"Can I go home now?" Charlene said. "Please? Can I? I'm lucky if my e-mail
account isn't erased, whose to say if I can get my job back! My family likely
thinks I'm dead!"
"And you still want to go?" Janice asked, -again-, someone else was leaving.
"All the more so -because- of those reason, I have to do a lot to get my life
back on track! The sooner I get started the better!"
"She's not trying to be harsh Janice." Barbera said standing near Charlene
which made Janice guess what Barbera's decision had been. "I know
because I feel the exact same way. I love all of you, but I have a family back
home that's waiting for me, worried about me, maybe they've moved on,
maybe they haven't, but I just can't pretend I don't know them anymore. I'm
sure Charlene feels the same way."
Charlene said nothing, she just pouted.
"I hope you guys all find what you're looking for, and hope that you Janice,
and Luna and Erica you too, do beat that bastard Karther into the ground so
hard he comes up off the coast of Australia. But my family is -my-
responsibility too. Please don't think me a coward for this. If I didn't have a
family waiting back home, I'd join you in this but... I just can't go into a battle
with abandon with my family never having a clue what happened to me. I'm
sorry, but that's just how I feel."
Charlene tried to find works that matched Barbera. In the end she just had to
settle for. "I'm just tired of this. I don't care that much about the absolute and
total violation of my body anymore, I just want to get on with my life, my -real-
life. Just let me cut my loses and let me -go home-."
"If that's your choice Charlene, I'm not going to ask you to change it." Viki said
reminding everyone she was there. "But do NOT pretend that you're not going
to miss us. Don't pretend you won't ever think of us. Don't pretend, that we
don't mean anything to you."
Charlene closed her eyes, not wanting to look anything in the eye.
"Visit the land of the rising sun sometime." Anna injected, "Maybe you'll be
unlucky, I mean fortunate enough to run into me."
"Ignore her, she's just trying to spook you." Keiko added. "I think."
"Thanks, but I think I'm just gonna stay in my home town." Charlene said. "I've
had enough interesting times to last two lifetimes."
Lisa meanwhile, looked at Erica and Luna, then Keiko and Anna, and finally
Barbera and Charlene. She then stole a glance at Viki, who was keeping an
equal distance from all three group. Lisa inched towards her.
"If we're alive when this is all over, mind if I stop for a visit?" Erica asked.
Tabra shook her head, she was afraid they didn't still quite get it, she just
hoped they did soon enough, their choices had been made, they couldn't be
taken back anymore than a baby could be put back into their womb.
"Not sure how the landlords might feel about divine entities looking like
something off an internet site..." Charlene said, though this time a little less
heartedly.
"I won't be listening in." Tabra said. "If you change your mind and decide you
want to fight later, or ditch your old life for a new one, I won't be in a position to
hear you. I won't be able to help you guys for a while win or lose. If you decide
to come back to Israel, you'll have to do it the old fashioned way."
"I understand." Barbera nodded. "I still hope you guys win, even if I'm not there
with you."
"Ditto." Charlene said. "Save Lucy."
"We will." Erica replied, her voice carrying purpose and will all it's own.
"Then let's get started." The senior angel fox said stepping right up to Barbera
first. Tebra didn't bother with a pretense, she decided she'd just do a quick
watch and learn for Janice.
Barbera started as Janice/Tabra kissed on her the forehead, it felt like the skin
her lips had touched were on fire for a few moment before settling down,
when she felt her forehead, she didn't feel any damage.
"Dang." The senior angel fox said shaking her head. "Those always make me
dizzy."
"What was that?" Barbera asked wondering if Janice had become lesbian.
"Mark of truth, what it does basically is makes sure that your family and friends
will recognize you for -you- when you meet them. I'm normally supposed to
give out those only in extreme circumstances since they're bending the rules,
but I figured you lot deserve it. You've had enough to endure without your
parents, girlfriend, and employer screaming at the site of you and calling
animal control."
Barbera asked her next question carefully. "Will they remember me as I used
to be? Or as I am right now?"
"If that's your choice, but once you make it, you can't undo it."
"You've been saying that a lot lately."
"Actually I've been saying it for a long long time. What's the point of a decision
if there are any consequences to it? There is no point to cause if there is no
effect."
"I don't see anything." Charlene said skeptically.
