One hundred eighty seven centimeters tall, bright almond shaped blue eyes, short sandy blonde hair, a cute little nose, soft pink lips and fair skin the sun had never been allowed to harm. It was a beautiful face that Donavon didn’t believe the body or expression suited. The body appeared better suited to a predator packed with lean ripped muscles that could clearly be seen due to the tight fitting flight suit she wore the only signs of softness being a set of well developed breasts and her but. Even if she had been human Donavon wouldn’t have been comfortable with her and the cold expression on her face didn’t help the situation. It felt like his heart had skipped a beat whenever her eyes suddenly shifted and locked onto him.

“Make certain you get all of me this time.” Sally continued to stand as Donavon bent down and locked a heavy ring around her leg. Attached to this ring was a thick support beam that went up and above her. When he was done she should have one on each ankle, her thighs, her waist and her shoulders. Her hands would be left free so that she could take hold of the thick bar just above her head. Each one of the supports connected into a massive coupling joint which itself was connected to the one hundred thousand kilogram shuttle above that.

“Sally there is no need to take that tone. You know it might be that scary look you’re giving that caused Milton to mess up last time.”

“Then perhaps you should send a woman out here so that they can focus on the job rather than oggle my tits.” Despite him turning off the microphone Sally could hear Herald laughing. The right corner of her mouth was made to turn up slightly in a partial smile. After a moment her attention turned from Donovan towards the reporters that had come to cover the lift. A launch didn’t really seem to apply whenever she was involved as there would be no rockets or other mechanisms helping her to lift the shuttle then the large coupling joint..

They had warned him about this. Being in Sally’s presence was very different from seeing her from a distance or on television. Her eyes carried a weight with them that seemed to be trying to drive Donovan to his knees whenever she looked at him. Eyes that were impervious to the wind and heat that nearly never blinked with a body that could stand as still as any pillar he could imagine. She hadn’t had a single muscle twitch since he’d began locking her in and didn’t seem to have any interest in shifting her weight. “Sir she’s in.” Donovan actually jumped visibly as he heard the sound of shifting metal. Looking upwards he took in a deep breath of air when he realized Sally had just been taking hold of the main drive bar.

“Okay Donovan all the locks are showing good. Get down from there. Azel let’s get the final check.”

Sally didn’t bother giving Donovan a glance as she heard him running from the platform. Instead she found herself looking towards the reporters and the cameras that were focusing on her. As one zoomed in on her face she felt herself smile and puckered her lips, kissed her hand and very carefully blew the observers a kiss. The wind positively roared as it issued forth from her lips at several hundred kilometers per hour. Moments later the reporters, cameramen and everyone standing with them were driven backwards by the winds. Soon after she stopped the clapping and cheers begin.

“Okay everything is green Sally.”

“Be gentle we bruise easily.”

“You bunch are worse than peeches. ” A slight clang was heard as the coupling joint was pushed firmly against the shuttle above and Sally’s feet lifted off the ground. Just above her head were several gauges telling her the tilt of the shuttle, acceleration, velocity and altitude. Acceleration and tilt tended to be her primary concerns. If she lifted too quickly the acceleration could easily kill the crew or destroy the entire shuttle. Tilt was important to maintain the structural integrity of the shuttle. Fortunately the crew could help with that by adjusting the wings as she pushed the shuttle upwards.

As she flew upward and increased the speed Sally could feel the various locks vibrating due to wind friction. By placing her behind the shuttle they diminished the friction but it was still there. Fortunately the higher she went up the thinner the air became and reduced the friction. It was yet another reason to take it easy during the initial take off. There was however very little to occupy Sally’s mind as she flew upward other than watching the gauges. Thanks to the shuttle being in front of her she couldn’t even enjoy the view. Fortunately it didn’t take very long to reach escape velocity.

After a few minutes a red light flashed in front of Sally and she immediately stopped flying though she didn’t stop going upwards. It would have been easy for her to come to an immediate stop but that would have torn the shuttle and her harness apart. Rather she simply relaxed and enjoyed the ride turning her gaze towards the earth below. The air was too thin to carry the words of the reporters to her and she was moving too quickly for the sound waves to catch up. She could still see them though. Her gaze soon changed to something more interesting. A giggle that no one could hear came from her as she watched a fennec fox scratching his oversized right ear. Currently two of them had found some shade and were waiting for the heat to pass.

She couldn’t hear it but she could feel it whenever the crew released the coupling joint. Unlike before this time Sally pulled back on her harness to insure she didn’t slam it into the shuttle with the sudden change of inertia. The coldness of space or lack of an atmosphere didn’t bother her in the least as she unlocked the latch on her shoulders and began the process of removing the other rings and folding her harness up for reentry into earth’s atmosphere. With no fragile people to worry about Sally’s return trip was much quicker though it was still slowed by the piece of equipment she needed to return.

Once the shuttle had reached escape velocity Herald had made his way from the control room and currently stood in the hangar with the locker containing Sally’s clothes as well as her payment. A very familiar boom announced her return as she shattered the sound barrier upon her return. He knew that she was actually walking on the ground as she stepped into the hanger thanks to the power of her foot steps as she continued to carry the now folded harness. “Very well done the crew only reports slight concussions.”

Sally slowed for a moment as she looked at Herald and gave him a soft chuckle. “Did you fragile people become even more delicate when I wasn’t looking?” Continuing onward Sally placed the harness on a maintenance pulley so it could be examined. She didn’t hesitate as she unzipped the back of her suit and began to pull it off as she walked over to her locker. “This would be less troublesome if you could just have them make me a bikini.”

“I’m afraid my bosses want you in more than your underwear.”

“Weirdos.” Tossing her flight outfit aside Sally easily slipped into what appeared to be a rather form fitting blue jean skirt and while the material was soft and delicate to her touch for a human it would have been anything but. The garment as had the vast majority of her clothes been designed to be as durable as possible to allow her more freedom in the use of her abilities without being left naked. Rather than setting down though as she began to put on her black leggings Sally once again lifted herself into the air and pulled her legs up to slip her leggings on.

“I’m surprised you haven’t destroyed that yet.”

There was no need for Sally to think about what Herald was talking about as she held up a holy symbol of Azadon. Her smile was made to grow slightly as she looked at the gold and diamond encrusted medallion she’s discovered while on a walk under the sea. “It’s a pain to take care of but it’s worth it. Those Azadites would like it if I accidentally destroyed it.” As she finished putting on her skirt, leggings, shirt, jacket and medallion Sally took out a pouch which she quickly popped open and retrieved her phone. It only took her a moment to give it a quick check and slip it back into it’s protective titanium carrying case.

With her belongings in order Sally proceeded over to Herald and held her right hand out towards him palm up. “Anyway. Pay me.”

Herald didn’t hesitate to hand over a neat stack of cash totalling two thousand dollars to Sally. To say that her price was cheap compared to the cost of fuel, rockets and other issues would be an understatement. Even with the cost of making her special harness to get the shuttle off the ground she had saved the space program a great deal of money allowing for increased missions and research. Yet cash wasn’t her only payment. Herald had a huge grin on his face as he walked over to a near by work table and uncovered a new set of boots for Sally though he made no move to lift them. “You know back when I got into the space program I never imagined I would be designing footwear.”

Upon seeing the shoes Sally gave Herald a true smile as she picked them up and began to look them over. “You’re good at it. I trust it they’ll live up to my durability requirements.”

“Absolutely. You could send your foot through a meter of concrete and steel without damaging those boots. If you were as frail as the rest of us you wouldn’t be able to walk in them either.”

“Good. It means my sister won’t ask to borrow them.” As she slipped her new boots on and latched them tight Sally took a moment to wiggle her toes and lowered herself to the ground. She then gave the ground a few careful taps to test the straps and how much the boot moved though she had to be careful. She didn’t want to destroy the flooring. The resulting thumps really weren’t satisfying but it was as much as she could risk or she might shatter the ground. “They feel good. Thanks Herald. I’m going to be getting out of here and to my next job.”

“You’re welcome. What are you doing today?” Herald had been worried for a moment whenever Sally had stomped her foot. He have imagined she’d shattered the floor whenever he felt himself bounced lightly. He was glad she hadn’t whenever he thought of how difficult and time consuming repairing the flooring would have been. Perhaps mentioning a meter of concrete to her was a bad idea given that the flooring was pretty much that.

“Moving some cargo overseas. Later.”

Herald was made to stumble backwards as a gust of wind slammed into him as solidly as an ocean wave. At the same time a sharp boom hit his ears. Both effects had been produced by Sally rapidly accelerating to several times the speed of sound and forcing the air out of her way. As he recovered from the push back Herald continued to grin. At one time many went to see Sally off or just try to look at her up close. That number had diminished as people had come to fear getting too close after being shaken or knocked about a bit. He on the other hand had simply become more comfortable with each visit.

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April 13 2019 - Seven minutes later

Edgar stood outside listening to the docks that were just waking up. Thanks to the three hour difference between time zones he’d been able to watch the launch and even put on an extra pot of coffee once he’d seen Sally returning. Now he was outside cup in hand, feeling the fog sink into his clothes and looking towards the sky. Sally had a tendency to more appear in front of you then fly in. Sure enough there was a sharp crack like a lightning bolt that had gotten a little too close and there she was. “Good morning again! I see you got some new boots.”

“Like them?”

“They look good on you. Want a cup of coffee or is it straight to work?”

Rather than respond right away Sally took a moment to lower herself to the ground and looked towards the cargo. She could already see the ones that were meant for her. “Tell me what I’m going to be carrying first.”

“Okay the first five containers on the left are going to a dig site in Azlan. There was some delays in manufacturing and getting them here so they are nearly late as is. This is a big dig and without that equipment it’s going to grind to a stop. The others are well. They’re the ones that give the biggest bonuses for arriving early is all.”

Nodding her head Sally lifted off the ground and lazily glided over to where Edgar had set her cup of coffee. The caffeine and even nutrients never seemed to do anything for her but she could still enjoy the taste. “You have a large shipment of cocaine on your dock.” Sally hid her grin behind the cup of coffee as Edgar gave a rather annoyed sigh.

“I don’t know what is worse that it’s there or that you make it sound so casual. Oh hey look it’s Edgar with another shipment of narcotics on his dock. Yeah they’re moving through there all the time and not the little ones.” Despite the bad news Edgar was made to grin himself whenever he heard Sally chuckling. It was a soft chuckle and far from full laughter but when she lowered her cup she was grinning. “Would you please show the police which one it is?”

“Did I say there was only one?”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

Once again Sally hid her face behind her cup as she took another drink. “This coffee is pretty good.” Even as she took another sip Sally looked directly at Edgar making it clear she was looking at him. He didn’t frown in the least. “If the police arrive before I finish I’ll show them what container has the cocaine. There is also something in your employee lockers. Thanks for the coffee.”

Edgar gave his head a slight nod feeling certain that the police would arrive before Sally finished transporting the containers. He would need to hurry. “The locations are in the usual place. I’m going to go call the police.”

In response Sally gave her hand a slight wave though she didn’t turn to face Edgar as she walked over to the storage building where her carrying equipment was stored. While Sally had more then enough strength to carry any of their containers keeping them in one piece was a bit of an issue. In order to allow her to fly more quickly and better distribute the force she exerted against the container she’d had something of a sled constructed that she could slide the containers into. She still needed to have one made that could hold more than three containers.

*******************************************************************************************

Upset didn’t define Holden as he looked to Sally. He was well beyond that. Unfortunately there was little to do as she landed. Normally he would have arrested her for leaving a crime scene but he was in no position to enforce such consequences. Instead he swallowed his anger and stepped forward. “I am told you’re the one that knows where the narcotics are.”

“You took long enough.” As he began to speak Holden was silenced by the harsh bang of Sally letting the sled fall.

“Careful!”

Sally gave Edgar a smile as she crossed her legs and shifted her gaze slightly downward. “Yes Sir, my bad.”

“It’s fine just careful not to crack the concrete.”

To this Sally gave a slight nod before looking back to the police. “Come along you’re wasting my shopping time.” Rather than walk Sally raised herself a few meters into the air putting herself well out of reach of the officers then began to fly away at just over sixteen kilometers per hour so she wouldn’t lose them but they would have to run. As they began to chase after her she chuckled lightly. Had they known where the container were or thought about it they would have gotten into their car. It was a waste of her time but it was fun.

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April 13th 2019 2 hours 19 minutes later

“I can’t believe you ran them for that long.” Edgar was trying not to grin too much as he worked to open the container. For each container Sally delivered she received fifty dollars making her the cheapest shipping method possible. As a bonus for every five containers delivered she got to claim one item from any forfeit containers. At this point he was certain she just enjoyed the gambling. He was certain it wasn’t about the pay.

“I did them a favor.” A tingle of excitement rippled through Sally as she heard one of her ringtones and retrieved her phone from her pack to check her text messages.

“Good morning. How is my favorite psycho doing?”

“I’ll let you know in a minute. I just found some treasure chests and I’m about to find out what’s inside.”

“It’s probably a bunch of grays and a few greens.”

“You had better not be wishing that upon me. Back in a few.”

Edgar had stopped and turned to Sally whenever he noticed her getting a phone call. Part of him had desperately wanted to ask her who she was responding to but he knew better than that. Anyone who knew anything about her knew that knowing too much was dangerous. He also knew it was best to hold your tongue and wait whenever she was busy with her phone. He’d seen people sent flying whenever they interrupted her during a message. “Okay are you sure you want me to open this container. Keep in mind that once I open it you have to take at least one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

*******************************************************************************************

April 13th 2019 36 minutes later

A phone that could survive in a variety of environments, handle a great deal of acceleration and with exceptional security had been one of the first things Sally requested once she’d began selling her services. It wasn’t the type of thing one could simply find at the maul. It was also one of her favorite requests. Currently she found herself hovering at an altitude of one thousand meters above Lexwell’s grand central police station texting with John though she had to be careful to call him Dehvess. He hadn’t revealed his true name to her yet and letting him know she knew his real name might upset him. Parts of her both anticipated and feared the day when she might have to tell him her real name. Surely he wouldn’t think that she was the Sally but perhaps.

“I think my blasted students got me sick. A few of them came back from a trip sick and I don’t know what they brought back but it got me. I started feeling off after yesterday and now my throat is beginning to burn.”

As Sally read the text she quickly responded with a kissy face. She needed to be careful while responding. If she was to work as quickly as she could without breaking her phone it could tip him off. “Next time go to bed when I tell you instead of staying up with me. Besides aren’t you a doctor? Fix yourself up.”

“You aren’t my real mom! Viruses don’t work that way either.”

Sally couldn’t help but chuckle as she read the text once and then again. Would John talk to her like that if he knew who she truly was? She hoped that he would. “Do you want mommy to spank you?”

“I don’t believe Trisha would appreciate that.”

Sally couldn’t help but frown and took in a deep breath as she read that name. She hated it when John mentioned her. Now she needed a moment to remind herself that hospitalizing the woman or killing her just so she could get her out of the way wouldn’t be fair. Not that love was supposed to be fair. Reflexively Sally gave herself a smack that positively thundered throughout the city and sent windows on every near by building rattling. It didn’t sting but the gesture helped straighten out her head. “She’s just jealous because I can do it better.”

