amelia is almost afraid to touch Eldritch, but, knowing the overseer can't actually see her inside the tako bubble, she takes off the suit's heavy gloves anyways. She can't very well slack on her responsibilities out of anxiety. Besides, if anyone is going to be able to figure out what's going on, it's her. The takos don't really trust anyone else.
"Heya E." Amelia says, forcing cheer into her voice. "The takos are feeling a bit protective today, huh? Someone give them a poisoned cookie or something?"
Eldritch doesn't respond. Her chest rises and falls with her brea-
Her chest rises.
Falls.
Rises.
Falls.
Amelia lets out her own shaky breath. Okay. Eldritch is breathing now. She wasn't doing that before. No breathing, no heartbeat, no brain activity. What changed?
"Just checking your pulse, E." Amelia says. "Sorry for the change in the usual routine, but this is important. You understand, right?"
As one, the takos hum. It's barely audible, sounding more like a gentle wave of static than voices. The sound crawls across her suit and into her body from all directions, and Amelia shivers involuntarily.
She carefully lays a finger on Eldritch's neck, feeling across her pale, soft skin for a pulse. The takos don't react.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Blood pulses against her finger. Amelia's breath hitches.
"Okay. Breathing and a pulse." Amelia mumbles, withdrawing her hand. "Any other surprises for me, E?"
Eldritch, thankfully, doesn't respond. Amelia might just have a heart attack if Eldritch started talking.
"Kay, I'll just do the usual now, alright?" She asks, moving on to her normal checks.
The takos stay quiet. They don't protest as she brushes aside Eldritch's hair, checks her ears and arms, or rolls her over to see her back. Eldritch's breathing remains constant as Amelia inspects her wings for damage or displaced feathers.
Amelia checks Eldritch's legs, minding that she isn't too intrusive with her staring. For the sake of rolling Eldritch back over, she places a hand on her thigh and-
Eldritch exhales harshly, and Amelia freezes. She waits a long ten seconds, ears straining for any more noises. When none occur, she slowly pulls her hand away and turns Eldritch back over by holding her shoulder and hip instead.
The takos are staring at her. All of them. Those that had been watching outside are now turned in, facing Amelia and staring through closed eyes.
"I…" Amelia doesn't know why she feels the need to justify herself to the takos, but she does. "I promise, I wasn't doing anything. I was just going to turn her over."
The takos stay quiet. Amelia can't help but feel judged.
"Sorry. Won't happen again."
The flaps on all the takos heads flatten, and they whine collectively. The noise melds together into something that almost sounds like speech. Some noise, some word, of protest, made from a throat composed of five dozen eldritch monsters.
"So, I'll just, uh, go…" Amelia mumbles, turning Eldritch back over in a much more safe manner. "Unless you guys still want cookies, but I didn't bring enough for all of you."
Some of the takos visibly react at the wood 'cookies'. Twenty of them flutter out of formation, and Amelia would guess these twenty are those that were here before. The rest must be the new takos.
"Here." She fishes out the bag of cookies and, like usual, gives them out one by one. Just like last time she has an extra, and she offers it to the takos in general.
One tako moves forward and grabs it with its mouth, but doesn't eat. Instead, it pulls it out of Amelia's hand, floats over to Eldritch, and pokes her mouth with the cookie, as if prompting the sleeping angel to eat.
"I don't think she's awake enough for that little guy." Amelia whispers, and gently pulls the tako away from Eldritch. "Don't worry. I'll give her a whole bag for herself."
The tako squirms in her hands. It feels squishy and strangely silky. Not like actual octopus flesh. It's like holding some sort of toy. They're unreasonably smooth. When Amelia lets the tako go it doesn't float back to Eldritch. Instead it sulks, cookie dangling dejectedly from its mouth while the other takos move back into position.
Amelia awkwardly pats the cookie tako on the head. "You can have the extra."
