A young woman opens the door, the bags under her eyes betraying her calm demeanour. "Yes?" 

She is immediately concerned - doctors being sleep deprived isn't exactly unusual but it's not good for anyone. Still, it's not really something to be brought up so soon. 

"Hi, I'm Erin Newark, I just got into town and thought I'd come in to make sure everything is settled here so I can start on Tuesday." 

The woman brightens immediately at that, relief clear on her face. “Oh! Doctor Newark! They told me you were coming this week, but I didn’t think- please, come in!”

She stands away from the door to allow Erin in. 

In she goes, "Don't worry about it, I know I'm here a few days early! Has it been particularly busy around here lately? I got the impression that more doctors were rather needed here, but couldn't find much information on why." 

The woman is happy to turn her computer monitor to face Erin, the name in the top right being Dr. Yenna Braska. “An accident at a local laboratory two weeks ago. Some kind of infection. People have been turning up with complaints of severe joint stiffness, muscle spasms-”

Yenna flops into her desk chair. “We can’t find a source, and there’s too many cases for it to be merely sports injuries. That’s why we’ve been so glad that you were coming!”

"A local laboratory? Have they released anything about what they were studying?"

Yenna shakes her head. "Apparently it's very top secret. Shows you that the military cares more for secrets than it does for human lives." 

"Well, we already knew that." Sigh, "I'll see what I can do. All that lab work experience has to be good for something." Maybe there will be something helpful in her parents' house, as well, though she has some doubts about that - they've always been very careful about sensitive documents.

"True enough, though it is a hard lesson to keep relearning." Yenna clicks over to a couple of other documents, and then prints all of them out. "Here. It's not much, but if there's anything in there you can see that we've missed, that would be something!"

She takes them, glancing over the first few lines on the top page before slipping them into her bag, "Thank you, I'll look through them and let you know if I notice anything." She looks her over, gaze catching on the bags under her eyes, and her concern compels her to ask, "How long have the shifts been, lately?" 

Yenna gives her a rueful smile. "Too long. But the town hasn't seen an influx of patients like this before."

"Is there anything I can do to help now? I have clean scrubs in the car, and unpacking can wait. Assuming the paperwork has gone through..." 

"Things are quiet, for the moment. A few people are staying under observation. We have your number if we need to call you in?"

"Absolutely, any time you need me." 

Yenna's smile is grateful. "Thank you, Dr Newark. I'll see you Tuesday?"

"Yes, I'll see you then." And she'll see herself out, as well. 

The hospital, while little more than just a large doctor's office, is as much of a hive of activity as it was when Erin walked in. As she goes through the halls, she can see the very few staff tending to rooms of full beds. Most people look okay, for the most part, aside from the odd jerking motions of their limbs. 

Strange, and concerning. Erratic movements like that... she doesn't like what they imply about what this infection is doing to the patients' nervous systems. 

Well, the sooner she gets to her parents' home, the sooner she can look through those papers to see if there's anything she can do about it. 

This in mind, she heads out to her car.

There's a few people in military dress standing around, in small groups, armed. They look like they're monitoring the streets. 

However, life seems to be going on around them, people walking by, shops are still open. 

Erin does her best not to stare as she drives by. Armed military literally in the streets, what is going on in this town. And it looks like people are fairly used to it, too. 

Her parents' house is on the clifftop, in the wealthiest part of town. They've always been partial to the elegant and extremely large, which is not something she's looking forward to dealing with. She'll need to pay for a maid service if she doesn't want to spend all her time off just keeping the place clean, she expects. But it would be quite wasteful to buy her own house here if she's not going to be staying long-term. She heads up the cliff and through the neighborhood to the correct address. 

The house is there, just like it always was, but looks strangely lonely, up there on the clifftop. 

She can see her closest neighbour watching as she drives past, his unnaturally wide grin pressed close to the window. 

Um. 

Well that's... creepy. Creepy is the right word for it. She watches him out of the corner of her eye and then keeps glancing at him in the mirror as she drives past. Maybe he's high on something? 

His eyes follow her, widening, until he's pulled away by a harried, scared looking woman. 

Yeah that doesn't make her feel any better about whatever's going on there. She'll have to keep an eye on those two, as she's able. 

She pulls up to the house, retrieves her bag and suitcases from the trunk, and heads inside. It doesn't take her very long to unpack, and soon enough she's settled at a table in the huge, echoing house, looking through the papers Doctor Braska had given her.

The papers don't reveal much other than what Yenna already told her, and there doesn't seem to be many similarities between the victims. At least, not in terms of their health or physical status. 

Is there any information on how it's spreading? 

There have been varied tests, from viral to bacterial, and there seems to be something to be gained by further testing blood, but so far, most results are inconclusive. 

Further past this, is a small side note, that the convulsions seem to get worse at night. 

Hm. Symptoms worsening at night is common in many illnesses... 

Sigh. There doesn't seem to be much more she can learn before she starts on Tuesday. She puts the documents somewhere safe and then... assesses her dinner options, first of all. 

While she does that, there's a knock on the door. 

A loud, thumping knock. Like someone's throwing their body at the door.

She starts at the first one, and then stares as they continue. 

...okay no, she is not just going to open the door for that. She looks for a window with a good vantage point on the door, instead, peering out carefully. 

