The bathroom was marked with a sign declaring it as such, and Anna quickly ducked inside, shutting the door behind her and clicking it shut. The bathroom was nothing special, a simple toilet, sink, and garbage can. She’d missed Tasha’s call by now, but she simply called back, setting her purse on the sink and listening to each ring with growing anticipation, until…

“There you are! Hey mom.”

“Hi mom!”

“Hello loves.” Tasha let a genuine smile cross her face at the sound of her daughters’ voices. “Sorry I missed your call, I’m not at home at the moment.”

“It’s okay, I’m not in a big hurry today! You’re at that super fancy spa, right?”

“That’s right, hon.”

“That sounds so nice.”

“Is PA that stressful?” Anna quirked her eyebrow.

“I mean, it’s school, and…” Tasha trailed off, making Anna tighten her lips in anticipation. “There’s some things I’m really bad at that I wanna get good at.”

“Taz sucks at telekinesis and we’re trying to figure out how to fix that.”

“Basically.”

“I’m sorry to hear it, sweetheart.” Anna pursed her lips. “But you really don’t need telekinesis.”

“I know, I know, it’ll make me lazy and stuff.”

“Exactly; why bother with telekinesis when you have perfectly good hands?”

“Well my teachers are saying I need it to get good at the other disciplines too.”

“Really? You seemed to do well with hydrokinesis.”

“But that’s not one of my classes yet, and I still can’t do some of the really cool stuff hydrokinetics can do!”

Anna sighed a little bit. “If you must…”

“I was actually calling about that…”

“Mom, do you have any advice like you did for hydrokinesis?”

Anna blinked a bit at the question her two girls were asking, and considered herself in the mirror. “I suppose I should have seen this coming. Are you using it regularly while there?”

“When I remember I try to…”

“Well – and I am fully annoyed I am giving you this advice, dear – your best bet might be using it at all times. I know you can write with it and move things with it, keep doing that and more. Try rearranging things around your room, try doing complicated stuff, even if you don’t get it right; push your limits, and don’t give up.”

“I-I won’t! Mel, let’s go to one of the courts and pass a ball around.”

“Okay.”

“That doesn’t mean I want you neglecting your hands, love.” Anna said with a dry grunt. “I don’t want you losing sight of what it means to be human, you understand? Laziness will only fail you later in life.”

“Yes mom…” Both girls sighed at once, until there were a few odd sounds. “Mel, what are you doing?!”

“It’s my turn to have the phone!”

“Just talk like—”

“Tasha, share with your sister.” Anna ordered.

“Whaaaaat? Oh whatever…”

There was an excited giggle, and Anna smirked as Melodica’s higher-pitched voice became more clear. “Mom mom mom! Guess what!”

“What?” Anna asked with a chuckle.

“You are going to be so surprised when you come to visit! I made some outfit changes~!”

“Please tell me you aren’t back in the bikini at school, Mel.” Anna asked worriedly.

“Noooo! It’s actually kinda more covering than my last outfit!”

“Mom, you won’t believe it, but Mel’s going around on legs!”

Anna blinked. She didn’t say anything for a solid ten seconds, until Melodica piped up.

“Mom?”

“Sorry, sweetie, you’re wearing legs?”

“Yeah!”

“Are you okay, Mel?” Anna asked, straightening up, a frown forming. “Is everything okay? Do I need to go up there?” She was further north than usual, she could probably just drive to PA from here…

“N-no! I’m fine, mom, really! I’m just trying new things, trying to be more… human, I guess.”

Anna stared into the mirror, silent again for a little while. “I’ll miss your tail.” She said without thinking, then flinched as she realized what she’d said.

“I miss it too.”

“Same!”

“But it’s been kinda nice.”

“Mel and I went to the cafeteria earlier today and we got two separate plates and half-portions of stuff. The workers didn’t even realize she wasn’t another student! We’ve been doing this food sharing thing since Mel shares my senses, and, like, not my tastes…”

“We need to tell Aunt Zi that this place can’t do a sloppy joe right.”