It slowly, with exaggerated unhappiness, nibbles the cookie down to nothing before floating back into position. It takes a few seconds for its disgruntled expression to fade into neutrality again, and soon Amelia can't tell the difference between cookie tako and every other tako next to it.
Amelia puts her gloves back on and slowly walks to the exit. The takos don't follow her, don't cling, don't whine, but they do watch. All of them keep their gaze on her until she's through the door and completely out of sight.
She also has an uncomfortable feeling that Eldritch is the sleeping soul Calli suddenly noticed a few days ago, and doesn't know how to feel about that.
###
"At least you aren't doing anything weirder than usual." Amelia thinks to herself, staring at Crystal. "Kiara is under investigation, Gura failed a test, Calli is giving my cryptic warnings, and Eldritch might be waking up."
Of course, Crystal was always the one of her charges that was already worrisome to her considering Amelia has reactions to her that no one else has.
"Everything's going to shit, Crystal." Amelia sighs, and pats the surface of the crystal prison. "Life is just like that sometimes, isn't it?"
Each time her hand touches the surface of the crystal, a wave of calm washes over her. Amelia wants nothing more than to rest her face on the crystal, but refrains. Her coworkers already think she's a problem without her doing weird stuff like that.
She conducts her usual check, circling the crystal and keeping a critical eye on the woman within. No cracks, no changes in posture, nothing. Just a woman in a crystal.
"If you're going to make my life even more messy, now is the time." Amelia says dryly. "Let me have it, Crystal."
No response.
"Your mercy is appreciated, dear."
(Dear? Why did she say 'dear'?)
Amelia groans and rubs her face, squeezing her eyes shut. She really must be tired. She needs a vacation. She wants to go home, take a nap, and listen to this music.
(Let's see the world searching for / the reason why I am myself~)
"Caretaker?"
Amelia jerks awake- awake? Was she sleeping? No, not sleeping, not quite. She doesn't remember resting her ear against the crystal though. "Uh, yeah, what's up?"
"The system says you've been in there for an hour, is something wrong?"
An hour? Amelia pulls out her watch and confirms that the overseer is correct, which he is. "Uh, no, nothing's wrong. Thought I saw something, but it's nothing. I think I'm just frazzled from Eldritch."
"Make sure to include that in your report then."
Amelia grimaces and pulls herself away from Crystal. "Will do. I'm coming out."
This week just can't get weirder, could it? She really does need a vacation.
###
Kiara is starting to get agitated. It's been a month since Amelia has been allowed to see her.
Gura failed the test. She no longer has people walking into her room to talk, but Amelia is still limited to their lunch chats. Gura is obviously frustrated, having lost the chats she's now used to.
Calli… is pretty normal. Calli is fine.
Eldritch hasn't changed since she started breathing, but every check on her now feels like walking on thin ice. It used to be relaxing, almost friendly.
Crystal worries Amelia. It's like she's not in control of herself when she's around the angel. She's considered asking for someone else to be assigned to her, but that feels incredibly wrong for some reason. A part of her panics at the mere thought, though she can't understand why.
Amelia needs a vacation.
###
Well, it's not quite a vacation. Technically it's a work trip to investigate a potential anomalous individual, but usually a field agent would be sent to do this, not a caretaker. Amelia knows she's being sent as an excuse to get her away from the facility for a bit. Some of the chaos around the facility is seen as her fault. Phoenix acting up, Siren being more irritable than usual, and whatever the fuck is happening with Eldritch, all of it is technically her responsibility, and therefor her fault.
But, at the same time, management knows they can't get rid of her. Phoenix and Siren are too attached, and their increased cooperativeness before the current issues are very obviously her doing. If they fired her Phoenix would likely throw a fit, potentially a violent one, and no one wants to deal with that.
Besides, Amelia's fault in dealing with her charges is being too nice, and while that's frowned on it's not actually against protocall.
