Log:Enter Slinger, Exit Porter

2020/06/25 	 Porter Grimm Radical Slinger 1

The hours continued their slow march into to the World of Tomorrow!!!! And cat fur, despite Grimm's best efforts- a few charged strands still drift about, and more than one or two of them have made their way to the air induction manifold to the matrix transcoder system & halo array.

The process so far, has been flawless- mostly on the account of those few bits being flipped by a chance error in the translation between Daemon's system to the storage medium not being in play just yet- but the Wheels of Fate have not yet stopped turning just yet.

When Grimm comes down stairs she'll find the bioprinting process winding down and Daemon's transfer has begun. The new synthetic body even comes fully suited for everyone's propriety. Daemon's new fit is an independence blue number, with a spidery looking mask featuring bug eye lenses. His paranoia clearly even stretches into his rebirth procedures.

The biogel has drained away and the halo array sits around his head, glowing in a synchronous pattern that is blatantly obvious but hard to really tell the rhythm of it.

Beneath the mask rapid eye movement has begun and his fingers twitch as Daemon's consciousness is place into the custom body.

Grimm spent the night out and returned late, napped some, ran out for a bit, and is finally descending to see what science has wrought. She's more than relieved not to find an affront to nature and god, a slime monster, or a naked Daemon clone. In her hand, she clutches two bags of Cindy's takeout fries and burgers, plus the hash browns and chicken biscuit sandwich for herself.

"Holy shick, it worked," she comments as she sets the bags down on one of the leftover boxes from the delivery and fishes out her food. The rest is all Daemon's.

Porter is dozing. He's comfortable and warm in his little gray sweater. He may or may not have acquired a matching watchcap, making him look like a tiny burglar charicature. A cat burglar!

Grimm couldn't resist creating a knitted cap for Porkitten. The naked kitten is too cute not to do that to.

The final moments of Daemon's transfer progress smoothly, with nothing but a violet spark or two along the synthetic body's temple to alert anyone that things may not have gone exactly as planned. A violet spark that coincides with the initial jolt that severs the subject's cellular matrix from the printer's life support.

Daemon takes his first breath, sitting up blindly but stopping short of the tube's containment wall.

He brings his hands up to it just as the locks disengage and the tube slides up and away.

He takes a few more deep breathes as if he hadn't done that in ages. "Holy $#!+." He says finally. "It worked!" He adds gratefully as he tries to get his bearings.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Gabrielle smiles as she pulls out a burger from one of the bags. Double Quarterpounder with double cheese. She strides over to him as she peels off the wrapper and puts it in his hands. "Eat. The instructions said it'd help."

Maybe it's the holy $#!+. Maybe it's Grimm's voice. Maybe it's the double with double cheese. Whatever the reason, he rouses, standing to streeetch and yawn big.

"Oh- yeah. Right." Daemon says with a tentative nod. He reaches for the burger absently, moving slowly as he tests out his new body.

"I'd like to say its good to be back- but this just feels... weird." He says as his hand grips the burger and brings it to his mouth. There- quite naturally he encounters difficulty since his mask doesn't just roll away at the nanoscopic level anymore.

He sighs, letting his arm fall limply. If not for the double cheese things may have ended disastrously for that burger. He takes his other arm and pulls the top half of his mask up, revealing a perfectly hairless chin beneath.

The kitten's movement triggers Daemon's sixth or seventh sense and he turns towards the kitten.

"I'm going to get to that... brain still braining up." He explains as he lifts the burger to his lips once again and begins eating ravenously.

"Don't..."

"Even..."

"Feel..."

"Hungry..." He says in between bites before noticing something. He sniffs at the burger. "I can't smell anything- like at all." He notes.

Porkitten hops down from his comfy perch and wanders to the two big two-leggers. He rubs against one of Grimm's ankles, then stops at Daemon's words. He looks up to stare at him. Indignantly... or maybe that's just a cat thing. Right. That must be -so- weird for -you-, bub.

Well, Ok, maybe it is.... and, technically, things aren't all that weird, comparatively, for Porter. Alright, nevermind.

Gabrielle takes a step back as Daemon/Slinger devours his burger, not wanting to get caught up by that. "Try lifting up your mask more so it isn't covering your nose," she comments wryly as she feels Porkitten rub up against her leg.