"It's not that kind of mark." The senior angel fox said. 'Janice, can you do
Charlene? Don't be scared, just play through my recent memory.'
Janice wasn't sure about this, being currently female, she wasn't too thrilled at
kissing another female. 'Isn't there another way to do it?'
'Haven't you ever heard of platonic feelings? This is your good-bye kiss. Is
she your sister or not? Don't pretend there's a middle ground where she can
be 'sorte' your sister when you feel like it. And it's not that at all anyway... you
can't put off saying good-bye, you'll only make it worse the longer you hold it
off.'
Janice surrendered, and planted the kiss on Charlene's forehead, feeling a bit
like Glinda of the North from Wizard of Oz.
'Where do you think they got the inspiration?' Tabra injected.
Janice played through what Tabra had done, feeling the divine aura leaving
behind a mark that created a minor aura of truth around the person who it
held, so that truth could never be mistaken for a lie.
What the four normal vixens couldn't see was the symbol of Truth left behind
on the forehead of Charlene and Barbera, visible as plain as day.
Barbera thought of something gastly. "You aren't going to erase our memories
of all this are you?"
Tabra and Janice managed to be sync long enough to say together. "I'd die
before doing that."
"Well, it's just that you told us how the super natural has been carefully hidden
from innocent people under the pretense of somehow protecting them, so I
was scared that-"
"And I've hated it since day one and refused to be any part of that, it screws
with people's choices, I could never be a part of that." Tabra said keeping an
amazing amount of self control. This was the breaking up of a family, he knew
better than to let out his frustration at the world here.
"Maybe you should get a name tag for which one of you is speaking." Julio
said, everyone looked at him, "I'll be quite a bit longer."
"Now comes the relatively simple part, Keiko, Anna, would you mind as a
practice run of your new talents and free Barbera and Charlene of their sand
armor?"
The two kitesune looked at each other, nodded, then walked around the two
vixens, calmly brushes their collection of tails against the humanoid foxes.
The kitesune magic undid the kitesune magic and the sand armor fell apart.
Julio took a very big hint and turned around and didn't even think of looking
back, the angel foxes had been out of his line of sight thankfully before now.
(not that they would have found themselves minding all that much) Though he
did have to dodge a spear thrown at him.
'I've got this one Janice, creating mundane clothing is an ability you already
have down pat.' Tabra put a hand one each of the in the fur vixens' shoulders.
Tabra calmly pulled out the proto-matter out of it's subspace pocket and
altered it's base structure into something practical for the two ladies to wear.
He left some base instruction in the proto-matter and let it do the work as it
scanned their surface thoughts and altered themselves to what they found.
Both vixen were surprised by what they were wearing.
Charlene was now in a jacket, shirt and tie and matching black pants. While
Barbera wore blue jeans and a 'Top of the Food Chain' shirt.
"Impossible." Said Barbera looking at her clothes in awe. "I was wearing this
shirt the day Karther kidnapped me."
"But Karther destroyed these." Charlene added. She check her pockets to find
her photo ID (a bit altered) her keys and the change she had had on her at the
time. Barbera did the same finding a photo of her family just where she
always kept it.
"He did." Tabra explained. "I just used a little trick to make these things into a
reasonable fact-similarly of the clothes you were wearing before Karther
kidnapped you. With some modifications for your changed body shape and
extra appendage of course. Sorry, shoes don't exactly fit those feet. Before
you go through, we aren't quite done." She turned towards Viki and Lisa. "That
leaves just you two, have you decided?"
Lisa took a step back, clearly meaning that she was submitting to Viki's
choice, or wanted to be dead last.
Viki looked at Lisa, not knowing weather to be surprised or not by her putting
off the question again.
She also looked at her sisters and at each of their choices. She thought of
Lucy and Natalie, and knew she only had one real choice.
"Let me join you, as a solider of heaven then."
Tabra sighed, even as Janice felt a internal leap of joy. Sure, she knew that
this meant Viki would be in danger but... at least she wouldn't lose another
sister.
"This isn't some sport club you can join, do your thing and drop out of, and this
isn't some weekend getaway you can just do as a part time job Viki." Tabra
warned. "This is a lifetime commitment. You're sealing your fate if you make
this choice, you will continue to exist as a Messenger even after your body
dies. Though I can promise you, this won't make death any more pleasant!"