The man who had been grinning at her through the window ceases throwing himself at the door, and looks up. 

His body jerks as he moves, like he can't control his limbs.

Jerky movements? Is he sick with the same thing they're dealing with at the hospital? A much more advanced case, perhaps, which could explain why he was slamming his whole body against the door. 

Concern and professional curiosity demands she take a look at him, but she detours by the kitchen on her way to the door to grab a mask and pair of gloves.

"Hello? Do you need help?" She asks him as she opens it.

₩ɆⱠ₵Ø₥Ɇ ₮Ø ₴₮Ɽ₳₦₲ɆⱤVłⱠⱠɆ, the strange man says. 

And then holds out a small, veiny, glowing apple to Erin. 

...Um.

"Thank you?" She takes the apple in a gloved hand. 

₮ⱧɆ ₥Ø₮ⱧɆⱤ ₱ⱤØVłĐɆ₴ ₳ⱠⱠ. JØł₦ Ʉ₴.

"Ted? Ted!" A woman comes rushing up, the same woman who had pulled him form the window. She looks...distraught. "Dear god, I am so sorry. He's not bothering you is he?" 

She wraps an arm around the man. "Come on now, dear, you're frightening the poor woman."

ⱤɆ₴ł₴₮₳₦₵Ɇ ł₴ ₣Ʉ₮łⱠɆ

The man continues to grin his awful, painful-looking smile. 

She is a little frightened, it's true, but she's also still very concerned, "I'm a doctor, ma'am - how long has he been like this?" Whatever this infection is, this advanced stage definitely seems to be affecting his brain, and... his voice is very strange.

"It's nothing, he's a little stressed from his mayoral duties. We've been trying to keep calm at home, haven't we Ted?" 

Erin will recognise them now, as the Roswell's, one of the oldest families in the town. 

ɎØɄ ₩łⱠⱠ ฿Ɇ Ⱨ₳₱₱Ɏ ł₦ ⱧɆⱤ Ⱡł₲Ⱨ₮

She smiles at Ted, and then turns back to his wife, "He's acting a lot like he has a more advanced case of an illness which has been troubling the doctors at the hospital quite a lot. We don't know how it spreads or if it might do permanent damage, Mrs. Roswell, you should really take him in, or at least allow a doctor to see him." 

"No, no, he's fine! Just stressed. Aren't you, dear? We can handle this. Thank you, and sorry for the bother." 

Mrs Roswell starts pulling her husband away, and he does go with her, but his eyes stay fixed on Erin. 

Damn. Well, she can't force treatment on him.

"Let me know if you change your mind," she calls after her, "Please, take care." 

She watches them as they go down the path, and then retreats back inside the house. 

Inside, she takes a closer look at the 'apple' Ted had given her. 

It's the size of an apple, maybe on the smaller side, but it's faintly glowing. 

And then there's the thick, protruding veins. That seem to be pulsating slightly. 

Fascinating... and a little disturbing. There must be specimen containers around here somewhere... She checks through some closets and eventually locates a good container to keep the 'apple' in. Before she does any experimenting she really should go into town to get some groceries and then eat something. She is a responsible person, yes she is, not driven only by her curiosity. 

The apple will certainly keep fine in the specimen jar!

What a good applomination. 

It's a short drive back to the center of town. She pulls into the lot and heads inside the grocery store, grabbing a basket and making her way to the dairy aisle. 

"...Erin? Erin Newark?" Says a familiar voice. 

She turns, "Yes-? Oh! Cati, is that you?"

Cati shrugs, looking incredulous. "Yeah, in the flesh. Jesus, you look all right. Thought you got out of this dump?"

She laughs, "Thanks. I did, yes, but I heard they needed help at the hospital here, and I was looking for an excuse to come back for a while, so..." She gestures, "Voila!" No need to focus on why she needed an excuse, "How have you been? I haven't heard from you since... High school, I guess." 

"You were looking for an excuse to come back?" Cati snorts. "Most people are looking for any reason to leave." 

Cati coughs awkwardly, and gestures vaguely to her name-badge. "Yeah, I'm...doing awesome." 

Ah, yeah, that's... a little awkward. 

Subject change? "Have you heard from anyone else? I talk to Robin sometimes, but I haven't spoken to anyone else in years."

"Oh. Uh. Not really. After we graduated I kinda...blew the joint? And now I'm back and I'm a bit of a shut in. A lot of a shut in." 

Cati coughs. "Ah. Anyway. It's nice to see you. What's going on at the hospital?"

"I shouldn't say too much, but... Well, there's some sort of strange infection, they've been getting a lot of cases and the staff is very overworked trying to keep up with it."

"Well. Shit. Good luck with that." 

Cati casts a look back at her flat trolley, stacked with boxes. "I...uh, I should probably get back to work. Nice seeing you?"

"Yeah, hey, do you want to meet up for drinks or something sometime? Swap stories, reminisce about the good old days, rag on the decision to make EU non-canon..." She holds up her phone in an implicit offer to exchange numbers.

A real, genuine smile from Cati, that looks like she hasn't smiled like that in a while. 

"Anyone who makes Mara Jade non-canon should be shot," she says, and pulls her phone out of her pocket. "Quick, before my supervisor sees."

