[h1]Ellen Nile[/h1]

The case was safe in the back of Ellen’s closet once more, the strange charging contraption tucked in beside it. Ellen hadn’t really seen Upgrade since then, which was a shame. After all the girl had helped her, opened up the case, even if it had been something so simple as a dead battery. Still, it had been a service, and Upgrade had taken her money. After all of that she’d have been surprised if they were friends. Even so, it would have been nice to have someone that she was a little closer to. She hadn’t seen much of Wendy recently, it seemed that the older girl had been even more committed to training than she had. Most of the time Ellen took advantage of her nocturnal habits to train in peace, after all, even at the Academy she had been ‘the freak’ it was just easier to let people go on thinking that.

Physically she’d changed, she hardly recognised herself when she looked in the mirror, and for once it wasn’t because of her power, it was because of her. She was toned now, fitter, far from the scrawny teen she had been months before. True, there was much further to go, she wouldn’t be impressing anyone, but she could see it in her face. 

Maybe it was something about her ability, she’d woken up, dressed, and gotten all the way to the training room, intending to spend the day working out what ability she’d developed. It hadn’t been until she’d realised the whole process had taken her less than sixty seconds that it became obvious to her. The five minute jog across the campus had been a blur, but it was always a blur, simply a means to an end.  She was a different person now, and the person she had to thank, was Mannequin. The man… machine… creature who had given her this chance to change her life.

He was locked away now, imprisoned with a long list of crimes pinned to him. She’d watched the news, and now she didn’t know what to make of him. It seemed impossible that the creature who had given her that opportunity could be the cold, manipulative monster that the news reports had painted. There hadn’t been a trial yet, that was still a little way away, but Ellen couldn’t help but feel that the odd, strangely sad ceramic man was being scapegoated. She wished there was something she could do about it.

[hr]

[h1]Seraphine Campbell[/h1]

This wasn’t the first night that Seraphine had woken up with someone else in her bed. What it was however, was the first night that she wasn’t sharing it with them. She stretched awkwardly as she raised herself from the couch and walked to the door through to her bedroom, it was open, and the petite blonde was still asleep underneath the covers. She was snoring faintly, and Seraphine smiled to herself. It was kind of cute, although she wasn’t surprised that the RAVEN agent was still out of it, she had packed away a surprising amount of alcohol last night. If she hadn’t seen it Seraphine wouldn’t have believed that a human being could consume that quantity of booze and not suffer from liver failure. As it was she was amazed the blonde could stand up, although admittedly not particularly steadily. It had taken two of her to walk the unsteady Alice back to her room and put her to sleep in her bed.

Seraphine hadn’t expected to see the agent who had saved her life again, Baybridge was a big city, but then Seraphine could be in more places at once than anyone else. It had still been happenstance though. Strongriver Plaza was a higher class area, full of expensive bars and clubs, but there were just as many dirty dives in the alleyways surrounding it. She’d run across Alice there, walking dejectedly out of one of the sticky floored bars, the blonde, clearly already a few drinks in, had recognised her. Charmed by the merry agent, and a little concerned, Seraphine had convinced her to accompany her to a slightly more savoury location. It had cost her a promise of free drinks for the night, but it ended up with them at least in a better area. From there it had simply been a matter of listening to the woman’s woes until the early hours of the morning, and then carting her back to her apartment.

She wasn’t, strictly speaking, supposed to have guests, but she figured that bending the rules couldn’t hurt too much. Alice had saved her life, and Seraphine didn’t like being in debt to others. It certainly couldn’t be a disadvantage to have a friend in RAVEN. A friend who had drunkenly tried to kiss her last night.

She heard Alice begin to stir in the other room, “good morning! You hungry?”

There was a sound of scuffling, muffled cursing, and then a dull thump. Concerned, Seraphine made her way back into the bedroom, to discover it empty, the sheets thrown back. No RAVEN agent.

[hr]

[h1]Alice Barrett[/h1]

Alice had awoken with a groan to realise that she was not in her own bed. No, this one definitely belonged to someone else. She rubbed her forehead as she rolled over, looking about the room. She couldn’t remember much of last night, which was really how most of her nights had passed over the last few weeks. This was a first though, and it definitely wasn’t a guy’s room. Her train of thought was interrupted by a voice from another room, a woman’s voice.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck… not again. Fuck!”

The bed sheets settled slowly over the space that Alice had previously occupied, but she was already gone, just over a half mile away in her own apartment. She stumbled into the bathroom to vomit and splash cold water on her face. She ended up staring into the mirror. She looked like shit.

There was an unhealthy tinge to her skin, deep shadows beneath her eyes, and that look in her eyes again. The same look that she thought she’d managed to forget. The look that told her that she’d failed, that she hated herself. Now it was worse, she felt like she’d betrayed more than just herself and God this time. She glanced at her phone, abandoned on her kitchen counter last night, hoping for the screen to light up indicating a call. It failed to do so.

“Fuck!”

She needed something to take the edge of, to fight back the biting headache that was advancing through her skull, something that would make her feel better than aspirin. She poured herself a drink, downing it before pouring another, taking that one slower. She was losing control now, feeling everything spiralling out of her reach. The riot, the mall, all of it, she’d always thought she was meant to be a cop; RAVEN just seemed like the logical next step. Now she was beginning to question if she’d made the right decision at all.

She needed to think, she needed a shower and she needed someone to talk to.

Half an hour later she vanished from her apartment to reappear outside her church, rosary clutched desperately between her fingers.