Re: Mazes within a Steel Jungle (Shrike7)
As River approached the body, Jess closed the door quietly, but kept her ear to it, closing her eyes as she listened for anyone in the hall.
The corpse seemed to have no external injuries that River could immediately see, but there was dried blood from the eyes, nose, and mouth, and when Jess came to look as well, content that the hallway was empty, she snorted.
This was a fight between Telekines, can you smell it? Like burnt aluminum in the air... she muttered, and indeed, there was a metallic taste to the air that even River could pick up if she tried, the same kind of smell George had caused when he'd incinerated her phone... which meant Jess had a chance of being half right as well, a Mage could be at work here as well.
This left several possibilities to the Wraithling's mind, that of the Council, of Telekine's killing eachother, which included several entirely unassociated options, and of course, Claire. Claire had never laid claim to any psionic ability, but with a creature of her age, there really was no telling what she was truly capable of, and there was every chance that she was behind this, directly or otherwise.
However, what sealed that Claire had indeed been here, was a very familiar looking pile of sand to the corpses right, near the hand... Her calling card when she destroyed something with her phasing, something River was now understanding as the intense and focused heat turning silicates, like glass, plastic, and the like, into powder by shattering their bonds with the energy. Sometimes it left a scorching burnt hole... but other times, times she could remember during their first meeting, and the battle that had ensued, where a more scalpel like technique had caused the same reaction... Whatever she had done, it had carried enough energy to not only atomize what had been here to a degree, but melt, and then Rebreak whatever it had been back into sand... that was a terrifying thought on it's own, and even more unnerving... this was information that River wouldn't have pieced together on her own before... She'd picked all this up somewhere.
Deep, very deep within the back of her mind, a part of her smiled...