2018.10.25 Hypnagogia: The Night Caller

Hypnagogia: The Night Caller
Mike makes a late night call to Bieta's house. Once he convinces her to invite him over, he shows her something which has been hidden from her. Later, Mike decides to satisfy his curiosity about the house intranet.
IC Date	Oct 25, 2018
IC Time	20:00 p.m.- 24:00 p.m.
Players	Bieta ST, Mike Stephenson
Location	Log Lodge/Living Area
Spheres	Mage

Log Lodge - Living Area(#10336RM) The interior of this spacious open concept lodge is built of cedar logs, with rustic features throughout. There are a few things that stand out about this place. Tree trunks run up through the construction of the house like pillars before spreading their slender branches flush up against the roof above. A slender tree trunk hooks back and forth, following the line of the stairway, which leads to the upstairs hallway before its limbs interweave themselves with the others up above.

A stonework facade along one wall contains a large wood burning fire place, which provides some light and spreads warmth throughout the whole living area when a fire is lit on colder nights. Either votive and pillar candles spread throughout the area or electric lamps and recessed lights provide illumination. On either side of the stonework facade are picture windows, which allow for moonlight to spill into the room, washing the trees in silver and giving them the feel of a magical forest, as long as the moon is not new.

It's at that sweet spot of time. Just after when a dinner meal would be finished, before people were ready to go to bed that the phone rings. When answered, the most subtle of clicks happens, just before Mike would finally speak. "Hello?"

A young girl's voice comes over the line, saying, "Dymna residence. Who is calling?" In the distance, the soft voice of Bieta can be heard asking, "Kasia, who is it on the phone?" There is the sound of approaching footsteps just before Kasia says, "I don't know, ma ma. A man."

Mike can't help but chuckle silently to himself. "I'm looking to speak to the good Doctor please." He hears the footsteps and approaching voice, eyes closing as he tries to focus through the rather archaic device to get a sense of the location. "Tell her it's Mike, he was calling to see if she was ok again."

There is a muffled sound over the the mouthpiece before the little girl's voice can be heard to say, "He says he's Mike. He wanted to call to see if you were ok...again." She giggles. Biata's muffled voice says, "May I have the phone please?" There is the sound of the phone changing hands and then Bieta says, "Hello, Mike." There is a slight tremor in her voice when she speaks the greeting.

Almost.. almost.. Mike blinks his eyes open at a brief headache as that muffling disrupts what he was trying to do, before he really got it. Shaking his head, he waits for Bieta and frowns at the tremor. "Bieta.. I'm sorry I had to leave as I did.. are.. really, are you ok? I was a little worried. But they seem to be in a watch pattern.."

Bieta's voice quivers when she says, "Mike...watch pattern? Mike, I am confused and...some woman I saw only once at Roasters...the one who was...just a minute..." In the distance, you could here Bieta say, "Kasia, please go upstairs to play for now. Just until ma ma gets off the phone, alright?" Bieta speaks into the phone again, "she was the half drunk woman we ran into on the sidewalk who kept insisting you were one of those 'elusive' ones. She wasn't making much sense. After you left, she handed me some papers telling me 'we have been looking for a babysitter for you' or something like that. Insisted that I call the number on the paperwork. Her name was Linnete, that was her name! Well, when I got those papers home...Mike this has to be some kind of a sick joke. It has to be some kind of hoax but...there was stuff about some rather gruesome and bizarre murders that happened in the woods...what kind of person keeps that kind of thing on them and then just hands that to someone before saying, 'here, I want to babysit your child and this is why'"?

Mike is silent for a quiet moment, contemplating. Finally, he shakes his head a little. "They've been watching you longer.." He trails off a moment, a muffled curse is given. "Bieta.. do you trust me enough to have me come over? I can't keep this line secure for too long... You said you weren't that asleep.. Well.. if that means what I think it does.. I'm awake.. and I'm willing to help. Ok?"

There is a pause over the line and then Bieta says, "Mike, sometimes you confuse me. But, I am not too tired...you can come over. I don't really know what to do about anything anymore. Let me give you my address." Bieta starts to tell him her street address over the phone. "After dark, things will look almost pitch black out there but we have lamps with motion sensors which will switch on when you get close to them. We keep the porch light on after dark."