"Ohhh, did we wake you?" she giggles, unable to not speak in a higher pitched tone. She reaches down to scritch Porkitten. She straigthens up and points to Slinger with a sternly worded, "No eating the kitten."

She turns on her heel and grabs the bag full of more burgers and fries and brings it over to Slinger.

"Great advice." Daemon says before continuing to inhale the burger as fast as his new body will allow.

He watches Grimm and her new kitten companion carefully- with only mild paranoia drifting along his river of thought, and really that only piqued up at the heigthened voice Grimm gives it. Though he isn't quite self-aware enough to notice that yet.

"Never took you for a cat-lady. Taking the Witch thing up a notch?" He asks with a wry smirk, highligthed by a smear of grease and special sauce along his cheek before he crouches to reach for the bag of food.

He sighs blissfully. "Oh yaaas. Thank you. I feel like I should eat that this, that kitten and all the brains I can get my hands on..." He says jokingly. "Kidding. But this burger is literally the best thing I've never tasted." He reaches inside for more.

Grimm frowns a bit. "I'm not a witch, but I WILL fly around on a broom for Halloween to reinforce the stereotype," she smirks. "And be careful. I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it," she adds for good measure with a grin.

When he mentions kitten and brains, she quickly scoops up Porkitten and holds him protectively to her and away from Slinger. She raises a brow when he says he's kidding. "Well, good, focus on the burgers. I got you a ton."

There is more purring at the scritches. While the kitten is tempted to investigate the bag of deliciousness, he can see Darmon's zeal... and isn't much larger than a double... so he'll stay out of arm's reach. He waits for Grimm to return from the hand off and -yoink- Well, he's scooped, now. Obviously his hooman training is going well, as she foresaw his needs and acted upon that.

"BuuuuRRguuuuuRRRzzzzzz..." Slinger says in a mock zombie voice after laughing at Grimm's rebuttal to his witch comment.

He sets to work on those burgers, jamming fries into his mouth inbetween bites.

"Maybe not a witch but you're something else that's for sure. You really saved my @$$ here." He says as he unwraps a 'backup' for his other hand.

Grimm raises a brow. "Maybe I -am- a witch, since I'm dabbling in necromancy now," she retorts with a smirk. Science necromancy! She scritches under Porkitten's chin. "Yeah, I'm definitely something else. Mark me under 'Other'. And people STILL ask me to teach them spells as if that's what I do. Maybe I -should- learn a little magic and just teach them lame cantrips."

Her smile suddenly grows. "You may call me Goddess. That fits nicely."

Slinger chuckles at Grimm's necromancy comment before laughing audibly at the cantrip idea. "Now that's a good prank. Have people turn /themselves/ mute!"

He continues eating, smirking at the Goddess comment.

"Maybe just for today- but then we're even. I wouldn't waste your credit on that one Grimmace." He say with a much more mirthful laugh than Daemon usually presents.

There are purrs of approval, though not clarification on exactly what. Probably the scritches, though. Grimm gets a nuzzling afterwards, then... the kitten... lowers his head and shoulders in deferrence? All praise The Goddess! Of Scritches.

Because Scritches.

Grimm giggles and scritches Porkitten more after the proper bowing. "See? He knows a Goddess when he sees one," she chuckles. "But no, I won't accept one day of being called Goddess to clear all debts."

"Good call. That's a bad deal." Slinger admits freely.

"And what's the deal with the cat? Things been going that smoothly we're introducing domesticated animals into the mix? Did you and Mal go and get married while I was a ghost?!" He asks before getting to the one question really on hsi mind: "And what is the deal with the hat and sweater?! He looks like some kind of ...adorable... cat-burglar or something!" He manages to fight the urge to join the scritch-parade because Daemon is still in there of course.

Grimm frowns faintly at the mention of Mal. "No. Actually, things have been terrible. I almost died a few times. Some evil entity from a prison dimension nearly tore me apart to create a rift to enter our realm. Mal and I are...on hiatus," she sighs and nuzzles the emotional support Porkitten, forgetting briefly who it is trapped in that kitten form. She pulls her cheek away. "He was cold. And...it's not really my kitten. Someone turned Porter into a kitten and now he's trapped in this form. Even I couldn't break the spell."

