18 Februrary
Well, it's been an interesting couple of days since I left the
Institute.
I'm shAnang a huge pent house with a DDG corp-dominatrix-tycoon
type, who also happens to be one of the strongest telepaths alive,
an exotic fellow Brit who's got similar psi-talents to mine, and a
sweet-16 geekgrrl who's a gifted ballerina and almost my equal as
a hacker...and more kid-sister than I ever thought I'd have...
...I spent V-day with a guy that I really like, taking in a candle-
light dinner and going to a gala museum opening, and the rest of
the night at his place cuddling in front of the fire with a bottle
of good wine...
...and yesterday morning?
Hooo boy, I could feel Cueball seething after he got back from
some high level garbage in DC!
I could "feel" him trying to use that bloody Cerebra dingus to
locate Kitty and myself...but we'd hacked his system and erased
any reference to the HFC's mutant/metahuman members or ourselves
days before--from the inside, no less!
Emma altered Kitty's neural patterns, and with my mind fully inte-
grated into this body, I'm verily invisible to him, which proved
rather amusing, since this thing seems to amplify him and make him
hyper-sensitive...
I had a dull migraine cooking on the back burner, and wasn't in the
best of moods, so I couldn't resist shoving that migraine right up
his amplified arse and felt perfectly justified in doing so... right
under his bloody radar!
Never expected Emma and Liz to look so pleased--they've been teach-
ing me all the dirty tricks in addition to what I picked up from Jean
--and she knows all of Xavier's tricks... soooo, you get the picture.
Makes the first time, for the record, that I've actually "used" any
of said tricks to cook up something of my own, though!
My head felt a little better after that!
-----------------------
Emma and Liz have suggested Kate and I write up our experiences
at the Xavier Intitute and file a copy of them with an attourney,
one Ms. Jennifer Walters, to be exact, and file another in a safety
desposit box, and one with Frost Interstellar's firm... I talked to
Shin about it, and he agreed that it was a good idea.
So, that's on top of FT university, homework and PT job here in
Frost IT's geekdesk...and going out with Shin from time to time.
Speaking of classes, the more I learn about how IT works, the easier
a time I'm having of communicating with them...short range telepath,
but quite comprehensive in scope, it would seem!
Kate and Emma've been tutoring me on programming, as I'm dyslexic
as the day is long, but thanks to their patience and perseverence,
Vis Basic is finally starting to make sense--I'll consider being able
to build a dice-roller proggie to be a serious victory!
I usually hack by instinct--and Sight-gift--it turns out... just
"knowing" what to do, but the more I learn, the better I can do it,
I'm thinking...
Only problem is, I'm bored outta my ever-lovin' gourd here in the
graphics class... I'm practicing cyberpathy on a Silicon Graphics
workstation and creating "mindscapes" in Photoshop and Illustrator,
and 'writing' in my journal...
What...or rather...who is on my mind?
Shinobi... or "Shin" as I think of him.
Guy's got a heck of a rep as a billionaire playboy and all that,
stemming from his college days, and his fraternity... He's got a
B.S. in Economics and Asian Studies from Oxford, and a M.B.A. from
Harvard, and another M.A. in Languages from said same university...
He's ostensibly a mutant, with phasing abillities similar to Kate's,
but allowing him complete control over the density of his body, and
a bloody good grasp of how to use them...hell, he's been tutoring
her the way Em and Liz have been tutoring me!
He's a drop dead sexy Eurasian. That means exotic. And exotic means
that he's a "hot property", and is considered one of Cosmo's "Top 10
Most Eligible Bachelors."
He's got advanced 'dan' in a couple of martial arts, was a decent
fencer at Oxford and Harvard...
And he's got the bloody bluest eyes... Silky, long indigo hair...
and a smile that makes my heart skip a beat...and a kiss that makes
me forget to breathe. And he's all of 26.
What the hell is he thinking?
I'm 31, in the 17 year old body of the kid sister I never knew I
had... turns out I'm not only psychic now, I can punch through a
bank vault and walk through a bloody inferno unscathed.
My biological father turns out to be an alien superhero (same as
hers) I've never even heard of, from several galaxies away, and
since she absorbed me I'm not "just" 1/2 alien, I'm like a full-
blooded-what-ever-I-am...