“I don’t think I want to know what.”

“Anything she can do I can do better. I can do everything better than her.” As Sally texted John she began to lower herself to the ground. She’d been listening to the police being briefed and knew they’d be heading towards their vehicles soon. She didn’t much care for the slower pace she was going to have to work at but at least she could text while she was working.

“Can you name all the arteries, veins and bones in the human body?”

As Betty exited the police station to get in her cruiser she wasn’t surprised to see Sally already waiting for them in the garage. Currently she was floating a bit over a meter in the air with her legs positioned as if she was riding a bike while typing away on her phone. “We have authorization to begin a sweep using you as a detection instrument to establish probable cause. Sally I need you to be careful. You’re a deputy during the duration of this operation and it would be a disaster if we went into the wrong house.”

For a moment Sally looked away from her phone and right into Betty’s eyes. “Wow. Dejavu. I’m certain I’ve heard this before.”

“Sounds like someone wants a citation. I don’t imagine you have your pilot’s license on you.” Betty was made to smile herself whenever a smile formed on Sally’s face.

“Are we focusing on drugs or guns?” As she was speaking with Betty Sally had continued to work on her phone both giving John the information he’d asked for, providing him the region of the body they were to be found in and the organs the arteries and veins serviced.

“We’re bringing the buss.”

Now Sally’s face formed a massive toothy smile as she looked towards the vehicle in question. “Try to keep up.”

*******************************************************************************************

Sally made it a point to signal her intentions to the police much as if she was actually riding a back. Indeed as she went down the street she made it a point to work her legs as if she was peddling. John had been called away by his work but not before she’d answered his questions. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face whenever she finally told him she’d learned it by listening to his lectures in part. First she wanted to get him comfortable with the idea of meeting her face to face before she dropped the bomb as to who she really was. Raising her hand she signaled for the police to stop as she came to a run down home with two large dogs in the front yard. Rather than simply place her feet on the ground she kept up the image and pretended to swing her left foot over the air bike and step down.

Nearly the moment she stopped both of the dogs had stood up and began barking and growling at her. This continued for only a moment at which time both dogs grew silent though they didn’t take their attention off her. It didn’t take anything with the hearing or sense of smell a dog had long to realize she wasn’t like other humans. Once they realized this fear was often their next reaction. “Who’s some.” Sally couldn’t help but roll her eyes as both dogs gave out a frightened yelp and quickly began to run to the other side of the house. People didn’t tend to notice but vocal cords that never fatigued and as strong as hers didn’t make the same sound as a human voice. Animals and she could hear the difference though.

Entering the home of a suspect and certain neighborhoods in Lexwell could be very dangerous for police. They were some the police didn’t even want to drive through. Working with Sally was such a game changer. Betty could hear the dogs howling as if they’d just been shot but it was clear Sally hadn’t laid a finger on them. People still occupied the streets but they kept their distance. It was horribly showy and in some ways insulting but Betty was grateful Sally was such a show off when she worked with them. The three police cars, van, bus and ambulance would get attention but it was seeing Sally at the front that destroyed resistance. Had she been riding in the car people might have assumed she was a human pretending. They didn’t do that when she was flying along the street.

“Yeah sneaking out the back is such an original idea and there is absolutely no way that I can hear everything you’re saying or doing. Now put the gun down and get your tails out here before I come in.” Sally didn’t bother knocking on the door but stood there with her arms crossed over her chest and a slight smile upon her face. “No Tags. Splitting up won’t help you. You know what you’re wasting my time you’ve got five seconds to get in the front lawn.”

Betty would have normally been very alarmed seeing someone jump thru a window whenever they were getting ready to enter. This time she almost felt bad for him as a half dressed man leaped through the window and onto the grass. The speed with which he put himself on the ground reminded her of the way the dogs ran. The door was thrown open moments later though these didn’t have the same sense to get on the ground. Sally’s response to this was to point at the ground.

“Down.” As the three remaining men kissed the dirty Sally turned back to the police. “Come on I’ll show you where the stuff is then we can get to the next place.”

It never seemed to fail. Even after working with Sally several times before these displays always put Betty on edge and she found herself running to catch up to her. Upon entering the home she heard a sharp crack and rounded the corner to find Sally inspecting her right boot.

After being told that she could send her foot through a meter of concrete Sally would have been more than a little irritated if a few boards had managed to damage them. Her smile was made to widen whenever she could find no damage.”You know they’re a few cartels that offered to pay me to leave them be. They didn’t care for my price.”

“What did you want?”

“I sent them a business plan for how I wanted the profits to be divided amongst various people in their organization as well as benefits for employees, a code of conduct and quality requirements for their product. Well all that and cost of administration.”

“Are you serious?” Betty could see the drugs now but they didn’t seem all that important as she looked to Sally.

“I wonder if it was that last part that caused them to reject the offer. Anyway. Drugs Betty, Betty Drugs.” As she spoke Sally moved her left hand as if doing a lazy introduction. “Now that we’re all introduced let’s get going.”

*******************************************************************************************

April 13th 2019 30 minutes later stop 7

“I’m going to break your legs.” Sally didn’t bother putting her phone away or looking to Tyler even as she spoke to him. She’d seen him once and had his scent. She wouldn’t have any trouble locating him whenever she wanted to. She would allow him to remain intact while she was deputized and was more interested in responding to her friends and John.

This unfortunately was what Betty didn’t like about working with Sally. One of the suspects had just made the mistake of referring to her as a bitch. He didn’t even seem to realize what he was doing until the words were out of his mouth. She just hoped that he would realize what he’d done and keep quiet before he pushed things any further.

“I’m so scared. You think I’m scared of a little whore like you?”

“Yep.”

There was a look of utter indifference on Sally’s face but Betty knew better than that. She knew that each word out of Tyler’s mouth was another shattered bone or ruptured organ. With the urgency she would have shown a wounded suspect she took hold of Tyler while waving another officer over to aid her. They needed to get him outside and away from Sally before he could say anything more. She wanted to bash him in the head with her pistol whenever she felt him push back as she began to read his rights to him.

“You’re just an arrogant cunt you hear me! You stand there like you’re.” Tyler went silent as all the air was forced from his lunges. This wasn’t Sally’s doing but rather Betty’s as she slammed her baton into his stomach.

“You’re going to be a few more minutes. I”m going to go buy some ball bearings.”

With the suspect finally silent Betty turned to Sally. “Please don’t hurt any of the officers!”

Sally gave her shoulders a slight shrug after only a moment. “I won’t.” For a moment Sally considered asking why Betty thought she was going to buy ball bearings but felt it would be more amusing to let her figure it out or find out for herself later. She did want to say something to help Betty relax. “I appreciate you Betty and most of your colleagues. Especially the woman that threatened me with a citation earlier.”

“I’m sorry.” It felt strange to say but it felt like the right thing to Betty.

Once again Sally gave a slight shrug. “Thanks. I’ll be back in three minutes.”

Be ready flashed through Betty’s mind though it hadn’t been said. What would Sally do if asked to wait or made to wait? Despite what had been said Betty didn’t want to risk finding out. Each minute she worked with Sally she was reminded of what separated her and the rest of humanity. With each reminder Betty felt some of her comfort slip away. It was only when Sally wasn’t there that Betty could see another human instead of a nation unto herself.

*******************************************************************************************

April 13th 2019 6 Hours later

While she couldn’t remember it clearly Sally knew that she’d began to come into her power at a young age. Her parents had feared for her safety believing the government might come and try to take their daughter away so they had relocated their home as far away from anyone else as they could afford to do. That they had feared for her more than themselves always brought a smile to her face as she flew over the tree tops being careful not to damage them as she did so. Now years later the decision had continued to work out for her and finally for them as well.

Soon a large two story red brick home with a large pool and extensive garden came into view. The pools and garden were actually Sally’s doing. A gift to her family from whenever she was still keeping her power a secret. A proper plumbing system and other mechanization had taken away much of the responsibility of caring for the pool but she still liked to take care of the garden and currently had a wide variety of vegetables and potatoes growing.

Feeling confident no one was around to see her that wasn’t suppose to Sally landed atop one of the home’s two balconies instead of the front door. She had already known her younger sister would be in her room and gave a large grin as she opened the door. “I see someone is going through my stuff again.”

Jessica nearly jumped out of the bed upon hearing her elder sister’s voice and quickly dashed towards her. A delighted giggle escaped her as she leaped into the air and felt Sally take hold of her lifting her even higher and spinning her in the air a stream of delighted giggles escaping both girls. “You said I could go through it whenever I wanted to.”

“I did.” With that Sally quickly lowed Jessica and gave her a kiss on the cheek bringing more giggles from the young girl. Rather than setting her sister down Sally settled her onto her right forearm while Jessica wrapped her arms around her neck for stability. “Did you find anything you liked?”

“All your things feel funny.”

Lifting her legs so that she was floating cross legged Sally began to undo her boots and gently set them on the floor to avoid damaging it or worse. “Well I have good news. Today I got to pick from a selection of clothes and I got a few that will fit you. I’ll bring them from my house later.”

“Really!”

“Yes. Now how about we go downstairs and finish off dinner?”

“No way! Mommy made liver and onions.”

“Yum.”

“Your weird sissy.”

A sigh escaped Sally as she looked into her younger sisters eyes so full of trust and completely devoid of any fear no matter how much power she displayed or when she hurt other people. It was a look she needed. As she left her room she continued to carry her sister. “Mom, Dad I’m home!”

“Welcome home honey. I didn’t know if we were going to be seeing you today.”

A series of barks soon rang out through the home as Sally heard a loud thump she was certain everyone in the house had heard. The sound of large paws on the hardwood floor was heard soon after. “I wasn’t that busy and besides I was beginning to feel twitchy and yes Muffin I’m glad to see you to.”

Alex gave a sharp grunt as Muffin took the quickest path to his daughter which unfortunately involved jumping on him. As he drew himself up into a setting position he was actually chuckling over this. “Six hours with the police made it sound like you were pretty busy.”

“Muffin did you just jump on daddy?” As the dog came within arms reach Muffin gave a slight whine and lowered herself to a seated position as she looked up at Sally. “Go apologize.” Despite her previous behavior and being scolded Muffin’s tail began to wag furiously once again as she walked back over to Alex and proceeded to give him the puppy eyes. “You’re the one that tells me it’s better to leave then wait for things to build up until I lash out and hurt the wrong person.”

“I do say that.” As Alex spoke he gave Muffin a few pats on the head to show that he forgave her. Finally he stood up to his full two hundred eight centimeter height and walked over to his two daughters and wrapped his arms around both of them. “You did good today Honey. I saw you stop that car on the news earlier.”

“Which one?”

“There was more than one? The one you put your foot through then ripped off the trunk to show the drugs.”

Sally couldn’t help the large amused grin she gave her father. “I did that more than once today.”

Now Alex was made to laugh. “It was that odd shade of brown that you get when someone doesn’t take care of a red car.”

“I know what one you’re talking about now. The driver had some things to say about me while the police took him away so I’m going to give him a few of these later.” As she spoke Sally reached down and lightly shook the pocket she’d placed the ball bearings in producing a light jingling.

“Did he call you mean things Sissy?”

“Yes he did.”

“Sally careful.” As Alex spoke he wasn’t actually worried about Sally’s safety or the person she’d be harming. He had once tried to turn his daughter away from such behavior and still did from time to time but it no longer distressed him. What he did worry about was Sally putting ideas into Jessica’s head who couldn’t get away with the same behavior as her elder sister.

A slight sigh escaped Sally as she gave her head a nod. “Okay Sis let’s go finish off that liver.”

“No!” As she called out Jessica pushed against her sister’s shoulder with all the might she could manage. This resulted in her being set down almost immediately though gently as Sally placed her on the ground. The moment she was on the ground Jessica quickly dashed over to Muffin and stood behind the large dog. “Muffin will eat them.”

When she was younger Sally had thought that she would break anyone that spoke to her family without respect. Her parents had talked her out of such behavior. She positively fumed at the idea of someone showing her family less respect than herself but if she dealt with everyone who insulted them the connection would soon be obvious. As much as she hated it such behavior would also hinder her family’s ability to function in public. “Suit yourself.”

Upon her daughter entering the kitchen Morrigan pointed towards the seat next to her at the table where she already had a plate waiting for her. A hot cup of tea set in front of Morrigan as she waited to finish drying after having come in from swimming a little before her eldest daughter’s arrival. Her attention was soon drawn to her daughter’s right hand. “Sally.”

“Please mom.” As she spoke Sally reached into her satchel and produced a fine golden necklace with a large diamond in the center and held it up towards her. “It would look great on you.”

A slight chuckle came from Morrigan as she looked at her daughter. It was a laugh they shared though Morrigan’s was carried on an older more delicate instrument. “If I wore everything you said looked good on me I wouldn’t be able to move.”

Stepping around her mother Sally carefully moved her mother’s long blonde hair and slipped the necklace onto her smiling as she did so. “Keep your favorites and we can sell the ones you don’t want.”

Morrigan waited until Sally was finished and setting down to speak again. “Where did it come from?”

“The police impound. They were going to auction it off. Apparently it was seized in a drug raid and well you know how that works. There was a watch on one suspect today that I wanted to take for dad so badly. Once they’re done with the trial I’m going to see if I can get it. I picked up a few designer clothes for Jessica but didn’t bring them with me as I was in a hurry to get home before everyone went to bed or someone cleaned up dinner.”

*******************************************************************************************

April 13th 2019 11:39 PM

“That was some very good healing.” Sally currently set in her room floating cross legged just in front of her computer, logged into dragon wars and listening to her family sleep. She had considered going to her own house but it was nice just to listen to her family as they wrested. Keeping them close always helped her relax.

“I can’t believe you attacked that dragon with only half your willpower. I can’t believe we managed to kill that thing with just the two of us!”

“Of course we did. Besides my willpower is full now. More importantly let’s see what he had.” As she looked at the computer screen Sally could feel her heart working ever so slightly more quickly than normal. She had been avoiding the dragon’s attacks by making use of a mixture of teleportation spells and shields. There had been a slight change in the games latency and she’d prepared for Ellanore to take a direct attack. Dehvess had yanked her out of harms way before the attack had landed though and even managed to hit the dragon with a spell. Someone had protected her avatar from physical harm. It was as close to the feeling as Sally could get to and that it was John’s avatar sped her heart just ever so.

As Dehvess luited the corpse a treasure list appeared on Sally’s screen as well. Given that such creatures had five high end items on them that was meant to be divided amongst several players it wasn’t unreasonable to expect at least one useful item. Yet while they were all high end items Sally was rather disappointed by the turn out. “That is way too much leather.”

“Yeah. Not the best of drops. By the way how did those treasure chests work out this morning?”

“I didn’t get anything for me but I got a few nice things for some others.”

“Such as?”

“An absolutely adorable dress for my little sister.”

