Tag: collective thinking

Chapter

Spatial Anomaly

by Tower Curator — “Maple?” Dyna didn’t move. She looked around the auditorium, worried for just a moment that the Hatman had come up behind her and phase-shifted her off into wherever. But no, there was no one around. No Hatman looming over her, staring with that scribbled-out face. She felt no different than she had a few moments ago and nothing looked different. With the obvious exception of Maple’s sudden absence. Whatever happened, it hadn’t happened to her. “Ado?” Dyna bit her lip,…
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Chapter

Reinforcements

by Tower Curator — “Yes, Sir. It seems contained at the moment.” “Good,” Walter said. “I expected a call sooner.” “You said to call when I was alone. Things have been hectic.” “I understand. Ruby?” Dyna glanced over toward the truck. They were still at the high school. Still parked out front. In the thirty minutes since the Hatman’s capture, he hadn’t moved. Not even a slight twitch or jerky motion in the permanent marker covering his face. Ado hadn’t explained anything about how the…
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Chapter

Doctor Teeth

by Tower Curator — Walter could have warned her. She wasn’t sure that it would have helped, but at least she would have beeen able to mentally prepare. Sapphire was… Dyna didn’t want to say anything rude as she didn’t really know him, but… Sapphire’s head lolled to one side. His blue eyes didn’t look at Dyna or at the two obvious technicians working on various consoles and terminals. His lips didn’t quite move and yet words formed in the air—not in Dyna’s mind—as he spoke. “My presence isn’t…
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Chapter

Thing

by Tower Curator — Dyna wasn’t happy with her temporary allies. To be fair, at no point in their brief cooperation had Dyna been happy with them. At most, she had been relieved when they showed up at the hospital. Then maybe relieved again when they said they could help Ruby get back to normal. Her displeasure hadn’t come from anything that they had actually done. That might come across as a bit unfair, but Dyna didn’t care. They worked with Id, that earned them some ire. But now? “You shot her.” Maple…
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Chapter

Assault

by Tower Curator — Dyna didn’t hesitate to leap into motion. She also didn’t hesitate to leap into the truck. Given that the Hatman seemed dangerous only in close range, it might have seemed like a foolish decision, but there was something inside she needed. She rushed past the disruptors mounted on the wall. It was tempting to grab one and swing it around, but the disruptor wouldn’t do her any good if she stood around staring at empty space, wondering why she had grabbed it in the first place. That was a sure way…
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Chapter

Looping

by Tower Curator — Dyna didn’t actually need the guards to strip in order to get their protective gear. She should have expected it, but they brought spares. Although they were a common sight around the Carroll Institute—especially down in Psychodynamics—Dyna had never worn the insulating equipment before. It wasn’t just like pulling on a pair of pants and throwing on a shirt. The silvery fabric didn’t bend easily. Not because of whatever it was made from, but because of how thick the material was. It felt like…
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Chapter

Plain Jane

by Tower Curator — Artifacts produced a wide variety of effects, but not too many of those effects were fully confirmed. Some were obvious. The Red Feather, said to be a feather from the mythological phoenix, caused spontaneous combustion to flammable objects in its immediate vicinity. Others were more subtle. The Writer’s Journal was a leatherbound notebook that, on its first page, had a small animated window looking into a small island that had yet to be located out in the real world. Aside from the animated window, no…
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Chapter

Paranoia

by Tower Curator — Dyna took therapy. Doctor Bellows, a psychiatrist who formerly worked for NASA. A nice man, if a bit formal. Dyna had one session a week, barring certain events, mandated by the Carroll Institute. She was supposed to deal with self-esteem issues and paranoia. Watching an old woman standing on the sidewalk across the street from her apartment, taking photographs of everything around, had her paranoia acting up. She looked like an old woman. She had a walker with tennis balls on the ends. Her camera…
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Chapter

Priority Objective

by Tower Curator — They stole the Ouija board. It was the only explanation. The fifth threat, the one that neither Dyna nor Hematite could account for, hadn’t engaged in combat. The group was looking for artifacts. They could easily have had detection tools similar to what Tartarus had. Dyna hadn’t checked the bodies for such tools; she was focused more on weapons than other equipment. How were they planning on extracting themselves from the situation and the city? Grafton had tried using the airport. Would they do…
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Chapter

Wedding Crashers

by Tower Curator — Dyna didn’t often leave the Carroll Institute these days. It wasn’t that she was afraid or anything. In fact, she was pretty sure a small part of her wanted Ignotus to show up. But the simple fact was that her excursions out of the institute in the past had been to experiment with her ability in an environment where the administrators wouldn’t try to shut her down. Now that she had permission, there simply was little reason to head into Idaho Falls on the regular. Most days, anyway. Today,…
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