There's a pause as Bieta tells the address. A small sigh, before Mike finally speaks again. "Ok, Bieta. I'll be there soon. I hope I can help you understand more when I get there. I mean.. I'm new. But you seem.. well.. anyways. I'll see you soon."

It's about 20 minutes later that Mike would get to her house. Parked outside, he'd take a moment with that laptop open to do a sweep of the place.. Just in case.. before a small nod is given and he heads for the front door. The motion sensors are almost not sure about turning on for him. Something about him just has people.. not remember. But that's ok, he's used to that sort of thing. As Mike pauses by the door, he knocks politely, waiting patiently to be let in.

Bieta opens the door and says, "Hello, Mike." She gestures for Mike to enter and says, "Please."

Mike smiles towards Bieta, nods and enters into the house. He looks around, giving a soft whistle of respect. "Almost worth the lack of tech.. almost." Chuckling softly, he looks over to Bieta then with a small grin,"You.. got added to my list. Those I let remember me. I hope you don't mind.." Mike muses a moment. "Shall we sit? We can talk about what happened and maybe I can help you understand. I can try, anyways."

Kasia was in the kitchen getting herself a glass of water as Bieta led Mike over to a sofa in front of the fireplace. "This was my parents place to get away from it all. My Dad loved it out here and Mother came to love it out here. Though, I think she found her own way to bring a piece of what she liked most out here, she tried not to overload the place with technology. My father and mother had an understanding; he was this real outdoorsman type, she was more of a city girl but she loved Dad more than the city," Bieta nods and smiles. "Can I get you something to drink, Mike?"

For Kasia, it's probably a little odd, Mike doesn't really register. At all. Even if Bieta points him out, he'll just.. fade out of her mind and be gone. Mike, for his part, smiles towards Bieta, nodding a little as he slips his pack off and sits on the sofa. "A bottle of water would be appreciated."

Beita heads for the kitchen, she casts a glance over one shoulder and says, "Oh, we don't have bottled water here. We have our own well water. It tastes wonderful." Beita grabs some glasses down out of the cupboard and walks over to the fridge. She dispenses ice and water into each glass and returns to the sofa. Setting the glasses down on coasters, Bieta says, "If we need to take water with us, then we carry some in stainless steel canteens." Bieta sits down next to Mike, she looks at him and bites her upper lip. "Mike, before we start..." She takes a moment to look at her glass of water,"I need to tell you...something rather personal...about my family...and then I need to ask you...something that might be...probably will be a rather personal question about you, if you are alright with doing that?"

Mike pauses at Bieta's response, thoughtful, but finally he would simply accept the water it seems. A small sip is taken, sampling, as Bieta sits down next to him. He hesitates for a moment, then slowly nods. "Yes. That's fine. If it's something I can share, I will, Bieta."

Bieta closes her eyes for a moment before looking at Mike and says, "Please do not talk about what I am going to tell you around anyone else. Right now, things seem so messed up and I feel like I'm going to die of a bad case of nerves if I can't confide in someone something." Bieta takes a sip of her water. "I told you that my Mother was a brilliant programmer, which was true. However, as I got older...I remember that sometimes she would say these strange things to me that didn't make any sense. I was too young really to know what to make out of any of it...I really don't remember much. What I do remember is my Father taking me aside one day to explain to me that ma ma had gotten herself into trouble with the law but that she had not done anything that was criminal. He told me that the doctors had found out that ma ma was sick and told me she had to go stay in a hospital called an asylum in order to get help. As I got older, I learned my mother had been diagnosed with schizophrenia...that the odd things she had been saying to me were...because of her condition. She really thought...she really thought they were real."

Mike watches Bieta, nodding firmly at her request and listening as she would go on to explain to him. He holds his water quietly, frowning thoughtfully before sighing softly. "Such a loss.." Shaking his head a little, he'd focus back on Bieta. "Please.. go on?"

Bieta sets her glass down and clasps her hands in her lap. "Mike, sometimes...you say things to me that don't make any sense to me. Sometimes, it sounds a little like conspiracy theory and other times...these things are just really confusing to me...almost exactly like...some of the things my mother would say to me." Bieta pauses for a moment, then says, "I guess this is where I wanted to ask you a rather...personal...question. I just don't know if it makes sense for me to even be asking it?" Bieta reaches out and touches Mike's arm and then withdraws her hand. She releases a sigh.