"The worst blasphemy," she agrees. 

Numbers are exchanged! "I'll call you later?" 

"I'll make sure I actually pick up, most people calling me these days are telemarketers," Cati says, but this time it's a joke. 

She waves over her shoulder, and heads back to work.

And Erin gets back to her shopping, and then back out to her car.

Outside the supermarket, a man leans against Erin's car.

...Okay, she's been trying to keep herself from it, but there's only so much weirdness she can deal with before she starts considering that she might have fallen into some kind of sci-fi novel, and 'the MIB are watching me' is apparently past that threshold. 

She's going to have to check her car for any tampering once she gets to it. 

The man winks at her, and walks off. 

Her car seems fine!

Great

...Did he pull his sunglasses down specifically to wink at her?

She rolls her eyes at him, covering a slightly amused smile as she gets into the car. 

She is thankfully not accosted by anyone else on the drive home, and even the Roswell house seems quiet. 

Back at the house, she gets to work on making herself a late dinner.

While it's cooking, she checks on the apple. Any changes? 

Now that sun has fallen, the apple seems to glow brighter than before. 

If this were a sci-fi novel this fact would be connected to the way the patients' symptoms worsen at night, and she would immediately go down to the hospital to find out more herself, which would then lead her down the path to discovering a grand conspiracy. 

Since this is not a sci-fi novel, she simply notes this fact down in a fresh notebook she pulls out of a drawer in her father's study and carries on with her night. She'll bring it in to the hospital on Tuesday so she can use their labs to take a closer, and safer, look at it. 

Then her night will pass peacefully, the apple glowing a little menacingly out of the corner of her eye.

Cati texts her, mentions that Robin was also still around, though they don't really talk. 

And that ladies night at the local bar was tomorrow, if her offer for drinks was still open.

Sounds great! How about 7:00?

she sends, and

Robin's still in town? He wouldn't tell me where he was living. 

The StrangerVille shame lingers over us all. 7 sounds great to me :)

She's pretty sure he was more concerned that she'd hunt him down to ask some pointed questions about what he's been up to lately. His texts have been... a little concerning.

Great! I'll see you then!

First, though, there's a whole day to fill, assuming she doesn't get a call from the hospital. She checks on the apple, and then decides it might be time to start working on her actual reason for coming here: figuring out what happened to her parents. With this in mind, she starts going through their studies. She doesn't expect there to be much - they always were conscientious about sensitive documents - but any little bit could help.

No call from the hospital the next day, but there is a knock on her door, around midday. 

An actual knock, not a thump.

She opens it, "Yes?" 

The man from last night stands there, glasses on, dressed absolutely impeccably. 

"Erin Newark?"

"That's me," she says, leaning against the doorjamb. "I don't think we've been introduced, for all that you seem to know who I am."

"Me? I'm no-one. Now, excuse me-"

He ducks around Erin, heading into the house. 

"Wha-hey!" She grabs at his arm as he passes. "I did not invite you in." 

"You didn't?" The man says, just dodging around Erin's hand. He moves fluidly, trained in some kind of self-defence, no doubt. "Because I distinctly remember you mentioning coffee, perhaps even a pastry?" 

He looks around, until his eyes land on the apple, and beelines towards it. 

"You must have been hearing things," she rushes after him, "Get out of my house before I call the cops or find a- hey, don't touch that, it might be dangerous-"

The man picks it up in his bare hands, tosses it in the air, catches it, and stows it in his pocket. 

"Well, thank you for your hospitality, Dr Newark. I'll save the police the trouble, and escort myself out." He makes for the door.

She's there before him, blocking his way more thoroughly this time, "That thing seems to be connected to the infection that's piling people up in the hospital," she says, now seriously displeased, "Give it back."

"My god, woman, has anyone told you you're built like a Greek goddess?" 

He seems particularly entranced by her arms.

"Yep, and I'll be happy to put my resemblance to Athena to use if you don't put that back. It could be the key to understanding and healing the infection." 

The man sighs. "Don't tempt me, my god, what an afternoon. Sadly, I was given quite strict instructions to keep my interactions with you to a minimum." 

He makes to move around her.

Instructions?

"Oh no you don't-" She moves with him, grabbing for his shirt with one hand and the pocket of his jacket with the other.

Quick as a shot, the man's hands snap out to block Erin's grab for his shirt, and he twists around her, managing to not even have a hair out of place. "Hopefully you won't see me again, but just to be on the safe side, stick to the hospital, doctor." 

He's out the door and down the steps in seconds.

"Screw that-" she turns to run after him, if anything the fact that the apple is apparently valuable enough or dangerous enough in her hands or something to steal it from her only making her more determined to get it back.

As the man gets into a black car, he gives Erin one last very admiring look-

and drops a small piece of paper on the ground. 

Then the car is peeling away.

"Damnit."

She stops at the curb, watching the car vanish down the road. Once it's out of sight, she sighs, and looks down at the sidewalk, catching sight of the paper. She bends down to pick it up, scowl lightening into a curious frown as she takes a closer look.

TR has given EN the fruit. Find his source, then retrieve EN's. 

Do not engage with her. 

Destroy this message.

Did he drop this on purpose, she wonders? It's not the most useful clue, but... Well, TR is the mayor, of course, and EN is her. 

