Psycher Chronicles: Chapter 46 Tautology (Patreon)

Chapter 46

Tautology

(Misha Tulley)

Odd.

That was what Misha first thought about when she was asked for her plans after the first game in Parkersburg. Not so much the fact that people would make plans after the game, but the fact that there seemed to be just one plan that everyone had for after the game.

Namely everyone wanted to go spend the weekend in Pittsburg, to see if they can be a Hasty Helper where they would get backstage passes to the concert to see Hasty herself on stage.

“Hey Misha,” J-Sweep said, greeting Misha in the hallways. This was odd, while J-Sweep was not opposed to speaking to Misha in the hallways, Misha knew for a fact that J-Sweep had a class in the language hallway, which was on the complete opposite end of the building than where they both were now, near the science wing.

“Hello.” Misha said, noting that J-Sweep looked a bit flustered almost as if she had run to find her. Which given where she was now and where she was supposed to be, this was not too much of a leap of logic to make.

“Hey, you are driving down to the game on Friday, right?” J-Sweep asked, her words coming out rushed as she tried to breathe in deeply.

“I could, I take it you would want a ride?” Misha asked, figuring this would be what the string of the conversation was ultimately going towards.

“No, well yes. I would love a ride to the game. But our question is what would you do after the game?” J-Sweep asked.

“I would go home, but I take it you all have a different idea in mind?”

“Yes. See we were wondering if we could convince you to go with us to Pittsburgh immediately after the game.”

“Any reason why?” Misha asked confused by the statement.

At that J-Sweep paused, then looked at Misha with a bit of confusion in her face.

“Good one,” J-Sweep said, then after pausing for a moment, she stared at Misha and realized. “Oh wait, you don’t know do you.”

“Clearly not.”

“Well, this weekend Hasty will be playing in Pittsburgh. It is our goal to go out after the game and got to PNC Park to see if we can become one of Hasty’s Helpers, where us and up to five friends can go backstage and help out with the concert. Then we can watch her live from backstage.” J-Sweep said.

“Okay, and who is Hasty?”

At that, J-Sweep just stared at Misha, wondering what the heck was happening to her.

“Come on you too?” J-Sweep asked.

“Me what?”

“Don’t tell me, you don’t like Hasty? I tried to go with the other girls, but none of them even like Hasty. Please, take me to Pittsburgh and back? I’ll pay for gas and a hotel if needed.” J-Sweep said.

Pausing for a moment, Misha almost dismissed the idea outright. Then realized that there might be something to going to a larger city and seeing just how many Bakshee infected people live there.

“I take it since we are going to a baseball field that a lot of people will be there?” Misha asked, mentally running calculations, as she realized that with her recent advancement to Tier II, the number of people she could harvest each day had risen from four to eight. Additionally, with so many people there, the odds of running into more Tier II people would be a lot easier, than just finding Alishia out here.

Hearing the question, J-Sweep inwardly winced as she realized that Misha might not be into visiting as many people.

“Yeah, quite a few hundred people actually. Will that be a problem?” J-Sweep asked, grimacing at the thought of this being a deal breaker, but to her surprise, Misha just shrugged off the question.

“No, that should be fine.” Misha said, realizing that with a few hundred odds were that at least eight would meet her criteria for reaping.

“Oh, really? Thank you.” J-Sweep said. Then paused, “don’t you need to ask your parents or something?”

Hearing that Misha paused. Knowing that it might seem harsh to say that her mother all but abandoned her and Phil for her new boyfriend as a way of dealing with her grief. Meaning it has just been her and Phil mostly, with her mother running in and out every so often to get a random item. This just meant Phil would be the problem, but then looking at J-Sweep and remembering the way he really liked J-Sweep, or Jasmine as he kept calling her, Misha realized this could be doable.

“I might need you to ask Phil if I can go, but I’m sure if you put on the charm we can go.” Misha stated.

“You call your grandfather by his name?”

Hearing that Misha paused, then realized she had. “Yes.”

“Isn’t that weird?”

Misha heard the words and analyzed them. Before shaking her head. “Not when he is also my boss.”

J-Sweep heard that, then remembered the garage where she worked after school and then could only nod to herself.

“Okay, so you are in?” J-Sweep asked.

“After you convince Phil, then yes.”

Hearing that, J-Sweep thought about it for a moment then nodded. “Can I come over to your house after practice?”

“Sure, but we will also need to practice one-on-one in the courts.” Misha pressed.

“Gah, fine.”

With that Misha nodded.

Awkward pause.

With that J-Sweep just stared at Misha, until Misha pointed out, “aren’t you going to be late for class?”

With that J-Sweep had a look of surprise on her face, before she nodded, “yes.”

Then turning J-Sweep sprinted out of the hallway just as quickly as she arrived.

With that out of the way, Misha made her way to computer class. As she got in, she could tell that Darcy was already up to something as she seemed to be squirming in her seat.

