Episode 093

                “Time makes all things possible. I can wait.”
                                Starscream, Transformers

                "If I didn't know that you were a pussy, I'd think you were scary."

                Phillip stood before Orson, the larger man tied up from head to toe, and hanging suspended upside down. But the thick gaze Orson gave Phillip was in no way inhibited by his orientation. In fact, it seemed to magnify it.

                "I mean, seriously." Phillip kept talking. "I mean, not many people can take hanging upside down for hours on end. And you're courting over a day and a half."

                "It's the vitamins." Orson answered coldly and indiscriminantly.

                "Ah." Phillip exclaimed, faking a touched expression. "The statue speaks. And here I was, thinking this was going to be a one-way conversation."

                "I can bet you like to listen to yourself talk." Orson chidded, his face painfully red. Otherwise, however, he showed no sign of the torment. "Since that's probably the only audience that doesn't make fun of you."

                "For a condemned man, you've got a lot of spirit." Phillip observed.

                "I'm dead." Orson shrugged, the act causing him to sway. "What've I got to lose?"

                "Time, really." Phillip nodded, sliding his hands into his suit pockets. "You can die in a couple of days, or in a couple of weeks. You can die with most of your corpse in tact for the good and peace of mind for your family, if you had one. Or you can die a gruesome death and end up as shark food or something like that."

                "I'll take my chances with the shark." Orson smiled. "I've eaten much worse, even when it was trying to eat me."

                "Pity it didn't finish the job." Phillip mumbled glumly. He turned to head out.

                "Hang on." Orson said, having some trouble swallowing. "Give a condemned man a last request." He tried. Phillip turned around from the door. He leaned against the closed, metal frame, thinking. After a moment, though, he nodded as he crossed his arms.

                "Tell me why." Orson asked sincerely. "Tell me why and how."

                "How is really simple." Phillip chuckled. "It's something that, to this day, I'm amazed the Investigator's Clan didn't pick up on."

                "What was that?" Orson asked.

                "Why, Jericho and I." Phillip nodded. "He and I were cooperating the whole time." Phillip laughed, then coughed nervously. "Well, up until I undermined his efforts to the Triumvirate. I got the benefits and he got the blame."

                "The Triumvirate?" Orson said, staring up at Phillip. His face suddenly lit up. "You're the one who sent that fax." Phillip smiled, tapping his own nose head-on. "That way, you can cement your position as the leader of two Clans before anyone else can protest and attempt a coup."

                "Right you are." Phillip nodded. "Lord knows, Ken might, but by the time he thinks to try, I'll be so fully entrenched that it won't matter. By the time anyone tries anything, the fortress will be complete, and I will be ushering in a new age of humanity."

                Phillip laughed and turned towards the door. "Well, Orson. It's been fun. but I've got to run." He stopped and turned around at the open door. "Just hang out here for a while, huh?"

                "That was so funny, I forgot to laugh." Orson sent after him, his eyes razors as always.

                "The bomb was made of professional-grade explosives." Ledger explained as he stood against the wall, the circle of seats in Everett's apartment filled with the other knights. "That has the cancelling affect that, while these materials are rare and theoretically easy to trace, they are usually bought by smart people who know how to cover their tracks."

                "Do you have any leads?" Edgar asked, from the chair closest to the the presenter.

                "Leads, no." Ledger shrugged. "But I don't need any. I know who did this."

                "Who?" Armand asked deftly. Sydney rolled her eyes.

                "The Brotherhood." Everett answered, sitting in his chair next to Armand's end of the couch. "They're the type of people who would have the connections, the means, to get access to an explosive of this caliber. Right?"

                "And they do happen to fit the category of 'people we've pissed off recently'." Ledger claried emotionlessly. "But then again, this was Roland's car, so that does broaden the category significantly."

                "Excuse me for having an opinion." The white knight defended.

                "It's not your opinion that most people have a problem with, Roland." Edgar said, having more and more trouble hiding his smile. "It's really just you."

                "So I'm gathering." He turned to Everett. "So, what do you want to do? Go vigilante style?"

                "Personally," Everett shrugged. "I'd be willing to call bygones on it."

                Silence.

                "You're joking, right?" Ledger said from across the coffee table, looking in shocked dismay at the other black man in the room.

                "No." Everett said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his legs. "I say we leave it alone for right now."

                "And?" Roland asked. "Please tell me there's an 'and' involved in that statement somewhere."

                "There is." Everett nodded. "And we wait."

                Silence.

                "We wait?" Edgar asked. "We wait for what?"

                "The next attack." Everett said, simply. He looked at the dismay of his audience and sat forward. "In Geometry, when you're plotting a graph, you need at least three points in order to have a clear picture of where a line is traveling to, right?" A few nods around the coffee table. "Well, it's the same principle here. We've got the sniper, we've got this car bombing. Now, I want to wait for the next one."

                The group was quiet for several moments. Finally, Roland nodded his head in acceptance. "Okay." He nodded. "You're a loon."

                Malcolm and Marilyn sat across from each other in the food court at the university, both focusing their efforts on their respective studies. Malcolm translated some notes he had taken, while Marilyn worked diligently at some simple book work.

                "So." Malcolm said after a silent moment. "I guess Victor rescended his order that you couldn't be around another guy without him around."

                "Sort of." Marilyn answered, her eyes skimming over the page. "He hasn't brought it up, so I've forgotten about it."

                "Convienent."

                "I couldn't get work done, otherwise." She said, still focusing. She scribbled down a few more notes, then she looked up at Malcolm. "Um, Malcolm?" She asked, her voice suddenly much lighter and more hesitant.

                "Yeah." He said, still staring at his pages.

                "I've got this bad feeling." She said, looking around. "I don't know what it is. Maybe it's just the heat, but I really think something bad's happening, or going to happen or . . ."

                Malcolm looked up and just shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He said with a reassuring smile. "It's nothing. You're just anxious. That's all. We've got a while, but in all honesty, exams aren't too far away."

                "Exams." Marilyn exclaimed exhaustedly. "Thanks. I'd completely forgotten about them."

                "It's easy to do." He chuckled.

                "Now, I've got another problem to worry about." She just laughed and moved to go back to her studying. She didn't get very far. “Uh, Malcolm.” She said in a sweet voice as she nervously twiddled her pencil between her fingers. “I, uh, I need to ask you a question.”

                “Shoot.” He said, still looking at his notes.

                "I don't know how to say this." She started slowly. "I mean, I, it's hard for me to ask."

                "Don't worry about it." He said, looking up at her, the same reassuring smile on his face. "It's me. you can ask me anything. You HAVE asked me anything." He joked, making her smile. "There you go. You can laugh."

                "Yes, I can." She said with a smile. She looked around, her smile becoming exasberated. "Look, Malcolm." She asked, getting his full attention. "This is awkward, so I'm just going to come right out and ask it, okay?" He motioned his acceptance. “Um, have you ever, you know thought about two girls together?” She asked. Malcolm suddenly got a worried look on his face. “Have you, you know, ever thought about Ru and me together?”

                “Why?” He asked in a threatened voice.

                “Just, have you?” Marilyn pressed.

                Malcolm looked around the area, then back to Marilyn. he seemed to consider her for a moment, then narrowed his eyes, considering her even more thoroughly. “Promise you won’t be mad?” He finally asked, looking ready to run for the door.

                “I promise.” She said. “Please be honest.

                “I have.” He said, his body tensing like he was ready to block a punch. “But just, you know, kind of in passing.” He immediately rattled off after his answer, trying to lessen any damage he might take.