this is a continuation of an age swap psi snippets chapter. this was also going to be in psi snippets, but it got WAY too long.
i've seen a lot of age swap/roleswap aus, but i don't think i've seen one where milla is the protagonist/takes on raz' role. her child perspective is fun to write, especially when she gets to clash with chloe. i also picked different characters who i felt suited their roles better like maloof taking on oleander's role since he's small and has a thirst for revenge. bobby is also loboto because he's especially a menace to society despite being like 37. chloe is slightly less of a menace but a menace nonetheless. also, adam is so cool, and he's still doing yo-yo tricks in his older years.
Causality Between Now and Then
Milla finally reached the top of the tower. She tucked stray brown hairs back into her bun, breathing heavily through her mouth. Before her was a ladder and a platform leading up the diabolical lab where the rogue Psychonauts had taken the minds of her fellow campers, but before she ascended, she surveyed how far she had come.
Whispering Rock was a pinprick in the distance. She made out familiar structures of the docks and boathouse, but that was it. Everything else was covered in darkness or only appeared as dim lights. Over there, her brainless friends slouched on bean bag chairs in Adam's sanctuary, mumbling about televisions over and over again. She remembered how Oly had dragged himself up from the lake, the faint stench of pepper clinging to his sopping wet clothing, and she shivered. The rest of them had also been like him, eyes rolling in their skulls, moving robotically until Adam gathered them all in his observation room.
She pressed her hand over her heart and sighed. Sasha, Raz, and Lili were somewhere above her. She had no knowledge if those agents had removed their brains, leaving them as grumbling husks, but she wasn't about to quit. Milla had survived through the topsy-turvy territory of the decrypt asylum, helping poor inmates forgotten by society, and she arrived at where Sasha and destiny waited for her.
Milla smoothed down the wrinkles of her colorful, striped coat. She almost wished the orange and pink hues were muted to help her blend in with her surroundings. But as she climbed the latter, hearing voices stemming from the lab, she decided to go all in. She had nothing left to lose and everything to gain, just as Adam said to her.
Milla came out to a strange set of cylindrical stairs. They creaked underfoot, guiding her to the lab where the voices grew louder. It sounded like an argument, notably one-sided. Someone was spewing insults every five words. Milla approached the entrance, spotting schematics tacked to the walls made of leather and steel, before she slowly peered inside.
Her heart thundered. There was the mastermind behind the brain-stealing incident. Maloof paced back and forth in front of a brain tank that was much larger than one she fought in Lili's Brain Tumbler experiment. He raked his fingers through his curly mop of hair, stomping almost like a petulant not getting his way before directing his anger back on the agents who had appeared in the same experiment.
"Worthless!" Maloof barked, banging his fist on the side of the tank. "How the hell haven't you two found a way to make those brains fight? I didn't pay you to stand around all day!"
Chloe and Bobby stood side-by-side opposite Maloof. They glanced at one another, seemingly unbothered by his tirade. Milla took a moment to observe the lab while Maloof ranted. Mr. Bun was protected in a rather large cage with everything a rabbit needed on a table near the brain tank. And although he was horribly out of place, she was relieved to see he was taken care of by her enemies. The lingering scent of pepper wafted from the lab's interior, which made her wonder how much pepper Chloe and Bobby had since they had to use it on over a dozen campers. But what caught her attention were a vast amount of tools and the strange weapons that seemed scattered at random, as if someone had taken them off the shelves and thrown them down.
"You have all of this stuff to make them fight, but you didn't do anything!" Maloof bellowed, snatching what appeared to be a large fork. He bent the tip back, and Milla pursed her lips when it appeared to catch fire. He flung it out the window. "You could've frightened them to fight back! Why didn't you?"
Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. "You paid us to remove the brains of the targets and create your tanks." She sighed and shook her head. "You never specified to make them fight. That would also break our personal policy of not harming children. We would have had to poke and squeeze at their brains to trigger a fighting reaction, which would possibly amount to severe, life-altering psychological harm."
"Oh, as if kidnapping doesn't amount to hurting them? Chloe, you hypocrite-" Maloof's mouth clamped shut when Bobby bashed his fist into his open palm. His brow furrowed, but he returned his glare back at the unfazed scientist. "I paid you guys thousands to get those brains ready to launch. I got a world to conquer! And there are two more brains that need to be taken as soon as possible."
