Resonance

Participants:

elaine2_icon.gif kaylee2_icon.gif rhett_icon.gif

Scene Title Resonance
Synopsis Kaylee is brought in to help investigate a ghost.
Date January 15, 2020

Yamagato Fellowship Center


“This happened on Saturday, but I’ve arranged to keep everyone out of the room. Unless Ms. Nakamura has been in there herself, the room has been untouched since the incident.”

Elaine’s heels click softly on the floor as she winds her way through the back section of the Yamagato Fellowship Building. It takes a little bit to travel through the employee section of the building until, at last, they reach the storage room in question. “Once I figure out if it’s really safe to do so, I plan on moving the mirror to somewhere that I can isolate it in, where no one will touch it until we figure out if it’s safe. Assuming, of course, it’s even the mirror that’s the problem.”

Pulling her ID off a lanyard around her neck, Elaine holds it up to unlock the door. Pushing it open, she steps aside to let both Kaylee and Rhett enter. The room is, as both Elaine and Rhett remember, seemingly untouched from the last time they were present in the room. Boxes and crates lining the shelves, some objects visible in and around them, a section of artifacts not yet catalogued, and tucked between two shelves, the mirror. The six foot tall, ornately carved wooden frame, still visible thanks to Elaine having already pulled the drop cloth down to reveal it.

“There’s the mirror, where the burn marks were caused by the ghost is a little bit back that way.” Elaine gestures to where a mark is visible on the wall not too far away.

Rhett is quiet for the most part, attentive and calm in appearance, though the tension is clear in the set to his jaw. He doesn't like feeling partially helpless: that if something happens, it's strange otherworldly cloud things and other-planar messages. How can they fight against that?

Rhett rests his hands against his jeans pockets, thumbs hooked, and comes along, watchful and slowly pulling at his bottom lip with his teeth.

"I'm unconvinced the mirror is related," Rhett says. "But that doesn't mean it isn't. Just seems as likely as any other object in here, so far."

The heels of the telepath click in staccato of the other woman’s, having another meeting after this one, she’s forced to be dressed like a CEO. Her bodyguard, Bob reluctantly left outside the door. There is a sense of awe looking at the mirror, gaze trailing over the ornate carving that was possibly older than their combined ages. Kaylee had an affinity for old things.

“It depends,” Kaylee comments to Rhett, resisting the urge to reach out and touch the mirror. “For a post-cog, there are layers of time wrapped around it, a touch could give them so much information. And sometimes, depending on the ability, a person can leave an echo.” She glances back at Rhett and shrugs with a grin. “Not that I’m saying that is happening here, but it could happen.”

Speaking of post-cogs through, “You might see if you can track down Barbara Zimmerman,” Kaylee offers to Elaine. “She might be able to find a clue as to its origin..” With that suggestion, Kaylee moves around the mirror in the direction of the scorch marks.

It’s there, as soon as Kaylee starts to near the mirror.

It’s not some kind of conscious thought or the presence of any sort of thinking mind, but it’s a hum. A soft, steady sound akin to the sound of a wet finger on the rim of a crystal glass. It’s just a strange, almost pleasant hum as if it were somehow vibrating on the same wavelength of whatever telepaths are attuned to. It does nothing else, it merely hums on a frequency she can hear it. As she moves away, it’s still there, though more distant—it’s certainly the mirror that’s doing it.

“Any one of these objects could be related, I just kind of jumped to a conclusion on the mirror simply because of the literary connotations. I mean, different versions of you could be reflections in a mirror, the whole thing was called ‘Looking Glass’,” Elaine shrugs. “And Ms. Nakamura already confirmed that there’s something odd about the mirror being in the collection in the first place.”

The redhead looks to Kaylee. “I remember Barbara. I did some work for her back during the Ferry days. I have a lead on the mirror already, a suggestion by Ms. Nakamura. Even if the mirror isn’t related to what we saw, I need to look into it for the Yamagato Fellowship to be safe.”

"I'm sorry," Rhett apologizes, puzzled. "Can you define 'postcog'?" Rhett is new to the term; he lifts a hand and tilts the palm upwards. He isn't embarrassed: it's best to ask questions if you don't understand, is how Rhett handles things, instead of just pretending to know and nodding along.

Otherwise, not being a telepath, Rhett doesn't react to the mirror beyond to just look on, and tilt his head in a thoughtful manner: taking the whole of the room in, and keeping an eye on the wall with the burn. He does bring his phone out to look through it, at both the wall area and the mirror, in case anything changed.

“A post-cog,” Kaylee starts, though she seems a little distracted, head turned slightly to the side like she might be listening behind her. The thought isn’t completed yet, the blonde turning to look back at the mirror, with brows pulled into a curious furrow. After a moment, she remembers herself, giving a shake of her head, “Uh… post-cog is someone that can show you the past. Barbara once touched writing on a wall and saw a memory of a woman who also touched it over 30 years ago.”