He even seems a bit hurt by the 'Hiatus' bit. "Woah. That's crazy- I thought you guys were like Triple-G Distilled. PB & J. Good programming & a Unix based system. Ummm you & I- but not perfectly platonic." He says, running out of perfect pairings rather quickly since he's only just been born. Plus the identity of the kitten spikes that natural streak of paranoia buried within.

"Porter? As in 'Not-the-One-Who-Tried-To-Crash-TheMoon Porter' Porter?" He asks, putting a burger back in a bag and pulling his mask back down.

"And someone turned /him/ into a cat?! So he came to you- Ms. Gabrielle 'Not a Witch' Grimm?" He shrugs before adding, "Well if the shoe fits I guess."

He leaps out of the containment tube and clings to the roof- testing that out first. He nods approvingly when he sticks.

"Sounds like a real mystery here- and I'm stuck like this until my personality has settled. So another day at least. Might as well make the most of it." He says, volunteering to assist in the mystery afoot to pass the time.

Grimm sighs gently. "I did, too. But he's been stationed elsewhere and hasn't been around for months at a time. And wasn't around the times when I needed him most," she says quietly. The situation clearly pains her. "I really thought he was the one." She's also surprised by the positive comparisons. "Why do you care? I thought you hated him."

She turns her attention to the kitten. "Yeah, the good Porter. Someone declared it a Father's Day present." She snorts at the witch comment again. "Don't insult me. I'm more powerful than a witch," she grumbles. "This person's powers seemed a bit like mine, but apparently not, or I could undo this."

Grimm hears Porter's voice inside her head: << You're way cooler than a witch. No giant nose or weird mole, either. And I guess it's not -that- weird I was turned into a kitten? I've been on before, a few times. Para and Kyssie love kittens. Especially pink ones. >>

Porkitten stretches out to lounge upon the Grimm throne/transportation. He looks up at the ceiling-clinging Daemon and lifts a paw to wave, as if helping confirm the answer to the question.

Slinger moves to console Grimm, skittering all of two paces before he loses his grip, likely distracted by the waving kitten.

"Oh I'm sorry, GrimMAAAH!" He says as he crashes at her feet.

He pops back up with a slight groan.

"I'm alright. Designed this one to bounce!" He says quickly, dusting himself off before reaching up to pat Grimm on the kitten-free shoulder.

"Hate him? No what would make you think that?! I think Mal is gre..." He cocks his head a bit as he remembers their interactions. "Ok. So I guess I hated him... HATE. Hate him. He's the worst." He says, backpedalling though more out of solidarity than actual ire for the metal man. But he clearly remembers strongly disliking the man if not outright hating him and he certainly remembers making that a well known fact at every opportunity he had.

But now... something has him feeling some kind of way about that- which of course he justifies by thinking its an effect of the transfer process going into a freshly printed synthetic.

He's all too happy to change the subject.

"Huh. So what's your next step? If you can't undo- is there, I dunno- a way to 'redo' it? Like once I was dealing with this nanovore virus which was tearing through the financial district and there was nothing I could do to undo the damage- but the solution was to use the nanovore virus' cache to redo it in reverse. Maybe this works like that. A second application might 'redo Porter'." He says as he turns his bug eyes to the kitten in question.

Telepathic message from Grimm to Porter: << It's odd this person knew to change you to that of all things... >>

Grimm hears Porter's voice inside her head: << That is a little odd. Guess I didn't think of that. Odd's pretty normal for me. You know, except for the fur... er, when I had it, being, like, backwards(?)... it really wasn't all that different than my usual kitten self. >>

Grimm gives Slinger an odd look as he changes his tune back and forth. Her eyebrow slowly creeps up at that. "Right. Well. It's complicated. He hasn't even been around for me to talk to so we can sort things out. Or break up if it has to come to that." She's happy for the subject change, too.

"Next step? I consult the dark arts for rituals of unmaking to cast upon this fel kitten," Gabrielle says as the room literally darkens, as a shadow falls across her face and eyes.

