Template:Featured Articles/39-2017
 The figure seemed to come out of nowhere. Which, well, that was typical of Callisto, of course. It was such a massive cliché, the whole 'melting out of the shadows' thing, but she didn't seem to mean to, exactly. It just sort of happened. She got straight to the point. "There's this kid. She's sick, isn't getting better, won't go to hospital. Wondered if you'n'yours could help." Callisto tipped her head back a little, squared her shoulders, set her jaw at that slightly defiant tilt she was so very practiced at. It almost hid her worry. It took Bobbi a beat or two to realize it was Callisto who'd sneaked so effortlessly up on her. Once she regained her composure, she nodded in both greeting and agreement. "Good to see you. And of course, if there's anything we can do we'll do it." She sat down at a nearby picnic table and took a seat on one side. Callisto didn't sit, instead jamming her hands into her jeans pockets and hunching her shoulders. "She says it was just her skin at first - welts or boils or whatever - but by the time I saw her she sounded like her lungs were filling up, I dunno - shallow breath, constricted..." She shook her head. "She sounds bad." "Do you know what happened to her? Where she was, what she was doing, or what might have caused the illness, anything like that?" The symptoms sounded similar to other recent cases they'd heard about, and if she had more information to share it might help them with not only this person but the other cases as well. "Dunno, uh. She gets by y'know, just like most of us. Last thing I remember seeing her doing was getting a five finger discount at a pop-up market - y'know, with the hippie jewellery and shit? She hits one, grabs a few handfuls of tacky crap, then you'll see her in another part of town selling it, y'know, it gets people's sympathy more than just begging, if looks like you're trying?" If Callisto had opinions about this method of getting by, or about the world that had made it the only viable way of life for some, she didn't betray them, delivering the information in a neutral tone. "I know the one, yes," Bobbi said, thinking. If that was the same store she thought it was, then that was definitely some valuable information to share with the others. "You don't think there's any way of convincing her to get medical help at all, is there?" Bobbi thought she knew the answer, but she had to ask. "I'll definitely get back to the others in the meantime, I think this will help a lot. Thanks for telling me about it." "I think she'd see someone," Callisto said. "If you had a medic, another mutant, I could take you to her. You could ask her more then." |