The note suggests asking Ted for another one won't get her anywhere - assuming it would have even if he did have access to this 'source'. Though, maybe he has access to more than one.

...Actually now that she thinks of it she kind of wants to go check on them. Or at least see if she can see any activity inside from the street. The man didn't hurt her, but she has no way of knowing whether he harmed the Roswells. She walks down the road a ways until she's in front of their house, peering up the walkway. 

It all seems quiet from the street, and then, passing in front of the window-

Mayor Roswell. He seems tired, but himself. 

...What? 

Did the sickness just run its course or... was he cured, somehow?

Well, she was looking into her parents' disappearance. With that as an excuse, maybe she can get a closer look. She heads up the walk and knocks on the door. 

The mayor's wife answers the door. "Oh! Hello." 

She seems nervous to see Erin again.

"Hi, Mrs Roswell. Don't worry, I'm not here about yesterday, I just wanted to ask if you've heard anything from my parents recently?" 

"Oh! Oh, of course, I- Why don't you come in?" She opens the door a little wider, after looking back inside the house for a moment. 

"Thank you," she follows her inside. "They stopped answering my calls a few months ago," she explains, "And there's no recent sign of them at home. I've been very worried." 

She leads Erin through to the sitting room. "Please sit down. Would you like a drink?"

She sits. "I'd love something. Tea, maybe?"

"Of course!" She's not gone long, and returns with an actual tea set. "We just have to let that steep for a minute. Now, your parents, you said they fell out of contact a few months ago?"

"Yes, they usually call once a month. I haven't heard from them in three, and as I said there's no sign of them in the house." 

The woman pours the tea. "Here." 

She takes a sip of her own, and sighs. "Ted was very proud when they created the lab here. Said it would bring some life back to the town."

She takes a sip and makes a quiet pleased sound as she listens attentively. 

"About three months ago, as you said, we lost contact at the lab. And then we were told that we must stay away for our own good, like I knew where the place was, and that the staff were being moved elsewhere." She takes another sip of tea, and rubs her temples. "Some of the scientists came back, and I think-"

"Meredith." The mayor appears in the doorway, face stony. "I think that's enough. We don't need to start conspiracy theories."

Damn, and it seemed like she was getting somewhere, too. Still, it's a lot more than she knew before.

"Mayor Roswell!" She greets, "It's good to see you looking better." 

The mayor's face remains stony, and impassable. "Yes, and thank you, for your concern." 

"Will you take tea with us, darling?" Meredith asks, sounding hopefully. 

"No. I'll be in the study. Keep an eye on the time." And Ted walks out, rubbing his back.

She continues to be concerned, if for different reasons now. It's strange, she remembers them being a very happy couple...

Smile, "Well, leaving that topic aside for now, how has the town been since I left? I've been all over the country in the past few years, I must have missed all sorts of milestones and celebrations."

Meredith seems relieved by the subject change, and happily talks about last years centennial celebration of the town.

Erin is happy to see her relaxing a bit. She listens and then contributes a few light anecdotes of her own. It's a very pleasant conversation.

And then late afternoon hits, and tension returns to Meredith's body. "Oh, goodness, how time flies. It has been so lovely to see you again, Erin, and I do wish you luck with your work at the hospital." 

It's a clear dismissal, paired with her frantic looks to the hallway, presumably where the study is.

Well, that's very suspicious. 

She doesn't want to overstay her welcome, though, or ruin any of the goodwill she's earned, so she stands to leave. "Thank you, for the well-wishes, and the tea and conversation," Erin tells her as she goes, "You're welcome to drop by my house any time," she makes sure to add, as well. 

Meredith's genuine smile returns at that. "Thank you, Erin. I'll be sure to call on you. Take care of yourself, too." 

The door shuts behind Erin.

Hm. Well, hopefully she'll be alright, whatever is going on in that house. Erin doesn't like leaving her to whatever was making her so afraid, but there isn't much she can reasonably do without more information and likely Meredith's cooperation, as well. 

She turns back towards her home, going over what she'd learned at the beginning of the visit. Some of the scientists came back, she'd said. Hopefully some of them will be among those colleagues her parents had introduced her to when she was younger.

Perhaps another reason to go to the bar. Catching up with an old friend, and finding out who else has come back. 

Indeed, and it's getting to be about the time they'd set to meet, too. She slips into something a little nicer, and then soon enough she's slipping onto a stool at the bar in question. She's a little early, but not by much. While she waits for Cati to arrive, she takes a look around, checking for anyone she recognizes. 

It seems to be mostly military personnel, and even out of uniform you can tell that that's what they are. They stand straight backed, even while talking to their friends. Like they have to always be on guard. 

Not too much longer later, Cati arrives. She dressed quite nicely, though baggy and formless, and looks like she's waiting for someone to tell her what to do. 

She's not been out in a while, clearly.

(Their state of readiness is really quite disconcerting. She watches the crowd seemingly idly while she waits.)

"Cati!" Erin calls once she spots her, "Over here!" 

Cati looks relieved as she squeezes through people. She slips into the seat next to Erin. 

"Christ, this place can fit a lot of very buff women in it."

She chuckles, "Mm, I feel right at home. Well, aside from the part where most of them seem to be prepared for a battle to break out at any moment."