I'm not exactly wealthy, but since my bio-dad was an Avenger, I get
a comfortable trust fund that would've gone to me and Appolonia,
from the MAnaa Stark Foundation, and a full scholarship to NYU and
Columbia...that's not such a bad thing...I make more money working
25 hours a week for Frost Interstellar than I ever did doing full
time for Intel's internal help desk on the "Silicon Mesa"!!!
But gimme a break, my flonqing life could've come out of a comic
book or a tabloid at this point...
I know I saved his bloody life New Year's Eve--not to mention my
own--as it's not the first time I've run into vAnaous forms of
vampires... but c'mon, this is me, Anastasia Galatea d'Vir, we're
talking about...
This is absolutely nucking futts... I "wished" for a ghost of life
on Mid-winter's full-moon Sabbat, and a chance to go back to university...
I mean, I'm no stranger to random wierdness in my life, but accidentally
becoming the Black Queen of the most exclusive social organisation
in the world, by "right of conquest"??
I'm a nobody...whose life just got turned wrongside out 10 weeks
ago...by a freak accident... I woke up to the face of my kid sister,
and some whackos from some wanna-be spandex brigade breaking into my
flat...
...and now?
I just want to hide?
Fat chance, d'Vir.
My crazy birth-mum once said, when I was very little, that I would
lead an interesting life or something like that... Shin says that's
an old Oriental curse: to tell someone "May you lead an interesting
life.." or "May you live in interesting times.."
I'm beginning to believe him!
And like every Wiccan/Pagan type, I shoulda remembered that old line
about "be careful what you wish for, you might get it..."
Here I am, taking classes at an Ivy League university, working for
a Fortune 100 company, rooming with said same corp's Pres/CEO, an
ex-supermodel-turned-spy, and actually gasp having a social life,
too.
And that doesn't even count Shin's presence.
I actually asked him the other night, why he liked being around me,
when he could ostensibly have almost any other woman in the world...
He told me it has alot to do with the fact that I'm the sort of lady
who wouldn't ordinarly give him more than the time of day... I'm not
impressed by his wealth or put off by his reputation, and all that
nonsense.
He's not put off by my bluntness, occasional cynicism or caustic
wit, though he does admit he likes what he sees--even if I'm not
used to seeing it in the mirror yet...
And we do understand each other, having grown up with less-than-sane,
abusive parental units...and there are other, more pleasant commonalities
such as a mutual passion for music and the Arts...and he's got this
thing about making me speechless.
Like the amber Deco jewelry on V-day, or sneaking me away for a
private weekend tour of Biltmore or Hurst Castle out in San Simeon
or a generous endowment to the museum to arrange a private tour of
that new Chinese exhibit..spending an entire day with the curator,
learning about the obscure details, and in turn, my Sight-gift
returning the favour...
That was enough to make me want to quit the geek-track at Columbia
and follow my bliss into history and historical costuming...if only
I could stomach the dead (and undead) stuff.
And the sword... Lady's Blades!
That. Sword.
It sang in my soul when I touched it. I felt and Saw it's history
and if I weren't such an honourable person, I'd acquire it...by what-
ever means possible. And now I know how the character Yu Zhao-lung,
the girl in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, felt when she saw/felt
the Green Destiny sword that Li Mui-bai had sent to Lord Te.
I never realised that the Sight could be so comprehensive, or make
it so painful to relinquish something that feels like it should be a
part of me. But, it would be wrong to do otherwise, and I think that's
one of the things that Shin seems to admire most about me.
I don't cry, but twice now, Shin's seen me cry: once in surprise and
happiness over the amber, and now, not a week later, in sorrow over
being parted from a bloody sword that touched my soul and spoke to me
in ways that no beautiful, old thing ever has...
And the things I "Saw" are what I'm using my psi-talent to "record" in
Photoshop... They're still fresh in my memory, and I want to save them...
maybe even put them on display somewhere...
I'm still shaken by that experience, and Shin knows it...he's taking
me out to dinner, since Emma saw fit to give me the next two days off,
and we're going to stay up and talk about it...
