10/17 Instance: Catching On

[tears~fall~like~glass]

Timeline - The evening of 'Conspiracy Club'


<@Clarice> Noriko and Jess were hanging out inside so Clarice figured it was a good time to have a chat to Adam alone. It was a nice, clear night but very cold so they'd pulled their coats over their pjamers and sat out on the patio, "So .... really, honestly, how're you feeling?" She asked him gently.

<Adam> Adam was curled up inside his coat, rubbing the side of his face, curled around a cup of coffee. "Honestly..." He shrugged. "Shit, Clarice. It's been months, months and..." He could tell her, she knew and understood and never judged. "...I did it again..."

<@Clarice> "I figured," she patted his arm, "I really am gonna kill that bitch ... do you wanna talk about it?"

<Adam> "Why? She didn't do anything, I didn't have any feelings for her, and honestly I should have kinda expected that of her. I mean...I didn't put out on first date, wasn't expecting her to and...I'm no sporty bastard." He huffed. "That and she insulted you again. It wouldn't have lasted, I was...I was kidding myself...I just..."

<Adam> He sighed. "I...had the fire one again. You know, with the blood and stuff? Dr. Trask had to come out after I got the shot, and he gave me one of those emergency med things. I just...feel like hell, Clari, I'm lonely and I don't know why."

<@Clarice> Clarice made a sad sound and put her arm around Adam, hugging him, "You're not lonely, you've got me, and once we're out of this place and in university you'll be able to find girls who are more ... compatible?"

<Adam> "Are you kidding, Clarice?" He sighed, leaning against her gratefully. "There aren't any 'compatible' girls this side of a mental ward." He chewed his lip. "And honestly, I'm really not that interested. Besides, you can't keep coming back to me all the time, right?"

<Adam> He played with a loose thread. "Just feel misplaced. I'll get over it, I always do, right?"

<@Clarice> "Kind ... strange how we're all feeling the same way, even though we've lived here our entire lives some of us," she thought back to what Eddie had said before ... eww had happened, "Hey ... does this mean anything to you?" She dug her toe in the dust and drew an X in a circle.

<Adam> Adam chuckled. "That's why we started the Conspiracy Club, right?" He looked at the X for the moment, about to shake his head when it clicked, or at least something did. "I remember...I...it does, but I can't remember what. I've seen it somewhere I think...?"

<@Clarice> "Eddie drew it in his sketch book, surrounded by all these like .... words and shit, it was kinda creepy but familiar ...." she sucked her teeth, "Ad ... you're like ... the local expert on being crazy, right?"

<Adam> "Hah, thank you for that, but I guess you're right. I mean, no one else gets the crazy shots or had to sit out anything because of twitchy..." He frowned. Where'd he seen that before? "An 'X' in a circle? What were the words?" He scratched his cheek.

<@Clarice> "Erm ... like Northstar, Blink ... ummm ... Surge, Arachne?" She shook he head, "Those are all I can really remember ... but lately ... I've been like, looking in the mirror and like ... for a second I don't know who's looking back, I feel that I look ... wrong," she shrugged helplessly.

<Adam> "Those are codenames." Adam said, then looked confused. "At least - they sound like it..." He looked at Clarice, before half-shrugging. "I think I kinda get what you mean. I've been waking up and I know something's wrong with me. I would just put it down to the fact I'm always feeling wrong but with everything else..."

<Adam> He looked at the dust again. "...You really think there's something going on, Clarice?"

<@Clarice> "I ... I was at the doctor's office the other day I had like this weird rash and while he was getting some creme I started to have a nose around and ... well ... I found a flier for some kind of ..." she lowered her voice, "some kind of mutant clinic, for a cure .... run by the Bolvar Trask Foundation."

<Adam> Adam looked at her then. "Mutants? Like...CHUDS?" He frowned. "And run by Dr Trask? That makes no sense - you sure it's not a Halloween thing? I mean we'd know if there were mutant freaks wandering around, this isn't a big community."

