20:41. Tuesday, November 28, 2023. Sherman University.
“You got the cleanup?” Addy asked. Baby I’m in love!
“Yeah,” Janice said, “Sorry about using the emergency option.” Baby I’m in love!
“It’s fine,” Addy said, “figured it would happen eventually. I am just glad I waited outside so we wouldn’t be late.” Baby you’re my Sweetheart too!
“You still gonna take her to sleep study thing?” Janice asked. Sweetheart, your warmth is my fire!
“Yeah, it should be fine. They know her deal,” Addy said. And if our love can’t be true…
“I don’t know Addy,” Janice said, “which cousin did you say had the connection there?” Then I’ll be my sweetheart’s liar!
“Janice, can you stop asking me about my shitty part-time job and start on the clean up before someone comes?” Addy said. My sweetheart’s liar!
“Okay, talk to you later then,” Janice said. Baby I’m in love!
“Yeah.” Baby I’m in love!
Margret wanted to pay attention, but she was too busy being happy! She was holding Addy’s arm with her head resting on their bicep. Humming the lyrics to Sweetheart’s Liar. She had never had anyone even say that they ‘like liked’, and someone she has liked for so long just said that they were in love with her!
Her head was spinning. How long have they felt this way? Did Margret like them back? Would they ask her out now?
She had never dated anyone seriously, let alone a nonbinary person. Did this mean she wasn’t straight? What is the non-binary term for boyfriend?
Margaret stood there until Addy prompted her to start heading back to their car. Addy drove a beat up old Italian white sports car. The front bumper was a little loose, and it had a lot of dents and scrapes which they had never got fixed, which Addy always called them its ‘battle scars’.
It was apparently a gift they got the day they first received their license.
Margaret got in one of the two scissor doors, and sat on the black leather seats. When she got in the car, she saw the expression on Addy’s face was different than normal.
They let out a sigh.
“We still have some time till we are supposed to be at the thing,” Addy said, “you want to grab a bite to eat?”
“I’m pretty stuffed,” Margaret said, “I just had a full meal with Janice and Roman.”
Addy strummed their fingers on the steering wheel.
“Would you care if I grab some fast food?” Addy asked, “Maybe a burger?”
“Sure, of course,” Margaret agreed.
Addy started the car, and set the course for a nearby chain that was on the way.
“Are you feeling okay?” Addy asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be feeling okay?” Margaret asked, before remembering the massive bomb Addy had dropped on her, “Oh because of what you said?”
“No that wasn’t why I was asking,” Addy said, “but Em can we not talk about that till later?”
“Okay,” Margaret agreed.
They strummed the rim of the steering wheel again. “Maybe try to catch me up on everything that happened after the meeting?”
“Sure thing!” Margaret said, “So Roman, Janice, and I ate some dinner on the loud side of Will Will. We talked about music for a bit, Roman told me about adventurism, and we ate some food, that sort of thing. We walked back to meet up with you. Then some guys were rude to me and Janice, then you told me you loved me and I spaced out a little after that…”
“Em, you really don’t remember anything else?” They asked.
“Am I supposed to?” Margaret asked.
Addy continued to tap rhythmically on the steering wheel. “No, it’s fine,” Addy said.
There was a pause. Margaret wasn’t really sure what to talk about. She was fine if they didn’t want to talk about their feelings, because Margaret still wanted time to sort out her own feelings. Instead of asking something that would continue the conversation, she looked out the window and enjoyed the time she had with her friend.
The pause in the conversation ended up lasting until they reached the restaurant.
Addy ordered a burger, a drink, and some fries. The latter of which they said it was cool if Margaret wanted to have.
“You wanna hear about the conversation I had with Marcus?” Addy asked.
“Sure, did you two work something out?” Margaret asked.
“Yeah…” Addy said, taking a bite of their burger.
“That’s great!” Margaret said.
“Peachy,” Addy said. Oh no. They never say that when they are happy. It was one of the first things Margaret had to learn about dealing with Addy is that they don’t always say the things they mean.
“So what did you two agree on?” Margaret asked.
“I talked him down from his starting point of ambushing her tomorrow,” Addy said. Even Margret could tell that would have been a hair brained move, even for the Rammers.
“He really wanted to move forward tomorrow? How would that have worked?” Margaret asked. Her brother was one of those kids who liked to follow cape stuff, and the way he had made it seem was that you posted the challenge online and they would respond when they felt like it.
“None of that seemed to matter to Marcus, he wouldn’t even admit if he knew where to find her, he just seemed to think that whatever we do tomorrow would work. I know he must have more information than he is letting on, but I can’t figure out what…” Addy said, trailing off near the end.