Cati looks around the room, and seems to come to the same conclusion. "Well. As long as they're not trying to sign me up for it and I've got ample time to start running," she says, drily. 

She flags down the bartender. "First one's on me. What d'you want?

"Think they have any of that terrible whiskey we kept sneaking from Caine's dad?" She suggests with a smirk, "For old time's sake?" 

Cati grins. "Two of that nasty stuff with the orange label, thanks!"

The bartender snorts, but pulls down the bottle of 'Desert's Finest Wiskee', and pours them two straight. 

Cati pays, then holds up her glass. "Cheers, Newark."

She tinks her glass against Cati's, "Cheers!" Bottoms up!

"Yeugh," she shudders, "You know, I thought I must have been exaggerating how bad this stuff was, but it turns out my memory was spot on." 

"Pretty sure Caine's dad used to use this to clean his gun," Cati says through a grimace, though she's laughing too. 

Snort, "I wouldn't be surprised. How about I get us something a bit nicer on the tongue," she suggests, flagging down the bartender to order their next drinks.

"You'll get no argument from me," Cati says, still wincing a little against the terrible whiskey. 

Once they have the nicer drinks, Cati forgoes actually small talk, because she is and always will be, a bull in a china shop. "Why are you really back?"

Erin glances around, but honestly everyone seems busy enough with their own conversations that it's probably safe enough. 

"My parents have vanished. Have you heard about that lab they opened a few years back? They were working there, and then something happened a few months ago, some kind of accident, apparently, and I haven't heard from them since." 

"Your parents? Thought you guys didn't get on so well?" 

Cati takes another drink, frowning. "I did know about the lab. Did some freelance programming for them. Coding some kind of security for a biohazard. Well, I wasn't supposed to know that much, but I've gotten good at hiding my tracks."

"We've got our problems, sure, but... I don't want them dead. And their disappearance seems to be a piece of a bigger puzzle, too. The lab, the infections, all the military presence... and there's this guy who's been following me, and he showed up at my house today and stole what I think was evidence on whatever the hell is going on here. I'm pretty sure I've only just scratched the surface, but I'm already really worried, not just about them, but about everyone else in town." 

"Wait, woah, hold on- who's following you?" This, more than anything else, seems to rattle Cati the most. 

"He wouldn't tell me his name. Just showed up at my door out of the blue, stole this weird fruit-thing I got from one of the infected people, and then left again. I couldn't stop him," she adds, frustrated. "He was all dressed up like some kind of spy - long coat, suit, sunglasses."

"You've been here two days, and someone is already having you watched?" Cati shudders. "Jesus."

A few of the other people in the bar catch the latter part of the conversation, and start looking over at the two, frowning. 

Erin notices this out of the corner of her eye. "Damn," she murmurs, and then a bit louder, "Okay, enough about my problems. We came out here to have a good time and curse Disney, right?" 

Cati catches the look. "Yeah, god, absolutely. I don't care how good any of the movies are, I won't watch anything that dares to take away all three of Han and Leia's kids," she adds. Lying well, but like it leaves an odd taste in her mouth. 

As the night goes on, a few people come and go, and the soldiers watching Erin lose interest. 

And then, in walks a few people, looking tired and ready for a drink, and in the middle, someone familiar to Erin.

Haylin Cooper, her old mentor.

Haylin? Here, in StrangerVille? That group must be involved in whatever project they were doing at the lab. And no one will question her going over to chat with her old mentor. 

She rises from her barstool, pointing the group out to Cati in explanation, and makes her way over to them. 

"Professor Cooper!" She greets, "I haven't seen you in ages, how are you?" 

Haylin’s face lights up. “Erin! I didn’t know you were coming home! I’m doing all right, how are you?”

"I'm well enough. Ran into an old friend at the grocery store and we decided to meet up for drinks. Luckily, apparently!" She takes a seat and the table, "How's Emily? I heard you got married last year," she adds apologetically, "I was in the islands at the time, though, and couldn't get away." 

"Oh, don't you worry about that, it was a pretty small ceremony," Haylin says, smiling warmly. "Emily's good, she's back in San Myshuno. Haven't had a chance to go back home yet. I'm surprised to see you back here. I thought you had big plans?"

"Ah, yeah. They're in progress! Just paused, for now, while I'm here. I heard the hospital here needed help, and I needed to come back to look into something, anyway, but I'll be back at it once those situations are resolved."

Haylin frowns at that. "The hospital needed some help? So you've downgraded yourself to just an everyday GP?" The last words are teasing.

She laughs, "Well, sometimes you just have to set aside your ambitions for a little while to help out your hometown, I suppose. Given the lack of any results from all the tests they've been running they could certainly use someone who's done a lot of work on vaccinations against infectious diseases. Anyway, I still volunteer at the free clinics wherever I happen to be staying, so I'm not entirely out of practice in that area." 

"It's really good to hear that you've still got that drive to help. You're smart enough you could've gotten a very cushy pharmaceutical job."

She makes a face, "Ugh, no. You know how I feel about that kind of exploitation." She shakes her head, "I learned enough about what goes on behind the scenes in those corporations while growing up to never want to go near them." 

