AUTHORS NOTE : These are some re-writes of previous scenes involving Agents Hawkins and Pennsbrook. Consider these the canonical versions, as has been agreed upon in the forum.
Some content has been added ot the discussion between Hawkins and Riley.
LOCATION: In their car, after meeting Muriel and giving her the pager.
Cecilia looked out of the window, contemplatively. "Y'know, despite how messed up the situation is, the kid's pretty cute, if kinda spacy."
Hawkins kept a firm grip on the steering wheel as they drove to their new hotel, having decided to not press their luck in Hedgeton any more.
"She's an impressive child. She overcame her "Programming" so to speak, and refused both to kill the innocent and to die, despite only "existing" for a scant few hours. I have a feeling she'll accomplish some extraordinary things in coming events."
Cecilia shrugged. "Still, I can't get over what they tried to do to her It's just. awful."
Hawkins made no apparent change in expression. "Awful does not begin to describe it. They create an innocent child that has barely any preconception of its own existence, thrust it into the world and expect it to act as their weapon, and then attempt to destroy it when it becomes an inconvenience."
His grip on the steering wheel tightened. "If any human being did that, they would be considered a monster, depraved, evil and deserving the highest level of punishment. But this "other" lacks any apparent humanity. It is without mercy, sympathy or any understanding of basic human emotion. Although I asked the child to tell her previous kind that we are not enemies."
He slowly pulled into the parking lot of the hotel.
"I will not hesitate to be one if necessary."
+++++++++
THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE AGENTS AND LUCAS AND CASS:
"Hello. Are you Cassandra Wilkins, and, I presume, Lucas?" - Said Agent Hawkins.
"Yes...?" - Said Lucas - "And you would be?"
The shadowy man raised his badge, while giving a polite nod.
"I am Agent Hawkins, from the Federal Bureau of Paranormal Investigations. You've just recently posted an article online. "Conditions for Ease of Exploration and Access to the Moon. " Correct?"
"Yes." - Said Lucas, her voice growing more pointed - "May I help you?"
"Is it true then? You've found a way to, not only travel to the moon, but also make the moon habitable? Likewise, you are expel people from your location on the moon at your leisure as well?" - Said Agent Hawkins.
"If you must know, we can talk about it somewhere with people." - Said Lucas.
"Very well." - Said Hawkins. The four walked silently to a street with enough people walking around, but outside earshot.
"We didn't do anything untoward. Your companion found out the page, I take it?" - Said Lucas.
Cecilia nodded, grinning. "One of my routines is investigating "situations of interest." "“ AKA crazy stories that may just be true. That and funny cat pictures."
"And I suppose taking away the abilities of countries to do certain very-evil things in exchange for help in scientific research qualifies as such?" - Said Lucas - "If you wanna dissuade me, you're wasting your time. Do you know how long I've waited to be able to twist the arms of anyone who'd use that power like a club? Do you know how much pain I can and will prevent with this? How much oppression will be averted..."
"By the fact that you posted this online..." - Said Hawkins - "I imagine you planned to go public with it? If not your method of accessing the Moon, which you've yet to reveal to us, but the fact that you have it and your conditions for "using" it?"
Lucas shrugged. "I won't tell anyone ever how I got the access to it. But yes. I do plan to go public about the fact that I have said access, as well as about the conditions for me to grant said access to others. Oh, just imagine the looks on some people's faces..."
"And you think those who would, as you put it, oppress people, and sponsor the oppression of people wouldn't have the means and motivation to attack you, and worse, until you give them what they want?" - Said Hawkins.
"Is this a threat?" - Said Lucas, her hand going to the hilt of her sword, but not yet drawing it.
Hawkins backed away slightly, raising his hands in a sign of non-aggression.
"By no means." - Said Hawkins - "I understand, truly. I have love for neither tyranny nor tyrants. And I have no plans to emulate their methods."
It's why I made sure for Cecilia to hide your site for the moment, away from the prying eyes of those that would try and obtain those things by force. There are plenty of tyrants in this world, and unfortunately, they likely now have a number of "extraordinary" individuals still loyal to them in their employ.
Although as satisfying as it may feel, taunting your opponents and forcing them into powerlessness, will only serve to give them a target for their frustrations. I'm sure, given the time mull it over, you would prefer to reach your goals safely, without endangering it to the hands of knowingly vicious entities?"
