Log:Imaginary Friends, Scene 2

Imaginary Friends 2009/01/10 	 Granite Howl Imaginary Girl Kismet Rapture Yolanda 2

Outside the Winehouse estate is parked a dirty old 2039 brown Escalanti Six. The doors are half rolled down, and the smell of something resembling battery acid coffee escapes from inside the vehicle. There's a battered looking arm with an overcoat sticking out of the car, and a woman gets out of it. She's wearing an overcoat, and she leans against it. "Jesus Christ..." She mutters as she pulls a cigar out of her pocket and lights it. "Why do they always give me the cases with the freaks?"

Yolanda arrives on the scene via town car, along with anyone else who may have needed a lift from the boardwalk. She steps out of the car, in front of the home. To anyone who's near by, she announces, "I think that's her... Officer Catharine Raymond. She's the one in charge of the case."

Rapture decides to fly here. So in the sky there a line of light sparkles that are fading into nothing as they drift down. She circles once and lands on the side walk by the others.

Kismet arrives with Yolanda, having arranged this meeting vicariously through her. It's not that she thinks the police won't listen to her as a teenager, it's that she's not sure if she can trust them yet. Her choice of costume doesn't even factor into her mind until she steps out of the car as something that might cause concern in the police.

Flying with Rapture is Imaginary Girl, comign down for a landing near Yolanda's car. "Where's the policeman you said we're meeting?", she asks of Yolanda, not heaving overheard the woman's previous words - she's expecting a black-and-white cruiser and a beat-cop uniform, apparently.

Officer Raymond walks over to Yolanda and lights up her cigar, chewing on it a little bit as she inhales sharply and then blows a couple of smoke rings. "Wow, you brought me a whole damn crowd..." She says as she extends a hand. "Catherine Raymond."

Officer Catherine Raymond is a fairly attractive woman in her early forties with a streak of greyish hair along her black pageboy haircut. She has a slightly too-wide heart shaped face that covers a reasonably buxom figure, and her fingers are lightly blistered, as if from too much smoking. She wears jeans and a ladies blouse, and her gun is holstered at her side. There's also a metal cigar case clipped to her belt. In difficult weather, she wears an Overcoat that's so old that Methuselah might have worn it, in a dull, ratty bronze.

Granite is sitting on the bench, in his usual trench coat and hat. That he wears as a disguise to keep himself hidden from view. Looking around from his position to what is going on around him. Recognising a few people around here as its been a long time since he has been away.

Rapture smiles and folds her arms, "evil killer bunny made from the mind of a child who would not want to stop that"

Yolanda offers her hand to Officer Raymond for a shake. "Dr. Yolanda Simmons. I didn't mean to surprise you, but we're learning that the situation may be more serious than first thought." She does introductions. "This is Kismet, Rapture, Imaginary Girl..."

Kismet takes Catherine Raymond's hand enthusiastically. "Hi!" She gives a wide smile.

Officer Raymond smirks. "Yeah, right. Killer rabbits from the mind of a child. You got anyone else comin, long as I'm askin?" She takes a long drag on her cigar.

Rapture nods at the woman.

Yolanda says, "I think we may have one more." She spots Granite. "Make that two..." She waves over to Granite. "That's Granite. He's former Starguard. Howl may be dropping by as well."

Imaginary Girl blushes a little when she realizes it's a police/woman/ and not a policeman that they're meeting here. "Uhm, Miss Officer lady... Yolanda's telling the truth, really... you can't see him, but Wumble's real and he killed Polly -- the big parrot", she says. "He might hurt other people, too, if we aren't able to stop him."

Yolanda nods, agreeing with Imaginary Girl. "I realize that it's a large group, but we'll do our best not to make your job any harder. The killer rabbit is very real, I'm afraid, and he is just getting started. If we don't act, there will be more attacks."

"Damn!" Catherine smirks again. "You really brought a whole squad, huh? Look. I gotta wait. I'm only gonna explain this stuff once. I've reconstructed the crime scene, and I watched the blood spatter guy do his crap, so I'm gonna explain all that stuff." She says. "Wumbles..." She writes that down in a notepad. "Let me get this straight. Some guy named Wumbles killed the parrot. Got it."

