Uh, I feel again compelled to note that I write these chapters weeks and sometimes months in advance. This particular chapter was written in early June, I believe. The stuff in Portland had yet to escalate to the point of federal agents snatching people off the street so... irony? The snippet with the president is sort of mild wish fulfillment for how I would like people to react to those things, I guess. That snippet is the second one, so if you'd like to skip it, just scroll on down.

Incidentally, if turning American cities into police states is something that bothers you, please consider donating to the ACLU, Project Zero, or other activist organization.

Thank you for reading!

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Chapter 208: Ripples

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Brianna Marburry watched the news and chewed on her fingernails, a throw pillow in her lap. If her mother were here, she'd tell Brianna that chewing her nails was a filthy habit. But her mother was out.

On the screen were two dozen faces. The people who had gone missing from Amity Park a few weeks ago. Brianna had been following the story almost religiously, ever since she had seen those faces.

After all, one of them was almost identical to hers.

She had always known she was adopted. She never thought she'd find a family member like this.

There was a knock on the door to her apartment. She put the pillow aside and turned off the TV before standing up to answer it.

"You ready for the protest?" asked her friend.

"Oh," said Brianna, "you'd better believe it."

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"I'm going to ask you all one more time," growled the President. "How did we not know about this?" He knocked his fist against the table. "We pay the GIW. Do they not have any oversight? How did they get their hands on ordinance like that?"

The hapless advisor shifted. "They made it, sir," he said. "We do pay for them to develop weapons to use in case of a dimensional incursion and to do research, and we gave them broad discretion as to how to accomplish that."

The president turned away. "We did not give them permission to turn an American city into a police state!"

"The Anti-Ecto Act could be interpreted that way," said another advisor.

"I don't care," said the president. "They fired a missile at Amity Park! That is far, far outside their purview. Mr. Singh, I want the Anti-Ecto acts in front of the Supreme Court within a week."

"I'll get legal on it."

"Sonia, how are you doing vetting ghost experts?"

"It's an ongoing process, sir," said the woman, who had been working on the project for months. "Most reputably experts are either GIW members or were in Amity Park or Elmerton during the event." She shook her head. "Most of their observations and data don't line up at all with the data we retained from the GIW and the Fentons."

The president exhaled through his nose.

"At this point, I don't think we have the luxury about being completely sure they're on the level," said the President. "Bring them in. Especially any who've been to Amity Park in the past." He rocked on the balls of his feet. "Any word on the arrests?" The president had already read the reports, but sometimes he liked to hear the words spoken out loud.

"Some low-level operatives have been arrested," said another advisor. "But their leaders have all vanished. You've seen pictures of their headquarters and other facilities. The places are built like fortresses. The police aren't going to be enough."

The president sighed. "I want to do this right," he said. "They are on American soil, and they're American citizens. If we mobilize the army, I want our case to be ironclad."

"Sir, if I may."

"Go ahead."

"I think you need to move decisively, here. No matter how separate the GIW is from the government in reality, the perception will still be that we permitted them to take over a US city and bamboozle the country with talk about ghosts." The advisor made a face. "Talk that happened to be true, but, still. If you delay now, you'll seem like you're stalling. I recommend calling the governor and requesting that she mobilize the national guard."

A different advisor coughed. "It might be easier to mobilize the army than you think, sir. It's my understanding that ectoplasm is radioactive. There's precedent for bringing in the army when dealing with radioactive threats."

"I'm aware of that," said the President. He took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's get to work."

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"Do you think they're really ghosts, Father?" It wasn't Sunday, but Marsha volunteered at the church, helping the elderly priest maintain the grounds.

"No," said the priest. "All souls are taken into God's hands at the ends of their lives."

"What do you think they are, then?" asked Marsha, her voice wavering slightly. "Demons?"

The priest laughed. "No, no, I can't believe God would allow such a thing. No, their true nature is obvious." He leaned close to Marsha. "They're aliens."

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He hadn't noticed it at first, when the watch ran down. He was too used to the sound. The silence did not, at first, register as such. Besides, there were many other things happening around him and demanding his attention.

(Even now, after so many years, he still found new delights and experiences in this world. Perhaps if that weren't the case, he would have grown weary.)

But he did notice, eventually. He tried to check the watch every so often. It had been given to him by a dear friend and for a reason.

He pulled the quiet watch from his pocket and sat on the edge of a cliff to examine it. As unlikely as it was, he could have damaged it somehow. It might not have stopped of its own accord.

But there it was, not a scratch to be seen, even after all this time.

Sojourn smiled. It was time for him to see his friends again.

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Clockwork was beside himself. Literally. After Daniel's abrupt departure, his control over his powers, already unsteady, had deteriorated further. At least now it was his more 'normal' ghost powers rather than his temporal abilities acting up.

Still. Having two of him didn't exactly help his nerves. Instead, he seemed to find twice as many things to be worried about. He was frazzled.

The thing was, Clockwork knew where Daniel had gone. He knew why he had gone. But Clockwork was too mentally unsteady to go after him. Clockwork couldn't even see him. Not properly.

He kept seeing temporal shadows, phantasms, not Phantoms, out of the corner of his eyes, remnants of times Daniel had visited Elysium in the past, and chasing after them. He knew they weren't really there, but he couldn't stop himself. Any of himself.

