Little Birds

[Nox]

Juls stood up as part of the show. Her exit needed to be one, and the poor girl in red was going to end up with a beat read face, but that was all part of the game. But she'd be safe here. Everyone would make sure of it. She took the girl who had stood up first and was more than eager to leave. Juls wasn't sure if it was because of the offer or what Ilesha had been her for. She'd seen the glow on the woman, and the kinship was right on with both of them - as with so many of the girls here.

She offered her hand to Ilesha and smiled for the men watching her. She slipped out of the chair and took her hand, but it was not elegant - they'd have to work on that if she was going to hang around here at all.

Juls leat the two women through the tables and out the side entrance into the back of the club. The noise was cut in half the moment the door closed, and soon in the bowels of Kallisti the noise died down to just a dull thudding. Juls wondered where Nox was at the moment - he had a habit of bringing her new women - or girls as the last one had been. He was probably worse than Ori - at least she only brought women of age to the club. Though she probably had it a lot worse than Nox. But she wasn't going to compare.

"Alright ladies, you can call me Juls back here. Let's go someplace quiet to talk." Juls took the two women into the dressing parlour, "Let me change into something more comfortable and while I do that you can ask any questions you might have."

[Ilesha]

Rena was up and moving before Moon Pyre lead them away. She took them both by the hands and wound her way through the tables. It was all part of the show as she lead them to an 'employee's only' door. They were going into the back. That was slightly better, but only half way so as she introduced herself as Juls and took them to a dressing room. Questions? She didn't have many - at least not that a stripper could ease anyway. Most of them had to do with what she was doing with in the Consult itself. It was such a surprise to be taken so seriously. No one at home thought twice about her work with the engines, but here, the power was being at least studied. She was here to find friends - kinship. She wasn't sure was looking in the right place but there was a sort of connection between them all - a fondness of sorts.

Juls started changing into something more comfortable first by removing most of what she had been wearing, down to the thong she kept on. And she was pretty sure that was just for Ilesha's benefit.

Ilesha turned away and looked at the boa Juls had been wearing. "How do you get the boa to look like flames."

Juls chuckled. "It's a simple trick of the eye. It's a new element to the act, once I was told to think of my experiments like science projects a lot more becomes practical."

"Who told you that?"

Juls pulled a red sweatshirt over her head that contrasted nicely against her red lipstick and she was wearing jeans - comfortable clothes Ilesha thought to herself. "I'm sure we can find you some more comfortable clothes. Mist is your size I think. If you like black?" She rummaged around in another corner of the room and handed Ilesha a pair of black jeans and black t-shirt with sparkles all over. "If you want the source of the information you won't find it, Nox and his sister came upon that knowledge, sadly she's passed and we don't get to learn from her. Only her sage wisdom passed on by a man who knows nothing of our power, but has some of his own. If you like show offs."

Juls nodded towards a folded wall and smiled. "You can get dressed back there." That's what Ilesha did, quickly went behind the wall for her own sanity's sake and to dressed in someone else's clothes.

[Rena]

Ilesha's scandalized look- and hurried change out of what could only be called a very sexy dress- made Rena laugh. Honey, try doing a fashion show. You do your run, then rush to change into your next outfit, heedless of all the people around you. She supposed there might be one or two creepers. There were a few models who made her mouth water, what with their wide striated shoulders and tapered waists. But when you were working, there was no time to oogle.  

Anyway, Rena sat down when everyone got settled, feeling hungry. Ok, she was bouncing off the walls. "Please....teach me...what you do!" She tried, after a small slash of her nail on her skin, and the power flooded her. It was the only way. 

"I can do this. And sometimes make people do what I want. And sometimes fall over. But what you do..." Her eyes flicked between Ilesha and Juls. "What is this? she finally asked.

[Ilesha]

Ilesha came out feeling more like herself. She wished for he own clothes, but the all-black would work temporarily. "I'll get these back to you soon." She said offhandedly.

Rena was still brimming with eagerness and then she embraced the power and there was a soft glow around her. It was still off-putting knowing that she could see when another woman held the awesome power they did.

Juls chuckled at Rena's enthusiasm. "No one really knows what it is. Nox calls it the power of the gods. He has some long tale to tell you if you ever want to listen. But one thing is for certain is those of us who can call it knowingly survived the sickness. The sickness was one reason why I wanted to become a doctor. To save people. Men can use a power like ours." She shrugged she would let Nox lecture on it. She didn't really care.

"They call it channeling. Channeling what though we don't know. But the CCD is working on learning more about it. We have all sorts of research tools. It's mostly trial and error, but they have this program that allows us to map what we do into it. It's not the same for men and women so what I can do and what Marcus can do are different. The program is his creation. It's amazing." Ilesha said in awe.

"We should all get together and show each other what we can do. Maybe we can learn something new." That was the purpose for coming her to begin with. To make friends - and to learn. That was the biggest reason.

[Rena]

Rena dropped to a nearly empty chair heedless of whatever flimsy garment was underneath her, fascinated. "Power of the gods"? Men could do it? It could be studied?

She leaned forward. "Can you show me? Like the...I don't know. For me it is just instinct. Sort of blurry...lines or string or something. There are differences but I don't really know what they are. Does your....program show this?"