Granite lifts his head up as he can't believe his eyes. "Well its nice to know Im not the only one around here." He stands up heading towards Yolanda and starts to take off his hat and coat. Still wearing his starguard uniform cause he doesn't have much that will fit him at the moment.

Howl steps down from the maglev, hurrying towards Yolanda and the others.

Imaginary Girl says, "Wumbles the Wabbit", to the detective, her tone serious.

Rapture sighs, "you talking to a bunch of people with super powers is this any stranger?"

Officer Raymond says "We've moved the family to a hotel in an undisclosed location, because Mr. Winehouse is a city councilman. As long as we believe his life is in danger, no one's gonna know where he is." She says. "That means we got the run of the house, so come with me." She walks along the grass over towards a window. "Wumbles the Wabbit, huh?" She says, blowing a couple of smoke rings. "Nah, not really." She gestures and stands at the edge of the bushes near the house.

Granite says, "A rabbit, is this like Alice in Wonderland? Just hope I don't end up down the hole again."

Kismet suggests, "We believe the Winehouse family is no longer in danger."

"Gather round." She says, and stabs out the cigar with a quick shove against her shoe. She cuts the cigar with a cutter and puts it back into the case. "Come down my hole and I'll break it off, stoneboy." She says.

Yolanda smiles to Howl. She says quietly to him, "It's good to see you." She follows after Officer Raymond.

Granite snaps to and gives Kismet, a salute. "Yes ma'am" with a slight grin to his face. Stepping closer to hear what is going on.

Howl falls in behind Yolanda. "Well, good to be here."

Rapture starts to float and moves to follow the cop.

Imaginary Girl follows along, quiet now... though she's looking around, as if expecting the evil, killer bunny to pop out of hiding at any moment.

"We're standing out here because this is where the attacker entered from. He's wearing something like a size twenty six clown shoe, so your Rabbit theory makes about as much sense as anything else." She pauses. "You're all with me so far, right? The attacker landed here, he leaped up, and forced the window open with the force of his movement. Then he grabbed the window and swung himself inside. He landed next to Angela's bed." She says. "We took a plaster cast of the footprint that's behind me. This guy's either wearing clown shoes, he's a giant rabbit, or he's nine feet tall." She says. "I'll allow you the dignity of this rabbit business for now. Giant Rabbit. Fuck it all. Can't I get a normal case in this town?"

Officer Raymond stands aside. There are two giant footprints in the bush bed. Each one looks like it must be about two feet long. They could be the footprints of a giant rabbit.

Imaginary Girl frowns. "He left /footprints/?", she asks, glancing over at Yolanda, then at Kismet. "He's turning real already!", she comments to them.

Kismet nods. "I saw the rabbit, Officer Raymond."

Howl crouches down, seeing if some of the attacker's scent is left over and distinguishable from everyone else.

Kismet looks at Imaginary Girl. "Remember how I said there's no evidence they can't?"

"He left footprints," Yolanda says to herself, thinking aloud.

Officer Raymond tilts her head and says "So, you guys wanna go inside now? Do you want to know why I don't think it's a rabbit?" She says cooly. "Because who ever did this was too sick to have real animal instincts. It takes a real psychopath to do this stuff. I'm not in metahuman crimes. I'm Special Victims Unit."

Granite scrunches his chin to the side. Thinking of what to think of all this. Rabbits? The cute, bunny things causing this much trouble. He grins almost laughing at the idea.

Yolanda's eyes widen at Raymond's final words. "Angela... did he do anything to her?"

Kismet nods to the officer. "The rabbit looked pretty scary, brandished a machete. And when I say scary I don't mean he was big and had sharp teeth. I mean I wouldn't want to meet someone who thought like he looked like he did in a dark alley, machete aside."

"I gotta explain that upstairs." She says coldly. "There could be a reporter anywhere, and I don't want these pricks or her neighbors knowing the rest of it."

Rapture nods and frowns, "I'll go in"

Imaginary Girl, usually happy and cheerful, looks /mad/. "He hurt the girl?!", she asks, sounding mad, too. She has both hands balls into fists, and looks like she wants to do nothing more than just /hit/ something.

