Egon glanced down from his current translation project- it involved collaboration with a Finnish anthropologist on certain obscure verb forms in Sumerian- at the sound of the Pinpoint going off. Reading the message, he frowned. That didn't sound right at all.
Indigo-
I'll be right over.
-- Egon
He left a note on the desk to the effect of stepping out for a moment to check up on some data that couldn't be gathered inside the Firehouse, and punched in the coordinates to Indigo's location.
When the Pinpoint pinged the incoming tone from Egon, Indigo hit accept.
Egon would step out of the portal in the living room of the apartment she still kept for other reasons.
Indigo herself was sitting in the middle of the floor wearing a pair of jogging pants that were capri pants on her, and a tank-top that was a skin-tight belly shirt. Neither were Indigo's customary, more modest style. She wore no shoes, and the only jewelry she wore was the blue necklace Hermes had given her. The engagement ring was on the coffee table beside her, where the disturbed young woman was gazing forlornly at it.
"Indigo?" said Egon as he stepped out. "I got your message-"
He took in the scene, the clothes, and the ring in a single sweep before looking back at Indigo's face. Not that he was an MD by any stretch of the imagination, but he wasn't seeing any signs of the puffiness or bloatedness that accompanied most sudden onsets of gigantism.
Without saying a further word he pulled out the PKE meter and switched it on. "When did this start happening?" he asked.
It took Indigo a moment to look up from the ring. She hadn't taken it off since Ray had slid it on her finger. She hadn't intended to take it off.
But it had been so tight this morning that it had started cutting off her circulation. She'd had no choice. She was either going to lose the finger or the ring if she hadn't soaped up the finger and slid it loose.
Indigo held still for the familiar PKE, then shrugged. "I got up this morning and felt fine. I did my morning workout, showered, dressed. Everything was fine. But by lunchtime my clothes -- the ring -- " her voice quavered, and she fought to even it out again. "It was all uncomfortably tight. These are the biggest clothes I own. And they're tight too. And ...and too short."
She climbed to her feet. Indigo's usual height was 5'7". She was easily closer to six feet tall now. If Ray were to step in just now, he wouldn't have to bend to kiss her. She could look him in the eye without tiptoeing.
Egon's lips pursed as he watched the numbers fluctuate during the scan. He nodded, switching it off. "I would imagine so," he said. "Considering that you're starting to catch up to me in terms of height. You haven't had any encounters with artifacts of any kind lately, have you? Anything that might potentially be capable of misinterpreting a spoken sentiment as a wish, or something of that nature? It's the first thing that leaps to mind when someone whose bones aren't capable of growing any further suddenly has all of them start doing it at once."
She shook her head, murmuring, "No. The only thing I've done unusual lately is get the antitoxin for the fear gas, but that doesn't have effects like this..."
She wrinkled her nose. "And the pink slime didn't make the Carpathian a giant..."
She shook her head. "And it's weird. I mean, the aches are there, but so far, they're little ones. Not like the crippling ones I had as a teenager. But yeah -- I'm not this tall. I wouldn't mind if I was sure this was all there was to it."
"And no Nexus contacts involving deities or extradimensional entities, am I correct?" Egon wondered. "No encounters with anything from the Q continuum, for example?"
"I have been accessing strictly by LJ or by hologram for weeks. Only time I've come close to portaling in was when I popped open that portal so Dr. Crane could give the antidote to the fear gas stuff."
Indigo paused. "Oh, no, you don't think the Joker's been playing silly buggers with weird chemicals again? Like what happened with Epona?"
"I wasn't really thinking of him," Egon said. "This sort of thing isn't his style, at least not from what I've seen of him. There are a number of supervillains who might do this, but we'd have been hearing a lot more out of Napier if this were his work."
Indigo nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. Mr. J does much love his showmanship. We'd have seen a bragging post on the Nexus-coms if he'd done something. But still -- something had to have come through a portal...
it's not like another--" Indigo reflexively glanced around for Ray, "--Gozer incident. I mean, I feel like myself. I don't feel like destructing anything..."
"I haven't noticed any energy fluctuations consistent with an event of that magnitude either," Egon pointed out. "The readings are more consistent with something externally imposed than either trying to infiltrate or grow out of a natural ability. That's why I asked about artifacts."
"So it's not a parapsychological invidious woogie," Indigo said, half relieved, and a good bit more vexed than usual at being stymied.'
"I haven't touched or encountered anything intentionally," Indigo repeated, still firm and certain in her phasing. "But that doesn't mean something from the Nexus hasn't come through anyway. 'LOL, Nexus.'" She raised her fingers in quotes.
"Great. We don't know what's causing this."
She had also grown another inch in the few minutes they'd been talking.