“Nice. I wonder. Is there any chance that I’ve seen you on television? Sometimes I watch those shows where people bid on storage containers.”

Sally couldn’t help but chuckle at the question. She knew for certain that John had seen her on television as well as on the internet, the news, magazines and everywhere else she might be mentioned. “It is possible.”

“So you’ve been filmed?”

“Yes.”

“Ha! Okay now I know you have a little sister, two parents and you’ve been filmed while bidding on storage containers. I just need to find everyone that meets those criteria and I’ll be one step closer to finding you.”

Sally had to cover her mouth in order to keep from openly laughing and waking up her family. She even found herself considering flying out the window as she struggled to get herself under control. “You could do that or you could just ask. We could meet up somewhere.”

“Not worried we live too far apart?”

“I have no trouble traveling.” Sally took in a deep breath as she prepared for it. John would mention that Trisha wouldn’t want him meeting up with a woman he met on the internet and especially not over a game. The only thing that annoyed her more was whenever the words girlfriend agro would flash across the screen. That had required a space screaming session in the past.

“Thanks Ellanore. It sounds fun but could we just go murder some halflings for the time being?”

Leaning forward Sally ran her right index finger under the words a few times as she read them. Not a single mention of Trisha. Indeed she found herself blinking her eyes to insure nothing was in them. She would have pinched herself but she never slept. “Loot first then let’s go slaughter the furry footed freaks.”

“With fire?”

“Well I was going to use ice but fire works to.”

*******************************************************************************************

April 20th 2019

“Hi.”

Tyler felt his heart skip a beat as he spun around. His composure faltered for just a moment as he locked eyes with Sally’s. It only took him a moment to regain his composure and his lips parted to speak but instead a shriek of pain came out as he felt something slam into his right femur and shatter it sending him grumbling to the ground in an instant and clutching his leg.

Leaning forward Sally pushed the broken glass of the window aside and placed her hands through the bars taking a moment to look around the jail cell where several other inmates were currently setting. As she did so she slowly rolled another ball bearing around between her fingers. “Is everyone having a nice day? You were looking pretty bored.” Rather than wait for someone to respond Sally gave the ball bearing a slight flick sending it slamming into Tyler’s other leg shattering it as well.

“Fuck! Guard!” Tyler was in too much pain to hear Sally flick three more additional ball bearings shattering his right arm once and his right leg in two additional places. He could feel the pain though and it was all he could think of as he screamed for help. Help that none of the other people in the cell seemed to be interested in giving him.

“Do the rest of you think he knows to fear me now?” Sally gave the cell mates a grin as they nodded their heads in agreement. She then slowly pulled her arms back through the bars and gave them a little wave. “I’m going to be on my way. Be good for the cops and careful for the glass. You can keep the bearings if the guards don’t mind.”

Sally felt better now. That Tyler had called her a bitch and a cunt had been bothering her for several days. Now that she’d settled things up with him she was ready for something else and quickly raised into the air. As she did so she caught sight of an airliner and quickly accelerated to catch up to it then slowed as she neared it. She had to be careful when flying so close to such aircraft or she might cause them undue turbulence or worse yet bump into it. As she matched the aircraft’s speed she raised herself into a standing position and crossed her right leg over the left slightly raising her foot as she did so as if leaning against a wall.

It didn’t take the passengers long to notice her flying alongside the aircraft. As they turned to look at her Sally began to slowly increase her speed giving each of the passengers a wave as she did so. Her face was made to light up as she came to one window where a young child was enjoying the window seat and looking at her in wide eyed wonder. She gave the child a surprised smile whenever he brought up a small camera and gave him plenty of time to take some pictures before giving him a wave and rapidly accelerating so that she passed the aircraft.

Lifting herself Sally flew in a rough zigzag as she slowed enough to take out her phone and began to thumb through the text messages. She’d already resolved that she wasn’t going to work today unless the job really peaked her interest. She had considered taking Jessica for a while but she already had plans of her own. The thought that her kid sister had plans made Sally chuckle a bit but she wouldn’t force Jessica to come if she didn’t want to. It did leave her with a lack of things to do though. John much to her annoyance was with Trisha. She’d went by his place earlier to look and confirmed it. So playing dragon wars wouldn’t be as fun.

For a moment Sally looked at her friends list then applied yet another filter to remove those friends that weren’t entirely comfortable with her. It made the list shorter than she liked. She didn’t feel like doing anything that would require her to pretend to be conventional. That meant she’d either have to do things away from the eyes of others, disguise her friend or pick someone that could take care of themselves. After taking a deep breath and applying the needed filters she finally hit random and waited.

“Sally. How are you doing?”

“Hi Armond. I’m struggling to come up with something to do and was wondering if you might have some ideas. No work.”

“Your hands are unoccupied? That sounds like just asking for trouble.”

“You’re probably right.”

“I see. Well I am scheduled to make an appearance for a new art exhibit. If you’d like you’re quite welcome to accompany me.”

“Have you forgotten the last time you took me rubbing shoulders?”

“I assure you no one has forgotten you stepping on Radon or how you handled his bodyguards. My father sure hasn’t.”

Sally was made to laugh as she remembered the event. She’d been dancing with Armond until the music picked up at which time she’d proceeded to fly several meters into the air and do a little solo dance above the heads of the crowd. She didn’t mind him commenting on how nice her but was but the hussy remark had been asking for a boot to the head. Not that she’d killed him just shut him up. “Are you that worried about what I might come up with on my own?”

“Not at all. Being seen with you such that you seem a friend of the family is very helpful.”

“I’m fond of you but I wouldn’t say the same for your family. What kind of art?”

“Modern expressionism.”

“Pass! Thanks Armond I’m going to hit up some of the others.”

“Such a shame. Well don’t be a stranger.”

*******************************************************************************************

“Thank you Sally!” Tina had a massive grin on her face as she wrapped her arms around Sally even more tightly. “Daddy never lets me get out of the house with just my other friends.”

Sally had met Tina some years ago whenever her father had hired her to rescue the girl from some kidnappers. At first it had just been another job until Tina had asked Sally if they could go shopping before she took her home. The request had caught Sally so of guard and seemed so crazy that she’d agreed to it. Now Sally was certain she was just crazy but she tended to be fun to spend time with. “No problem thanks for coming with me. So what do you say we do some shopping in Brills, get something to eat then head to Nemix to visit a few clubs?”

“Oh! Can we do it!”

Sally couldn’t help but grin as she looked up at Tina who was smiling like a jackal at the moment.”Are you serious? Don’t you worry that men are going to end up too scared to go near you?”

“Daddy would never let me date someone that didn’t meet his approval anyway. Please!”

“It’s not like I mind. Okay but first we have to stop by my place if we’re going all the way to Brills. You’re going to need some protection. If men start refusing to speak with you I don’t want to hear any complaints.”

“No complaints at all!”

*******************************************************************************************

Tina was something else. Often it was easy to imagine a girl that lived such a sheltered life as being lacking in social skills especially when she talked to her. Even Sally forgot there was two Tina’s. The one that she showed her friends and the one that had been raised to move through high society parties with ease. The one that knew how to charm men of wealth and influence into doing as she desired. At times Sally wondered if even she was being played. Looking down on Tina from on high Sally actually smiled at the thought she was being played.

“Thank you for keeping me company but I’m sure my friend will be here soon.” As Tina spoke she was careful to keep her body language set to lost puppy. She’d been quietly sipping a weak drink for some time looking to all the world like she was lost. When a man would approach her she would politely turn him away assuring him that she had a friend that would be coming to join her soon though she never named this friend. Finally she had found not just one but two that seemed intent on not leaving until this friend manifested herself or she became drunk enough.

Braydon had been watching Tina for some time as she sipped her drinks. He heard her tell five guys so far that she had a friend that would be showing up soon but hadn’t seen anyone. He was certain she was alone at this point and perhaps had even been stood up but couldn’t bring herself to admit it. That was fine with him. “How about you let us buy you something a little stronger? It’ll help you relax.”

“Thank you but really I’m fine. I’m sure my friend will be here soon.”

“Then how about you let us help you pass that time until he does?”

“He? Tina have you been seeing someone behind my back?” Sally gave Tina a stern look as she approached the group of three giving a sexy sway to her hips as she did. A sleek black dress that seemed ready to slip and reveal a bit too much in at least nine areas but never did adorned her body while her heels clicked forcefully on the ground.

Ken could feel himself grinning as Sally approached though he didn’t recognize her for who she was. He had expected a man not another beauty. As he looked at Sally’s stomach and leg muscles he got an intense predatory vibe but that wasn’t enough to deter him. Indeed the bounce of her breasts and the sway of her hips seemed to draw him in.

As she came to stand between the two men Sally took hold of Tina just under the chin and pulled her face forward while leaning down and pressing her lips against the shorter woman’s. For a moment she held the kiss while her eyes looked into Tina’s. A wide grin formed on Sally’s face as Tina gave a slight gasp when she broke the kiss and continued to look up into her eyes. “You two can leave now.”

Braydon stood up though he made no move to leave but rather drew closer to Sally. She was tall but he was even taller. “Now there is no need to be like that. We were just keeping your friend company and now that we’re all here perhaps we can have a little fun.”

Rather than look at either of the men Sally looked into Tina’s eyes. “I don’t share.” As she spoke an intense desire was infused in Sally’s voice.

“Don’t worry. I got plenty for you to eat.”

“I said you may leave if that isn’t enough I’ll just make you. Would you like that?” While the first comment was addressed to the men the question was addressed to Tina. Using her right hand Sally began to gently rub Tina’s cheek while looking into her eyes as if the the men posed no threat at all. “Do you want me to make them leave?”.

“Hey now. We were just keeping your little friend company so how about you turn down the bitch.” Braydon felt like his heart had dropped into his stomach as he suddenly shot into the air with a sudden tightening of his jacket. When he looked he saw that he’d been lifted into the air by a single arm and realized whose blue eyes he was currently looking down into.

“It seems the insect needs to be flicked away. Sally gave Braydon a half grin as she raised her free hand to his chest as if she was going to flick him. As her fingers drew close though Tina’s hand wrapped around it.

“Please don’t.”

“Yeah com.”

“Quiet.” Sally gave Ken a cold glance before she looked to Tina. “Do you have a thing for bugs now?”

“He didn’t mean it I’m sure. Please. For me?”

A slight sigh escaped Sally as she released her hold on Braydon and allowed him to fall to the ground. “You may leave.”

As Braydon and Ken began to flee Tina pressed herself firmly against Sally’s chest as if in a hug of affection. In truth she was using this to cover the huge smile on her face as she struggled to keep herself from openly laughing at the fleeing man. As she managed to regain some control of herself she looked up at Sally. “He peed himself.”

“Soiled himself a bit to.”

“Really!” Tina by now couldn’t hold her amusement in any longer and began to openly chuckle into her friend’s chest.

“Do you ever worry that your father might think these games are serious?”

“No. I wouldn’t mind if they were you know.” As she spoke Tina wrapped her arms around Sally and smiled up at her.

Reaching up Sally placed her right hand on Tina’s head. “You’re a good friend Tina but you know I’m not into women.”

A sigh escaped Tina as she continued to lean against Sally. “I know. I’m still going to fantasize about that kiss tonight.”

“You should see what I can do when I really kiss someone.”

“Mean!” Tina gave Sally a quick jab that she knew would never hurt her. As both women chuckled Tina glanced to where the men had ran off. “Hey Sally. I’ve seen you break bones for what he called you but you’ve never done it while we’re playing. How come?”

“I figure the blue balls you give them and the fright I give makes us even enough. That and I believe we’ve scared a few of them away from women for good.”

“Good! More for me.”

*******************************************************************************************

April 21th 2019

As Sally tapped the window of the space shuttle she was careful not to crack it. She was fond of Azel and the others thus didn’t want to see them die in a vacuum. As the crew looked at the window and at her she gave them a friendly wave and quickly signed to them. “Hi. How is the mission going?”

It was no surprise when Azel stepped forward. He was the one that had the most experience dealing with Sally. “Not sure yet. We’re testing new systems and medicine to avoid bone and muscle loss and a few systems to help with further exploration.”

“Are you talking about going to mars?”

“Yes.”

“If you want something from mars I could go get it. It’d be cheaper than all these experiments.”

“We can’t let you do everything for us. What are you doing up here anyway?”

“I came up here to do some exercising.”

“You exercise?”

In response to Azel’s question Sally reached down and pulled her shirt up revealing her abdominal muscles to him for a moment. She then gave him a half grin as a look of shock appeared on his face as if realizing something for the first time.

“I thought that was just natural. So why space?”

“You want to see what happens when a object with the mass of my arm exceeds the speed of light in the earth’s atmosphere?”

“I’d rather not.”

“Good. Good luck with your experiment maybe you’ll let me show you around mars someday.”

*******************************************************************************************

The planet wasn’t the only thing Sally had to worry about damaging whenever she exercised. Even though there was no wind resistance in space she had to be mindful of her clothing. When she moved freely the rapid expansion and relaxation of her muscles alone would destroy her clothing.To truly exercise Sally had to strip down to nothing. Not that she minded showing off her body and often she imagined some telescope might be watching her even now.

Currently her clothes were safely tucked away in what amounted to an orbital locker for her and a display stand. A frame on the back held a sheet of interchangeable alloy with various carvings on it. Exercising was tricky for Sally. She couldn’t really lift weights. Whatever she touched began to bend or crumble before she could feel any real resistance. Yet throwing enough punches at full force and speed got her heart working like it would have a anyone else. The etchings on the sheets had been developed by a few physical trainers to effectively stimulate every muscle in Sally’s body and while some of the moves looked utterly silly to her they worked.

For a long while she hadn’t even been certain if she was growing more powerful. Perhaps all this did was change her appearance after all nothing ever got any heavier. Then her father had told her to try testing her speed month to month. Even now Sally didn’t know if she was becoming stronger but she knew she was becoming faster. Perhaps one day she would reach her limit but that day hadn’t come yet.

Reaching to the side of the locker Sally flicked a small switch and was greeted by a powerful drum beat. With no atmosphere to carry sound waves they didn’t come to her in the form of mechanical waves but electromagnetic waves. Rather than just hearing them with her ears she could feel them with her skin and see them with her eyes.

Her left foot came to rest behind her right while her arms came to her sides. Her left knee thrust forward a moment later then her leg rapidly extending into a full kick while her left arm struck out. Soon her body exploded into motion as she finished the entire routine in less than a nanosecond then repeated it again and again. As she moved the light shifted and twisted around her as her rapidly moving limbs struck incoming photons and sent the flying away at even greater energy levels. Even this was surpassed shortly after as a bright glow seemed to radiate out from Sally’s body.

*******************************************************************************************

Recovery took time. It was a thought that actually made Sally laugh as she lay in the sand on a pristine but empty beach. Far too distant from any civilization to be made use of. Her clothes had come with her and lay a short distance away as the occasional wave hit her. She wasn’t at full strength now. She was fatigued she could feel it though no one else could tell it. Despite her fatigue she had no trouble setting up as she worked with her phone. “Hey Dehvess what did you do today?”

