Question Dorms of our Lives!!!

Cally having to give an account of the attack to security, with Val there for 'support'. Great, can only I.D. Contact High due to his power and no one else due to the lighting and their masks. A blood sample, hope there is enough still in her system to get Contact High in trouble. Great, Val trying to manipulate Cally into taking revenge and hiding her tracks so security can't identify her or anyone else involved. And Cally is falling for it because of fear of the creeps. *sigh* Wish she would go to her friends with this.

Jack only staying long enough to cement his alibi, ugh, really want to see him taken down for good. Private lounge space, as if he isn't sneaky enough as it is.

Just walk five steps down from the tunnel marker I-09, turn to the righthand wall, and knock.

Always knew the tunnel system was weird, but good grief. That bastard used his creation on Neff! All to gather information on what he didn't know on those who saved Cally. And getting her to lie to security, when he goes down it is going to be hard.

And now a dance where she strips for him, this scum deserves whatever karmic justice comes for him. And the Amazons have come for him, for once I'm glad they are there. And using an escape hatch while telling Neff to not let anyone move her from that spot, sickening.

Boring first sophomore match, so Erica goes looking for Cally, hope she finds her soon. Finally spots her and rushes in to hug, while Cally lies that everything is okay. Good grief, tell your friends already! At least Val seems to being nice, though with her projective empathy it is hard to tell when she is manipulating someone unless it is called out or they are acting completely out of character. Erica getting Cally back to their dorm room, how long will it be before Cally feels she is safe alone again?

Back to Ratel, 20 minutes after her fight with Claude and already looking for a new target, oh brother. Ms. Barnes only able to tell her Wilder already ran after her announcement, smart boy. And she doesn't want to find him for a fight, at least that isn't the main reason, keeping running, Wilder! Ratel wants him as a boyfriend and for fighting with, *groan* Ouch, emotionally fragile, what happened to Wilder in the past? And now Ratel is planning how to go about having a relationship with Wilder, that poor boy is going to jump when he hears her voice if she isn't careful.

Vic being pulled along by Tanya into the security office to make his report on the attack. At least Gwen has already been here and Cally, so Officer Pruitt knows why Vic has come. Smart move by Ping to video Vic while he was still under the influence of Jack's device. And Vic actually admits to the incident with Megaton, smart to tell first.

Sera waiting for them, bored, but Sterling is gone and forgotten by everyone but Tanya again, dang it.

"Thanks," said the lavender girl. "Pleasant dreams."

"That would be nice for a change." The Nordic girl unfolded herself, stretching arms and legs that had begun growth spurts at different times and were still playing catch-up with one another. "See you around."

Just what kind of dreams is Sera having?

I hope the unfamiliar face which just passed Val's isn't Sterling, being manipulated by that bitch is the last thing Sterling needs. And called in to help out poor Neff after what Jack did to her, take her to the staff and tell them who did this to her already! And they can't even get her clothes back in order because of what Jack told Neff, arrggh! Sending LightSaber to get Ping, even if Brita would be upset by bringing in a changeling. Rats, having to make sure they can deal with Jack without the Order of the Worn Wrench coming after them.

Jack calling a meeting of the ODS, Gouyasse thinks they can survive if news of the attack gets out, arrogant fool. The new headmaster would hand them all over the MCO as criminals for attempted gang rape if he had proof they were involved. Only five of you involved in the attack, I'm sure there are any number of charges which the rest of the group can be charged with for having knowledge the attack would happen or helping to provide false alibis.

Darn, Contact High's effect metabolizes out of the system in under 10 minutes. And now Jack, High Gear, and Contact High are going to scheme even more, just keep digging that hole deeper. boys. And Jack using the device on Contact High to lie to security as well, idiot just blew it big time with this stunt.

Scarlyt not liking large parties or crowds, with her on that. Knock-Out took down her opponent fast in the Junior rounds, would hate to face her without knowing her powers and abilities. Sticking with the Bohemians only until she decides to leave Whateley, not sure I like the sound of that. Aww, poor Cookie scared of Scarlyt. And following Danny and Cookie at a distance, uh oh.

