Truce Ch. 04

The projector flickered on and showed off the same Maelstrom mugshot and some of the footage Epsilon had.

After a long pause of realizing the professor knew more than he was supposed to, McGraw finally spoke up. "Impressed as we are that you have this footage, I don't think-"

"Not as impressed as I am with what I've seen," Dr. Parker interrupted with a knowing smile. "And not nearly as impressed as anyone from your organization must've been if you've seen her face-to-face."

Before McGraw might've subconsciously looked in my direction to give my experience away, I intervened again. "What sources do you have that supply this kind of information to college professors?"

"You should ask the management that pointed you in my direction." I was a little surprised Director Petersen would send us to a man who seems like he knew well beyond the need-to-know basis civilians were on. "Men like him and me have been...shall we say, in the know, about Hierarchy and organizations involved, the kind that would invest in creating a...what's her handle again?"

"Maelstrom," the word left my mouth before I had even time to really process what or how much to say, and I suddenly feared how the word left my mouth. Eyes were momentarily on me for how quickly I said it, creating heat that I wasn't sure was just me, or was a presence nearby to keep me warm in her own way.

"Yes, apt handle for such a wild torrent of power," Parker described as if marveling over the ferocious tendencies of a tiger. "With the expression and demeanor to match. I look at her and sometimes think she was born to be as she is, an angry force of nature, to wreak havoc."

"Ugh, another idiotic asshole..." I heard whisper in my ear and head, in an almost growling way.

"Well, might have a point about the 'wreaking havoc' part," I commented through thoughts.

"Hush, pyro-slut," she growled and purred against me, making it hard not to flinch from pleasure.

"Fate or no, professor," McGraw finally spoke up again, "assuming the power she has was...manufactured, how would one even begin to make that happen?"

Unfortunately, despite knowing more than we expected him too, he devolved into a lot of genetic theorizing and guesstimating, lecturing as if we were his students. I knew McGraw would be recording this meeting, so I didn't feel bad about tuning out all the boring jargon.

"Anything you'd like to add?" I let myself think, hoping for a response.

"About what?"

"About yourself."

"Fishing for tips for tips in how to stop or beat me?"

"Don't give me hope that I actually could."

"Why? Does burning those hopes down sound particularly hot to you?"

"Call it confidential curiosity," I tried sounding unaffected. "It'll stay between us. And honestly, it's hard not to have questions I can directly ask the person I'm blindly researching."

Anticipating more flirtation, confusion hit at how pensive she sounded when she finally responded. "My answers might be disappointing to you, but you can ask."

"Ok...well, we're you really always like this, having all these powers?"

"No, I don't think so. I started with some kind of power, but the rest came later."

"Did the newer powers come naturally, or...other means?"

"Not sure. There's a good chance it's not natural; but I can't remember exactly when they came to me."

More than what she was telling me, the feeling of "can't remember" felt accentuated, more important than anything else she said, leading to answers she didn't know she was giving.

"...before your new powers, what do you remember?"

The silence that followed was deafening, softly screaming her frustration.

"Aside from what they told me, not much."

I didn't need to feel her thoughts to express my next one.

"And you don't trust what they told you, do you?"

"...no. Not even my name."

"What name did they give you?"

"Judith."

I'd been wanting to call her something other than Maelstrom, especially since she loves my pre-Hierarch given name. Judith sounded nice, but shared emotions gave me the impression that something was off about it. Familiar, but off.

"Don't you dare call me that, by the way."

How easy it would've been to simply think "but you look like a Judy," before feeling nipples being tweaked with hot clamps, burning them away for a few seconds. I had to make sure my clothes weren't on fire, wiping sweat off my brow.

"Wouldn't dream of it," even my whispers were strained as my chest danced the line between pain and pleasure.

"And yet you soon might, anyway..."