Sprite 2: I Think I'm a Clone Now (Part 1)

Dreamer wrote:

SPOILER ALERT
Below is a stream of conscious commentary I type up as I read the story. There will be details from the story included in it. If you have not read the story yet and don't wish to have details of it spoiled, read no further.

Sprite 2: I Think I'm a Clone Now Part 1 comments

Warning: Spoiler!

The middle of nowhere, New Hampshire
Approaching Dunwich Station
Wednesday, September 28th, 2016 – 11:35 a.m.

Ouch, lousy trip on the way to Whateley so far, no proper sleep, Vanessa needs a break. MCO jackasses at the departure gate trying to pressure her for more information than they are legally allowed, these clowns need to be shut down already. Good thing Marie was with her. They call THAT a First Class Travel Safety Pod; that is dehumanizing and unreasonable. And her 'in-flight meal', these people are far from professionals. Crud, she is allergic to synthetics; this flight was true torture.

Marie told the people at the airline about Vanessa's allergy to synthetics, yet they put Vanessa in that pet carrier anyway. I would sue for pain and suffering. Refund cost of airfare, that isn't enough after what she went through! All that, and they still almost missed the train the next day. Whichever gods/goddesses have it out for Vanessa, cut it out already.

Still itchy and hit with her first period, good grief, even Bugs Bunny's foes don't get this much misery. Yikes, having to do that for pads. I hope the school can help out a girl who is 5" tall with something better for the future. Tired, cranky, and miserable, so I hope the day gets better for her. Vanessa, you betrayed Blythe, but you didn't deserve this as revenge for it. You made a mistake, you are a teen and still learning. You didn't mean to hurt her that badly.

Carrying around the laptop case with the PK shell, I can see how she is weirded out. Vanessa, the school had another girl like you years ago. I'm sure they can find you winter clothes. Pretty redhead with a sign for Vanessa Gordon, I wonder how they sent to pick her up. Long, pointed ears, so they sent a Sidhe student to meet Vanessa. Becky Wheeler, yay, FairyFire gets to be the first to meet Vanessa at Whateley.

Ack, that is something a new girl wants to do alone. Still pink and rashy from yesterday, they really should have sued the airline. Ouch, the sore subject of her parents, but at least she has a nice adoptive family. Huh, so Becky is in the same situation. They have a lot to relate over and chat about. Ouch, hobgoblins every time she tried to use non-fire-based magic at first before getting the right training at Whateley. Is the biggest problem for young Wiz mutants learning control and not bringing forth hobgoblins instead?

Ah, so their faculty advisor is Fey.

“Yeah, she doesn’t usually take on students or even teach classes much right now though. She’s busy with… other things that are more important. She’ll get involved if we really need her to, and she wants to meet you soon, but I’m a senior and experienced enough with magic that she’s having me work as her proxy with you. With the fall magic class full and you needing to learn, she’s asked me to act as your magic tutor and help you out with any problems that crop up in her place. She thinks it’ll be good for both of us and I’m getting extra credit.”

Yeah, that is Fey, she has to monitor the growing World tree, keep the peace with the growing number of Sidhe, and how knows what else is on her plate right now. Ms. Reilly, so she doesn't go by Fey for her job at Whateley.

I didn’t need or want friends, and I certainly didn’t deserve them.

Vanessa, you need to forgive yourself and learn to open up again.

Crystal Hall, I hope Vanessa isn't as restricted in her diet as the Sidhe are. Rats, no such luck, no more meat for Vanessa. Schuster Hall to sort out her classes, this will...fun. BMA, Powers Theory, World History, English, Powers Lab, Algebra, and Flight, she is going to be busy.

Another thing that I wasn’t happy about was that they wanted me to see some kind of therapist, somebody named Dr, Bellows, about what happened with Blythe and her mother and my new reality.

The cover story just for the students, good, you need counseling and to learn to stop blaming yourself for what happened. Once a week isn't enough and Dr. Bellows isn't an asshole.

Good thing your magic isn't reacting to your emotions, or a little black rain cloud would be hovering over your head right now, Vanessa. A welcome package, they modified Tink's old outfits, at it is something until she can get to Rogers' to get more clothes made. Darn, it is just her old school uniforms. It's a good thing the school pays for 2 uniforms from Rogers, or I bet a lot of students couldn't afford it. Work-study, oh boy, the hits just keep on coming. Maintenance, well, she is in for a very interesting time on the job.

Hawthorne Cottage- oh boy, I hope they don't do hazings to newbies there. Can't believe she opened up to a kid she just met about the truth of what happened. The kid is honest with Vanessa, so she is honest with him and doesn't think he will believe her; this is Whateley; that isn't as farfetched a story as you believe, Vanessa.