Haylin's eyes narrow a bit. "You have no idea. We were working away one day, and then the next we were told it had been shuttered up. Couldn't believe it. Other sections of the lab got to stay open, and let me tell you, it wasn't any of the beneficial research areas."

"So, the kind of stuff my parents work on, then," she concludes, wry. 

Haylin rolls her eyes. "Your parents were always first to get the grants, and I think we both know why." She gives Erin a side-hug. "Thank god you turned out better than that."

Hug. "It helped that I had some good role models to balance out the dubious ones." 

"Don't flatter me too much, my head's big enough," Haylin laughs. "Enough about that, tell me about your research! How's that going?"

Cati slips into a seat near them. "Ignore me, sorry, felt really fucking awkward sitting at the bar alone."

"Oh god, sorry Cati, I just got caught up." She smiles at Haylin, "Cati's the friend I mentioned, we went to high school together. Cati, this is Doctor Haylin Cooper, one of my parents' colleagues, she mentored me in university." 

“Hey.” Cati waves a little. 

“Hi.” Haylin smiles warmly.

“Trade embarrassing stories about teenaged Erin back and forth?”

"Oh no," she buries her face in her hands, "What have I done." 

Haylin rubs her hands together, cackling. “Cati, you and I are going to be best friends.”

Cati grins at Erin. “I’m gonna tell her about Caine’s 16th birthday party.”

"Cati, we took a solemn vow never to speak of that!" 

“I made no such vow. Or, I crossed my fingers behind my back.”

“Well, now I have to know!”

She sighs a little dramatically, "Go on, then, ruin my reputation as the model student. If I even had that," she adds with a snort, "You might have heard other stories, it's not as though I stopped drinking when I moved to San Myshuno." 

“Oh, I’m not gonna scold you, red wine is about the only thing I have to look forward at night!” Haylin laughs. 

“She got drunk, well, we all did, but then she disappeared about...1am? We assumed she’d gone home, she’s the mum friend, the responsible one. We woke up next day to tapping on the living room window, and there was Erin, twigs in her hair, dirt all over her face. She’d fallen asleep in a bush.”

Her face returns to her hands, "It was nice out, okay, and Caine's place was right on the edge of town, so you could get a good look at the stars," she tries to explain. 

“Erin, are you a wandering drunk?” Haylin asks, mock-horrorified 

“We had to start locking the doors before the whiskey’d come out.”

"At least I never kissed anyone out of nowhere. Which is more than can be said of some people." 

“Oh, Robin. Here’s hoping his octopus tendency has lessened in his old age.”

“I get terribly snuggly. Emily suffers terribly when I’ve had a few.” Her voice is very fond. She misses her wife a lot. 

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen a person look so bewildered and offended as Caine did when Robin kissed him," Erin muses. She shakes her head, "How long are you in town, anyway, Haylin?"

“Not long. We’re still in the process of moving our lab kit back to San M, not that we should have to. It’s hard to watch some people file past you, while you’re putting all your things in boxes.”

"Is anyone I know sticking around?" 

“Hmmm. Not sure. I could have a look, but it wouldn’t be anyone you studied with. Why? You interested in what your parents were doing?”

The tone is not approving. 

"Only in the sense that I'd want to know if what they were working on is the thing we're trying to counter," she murmurs. "And- well." She glances around at all the military hanging about, determining that their attention has drifted enough from them for it to be relatively safe.

"Have you actually seen my parents?" She asks, quietly, "Because I haven't heard from them in months." 

Haylin frowns. “Now that I think of it,” she says, dropping her voice low to match. “I haven’t heard from your parents. Their lab is still active, though.”

If they've been confined there and aren't allowed any calls or emails... but what could they be working on that would be that deeply secret? 

...Well. Whatever the hell is going on in this town, maybe. Glowing, veiny apples, the infection... Whatever it is is clearly important enough to have the military out in force, and some kind of agent following her around. 

She sighs, "I don't want to get you in trouble," she tells Haylin lowly, "But do you know anything about what they were working on? If it does have to do with the infection that's running the hospital ragged..." 

Haylin looks genuinely concerned by that, and turns her head to face the door. “I...I would want to hope it wouldn’t. But...” 

She turns back to Erin, shaking her head. “I don’t know, Erin. I’m sorry. I’ll see if I can get a message down before we head back to the city.”

“Have they changed any of the pass codes in the last few months?”

“Not that I know of. Why?”

“Professional curiosity.”

Right, Cati had mentioned she'd done some security work for the lab. That could definitely come in handy if they ever have to actually break into the place. Though she very much hopes they don't.

"I'd appreciate it, but please be careful," she tells Haylin. "Don't put yourself in danger just to get a message to them."

Haylin takes Erin’s hand and squeezes it. “Don’t worry so much. Labs always have stupidly tight security, but I can promise that nothing is going to happen to me!”

"With all this," she subtly motions at the nearby soldiers, "I think a bit of paranoia is warranted. But I'll try not to worry." 

“Yes, well...” Haylin looks around the room of soldiers. “That worry may be warranted. But for now, let’s just have a drink?”

"Yeah, that sounds good to me," she agrees. She can worry all she wants later. For now, she'd like to spend time catching up with two friends she hasn't seen in years.

Cati seems a little reserved, and is checking her phone more than someone who claims to not go out much should, but she seems to get on well with Haylin. 

