"-the students have already been evacuated from the school grounds, and the police is currently securing the area."
Lisa looks up from her laptop and in the TV's direction, where Brian and Alec are lounging on the couch, the latter sporting an exasperated expression. Not an unusual occurrence whenever their leader gets a hold of the controller, given their differing tastes, but what is unusual is the look of worry, bordering on fright, on the face of the dark-skinned teen. Her eyes snap to the TV screen, just catching the loudness bar display fading after being risen.
She caps her power before it can start supplying information she can easily acquire from just reading the headline- "Murder at Winslow - Brockton Bay". Well, damn. The gangs must have finally gone overboard. They've been posturing at that dump of a school for some time now, it's only been a matter of time until someone finally snapped. Who was it, she wonders, the E88 or ABB. They're not gonna say who's the victim, not so soon. Ugh, here goes her limit for the day... again.
Death not a result of gang violence.
...Huh.
She closes her laptop, knowing her thoughts will just keep jumping between her work and the information her power has supplied her with, and walks up to stand behind Alec's couch (as she's come to think of it). Only one of the boys is occupying it by now, Brian having stood up to make a phone call. It doesn't take using her power to figure out who and why is he calling - the amount of anxiety he's radiating is telling enough. The girl turns back to look at the TV feed.
Death not an accident. Murdered was a student, has been killed during school hours. The killer is a student, has killed during school hours. The killer knows they can use the gang conflict to escape personal scrutiny. The killer is known among the students, is among the students on the screen right now.
She jumps over and onto the couch to sweep the controller right from under Alec's nose - all the while intently scanning the crowd behind the reporter. Her teammate rolls his eyes at her, recognizing her thinker mode for what it is.
"Found something interesting?" he asks with the sort of curiosity she can easily identify as anything but.
"You could say that, though I doubt you'd care about the boring details." He flashes her an almost-genuinely amused smirk before kicking his legs up onto the couch, or rather, onto her lap- ugh.
She glances at the other boy, now pacing some distance away from the rest of his team. His hands are clenched into fists, and an expression growing more concerned with each passing moment Aisha hasn't picked up her phone. Then, his whole posture sags and a relieved sight escapes his lips. Lisa only realizes she's mimicked his actions when her Alec's foot pokes her side, drawing the girl's attention to his's crooked grin.
Doesn't understand her and Brian's reactions. Hasn't connected the place of murder with Brian sister's school. Doesn't know. Not concerned about his teammates' worrying. Finds their behavior faintly amusing.
Yeah, thanks, power. She totally couldn't tell by herself.
She goes back to watching the transmission. The chance of her spotting the right student among the crowd of hundreds is low. She knows that. She also knows that she's risking a headache by doing it anyway, but hell - while she might no longer care about every single murderer out on the streets, possibly finding the culprit here will earn her points with Brian. God knows she will need those when push comes to shove with Coil.
"We- we found her in the bathroom," the TV says. She tunes out the student currently talking with the reporter when her power catches wind in its sails.
Tenth-grader, friend of the murdered. Murdered was a tenth-grader. Was friends with the girl whose murder reignited hostilities between E88 and ABB. Considers the killer a friend. The dead girls considered their killer a friend.
Something unpleasant churns in Lisa's stomach.
The killer is hunting down Winslow students. Has killed the girl in the ABB territory two weeks ago.
Wait- the same killer? She knew the ABB were innocent of that particular crime but-
Gang violence planned. The killer knows the police will look for the culprit among the school delinquents. The killer is not a delinquent, has stellar reputation. The killer is accepted among most of the students. The killer uses that to lure and kill them.
Lisa goes pale, what about-
Aisha knows the killer. Aisha has classes with the killer. Aisha regularly talks with the killer.
Shit- shit fuck!
"Brian!" She calls out, her voice far from its usual confident self. "We need to talk."