Howl wrinkles his nose. "Strange. At least it's distinctive." He rises.

Yolanda shakes her head, saddened.

Officer Raymond says "We'll go upstairs, right?" She says. "Just so you know, I usually deal with rape cases, that's my specialty, there was no penetration of any sort here. Very unusual in this type of attack." She walks over to the door of the house and unlocks it. "Come upstairs." She says. "You're going to freak."

Granite punches his hands. "Well lets get in there and slap him around some. Its been months since I had a good scrap." Clearly his granitelike face growing very upset at hearing the girl got hurt.

Imaginary Girl is quiet, but she's seething, and clearly so, as she stomps along after the officer. "What'd he /do/ to her?", she asks again, as if not content with waiting for an answer.

"Well, I doubt that." Howl comments to Raymond. "At least visually. I'm kind of excited to know what imaginary blood smells like."

Kismet looks more than a little disturbed. "...I'm a minor," she says a little shakily.

"You're Imaginary Girl?" She says coldly. "You'll see..." She makes her way inside. "ANd you're a minor?" She says. "Look, you put on the costume. You're in this business and you're the only eyewitness I've got that this !@#$@ing rabbit even exists. I need you in that room."

Rapture looks sick at all this the peace loving alien not use to this stuff

"If you don't see it now..." She says fiercely, looking straight at Howl. "The kid's gonna see it later, and there's probably no one around now, so it's probably safe."

Yolanda says to Kismet, "You don't have to go inside, if you don't want to."

"I just said I wasn't going to freak." Howl replies to Raymond. "I'm redy to go. And the officer's right. C'mon, Kismet. But if you hurl...officer, could you point the way to the bathroom? Vomit has a very powerful odor and I don't want anything to be ruined."

"I need you see the tools." Officer Raymond says. "I need you to see what you're up against. Most of the guys you fight are evil, and soul sucking, and beat the crap out of tanks. I see this stuff every week. But until you get inside this guys head, you're not gonna be able to catch him. He'll laugh at you at every turn and drive you crazy, and once you're crazy, I'll be putting you in cuffs instead of this freak. That's why you have to see."

Kismet looks at the officer. "If I see him again, I'll get inside his head. Rest assured."

Officer Raymond walks upstairs, and down the hall, and opens the door to Angela's room....

A little calmed down, it seems, by the detective's words, falls silent and follows along.

Yolanda looks at Howl, her gaze almost accusing. She shakes her head and continues along with the officer.

Granite follows behind wondering what he get himself into. "Well can't be any worse than the head trip I got when I left for Jupiter."

Howl rolls his eyes at the officer behind her back. He whispers to Yolanda. "Chick works a few homicides and she thinks she's seen the depth of human evil...C'mon."

It is a scene of wet, red horror. Angela's student desk has been extended into some form of crude medical table. Lying on the student desk are a number of thick bunjee cords, each stained a little bit with red. There is blood drenched over most of the room, over Angela's bunk bed, the carpet, and the desk chair, which spins and has wheels. There's some fairly beautiful drawings of landscapes which are also dry and bloody, and the whole room smells like rotting meat. There's a small circular spot of dust on the center of the bed, where something round was removed. Written on the wall, tacked to it in bright yellow feathers are the words "Hello, Imaginary Girl." There are also several medical instruments.

Officer Raymond says. "Go ahead. Take it in. He sent you a message." She says. "We didn't put it in the paper because we didn't want every parent in the city to panic.

Yolanda places a hand over her nose and mouth and takes in the scene, shocked. Her eyes are fixed on the message written to Imaginary Girl.

Granite says "I take it back. This is worse..."

Rapture follows the cop up stairs and gasp and shakes her head, "by all who watch over us" She covers her mouth and nose with her hand not just from the smell but also from shock. She shakes her head, "this is as bad as any battle field on my world."

"We did a little checking." She says. "I used to do the blood spatter work before the promotion came up, so I'm pretty experienced at this sort of thing. The attacker came into the room and landed next to her bed. With one hand, he grabbed her out of bed, and with the other, he remade her covers. Then he puts the white noise generator, which we confirmed the make of due to metal residue, on the bed. So no one can hear anything outside the room, but inside, people can hear everything. Are you ready for the best part? That's when the fight starts. The six foot parrot he's carrying, because I have no idea how the thing got into the room, breaks free of it's restraints and attacks him." She says. "So with his hand over his mouth,

Kismet elects to stay out of the room after the first glance, staring out into the hallway.

