"That's ridiculous," dismisses one of the older girls, waving a hand with a livid healing cut on the back. "Mind control waves? Did you really think anyone would believe that?"
"It's not mind control waves! It's radio waves and they just make pokemon go insane."
Another girl with a bruise under her jaw says, "Right. Mind control waves, that's ridiculous, but driving pokemon nuts by radio! Totally believable."
"It's true!" the first girl, who had been there, says. "Ice, tell them he said that."
For a moment, all of the girls in the room turn to look at the child. "Yes," offers the child, and they turned back to the discussion. The child found that the best way to be ignored was to give people what they wanted before she could be noticed behind it.
"There, see?" says the first girl. "I'm not making it up."
"She's just saying it because you told her to," says one of the others, ignoring the child again.
"No she isn't! Ice, tell them you're not just saying that because I told you to," protests the first girl.
"I'm not just saying that because you told me to," the child repeats obediently.
"Oh, that's convincing," says one of the younger girls.
But then, "Why are you going along with this?" says another one, looking to the child, and it suddenly enters into the child's interest to resolve the discussion. "Did she tell you this stuff was true before you guys got here? You shouldn't say something's true if you didn't hear it yourself, you know."
"She did so! We were both there and he really did say that!"
"Right. So, kiddy, what did he say?"
"He said," the child begins, and then, with the same words, and the same voice, she repeats what she'd heard.
Looking at their expressions it occurs to her that perhaps it would have been better to remain silent. She might have filed this away as a mistake had she been capable of conceiving of such.
"How'd you do that?" demands the girl with the cut on her hand. The child does not know how this was to be answered, but luckily the girl does not seem to care, because she continues, "Cool. Why didn't you just do that to start?"
"Where'd you learn that," says another in a flat voice with something the child can't quite recognize at the edges, as if the other girl hadn't even spoke.
The child also does not know how this is to be answered, but sees that not answering would not be a good choice either. "On my own," she says, trying to sound as small and harmless as she can.
"When?"
"When he was talking-" The girl moves sharply as if to hit her, and the child recoils the way she's seen people do. As she's seen people do, the rest of the group shifts, unhappy with the idea.
And the girl does not hit her, but says, "When did you learn how to do that?" her voice filled with hard anger and still the something at the edges.
"Janet, what's the big-"
"When!" she snaps.
"Before," the child says. "A lot of time before." She does not remember a time she could not do it.
"Before you came here?" the girl says with the tension starting to fade, and it is obvious what the right answer is.
"Uh-huh." She is confused and her voice is confused.
And the threatening of the girl disappears, and when one of the others asks, voice sharp from the aftermath of tension, "What the hell was that about?" she just says, "You can't be too careful," and then, "Nevermind."
