Kasee: 11/4/96 (10/30/96)

 (Julie Hough)

10/30/96: Well, it’s been a rather unproductive day so far. We talked about plans for Halloween, and of course came up with nothing. We discussed Ogre and Betsy’s group, and if we could really trust them. I mentioned the guy with no aura, and got some really funny looks from people. Someone, maybe Cab?, asked how I see auras so easily, and I had no answer. I figured it had something to do with being a Mage, but I guess not, because no one else in the group can see auras like I can. Cool, something I can do that they can’t. Now, if only I knew what the auras meant. Anyway, Daedalus and I spent some time in the library last night looking for info on people with no aura, and some of what we found was kinda disturbing. We found people with no auras are either 1.) dead, which kinda makes sense, I mean, if your dead, where would the aura come from?, 2.) a dampening field has been created, which is a theory by someone in the Hermetic Order, 3.) a mind-life-prime effect is being used which kinda makes you not there, and therefore your aura is not really visible, or 4.) this is the most disturbing, a particular supernatural creature that was not created by magic has no aura. This was written by the Sons of Ether, and if Nathaniel is any example of that whole group, they really are all whacked out. It could be an entirely made up paper written by some wacko who’s even more wacko than Nathaniel, who seems more scatterbrained than wacko. Speaking of, where is Nathaniel? He never came home from the hospital. Probably got lost and is in Cleveland by now or something. Anyway, Daedalus found that paper, and I tried reading it today, and it made about as much sense as reading Greek. Here’s a quote, I swear to the gods this is what this paper really says, "...and the ether flows around this creature and its life flows with it but ether is the building substance of life and since the ether flows around the creature but not through it so it is not of magic and does not glow properly but when the QDM is used, it has a reading..." Disturbing, isn’t it? I mean, what is a QDM anyway? I heard Nathaniel mutter something about a Multipurpose Etheric Disturbance Detector once, but I don’t think it’s the same thing. Anyway, that paper didn’t really help much. The Sons of Ether must sniff far too much of this ether stuff!

Anyway, I decided maybe I should look at everyone’s aura, so I did, for comparison’s sake. Most everyone has an aura that kinda sparkles, with various brightnesses. My aura seems to be the brightest, but I’m not sure why. It could just be because it is me looking at my own aura, but I have no idea. The only weird one’s are Dog’s and Mary’s. Mary’s aura looks a lot like Betsy’s, that kinda weird iridescent, only hers changes color faster. Dog’s aura is just downright weird. It goes out into infinity, no matter where you look at him from. It’s bizarre, I’ve never seen anything like it. It is definitely not a normal animal aura. Eclipse and hairball have normal animal auras, kinda a steady glow close to their bodies. I wonder what Dog is that makes him look so funny? Or maybe Reuben has done something to him, like it is a beacon or something so if Dog gets lost Reuben can find him easily. Who knows? I think I want to study more on auras sometime, so maybe I can have a clue. No one else here does, at least as far as auras are concerned. Wonder what’s going on in the Umbra? I know, I think I’ll try summoning some pixies or something, and try to figure out why it is so quiet. Not much else is going on today anyway.

Well, that made for an interesting afternoon and evening. I tried to call some pixies, and well, obviously I screwed it up somehow. I ended up getting my sight stuck in the Umbra. Do you know how hard that makes walking around the Chantry on crutches? I had Eric lead me out to the porch and I just sat out there for awhile watching the Umbra go by. It had cleared up, so at least I wasn’t staring at storm clouds all day. However, there was not a critter to be seen, which made for a pretty boring afternoon. Then Cab came home, and asked why I was sitting on the porch, and if I was hungry. So I told her, sure I was hungry, but she would have to lead me inside, because I couldn’t see. My vision was stuck in the Umbra. I’m glad she understands these things. So she cooked me dinner, and it was a very interesting experience to eat. I couldn’t see the food until I had picked it up to take a bite. Fortunately, Cab made hotdogs, so I didn’t have to worry about a fork or trying to find my plate. Weird. When Daedalus got back, we tried some different things to try to get me to be able to see in the real world. I tried to use my Umbral sight to look back into the real world, but I REALLY screwed that up. That much paradox is very disturbing. I feel like a time bomb about to go off at any minute now.... while in the meantime there is not a thing I can do about it. Daedalus thought I shouldn’t go to the Mall with them to meet with Ogre and Betsy, but I whined and complained that they couldn’t leave me here like this, and I could probably still be useful, spying on the Umbra. So Daedalus said Ok, and he would rig up his computer glasses so I could see from security cameras in the mall. Isn’t whining and looking cute and pathetic such a wonderful thing? Though Daedalus made some comment about not wanting to leave me here because who knew what kind of trouble I would get myself into? Who me? Get into trouble? Never! Anyway, the car ride to the mall was really cool. I was sitting on a rolling log in the Umbra and it felt like I was riding in a car, which I guess I really was, only I couldn’t see it, just this log that was rolling really fast. It was weird. Then we got to the Mall, and parked on the upper parking deck by the Food Court, and as we were walking in, I tripped and fell into reality. It was a really weird feeling. On moment I was staring into the Umbra, the next I had tripped and was staring into reality. It was like having the reality knocked into me. Weird, but really cool. Anyway, I could see again, which was terribly useful. I just hoped I didn’t trip again. We went inside, and Renee got me a vanilla milkshake and we sat down near Betsy and the gang, and Ogre was off in the arcade, which is where Daedalus headed. Betsy didn’t want to talk in the open, so she said to follow her. She was walking pretty fast, and it was hard to keep up on these stupid crutches, when all of a sudden, I was picked up by Ogre! It was kinda cool, he just kinda scooped me up and carried me. So I had to sense him and see how he was. I got the impression that he was sickly, though I’m not sure from what, because there are no obvious signs of sickness. Hmm, I’ll have to ponder what to do about that. Anyway, we went downstairs then down this hallway. My friends were behind Betsy’s group, when they just walked through a wall! It was weird, because we just went right through it like there was nothing there, which apparently there wasn’t. Daedalus seemed kinda confused, something to do with correspondence telling him there was a wall there and then there wasn’t a wall there when he walked through it, or some such.

