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[Red drops her hand to swish it around in the water gently.

"Every Siren has her own unique powers. Mine is known, by the few people that are aware of it, as Phasevision.

"Mind, the things I'm telling you are top secret. You musn't share any of this with anyone, even under threat of torture or death."

It feels weird to tell give such a young girl these orders, but Red has much confidence in Athena--she knows of her training. She wouldn't have divulged this information if she didn't trust her.

Hell, Red wouldn't have had her brought here if she didn't.]

[If it means anything, those kinds of orders aren’t at all foreign to Athena.]

I won’t tell anyone. [And she has more reason to keep her word for Red than she ever did for Atlas.]

So you can always read Boxer’s mind? Even when he’s on another planet?

["I can read anyone's mind, Athena. It's only a matter of focus--and that's how I found you. In Boxer's case, he has the ability to read my mind in return.

"That's why we manage to stay so close even though we're lightyears apart."]

[Perhaps some people would find the idea of such constant togethernessromantic. Those people clearly weren’t raised under the constant, claustrophobic surveillance of a death-dealing corporation.]

What if you think of something that you don’t want him to know? Or he thinks of something he shouldn’t? Isn’t it… [She tries to think of a word that doesn’t sound as childish as “scary,” but, well, that’s what it is.] Isn’t it scary?

["Being in love is scary," she answers earnestly. "It means trusting someone with your everything. Your strengths, your weaknesses. Trusting them that they won't take advantage of it. It's scary, but...it's really exciting, too."]

[Well, that’s fine then. Athena’s been assured she’s not capable of love anyways. Which makes her safe from… all of that.]

Can you read my mind?

[Right now she is thinking, among other things, that the water’s getting a little cold.]

[That's what you think, Athena.

Red gives her a knowing smirk. Without answering the question, she reaches over to the faucet and turns the hot water on, swirling with her arm to mix it with the colder water.]

[Well, that answers that question. Athena looks up at Red with wide eyes.]

You said you could read anyone’s mind, right? [She thinks for a moment, trying to come up with a more difficult test of her powers.]

What’s Jess thinking right now?

[Red pauses, and takes on a look as if she were focusing out into the distance, like they weren't surrounded by porcelain walls.

"Nothing particularly introspective," she eventually answers, eyes still affixed to some imaginary distance. "She's playing a game of Truxican poker with some friends. She wishes she had a better hand, but little does she know that the other players all have worse."]

[While Athena has no way of verifying the accuracy of Red’s long-distance reading, she’s more than willing to take her word for it. Her eyes get even bigger when Red proceeds to read the other players’ minds as well.]

You really can read anyone’s mind… [Athena can’t even imagine what someone could do with that kind of power. She’s starting to get a clearer sense about why some people think Sirens are reincarnated gods.]

That’s how you knew I was with Atlas, isn’t it?

[Red "comes back" to the bathroom and gives Athena a smile.

"That's right. Rarely is it a good idea to make such a blatant attack on a base like that, but given the circumstances, I decided the risk was worth it."

She stands up and fetches a blow dryer and a brush from the cabinets, placing them on the counter.

"Would you like a few more minutes?"

[It certainly hadn’t seemed like much of a risk the way Boxer had torn through the facility, but if Red is truly always present in his mind, then she already knows that. Athena turns her head to watch her grab a couple of items from a nearby cabinet, one familiar and one not so much.]

No, I think I’m done. [Red might notice that Athena’s eyes are fixed to the hairdryer in her hands.] Is that a gun?

["In a way," she jokes. Red points the business end of the hairdryer at her own hand and turns it on for a few seconds.

"A hot air gun."]

[Athena starts when Red points the “gun” at her hand, particularly at the loud noise it makes when she “shoots” it, but her alarm quickly eases when she sees the Siren is unharmed.]

Oh. [Clearly “hot air” does not mean anything hot enough to do real damage, like one might expect from a particularly outlandish Maliwan prototype.] Is it for drying off? [The idea makes sense, even if it is a little unnecessary: creating a gun for such a straightforward task almost sounds like something a Pandoran would do.]

[It's endearing how much she doesn't know about non-Pandoran life, Red thinks. But she's a really good sport about it, which is what Red likes to see even more.

"Yeah, you've got the idea. It makes getting dry go a lot faster...not to mention it feels great when you're out of the warm water and in the cold air."]

[Athena doesn’t mean to seem skeptical; she believes Red is telling the truth and she’d seen with her own eyes that the hot air gun didn’t harm her… But when something looks like a gun, has a trigger like a gun, and you’ve spent most of your young life using guns to kill or maim people… well, it’s hard not to be a little dubious when someone tells you that this gun is actually nice to be shot with.]