"As everyone has pointed out, I'm the oldest sister here... where that bound
was created by Karther's slavery is meaningless, Lucy and Natalie are also
my responsibility. I won't abandon them. As a cop I was taught to always look
after your partner. Or partners in this case."
"There's a decent change you'll be killed before this whole mess is finally
resolved."
"I'm a New York city cop! Tell me something I don't know!"
"All right then."
'Why are you so reserved against my sisters joining us?' Janice asked. 'I
thought you'd enjoy the company of your own kind.'
'OUR kind: Because I know the weight that comes with this duty more than
any human could. You've seen my memories, you know this job isn't a game.
Anyone who goes onto the battle field has to understand that.'
'I'm sure they do.'
'I hope so.'
Tabra put her hands on Viki's shoulder, as she had with Eric and Luna. She
didn't bother telling her that this was going to hurt, she knew that already. 'All
yours Janice.'
Janice carefully undid the lock on Viki, then undid the lock on herself, and she
felt the angelic essence rush out of her, and rush into Viki.
Viki screamed as the incredible amount of power crashed into her body, filling
it utterly, she felt the very foundation of her spirit be rebuilt, then was amazed
that she could actually -feel- her spirit at all. The white flash filled the room for
the third time.
Lisa noticed how like the two other times, there was now a small glass
impression in the same from where Viki was standing. The sand armor she
had been wearing was obliterated as she was transfigured.
The intense pain in every cell in Viki body vanished in an instant, and she
blinked as the universe came back into a clearer focus than she could ever
remember it having before.
Tabra nearly stumbled backwards from the essence transfer, but kept her
balance, while her power would regenerate faster, it didn't make this part any
easier, in particular when doing it three times in a row!
'We can take a break, hold this off till tomorrow.' Janice said automatically
hoping Lisa would be joining them too.
'No. My, our body can take it. Besides, we need to puts this to rest and move
on Janice.'
'Just don't fade from existence on me.'
'Heh.. so you do care.'
'Huh? Oh! Well, you -did- save my life, and that of my sisters.'
'Thanks for not saying 'if you hadn't interfered then Tammy wouldn't be
Tamthis right now.' '
'I'd be a will less pleasure toy of Karther still if not for you. Or a clone of poor
Tammy.'
'Thank you.'
'Why are you thanking me?'
'Because gratitude from the people I work with isn't something I normally get.'
Viki meanwhile stretched the muscles in her new wings, feeling the blood
flowing into them. Everything was more attune with her, everything around her
made more sense.
"Welcome to the family big sister." Luna let out a kind hearted laugh.
Viki made a small jump upwards and was lifted off the ground for a few
seconds, her wings, her material wings, didn't move a muscle, her -real-
wings, the ones she could see on herself and her sisters who had chosen this
path but could before, where what lifted her.
Most didn't think the color brown could be beautiful, most would consider this
an oxymoron, but Viki's new brown fur was beautiful, as beautiful as a sunrise.
It shined as she stayed still, and shifted between shades and tones as she
moved, yet always maintaining it's harmony. The feathers on Viki's mundane
wings carried this effect to the next step, every feather being an ever shifting
combination of different shades and tones as they moved, somehow always
keeping the balance with each other. She had no gem stone, but her eyes
were the most intense color of amber imaginable, you felt you could lose
yourself in those eyes and you wouldn't mind the visit. Her hair been granted
the same nature flowing naturally in an unseen breeze almost. She still had
Tabra's crucifix around her neck.
Her motions held a presence that made every last one of her sisters pay
attention to her and made sure they didn't miss a word she said or a thing she
did if she wished it.
Instead of thanking Tabra or embracing her transmuted sisters however, her
first words were as an angel were, "Lisa, you have a choice to make,
whatever it is, no one will think less of you for it."
Lisa felt weak looking into Viki's new eyes, her knees almost gave out, but
those eyes held her.
She looked at the divine forms of her four sisters and said, "I've already made
choice. I want to be like you, I want to be with you. Let me be with all of you."
Lisa actually walked up to Tabra/Janice without waiting for the angel to do so,
and actually took Tabra's hands and put them on her own shoulders. "Please,
I know what you've been saying this whole time, but please, do this -before- I
can change my mind! Please!"
'Tabra, are you sure you still have the strength to-.'
'Watch me! Or rather, watch her.'
'No, 'get out while you can speech' for her?'