<@Clarice> "Nooooo, like ... mutants with super-powers ... like we were all tested for in school, but you see, the thing is, I tried to google this foundation, and it was blocked, same with anything to do with mutants. I tried at home and at the community center and I even managed to hack into a few of the other familiy's wi-fi, all blocked ..."

<Adam> Adam was quiet for a moment, thinking fast. "...So...we all feel weird. We all have these weird...tics and dreams, you find that and you can't look up anything on mutants because it's blocked. Call me paranoid and crazy, because I am, but this really is adding up to a conspiracy, isn't it?"

<@Clarice> Clarice nodded, "Yeah ... it's actually kinda scary isn't it?" She gnawed on a stand of hair.

<Adam> "...Yeah." Adam stared at the 'X' again. "It's cool in a movie or on TV but this..." He shivered a little bit. "I mean, let's say this is real, there is something there, then does that mean our lives aren't real? Who're they trying to stop from getting out? What're they hiding from us?" He paused. "You notice none of the adults have this?"

<@Clarice> "Yeah," Clarice used the sole of her shoe to wipe out the X, "when Paul and I were walking in the woods and caught Selena and Max there was this weird fence, it looked new and like ... well maintained and it vanished into the forest either side ... I didn't think much about it at the time but now ... it looked kinda like a perimeter fence."

<Adam> Adam was quiet. "Okay. Weird dreams and thoughts. The flier, the fact mutant information is blocked, adults seem clueless, a possible perimeter fence...no, it can't all be a coincidence, we're being kept in." He hissed, suddenly paranoid, eyes looking around quickly for anything that could be watching them and completely failing to spot the camera.

<Adam> "The flier was for what, a mutant cure clinic? But wouldn't people...you know, volunteer for that shit? And there's no mutants here-" Another thought occured to him. "...Unless we're the mutants..."

<@Clarice> Clarice shook her head, "But we can't be, we all had the test and came up human," she insisted.

<Adam> Adam frowned. She was right, he knew she was, they had all come up human but...but...there was something there...he just couldn't quite make it out. "What...what if...I mean...mutant cure...? What if we had been...no, that's stupid, we'd have remembered, right? I mean I think you'd notice if I was more weird than usual and vice versa."

<@Clarice> "Yeah, exactly I just .... I don't like this, I feel like I can't trust mom and dad and stuff and everything just feels so wrong."

<Adam> "I don't either. Fuck, I'm paranoid already, Clarice, I don't - this is freaky as hell." He shook his head. "Have you told anyone else about this? It's probably a good idea to keep it quiet and between us, until we know who we can trust...none of the adults for definite."

<@Clarice> "Eddie and I talked about it, and we've already talked with Noriko and Jess ..." she bit her lip as she thought about Paul, could she trust him here?

<Adam> Adam nodded, cuddling more into Clarice and shivering. "I really don't feel right now. Nothing's right. I'd put it down to the drugs but nothing's right and now I'm starting to wonder if it ever was. I don't trust Mam and Daid, and now Dr Trask...I mean, I thought he was helping us, not...keeping us locked in...fuck."

<@Clarice> "What do you think we should do?" Clarice asked in a whisper.

<Adam> His first instinct was to find the fence and climb it, second was to confront Trask. Neither was a viable option. "Keep this quiet. Make sure the others do too." He chewed his lip, sipping his coffee. "I'll...I'll have to think about this, I mean..." He frowned. Maybe he should take an out-of-town trip...over the fence, as it were.

<@Clarice> Clarice nodded, "And just carry on like everything's like ... normal?"

<Adam> "We don't have much choice. Anyone we talk to's going to think we're mad. Well." He amended. "They already know I am, so they'll just think I've got bad again and infected you."

<@Clarice> Clarice let out a small chuckle, "The crazy is catching, huh? I guess you're right, so long as we keep our mouths shut we should be okay, I mean ... it's not like we're living in big brother or something."