“Mostly set around. How about you?”

Sally puckered her lips knowing that wasn’t the full truth. He’d taken Trisha out and met up with some of her friends then spent the night as the designated driver. It was tempting to type that she hoped he’d gotten some drunk sex out of his ordeal at least but Sally held it in. “I really got my heart racing today. My legs are positively tingling. Also my nose is really itching me. I’m not sure why but it is.”

“Doing that aerobic dancing again?”

“Sort of yes.”

“One of these days I’m going to have to join you. Listening to you talk about it makes it sound fun.”

Sally allowed herself to fall back into the sand as she considered John’s comment. How would she make that work? There was no way he could actually keep up with her. She’d kill him if he tried to dance with her or she wouldn’t get any exercise at all. There was also the issue that he couldn’t survive in space. A giggle escaped her as she imagined John exercising near her. A space suit wouldn’t work so perhaps she could look into some kind of protective enclosure. She could do her routine outside and he would be inside. “It would be nice to have some company!”

“I know. It’s a lot easier to push yourself when you have someone with you. Did you hear what happened in Lexwell?”

What had the news been saying about that? Sally knew what had happened very well but she hadn’t actually watched to see what the news had to say. “They were some arrest over drugs and weapons I believe.”

“Not just some. The police are having trouble handling all the new inmates. They’re even struggling to deal with all the drugs.”

“What’s so hard about dealing with seized drugs? Just send them all to me and I’ll smoke them.” Sally was made to giggle as a frowning smiley appeared on her phone.

“Selfish. I do have a few patience that could use some of what they seized that’s for certain. I’m mostly talking about those who are terminal. Just don’t let me hear about you doing any of that stuff or I will have to track you down.”

“Blast Dehvess. Now I have no choice but to go pick up some pills. Which ones will get you here the quickest?”

“Suger.”

“Well that settles it I’m off to buy some sweet tarts. If you don’t show up though I’m claiming the next rare pet drop.”

“Woe! I never said when I’d actually arrive only that it would be sooner. I don’t want to ever see you strung out on drugs after all.”

Sally grinned as she looked at the message. Despite her exhaustion she felt herself tingling. She wanted to leave right now. To appear in front of John and tell him she was tired of waiting. It would be so perfect. Unfortunately she worried about the moments after that event. “Does that mean you’ve given some thought to actually meeting up?

“Yeah it’s just. Are you serious when you say you don’t mind traveling? You always make it sound so simple.”

Instead of responding right away Sally quickly opened up the online store for dragon wars and began to click away. She was slowed by the connection speed but it didn’t take her long to finish. “Money isn’t a consideration whenever it comes to something I want. I just bought your character the maximum of everything from the online store.”

Sally knew this would have an effect on John. She had mentioned to him that she didn’t really worry about money but he likely wondered if she was pretending. The ways she explained her work likely made him wonder even more. There was no doubt in her mind that this would concern him as well. He would worry that she was spending money she didn’t have and wonder what it would mean if she did. It would better prove that she was serious about meeting him though and that was her primary goal. She could accept shaking things up a bit to destroy that barrier.

“You’re serious! Ellanore I can’t accept this. Thanks but.”

“Too late they are no refunds on such things especially if I don’t ask for one. Don’t even think about buying me anything either I already have it all.” No response came immediately as Sally began to move her fingers through the sand. As she happened upon a small rock she picked it up and pressed it against her palm with her thumb. Popping soon filled the air as Sally rolled the stone against her palm slowly crushing it down to sand.

“I thought you hated the bog charger.”

“I do but I still wanted to own one. If you still don’t believe me tell me what hospital you work at. I’ll make a donation to it that should prove how serious I am.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Why not? You mentioned that you regretted not being able to offer better care to low income patients. I also remember you mentioning the need for a better ct scanner.”

“You’re pulling my leg. Come on help me get you a refund.”

“How about this? You tell me where you work then I prove I’m not joking. After that you agree to meet me somewhere.” Once again Sally wasn’t surprised when there was a long silence and she found herself pecking around in the sand for another rock to turn into it.

“May I have a little time to think about this?”

Sally was quick to send John an image of a heart. “Of course you can.” By this point a huge grin had formed on Sally’s face. She could practically feel the resistance crumbling. She didn’t mind buying the hospital a new ct scanner either. She would be helping people and getting what she wanted. What could be better? “Now would you like to play some and enjoy some of your new toys?”

“Yes but actually I’d like a little time to process this.”

This time Sally chose to present John a sad face. “I didn’t frighten you did I? I have money but I’m still me.” For a moment she was made to bite down on her lower lip and take in a deep breath. This could be a problem spot. If someone couldn’t handle the thought of being with a well off woman they wouldn’t be able to handle being with her. The fear was there but only a slight nudge in the back of Sally’s mind telling her that she needed to say something and she’d acted too soon.

“No! It’s just a little strange is all.”

“Someone thought I was pretending.”

“You haven’t bought us that new ct scanner yet.”

“And who’s fault is that?”

“Hey now I have to be careful. You know I’m a doctor and the moment I tell you where I work that really shrinks the list.”

A slight chuckle escaped Sally as she thought of Trisha. She knew her first name and some other bits of information about her as well. She didn’t need to be herself to figure out who John was but she didn’t want to go down that path. “Okay. Sense you’re too laggy to play dragon wars did you catch the last episode of prey?”

“Work got in the way but Ellanore. I think I’m going to get off for a bit and process this. I’ll talk to you soon alright?”

“Sure.” Even as she entered the words and sent them Sally was standing up and gathering up her clothing. She wouldn’t reveal herself but she wanted to get to John’s right now and at least check in on him. The part of her that said she’d acted too soon was a little louder. It also said she was stupid to lay on the beach while speaking with him whenever she could have been observing his response more closely and adjusted to it.

*******************************************************************************************

April 23th 2019

As Easwick all saints hospital came into view Sally took in a deep breath. At times she wondered if Tina was playing her and she didn’t realize it. At these times she wondered if there was some greater power like fate or a god and it was messing with her. She could see more ambulance and even helicopters heading towards the hospital already. There was no going back now. Nearing the hospital she slowed to avoid producing the sonic boom she typically enjoyed creating upon her arrival. As she touched down for a landing her boots barely made a click on the ground as she walked into the building and towards the receptionist. “Good morning Remy.”

Upon hearing her name Remy looked up and more jumped out of her seat then anything else. “Miss Sally we’re so glad that you could make it.” As Remy spoke she started to come around her desk though froze as her eyes locked onto Sally’s and the notably taller woman drew closer.

It was only when she was a few centimeters that Sally stopped and took a moment to look around. She could smell the sickness in the hospital. They were several patients that were in very bad shape with conditions from cancer to untreatable infections and viruses. It wasn’t that the hospital was bad. It had been chosen because it was very good. These people were just being gathered there for her. For one more shot at living. Yet while it was a good hospital Sally was still surprised it was this one. “Do you have the paperwork and signatures?”

“Yes we do. It’s.”

“Have the patients been informed that this could very well kill them?”

“Well yes. They signed the papers or those who were able to signed.”

“Were they told?” As Sally spoke she leaned closer to Remy getting a slight squeak from the woman. She had once learned that while a patient has signed a release form for her to attempt to heal them they might have not truly read what they were signing. This thought was still with her to the point that she felt the need to pressure for a straight answer.

“I”m not sure. I’ll ask my supervisor if you’ll just give me a moment.”

“No. Take me to where they’re being housed and I’ll tell them myself after I see their agreement. What doctor is going to be supervising me?”

“Doctor Richarson ma’am.”

For a moment Sally closed her eyes as she took in a calming breath. This was always a possibility. John was a good doctor in a good hospital it was possible. The odds didn’t favor it but she had done this several times in the past. “Do you ever get the feeling that the world is just messing with you?”

“Excuse me Ma’am?”

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable there. Days like this shake me a little.”

John was currently waiting outside the intensive care wing with his touch pad in hand. He’d been giving the documents another review to make sure everything was in order whenever the door to the wing was made to open. Upon seeing Remy leading Sally towards him he took in a deep breath. He’d seen Sally before but this was the first time he’d been this close to her and each step brought her closer. As she neared he had to take a moment to steady himself while looking up at her. “Miss Sally I’m doctor Richarson. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s good to meet you to Doc.” Sally actually felt herself tingle a bit as she spoke to John using her true voice and not a text. He hadn’t logged into dragon wars since they’d last spoken and speaking to him did a lot for her mood even if he didn’t know it was Ellanore. As somber as these events were Sally knew she needed to keep a positive mind set and that could be very hard. She was surprised by how easy it was to give him an honest if small smile and she took hold of his free hand giving it a slight shake. In truth she wanted to give him a kiss but she also needed to keep calm. Staying happy and calm that tended to be the pain especially as her natural response was to be anxious.

For a moment John feared the next thing he’d feel was his bones cracking and his muscles being squished. Reflexively he tried to jerk his hand back as if he’d placed it upon a stove burner. Sally’s arm didn’t even flinch and as he looked into her eyes he wondered if she even noticed his resistance. If she didn’t he was grateful for that. As she maintained the grip though he was amazed by how soft and smooth her skin felt. Even though he couldn’t free his hand from her grip the handshake was warm. “Thank you Miss. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”

Taking in a deep breath Sally turned her mind to the previous few days. Jessica adored her knew dresses, Morrigan liked her new necklace and had been wearing it, Azel and the others were doing well, crime in Lexwell was way down and her new boots were awesome. A long sigh came from Sally as she continued to hold onto John’s hand a bit longer then she should have. Her hand finally released his as the sigh ended and she gave her shoulders a slight shrug. “I asked your nurse but I’m going to ask you to. You know this could easily kill your patients correct? I’ll do my best for them but I can’t guarantee their survival.”

“So today our jobs are similar!” John had just started to laugh before realizing what he’d said. How had that slipped out? He wasn’t certain how Sally would respond to someone implying their tasks were similar to hers. His fear was made to diminish upon hearing some soft laughter. It wasn’t quite the laugh of a human. It was produced by vocal cords that were too strong and perfect to be human. It was Sally laughing a soft gentle laugh. Yet the laugh was powerful. It felt like twenty kilograms he didn’t even know he’d been carrying was lifted from his shoulders by it.

“Your patients just have a better survival rate than mine.” Sally had tried to keep her laughter in given the situation but she couldn’t. It was a fair comparison doctors didn’t know if their patients would live or die either. They were just less likely to be the cause of their patient’s death.

“I wish that was true in this case but it just isn’t. You’re the best hope for these people. I imagine that you want to see this.” As he finished speaking John handed the touch pad to Sally so that she could look through the consent forms. He felt a slight chill as she took the pad from him and then with unblinking eyes began to scroll through the forms. The feeling that she wasn’t truly reading them weighed down upon him as her body language spoke only of her giving them a glance. He knew it was all she needed to read the entire record but it still felt off.

“So it’s Henteton first. Have the families been removed?”

That was another thing that felt wrong. While the family wasn’t allowed in during a operation they were allowed to observe. When it came to Sally they weren’t after an outburst from a mother that had just seen her child burn. It had not only gotten the poor woman a broken jaw but had thrown Sally off enough to prevent further healing attempts supposedly. “Yes. Some of the family that could make it are in the waiting room but they won’t trouble you.”

It was easy for Sally to hear the discontent in John voice as she had heard in other doctors. There was very little she could do about that for the moment. Even thinking about such things risked breaking her state of mind. She had to keep her mood up as best she could from patient to patient. Doing that after seeing a child or parent die under her touch was hard enough. It was nearly impossible with a distraught parent screaming and realizing she’d just struck that parent was too much. Knowing that every patient after that would die had settled the matter. It felt strange but the thought of explaining this to John in her own words someday made her feel joy. “Good. None of them will see me touching their kids.”

Despite his previous misgivings John couldn’t help but chuckle. He only hoped he’d be able to handle it when something went wrong. Friends and family weren’t the only ones who cared about a patient’s well being.

It was best she saw one patient at a time. While seeing her help someone comforted others it was nothing compared to the fear if she accidentally killed someone. Henteton was alone in his room as Sally and John entered. “Good day Henteton are you ready to get out of here?”

Upon seeing Sally Henteton had taken in a deep breath. Her face wore a smile yet it appeared as the face of a statue or painting. Skin to pristine to have even belonged to a newborn only added to her surreal appearance. It made him feel he may already be dead. “I believe I am.”

“Good. Before we begin. There is a forty percent chance I am going to kill you but if I don’t make the attempt you’ll be dead within the month. Your call.” As she spoke Sally proceeded to stand next to Henteton’s bed and looked down into his eyes. Her left hand crossed over her abdomen to hold onto her right side while her right gestured towards him.

If Sally was trying to frighten Henteton or comfort him John wasn’t certain. Perhaps she just wanted to make sure the choice was his. Her tone was neither hopeful or concerned but simply came across as casual. Before he could settle on how to respond or what he might want to add Henteton settled the issue.

“Either way I’m going to be getting out of here. I’m ready.” A sharp gasp issued forth from Henteton with more strength than he’d felt in months as Sally’s hand pressed into his chest.

As Sally placed her hand against Henteton’s chest she tried to clear her mind and focus only on the pleasant mood she was feeling. Unfortunately a joyful mood wasn’t the only consideration whenever she directed her energy into another. If she was too excited the energies would overwhelm the cells and they would reduce themselves to ash.

John remained silent as he observed Sally and Henteton. If it hadn’t been for Henteton he wouldn’t have thought anything was happening. Sally remained as still as a statue yet Henteton’s rate of breathing had increased as had the depth. One of his hands took hold of Sally’s wrist and his entire body seemed to spasm such that the tensing and relaxing of the muscles were plain to see.

Upon lifting her hand Sally used her free hand to carefully brush Henteton’s wrist aside. She didn’t speak right away but continued to look upon him for several seconds before speaking. “Your family and friends are going to be receiving good news.”

*******************************************************************************************

It had been going so well. John had been told the odds and tried to prepare himself for them. Yet Sally had gone through three patients and not lost one of them. She’d touched them for a few seconds, some of them had struggled, then it had been over and they seemed healed. That had all changed as he looked upon Phanil. The child had a bacterial infection of the lunges that had proven resistance to antibiotics. They’d been trying to help him in another hospital for months but now that was over. All that lay on the table where the blackened remains. It had all happened so quickly. Sally had placed her hand on the boy’s chest then three seconds later there had been a bright flash and whispering flames.

For a moment Sally just looked at the burning corpse and then turned to John. If she permitted this to sour her mood she would have no chance of helping the others. She’d saved three people already and she was going to heal others. She still felt John jump a bit underneath her touch. “It’s instant. Every cell in the body goes at the same time. You need to show me the.” Sally blinked a few times as she felt John take hold of her wrist. He didn’t try to remove her hand as some had in the past but gave it a firm squeeze and smiled at her.

