006. [ voice & location: sanctuary for all ] and you give yourself away, with or without you.
It was rare for Helen Magnus to actually fall asleep. As Will had so brilliantly put it: she kept an eye on the ranch. Fatigue did catch up to the Victorian woman eventually. It led her falling asleep on the couch in her office. Merely a cat nap. Perhaps it would have been longer if it the dreams she had were truly happy ones.
They were back home. The Cabal had struck the Abnormal population and were creating an invisible pathogen to start a war between Humans and Abnormals. The only way to stop it was to find the Source Blood, the very thing that caused the Abnormality of the Five to happen. They had found where Nigel Griffin's blood relatives were and were set to retrieve the Blood from Bahalasamm in the Indian Himalayas. Thanks to John, Sir James Watson, the apparently not dead Nikola Tesla, and Clara Griffin, they were able to succeed in retrieving it. They could fight the Cabal and stop the war. James had been too old. He forced himself to live too long. And he died. They had played right into their enemies hands. The Cabal had taken Ashley. Her daughter, and did something to her mind. They made her their slave. They unlocked the dormant Abnormality within her: teleportation. She was like John. And had given the Cabal the Source Blood.
Time had no limit in dreams. Six weeks had gone by, scouring the face of the planet with John to find any leads to Ashley. Only to learn the Cabal were after the Montana Project subjects. Six people with pure DNA, no Abnormalities or defects. Perfect DNA. The Cabal could insert any genetic code they wanted into them. And they wanted to insert the altered DNA of Ashley into them. When they had finally found Ashley, she wasn't the Ashley that Helen had watched grown up from a small girl. She was a being with the powers of the extinct Sanguine Vampiris. Healing, super speed and strength, her teleportation, telepathy between her and the other Mantana Project subjects. Helen had to save her daughter. She was her only daughter. The only thing that remained of her days in Oxford.
They had attacked her Sanctuaries around the globe. Tokyo fell. Moscow. New Deli. They held the line at the U.K. Sanctuary. It was a war. Except then they came to her Sanctuary in the United States. She begged Ashley to listen to her. She was so afraid. She had to reach out to her daughter, to save her, to bring her back. And as the EM shield returned, she finally had. Ashley - altered but still in front of her - had come back. After six weeks of finding her she had finally found her. Except she knew her daughter. She knew what Ashley was planning. Ashley was going to throw herself into the EM shield to stop the last of the Montana Subjects. Ashley was going to kill herself. To sacrifice herself to save the rest of the Sanctuaries. To save her.
"Ashley, please!"
"...Mom."
Helen wanted to scream as Ashley teleported into the shield. Instead she woke herself up from the pure shock. Panting, Helen knew they weren't dreams. They were memories. What Claire had asked about had suddenly happened to her. She didn't register the wounds on her arm, caused by the altered Ashley, and how they had suddenly appeared. Helen was in Taxon. She wasn't home. Ashley was here. Ashley was still alive. The distraught woman pushed herself up from the couch and began running through the Sanctuary to find her daughter. Her only daughter.
She checked Ashley's room, not finding her. Her bike was gone. The gym and shooting range were empty as well. Helen paid no attention to the confused residents she surely passed as she tore through the massive building. Helen couldn't remember running so fast in her life. Ashley wasn't in the kitchen or her office. Eventually she finally came to a stop in her lab, panting and trying so hard not to cry. Ashley wasn't in the Sanctuary.
"...Mom."
The echo from the memory stabbed her heart. Ashley was gone. Her only daughter was dead. The daughter she had finally brought into the world after being alone for a century wasn't there. She was alone again. She pulled the tablet off her bracelet in desperation, hoping that Ashley had left a message. Something to tell her that she was still there. That she wasn't gone. But the only thing was the message from the day before when she had returned to normal. There was nothing from her.
In frustration and fear she threw the tablet across the room. She wanted to see it break. If something else broke, then she couldn't. She could still hold herself together despite the most important person to her being gone. The tablet hit the wall of her lab and simply fell to the floor unharmed. Completely perfect. Like nothing was wrong. Like everything was going to be fine. It wasn't fine. Ashley was dead. And it was her fault. She allowed Ashley to go to the Cabal to try and stop them from the inside. Ashley was dead because of her.
