Erasyl: Another meeting with Ajaeren That same morning, while Teylon and the others were meeting Sister Celeste, Erasyl and Maggie had another private outing. "Say, Erasyl, it's still true that Ajaeren is wonderful, right?" said Maggie. "Sure! Of course!" said Erasyl. "Then why do I feel a bit strange about it all?" "Well, I don't know... I suppose I feel the same?" This is giving me a headache! What is wrong with me? Nyah, nothing is wrong. I'm sure it will all be explained when we see him again. Actually, aren't we supposed to be seeing him soon? I wish he would hurry up. Perhaps he did hurry up, as he appeared just then. With a big grin on his face, he walked up to them. "Hello dears!" he said. He called us dears? And that grin looks so creepy. Wasn't I thinking that he was so wonderful? And, look at Maggie, she's got the 'just stepped in some dog poo' look. But, but, still, he was wonderful! Err, was? Ajaeren stopped in front of them, and his smile switched off, to be replaced by a show of irritation. "That's strange, why has it worn off so quickly?" Huh? Erasyl and Maggie may have been having some doubts, but they still stayed right where they were without any complaint. This made it easy for Ajaeren to open his arms and hug them both, and thus incidentally bringing his head up close to their's. Erasyl became acutely aware of Ajaeren's face, young, unlined, with a slight amount of stubble. And of his breathing, and slight, pleasant, body odour. Ooh, how manly. His hair is brushing my face, he's got the top button of his shirt undone, wow, he is handsome! Maggie started giggling. Looks like Maggie agrees. Erasyl was lost in space, contemplating the awesomeness that was Ajaeren's existence... Until Ajaeren waved his hand in front of his face. "Hello! If you can pay attention?" "Huh, yes!" said both Erasyl and Maggie. "I think I might have overdone it, but never mind. You will ask Teylon and the four other teenagers to meet me here, tomorrow morning, OK?" "Yes, yes!" "No problems!" He then kissed both of them, and left. It took then half an hour to finally come back from outer space, with stars and love hearts madly orbiting them, and start taking notice of their surroundings again. That was wonderful! Wonderful! Erasyl did not have a clue about how much he was overusing the 'wonderful' adjective, and probably Maggie did not either. Sarsaparilla: They're still acting weird. Deep breath here. Little old me, who before meeting Teylon was completely alone, am now part of this - strange - group, and I am actually going to be taking the initiative. Angel help me. It was just before the evening meal, while most of the crew were watching a silly cartoon on the big screen in Teylon's living area, Sarsaparilla and Adalace managed to corner Teylon in the kitchen area. Francesca, being in the process of getting herself a cup of water, was also caught. "Hey, Teylon, because of this Esmeralda business, you've sort of become responsible for us five teenagers, right?" said Sarsaparilla. Teylon rolled his eyes. "Don't I know it. In spite of the fact that I have absolutely no experience in looking after people." Little smirk from Adalace. "Maybe it's part of your punishment?" A giggle from Francesca, before Sarsaparilla managed to cut in before the conversation was derailed any more. "Whatever. But, now that I'm also talking to Esmeralda, I suppose that makes me kind of responsible for the others, too?" "I guess so." said Teylon, "And where is this leading to?" "Erasyl and Maggie." "Ah, yeah. Their behaviour isn't normal, is it?" Francesca added a comment: "Well, I don't know them enough to have an opinion, but, presumably you're going to deal with this matter yourselves?" "Well, I think that those two are our responsibility..." said Sarsaparilla. A laugh from Francesca. "Don't worry, I'm sure that the Girls in Pink will know their place and won't interfere. It's pretty amazing, actually. Normally there would be absolutely no chance of any social interaction between our two groups at all." "That's for sure," said Sarsaparilla, "Anyway, I'm saying that perhaps we leave those two alone for the moment, after all, when we talked to them last night they started to act even more strangely than before." "But shouldn't we do something?" said Teylon. "Sure, I agree. But if we can wait for the opportune moment, and then perhaps somehow suggest that just Teylon and us five teenagers meet somewhere, like, for old times’ sake or something?" "OK" said Teylon. With Teylon and Sarsaparilla (and, of course, Adalace) sitting at one end of the table, it was easy for them to leave Erasyl and Maggie alone, since by chance they were sitting at the other end. And it was even easier to arrange a meeting, since Maggie came right out and proposed one. So, it was a done deal. The Girls in Pink