The usual flaws that gave a face personality wasn’t there when John looked at Sally’s face. Her expression never wore on her. Those little bits of sculpting that told if this was a person that liked to frown or smile a lot just weren’t there. Her vocal cords didn’t carry the same personality a flawed instrument would have but he knew that she was trying to comfort him. It was in her words and touch but she couldn’t wait for him either. The more time she had to dwell on the loss the worse things would be. “You’re doing good.”

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“Hey Honey.” Alex had such mixed feelings when Sally worked at the hospitals. He was so proud of his girl but at the same time he saw how it hurt her. He wasn’t at all surprised that home was the first place she came after working there. He was glad that he didn’t have to ask permission to take a day off from work any longer. It allowed him to be there for his daughter during these times. As Sally walked over to him he stood and let her come to him wrapping his arms around her as she did so.

“One of them was a kid daddy! He was the same age as Jessica and he died. All I could do is say that he didn’t suffer.” As she spoke Sally pressed her face against her father’s shoulder letting her tears flow freely.

This was what Sally couldn’t show others. Any behavior that might imply an overly powerful bond to one thing or the mother might make it a target of people that would manipulate, use or hurt her. So she kept her smile small, her laughter quiet and her tears to herself. He didn’t even know if others would recognize them for what they were. “You gave him a chance Sally. That’s more than what anyone else could.”

Sally followed as her father sat down and she sat next to him. “What if it had been Jessica though. If she got the same bacteria.”

“You would smell it in her long before it reached that point. You’d be there overseeing her treatment long before it reached that point.” Sally couldn’t save everyone even with her power. At times it seemed she might be able to but even she had a ways to go before being able to do such. She knew that and this wasn’t the time to tell her such things. They could talk reality once her pain had been soothed.

“I need to get better. I did better this time but I’m not certain why. Have I improved?”

“I believe you have. How many was it?”

“Seventeen out of ninety five died.”

“You mean you healed seventy eight out of ninety five. Sally they were brought there because they were out of chance. You didn’t kill anyone you saved some of them.”

This time Sally wrapped her arms around Alex as she leaned against him. “I love you dad.”

“I love you to.” At this point Alex knew saying anything further wouldn’t help his daughter. All he could do was hold her and wait for the pain to fade. Yet despite not wanting his daughter to suffer these moments were oddly comforting to Alex. He knew his little girl could kill, had killed and would do it again. She didn’t appear to have any trouble doing this. The difference between these people and those that caused no sadness was that Sally had intended to save them. He didn’t want to see that difference between those she intended to kill and intended to help ever vanish.

With her head resting against her father and the scent of her home filling her nose Sally could feel her pain fading. It was times like this she wished she could sleep. She had seen it in the past. Her parents would go to bed unhappy or angry and when they woke up the pain had greatly diminished or it was gone. Even now it felt like some kind of magic that had been lost to her.

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April 25th 2019

“Hop, hop, hop.” Sally couldn’t help the delighted giggle that escaped her though the sound was eclipsed by the sound of the explosion as her foot landed solidly on a landmine detonating it. This wasn’t the best paying work by any stretch of the imagination and she did get rather dirty but a quick zip through the air at hyper sonic speeds would take care of that. Taking a moment to sniff the air she quickly leapt through the air and drove her foot into the ground. Rather than waiting for this explosion she leaped towards the second one easily outpacing the rapidly expanding gasses and shrapnel. Unfortunately as she drove her foot into the second one she wasn’t greeted by a detonation.

“Did you hit a dead one?”

“No.” Bending down Sally took a moment to clear away the dirt and lift up the bits of the crushed land mine. “Shattered it before it could detonate. It takes a certain type of landmine if I’m going to really hop on them. I just wish I could find a good anti tank one.”

Eun couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she looked to her friend. “You’re probably the only person who’d ever hope to step on an anti-tank landmine. Do they tickle your feet or something?”

“If you want to tickle my feet you use a feather or a gentle breeze.I just like firecrackers. When i was a kid I had to go away from home to play with them because they frightened our dog. He was such a big silly. He’d faced down a bear if it stepped into his yard but one little pop and he’s screaming and hiding under the living room table or someone’s bed. He really hated thunder.”

Four massive explosions interrupted Eun before she could respond. The rapid detonation told her that Sally had found four good ones. She actually jumped a little whenever she turned and found Sally standing right beside of her grinning from ear to ear. A moment later she realized Sally was looking at the sheet to keep track of how many landmines she’d found. “So how many is that?”

“You are a terrible supervisor.”

“Come now. You can’t expect me to keep track of how many you detonate whenever you’re moving at speeds like that.”

“If I go at speeds you can keep track of this is going to take all day.”

“Then help me out so that we can both benefit.” Normally Eun would have been more mindful to keep track of her worker’s productivity. She didn’t believe this was needed with Sally for two reasons. She trusted Sally and because she worked so cheaply. In return for her aid Sally wanted a few pieces of local art such as handmade blankets, pots and clothes.

“Sure just make me do your job to.” This was nice work. It was a shame that it needed to be done in the first place but actually doing it was nice. After losing seventeen people she was trying to save a couple days ago it was good to do work where she could save some lives but they weren’t in immediate danger. To make things even better she was working with a friend and there was no need to conceal it.

“I’m just being safe. I remember what happened the last time you weren’t paid what was agreed upon. They’re loansharks that are more forgiving than you.”

If Eun had said those words with fear Sally was rather certain she’d been hurt. There was no hint of fear in her voice so that she was made to chuckle. “You’re not wrong. I do give fair warning and advance notice though.”

“I believe it’d be best for all involved if you had my money by five o’clock.” Eun couldn’t help but chuckle as she felt a gentle nudge from Sally’s arm and was sent stumbling a few centimeters. Given how powerful she knew Sally to be she knew that nudge was gentle indeed.

“I’m more tactful than that!” Sally was grinning herself whenever Eun rapidly shook her head no. “Fine. I’ll do your job for you and keep track of how many mines I detonate and what type they were. The paperwork is up to you. Eun you know I’m too fond of you to actually harm you. Right?”

Before speaking Eun placed a hand on Sally’s shoulder. “I know but cheating someone out of their pay is a good way to lose friendship. After all. What kind of friend does that?”

“One that made an honest mistake and I understand that.”

“Are you sure you’re the same person that hospitalized and threatened to kill Minera?”

Sally quickly helped up her right index finger in front of Eun. “One that woman is a bitch. Two she had no intention of upholding her end of our deal. Three she is by no means a friend of mine. I just wanted to see her humbled a bit in return for my services and she didn’t take me seriously.”

“So you’re saying you’d be friends with a bitch?” As the words left her Eun knew she’d made a mistake by the grin Sally gave her.

“I’m friends with you aren’t I?”

“I should be more careful on a minefield.”

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April 25th 2019 2 Hours 37 minutes later

Demolition tended to be fun especially when it involved large buildings. Typically she preferred to be brought in after another crew. In most cases this was how things went as people would come in to strip the building of anything of value before it was taken down. Sally liked to give the building a once over to be certain and to check out the building she was going to bring down around her.The feeling of kiloton after kiloton of concrete and steel falling down upon her that had taken months or even years to build was so delightful.

That she found such enjoyment in destruction had naturally caused a great deal of anxiety in those more delicate than herself. She didn’t really help with this fear especially when others showed interest. Currently a small camera adorned her head as she looked around. Rounding a corner Sally took hold of the corner with the tips of her fingers and barely twitched her wrist. A sharp pop issued forth as she removed a melon sized chunk of concrete. “I hope that woke everyone up. If you haven’t been paying attention I’m going to be toppling this incredibly delicate one hundred eighty seven meter tall building.”

Before continuing Sally walked over to one of the main support columns. She then extended her right index finger and slowly but smoothly began to push it through the concrete. “It’s made of this ridiculously weak ceramic. It reminds me of a styrofoam but I’m told it’s called construction grade concrete. There is also this other stuff that reminds me of my young sister’s play doh whenever it dries out. There is a little bit of stretch there.”

Sally went silent as a sharp metallic whine came from the column as she pushed her finger further into the column. This was soon joined by several sharp pops as the deformed metal pressed against the concrete while Sally easily pushed her finger through the metal. Hooking her finger Sally slowly drew the metal towards herself shattering the concrete as she did so. The thoom of the metal being stretched beyond its elastic point was eclipsed by a sudden fracturing of the concrete and a spray of tiny rocks pelted her as she drew her finger out of it.

“It’s a bit more lustrous than the doe but really just look at this.” The whine of metal being cold worked in a single slow moving press filled the air as Sally easily worked the metal between her thumb and index finger before letting it fall to the ground. “The whole thing might just come apart at any moment now.”

Barely lifting her foot off the ground Sally gave her leg a lazy swing as if intending to give the column the gentlest of nudges. This did much to belittle the force of the kick as the column soon revealed. The moment her foot impacted with the column a horrific boom shook the entire structure as the column crumbled in an instant. A massive cloud of powdered concrete was kicked up and the entire structure shook violently from the force of the impact. The initial impact was joined by several others as the larger chunks of the column tore through the walls, ceiling and flooring.

As she opened her mouth to speak Sally couldn’t help the excited giggle that escaped her. The feeling of the structure crumbling around her and her playful commentary was too much to keep in. Even as she tried to speak her words had a good bit of laughter mixed in. “Now I’m certain you can all see why this horribly underbuilt structure can’t be allowed to stand another sixty years.”

By now Sally was feeling pretty excited and wasted no time walking over to the thickest wall. Another impact shook the building when she brushed her hand through the load bearing wall as if she was carefully brushing aside a cobweb. She was made to speed up as she knocked several falling concrete chunks away from the camera but she didn’t lose her casual posture. “This place is simply falling apart.”

Rather than walking through the opening she’d just created Sally continued to walk alongside the wall with her arms extended to either side of her. A constant roar filled the air as Sally’s arm easily glided through the concrete punctuating the air with a powerful twang from time to time as they happened upon a metallic support. The floor was made to vibrate violently and was even jerked upwards in several weaker locations. The roar becoming a bellow whenever her other arm would find something to grind its way through or the wall thickened.

With the destruction of two support columns, some of the load bearing wall and the continued punishment it was clear the building was feeling the effects. The floor above her appeared ready to collapse. How would the floor’s beneath her hold up whenever the ones above began to give way? Would they take the entire structure or would only part of the building go during the first collapse? Sally didn’t know but it was exciting to find out.

Knowing that others were watching added to the fun but also took a little away. She didn’t mind them watching but protecting the camera was annoying. She rather liked the feeling of a slab of concrete or metal beam striking her head as the building crumbled. She would have to get something that she could wear around her neck so that it’d be better protected and she could enjoy such things more. An amused giggle escaped her as a chunk of flooring came loose and she covered the camera with her hand rather them smacking it away. She uncovered it after allowing the material to strike her in the head and fall off. “It’s like having a snowball fight!”

A cheer of delight came from Sally seven minutes later during which the building had continued to endure her playful abuse. The floor above her had given out in a massive wave of failures and now came collapsing down upon her. She allowed the collapsing floor to take her with it as the floor beneath her feet gave way and she fell backwards. The floor beneath the original held for only a moment before the momentum and weight of the collapsing floors proved too much and it gave way as well. Soon Sally was completely covered with dust, twisted metal and concrete.

The material that covered her fell away more easily than a light covering of sand as Sally sat up and looked around. The building had began to collapse but despite the weight of the above floors it had stopped. With the creaking that filled the air she knew that wouldn’t last long. Even if she didn’t continue her play this building would be a pile of rubble soon. She needed to enjoy it while she could or gravity would take all the fun.

*******************************************************************************************

April 25th 2019 37 minutes later

“Are you sure you want this one? I mean seriously. It’s so ugly.” As she spoke Sally leaned towards some strange fish she couldn’t identify at the bottom of the ocean. A large pill shaped containment unit currently floated next to her for the storage of specimens. Unlike an actual drone the submersible had no means of movement other than to rise or sink but was totally dependant on Sally for any other form of movement Her mouth was covered by a mouthpiece but it delivered no oxygen only serving as a communication device with the surface. A specially designed high pressure camera wrested upon her shoulder so the surface team could give her guidance.

“Well yes it is but we’ve never seen such a fish before. We’d all appreciate it if you could bring it back.”

After taking another moment to inspect the fish Sally finally took hold of it. The moment she did she felt a barb stab her in the arm and glide over it harmlessly. “It has a stringer.”

“A stinger that goes upward?”

“I’m thinking ambush predator. It waits until something swims above it and then stabs it with its stringer.”

“Could you tell what kind of poison it is?”

“Taste like a nerve toxin. Get something to write with and I’ll give you the chemical makeup.”

“Thank you ma’am.”

*******************************************************************************************

April 25th 2019 Evening

Typically Sally enjoyed exploring the ocean bottom. She liked to look for sunken ships and at times aircraft. Those regions that made recovery impossible or nearly so for anyone else were her favorite. Working with actual marine biologist was another story. The camera wasn’t as good as her eyes by any stretch of the imagination so at times she spent what seemed a ludicrous amount of time trying to get them to see something extremely simple. She’d spent seventeen minutes looking at a supposedly very interesting rock. Then there was the fish. She’d come into her power too soon to develop the sense of fear most had but she did have a sense of aesthetics and some of the things they asked her to bring back were just unpleasant to look at.

The biggest annoyance was she couldn’t use her phone. While she could still hear the ringtone and would know if she was getting an emergency call she couldn’t actually respond or read the message without returning to the surface. Between the long periods of scrutinizing rocks and ugly fish with so little to take her mind off what she was doing Sally found herself in need of relief whenever she finally returned to the surface. Smacking the daylights out of Paul seemed like a really good idea given how often he’d asked her to go back for another look.

Fortunately her phone helped relieve that need as she heard Jessica’s ringtone. All her frustration vanished as she looked at the message.

“Would you please go back for another look?”

As frustrating as those words had been moments earlier Sally found herself giggling as she read them now. Rather than text her sister back she switched to audio. “Do I complain about that question that much?”

It took Jessica a moment to respond but when she did her voice was full of giggles. “Daddy told me to do that.”

“We’ll have to get him back. Did you have fun at school today?”

“No! They didn’t let me play basketball with the other kids. Coach said I had to let the other kids score some.”

A horrific boom shook the area as a massive burst of water was sent skywards upon a sharp huff issuing forth from Sally. “So it’s this crap again. Were you passing the ball?”

“I would if they were closer to the goal or open but they’re so slow! I’m normally the only one near the baskette.”

For a moment Sally went silent as she rubbed the bridge of her nose and tried to gather her thoughts. Jessica didn’t have anywhere near the power that she had whenever she was of the same age but she was very gifted. She wasn’t certain if this was a reflection of her own power or she was naturally gifted but it was enough to put her well beyond children of her age group. Yet there was no way Sally was going to tell her sister to holdback. “Did he let you play anything else?”

“He said I could set on the bleachers and do my classwork but I already did that. Then he told me to put away my phone.”

It was hard for Sally to keep from saying she’d go down there right now. She wanted to grab the coach up by his throat and have a nice talk with him about excluding her sister. That would only cause trouble in the long run though and she knew it. “Have you told dad or mom about this?”