But that's not the only reason Amelia is out here in the middle of Africa. It's not just because she's tired and overdue a vacation, it's not just to give the council more time to figure out what should be done about Phoenix and Siren, it's because she found something.
Clara Takanashi. Austrian archeologist and historian, and self-professed expert in the history of supernatural beings. She's actually on Cover's watchlist as someone to keep an eye on, because her papers and books sometimes reveal valuable information in locating or understanding anomalies.
Her birth certificate is fake. It doesn't line up with the records of the hospital she was supposedly born in. Most of her other documents are based around that fake birth certificate, but otherwise legitimately obtained.
Cover had no immediate interest in digging into her until the Mori name-dropped her. Based on pictures showing her unusually bright hair, her fake birth certificate, and the unusual knowledge she displays, it has long been suspected that she is an anomalous humanlike, but given no incidents involving her have ever been reported Cover deemed her low priority to investigate. They frankly have more important things to do than go after someone who is occasionally useful and has never been a problem.
Amelia has some rather strong opinions on Cover's criteria for what entities merit detention, mostly that they tend to overreach (the Mori didn't need to be detained, and Amelia will die on that hill), but that's neither here nor there right now. Amelia is in charge of making contact and determining if detention is necessary, and she can conclude whatever the fuck she wants to conclude.
Miss Takanashi is currently on a dig at the Bura archeological site in Niger, which means a long flight down to Africa on the cheapest flight Cover could buy unless Amelia wanted to waste her own money. Finally stepping off the plane and into the airport is a relief.
Amelia was unsure if she should have attempted to get in contact with Clara before coming. The woman has a business email after all, but Amelia has no idea what she would even write, so she opted to just wing it when she met her face-to-face.
She's regretting that right now, because as it turns out you can't just walk into an important archeological dig site without permission, so Amelia sheepishly composes an email saying something about the Mori to grab Clara's attention, and sends it off.
Amelia is getting lunch at a local restaurant when she receives a reply.
I was wondering when one of you would come calling.
I get off at 5. Meet me by the east entrance. You're taking me to dinner.
Amelia stares at the words. She didn't mention anything about being from Cover, but Clara clearly knows.
Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned the Mori. Was that too much of a giveaway? Whatever, as long as Clara will meet with her.
Amelia is a bundle of nerves by the time five o'clock rolls around. She waffled between wearing something semi-formal or something casual, and eventually opted for the latter. She's aggressively casual if anything.
Clara is easy to notice, even in the crowd of people that step out at five. She has soft pink hair with orange tips, and soft blue highlights on the inside. Her eyes are a similar shade of pink to her hair, and she stands at a decent six feet tall with tan cargo pants, pliable light brown boots and work gloves, and a t-shirt of similar color.
She's quite pretty, but that's not surprising. If there's one thing Amelia has come to expect, it's that most humanlikes or near-humans are either really fucking ugly or unreasonably attractive.
"H-Hey there!" Amelia calls, putting a fake smile onto her face and waving to the woman. "Clara, right?"
"That's me." Clara says. Her voice is just as soft as her appearance, and her expression is that of a polite but suspicious smile. "You're the agent?"
"I'm not so sure I'd be called an agent, but yeah, I'm the one that contacted you about the Mori."
"Cool." Clara says. "Lead the way to dinner."
Uh, right, okay, that's not what Amelia expected her to say. "Right, follow me."
Amelia leads the way down a few streets, more than aware of Clara's eyes staring at the back of her head. This is weird already.
"So, uh-"
"Food first. Can't think without food."
Amelia stops trying to talk.
The restaurant she's chosen is solidly middle-of-the-road. Not too cheap so as to not be rude, but not too expensive to not seem pretentious (and because this is coming out of her own money).
The food is… fine. Amelia isn't a fan, but that's not due to a lack of quality and more due to the fact that Amelia just doesn't like the sort of cuisine common here.
Clara, on the other hand, consumes her food with vigor. She eats so much so quickly that there really isn't time to talk.
