Chapter 2 - Behavioral Issues May Exceed Established Thresholds <Yes, Rachel is obviously sneaking out every night. We can definitely put a stop to that,> I said, buckling us into the car.
Naomi did not calm down but didn't try to complain as I indexed her memories to try to infer what Rachel was up to. She only got angrier as I dragged out at least a dozen memories in the past month of dirty sneakers and Rachel not being where she said she was going to be. At least it wasn't directed at me for now.
I articulated for Naomi as a thought tried to bubble to the surface. <She's probably going to meet that boy she's mentioned a few times that you didn't make anything of. Tobias. Yes, we're definitely grounding that little weasel. Jordan and Sara too if they don't fess up, cause there's no way they don't know she's up to something.>
A bird of some kind screeched and took off from our car's roof as we angrily started the engine and took off homeward. Neither of us cared about the mud on us anymore.
Naomi started crafting an excuse in the back of her head, and I articulated it. <Yes, a truck splashing us should work. I don't think Rachel's going to care.>
"RACHEL!" We screamed as we barged in the door. "Get your butt over here right now! You have some explaining to do, young lady!"
Rachel appeared at the top of the stairs in her gymnastics leotard, breathing hard from whatever routine we'd just interrupted. She came down the stairs on the balls of her feet, light and controlled, clearly still in workout mode.
She stopped on the bottom step and her eyes flickered over our mud streaked clothes, finally settling on our face. "What did I do?" she finally asked, her tone artificially neutral. "And what is that all over you?"
"A truck nearly sideswiped me on the way home," we said. "It's been a very long day. But what's important right now is that as I was standing there covered in mud, I figured put the pieces together about your little secret with Tobias."
We were fishing a little but we could tell by her reaction we were close to the truth. Naomi was invested in this and only barely resisting as I used her memories to read Rachel.
Rachel's eyes narrowed dangerously, and her posture shifted. Her shoulders tightened and she shifted back on her heels.
<That's a guilty teenager if you've ever seen one,> I finished Naomi's thought as it formed, her recognizing Rachel was gearing up for an argument.
"What secret?" She said, her tone still artificially neutral, with a slight edge underneath it.
We sighed. "I would say you're too young for this but I know it would be difficult to completely stop you. The fact you felt the need to keep it a secret means you're not being smart about this. You're allowed to have a boyfriend, just not a secret one."
She blinked. "What?"
She blinked again, looking around the room. "I - you - what? You think I'm sneaking out at night to do... what, exactly? Hook up with some random kid from school? And you think Jordan and Sara are in on it?"
We crossed our arms. "I remember being your age well, Rachel. There's only one reason you'd feel the need to keep it a secret you're sneaking out to meet a boy and not just introduce me to him."
Rachel expression went through several contortions. Anger, disbelief, and something sharp and ugly. She settled on incredulous sarcasm. "I can't believe this. I'm not going out with Tobias, let alone... that. How do you even know him? He's just a friend from school who eats lunch with us sometimes."
<Haaaaaa, we nailed it. And we wouldn't have without working as a team,> I articulated for Naomi. She had a flash of guilt she tried to hide.
"Alright, care to explain where you were three nights ago, Rachel?" we asked. It was the clearest time we knew she had snuck out to go see Tobias. Naomi had even heard her say the name but hadn't thought anything of it at the time. "Once I got thinking, I was able to come up with four separate instances in the past two weeks where I know you've been sneaking out now that I thought about it. At least tell me you two are using protection."
Rachel turned an angry shade of red. "I can't fucking -"
"Language, Rachel," we interrupted. I could feel Naomi's amused anger. "Fine. I've heard good things about The Sharing. If you want to continue playing dumb we can go through them to find you a teen counselor."
<No, we're not actually going to infest her, we both know there's no way she'd put up with the structure of The Sharing long enough to make full member. Anyways what would the Empire need with a teenage host? She'd hate every moment of the Sharing and it wouldn't work, but it's a good threat,> I cut Naomi off before she worked herself up.
Rachel's shade turned crimson, and she shook for a few moments. "Fine. You want the truth? Yeah, I've been sneaking out to go make out with a boy from school named Tobias. We do all sorts of things, all rated R. I'm probably pregnant. Happy now?" She pulled her hair hard enough both Naomi and I winced internally. I kept our expression steady.
<She's trying to bait us,> I pointed out to Naomi, lowering our heartrate.
"Alright, no Sharing," I relented calmly. "I'm not particularly happy about this. You're grounded for the next week."
"You get to explain to Jordan and Sara that they're grounded too, as there's no way they didn't know."
I few minutes later I heard muted screaming against a pillow coming from Rachel's room.
The next two days were surprisingly non-eventful what with having three teens angry at each other. Jordan and Sara predictably also played dumb, and Naomi was surprisingly cooperative with me once she realized that by working as a team we could keep a close eye on the kids and handle her caseload simultaneously.
Jordan and Sarah mostly grumbled, but that same truly ugly look occasionally flashed through Rachel's eyes when she thought we weren't looking.
Eventually we called up Iniss 226. <Yes, Hendrick is one of us. Voluntary,> I filled in Naomi. Melissa Chapman picked up. "Hey, Melissa. Hey, can you put your dad on the line?"