“Uuuugggh, gag.”

Anna’s lips twitched into a smile listening two the two of them… her two daughters… yes, that was correct, she thought. She listened to them talk about their food escapades, and she wasn’t sure why, but hearing that Melodica didn’t have her tail anymore… it sounded so unnatural in her mind.

“Anyways, we just wanted to call for help!”

“And that we love you!”

“I love you both too.” Anna said with a smile, feeling more secure, up until she remembered why she was here. “You two be safe, alright? We’ll arrange for some sort of visit soon.”

“Okay mom.”

“Alright!”

“Good. Now, I need to get to my next appointment, so I’ll hang up now. Talk soon!”

“Bye!” Both girls chimed, and Anna regretfully ended the call.

Buoyed somewhat, Anna rubbed her temples before collecting her things. She had to keep a focus on her goal here. She exited the bathroom, looking around the otherwise featureless hallway of the compound. It had a bathroom and a few more doors that, when peeked inside of, showed her that the Wise Men had a few bed cots laying around, a room with boxes of rations and shelves of canned food, and another room with military-like equipment still in their packaging, like binoculars and night-vision goggles.

Anna’s brow furrowed; were they expecting doomsday? Or a siege? This wasn’t a cult as far as she was aware.

It did bring into question: was all this from personal expense, or did those ‘friends in high places’ have the Wise Men prepping for a war?

The next room had a large table and chairs, with maps of Arizona and various cities covering the walls. Pictures were also strung about the maps, with recognizable faces: prominent psychics and pro-psychic political figures.

War sounded like the likely option, now. A few of the papers left around the tables detailed some key points about the countermarch on the 28th, likely where Devin and a few of his fellow leaders were doing their planning before the gathering today.

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Anna glanced over at the wall where the Phoenix Academy map hung, and quickly took in the faces they’d singled out: Dean Davis, Frederick Burke, Hugo Dewitt, Mildred McCoullough, and—

Her blood suddenly turned cold as she stared at a picture of Zina in her agency uniform, smiling in front of a workstation in the ESP on-campus security office. Written beneath her name was a single word: ‘Collaborator.’

Anna bat her eyelids at the picture, at the smiling face of her friend… a target for these fucking yokels? An age-old animosity built up in her gut that she had to choke back before she could tear the picture off the wall, though she did give a quick glance underneath to see they’d written some more on the back of her photo.

‘Oversees and tests PA security; home unknown.’

Why were they bothering to single out Zina? She wasn’t a psychic, she was a federal agent! If anybody should have been on the wall, it should have been that sleaze Aiden, not Zina goddamned Cole!

Anna paused, frowning. The anger simmered out of her head as she glanced up at the map again… where was Aiden Walsh on this? As head of security, he should have been front and center.

A click behind her made her mind pause, and accelerate in another direction. If Devin was walking in, she was just curious about the maps, wanting to know who their targets were, what they were going to do—

It wasn’t Devin. Anna stiffened and relaxed as a shorter woman entered, her long, unruly brown hair framing a distracted face behind a big pair of glasses. Whoever she was, she looked only a little younger than Anna, but far more reserved in posture and look.

She walked inside with a laptop in hand, and was pulling out a chair before she glanced up and saw Anna watching her. An awkward, uncomfortable silence passed between the two, and rather unexpectedly, the woman’s face suddenly lit up in red-faced shock, and she quickly looked away.

“... Hi.” The woman said, more taken aback than nervous.

Anna eyed the woman suspiciously. “Hello. Sorry to barge in here, I was just wondering who the enemy was.”

“O-oh, it’s no problem.” The woman said, collapsing into the chair thoughtlessly. “It doesn’t bother me anyways. I’m just running maintenance stuff for Devin.” The woman looked up at Anna with a small, ashamed look, and in a scene that would have been egregious in even the mushiest of romance movies, began to spin a lock of her hair around one finger.

