The news network was just as busy as ever. Jay smiled as she walked passed the offices. The staff were all human, curiously. Given their media, they knew how to get the word out quickly and avoided the sun in the first day. She was used to the occasional look by now.
She got a message to see her boss as soon as possible
"You wanted to see me sir?" Jay asked, removing her jacket as she entered Toby's office. The sun crisis has kept them all incredibly busy. Toby had avoided the sun and took no chances. His desk had a certain gloomy look, as he didn't even trust light bulbs preferring to use candles. Candle light made it easier to sense sunlight was nearby. It also alerted him to any drafts so knew if movement was nearby too.
The large man appraised Jay. "Have a seat" he offered.
Jay's instincts knew this was not going to be good. Her orange fur was on end, and her three tails twitched a little on edge. It has been quite a difficult week on the job. She took the seat carefully, looking across the larger male human.
Toby took a breath "As you know... You were one of my best reporters-"
"Were?" Jay interjected questioningly.
"Are..." Toby corrected himself. "Look... its not..." he trailed away. This was a lot harder then it seemed.
"Sir just say it." She knew this was going to be bad if even her boss couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Aright... this isn't from me. But the guys upstairs, feel your a liability now given... your illness."
"I feel fine sir" she replied slowly.
"You know what I mean! Your a freakin' Fox-girl!" He panted getting it out.
There was a pause as those words hit home, Jay didn't even flinch. Just looking, her three tails moving to and fro.
"I know you've been continuing your job as if nothing happened... but you have to face facts. Because of your... appearance, some in the network feel you can not be on the show front any more. We want to ease the population... not scare them."
"I don't see how hiding me will 'ease the population' " she said simply, her every voice very even.
"There are petitions out there, saying your appearance is unsuitable for children."
"I wear clothes, sir" she said starting to sound a bit strained at this.
"I don't mean like that! its just your monstrous... appearance."
Okay.. that did hurt a bit. Jay was almost fuming inside, but didn't let it get to her. "My... condition does not prevent me doing the job I have trained for, and love..."
"There's another issue. You are lucky to get any answer from the police. I thought we agreed, you were going to ask about the missing Pastor, and link those hooligans to a potential murder enquiry."
"I examined the dates sir, Father Maxwell disappeared a few day before those youths turned up. They could not have had anything to do with a murder- if one happened."
"That's not the point! The point is you missed a vital human interest story, all for the sake of finding out what freaks they turned into. Our job is to sell stories. We could be selling more on a murder enquiry then a what-the-light-did story!"
Jay growled, and Toby was taken aback for the moment. His hand was already on an emergency button, to call for reinforcements. Did he really believe he would be attacked by her?
"Sir..." Jay noted Toby's hand under the desk and tried to look the least threatening she could. The last thing she wanted was to be dragged out of here. "I trust in the integrity of my job... I don't sell rumour. There's no reason to suggest those teenagers actually murdered anyone..."
"Maybe... maybe not." Toby's hand slid away from the panic button. "Perhaps the source of the time those people barricaded themselves in the church was incorrect."
Jay believed that to be incredibly unlikely but it seemed the two were at a stalemate here.
"I'm sorry Jay... but we have no choice. If I don't take you off, I'll be fired..." He stressed it sadly. "I've done all I can to protect you. I can offer you a desk job here with no salary cut. You can investigate leads and pass interesting stories up to reporters-"
"I am a reporter..." She growled again.
"Its all I can do. Take it or leave it"
This was it... Jay looked coldly as she put her Journalist pass onto the table. It still had her old face on it.
Toby looked at the picture, and was suddenly reminded of his old friend standing before him. The young man who pushed himself from the ground up, working hard, delivering stories with the highest of integrity. Rarely was a mistake made, and when it was it was never done maliciously. The guy was the kind to issue an apology genuinely.
"You were once my friend Toby... I'm sorry."
Jay was now freelance.
Mark watched her double drink the coffee, its taste in her mouth, the ease it was bringing. Sugary sweet, somewhat strong... she didn't like coffee!
"Stop drinking that!" She screamed in the end and rushed to the girl slapping the coffee out of her hand "I don't want to taste that! I don't want to taste that! I hate coffee!" The sound of wings beating the air was heard at the struggle. The feeling of the slap on the hand echoed itself to each girl in the room, as they all winced. Even her attacker Mark winced and seemed suddenly unsure on her next move.
The girl looked wide eyed at her mirrored self in shock, the shock passing to each of the group. Fear passed through the six girls as the fear of two of them coming to blows and what it could do to the rest of them.
"Settle down there or we will have to separate you" A voice said across a barrier. Normally they would all be separated from the start, but given their condition it seemed appropriate to keep them together. The police didn't know if separating them could cause harm.
"I- I- like coffee..." the one that drunk coffee stated.
"Who are you anyway?" Mark asked angrily unable to tell who her new 'sister' used to be.
"Um.. D-david"
"David? David?! This is all your F-F-fault!" Mark paused... she wanted to swear but ended up stuttering it. She continued anyway. "You were the one who blocked up the light. You did a bad job and now look at us!"
