ArchivedLogs:Environmentally Friendly Bug Offense

Environmentally Friendly Bug Offense
Dramatis Personae Kisha, Rasa	2013-06-03 (Part of Them! TP)
Location <XS> Gardens
From indoor gardens to outdoor, though without the protective greenhouse glass the back gardens do not last all year round. Still, the gardens out here are well-tended and well-worth spending time in, as well. The paths wending through the beds of flowers and herbs and vegetables spread out through the school's back grounds, tended by students as a credit class. Benches offer seating and a small pond is home to koi and turtles, as well as a few frogs. At the far back edges of the garden, a droning buzzing marks a few stacked white boxes as beehives. Classes are spotty the last week of school, as some teachers have opted to test the week before, while others are still holding out with their torture for the times when the students' brains have evaporated with hopes of summer break or summer vacation. Having finished hir only exam for the day, Rasa has taken the opportunity to spend some time in the sun, staring at the hives. Well, ze would be spending time in the sun, if there was any sun. Instead, it is dark and cooler (than the last few days anyway) and looking like it will rain at any moment. Ze is sitting on the sidewalk closest to where Ivan usually sits, staring at the bees as they flit about the hives under their own direction. Hir skin is pale and a bit gray, hair a light blonde, eyes a washed out blue, with dark rims to define the irises from the whites. Ze is wearing an aqua tank top, covered in the front with sequins that shine even in the dim light. Hir jeans actually have a small button in the back to keep the jeans up over the hole ze cut for hir new tail. Flipflops have been discarded. Ze is not ... exactly where Ivan sits as the bees are busy being bees aren't exactly friendly to people anymore. Kisha marches through the ickyness that is outside with purpose, nay with /zeal/. Her fingers dance on her touchpad computer with a stylus, scribbing notes as she marches over. "Ah. Rasa," she says loudly once within what could be considered the limit of polite conversation range. "A pleasant co-incidence finding you here. I had a few questions... I am hoping to assit with the Ivan matter..." There is a pop-popping of bubbles in a chrome bubble pipe, which is perhaps the only thing that might distract from her deerstalker hat. "I have a theory and I was hoping you and Peter could provide some insight." Aside from her hat & pipe she's dressed rather normally in her black on black combo. Pop pop pop go more bubbles. Rasa is quick to jump and slow to turn when someone calls hir name. Ze looks a little confused at Kisha when she appears, blinking rapidly, brows climbing hir forehead. "Oh." Ze shakes hir head to disrupt hir distraction, pulling hir feet underneath hir to stand. "Okay. You have questions?" The hat is /EYED/, but then bubbles are produced by the pipe and hir eyes follow them. "Are you a detective now? Or were you always a detective, just in disguise?" "Props," Kisha explains earnestly. "Are /very/ important for getting into the right mindset. Vital no less. I would have gone for a Noir detective, except I am currently out of spirits." She nods, bubble-bubble, then adds "I also note that I did help considerably with finding Peter without actually needing to put my shoes on." She stops writing and pulls the pipe out. "Plus I also had to check the bees for any oddness that supports or disproves my theory." "Yes, I am quite familiar with your success rate in the situation with Peter." Rasa nods solemnly and clasps hir hands behind hir back. "They seem very ... bee like right now. They do not seem agitated or more or less subdued than an average hive." Hir lips press together when ze is done, drawing hirself up a little taller, gaining another inch, tail lifting from its limp posture on the ground. It's still low, but it's not completely dead anymore. "So, what questions did you have for me?" "Did he say or do anything out of the ordinary between the time he went missing and.. lets say the field trip," Kisha asks glancing between the pipe and her touchpad. With a frown she clicks something closed on the pipe and then shoves it in her pocket. "Or did he say anything out of context with the situation? Slip into Russian and say anything you don't understand." She eyes the beehives warily. "Once we are done talking I am going to open them up and /check/." There is a slight twitch of distaste at the very notion. "Open them up? You know that you need gear for that, right? Beekeeper suit, hat with netting, smoke pot things. I'm not fully sure we actually /have/ any of them on account of Ivan not needing them." Precautions out of the way, Rasa takes a moment to consider Kisha's question, hir gaze becoming distracted. "Well, yes. He