X-Men – A Piece, of the Sky

The #JODY game rears its head again – this time between Fessy and Brett, instead of Tyler and the evicted Swaggy.

Sam and I are both tired of a conventional game, on the part of everyone, who is not Tyler or JC. I too, like Sam, am ready to stomp metaphorical, strategic “mudholes” and turn this game upside down, just to keep it interesting.

Faysal is a lumbering giant, both physically and mentally. Kaycee went back up on the block, just like during Hay’s HOH, and Scottie is 99.99% going home.

As I mentioned earlier, I ship Hay and Brett. Hay is a disappointing player, but as a person, she deserves a better significant other, than Fessy. Don’t be too vulgar but drop a bomb on Fessy’s intentions of ever winning Hay’s heart, Brett!

Back to Hay’s game: extremely disappointing. Fans of the game or independent fans, are just aghast at how fast Hay could go from hero to zero. This week has been a wake-up call not just for the weakness of Scottie’s game, but Hay’s as well.

One can only look back and see that during the intermediary period, after Swaggy left and when Bay was unofficially running Foutte, Hay had some clever ideas or instincts, but she would rarely voice them, outside the DR, much less, act on any of them.

Hay’s passive gameplay has followed her into Fessy’s disastrous (for Foutte) HOH week and is a major reason for the utter collapse of her own HOH week: RS going home.

The Mind Flayer (Stranger Things fans, rejoice), that is JC, continues to live on. His Hive Mind, has jumped hosts. Still, JC has a good point: even dedicated, hardcore Tyler fans are nervous about this whole #Tangela experience. I like them as good friends, but personally, I don’t see the showmance material.

On a game level, almost any kind of showmance is distracting. In the first Season of Survivor, on Borneo, Richard Hatch was very taken by the quirky and handsome Sean, but that was only in his heart. His brain voted Sean out without a second thought and Hatch won the million dollars.

I am not surprised that Bay and Swaggy didn’t survive game-wise, even though they seem to love each other, as people. And of course, I have never put much stock in Hay or Fessy, as players, or ever been excited, on a game level, for their showmance. Neither Hay, nor Fessy, are in my Final Five.

Tyler is a strong player; if his game immune system has been compromised by Tangela (Pokémon?) he isn’t showing any symptoms – yet. He reassured JC, not to take this Tangela nonsense seriously, and if Tyler really is bi, this may be a relief, for JC, on a personal level too. JC doesn’t like the females on his men. He broke up Fessy and Kaitlyn, and JC has never been a huge fan of Fessy x Hay.

Angela liking Brett, that way, seems highly unlikely. I don’t see it at all. So, I hope JC doesn’t try to sell that ocean-side property, in Kansas, too hard.

Lines are being drawn. With Foutte, all but in a free fall, it’s time to look toward the endgame. The great mental war between JC and Tyler, is just beginning, like Professor X trying to outsmart Magneto.

Brett is a funny character, a paragon of the trickster archetype, but compared to the depths of Tyler’s game-mind, Brett is just a very pretty face (dump him Sam). JC, defeat Tyler. Come up with a better line and entangle Tangela in your gladiator’s net.

Ran dried her hands on the towel. She glanced into the bedroom, before she went back to the couch, to sit down. On the dresser, on Alli’s side, was a picture of them together, but beyond that, was a picture of Alli and two of her high school friends. One of them had a burst of red-orange hair. Ran knew this was Nealy.

Alli beckoned her back to the couch. Jeopardy had concluded, and Wheel of Fortune came on. Ran sat back down and put her arm around Alli. Alli snuggled in close and put her head on Ran’s shoulder. The patter of the rain, on the windows, could be heard outside. Through the gossamer curtains, a chalky, white sky could be seen.

The show cut to commercials, and Ran asked, “So, your friend, from high school – Keo, was it? – came back from abroad?”

Alli nodded on Ran’s shoulder, “Yes, we went to get a bite to eat, in the city, the other day.”

“You met Nealy in high school too, right?” Ran said, glancing down at her.

“Yes,” Alli reminisced, “She had taken a Greyhound across America, from Indiana, to get here. She had received a letter from her aunt, in Rochester. She was getting too old for the orphanage, so she came here.”

Ran raised her eyebrows and looked back at the TV, “I didn’t know that. The house in France. All of that – did she inherit it from her aunt?”

Alli nestled deeper into Ran shoulder, like a cat, and closed her eyes, “Yes. Nealy’s parents died in a car crash when she was young, and her extended family is very divided. However, Nealy’s aunt sent her an allowance throughout high school and college. In college, her aunt passed away, and shortly thereafter, Nealy’s trust vested.”

“Wow,” Ran rubbed her eyes, “Your third friend, in the picture, the one with the high skin fade, where is she from?”

“Oh, Aro?” Alli sat up slightly, “Her story, if possible, is even stranger. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

Ran looked her in the eye, “Yes, of course!”

“During college, Aro’s father signed up for a series of experiments. It was during the Cold War. There was talk of the Communists ‘brainwashing’ people and creating ‘supersoldiers’ – human psychic weapons…”

“Do you mean to say…?” Ran’s eyes narrowed.

“Yes,” Alli shrugged, looking down, “The Cold War ended, and the program was shut down. Aro’s father left the lab and married a grad student, on the outside, who was another esper, just like him. However, she died when Aro was very small.”

“Aro was raised by her dad, but he too succumbed to illness, when Aro was in high school. Aro also took the Greyhound here. Nealy shared her inheritance with Aro, well into college.”

Ran also sat up, eyes wide and face aghast – but pushed on, “You said Aro was the most powerful out of your group, correct? She must have gotten such a prominent level of talent from her parents.”

“Indeed,” Alli responded, thoughtful, “Aro had an incredible amount of intelligence. She finished early and even became an assistant professor of philosophy there. Nealy and I graduated and we all signed up – were recruited, really – to do a similar thing: remote viewing, remote reading – ”

“That’s where you met Kaan,” Ran blurted out.

“Yes,” Alli replied, unoffended, “But there was an accident. Aro passed away or was lost, at least to this world…The lab closed soon after. Everyone left; the site was abandoned.”

Ran rubbed Alli’s upper arm; Alli resumed leaning on Ran’s shoulder, “And you? Where did you come from?”

Alli smiled, despite wiping away a tear, “Me? I’ve lived a suburban existence on Long Island, just outside the city, my whole life. My parents work in computer sales. As a kid, I used to be afraid of the dark, but I learned later, in the lab, that I was just able to sense what we call avatars – they call themselves Atevars – on the other side, beyond the veil.”

“Computer sales?” Ran asked, incredulous, half-joking.

“Yes,” Alli smirked, “That’s what they said.”

Ran blinked, “Have you ever thought that you might be even more powerful than Aro – or at least more powerful than you think you are?”

Alli fidgeted, not ready to tell her about Æon, the Sky Avatar, “I have no way of knowing.”