Mike smiles slightly. "Confusing, isn't it? I've been there." He takes a drink of his water, then sets it down. Reaching out, he tries to take Bieta's hand, watching her closely. "I told you from the start. I'm here to help. Ask. Let me pick if I can answer, rather than assume on my behalf, alright?"

Bieta nods and says, "I am sorry, I needed to touch you to figure out if you were real. Its just you said I was one of the few people you would let remember you and I thought that was really strange. I couldn't think of anyone ever saying that to another person and...well...in a Beautiful Mind...John Nash finds out no one else has ever heard of the roommate he had in college and he figures out that his roommate never ages...which makes no sense...so he figures out his college roomate was a delusion all along." Bieta swallows and takes a breath, "With how weird everything has been and not making any sense...schizophrenia can be inherited...and I really didn't want you not to be a real person." Tears start rolling down Bieta's face and Kasia walks over to ask, "Ma ma, are you alright?" Kasia looks at Mike and then at Bieta. "Did Mike make you cry?"

Mike smiles gently to Bieta and nods a little. "Linnete saw me. Interacted with me. Told you I'm an elusive one. What I meant, Bieta is most people forget me.. Something about me just makes people.. not notice. Unless I do something to draw serious attention." He shrugs a little, gives Bieta's hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go as Kasia comes over. He didn't want to give the wrong impression after all. "If I did, I do apologize. But I think this is more relief, Miss Kasia. I'm sure she is ok. ok..?"

Bieta looks over at Kasia and says, "Mike did not make me cry, Kasia. I am just a little stressed out."

Kasia gives Mike a stern look out of the corner of one eye as she heads back towards the kitchen, saying, "allllright." Once back in the kitchen, Kasia calls out to Bieta, "Do you want the chocolate icecream!?"

Beita says, "No thank you, Kasia."

Kasia calls back, "alright! Are you going to kiss?!"

Bieta says, "Kasia!"

Kasia giggles in response. Bieta looks over at Mike and says, "I am really sorry. I don't know what has gotten into her." Bieta's cheeks are a little more flushed than what her tears had previously made them. "No Kasia, we are not going to kiss. Please go upstairs!" "Awwww...ma ma, I was only teasing," Kasia says. Bieta says, "I am well aware of that. Please go upstairs. You aren't in trouble." Bieta waits until after she has heard the soft pitter patter of feet going up the steps before looking at Mike. Bieta says, "I am really sorry."

Mike smiles warmly to Kasia at her look, understanding there in his gaze. He watches her go into the kitchen, then chuckles quietly at the calling back and forth. A warm smile is given to Bieta with a shake of his head. "Not that I would exactly mind.. but I also think that's something to review another time..as..for your mom..I don't think she was schizophrenic. I think she knew something and I think they put her on drugs to suppress it.." Mike frowns a moment, then shrugs. He shifts and pulls his bag forward, opening his laptop. "Maybe.. I can show you. I got a couple of miles around here. Tell me a spot you'd like to see.. I can show you what they're trying to hide from you. ok?"

Bieta says, "alright. How about the waiting room down in my office?"

Mike nods a little and starts typing. After a few moments, he moves that mouse to pull up a window in that downward flowing green code. It reveals her waiting room in perfect detail, a corner shot, like what a camera would do. "That's something they tend to say about those who.. well.. are unique. Something to suppress them. Make them fit in the world, when they're so much more than that."

Bieta frowns and looks at her watch before returning her view to his computer, "That's my waiting room. I don't have any cameras down there. Did somebody bug my workplace?" She gets up and says, "I'll be right back. I need to take some medicine...for a condition I have. I'll be right back." Bieta's voice quivers a little.

Mike shakes his head. "No bug. I can carry this down there and show you if you want.." He trails off at her comment and frowns, watching her. "Condition? What condition Bieta? It's very important.. so please, be honest with me.. ok?"

Bieta looks at her hands and sighs, "I take anti-seizure medicine so that I won't have petit mal seizures." She looks back up at Mike for only a moment and then looks away. "I'm sorry, I really don't like talking about it. Not long after I was diagnosed, my husband walked out the front door and never came back. I guess he wasn't interested in being married to a sick woman."

Mike scowls, then sighs, shaking his head a little. "Idiots." Frowning a moment, Mike looks over at Bieta. "I have some friends that might be able to help, Bieta.. I.. just don't know enough." He shrugs with that. "I want to help you.. and I think.. I think there's something more going on here, from what Linnete said.. how long ago were you diagnosed?"