The 'fel kitten' blinks at her words, and the room darkening. Then he shivers and shrinks. Not literally on the shrinking, but he curls up more tightly.

Grimm hears Porter's voice inside her head: << Um... is it just me, or does unmaking sound bad? >>

"Well I tried. Magic is garbage- but the naming thing they've had down for ages- no question. No offense. Clearly I'm swaying you. You are a Scientific Necromancer now." Slinger says jovially- trying to push out the building existential crisis in his mind.

"Maybe there is a reasonable tact to take here though? Like checking the afford the stuff to grow him a new body. But... the question really is - how the heck do you fit a whole person in a *kitty brain*? Is he as smart as he was before? Is he /in/ there? Or just a part of him?" He asks curiously, though this version of him clearly can neither help or notice himself making a specific cutsey voice when ever referencing the kitten or anything kitten related.
 * kitty's DNA* for Porter's and ... I dunno. He's rich right? He could probably

"Awww he's so tiny and ..." He stops himself from saying another word, realizing he's going to need to run a diagnostic on the equipment because there is nothing on Earth that would make him say 'cute' in /that/ tone of voice.

He clears his throat. "I mean- he must not be 'all' there- right? Acting like a kitten has to come from somewhere- right?" He says- finding himself with the tact not to mention how horrible and hellatious that must be.

He tries not to compare and decides to pull up his datastream to distract him.

Of course there is no tertiary lobe to be found here. He sighs.

Telepathic message from Grimm to Porter: << I'm just teasing. >>

The room ligthens again and Grimm chuckles. "And yes, I tried redoing it in reverse. That didn't work. His...thought processes are there. But he can't talk. And he does have some instinctual quirks due to being in this form. He's cute though, right? Even you started talking cutesy. I can't frickin' help it. Bald kittens are the best. I think I'm reconsidering the whole no pets deal. I mean, at this rate, I'm never settling down, so I may as well just become queen of the kittens."

Grimm hears Porter's voice inside her head: << I think you'd make a great not-crazy cat lady... but I might be a little biased. >>

Porter is not cute! He's a hairless kitten! In a sweater! Who decides to roll over onto his back in Grimm's hold, all the better to bat at her with his paws. Because not cute!

"I'm not going to confirm or deny anything." Slinger says flatly "I may not have spoken at all."

He says wondering what his life would be like with a pet. His mind flashes to dirty litter, hairballs and the like. He shakes his head and waves the thought away quickly.

"Not for me." He says finally. "I can barely keep myself alive- much less someone else."

He pats Grimm on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll find someone 10x better than that Metalclad Oaf. You'll see. And I'm back now- I didn't know you were going through all that or I would have already been here." He gives her a shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Grimm winces a bit at his comment about finding someone better. "Well, I'm...kind of potentially...have someone I might consider seeing if things weren't complicated right now," she says, though she's reluctant to break the bad news to Slinger while he's in this fragile state.

PorKitten admits it. It was him all along! He has stolen Grimm's heart! Muahahah!

Ok, not really. He's a litle short for her tastes. He rolls back over and peeks down before leaping from her hold to the floor. From there, he pads over to a wall, and follows it to a corner, looking around.

"Ah! Well good for you!" Slinger says happily enough. "We'll have to catch up and you can tell me all about him."

He of course has no idea what news is in store for him.

He stretches as he watches Porter make his way to the corner. He uses the opportunity to roll his mask up and stuff his face some more while the kitty's back is turned.

"Should have had a PDA delivered too." Slinger says with a sudden realization. "Spent os much time plugged in- I never thought about what I'd do without a hardline installed." He comments before taking another bite.

And Grimm was just enjoying rubbing his tummy and getting her chin batted. "Actually, you, ah, already kind of know him," she says guiltily. "Wait, why do you need a PDA? You're a living PDA!"

Sorry, but kittens gotta ...kitten. He noses around a corner and starts pawing at the floor. Then he suddenly stops and turns, bounding to and up the stairs.

"Was a living PDA. This is just a mission specific posthesis really." Slinger says with drooped shoulders- almost seeming to lament for a half a second before straigthening back up.

"Well I will be again. Tomorrow. Once I'm back in the proper saddle anyway."