was quite distracted when we were at the... outside the dance. He seemed quite happy though, which struck me as odd. He wanted to go back in and be around people, when he generally tends to be less inclined. I am in his head a lot, so the lapsing into Russian isn't all that uncommon. Again, it was stronger that night." Kisha shrugs. "I made the appropriate equipment after the /bee incident/," she explains. "I just wanted to make sure they hadn't swarmed and left first. Outside the dance. Did you notice any of his pets acting strangely at the same time? Facing in a specific direction or acting agitated? As if trying to follow conflicting sets of orders." "He specifically had no pets with him." Rasa replies, exhaling quietly, hir tail moving around hir body to itch at hir arm. "He said he didn't bring spiders this time, but I didn't see any others with him. I guess I convinced myself that he felt he didn't need them because he didn't feel like he needed to hide behind them with me anymore, but it does seem... odd now." Ze fidgets, shifting hir weight when the situation starts to sink in again. "You made them? You checked the hives after the bee incident?" "Oh no, I made them because I needed to speak to Ivan and I didn't know if it would be dangerous. I never actually checked the hives," Kisha clarifys, frowning and making some more notes. "I also have an NHBC suit I got from ebay which would in theory also work. Except I would rather not open that because it is a single use item. I am wondering if perhaps he left his pets behind because they were acting up and he thought people would notice. But that is pure speculation at this point. You mentioned being in his head, did you feel anything else in there with you?" Her head tilts slightly. "I have to admit I was unaware you had telepathy.. I am right in assuming that is what you are refering to?" "Ah, well, I don't really talk about that part much." Rasa admits sheepishly. "It doesn't come up, as I can only use telepathy with touch, so tend to just not ... touch people." Ze scratches at the side of hir neck with hir hand, slipping it back behind hir a moment later. "Yes. There was a presence. I asked Ivan about it and it drew him in pretty heavily. It was hard for him to pull himself away from it, but he did... and said he didn't know what it was. It was... not like his usual power use. There was no feedback, only obtaining... information." Kisha ahs. "Well," she starts. "This is /interesting/ especially as it was able to influence him here of all places." She scowls at the notion. "Not great news, but it does fit my theory so far. Thinking about it I don't think I know anything about your power because you seemed disinclined to talk about it. So forgive my prying just now about the telepathy." She lets out a sigh and reaches for the bubble pipe. "My current theory is that someone has a power much like Ivans. Controlling insects or perhaps /insect mutants/. Which would explain the giant part of the giant ants. I suspect that recently this entity has moved close enough to New York that Ivan has tapped into the signals. Hopefully his subconcious left some form of clue, perhaps in his pets, or in something he blurted out." Rasa nods, affirmatively to Kisha's theory. "Yeah, there seems to be a few people who have fallen upon this conclusion." Ze takes a deep breath, and when ze lets it out, ze deflates a little, gaze falling down and more toward Kisha's feet at this point. "No, he didn't blurt out anything to me, but maybe did to Kai. Also, he has notes, I guess. A sort of journal. I'm not sure what to say though, he seemed utterly unaware of it before I pointed it out. Subconscious things - they don't always... leave good trails." Ze gnaws on hir lip. "It's okay... I guess, to ask about my powers. I just don't advertise. A number of people are uncomfortable with telepaths, and others just want to sort of see me do stuff, change - which isn't always pleasant." "Telepathy is at it's heart one of the best examples of why people fear mutants," Kisha muses distractedly. "It makes someone question if they are really themselves. But anyway I am sure you are responsible with your use of telepathy." She blows on the bubble pipe some more. "Even a bad trail would be very interesting. It would mean on some level he is fighting the influence.... Who else has ventured such theories? Doctor McCoy perhaps?" "Shane, Sebastian, and Peter have ventured that the giant bugs have taken Ivan away." There's a hollowness to Rasa's tone as ze relays the theory. "It has been voiced to the staff. I believe they are giving it credence. The twins were tracking something by scent for a while, but it disappears, indicating flight, and were trying to figure out how to narrow down the kinds of things it could be, but descriptions of scents on insects are hard to find on the internet." Ze