Switched

Chapter Twenty-Six: Tick Tock

Isabell had to admit, it had been smart of them to set off the bombs. It had indeed distracted her and for quite a while at that while she searched for signs of which direction they had headed in after entering through their large hole in the wall. But their search had taken them just a little too long, it seemed - and by the looks of it, Moira had barely had time to scan a few lines of that holovid. So her new body and power were safe.

She'd made a few modifications, of course. She hadn't had the time nor the preparation to put in place anything that she'd really like to permanently seal into her skin, but she'd had enough to give herself a rather terrifying appearance. It also had a double use - she made sure that she was glowing everywhere that Tayanna had been right before she'd almost taken down the last Talon facility. Isabell still wasn't sure what it was in her DNA, her radioactively altered cells, that had allowed her to absorb so much power and not lose control or destroy herself the way Taynana should have. But it certainly worked in her favor.

Her eyes were the main outlets, shining bright white with no iris or pupil visible, electricity arcs of power lancing across her face and being absorbed back into the skin cells to be recycled. The roots of her hair, her fingernails painted pristine and white, and where her teeth met the roof of her mouth were the other light-emitting outlets. If her invention was going to work, then Isabell's energy needed to be constantly moving, constantly changing form and state. Constantly producing more.

She leaned casually against the doorframe. "I see you've found my holovid. Gleaned anything useful, Moira? Found any little nuggets of knowledge yet? I mean, seven seconds is hardly adequate to find what you want, but I suppose that luck can be on anyone's side every now and again."

"You don't believe in luck," Moira spat, her eyes flaring with fury. Isabell reminded herself - Moira blamed her for everything that had happened to her, making her unpredictable. Careful now, don't push her too far. Isabell could always use an extra test subject.

"No, that's true," Isabell nodded, and flicked her glance to Moira's neck. For just a second, just a moment, she froze. That was her choker. That was her choker. 

Isabell recovered quickly, righting herself and standing back up tall. But she noticed that Moira had flinched and stiffened as well, in the exact moment in time as she had. Interesting. But she knew this would happen - the consciousnesses were drawn to the minds they had come from, because their brainwave patterns better suited the structure of the brain. When something like that happened, it must have triggered a response from the consciousness beneath Isabell's current one.

She shook herself. "I don't believe in luck. I believe in probability and odds. Currently..." her smile broadened as she opened her hands, balls of light and energy crackling and growing in each of her palms. "...yours don't look particularly attractive."

"Give her back," Jamie snarled, stepping in-between Moira and Isabell. "You took and I want her back."

"Ah, he has a voice!" Isabell laughed, grinning as he flinched. The exact line that Moira had used in the last Talon mission. "Jamison, I can't give you that, unfortunately." Her fingers snapped closed, extinguishing the balls of light. She twirled around, ending in a dramatic curtsy. "This body is so beautiful. I could do so many things with it. Think of the possibilities! I mean, look what I've done in mere days!"

She snapped her arm into the air, revealing a network of wires built into the skin on the underside. They lit up white and her veins began to glow from within, and Isabell turned her hand around in fascination as it cast bright white light from her fingernails and fingertips. When white lightening began sparking from them she closed her hand and the white light died down.