"About two years ago. My husband noticed that their was something wrong with me one morning when I was making breakfast. Kasia was just starting Kindergarten." Bieta presses her lips between her teeth and fights back tears. "I remember, I was making scrambled eggs and we had a television on the counter turned on in order to get the weather. There was some sort of announcement...I can't remember what about now...I saw a picture they showed on the screen and then I was seeing all these pictures of things in front of me...they just kept coming really fast...and I couldn't make any sense of what I was seeing. When it stopped, I was lying on the couch and my husband and daughter were asking me if I was alright. I didn't know what was happening...that was the first time anyone ever saw it happen...I didn't even know I was having seizures, I didn't know what it was. I was scared that I might be losing it like my mother did."

Mike listens closely to Bieta, frowning. He nods slowly, thoughtfully. "That's.. not a seizure, Bieta.. That.. sounds almost like data processing. My computer does that too. Rapid assimilation of information.. hmm.." Mike sighs quietly, shaking his head a little. "Too many pieces, not enough answers. Bieta.." Mike watches her a moment. "Do you trust me..? Trust me enough to not take the pills anymore..? Maybe.. Maybe I can help that too."

"Mike, how can I stop taking those pills if they stop whatever is happening? What would happen if I was behind the wheel of a car or in the middle of surgery the next time...whatever it is happens? I mean, I could have set the eggs on fire that morning and possibly injured myself badly. This isn't something that has happened when I wanted it to happen or stopped when I wanted it to stop," Bieta sounds alarmed. "Even if it isn't a seizure, it seems to be doing something that can put me or others in danger."

Mike nods slowly. "I know. I get it. It's data, Bieta.. But data can be gathered.. I'll.. just have to stay around you for a bit. Catch when it happens and download the data. Then it should stop, once it's not in your head. Or at the least.. I can help you learn how to organize and control it. Depending on what the data is." Mike frowns a moment. "Look.. I know. It sounds.. crazy. Whatever you want to call it. This.. this is how they put everyone under control. And.. I can help you get away from that."

Bieta crosses her arms and begins to pace. "I have appointments with clients I have to keep, Mike. I can't just take off work for however long it would take for you to catch me...accessing data...so you could find out what it was and...download it...or whatever."

Mike shakes his head a little. "Most won't even know I'm there. Otherwise, I'm around as you're hiring me for a cyber security assessment. That's what I do anyways, Bieta. That's how I help others.." He'd point at the screen. "You see it yourself. You know there's no camera there. Shall we go there so you can see yourself looking at it?" Mike shrugs. "It's not a seizure.. you.. have something to you. Something unique."

Bieta holds her head in her hands and says, "Oh, this is nuts but alright. Just a minute." Bieta disappears upstairs for a few minutes and then comes back down. "Sorry. I needed to make sure that Kasia got off to bed. She still has school tomorrow morning. Normally, I drive her to school." Bieta stops herself from chewing on her thumb nail. She steps into the kitchen long enough to grab a maglight, which looks to be just the right size and heft with which to really whollop someone over the head if anyone was skulking around outside. Looking at Mike, Bieta says, "shall we?"

Mike nods a little and types something into the laptop when Bieta goes upstairs. At her return, he quietly closes it, but carries it with him as he watches Bieta go get the light. At her question, he motions solemnly. "Lead on."

Log Lodge - Vet Office- Waiting Room(#10465R) Well maintained hardwood floors covered with a deep green oriental rug, forest green leather backed hard wood chairs with nailhead accents, and cedar wood benches lining the walls greet visitors when they first walk in through the doorway. A less professional looking addition are a couple of hand made signs with messages written in crayon by a child's hand which read 'All dogs should keep their owners on a leash while in the waiting room' and 'The Doctor is Out. Sit. Stay.' One of those two signs will be standing in a clear sign holder on the counter of the sign in desk at different times of the day.

After entering the office, Bieta flips on the lights and walks around inside. Bieta starts looking in places she believes would be obvious places for someone to put a bug like the phone.

Mike walks in after Bieta, moving to the counter to quietly open his laptop. He looks at it, then shifts to the side a little. Bieta can look at any moment and see.. well, them. They're in the room, as if being seen by a camera right above the main entrance. Mike just watches her.