would be going off and doing their own thing tomorrow, Kaydence and Juniper were going to school, Sarawatch was going to work, and Teylon and five teenagers were going to have their own outing. Nobody mentioned school for us teenagers. That's a relief. Although I'm sure that Sarawatch was thinking about it. But, sorting out Erasyl's and Maggie's romance kerfuffle is I'm sure something of much greater importance! And, they are definitely still acting weird. Stupid Erasyl. It must be all his fault. Boys can be such dickheads, sometimes. Sarsaparilla: In another fight between espers So, we're back to the park where we almost killed each other on our first social meeting by ourselves. At this moment, Adalace squeezed her hand, and they shared a glance, before getting back to the matter in hand. Why exactly did Maggie propose this meeting? Some stranger was now also walking through the area. Now, he sure looks creepy. Err, what? Why are Maggie and Erasyl greeting them. And why in creepy hell are they acting so friendly towards him? Like two puppy dogs... Oh, come off it, you two. What is it with that behaviour? Can't you see he's so creepy he almost makes me wanna puke! "Who is that revolting specimen?" said Adalace. "Haven't a clue." At least Adalace agrees with me. She briefly looked at the others. Yep, Leroy looks disgusted, and Teylon is not quite managing to hide his reaction. So what has he done to Erasyl and Maggie? With Erasyl holding one of his arms and Maggie the other, all three of them walked up to the others. Erasyl and Maggie bouncing along happily, and the stranger in the middle acting as if it was his absolute right to have such attention. "Hi, everyone! This is Ajaeren!" said Maggie. "He's real wonderful-" said Erasyl. But he was cut off with a glance from Ajaeren. "That's enough!" Erasyl winced in pain, staggered slightly, then went back to effusive grinning, but without saying anything. Without any more words, he flicked off Maggie's and Erasyl's hands, and looked at the others as if he was examining the menu on the wall at a cheap restaurant, and trying to decide which was the best meal to buy. Sarsaparilla by chance happened to exchange a look with Teylon. Yeah, this is real ugly. But how and why? She turned to Adalace - Oh my god. Adalace no longer had that look when of you bite a lovely red apple and realise that the entire centre was rotten. No, she was now also grinning and practically fawning over Ajaeren. Sarsaparilla screamed, grabbed Adalace and managed to slightly shake her. "What are you doing? Why are you acting like that? He's worse than that fake steak I once left out for a week!" "Err, what? But he is wonderful... Err, isn't he?" Adalace, set free from Sarsaparilla's embrace, stepped back and looked just a little worried. That look was gradually replaced by her previous revulsion. "What the fuck was I feeling?" said Adalace. Ajaeren looked at this with a frown on his face. "Why are you resisting my attack? For that matter why is Sarsaparilla not affected at all?" Meanwhile, Teylon had been prodding Leroy on the shoulder with his finger. "Hey, Leroy, why are you now practically drooling over this - thing? I mean, you don't actually like boys, anyhow." Leroy started to disagree with Teylon, then stopped and looked confused. "What was I thinking...? Oh yuck, how unspeakably revolting." "What - what is happening here?" said Ajaeren. He was frantically looking from one face to another, "Why isn't it working anymore?" He screwed up his face, as if concentrating. Adalace and Leroy went back to those weird happy grins. And Sarsaparilla finally connected the dots and went nuclear. "Teylon! He's mind raping them in some fashion! Drag Leroy away!" Teylon hesitated momentarily, and then grabbed Leroy by the arms and physically hauled him off to one side. Simultaneously Sarsaparilla wrapped her arms around Adalace's waist, lifted her boldly up, and moved off in the opposite direction. (This is Mars, remember. Everyone exercises daily to maintain Earth like strength, but everyone only weights one-third the Earth norm.) Ajaeren was left standing in the middle, looking from one side to the other in perplexity. Erasyl and Maggie were still standing behind him, and still looking as if Ajaeren was the most beloved of creatures possible. "Adalace! For some reason when you're with me you're immune from his attacks-" said Sarsaparilla. Ah ha! It's something to do with Esmeralda, isn't it. So that's why Teylon is also not influenced. She looked at Ajaeren, who was starting in their direction. So she ran away, still holding Adalace. Ajaeren stopped and looked as if he was trying to work out what to do. She looked back up at Adalace. Who was beginning to look very angry indeed. "That - that utter creep - he was messing with my mind somehow! He was