Letting out a sob, Helen finally crumbled. She went down to her knees and leaned backwards, feeling the last of her grips on her emotions break. In that moment the strong woman that so many people knew and admired was no longer there. Just the broken woman who had lived far too long. And completely unaware her sobs could be vaguely heard over the tablet across the room.
[ooc; canon bump ]
They were back home. The Cabal had struck the Abnormal population and were creating an invisible pathogen to start a war between Humans and Abnormals. The only way to stop it was to find the Source Blood, the very thing that caused the Abnormality of the Five to happen. They had found where Nigel Griffin's blood relatives were and were set to retrieve the Blood from Bahalasamm in the Indian Himalayas. Thanks to John, Sir James Watson, the apparently not dead Nikola Tesla, and Clara Griffin, they were able to succeed in retrieving it. They could fight the Cabal and stop the war. James had been too old. He forced himself to live too long. And he died. They had played right into their enemies hands. The Cabal had taken Ashley. Her daughter, and did something to her mind. They made her their slave. They unlocked the dormant Abnormality within her: teleportation. She was like John. And had given the Cabal the Source Blood.
Time had no limit in dreams. Six weeks had gone by, scouring the face of the planet with John to find any leads to Ashley. Only to learn the Cabal were after the Montana Project subjects. Six people with pure DNA, no Abnormalities or defects. Perfect DNA. The Cabal could insert any genetic code they wanted into them. And they wanted to insert the altered DNA of Ashley into them. When they had finally found Ashley, she wasn't the Ashley that Helen had watched grown up from a small girl. She was a being with the powers of the extinct Sanguine Vampiris. Healing, super speed and strength, her teleportation, telepathy between her and the other Mantana Project subjects. Helen had to save her daughter. She was her only daughter. The only thing that remained of her days in Oxford.
They had attacked her Sanctuaries around the globe. Tokyo fell. Moscow. New Deli. They held the line at the U.K. Sanctuary. It was a war. Except then they came to her Sanctuary in the United States. She begged Ashley to listen to her. She was so afraid. She had to reach out to her daughter, to save her, to bring her back. And as the EM shield returned, she finally had. Ashley - altered but still in front of her - had come back. After six weeks of finding her she had finally found her. Except she knew her daughter. She knew what Ashley was planning. Ashley was going to throw herself into the EM shield to stop the last of the Montana Subjects. Ashley was going to kill herself. To sacrifice herself to save the rest of the Sanctuaries. To save her.
"Ashley, please!"
"...Mom."
Helen wanted to scream as Ashley teleported into the shield. Instead she woke herself up from the pure shock. Panting, Helen knew they weren't dreams. They were memories. What Claire had asked about had suddenly happened to her. She didn't register the wounds on her arm, caused by the altered Ashley, and how they had suddenly appeared. Helen was in Taxon. She wasn't home. Ashley was here. Ashley was still alive. The distraught woman pushed herself up from the couch and began running through the Sanctuary to find her daughter. Her only daughter.
She checked Ashley's room, not finding her. Her bike was gone. The gym and shooting range were empty as well. Helen paid no attention to the confused residents she surely passed as she tore through the massive building. Helen couldn't remember running so fast in her life. Ashley wasn't in the kitchen or her office. Eventually she finally came to a stop in her lab, panting and trying so hard not to cry. Ashley wasn't in the Sanctuary.
"...Mom."
The echo from the memory stabbed her heart. Ashley was gone. Her only daughter was dead. The daughter she had finally brought into the world after being alone for a century wasn't there. She was alone again. She pulled the tablet off her bracelet in desperation, hoping that Ashley had left a message. Something to tell her that she was still there. That she wasn't gone. But the only thing was the message from the day before when she had returned to normal. There was nothing from her.
In frustration and fear she threw the tablet across the room. She wanted to see it break. If something else broke, then she couldn't. She could still hold herself together despite the most important person to her being gone. The tablet hit the wall of her lab and simply fell to the floor unharmed. Completely perfect. Like nothing was wrong. Like everything was going to be fine. It wasn't fine. Ashley was dead. And it was her fault. She allowed Ashley to go to the Cabal to try and stop them from the inside. Ashley was dead because of her.
Letting out a sob, Helen finally crumbled. She went down to her knees and leaned backwards, feeling the last of her grips on her emotions break. In that moment the strong woman that so many people knew and admired was no longer there. Just the broken woman who had lived far too long. And completely unaware her sobs could be vaguely heard over the tablet across the room.
[ooc; canon bump ]