Bieta puts the half dismantled phone down and glances over at Mike and his laptop. She moves to look for a camera lens on his computer and then looks back at the screen again. "Wait, if the door is that way and we are facing this way, then shouldn't we be looking at the door on your screen instead of...the picture isn't right." Bieta walks over to the door. Grabbing a nearby chair, she pulls it over and stands on it in order to run her hand along the top of the door frame. "There is nothing."

Mike leans casually against the counter, smiling towards Bieta. "Crazy, right? There's science to it. Sort of. But there's more to it than that. A truth.. that I think you can see.. and have pills that stop you from seeing." He motions towards Bieta. "I can show you more, if you want.. There's no camera. It's not a trick. It's reality. This is reality around us and I'm just giving you a view of what I see all the time when I look at this code."

Bieta smiles at Mike and says, "alright, there has to be a trick to this. I feel like I am walking into one of those houses where all the floors are at odd angles so you can stand a broom up and walk away without it falling. You know...they have them at theme parks...water flows uphill instead of down...I do not remember now what they are called."

Mike frowns, muses, then finally shrugs. "Would it help if I told you I'm taking a quantum picture of the location via the electronic field of my laptop to be able to reflect reality and that I then can modify the location or type of quarks that are around to change things?" He pauses, then nods a little. "Another show and tell then. Give me something you know is yours.. and don't mind me changing to something else."

"I could not understand much of what you just said," Bieta says. She hesitates before undoing a chain from around her neck and removing a wedding ring. Bieta places the ring into Mike's hand and then waits.

Mike smiles a little. "I know. A bunch of techno babble to say I can hack reality..." He trails off as Bieta removes that ring. Frowning at it, he looks at her then. "Bieta.. While I can find info.. I'm not as good at this edit. I might not be able to change it back. Are you really ok with that?"

Bieta looks down at the ring in her hands and then back at Mike, "I am not sure what all that means. You did say for me to give you something which I know is mine. We could go back to the house and I might find something less valuable there."

Mike hesitates. "But it's the one thing you'll know.. like know know.." Carefully, he reaches out to pick up the ring, then sets it on the counter by the laptop. Closing the video, Mike starts typing. "Alright. What do you want to turn it into? Gold tends to be a classic. Silver, copper even. Something to be obvious it changed?" He looks over at Bieta. "Reality.. Bieta, Reality is based on truth. Truth of what you know. Feel. You have drugs in you masking that from you.. keeping you asleep. I'm trying to wake you up."

"uh...the ring is already gold. It is my wedding ring. If we want an obvious change, then I guess white or rose gold would be out. What about platinum?" Bieta looks back and forth from Mike to her ring.

Mike nods a little to Bieta, returning to his typing. That work is fast, efficient and as he types, the effect is subtle to start, but quickly takes over the ring, a very obvious shift, gold to platinum. Mike hits enter on the laptop, eyes it, nods and then picks up the ring to offer it to Bieta. "Platinum."

Bieta gasps as she lifts her hand a little, with the ring in her palm. "It weighs different." Bieta holds the ring under the light and looks back at Mike, "this is like alchemy, only without using a bunch of chemical mixtures from the dark ages heavy on the mercury." Bieta hands it back to Mike and sits down at the sign in desk. "I do not know how you did that. I was sitting right here when you did it. I watched it change." Bieta pinches her arm. "I know I am awake because I just pinched myself and it hurt." Mike nods calmly, letting her feel it and hand it back. He sets it back down where he had before and goes back to typing. "So.. obviously nothing accepted by reality says this could happen. Then what's the next answer? Something reality doesn't agree to. Magic. Reality Hacking. Whatever you want to call it. It makes things happen that most agree wouldn't." He grins wryly. "Like a distributor cap in a car's engine suddenly being on a nearby roof. No one notices.. but it happens."

Mike says, “Do you want it changed back? Or keep it this way as a reminder that Reality is a joke?”

"And this all has something to do with quantum mechanics...quantum physics...whatever?" Bieta asks. "I did not take more than the required courses in science for my major when I was in school, so I really do not know much about...well, I am not sure...if the laws of thermo-dynamics still apply, then it would have cost a good amount of energy to do what you did, wouldn't it cost you about as much energy to put it back?"