"...So with his hand over her mouth, he kicks the parrot and knocks over the desk. One shot. Parrot is knocked out." She says. "Then, he rights the desk and with his hands over the girl's mouth, he cleans up the whole goddamn room. Puts everything right back into place."

Howl drinks in the smell. He really gets a full nose of it. He's not looking to place the blood, but try and tease out if there's human blood there (a scent he's familiar with) or at least if more than one kind of being did the bleeding.

The blood smells like ordinary parrot blood.

Imaginary Girl listens, her hands still balled into now-shaking fists. "Did he hurt Angela? What'd he do to her?", she asks.

"But the girl wasn't harmed." Howl glances at Raymond. "At least, she didn't bleed? And can I enter the scene or are you still doing all your policey things?"

Officer Raymond looks at Imaginary Girl. "Take a deep breath and sit down." She says. "He takes four of the bunjee cords, and he ties her into the chair, and he cuts a hole in the tarpaulin that we took her out in." Her voice grows cold. He takes his hand off her mouth, and tells her that if she screams, it doesn't matter." He says. "Then, he puts the parrot on the desk, and he ties it down with the bunjee cords, ties each limb real tight so no blood can flow out of the extremities." She says. "Tell me if I need to stop."

Granite hearing on the torment that has gone is looking a little green. "Oh man..." Is all he can say before putting his hand in front of his mouth

Yolanda listens quietly, nodding as she absorbs the details of the crime.

Imaginary Girl does exactly as the officer says, though she doesn't even bother to find a chair - she just sits right down on the floor where she's standing, breathing in and out, visibly... and a tear rolls down one of her cheeks.

Kismet listens, a little puzzled. "I'm a bit confused. What made you draw the conclusions about things being messed up and then replaced neatly?"

Rapture looks over and IG and places a hand on her shoulder, "I know it horrible but we will get this sick bunny"

"Damn. I thought you were made of stone." Officer Raymond says as she looks at Granite. "We checked the carpet under the blood, and found two sets of desk prints. He arranged the room the way he wanted it. We have no idea what it looked like before, the councilman and his wife say they'll tell us in a couple days after they've seen their therapists."

Yolanda hears Kismet's voice inside her head: << *knockknock* >>

Howl glances at Raymond. "Was the girl harmed, at all? Or did he just make her watch while he vivisected the parrot? Can you tell?"

Kismet gets Yolanda in sight, and focuses on her with a telepathic effect.

Officer Raymond says quietly. "So that's the next part of this. He wakes the parrot up. He cuts off one limb at a time and sprays the blood all over the room, being careful not to touch her face. We don't know if he took the feathers off before or after. We figure he probably took about three hours to kill it. I had a parrot when I was a kid. The damn thing was awake the whole time."

Yolanda's telepathic message to Kismet: << *allows Kismet access to her surface thoughts* I'm sorry that you had to see this. >>

Officer Raymond says quietly and gets down on her knees in front of Imaginary Girl. "What I want to know is how a goddamn rabbit gets a white noise generator."

Granite says, "I mean how can he do that to a cute little polly parrot. Ooooh im going to slam him through the concrete when I get ahold of him."

Howl rubs his temples, more frustrated with Raymond than disgusted at the scene. "Yes yes yes, Wumbles is a sociopath and he does bad things. Can we get on to something relevant? Was the girl harmed, at all? Or did he just make her watch? The white noise generator was interesting, but, first principles."

"The parrot was six feet tall." She says. "We had to bring it out in a body bag."

Yolanda hears Kismet's voice inside her head: << Something's wrong here. Very wrong. Neighbors reported Angela saying "they killed Polly". Raymond can get details down to re-creating the scene minute by minute. >>

"Poor Polly... Poor Angela...", Imaginary Girl says. "I don't know where he got it... but Polly, the parrot... he didn't bring her with him. Polly was Angela's imaginary friend. I don't know how, but he made Polly real when he was killing her", she says, more tears rolling down her cheeks. Her anger's left her, and she's just completely and totally in shock.

