Quick Silver (girlxgirl) (ON HOLD)

Chapter 6 - Connected

Chapter 6

Connected

The white gloved hands intertwined together in a lap made of vibrant blue fabric. The professor watched Sascha sleeping in the red velvet chair across the carriage. Her head lay gently against the fabric, her breathing deep and even. She was so young, so unprepared for this responsibility. She shouldn't have been put in this position for another year. The big decisions in the other Sascha's life, the decisions that would shape her entire future, weren't meant to begin yet. But for the actions of another, they would be in an entirely different place right now. Uncommon feelings of anger brewed in the professor whenever this topic came to mind.

Fiona's professor had let things go awry. Had gotten used to Fiona's unfocused techniques after two fort-years of working together. When the information had come forward that Sascha's charge would be impacted by this sloppiness, Sascha's professor had requested a background on the silver-in-training that had changes the future. The file that had arrived a week earlier was thick and coloured with disciplinary action. Fiona's silver was a distracted trainee. This wasn't the first mistake that she'd made in her charges life, but this was by far the most serious.

The professor reached into the beaten leather bag resting against the side of the chair and pulled of the copy of the file. The gloved finger quickly pushed ink across the page until the section in question appeared. Hovering over the text, the words wound up through the air and into the fabric of the gloves.

Fiona had been meant to be out of the city for the next year. Her silver was supposed to ensure that Fiona read an email from a friend teaching English in Korea. That email was supposed to ask her if she wanted to move over there for a job. Fiona's was supposed to accept the job and leave the country last month. But Fiona's charge had begun to focus on her charges feelings for Sascha, and had broken he most cardinal of rules for a silver. She'd made a calculated decision to go against what was written and decided that Fiona should pursue a relationship with Sascha. She had purposefully rerouted the email into the spam folder. Fiona hadn't checked her until it was too late and her obsession with Sascha was already in full force. Now everything was changing. All the things that had been written for that future were destroyed and a new one was being written. A new one that would throw off the timelines of so many other people. The ripple through the Silver community was heavy. The professor was outraged that Fiona's silver hadn't been pulled from the program, but somehow, she'd been given another chance.

And tonight, a decision needed to be made. Not a decision so much as a directive. An action that would solidify this timeline, and the professor wasn't sure that Sascha was ready to make this choice. She was so young. Young and inexperienced. She wasn't ready to implement the hard choices yet. At least that how her instructor felt. And she definitely wasn't ready to move into the observatory. To have her instruction shared. She needed more time to perfect her skills. To figure out how to hone her awareness. To be awake while her charge was. To fight the pull and control herself. She was coming along so well, but she needed more time. The professors at the school would expect more from her. They wouldn't give her the time and attention she needed.

The professor knew that she should probably be the one to solidify this path, but it just didn't feel like the time. It didn't feel right. She's never interfered with the biology of her charge before. She'd only ever influenced her actions indirectly. This was a much more direct action. Much more invasive, and Sascha wasn't ready for it.

The professor glanced across the carriage as Sascha mumbled in her sleep and adjusted her position. Pushing out of the chair, the professor floated across the space and stared down at her sleeping form, wanting nothing more than to lift her up and place her onto the more comfortable bed along the wall, but that much physical contact was out of the question. The gloves provided some protection, but the thoughts were still there. The emotions. Touching her like that would mean that every moment of the dreams would transfer directly into the professor's stream of consciousness. The filtering process for the dreams was important. It pulled out the important details and let the background noise fade away. There was so much background information swimming around with the actions of the other's Sascha's life. So much more than what would filter into the notebook. That much data would overwhelm the professor's sensibilities and make it impossible to function for at least a day.

Just one little touch would be enough to indicate whether or not it was time to interfere. Placing a still gloved finger against Sascha's forehead, the images come rushing through, faster and more vivid than the written words ever did. Images flashed quickly. The other Sascha and Fiona sitting down to eat. Laughing together. A bottle of wine polished off and another one started. Fiona flipping quickly through Sascha's purse while the other girl disappeared into the bathroom. Both girls stepping out onto the balcony sharing a cigarette.

This was it. The influence needed to happen now. It needed to be the other Sascha's decision. She needed to be the initiator for the future to remain on path. As distasteful as it was to make her the one responsible for what was about to happen, this was what Silvers did. They kept the future on path, regardless of how they felt about the actions of their charges. The professor touched a panel in the carriage wall. The gears slid silently as the wall moved, revealing a series of shelves with rows of bottles. The professor picked up a small copper bottle with a small flower shaped stopper.

Stepping over to Sascha, the professor stopped and watched the front of her gown flicker in a small silver current, no more than six inches across. The cord between her and her charge. The bond that allowed the influence to travel to the other world. It was stronger now than it had been even two days ago, and it was always more visible during sleep when the information transfer was at its busiest. Until that bond was broken, the involvement of the Silvers in a person's life was complete. It would go away once the portion of their life that was directed was finished. The cord was also the only way to influence the biological responses of a charge. The professor pulled the stopper out of the bottle and poured three small drops of the pale pink liquid onto the silver ripple. The silver cord flashed. The length of it disappearing through the side of the carriage. The gossamer thread that held them together now carried the liquid that would drive the other Sascha. The lust elixir that would give Sascha the push she needed to sleep with Fiona. It was no longer her decision to make.

With a deep breath, and a small wave of guilt, the professor capped the bottle, placed it back on the shelf and slid the wall shut once again. When the carriage was returned to normal and the fabric of the cord had once again disappeared, the professor settled back into the chair in a cloud of blue fabric, and waited for Sascha to wake up.