Well, it's been an interesting couple of days since I left the
Institute.
I'm shAnang a huge pent house with a DDG corp-dominatrix-tycoon
type, who also happens to be one of the strongest telepaths alive,
an exotic fellow Brit who's got similar psi-talents to mine, and a
sweet-16 geekgrrl who's a gifted ballerina and almost my equal as
a hacker...and more kid-sister than I ever thought I'd have...
...I spent V-day with a guy that I really like, taking in a candle-
light dinner and going to a gala museum opening, and the rest of
the night at his place cuddling in front of the fire with a bottle
of good wine...
...and yesterday morning?
Hooo boy, I could feel Cueball seething after he got back from
some high level garbage in DC!
I could "feel" him trying to use that bloody Cerebra dingus to
locate Kitty and myself...but we'd hacked his system and erased
any reference to the HFC's mutant/metahuman members or ourselves
days before--from the inside, no less!
Emma altered Kitty's neural patterns, and with my mind fully inte-
grated into this body, I'm verily invisible to him, which proved
rather amusing, since this thing seems to amplify him and make him
hyper-sensitive...
I had a dull migraine cooking on the back burner, and wasn't in the
best of moods, so I couldn't resist shoving that migraine right up
his amplified arse and felt perfectly justified in doing so... right
under his bloody radar!
Never expected Emma and Liz to look so pleased--they've been teach-
ing me all the dirty tricks in addition to what I picked up from Jean
--and she knows all of Xavier's tricks... soooo, you get the picture.
Makes the first time, for the record, that I've actually "used" any
of said tricks to cook up something of my own, though!
My head felt a little better after that!
-----------------------
Emma and Liz have suggested Kate and I write up our experiences
at the Xavier Intitute and file a copy of them with an attourney,
one Ms. Jennifer Walters, to be exact, and file another in a safety
desposit box, and one with Frost Interstellar's firm... I talked to
Shin about it, and he agreed that it was a good idea.
So, that's on top of FT university, homework and PT job here in
Frost IT's geekdesk...and going out with Shin from time to time.
Speaking of classes, the more I learn about how IT works, the easier
a time I'm having of communicating with them...short range telepath,
but quite comprehensive in scope, it would seem!
Kate and Emma've been tutoring me on programming, as I'm dyslexic
as the day is long, but thanks to their patience and perseverence,
Vis Basic is finally starting to make sense--I'll consider being able
to build a dice-roller proggie to be a serious victory!
I usually hack by instinct--and Sight-gift--it turns out... just
"knowing" what to do, but the more I learn, the better I can do it,
I'm thinking...
Only problem is, I'm bored outta my ever-lovin' gourd here in the
graphics class... I'm practicing cyberpathy on a Silicon Graphics
workstation and creating "mindscapes" in Photoshop and Illustrator,
and 'writing' in my journal...
What...or rather...who is on my mind?
Shinobi... or "Shin" as I think of him.
Guy's got a heck of a rep as a billionaire playboy and all that,
stemming from his college days, and his fraternity... He's got a
B.S. in Economics and Asian Studies from Oxford, and a M.B.A. from
Harvard, and another M.A. in Languages from said same university...
He's ostensibly a mutant, with phasing abillities similar to Kate's,
but allowing him complete control over the density of his body, and
a bloody good grasp of how to use them...hell, he's been tutoring
her the way Em and Liz have been tutoring me!
He's a drop dead sexy Eurasian. That means exotic. And exotic means
that he's a "hot property", and is considered one of Cosmo's "Top 10
Most Eligible Bachelors."
He's got advanced 'dan' in a couple of martial arts, was a decent
fencer at Oxford and Harvard...
And he's got the bloody bluest eyes... Silky, long indigo hair...
and a smile that makes my heart skip a beat...and a kiss that makes
me forget to breathe. And he's all of 26.
What the hell is he thinking?
I'm 31, in the 17 year old body of the kid sister I never knew I
had... turns out I'm not only psychic now, I can punch through a
bank vault and walk through a bloody inferno unscathed.
My biological father turns out to be an alien superhero (same as
hers) I've never even heard of, from several galaxies away, and
since she absorbed me I'm not "just" 1/2 alien, I'm like a full-
blooded-what-ever-I-am...
