Meg half chuckled, and said "Since he's back, Zeke would be the man to check with about getting a mindworm like the rest of us.  Instantaneous communication with each other from about anywhere in the dimension."

Jared nodded.  "I'll see to it when I see him next.  I trust he does not actually implant anything?  I'm fairly certain my level of trust does not extend to giving someone who reeks of 'anarchist' a direct pathway into my brain.  Especially with his non-verbal reaction to my question about the government."

  Meg frowned, and said "Technically, yes and no.  You sort of inhale something that feels like a wiggly snot glob, and then it parks itself in your brain where it can transmit your thoughts.  It's a living thing, but it's symbiotic.  Pretty much everyone has one, except I think Clarissa."

Jared squinted in distase, and said, "There's not a single element in that description that doesn't creep me out.  But I suppose if everyone else is on the frequency, I need to do it or not play at all."

Then, "And Zeke is the keeper of the brain slugs?"

  Meg nodded, and said "He invented them.  Since he's back, they're still in his lab, so yes, he's the mindworm keeper."

Jared nodded, clearly uneasy with the thought, but you had to be that tall to attack that city, and all that.

Then, changing topics slightly, he said, "You've said, 'since he's back' a few times… I take it he left for a while, then?"

  Meg nodded, and said "Yeah.  He and I were sort of dating, and he just up and disappeared for six months.  No word.  No messages, nothing."  She'd looked down at the grill as she answered that, then off into the distance.

Jared snorted softly, and said, "Bad relationship behaviour.  Even *I* know that.  So Zeke took a powder, and Harvey stepped up.  Go, Harvey.  Fortune favors the bold, I suppose.  And now Zeke is back."

  Meg nodded, not needing to really put it into words.  But she wasn't meeting anyone's gazes just now either.  She was absently glad Ozzy wasn't home though.  He'd picked up enhanced senses when he mutated, and if he was lazing around in his 'true form' . . . he could sometimes be as astute as she was about other people's moods now.

Jared sensed the sea change, and said, "Well, not my business.  Where can I find my room assignment?  And how do I find Zeke and his lab?  Might as well get that over with..."

  Meg pointed to the house, and said "It's more like you pick one you like and can find your way back to the kitchen from, and the lab is at the Legacy's HQ, one of us can take you there, let me page Candy, she's pretty fast at it.  She teleports."

Jared nodded, and wandered upstairs to pick out a room.  He took his clothes out of his bag, and then went back downstairs.

He said to Megaira, "There's a hero named, 'Candy?'"

  Meg nodded, and said "Yeah, but that's not her heroing name.  Her parents gave her that name because she can make candy."

Jared smiled.  "Seems like as good a reason as any.  What would her 'heroing' name be, then?"

  Candy said "Hello.  Candy Michaels, AKA Fyre.  Megs says you need a quick hop to Hotwire's lab?"

Jared smiled.  "Jared Argent, and yes, ma'am, if it would be no trouble."

  She offered him a cinnamon candy-cane, and said "Not a problem at all.  You ready?"

Jared nodded.  "As ready as I can be considering I'm going to swallow a slimy slug thing which will lodge in my brain."

  Candy laughed, and said "Inhale it, not swallow it.  Not to worry, the rest of us have all done it."  She offered him her hand, ready to teleport them as soon as he was ready.

Jared shuddered, and said, "Still squicks me out, but gotta do it.  Yes, ma'am, I'm ready."

  Candy took hold of his hand, and teleported them.

--------->> Legacy's New HQ

==> From Legacy

Jared looked around as soon as they landed, and he said, with a nod and a smile, "Man, that's useful.  Thank you for your assistance, ma'am."

  Candy grinned, and said "Very welcome.  Now, Meg gave you the house invite, right?  If not, get her to give you one, then I can show you what's REALLY inside the house."

Jared looked confused, and he said, "She said something to the effect of, 'Come in, be welcome, pick a room, have some food?'  If you mean something more than that, no… there was no secret handshake or anything like that..."

  Candy nodded, and said "That's the invite!  It lets you see the REAL house, which is far, far bigger on the inside than it LOOKS on the outside.  Grab a plate, and I'll show you around the interior of the Hidden City."