making me like him - in the most revolting way possible! That's disgusting!" Screaming the last part of this, Adalace grabbed a nail from her pocket and waved it in the general direction of Ajaeren. The glowing red end of the nail made some nice lissajous patterns in the air. "I'm going to burn him till he cries! He'll never be able to attack a woman again!" Fortunately, Sarsaparilla managed to keep Adalace from running back at Ajaeren, mainly because she was still holding her in the air. Ajaeren was looking at this production with a stupid look of surprise. "Adalace! As soon as you get near to him he'll rape your mind again!" At this, Adalace promptly stopped struggling and looked shocked. Just in time to hear Teylon shouting at Leroy. "Fly around that bloke, grab Adalace and hoist yourselves up ten metres. Then call Sarawatch!" A few seconds later, they were both high ahead. Although Adalace was distinctly heard saying: "Don't bloody well drop me or I'll burn you!" I think she must be a little out of sorts. But more importantly, what do we do now? And this is the first time I've ever seen Teylon look angry. Ajaeren was looking as he was having second opinions about being here. He started to move away, only Teylon deliberately put himself in front of him. So Sarsaparilla followed suit. Like two wolves, Teylon and Sarsaparilla circled Ajaeren, keeping him in the middle. Coordinating their movements, they slowly closed in on him, and also in on Erasyl and Maggie. "Hey, you two, stand on either side of me!" Perfect! Now if only he doesn't think of using Maggie's powers... Teylon must have thought of the same thing, since both he and Sarsaparilla suddenly ran in towards Ajaeren. Keep the stupid git off balance! "Maggie, put up a shield..." said Ajaeren. But he was a bit slow. Sarsaparilla slammed into Maggie, who had been standing there with a big weird grin but not much intelligence in her face, and wrapped her arms around her. "Snap out of it!" yelled Sarsaparilla, right into Maggie's ear. "Aww, that hurt! Ah, what..." "Maggie, use your power to confine him away from us." "Ah, why should I do that...? Wait, why, why..." "Because he's been controlling your mind!" "Oh, right. Yeah, right," said Maggie. The big grin was overlayed by a snarl, "Fuck, he really was controlling my mind. Why, the fucking bastard!" Her head snapped around to look at Ajaeren. Who was beginning to look slightly unsure of himself. He tried backing off and started to run. Teylon, not wanting to actually fight him, backed off also. Maggie allowed him to get four metres away, and then a ring of crackling fire appeared around him. There was the smell of ionised gas as Maggie twisted magnetic lines in shocking ways to do her bidding. Ajaeren tried to take another step, only to recoil in horror at the sudden feeling of heat. "Why, that little bastard! I'm going to burn off his hair and give him sun burn!" "Maggie! That's enough! We have him under control. Don't get too close." "Ah, shit." But at least Maggie managed to get her emotions under control. Just in time to see Erasyl's face go from disgust to mildly pleased with himself. "OK, I've just turned off that piece of shit's ability." Five teenagers and one old man surrounded Ajaeren. He was no longer confined inside a plasma ring; instead, Adalace had spot welded hers and Maggie's nails into crude but still very effective manacles. So Ajaeren was sprawled on the ground, unable to stand or move, and looking frightened. Adalace was snarling, and she still managed to have a nail left over, which she was holding in one hand. Naturally, its end was glowing. Sarsaparilla was holding onto Adalace's arm and barely managing to stop her from poking him with it. Maggie did not have any spare nails, so she made do with a glowing, crackling nimbus of ionised air above her. Leroy's expression was black with rage, he was almost shaking. He was muttering threats under his voice, and looked as if he would, at any moment, start punching and kicking Ajaeren. Erasyl did not look too pleased, in fact he looked downright angry. Teylon was still looking angry. It took a moment, but eventually he realised that he had better do something now before things descended into unrestrained violence. "Kids, just back up a bit and we can ask him a few questions." "Like fucking hell, that bastard was going to rape me!" said Adalace. "He deserves to be beaten into a pulp!" said Leroy. "If he ever so much as looks at Adalace again, I'll strangle him myself!" said Sarsaparilla. Although she kept on holding Adalace's arm, preventing her from actually hurting him. "This creep was trying to make me a slave just like Juniper and Kaydence!" said Maggie. "If he hurts Maggie again I'll be right after Sarsaparilla in strangling him!" said Erasyl. "Kids! Shut the Fuck Up!" This was