Chapter 10.5
(Part 11)
***
Maybe it's the buzz from escaping HQ wearing off, but talking with the Fairy Queen is… sorta a major downer. Not 'cause she's bein' bitchy or mean or anything - she just sat there and listened to you talk an' even answered whatever questions you asked. It's more that… well…
You figured the baddest bitch in the most fucked-up prison for the most fucked-up capes on the planet - a title she held for nearly
thirty years - would've been super hardcore, with tons of awesome stories and attitude to spare. Instead, she's just
quiet and
sad, and whatever you manage to drag outta her is fuckin'
depressin'.
Never watched any movies or TV shows in the 'Cage, and even had trouble readin' books 'cause her power's 'sight' made it hard to focus on shit with capes always movin' around. Had a whole section of the 'Cage under her protection, but no friends 'cause most'a the people in there were scared shitless of her, complete shitlords, lookin' to try to use her, lookin' to try to fight her, lookin' to try to fuck her, or some combo of all 'a those. Killed people all the time to protect the capes in her section, keep order, or just 'cause her head was in a bad place from her power fuckin' with her head. She gets flashes of the shitty, messed-up lives of all the ghosts she collects... and if
that weren't enough, bein' dead doesn't stop 'em from
talkin' to her all the time. It's part 'a why she's meditatin': to shut 'em up.
Far as you can tell, her life's basically been one super-long,
super fucked-up nightmare acid trip. Makes you wonder if the Triumvirate are just as fucked in the head by their powers, or if she just won the worst lottery ever.
No wonder Saki's been all up in her business with tryin' to fix her and get her straightened out; she and Sakura pretty much spent every second you saw 'em awake tryin' to hook people up to make 'em happy, so blondie here prolly pushed
all her buttons. And since Queenie literally
begged you to forgive her for not bein' able to help you with Dennis 'cause she's never been on a date or even had a crush on someone, you're kinda amazed she didn't drag-...
"Hey, uh," you cough, raising a hand from your lap and tilting your head past your giant-cat pillow to stare at the little blonde. "Saki didn't try to hook you up with any of the other Wards, did she?"
Opening her eyes again, Queenie gives you that intense 'you are a puzzle and I'm gonna figure you out' stare for a while before she closes her eyes and gives a tiny shake of her head.
"Despite our apparent youth, our...
experiences are a chasm few can, should, or desire to cross."
If there's a moonsilver lining to talkin' with her, though, it's that you get a small kick outta usin' your new smarts to get what she's saying. No
way would the old you've been able to figure out half the shit she's said.
"Your culture is one nonsensical taboo after another," Mr. Pinchy sighs, the dark curtains that form the walls of the lounge fluttering with the sound. "A few decades? Bah! As long as the heart… and flesh… is willing, what business do we have to say no?"
… and, okay, yeah, Mr. Pinchy has helped some.
"Dude, gross," you sigh, rolling your eyes and causing Queenie to relax slightly.
"Hmph," he snorts. "Yes, well… let's see how you feel about that in a hundred years, hmm?"
You open your mouth to respond, only to blink and close it as what he said sinks in. That's… huh. It's still weird to think about the whole 'no more getting old and dying' thing, but-
Glancing back towards the gemstone eyes that are above the 'main' entrance curtains, you tilt your head and frown. "How do Alchies in Roboland deal with that, then?"
Out of the corner of your eye you notice Queenie open her eyes at the question, but you keep focused on how the eight big gems twist in a way that make it seem like he's blinking in thought. When he speaks again, he's lapsed back into Robospeak and his voice is more distant than you've heard from him before.
"I'm… not quite certain, I'm afraid - my time within the Great Maker's world-body was spent in stasis until the I was awoken for my retrofits and deployment here." He pauses, humming lightly, but after a silent moment, you notice the gems focus back on you with interest.
"Survival was our most pressing concerns during our struggle against the Primordial Host; rare was the Chosen that survived longer than a standard mortal lifetime, and those that did either had no space in their hearts or minds for romance or were those... engaged in the various breeding programs. Only after our Victory was it usual for a Chosen to survive past their second century, and those I knew that did tended to surround themselves with their peers… and the occasional harem of nubile servants, of course."
…
You glance at Queenie. She's got a blank stare to match yours. You look back at Mr. Pinchy's eyes.
"Most'a that sounds pretty fucked up, man."
He scoffs, a bundle of curtain ropes below his 'eyes' making a dismissive wave. "The Chosen were-..."
He freezes suddenly, his voice cutting off as the hand-sized gems lose their brightness. You frown, but some motion to your side makes you turn back to see Queenie hold up a hand to her mouth as she clears her throat.
"The past of Creation-That-Was holds many lessons for our future."
