Marta sat at a table in the lounge. Her school work was done, but she still had some time before she had to take over watching Lily, so she turned to her task for Sage. She hadn’t told anyone about their relationship. It wasn’t shame or anything, it just hadn’t come up. When Elyse had asked what Marta about what she wanted for Christmas and she indicated that she wanted computer parts (she had given her a couple of the less expensive parts in the list Sage had provided). Marta thought Elyse had her suspicions, but let her be. She didn’t want to tell anyone about Oracle yet. The adults would probably try to get her to stop.
She opened the file full of nonsense. She somehow had to make sense of this. Her computer class had told her that this was called a “checksum” and Marta knew that the key to the encryption was within. Her studies had given her enough information to figure out how to manually find what she was looking for. She made a copy of the file and used the copy to make her modifications. She wanted to keep the original in case she screwed up.
Manual decryption was inefficient. Marta knew that there had to be an easier way to do it. She had spent two days on this and had gotten virtually nowhere. Something in her coding class was key. She knew that. Despite her frustration, she didn’t ask Sage for help. His teaching method was effective. The fact that she knew what to look for in the checksum was proof enough for that. She was not only learning, but was remembering it. Still she had to wonder if he ever checked on her progress and was laughing at her feeble attempts to figure out his puzzles.
Anna arrived at Kallisti alone. It was an odd feeling, but Elyse was meeting with her psychologist and would be in later. Anna was proud of Elyse. The other woman had taken Hayden’s advice to see a psychologist and was on meds. She could be moody at times, but was beginning to adjust. There were still times of immense sadness within her. She struggled with the concept of family still, but was starting to understand. She talked more with the kids, Liam, and Liv now too. Elyse was reaching out, and it was helping.
Anna had seen the way Elyse had looked at the sentient victim too. Rachel Shale. It was a crush, and that thought made her think of Cade. Apparently he had been to the house too - on the day Nox almost got himself killed. Quick intervention by Marta’s guardian Ricky and Liv’s healing abilities had likely saved his life.
As usual, the kids were here doing their work. Marta sat at a table, her eyes glaring at a computer screen. That girl had done almost a complete 180. She hadn’t exactly been shy before, but she was opening up too. It was interesting to see. Elyse had explained it. Something about her inner wolf not being a big threat to the girl anymore. She had found reason to be human. Elyse had gone on more with that and Anna thought she understood, but she didn’t need to. She just needed to know Marta was alright.
Marta looked up at her and gave a wave that was cordially returned. Marta looked a little frustrated and Anna knew she struggled with school. She was also pretty independent and wanted to figure things out on her own, but wasn’t beyond accepting help. But the girl turned back to her screen right away and got busy working again. As Anna passed by she heard the girl grumble about needing two monitors. Anna hadn’t known she was taking computer classes. Anna passed by, making a note to check on her later. Right now Anna had her own homework to do.
Anna embraced her power and began channeling first the five threads: fire, water, air, earth, and spirit. Then she did the weaves she knew: fire and illusion, Sterling’s ball of light, and her own wolf eye weave. She went through the exercise fast. It wasn’t meant to practice the actual weave, but to practice the weaving process itself. She was becoming more familiar with it. The thing she hated was that she had to hold the power to actually keep the effect up. It was draining.
She let the weaves go, but kept the power, thinking. She wove her illusion again, and looked at the weave, examining it. They were threads. Threads woven together. Threads that could be tied. Her eyes widened and she went to a mirror and wove her wolf eyes. Her eyes turned gold at the illusion. Then she took the ends of the weave and tied them together. Tentatively, she let go of the weave and the power itself. She gasped. Her eyes still shone with golden illusion.
Marta gave Anna a polite wave as she came in and got back to work. She stared at the Checksum. Going back and forth between the book and the document was frustrating.
”God, I need another monitor,” she mumbled to herself.