“Then I’ll leave you to it.” Anna said, and started for the door with a sigh; she didn’t want to leave them waiting for her, otherwise they might grow suspicious.

“Wait!” The woman called after her, and Anna paused, doorknob in hand. Glancing back, the girl seemed surprised with herself, and after a moment’s hesitation, asked: “W-what’s your name?”

Anna stared at the woman and suppressed a groan before answering: “Jennifer Whitman, though everyone calls me Jenny.”

“That’s a beautiful name!” The woman said a bit too quickly. “Um, I’m Leanne Trent.”

Trent?

Anna turned to look at the woman more curiously. “Are you related to Devin, then?”

“We’re cousins.” She answered. “My dad and his dad are—I mean, you can probably guess…” Her voice lowered in embarrassment. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you up.”

After a moment of thought, Anna slowly lowered her hand and turned, watching Leanne, her thoughts stirring. “No, it’s alright. I was the one intruding, really; I wanted to see what sort of plans we had for the future.”

“Oh, yeah, Devin has plans for showing up all across the state.” Leanne nodded, looking around the room slowly, and Anna thought she detected a hint of melancholy in her expression. “He might have a chance if recruitment keeps up like this. We were only about half this number a month ago.”

Anna wasn’t surprised, the research she had done confirmed the Wise Men had swollen rapidly, seemingly out of the blue. “Has it now? Why is that?”

Leanne shrugged. “Devin said he’s been meeting like-minded folk through work.”

“Are they the ones helping him fill up the armory?”

“I don’t think so. I think he’s been getting weapons for cheap from one of the older human first groups.”

Anna nodded, humming a bit to herself. “I understand that he wants to push back against all the legislation letting psychics use their powers, but is he really committed to going to war over it?”

Leanne was quiet, not looking away from Anna, but she didn’t try very hard to hide her pained look. “He’s willing to fight, whatever it takes.” She finally answered, but the response was forced, disquieted. She stared at her laptop screen unblinkingly for a while, and jumped when Anna suddenly leaned against the table next to her, staring down at her with her arms crossed under her ample bust.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Anna said gently, giving Leanne a concerned frown, while Leanne’s dour face turned rosey red again.

“Well, I mean, you’ve heard him, you’ve seen him…” Leanne mumbled, brushing some hair back behind her ear as her eyes lingered on Anna’s hips. “Devin’s always been like that: confident, self-assured, smart, but he doesn’t really ever consider the consequences if things go too far. He’s always sure things’ll work out in his favor, and to be fair, they usually do.”

“But in this case, he wants to spill blood.”

Leanne hesitantly nodded. “Yes, and, well, some of those places he wants to protest and bring guns to, well, there are children there…”

“Like PA.” Anna glanced at the map on the well.

“Yeah.”

“And you want to keep your child out of his crusade.”

Leanne gave a short, quick nod, then looked up at Anna with big, frightened eyes. She nearly jumped out of her seat at Anna’s accusing stare, and rapidly shook her head. “N-no no no it’s not at all—”

Anna sighed and held up a hand to stop her. “Your reaction alone is telling me I’m right.”

“I-it’s really not—”

“And let me guess,” Anna interrupted her again, “you’re only here because Devin’s promised he won’t hurt your child if you help him?”

Leanne looked as though Anna had found drugs under her bed, wide-eyed, vulnerable, terrified, unable to formulate a lie quickly enough that would convince her. Anna hid a smirk.

“How old are they?” Anna’s voice softened.

Leanne swallowed thickly, and quietly reached over to shut her laptop, simply trying to distract herself from the conversation. “He’s three.” She spoke in a low, worried tone. “And he’s already able to open up the cupboards in the kitchen with his power.”

“Yanked the dishes right out of the cupboard, hm?” Anna asked with a gentle smile.

Leanne nodded. “I had to baby proof the kitchen and punish him a few times before he stopped, but…” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “I heard that children sometimes struggle with empathy, but I’ve been dealing with a lot of stress recently, and I can feel him trying to give me good feelings.”