Just as well, really. At least one of them can enjoy the food.
"Mmm." Clara hums after finishing her food. To Amelia's bafflement, Clara grabs the check before Amelia can and pays in full. "Nice choice. Now, let's talk. What's your name?"
"Amelia."
"Cute name for a cute girl. What group are you representing?"
"Cover." Amelia says simply, and seeing a change to actually take momentum in the conversation, says, "I'm just here to talk. Unless you start a fight, you've got nothing to worry about from me."
"Yeah, but not your org."
"Hey. I'm the one writing the report. They get what I give them." Amelia says honestly. "This is more of a personal project than anything. If I hadn't looked into you myself, Cover would never have bothered to authorize contact with you."
"Hmm…" Clara hums, lacing her fingers together. "Looking into me, huh? Did I do something?"
"No." Amelia says firmly. "I'm contacting you because I have reason to believe you may have had contact with one of our charges in the past."
Clara smiles guardedly. "I've met a lot of interesting people."
"Right, uh…" How much does she reveal? How much is she allowed to reveal? "Does the name 'Calliope' ring any bells?"
"Oh, Dad? Of course."
Amelia blinks rapidly. Dad? "Uh, maybe we're thinking of different-"
"Calliope Mori, right?" Clara interrupts. "The Mori? Reaper? Pink hair when she's got a host? Veil? Little black tiara?"
Okay, definitely talking about the same person. "I… didn't know she had a kid."
"Well yeah. I'm surprised she revealed it to Cover at all. She's usually pretty careful to keep me a secret."
"She name-dropped you once and I decided to look into it, because she usually doesn't mention names." Amelia admits. "I don't know if it was intentional or not, but she's always been more chatty with me."
"What are you to her anyways?" Clara asks.
"I'm her care manager." Amelia says. "So, like, making sure her quality of life in our care is as good as it can be."
"Ah, she likes you." Clara says out of nowhere.
"What makes you say that?"
"Why else would she have slipped up?" Clara shrugs. "Dad's a professional on the job and around strangers. She wouldn't ever mention me. So either you know some way to make her talk, or she trusts you enough to relax and mention me, either intentionally or by accident."
Huh. Amelia doesn't- no, she knows how to feel about that. She's flattered. Embarrassed too. Calli has a kid, and trusted Amelia enough to let slip (albeit very indirectly) that Clara existed despite the fact that Amelia works for the group responsible for imprisoning her. Or maybe it was a mistake, but either way, it's evidence of some level of trust.
(She can already hear the complaints she'd get if anyone else learned that little tidbit. As if her charges choosing her as a favorite doesn't already cause issues.)
"Dad has good luck." Clara says, casually leaning over and brushing some hair out of Amelia's face. Amelia freezes, surprised. "Getting an adorable girl like you taking care of her."
"Uhh…" This girl flirts almost as much as Kiara, but Kiara is usually separated from her by a glass wall. "Thanks?"
"Maybe I should return the favor, since Dad can't?" Clara says, leaning forward with a twinkle in her eyes. "I wouldn't mind a night with a cutie like you."
Amelia's brain short-circuits for a moment. Is she getting propositioned? By Calli's kid? She is, isn't she? Baelz, what is she supposed to think about this? What is she supposed to do? "I- I-"
Clara raises her eyebrows, grinning.
"I really can't." Amelia sputters. "Sorry."
"Okay~" Clara says, still grinning. "If you change your mind, just say so. I'll show you exactly what a few hundred years of experience feels like."
"How the fuck are you Calli's kid?" Amelia groans, pulling her hat down to hide her face.
"I take after Mom when it comes to relationships." Clara admits shamelessly. "Well, fewer kids, but aside from that."
"That's…" Amelia blinks, then frowns while pushing her hat back up. "Sorry, what?"