Mr. Pinchy grunts, sounding super bummed. It takes you a second, but… you think you get it: Taylor said Creation got destroyed, and it's lookin' more and more like the Exalted
there were the reason it all went to shit because they got put in charge. Instead've like in Roboland, which
survived 'cause Alchies are like Protectorate capes
here, workin'
for the government 'nstead of being kings and warlords and whatever.
… still doesn't answer your question, but… you know. Whatever. Prolly better to just give Mr. Pinchy some time rather than bug him about it more.
Bug. ...Eh. Man, not even a good pun can help your mood. This whole trip in Mr. Pinchy's lounge has been a huge buzzkill. You wonder- ah, shit, your phone says it's already eight thirty-five. Missy should've already landed by now.
"Yo," you grunt, raising a hand to catch his attention. His eyes shift in their sockets at your callout, but they're not
quite back to the levels of shinyness from before - even his voice is still kinda distracted. "Hmm? Ah, my sincere apologies-"
You wave it away before he can get started. "Not that. The airport: we there yet?"
"Oh! Oh, my, yes yes! I'm just coming upon the primary port of call for this city's airships now," he admits, only to sigh again. "It's quite a boon that these airships are so gratingly loud - I've traversed through all manner of inclement weather, but navigation is considerably more tedious when I can't occasionally gauge my bearings using essence cannon blasts."
You pause in the middle of climbing to your feet.
"Uh… yeah. Don't do that."
What the fuck. Are
all Familiars crazy?
Vrmf. Vrr rrrmmvm rmmvrm.
...only provin' the point more there, buddy.
Mmmrmvmrm vuurmrmvm rmmvurrv.
You frown. Why would you need his help-... oh.
Motherfu-
Holding your breath for a second, you slowly stand up and unclench your fists. Okay. You… forgot to get Missy's flight info. No big deal. You can just… uh… airports have screens that show when flights are landing and where they're coming from, right? You've never
been in one yourself, but you've seen plenty of movies that've shown what the insides of airports look like.
'Cept Missy's already landed, so you don't have time to go runnin' around in the airport looking for her. Fuck, how long does it take for people to get off a plane and get their shit and go? Not like Mr. Pinchy or Carfield will know, and Queenie's been in the 'Cage-
Wait.
You turn back to Queenie and lightly poke her in the shoulder with a finger. "Hey."
She opens her eyes again, not even flinching anymore at your closeness even if her stare is still just as intense as it was the first time.
"So... how close do you need to be to see a cape?"
Ah. There's the flinch. Though you're used to getting that reaction with your questions, now, but when she averts her eyes and doesn't look back after a few seconds you start to get worried. Before you can say anything more, she sighs.
"Warden prevailed upon me to
control my…
Parasite, rather than
indulge it."
You're gonna get her to tell you why she keeps calling her power a 'Parasite' instead of all that Fairy junk she was spoutin' the first time you met her (or just ask Taylor when she gets back, since Queenie said to ask
her for some reason), but you've got more important shit goin' on than that right now.
"Sorry," you grunt, hunching down in front of her and crossing your arms across your chest as you think. "'S still kinda weird how freaky your power must be. But, like… I totally get that havin' a… uh…
Essence soul has been totally awesome, lettin' you finally turn it
off-"
You're not sure the whole 'humans here have no souls' is ever gonna stop being weird, but you try not to think about it too hard.
"- but isn't that…" you frown, reaching up to run a hand through your frizzy hair as you try to find the right words, "... I dunno? Quitter talk?"
Deep green eyes snap back up to stare at you with a sorta blank intensity, but you're not really lookin' at her as you nod to yourself. "Yeah. Yeah, I mean, sure: back when I was still a meatbag that was all
I wanted to be able to do with my power. Turn it off and
keep it off without feelin' like I was meltin' my brain. But now?"
You bring up a fist, then push a bit of power to shift it into Omnitool mode. Through your PRT Tests and bored putzing around, you've figured out that Charms sorta want to look and act a specific way if you just activate them. Turnin' on your
Omnitool Implants usually makes everything down past your elbow go goopy as it shifts into what you want.
"It's not
easy," you grunt, focusing to shift just one finger at a time into something random (fork, pliers, lockpick, scalpel…) while the rest of the hand stays normal. It's not hard or painful, it just takes
focus. "But I've realized there's…
wiggle room, you know?
I'm in control now - I don't have to settle for just a light switch. And I get the feelin' it's not just because'a all
this-"
You make a circular gesture with your off-hand at your whole body.
"-but it's 'cause of
this."
You reach up and tap your soulgem in the middle of your forehead.
"So, you gonna
settle with
off or on?" you hum, flexing your hand as you deactivate the Charm with a thought. Then, reaching up to Queenie's face, you tap
her soulgem with the nail of your index finger.
"Or are
you in control?"
***