Milla knew he meant her, but she pondered over who the other could have been. She didn't have to wait long when Bobby snorted, commenting that Lars' son was sick. Her smile pressed into her cheeks, and relief spread through her. Sasha was safe.
But it implied something deadly. She thought about her mentors, Raz and Lili, strapped somewhere, brainless. She looked up at the whole in the ceiling, spotting shadows crossing the walls. With her new destination in mind, she decided to wait to hear whatever plans were being discussed before springing Sasha loose.
Chloe hummed. She remained remarkably calm in the face of Maloof's rage. "While it was thoroughly enjoyable forcing those two to sneeze out their brains, you must understand us, Maloof. When you hired us, I made it explicitly clear that we would only be removing the brains of the children. There was no mention of making them fight. Yes, it may be hypocritical, but we didn't cause severe psychological damage to them nor did we actually physically hurt them." She stepped closer, Mr. Bun racing across his cage and gnawing at the cage bars when she strode by him. "If you want them to fight, do it yourself. Bobby and I have already finished our job, and we will be taking our leave soon."
Bobby smirked and shoved his hands in his pockets when Maloof blanched. "Man, I wish I had a camera. I'd love to have that face in my scrapbook of suckers."
Maloof hunched forward, glaring evenly at Chloe. "No. No, no, no. You haven't finished the job yet. There's still Sasha and Milla. Get their brains." He jabbed his finger upward. "Now."
Chloe frowned and lowered her arms. "The son of that scoundrel is sick. Pepper will not work on him."
Maloof swung his leg back and struck the tank, its metallic clang echoing in the lab. "Then perform surgery! God, do I need to spell it out for you two?"
Milla swallowed. She gripped the doorframe and leaned in, prepared to fight if either of them made the move to ascend up to Sasha.
"That would be harmful to the child," Chloe snapped, her arm sweeping out. "You and I both hold disdain for his father, but I won't stoop to maiming a child." She glanced over at Bobby. "Please go search for the girl, so we can get on with our lives. Our mob boss here thinks she holds the key to world domination."
Bobby barked out a cackle from the back of his throat. He levitated a pepper shaker off the table, Maloof hissing insults at him. Although his expression twisted at a few particularly nasty names, he did not take the bait. "Oh, don't worry, Chloe. I'll make sure this girl is good and brainless. Then, we can mosey on outta here to somewhere tropical on his cash."
She smiled at his comment, but Maloof snorted, "Make it fast, Robert. I don't have all day."
Bobby leered over his shoulder. He glanced at Chloe, but at her neutrality, he snatched the pepper shaker and rapped his knuckles on it. When flecks of bright green pepper trickled out, he started for the door.
Milla ducked. She squeezed her eyes shut, a coldness sweeping through her as she turned invisible. Bobby ambled outside, Chloe and Maloof resuming their conversation behind him. He strutted toward the elevator, none the wiser as Milla sighed, turning visible. She carefully matched his footsteps when she tiptoed and ascended up the spiral staircase, but as she turned the corner, Maloof's voice roared through the night sky.
"What the hell do you mean you're done?"
Bobby immediately whirled around. Milla ducked behind the curve of the lab. He hurried back to the entranceway and Milla dared to peek out. He stood at the entrance, his face twisting in concern, and Milla waited.
Chloe's voice was too quiet to hear. She only heard Maloof's shrieking. He berated her and volleyed insults. Bobby writhed, his arms twitching, Milla sensing that he wanted to strike Maloof upside the head.
"You can't be done after this! I paid you! You and him are going to make those kids fight, and I'm not going to let you walk away from this, Chloe! You can't do whatever you want and call it a day! I'm your boss, so you listen to me! Got it?"
Silence pervaded. She heard crows cawing overhead. She didn't know why the quiet unnerved her. Focusing on Bobby's face, she wondered why he had suddenly gone pale, his glasses slipping to the tip of his nose.
When he rushed inside, Milla crept to her original spot. Holding the door frame, she looked inside. Her jaw dropped.
