Inhuman Brain

If Cradle wasn't as quick or effective in assessing me and how to target me, it might have had to do with my emotion resistance. If he had difficulty with Sveta, it might have had to do with the fact that there were no veins for her emotions to run through, her brain maintained a different construction.

- Heavens 12.9

_______

Those thudding hearts shriveled, bile churned inside her, and despair threatened to consume her brain, insofar as she had an actual thinking-organ.

- Black 13.z

________

It was Tricks who shot. Tricks was in their ninety-ninth percentile for accuracy. Part of that was Teacher's gift of coordination. He didn't miss.

One shot, clean through the forehead. The grasping, flailing tendrils drooped, then collapsed, flat on the floor. She went from being a bear in stature to being a piece of clothing dropped on the floor.

"Cathound! Find the others!" The Wasp Commander called out. There were similarities between this one and two other capes he had seen in research he'd done. Tress and Strung Out. But there were no exact matches.

Tress was very similar to this, however. A mask, tendrils. But she didn't have a human form. The tendrils were closer to being piano wire than these flat strips.

The Wasp Commander looked for details, and saw the organs he was looking for. Same as in Tress's notes. Unidentifiable, pulsing, struggling for life-

She was alive.

"Tricks! The organs!" he shouted, as he aimed his own weapon.

Tress reached across the room and pulled away. Tricks's shot landed, catching the tail end of the organs that dragged along the floor.

*

"Your forehead," Swansong said. Tress had approached close enough for the women to see one another.

"My brain isn't behind my forehead. It's cosmetic. It's really shitty, awful cosmetic and I have no idea if it will heal."

"It should. And we have Lookout for the little things," Swansong said.

*

"Okay," Sveta said. She took in a deep breath, then said, "I'm going to keep my organs nonfunctional until I'm far from here and I can get help. It felt like something internal broke. If something happens-"

"I'll let people know, so you don't choke your organs for too long. The Harbinger will do the same, if I can't," Swansong said. Still more concern in her eyes. For Tress, now.

-  Dying 15.z