Light stretches over the room in revelatory act, illuminating the aftermath of a long night I can barely remember. Laura took a shower and then... wait, where is Laura? Sitting up, and checking the bed, I feel like I really need that shower now just as I said I would. My body feels sticky, like I've been lathered in tree sap... gross, I'm not sure I want to know which of is responsible for that. After a quick assessment I can comfortably say that I'm alone in this mess of a bed, did Laura wake up early and flee with regret? Or perhaps she's in the kitchen humming with a smile as she prepares breakfast for her us, I'll just have to get out of bed and--

Squelch!

"Ah!" My eyes dart down to the floor to find it covered in mossy roots, Laura's bedroom almost looking like a garden of its own. Obviously something's wrong here, but a part of me does not want to investigate any further. I'm afraid of what I'll find, after all, as I did not just yelp out of surprise. These roots are mine even if they're barely recognisable. "Laura?" I call out and receive nothing but a nerve wracking silence. Just what happened here while I was sound asleep, did I have some manner of dream that triggered this explosion of my power? "Uhm, Hive? Do you remember what happened last night... I-I mean, is Laura safe?"

"Good morning Mistress! If you mean the blonde we were with last night, then yes, she's very safe. We've been taking good care of her on... on your instruction." 

Hive sounds strange, she's speaking to me like I would to Murmur. I know I'd been keeping her dosed and leashed before now, but it felt more like a transactional relationship between addict and supplier, as bad as that sounds now that I play it back. This is different though, she sounds too loyal and... 'the blonde we were with' is a statement that didn't pass me by. "Oh uhm, you mean she's in the orchard?" I try to hide my alarm, I've never slept with somebody in my head before... besides Hive, but she's a dryad who belongs there. I've no idea what would possess me to pull Laura in and besides, it's only mental so her body must be around here somewhere. My eyes trace a bundle of roots bulging out of the ground, the only ones not covered in pale green.

"In the new garden, yes, you put her in that cocoon over there to keep her nice and warm and safe and ahhh... we share every sensation she feels so... so we can assure you that all is well."

"You what? If I find out you've hooked my best friend up to your hivemind thing, I'll--"

"Mistress? It's... you were the one who linked us all in unity, remember?"

This is why I hate mornings, I never have a chance to gain my bearings. Standing up in the spaces between roots, I approach the hibernation pod created with my own hand and attempt to recall my roots as I always do after my power has served its purpose. No such luck here, it's like they're already where they belong. Am I terraforming this room into a physical manifestation of that internal garden I've always kept? Between Hive and Murmur, the place has been a mess lately... and Laura's apartment was so tidy. "Is it... safe to open?" I'm surprised at my calm. In fact, it's fucking unnatural that I'm not in a total panic, but I need to make sure Laura is okay before I can let any emotions cloud me. 

"It should react to your touch... I mean, all of this is yours."

All mine, huh? I feel blood rushing to my head, crouching over the cocoon of pulsating vines and prying it open with commanding fingers. The sight makes me dizzy, unsure how any normal person is supposed to react to what I'm now witnessing. My best friend, Laura, is covered in a sheen of sap, vines pushing into all entrances while also holding her steady. As I run a finger down one of the vines, it shudders and so do I. Just like Hive implied, we're all connected somehow. As the morning confusion wears off, I'm made aware of just how flush I am as each tentacle touch against Laura's body relays back to me. Her bare skin is covered in red marks like hickeys made from those suckling vines, hair matted against her head and eyes still half open. Empty eyes lost in paradise, a garden of myth. Once again I think to touch, placing a hand against her forehead to check her temperature and causing us both to gasp in shared sensitivity. 

"Oh, Mistress. Miss Murmur is asking for our assistance this morning with the next target. Do you want us to help?"

"You're asking my permission? O-of course, Murmur is my... our mistress, right? I'm counting on you to help her, Hive." I can feel Hive's blush like it touches my own cheeks, it's almost too much.

"Of course, well, we'll still be here too!"

I'm well aware of how a hivemind works, thank you very much. Apparently I am one now, having potentially assimilated Hive and Laura into my own unity. Can I see through her many eyes now myself? I don't want to try, it'll mean admitting what I've done here. If my orchard can really recreate the things that pass through it and reproduce them even in the real world... isn't that a little too powerful? I'm not supposed to be such a big player in this city, but...