Maloof's limbs were pinned in place. Chloe had captured Maloof in a telekinetic grip so tight that she should have snapped his spine. He groaned, his eyes bulging. He gritted his teeth and glared at her as best as his round face could muster, but he lacked any hint of danger or dignity.
But Chloe was a monster. It was an expression that no human could have worn. Only an alien, perhaps, seemed suitable for the amount of rage disgracing her features. Her mouth carving a scowl, her eyes so wide that they could have popped out of her head, and her body violently shaking, her small frame almost unable to contain the wrath emanating within her.
"You sound just like them," she snarled, and she jabbed her boot into Maloof's portly stomach. When he yelped, she hissed out a snicker. "I wanted to do this to them, too, but you'll have to suffice."
Bobby cupped her shoulder, but she swatted his hand aside. His words seemed to die in his throat as she continued, acting as if he wasn't next to her.
"'You can't do this. You can't do that. You're wasting the budget, Agent Barge. Why don't you get your head out of the exosphere, Agent Barge? Smell the roses on this planet, Agent Barge!'" Chloe seethed, clenching her fists, her lip curling. She tightened her telekinetic grip, Maloof squeaking as his bones crunched, and Milla winced. "Well, Maloof, Bobby and I already got what we wanted from you. The payment you made to us cleared, so our contract is finished." She snapped her fingers. "Bobby. Pepper. Now. De-brain him."
Bobby didn't waste a second. At her order, he dove into action. Unlike how he acted around Oly, where he cajoled and sneered at the terrified boy, he abided by Chloe's command. He disregarded Maloof's pleas. He set the pepper shaker under Maloof's nose and turned it, spraying the particles on him in stunning silence.
Milla watched as Maloof struggled. His body jostled, and his breathing came out in shallow pants. When Maloof sneezed, she shut her eyes. She didn't want to see how his brain hit the ceiling before coming down, and when she looked, she found Chloe holding Maloof's brain, her fingers digging into the wrinkled undulations.
"No one denies me what I want anymore, Maloof," she said, and she tossed his brain on the table, its wet splat a sign of what was to come. She sighed and rolled her shoulders back. She pressed her palms over her eyes, Bobby rising from Maloof's shaken, brainless body.
"You okay, Chloe?" he croaked out.
She dropped her hands and smiled at him. "Yes. Thank you. Sorry about my-"
"It's not your fault. Maloof's a bastard who doesn't know when to shut up," he interjected, far too quickly for Milla's liking.
Chloe leaned into his hand when he cupped her cheek. "What he said got to me. We can leave for the tropics shortly," she replied, and she gestured at the hole in the ceiling, "but after we've cleaned up shop and taken care of Lars' son. I want to leave him with a reminder of what he did to me and leave no trace we were ever here." She nestled against his chest, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Yes, those kids and the agents will know it was us, but Maloof is our fall guy, and I don't want to leave behind physical evidence. This is all of my research, as you know. We have to pack it into the submarine."
Milla didn't wait to hear anything more. She stumbled away from the door as Bobby whispered to her. She swallowed and covered her mouth, shaking her head. What had happened was a bizarre scene unfit for an espionage mission. She couldn't get the image of Maloof's brainless body out of her mind, and Chloe's malice still seeped into the chilly air, prompting her to grab the tool her mentor had given her.
Reaching the ceiling platform, from her knapsack, she retrieved a yo-yo. She quickly wound it around her fingers and tossed it up by her ear. As it blew by her, violet psychic energy sparking from it, she was jerked to the side as the head of a former Psychomaster sprung out of her ear.
"Walkin' the dog," Adam said, smiling, only for it to fade when she shuddered. "Oh, Milla, I saw the whole thing. Being a stowaway in your mind means you don't have to tell me. I know, okay? They're a frightening duo, but at least Maloof is down for the count."
Milla crouched and gripped her elbows. With her back facing the lab, she dipped her head low and spoke in a tone only Adam could hear. "What happened to them? Why would they go this far and act so uncaring? I know Maloof was the ringmaster, but I can't help but feel sorry for him after what they did."