“Hey Misha, I couldn’t help but hear you and J-Sweep talking in the hallway. Are you going to see Hasty this weekend after the game?” Darcy asked, all but brimming with nervous energy.

“Possibly.”

“That is so cool. Would you mind if I tagged along?” Darcy asked.

Misha just shrugged her shoulders not seeing the issue, her car could seat five. Her ride the other day proved this, as she and the starters for the team all managed to fit in, even Two-Tone.

“I do have some tickets to Saturday’s performance.”

Hearing that, Misha’s eyes grew wide, as she could only imagine how many options she would have on Saturday for reaching her harvesting limit if she was actually able to go to the sold out concert.

“Yeah, I’ll tell J-Sweep, but I don’t see this being a problem.” Misha replied.

“Hey are you two going to the Hasty concert?” James cut in.

“We are, and it is going to be a girl’s night out. No boys.” Darcy shot back quickly, dashing any hopes that James might have had about inviting himself to join in.

“Okay, okay, just asking.” James asked, before wheeling his rolling chair back to his computer desk and starting on the work. Darcy glared at James the entire way back, then once he was gone, her face instantly changed as a smile filled her face.

“Have you grown?” Darcy asked.

With that Misha paused, wondering how she knew, then she remembered the slight changes she herself had noticed. Changes that were still more pronounced by the way her clothes showed more skin than she normally would have.

“A bit.” Misha replied.

“We can go clothes shopping while we are out.” Darcy stated, and Misha was about to ask what she was talking about, when Ms. Philips cut in and ended the conversation immediately.

“Enough talking, more doing.” Ms. Philips chided.

Then like that Misha and Darcy also went back to work. Though as she did, Misha could feel the gaze of Darcy on her when it was clear that Misha was not looking in her direction. It was slightly unnerving, but then Misha noticed how Darcy would stare for a few seconds and then giggle to herself before focusing on her assignment again for a few minutes, only for the odd cycle to continue.

Odd, was all Misha could think about for this whole set of circumstances that had her making not just one but two semi-promises to fellow classmates.

It was strange, her relationship with J-Sweep was almost forced upon her due to her need to infiltrate the Bakshee. But now there was a bit more to the whole nuance, as there was no more war. In fact, if anything Misha now found herself so entrenched behind enemy lines that she was easily counted as one of the enemy, in a war that was officially over.

But making friends with Darcy, a civilian, or one who has not been currently infected, this was a change and one that Misha felt was better for her. If she was to break out of the mold of war and Psycher and Bakshee dogma, she would need to branch out and experience more of the world. Maybe this whole going to see Hasty in concert wasn’t a terrible idea either. Now it was her chance to see and experience the world. To try new things and see what she actually liked versus doing what she was always told to do.

In a way, this marked her first true step towards finding her own independence.

After class was over, Misha had almost forgotten about the whole incident. Only once Darcy went out of her way, smiling brightly at her did Misha realize that something was slightly off.

“Bye, see you on Friday.” Darcy said giddily.

“Wait,” Misha said, cutting off Darcy who was about to leave.

“What?” Darcy asked, her suddenly good mood changing as she wondered if Misha no longer wanted to go.

Fortunately, her wildly fluctuating emotions were quickly readjusted, when she was asked.

“How are you going to get to the game and the concert?”

***

(Elijah Cummings)

Elijah had waited and followed all the trends, easily placing his biological canisters in places that were sure to be easily traveled and more importantly, places that would be at the epicenter for Bakshee contaminated hosts.

He planned everything, going on a business trip around the world, one that was fully funded by his employer who was interested in causing as much devastation as possible.

Elijah on the other hand was limited in his approach, merely wanting to rid the world of the Bakshee corruption. He heard the commands of the great mother, and he would obey, fighting on just as she commanded with her dying thoughts.

Having set everything up in Europe and Asia, Elijah was now on his way west, aboard a first-class flight from Heathrow to Reagan International, once he landed he would set up a few components before flying out on the red eye flight to Pittsburg.

It was going to be a busy next couple of days, but everything would be worth it, once the full grandeur of his plans were fully revealed. Sadly, he and the one other Psycher would be the only ones to truly witness how masterful his plans of revenge ultimately were.

He was still trying to make contact with the other Psycher, but they seem to be distancing themselves. While it was clear that they were clearly aware of his presence and actions, they seemed to make no attempts, to help, hinder, or engage with him.

The whole thing seemed odd.

Elijah was lonely, now more than ever. Especially after his connection to the great mother was removed. He had hoped to have some form of connections with the other Psycher, perhaps just to know that he had backup or support if things went sideways, but he knew better. That was not the true Psycher way.

While everyone was supposed to be unified, there was strong competition to prove yourself. Lest you get demoted down to the maintenance bays of the ships, forever lost to the grind of irrelevance.

Taking a breath, Elijah was thankful for this opportunity where he could still prove himself to his cause, even though the mission was lost.