"Laura? Can you hear me?" To think that yesterday I had been conflicted over the morality of a little lie, now look at us both. It's certainly an escalation, but if she felt betrayed... wouldn't I feel it now? I receive no response from the girl and realise that not only are her ears plugged, I'd have no chance of getting through to her with just my voice while she's experiencing such chronic pleasure anyway. I've had her on the edge for a full ten hours of beauty sleep, no wonder she's so sensitive. 

Instinctively, I snap my fingers and the vines recede. I watch, and hear, the thin tendrils pop free from Laura's ears as they sink back into the garden floor. The legs that were previously raised up and the arms bound behind the blonde's back go limp and I realise she's too gone to even bring herself over that edge with her own touch. "Laura?" I speak softly, like a mother. "I'm just going to get this out of your system, okay?" I guess I really did get into it after all. 

The girl's only response is a needy little groan against the roots, the reverberations making my body tingle pleasantly. "Good girl." I tell her, wondering if I'm the sort of person to say these things. I learnt all of this from Murmur, but the powers are all mine. My mistress has none, but an amateur like me needs all the edge she can get and boy have I gotten enough lately. Placing my knee between her soft thighs on the floor of her former bedroom transformed into something otherwordly, I imitate Murmur's technique and curl my fingers inside of her like I own the needy, weeping cunt. Laura's entire body writhes delightfully and I arch my back as the sensation travels through the roots and back into my erring mind. I'm not just fingerfucking Laura, I'm pleasuring both of us with just a pair of inexperienced digits and an endless supply of intoxicating tree sap. 

If I could always feel this good, why would I ever want to stop? This worrying thought crosses my mind as I bring Laura, and by extension myself, back to that exhilarating edge. I got into hero work to save lives, didn't I? I felt that even with a crappy power like mine, I had a responsibility to use it as best as I could and do some good in this troubled city. I was inspired heavily by my idol, Nova, but now I no longer see her in the same golden light. Does that mean that my desire to be a hero has faltered, too? I've a new role model now, people call her a villain and that's a word I once felt such disdain for but... 

Well lately, I've been able to confirm the one thing that everybody instinctually knows but is too afraid to admit. Being a villain is simply more fun. It's freeing, not having to care so much about every little rule and consequence. I just want to feel good, is that a crime? Some would say yes, apparently, my former self likely among them. Did I even have a single opinion of my own back then?

"Laura... do you want this?" I ask in a moment of weakness and clarity, ever since linking up with the dryads in my garden I'm beginning to forget that I'm the sort of person to worry over such things. My fingers curl deep inside of her and my thumb stimulates her just how Murmur would do to me. Even without words, Laura responds with her body. I feel her whole melding against my own, hips desperately thrashing against my hand as I kiss goodbye to Joy and make my brainwashed bestie climax into my touch like the very good girl that she is. 

We ride out a shared orgasm, together. Me and Laura have always been together like this, she's stuck to me like glue. After several minutes of recuperation, I cradle Laura's cheeks with my hands and drink in her blank, blissful stare through half-lidded eyes. With a playful kiss against those sticky lips of hers, I sit her up against the wall and kneel beside her, soft smile and sonorous snaps slowly easing her out of trance. "There you are, don't worry I-I've got you." I hold her head up and watch those blinking eyes return her to the room. 

"Mmh... Joy?" Laura rolls her neck and looks around at the state of her room, recognition crossing her face in an instant. "I mean uh, Mistress?" I never told her to call me that, but I wanted her to... the vines have a way of exercising my will upon everything around them. Since my lusty little thought last night, they must have ran with it and flooded Laura with the desire to call me mistress all night. Imagining her suspended in that cocoon being reprogrammed, conditioned... it's not my fault I have a fetish for this sort of thing is it? Those heroes got me hooked on it, I was just a struggling college student trying to manage double life as fledgling hero before they introduced such temptations. 

My hand reaches out and strokes through Laura's hair benevolently, loving how she leans into the touch so eagerly it surprises us both. "That sounds as good as I was expecting... could you try it again for me, Laura, more confidently?" My heart is pounding as I treat my best friend like a plaything, wanting to see if she'll indulge all of my selfish requests as they begin to pile up. 

The blonde lifts her head and melts against my hand in her hair, swallowing and wetting her lips before obeying my command. "Of course, Mistress! Ahaha, god that feels so strange to say but uh... I kinda like it. Like a lot." Her breathing is erratic, the nerves from before still present but now mixed with a relaxed sense of belonging. 