Melissa was silent for a few moments before responding. I could hear her shuffling something. "DAAAAD?"
A few moments later, she said "I think he's at that Sharing meeting. Didn't you just join or something? Why aren't you there?" Her tone turned bitter at Sharing.
I articulated for Naomi.
"Well, Rachel got herself grounded for sneaking out at night, so I've been putting the Sharing on hold to stay home more. I've been noticing some anger issues. I wanted to find out if she's been having any issues at school. I'm trying to be a better mother. You two have been friends for years, so maybe you've notices something."
There was more shuffling on the other end of the line. "Rachel and I... haven't really been friends for a while. Sorry Mrs. Berenson. I haven't noticed anything off." Melissa's tone was noticably cooler.
I voiced Naomi's surprised concern. "Really? What happened between you two?"
Melissa thought for a few seconds. "She found a different group of friends. Cassie, Jake, Marco, Tobias, Jake's weird cousin Philip. We just... drifted apart," she eventually responded, her voice flat.
I reframed for Naomi, internally. "Melissa, honey, are you okay? Is everything alright at home?"
Melissa sighed. "Yes, Mrs. Berenson. Everything is alright at home. Everything is fine, don't worry about me."
I didn't even need to access my host's brain to tell Melissa was lying. I pulled on a thought Naomi had.
"I'll talk to Rachel and see if I can figure out what happened, Melissa," we promised, hanging up.
<We'll get to the bottom of this,> I finished for Naomi.
We trudged up the stairs and knocked on Rachel's door. "Rachel?"
"What?" she snarled through the door. We heard her slam a window shut, scaring a nearby bird away, and she cracked the door open, sticking her head out.
"Rachel, I just found out from Melissa that quote 'Rachel and I haven't been friends in years.' This is news to me. She also mentioned your boyfriend. What made you cut her out of your friend group.
There was that same flash of something truly, truly ugly in Rachel's eyes for a split second. "We just drifted apart, that's all. Why, mom? You're suddenly all up in my business, what gives?"
We sighed. Naomi was at her most cooperative when we were working together about the children, and I didn't even have to reframe her response much.
"Something from one of those Sharing talks stuck with me - I was not paying enough attention at home. Don't worry, I'm not going to make you go, though I'm probably going to check them out. I love you, you know that?"
Rachel stared at me for several seconds. Eventually she ground out an "I love you too, mom," and then slammed the door.
Jordan and Sara were also unhelpful, and pointed out that they were angry too due to being grounded for no reason.
Naomi's thoughts were awash with fear as we approached the pool the next day. I said as we approached the pier.
I responded to her flash of anger. She'd stopped trying to form full sentences sometime yesterday. <There's no point in continuing this childish resistance. You have to admit we've done a better job with the children than you would alone.>
She felt ashamedly guilty, but didn't try to articulate it. I did so for her, reframing it. <I'm not a better mother than you are; you're a better mother with me as part of you. We'll make sure Rachel, Jordan and Sara are taken care of, and when the time is right they can become voluntary hosts as well.>
I lowered her heartrate as she recoiled mentally, and pulled her into a mental hug. I could feel her comprehension that I was trying to make things easier for her, though she still felt very violated.
We stepped close to the pier. I spoke in Galard, keeping it brief. "Sub-Visser 104, hut go' ke kir je call kir holl enne'. ulli kir unto' fy." Sub-Visser 104 nodded and helped me lower our head to the pool.
<Actually, I should teach you Galard, that was just me telling him not to harm you. It does feel a little odd to speak at first, I agree,> I expanded Naomi's fleeting, unarticulated thought to her annoyance.
I squeezed out of Naomi's skull before she could respond.
It turned out there were learning materials, as I found out in the pool.
Illim 442 sounded slightly nervous.
I ignored his discomfort. <Yes, my host had the thought that she could learn Galard. It got me thinking... was there ever a project to teach prospective hosts the language? I haven't had time to attend a Sharing meeting yet.>
Illim paused for a moment.
Illim was silent for a long period of time. <I'll help. Julian's a language teacher, with a lot of free time these days. He likes Rachel, though he doesn't have her in any of his classes. We can make it work.>
I cheered internally. <Alright, we can definitely rope in Iniss 226's host's daughter, plus my host's other children. Possibly my nephews as well, I believe Essa 412 can convince his host's parents to drag Jake along.>
Illim 442 was completely silent.
I said, defensively.
Illim asked, eventually.
I replied.
Visser Ten was, conveniently, in the voluntary area. Visser Ten's host was also apparently a college student and acted the part.
I reminded myself she had Visser Three on speed dial.
"Visser Ten, do you know where the old Galard materials targeted at prospective hosts are?"
Visser Ten took a drag from her cigarette, not even bothering to speak, and pointed at a storage unit in the back of the voluntary area, then at a pair of copy machines on the opposite side.
"Thank you ma'am!" I said, fleeing.
Naomi - grabs onto the one thing she can still influence for dear life Lorash - covered in pool sludge I am now your mom. Please do not resist. I can, in fact ground you. I can, in fact, generate an ecosystem to homeschool you. Rachel - combat mode activa- whaa? no, you can't ground me Melissa - fuck my dad and fuck your cult angry raccoon energy Tobias - birb