“Mom said she’d go talk with the principal in the morning.”

“Is mom there?”

“She’s here do you want me to give her the phone?”

“Just ask her if she wants me to come along.” Despite her annoyance Sally was made to giggle whenever she heard her sister call for their mother. Jessica had a very good set of lunges in her. Sally herself had never gone to school as her parents had feared a mistake. It would have been pointless anyway. Never needing to sleep, being extremely difficult to fatigue and being able to read something more quickly than a human could glance at it meant she could easily learn the material and have plenty of time to spare.

“Mom says she and dad will handle it.”

“Oh! So they’re both going?”

“Yes. Why are you laughing?”

“Because you sounded so cute whenever you said yes.” Sally knew that yes well. It came out whenever Jessica, her father and she were certain that they’d just won something. The one time she didn’t want to hear that yes from any of them was whenever they were arguing with her mother. Sally didn’t know if she’d ever feared for her own safety but she felt she’d came close once when she used that yes after a debate with Morrigan.

“Sissy!”

“God that was even cuter! Hey Sis. Do you want to go flying this weekend?”

“Could we go diving instead?”

Sally couldn’t help the grunt of annoyance that escaped her. After spending several hours on the ocean bottom collecting samples she didn’t feel ready to go diving even by herself so soon. Before she could respond she noticed some laughter coming over the line. “Very funny.”

“Dad thinks so to!”

“So do you want to go flying on the weekend?”

“Yes.”

“Okay Sissy I’ll see you then. Bye.”

“Bye.”

As Sally heard the phone hang up she took in a deep breath. She could feel an itch at the back of her skull and she knew what it was. Her parents were planning on handling the situation but she was still annoyed over it. This wasn’t the first time her sister had been excluded because the other children couldn’t effectively compete with her. She wanted to even the score a bit now and the quickest way to get rid of the itch was to do so. At the moment she wasn’t certain what she would do but she knew she’d think of something upon her arrival.

*******************************************************************************************

April 26 2019

Sally didn’t need superhuman vision to see the sweat rolling down Anthony’s face as he sat across from her. His job offer had been very polite and well thought out but it was clear from his response he hadn’t expected her to agree to a meeting. Now that she was there he was even more concerned. It was all she could do to keep a straight face as he tried to compose himself and after a moment she had to give him a small smile. “Do you have a job offer for me or are you wasting my time.”

“I apologize I never expected you to respond.” Anthony went silent to avoid speaking when Sally was but when she just shrugged her shoulders and continued to grin he feared she was giving him enough rope to hang himself. “Well Madame as our offer mentioned we’ve developed a new clothing line to showcase both power and freedom that we believe you’d be a perfect model for.”

“Not beauty?”

“Of course you’re positively gorgeous!”

“I thought you may be implying I wasn’t for a moment.” Sally was openly grinning by this point. As she prepared to speak the ringing of her phone provided a distraction. It was impossible for Sally to resist letting Anthony squirm a bit more. “Hi mom.”

“Sally was that really necessary?”

For a moment Sally looked to Anthony though she made no move to explain herself or let him speak. It was clear he was uncomfortable but didn’t dare speak up as rude as her behavior might be. “Yes.”

“You took out both of his front tires while he was driving and I’m pretty sure it’s your fault his phone went dead. You could have killed him.”

“Yes. I could have killed him but I didn’t and isn’t that’s what is important?”

“You’re letting someone listen to you.”

Sally couldn’t help but chuckle whenever she heard her mother chuckle despite herself. Even when Morrigan got onto her they both knew where her more mean sense of humor had came from. “Come now mom. I couldn’t just let him get away with such rude behavior.”

“I know that you love your sister and want to insure she’s treated well.”

“I love you to mom.” It didn’t surprise Sally whenever she heard her mother sigh.

“I know but please Honey. Your sister needs to learn to try using proper channels before she comes to you to handle it. I’m asking as your mother the next time something like this happens you let your father and me handle this or at least limit yourself to legal methods.”

“Okay mom. I’ll give proper channels a chance to fail before I take matters into my own hands next time.”

“Thank you. Now have you frightened whoever is listening to you into peeing himself yet?”

“Working on it.”

“I’ll let you get back to it in that case.”

Hanging up her phone Sally turned back to Anthony. “Alright how about you let me see what you’re planning on sticking me in then we can discuss payment.”

“Certainly Miss! But could you give me some idea of what you would be looking for in terms of payment.”

“If I like your designs how about you design an outfit for me? While you may believe me the perfect model for your clothes I get the feeling you didn’t really expect me to accept. I get a lot of job offers like that. They want to be able to say they tried to contact me but I didn’t respond. Now that we’ve met I might want to see what you come up with me in mind.”

“And if you don’t like my work?”

“You get to explain why you would insult me with subpar clothing and then I decide what I’m going to do about it.”

*******************************************************************************************

April 27 2019

Carnival rides didn’t tend to be much fun for Jessica. No matter how high, fast or open they seemed to be they couldn’t compare to her big sister. She never had to wait in lines, there was no place she felt safer than in her sister’s arms and the only restrictions on the maneuvers she could perform was Jessica’s own body. The only thing she could do on a carnival ride that she couldn’t with her sister is bring a friend along and at the moment her sister was plenty of company. A delighted scream escaped the young girl as Sally quickly fell towards the earth moving in a spiral path while spinning herself completely throwing off Jessica’s orientation. She felt a rush of water moments later as her sister began to fly in a straight line.

Flying backwards Sally dipped her leg into the ocean water producing a spray of water that just dampened her sister as she flew. After allowing her sister a few seconds to enjoy the water Sally once again rose in the air but as she did so she turned both of them upside down. As she felt her sisters grip around her neck tighten Sally gave her a kiss on the forehead which got her a kiss on the collar bone in return. “Do you want to go higher!”

“Yeah!” As they went upwards Jessica looked over Sally’s shoulder feeling as if she could touch the clouds. Her view suddenly changed as Sally did another roll so that now she was looking down at the ground which they had just began to fall towards. As they fell she could feel Sally’s hair tickling her face as it was blown around by the wind. Soon a feeling of weightless came over Jessica as they reached terminal velocity. It was clear to her this was a natural fall. It wasn’t clear to her how high up they were but she’d been this high enough times to know the fall would take some time.

“Teacup!”

“Spinning spiral!”

“Again?”

“Yeah!” It was clear when Sally had began to fly again as the began to move in the horizontal and vertical directions moving in large loops. At the same time Sally began to spin as if she was standing on her heels and like she was being spun by the waist. Even their primary trajectory was anything but stable.

While to Jessica the flight was more of a carnival ride combined with skydiving to Sally they were a dance. A dance that she had refined over the years as she took her sister flying again and again. Overtime she’d developed various patterns of flight and given them name so that Jessica could call on them at a moments notice. At times Jessica even came up with her own maneuvers. Sally had to refuse more than a few of the request moves as they would have seriously injured or killed her sister but she tried to work them into something enjoyable.

*******************************************************************************************

“So you get to have your phone in gym now?” Sally currently sat in front of a small fire cooking some hamburgers and roasting some potato wedges for herself and her sister. Jessica was setting a short distance away gulping down a rather large bottle of water. The constant state of excitement such dances caused tended to work up quite a thirst and even appetite even for the rider.

“Yeah it’s neat. I have to run some laps and spend some time on the rings or pull up bar then I can play on my phone all I want. The others apparently complained that they didn’t want to play with me because I’m better than them.”

“Are you happy with that?” Sally couldn’t help but feel the decision was unfair to Jessica. She could imagine that the other children didn’t like constantly losing and knew it must be frustrating but they’d effectively ganged up on her sister and excluded her because she was stronger than them.

“It’s not as fun as playing with the other kids but I’d rather do that then hold back so they can win. Sis what do you think would happen if you tried to play some sports? Those people make a lot of money and you would win so easily.”

“Well I have played some specialty games.”

“I know but they don’t really let you play either do they?”

“I’ve never actually tried out for a professional team but I doubt they would let me play. It could be really funny seeing how they responded though! Do you think I should try out for one?”

Jessica’s first thought was to give a yes but after a moment she stood up and walked over to her sister. Sally carried her around so much when they were together at times she forgot she could walk on her own.. “Dad said that people don’t like playing and knowing they’re going to lose all the time. It’s why the other kids don’t want to race. I’m not suppose to lose on purpose though because that’s lying.”

For a moment Sally was going to agree with Jessica but bit down on her lower lip as a simple realization set in. “You know how I play board games. I use a random number generator because I can control how the dice land if I use my hand. What we need to do is think of a random number generator for you.”

“I don’t want to lose though! We talked about that to. The others don’t have to use one of those.”

The frustration Sally heard in Jessica’s voice was actually familiar and it brought a chuckle from Sally. “What is more important to you? Being fair or having fun?”

For a moment Jessica went silent and rubbed her shoes together. She could feel her eyes heating up a bit as she began to become frustrated. She didn’t like it when her parents or Sally talked like this. “Fun but losing isn’t fun!”

“I still have fun even when I lose to you in monopoly.”

“But I don’t say mean things to you and besides we all know you’d win if you really played!”

Sally didn’t use any cooking utensils while she was preparing her and her siblings food other than the cooking surface but rather took a moment to flip the burgers with her hand. “So you want the other kids to know that you could beat them. You should benefit from it as well. Okay then. You can wear one of my watches on each arm.” Sally was made to giggle as Jessica more jumped back then anything else.

“Those are heavy!”

“They’re not that heavy. Still that wouldn’t solve you wanting the other children to know you could win. Fine then I’ll get you some weights for each wrist. We could even have them made so that they’d go with your outfits! You’d get a better workout and the other children would know that you’d only need to take them off to really beat them.”

“But making me wear weights isn’t fair.”

Turning to her side Sally pulled her sister closer again and gave her another kiss. “Random number generator. They’d all know that you’d win if you weren’t wearing the weights. Isn’t that enough?”

After a moment of silence Sally looked up at her sister. “Will they be pretty?”

“They’ll be stunning. How about we get you some nice butterfly bracelets made from real gold? Nice big ones like this.” Taking hold of her sister’s hand Sally held her fingers just above it and open to show the size she had in mind.

“Does it have to be butterflies?”

“What? Haven’t you ever heard float like a butterfly sting like a bee?”

“I want a hummingbird though!”

After a moment of silence Sally couldn’t help but giggle. “So a hummingbird on each wrist. Cute, little, fast and mean.”

“They’re not mean.”

“The next time I take you on a public outing we’re going to a zoo with a bird exhibit.”

*******************************************************************************************

April 27 2019 7:19 PM

“Ellanore are you there?”

Upon seeing a message from Dehvess Sally was tempted to complain that he’d made her wait so long. She was grateful that she’d been checking in on him at home as much as she didn’t want to seem like that crazy stalker girlfriend. She’d been made to regret not looking in on him before and she wasn’t going to do that again even if it meant she invaded his privacy a little. “Hi Dehvess! It’s good to see you again. I missed having someone who’s fun to talk to and murder with. Are you doing okay? Please tell me your absence wasn’t due to my purchase.”

“Not entirely but I did need a little time to think. It’s been a crazy few days. Would you mind if I vented to you a bit?”

“Picked up too much junk loot? Well I have plenty of room in my bags. What do you have?”

“I’m not sure where to start. Well after you talked to me I had a lot on my mind. Then I learned that I’d be working with a specialist for some emergency procedures. It was just incredible to watch.She is amazing. She saved so many people that had been given up on as dead but we still lost seventeen of them.The deaths really seemed to get to her especially the first one. He was a kid. I did what I could to help but still that many in one day is a bit much. As I was the supporting doctor I had to fill out the reports assuring the board and insurance that everything that could be done to save their lives was done. It didn’t end there though. Even the healthy patients needed a lot of paperwork and we had to confirm they were indeed healthy so that they could go home.”

John was more shaken than she had realized. That was painfully obvious to Sally and it was hard not to fly to her friend’s side right away. He had given her the death count. He knew that could be used to help narrow down the hospital but he wasn’t thinking of that. Then a specialist that could heal people who other doctors had given up on so that they could return to their homes almost immediately afterwards was quite telling. She was the only person on the planet who fit that qualifications.

With so many mistakes it was impossible for Sally not to worry about John. Yet he had called her amazing. He didn’t know that it was her but he’d called her amazing. She actually had to look to her wrist to make sure his hand wasn’t there as suddenly it felt like he was holding her wrist once again giving her a comforting squeeze. There was even a feeling of guilt there as she imagined John having to handle all that paperwork and the burden that came with it. Hopefully he had a nurse to handle the distraught families at least. That she hadn’t even considered this burden brought a feeling of guilt with it.

“I apologize. If I had any idea you’d have so much placed upon your shoulders I’d waited before I pressed for a face to face meeting. It sounds like you helped to save a lot of lives though. For her to still be amazing after seventeen died that must mean many lived.”

“I well. I wish that it was me.”

It was you flashed through Sally’s mind and it took all her willpower to keep herself from typing it in. Sally was made to feel as if she’d punched herself in the stomach as she wished she’d spoken to John more while she was at the hospital. She should have made it more clear how much those kind words and steady hand holding her wrist had meant to her. “I’m certain you did more than you realize.”

“Thanks and about that meeting. I could really use a friend right now. Trisha and I had some words.”

“I thought something might be wrong. You two are normally out tonight aren’t you?”

“It isn’t the two of us. It never is the two of us. It’s Trisha her friends and me and I’ve been feeling the odd man out more and more. After everything that had happened this week and well after speaking with you I thought we might just have a quiet evening. But she’d insisted that she needs to be there for her girlfriend Jacqueline. The girl is nothing but a drama bitch. Every week it’s the same bull and each month with a different guy. I couldn’t take it and I said a few things.”

Sally bit down on her lower lip and tried to clutch her chair in order to keep herself still. Unfortunately her fingers had gone right through the chair leaving her squeezing her hand into a fist instead. Say it flashed through her mind as she looked at her phone. Tell me your name. Say that you want to meet me and I’ll be there before you can imagine. Say it! As these thoughts ran through Sally’s mind she actually found herself trembling and it was all she could do to text without destroying her phone. “It sounds like you could use someone who’d have your back. I’d like to be that someone.”

“Thanks you can call me John by the way. I know that tonight is too early but I would like to meet you.”

“I’ll be there in less than three minutes.” It was all Sally could do to avoid putting a hole in her roof or destroying her furniture as she flew instead of ran to her door. She was fairly certain she’d damaged the hinges as she opened the door. That she’d not taken the door off its hinges was actually quite impressive considering how excited she was feeling. Fortunately she had the presence of mind to hold back on her acceleration to avoid destroying her clothes. She didn’t want to end up naked upon her arrival.

*******************************************************************************************

John didn’t know what to think as he looked at his phone. It’d be one thing if Sally had said she’ll be hopping on a private jet. It wasn’t much more believable but at least it seemed possible as insane as it was. He’d only given her his first name though. If she really meant what she said that would mean she already knew where he was and might be closer than expected. Had she done that? Had she figured out who he was long ago and simply not mentioned it? He knew that he’d made little mistakes in the past and with the right resources they could be used to identify him but it was hard to imagine. Once again looking down at the phone John grinned. “Are you using a teleportation spell?”