Mike grins wryly at Bieta then. "Yeah. It's called Paradox. Does.. weird things. But it's ok. Worth it to show you the Truth, Bieta. I'll accept the price I have to pay, to show you I can help you." He nods at the ring on the counter then. "So.. do you want it back to gold? Or keep the reminder?"

"What do you mean paradox? I am thinking you do not mean paradox in the way it is defined in the dictionary." Bieta knits her brow.

Mike chuckles a little. "Well.. yes.. and no. Paradox is what someone like me causes when they turn gold to platinum." He motions to the ring a little. "Reality always asserts itself. What people believe carries weight. And when we do things that changes what should be, we get it back." He waves if off. "This was minor. I doubt it will be anything serious. One time? I had my entire left leg become strongly magnetic.. to all metal, ferrous or not. That was awkward getting off a bus.."

"I'm sorry, what?" Bieta blinks. "You are...pulling my leg. This paradox happens every time you use ma- hack reality?"

Mike smiles softly. "Every time. I have some pending now.. That's the payback I get for changing reality. Magic. You had it right." He shrugs then. "I'm not joking. It's not easy to know how paradox will happen. Or what it will do. But any time I do something like this.. it will do it back." He points to the spot the 'camera' was at over the door. "That particular trick.. seeing the room? That's so minor, it doesn't necessarily cause paradox."

Bieta swallows and says, "so for minor things, there is not necessarily paradox?" Bieta sighs. Bieta pinches the bridge of her nose and says, "alright. I have seen some things in the past that I know normal people do not see. You are telling me that I do not have schizophrenia. So, I am seeing these things because I could do some of the things that you have done. Does this mean that my seeing these things...means I have this paradox and something bad is going to happen to me?"

Mike studies Bieta a moment, nodding thoughtfully. "No. Most minor things do not necessarily have Paradox. Seeing things doesn't cause paradox. Effects do. More serious it is.. more paradox it takes. Paradox also just generally.. goes away. In time. there's a general brush off that happens as Reality sort of grumbles but moves on, I guess you can say."

Bieta glances at Mike and says, "You must think I am really slow or something. It is just taking me some time to accept all this." She sets her ring back down and says, "I know the platinum is more expensive than the gold but...could you just turn it back. It feels odd to just..."

Mike shakes his head a little. "I just told you reality, the very thing you have trusted for a long time is malleable and you can smack it around. That's not exactly something that comes fast, Bieta, huh?" He chuckles then and smiles warmly her way. That typing taken up again, it takes Mike a little longer to convert that ring back, shifting from platinum to gold, he's managed to not warp it or anything. Well.. he did warn her. Once the shift is complete, Mike looks at his screen, nods, then looks to Bieta. "There you go. Gold."

Bieta picks up her ring again and moves her hand up and down. "The weight has changed again." She takes the ring and threads it back onto the neck chain before fastening the chain around her neck again. Bieta says, "Thank you, Mike." She looks at her watch and says, "I would like to lock up here and head back to the house. With all that has been happening, I do not like the idea of leaving Kasia in the house alone this long. We can talk some more there."

Mike nods to Bieta and closes his laptop. He would follow along behind her, heading out and waiting for her to close up before going into the house with her. Looking about, he nods and moves to his bag, putting the laptop away and shouldering it again. "So Bieta. This is where you either think I'm crazy.. or start accepting. Then it's do you really want to end up in Linnete's clutches.. or do I work to help you gain your freedom, along with Kaisa's?"

Log Lodge - Living Area(#10336RM) The interior of this spacious open concept lodge is built of cedar logs, with rustic features throughout. There are a few things that stand out about this place. Tree trunks run up through the construction of the house like pillars before spreading their slender branches flush up against the roof above. A slender tree trunk hooks back and forth, following the line of the stairway, which leads to the upstairs hallway before its limbs interweave themselves with the others up above.

A stonework facade along one wall contains a large wood burning fire place, which spreads warmth throughout the whole living area when a fire is lit on colder days. On either side of the stonework facade are picture windows which allow for natural illumination along with a wonderful view of the wooded pasture out behind the house.

Bieta holds the door open for Mike and can not help but laugh a little, "Linnete's clutches? You make her sound like she is a villain in some movie or tv series. I am sorry. I know you are trying to be serious." Bieta clears her throat, "You said something about spending a good deal of time around me to try and figure out whatever it was that my brain was accessing. What all does that mean?"