Wait, she can see Sterling, Scarlyt can retain her memories of Sterling, not sure if this is good or bad. Listening in on the conversation between Danny and Sterling, and now she wants Sterling's power on her side, very not good.

Cally woken from her nap by a phone call for Erica, who has been watching over her this whole time. Cally telling Tanya to go enjoy water-skiing with the rest of their friends, forgot that Tanya didn't know how to swim, heh. Hysterical giggling, poor Cally needs Neff right now, if only Neff was okay.

Calling Claudio to get help with this mess, I hope he can backtrace who has been searching Cally online. Claudio is coming to Whateley, not only to talk with some of the researchers about his work but to have words with Fra, prepare for the chewing out of a lifetime.

Tanya in an orange and white polka-dot bikini, poor Vic must be in heaven and hell at the same time. And Morgana was serious about Tanya pulling her along for water-skiing, fun and funny.

The redhead burst out laughing. "What, you thought I was into some creepy weird shit or something? Well," she said with a wink. "I might be, but not today. Today, we water-ski! So ramp up those horsepower, Purple Pony!"

Poor Tanya subjected to those kind of images as a child. Hikaru, some of the Melville girls and Tia came along as well, just how many of them want to water-ski?

*facepalms* Morgana, you always need a signal for when to slow down. Morgana is a thrill junkie, isn't she. And ouch, talk about a wipeout from trying a tricky stunt in such shallow water. At least Morgana isn't hurt, even grinning about it, the big goofball.

"You know, I'm not really sure dragons are cut out for water-skiing," Laura snarked.

The redhead grinned at the blue girl. "Sure we are. Just don't let us get on roller-blades, a dragon on roller-blades is always a disaster!"

And now we must see Morgana on roller-blades.

Yikes, Vic having to get used to extended periods underwater sounds like nightmare material. Well, we now know Kenshin doesn't know how to water-ski, great reaction time by Vic to go and help out after Kenshin wiped out. And the Melville junior high boys actually think the wipeout was awesome, heh.

Matsu aka Michelle Brown going off and signalling Jamie Howe.

In her quest to collect them all for her private scientific research consorti-harem, she had encountered plenty of tsundere and coodere types, and eventually she knew she would win them over. Jamie was her first ever yandere, however, and it got her to questioning whether some types were better off not collected.

Keep questioning that, Jamie is too dangerouslly unstable. Introducing Jamie to Velvet, not good. And Jamie thinks she has never met a crazier girl than Matsu, great, two mentally unstable individuals working together.

Jack going to meet up with a woman he only knows as Patience, new faculty liason to the Masterminds, *gulps*. A patsy set up, Contact High, and don't want security to dig any deeper, ugh. And lying about what they did, about how they were going to try and gang rape her and only because Vic and two of the Capes showed up were they driven off.

Patience tutted. "Either she is female or she is not, Mr. Thawne. Please make up your mind. As it is, I'm also referring to the apparent use of contraband mind control devises? Of a sort you were explicitly banned from making last year?"

"Yeah. That." He lifted his extra bag up onto the table. "That's my bargaining chip here. Miniaturized, immediate, reliable within reason. I worked it down most of the way to reproducibility. A Syndicate researcher could probably get a generic model working in six months."

She eyed the contents of the bag. "This is everything?"

"All prototypes, last remaining working model, hard copy notes, data on flash USB drives," he confirmed. "I've already purged my systems of all mention of it, and any online caches I may or may not possess will remain inaccessible till I graduate. I'm officially out of the mind control biz. If we have a deal."

A deal with the Syndicate, giving them mind control tech in exchange for getting him off clean and clear, really want to cripple him right now.

And Patience agrees to the bargain and will cover for this infraction, no! He can't get off scott free after what he's done.

"But," she added tersely. "If you ever go after one of my girls in Dickinson again, for any reason, you will find that despite my code name, patience is not something I possess in great abundance." Her hand was on his wrist, gripping in tight. "Should I make myself clearer?"

Ooo, sounds like if he or any of his buddies go after Cally again she might just make them disappear.

Erica enjoying others embarassing themselves at the lakeside post-picnic, only staying in wading depth, aww.

Her body stubbornly refused to be more than minimally buoyant, sinking back as fast she pushed up.