Adam clicked his tongue. "Well, I wasn't there for what happened. My version of events is secondhand knowledge from Lili." He shook his head as best as he could. "Chloe Barge was a wonderfully intelligent agent. Everyone revered her inventions, but she got ahead of herself. Her ideas kept going over the budget. She wanted more and more funding to further her research. When she took her ideas to the Grand Head and the other higher-ups, Lili told me that he laughed at her. I don't know why or what ideas she brought to the table, but she was humiliated that day." He pursed his lips, Milla knowing he wanted to have been involved so much more after his psychic duel that left him tethered to Whispering Rock. "So, when Lars denied her, she started pooling more monetary resources away from other projects in the agency to fund her goals. She forged certified documents to the leaders of other departments. It was as if she was blind to what she was doing, too engrossed in her concepts and anger to realize how she was harming both herself and the Psychonauts." Adam sighed. "I heard Lars had to take disciplinary action. He shut down her operations, the details of which I don't have. Lili wasn't exactly forthcoming and laughed it off as if Chloe's ideas were plain stupid."
Milla nodded. It seemed like Chloe had suffered quite the scandal, partially caused by her own actions. "So, what exactly did Sasha's father do?"
He frowned. "It's not what he did. He wanted Chloe to have time away from her projects. Yes, she had done something rather criminal, but she was hurting. Misguided, too, I bet, so he forced her to use her accumulated vacation days to take time away from the Psychonauts, but something inside of her had already snapped. When her project was stopped, something must have happened to her mind. She grew vengeful. Utterly ridiculous, if you ask me, when Lars was looking out for her. She abandoned the Psychonauts, and her partner took off with her." Adam shook his head. "Bobby Zilch is hopelessly devoted to her. He might have been the scourge of the psychic underworld, but if she tells him to jump, he'll jump without question. Those two had always been close, so when she took off running, he gathered what he could from the Psychonauts and ran after her. They've been on the Psychonauts' watch list for a few years now, but other than close encounters, this is their first major move against us."
Milla listened with rapt attention. She wasn't entirely sure how to wrap her head around the info that had been dumped on her. She had once read issues of True Psychic Tales starring Agents Barge and Zilch. Their harrowing endeavors in the psychic underworld and outer space had always captivated her, but with everything she had seen and heard about them, she didn't know how to interpret them.
There was an angle of hurt that dwelled within them, but Sasha was still in danger. They had still kidnapped her friends and mentors. But even so, Milla couldn't squash the pity that formed in her heart like Lili had done in her memory vault when her "good friend" Chloe severed ties with her.
"Milla," Adam said, bringing her thoughts around, "are you okay? Do you need to come back to base? Talk it out?"
Milla groaned. "I can't. They're going to get to Sasha soon. I can't let them hurt him."
"To be fair, we said we weren't going to hurt him," Chloe said.
Milla balked and gasped. She tumbled to her knees and quickly jumped to her feet. Chloe and Bobby had crouched behind her, the latter smirking. She had no idea when or how they crept up on her, and even Adam seemed appalled by their presence.
As they rose to their full height, Milla readied herself for combat. Bobby idly summoned a knife made out of psychic energy and threw it between her legs. Yelping, Milla stumbled backwards and grabbed the rope railing, but Chloe scolded him.
"I know that won't injure her, but come on, what if she fell? Her levitation ball would pop, and she would get skewered by the rocks and debris below," she said, and he mumbled his apology.
Adam narrowed his eyes. "Don't act like you two care now, and stop your plan before I-"
"Or what, old man?" Bobby jeered, grabbing his hips. "You can't go anywhere without psitanium, and while we won't hurt that kid, she can't stop us."
Milla grimaced. She waited for his next move and challenged him to throw a second knife. She even brought her shield up when he jerked his hand forward, and Bobby laughed at her, acting as if she was a joke. Her shield dropping, her face burned.
"It seems the Psychonauts have filled your head with falsehoods," Chloe mused, gripping her chin. "Milla, correct?" When she nodded, Chloe continued. "We'll let you leave. We have no further reason to de-brain you. Consider yourself fortunate."
Milla set her fingers to her temples, unfazed. "But you're going to de-brain Sasha. You've already de-brained Raz and Lili, right?"