The worst part was she knew what she had to do, just didn’t know how to do it. Looking at the textbook, it was all there, but she wasn’t focused enough to absorb it. Marta was feeling frustrated. She just wanted it all to stick. She groaned and began lightly banging her head on the table.
Marta smelled Anna before she sat down. ”Marta, are you okay?”
Marta sighed. ”Yeah, I’m fine. Just none of this is sticking right now. It’s not that complicated, I just…” her voice trailed off as she looked up and saw Anna’s eyes - golden just like hers.
Anna laughed. ”Its an illusion, Marta. Just a trick of my magic.” Marta smiled. ”You've been studying all day, I’m assuming. Take a break and come back to it later with a fresh mind. Maybe that will help.” Anna said. ”How about you take a walk with me - get to know each other better.”
Marta smiled. It sounded like a good plan. She checked the time to make sure. ”Okay - that sounds fun. I just need to keep an eye on the time. I have to take over Lily duty soon.” Marta closed her laptop and stood up to walk with Anna.
Anna smiled as Mary’s joined her. They weren’t leaving the building, but Anna thought that she could get to know Marta better. Marta was a good if troubled kid. Elyse was close to her as well. They walked into the main stage area.
”Is there where you and Elyse dance?” Marta asked.
Anna nodded. ”Most of the time. We dance in other places too.”
Marta surprisingly took the lead and went to the main stage and leaned on it, resting her arms on the lip of the stage. There was silence for awhile. Anna could see the gears working behind her eyes. ”You said your parents were from Mexico right? Have you ever been there?”
Anna shook her head. ”They were. They moved to the States before I was born. I’ve never been there. Do you miss it?” Marta apparently had some things on her mind, and Anna was more than willing to be her confidant.
”No, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Ever since - “
”The wolf inside calmed?” Marta nodded. ”Does it make you sad?”
Marta shook her head again. ”Not anymore. It used to. There’s some sadness about missing my parents, but Now I just get angry. It burns inside.” Marta turned her eyes to Anna, and she could see the girl’s anger - not at her. ”It’s different though. I don’t feel anger because of what they did to me. I’m angry because they’re still doing it to other people.”
Anna looked at the girl in surprise. It made sense that she had those feelings, but at the same time, it was incredibly mature of her. She wasn’t focused on her own pain. She worried more about other people. ”Thats…hard to do. To move past your own pain.”
”Its weird. But it feels right. I just wish I could do something about it. Elyse says that I can use my stories to do it. The superheroes I draw. But it doesn’t feel like enough. It’s just…no one should have to go through what I did.”
Anna put her hand in the girl’s back in a comforting gesture and Marta leaned in. Anna gave her a hug.
Marta accepted the hug without words. She trusted Anna. It was weird. Not too long ago she hardly trusted anyone, but now it seemed like she was trusting everyone. That made her happy. It scared her too - not because she didn't want to trust others, but because that meant more opportunity to get hurt by someone if they betrayed her. She was still healing from her trauma, but she found herself wanting to work for it. She wanted to trust these people. They considered her family.
"Elyse says you're good people. I believe that Anna Rodriguez. You're good people," She smiled as she released the hug.
They stood in silence for a bit. "Hey Marta," Anna said, smelling of curiosity. "Can I ask you something personal - it's about your past and I don't want to open any wounds that may have healed." Marta thought for a moment and nodded. "I would think that given your past - this place wouldn't be a place of comfort for you. That it might be a trigger or something. I was just wondering how you keep calm here?"
Marta smirked as she faced Anna because the answer was simple. "Do yo want to be here?" Marta asked.
"Yes - very much so."
"That's why. It's what is different from the brothel. Everyone wants to be here. And there is a sense of family here. I'm safe here because I'm family here. No one will hurt me."
Anna nodded as Marta's alarm went off. "It's time for me to go relieve Liam. I got work to do. Thanks for talking with me Anna."
"My pleasure," Anna said as Marta gave her a hug and bid her goodbye. She went to the next room and found Liam, taking Lily from him so he could focus on his own things.