Yikes, no wonder she is only wading. Erica staring at Chessa Barnes exotic scale pattern like that, hehe. The way Erica describes it she is molecularly dense for her size and thus heavy, that sucks.

Oh, I already had my turn," said the dragon girl. "Just enjoying the water now. The blood lineage on my old character sheet was brass dragon, yanno?"

Erica nodded. "And brass dragons are amphibious."

Hehehe, I like the kind of characters they are discussing, fun and weird.

Ping called in to help out Neff.

Through an anomalous lump on the back of her head, she mentally directed the computer to display what she desired.

Very interesting. And ouch, going to be harder to help Neff than it was Vic, really hate Jack. Having to dial it up to 11 to break what Jack did to Neff, yikes.

"I'm sure you can." Les was equally sure that the junior had other things in mind. "But as I am the resident expert on what's happened to this girl -- pretty much by default -- you all are gonna need my sworn statement on this if you want to justify whomping that bastard later."

Yes, make sure the authorities know you are justified in whomping the bastard first. And please let Ping find something actionable from the systems so his deal won't be enough.

Noah tagged along to the swim party, with Glee encouraging him since they are Cally's friends. Eesh, Glee needs to learn not to push Noah about being a girl so much. Easier if he picked a name and stuck with it, can't understand the struggle he is going through, hard to take a change in your very identity to that level. Too bad he couldn't see Cally right now, at least he wishes to help when she is ready.

Reading Cookie's thoughts is always so fun, love that he calls Vic Water-smell boy, he definitely doesn't think like a human does and it shows.

Vic ending the day better than he started it, knowing Cally will tell the whole story to the others when she is ready. A kiss on the cheek from Tanya for walking her back to her dorm, how adorable. Lenape talking to what appears to be twin girls who talk at the same time in stereo, wonder if it is a duplicator or some form of twin telepathy. Maria-Isabela and Isabela-Maria, sounds like twins.

"Oh, Darius, it's easy!" said the lady on the left.

"I'm whichever I wish to be," said the one on the right.

"Or whichever confounds others more," added the left.

"If I'm in the mood," chuckled the right.

Vic was scratching his head. "Um..."

"I'm disomatous," the two ladies said together, as if a word like that could be within a light-year of his usual vocabulary. "For the moment, at least. I can be more if I wish, but it gets confusing even for me."

Very...interesting ladies to say the least.

Back with Erica and finding Cally asleep, glad there is a faint smile on Cally's face. Gathered various girls, the RAs Panoptikon and Paint Oracle, Natalie 'Nana' Bosch, Hannah, and Essemmelle, all upset at what Erica is able to tell them she has learned happened to Cally.

"When I find out who did it," the midget growled, "they're gonna wish I'd used a plain old ugly word on them. Milena got me a thesaurus, and I know how to feckin' use it!"

Milena aka Sister Secret has something going on that evening, I wonder what.

And that strange mystery card still has 30 minutes to go with its countdown. Wonder what game she is playing on her 3DS, the description doesn't sound familiar, unless it is something Metroid related. A map to somewhere in the tunnels, interesting way to make an invitation. And she goes prepared for trouble just in case, smart. A secret door to a hidden room, and Esquire, Andrzei, Milena, and Twitch, oh no, don't tell me the Bad Seeds are inviting Erica to join because of her grandfather.

Hammer is being an ass of course, and Erica detailing what her great-grandfather, Baron Dämmerung, did. There is a reason some would reject Erica for her ancestor still. And Erica rejects the offer to join, good for her. Esquire, if it weren't for what he did to Bianca, despite his ego I could like him for helping out Erica and Cally that one time. Andrzei is codenamed Inkblood, now what kind of power could he have with a codename like that?

Twitch is just too adorable, I pity anyone who tries to mess with her, I'm sure even Hammer would beat up anyone who messed with a little girl like Twitch. Good to see Milena explaining what happened with Bianca thanks to Esquire to Erica.

"Got it." She sighed. "Is high school always like this? Pointless drama, mostly caused by our own issues?"

Milena grimaced and shrugged. "That's, like, life. Just gotta keep going and hope the next day's better than the one you just had."

"It'd better be," said Erica. "Cuz today was crazy enough all on its own."