yelled out by Teylon, obviously at the end of his patience. They shut the fuck up. They also looked shocked; the first time they had seen Teylon lose his cool in such a fashion. "Amen. Sorry for that, but this is a chance to clear up a few questions, wouldn't you say so?" Mumbles of reluctant agreement from the teenagers. They were all silent for a few seconds, looking at Ajaeren squirming on the ground. "So, I take it you can control people's minds? Even though it is generally agreed that esp powers can't be used like that." said Teylon. Ajaeren, given a chance to speak his mind to an attentive audience, seemed to calm down. "That's right. Those stupid people at the esp testing institute put me down as an Electronics Controller. But they always graded me as a mere 25. Just because, unlike the other Electronics Controllers, I couldn't focus my control down to individual atomic sized transistor junctions." He laughed in contemp. "That's because I had a much more useful ability, I can control individual cells in the brain! The stupid bastards, they never realised that!" "Shit, so you can read our minds?" said Adalace, looking shocked. "No, no, I can't, don't be stupid, why would I want to read the contents of people's minds, after all they're mostly empty or full of worthless shit." Isn't that a stupid attitude in itself... Ah, I get it, it's sour grapes. So if he can't read our minds, what is he doing? Sarsaparilla nodded her head as she thought this, and Ajaeren must have taken this as an encouragement, as he continued with much energy. "What I can do is much better! I can control your emotions! I can get you to love me! Which is great. It is my rightful place to be loved by my followers! And they all love it. Erasyl, restore my ability now! I can reclaim my proper place as your leader. I already control the Futures Group; I control the research team that administers the cloning programme. If I control you, I can use you to find the people who are running our society and I can control them! It will be glorious, I shall be the first true leader of Mars. Erasyl, restore my ability at once, and we can together go on to great things!" Ajaeren was getting fervent. The others... not so much. Erasyl took a step back. "Say, Maggie, if I ever deliberately give him his powers back, just kill me, OK?" "Sure. No problems." She looked as if she would do it, too. Sarsaparilla, screwing up her face in disgust, looked at Adalace. "This is revolting. And I thought Shane was bad enough." Adalace nodded. But Ajaeren disagreed. "Shane! I corrupted him, too, you know! You don't think he would have believed all of that cloning garbage without a bit of a push, do you?" Ajaeren began to get even more animated. "Yep, I did the final stages of turning those girls into brainwashed slaves and make them think they were clones! Those stupid others in the futures group thought it was all because of their mind wiping techniques, but they are so crude, they only remove access to memories; they don't add all the extra stuff about becoming a slave! And it is my right to turn you into slaves, Erasyl. It will be your privilege to have me as your owner, just release me now and we can reclaim my rightful position! Just like the others in the Futures Group!" "Oh, my god. He makes Shane look intelligent and reasonable." says Sarsaparilla. Adalace had her hand over her mouth and looking as if she was close to gagging. Leroy's face was a dark red colour, which matched his snarling expression and the dark thunderclouds just above his head. OK, the last needed to be imagined, but anybody looking on didn't have to make much effort to imagine it. "Why you little shit. So you were the one that made Kaydence a slave, were you? Kaydence and Juniper. I should smash you head into the ground right..." At this point Erasyl grabbed his left arm, and Teylon grabbed his right arm. "Leroy! Take a deep breath, OK?" said Teylon. "Oh. Sorry." Leroy got himself under control. He looked shocked. "Sorry, sorry, I, err, that's wrong." "Perfectly understandable, Leroy. After all I'm feeling the same way." said Maggie. There was a silence. Ajaeren was starting to realise that things really were not going his way, and tried to struggle out of his constraints. But spot-welded steel nails are not all that easy to break. Teylon and the teenagers stood around awkwardly, as they gradually realised that this whole matter had become too big for them to handle. "Hmm, Teylon, should we ring the police and let them take over?" said Sarsaparilla. "Well, now, given our position, wouldn't that be somewhat problematical?" Fortunately, at this point Sarawatch, panting heavily, ran up to them. "I got some sort of garbled message about mind control - what the hell have you been up to now?" Teylon pointed to Ajaeren. Sarawatch took a