Chapter II: Social Larvae

As Liv pulled into her usual parking space in front of the police station, she grunted. Not a single vision had come to her on her trip, like she knew would happen, so now she was about to head into the station without anything to give her partner. Even worse, she didn't even feel any different; the brain must have been defective or something, because it was doing absolutely nothing for her. Completely useless, like she would be to Clive in about two minutes.

She walked in, and Detective Babineaux nodded to her as he stood from behind his desk. "Hey, there you are. Got anything for me?"

Liv shook her head and followed him down the hall. "Not really. I mean, he was strangled with a rope, but duh, noose. We don't really know much else. I ate, so we'll see if anything pops up, but I don't think it will."

Clive held out a hand to stop Liv from taking another step. He looked her straight in the eyes. "Wait, I thought we said you weren't going to chow down on this one?"

"I wasn't, but I didn't have anything else to give you, so I went with it. Doesn't matter, the brain is useless. Not a single vision, not a single anything."

Clive lowered his arm, still not convinced his partner had made the best decision. "Yet. Keep the optimism."

"Hmph," was the only answer.

"Look, I was about to go and interview Jacob's teacher, see if he had any enemies at school his parents didn't know about. Come with me and see if anything triggers."

"Sure. Whatever," Liv answered unenthusiastically. "What makes you so sure it wasn't a suicide, though?"

Clive shrugged. "I'm not sure. But as a cop, you see a lot of suicides, unfortunately, and something just feels...off about this. I don't know what, and I could be wrong, but I want to make sure before he's buried."

"Fair enough, I guess. So what's the teacher's name?"

Ms. Linda Stiegler sat at her desk grading exams when she heard a knock at her classroom door. "Come in!" Why did the students always interrupt her after hours? They inevitably skipped other classes to try and persuade her to boost their grade, as though lowering their other grades wouldn't just make them break even.

Today, however, the knock was not from a student. Instead, a handsome Black man with a badge and an extraordinarily pale woman with a frown entered the room. "Linda Stiegler? I'm Detective Clive Babineaux, Seattle PD, this is my associate, Olivia Moore. We're here to ask you a few questions about one of your students, Jacob Roscoe."

Linda felt her heart drop. "Oh, yes, I heard. When he wasn't in class the past few days, I assumed he was ill and just hadn't called out. It's a dreadful reality after all."

"Yes, well, we're sorry for your loss. Could you tell us a bit about Jacob? Any reason you can think of why he might take his own life?"

"Besides, you know, life itself?" Liv added helpfully. Clive gave her a strange look, but she didn't know why.

"Well, Jacob wasn't the most popular student at Ford High. He was extremely bright, but if others are social butterflies, he was more of a social larvae. Still time to grow, but not quite there yet, if that makes any sense."

"Did he have any issues with other students? Maybe someone picked on him for being different?"

"Oh, many, but nothing so serious that anyone would harm him, if that's what you're implying." Linda seemed genuinely shocked at the insinuation. "Although..."

"Someone wanted to end his misery?" Liv asked. Another strange look from Clive, so Liv returned it with a "What? Just helping" gesture back.

"No, nothing like that!" Ms. Stiegler replied, surprised. "About a week ago, Jacob seemed more upset than usual. After class, I asked him if everything was okay, and he said he was fine, but...well, I was concerned. So I did a little digging of my own, and I found that he had stopped attending his math class without any excuse or explanation about three weeks ago. He was failing math because of it. I was going to ask him about it, but then...he never showed up to class again..." Her voice trailed, lost in reverie.

Clive gave a knowing look to Liv and asked, "What's his math teacher's name, and where can we find him?"

"Mr. Stoker, room 312."

Suddenly, Liv felt the synapses in her brain firing, and her field of view was replaced by a memory. She was standing outside room 312, her back against the closed door, while a middle-aged white man with a gray beard got in her face. "Mr. Stoker, I can't do that! My mom would kill me!" she heard herself say—or rather, she heard Jacob say.

The man was clearly angry. "You will do it, or else you will fail my class. And in case that's not enough motivation, if it's not done by tomorrow evening, I can find a reason to have you suspended as well! Is that clear?"

The memory ended, and Liv was back in the present. Clive was thanking Ms. Stiegler for her time, and as he stood to leave, he aggressively pulled Liv's arm up and out with him. "Clive, jeeze, not so hard! What's wrong with you?"

As soon as they were out of anyone else's earshot, Clive began his lashing. "'End his misery?' The kid was 14, Liv! I knew this was a bad idea. You're going home, you're getting something else to eat, and even then you're off this case until Jacob's brain wears off, do you hear me?"

"Oh, for God's sake, Clive, relax. I feel fine." Liv rolled her eyes. "Besides, I can't get rid of Jacob's brain now; I finally got a vision!"

"You...you did?" Liv told him all about what she'd seen: how angry Mr. Stoker had looked, how he was demanding Jacob do something and threatening him if he didn't.

"What did he want Jacob to do?"

"No idea," Liv answered. "Must have been something important. Guess we're talking to this Stoker guy next, then."

Clive sighed. "Yeah, fine. Stay on Jacob's brain in case you get anything else, but you're gonna let me or Ravi or Major—anyone—watch over you until you eat, is that clear?"

"Thanks for the concern, Clive, but I haven't even felt any part of Jacob's personality yet. It's kind of weird that I'd get a vision without that..."

"You're kidding, right, Liv?"

Liv furrowed her brow in confusion. "What?"

"Just promise me you'll keep a buddy."

"Okay, fine, I'll keep a buddy, like I'm completely useless on my own."

Clive shook his head, then motioned for Liv to walk ahead of him as they made their way to room 312.