Just don't jinx it and say no day can be crazier than this one was.

Sister Secret certainly has an interesting history and unique upbringing. Hehe, the negative aspects of the job, that always creeps up on you. Wonder what Ms. Plimsoll wants with Milena right now. Ah, discussing what happened at her meeting with Erica and more concerned about Cally right now.

"In all honesty, no, except that certain people will make it as bad as they think it should be." The woman sighed. "Out with it, then: Ms. Persico was born male and apparently transitioned to female as part of her mutation. I have checked her records and no mention is made of it, but her brother was involved in the initial filing, so I don't doubt he buried it."

Ms. Plimsoll is very good at her job. Mrs. Sinclair doesn't even know this about Cally, huh. *facepalms* Praying that someone does not decide to do anything stupid, that is just tempting fate.

Finally, October 2nd and Erica takes a deep breath, with how chilly it gets in New England that just to sting. Physique and Erica talking about periods, heh. Poor Erica going through that, eep. Yeah, let Cally rest, after that incident she is going to need all the rest and help she can get. Cookie out for a run with Miss Avsel, her spirit inside her needs help socializing, hope she can learn to be better with people over time.

Peanut butter cookies, *drools* And even gives Physique one as well, Daniel is so nice.

"Nope. Everything I make is in-dee-sting-wishabel from the real thing," Daniel said proudly. "All the researchers say so, or at least their tests do. They just haven't figgered out why the goods make people feel good, too. Got a Healin' ratin' stuck on my MID with a little star that means 'heck if we know'."

I was wondering why his manifested goods made people feel good, very interesting. Aww, Cookie is still adorable as ever. Avsel's furtive expression, I wonder if it means her spirit really doesn't like hanging with people that much or if she likes Daniel and is too shy to do anything.

Fra wondering if he got any sleep or stayed up counting all the ways he screwed up in the past several weeks.

Garrett "Duster" Burke made a habit of getting out of the dorm room as early as possible every morning, while Fra preferred to take his time.

Fra actually convinced to go to church with his roommate, guess he is feeling very guilty.

"Nah, I"m good," Daniel said. "Had enough church to last me a lifetime. Just gonna live like a good person and hope for the best. Oh, thank you, Miss Avsel," he said to the girl in the headscarf who'd zoomed in with a fresh towel. "Gotta get pup cleaned up."

One doggy head turned soulful eyes towards Fra, whining pitifully.

With Cookie you have to wonder, is he begging for help getting out of the bath or is he concerned for Fra because he can sense how upset he is? That many students there and one girl appears to be a panda, always love the interesting GSD at Whateley. Avoiding Tia because he doesn't know what Cally said to her about him, Fra has a long way to go to begin atoning.

Father Ignacio Verraco, nice to see a new face at the church, explains why more students aren't avoiding it. Ooo, I like his discussion on guardian angels.

Second Letter to Timothy, chapter one, verses six through eight.

Oh boy, Fra is going to be hit hard by this.

"Now, obviously St. Paul did not write this epistle with our modern world in mind. In truth, I doubt he would like much about our life and society at all, even before we bring in the special circumstances of Whateley." He nodded to the panda girl and the other obvious GSD kids in the chapel. "No, he would be mortified, and he would most certainly be wrong, but that does not mean we cannot take inspiration from his words. For you all have certainly received a gift in this life, yet it remains to you to put it to use, and how you shall do so. And just as no Christian should be ashamed of their faith and the way they live it, neither should any of you find shame in the way God has made and remade you. For God has given you power, love, and a sound mind. With those three gifts, anyone can be a guardian angel."

Wish I could have heard more sermons like this when I went to church on a regular basis.

Fra wishes to do confession, he really does hate how he's hurt Cally.

"Don't worry," said the pastor. "One of the senior devisor students installed the best in anti-eavesdropping technology, and he comes by every week to ensure that no new bugs have been sneaked in."

Now that is a confessional you can trust. No wonder Fra hasn't been to confession in so long. Suggesting Fra make an appointment with one of the counselors and see Security if things have gone that far, I like him even more already. Our Father and Hail Mary but with instructions on what to think about while doing them, that is so different from any priest I've ever met. Yikes, skipping breakfast to do the rosary, he needs to see a counselor immediately.