Mike shifts on his feet, hands sliding into those jacket pockets. He doesn't laugh, just looks at Bieta. "Well.. you get to judge that. Like any good show. Which one is the villain.. She'll tell you I am you know. That I try to break things." He rolls his eyes. "Reality Deviant." Shaking his head, Mike turns away a little. "I would need to be near to catch when you have the data flow.. and have my laptop near to run the program to help, Bieta. That's what I mean. How long, how, where?" He shrugs. "I can say that I can all but vanish. Most people would never know I'm there. Heck, Linnete barely realized I was there.. and she's trained to hunt people like me."

Bieta frowns, "alright, I was about to say how the reality deviant thing sounded like something out of the matrix but the whole trained to hunt people...that is more than a little creepy. How do mean you can all but vanish?" Bieta realizes she is still standing there with the door wide open, letting in all the bugs. She quickly closes it.

Mike glances at the door, then over to Bieta. He frowns a moment before finally shrugging a little. Walking over, he reaches up, staring Bieta in the eye as his hand comes to rest against her cheek, fingers against her temple. "Think. What was the first time we met? The real first time we met, Bieta?" He watches her closely, intently, as he tries to help her see past the barrier that had been there.

Bieta's breath catches for a moment and she looks Mike in the eyes. Wetting her lips, she says, "You told me we met in a sushi shop, that when I choked on sushi, you helped me but had to leave right after. Later, when we saw each other at off the record, you told me there were men with guns following me."

Mike continues to stare into Bieta's eyes. "Not what I told you, Bieta.. Think. Remember. The memory is always there. It's just masked, hidden.. Part of what I am. I didn't know who you were then.. so I left. Like I do. But I saw the men there first.."

Bieta hooded her eyes and moistened her lips. She knit her brow again, "I remember this man trying to give me a cat, he kept promising the cat would come back even if the cat left. Before that, he sat down at our table...my table...and said something about 'his loss', talking about a man who just left...right after I had stopped choking..." Bieta opens her eyes, "That was you? That is, not the man offering me a cat but the man before that."

Mike smiles softly with a small nod to Bieta. "Good. Yes. The man with the cat.. he showed up as you started to choke. Something.. was odd about him. But not my kind of odd." He shrugs a little, one brief moment, there's that look at her lips, that focus.. and then Mike steps back, lowering his hand. "There's a sense about me. Something I control, that just.. masks me from people. Your daughter won't remember me if you don't bring it up. Otherwise she won't know my name.. or really remember anything about what I did. It's a defense.. just.." He shakes his head a little. "Anyways.. you felt it. You could let me be around.. That keeps me out of sight for most.. and if I'm just here working on your cyber security..? No one will really care. Then I can be here to help you with the data."

"umm...a couple of things...We don't have the internet out here. My parents had an intranet set up here between the house and the office. If you wanted to say you were setting that back up and working on security for that...most people who know me, know that I am not big on using the internet or computers much," Bieta makes a little bit of a face. "I think it would cause more questions if we said you were working on my internet security and I am a rather bad liar."

Mike chuckles softly. "Alright. Then I'm a cyber consultant helping you get set up in case of an audit of your records. Easier to handle by electronics than paper, right? Then as an added bonus, I can actually set you up with a computer system to organize your information on your clients."

"Right," Bieta says. "Now, when you say you will be out of sight for most, I will still be able to see you in the same room with me and remember..."

Mike looks away then. A moment's pause, then he shrugs a little. "If you want. I.. control it. I have you tagged as a friendly. So I don't tend to affect friendlies. But if it will bother you, knowing I'm around, Bieta.. I can stay out of your sight too."

Bieta's cheeks look a little flushed and she clears her throat before saying, "Well, I think it would bother me if I say....went to go take a shower and came out of the bathroom without knowing you were in my room...or are you only going to be following me around my workplace during my working hours?"

Mike blinks, then shakes his head a little, laughing. He'd look over at Bieta with a smile. "I'm not a creep. Nor am I a perv, Bieta.. I'd not do that to you. If you suddenly get hit with the data flow when in such a situation.. I'll... figure something out." He shrugs slightly. "But no, I'm not going to shadow you. Just be in this area. I should be able to pick up when it's happening off of the alteration that happens."

