[Tuesday July 7th]
It wasn't until after I'd gotten off the train that I realized that I couldn't really use my bus pass anymore as I didn't match the photo ID anymore. Still, as I was able to literally vanish in plain sight I could probably avoid most of the problems that might be associated with it. Especially if I could get the 'jedi mind trick' to work.
Not even two days into having super powers and I was already contemplating using them to scam free rides on the bus. I consoled my self by reasoning I'd paid for the damn pass already, why shouldn't I get the rest of the month's use out of it.
I wandered across campus to my office, dodging around foot traffic. Being invisible didn't change my interaction with fellow pedestrians much. They were still too slow, meandered pointlessly across the sidewalk in an unconscious effort to keep people from passing them, and stopped in large groups in narrow places to have conversations. I feel like Sam Vimes sometimes, I'm forever having to teach people how to walk. The difference is most people have no reason to listen to me. Though that may have changed.
I suppressed a burst of irritation at two girls who had decided a doorway was a great place to chat about something and squeezed past them, taking care not to touch them and break the illusion of my not being there. Either I was getting better at reigning in the voice at the back of my head, or it didn't consider such slight inconveniences to be worth its time. I wasn't certain which was the better option really.
Thankfully, at least for today, the building with my office in it is at the far, ass end of the campus and very few people go there on purpose. There'd been a running joke among those of us who had our offices there that if we saw an attractive woman in the building it meant she was lost and looking for the Social Sciences Research Building, which was hidden behind ours. Not that the SSRB was a bad thing, it provided the occasional bit of nice, if slightly confused, scenery and you could almost always get twenty bucks for lunch by volunteering a half hour or so for one test or another.
My office was dark when I got there, which meant my office mate hadn't returned from where ever he'd gone. I turned on the lights and made my way to my desk to get to work. A couple hours later I'd managed to finish reading a few papers and get some writing of my own done when I realized I was thirsty.
I'd grabbed my mug and was almost to the door when I realized what I was doing. I knew no one at the cafeteria would care if some strange girl went in and got a cup of hot water for tea. The place was busy enough that one more random student wouldn't be noticed. But I couldn't wear a mask there.
I grimaced at the thought and felt the scars on my face pull. Yeah, one random girl who looks like she'd been half cooked. I couldn't hide while I was getting the water either, maybe. I'd felt the what ever it was that hid me fade a bit when I had to interact with other things, and after what had happened in the Museum of Natural History on Monday I so didn't need anyone at Carleton freaking out over some half visible ghost girl.
If I wanted my tea, I'd have to go out there as I was. Parts of me recoiled in horror at the thought. I got myself back under control by knocking my head against the large pillar that someone thought would go well in the middle of the office. As an aside our building is new, and the architect apparently disdained such concepts as hiding important structural members in the walls.
It didn't matter whether I did this now, or later I told myself. At some point I would have to go out and interact with other people. Which wasn't something Alicia or my old self had done terribly well. I'd not responded to the thread I'd started on the forums, and that was relatively anonymous. Hell, I'd explained Naptha's 'Hide' power as Alicia's desire to hide her disfigurement from the world. I hadn't even told my parent's about their new daughter yet.
But I'd said I wasn't going to let the vengeance spirit control me, I wasn't going to loose my life a second time the way Alicia had. And that meant I couldn't just become a complete recluse. I gathered some of the rage I felt burning at the back of my mind. I wasn't going to let this stop me, I'd show the world and myself I could get a god damned cup of tea. Then the nervousness slammed into my gut and I almost missed the door handle.
Yeah, I'd get a cup of tea, and tonight I'd call my parents. I still didn't know how I was going to explain this, but I had to do it.
--
"Still alive, no atmospheric ignition."
-- Samuel Allison, 16 July 1945, Alamogordo NM
It wasn't until after I'd gotten off the train that I realized that I couldn't really use my bus pass anymore as I didn't match the photo ID anymore. Still, as I was able to literally vanish in plain sight I could probably avoid most of the problems that might be associated with it. Especially if I could get the 'jedi mind trick' to work.
Not even two days into having super powers and I was already contemplating using them to scam free rides on the bus. I consoled my self by reasoning I'd paid for the damn pass already, why shouldn't I get the rest of the month's use out of it.
I wandered across campus to my office, dodging around foot traffic. Being invisible didn't change my interaction with fellow pedestrians much. They were still too slow, meandered pointlessly across the sidewalk in an unconscious effort to keep people from passing them, and stopped in large groups in narrow places to have conversations. I feel like Sam Vimes sometimes, I'm forever having to teach people how to walk. The difference is most people have no reason to listen to me. Though that may have changed.
I suppressed a burst of irritation at two girls who had decided a doorway was a great place to chat about something and squeezed past them, taking care not to touch them and break the illusion of my not being there. Either I was getting better at reigning in the voice at the back of my head, or it didn't consider such slight inconveniences to be worth its time. I wasn't certain which was the better option really.
Thankfully, at least for today, the building with my office in it is at the far, ass end of the campus and very few people go there on purpose. There'd been a running joke among those of us who had our offices there that if we saw an attractive woman in the building it meant she was lost and looking for the Social Sciences Research Building, which was hidden behind ours. Not that the SSRB was a bad thing, it provided the occasional bit of nice, if slightly confused, scenery and you could almost always get twenty bucks for lunch by volunteering a half hour or so for one test or another.
My office was dark when I got there, which meant my office mate hadn't returned from where ever he'd gone. I turned on the lights and made my way to my desk to get to work. A couple hours later I'd managed to finish reading a few papers and get some writing of my own done when I realized I was thirsty.
I'd grabbed my mug and was almost to the door when I realized what I was doing. I knew no one at the cafeteria would care if some strange girl went in and got a cup of hot water for tea. The place was busy enough that one more random student wouldn't be noticed. But I couldn't wear a mask there.
I grimaced at the thought and felt the scars on my face pull. Yeah, one random girl who looks like she'd been half cooked. I couldn't hide while I was getting the water either, maybe. I'd felt the what ever it was that hid me fade a bit when I had to interact with other things, and after what had happened in the Museum of Natural History on Monday I so didn't need anyone at Carleton freaking out over some half visible ghost girl.
If I wanted my tea, I'd have to go out there as I was. Parts of me recoiled in horror at the thought. I got myself back under control by knocking my head against the large pillar that someone thought would go well in the middle of the office. As an aside our building is new, and the architect apparently disdained such concepts as hiding important structural members in the walls.
It didn't matter whether I did this now, or later I told myself. At some point I would have to go out and interact with other people. Which wasn't something Alicia or my old self had done terribly well. I'd not responded to the thread I'd started on the forums, and that was relatively anonymous. Hell, I'd explained Naptha's 'Hide' power as Alicia's desire to hide her disfigurement from the world. I hadn't even told my parent's about their new daughter yet.
But I'd said I wasn't going to let the vengeance spirit control me, I wasn't going to loose my life a second time the way Alicia had. And that meant I couldn't just become a complete recluse. I gathered some of the rage I felt burning at the back of my mind. I wasn't going to let this stop me, I'd show the world and myself I could get a god damned cup of tea. Then the nervousness slammed into my gut and I almost missed the door handle.
Yeah, I'd get a cup of tea, and tonight I'd call my parents. I still didn't know how I was going to explain this, but I had to do it.
--
"Still alive, no atmospheric ignition."
-- Samuel Allison, 16 July 1945, Alamogordo NM