"Well that makes two of us, I... I was going to undo all of this but--"

"We don't want that." Laura states bluntly, as though I'm speaking to myself. That's right, I shouldn't have treated us like two wholly separate entities when we're connected now. Laura knows what I want without my lips ever having to move. Maybe she only wants this because I've infected her with my own wants and with dryad desires, but it doesn't change the fact that she wants this now, so it'd be cruel to remove the conditioning wouldn't it?

I lift Laura's chin with my fingers and kiss her differently than before, like I'm laying claim to her mouth with such confidence. A dominating kiss I didn't know I had in me, but one I'm sure to repeat the second I get the urge to remind her who her mistress is. Putting Laura in her place with just my mouth and a few delicate fingers is a high unlike any other, I almost get lost in it before remembering something crucial and pulling back with a gasp. "Come, we need a long shower after the night we had!" I snap and Laura stands despite her wooziness, leaning onto my arm as I guide her into the ensuite and drop my hands onto the counter. Staring into the mirror, I'm a little shocked once again although I probably shouldn't be. Small vines shift under my skin and confirm that my orchard has indeed exceeded beyond its former bounds. Still, I can use this to solve the issue I just remembered having. While I can't fix what Discoman must have already witnessed, perhaps I can feel around and... ah!

My roots locate the tech injected into my body by Danielle and remove the foreign object, dropping it into the sink bowl before crushing it with just my finger. No more spying on my private affairs, I only wish I thought to do this before getting so carried away. What triggered this transformation of the self anyway? While it was certainly Hive and Murmur who started rolling that snowball, I have to wonder if Murmur had also been keeping me in check with her hypnosis. With a wry grin, I wonder if she'd be upset at me letting loose like this. She wants my power and of course I'll gladly give it, but... I'm starting to think she might fear it, too, if her experimentation led to the same conclusions as my own. I certainly would. 

"Start the shower, Laura." I give her an innocuous order to see how she'll respond, to hear that word on her tongue again like honey in my ears. 

"Yes Mistress." She says with a pretty smile I could eat. As Laura obeys me beautifully, wearing nothing but the glossy varnish I've given her sultry skin, I turn back towards the mirror and find myself transfixed. Only yesterday morning, I looked into the mirror in Murmur's apartment and remarked on how unrecognisable the girl in the picture was to the one I had become. Now, the Joy in Murmur's mirror no longer finds herself reflected in this one. For the first time in a week, at least, I finally got a full night of sleep.

"There you are, Hive. All three of you, too, I only really needed the one. Got what I asked for?" Miss Murmur looks over at the three women and smiles a little at the fact that Hivemind never seems to show up as men anymore, they always seemed to have a preference and Murmur herself tends to refer to the collection as a she given their original host, but it seems more intentional these days. 

The trio huffs in unison, two keeping their arms folded while the other hands the patches to Murmur with a look in her eyes the midnight mistress doesn't catch, blame it on the insomnia. As sharp as she is, a sleepless woman has her limits. "I assumed you had requested me to aid in Mint's subjugation, not Rosary's. And running sentimental errands, maybe you're more Misty than you th--"

"I don't believe the two of you ever properly met, hm? I wouldn't speak of people you only know tangentially, I'd hazard to say it's a touch parasocial, dear." Murmur takes the patches and looks down at Rosary, who glares up at her in turn. With a hooking finger, Murmur removes the naked woman's gag and grins like a nurse attempting to placate her patient. "Here you go sweetie, just what the doctor ordered."

Wild Rosary spits, her heavily tattooed body strapped down by firm restraints that keep her arms securely by her sides and legs pressed together. "The hell is that? Haven't you drugged me enough, Misty? You know you can't break me, r-right? I'm literally unbreakable, it's my whole thing..." 

"Then why do you sound so unsure?" Murmur titters, though she must concede that Rosary has been a much tougher nut than she was expecting. She now understands just how powerful that oblivion the sister faced really is, it won't relinquish her at all. "Relax, darling, it's a regular old nicotine patch. I had my wonderful assistant here fetch them from your place, though a part of me considered seeing if the shakes wouldn't help me along in lowering your mental defences. I understand addiction all too well, believe me, so I'll be generous." The nicotine patch is applied to the woman's shoulder and Rosary decides to believe her captor this time, sensing no real reason for deceit. "Before you make an awful racket that nobody in here needs right now, I'll let you know that this safehouse is thoroughly soundproofed. It's one of Hive's, maybe you recognise it?"