"I... would rather not talk about it. Let's just say that I was a jerk, but I was trying to protect her too. I didn't deserve her going all crazy supervillain on me with her mom.

Finally, you need to admit that out loud and realize you don't deserve this.

Shannon, I wonder what his codename is. Wait that long and just decide to go and try to find Hawthorne Cottage yourself; this campus is big. Made it to Hawthorne only for Emiko to come running up, out of breath.

"I'm -gasp!- Emiko. Sorry for being late," she panted. "I had to hide when a clown attacked an elf. Took a while- gasp- for security to pull them apart. Just missed you at Schuster and ran all the way here."

Great, Humorless starts a fight again and causes trouble for everyone nearby. Trust me, what Emiko just said is just a regular day at Whateley.

In Room 206, at least in Hawthorne, everyone gets a room to themself. Nice, already have a house in the room for her to stay in. Rats, no teleconferencing to classes for Vanessa. Hey, don't call you or the other Hawhthorne kids freaks. They have issues, but that doesn't make them freaks. The tunnels are for safety and medical emergencies; it is a lot easier to get to someone through them when the outside is crowded. Aww, Fubar's old pool is split in two for any students who might need an aquatic environment.

I'm pretty sure that rumor isn't true. Work with Mr. Wilson on Sundays. So many Wilsons on staff that I have no idea who this is. Emiko is a good person; of course, she is worried about you. Just don't act zany or try to stand out, and you won't, Vanessa. Both are from Calgary, and both have met Baby's Breath, small world. Heh, doesn't want to reveal that Baby's Breath and Cattail adopted her.

Emilie Fanouille

Why is she frowning at Vanessa? Ewww, Amazon and was interested in Emiko, girls like that give lesbians a bad name. Oh no, she is Blythe's friend and thinks Vanessa is Blythe. This is bad.

Their mothers had gone to school together and sometimes even worked together on jobs as Mistress Mechanicha and Fleur de Neige until they had both decided to retire and have kids. While her mother didn’t stay retired for long, as far as she knew, Blythe’s mother still was.

Don't tell me they are supervillains. That makes too much sense for Blythe's mother.

She knew about the revenge plot but not what Blythe was going to do to her ex-boyfriend. This just keeps getting worse. Emilie calls Blythe and finds out that she and her mother had to move urgently and left behind the furniture Emilie made for Blythe.

Besides being an Exemplar 3, Emilie had another power. She could manifest a substance that looked and felt like wood but was much more durable, and she used it to make things like furniture as a hobby.

Why did she have to be an Amazon, with a power like that, she could do so much good. Using her power to make armor and weapons, strong as steel and razor sharp, crud.

She changed her name on her MID too, from Carpenter to La Maupin. Something about the historic opera singer, who dueled men to the death after stealing their women, just struck a chord with her and that was the image she wanted for herself.

The original La Maupin only did that to abusive scum though from what I've read. Lying low in a new place in Vancouver. Darn it, Emilie just revealed to Blythe that Vanessa is at Whateley. Oh, that lying bitch! She didn't tell Emilie that she transfered her ex-boyfriend's mind into the clone body, just that the clone betrayed her and escaped.

Great, because they are friends, she doesn't push for more details. No, no, no! Please let Emilie find out the truth and think Blythe went too far and not reveal Vanessa's new name and identity to that psycho. Blythe, if you think what she did is appropriate vengeance, then you are just as nuts as Blythe; I hope you don't when you find out the whole truth. Leave Emiko alone!

Dickinson Basement
Evening

Emiko doing yoga to relax and Emilie shows up, arrgh! *shudders at the gaze of Emilie over Emiko* Japanesse Zen Buddist, their nuns can date and marry. I hope this throws a bucket of ice water on Emilie's plans. Helsing is teaching Emiko some self-defense; good, the Goobers all need to learn that. Ugh, the Amazons want Helsing, and she likes sparring with them.

Ooo, Lovie is protective and jealous of Emilie's attention toward Emiko. Soap opera, you go to Whateley Academy, Emiko, a lot of students have their lives become like those in one way or another. Dang, when the quiet, nice one yells and stands up for herself, you had better listen.

No, Emilie, if you had kept pushing Emiko, she would have exploded on you alone and in a worse way that would have left you reeling. Great, a junior who owes the Amazons some favors.

Natasha Layton, otherwise known as L34K, was a devisor, self-styled hacker, and had a minor technopathy ability that would hopefully suit her current needs.

