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Grace has been busy. She will continue being busy for a while yet. But since Ginger blew up with accusations that she was keeping information from people for no good reason and being a bitch, she's been in a foul mood.
Sera wants to go to Chipotle and talk about things. Grace does not. Grace wants to use the phone number she's got burning a hole in her pocket and see if she can't make friends with Three-Mile Island Elly. It seems kind of a long shot at this point since obviously interacting with other people is not a strong suit lately. When has it ever been a strong suit? Well, whatever. She has it on good authority that Elly is 'completely bugfuck' so maybe he won't care about her inability to human.
She also wants to deliver what little information she has to the one person in Denver whose business it really is.
That particular step along the quest is of primary importance. So, as Grace is negotiating with Sera, Alicia will get a text:
Hey. I have a small bit of information to share with you. Can we meet? I won't take long. I lost a fight and I have to meet someone for dinner.
Great job at that whole communication thing, Grace.
I mean... It wasn't a physical fight. I just can't get out of this dinner thing.
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08-29-2014, 01:49 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-29-2014, 01:49 AM by jamie.)
Alicia has two phones. One of them she uses to communicate with her mother and other people who do not fall into the category of Reality Deviant. Sometimes she uses it to get on Pinterest or Reddit. It stores her music and helps her look up liquor store hours and restaurant menus and she worries that the GPS on the phone may let Them find her one day but it's been three months since they took her father and no one has come for her yet.
But she still has a prepaid phone for interacting with other Reality Deviants. It makes her feel like a drug dealer some days but today is not that day.
Her responses come nearly ten minutes after Grace sends out her texts:
LOL ok
And then:
We can meet. You know the diner on Colfax? 24 hour breakfast menu holler.
Look. I have school. And RP. And all my other time is taken up by sheer, unreasoning panic. I don't have time for Reddit.
-- ixphaelaeon
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Okay, we can do that.
Grace's response comes back immediately. Her phone is always within reach, always checked in habitual internet addiction.
---
It also doesn't take long for the dour-faced collection of sliding knives to make it to the diner on Colfax with the 24-hour breakfast menu. She's wearing blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt with no silly slogan or outlandish graphic on the front. Today it just wouldn't fit.
Her eyes scan the room for what her other senses say isn't there yet. No Alicia. So she takes a table in the back, away from other people, her back to a wall, face to the door.
A waitress comes by and asks what she'd like, and Grace hasn't touched a menu yet. It's a bit shocking at first that yes, this is a diner and people usually come here to eat, not share bits of dangerous information with each other.
"Uhh. Water?"
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08-29-2014, 02:28 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-29-2014, 02:28 PM by kai.)
[Why was I attn'd in this? Not complaining, just confused.]
my whole life is thunder.
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[ohhh. thank you for clarifying! I was like "I AM IN THE THING?
i am not in the thing. i am confused. wat." but now everything is clear.]
my whole life is thunder.
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08-30-2014, 09:58 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-30-2014, 02:59 PM by jamie.)
Sweet. Give me like an hour tho I'm not in the city atm.
That's all she has to say about that. No point broadcasting her current location or the name of the person offering her refuge when she doesn't know who could intercept the text message.
The nice thing about living in a city with decent public transportation is that she does not need a car to make the 20-mile journey from the suburbs to the city proper. 'Like' an hour ends up being precisely one hour and 17 minutes. Alicia is not yet a talented enough Time Mage to be able to estimate time with any amount of precision. She's glad enough to have found a use for the dead plastic watch she rarely removes from her wrist.
When she comes into the diner she's wearing running shoes and bright skin-revealing clothing a certain Cultist bought for her. Her hair is unrestrained and she's carrying a large handbag slung across her torso.
She's seen Grace before. Takes her a second to put a face in the present to a face in her memory. Maybe she takes a stab in the dark.
"Hey," she says when she arrives at Grace's table. Deadpan as she sits: "The waffles here are the size of your head, I'm pretty excited."
But they're not here for waffles. She's trying very hard to maintain realistic expectations. There is no way in Hell Grace is going to tell her anything good and yet some small part of her hopes. She hasn't killed that small part of her yet.
The sunniness which followed her in disappears: "Did you find Doctor Morgan?"
[Edit: "Smart" is a terrible typo when I meant to say "small" lol fixed it.]
Look. I have school. And RP. And all my other time is taken up by sheer, unreasoning panic. I don't have time for Reddit.
-- ixphaelaeon
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Alicia walks in like a ray of light, and it's good to see that Alicia can still be happy, even if it's just pretense. Is this what she shows the world when she's trying not to worry about her father?
Grace gives her a wave, noting the lost expression. She's seen that before. People don't remember who she is half the time. Waitresses forget about the water or the fact that there is a woman in the back who hasn't been waited on in half an hour.
Alicia joins her at the table, and Grace smiles. "Hey."
Almost immediately, that smile vanishes. Did you find Doctor Morgan?
"Well, not exactly. She's on the run. They're after her, but at least in April their trail went cold on her. They hadn't found her. But that means she'll be hard for me to find too. I'm still working on that."
But you know, hey, it's not so bad. At least she's alive. At least she's not kidnapped. At least she's not your father.
Grace tries to smile again, to offer some hope to the young woman. "So I have some good news. The best news is that you are not in danger right now," she says, and her eyes scan around for sneaky waitstaff. "They don't know you're Awake. They do not care about you in the slightest so long as that's the case."
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Alicia manages to hold off on reacting even as the knowledge that Alethea is in hiding becomes a reality and not just a suspicion. It hits her sure but lots of things hit her and she doesn't react. The waitress has not come over yet. Regardless of what Alicia has to say about it they aren't here to eat. The waitress will be back once she realizes the single woman has company.
It's a disappointment and it's obvious that Alicia is disappointed to hear this but at least Dr. Morgan is still alive. She hasn't been dragged in by the Technocracy. That's the best news she could hope for even if she was hoping for more. She can't even hope for that much for her father. It makes Alicia wonder if Grace is trying to stall. Save the worst for last.
The best news is still horrible considering what she's already told Grace. Oh okay so someone died the night she Awakened but they still think she's a Sleeper. They don't care about her.
"So I just have to not let them find out about that," she says. Great. "How're you gonna find Doctor Morgan if the Techs can't find her?"
If Grace isn't going to mention her father then neither is she.
Look. I have school. And RP. And all my other time is taken up by sheer, unreasoning panic. I don't have time for Reddit.
-- ixphaelaeon
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Grace watches everything while Alicia speaks. Why had she chosen a diner? Why not somewhere where the hushed conversation wouldn't have to be so hushed?
"Well, I won't be able to find her by peeking into the enemies files if they haven't found her. I'm going to the Sons of Ether next. I'm going to ask if they have any information on this whole thing.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about Khaled," Grace says, wets her dry lips as if to stall. "I found a hacker who specializes in taking on people-finding missions, and they were able to get the files on Doctor Morgan. There were files on your mother too, but they were redacted. And there was the entry about you. But it seems they're being extra super careful about your dad. The lower-level operatives don't know shit about him."
When the waitress returns, Grace nods in her direction to signal that this is the time to stop talking.