"We... got this one after breaking up with Rose." Hivemind shifts uncomfortably, several feet away. She was relieved to know that Murmur would be handling Rosary by herself, happy to assist with Mint who presents a wound less fresh... so why is she here?

"Hive, you fucking traitor! Why are you cosying up to the enemy, huh? Did... did she do something to you? She does that, I... I tried to warn you." Rosary grunts as she fights her restraints to no avail, wishing so badly she could free herself from this table she's so humiliatingly bound to. 

"I'm so awful, am I? Have it your way, sweetie." With a dry smirk, Murmur peels back the patch and flicks it onto the ground, making Hivemind groan at the fact her trip was rendered entirely pointless by the look of it. "It's rather boring, but I suppose I could simply leave you captive here until my business with Nova has concluded. I'd like to get a chance to crack that nut of yours, though, the further out of reach something is the more I seem to want it. I must apologise for calling you easy earlier, or ah, I suppose that was yesterday for you. I'll find a way to break you, Rose, you can count on that. Perhaps if I take Mint first she can work her magic, the girl is far more intelligent than the lot of us combined after all." With a dreary hum, Murmur turns her back on her suspended project and steps over to the waiting assistants, running cracked black nails through swept black hair. "Get in contact with Mint for your usual supply run, don't make it suspicious at all and find a good reason for it to be several days ahead of schedule, okay pretty?"

Hivemind feels relieved at the change in topic, happy to be of use in this instance. "Very well then. What do you want me to do once I'm there?"

"Hm? Oh no, that's all I need from you. With the resulting address and code, I can go myself. You're not very hard to imitate, woman, since you could show up as anyone~"

"Aha, I see."

The moment I step into the shower, I turn flush and remember the last time I used a sliding door type like this one. It was the night that Hivemind called me and had me masturbate for her, I'd forgotten at the time but the memories return through roots that soak everything back up in time. I recall being so turned on that I could barely think, latching onto Hive's commanding words like a life ring pulling me to safety. Except it wasn't doing that, was it? She pushed me out further into those deep waters and I think I thanked her for it. "Hive, how did you instruct me again?" I speak as though I'm in a trance, knowing I could tug at a root and find the answer for myself. We're all unified under the orchard, even Laura here, who shivers with a shy smile as I run my nail up her cheek and press her back against the tiled wall. 

"Play with yourself. You need to get it out of your system, so just do what feels good, whatever comes naturally."

As warm water jets over my back, I begin to play with myself. My fingers run down Laura's body with slow, sensual touch I intend us both to savour. In an almost ritualistic motion, I snap my fingers and the blonde begins to lose focus, vines snaking out to nip at her skin and inject her with Florasma's artificial arousal again while my lips claim hers just as roughly as before. When I pull away, Laura giggles distantly and says "You taste liiike aaapples~"

Ah, she can barely stand. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Hive, what did you tell me to do before that?" 

"Go back into the shower and sit down, we don't want to make a mess."

That's the one, it's just what she needs right now too. With hands pushing down on her shoulders and roots ready to catch her should she slip and fall too suddenly, I gently guide Laura down until she sits in the corner of the cramped space, me and my orchard looming over her with nothing but the sweetest of intentions. Now we can do what feels good, whatever comes naturally. After all, I am certainly a symbol of nature am I not? I think I must have always loved nature, that's probably why my powers turned out this way!

While hot water streams across my hair and back, absorbed into my roots to nourish the ever growing garden, I grab a fistful of Laura's hair and push into the corner until I can feel her shaky breaths against my patient sex. My foot inches forwards between the good girl's parting thighs and I press my big toe into her excitement with a coy smile. I'm doing exactly as instructed, this is still playing with myself. 

"It fffeels ssoo gooodd..." Moans Laura against my sickly slit. Wait, it's just impatient, not inpatient. I'm not sure that Laura's mouth is medicinal enough to fix me, anyhow. The girl isn't even aware that she's repeating my words from that night, the three of us sharing a memory and reliving it in tandem. 

"Oh? What are you thinking about?" "Oh? What are you thinking about?" I overlap with Hive, stroking fingers through wet blonde hair that we could pull her into service with at any time. Just as a breathless Laura opens her mouth to try and respond, we cut her off with a firm tug, my roots snaking over her body to bind the needy thing's arms behind her back again so that she may not pleasure herself in greed. This way I can take my time making her cum, or perhaps I'll leave her lust unresolved so she can spend the rest of the day hovering around me with a pleading look and the occasional needy whine. What is she, a puppy? She's certainly cute as one, how did I never notice before? 