"What are you offering?" - Said Cass.
"A way for you two to get what you want, without those who would force you to surrender the Moon finding out. Your options are as follows. Option one: You go to the news and tell the world about your discovery. This might force some countries to respect that agreement - under penalty of having their scientist groups removed from the Moon and so on. However, by telling the world, you risk forceful action by other, less nice countries or other less nice people within the 'nicer' countries.
These people may attack you or Miss Wilkins in a myriad of ways until they get what they want, and you may very well end up forced to give it up, regardless of your conditions.
Option two: You lay low with this knowledge, and I put you two in direct - though secret for the time being- contact with people that would listen to you and your conditions within the friendly countries and even a few within the unfriendly ones. It may or may not appear so, but I am truly trying to help you."
"What guarantee do I have that you'd follow through?" - Said Lucas.
"You'd still be fully able to send back the scientists should any country fail to honor the agreement. And you could even go to the media about it then. This fact would not be lost on those people. I would like some proof of your claims, though."
Lucas and Cass looked at each other. Cass nodded. Lucas made a gesture. A portal appeared.
Cecilia boggled at the sight, but quickly got to scanning it with her sophisticated sensors. "Estimating the distance and nature of the destination..." - Said Cecilia - "Honly crap she's for real! Aside from their being, y'know, air, that really IS the Moon!"
The portal closed. Lucas smiled.
"Now." - Cass said - "Any deals we make are to be made in public places. No need for it to be heard, just seen..."
"And we're still charging money for the access as well..." - Said Lucas.
"It's of no bother to me." - Said Hawkins - "So do as you please. And yes, Miss Wilkins, we'll see to it that the deals are conducted in a safe manner for you... You two truly don't trust the feds, do you?"
Lucas shrugged. "I'm from South America. I am beginning to trust you, Hawkins, and Cecilia there. But no, in general, I don't. I admit it's wrong to paint with a broad brush, but... Let me put it this way. If you saw a man made out of shadows step out of nowhere, say he's from the government, and start asking you big questions, how trusting would you be?"
"Touché." - Said Hawkins - "But you shouldn't let the bad blood between institutions tarnish the people from them... The same goes for you, Miss Wilkins."
Cass shrugged. "Lucas has a personal issue with regards to this, and she'll be the first to admit it. Me, I am sure most of you guys are fine people and doing a fine, clean job. But considering what I and Lucas are trying to do, it makes sense that we'd be a bit distrustful."
"Fair enough." - Said Hawkins - "Well, it matters little. Do you two have free time? I might introduce you two to a scientist I heard of. His house is within walking distance. We can discuss the details later on, but suffice to say he'd get the access on the government's dime and with the government following the conditions. Other such deals will follow, I'm sure. As I am sure Cecilia has your list in her memory for ease of access once I put you through the proper channels..."
Lucas nodded. "Lead the way..."
Before the parties left, Cecilia moved closer in, giving Cass' anime field a try. "Hah! Check me out! Can make my mouth go huuuuge!"
Hawkins remained stoic as ever. "Please try to take our assistance to heart Ms Lucas. We aren't all trying to be Lord Vetinaris in the government."
Lucas raised her eyebrow. "That a Pratchett reference?"
Hawkins shrugged nonchalantly. "It felt appropriate."
Lucas shot him a smirk. "Careful there G-man, I might start to like you."
Hawkins seemed to smile. "Well then, just call me The Guarding Dark."
____*
THEIR CONVERSATION BACK AT THEIR HOTEL
Agent Hawkins reclined back on his bed. "What a day..." he whispered to himself.
It wasn't really all that much of a whisper, and Cecilia didn't even need to go into detailed analysis to pick it up. "Lemme guess," she chuckled. "Ms Queen of the Moon?"
The masked man nodded. "What a story. Using the Moon for political leverage! Despite it's flaws, the idea has merit. It boggles the mind that such things are possible."
Cecilia laughed. "I know right? So when do you think she'll open up the gift-shop.
Hawkins chuckled. It always seemed a bit odd coming out of a blank expanse like Hawkins' face, but Cecilia was used to it. "And this is where mine would just sigh and shake her head. Well, we'll hope that Ms. Wilkins can keep her a bit more grounded. She seems pretty level-headed."
