“See?” says Cat. “Everyone is fine. We didn’t need to teleport them after all.”
Checking to make sure her outfit is straight and not covered in ash, or flames, Faye bombards Gigi with several thoughts of insecurity. “Was that overdramatic? I feel that was over-the-top. The girl of the hour getting caught, all dramatic like, just to control the beast with no explanation. I hope I didn’t let my idea get to out of hand.”
“No,” Gigi reaches for this pun, “Kammy was out of hand when you let her go.” Little Miss Rug can’t stop laughing at her great joke while Faye takes a second to get it. Once she does, both girls share a laugh. “Faye, you’re always overdramatic. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t change in a day. Stop letting your insecurity control you.”
“Okay,” Faye rubs her sore noggin. “And, if you must know, after praying, I decide it was time to stop playing the naïve act and think like Kammy would. I figured that if Elfie’s plan was to attack that thing from the inside, the most obvious way to do that was to actually get inside. Sure, it was risky with such a tiny window of time to start attacking once in the cockpit, but I figured our technology is further along than that of the Powered era, so my speed should be enough that I’d have that extra second to hit everything I could. I thought I’d still get captured, but you guys would be fighting a damaged machine. Also, it’s a simulation, so I knew there wasn’t really a risk. Now, in a real fight, Kammy and Elf can do all the thinking. I’m not ready for that kind of thing.”
“Yeah, right,” denies Grace, “you proved that when you’re not pretending to be childish and naïve, you’re one of the smartest members of our team. Anyone else who saw what you did might think, ‘Oh, how convenient? She has a little character development and now she can magically control the enemy robot,’ but I can see right through your little act, little sis.”
“Uh,” Faye looks like she’s been caught stealing from the snack machine, “you can?”
“Ha ha! Yes,” says Gigi. “That entire thing was you allowing us to witness a taste of your true genius. You’re always so scared that Elf will think you are too nerdy, like Kammy Crystal. That’s why she doesn’t even bother talking to him, because you both assume he’d be uninterested in a couple of geeky girls. So, how about you stop trying to be ‘Goody Faye,’ ‘Baddie Faye,’ ‘Silly Faye’ and any other Faye you can think of. Just be the real Faye.”
The dear stares at Gigi in confusion, and then in defeat. “Busted, huh?”
Gigi nods. “Busted.”
Faye sighs and taps her teeth together a few times. “You know, Gigi, it’s been so long since I’ve been myself, I don’t even know if I can do anything but pretend. Yeah, so maybe I am smarter than everyone thinks. That doesn’t make me a geek. I like being girly. I’m just too obsessed with boys and with what other people think. Will you pray for me? I don’t want to date Elfie, or Owan, right now. When this trip is over, I need serious help figuring out just who I am. I miss being genuine, and I’m sad that it took getting angry with Kammy as a motivation to show off my true abilities. It wasn’t God that was my motivation. It was anger, and that’s disgusting. God was merciful enough to still use me, even in that moment. I’ll stop pretending, okay?” There’s another hug and the two join the others to celebrate their victory.
This takes us back to Duplica and the boys versus Grille. With his greatest plan thwarted, he resorts to merely taunting the gang about his inevitable return no matter how many times they destroy him. “I assume you know that I have all of the powers my father had, so be careful how you handle this situation.”
“So, you’re as great as Arion Jekel?” asks Michael.
“NO!!” The puppet protests the very thought of this.
Inner Man Theatre 