"... So, that's why I came over to the office," said Tony.
Aidan frowned. "Yeah, that is big Tony, but I'm not sure if I'll be much help right now," she said.
"Why don't you try a holograph? Shouldn't be too taxing on a sleepyhead."
"OK, but I'm not that sleepy," she said wryly, taking of her top shirt to reveal the tunic of the suit. She picked up the shirt Tony brought and frowned when an image phased into view. "Wait a second... I see a room with a bunch of science equipment, books and lockers... why would I be getting that? Haven't been to Whitney High for the past month, but..."
"What, ya never been to a morgue before?" asked Tony. "They have that stuff there... but the lockers aren't there store books if ya know what I mean."
"I haven't, and I have no reason to, Tony, at least right now," she said with slight cynicism. "Listen, do you think you can help me figure this out? Just put your hand on my shoulder."
Though he still was a bit skiddish of the power, Tony placed a hand on her shoulder. Sure enough, she saw two men wheel a cart to a table. They lifted up a bag of some sort and opened it. It was a cadaver, and there was an medical examiner entering with a tray of equipment. "Yeah... that's the morgue and the scientist. Dead end."
"Bit literally too," said Aidan bluntly, making a face as she handed him back the shirt to get rid of the holograph before she could see the ME make an incision. "And as far as helping further today Tony, I don't think I'm up for much traveling."
"That's OK, Ade. I'll do some more research later this afternoon, just incase there's another break."
"Lunch's ready guys," said Pam as she came out of the kitchen with the rest of the food.
The other three walked into the dining room and sat down. Aidan frowned slightly when she saw the other three were going to have tacos while she had a nice bowl of ... buttered bowtie pasta.
"Aidan, I'm sorry, but I started cooking this last night," said Pam.
The young woman looked at her bowl and gave her the best wry grin she could while still wearing the ice packs on her face.
Tony chuckled. "Aidan, I don't know about your godparents here but I can sympathize," he said as he put together a taco. "Broke my jaw once, and had to watch my friends eat all sorts of good stuff while I had my protein shakes."
Aidan made a face. "Yeah, at least my torture's only for a couple of days. I'm guessing you were tortured for months," she quipped.
The other two laughed, much to Tony's embarrassment. "Yeah, it was four months..."
"Still, I'd much rather this been topped with something like that jalapeno ranch dressing instead of butter," said Aidan as she scooped up some contents of her bowl. "Had that on my pasta salad a couple of months ago, and even learned the recipe. Should've given you it Pam when I was going to... whoa."
Ralph jumped up when Aidan dropped the fork and stared at the pasta. He grew more concerned when she paled and grabbed the sides of her chair. "Aidan you all right? Are you sick?" She shook her head, making him frown. "Do you think you're going to faint?" he said, ready to help her out if she did.
"No, it's the pasta..."
"It's not too tough is it?" said Pam, worried Aidan might have got some stuck in the incision areas.
"No... it's got jalapeno ranch dressing on it, see?"
The other three turned and looked at her bowl. Sure enough, there was a light green sauce on the pasta, the characteristic color of jalapeno ranch dressing.
Ralph took a bite of the pasta and, frowning, turned to Pam. "We're not imagining it, it's really that," he said, taking a sip of water afterwards from the spice of the dressing.
"But how did it get there," said Pam.
"I don't know..." said Ralph.
Aidan looked at the pasta in confusion, only to be annoyed by the dog barking outside. "You know, why do dogs start barking when you are trying to figure things out? It's annoying..." Her mouth dropped open when the dog immediately stopped barking. Getting out of her chair and looking out the window, Aidan saw the dog was trying to bark. It stopped and shook its head, wondering what happened to its voice. "What the hell's going on here?" she said.
Curious, Pam picked up a glass. "Aidan, call this something else."
"Come on Pam, why? Do you think it'll turn into a telephone insulator," she said wryly, only to see it turn into the voiced item. "Uh oh..."
"Aidan, I think we have a problem, courtesy of the suit," said Tony.