Oh crap, without Hartford watching the schools' network this girl is a bigger threat. Hack the school records to find out what she can on Vanessa, this is an expulsion-worthy offense.

Oh, good, they're not going through the most secure school records, so they won't find the true backstory. Shannon is the other kid who showed up today, the kid from Carrry Oh, oh god, so much trauma between these two kids. Darn it, now Blythe is going to know Vanessa's new name and codename; this is the worst thing possible.

Laird Hall
Thursday, September 29th, 2016 – 7:00 a.m.

It's an Early breakfast, early BMA; you are going to be fully awake soon enough. Thank you, Emiko, for the healing spell, those allergies can be a killer. You are going to have to get used to seeing other girls in various states of undress, Vanessa. A girl like a humanoid hippopotamus, another girl that seems to be part-rodent of some sort. Aw, the poor girl is self-conscious. Poly Colby aka Pack Rat, she is in Hawthorne too and warns Vanessa about Huntsman who lives down the hall from Vanessa, crap. Not the psycho who hunts the Fair Folk.

A Goober, but he is nuts.

“No… Huntsman, well… he’s an Exemplar 2 with enhanced senses and the dude is batshit crazy. He’s also an arrogant jerk and to hear him talk about it, he thinks he’s the expert on everything supernatural. He believes the Fae are behind all of it though, and not just the supernatural but mutant powers and several unsolved mysteries too. You should hear the dude’s rants. How were pyramids made? Fairies. What happened to Amelia Earheart? Fairies. Atlantis? Fairies. Who steals all the socks from dryers? Fairies. Alien abductions? Fairies. The ones responsible for his minor GSD? Fairies. He hates them more than anything.”

Okay, I knew he was nuts, but this is next-level.

Great, the moment he sees Vanessa, Huntsman is furious. Clothes worn inside out and wears a horseshoe around his neck, yeah, he is off the deep end. He blames fairies for that minor level of GSD, he just wants an excuse to hunt them. She introduced herself to the class, then sparring, but Sprite couldn't spar without her powers. Helsing vs. Grande aka the hippo girl, who will win? Grande won the 2nd bout, and it seems she and Helsing are friends with how they grinned at one another.

Poly vs. The Chosen One, alright, who on staff let him pick and keep that codename? Poly beat him in both bouts. Skill over powers and arrogance any day. Crap! Tolman, pitting Vanessa against Huntsman, what are you thinking? Great, teach a lesson to the class, I hope this doesn't backfire on you, Tolman. Avoids three blows, so of course, he accuses her of cheating by using her powers. Her wings are a natural part of her body, not her PK or magic, no cheating here.

“Still, I would like you to try to defend yourself without flying, and try to rein in your exemplar abilities to baseline levels… both of you,” she instructed with a pointed look toward Huntsman.

Is she trying to get Sprite stomped to death!?!

I knew she would have to run off the circle to survive, the psycho wasn't holding back. Lecture for both of them on what they did wrong in the bout; Hunstman needs to stop giving into his rage. Powers in the next bout, and like a tiny rocket, she rams into him and cracks some of Huntsman's ribs; he is in no shape to continue the match.

“Miss Gordon wins this round. Perhaps now, Mr. Hunter, you will learn your lesson about rage clouding your judgment. Report to Doyle to get your ribs looked at, it sounded like a few of them cracked. Miss Gordon, please remain behind. Everyone else, you’re dismissed.”

Time for a lecture, rats.

“If Mr. Hunter was in any danger of seriously harming you, I would have intervened,” she told me sternly. “I have seen students close to your size before and, generally, being that small means that muscles and bones are condensed and far sturdier than those of a baseline. I have seen true Fairies your size who are surprisingly durable as well. Aside from that, I have seen the results of your original testing, though the school will want to do our own powers testing for you soon. You tested at Exemplar two physical capabilities, almost Exemplar three. You are much more durable than you believe yourself to be. Do not allow your perceived weakness to become a very real one by being afraid to challenge yourself.”

Vanessa she is right. You are 5" tall, but you are sturdier than a baseline girl who is 5'4". He may be an Exemplar, too, but trust me, you can take a lot more abuse in that body than your old one ever could.

After looking pensive for a moment, she offered, “I will send you some video files of a former student to watch tonight when you have free time, maybe they can help you see what I’m talking about and find a fighting style that works for you when you’re unable to use your powers. You may go get changed and head to your next class now.”

Oh god, video files on Tink in BMA, Vanessa is going to learn a lot about what her new body can do combat-wise from these.

The Quad
Thursday, September 29th, 2016 – 4:00 p.m.

