THE MOMENT
"Thanks for coming," Dara said. The young, pale girl was not wearing her white face mask and Riot seemed genuinely surprised. The two girls were alone in a glowing white room that Dara invited Riot to visit the day before.
"You can talk?" Riot asked with a chuckle. It was the first time she'd heard Dara's voice. Dara nodded.
"Yeah, umm, there's a lot I want to talk to you about," she said.
"Okay..," Riot nodded, but she sounded unsure. It was odd that Dara asked her to come alone but she had no idea what might be on her mind.
"So... first I want to say...," Dara paused a moment to take a breath and steel her courage. "...you're the only one I trust at school," she said. She bit her lip after the minor confession to keep the rest of her secrets from pouring out all at once.
"Okay, thanks I guess," Riot nodded. "Why though?" she asked. "Not complaining, but I thought Quinn was your bestie." Dara nodded with a sigh.
"I did too," she said. "But, I found out she's just keeping an eye on me," she shrugged dismissively. "But, you've been nice to me without being told to spy on me, I hope," she said. Riot nodded.
"I trust you, and I want you to trust me, so I'm going to tell you some things that no one knows, okay?" Dara said.
"Sure, I can keep a secret," Riot replied. Dara flicked her hand upward to summon her Slate, then typed something on the glass surface. After a few moments, the slate disintegrated and she held a white cylinder with a red air horn attached.
"I'm going to make some noise, okay?" Dara asked. Riot looked at the airhorn, then back at Dara with a curious look.
"Okay," Riot said, she took two steps back so she wouldn't get a faceful of noise. Dara raised her hand in the air and pressed the button. BRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWP Riot closed her eyes to let the sound course through her. She could feel the energy vibrating around her body as strength filled her muscles. After a few moments, she felt she could manage the extra energy and opened her eyes. She was surprised to see Dara glowing with the same orange aura Riot knew she had around herself.
"What'd you do?" Riot asked. She opened and closed her hands to slowly dissipate the energy she absorbed from the sound.
"One of my secrets is I can copy Unique powers...," Dara said. She was nervous that Riot would be offended somehow, but she just nodded.
"That's pretty cool," Riot said.
"Thanks," Dara smiled. "But, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I just didn't want you to find out later and think I was hiding it or something," she said. "You don't hate Ms. Sharp like most people, right?" Dara asked. Riot shook her head to answer the question while wondering about the sudden subject change.
"It might've been a mistake to try and kill God; but, Ms. Sharp did a lot of good for the multiverse too. This school wouldn't be here without her. I wouldn't be here without her," she said. Dara smiled.
"Yeah,.. me neither," she said. "So... hypothetically... what if I told you... I met Ms. Sharp on Wednesday and that's why I didn't make it to lunch." Riot chuckled and patted Dara on the shoulder.
"I'd say we caught up Thursday and you don't need an excuse," Riot said. Dara nodded.
"I know. This isn't an excuse, it's a secret," Dara said.
"But... everyone's looking for her. Ballisea has eyes and ears in every universe," Riot said. Dara shook her head. She spread her arms to gesture at the glowing room around them.
"Not through these walls," she said. "And, Ms. Sharp has a disguise that keeps her from being detected."
"What does she want?" Riot asked. "If she's hiding... why is she back?"
"That's another secret," Dara said. She blurted it out before she changed her mind. "She came back for me. Ms. Sharp and Melody are my parents." Riot's eyes widened in surprise.
"You're Ms. Sharp's daughter?" Riot asked the question just to help her understand what Dara said. The dark-haired girl nodded.
"Whoa...," Riot said.
"But there's more...," Dara said.
"More? What else could there be?" Riot asked. "You're the daughter of the greatest woman in the universe? She's so amazing she came back from the dead and I'm barely able to get my head around that. I don't think there's anything that can surprise me anymore," she said with a giggle.
"Well... I told you those other secrets just so I can tell you this one and have it make sense," Dara said. "You more than most students know what Ms. Sharp is capable of. She explained everything to me," Dara said. She looked Riot in the eyes for a moment while she built her courage.
"There are two types of people in this world," Dara said. "...and I'm not one of them."
"Huh?" Riot asked.
"Zeros and Uniques," Dara said. "More specifically, human Zeros and Uniques are the two types of people."
"But, you're Unique? Aren't you?" Dara nodded.
"According to my mom, I don't count as a human because of where I was born...," Dara said. "...on Mars."