Can I see it? [Athena asks, eyeing the device warily.]

["Sure."

Instead of handing it to Athena, Red places the hairdryer on the corner of the counter for Athena to pick up on her own, taking a half-step back to allow her plenty of space to experiment with it.]

[Athena looks from Red to the device once more, and then stands and steps out of the bath to investigate, trailing soapy water on the tile. The sudden chill of dry air is enough to persuade her to pick up a towel from off the rack before she goes further, shivering as she wraps it around herself. That done, she walks over to the counter and, after taking one more questioning glance at Red, picks up the strange drying gun.

It’s somewhat pistol-shaped, though quite a bit larger than one would normally expect of that type of gun, with a longer grip that seems to have been extended to make room for two labelled switches (though Athena’s not quite sure what to make of said labels). Athena instinctively checks for a logo, but can’t find one that she recognizes.

The first time she fires it, she points it away from herself and Red, using both hands to brace for recoil that, puzzlingly, never comes. The not-gun just makes a loud noise in her hands, the same as it had made when Red had fired it, with no discernible effect on her surroundings. Athena tries again, this time holding the trigger down for a few seconds. The device warms in her hands, but there’s still no damage. Finally she waves one of her hands before the barrel, quickly at first, but more steadily as it becomes clear there’s no resulting pain. The air that blows out of the gun is hot, but not scalding. In fact, it’s actually quite pleasant given the chill in the rest of the room. She directs the air up her arm, watching the water droplets scatter from the blast. She looks up at Red with a tentative smile, raising her voice to be heard over the drone of the device.] It does feel nice.

[Red watches with muted delight while Athena explores the wonders of the device. Many would write this off as a backwaters kid trying to figure out how to work out the comforts of proper civilized life, or perhaps be on the more patronizing end of the scale--but not Red. Being able to take a back seat to Athena's thoughts as she works through it by comparing it to what she knows is nothing short of a psychological intrigue.

You'd think that someone who can read the thoughts of others would eventually take it for granted.

"Doesn't it?"

Red picks up the hair brush and sits on the lid of the toilet, gesturing to offer combing Athena's hair.]

[Athena spends a few more seconds blasting water droplets off her arms before she notices Red gesturing to her. She takes her finger off the device’s trigger and walks over, her ears still ringing with the sound, before sitting down at Red’s feet. This much is familiar to her -- she and the other assassin recruits had regularly fixed each others’ hair in the barracks between missions and training, occasionally with an actual brush or comb, but more often than not with their hands, pulling apart stubborn knots with their fingers.

She doesn’t say as much out loud, but there is the silent expectation that Red will let her return the favor later on.]

[Expect gentle fingers to pry those knots out when she finds them. Red gives Athena a knowing smile as she detects her idle train of thought--Red's already done her primping for tonight, but perhaps tomorrow Athena can cash in her unwritten rain check.

She'll take the hair dryer from Athena when she can, showing her how it's used with hair--taking a section of it and separating it from the rest with the comb, then blowing the hot air over it.]

[Athena learns quickly, copying Red’s actions whenever she gets the hairdryer back. In no time, her hair is combed and dried, and she runs her fingers through it appraisingly.] That was fast, [she remarks. Even faster than letting it dry in the sun.

She stands and walks to the mirror, taking a moment to admire the shine of her hair in the reflection. Satisfied with that, she instinctively reaches for her folded Atlas fatigues on the floor, shaking them out to prepare to dress.]

["Et-et-et!"

Red chases after Athena just in the nick of time after putting the brush and hair dryer away. She places her hands on top of Athena's.

"We'll wash that first before you put them back on. In the meantime..."

She gestures to a device imbedded in the wall. It's familiar, but only in the vaguest sense.

"Wouldn't you like to try out the New-U station first? See if you like any of the selection?"

Please don't sit at Red's dinner table with battle fatigues, Athena.]

[Athena jumps, eyes wide when Red rushes at her, momentarily confused as to what she had done to create such a fuss. She gives Red a rather quizzical look once she explains. They’re just clothes. However, her interest is quickly redirected to the strange New-U station embedded in the wall.]

Okay, [Athena says, placing her fatigues back on the floor before walking over to the station.] What kind of clothes-- [The interface springs to life before she’s even done asking the question, a dazzling assortment of various outfits displayed before her. It takes a moment for Athena just to adjust to the sudden influx of potential choices and she glances back at Red as if waiting for specification.]

Um… Which one should I choose?

["Whichever you'd like," Red responds. "They're all appropriate for tonight. Make sure it's something you'll be comfortable in."

While Athena makes her decision, Red re-folds the fatigues and pokes her head out of the bedroom door to have them sent of for cleaning.]