Haylin, at least, seems to be absolutely thrilled to be around people who aren’t her team. She’s lively, for someone with deep purple eye bags. 

Erin is delighted to see them getting on. 

After a few more drinks, though, it starts getting late enough that Erin starts thinking about heading home. 

"Do you have a ride home?" She asks Cati.

“What, you gonna walk me home, Erin?”

“Maybe go find a comfy bush?” Haylin giggles. 

Snort, "I'm not that drunk yet," she insists. "I was gonna call a cab," she tells Cati, "Could drop you off before I go up the cliff." 

“Or you could stay with me? Not go back to that big creaky house on your own. Or something.”

"It is pretty lonely up there," she admits. "Alright." 

"It was really nice seeing you," she tells Haylin. "You have my number, right? We should get together sometime when I'm in San M again."

“Yes! Absolutely.” Haylin wobbles upright to hug Erin tightly. “Don’t be a stranger now.” She giggles. “Stranger in StrangerVille.”

Cati snorts. 

"Never heard that one before," she laughs. 

And shortly, a cab is called, and they head outside to meet it. 

“Should probably give you a head’s up, my place isn’t really anything special. Was going to be a pit stop, but then I just...didn’t leave.”

"I'd probably take a hovel in a swamp over the old place right now," she snorts. 

"...What happened, though? You basically dropped off the map after high school. I mean, I guess I can't talk - none of us can, really, I've talked to Caine exactly twice and have no idea where he is now, I haven't actually seen Robin face-to-face more than once, and I kind of ran out the doors at grad straight to San M and never looked back..." But hell, at least they'd kept in some amount of contact. 

Cati is quiet for the first part of the cab ride, and then sighs. “I just thought I was meant for something better. And then I got it and it turned out it sucked. And all I wanted was to turn back time and keep my promise to stay in contact with you all.”

She's quiet for a long moment. 

"...Well, we've got another chance, now," she says. "We can track down Robin and get him in on it, too. Maybe he even has some idea where Caine went." 

“Yeah, that might be a you only thing. Kinda...burned the crops and salted the earth on that one.”

Blink. "Oh yeah, you two were..." 

"He never actually told me what happened there. He'd just change the topic when I brought you up."

“He...uh. Well. He told me he had feelings for me, and then I made sure he didn’t anymore.”

Cati digs her nails into her palm. “Better that way.”

"...Oh."

Well, that explains the avoidance. 

"I don't know what you said, but... maybe you can work it out? I think he's... hurt, more than anything, even now." 

“Nah. Like I said. Better this way.”

The cab pulls up, and Cati sits up to pay. “Welcome to my shithole.”

"It's not that bad. Believe me, I've slept in worse places." Not that that's exactly a ringing endorsement. 

“I can promise the spare room is at least clean. No promises as to the rest of the house.”

Cati gets out of the cab and jogs up the stairs to her front door. It’s a classic colonial house, with a front porch and a decent backyard, but it’s worn down, the white and green paint peeling and flaking.

She offers the cab driver a quick thanks, and then follows her up the stairs. 

Cati unlocks her door and opens it wide for Erin.

The first room is split into a living room on one side, couch, tv, all that. On the other side is a monstrous computer set up, cords and bits of tech lying in chaotically organised bundles.

"Wow," she says, staring at it all from the doorway. "That's... quite the set-up." 

“Yeah, the work at the grocer’s is just so I don’t spend all my time staring at those screens. Programming brings in the real money.”

She points out down the hall. “First door on your right is the spare room. Another door down is the bathroom. Want a cup of tea? Or some water?”

"I should definitely have some of one of those, before I sleep," she agrees, wry. "If you're making tea, I'll take that, if not water's fine."

“Come and gaze upon my stupidly huge collection of herbal tea.”

She leads Erin into the kitchen, and low and behold, one open cupboard is filled to bursting with herbal tea.

That is indeed a lot of tea. After a moment of indecision, she decides on an easily reachable one that she's actually had before, unlike most of the blends up there. 

"So... you kept up with programming, then?" She asks as the water boils. 

"Yeah. It's hard to let go of something that makes you good money, you're insanely good at, and you actually enjoy." She boils the kettle. "Plus, it means I can nose into wherever I want."

"Reasonable," she says, smiling slightly. "Sometimes I wish I'd been so good at something other than my parents' profession," she muses. "But Doctoring is honestly a little hard to beat for professions that directly help people, if you do it right. I go about it differently enough that it doesn't bother me much."

“I don’t think you are good at your parent’s profession.” Cati pours hot water into two mugs, and then hands one to Erin. “You care about people. Your parents really only cared about progress.”

Cati shivers, then shrugs. “At least, that’s what I always got from them.”

"Yeah..." 

Tea.

"I... don't want to keep you up, especially if you work tomorrow? But I did want to ask about that security work you did." 

Cati peers at her, seeming suspicious and concerned. "You wanna go poking through all that?"

"The lab, yeah. I'm not... completely sure, yet. I probably won't be until I can get the time to look at the infection more closely. But I'm getting pretty certain that it's connected to whatever they were doing in those labs." She shrugs, "And as awful as my parents are, they are my parents. If it turns out they're in on it I want to know, and if it turns out they're being forced into it I want to help."