He begins testing his clinging again- this time with the bag of burgers in hand. He slowly lets go until the bag is hanging by the tip of his finger. He waves it precariously until something occurs to him.

The bag falls- giving him time to swoop another burger out of the bag before turning and moving to the bio-printer with sudden urgency. He sways and takes a second to re-establish his bearings but then he's off again.

He pulls out the command deck and turns on the manual interface before typing away rapidly. There he asks, "So- who is he? I know a lot of people. Most of them want to kill me- so that doesn't bode well for 'Thursday Night Game Night' becoming a thing."

Grimm presses her fingers together, semi-steepled as she watches Slinger after he asks. There's no guarantee that he doesn't want to kill Daemon based on his comments. "Uhhh. Jack Carpenter?" she says uneasily in a way that makes it sound like a question when it's a statement.

"Oh nice guy- the guy saddled with the CBPD's metahuman crimeload..." He begins saying before coming to a full stop. Daemon/Slinger finds another divergence in his expected response options and so he is torn. His face twists up- mostly from the confusion of what he's experiencing. Luckily his mask obscures most of that.

Half of him wants to shriek as he thinks, 'I mean, a cop?! THE Personification of Cop. 'Authority'. The Man.' While the other half is happy for all involved. He reels.

"I mean... you know. WHat I mean- 'You've got a type'. Guys who hate me." He smirks- trying to play off the dissent happening within & the sudden onset of vertigo he's feeling. Wobbling he tries to focus on the work he's doing so he can just push through this.

The kitten takes its time upstairs. Sort of. After a bit, there is the sound of water running as he lopes his way back down the stairs.

"Mal didn't hate you," Gabrielle defends Mal. She doesn't add Jack to that, because it would be a lie. "I'm surprised you think he's a nice guy. I was expecting you to blow up more. There's nothing going on between us. We've just been...getting together outside of cases. She looks around. "Where's Porter?" She hears the water and the pitter patter of tiny footsteps. "There you are! Okay, as cute as you--wait, what did you? Okay, as cute as you are right now, I have a quick person I can check with to try and fix you."

She picks up Porkitten once he reaches the bottom of the stares and looks over at Slinger. "It's someone who haven't met before, I think. But I need them to come over to check on Porter."

Grimm hears Porter's voice inside her head: << Sorry. Almost messed up your floor down here. Wasn't thinking. >>

Telepathic message from Grimm to Porter: << You peed on my floor!? Where? >>

You offer to meet Radical.

The kitten purrs as he's picked up, then mrelps at something.

Grimm hears Porter's voice inside her head: << No no! I didn't! I remembered, and went upstairs to use your bathroom... >>

Grimm takes out her phone and texts Radical. <>

Slinger points to his mask and says, "That's what this is for..." He activates a secondary print job and continues. "And this is going ot take a bit to finish. Not as long as it took for me to cook- but probably long enough for Porter's check-up."

Radical texts back to Grimm, << No promises, but I can give it a try. What changed him? >>

"I'm a complicated person. Maybe my temperment changed while I spent the last 2 years on the run. Or maybe it just body-swap jitters." Slinger says in response to blowing up. "I reserve the right to blow up later."

<< Of course no promises. But I appreciate you offering to try. I'm at my house right now. Some shadowy figure who could do portals kind of like me did this. He said he didn't sense any magic from the person, though, and that he didn't recognize them.>> Grimm texts back. She looks to Slinger and squints at Daemon's new form, which has been acting and behaving very...unlike Daemon. "Maybe you shouldn't go anywhere. First you're cool with Mal. Then you're cool with Carpenter? Something's majorly wrong with you."

Radical texts back, << On my way. >> Of course he writes it out. With punctuation.

Radical shows up at Gabrielle's front door a few minutes later. He only had to come from campus, so not that far.

He must be using order magic already, Grimm playfully thinks. She looks back to Slinger. "You're welcome to come up stairs. There's still plenty of food for you." She heads upstairs, expecting Radical to be there shortly. And she's not disappointed. She's managed to sweep most of the huge piles of purple and pink cat hair off her black leather couch before Radical arrives and is let in. "Hey. Thanks for coming so quick," Gabrielle smiles and steps aside for him. She has the sphynx kitten tucked under her arm.