As no reply came immediately John turned his gaze towards the clock. Three minutes didn’t give much time for anything else. How close would she have to be to mean that? Rather than sending another text he was made to laugh and decided that he’d give Ellanore her three minutes. Before two minutes could his entire home was shaken by a massive explosion as if lightning had struck right outside his doorstep.. As he heard the windows vibrating from the force of the shockwave he was surprised to hear a gentle knocking at his door.

Even if she paid for it destroying peoples doors was rarely a good way to make an impression. As Sally waited at the door she glanced at her phone and was made to giggle at John’s last message even as she waited for the door to be open. She didn’t have to wonder where John was she could easily hear that. She could also hear his elevated heart rate. As the door opened she leaned forward so that they were eye level and to give him a better view of her cleavage. When she spoke she gave her lips a slight pucker and held up her phone so John could read the text. “Good evening Doctor John Richarson.”

He hadn’t been certain what he was doing. Upon opening the door though you could have knocked him over with a feather. Learning that Ellanore had been one of his neighbors all along or a crazed stalker would have been easier to believe than this. Indeed John’s ability to think seemed to leave him as he looked on in stunned silence the final few minutes seemed to become a blur. It was several seconds before he even noticed the phone and several more seconds before he could read and comprehend the text upon it. “You’re Ellanore?”

Rather than speak Sally wrapped her arms around John. She felt his body stiffen under her touch but she still pulled him forward into a gentle hug. As she held him against herself she felt him relax in her grip. “I didn’t mean to cause you such a horrible week. I was so surprised whenever you were the supervising doctor but I didn’t even think of the paperwork or how you’d have to deal with the patients afterwords. I should have said more. You were a great help John. Just having you there helped keep my spirits high so I could continue healing. You were even one of the people I thought about before to help get my spirits up. You did good.”

It felt like the strength was being drained from John’s body. Of all the people that Ellanore could have been this simply seemed impossible. There it had been before him though. The conversation on her phone. At the same time he could feel several things slipping into place. Ellanore had always talked about her job or jobs in strange terms. It had often seemed she was either pretending or she had many jobs that she simply did for fun. Often he imagined her as a rich girl who only worked for personal amusement. He hadn’t been wrong but it was so much more than that. She was Sally. Sally was his friend that he’d been speaking to and playing games with for over a year. It seemed the ability to speak or even stand as he looked into her beautiful blue eyes left him.

This wasn’t the first time she had surprised someone by revealing herself to them and Sally didn’t mind that John seemed rather stunned. Indeed she found it rather flattering as she slipped her phone back into its satchel and then ran her fingers through his dark brown hair while using her other hand to support him. Given that she had a few centimeters on him with her boots on Sally estimated John’s height to be one hundred ninety two centimeters. He blinked his hazel eyes several times as he looked into her unrelenting sapphire blues. She felt John flinch under her fingers as she ran them over the stubble on his face.. “You’ve really had a rough few days. You haven’t even bothered shaving.”

“That’s more of a weekend thing.” John could barely believe it as his voice found him. Of all the things that he could have said he talked about his stubble. It was the least significant thing he could imagine at the moment. His difficulties with Trisha seemed to vanish from his mind as Sally’s fingers continued to explore his face while she held his body against her own. “Is this a dream?”

“I don’t sleep so I doubt it.” Before continuing Sally pulled John to the side and reached past him taking hold of the door and shutting it behind him. As she did so she gently brushed her hair against his face before straightening back up. “Now how about we go elsewhere and have a nice talk?” Sally waited for Jason to nod his head before slipping her arm under him. He hadn’t quite caught onto what she meant as she heard him give a slight yelp as she scooped him up.

“Hold.” John didn’t get to finish as he felt the air rushing past him and looked down to see the ground falling away from him. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around Sally and tightened his grip. Despite his instincts screaming that he was going to fall he was made to relax whenever he heard Sally laughing moments later even as she carried him higher into the air. “Where are we going?”

“Someplace a little more private.” As she began to fly away with him Sally was rather surprised whenever his left arm relaxed so that only his right arm was resting across her back. The feeling of him relaxing in her group brought a full smile to her face. “You’re amazing.”

John had no idea how he could feel so comfortable so soon but he wasn’t going to fight it. He was still having trouble reconciling that Ellanore and Sally were the same person but for the moment he could enjoy the ride. In the mean time he would try to organize his thoughts and think of what he was going to do.

*******************************************************************************************

“Thank you.” As John accepted a glass of juice from Sally he took a moment to look around. He had thought she might take him off into the wilderness. Instead she’d gotten them a room in a nice hotel and allowed him to check in after which he’d opened the balcony door and let her in. It was quite a bit nicer than setting outside especially considering the stocked refreshment counter. “So do you do this often? Meet people online before meeting them in person?”

Rather than setting down Sally had continued to fly though her posture was that of someone sitting. “Most don’t make it this far but yes. It’s one of the best ways I’ve found to meet new people. My body can be something of an issue in regular social interaction. You were actually quite a surprise whenever I began playing with you. When we first met I had no idea I would come to care for you this much. Waiting for you to agree to meet me face to face was quite a frustration especially whenever you wouldn’t even tell me your real name.”

Sally had just told him she cared for him in person. It was a strange feeling that John didn’t quite know how to place. “I’m glad you’re flying like that. It makes this a little easier to believe. Seeing you in the hospital was amazing but then to have you show up and my home and well it’s a lot to take in. I might even wake up in the morning thinking it was a dream.”

“I’ll bring you some coffee in the morning.” It made Sally happy whenever John began to laugh though it was clear he was still uncomfortable. Their encounter in the hospital and the flight had helped him but he had a little way to go.

“I’m not certain what I should say.”

“How about how are you doing psycho?” Sally gave John a grin before taking hold of his hand. “I wanted to hug you when I saw you in the hospital. I was so happy to be talking to you in person but I had to act like I didn’t know you. I had to pretend you weren’t a friend to me. Do you know what I wanted to say the most?”

“Boo?” It was John’s turn to make Sally laugh it seemed. It wasn’t his first time he had done this though. He often made Ellanore laugh.

“Relax!”

“Easy for you to say. I’m not the one who destroys entire cities over a snooty clerk.” John was trying not to grin too much at the surprise on Sally’s face.

“I have never destroyed an entire city over a single insult.” As she heard John holding in his laughter realization set in. Soon she began to laugh as well. “You helped! Those beak nosed freaks were asking for it anyway and that was a town not a city.”

“When you first grabbed my hand I worried I’d offended and you were going to break it.”

A long sigh escaped Sally as she lowered her head and gave a slight nod. “That’s fair. John you know how seriously I take it when I do a job right? Have you ever heard of me breaking the law while working with the police?”

“I know. You’re also known for taking revenge for offences suffered during the job.”

“That’s true.” Before continuing Sally placed her other hand over John’s and moved it closer to her chest just before her heart. Her eyes locked onto his as she took a moment to center herself.

“I want you to trust me and know you’re safe around me. You know all the times you’ve joked with and insulted Ellanore and I’ve never harmed you for that. I love those times and hope to enjoy more! Now to that history I add this. I can’t promise you that I’ll never harm you either on purpose or accident. I do promise I will do my utmost not to harm you. I will give fair verbal warning. If I’m pushed to near my limit I will be first to leave if at any location other than an emergency or my property. If at these locations or you need transport I will see to your safe departure so long as you don’t continue to provoke me. Finally if need be I will severe contact if I fear loss of my composure. My only requirement is you never contact me under the pretence of an emergency in order to continue a confrontation. I will hold to these conditions until one of us decides friendly relations between us is no longer desirable. If such a time comes, which I hope it doesn’t, I will make no attempts to harm you for past events.”

Listening to Sally speak like this felt strange. Her tone was a mixture of joy and business. It was clear to him she’d thought about this and perhaps made this promise before. “So this is a contract with you? And what is the cost?”

“It’s a contract yes. This is all I can promise as far as your safety. I’m human. I make mistakes and I lose my composure at times. My price is a chance at friendship with you. I hope that’s enough.”

John would have normally been laughing if someone made him such a promise. With Sally though it brought a great deal of relief. He had seen first hand what she’d done to people who insulted her. It was well known how little it took to insult her as well. “Thanks. You have a deal.” Before John could continue he found himself pulled forward and once again Sally’s arms were around him. Unlike the first time he found his arms around her to.

As she released her hold on John Sally gave a relieved sigh and ran the top of her hand against his face before letting him set down. “I’m grateful. Now.” Reaching into her satchel Sally took a moment to search around before removing it and looking inside. “Blast! I forgot your phone.”

“You have a phone for me?”

“Yes. I had them made for friends they have a lot of nice security and other features on them. They also let you contact me quickly in an emergency and help me find you. I’ve been wanting to give you yours for a long time. Then I forget it. Well I said I make mistakes.” As she considered her options Sally put her satchel back on. “Okay I didn’t take you there first because without a suit the flight will take awhile but we have two choices. You can either come back to my place with me to get your phone and a flight suit or you can stay here while I go get it.”

It was a bit of an awkward moment for John but he was grinning and happy. “What about waiting until later.”

“Oh no! I promised to do my utmost not to harm you. I’m not letting you go another day without that phone anymore than I’d allow Dehvess to forget his shield. Negligence is a form of harm. If you wait here I’ll be no longer than eight minutes.”

“You could also bring back the phone and a flight suit so that we could make the trip to your place more quickly.”

“That’s a good point! If you come with me now though we can have a nice long flight together. I do rather enjoy holding you and the suit can be an annoying barrier. I’ll leave which of the three up to you though.”

John felt himself blush a bit as he remembered all of Sally’s teasing over the internet. Her wording had suddenly brought all that back and before he knew what he was doing he was standing. He knew that he wanted to say something but he was having trouble organizing his thoughts. Sally chose to save him from this task.

“Yes. I was serious whenever I said I could be your girlfriend.” Before continuing Sally lowered her legs so she was actually standing rather than flying. She then moved to stand within centimeters of him smiling as she looked into his eyes. “But that’s not for today. You had a fight with Trisha and what kind of friend would I be for pushing such things when you’re angry, confused and hurting? Today I’m here to help take away that pain. I’m Ellanore you just know I meant it when I said I have nice tits.” Sally was made to chuckle as John tried to jump backwards though she grabbed his shoulders before he could. A moment later he was chuckling with her.

“Yeah. I remember. You said your everything is better than Trisha’s. May I know why? Why me that is?”

“Someone is fishing for compliments.” As she spoke Sally used a singsong tone that would have destroyed a human’s vocal cords. Before John could speak she leaned in closer and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re handsome, we share many interest, you give me joy, you’re a good person and most importantly we’re good for one another. Besides all of that.” Leaning forward Sally brought her lips close to John’s ear while pressing her breasts into his chest. “You’re already mine. I’m just waiting for delivery.”

As Sally backed away John was grateful she was holding onto him. If she had let go he would have fallen to his knees. He didn’t know when she’d put her hands on either side of him but all he could do was raise his hands to hold her wrist. “I had a fight with Trisha but that doesn’t mean we’re no longer a couple. I won’t cheat on her.”

“Oh! How could I forget. Devoted men turn me on. You’re right though. One fight doesn’t mean you separated. Her going to help a twenty four seven drama queen rather than spending time with you on one of the few times you needed her does. You watching her dance with other guys getting drunk while you stay sober setting in the corner to insure she gets home safely week after week does. I could go on but let’s not.” As she spoke Sally could feel John leaning against her and she wrapped her arms around him. “Come on a long slow flight with me. We’ll talk bull crap that doesn’t really matter and joke. When we get to my home we can lay around and watch some movies, play some games or soak in the pool. I’ll give you your new phone and then I’ll take you home.”

A long sigh escaped John when he went to open his mouth. He could hardly believe how good that sounded. “You have a pool?” He felt his body shaking beautifully as Sally laughed.

“Heated and indoor with nice wood paneling around it rather than hard stone.”

That sounds really good. Okay let’s take a slow flight.”

*******************************************************************************************

John hadn’t noticed Sally’s home until she had landed right in front of the entrance. The entire structure was hidden underneath a large group of trees. As they walked past a door so thick he felt it could have gone on a bank vault he felt like he’d stepped into a temple and the goddess was standing right behind him. Gleaming white marble covered the floor, walls and ceiling. Intricate carvings of gold, silver and wood decorated the walls more functional art joined this in the form of various pieces of furniture that were both. The lighting had been placed so that he couldn’t truly tell where it was coming from. Combined with the scope of the structure John had to do a double take as he looked at Sally. She didn’t give him a chance to ask.

“I know that it’s a bit much. Just hear me out before you think poorly of me though. A while back one of my clients paid me with a piece of art. It was the only way that he could pay me and honestly I love it but I didn’t have anywhere to put it. Well I did but it wasn’t deserving of the art. So I fixed the room up but now the room didn’t have enough art in it and.” Sally couldn’t help but give a slightly embarrassed giggle as she noted the look John was giving her.

For a moment John just looked at Sally. He knew that her pants weren’t denim but to all the world they looked like black denim, combine with a similar jacket and a white shirt. Her clothing was nice but relaxed and hardly what he’d call pretentious if you didn’t include the medallion she currently had tucked inside of her shirt. “Why don’t you show anyone all this! It’s like a museum in here.”

“The hallway leading to the museum is down the hallway first door on your left. Want to go take a look? It has a lot of things I collected from the ocean bottom that I haven’t felt like sharing. As for your question.” Sally flashed John a smile and gave a slight chuckle before speaking. “I’m showing you aren’t I? I just can’t stand to bring strangers here. This is a space for my family, friends and me. Some of the art is real personal to. Oh there is one piece I really want to show you!”

It actually surprised John when Sally didn’t scoop him up right away and begin running. Rather she gently took hold of his hand and they began walking side by side. “What is it?”

“It’s me without my powers. Well at least it’s how the artist imagines me. I got it a bit over a year ago whenever I was doing some healing. The father of one of the people I healed is a professional makeup artist and special effects expert. He sent me a message saying that he wanted to thank me and asked me to model for him. I knew his work and liked it already so I decided to take him up on his offer.”

“And he modeled you as standard human?” John was grinning now as he looked over at Sally and noticed the huge smile on her face.

“Well if I want to see myself as an empowered human I just look in a mirror.”

John didn’t need to ask Sally about seeing herself as an alien, mutant or cyborg. She had made it clear to the media that she didn’t care for things that made her look like something other than human. She had enough trouble with that connection as is. “Wow. I can’t remember anyone else trying to portray you as a standard. What made him do that?”

“He said he wanted to try to capture the human wielding all this power trying to do right by her fellow humans. Then he said it was like trying to look past the sun to see what lay behind it.”

