< HSoS 69 | High School Of Scenes | HSoS 71 >
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Furud lays Polaris down on the couch, with Algol's help, and then slumps in a chair. "Well. You ready to listen?"
Algol nods, expecting the bizarre.
Furud "Alright. Well you don't sleep right." He says, going over what they'd said before. "Neither do we, except when Pol is making herself pass out because she's weird like that."
Algol "I sometimes sleep."
Algol "Sorta."
Furud "Yeah? How?"
Algol "What do you mean? Lay down, close eyes..."
Furud "Do you dream?"
Algol "All the time."
Furud looks at him curiously, "Really? Huh, maybe you're not Sleepless after all."
Algol "Like right now even!"
Algol "So...do you think they're drugging the water or something?"
Furud "Oh, you mean that kind of dream?"
Furud waves his hand, "Nah. It's just who we are."
Algol shrugs. "So what's the big mystery then?"
Furud "We're not... precisely... human. Well not like the rest of them at least."
Algol "Yeah, that's new this generation. We're all special."
Furud rolls his eyes.
Furud "Well okay, there's that."
Algol "So because we don't sleep we're not human?"
Algol "Even if your observations aren't whack, what leads you to such an extreme conclusion?"
Furud runs his hand through his hair, leaving behind uneven spikes. "It's more than that, Algol. Somehow, we're related to the stars. We might even BE stars."
Algol "Have you run this by, say, a doctor? Or an astronomer..."
Furud laughs. "Doctors can't find anything wrong with us. Yours didn't, did he?"
Algol "There _is_ nothing wrong with us."
Furud "You're right. There's something...right with us."
Furud sighs. "I know this is weird to think about."
Algol nods down at Pol. "So what about her? Is she asleep?"
Furud shrugs. "As close as she can get. She's passed out. Lack of sleep, drugs, alcohol, a swift punch to the face. You can do it if you try hard."
Furud looks down at Pol, and smooths her hair back out of her face.
Furud "She says she dreams when she does this. That she brought us all together."
Algol "Huh?"
Furud "You've noticed the names in the school right? There's an awful lot of us. The night life around here is pretty active."
Algol "Like I said before, the names are easily explainable. And active compared to what? Anyway if we're so special, wouldn't we be...y'know...special?"
Furud "Are you?"
Algol "I'm pretty sure that everyone feel special on the inside...if that's what you're asking."
Furud shakes his head mutely.
Algol "What?"
Furud "Special in a way that's... unique."
Algol "How can I know that?!? I'm only me. I don't know what it's like to be you or my dad or anyone else."
Furud "If it happens, you'll know."
Algol "If what happens?"
Furud "If you discover what makes you different."
Algol "OK, so what makes _you_ different? How do _you_ know?"
Furud "You have to promise not to tell anyone."
Algol "No problem."
Furud "I mean it."
Algol "I get it."
Furud picks up one of the video game controllers from earlier and holds it in his palm. He concentrates for a second, then moves his hand down - the controller staying in place, supported by nothing.
Algol watches, tilting his head a bit to the side while trying to figure the trick out.
Furud gives it a little mental shove, and it sails over to him slowly, dreamlike.
Algol "Um."
Algol reaches out and takes the controller.
Algol "I have to admit...that's pretty cool."
Furud There is resistance when he first takes it, then it drops into his hand, normal.
Furud "Yeah." He looks pleased with himself.
Algol "Can you do that to anything and anywhere?"
Algol "Or only when you've had time to plan it?"
Furud "Just small things right now. And it's pretty draining, but yeah."
Algol "Wild."
Algol "
Furud "So do you believe me yet?"
Algol "So, let's go to the back yard and show me with some object that I name. OK?"
Furud shrugs. "Alright." He makes sure Pol is still sleeping and leads the way outside.
Algol reaches into his pocket, drawing a quarter out and flips it into the air. "Catch!"
Furud reaches out his hand to catch it, and it stops a fraction of an inch off of his hand. He looks up at Algol and raises a brow. "Couldn't have done that inside?"
Algol "Not if you've constructed elaborate magneto-wave-induction devices in there to help you out."
Algol shrugs. "So even if you have this freakish, but cool(!), ability...why generalize it to the rest of us?"
Furud "Oh. Right. Of course." He tosses the quarter back, looking strangely at Algol and thinks. "Well, cause other Fallen can do things too."
Algol "Fallen?"
Algol "Things?"
Furud "Stars."
Furud "I can't tell you who and what."
Algol "Won't. But that's fine."
Furud "Won't," he agrees.
Algol "So can you choke somene -- like Darth Vader?"
Furud blinks. "I've never tried."
Algol "Have you altered die rolls or where a roulette ball lands?"
Furud "I've picked locks. I'd rather not do it where the Sleepers can see."
Algol "The Sleepers?"
Furud "We're Sleepless, they're Sleepers. Nice, huh?"
Algol scowels. "Not really. No."
Furud leans against a tree. "What's wrong?"
Algol "Coming up with name-identities like that is the first step to inciting divisive warfare."
Furud raises a brow. "Hey at least I'm not going around force-choking people."
Algol "Not yet. Not until you fully identify them as your inferiors."
Furud "Whatever, man. You've been reading too many conspiracy books or some shit."
Algol pulls a battered copy of Essays on Military Psychological Operations by Paul Linebarger out of his backpack. "Here, read this. It describes exactly how to incite one group of people to think of their neighbors like that."
Furud "Well does it describe how to get along with people who are different? Because that would be more useful."
Furud flips idly through the book
Algol shrugs.
Algol "Y'know, just...get along!"
Furud "Oh yeah, I'm terrific at that," he says drily.
Algol "What do you mean? At least you're not force-choking people." Algol grins.
Furud laughs
Furud "Well you have a point."
Algol "I'm just saying...it's not 'us and them.' It's just 'us.'"
Algol "But anyway, picking locks is good."
Furud "Still. I don't want people to like. Oh, I dunno, kidnap me and take me to a shadowy facility off in the woods to see how I tick."
Algol "So it occurrs to me that you have this...ability, and know others who do too. Are you guys like some kind of a club?"
Algol "Yeah, I suggest against calling up the CIA and telling them about it."
Furud "My last girlfriend called it a gang, but she exaggerates."
Furud "You two would get along, really."
Algol "So, um, speaking of girlfriends, have you done anything else...naughty -- or weird with your talent?"
Algol looks away while listening for an answer.
Furud chokes.
Furud "I don't think I know you well enough to answer THAT yet."
Furud grins
Algol "You totally have!"
Algol goes back inside.
Furud chuckles and follows him in.
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