Radical smiles, but it's barely visible under his mask. "No problem. So...is this Porter?" He takes a look at the cat.

In response is a mew, and a nude paw lifted to wave (bat) in Radical's direction.

"I'll run a diagnostic if this keeps up. I'm sure its just part of the acclimation process. Its not like I got the chance to test run this thing first." Slinger says before turning his head towards the knock. He looks at the kitten and then back at the food. He sighs, feeling at his new face. He rolls his mask back down and bounds- off the walls and up the stairway eagerly to see what's happening.

Grimm nods and closes the door once Radical's inside. "Yeah. I can still communicate with his mind, but the change has affected some of his habits." She stares down at the kitten. o O (Like secretly peeing on the floor...)

Radical takes a deep breath, "This shouldn't take long. I've gotten pretty quick at the spell. We'll know in a few seconds if it will work or not." He reaches out to pet the cat...and then focuses on the spell, attempting to unweave the changes to Porter's pattern and return him to as he was previously.

Slinger is quiet, letting Radical do his thing for a couple of seconds at least. "If I didn't know better I'd say this guy has some way with animals."

He whispers to himself jokingly, "Must... fight... urge... to call him... the Masked... Cat Whisperer."

Maybe Radical does have a way, as the kitten burglar (maybe he needs a little domino or strap mask, too?!) purrs at the scritches. Then he attempts to relax by mostly flopping in Grimm's arms. Mostly relaxing. There may be a bit of claws in her sleeves as he braces himself.

Grimm shoots Slinger a look. "Shhh. He's an expert. And not with cat whispering," she adds the last bit. She watches Porkitten flop in her arms as she cradles him, then she hisses slightly in pain. "Ow. Ow. Tiny kitten claws..."

Radical concentrates on the spell...and as the seocnds pass, he adds his magic sight, just to see what the status is...and if it's a spell that did the transformation in the first place. "This isn't going to work. I can already tell. There's no change." He ceases the spell and takes a closer look at the cat. "My spell...while it heals the pattern, it doesn't force the change. Instead, in heals by accelerating the target's natural tendencies. Your body wants to heal itself. And will fight to do that. I just...speed that along."

Radical takes a deep breath. "Okay...so...two things. First, I don't see any magic, which is interesting, given the type of transformation. I mean...this is magic 101 right here. Men into literal pigs. That kind of thing." He rubs his chin, "Since my healing spell didn't work, that makes me think there's a specific condition that needs to be met. The trick is going to be to figure out what that condition is.

Grimm sighs and pets the kitten in the hopes Porter will calm down and stop clawing. "Damn. Well...I couldn't force him to transform, and you couldn't heal, so that makes sense. But how do we find that out? Is that like...true love's kiss or something?" She looks down at the kitten. "Did Paragon kiss you yet since you've been a kitten?"

Radical nods. "Something like that. The Princess and the Frog is the classic tale of that sort.

While Radical can't immediately tell the effects of the spell, magically, Grimm notes the swirling about the kitten. It seems that Radical's efforts aren't completely for not. There are -some-things that can be corrected.

For instance, the naked Sphynx cat is sudden NOT naked, as purple, pink-striped fur sudden *FLOOF*s out from his skin, poking around the sweater and watchcap. No one needs special senses to notice this.

The kitten also wobbles and flops more limply in Grimm's embrace. Dizzy? Maybe there was catnip?

Grimm hears Porter's voice inside her head: << Woooah.... I feel ...weird.. Dizzy... sleepy... mrowr mrr mew...*click* >>

Grimm's eyes widen. "Porter? What the?" She keeps him carefully held. "He said he was feeling weird. Dizzy and sleepy, but then...his thoughts just turned into kitten sounds. This is the way he looked before I tried to change him back. All it did was make his fur fall off. Did...did your spell just heal him back to this like it's his new default?"

Radical looks at Porter again. "Umm....probably?"

Grimm looks at Slinger helplessly a moment, since this is a bit more urgent, then looks back to Radical. "Well...that may be another clue. What sort of ability could change him to that degree?" She thinks a moment. "Hey...maybe you've run into the person who did this." She nods off to the side and darkness swells and takes shape into the form of the person who changed Porter, based on the memories Porter shared with her. She only crafts an illusion of this opponent and their voice.