'I've seen this kind of resolve before, it's best to grant it's request.'
This time Tabra undid the locks, but Janice felt the 'blood/organ/self
transference all the same.
Lisa screamed, and tears came down her face. She felt such pain! The pain
was incredible! She didn't know it was possible to feel this sort of pain! If
Tabra wasn't holding her up she'd have collapsed to the new glassy floor. The
sand armor shattered. Lisa felt two new appendages grow from her back, and
again felt two grow from her spirit. And realized she could feel her spirit as a
separate part of herself, or rather, felt her spirit -as- herself, and that body was
just a body, nothing more, nothing less, something that in the long run held no
true meaning. The confusion and dismay she had felt over losing her species
and gender was washed away, and she could see them for the transient
elements they were. She felt at peace, somehow whole, complete, more than
she ever was before.
She didn't even realize the pain had stopped, the pain had actually stopped
mattering a short bit ago.
Lisa was like a vision, a peeking Julio too conceded this fact.
Sandy beige fur covered her body and tail consistently, her mundane wings
spread fully. A red gem stone stone in her forehead, shaped like a tear. Her
eyes were slightly disturbing, they were like pools of blood. While she didn't
command the same presence that Viki did, she moved as gracefully and
smoothly as any of them. With childlike curiosity she examined every inch of
her body, every last one of her wings, and looked at herself in the glass at her
feet.
Julio was expecting her to shrink at her own appearance. She did no such
thing, she just accepted her appearance as such, and knew she was
beautiful.
"I'm happy to have you with us little sister!" Lisa suddenly said in a hug and
wrapped her mundane wings around her, this was quickly joined in by Erica
and finally Luna.
'I was half expecting one of us to turn blue.' Janice thought.
'We can't all be Krystal from Star Fox, sorry.'
'Isn't red supposed to be an evil color?'
'You're thinking too Hollywood. And to note, in some cultures white is evil and
black is good. And remember, Opposite Number was the single most beautiful
angel in Heaven, really charismatic too.'
'Looks can -still- be deceiving, got it.'
Viki asked. "Lisa... why did you chose to become like me?"
"I well... to be honest, I wanted to stay with the largest group who was going to
stick together. I didn't care which one. But... I'm very VERY happy that I chose
this one."
"So am I." Janice said calmly. 'No words Tabra?'
'She's not the first to make a life changing decision based on family, and she
won't be the last.'
"Now that we're all decided and everything has been done." Tabra said, "It's
time to say good-bye."
Charlene seemed relieved, she was scared they were going to try and press
gang her into this winged group. Barbera felt a slight bang of regret at what
she just missed out on, see the five angels just, well, together, but she had
already made her choice, and thinking of her family at home was all she
needed to cement that choice.
Anna seemed eager to get started on her new career choice. While Keiko
looked slightly hesitant to leave.
Julio watched amazed as the angels moved among their sisters, flowing like
the wind, whispering words of love and endearment and promises to
someday meet again.
The two kitsune and vixens shuddered with the intensity of the moment, and
again wondered for a moment, just a moment, if they had made the right
choice, but there was no turning back now.
The eight way good-bye lasted well over an hour, with various words of 'good-
bye' and 'see you again.'
The angel's heart felt, the vixen's approachable, and the kitesune's up beat
fair wells becoming the mix the which of that Julio in his two thousand plus life
had never seen, and likely wasn't to see again. He was sure to memorize
every detail.
Finally, everything that could be said, was said, and all that was left was the
departing.
'Janice, this one is all yours.'
'Eh?'
'Forgive me, but you need the practice... you can teleport them with you one at
a time.'
'From down here?! Across the planet?'
'You're still thinking like a human.'
'I am a ....' She looked at herself, 'okay, maybe not.'
'The mass is the only really thing that matters, distance is almost meaningless,
you'd half to go across a solar system before it started to matter.'
'You sound like you've tried it before.'
'There's more in the universe than just Earth girl. You humans find out Earth's
not the center of the cosmos and you still think it's the only spot in creation
worth while. Okay Janice, to be fair, we'll do this systematically.'
"Anna." Tabra said, the fox looked at her, "You're first."
The kitesune nodded and moved to the angel fox.
'Now, look into my memories, then picture this place, now draw a line in your
mind between those two points you see. Now shrink the line down, until there
is no straight line, until the two locations overlap, that's it, don't force it, let it.