*******************************************************************************************

April 28 2019 Morning

This always happened. Even when she tried to resist as soon as a friend let them into her life she couldn’t help but inspect their living conditions. In every case she ended up wanting to do something about it with a few exceptions like Tina. At least she’d managed to restrain herself to getting John a nice silver coffee set and some proper coffee. This she carried into John’s bedroom and placed on the table next to his bed. Bending down she brought her lips within a centimeter of his right ear. “Wake up.” And gently blew on it.

The moment the wind touched his ear John shot up in bed feeling for all the world like winter itself had blown on his ear. He felt his jaw go slack as rather than a frigid landscape he found Sally smiling at him and pouring a cup of coffee. When his eyes turned from her for just a second he also noted his sleek new phone laying there.

“It happened.” With those words Sally offered John the cup of coffee. She had made it a point to fill the cup only part way to prevent spilling due to him seeming a bit unsteady.

“What’s this?”

“I told you I’d have a cup for you in the morning. I couldn’t let you think last night was a dream after all.”

For a moment John just looked at the cup before lifting it to his mouth and taking a small sip. He had ended up swimming with Sally for a good chunk of the evening and talking. Except for the pool and seeing Sally in a swimsuit it had been much like talking to her whenever he called her Ellanore. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now please feel free to get in touch whenever. I’m afraid that I’m going to have to be going now.”

“Huh? Why?” The notion that Sally was in his home was impossible enough. The idea that she’d come by just to fix him a cup of coffee seemed something beyond that.

“Well I’d like to spend some more time with you but Trisha is going to be here in ten minutes.”

“How do you know that?”

“I heard her cell phone call. Of course if you’d like I’ll be happy to stay. It could be quite funny. Trisha I’d like to introduce you to Ellanore!” Sally couldn’t help but giggle as she imagined the look on Trisha’s face seeing her there. “Wait. Maybe it’d be better if I’m here to check up on the patients that I was able to heal.”

John was actually surprised by how large of a grin was on his face. “Are you serious?” He was rather surprised whenever he heard Sally sigh then saw her shake her head.

“No. I have a pretty good idea what is about to happen and if I’m right then I would end up hitting her. I mean I would truly hit her. That would break my promise not to harm you. So my friend. I say good morning and please be in touch. I’m going to be getting out of here.” It was clear to Sally that her answer had taken John off guard.

“Wait hold on a moment.”

“Please understand. I can’t shout at people John or they die. If I shout. Truly shout like people do all the time I wouldn’t just kill the person i was shouting at. Those little cries of annoyance you release freely I have to keep in. Now imagine what an angry slap from me would mean.”

“So when you used to say you had a shouting session?”

Sally responded by pointing her right index finger straight up. “I was in space when I had those and yes I was serious.”

Climbing out of bed John took a moment to give Sally a good morning hug. “I’ll see you later. Do you think you could help me rework Dehvess’s gear later? I’m having trouble with all the new equipment.”

“Of course! I’ll see you later.”

It felt like a strong breeze had came through the room as Sally took off. Despite everything it was still a little hard for John to believe. The phone and coffee cup in his hand helped. As John took a moment to look at the cup he felt like he’d been struck. He hadn’t even noticed that the cup was silver and judging from the weight it wasn’t fake either. He knew for certain that he didn’t have any silver cups or a silver coffee pot. His shock only grew as he truly tasted the coffee for the first time. This wasn’t the type of brew he had in his home. If Trisha hadn’t been only a few minutes away he’d loved to think on it.

She wasn’t willing to risk being in the same room as Trisha but she was confident she could watch and not harm anyone. If she hadn’t promised not to harm John she would have remained to greet her. The thought of Trisha’s reaction was so tempting it was hard for her to resist such that she breathed a sigh of relief when she pulled up to John’s home.

He didn’t want to think about it but he couldn’t help it. Setting in his living room with a cup that doubled as an art piece felt awkward. The strange feeling had him grinning even as he heard his front door being unlocked and Trisha came in. “Good morning.”

“Where were you last night? I tried to call but you didn’t answer.”

John took a moment to take a deep breath before responding. “After you left I ended up speaking with Ellanore and we ended up meeting up.”

As Trisha spoke she crossed her arms over her chest. “Ellanore? The woman you play that game with? So instead of going out with my friends you met up with someone you met online. How did you even manage that? The last I checked you didn’t even know her real name.”

It wasbest to keep it in but John couldn’t hold in the sigh that escaped him. “Trisha those are your friends. I don’t mind being around them once in a while but not every weekend. Ellanore and I shared our real information last night. I thought we’d plan on meeting up sometime but she insisted on flying down right away.” As John spoke he couldn’t help but laugh realizing how silly what he was saying sounded, stood up and walked towards his bedroom.”

“John are you seriously telling me that the woman who’s name you just learned was able to fly down here on a whim and meet you? I know that you’re upset about last night but I’m just trying to help you get out more. You hardly have any friends and this make believe is just. What’s what?” Trisha went silent as John held up a phone for her to inspect.

“It’s a gift from my imaginary friend. I think the cup might be as well and then there is the pot.” As he spoke John held up the cup for Trisha to see but offered her the phone.

Trisha bit her tongue as she picked up the phone. The first thing she noticed was the weight. It was rather heavy for its size and the casing felt strange. As ridiculous as what John had said sounded he wasn’t prone to flights of fancy despite his choice of activities. The phone and cup also seemed like far further than he’d go for a joke. Rather than speak she took a moment to work the phone and was surprised by what the screen flashed.

“Unrecognized biometrics.”

“What is this?”

Sally had told him that this phone had a lot of nice security features. As John took the phone from Trisha he suspected he didn’t fully understand what she meant. He was even more surprised when he pushed the power button and the screen gave him a greeting.

“Hello John. I see this is your first time using this phone. Would you like a guided tour of all my features?”

Now he was curious but with Trisha standing there John didn’t believe this was the time and selected maybe later. This immediately brought him to the active screen. Before he could begin exploring the phone began ringing. In his stunned state hitting the answer button was more reflexive than anything else. “Hello?”

“Hi John! I saw you’d activated your phone and had to give you a call.”

John was made to jump slightly upon hearing the voice. The tone was very friendly and seemed familiar with him yet he couldn’t recognize it. Fortunately there was only one person who would know about this phone and he suspected she was changing her voice. “Hi Sally. You didn’t tell me the phone would let you spy on me.”

“Settings, social, privacy settings or settings, security, network both of them will let you set who knows when your phone is active. You really should take the tour. Shouldn’t a doctor know to read up on a piece of equipment before using it?”

The voice was different but John had no doubt this was Sally. “You have me there. Before that though is there any features you consider really notable?”

“I like the microscope picture feature, the GPS is impressive and so is the map and directional features. It has settings for when you’re on foot and when you’re driving. Do not get them confused.”

“I’ll be careful that I’m not trying to run down the interstate.” John actually found himself grinning even more as he imagined Sally not caring which setting the phone was on. He’d seen more than a few videos of her going down one highway or another often while leading a group of police officers. John was rather surprised when Trisha suddenly took hold of the phone and even more surprised when the phone immediately reverted to unrecognized biometrics.

Trisha wasn’t certain what she was doing but she knew she was being ignored. It had been her intention to give Sally a piece of her mind but instead she ended up feeling rather silly as the phone immediately locked her out. “You did it. I can’t believe you really did it. What do you think you’re doing running off to meet some woman you only met online?”

It was fortunate that he’d spent the previous night venting with Sally. If he hadn’t John didn’t know what he’d done about Trisha grabbing his phone away. As he was John was already feeling more than a little angry. “First Sally is a friend. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t know her true name until yesterday. Second I didn’t say a thing whenever you first met Gerald half drunk in a bar.”

“There is nothing wrong with Gerald!”

“I didn’t say there was. There is something very wrong with you being upset over me making a female friend online while you don’t even think twice about making half drunk male friends in a bar.”

Snooping was rude. Sally knew that academically but it was so hard to avoid doing whenever you could hear the heartbeat of a mouse over twenty houses down the road. With no emergency to call her away there was no way Sally could resist staying and listening. She didn’t even need her phone to do so. Currently she found herself floating several thousand meters in the air while listening to John and Trisha air their grievances.

“I’m just trying to help you! Before I met you you spent every weekend at your computer only going between work, home and the grocery store.”

“That isn’t the kind of help that I need or want! I told you more than once I don’t like large groups. Once in a while is fine but not every weekend and not after a week like this. I had seventeen patients die on me in a single day, a ton of paperwork and your harping at me to go listen to Jacklyn bitch yet again!” As he finished John didn’t hesitate to take his phone from Trisha.

The thought of Trisha being chewed out normally would have tickled Sally. Yet as she listened to John she could hear the pain in his voice. It took all the fun out of it to the point she felt her mood rapidly souring. Had Trisha been within a few paces she was certain that she’d killed her by now. It made her grateful that she’d chosen to put some distance between herself and the two of them. She knew such behavior would destroy any future hopes.

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April 30 2019

“Richarson!”

John was made to jump upon hearing his name called out by a very familiar voice. Currently he was making his way down the hall towards the vending machines in hopes of getting a drink before he saw to his next patient. It didn’t seem like that would be happening as he turned to face Kelly. “Doctor Burge is something wrong?”

“How did you do it?”

As he looked at Kelly it was fairly clear to John that she wasn’t angry with him. Her smile was too large for that. Given the events of the last few days he could only think of one thing that would have her smiling like that. “All I did was offer her some encouragement after the first patient died. She responded really well to it.”

“That’s not what I mean. Still it was impressive. If she ever comes here again will have to have you work with her again. I’m talking about the new CT scanner and computer system. I just got finished speaking with Sally Ahmera. She wants to donate both to the hospital and says it’s because you mentioned needing a new CT scanner to her. How do you even know her?”

It felt strange to John that Sally would use the same first name for both of her identities. She had explained it to him when he called her on monday. Her name wasn’t uncommon to begin with and it helped prevent little mistakes. She didn’t have to worry about her friends calling her Sally when they were suppose to call her Penny, Elly, Misty or something else. The Ahmera name for its part carried a lot of weight and was already a wealthy name. Apparently she’d done some job for the family and they’d agreed to help her out in return. “Believe it or not we met online playing a game called dragon wars. I didn’t even know it was her for a long time. She says such online interaction is the only way she can interact with people without her wealth being a factor.”

“Are you serious? The girl could probably afford to have a dragon made so that she could kill it!” Kelly couldn’t help the surprise in her voice as she tried to imagine someone so wealthy playing such games. Then to have John happen upon her it seemed insane.

“How else could I ever meet such a person? The day I revealed my real name to her and started talking about meeting somewhere she flew right down here.”

“You know if I hadn’t just been on the phone with her and finished the paperwork for delivery I wouldn’t believe you. This is just insane. So what does Trisha think about this?”

It was impossible for John to hold in the sigh that escaped him. “She’s not happy. Not that she’s the only one. I’m surprised you haven’t heard about it but then again perhaps she doesn’t believe anyone would believe her. I ended up airing some grievances I have with our relationship over the weekend and I’m not sure how it’s standing at this point.” John knew he’d said something wrong as Kelly crossed her arms over her chest.

“So you haven’t worked that out yet?”

“It’s only been a day.”

“Yeah which is plenty of time to handle it. I don’t know all the details but right now you have a wealthy, attractive woman buying a CT scanner and the hospital a new computer system because you said the hospital needed them and apparently taking a private jet just to have some fun with you. God! Do you realize how insane that sounds!” For a moment Kelly was made to stop as she couldn’t help but laugh.

You don’t know the half of it was right on the tip of John’s tongue as he thought about the situation. He’d actually found himself reaching into his pocket and just touching his phone several times just to make sure it was real. “I’ll speak to Trisha after work. We’ll see where things stand.”

“Good.”

*******************************************************************************************

Pete took in a deep breath as he looked up at Sally. Currently she was holding onto a three meter long, one hundred fifty centimeter tall and thirty centimeter wide case. He knew that inside that case was numerous gold plates and wires. He waited until she was within comfortable speaking distance to talk. “I am so sorry to ask this of you Miss Sally.”

As she came closer Sally gave Pete a careful smile in order to help him relax. Rather than remaining hovering in the air she made it a point to land to further that effort. “It’s not your fault Pete. The stolen materials are securities problem and I will be speaking with them later. Now how are the satellites coming?” Sally couldn’t help but giggle as Pete’s face lit up. He was a very good engineer but probably not the best project leader she could have chosen. His confidence was a little light for such a heavy roll but she couldn’t bring herself to remove him and didn’t mind handling the intimidation herself to keep the others in line.

Rather than speak right away Pete gestured towards the inside of the larger building they were standing in front of. “No weight concerns or restrictions on material and a massive budget. How could it not be going great? With that gold we can finish the prototype and then we just need you to take it into orbit for the actual test. It’s still amazing to imagine. For anyone else when something goes into space it had better work. With you it’s a matter of a few minutes and just another part of the testing process.”

When she spoke Sally waved her hand dismissively. “We might as well make full use of my abilities to help this project along. I’m more impressed with what you and the others have managed to accomplish over the last two years and I’m thankful that even with the thefts you’ve managed to keep the project a secret.”

Pete gave a nervous laugh as he rubbed his chin. “Well you didn’t threaten to dismember us if we stole something like you did if we talked.” It felt like Pete’s blood had frozen in his veins as he heard Sally laughing a moment later.

“True!” Before continuing Sally allowed the case to fall from her hand producing a massive boom. “And I would to. The stolen materials I can forgive and even ignore so long as it doesn’t get too bad. I can always go hunt some asteroids or planets for more. The headache I’d have to deal with if this project got out is another matter. I’d be absolutely livid.”

Before he could speak Pete had to take in several deep breaths to steady himself feeling his mouth run dry. “Yes mam.”

*******************************************************************************************

April 30 2019 Evening

Trisha took a deep breath as she came into the hospital garden and walked over to John. Neither of them spoke for a moment and then she smiled. “I’m sorry about what I said on the weekend. I knew that you were under a lot of stress and I thought I was helping. You know Jacklyn isn’t all that bad. That’s just how she gets out her stress and I thought it might help you to. I was wrong.”

“You’re not the only one. I shouldn’t have shouted like that or called her a bitch. She does do a lot of bitching though.”

A slight chuckle escaped Trisha as she nodded her head. “It’s true. She does. Listen I didn’t mean to take advantage. You seemed to have fun the first few times we went out. When you started hanging back I thought you were retreating back into your shell and I needed to pull you back out. I should have thought more about how you were always volunteering to be the designated driver.”

“I’m not really one for getting drunk. I don’t much care for the smell of it on other’s breath either.”

“That’s fair. But I can’t just stay at home either. After a whole week of running around and always maintaining my composure I really need to cut loose when the weekend rolls around. Some friends, some drinks and some music and all the frustration just melts away. I guess everything sort of melts away.”

“I noticed.” As he tried to organize his thoughts John took in a deep steadying breath. “So what now? Do you want to keep trying?”

“I’m not sure what we could try. It seems like you’ve been trying plenty and well. I’ve done the quiet couple at home thing before and that’s just not me. I need the crowd and besides. It seems like you had more friends then I realized or at least a friend. A new CT scanner and computers for the hospital? It’s still hard to believe.”