Slinger quietly sits upsidedown on the ceiling, watching intently and wishin ghe'd brought those burgers with him then it'd be dinner /and/ a show.

He returns Grimm's look but his mask isn't half as expressive as his nanosuit was.

There's a point of utter black that expands into a rough oval from floor to ceiling. A robed figure in black with the hood up emerges. Even the hood opening is shrouded in blackness. The figure floats there for a moment before speaking in aa warbling, distorted voice. "I'm here to congratulate the -dad- and present -my- gift." A covered hand lifts and points at the group. "Happy Father's Day." The figure then floats back into the portal, which snaps closed and vanishes. There's no sign of a spell or magical casting.

"Oh that's not creepy or anything." Slinger says from his ceiling perch.

Radical shakes his head, "I'm not sure who that is. It doesn't ring a bell with me, I'm afraid."

Grimm sighs, shoulders sagging a bit as she looks down at the kitten. "Yeah, super creepy. Maybe they left some sort of...I dunno, resonance or signature where they appeared? But it's been a day or two. It's probably a cold trail."

Radical shrugs, "If they did, I'm not seeing anything. I key on magic, more than anything. And while I Can see across dimensions, I can't see...things like...left over energy."

"Oh you mean like a psychic resonance?" Slinger asks curiously. "There have been some studies about long-term psychic trailing phenomena- but strong emotions usually have to be involved... and I don't exactly have a full rig to whip one up at the moment." He may have piped up, but its not exactly helpful.

Grimm straigthens up. "I can see...residual magic and dimensional or psychic energy. Trails. Sometimes. If it's fresh, and there hasn't been a lot of activity in the area."

Grimm looks over to Slinger in surprise. "You can build something like--oh. Of course you probably can," she chuckles. "Oh! Uh, this is Radical. He's the reason I'm still standing here today. Radical, this is...uh..." she starts, not knowing what to call Daemon when he's like this.

"Oh- umm. 'Slinger' will do." SLinger says, flipping down from the roof and offering Radical his outstretched hand.

Radical shakes Slinger's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Radical nods. "Well, there's a trick we could pull. I can look into the past...and with you linked to my mind, you might be able to see the trails."

Radical says, "I don't know if that will work or not."

Grimm's eyes widen at that idea. "Wow! That's worth a shot."

Grimm looks down at Porter and scritches under his chin to rouse him. "You still with us, Porter?" she asks a little worriedly as there seems to be no real thoughts being communicated.

"You too." Slinger says before nodding. "Sounds like a hell of a trick. If yous aved my friend Grimm here, I'll have to buy you a drink. She's the reason /I'm/ standing here today." He says to Radical in a very friendly manner. A very non-Daemon manner- almost as if he's actually happy to meet this person.

Grimm looks to Radical. "I can link my mind to yours when you're ready."

The re-furrbished kitten stirs in his sleep, leaning into the scritches. A hindleg even twitches some as if it were helping. Then he stirs and stretches out, paws and claws flexing and he licks his chops. And then there are contented purrs.

Radical nods, "I'm all set.

Grimm blinks at the kitten as it purrs, her brows knitting together. "Oh...crap. Porter? There's...there's no human thoughts anymore. And...wait." She holds out the kitten to look at it better. "How is that...possible? It's like he's from this dimension and not..."

Grimm looks to Radical for a moment, and as she tries to connect her mind to his, there's a gentle whisper in the back of his mind that's too quiet to make out.

Radical takes a few deep breaths...and he starts to look into the cat's past. "Let's see what we can see. I won't be able to hear you or see you when I look into the past. But you can still connecto to my mind."

Radical starts to look back along the thread of Porter's life...but only back to when the incident occurred, to try to evaluate what he's seeing.

Hitting rewind and looking across town with the information of what to look for is not so difficult. The scene, brief as it was, is as described. The mysterious figure. Porter. One departing, one ...kittening. A few things are apparent, some to Grimm, some to Radical, some to both.

First, whomever or whatever the individual is using to open the portal, it isn't magic. Neither is ..whatever it did to Porter.