Yolanda hears Kismet's voice inside her head: << Either Raymond is hiding something or she's involved. >>

"He wanted her to watch." Officer Raymond said. "He wanted her to scream. And she did. Angela told us the whole thing. I just repeated most of her words to you. She's a good kid."

Yolanda hears Kismet's voice inside her head: << Or Angela told her everything. What did Angela mean by "they"? >>

"The bungee cords, white noise generator.. too," Yolanda says, "I wouldn't expect this kind of sophistication from a first time killer."

"Lemme get this straight." Officer Raymond says. "The Parrot was imaginary? Imaginary creatures don't leave blood all over the room, or have white noise generators."

Yolanda hears Kismet's voice inside her head: << How about seven years of killing experience? >>

Rapture kneels down and hugs IG, "just let it out sweetie it is back to hold it in."

Officer Raymond looks over to Yolanda. "Then maybe this isn't his first time."

Granite says, "No, its not. In fact this is sophiticated stuff for a first timer."

Kismet says, "They aren't imaginary. The rabbit used to be. So did the parrot. They haven't been for years though."

"He made her real when he killed her... he did this just to hurt Angela", Imaginary Girl says, sniffling a little. "Maybe... maybe Toby imagined the thing for him, and he made /it/ real, too?", she suggests.

Yolanda's telepathic message to Kismet: << Seven years would be more appropriate. Maybe Angela meant Toby and Wumbles. We won't know until we ask her. >>

"He's imaginary. He can do anything." Howl replies. "And that includes get whatever tools he needs. What's interesting to me is how he killed the imaginary friend. I'd think to go for the child herself, mess with her brain, dig around until you pull out the relevant part. But I don't know enough to say...But if we're going the strictly imaginary root Wumbles used Angela. He had to, what can he do himself?" He shakes his head. "But even that's probably BS. We need more info."

"Do you have a list of potential victims?" She says. "Because I can put every house on the Roanoke Institute's patient list under surveillance if you think this crap is going on. Of course, that's not gonna stop a guy who can easily

Yolanda hears Kismet's voice inside her head: << One of us can ask questions. We can confer mentally though. >>

Kismet contests, "He's not imaginary. He hasn't been for years. Please understand that."

Yolanda says, "Officer Raymond, have there been any other murders in the city that match this pattern? Bungee cords, white noise generators...?""

Howl glances at Kismet. "I appreciate that there's a distinction here, I'm using imaginary to describe his nature, not to say that he's impotent. But I still think there's a link between the child and their friend. If the child is the source, that is."

"Okay." Officer Raymond says. "We're looking into that. We haven't seen anything like this in a long time. I mean, usually, people like this kill their victims and hide them in a trophy room. But this guy left it here for us to see. Why?"

Kismet explains, "I got into the head of one. Seven years ago he started existing. I believe that all of them are the same way. If a link exists, it isn't a limitation to what they can do. We were with Toby while the rabbit was here."

Howl nods to Kismet. "Do you think that Wumbles is different than the others?"

Kismet replies, "I think Toby is different, and that shaped the rabbit."

"I can accept that." Howl replies. "But I still can't shake the feeling that making the girl watch wasn't just an act of malice..." He glances in the room. "Despite the pageantry every bit of this feels...necessary."

"He wants to be real... I don't know how or why, but he's doing all this to be real", Imaginary Girl says, looking at her fists... unclenching them slowly.

Rapture lets go of IG and thinks, "maybe he needs others to think him real become real so killing there friends is a way to do that."

"Wants to be real." Officer Raymond writes down. "Jesus. If this guy actually becomes real, won't he want to do this crap to real people instead of imaginary people? You guys are lucky to have me. This guy's a serial killer. I'm serious here."

Kismet remains outside the room, gazing away from it, back to the wall beside its door. "He knows how to become what we are, and he's acting upon it."

"If he's real... does that mean I hafta go easy on him?", Imaginary Girl asks, in a quiet voice.

"Hell no." Howl replies to Imaginary Girl. "Going easy on him is the absolute last thing you should do." He regards Kismet. "Do you think Toby knows anything?"

