[center][h3] [/h3][/center][h3][hr][color=#38547C]Keaton Plasse[/color][/h3][hr]
Archie spoke up first, and Keaton listened, feeling an edge of guilt sharpening as he spoke. ‘Aim me… I can buy us time.’ That was precisely what she’d been thinking, because she’d seen him transform enough to know how much damage he could do, how much control he had, and how friend and foe could bleed together under the wrong circumstances. Was she scared of him? Of him as a human, no, but the risk he posed? Of course. If she were a more wary person, or if circumstances had been different, perhaps she would have suggested that he stayed behind. Bringing him was as risky as it was helpful, but in this case they numbered few among the ship and every set of powers had its use. So she silenced her doubts, silenced the part of her that wanted to be nervous around him, telling it that having him around was helpful, that it would benefit everyone more in the end. And it was easy to do that, given how unassuming he looked and acted, just like how it was easy to pretend that the guilt didn’t cut. 

The introduction of Packet into their plans was a welcome one, considering how much the ship relied on Cara, and Keaton felt a rush of admiration for Eli. She’d known that Eli wasn’t one to sit on her hands, but to go and find a way into the Spire all on her own was impressive. From the way she spoke of Packet—‘the guy,’ ‘my source’—Keaton figured them not too close, so how trustworthy was he? And was he more of a glitch or a virus in the face of Cara? 

When Eli brought up why she originally decided not to go, and why she was deciding to now, though, Keaton understood. Her own reasoning echoed similar themes, but was fundamentally different all the same. For one, while she knew the likelihood of the plan working wasn’t high, Keaton never had to worry about going alone. If she was ever going, she knew she’d be bringing others. Her power, or lack thereof, left no room for argument. It’d be an all or nothing effort. On the other hand, while family was also at the forefront of her concerns, Keaton’s dad was getting by on his own. Sure he needed to pretend that Keaton was a-okay up in the sky to do so, but he was living on. She wanted him to move on, remarry, and have more kids, even. At one point in her life, getting siblings had been her dream, but now it was hers for her father.

But she’d wanted lots of things. She’d wanted normalcy, security, and comfort, but she’d also wanted to be honest with her father. And she couldn’t have all those things. Choosing normalcy meant choosing a life of fear and lies. Choosing security meant giving up comfort and normalcy. Choosing to be honest with her father? That’s how she ended up here. She could blame it on the stress, perhaps, or on her lack of belief in conspiracy theories. How was she to know the government really was tapping calls? But at the end of the day, Keaton blamed it on herself, on how naive she’d been to think that she could go on as usual despite being a para. Life for her fundamentally changed the moment she realized she had powers, and wanting, wishing to go back? That was her mistake. 

It wasn’t much justification compared to the others’. She had no lofty goals, no real drive to do good. She was simply present and able, and she figured it not to be the worst way to go out. At least it was better than ducking her head and feigning ignorance for the rest of her life. Compared to that, a chance at helping her friends find redemption and doing the right thing didn’t sound bad at all. 

Natalie’s story confirmed some of Keaton’s suspicions and vastly overshadowed others. It’d been obvious that [i]something[/i] had happened to her, but what that something turned out to be was more horrifying than Keaton would’ve ever thought. Project Lion? Giving non-paras powers? Natalie had been a para turned para, but… it’d worked, hadn’t it? In some twisted, awful way, those people had managed to produce results. That meant it wasn’t over for Project Lion, meant that Project Promise had another shred of validity.

Amelia spoke, then Nic, who revealed his power readily. It was a strange concept. Spores that could infect others and allow him to peer through their eyes—that was pretty vague, but she’d follow up with a few necessary questions. After.

Lynn came in with the sense, reiterating the goal. The children. But where was the line between Lynn and a child? Was it the years or the innocence that made the difference? As for the escape pods, there wasn’t much to decide between for Keaton. The kind of life she’d find through an escape pod wasn’t the kind she was looking for. They were an option, not a goal.

“Finding the escape pods would probably take some work, so we need to decide whether that’s a priority for us,” Keaton said, looking between the table. “It doesn’t sound like anyone’s first priority is to escape, but we should decide now. When given the chance, do we head towards the escape pods or the kids? Do we expect to split up immediately, or at all?”

She looked to Eli. “And Packet. Is there no way he’d agree to come with us? It’s not a guarantee, but he’d probably be helpful with breaking the kids out or accessing the escape pods.” Or just getting through doors, really, but that was a given. “Do you think you can convince him? And do you trust him enough to try? He’d be in a prime position to alert Cara, and I doubt he’ll get in much trouble if he turns us in.”

“Either way, we should probably share our powers too, if only to make things easier for Nic. No reason he has to get into this without knowing who he’s getting into this with,” Keaton said, glancing to Nic. “I’ll start. In cases where I’m guessing and have enough information, my power tells me when I make a correct guess.”