That paragraph was getting too long, so I am starting another. My English teacher always complained I rambled and wrote paragraphs that were too long, so I’m preventing that one from getting to long. Betsy led us to a room that was really cool. It was obviously their hangout, it had a few mattresses and bean bag chairs around, and posters on the walls of heavy metal groups and other cool things that cool people would have in their secret hiding place. I personally would prefer more plants, but then again, there were no windows here, so the plants would not be happy. Not that it makes a difference with me. Plants like me. Anyway, we talked with Betsy, and during a lull in the conversation I asked Betsy what she knew of auras. She said she saw them sometimes, but she saw them better when she had taken a hit. Yuck. I see things perfectly well without drugs, thankyouverymuch. Anyway, she knew that Terry had no aura. He’s really creepy. I tried to sense life on him and he just isn’t there. It was really freaky. I mean, he felt warm, he seemed alive, until I used my magic to sense him. Then he just kinda disappeared. Weird! Betsy said something about how that really freaked out vampires. Vampires? I think I’d just rather not run into any, thankyouverymuch. But I guess if werewolves are real, then why not vampires? I wonder if vampires are a type of fairy too? Big scary hairy fairies and big scary fangy fairies. Hmm, that just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Anyway, not much was accomplished, or maybe it was, I’m not sure. Didn’t seem that way, though Daedalus seemed happy not to have a plan. The biggest thing seemed to be who to give the Weather Machine to once we got it. Apparently Betsy had a buyer for it, but we all agreed that was probably bad. The buyer could very easily be the Men in Black, or the New World Order as I have heard them called. That is bad, because they are who we don’t want to have it. Seems that is about all we can agree on. So we left, back through the wall that isn’t there, again with this puzzled look on Daedalus’s face. It was pretty funny, he looked really confused. I mean, it’s just a wall, or actually, it’s just not a wall.

We went home, and everyone talked about what to do with the Weather Machine once we got it. Of course, this is being overly optimistic, because we are assuming we will be able to get the Weather Machine tomorrow. Anyway, basically, several people, Renee, Eric, and Wolfie, seem to want to give it to this Master Porthos guy, whoever he is (isn’t he one of the Musketeers?) who will then deconstruct it or disassemble it or some such. Basically, he will destroy it using fancy language. Reuben wants to give it to Forteau, because we owe him, and he was the one who sent us on this mission in the first place. Everyone agrees not to give it to Betsy’s buyer. Wow, we agreed on something. I kinda stayed out of the conversation, because I figure who’s gonna listen to a 15 year old kid anyway? So I eventually expressed my opinion, that I think we should give it to Forteau, because, well, otherwise I wouldn’t have a place to live right now, and may very well be dead because either the icky MiB would have done something to me when they kidnapped me, or I would have been blown up with my house, and that would be bad, so I vote for Forteau. Then I just got the, "That’s nice Kasee," look, so I decided it was time for bed. Like I said, who’s gonna listen to me? I figure at the very least if they decide otherwise, I can say I tried to argue but didn’t have much choice. Besides, I’m going to try to call Forteau in the morning to tell him what the group decides. I figure if they decide against him, he has a right to know. Then he can’t get mad at me and turn me into a duck or something for not doing what he asked. And on that note, I’m going to bed. I have the feeling tomorrow is going to be a very loooooong day.

Tom Brady <tabrady@mindspring.com>

Last modified: Tues Dec 24 15:10:00 1996 by tabrady