Just then Hawkins's phone rang. He smirked inwardly "“ a busy day never ends does it? - and quickly answered the phone.
"Hawkins speaking," he said. "Yes? Wonderful, thank you for your assistance." Hawkins committed the information to memory, his newly keen mind holding it in with ease. He flipped the phone closed. "That was Mr. Avery," he said. "The one who generated the Hedgeton incident."
Cecilia brightened. "He got permission to share?"
Hawkins nodded, then paused. "Well, it seems to be 'she' now, but yes. Apparently the person who helped put things right is the daughter of a Mr. and Mrs. Toby Cooper. I've got the address, we'll drop by there tomorrow."
The gynoid frowned, looking something up in the back of her brain. "Is that the same...yeah, it'd have to be, they're the only Coopers in the area. That's the station director at Channel 7, the one Anderson Collins conspired to assault."
Hawkins raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."
"You think there's any kind of connection there?" she asked. "I mean, there's a number of unusual things Collins' been involved in..."
The masked man placed his hand to his chin in thought. "The Coopers. A family already tied in with two previous events. One, someone who had recently had a big connection with them is caught up in the bomb situation. Second, the Wife and Husband are caught in the very epicenter of an event, from what our friend Jenny has told us.
The fact that they are proceeding to be a part of events is no great surprise. In the end, everything is connected."
Cecilia nodded thoughtfully. "True about the number of incidents. Other teams deal with one or two things in a state, and here we are in this one town with..." She didn't actually have to pause to tally, but it was one of those ingrained habits from human life. "Five. And that's not counting stuff like Ms Holy-Warrior from Brazil visiting the Moon..." She shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder if this place isn't some kind of nexus for this stuff..."
Hawkins nodded. "I've suspected so from the beginning Cecilia. But for now, I think we've earned some rest."
Cecilia nodded thankfully, but paused as she prepared to turn off most systems for the night. "Hawkins?"
"Yes?" - Said Hawkins as he prepared as well.
"Do you think Lucas will have any luck?"
"Though she may be zealous in her aim," - Said Hawkins - "I believe - with a small degree of assistance to prevent things getting out of hand "“ We may well have a literal new frontier in the not too distant future."
"Near somethin' AD~" Said Cecilia. " Sorry, reflex."
"I did some cross-referencing with her name and looks. She was born in 1981. That's close to the end of the Brazilian dictatorship. She shouldn't be that focused on these things, by all rights. No data came out on any member of her family suffering or any such events."
Hawkins shrugged. "Read the discourse. How many times has she spoken words related to 'freedom' or some such in our conversations?"
"Twenty-seven if we count 'free-lance'." - Said Cecilia.
"There you go. Its plain to see that she cares a bit about it. She also seemed intent on going to the media about it for very little visible gain. So it's not merely about personal or general freedom. It's also about rubbing it in. Laughing at her enemies. Visibly messing up the plans of, and infuriating, those she sees as, to borrow her own words, Lawful Evil."
"That's from D&D.; The tyrant alignment, so to speak. Think Darth Vader."
Hawkins chuckled. "I'm familiar enough with the terminology."
"Aren't her plans a bit... dangerous regarding international politics? What countries do isn't always pretty, but many would argue it's necessary, 'for the greater good' and all. "
Hawkins shrugged. "I think she'd be genuinely offended at the notion that it's 'necessary', and I don't think she'd care if she believed it is. Nonetheless, I have a feeling that helping her as we've done is the right course."
"I see. Well, here's hoping none of us regrets It."
"Oh, I doubt we will. I'm certain Lucas and Miss Wilkins have some more cards up their sleeves, and we're certain we have some cards up OUR sleeves."
"Point." - Said Cecilia.
"Goodnight Agent Pennsbrook." Said Hawkins.
"Goodnight Ink-face." Said Cecilia.
+++++++
Terri answered the door to see a man in a trenchcoat, wearing a mask of some sort, and a robot-woman. "Can I help you?" he asked.
The man nodded. "Good afternoon. I am Agent Hawkins, and this is Agent Pennsbrook. I spoke with you yesterday, about wanting to interview your family about your involvement in the Hedgeton incident?"