David became upset, and waves of that feeling started to be shared across all of them. Despair, sadness, David was crying now. Mark was not immune to it and was starting to cry herself as she found herself on the ground, bawling her eyes. "S-stop.. mak-ing... me... feel- bad!" She almost screamed it out. "W-whoe-evers- d-oin-g this.. stop!" she could feel the feeling of a hug on her form, and realised it was because one of her sisters was hugging herself to gain some comfort. She wanted to tell whoever it was to cut it out, but the ease it brought was hard to deny.
As the wave of sadness started to pass, replaced by that empty hollow feeling of loss, Mark got up on wobbly legs looking to each of them. She was taken aback by how identical they all were... and sickened that she was exactly the same as they were. "L-look... we can still get out of this. They can't tell who we are... all we have to do is not tell them... they.. can't charge us then" Mark had to punctuate the point.
One of the girls looked to Mark. "Does that really matter any more? We lost."
"We made a pact! We swore not to let the freaks near us."
The double that spoked looked to her again, a pained sad expression. "Have you actually tried lying? You can't... none of us can." The girl made a glance to the halo light standing atop her head. she tried to bat it away, but her hand went all the way through.
"Are you f-f- kidding me?" Mark looked wide eyed- again realising her inability to swear.
A police inspector came in. "Aright girls... We have to process you now. First fingerprints."
Finger printing them seemed a loss cause... they were all completely identical. Not even identical twins had identical finger prints! This was... just crazy. Each time one of them touched the ink they would all glance at their fingers, feeling the same touch of ink on their hand. The ever present fear continued in each of the girls as they realised this sharing...
Mark tried to keep a cool head, but was fighting the joined emotions of five other people in her mind. Maybe if they separated it would stop being so distracting.
The inspector nodded as he dismissed the finger prints and issued each of them a number. "You will wear these wrist bands so that we can tell who each of you are" As soon as the wristband was placed though something very strange happened. The lights from each of the halo's glowed brightly, and on each of their wrist was the same wristband. The inspector looked in complete shock, as did each of the girls and the possible implication this had. Not only did they all look the same... but their appearance was locked?
As an experiment, the inspector used some scissors to cut off one of the duplicate armbands... and all the others- including the real one disappeared. He held the duplicate armband in his hand as he frowned. It felt like the real one.. maybe it was the real one? He decided he had to radio for help. "Serge? I... can't seem to put the wristbands on them."
"Why not?" the radio crackled.
"You'll have to see it to believe it."
The Sargent had come in and found the same issue. For whatever reason, they could not put any differentiating marking on them without it appearing on the duplicates. They only thing they could do was make them stand at each corner of the room, and two on different walls. For the moment separating was exactly what they wanted to do right now anyway so that was easy. But he had to make notes to ensure he got this all correctly.
"Aright" The serge said. "I'm going to explain to you how this works. If you co-operate with us, and plead guilty, I will let you off with a fine and community service. This means you will have to tell me your identities, and I will then verify it with an interview. If you decide to try and hide behind each other, all of you will be charged with the crimes of the other."
"That's unfair! You can't do that!" One of them in the top left corner said, her wings stretching out.
This was actually quite true. The law could not charge them in this way. But it was enough to push them. "Then tell me your name and we'll be able to sort it out easier." The Sargent said easily.
Mark smirked slightly. No problem. All he had to say he was that wuss David. With a little luck she could pass the interview, she knew a few details. "Aright I'm Mark-" She paused wide eyed and put a hand on her luscious lips. The touch was felt by each of the other girls, as was the shock she generated.
"The serge seemed quite taken aback too." Mark eh? Your the one in the worst trouble..." He looked at a list "Vandalism, drug use, theft, auto-theft, driving without insurance, breaking and entering." He paused. "I will now arrest you for those crimes, you do not have to say anything but anything you do say can and will be given in evidence."
Slowly each of them was identified. The police somewhat surprised at how co-operative each of them were.
Mark, the general ring leader of this group of six. He had a list of minor crimes and now they had caught up with him. He was given a fine of $300 and made to do 200 hours of community service. They were lenient due to her honesty.
David, the quiet one. He was somewhat dragged along for the ride. He regretted it terribly. His only connection was knowing Mark before, and showing him his house. It was how Mark got the keys to the car. David had to stay with him to get the car back- eventually. She was allowed to go, free.
Shawn, another general trouble maker and Mark's best partner in crime. He was given a fine of $100.
Colin was Shawn's younger brother. He tended to share in the dealings and was equally just as freaked out by the change into the sun and what a zoo the neighbour hood had become. He believed his elder brother meant well to protect him from all the craziness in this new world. Since he acted mostly in fear, and given these fears were not considered 'unreasonable'- to some objections, he was also fined $100.
Jerry was the worst in some ways. He wasn't as boisterous as Mark was, and tended to stay on the quiet side. It was always assumed he could kill someone without a thought- not that he ever had yet. He was also known to be a bit of a lecher, and a peeping tom. He always carried an illegal knife. However there wasn't much evidence for his crimes. he confessed them though and was let go with a warning.
Finally there was Zach. Not much was known about him, aside that he was connected to Jerry. He never really gave much for himself. Most would know him as quite easy going- even when up to no good. He tended to smoke cannabis when he could afford it. He was let off with a warning for possession.
Now all of them were locked together, in an angelic form... sharing feeling and body.