“You already know what I am gonna say,” Margaret said.
“Em,” Addy said, finishing up their burger, “if it was anyone else but Marcus, I’d believe them in a heartbeat. But I am not gonna buy any of his bullshit or his even more bullshit explanation that he got the power from aliens.”
“But you never even give him a chance!” Margaret insisted. Anytime Marcus had a vision, Addy always tried to poke holes in it. It made a lot of conversations devolve into arguments.
“I really don’t wanna talk about this, can we just move on?” Addy asked. Putting the car back into drive in order to head to their part-time job.
“Okay,” Margaret said, puffing out her cheeks. She wanted to be nice about it, but Margaret didn’t like that this was the second conversation they have shut down so far. She felt a small chill up her spine.
“C’mon, don’t give me that cute pouty face of yours,” Addy whined, causing Margaret to start to blush. They had a smile on their face, more like their usual self.
“Calling me cute isn’t gonna get you out of this, Comrade Huxley!” Margaret declared.
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“Wow, using my fake last name on me, I must really be in the dog house,” Addy said.
Addy was the only one of the Rammers who insisted that because the first name they used wasn’t their legal name anyway, they only needed to have a fake last name. Addy explained to Margaret once that the only reason they got away with it was because nobody wanted to tell a nonbinary person what they could and couldn’t be called.
“Yup!” Margaret agreed.
“You sure flirting won’t work?” Addy asked. Yes.
“Nope!” Margaret lied.
“Okay, what do I have to do to get back into your good graces?” Addy asked, “And you are sure saying how pretty you look in your sweater won’t do it?”
The warmth was a bit too much. Margaret’s head was spinning, and her heart was beating faster. She felt like her face probably looked super red. Addy looked over at her, and they briefly made eye contact which didn’t help matters.
“Too much?” Addy asked.
“I just…” Margaret said, trying to find her words, “It feels wrong to have you compliment me when I don’t know what we are… This whole time had just been trying to be funny this whole time, or that you just had a flirty personality…”
“Okay, you’re right,” Addy said, “I’ll stop.” Margaret wasn’t sure if she wanted them to stop. It was just that she was realizing she was a lot more sensitive when she knew someone liked her.
There was another lull in the conversation. They reached their destination, the Mind Development Institute, in Harmon. The building was in the middle of some business park. It was unmarked, if Margaret hadn’t known better she wouldn’t have guessed that it was a research place.
“Em, Can we run away together?” Addy said out of the blue, causing Margaret to jump.
What? Oh this again?
Addy did this every time they were about to head inside. “Where to this time?” Margaret asked.
“Ireland. Fair Hallow seems nice, why not try the real thing?” Addy said.
“Last time you said you were British royalty,” Margaret responded, “can’t imagine that going well over there.” No self-respecting Midporter didn’t know a little bit of Irish history.
“I made all of that up anyway,” Addy said, “let’s just live in Ireland and we can open a B&B.” Addy always seemed anxious when they played this game, like they were really trying to convince her to go along with this plan.
Most people would consider a bed and breakfast to be a few step downs from Buckingham Palace, but Margaret couldn’t help but see the romance.
“We really don’t have time to play this game, Addy,” Margaret said.
“Just a few more minutes, Em?” Addy said.
“Come on lazy butt,” Margaret said, opening the door, “we don’t wanna seem rude.”
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The front office of the Mind Development Institute was kind of boring. It hadn’t been dusted in a while, and even though they had a front desk, Margaret had never seen anyone who worked reception.
The back offices were a different story. Everything was clean, with sterile linoleum floors. The walls were a bright white. And the smell made Margaret’s nose itch. Addy and Margaret put both their phones in the box by the door when they entered. An attendant would show up later to pick them up, and would let them know if either of them received an important call.
Addy went off to a separate room while she went to her usual place.
Margret’s room at the Mind Development Institute was pretty spartan. There was a bed, with super thin white sheets, and a big machine next to it. On the other side of the bed was a desk which had a notebook that she could use to write down her dreams. And an alarm clock set for nine in the morning.
Then on the other side of the room, there was a drawer where she could store her clothes, and next to that was a sink with a toothbrush. In the corner of the room was a camera aimed at the bed.
Margaret opened the drawer and pulled out her pajamas and got changed before the nurse was supposed to be here. She did it under the covers because she always felt weird changing in front of a camera. After she changed, Margaret brushed her teeth and laid down on the bed.
A nurse walked in at this point, and after exchanging a few pleasantries, the nurse started to hook up the weird circle things to monitor her brain.