For someone who has loved women far longer than me, Laura's ability to eat another one out is a little lacking. Still, as I just mentioned her sloppy performance is certainly cute enough for us to let her continue for a while until she tires her jaw out. I remember her telling me, telling Joy, that she had very few takers even into college and that most would simply treat it like a naughty little joke. Poor thing, this puppy won't have to worry about such frustrations any longer. See, I'm still a hero in my own way. A vine trails down my leg in a spiral and slips onto the floor, seeking warmth in Laura's entrance it sallies on forth and I giggle at the feeling of Laura's shudder from both perspectives simultaneously. 

The end of the vine only opens up once it's deep and snug, tiny little tendrils taking to obliterating Laura's train of thought for at least the next few hours in a single bout of pleasurable lashings. The stimulation they can bring is incredible, I must have the lewdest power in the slew of supers infesting this Earth and I never even knew. I wonder if a different person with my ability would have developed it more responsibly, as it appears to be heavily reformed by mental image and psyche, so perhaps it is simply that I am too lewd a woman to have conjured anything else. Again, not my fault, the last few weeks have really done a number on me. 

Laura is nuzzled softly between my legs, kneeling as water gushes by her knees into the drain below, arms bound tightly behind her back and body shaking uncontrollably in rocking waves of ecstasy. Her tongue works deep inside of me and her breath collapses heavy against my crotch, I'm honestly surprised she hasn't passed out yet but then, I don't think I'd let her. In this moment I am Joy being eaten out by her deeply conditioned friend, I am the kneeling girl overstimulated and exhausted on the shower floor, I am each and every member of Hivemind's collective escaping from their current situation to find somewhere private and sink into the pleasure just as deeply. 

I am ripened fruit hanging gingerly from a proud branch, my skin so tantalisingly shiny and roseate. Bite into me and my oversweet juices will gush against your lips and chin, coat your tongue in a warmth that never fades. All the knowledge in the world will be yours, but you'll be too far gone in pleasurable throes to care. What will seem like eternity will be but a fraction of a second and you'll have denounced your ego to this feeling a thousand times over already. There is no escape once you take a bite from me, so indulge at your own risk. It's an easy decision though, you'll never need seek nourishment elsewhere ever again, lost in endless Joy. 

"Someone's at the door, Cheep. Do you think Hive's brought me more snacks? Let's hope so, or I'll be eating your tuna meals for the next week and you'll be a very thin feline!" Mint teases her cat and wonders if the translation chip is doing anything at all. Likely another dud, it's an ambitious project. "Well they got through the gate and she did text me earlier, but I'm paranoid it's a catnapper come to steal you away from your mommy..." The girl teases, but her caution is warranted. After all, Rosary is running behind on sending a multiple paragraph rant about Mint's recent post on the Nova Hero Agency's social media page that she manages. Rose hates that fake origin story more than anything, so naturally Mint can't help but keep it in the public conscious for her own amusement. 

The woman outside knocks on the door in today's chosen rhythm and Mint relaxes, knowing that nobody could hope to intercept her encrypted texts to her ex. If you're wondering who else has been in a relationship with Hivemind in the past, the answer is yes. Nova is a notable exception, given that she's a married woman and faithful to a fault. A finger drops down onto the intercom button to Mint's bunker cosplaying as an ordinary home. "I've unlocked the door now, you can come on in." She speaks familiarly, noticing the box in the woman's arms and thinking nothing of it. This is a supply run after all. 

Murmur reaches several locked doors that have to be opened before she can make her way into the basement, snorting at the fact that so much security has been bypassed without a single shred of effort on her part. These heroes have their blind spots, but this one chose the worst of all. Hivemind operates roughly 200 bodies covertly throughout the city, but if a single one was to be compromised the entire system falls. This is why they act as an undercover hero, of course, but all it takes is one fatal error... like accompanying your easily hypnotised rookie to an ill fated operation. 