Second, the portal was to another dimension. In fact, it's a dimension that Grimm already knows of. That she visited. One that her counterpart is deceased in, even. A rebel, caught by an undercover agent of 'StarGuard,' convicted, and executed.

Last, any sense of the mysterious one's dimension of origin is... skewed. it's as if they are from none, or all, or infinite possibly combinations between the two.

"Sonuva !" Gabrielle curses as she recognizes the dimension, fuming instantly.

Radical makes a point of going over the incident again...with his magic and dimensional sight active, just looking for additional details. "Hmm." He can't hear Grimm's comment, but the sentiment comes across the mind link all the same.

 Grimm says, "Sorry. I recognize the dimension that portal is to. That's the dimension the evil Porter that tried to take over our world is from."

 Grimm says, "But that person who did this...I can't get a read of what dimension -they're- from. It's like they're not from anywhere...or from everywhere. I've never seen something like that before."

 Radical says, "I'm afraid I can't tell by sight where someoen is from. That's something Amelia can do. So...might be your turn to ask for a favor, huh?"

 Grimm says, "I can tell where someone is from by looking at them. That's something she wanted me to teach her back in the day. Seems she finally figured a spell to do it herself."

 Grimm says, "I don't even need to look at them, actually. I just know what dimension they're from. And that person's dimensional signature is split."

 Radical says, "So...if you can, why can't you get a bead on him now?"

 Grimm says, "Because whatever that is isn't normal."

 Radical titls his head, "Not normal in what way?"

 Grimm says, "We all have a dimensional signature of where we're from. Where we originated from. I can tell where someone is, and if they don't belong here...and even send them back if they aren't struggling. This cloaked person who did it came through from Evil Porter's dimension, but the figure itself doesn't come from there. It doesn't come from here, either. It doesn't have a dimension of origin I can place. It's like...they register as being from no where and everywhere. Maybe certain transdimensional beings exist in that state."

Grimm helps guide Radical's dimensional senses to Portennant's specific dimension, trying to look through what's on the other side of that portal in that dimension, but unsure if that'll provide much.

 Grimm says, "And I...I went to that Porter's dimension once to try and find out where he was licking his wounds. It didn't end well."

Radical thinks about it as he looks at the person in question...and trying to remember if he has heard of anyone like that before. Someone from....outside of dimensions. Or multiple.

 Radical says, "I'm not sure I've seen anyone like that before. Or heard of anyone like that, for that matter."

Radical breaks off the spell...cutting off the link to the past...and returning his senses to the present. "Well, that was enligthening."

Grimm frowns. "Well...if they came for Porter from evil Porter's dimension, at least that's something to start with." She looks to Slinger. "Looks like you finally get to punch a Malcolm in the face. If I don't tear him apart first," she growls. She takes a breath and closes her eyes, trying to calm down and pet the kitten she's holding. She spends time thinking on stuff she's come across in her dimensional travels.

Grimm finally calms down and opens her eyes. "Okay...so...there may be some explanation for not signature. I thought it was just a myth, though."

"I do?!" Slinger says excitedly. "How fun! Its my birthday and I get to punch Mal in the face? What for?" He inquires- as if he needed a specific reason.

Speculation based on creation (or destruction) myths of one or more universe is... probably not the best way to go. Probably not the most accurate. -Definitely- not the most optimistic. Peeking at just one is a bit more manageable. No, not Portennant's; Grimm's seen what that's like. No, the other, other one, of which the kitten formerly known as Porter reeks of.

Looking across the barrier at that one, Grimm sees... well, her basement. Not hers, but the other her's. It isn't terribly dissimilar, really. A bit more tidy. In fact, ICan'tBelieveIt'sNotGrimm, who really doesn't look all that different from OG (Original Grimm), is doing laundry... with a cat watching from atop the dryer

A purple cat.

With pink stripes.

Aside from the fact that this one is a bit bigger, and more mature, the resemblance is striking to Porter. Just except for bigger and mature, neither of which ever describes him.

Also, the tie seems more than resemblance as he wears a collar and tag. While the collar is black leather and spiked (as opposed to the simple one that PorKitten wears), the name on the tag is pretty clear, and familiar.

PORTER