Shawn Barker avoiding the ODS boys because he finds spending time with them appalling, he has turned around a lot. Going to sit at the Twain zone in the Crystal Hall, hope he can make better and true friends now. Nice callbacks to all those different characters. Crepescule, now there is an interesting codename. Sitting with Franklin and Arsi Khan, dang, you got me wanting to research the history of wrestling in Mongolia now. Shawn is a good man, going over to see if Fra is okay.

"Anything I might've learned this weekend stays between us, okay? I swear on a stack of Bibles. But if you need someone to talk stuff over with, I'm your man."

Just what Fra needed to hear right now, Shawn has learned much from simply watching and hanging out with Tenshi.

Wilder, quasi-adopted by the Barnes family, aww. Playing video games with Marcus and Time Bomb, now that sounds fun. Ack! Incoming Ratel, Pat's magic 8-ball seems interesting if it actually has power. And based on what he tells Wilder it does work.

"Fuck no. Who's got time to be scared? Not me. Like it says on the back of my shirt, I don't give a shit. But you do, and that's okay, but not if you're gonna let it hold you back! That's the real reason you hang out with them, isn't it? You know that lady who's currently impersonating a teenager can take you down if she has to. Well, newsflash: So can I."

Huh, Ratel is strangely insightful and has a good point. And she has Wilder considering dating her, she is good.

Wilder groaned and collapsed against the tabletop. Who'da thought being a boy was so fuckin' crazy?

Almost forgot since he is in Poe and isn't gay or aggressively bi, he must be a changeling, heh.

Back with Erica, having trouble getting Cally to the showers. I really want to see those ODS boys taught a harsh lesson for this, trauma is a serious thing. Mairead, Mouse, both interesting but how tiny is Mouse she can soak in a plastic bowl at the wash station? At least the other girls are leaving them alone with the dorm drama, I can imagine at least a few wonders if they could suffer such an attack themselves.

Just getting Cally to breakfast, until the boys who attacked her are charged and locked up she is going to be skittish around almost everyone it seems. Morgana happy and hopping, almost giddy, guessing her meeting with her girlfriend went well.

"Morgana hasn't had her coffee yet, and she's cheerful! Bouncy! Happy! She's done everything but sing a bloody Disney tune on the way over here!"

Bwahahaha.

Why is Hikaru so grumpy, don't tell me giddy Tia is because of something bad? Ouch, Cally just wishing to leave it behind her and not talk about it, I've seen what that does. Uh oh, I'm guessing no one has told Cally what happened to Neff, otherwise she would be less depressed and more plotting revenge. A smartphone as a gift from a Japanese company and Kurenai is jealous, hehehe. Hikaru gives it to Laura and even begs her to take it, man, when Kurenai gets jealous she has a mean streak. An All-Campus Alert, I hope it means some of the ODS is in trouble.

Contact High, following the brainwashing instructions of Jack, shot himself up with his own power, yikes. Even a program that deletes itself after its work is done, probably by Jack to seal the frame job on Contact High.

Jack, you are toast! You were excused for the brainwashing of Vic, what you have done to Neff, Contact High, and now using the emergency alert system to out Cally, not even the Syndicate will be able to dig you out of this one. And now trying to sneak away with a stealth suit on, good grief.

Please let that girl not be Neff, please. Ugh, Jane "Knock-Out" Chorley telling Karel about the email, the Bohemians know. Ah, so it wasn't Neff saw the email and said this makes things weird, good. The Amazons watching over Neff at Doyle, Valentine only thinking about manipulating Neff and then Cally, ugh.

"Get Copacetic out of here, let her recover at our base. And come up with a better story to tell her when she's ready to hear. We need to do damage control, schnell, before the fake-girls can get their nails back in her."

Oh hell no, they are not manipulating Neff into breaking up with Cally.

Fra pissed about the email, Shawn didn't know anything about this and says it just ain't right. Fra going to talk to Mac about the matter, Jack is going to regret this. Chessa having to drag Pat from the Poe common room, Pat playing Jenga and has a bet with Swerve, oh brother. Tree in a row getting a tower to 40 stories, dang. Bwahaha, I can't believe Chessa just flashed them all to break Pat's concentration.