Bieta says, "So, you do not need to stick a bug in my ear or something that will pick up the difference in my brain activity and send whatever it is to your computer?"

Mike shakes his head a little. "I could sit 3 miles away. Just use the laptop to track it. Differences in forces. But.. I can't do anything to help you, that far away. That's all.. Look. I'm not trying to interrupt your life. Just.. help you see the truth and help you deal with this.. so you can get away from them."

"Oh, alright. I understand that you are trying to help, Mike. Thank you for everything you are doing for me." Bieta says. "What do you need me to do next?"

Mike muses a moment, then shakes his head a little. "I'm going to ask for some help.." he shifts his watch and taps on it lightly. The typical smartwatch image vanishes, that green data trail, just like his laptop would pop up in miniture 3D. From there, Mike starts to tap at it lightly, focused as a text gets blurred off into the datasphere. A small nod is given and he taps the watch again, having it revert back to normal. "There.. that should give them the info to get here and help.." "I am going to go into the kitchen and make some coffee. I get the feeling we might be up late tonight." Bieta says, "I also think I might need some aspirin."

Mike watches the image vanish, there's a pause and then another green flicker on his glasses. "Seriously? Crap.." Grumbling, Mike pushes off the counter. "Bieta? hold off on the coffee. We're going to a coffee shop." He hesitates, frowns, then sighs. "Hmm.. They can't make it, too many watchers. But we can either go to the shop tonight.. or tomorrow and I'll uhm.. camp out somewhere I guess?"

Bieta surfaces from out of the kitchen with the coffeepot in her hand, saying, "What? Mike, I can't go to a coffee shop tonight. Not this late. There is no way I would get a sitter on such short notice and Kasia has to go to school tomorrow. Also, if it is too dangerous for your friend to come over here, then whomever was watching would think it was very suspicious if I left the house at this hour of the night with my daughter to go to a coffee shop. I think it would be better if we wait until tomorrow after I am done with work and have picked up Kasia from school. I do have a guest bedroom upstairs if staying here would make things more convenient. That is, if you did not drive a vehicle over here which someone might find out of place in the driveway tomorrow morning..."

Mike glances at the door, then shakes his head a little. "No car. So that'd be fine." Looking back to Bieta, he shrugs slightly. "Ok.. after work. I can hide out here.. Although.. you have no internet. That's.. an issue." Frowning, he'd sigh softly. "I'll come up with something."

Bieta says, "I am sorry about that. Should we plan for me to meet you at this cafe instead?"

Mike shakes his head slowly. "No. I can deal for one night. It's not that bad.. although.. I may look at your intranet to see what that is about. Very odd having such set up." He muses a moment, then just shrugs a little. Moving to his laptop, he closes it slowly and bags it. "I'm sorry for imposing like this, Bieta.. but.. I don't know if or when the data might start. Trigger's unknown and if you didn't take the pill, then I don't know how long until it wears off. It's safer if I stay.. until we get to speak to someone else."

Bieta nods and says, "alright. Well, if you follow me upstairs, then I can show you where the guest room and the upstairs bathroom are." She looks down at the coffee pot in her hand and says, "I must be tired. Let me put this back in the kitchen first."

Later....

Mike isn't someone that sleeps too often to start with. When he crashes, he crashes hard. But with this whole situation buzzing for him, he's quite keyed up.. and that's before the coffee.

When Bieta finally goes to bed, Mike would silently move through the house. Finding the parts of the intranet that had been taken apart, it doesn't take much to get it back up and running again. Once done, it's in the guest room that has Mike trying to actually access it.. which DOES get a reply.. but it's very confusing in the end. "In the Kingdom of the blind..?" He frowns at it a moment, trying a quick scan with the computer via those cell towers to avoid giving away location. It's a moment there and back to get the first try. "The man with one eye is king." The ACCESS DENIED error makes Mike frown at the screen. Been a long time since he's had that sort of issue.

Mike starts typing. But it's less than 5 minutes before he stops. This system, all of it, has been put into a lock down that boarders on someone like him doing the job. He frowns thoughtfully at it, then disengages his system and hides the contact point. Looking towards the door, he'd hesitate a moment. There's now two women in his life he's seeking to protect..and the rabbit hole just got a little deeper. Shaking his head slowly, Mike finally turns in for bed, hopefully he gets enough sleep as it's really hard to wake him up easily.