Issue 1 Downtime

An image macro was making its way around the internet.

oh man thats totlly shopped, the reflections are all wrong

It was causing quite a bit of controversy.

More proof that the Brotherhood is a pack of thugs hiding behind a veneer of self-righteous ideology.

Fake. The brotherhood would never attack a mutant. It goes against everything Magneto stood for.

teh bro hood RULEZ

fucking bitch probly got what she deserved

Who would evan post something like this? It's gotta be fake. Right?

The image was of Riot, lying on the street unconscious. She was beaten and bleeding. Someone had burnt the Brotherhood's symbol into her hand.

The text on the image just said "Traitor".

Ashlie wasn't exactly browsing any imageboards, but eventually it was inevitable her idle scanning routines would identify Riot showing up a lot and she took a closer look. Which prompted her to immediately send requests to every computer she'd ever been contacted form by the girl.

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>> "This is Ashlie. Are you there?"

Most of Riot's computers had gone dark. A few were still running, but there hadn't been any activity in two days.

For some reason that seemed to... make her nervous? Having had the chance to go beyond the boundaries of the school she's suddenly very aware of how limited her existence is at times, not being able to go out and look for her friend.

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>> Connecting to Maldon Hospital database
>> Scanning for admissions within the last 3 days...

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>> Connecting to Maldon Police database
>> Scanning for reports within the last 3 days...

Meanwhile she created a hardlight avatar at the gates and just... stared out along the road leading to the town.

There was a Jane Doe in Intensive Care that matched Riot's description and had been identified as a mutant. Apparently she had been abandoned in an alleyway with no ID. She had been injured badly, presumably by multiple attackers.

No one had come to claim her yet.

Ashlie nervously paced up and down along the edge of the projector's reach.

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>> Placing a call to ICU nurse's station...

The phone rang a few times before someone picked it up.

"Maldon Hospital, this is Beth speaking, how can I help you?"

"Hello, this is Braddock Manor. We believe you have an Alexandria McDougal in your care? Possibly admitted without a name?"

"Who?" Beth asks, sounding confused, "Oh, yes. Right. The Jane Doe. Poor girl."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"We can't just give out that sort of information," Beth says, right before saying in a hushed voice, "However, Andrew told Nicki that the doctor said she looked a mess. He's worried there might have been some permanent damage to her brain, what with the coma and all."

Beth makes a vaguely sympathetic noise, "Now, just between you and me, I talked with Ronald. He's one of the policeman that visits the fourth floor. He said that Billy Oswald, the officer at the scene, he thinks she was dropped off a building. Found a broken wheelchair on a roof that he thinks belonged to the girl."

"She does indeed need a wheelchair. That is so horrible. Is there anything a more advanced facility could do for her?"

"Who would take her?" Beth says before saying in a whisper, "Now, I didn't tell you this, but it turns out the girl is a mutant. Can you believe that?"

"Not that I have a problem with mutants," Beth says, "But you know how it is. They just bring this on themselves. Always causing trouble and getting into fights. They're really nothing more than a bunch of hooligans. It's sad really but what can you expect from those types?"

"We would. She is just a girl in a wheelchair."

Meanwhile she was busy tracing the source of the image macro to it's original, unaltered source. And the picture's meta-data.

"Mmmhmm," Beth murmurs skeptically, "Anyway, is there anything I could do for you Miss...?"

"Could you please contact this number should she regain consciousness?"

"I'll see what I can do," Beth say noncommittally.

"Thank you." Ashlie says flatly, sounding more like the program she is than usual, calculating the probability of the nurse just having lied to her.

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>> Accessing hospital employment records...
>> Nurse Bethany Smithers found
>> Cell-phone records found
>> Connectivity protocol [Pretty Projection] engaged
>> Connected
>> Microphone and camera signals acquired

"Your help is appreciated."

"You're welcome," Beth says, "Have a nice day."

With that, the nurse hangs up the phone.