JP - Another Intervention

“Goddammit.” Frisk cursed.

Bumble and Radar would arrive at this time and blink. “Is it okay if we speak to Delilah and Mark, please?” She asked softly, rubbing Breezy’s back.

Delilah looked toward them. “Can you speak to them, Mark?” She asked, going over to Frisk and Tzeitel.

Frisk wrapped an arm around Tzeitel, she felt torn between hugging her and shaking her. She looked at Delilah. She knew Tzeitel was struggling and that was why she was being like this… but she is being like this. It was frustrating.

Delilah was gentle as she escorted both Frisk and Tzeitel away from the room. “Lets go talk to Leimomi, shall we?” She suggested.

“Yes, that would be a good start.” Frisk said.

Tzeitel was still bristling. “She can’t fix this. She can’t make Colt love someone who can love him back. She can’t kill off the Canestone clones.”

“You are seeing Leimomi if I- if Delilah and I-” Frisk had noticed how much stronger Tzeitel was. Her leather jacket had been left by the wine cellar and her arms were pure muscle, the sleeves of her t-shirt were straining. “Have to sit on you. I was telling Cody that you would be watched here.”

“Tzeitel, we all only want to help you.” Delilah said calmly, concern in her eyes. “You were doing so good for a while there…what happened? Even before the…even before the clones, you’ve been acting very off.”

Tzeitel looked down, her posture still tense. “MegaCorp has been on my mind a lot lately… Leimomi thinks it’s because Ami’s the same age I was when my parents sold me to them.”

“No one is going to sell Ami to MegaCorp…” Delilah said.

“I know, MegaCorp is never going to get her.” Tzeitel said. “I can’t stop remembering when I was her age though.”

“Ami does look just like Tzeitel did in her intake photo.” Frisk said. “You’ve seen her MegaCorp file, right D?”

“I have, but Tzeitel…look…” Delilah thought for a moment. “You aren’t in MegaCorp anymore. You’re not that age anymore. You’re a strong independent woman who is just scared of the future, right?”

“I want Ami to have it better than I did.” Tzeitel said. “She shouldn’t have to see things that I did, hear things I did, use her powers on people.”

“What’s the point of having her power if she can’t use it, Tzeitel?” Delilah asked. “Think of it like this. How did it feel to you when you had your powers cut off by the collar? How did you feel when you had to make Cody wear one? What you make Ami do is a form of collaring her and you don’t want her to grow up feeling that way, do you?”

“No, but we don’t know what Ami’s powers might be costing her. Or what it does to a person when she uses her powers on them.” Tzeitel said. “I worry enough when she uses her powers on books and game boards… Klaire said Ami knows Colt kissed me because she used her power on me. There’s stuff that happened to me she really shouldn’t find out about that way. How her power works, it’s more than just reading about something, it’s like she can see people, things… She figured out what Canestone did to me by talking to Cody and was upset- but what if she learned about it with her powers on me? She’d be traumatized. Or the other stuff I saw and heard in MegaCorp… other stuff we’ve all been through. She’s just a kid.”

"I understand your concern, but you also need to remember that we cannot learn without experiences." Delilah reminded her. "Cody had to learn from his own experiences. Yes, it scared us and made us want to stop him, but to trap a chIld within themselves keeps them from learning and experiencing things. They won't find out who they are if we don't let them."

“There’s gotta be a safer way for her to learn than using her powers on people and hoping she doesn’t absorb something that traumatizes her.” Tzeitel said. “And if she’s absorbing from a meta that’s been in MegaCorp she’s eventually going to end up traumatized.”

“You do realize Ami isn’t foolish, right?” Delilah inquired with more worry. “She may be young, but she’s smart and pays attention to absolutely everything. If you’re willing to look into what she can do, we can keep it to objects and children her own age. We can’t lock her up, Tzeitel…”

“I don’t want to lock her up! I just want her to be safe.” Tzeitel sighed. “I’d rather just stick to objects if anything, until we can figure out what using her powers costs her, or does to the person she absorbs from.”

Meanwhile Frisk was speaking quietly to Leimomi on her phone.

“Did you even notice she had taken information from you?” Delilah asked, recalling a small conversation she’d had with Klaire over text. “Does she seem more tired? Have headaches? Anything?” She glanced at Frisk.

“Klaire said Ami found out that Colt kissed me by touching me. I think that’s the only time she used her powers on me.” Tzeitel said. “She gets tired sometimes, headaches too,but I don;t know if it’s from her powers, all the traveling we were doing, or just her age…”

“Leimomi is on her way.” Frisk said.

“That reminds me, how old is she now?” Delilah asked, curious. “Depending on her age the headaches could be a sign of an early period.” She looked at Frisk and nodded. “Though, it could also be her power, but with more practice she can manage those headaches caused by it. It’s how a few of the others here with odd powers do it.”

“Ami’s eleven, she’ll be twelve soon though.” Tzeitel said, the topic bringing back bad memories in MegaCorp, She scratched her neck scars.

“On the bright side we have a birthday party to plan.” Frisk said.

Tzeitel nodded distractedly. “On the road wasn’t a safe place for her to practice…”