Who said I was dead?
Things are getting complicated. There's this weird dimensional anomaly the far side of the gauntlet that's had the ethernaughts and the mystics running scared since it popped up, back around the time we lost Alexis. I've always dismissed it as rather lower on my list of priorities than anything that actually exists in the same world as I do, which is why I'm so particularly aggrieved to see it pop into existence, blood red pinprick in my night sky. Nick holds forth at length about some EDIs he saw this side too, but I don't really listen because I'm too distracted by the realisation that his wierd little two piece suit, the one with pengiuns running from brightly coloured flaming polygons, is a pair of pyjamas.
What really drives the EDI issue home to me is the conversation I hold with one.
I'm out on a night patrol, barely skirting rooftops when I suddenly get hailed. And not in the acceptable, "Holy Jesus, what the hell is that?" manner, but the much more relaxed, take-this-sort-of-thing-in-their-stride cry of "come in number nine, your time is up." Spotted I can cope with. Accepted is another thing altogether.
Once I'm down on terra firma, or at least rooftop firma, I'm confronted by a suddenly confused looking young woman, confusion I mirror once I realise there's no way onto this particular ledge bar flying. Clearly neither of us is what the other was expecting, but I'm fairly certain that I have the monopoly on winged heroics, which puts her in the other camp by default. She quails quite satisfactoraly once I issue a challenge, gasping out a frantic "Who are you?" Sometimes the cliche's play into my hands. With my most menacing voice I growl out "I am StormAngel".
I'm quite put out when she immediately relaxes and even laughs a little. "Oh, it's you. Tony told me about you. I'm Xian."
Tony is an alias used by Raven, but I'm off by balance, and I stomp all over the following delicate conversation in my size 12s. After the umpteenth time I blurt out "Ra-, er Tony" she points out we both know the next syllable is "ven" and we might as well stop skirting the issue.
Things start to fall in place like Nick's flaming tetris pieces. Rooftop eirie, woman who expects flying people but not myself, and most importantly a hasty injection of primal energy discharge scintillator mix in my goggles add up to bullshit from "Raven" and EDI in front of me. I'd be more cut up but I figured something was up after that time he asked me to modify an IR camera for him. Angels traditionally don't worry about the dark.
Seeking to regain the upper foot, I aggressively demand to know what the hell an EDI is doing on my side of the Gauntlet. It half works, she's unbalanced that I know the terminology, but the regainst the conversational high ground by pointing out that she was born here.
This really screws my world perception. I've never been one for the immutable and eternal viewpoint, but I did imagine that we were clinging to our little islands of stability relatively alone. Not so if Xian is to be believed. There's some hellishly complicated biology involved but there's a wierd three parent talent show: Two regular performers and a special guest EDI.
I'm black hole curious, but my stellar companion soon dries up with info, then makes me swear up and down I won't tell a soul. I probably shouldn't have mentioned the whole 'mule' thing. Still, better than the first word which popped into my head: 'parasite'.
Dawn's creeping up on the horizon like a luminous buffalo trying to crest a hill without being noticed, time to get normal. I have one last chance to make a good impression, the slow, majestic unfolding of my wings is probably not that likely to impress an aviform EDI, but it's all I have. I strike a suitable pose, trigger the mechanism, nothing happens. Try again. Same thing.
In the end, they don't damn well open until I've taken them off and am poking at them with a screwdriver. When they do go, it's with such force that they sweep my feet from under me and Xian doesn't even try to contain her laughter.
Ahem. What's important is I've learned something.
What really drives the EDI issue home to me is the conversation I hold with one.
I'm out on a night patrol, barely skirting rooftops when I suddenly get hailed. And not in the acceptable, "Holy Jesus, what the hell is that?" manner, but the much more relaxed, take-this-sort-of-thing-in-their-stride cry of "come in number nine, your time is up." Spotted I can cope with. Accepted is another thing altogether.
Once I'm down on terra firma, or at least rooftop firma, I'm confronted by a suddenly confused looking young woman, confusion I mirror once I realise there's no way onto this particular ledge bar flying. Clearly neither of us is what the other was expecting, but I'm fairly certain that I have the monopoly on winged heroics, which puts her in the other camp by default. She quails quite satisfactoraly once I issue a challenge, gasping out a frantic "Who are you?" Sometimes the cliche's play into my hands. With my most menacing voice I growl out "I am StormAngel".
I'm quite put out when she immediately relaxes and even laughs a little. "Oh, it's you. Tony told me about you. I'm Xian."
Tony is an alias used by Raven, but I'm off by balance, and I stomp all over the following delicate conversation in my size 12s. After the umpteenth time I blurt out "Ra-, er Tony" she points out we both know the next syllable is "ven" and we might as well stop skirting the issue.
Things start to fall in place like Nick's flaming tetris pieces. Rooftop eirie, woman who expects flying people but not myself, and most importantly a hasty injection of primal energy discharge scintillator mix in my goggles add up to bullshit from "Raven" and EDI in front of me. I'd be more cut up but I figured something was up after that time he asked me to modify an IR camera for him. Angels traditionally don't worry about the dark.
Seeking to regain the upper foot, I aggressively demand to know what the hell an EDI is doing on my side of the Gauntlet. It half works, she's unbalanced that I know the terminology, but the regainst the conversational high ground by pointing out that she was born here.
This really screws my world perception. I've never been one for the immutable and eternal viewpoint, but I did imagine that we were clinging to our little islands of stability relatively alone. Not so if Xian is to be believed. There's some hellishly complicated biology involved but there's a wierd three parent talent show: Two regular performers and a special guest EDI.
I'm black hole curious, but my stellar companion soon dries up with info, then makes me swear up and down I won't tell a soul. I probably shouldn't have mentioned the whole 'mule' thing. Still, better than the first word which popped into my head: 'parasite'.
Dawn's creeping up on the horizon like a luminous buffalo trying to crest a hill without being noticed, time to get normal. I have one last chance to make a good impression, the slow, majestic unfolding of my wings is probably not that likely to impress an aviform EDI, but it's all I have. I strike a suitable pose, trigger the mechanism, nothing happens. Try again. Same thing.
In the end, they don't damn well open until I've taken them off and am poking at them with a screwdriver. When they do go, it's with such force that they sweep my feet from under me and Xian doesn't even try to contain her laughter.
Ahem. What's important is I've learned something.