The scorch marks are familiar… but they are discarded suddenly. With quick steps, Kaylee moves back around the mirror to where she is looking at her reflection. “Looking Glass …funny you mention that…” She sounds distracted, reaching out to touch the frame with finger tips.

“Do… do you hear that?” Kaylee asks, not looking at the others, only staring at her own reflection.

"It's certainly a useful skill. Barbara works with Yamagato, so I imagine it would be easier to convince her to help. I haven't really talked to her in a long time, despite her living in the same apartment building." Elaine does feel a little bad she never really visits with her neighbors and makes a mental note to bring some kind of baked good around sometime.

Kaylee's mention of hearing something has the redhead looking around quickly. "Hear what? Is it another voice? Is it me? Or maybe it's you this time?" Her attention isn't on the mirror. She's looking elsewhere to see if she can see some kind of ghost somewhere. "Rhett, do you hear anything?"

The mirror continues to steadily hum as it did before, no signs of when it started or if it will ever stop. It doesn't appear to be something that can be physically heard.

Rhett takes in the explanation in stride, with a brief nod. A power to view the past, like a video. Some of the mental abilities blow his mind.

When Kaylee asks if they hear anything, Rhett goes silent first, gesturing for Elaine to stop talking as well so they can listen, and then he shakes his head no. "I don't."

The other two get a glance, one after the other as they tell her what she already knows. It illisits a small “Hmm” from the woman. Eyes close as she turns her attention inward, letting her ability flare out, thinning the walls of her mental protection. There she sits for a long moment.

She listens.

Finally, a heavy sigh escapes her and Kaylee’s head shakes. “I couldn’t tell you what it is,” she says with a touch of frustration. “It’s just… a hum. A long consistent mental tone.” Fingers run down to frame before dropping away, curiosity piqued. “It’s definitely special, I’d keep people away from it, lock it up, until something is figured out.” She doesn’t add that Elaine shouldn’t display it.

“I’d get Barbara on it, I can find time to come share what she finds if you want.” Kaylee aims that at Elaine, so casually, like it’s no big thing. “Or come find me after and I can pull the memory of it.’ Either or. It sounds like it’s been done before at least.

“A hum?” Elaine looks quizzically at the mirror. “I mean, I suppose I’m not surprised. It’s got dubious origins in the first place, so it being weird makes sense, I just thought there would be more of what we got before.” She peers at the mirror carefully, then sighs. “I suppose that’s progress. I’ll have the mirror isolated somewhere safe while we investigate.”

The mention of bringing Barbara in again causes Elaine to nod slowly. “If she’s willing, I’ll get her to take a look. I’ll keep both you and Liz in the loop on whatever goes on with this, in case it’s anything of importance.” Her eyes drift slowly back to Rhett, offering him a smile. “Guess this’ll be an exciting adventure.”

"Or a blissful dead end to a musical mirror and nothing else," Rhett suggests with a brief smile in return. He'll take boring an uneventful! He's teasing, but he's also uncertain, with the danger level of the thing being unknown. But then, Rhett is new to 'weird' experiences.

"Should we contact security to move it now?" he suggests.

“I wish it was more than that, but…” Kaylee spreads her hands. She is one for a good adventure, too. A good puzzle. “I appreciate being kept in the loop, I’m curious what is found.”

Trailing off as Rhett speaks, Kaylee’s attention shifts between mirror and scorch marks. “Curious if it and your ghost have a connection.” There is a blink and then a bit of a smirk at a thought. “If Barbara isn’t willing, you might check with Agent Bluthner. I’m not exactly sure on how his works, something to do with the past. Worth a check if other ideas fall through.” Maybe he can give them a clue if they hit a dead end.

Elaine shrugs a bit. “I can’t be sure the mirror is tied to any of that, but the mirror needed investigating anyway, this just confirms that it’s not just a regular mirror. I’ll be sure to keep an eye and an ear out for further ghost sightings, and I’ll be keeping the mirror out of the way. At the very least it’s some kind of direction to go in.” And some direction was better than a dead end, especially with something as weird as what they saw.

The redhead nods to Rhett. “We’d best get this out of the way as soon as possible. We can get a security camera to monitor the mirror on the off chance that something happens while we aren’t there. I’ve got to clear this room for staff access again anyway, so that should all work out.”

Kaylee’s not really paying attention, her attention on the mirror again, but more importantly the hum that only she can hear. The phone in her pocket suddenly chimes, redirecting her focus back to the real world. “Thank you for letting me try.” Kaylee says looking at her phone and whatever message is on it. There is a bit of a rueful look, given the contents.

“I’ll leave you two to your work,” Kaylee says after a moment, taking a step the way they came, “I need to return to mine it seems.” Both are given a nod in farewell.

“Thank you again for coming, Kaylee,” Elaine says, nodding in her direction. She glances back towards Rhett. “Let’s arrange for this mirror to be moved, then get out of here? We could go to your boat, pick up a few things. It’d be nice to do something of a different sort of significance, you know?”

She moves to take his hand, headed off to make arrangements. It’s the most she can do right now anyway.


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