Hm.

Her Typhon friend doesn't force her to stop her approach.

A large dark mass of tendrils floats in the middle of the street. Surrounding it is a modest crowd of people, the likely source of the voices. Most of them are clutching at their heads. None of them look like they're in good condition; many look more than a little unsteady on their feet. There are a few that have fallen, some of which are still clutching at their heads in vain, some of which are completely still. Possibly dead, though she'd have to get closer to tell.

Okay. Can she convince her Typhon friend to eat this one, she wonders.

On the other hand, it might not stop there...

She stands indecisively on the street corner.

The mass of tendrils turns, and it looks at her with a single giant, glowing white eye.

If she had any means of communicating with hers...

But she doesn't.

...she could try to bring them food. But she's not sure that would even help them any.

She walks away.

The floating Typhon doesn't stop her.

A few of its victims have noticed her, however.

"- Yes, run, get away, go -"

"- No, no, come back, come back, help us, please -"

"- How are you immune, it should have caught you, how -"

She does not have the means to help them. She is busy being a coffee cup.

Any abandoned houses around? She would like there to be an abandoned house around.

There are a few. One of them has an open front door.

She can try that one.

It looks like the people that lived here just got up and walked out, dropping everything that they were doing partway through. There's a bit of paper with a half drawn family in crayon, and one long smear in bright green.

She is meticulous about examining the vicinity for mimics as she looks through the house, finds a blanket, finds a box of Kleenex, pours herself a glass of water, and curls up on a couch to cry.

Nothing lurks in the house to accost her. Her Typhon doesn't interrupt. She's free to cry.

Okay. She feels better now.

She gets up and drinks her glass of water and leaves without checking the house for useful objects. It's doubtful whether food and so forth are actually much use to a coffee cup, and if she pillages this particular house she is going to have to cry again.

There are other houses, if she wants to look through those. Or she can continue exploring the city.

She thinks she will continue exploring.

It's a pretty big city. She's got a lot of it to explore.

There are a few more abandoned cars - more car crashes. It's hard to tell, but they also look bereft of corpses. There's also a gas station, its once large glass window in shards, though it's not really clear what broke it.

Perhaps the gas station contains useful supplies.

It looks like it's already been raided, though not by someone that was as good at it as Lauren is. The cash register is empty, the aisles are a mess, and worst of all, the power's out, so all of the ice cream in the back has melted.

There's a good amount of food if she wants it. Water, energy drinks, and Gatorade, too. Notably, the drug aisle is pretty undisturbed. Most of what's there is meant for dealing with head colds and allergies, but Tylenol and Ibuprofen are both present.

Potentially useful. She stashes a few more things in her backpack and moves on.

... It soon becomes clear that more technology's on the fritz than just the power. The streetlights are sparking in an alarming sort of way.

Hm. She frowns at the sparking lights, and proceeds cautiously.

Her Typhon doesn't stop her -

- but maybe it should have.

There's a loud sound of twisting metal and a synthesized scream, and something large and floating and unfriendly soars around the corner, heading straight for Lauren.

—this is an appropriate moment to run away.

Now her Typhon intervenes. It seems to agree that this is an appropriate moment to run away, but it decides to take control of her arms in order to retrieve the water bottle Lauren stashed away in her bag. Her hand morphs to a black tendril that punctures it with ease, and then her Typhon throws it at its peer with perfect accuracy.

There is another synthesized scream, but this one sounds distorted and angry. From the light show and the clanking sound of metal impacting concrete, that probably just slowed it down.

And now Lauren is somewhere else. Unharmed.