"You seem bummed," Jim Temblor(Temporal Fault, not Faultline, he would note before anyone asked) noted, sitting down beside the young girl sitting on
their apartment's couch, legs curled up in her arms as she looked out the window, her eyes distant.
"...yeah," Jane Temblor, alias Rift Zone, noted softly.
The response was so unusually reserved for the normally perky(and snarky) young girl that Jim blinked slightly, sitting down across from her. "Want to
talk about it?"
Jane glanced at her brother, and for a moment, Jim realized that as cheery and flirty of a front as she usually put up, Jane was as prematurely aged as he was
by what they'd survived. She'd been too young, barely, to avoid drafting into Vanguard proper, but the minute her powers had manifested, she'd
jumped straight into the fray back home. And as a result, she'd seen the horrors of war first hand, had to grow up quickly to keep her sanity intact,
developing the necessary detachment from pain and suffering and death to survive.
He'd thought, after a while, that she'd allowed herself to relax when they got here, but had she seen something else? Something that'd....no. This
wasn't hiding pain behind a mask...she was worried.
Before long, she sighed, leaning back again in the same pose. "It's someone I met today....I guess, despite all the bad stuff back home, I never
thought anyone would be so..."
Jim waited patiently, as the young girl struggled to figure out how to put her words together. Annette'd always said that Jane saw things other people
didn't, because she was young enough not to take for granted what older people thought was a fact.
"....I know things were bad, but there's so much....craziness here. Not the criminals. You've said those were there before the Rikti. But the
people on our side. It's so crazy and all over the place. I met someone today that was fighting monsters made by the Rikti and she hadn't even been
trained. "Plausible deniability", she said it was, and that she'd been drafted. At least back home you didn't see people barely older than me
turned into "plausibly deniable" shit shields for no reason even they understand," she noted, eyes angry. Jim glanced at the floor, but
thankfully didn't see the tell-tale signs of her powers manifesting according to her emotions again. The first time she'd shown evidence of more
control than just solid stone, they'd had to douse her bed with a fire extinguisher.
"I look around, and there's so much, but....I don't know how exactly to help her...or any of them. I'm just one person, but everyone's
going so many directions at once that nothing gets conclusively done. For crying out loud, the TROLLS are still around!" she noted, throwing up her arms
in exasperation, before slumping against the couch. "...and I don't know where to start."
"I think you do," Jim noted, leaning back as his sister looked at him sharply.
"I do?"
"You don't know where to start. There's so many things, but only one you. You can't do them all....so do one thing at a time."
"But which one?"
"Well, whatever started this train of thought clearly seems like a problem to be looked into. Help her, and then move onto the next problem. If you go
tearing off in all different directions, you won't get anything done."
Jane considered it, before nodding, and James chuckled. "Just remember, as long as you're helping someone, that's all you need to do."
Jane nodded again, firmer, with a hint of resolve. "Because helping people is what heroes do."
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
their apartment's couch, legs curled up in her arms as she looked out the window, her eyes distant.
"...yeah," Jane Temblor, alias Rift Zone, noted softly.
The response was so unusually reserved for the normally perky(and snarky) young girl that Jim blinked slightly, sitting down across from her. "Want to
talk about it?"
Jane glanced at her brother, and for a moment, Jim realized that as cheery and flirty of a front as she usually put up, Jane was as prematurely aged as he was
by what they'd survived. She'd been too young, barely, to avoid drafting into Vanguard proper, but the minute her powers had manifested, she'd
jumped straight into the fray back home. And as a result, she'd seen the horrors of war first hand, had to grow up quickly to keep her sanity intact,
developing the necessary detachment from pain and suffering and death to survive.
He'd thought, after a while, that she'd allowed herself to relax when they got here, but had she seen something else? Something that'd....no. This
wasn't hiding pain behind a mask...she was worried.
Before long, she sighed, leaning back again in the same pose. "It's someone I met today....I guess, despite all the bad stuff back home, I never
thought anyone would be so..."
Jim waited patiently, as the young girl struggled to figure out how to put her words together. Annette'd always said that Jane saw things other people
didn't, because she was young enough not to take for granted what older people thought was a fact.
"....I know things were bad, but there's so much....craziness here. Not the criminals. You've said those were there before the Rikti. But the
people on our side. It's so crazy and all over the place. I met someone today that was fighting monsters made by the Rikti and she hadn't even been
trained. "Plausible deniability", she said it was, and that she'd been drafted. At least back home you didn't see people barely older than me
turned into "plausibly deniable" shit shields for no reason even they understand," she noted, eyes angry. Jim glanced at the floor, but
thankfully didn't see the tell-tale signs of her powers manifesting according to her emotions again. The first time she'd shown evidence of more
control than just solid stone, they'd had to douse her bed with a fire extinguisher.
"I look around, and there's so much, but....I don't know how exactly to help her...or any of them. I'm just one person, but everyone's
going so many directions at once that nothing gets conclusively done. For crying out loud, the TROLLS are still around!" she noted, throwing up her arms
in exasperation, before slumping against the couch. "...and I don't know where to start."
"I think you do," Jim noted, leaning back as his sister looked at him sharply.
"I do?"
"You don't know where to start. There's so many things, but only one you. You can't do them all....so do one thing at a time."
"But which one?"
"Well, whatever started this train of thought clearly seems like a problem to be looked into. Help her, and then move onto the next problem. If you go
tearing off in all different directions, you won't get anything done."
Jane considered it, before nodding, and James chuckled. "Just remember, as long as you're helping someone, that's all you need to do."
Jane nodded again, firmer, with a hint of resolve. "Because helping people is what heroes do."
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."