Chloe simply gestured at the adjacent room. "Take a look for yourself, but word of advice, while we could easily eliminate you, we won't. We'll de-brain Sasha and be on our way after we clean up. A little girl like you with an old man in her head can't prevent the inevitable." She took Bobby's hand and started down the steps. "You have a few minutes to speak with your friend. Then, the mission is over."
Bobby didn't offer any snide comment. He squeezed Chloe's hand as if to approve of her actions. He inspected Milla and Adam before letting Chloe drag him onward.
Milla shook her head. Letting them leave was not what a Psychonaut would do. "No! Wait! Agent Barge! There's still time to make things right," she called. When Chloe stopped, she clenched her fists. "I know you two have done terrible things today, but if you stop, then you'll see-"
"-see that I have nothing left to lose?"
At Chloe's chilling voice, Milla froze. Chloe looked over her shoulder, her impassivity striking. She didn't know how to react, standing still as a statue. Bobby seemed to wilt and merely waited for Chloe's instructions, Milla wondering why the verbose rogue had fallen to subservience.
But as Chloe's words sunk into her brain, she shook. Adam spoke to her, but she couldn't hear him. She evenly met Chloe's blank stare, her heart thundering in her chest. She still smelled the smoke and heard the screams, a righteous fury taking hold of her the longer she stared into Chloe's eyes.
"Liar," she spat out.
Chloe arched an eyebrow. "I haven't said a single lie. Are you okay? Maybe the elevation has made you disoriented and-"
"I'm an orphan," Milla hissed, and the duo let their shock show, Chloe gasping. "I already had everything taken away from me in the fire, but when I went to camp, I was able to have something again. Friends. Mentors. A boyfriend." Her voice trembled, the expressions of the rogues softening. She didn't appreciate their pity. She jabbed her finger at Chloe, snapping, "You haven't lost anything! You ran away from everything!"
Chloe did not answer. Bobby stared at Milla with his mouth ajar. Adam closed his eyes and faced the stairs. Milla breathed through her nose, a snotty sound filling the space between them. She sniffled and dragged her gloves across her eyes, forcing her tears to dry on the cotton.
All Milla had were the clothes on her back and a name. What she had gained were merit badges and hope. She was creating her future out of nothing, molding it like clay toward her goal of joining the Psychonauts.
Chloe took one step backward. She refused to meet Milla's glare. "I won't change my mind. There's no closure without punishment to the one who caused the pain," she said, and she pulled Bobby with her.
He looked back at them, drawing breath as if to say something to Milla. But he ducked his head and followed Chloe. The rickety stairs quaked until they returned to their lab, leaving only the howling wind.
But suddenly, Milla's head hurt. It felt as if something had started stirring her brain. Crying out, she clutched her skull. Colors meshed, forming the dark interior of the lab. Adam's voice was a million miles away, but one voice broke through in crystal clear clarity.
"I did have one thing left to lose." Chloe's eyes watered, her voice constricting, the wind billowing around her. "Him."
Milla gasped. She shook her head, feeling her cheeks jostling from how quickly she trembled. Holding her brow, she groaned, unsure of what just happened. "Agent Gette," she blurted, digging her fingers into her forehead, "I saw something."
"A vision?" he quickly asked, and she nodded. "What about?"
"I don't know. It was the lab, and I heard Chloe talk like she was about to cry. It's something in the near future. Something's going to happen, Agent Gette, but I just don't know what or why."
Adam hummed, his weathered voice like a bass drum. He met her gaze and smiled. "It's okay. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, go to Sasha, and call me when you finish speaking with him. You need a reprieve."
She agreed, and he vanished back into her head. Milla peered out to Lake Oblongata. The water was like a deep pool of endless ink that not even the moonlight could penetrate. She faced the clouds that mocked her, laughing at her struggles, but she had to trust herself. She was on the path to becoming a Psychonaut. She was going to save Sasha and the rest of them.
Although nausea pooled in her stomach, and her breathing turned shallow, Milla persisted. As Agent Zanotto said, it was one of her best qualities. And it was the quality she needed in order to rescue everyone, even if the ones who needed rescuing didn't realize it.
And when she saw Sasha smiling at her, Milla wanted to see the mission to the very end.