Tutored in magic until dinner, so more classes after classes are done, will her torment never end! You need to learn how to socialize and make friends again for your own sake. Poly is a good person and you need more of those in your life for when the shit hitsthe fan again.

She was from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, she had a twin brother named Peter whose GSD matched hers, and she had external size warping and spacial warping powers. I guess that she could shrink non-living material temporarily and shove things into a portable hole in space in case she needed them later.

Too bad Poly Pocket is copyrighted or that would have been a perfect codename for her.

I hope they help each other with their issues. Yikes, no wonder she is in Hawthorne right now, that is a dangerous power to have going off in her sleep. Her brother is a Devisor and built a shrink ray like that, eep. I hope meeting Peter will be a good thing and help Vanessa realize she can't keep pushing others away. Exhausted wings and strained PK, just one day in classes, and already she is getting an intense workout.

Great, Huntsman is going after her in the tunnels. This psycho needs to be locked up before he kills another student. Garlic and a crucifix, this idiot thinks fairies are affected by those things, what a mook. He thinks silver affects them as well, and his horseshoe is a stainless steel one, only pure iron affects the Fair Folk. He thinks fairies have to count the grains of salt, all of this is vampires, he is a true moron.

Worst first day ever. The pillow on the bed was like a massive, super comfy mattress to Vanessa. Yikes, that is very beginner stuff for learning how to control and wield magic. A light spell, but in pink; I hope this isn't too much for her. Hobgoblins in the form of mismatched fairies, crud.

All my fears, self-loathing, and doubts made manifest. Damn, I’m fucked up.

Yes, and that is why you need more counseling than once a week. Eep, the second batch of hobgoblin fairies look like her but with blood-soaked hands.

Vanessa, tell her, or you will never make any progress.

“Look, I know we just met yesterday, and you probably don’t trust me yet, but if there’s anything that you ever need to talk about, my door is always open. I guess we’re not going to get anywhere by repeating this for now, so I’ll start teaching you something else instead, how about that?”

For a fellow teen, Becky is very patient. Runic magic, yes. iF she causes hobgoblins with this, then the issue is a lot worse than even I suspect.

She also gave me a dire warning to always be careful around anything that might look or feel like a spell made by anyone who wasn’t me or someone I didn’t trust implicitly. I was told to never mess with anyone else’s spells and especially to never enter a magic circle unless it was one that I made and knew the purpose of.

Fates worse than death from those will make your current fate look pleasant in comparison.

Vanessa, you need an overprotective and annoying big sister right now to watch out for you. You give off the vibe of being lonely and desperate for companionship, Vanessa, but hate it due to what happened with Blythe and the fallout. Becky likes you and wants you to join in something she enjoys. You have a friend in her whether you like it or not. His father made him give up music and join the football team, so his parents are just horrible in many ways. With Peter's help, they could shrink some instruments down to your size. Drained and exhausted from the day, Vanessa just wants to crash in her dorm room. Darn it, class assignments to do before sleep can be had. Voice recognition on her laptop, thank you for that innovation.

An hour and a half later…

Bwahaha, watching videos of Tink, it is hard to believe your eyes at first.

"OK! No more Mrs. Nice Fairy!!!!" the little voice shouted as its owner zipped out from under the foot that was repeatedly trying to crush her before it could do so again and headed straight for the hem of the pant leg above it.

Beware the tiny fairy, for she fights dirty and isn't shy about climbing up a guy's pants to do so. Right to the groin, that boy will never stomp on her again. Good, good, learn from the videos on Tink. You are a lot more durable than you think, and with your PK and tiny fists, it is like being shot when you hit someone hard enough. People should fear you, not the other way around.

Hawthorne Cottage
Sprite’s Room
Friday, September 30th, 2016 – 5:40 a.m.

Yikes, avoiding mirrors and reflections, and with good reason, too. The roots of her hair coming in blue, even the little hairs on her attennae coming in light blue, what is going on? Anything to make her look different enough from Blythe so she can look at herself in a mirror would be great. Finally, some potential good news for Vanessa.

Poly is trying to be your friend. You shouldn't block yourself off from all friendships because one thing went badly, no matter how badly it went. Huntsman needs to have a security order put on him to keep his distance from Vanessa outside of classes. Yikes, going from an hour of exercise a day to this, that is some intensive bootcamp-style training in endurance and using her powers more.

Well, not headaches, more like this strange, faint buzzing sensation in my head that was gone as quickly as I noticed it, and my flight was suffering for it.

Please don't let this be more bad news. Basic rune spells and how to make spell slips for them, everyone in the magic track should have to learn this if they don't already. So spell for hair growth, darn. Oh, good, a friend of Becky's might be able to help with the hair issues.

