Knives is coming into the story soon, promise.

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"My great-what was who?" Her scowl deepened.

Anne bit back a sigh. "Your grandmother was the cousin of a man who followed Millions Knives around for a bit. He was the leader of the Gung-Hi Guns, and Knives' means of affecting the world while he was stuck in a bulb. His name was Legato Bluesummers, and aside from being a very crazy man, he also had gifts like yours."

"How do you know this? Why do you say that I'm related to someone who served a plant? Making a bid for me to continue a family tradition?"

Anne shrugged. "I know this because I knew that Legato had mind gifts like yours. And since things like that tend to run in families, I looked up his relatives. All were killed at his hands, save one who had actually disappeared years before he began killing off his family. I made up that little night before stuff because I thought it made a better story," she explained.

"But what make you think that she was my grandmother?"

"Because the ages, and the time that your grandmother showed up match with her disappearance. I think she may have been a bit of a precognitive talent, enough to know that sticking around the family would see her killed. So she ran, started a new life long before anyone thought that Legato was anything worse than a sullen, quiet child. And she lived."

"Why do I need to be related to him at all? What's so great about this guy?"

Anne blinked, feeling that Effie was missing the point. Wasn't Legato infamous? Belatedly, she wondered if her way of encountering the planet's backstory might have introduced a bias that Effie didn't share.

Oh well.

"There's nothing really great about him. Aside from being a crazy, murdering bastard, all that's worth noting about him is that Knives transplanted Vash's arm onto him.

"You mean, that guy was Legato? I'm related to that freak?"

"I think so, yes."

"No way."

"It's quite likely."

"But… he tortured people to death with his mind. There's no way I could do that."

Anne let the fact that Effie had slipped up a bit slide. "He had Vash's arm," she explained instead. "I think you know that the power sources lie along the humerus. With the addition of Vash's arm, Legato could draw on greater powers than an unaltered human would have access to."

"So he was a freak made freakier. Big deal, and what does it have to do with me? Any amputations in your future?"

Anne shook her head slowly. "I just thought that you might want to know that what you know, what you can sense from others sometimes is real. And that if you ever need any help controlling what you sense, or if you want to work on developing rather than suppressing what you can do, I would be happy to help you out."

"What? So I would owe you a debt of gratitude? So you could use me in whatever nefarious scheme you have going? Not likely," she snorted.

Anne bristled a little. "One, my scheme is not nefarious. Just thought I would clear that up. Two, what is it with you guys? I heal Mark's leg, finally get to, I might add, and what's his response? Thank you? Nooo. He stabs me in the leg just so I know how thankful he isn't."

"You deserved it," she muttered.

"That is neither here nor there. I offer to help you, and you instantly think that I'm going to try to use you. Have I made such a habit of using people, that you think I'm going to turn about and try to manipulate you?"

"I haven't seen you. But that just means you're very subtle."

Anne snorted. "Subtle, I'm not. Look, consider it a gift. I don't expect anything in exchange. It's just that I'm one of the few people on this planet that have any idea of the scope of what you could be capable of, and I'd hate to see that potential wasted because you just don't know how to use it."

"Potential for destruction. You can keep it." Effie's scowl deepened.

"It's not just for destruction. There are all sorts of ways you can use what you've been given. Like Mark's leg, you could heal with it. I'm not trying to argue you into anything you don't want to do. I'm just letting you know that there are more possibilities for you than just a group facilitator in the December plant."

"Oh, so now you're trying to steal me away from my job. You know that I like it here. Why would I want to be anywhere else, doing anything else?"

Anne looked past Effie, and her voice gained a touch of melancholy. "Because sometimes, where you want to be isn't the place that you should be." She shook herself. "It's responsibility, really. When you can do things that other people can't, you have a responsibility that they don't. It's up to you to decide if you're going to accept that you might have a deeper purpose in this life. And I'm not about to say whether you do or don't; I'm just offering my help if you decide that you do. That's all."

Effie continued to scowl. "As if I would want your help. Liar that you are, this is probably all a ploy to get me to do your bidding."

"I don't do ploys. You've known me for years. How many ploys have I employed?"

"How should I know? I haven't known you at all."

"You've known me as much as anyone else on this planet. I'm sorry I kept the fact that I'm a plant secret. What were my options? Secrecy or death? Would you have chosen the former or the latter? Oh, no, wait. You've already decided to be secretive with your talents. Little hypocritical today, aren't we?" Anne said cattily.