At this point, Margaret would be given some sort of gas that always caused her to pass out, and she would wake up the next morning.
Margaret whispered a quick goodnight to the nurse, who then had her breathe in the gas. The nurse waited a few minutes to monitor the effects, took the things off Margaret’s head, then left the room.
Weird, shouldn’t I be passed out by now? And don’t they need those things to monitor my brain?
After a few minutes, Addy came into the room.
“Addy?” Margaret asked.
“Hey Em,” Addy said.
“What are you doing here?” Margaret asked.
“You know you ask me that every week?” Addy said.
“What?” Margaret asked.
“Sorry, don’t worry about it,” Addy said, “I have a lot to explain.”
Addy took her by the hand and led her out the door.
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Addy had taken her to another room which was even more empty than hers. Every inch of it was now covered in ice, including every inch of her own skin. The only thing that wasn’t frozen was Addy.
How could I have not known?
They had explained everything. Margret got the sense that Addy had long since become an expert at explaining this by now.
Comic Book Syndrome was the cutesy name that anti-psychic reactionaries first coined for her condition. It was made to paint the picture of a kid in highschool so obsessed with superheroes that they put on a costume themselves. It even caught on a bit outside the reactionary bubble, with some even labeling a lot of non-psychics with it.
It caught on because people would confuse fantasy and fiction long before the first psychic ever awakened.
But there was another name for her condition, when a psychic awakened to a talent that was too strong for their mind. The people studying this phenomenon called it Psychic Psychosis.
And this is what Addy said she had.
The gas she took was apparently part of the treatment that they were working on. It helped bring her back into reality even though her talent was active.
How could everyone have lied to me for so long?
All of her friends had been in on keeping this secret from her to different extents. They had to keep up this lie that she was a normal girl, instead of some freak who could and would freeze someone alive at a moment's notice, all so she wouldn’t go berserk and start hurting people.
Even Her own dad was in on it.
Margaret tried to talk, but it felt like air could barely go through her lungs anymore. She tried to say ‘what do I do now?’ but it came out more like ‘Wha now?’.
Addy answered all the same.
“Now you have a choice. Do you want to be able to forget you learned this?”
She wanted to say no, to at least shake her head. Forgetting this would mean she could be a danger to her friends. It would mean everyone around her would have to do so much work to keep her happy.
But the ice around her skin was so painful. Everything was so cold. She couldn’t live like this every day. She could barely move.
She nodded her head, the ice on her neck cracking and breaking as she did.
“Okay, then follow me,” Addy said.
They grabbed her hand, and it was so warm. She tried to focus on the warmth in their hand and put it into her legs. Eventually, she was able to get up. As the two of them left the room some people in coveralls started to enter. They were carrying icepicks and coolers.
There was one thing she still didn’t understand.
“Why… You…” She asked with as much strength that she could muster.
“It isn’t always me. Sometimes it’s your dad who gives you the whole spiel. It needs to be someone your talent won’t target.”
This wasn’t what Margret had wanted to know. She tried to speak again, but even less came out this time. Still, they knew what she was asking.
“You know why,” Addy said.
Margaret tried to shake her head, and when she did the ice on her neck started to melt.
“Em, you know why,” Addy repeated.
“W-why!” Margret insisted, with every ounce of strength she had left.
Addy turned to look at them. Addy always had a way of looking at her like they were seeing through her. Maybe it was because they knew so much about her that Margaret didn’t even know about herself. But at this moment they looked her directly in the eyes.
“Because I love you Emily,” Addy said.
She wished there was some way she could remember just this one moment.
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09:00. Wednesday, November 29, 2023. Mind Development Institute, Pinewood Ave, Harmon.
Margaret woke up the next day feeling fatigued. Whatever drug they were testing was clearly only making her tired, because it felt like she got a lot less sleep than she should’ve.
It also made her sweat a lot, because her clothes always felt damp in the morning, but that could have been because someone set the thermostat way too high.
Still, she dutifully got changed back into her clothes from yesterday and brushed her teeth.
She met up with Addy, who looked more tired than she did, and they started to drive back to SU. Picking up some Duncan’s Coffee on the way.
Idly, Margaret checked her phone and saw that she had a missed call from her brother. There was even a text from him too. She opened the app to read the message.
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kidBro (Zeke_Khalil): Hey sis, need to talk to you about something. Call me back
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Her brother would be in school by now, so she texted back to have him call her during his lunch period. She didn’t worry though, because she knew her little brother and no matter what the situation was, she knew that if he put his mind to it, there was nothing he couldn't do.