Now with Cally, going to Dickinson for some peace and quiet in her dorm room. Futaba-Kun Change manga, dang, now I need to find that myself. Oh crud, girls confronting her with images from their smartpad, this is the worst possible situation.

There was Calliope's picture, current as of the start of the school year. The word FAKE was super-imposed over it like a red ink stamp. Scrolling down, she was treated to a reverse chronology of the past eight months of her life in photographic format, with each image marked and annotated to point out the progression of her BIT's influence. She could wince at the spring pictures, from when she'd been so in denial of the truth that she refused to recognize her own face in the mirror.

Okay, before I wanted to kill Jack, now I want to make him suffer as long as possible.

Alvina calling her a freak and a boy, despite the changes she has undergone, narrow-minded idiot. Even bigger idiot than I thought, thinks Cally is still a boy despite proof otherwise. Allie, you caused Cally to have a panic attack and lash out with her powers in the process. Ms. Plimsoll shows up with a knockout gas canister, no one is spared, yikes.

Fra is on the warpath and pity any who stand in his way. Macarthur Price waiting for him with that grin, he is asking for it right now.

Mac sneered. "No reason, huh." The boy snorted. "There was plenty of reason. She's a liar and a fraud, teasing us the way she did when there was nothing in it for us. So what, everyone knows what she is now? Good. Then everyone will know to avoid her lying little ass."

Fra has more self-restraint than I would, I would have left this creep crippled for life after he says that about my sister.

Darn it! Fra tries to deck him only for Mac's power to drain all the force out of his punch. PK 2, Energizer 3 and he is a kinetic force absorption and redistribution, dang it! Backlash is his codename, really hate him a lot more now, leaving Fra in that state and just walking off.

Ms. Plimsoll having to face the fallout of gassing an entire room full of children under care, having to explain herself to Mrs. Sinclair.

"I received the message on my phone and immediately went in search of Ms. Persico. I found her surrounded by confused young women, one of whom was openly belligerent and provocative. I stepped in when I saw that Ms. Persico's control was slipping, and her power was going wild." She met the other woman's eyes. "I have seen what happens when empathy runs amok, and have no interest in seeing it again. So I did what was needed to contain the situation."

I actually think it is good she was prepared for this eventuality.

Her head shook in disbelief. "Does this boy have any expertise in counter-electronics? I doubt it." She sighed and muttered the word 'patsy' under her breath. "But what of Ms. Persico?"

And Contact High framed for sending the email by Jack, ugh. Cally resting in Doyle, Mac on the way, and assistant headmaster already making arrangements, good.

Cally still out, nervous exhaustion, I've experienced that myself and it hits hard. Erica watching over and Vickie "Power Stunt" Stone there as well, sounds like an interesting devisor. Erica hugging Cally and crying after she finally wakes up, this whole mess has been hard on a lot of people. And finally, Operation Snowflake and Erica being a changeling as well are told to Cally, about time. Cally understands after a moment, now if only they would tell their friends from Poe.

And Claudio figured out Erica back during the summer and never told Cally, so many secrets coming out. Claudio is at least understands why they are upset, hoping one of them would tell the others when they are both teens who went through a profound change is naive at best though. Nice dinner together, including Fra, at least Claudio is going to give Fra the chewing out of a lifetime. And Cally is shocked to find out about Fra being beaten up within an inch of his life, when she finds out why he was beaten up I think she might forgive him.

Only able to stare at the bed Fra is occupying, Cally still feels too betrayed to forgive yet I guess. Bryon, so his power is healing factor acceleration as long as he holds someone's hand, not regular healing which just requires him to hold someone's hand, interesting.

She rolled her eyes. "It would be weird for anyone, and not just because of... whatever. Please keep that in mind."

Byron needs lessons in tact with females.

And Cally still doesn't wish to talk to Fra, oh boy. And not told anything about Neff, the Amazons are going to get in trouble if they try to keep them apart.

"Well then, as far as I am concerned, that's all sorted out," the doctor said. "The research wonks will of course be ordering up more tests, because that's just what they do, but all I care is that the reality matches the information in your file. Anything you'd like to ask?"