You don't need to be touching Anna but it'll make things easier.'
Janice picked up Anna in her arms, her five tails getting everywhere.
'Now step across the room, not this room, but the room you see within your
mind's eye and your spirit will do the rest. No! Not out of our body, take it with
you, and ... and... that's it!'
Janice's mundane wings glowed bright white, solid white, and she enclosed
herself and Anna, and in a flash, they were gone.
They were here.
"Behold, on the border between modern technology and the middle ages.
They know what antibiotics are, and they know the Earth goes around the
sun, but you don't any Playstation in this small home town."
They were on a hill over looking a village sill covered in the morning mist as
the sun rose.
"It's funny, it still feels like I'm going home." Anna said, "I guess it's this new
body, but I really can't bring myself to care."
"They're waiting for you Anna, they're waiting for -you-." 'In a warped way,
Project Return continues after all.' Tabra thought.
"Keiko gonna be nearby?" Anna asked.
"In a town a few miles away, maybe you'll end up with a joint place of
worship."
"Heh... I'd like that." Then with just a quick, "See ya!" Anna turned invisible to
mundane eyes and skipped and jumped towards the waiting, unsuspecting,
hapless village below.
"Aren't you kinda helping a rival religion?" Janice said forgetting to speak
mentally for a moment.
'Not quite, if Operation Return is allowed to go foreword, they won't be able to
KEEP our kind from acting in the open... heh... the atheists will sure have an
interesting day.' Tabra expected some kind of retort from Janice, she got
none, not even a feeling of negative emotion.
'Okay, let's go get back Keiko, good-bye Anna.' With Tabra's instructions,
Janice teleported again.
Everyone asked if everyone had gone all right, Janice answered the best she
could. Soon enough though, it was Keiko's turn. The kitesune gave her sisters
all one finally good-bye, and hugged Janice the best she could. Still kneeling
in the huge, Janice closed her mundane wings around them, and carried
them instantly to Keiko's new home.
She asked about Anna of course, she seemed kinda scared she'd in this
alone, but Tabra told her how with what she knew, she had little to worry
about.
"I'm sure you'll made a good village kami Keiko." Janice encouraged.
Keiko accepted these words, and kindly saying saying that they'd meet again
next couple centuries, and amazing herself at how calmly she said that, she
entered her waiting new hometown much as Anna had.
'If that's the way kitesune are supposed to be. Then why is Karther humanoid
along with all his slaves?'
'Because he's a perverted deviant who fell in love with the human form. Only
one leader has ever been Perfect Janice, and Karther isn't him. However he
was the stronger magic user of the oldest of the kitesune families so the job
automatically fell on him. Hopefully when Karther is removed the next kitsune
will be a lot more sane.'
Janice realized something. 'You're hoping it's Keiko aren't you?'
'Why not? She's a full fledge kitesune now, she knows what it's like to be a
slave, she's not likely to force transformations on people, mental changes
even less so!'
'But, she's not exactly the most confident sorts, I remember even when she
and I were Karther's brainwashed slaves, she somehow managed to be
meeker than the rest of us.'
'She has a friend with her, she won't be able to keep Anna away, and maybe
being a guardian will build up the confidence she needs. We'll see... if we get
out of this alive and sane... that's when the real work will begin. But hopefully
this will be the end of the exciting part.'
'So do I. I just hope the clean up crew doesn't decide my solution isn't quite
good enough.' Tabra said.
'Meaning?' Janice asked.
'Stop being scared of looking into my memories, and stop trying to hide yours.'
'It's the only privacy I have left, just cause we're going to become one person
doesn't mean I have to pretend we already are.'
'Granted. But back to your original question, if the clean up crew thinks me
giving some of the vixens a chance to start their lives over wasn't good
enough. They'll alter history or perhaps just the perception of reality, so those
who chose the option of becoming Kitesune had been born that way and
have been acting as guardians for those backwater towns and villages for
centuries.'
'You said hopefully.'
'Yeah. It all depends if Operation Return is allowed to continue or not. Karther
royally screwed things up. A lot like someone else I used to think I knew. If
Operation Return is given the green light, they'll be no -need- for memory
rewrites anymore... happy day.'
After watching the sunrise for a bit more, they teleported away.
++++++
Meanwhile, were angels feared to tread and nobody likes to be.
"Mourning Star, what are our orders."