The scruffy-looking anime man searched his memory for a moment, then brightened. "Ah, right, you were the ones Adam talked to. Why don't you come in. Can I get you anything?"
"Coffee would be well recieved, if you have some on," Hawkins said. Cecilia shook her head. "I'm fine, thanks. Circuitry and all that."
"Oh, I'll put some on," Terri said. He went to the base of the stairwell. "Toby! Riley!" he hollered. "Company's here!"
Hawkins and Cecilia took a seat in the living room while their host went off to put on coffee. There was a thudding above them, and they saw a girl come down the stairs and enter the living room. Hawkins wasn't sure it was a girl at first - she seemed simultaneously feminine and boyish, and it wasn't until he noticed that she was an early bloomer, for someone who looked eleven or twelve, that he was able to place her. After that things fell into place in the new context, and it wasn't so confusing...though she did seem awfully tomboyish.
He looked her over, trying to figure out whether she was changed, or whether the white-with-purple-tips hair was a dye job. The heterochromia...okay, he wasn't sure about that. It was not uncommon for people to have different eye colors naturally, but he'd thought it was usually a variation in shades. Was it possible for this, the girl's pink and blue eyes, to be naturally-occurring? Pink eyes only happened in the case of albinism, right? ...no, on further inspection they were the wrong color of pink for albinism, closer to magenta than to red. Probably changed, then. Funny, though, he thought the write-up on the incident at the Coopers' house had mentioned a daughter and a son.
"Go easy on the stairs, Riley, we've only got the one set." Hawkins looked to see the speaker just coming downstairs herself. This must be Toby, if he remembered the bit about Collins's case correctly. She hardly looked to be in her 20s, on the shorter side even for that, wearing a longish navy-blue skirt and simple white blouse. He thought for a moment that she had a cigarette dangling from her lips, but realized it was the stick of a sucker, which she was rolling absent-mindedly around in her mouth. The nature of her animation-aura made it a bit tricky to judge things like that - it was merely a thin white shape, and he could only really tell by the movements that it was attached to something and not hanging loose.
"Sorry, dad," the girl said, in a not-especially-sorry voice. Toby sighed, smiling slightly to herself, and banded her blue hair, apparently still drying from a shower, into twin ponytails. She turned to the living room and saw her guests, smiled, and gave a little bow, from which she stood back up looking slightly surprised and puzzled, like she hadn't expected her own action. "You must be Mr. Hawkins, I assume?" she said. "And your partner...?"
"Cecilia Pennsbrook," the gynoid said. "Nice to meet you."
Toby nodded and smiled, then took on a more businesslike air. "I'm sure you're anxious to get to business. How much did Adam tell you?"
"She explained how her actions were the source of the incident, and she required the help of a third party to put things back to some semblance of normal," Hawkins replied. "After okaying it with you, she informed us that that third party was your daughter. I assume...Riley...here is the daughter in question?"
Riley giggled softly to herself. "...and son," she murmured.
"Yes, that's right," Terri said, bringing in two cups of coffee, and handing one to Hawkins. "Cream or sugar?"
"A bit of both, thank you." the masked man replied. "Riley, we both, and likely your nation, owe you a thank-you for what you did. Can you tell me, how exactly was it that you were able to reconnect Hedgeton to our world?"
Riley looked questioningly at her father, who nodded. "Well," she said, "when we changed...we became a...a magical girl. I'm One. And I was thinking-"
"Pardon me," Hawkins interrupted. "Who, exactly is 'we?'"
Riley snickered. "Charley and Anna, of course! We became One when we changed."
He raised an eyebrow, looking to Toby and Terri. "So the write-up was correct - you do have two children?"
Terri nodded. "Do, or did...Riley says both are present within her. They chose to expose themselves to the sun after I did."
"I see." Hawkins looked over to Cecilia, who nodded slightly - she was taking note of this. He was grateful that he worked in intelligence, not the Census Office - this kind of thing meant they were definitely going to have their hands full in 2020. "So the two became..." Something clicked in his mind, his intuition blaring in his mind that this was another possible connection, but felt like they ought to be investigated. "You said that you were 'One.' As in, the number?"