"Yeah, Mom wasn't the most consistent." Clara shrugs. "I've had a lot of half-siblings. Most of them are dead, granted, because they're not biologically immortal like me, but there's a few still kicking around."
"Wait, why aren't they immortal?"
"Human parent." Clara says, waving it off. "Or something else not immortal. Us half-phoenixes inherit a lot of our base qualities from our non-phoenix parents. Lifespan is one of them. Dad was a reaper though, so I'm immortal… or undead. Maybe? I don't actually know. I'm weird even by half-phoenix standards."
Amelia's brain grinds to a half. "Did you say phoenix?"
"Yep."
"So, if I say 'Kiara'-"
"Oh, you know Mom too?"
What the actual fuck. What are the odds of that? Why does Kiara have so many kids? Is she a serial cheater? Should Amelia be worried that Kiara has been flirting with her?
"Cutie? You look like you're freaking out a bit. You okay?"
"Just processing." Amelia mumbles, staring up at the ceiling. "Should I be worried that your mom has flirted with me?"
"Nah. Mom's gotten past the 'love and leave' thing. Dad would never have accepted her egg otherwise." Clara chuckles.
"Her egg?" Amelia asks.
"Yeah. That's how phoenixes make kids. Real kids, not the random birds they create once a month." Clara says. "They give whoever they like an egg, and if they hold onto it long enough, literally hold onto it I mean, it hatches into a baby that's the biological child of the phoenix and the person who held onto the egg."
"Oh." Amelia says, her mind racing. "Oh. Oh fuck."
"Mom gave you an egg, didn't she?"
"YES! It's sitting in a containment box right now."
"Eh, nothing to worry about. As long as no one touches it, that thing will last for centuries." Clara shrugs. "I'm taking by your reaction Mom didn't actually tell you what the egg was about though?"
"She didn't."
Clara clicks her tongue disapprovingly. "Well, I guess she still has room for improvement… or maybe she assumed you knew."
(Amelia remembers the day she asked Kiara to make an egg. Cover wanted to know if she could make those little egg batches on demand, that's all. Amelia wasn't expecting anything important. She remembers how excited Kiara was to be asked, but how she kept clarifying that Amelia wanted her to make an egg, not just Cover, and how close Kiara got to violence when Cover tried to take it instead of Amelia.)
"Yeah, uh… she might have assumed that, in hindsight." Amelia mumbles. "Wait, does that mean she's cheating on Callie? I thought you said-"
"Phoenixes are pretty open." Clara reassures. "Or at least Mom is, and Dad doesn't mind. Besides, if they both like you, then threesome! Lucky you!"
Amelia whines pitifully and pulls her hat over her face again. That is a mental image. Oh Baelz that's a mental image she doesn't know how to feel about.
"Hmm… I wonder if they'd let me have a piece of you too."
"HELP ME."
###
When Amelia returns back home, she can tell something is wrong.
It's not a loud sort of wrong. There aren't people rushing this way and that, there's no fires, and no corpses. It's a quiet sort of wrong. Jenma's tight smile. Tension in Boss's shoulders. The fact that she's quickly pushed back to her usual schedule, Phoenix included.
Very suspicious.
In her absence, Siren has regressed. She hides at the back of her pool, filled or otherwise, and refuses to come get her food until she's sure no one is in the observation room. The Mori is getting antsy about something, giving warnings to everyone who will listen. More and more takos are appearing in Eldritch's cell, and any attempt to cull their numbers has failed. The new baseline number before they replenish themselves is two hundred takos. They've continued their hivemind-like behavior.
There have been reports of singing heard throughout the site, being heard easiest in Crystal's cell. Phoenix's egg production has dropped dramatically, which is thought to be due to stress, and her observation room is perpetually boiling. The newly repaired AC has failed to curb this temperature spike. She's started to become uncooperative during flights as well, veering dangerously close to the boundaries of her designated flight zone on a regular basis.
But the first thing Amelia does when she gets back is not visit any of her charges. No, she takes a walk to the anomalous item containment area to stare at the egg. Her egg.