Kismet sighs. "Can we stop referring to him as though he wasn't real, please? I would think by now that there's enough evidence to tell us."

Yolanda says, "It's possible that Wumbles feeds off of fear and the torture. Somehow it's necessary to this process of making him real, along with murdering Polly. And yes, I am calling it a murder. Maybe there's some neurological change that's associated with losing an imaginary friend that's important to Wumble's plan."

Kismet replies to Howl, "I would be surprised if Toby weren't able to recount what happened here as though he were given a moment-by-moment account."

Rapture nods, "he was real when he did this the question is does he stay real after that?"

Howl glances at Yolanda. "Maybe he had to convince Angela that Polly was dead."

Kismet replies, "He is real now. He has been for years."

"You think Toby can see through Wumbles' eyes?", Imaginary Girl asks, getting to her feet, wiping at her face with the backs of her hands. "If he can... do you think he's /making/ Wumbles do things like this? Maybe he's the murderer?", she asks, eyes widening as if she's actually scared of that idea.

You hear Kismet's voice inside your head: << I'm getting tired of trying to make everyone understand. We're getting nowhere here and Wumbles is getting a lot of time to plan his next kill. >>

"Oh, yeah..." Officer Raymond says. "You want me to arrest the kid for psychic invasion, I can do that, but I need proof that he's controlling this Wumbles creature."

"There is not one all encompassing notion of 'real'." Howl comments to Kismet. "Nor does 'real' mean wholly independent."

Kismet replies, "There is no evidence that the rabbit is not real now. There is plenty of evidence to say he is. I'm going with the evidence rather than the lack of."

"How'd Wumbles get outta the house after he was done?", Imaginary Girl asks of the detective.

Rapture frowns, "has anyone one with mental powers check this kid out? It would be the quickest way to see if he is or isn't in control of this monster?"

Yolanda says, "Then maybe it's about power, becoming more powerful than the other friends."

You hear Kismet's voice inside your head: << Or he's taking the essence that formed them in the first place. We need to interview the children, and their parents as soon as possible. >>

"So you think I could see him?" Howl asks Kismet.

Kismet replies, "You wouldn't see me if I didn't want you to, Howl."

"He climbed out the same damned window and jumped away." Officer Raymond says. "He took the noise generator with him, and that's when they heard her scream."

Yolanda's telepathic message to Kismet: << Yes. I think that we should share what we know with Raymond -- I don't think that she's involved. >>

Yolanda hears Kismet's voice inside her head: << Neither do I. She mentioned getting the information from Angela, which seems reasonable. Please share as much as you can. >>

Howl snorts lightly. "That's no kind of answer. Has he changed enough from the other friends that he can be seen if he wants to?"

Kismet replies, "I don't know. I'm not sure at this point that they lack the ability to be seen. They may simply lack the understanding. It's a psychic effect, one way or another."

Yolanda says, "Officer Raymond, we believe that we have a list of three other potential target -- three children from the Roanoke Institute, all with friends like Polly."

Rapture sighs and thinks this all over, "damn it how can a boy make such a twisted thing"

Imaginary Girl looks over at Howl. "Think you can follow him?", she asks of him. "If he's totally real, now, maybe we can just track him down and beat him up."

"Give me their names." Officer Raymond says. "These kids are getting surveillance teams. You never know. Some of the guys in my unit are pretty nuts. They might actually see a rabbit."

Howl shakes his head. "Doubtful. It's a big city, even if he has a unique scent."

[To Rapture] Yolanda says, "Toby is sick. He suffers from a mental illness that makes him completely amoral. As for connecting him to Wumbles via a mental scan, it would require his parents permission, and I'm not sure that they'd be willing to cooperate."

Yolanda hears Kismet's voice inside her head: << The parents are important to interview too. And if possible, scan them for seven years ago. >>

Yoland's telepathic message to Kismet: << Maybe with the possibility of saving their children, they will be more likely to permit us. >>

Rapture frowns, "Has anyone ask them? They must know there son is mentally sick. Maybe they will understand. or we can lie and say it a new type of treatment. Or I can go in there and try to get him talk. I have no mental power but my ability can make him trust me fully and he might spill the beans.