==
Riley's gaze immediately fixed on Hawkins. "You know about my number!?" she asked, slightly slack-jawed.
The masked man shrugged slightly, but seemed to smirk. "It was an educated guess," he said. "And apparently a lucky one. So...you do, in some sense, derive your power from a number?"
Riley nodded. "I am One. ...I don't know how I know that, I just knew that when we became me. When we were in Hedgeton, it was...there were two worlds, and part of ours was in part of the other one and the other way around. I couldn't separate them again, but I was able to unify them in the area around Hedgeton."
"Appropriate," Hawkins mused. "That explains the residual effects on the area's geography."
"And why people were still slipping back and forth between worlds for a while," Cecilia said. "I suppose that's probably still possible."
Riley nodded. "I dunno exactly how it all works, I was kind of figuring things out as I went. There were little bubbles that didn't want to join, and things were kinda loose around the edges. I don't know if it's ever gonna settle down completely."
Hawkins raised an eyebrow. "Do you think it still presents a danger, Riley?"
She thought among herselves for a moment, frowned, then shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I didn't get to see much of the other world, but I heard some stories about it from my dad, from the reporters asking people afterwards. I dunno if there's anything dangerous there or not. But if you mean with the join...I don't think so. It felt like reality is pretty tough; it was harder to make the changes stick than it was to keep from breaking things."
Cecilia grinned. "Good to hear. I'd hate to live in a poorly-constructed universe. I was afraid I'd have to complain to the super."
Hawkins nodded. "Riley," he said, "about the numbers...are you aware that there are other girls like yourself around?"
Riley's full attention was back on him, and she nodded eagerly. "Yes! There was a girl who helped my mom and dad, when my mom changed and there was that attack! I've wondered about her ever since this happened to me, but I don't know where to look..."
"We do," he said. "Her name is Jenny, and she lives in another part of town. We encountered her the day before the Hedgeton incident, actually. According to her, she is designated as number Four. That suggests that there are at least a two others besides you and her, but they have yet to shown themselves.
"Interesting that there's two of them in the same city," Toby observed.
Cecilia nodded. "To be honest sir, this area has been seeing a high number of what we professionals term "Crazy shizz you wouldn't believe", even for the general circumstances after the sun's change. That's why we're here."
"Considering," Hawkins said, "I wouldn't be surprised if the others were here as well - we just need to find them. Or, perhaps, let them find us. In the meantime Riley, I think it's prudent that we introduce you to Jenny; this 'Enemy' of yours appears to be picking up in its activity."
Riley frowned. "Our what?"
Hawkins raised an eyebrow. "The otherworldly force that's enacting some kind of assault on our reality. Didn't you get this information?"
She shook her head. "No, should I have?"
The masked man shrugged. "I'm not sure. Jenny is partnered with a small cat-girl that advises her on her role, she's the one we've gotten most of the details from."
The cute animal sidekick! Charlie recognized right away. The creature that inevitably provided a magical girl with her training and filled her in on how things worked in the show. I wonder why we don't have one?
Maybe it just hadn't shown up yet, Riley thought. Though it was odd that it wouldn't have shown up before their first real job. Maybe the first time they faced an enemy, had to do some actual fighting?
Or if it's all about knowing what goes on in these shows, Anna thought wryly, maybe it's Charlie. Riley smirked, then frowned. "I don't have one of those," she said, "not right now anyway. But if Four's knows what's going on, I guess I can ask her?"
Toby nodded. "If her parents will let Riley visit her, we can take her over any time."
Hawkins smiled. "I believe Jenny's in school right now, but I can give you the phone number for her guardian. And... you and your family seem to have things pretty well in hand. If you need anything however, my department would be happy to offer support."
"We have a vested interest in the universe not being taken over by shadowy unknowable monstrosities from the beyond, you know," Cecilia remarked, grinning.
"I don't think that'll be necessary," Toby said, rolling her sucker around in her mouth absent-mindedly. "But thank you."
Hawkins moved to get up, but stopped suddenly, a thought striking him. "Riley. You are the fused entity between Charlie and Anna. Does this mean you're one mind, or two sharing the same headspace, as it were?"
Riley shrugged. "We're still sorta ourselves in here but we get along really well it's like we're one a lot of the time."
