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[color=tan][h2]Oxley[/h2]
Location: Dat Pizza Place™
Interactions: [@Randomness][/color][hr][/center]

[i]Of course I'm right,[/i] Oxley thought with a bored eyeroll. She fell more silent and let the man talk even if his whole being made Oxley grit her teeth.
Make no mistake, she took the phone when given to her, obviously. She couldn't let some personal bias cloud her judgement. And if there was a tracking device in there... well, she could easily find a way to remove it. Oxley took the phone and the business card after examining the frey piece of paper for a bit, tucking the both of them into her satchel.
"I believe to help build trust between us, I should be available to lend you a hand if need be," Edmond concluded, offering his hand in a shake. Oxley stood up as well, already motioning for the restaurant to bring her a box. She took Mr. Grandure's hand in a brief, albeit cold grip.
[color=tan]"Noted."[/color] Oxley nodded as they parted, the skin contact lingering on her hand like a ghost.
A wave of... nothing. Nothing washed over Oxley. Something was... off. Something...
[color=tan]"Oh... my god."[/color] Oxley gaped at the door, her hand still hovering where the handshake had occured.
"Everything alright, miss?" a staff member of the pizzeria asked as he walked over.
[color=tan]"My headache!"[/color] Oxley all but squeaked, [color=tan]"It's gone! My migraine is gone! How..."[/color] Oxley gaped, her palm coming to rest on her forehead. Was she sick? She always had that dull headache. For as long as she could remember.
"...Miss?" the waiter asked again, having stood there silently while Oxley had been having her ephiphany.
[color=tan]"Oh, um - yes, I was hoping I could take the rest of the pizza home? In a box, or something,"[/color] Oxley rambled, trying to figure out what had just happened. [i]This is fucking awesome,[/i] Oxley thought as she looked around, a smile tugging at her lips. No more headache. That was... so awesome.

Oxley was rather silent the ride back to the compound. She felt... odd. Like, in a [i]great[/i] way. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so peaceful, really. Like she had some space to [i]think.[/i] She didn't know why, and she cared even less why. She just hoped it would last for ever.
"We are returning Mr. Grandure's companion to the Compound. She's deviant Dana Oxley," the peacekeeper that had been escorting Oxley spoke as they reached the security check. [i]Getting inside the Compound was way easier than getting out of it.[/i]
"Miss Oxley, if you will - step through the detector," the peacekeeper at the gate commanded. Oxley obliged, not knowing any better.
[color=tan]"Okay, what's next?"[/color] Oxley asked as she walked through the arch, turning around to look at the peacekeepers. One of them was looking at their computer screen with a puzzled frown.
"Wait, miss... Please, step here again," the peacekeeper motioned, guiding Oxley back through the gate. [i]Uhh... okay. Technical difficulties? Sure.[/i]
Oxley then repeated the process of walking through the gate, looking back after. The puzzled look on the peacekeeper's face persisted.
Once more. Then twice. A third time. Every time the same result. Oxley was growing impatient.
[color=tan]"C'mon. What is it? Why are you making me do this?"[/color] Oxley demanded, folding her arms across her chest protectively. The peacekeeper with the monitor shook their head, mumbling something with another.
"Miss, are you sure you are deviant?"
[color=tan]"I- [i]What??[/i]"[/color]
"Are you a deviant?"
What an idiotic question. Of course she was. Oxley looked at the peacekeepers, baffled.
[color=tan]"[i]Yes,[/i] I am deviant. Isn't that what the machine tells you? I have the bloody chip and everything,"[/color] Oxley argued, her honesty shining through the confusion. She recieved no answer.
[i]Wait.[/i]
[color=tan]"You're telling me the machine... isn't telling you that? That... that's got to be a bug, you know. Technology isn't one hundred percent reliable,"[/color] Oxley stammered, trying to take a peek of the monitor the peacekeeper was holding. The peacekeepers kept mumbling with each other and looking at the screen, clearly paying no mind to Oxley who was growing panicked at the thought of something being seriously wrong with her. [i]Of course things would get complicated the minute I get involved... Just my fucking luck.[/i]
[color=tan]"Hey, can't you just let me go? The records clearly state I'm a deviant. That should override whatever your detector says, yeah? It's not like you care what happens inside those borders either - so just let me go home. Okay?"[/color]
Oxley was feeling a lot of things. Uncomfortable, sure. Confused, scared, even. Hopeful. A tiny part of her thinking maybe it was all true, maybe all these years had been a mistake. Maybe she wasn't deviant.
But that... that didn't make sense. Sure she was, it was obvious. She had the gene. She was literally unable to forget. No sane person could recite the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy word to word.
[i]Calm down, Oxley. Calm down. Just do whatever you do whenever you're feeling overwhelmed. One point one four one... five nine... uh... s-six? No, it was two... I... [b]WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?[/b][/i]

Oxley stared at the peacekeepers, face slack with fear. What in the name of hell was going on? In the pizzeria her migraine had stopped, then the peacekeepers couldn't apparently detect her deviant gene... and now she couldn't even remember the first six decimals of pi? Oxley was shaking. She was feeling like she was detatching from her own body and floating away into space. She didn't know what was happening, but she knew she wasn't in control and she couldn't stand it. It scared her. She needed reason. She needed stability. She needed to be home. Now.
[color=tan]"[b]I- I- I... I NEED TO GET HOME. NOW. LET ME GO HOME,"[/b][/color] Oxley demanded with a shaky voice as her body shivered and eyes stared blankly ahead. A peacekeeper tried to touch Oxley's arm, but she snapped immediately, jumping away from the touch.
[color=tan]"DON'T TOUCH ME."[/color]
"Miss... we can't let you go past here before we resolve this problem. We ask for your patien-"
[color=tan]"I. NEED. TO. GET. HOME. NOW,"[/color] Oxley repeated as steadily as she could, tears slipping from her determined eyes. [color=tan]"Just... let me go. P-please."[/color]

Eventually, they did let Oxley go. The matter had remained unresolved, but apparently the peacekeepers had felt too bad for the dissociating and shaking girl before them to make her stay any longer. As Oxley got back into the Compound, she darted straight for her apartment, walking the street without care for the surrounding people. Oxley tried to repeat a broken mantra in her mind, only to find she couldn't [i]remember[/i] it. That was impossible, wasn't it? She could always remember. Every second. She didn't like being unable to forget, but she had grown to accept it over time. Now she felt out of place, out of focus.
What was happening to her, and more importantly... why?