She needs to find a way to get it out. That's a stupid idea and she knows it full well, but she has reason to believe the egg is harmless. Maybe she can convince Cover to treat it as an experiment. They'll get to study a half-phoenix, it'll probably make Phoenix happy, everyone wins.
(She's going to need a stronger argument than that, but she can worry about the exact wording when everything isn't going to hell.)
Amelia can't spend long with the egg. She has responsibilities, and she has to prioritize. The Mori is immediately punted to the bottom of those priorities because the Mori is causing the fewest issues. The twin angels are also kicked down there because there's little Amelia can actually do to calm their effects.
Siren and Phoenix, on the other hand, she can reason with.
"Kiara!" Amelia shouts as soon as she steps into the observation room. It is sweltering, and she can hear the roar of air as the AC tries vainly to pull the temperature down. She wouldn't be surprised to hear the room is forty degrees. Maybe fifty. Kiara's cell is hard to see into, the observation window has been mostly blocked off by Kiara's changing screen. "Kiara, can you hear me?"
"AME!"
Amelia yelps when the changing screen is thrown aside and Kiara presses herself up against the viewing screen, staring eagerly at her.
"You're back!" The phoenix shouts with a wide smile. "You've been gone for so long Ame!"
"It's only been a month and a bit!" Amelia protests. "And I've been around, I just wasn't allowed to see you."
Kiara's expression turns into a pout. "They wouldn't tell me anything about you! I didn't know if you were even still here!"
Yeah, management must have been really unhappy with how attached Kiara had gotten. "Well I'm here, and I was always here… except for the last week, because I was on a trip. You can stop worrying."
"You went on a trip?" Kiara asks. Now that the screen is pushed out of the way, Amelia can see that all her furniture has been shoved to the back of the room, trying to keep as much distance from the window as possible. The phoenix takes no extra time in grabbing her couch and dragging it up so she can sit as close to Amelia as possible.
"Yep. Visiting a… new friend, I think." Amelia says, desperately wanting to tell Kiara that she met her daughter but knowing there's no way management would allow it. She also wants to talk about the egg, and the whole 'that's actually a child' thing. This would be so much easier if Cover weren't such paranoid bastards and just let her talk to Kiara. It's not like she'd be saying anything other employees aren't allowed to know. "You'd like her."
"Ooh, what's she like?"
"Flirty." Amelia says honestly. "But friendly."
Kiara squints suspiciously. "Did she come onto you?"
"Maybe." Yes. Way too much.
"She has good taste." Kiara says, a grin cracking her face while Amelia tries not to blush.
"I learned a lot from her." Amelia says, trying to push past her embarrassment. "But that's not what I came here to talk about. How have you been, Kiara? I've been keeping an eye on reports about you of course, but it's better to hear it from the source."
"Come on Ame, I see you after a month and you immediately try to do your job?" Kiara huffs fondly.
"Hey, maybe I'm actually just concerned." Amelia protests. "I can't ask how my friend is doing without being accused of working?"
"Alright, alright!" Kiara laughs. "Well I've been bored. You have no idea how much it sucks to have no one fun to talk to. I've been trying to keep people out, honestly."
"Yeah, I can feel that." Amelia says. "I mean that literally. It's fucking boiling in here."
"Oh, right." Kiara flicks her hand, and a wave of cool washes over Amelia through the window. "You should have led with that."
Amelia shrugs.
"But I haven't done anything fun in a month now." Kiara huffs. "Flights are so boring without you around."
"I've watched all of them I was here for." Amelia promises. "You were as stunning as always."
"Flatterer." Kiara smiles, eyes shining happily. "I'll have to start putting on a show again."
"Like a mating display?" The romantic part of Amelia's brain wonders excitedly, and Amelia swats that thought down. Not because she thinks it's incorrect, but because her job description doesn't allow her to entertain that possibility. "Do what you want. You'll look great either way."