Hawkins hrrmmed and held his chin. "Interesting. Pardon my curiosity, your change appears to be noticeably distinct from Jenny's, and we still have little details on what the Magical Girl change entails."
Riley nodded. "S'okay. We're pretty okay with how we are. It's kinda weird but kinda nice always havin' eachother."
Hawkins continued. "Fascinating. I assume then that this state is permanent?"
Riley furrowed her brow in thought. "I guess so we haven't a lot of time to really think about that. We still don't really know what we can "do" yet. Riley was really starting to wish she had a helper-animal-thing to help clear up some things.
Hawkins said nothing for a second, thinking. "Often enough, there is more to a change than it initially presents. Take me for example, for the first few days, I didn't know I could do this-" He adjusted his collar, and just seemed to fade from sight.
"Riley nearly jumped out of her seat. "Whoa!"
And like that, he was back. "But now it's easy as breathing for me. I pardon if I'm not being clear. I often have a sense of avenues of inquiry to pursue, and something tells me there may be something about your change you have more control over than you think. Perhaps something about your dramatis personae and it's various interpretations "
Cecilia cut in when Riley gave them a puzzled look. "He means what magical girls and stuff like that can do in stories and shows and junk. He means well but when he gets into full "Exposition mode" he's pretty hard to stop.
Hawkins gave Cecilia a blanker than usual look. "Yes. Well. As Cecilia has explained, your "fusion" as it were, may have some connection with your "genre" as It were.I have some recollection that the "fusion" concept is not entirely uncommon to heroic media."
Cecilia's eyes were glowing purple, data streaming in front of them. "Way ahead of you Inky. Yeah, there's plenty of Japanese heroes and stuff that are made up by two people joining up. Kamen Rider W, those guys From DBZ Even a couple from comics like this guy Firestorm. But almost all of them could split back up.
Riley didn't know what to say. "“Does this mean we could be ourselves again?- Charlie piped up.* I don't know maybe but let's not get too excited- Anna was unsure but even she had to admit that she wouldn't mind some privacy again.
Hawkins placed a reassuring hand on Riley's shoulder. "Don't worry about it Riley. I only mean to encourage you to take some time to take stock of yourself. You'll be amazed by what you can find, and I'm talking from experience."
This cheered Riley up some. "Thanks. I'm sorry there's not I can tell you about myself. Most of this just sort of . Happens. But I really wanna find out what I can really do!"
Hawkins nodded. "I understand completely. I have a feeling there's things about myself I still don't know yet. Hopefully spending some time with another member of your "team" can help both you and her."
Hawkins sipped his coffee. "Now before I go, there's one important matter I want to discuss. Have you noticed anything strange, after either of the incidents you witnessed? Anything that seemed particularly unnerving or mysterious?"
Riley shook her head. "Not really, I haven't seen any monsters or nothing. Wait well " Riley looked around with a tinge of nervousness.
Picking up on it quickly, Hawkins asked Riley's parents if perhaps they'd let him and Riley discuss things privately for a moment. They reluctantly agreed, and Cecilia followed them out of the room.
Riley continued. "Sometimes Mom and Dad act weird. It's like ever since they changed and they got sucked in that portal it's like sometimes they act like different people. They aren't really different, and I still know it's really them but It's not even in big ways it's just little things. Mannerisms, language. It just sorta makes us worried sometimes. Like they haven't stopped changing or something.
Hawkins held his chin in his hand, listening intently. "Hm. I understand your concern. Ironically, little changes like that piling up could be even more distressing then big ones. I'm not certain I've ever heard of many cases of people changing basic mannerisms, but I wouldn't be alarmed just yet with only some quirks to go on just yet. Perhaps it's just a part of their new personae. I would say keep on eye on your parents, but don't be afraid. Likely whatever danger has passed, but perhaps their direct involvement in the event had some lingering effect on them. We'll be checking up on you regularly in any case, so if any new concerns appear, you can tell me right away."
Riley thanked Hawkins warmly as he got up to go. He and Cecilia said their goodbyes to everyone, and left. As time went by and her Parents went off to do their own things, Riley sat and pondered about herself.
Could she really split up again? For some reason, her mind focused on the crystal in her chest. She hesitantly reached a hand to it, not knowing exactly why .