Exemplar-grade painkillers, sometimes I wish I had those. All those students have unpleasant or unhappy thoughts about her, ugh, with what some of these students have been through you would think they would know better than to be prejudiced towards others who are different.

Valentine manipulated Neff's emotions to get her to react this way to Cally, she is toast! They brainwashed her, that is one of the evilest things you can do. And brainwashed to hate changelings, calling Cally a tranny no less, ugh. Brainwashed into being an Amazon, Val having her arm around Neff is sickening. Please let Val get caught soon and proven what she has done to so many of these girls.

Back with Milena, Cally comes in weeping and sobbing, I really want to see Val hurt right now. Goes straight comforting the poor girl and even Erica is pulled into the hug.

The RA's eyes met all onlookers with a defiant challenge. No one dared interfere, though a few joined in for a moment of solidarity. The junior high foursome of Physique, Magique, Acolyte, and Tek Witch made it a rather large hug for several heartbeats.

And even Milena didn't know about Neff being in Doyle, I thought the dorm mothers/fathers are to be alerted if one of their charges is admitted to Doyle for any reason.

Pay her former friend Kammie a visit in the near future, I hope Kammie can detect what Val has done to Neff or something to get the Amazons in deep trouble for this. Papi and Pat show up to help out Cally.

"And I," said the other student with a faint accent, "am Paponthanai Sutasanachinda. Call me Papi. Everyone does." Their outfit could have been a Japanese-style school uniform, if it weren't also made out of the same sort of fabric as a traditional China dress. The swirls of gold thread on crimson stood out in the Dickinson foyer. "We are here on behalf of the Whateley Transgender Support Alliance."

Huh, was wondering if there was such a group at Whateley, nice to know. Bwahaha, the response from Pat, just formed an hour ago and they are the only members, priceless.

The administration asked them to represent, so it was the assistant headmaster, great idea, the group has been needed a long time. The past history of Reach, Biohazard, Phase, Jobe, heh, and those are just the publically known ones. The administration wishes to talk to Cally, I hope they get the whole story and the ODS and especially Jack are prosecuted to the full extent of the law, deal or not in Jack's case. Mandatory floor meeting on the subject of Cally, hope they listen and finally understand.

Erica watching over Cally as she changes, Pat leading them to the admin building while avoiding some groups out on the quad. And into the office, waiting when Falcon shows up, trying to get Erica to leave and not realizing she is in on the fact about changelings and knows about Cally.

"I don't doubt he meant it as a joke, but enough people around here have apparently changed genders that one can actually make a ballpark estimate. One in a thousand should just about come to one incident every two or three years, for a school of this size... but that only counts the incidents at school that everyone might hear about. I'm willing to bet that the odds are a lot lower than that."

Ooo, she's good.

Heh, Erica slipping those 3 pages from her file over to Falcon, this is going to be good.

Erica took a deep breath. It was now or never. "I was born Eric Schroeder, though all other details of my life other than name and original gender do match what's in my file. Have you heard of human chimerism? People born from merged clumps of embryonic cells, bearing two different sets of DNA? That was me. You can even see it in my old eyes, with the heterochromia. When I chugged my Opa's serum, it went to work optimizing all my genes, like it was designed to. It's just that one of my sets of DNA was a lot more optimized than the other, and it quickly overwrote the rest of me."

Okay, I'm either not remembering her origin story clearly or the mention of human chimerism being connected to her physical change wasn't brought up until now.

A moment was spared for an annoyed sigh. "Sometimes I think that if we just ended this whole charade, we'd suddenly find dozens more changelings who simply never realized that their situation was not unique."

"So I'm right in my conclusions?" Erica asked.

"Yes. You're giving us quite a headache now. We already had one emergency meeting this morning over Ms. Persico, and now..." His head cocked to the left, listening to a silent voice by means Erica couldn't even guess at. "Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, apparently. Let's start at the beginning."

I wouldn't be surprised, just look at Gen 1 with Razorback and Diamondback alone.

"You're talking about Poe," Erica guessed. "I always thought the 'crazy house' story didn't hold water. We know too many Poesies who are saner than the general population."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration..."