look and considered things. "Oh, right. Illegally constraining a person. Probably beating him up also, if those scruff marks all over his clothes mean anything. What the hell do you expect me to do with this?" Ajaeren took some hope at this. "Yes, get me away from Erasyl and I can recover my ability. Then I can make you all my rightful slaves and I can rule Mars! It's our destiny!" Sarawatch watched this production, and took several steps back. "What is he going on about? And slaves? You mean, like Juniper and Kaydence?" Does he really think he can get himself out of this mess by outwardly declaring his intentions like that? I think this situation must have made him unstable, or something. Sarawatch looked around at everyone present. "Obviously something really weird is going on here. Damn if I know what to do about it, though." And now it was Sarawatch’s turn to be outranked. Five police officers, all men, descended from the sky. On closer inspection, it was four young men who could fly, plus another man strapped in a buddy harness to one of the flyers. This last man pulled the pins on his safety buckles, and stepped down. He staggered slightly, and then walked up to the group. "You know, I hate flying like that. It gives me vertigo and makes me want to puke." "Oh, hi, Napoleon." said Sarawatch. "Hi, Sarawatch." They looked at each other for a moment. "I see that your friends have caused another little incident. Isn't it getting just a little embarrassing?" "Ah, yes? But, you know, they did save Kaydence's and Juniper's lives, while I wasn't able to save Mirabella’s. So, I don't know, I don't think I need to feel embarrassed for them." With carefully adjusted neutral faces, they faced each other. "Ah, who are those girls, again?" "Mirabella is the one I saw die. Kaydence and Juniper are two who were going to die, but this lot saved them." "Oh. Right. Well, then, I suppose that is worthwhile." At this point, one of the other police officers cleared his throat. "Sir, we need to deal with this situation." Teylon took this opportunity to get in a few words. "This nasty piece of work," he said as he pointed to Ajaeren, "Can use his esp powers in some form of crude mind control. And he has used it. He appears to be responsible for at least half a dozen deaths, not to mention a lot of mind controlled slaves." "Err, no kidding." said Napoleon. "No Kidding! He's extremely dangerous! Don't let him recover his ability when anybody is anywhere near him!" said Sarsaparilla. "Well, then, I perhaps need some authority to act here..." At this point, one of the other police officers, who had been having a conversation over his radio link, spoke up. "Ah, Napoleon, it appears that the authorities are aware of this situation. They are sending an emergency medical person here deal with the subject..." Leroy looked around and up. "Yep, there they are!" He pointed up in the sky, to a small dot that was rapidly growing larger. It resolved to be a young lady, maybe nineteen years old. She was wearing light blue overalls with fluorescent stripes and a on her back was a large pack with a red cross on it. She landed lightly besides the body, and nodded briefly at the audience. "Hey, I've seen you lot before!" she said, "At least this time the subject isn't dead... Say, why is he tied up..." Her communications equipment buzzed, and she took the call. "Oh, right, you want me to knock him out with some sedative? Ah, Ok, he's dangerous. Got it. Oh, and there's an asphyxiation case close by?" She twitched her fingers, and part of her medical packet opened up. She grabbed an injection gun, dialled up the correct dose and drug, and placed the end lightly against Ajaeren's hand. Before he could react, she pulled the trigger. Within moments she was up in the air, zipping along in a low trajectory, over the trees and down again, and thus out of sight. Ajaeren struggled for a moment, and then went limp. Napoleon crouched down and prodded him to make sure he was out, and to make sure he was breathing easy. One of the police officers just happened to have a lightweight expandable stretcher with him. So a minute later two of the officers were carrying Ajaeren, in the stretcher, and were walking towards the nearest elevator. The other two lifted off and went back to their normal duties, leaving Napoleon behind. "Make sure you tell you bosses that he's really really dangerous! When he wakes up he is going to try to mind rape anyone with a few metres! Please tell them to take care!" said Maggie. Napoleon, impressed by how agitated Maggie was getting, and how Teylon and the other teenagers appeared to be in complete agreement, walked away a few metres and then had a private conversation with his own boss. Eventually he came back. "Right, it appears that they are going to be taking all due