"Can't the police get a piece of paper that says you can do a mind-scan on him, even without her mommy and daddy saying it's okay?", Imaginary Girl suggests, looking at the detective. "It's to help keep Wumbles from doing this to another kid, right?"

Howl shrugs at Rapture. "Forgive me if I don't think you have quite the necessary grasp of human evil to speak to this child meaningfully."

Officer Raymond says "Look, I can arrest the kid, but it's not much good. You guys need to find out where this...rabbit...I can't believe I'm saying this crap...where it hides." She says gently. "And no. You can't psychically go into the mind of any minor without parental consent unless you can get a federal judge to sign off on it."

Yolanda gives Officer Raymond the three names. "I think it would make sense to place the children in the some location for their protection. There are only so many of us in the city who can see Wumbles."

Officer Raymond adds "And this does not prevent them from suing you in civil court either, and with evidence like this, and the fact that this Wumbles started out as some sort of imaginary friend, you will likely lose. You won't go to jail, but you will be bankrupt."

"It hides in plain sight," Kismet says. "It hides because no one can see it except a rare few. Also it's pretty creepy to look at."

Rapture looks at howl, "I am a mother of 25 kids I understand children."

Yolanda blinks at that.

Imaginary Girl falls silent again. She clearly doesn't know what else to do, at this point.

"*Human* children." Howl replies to Rapture. "And the only way to protect the other children, as far as I can tell, is to hide them."

Kismet points out, "The only thing we haven't learned for certain is how the rabbit knew to come here. Theory I have is that it looked at the address over the doctor's shoulder."

Kismet adds, "unless, according to another theory I have, the kids' parents all know each other from years ago and the rabbit learned then."

Yolanda says, "It's entirely possible that Wumbles has the ability to find the other Imaginary Friends regardless of how we hide them."

Rapture frowns, "we are not sure this rabbit can track them down or he needs to know where to go. children are children no matter the race.

"Wrong." Howl replies to Rapture. "If anyone talks to Toby it's going to be me."

Yolanda says, "Is there anything more that we can do here? It seems as though talking Toby is the next step."

Rapture snorts, "and what do you know about children?"

Kismet shakes her head. "No, talking to TOby won't help us. Talking to Toby's parents, that will. We need to figure out what the connection is between the kids, and soon."

Yolanda says, "Also, can we come to consensus about what we need to do in the meantime to protect the children?"

Officer Raymond says "We'll see if we can get the kids moved to a secure location. Problem is, what if he starts killing real people to take up the slack?"

Howl arches a brow at Kismet. "Didn't you say that Toby knew..." He pauses. "How old is Toby?"

Rapture nods, "that sounds good but also need a few people with mental power or all you doing is making his hunt easer."

Kismet tells Howl, "Toby can lie. We're not allowed to go into his mind to get the truth. His parents can help us understand if there is a connection between Toby and the other children we met, from years ago."

Yolanda hears Kismet's voice inside her head: << *frustration* Why doesn't anyone else understand how urgent this is? >>

Officer Raymond says "That's a good idea. And as long as Toby's in the institute, you can always go get him if we need to put him in Stronghold. And dammit, if it were up to me, the little shit never would get out of Stronghold."

"Toby's parents might tell the truth but I'm not sure that they know much." Howl comments before glancing at Yolanda. "Really, how old was Toby?"

"All signs indicate that Wumble is already killing other people," Yolanda says to Officer Raymond. "If it's alright, I think that we should also know the location where the children are being held. Three of us can actually see Wumbles."

Yolanda's telepathic message to Kismet: << Everyone is concerned, Kismet. They just don't see things the same way. >>

"I should be there with them... just in case, too", Imaginary Girl says. "If he shows up to go after them, I'll be there to stop him!", she adds, her tone forceful... and she punches one fist into her other, open, hand.

Officer Raymond says "I don't care if he's a rabbit or a guy in a rabbit suit. There aren't enough death penalties in the world for this sicko."

Kismet looks at the ground. "And what if you can't hurt him?"

"I'll /find/ a way", Imaginary Girl says, simply.

Kismet shakes her head. "Too much to consider. All we're doing is making more questions. We need to start making answers or this gets a lot messier..."