"Ahem, I regularly spar with Ratel. Need I say more?" As expected, the assistant headmaster's face went deadpan at the mention of the honey badger girl.

Deadpan at the mention of Ratel, I would have facepalmed, her not being in Poe blows the 'crazy house' story out of the water.

"Fortunately, times have changed, and the outside world has improved in regards to most such things. Unfortunately, changelings are still the most vulnerable of the groups. And... if I am to be honest, the protections and methods we have developed over the years may have done their job too well. Much effort was put into keeping the very existence of changelings a complete secret, so that no one could suspect and attack their fellow students over a perceived problem, but time and again that lack of public knowledge has meant that children such as yourselves fall into the cracks and never realize there's a place to turn to for help."

Finally! Someone realizes the protections and methods used have let children like Erica and Cally slip through the cracks.

So only the one girl is pitching a fit about Cally and most of the rest of the girls are on Cally's side, this is very good. Oh, this is going to be good alright, the rest of MMM, except maybe Tanya, being there is going to be a shock for Cally and Erica I bet. Chessa has androgen insensitivity, huh, a real-world condition that too few realize exist.

"I wasn't joking about the Whateley Transgender Support Alliance," Pat explained. The administration wants, or rather needs, a few of us in the open so anyone with hidden problems of that sort are able to find someone to reach out to."

This has been needed for way too long.

Laura, Bailey, Morgana, and Bianca, group hug from friends who share a secret with.

"Ah, I half-expected Tanya to be here as well."

"Near as we can tell, that one is exactly who she says she is," said one of the few adults in the room, a tall brunette in a serious looking suit. "And trust me, we did a quick but thorough check not so long ago."

"Find anything?" Falcon asked.

"A few oddities that may be leads, or may not." The woman shrugged, then patted the assistant headmaster on the cheek. "No fears, darling. We shall let you know before any more surprises erupt. Hopefully."

Darn, no definitive answer one way or another about Tanya, you tease. =-P

Morgana caught Erica by the hand and dragged her along. "Come on! There's people to meet! This here's Flower, and Peregrino, and..." There was a whirlwind tour around the room, as they were introduced or reintroduced to a significant portion of the Poe freshman floor, multiple RAs, the three sophomores who'd been in on Cally's rescue the day before, several upperclassmen, and even two teachers. The first, Tabby Cat, was actually Falcon's wife, much to their surprise. The other, Eldritch, lived up to her adjective with weird and unsettling tattoos that looked more etched than inked into her skin.

Boy, I've lost track of all the changelings at Whateley, almost seems like more than Gen 1.

Cally finally gets to thank Celerity, Ping, and Star Sentry for their help, another round of hugs triggered by her emotions spilling out, a girl named Noah holding on the longest. Why do I feel that Cally might hook up with Noah, not knowing that Neff was brainwashed? Wilder, Mgana, and Satchel the boys present, Erica having sympathy for Wilder over Ratel wishing to date him. Tia chatting with Chessa and Decibelle, from the gestures it sounds like Brita they are joking about.

Cally and Erica both happy to finally be home, this Alliance was needed for years.

Looking around, finding two dozen or more people who really got it, who understood without having to ask uncomfortable questions, who simply were there for each other now... This was something she never would have imagined -- never in her wildest dreams. She'd asked Cally how she was doing, but Erica was the one feeling more than she could handle.

And when it all came together, when the sheer force of happiness overwhelmed her and knocked her into a comfortable chair with tears in her eyes, there were people who understood, who could hold her hand and be strong for her instead. There was no need to hold back, to hide. Operation Snowflake was put on hold.

Just as Cally had said: they were home.

Now, this brought a tear to my eye, so happy for them.

So many things in this story stand out, all the friends the girls have made, and some they have lost. The ODS and Amazons actions, painting them both as the kind of creeps the Don and the Alphas while under his control were. Especially the ODS blaming their victim for their own actions and what the Amazons did to Neff. I love that Shawn turned around thanks to simply spending time watching Kenshin, how he has shown himself to be a good man. The creation of the Whateley Transgender Support Alliance has been a needed thing for a long time, glad it finally came about. Especially glad the changelings of MMM all know about each other now, always good to have more people to talk to. I'm glad this is just The Beginning, as I can't wait to read more.