Kiara hums happily.
It's frustrating how quickly they fall into inane, routine conversation after that. If only Amelia was really allowed to talk with her…
###
Siren is not happy. She doesn't come when Amelia calls for her.
"Siren? I know you're back there." Amelia calls. "I brought you food!"
Siren still doesn't emerge from her (now empty) pool.
"I'll tell you about my trip." Amelia offers. "I went to a new country and met someone interesting."
Suspicious blue eyes peek over the rim of the pool.
"Sorry I didn't tell you I was going, but that's against protocall." Amelia adds, speaking softly. "You know how Cover is with information security."
"DOOOn't." Gura mumbles, barely audible. "NOt told anYyYthing."
"That's exactly what I mean. Cover is stingy with what they let people know." Amelia sighs.
"MEEEan."
"Yep. They're jerks."
Gura crawls out of the pool, slowly moving on all fours across the tiled floor. "WAAAtson."
"Yes Gura?"
"Leess tAlk. No strAAAngErs." Gura says. "I dOOO bAd?"
"Well…" Amelia doesn't really know. Cover set her up for failure with that test. "You really shouldn't have killed that guy."
"HEEE bAAAd!"
"Yes, absolutely." Amelia agrees. "But you still shouldn't have killed him."
"WhYYY?"
"Because then he can't pay for his crimes. You should have reported him instead." Disregarding that working here was a way of serving his time, but still, if Gura has concerns she should go to authority figures first.
Now if only the authority figures weren't controlling assholes.
"StUUUpid." Gura growls.
"A little." Amelia agrees.
"WAaant kill."
"Reasonable." Amelia nods.
Gura huffs her annoyance. Her tail smacks the floor and her claws clack against the tiles. "COOOver stUUUpid."
"Yep."
Satisfied that Amelia agrees, Gura stands up and grabs her food from the secondary room and sits down to eat in front of Amelia.
"Was everything fine while I was gone?"
"LOOOnely."
"I'm sorry about that, really." Amelia says. "I would have told you beforehand, but…"
"COOOver stUUUpid."
"Yeah." Amelia agrees. "Want me to tell you about my trip?"
Gura nods rapidly, her hair flying all over the place.
"Well, first I had this really boring plane ride…"
###
"You're grabbing a lot of attention, aren't you?" Calli says without prompting when Amlelia slumps into her chair.
"I'm not trying to." Amelia groans. "It's not my fault my charges are troublemakers. Except you, of course."
"Yeah, sure, but that's not what I mean." Calli hums. "I mean the gaze. It's got an eye on you."
Amelia swallows thickly. Right. The gaze. She was trying to ignore the fact that she may or may not have some sort of entity keeping tabs on her. "Right. Great."
"Don't worry. It doesn't feel hostile or anything."
As if anomalies aren't well known for having weird psychology where play or a friendly greeting might involve numerous stab wounds and induced organ failures. "Yeah… great."
"Ah, c'mon." Calli chuckles. "Just a curious deity. Nothing to worry about."
"A diety!?" Amelia yelps. How is that nothing to worry about!?
"Yep." Calli says. "Figured it out while you were on your trip."
"I-" Amelia halts, frowning. "I never told you I went on a trip."
"Amelia. Buddy. Did you really think my powers can't push past these barriers?" Calli asks, raising an eyebrow. "Like, don't get me wrong, the runes are hella impressive for humans, and my body's stuck here and my powers are muted, but I can still affect things outside. I keep in touch with my kid. Hell, I mentioned her specifically so you'd go see her."
Amelia sits back in her chair, eyes moving to the ceiling while a harsh breath exits her mouth. Calli set her up. Amelia didn't think the reaper was capable of being manipulative, but she was wrong. Baelz, was she wrong.
"Admittedly I can't do all that much with my powers." Calli admits. "I somehow missed Kiara being here for months, but Clara is a part of me, you know? Not hard to connect to her."