“You always were such a noble spirit,” Cati says, smiling fondly at her friend.

She looks over to her set up. “You doing anything tomorrow? I’ll show you through everything I did.”

"Thank you. I know breaking the kind of confidentiality agreement they must have had you sign could go badly for you. I'm free tomorrow, I start at the hospital the day after, though they might call me in if they need me." 

Cati shrugs. "I'm not gonna pretend that I didn't used to go snooping through whatever I could hack through. Pretty sure a couple of the soccer boys tried to pay me to 'fix' their grades last year of school."

"Really?" She rolls her eyes, "I don't know why I'm surprised, they were all counting on sports scholarships to pull them through, weren't they."

"Just like any athletically gifted student." 

Cati finishes her tea, and drops her mug in the sink. "I'm beat. See you in the morning?"

"Mm," Erin glances down at her mug, drinks the last dregs, and then drops it in, too. "Right, bedtime. Guest room was over here?" 

"Just there." Cati gestures to a room, before she shoots Erin a rueful smile. "Night."

"Good night!" In she goes, and thence to bed. 

Cati stays up a while longer, and then eventually goes to bed. 

Erin lies awake for a while, going over the events of the day in her head until she gets drowsy enough to fall asleep. 

She's not an early riser. Cati will probably have been up for a while when she lurches out of bed and into the kitchen. 

Cati is at her computer, one foot on her chair so she can rest her chin on her knee while something on screen does...something. A steaming mug and a plate with half-eaten toast sit precariously on the edge of her desk. 

She huffs a laugh when she looks over her shoulder to see Erin. "That is a remarkable bedhead."

"Mnnn-what?" She blinks at Cati owlishly. Her eyes catch on the mug.

"...Coffee?" 

"Machine in the kitchen. Open the top, put a pod in, push the middle button. There's a milk frother next to it."

She spends a moment staring at her blankly, processing, and then nods. That doesn't sound too hard. 

She shuffles into the kitchen and follows the instructions. 

...she just barely remembers to grab a cup to put the coffee in, as well, feeling mildly betrayed. The feeling vanishes once she has the coffee in hand and takes a few sips. 

She goes back into the living room and curls up around her cup on the couch, staring blearily at what Cati's up to and waiting for her brain to wake up.

“Are we awake yet? Or is a second cup in order?”

"Mmm..." the smell of the coffee and the shot of caffeine has perked her up enough by this point that she manages a sleepy nod, "I'm... probably awake now. I wouldn't say no to a second cup, though." 

“Have at. Nearly done compiling.”

Compiling. Tech words. Okay. 

Erin returns to the kitchen for more coffee. Hopefully after the second cup she will be prepared to do more than stare dumbly at the tiny tiny words on the screen, once they're ready. Why are mornings?

“I’ll email all this to you, so you can read it when your brain is back online.” She’s only laughing a little, she swears.

 “What do you know about this guy who’s following you? Do you recognise him?”

"Thanks," She laughs, returning to flop on the couch again, third cup in hand, and then she shakes her head, "No, not at all. Pretty sure I'd remember him if I'd seen him before, too - he doesn't have a forgettable face." She considers him, "He was dressed like a spy film and moved like one too, smooth, like he knew some agility-based martial art... and he said he'd been told to interact with me as little as possible, so I doubt he was working alone." 

“He’s been following you since you got into town. Someone told him to follow you.” Cati takes a bite of her toast, crunching thoughtfully. “He might be working for your parents.”

"Huh... they might be trying to keep me out of it, you think?" She hmms quietly in thought. 

"-oh, there was-" she reaches down to her pocket, only to realize she'd changed since their last meeting, "-he dropped a note, when he was escaping last. He'd been ordered to collect a suspicious thing the mayor gave me - and to destroy the source of it." She frowns, "I'm still not sure if he meant to drop it or not."

“If he’s dedicated to his secret agent shtick, it wouldn’t be a mistaken drop.” Cati sighs, and rubs her face. “No one else knew you were coming, except the hospital, and I don’t see them sending a James Bond wannabe after you to stop you figuring out what’s going on. Whereas your folks have always been...secretive.”

"Company secrecy contracts," Erin shrugs one shoulder, "It comes with the territory. But I know what you mean." She shifts a bit on the couch, uncrossing and recrossing her legs, "Well, I'm not going to let that stop me, still. Even if it is them setting the MIB on me, they're not the only reason I want to look into what's happening here, anymore." 

“Setting MIB on you would never deter you,” Cati agreed, grinning.

Theres a soft ‘dee-ding!’ from Cati’s computer, and she twisted around to check her screen. “Right, I’ve got everything here. What’s your email?”

"Hm... send it to steadysoul@skymail.com." It's an old email, one she hasn't used in a long time. Hopefully if someone is watching her emails they won't be watching that one. 

Cati shoots off the email, and then wipes her presence off the net. “Gotta day, this is not what I imagined when I thought about you coming back here.”

"Yeah?" She pulls her legs up on the couch, curling her arms around them and holding her coffee between. Sip.

"What were you imagining? Less conspiracies, I bet."

“I didn’t think you’d come back at all, but if I had to imagine a reason why, it was usually some kind of documentary about famous Erin Newark’s hometown.”