“That’s pretty common with psychic children, actually.” Anna stated, briefly thinking back to when Tasha was that age, and just emitting a constant warmth whenever she was with her mother… “Telepathy tends to make children a little more understanding of how the things they do hurt feelings. You might be able to make your boy realize how much his naughtiness hurts you by simply showing him your raw anger, or sadness.”

“Really?” Leanne asked, blinking. “That’s really…” She trailed off, before glancing up at Anna in surprise. “You…?”

Anna already had her phone out of her pocket, showing Leanne her lockscreen picture: Tasha, twelve years old, beaming so brightly as she levitated a rubik’s cube in front of her face.

“She’s beautiful.” Leanne complimented, looking a bit happier herself. “But, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you here with the Wise Men if she’s…?”

“I don’t believe psychics should have as much free reign as they want.” Anna answered calmly. “My daughter has restraint, she doesn’t think she’s better than other humans; some psychics, however… I mean, you’ve heard all that stuff about Brain Scythe, how they stole a child right out from underneath his mother’s nose…”

“I can’t imagine what that poor woman is going through.” Leanne’s eyes shifted away. “It makes me want to tell Devin off for even supporting them.”

Anna made sure her head didn’t twist too quickly to face Leanne. “Devin is supporting Brain Scythe?”

“Vocally, at least.” Leanne shrugged a little bit, not looking too deeply into Anna’s inquisitive eyes. “He’s said that he’s just fine helping psychics get rid of other psychics.”

“I see.” Anna’s brain whirred to life, connecting details… “But he’ll protect your son from them?”

“I hope so.”

“Why does he hate psychics in the first place?” Anna asked with a quirked eyebrow. “He made it sound like he was worried about them taking over, but he didn’t have a story like his uncle or I did.”

Leanne simply… shrugged. Anna’s brow furrowed at her unsure frown. “To be honest, as far as I can tell, not one psychic has ever done anything untoward to him. Devin’s always been about core values and being a proper patriot and Christian, I think he just… hates them. Maybe because they’re different, maybe he’s scared of them…”

Anna mulled the information around in her head for a moment. “So… does he know about you, then?”

Leanne blinked. “H-huh?”

“I mean, he doesn’t hurt you in any way, does he?” Anna frowned.

“Why would he?”

Anna scoffed. “You’re a lesbian.”

Leanne turned an even deeper, more frightened shade of red, and amidst a stream of stammering, got out: “N-n-no-no no n-no no! I’m-I’m not a lesbian, I’m—I like men, I mean I was swept off my feet by my son’s father, j-just, it never went anywhere and—”

“And you’ve been utterly fascinated by my legs since we met.” Anna said with a dry smirk.

Leanne insistently shook her head, but her blush didn’t go away. “I’m not… completely gay.”

Anna tilted her head towards Leanne with a thoughtful smile. She let the silence brew in the room, because she knew it would hang heavily on Leanne. She needed Leanne to be… malleable, and if she thought they were both hiding a second similar secret…

Leanne’s expression softened the tiniest bit. “You won’t tell him, will you?”

“Not if you don’t~.” Anna said with a teasing lilt in her tone, and Leanne went silent again.

Her eyes refused to meet Anna’s as millions of microexpressions crossed her face in that instant. Anna kept calm and easy, confidently watching Leanne wonder what was happening and if it was real. Anna let her suffer and squirm in silence for a bit, before gently pushing herself off the table.

“Somebody could walk in at any moment…” Anna gently twirled a lock of her blonde hair around her finger, just as Leanne had done early, watching Leanne’s expression go rigid, yet wide-eyed with interest. “We should find somewhere more private to talk a little later. Somewhere with a lock…”

“W-well… aside from the armory, Devin’s room…” Leanne whispered, more to herself than Anna as she seemed shocked she was even considering it.

“Let’s meet there after the whole assembly then.”

“W-what are we gunna do?” Leanne asked.

Rather than respond, Anna headed for the door, tossing a wry smirk back at the woman openly watching her rump before it disappeared down the hallway.