"A part of you? Is she not her own person."
"No, it's like… you know how you humans do that weird, uh, sex thing? And you make kids?"
"Yes."
"Well, those kids have your… genes? DNA? Whatever. They're half and half of their parents. Literally. Something similar goes for Clara. She has parts of me in her, so connecting to her is dirt simple." Calli explains.
Interesting, but this is veering away from the more important subject. "Okay, cool and all, but a deity!?"
"Still don't see what you're freaking out about."
"That's super dangerous!"
"So? You deal with dangerous shit all the time. Just… make friends with it or whatever." Calli shrugs. "That's your specialty, right?"
Amelia is flattered, but that doesn't mean she's freaking out any less. How is she supposed to make friends with someone she can't even talk to?
"Oh, and what am I supposed to do about this thing?" Calli asks abruptly, holding up something in her lap that Amelia hadn't noticed.
Amelia chokes when she recognizes it as a tako.
###
Amelia is no longer allowed to see Eldritch. It's not considered safe for anyone to enter her room. Only D class go in now to replace the reality anchors, which have been doubled in number in an attempt to curb Eldritch's growing influence.
There's been talk of euthanizing Eldritch before she can wake up. Cover is worried how bad her reality distortions could get if she was conscious, and how many takodachies she might create and how difficult it might be to contain them.
Naturally, Amelia fights that. Their job is to detain anomalies, not kill them. Besides, Eldritch has caused fewer issues than the vast majority of sentient anomalies in the site. The takos are not a problem. They're numerous now, numbering in the hundreds, and are still displaying their hivemind tendencies, but are no more dangerous now than they were before.
It's a fight she wins because, for once, the ethics board is on her side. She still can't go see Eldritch despite throwing every possible argument she can at the council to try and justify it, but at least Eldritch is safe.
However, Eldritch has also now forced the evacuation of the tenth floor. Crystal has been temporarily moved up to floor eight into a room way too big for an immobile, sleeping anomaly, and Amelia is doing her best to avoid going near her.
She can feel the compulsions. There's nagging at the back of her mind, telling her to go and visit, to lay her hand on the crystal, to listen to the song again. Other people are starting to report hearing things in Crystal's room as well, Amelia is not the only one, but she is the most strongly affected, and that worries her.
Her angels are no longer her least problematic charges, and Amelia doesn't like that feeling. Everything is going downhill, and she can't do anything about it. This isn't a problem she can solve with a proposal to the council, or by sitting down and having a talk with someone. This is wholly beyond her.
"Baelz damnit, what am I supposed to do Jay?" Amelia groans, staring through the screen at Eldritch's cell.
"I dunno. Also, what the fuck is 'Baelz'?"
"You know, Baelz. Hakos? Creator deity?"
"You mean God? I thought he was called Yaweh."
"No, not God. Baelz. False Chaos? The First Real Thing?"
"Amelia, you're great and all, but what the fuck are you talking about? Did you join a cult while I wasn't looking?" Jay asks. "Is this a new thing?"
"I've followed Baelz since…" Amelia frowns, trying to remember. "Years. Since I was a teenager."
"How'd you hear about it?"
Amelia opens her mouth, then closes it. "I have no idea."
"That sounds like a problem."
Amelia's eyes have drifted off Eldritch's cell, instead staring at her own clenched hands. Her charges are causing trouble, she can barely do her job properly, she has some sort of deity staring at her, and now her own beliefs might be anomalous. "I think I'm in trouble, Jay."
Jay watches her with a worried expression. "Yeah, I think you are…"
One more chapter after this. Also, first time using a Clara. Couldn't find a standard design for her online, so I just went with whatever felt right. I have no idea what prompted me to make her an outrageous flirt, but it was funny so I kept it. Also, I think I just love the idea that everyone who isn't human adores Ame for no particular reason and Ame is freaking out about it.