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"We're going to sit back, relax, and -watch- this train wreck happen, there's no
need for us to be get directly involved. They'll be plenty for to us salvage out of
the wreckage."
"Yes sir."
++++++
Charlene was eager to be next, unlike the others, though she did make sure
to tell the others that, yeah, like it or not, she -would- miss them.
Janice respected Charlene's personal space, and merely touched her to
make the teleport easier.
In a flash, having looked in Charlen's memory Janice teleported them to her
family's apartment. Her only hope was that they hadn't moved away.
Janice wondered for a moment if they were still Japan in the morning, all the
fog everywhere... until she heard some big chimes and saw a familiar giant
clock tower. Big Ben.
"You don't sound British."
"Karther stole a LOT from me." Charlene said with finality. "He thought the way
I spoke was annoying."
"I'm sorry."
Charlene said nothing to that, she merely looked at the door on the side of the
building that held her home. Time to find out weather or not his family even
still lived there.
Tabra wondered if Charlene knew much courage this actually took. All the
same, the fox woman walked up the -thankfully- deserted stairway, and
walked across the open balcony, she finally came to one particular door, and
knocked on it.
Three minutes and nothing, Charlene however didn't move an inch, neither
did the angel fox.
Then Charlene's heart skipped a beat, she heard a lock being undone, and
slowing it opened, and Charlene did her best not to shake.
A late forties woman said a hopeful and desperate look in her eyes. "Charles
my boy is that really you?"
Charlene mere nodded, broke down, and a second later the two women were
in tears of joy hugging each other.
'Mark of truth?'
'You already know the answer.' They teleported back.
"Last one." Janice said not sound at all happy about it.
"I know." Barbera replied. "I'm ready." She said simply.
There was nothing left to say, everything had been said, the door had already
been closed.
Janice couldn't hold it in, and hugged Barbera as they teleported, this time
Tabra had to take control to keep them from ended up in the planet's crust.
"Welcome home." Tabra said surprisingly kind.
The noise, the stink, the people who just ran this way and that, always in a
hurry, never taking in the sites, power lines, phone lines, and trolly lines all
hanging dangerous low overhead with bobbing hills as far as the eye could
see. This could only be,
"San Francisco." Tabra observed for Janice.
"Yep." Barbera replied. "Look, can you please, just go? I don't want to sound
cold but, I just wanna see my family."
"As Barbera or as your original self?"
"I haven't decided yet." Barbera admitted. "I'll figure something out before I get
there, I always do...Janice, Tabra, thank you so much. I wouldn't be here, back
home, if it weren't you. ... heh...see you later."
Barbera slowly turned around, and began to walk through the city streets. Of
course she got a lot of stares, most told themselves it was just a costume, or
some cos-player who didn't know how to keep it in the convention centers.
This -was- San Francisco after all. But her family wouldn't make such an
assumption, they'd see the truth.
'Shouldn't we be worried about her?'
'Don't worry.' Tabra said, 'she's kept all the basic combat knowledge she was
given when Karther made her into a warrior to try and kill me. Worry about any
mugger who tries to attack her.'
'I thought that part was removed.'
'Karther's -mark- on her was removed, she's her own person, but she still has
the fighting talent, I figured it was the least I could do, seriously, I mean it, stop
trying to not listen in on my thoughts, it'll save us all a lot of misery.'
'Maybe.'
'Let's go to our home.'
When Janice teleported back, her four sisters, those who had chosen to
remain all looked at her. Waiting for what was to come next.
Janice and Viki looked at each other and stepped closer. Finally they hugged
each other, covering each other in their mundane wings, comforting one
another. True, their four other sisters weren't dead. But they had chosen their
paths, and those paths had now separated.
All of Julio's previous encounters with angels had each been one on one
affairs. To be here among five, even if four of them were only recently 'born'
was a slightly humbling experience. Though he still felt more than a little
uncomfortable that these all used to be male humans, like him, he admitted,
they did look beautiful. The fact that four of them were nude was enough to
almost give him a nose bleed, if such things actually happened when men got
excited.
Much later, it was finally Luna who broke the silence.
"So that's now just leave the question, what do we do about those we have
who are still under Karther's brainwashing? Alexandra? Gene? Lucy?
Natalie?"
Tabra and Janice spoke at the same time through the same mouth. "We save
them, that's what."