Rapture frowns, "then we find a way to hold it"

Officer Raymond says "If Silver Spider can beat Doctor Jackal and Mr. Hide pretty much by her lonesome, and Bolt can beat ACE virtually by herself, then you can hurt this guy."

[To Howl] Yolanda says, "He's 5."

"And someone who's good at hitting the streets who isn't a cop might want to find out how Wumbles got his hands on a White Noise Generator. Next Generation sells this crap to the mob to make money. How did Wumbles get one?"

"Five." Howl murmurs, "But Kismet, you said that Wumbles had started becoming real seven years ago. Which would mean he can't be Toby's imaginary friend."

Kismet points out, "It's possible that I'm wrong. I'm just bothered by the idea that I might not be."

Kismet mentions, "I can only confirm that Georgie the Giraffe is seven years alive."

"We need to lock that down." Howl comments to Kismet. "If you've accurately stated the age of Wumbles it changes the ball game."

Kismet nods. "If. Again, I could be wrong. I really need to talk to the parents. Soon. Please."

"Officer Raymond," Yolanda asks, "Would it be possible for you to get a court order to open Dr. Ingersoll's research notes to all of us? I think that the information inside would be a help to us."

Officer Raymond nods. "I think that would be a good idea. I'll get Judge Appleton to look at that in the morning." She says. "I gotta take you guys out of the house now. Is everyone okay?"

"We always cover both bases." Howl comments to Kismet. "No reason you can't talk to them."

Kismet frowns. "If the kids are connected, then whatever caused this mess might have also adversely affected Toby to be how he is. I need to stop speculating til I get talking to the parents."

Yolanda looks to Kismet. "Maybe you and Howl can go ahead and start speaking with the parents. I'd like to take a moment to see if I can read the scene here, if that's alright, Officer." To Kismet: "I can catch up with you in a little bit."

Officer Raymond adds "And I'll clear meetings with the other parents for you as soon as I can. First we've got to do all the cop stuff, and I need to convince my boss that the threat is real. I cannot tell him it's a rabbit."

Kismet suggests to Raymond, "Tell him it's a rabbit. A giant anthropomorphic rabbit. What's so unbelievable about it?"

Howl glances at Yolanda. "Do you really want to do this? This is heavy, Yolanda. You might not sleep for a while."

Officer Raymond says "Sure. Why not? It's a six foot rabbit. No problem! Can't be any worse..." She says. "Everyone out, she needs quiet for this to work, I've heard about this from Robert Taber and Ted Blockhaven."

Rapture starts to back out of the room to give her more room.

Kismet starts to head out. "I'm...really not sure I want to be around when she does this." She eases out of the telepathic contact she has, and begins to leave the home.

Yolanda nods and manages a fleeting smile. "I'm sure... We need all the information that we can get if we're going to save the others."

"I'm afraid you'll be useless after this, Yolanda." Howl warns. "Don't trade a bit of information in this scene for what we could get down the road."

Yolanda closes her eyes, thinking. Finally she says, "Yes, Howl. You're right..." She opens her eyes. "Let's get going, shall we?"

Howl nods, gesturing for Yolanda to come with him. "Good call." He replies. "We know what happened. No need to torture yourself."

Officer Raymond says "I'll set up meetings with the parents tomorrow. I need to get going. My boyfriend's probably wondering where I am, and I'm going to give myself a reason to smoke the rest of this cigar after I get out of my clothes, thanks."

Interlude
Twelve blocks away, on a late night bus, a little girl chats amicably with her mother. Invisible to most eyes, seated next to them in the back, is a large rabbit with reddish eyes and a top hat, and black and white two tone shoes. He casually flips through the pages of Doctor Derrick Jacobs "Now You Too, can be a Villain..." and smiles sweetly at the little girl.

"I'm Amy..." She says, her voice filled with cheer as her mother sleeps quietly on the bus.

"Hi, Amy. I'm Mr. Wumbles. I'm your imaginary friend..."

Mr. Wumbles gets off the bus, and puts an imaginary Cellphone to his ear. "Ahh, Toby..." He purrs. "You won't believe this book I'm reading. I just got to the best chapter. It's called "How to take over the world...""