Egon frowned a little as that last fact made itself known. "Indigo?" he asked cautiously. "Would you do me a favor and stand with your back to that part of the wall there?"
There were a pair of curtain hooks on that part of the wall. He needed an objective measurement. "Okay," he said. "Now- we're going to wait a few moments, just to get a clearer idea, but... if I were you, I think I'd get out of the apartment as soon as we've confirmed what's going on."
Indigo's mouth dropped open. She'd phrased it as a statement, but intended it as a question.
Egon's reply pretty much confirmed what she feared.
"Frell," she muttered. "Right. I guess I should go sit on the beach at my apartment so I don't inadvertantly knock a ceiling or a roof out...because if I sit on the roof of the firehouse someone will just call you guys. Which would be amusing. But redundant."
She dragged her hands through her hair, and reached for the Pinpoint that was on the table at the other end of the sofa.
"Could I ask you to hang onto the ring? If this really is accelerating, I don't want to lose it or smash it or something. And I definitely don't want Ray to run across it and guess something completely out to left field from whatever's happening to me."
Indigo-
I'll be right over.
-- Egon
He left a note on the desk to the effect of stepping out for a moment to check up on some data that couldn't be gathered inside the Firehouse, and punched in the coordinates to Indigo's location.
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Egon would step out of the portal in the living room of the apartment she still kept for other reasons.
Indigo herself was sitting in the middle of the floor wearing a pair of jogging pants that were capri pants on her, and a tank-top that was a skin-tight belly shirt. Neither were Indigo's customary, more modest style. She wore no shoes, and the only jewelry she wore was the blue necklace Hermes had given her. The engagement ring was on the coffee table beside her, where the disturbed young woman was gazing forlornly at it.
She didn't even look up as Egon arrived.
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He took in the scene, the clothes, and the ring in a single sweep before looking back at Indigo's face. Not that he was an MD by any stretch of the imagination, but he wasn't seeing any signs of the puffiness or bloatedness that accompanied most sudden onsets of gigantism.
Without saying a further word he pulled out the PKE meter and switched it on. "When did this start happening?" he asked.
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But it had been so tight this morning that it had started cutting off her circulation. She'd had no choice. She was either going to lose the finger or the ring if she hadn't soaped up the finger and slid it loose.
Indigo held still for the familiar PKE, then shrugged. "I got up this morning and felt fine. I did my morning workout, showered, dressed. Everything was fine. But by lunchtime my clothes -- the ring -- " her voice quavered, and she fought to even it out again. "It was all uncomfortably tight. These are the biggest clothes I own. And they're tight too. And ...and too short."
She climbed to her feet. Indigo's usual height was 5'7". She was easily closer to six feet tall now. If Ray were to step in just now, he wouldn't have to bend to kiss her. She could look him in the eye without tiptoeing.
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She shook her head, murmuring, "No. The only thing I've done unusual lately is get the antitoxin for the fear gas, but that doesn't have effects like this..."
She wrinkled her nose. "And the pink slime didn't make the Carpathian a giant..."
She shook her head. "And it's weird. I mean, the aches are there, but so far, they're little ones. Not like the crippling ones I had as a teenager. But yeah -- I'm not this tall. I wouldn't mind if I was sure this was all there was to it."
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"I have been accessing strictly by LJ or by hologram for weeks. Only time I've come close to portaling in was when I popped open that portal so Dr. Crane could give the antidote to the fear gas stuff."
Indigo paused. "Oh, no, you don't think the Joker's been playing silly buggers with weird chemicals again? Like what happened with Epona?"
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it's not like another--" Indigo reflexively glanced around for Ray, "--Gozer incident. I mean, I feel like myself. I don't feel like destructing anything..."
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"I haven't touched or encountered anything intentionally," Indigo repeated, still firm and certain in her phasing. "But that doesn't mean something from the Nexus hasn't come through anyway. 'LOL, Nexus.'" She raised her fingers in quotes.
"Great. We don't know what's causing this."
She had also grown another inch in the few minutes they'd been talking.
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"Yes. Of course." She obediently padded over to the wall and stood with her back against it. "It's...accelerating or something."
She fell pensively silent. There was something familiar about this situation. Something she'd seen before. But off, somehow.
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Egon's reply pretty much confirmed what she feared.
"Frell," she muttered. "Right. I guess I should go sit on the beach at my apartment so I don't inadvertantly knock a ceiling or a roof out...because if I sit on the roof of the firehouse someone will just call you guys. Which would be amusing. But redundant."
She dragged her hands through her hair, and reached for the Pinpoint that was on the table at the other end of the sofa.
"Could I ask you to hang onto the ring? If this really is accelerating, I don't want to lose it or smash it or something. And I definitely don't want Ray to run across it and guess something completely out to left field from whatever's happening to me."
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