rubs a hand against hir temple, hir discomfort growing. "The teachers will likely contact others they know in the city to attempt to track them. I guess they are experts. I did not know who they were referring to." Ze straightens after a moment and locks eyes on Kisha. "I .. want to help. I know you may not have things readily for me to do, but if... there is anything you think of that I can do that does not violate student rules for leaving campus, I will do it for you." Kisha tilts her head. "A giant flying insect?" she muses. "Interesting. Or perhaps tunneling. Either way I suspect it will be too long since the event for me to tell..." She bubbles away furiously. "I assure you, if I need help I will be sure to ask for it. I believe strongly in group collaboration especially in matters for which my skillset is not appropriate. What puzzles me is the link between Ivan, giant ants and a town being undermined. I... this is very insenstive of me isn't it?" "I... No, it is okay. I do not know what I can do. I have to do something, but I cannot even dream of what I would do around giant insects. I can throw some punches. I can copy humans, but if they are not humans turned into insects, then I cannot do anything. I am not a tracker, so putting me in tunnels or attempt a flying mutation to search is rather out of the question. I have no money for hiring a helicopter and no expertise in flying one. Every time I have an idea... there's still nothing I can do." Rasa explains patiently, just on the dry and distracted side of despair. Ze pushes down the emotions further, turning further gray and pale. "There are a lot of dead ends at this point. Please, though, keep thinking. Keep trying. I will help when you come up with something." Kisha looks up, as if expecting a giant bug to go past. "I do have aerial drone craft," she ventures, waving her hand upwards. "But given the search area could be assumed to stretch as far as New Jersey.... That would be a huge waste of time and resources. I will presume staff are tracking his phone.. I had counter measures in mind for giant ants but I rather needed Ivan for them. My back up plan is also a little gruesome and potentially ineffective. Especially if they attacked directly.... According to the internet you can kill ants by feeding them corn meal, wheat flour or dried rice. It expands and they burts. There is no real practical way to apply the knowledge however." "Also, the quantity of those grains in order to affect the digestive tract of a being that large may be difficult to just offer them without them understanding our intentions." Rasa frowns softly and shakes hir head after a moment. "His phone was found destroyed just outside of the gate. That... is a dead end." This bothers Rasa quite a bit. Ze turns back to stare at the hives. "Perhaps you could offer your drone to the teachers for searching the tunnels when we think we have gotten close. It might providereconnaissancewithout alerting beings that base things on smell an alert to our interest." Kisha coughs. "I am only saying this in the strictest confidence," she says quietly, glancing around to ensure no-one else can overhear. "But the school has that covered already. I can't explain on the details, but they have better suited drones than my various incarnations of the Mini Hindenburg. But... they destroyed the phone? If I knew to what extent that might be of passing interest but I expect Doctor McCoy has already done the math. It could indicate roughly how much force was used." "Regular old flame throwers may keep large bugs at bay, unless they are attracted to them, but that generally spells their own doom anyway." Rasa exhales and shakes hir head. "I guess. I don't know how it was destroyed. It might have just fell from his pocket from a height." Ze eyes Kisha then remembers to say, "Don't worry. I won't talk about their drone things." Kisha pouts. "They won't let me build flame throwers," she points out. "Very severely against school rules. I had this very cunning plan involving ant pheromones and a crop duster drone, but without Ivan to help farm the ants I don't think it will work. Given the sheer size and strength of that scale ant I am not sure many conventional weapons will be useful. They could well be fast enough to charge someone with a flamethrower and snip them in half.... And if they combine insect mentality and numbers but with human intellect behind it we could be talking a situation where they need to call in the army." Rasa nods and fidgets. "It seems like putting Logan into a bad mood and dropping him down the hole might be the best solution." Ze rubs at hir face. "Okay. Well. Maybe we can get Ivan back in a strategic sting and manage your pheromone idea then. I think I... need to go inside for a bit. Probably eat something. Please let me Know if I can help with your investigation further."