I'm not exactly wealthy, but since my bio-dad was an Avenger, I get
a comfortable trust fund that would've gone to me and Appolonia,
from the MAnaa Stark Foundation, and a full scholarship to NYU and
Columbia...that's not such a bad thing...I make more money working
25 hours a week for Frost Interstellar than I ever did doing full
time for Intel's internal help desk on the "Silicon Mesa"!!!
But gimme a break, my flonqing life could've come out of a comic
book or a tabloid at this point...
I know I saved his bloody life New Year's Eve--not to mention my
own--as it's not the first time I've run into vAnaous forms of
vampires... but c'mon, this is me, Anastasia Galatea d'Vir, we're
talking about...
This is absolutely nucking futts... I "wished" for a ghost of life
on Mid-winter's full-moon Sabbat, and a chance to go back to university...
I mean, I'm no stranger to random wierdness in my life, but accidentally
becoming the Black Queen of the most exclusive social organisation
in the world, by "right of conquest"??
I'm a nobody...whose life just got turned wrongside out 10 weeks
ago...by a freak accident... I woke up to the face of my kid sister,
and some whackos from some wanna-be spandex brigade breaking into my
flat...
...and now?
I just want to hide?
Fat chance, d'Vir.
My crazy birth-mum once said, when I was very little, that I would
lead an interesting life or something like that... Shin says that's
an old Oriental curse: to tell someone "May you lead an interesting
life.." or "May you live in interesting times.."
I'm beginning to believe him!
And like every Wiccan/Pagan type, I shoulda remembered that old line
about "be careful what you wish for, you might get it..."
Here I am, taking classes at an Ivy League university, working for
a Fortune 100 company, rooming with said same corp's Pres/CEO, an
ex-supermodel-turned-spy, and actually gasp having a social life,
too.
And that doesn't even count Shin's presence.
I actually asked him the other night, why he liked being around me,
when he could ostensibly have almost any other woman in the world...
He told me it has alot to do with the fact that I'm the sort of lady
who wouldn't ordinarly give him more than the time of day... I'm not
impressed by his wealth or put off by his reputation, and all that
nonsense.
He's not put off by my bluntness, occasional cynicism or caustic
wit, though he does admit he likes what he sees--even if I'm not
used to seeing it in the mirror yet...
And we do understand each other, having grown up with less-than-sane,
abusive parental units...and there are other, more pleasant commonalities
such as a mutual passion for music and the Arts...and he's got this
thing about making me speechless.
Like the amber Deco jewelry on V-day, or sneaking me away for a
private weekend tour of Biltmore or Hurst Castle out in San Simeon
or a generous endowment to the museum to arrange a private tour of
that new Chinese exhibit..spending an entire day with the curator,
learning about the obscure details, and in turn, my Sight-gift
returning the favour...
That was enough to make me want to quit the geek-track at Columbia
and follow my bliss into history and historical costuming...if only
I could stomach the dead (and undead) stuff.
And the sword... Lady's Blades!
That. Sword.
It sang in my soul when I touched it. I felt and Saw it's history
and if I weren't such an honourable person, I'd acquire it...by what-
ever means possible. And now I know how the character Yu Zhao-lung,
the girl in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, felt when she saw/felt
the Green Destiny sword that Li Mui-bai had sent to Lord Te.
I never realised that the Sight could be so comprehensive, or make
it so painful to relinquish something that feels like it should be a
part of me. But, it would be wrong to do otherwise, and I think that's
one of the things that Shin seems to admire most about me.
I don't cry, but twice now, Shin's seen me cry: once in surprise and
happiness over the amber, and now, not a week later, in sorrow over
being parted from a bloody sword that touched my soul and spoke to me
in ways that no beautiful, old thing ever has...
And the things I "Saw" are what I'm using my psi-talent to "record" in
Photoshop... They're still fresh in my memory, and I want to save them...
maybe even put them on display somewhere...
I'm still shaken by that experience, and Shin knows it...he's taking
me out to dinner, since Emma saw fit to give me the next two days off,
and we're going to stay up and talk about it...