precautions. And, well, it appears that once again they have no further interest in you lot. You certainly have a charmed existence, don't you? Sarawatch really got the sharp end of the stick, while they appear to be treating you with kid gloves. Not that I'm complaining, mind you." He looked at Sarawatch. "Ah, well, now, I'm glad that you appear to be part of something that is making some progress in getting some answers." Sarawatch looked appreciative at these words. "Thanks." "Well," said Napoleon, as he shuffled his feet. "I guess I'll be on my way." He waved to everyone, turned, and walked away. All the teenage girls present exchanged a three-way glance. Sarsaparilla nodded her head. Yep, they've all gotten the same vibes. Was there something between the two of them sometime in the past? And the boys appear to be oblivious. "Let's keep this from Juniper and Kaydence for the time being, shall we?" said Teylon. Five teenagers nodded their heads. "But we should tell the Girls in Pink after those two have gone to bed." he said. "But now, I think we should devote some attention to Erasyl and Maggie, they probably need some care right now." The settled themselves down. Maggie was the first one to speak. "In retrospect it feels so incredibly revolting and just outright violating - I've never had a boyfriend and am only just now - err- considering what that would entail, and then that utter creep suddenly flicks a switch in my brain and I'm all over him! Like, madly obsessed! And, and, I would have gladly let him do - you know, things, to me. I feel I want to scrub my mind with bleach to get rid of the horrible feelings he put there." Without realising it, she had leant her head onto Erasyl's shoulder. So Erasyl put an arm around her. Sarawatch, sitting on the other side, held her hand. "Yeah, that just about sums it up for me too," he said, "And, really, it just about puts me off men entirely - jeez, he's such a creep, and to think I was so infatuated with him, it makes me feel sick." Adalace and Leroy agreed with these statements. "But, how did he manage to avoid letting anyone know what his power was?" asked Teylon. Sarsaparilla shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe he just fell through the cracks? I mean, they tested him for the Electronics Controlling thing, didn't find anything worthwhile, so they just assumed he didn't have a power. Just like me." "Isn't Maggie's ability to blind or silence someone a similar sort of power?" said Teylon. "Yeeeeah, but I can't focus down to individual brain cells. All I can do is to blanket a small region of the brain, and impose a sufficiently powerful magnetic field to effectively switch it off. I don't have the requisite fine control to do anything more." said Maggie. "Well, that's a relief, it means she can't make me her slave!" said Erasyl. That got him a glare from Maggie. "Who the hell would want you as a slave?" Adalace and Sarsaparilla giggled. Maggie, realising she was still right up close to him, straightened up and away from him a little bit. Only she couldn't move far, as Sarawatch was still on the other side. I bet she's blushing furiously under her almost black skin! Sarsaparilla kept on giggling. "Amen," said Teylon, "Never mind that. It has just occurred to me to wonder if Ajaeren is the evil I was meant to eradicate?" There was a discussion, and eventually they came to the conclusion that while Ajaeren was definitely some of the evil, there was still the little matter of the unknown powers that be. Whom, apparently, Ajaeren had never managed to control. "Hey, maybe Ajaeren can reverse the slave compulsion, and thus fix Juniper?" said Teylon. "Ha! How could you possibly trust him to do that? Remember, he is sleazy and slimy and probably too stupid to cooperate and undo his damage." said Adalace. "Not to mention the fact that Ajaeren quite definitely said that the Futures Group first brain wiped the girls, and then he did the final finishing touches of turning them into clone slaves. And since Juniper, and of course Kaydence, have already had their slave compulsion removed, well, I guess Ajaeren wouldn't be of much use, after all?" said Maggie. Teylon looked depressed. "It was never going to be that easy, was it?" "In that case, why didn't Esmeralda allow a judgement?" said Adalace. "Well, maybe because we already had all the power we needed to take him down all by ourselves?" said Teylon. "Maybe we did, but it certainly took a bit of effort to work it all out." said Sarsaparilla. "I guess it's good practice. You know, good for team work." said Sarawatch. After some more discussion, they got up and went off to their separate ways, agreeing to meet for tea as usual. "I should carry more nails. That handcuff idea is pretty neat." said Adalace, as she walked away, hand in hand with Sarsaparilla.