Becky is trying to learn about you; that is called being a good friend. *screams in frustration* You aren't weighing her down, and you won't make her miserable! *sigh* I suspect Blythe was already a little unhinged and you didn't drive her insane so much as gave her a slight nudge. You talk to people, they come to care about you no matter what you do. It happens.

Marie calls to find out how Vanessa's first few days of school have been. Yeah, Huntsman is a complete loon and more of a pest than a real threat, at least for now. Uhm, she is concerned about iron because it can burn and harm the Fair, including fairies. Oh boy, Marie is going to talk to someone at school about Huntsman targeting Vanessa. Aww, Leanna and Danielle are worried about their new sister. Vanessa, they say they are family to you; thus, they are family.

Both sisters seemed very insistent that I should put myself out there and try to make friends. As Danielle said, I was now going to a school for mutants, and she was sure that I would find people here who would accept me for who I am.

Listen to your sisters and stop blaming yourself for one relationship falling apart.

Neither seemed very reassured though and both tried to convince me to be more social and not hide in my room all the time. I guess they knew me better than I thought.

They may be your new sisters, but they are still your sisters; of course, they know you better than you thought.

Uh oh, why did Marie get serious all of a sudden?

“The team doing the investigation found some new DNA samples, that they believe belong to Blythe and her mother while searching their former home. They also found a sample in the cloning chamber that Blythe blew up when she made her escape with her mother and managed to break the encryption on some files that they found on a USB drive at the farmhouse. They think they have a general idea of what’s going on with you.”

Why do I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach right now?

“Mechanicha wanted to become a Sidhe or at least some type of Sidhe crossbreed. She was hoping to gain a form of immortality or long life,” Marie explained carefully. “Blythe was her first attempt. She created a clone of herself using her DNA as the base, but re-engineered it, blending it with a sample she purchased and was told was Sidhe DNA. She decided to have Blythe age and grow up normally as her daughter while she perfected her cloning, genetic manipulation, and mind transfer devises. That sample wasn’t Sidhe DNA, though it was very similar. We believe that it was Fairy DNA and when Blythe manifested, her metagene locked onto that DNA for her base form and BIT.”

Crap, you never try to do cloning involving any of Fae DNA, it is magical in nature and doesn't mix with human DNA without a lot of tinkering.

“Blythe is…” she said before pausing to consider her words. “From the sample they found, they believe her DNA to be about a quarter Fairy. When your body was cloned from Blythe, the genetic alterations that Mechanicha made were to the Fairy genes. Those genes can’t be safely changed, so the doctors believe that when you manifested, your metagene latched onto that DNA further for stability and started changing your other non-altered genes to Fairy genes. That’s why you developed your allergy to synthetics. You’ll need to avoid iron now as well, and you’ll probably find yourself unable to eat red meat soon.”

Oh no, does this mean Vanessa is a mutant fairy? Oh crap, the next paragraph, still changing and soon won't be much left except the Fairy DNA and her metagene. So, on the way to becoming a full fairy who is a mutant, this is not good news for Vanessa.

Shannon, I wonder what his codename is. Wait that long and just decide to go and try to find Hawthorne Cottage yourself; this campus is big. Made it to Hawthorne only for Emiko to come running up, out of breath.

"I'm -gasp!- Emiko. Sorry for being late," she panted. "I had to hide when a clown attacked an elf. Took a while- gasp- for security to pull them apart. Just missed you at Schuster and ran all the way here."

Great, Humorless starts a fight again and causes trouble for everyone nearby. Trust me, what Emiko just said is just a regular day at Whateley.

Dickinson Basement
Evening
Emiko doing yoga to relax and Emilie shows up, arrgh! *shudders at the gaze of Emilie over Emiko* Japanesse Zen Buddist, their nuns can date and marry. I hope this throws a bucket of ice water on Emilie's plans. Helsing is teaching Emiko some self-defense; good, the Goobers all need to learn that. Ugh, the Amazons want Helsing, and she likes sparring with them.
Ooo, Lovie is protective and jealous of Emilie's attention toward Emiko. Soap opera, you go to Whateley Academy, Emiko, a lot of students have their lives become like those in one way or another. Dang, when the quiet, nice one yells and stands up for herself, you had better listen.
No, Emilie, if you had kept pushing Emiko, she would have exploded on you alone and in a worse way that would have left you reeling.

Helsing vs. Grande aka the hippo girl, who will win? Grande won the 2nd bout, and it seems she and Helsing are friends with how they grinned at one another.