"Clockwork?" said Danielle, approaching one of his many duplicates. He found himself on the porch of Pandora's palace, crouched under one of the great marble pillars. He felt slightly more together when Danielle was present.

"We're leaving for Amity Park, now," she said.

"Amity Park?" asked Clockwork, faintly. He saw one of his doubles run by behind Danielle.

"Where Danny is," said Danielle.

Clockwork blinked up at her. "Yes," he said. "Yes. Let's go."

"Right," said Danielle. "Third time's the charm," she muttered under her breath. "Maybe you should pull yourself together first, before you get distracted. Again." The last word was barely audible, even for Clockwork.

"Daniel is in Amity Park."

"We're pretty sure, yeah." Danielle licked her lips. "Please, Clockwork. You're kind of freaking us out, acting like this." She bobbed nervously in the air.

Wanting to go to her, Clockwork stood up and straightened out. He saw Daniel pass into the shadow of the palace, but he closed his eyes against the vision. He knew Daniel wasn't here. Turning his attention inward, he pulled on his duplicates, trying to disperse them, trying to bring them back.

That done, he swayed. He felt too full, now. He felt- He wasn't doing enough to find Danny.

"Danny is in Amity Park, remember?"

"Yes, yes," said Clockwork. "You said… Is Pandora coming as well."

"Yep, she's sorting out the travel arrangements."

"Travel arrangements… Can't we simply fly?"

"That was the plan," said Danielle. "But, um, yeah. Let's just go, okay? To where Danny is." She took his hand and started leading him, like he was a wayward child. His form shifted to mirror that thought. Still, the contact centered him. Goodness, but he would be an embarrassment to all his grandchildren, having a meltdown like this.

"Amity Park," said Clockwork. "But he's not in Amity Park."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Danielle.

"I- Yes, quite sure. He's left." Clockwork put a hand to his head. "He's left."

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"Just one more stop," said Danny. "It's even on the way!"

"It is not!" said Adrestia.

"But it's nearby!"

"I think Lord Clockwork should be able to find you just fine on his own," said Adrestia.

Danny pressed his lips together. Clockwork wouldn't be able to, not in his current condition, but Danny wasn't about to be spreading that around. That would be asking for all sorts of trouble.

On the other hand, he did, or should, know where Danny had gone, and if he went to Amity Park, he would learn that Adrestia and the others had taken him. From there, it should be obvious that their destination was Libra.

That was far too many 'shoulds.'

At least Ellie and Pandora were with him. He would be alright. Probably.

Oh, he felt so guilty, running off like that, but he really hadn't had a choice, and if he hadn't- Danny shuddered. The consequences would have been terrible. Unthinkable. Except for Adrestia and the Gracious Ones- No. Even them. They had arrived before the missile. All of these people could be dead and gone.

Well, if the missile had been equipped with anti-ghost ordnance strong enough to leave a mark on such powerful ghosts. Still. It was a possibility.

But Clockwork and the others must be so worried, and Clockwork's mental health had probably taken a hit. If only he could have kept the portal open for more than a second and let Clockwork through… But the thought didn't even cross his mind at the time.

Danny hunched his shoulders, depressed. He was a terrible grandson.

(That didn't even touch on all the hardships his friends, sisters, classmates, and parents must have suffered while he went off on his own adventures. He'd barely talked to Ellie about what she'd been doing while he had been in the future.)

He sighed.

"Hey," said Adrestia, in a conciliatory tone, "once you get to Libra, you'll be able to relax a bit. And me and my girls? We know all the best places to ang out. We'll show you around."

"Mhm," said Danny. He took a moment to scan the rest of the group, focusing particularly on the humans. He knew it could be uncomfortable to carry someone for so long, but it could also be a strain to be carried. At least, that's what his friends had told him.

Not to mention the whole alternate dimension thing. And the culture shock they would shortly be experiencing. He imagined that those would cause a lot more discomfort among the humans than any awkward grips.

Ugh. Danny felt like he wasn't doing anything. But he was! Objectively, he was doing a lot. But it didn't feel like enough. It never felt like enough.

Jazz always told him that it wasn't his responsibility to solve all the problems in the world. Except, he was the Ghost Prince. Apparently. Did that mean solving all the problems in the Infinite Realms was his responsibility?

He didn't want that. He wasn't responsible enough to reliably keep his room clean or show up to class on time.

(Of course, that characterization ignored the monumental responsibility he had shouldered by making sure Amity Park was safe, but Danny was in a contradictory mood.)

At least he had his siblings. He pressed the box closer to himself. Maybe they'd be able to stabilize them now. That would be wonderful. Ellie had told him stories about them, but those only went so far.

He thought back to the brief moments he had been reduced to his core. They had been chaotic, frightening. He hoped that he hadn't inflicted that on the clones.

"Look, see?" asked Adrestia, giving Danny a nudge. "Here he comes now!" She point off into the distance.

Danny followed her direction and spotted a small group of ghosts coming their way. Another few minutes of examination, and Danny was able to recognize Pandora, Clockwork, and Ellie.

He sighed in relief. Soon, he'd be together with his family and friends again.