April - Spores

April went with Tate the next morning to the lab. The place still gave her a weird feeling.

They poked around a bit, but didn't find anything useful. April found herself stuck in front of the sealed door like last time.

April: If only we had a key card for this door.

Tate: Like this key card?

April: Why didn't you say you had one!

Tate: ...you didn't ask. You weren't issued one?

April: No...

Strange spores floated out from behind the closed door. 

April: I don't think we were supposed to open this door...

Tate: Definitely not. Well... We've come this far.

They continued on deeper into the lab until they came to a hallway that was full of spores and a strange gas.

April stopped Tate before he could go any further.

April: Wait...I have a feeling we shouldn't go in there.

Tate: You don't have to tell me twice.

They took another hallway instead that led into a research area.

April: I remember this place.

Tate: You've been here before?

~*~*~*~*~*~

~*~*~*~*~

April: Tate...are you sure we've never met before? Before...that night in the field?

Tate: Pretty sure. Why?

April: I remember being here. With you.

Tate: I've definitely never been here before.

April wasn't sure what to think. And the Tate in her memory seemed different than the one currently standing beside her. She sighed and they continued on. 

There were more papers cluttered around some of the workstations. April found another piece from a journal with the same scratchy writing as the one she'd found before. The ink was blotted in places, making it hard to read.

"Research... Mother... given visions.... rare abilities, and in some cases... power to resurrect... dead."

She showed it to Tate, but he didn't know what to make of it any more than she did.

Outside, they discovered that the spores had gotten out of the lab. They needed to figure out what to do, and fast. Tate suggested they try questioning some more military personnel at the bar.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They ran into Wolfgang there. He had been with Tate on the night he'd found her in that field. He didn't seem happy about the spores, but he was willing to help. He gave April an Infection Scanner to see if she could learn more about the spores. She said she would let him know if she found out anything.

Tate was talking to a girl there that didn't seem to be military. Was he just here to flirt with pretty girls? April wasn't sure why she felt annoyed all of a sudden. Did she like him?

When they left, they noticed the strange people walking past.

April: What's wrong with them?

Tate: I told you something strange was going on, but the spores seem to have made it worse.

April tried talking to one of them, but he only babbled something strange in return.

The...Mother? That word had been on that paper she read, and it felt familiar somehow.

She decided to try out the scanner Wolfgang had given her.

Unfortunately it didn't turn up much outside of the bar, so her and Tate headed back to the barracks.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Even there, things were strange. The sinks had vines coming out of them.

When April touched one of the vines while trying to clean it, she saw, as if in a dream, a man - no, not a man - General Grunt, writing something.

~*~*~*~*~

"Research on The Mother shows that those who have come into contact with her were given visions and others spoke of rare abilities, and in some cases, even the power to resurrect the dead. Loki is helping me with more research. Lyla's ghost is gone, but perhaps with The Mother's help I could still bring her back."

~*~*~*~*~

She gasped and pulled her hand back. She left the remaining vines in the sink and went off to the kitchen in search of some food. This was all too weird. 

Tate joined her shortly after and noticed that she seemed upset about something.

Tate: Is everything okay?

April: Those spores are affecting people in town and I feel responsible. But I also need to know what's in that lab. And those plants...there must be a network of them underground. There was one in the sink...when I touched it...I had another vision, kind of like the dream I had the other night.

April: That paper we found, it was written by General Grunt. His wife, she didn't disappear, she died. 

Tate: How do you know that?

April: I saw him in my vision again. I think he's trying to...bring her back.

Tate: Couldn't he just use ambrosia?

April: You need a ghost for ambrosia to work. Lyla's ghost is...gone.

Tate: What does that have to do with the lab and those spores?

April: That man by the bar said something about "The Mother." And General Grunt wrote about that too. Contact with The Mother can cause people to have...visions.

Tate: Is that why you're having these visions?

April: It must be, I must have come into contact with her, only...I can't remember. And The General thinks The Mother can help him bring Lyla back.

Tate: What do we do?

April: Well, we need to stop those spores first, but I have a feeling we'll find the answers along the way. 

Tate: We can try the library tomorrow, there's always some scientists hanging around there. They might be able to give us some clues as to what those spores are.

April: Tate...why are you helping me?

Tate: ...I don't know, but something brought you to that field that night. I want to find out what.