If she could use the power of the gods...she didn't even know how to finish the thought. She thought it had been enough to get out of the sad pathetic world she had grown up in and move into the one of catwalks and runways, of parties and high society. The club she had been denied entrance into finally deigning to let her in. All the mean girls from her school or neighborhood had to have noticed her then.

What would the power of the gods mean?

[Ilesha]

Ilesha pulled out here wallet and logged into the secure server back at the lab. It was easy enough to do, and she wasn't sure about sharing it with others, but showing Rena about what she saw could help her, and maybe Julianna too. The holo interface was simple enough to use. She pulled up the weave she had used prior in the club proper - the simple o-ring she made nearly everyday.

"This is what I did out there. You can see the five elements as different colors here, they sorta correspond to how we see them out here. Red for fire, yellow for air, blue for water, brown for earth and white for the fifth element no one really knows what to call it. And when you weave them together like this you get the ring I made earlier." Ilesha held up the simple ring that was in her hand. It was like a security blanket at the moment. The tactile feeling of the earth cutting into her palm. "There are a few women using it and a few men we are doing research for the consulate of sorts."

[Rena]

Rena's eyes widened at what Ilesha wove, looking back to the 3-d image in the holo to compare. She was in awe and felt her mouth water, especially once she saw the ring drop into her hand.

It was like....she struggled to even put the thought into words. Drawing a stick figure in the dirt and thinking you were the only one who could. Only to watch someone take pencil to paper and bring their vision to life. Making a ball with clay, only to see a someone create something that almost breathed.

To realize that this was not some simple form of play magic. This was something that could be...used. Mastered.

A fire burned in her gut, a craving she had never felt in her life. She clenched her hand, feeling the sharp pricks of her blood red nails, and surrendered, only to be filled with pleasure as good as any orgasm she had ever felt, only because of what she had seen, even greater.

Her nostrils flared and she tried to...do something. She could sort of see the, whatever it was, as a blurred rope that seemed to have colors. It was what Ilesha had explained, except her eye sight was good enough to see them individually. She "squinted" and could sort of see them more clearly, as if she was zooming in.

She hesitantly picked at the blue- water?- one and nothing happening. Like her fingers were numb and she was trying to pick up a needle. She tried again and again, each time 'feeling' it a bit more, until finally she was able to pull it out. It flowed in front of her and she couldn't help the wide grin that split her scarlet colored lips.

"It's not a ring! But it's something!"

[Ilesha]

Ilesha smiled. "Not a ring. But we all have to start somewhere. I can't make anyone do anything, Earth is more my thing."

Juls added, "I like to play with illusions. I wish I could see the things Nox does. But we can't see the male side of the power. The aurora borealis but in blues and greens of similar colors makes an underwater look. You can do reds and oranges and make it like fire. It's really kinda cool. I've not yet mastered it, and I can't do it on that scale, just the boa."

"But illusion is useful too."

Juls nodded. "Everyone has their talents.Oriena could probably teach Rena something about making others do what you wanted. She has a talent for that both god given and well earned talents." She sounded in awe of the other woman. "But I don't know when she'll be back. She's like a cat, comes and goes as she pleases happy to keep you company for a short time before moving on again." The other woman smiled, "We are all a little family here, the two of you are welcome anytime - working or not. Like I said Ori likes to keep this a safe place for the misfits. But it's mostly Carmen who does that. When the boys are around - they live here - I'll introduce you."

Ilesha frowned, "I don't know if I feel comfortable here."

Juls smiled. "You can use the back entrance, anytime. That's why I'll introduce you to the boys, they'll let you in. And they don't bite." She laughed like there was a little secret or something but Ilesha was sure sure didn't want to know. "This is a little bit of home. Really the side door, no one will know you are here. And maybe you can show us a little bit of that app you were talking about."

[Rena]

Rena looked at Jewls, a feeling of...she didn't really know how to describe it. It was strange. Sure, she had her sister Nina. But they were not really close, not any more. The age difference. And they ran in different circles. Same with the other Roma she had known. She had her girlfriends among the other models. But there was also an element of competition there. Lyra was maybe the closest.

Add the fact she was Roma, an outsider, for most of her life....well, it wasn't like she really felt close to anyone these days.

And yet here there was a connection. A sense of kinship. Was it just their power? Maybe? Or was it this whole offer of a place for misfits? Because it did tug at her.

She smiled at Ilesha- her comment, anyway. Poor thing. She was definitely shy. There was no...condescension in her thought. Just recognition of her feeling. She momentarily put an encouraging hand on Ilesha's shoulder, but directed her words to Jewls, slow smile spreading. "Maybe I will." She nodded at her and Ilesha. "I have a lot to learn."

Then nodded to Ilesha. "I'd love to try that out. Is it, like in the app store?" She didn't know. Not like this world was familiar to her. Apparently, their magic was well known enough for someone to make something like it. What that meant, she didn't know.

Except that she hungered for it.

[Ilesha]

Ilesha hadn't been sure about sharing the app with the women, but now she was really unsure about sharing it physically with them. "I will check with my new bosses. I don't want to get in trouble but giving it to you. It's government issue." Ilesha smiled. "And I don't want to lose my job now that I got it."

She loved her job. The research the freedom to do what she wanted. Granted she hadn't been doing much other than figuring out the program and trying to get the app to do the things she wanted. It was fun. But the research would be better. Once she got settled in.

"We could meet here again sometime before hours and I'll know in a few days - I just don't feel comfortable giving it to you. But you can use it while we are here."