As the final door slides open and Murmur places down the box, Mint perks up in expectation of another toxic hook up with one of Hive's many forms. It's a different body each week, there's no love anymore but it's still fun to treat her body like a toy and alleviate the loneliness of being such a shut in. "What's with the mask and shades, you look like somebody threatening and well, don't make me laugh hehe." The online college professor places her cat back down on the floor and watches it lumber off before standing and inspecting the box between them. "Hive, girl. Given your appearance right now I'm starting to worry you brought a fucking bomb or something. Seriously, I know you like to stay covert but uh..."

"I'll take the shades off, then?" The woman giggles, a husky voice that Mint fails to place until the dark circles encasing piercing hazel come into view and kickstart memory. "But the mask stays on... 'cause, y'know..." With her thick black boot, the woman tips over the cardboard box and out rolls a familiar cannister. 

In a panic, Mint opens her mouth, knowing she won't have long to act but feeling quite confident about her excessive security measures. "Activate lockd--"

Snap!

"That, my girl, is what we call the art of misdirection."

When Mint comes to, she finds that she hasn't moved from her chair though now appears to be securely zip-tied to it, causing her to scoff and look around for her intruder with bitter eyes. It isn't hard to find the woman who crouches beneath the other's desk snipping wires, disabling security measures one squeeze at a time. "Excellent cable management, dear, but I'd be a tad more careful about labelling them next time. I considered the idea of intentionally writing false labels but well... you're academically smart, a PHD does not a wise woman make." 

"Misty! I missed you, girl. Be a doll and use those snippers of yours to cut me free, it seems a villain has laid a trap for you." Mint swivels in the chair and groans, unable to feel smug when Murmur's assertations strike true this time. 

"Har har, I actually think your groovy alter ego has you beat on jokes, Mint, though I'm not sure why you felt the need to make him such a dick." Murmur pulls out from under the desk and sits on it, straightening her legs and crossing them while looking down at the other smugly. 

"Well they say to write what you know. What the fuck do you want, bitch?" Mint looks around to make sure that Mr Cheep is outside of hearing distance in case of the unfortunate outcome in which these are the first words from mommy that the chip translates perfectly. "If you touched a hair on my cat's head, I'll--"

"Relax, Christ, I'm an animal lover. I prefer birds though, I'm sure a learned woman such as yourself knows just how smart corvids can be. Sometimes I think they figure things out before we do, at least that's how it feels." Murmur whistles and pushes Mint's chair with her boot teasingly to spin her like the circling crow. 

"Look, Misty or Murmur of whoever the fuck you are now. This is between you and Nova, right? The hell did I ever do to you? I thought you worshipped us heroes, so why go all serial killer now?" Mint tries to reach for one of her many panic buttons before wincing when she remembers the snipped wires. 

Murmur leaps from the desk's edge to Mint's computer chair, sitting on the woman's lap while facing her, legs hooking through the arms of the chair. The dark mistress of night holds the sides of Mint's head and presses their foreheads together, speaking in a low and reverent tone. "I love heroes, you're right. Maybe I love them so much I feel the need to keep them, like how you love your pet cat, hm? Maybe I just need Nic to see what I'm capable of at long last, she never truly understood. Whether or not you do is irrelevant, Mint, as you're not even a hero yourself~"

The weighed down captive gulps and closes her eyes, still trying to figure out how this woman turned tables on her with such a simple snap. What was the trick? It goes against every method they ran Joy through, so what's the deal. Wait, speaking of the rookie they were grooming...

"That Orchard girl, I take it that she's yours now. If Hive is betraying us then it only makes sense I guess. Uhhh, I know you have no reason to trust me and I'm not sure if I'd rather let you find this out on your own anyway, but there's something you should probably see."

"Oh? Is it very conveniently on your monitor that's constantly flooding everybody without your contact lenses with blinking subliminals?" Murmur laughs and lifts her weight from Mint, leaning over the desk and pressing her face into the glass boldly. "Ah shit, no luck. Thought I could get some good sleep at last." Prying her eyes away, the woman decides not to take further risk in case they get any more creative past the desktop, like this 'something she should probably see' which sounds the obvious trap even if she believes it's serious. Carefully plucking out Mint's contacts and helping herself to them, Murmur returns to the screen and taps the desk impatiently. "Oh go on then, don't leave me in suspense."

"It's uh, in Discoman's latest logs, there's a video playback and I saved the clip into the folder on there too." Mint looks down, knowing she's as susceptible to her tech control as anybody else, at least the visual aspect. 

Murmur clicks around for a while, not particularly a fan of technology and so taking a while to navigate to the clip in question. When she clicks it on, she's just as transfixed on the scene as Mint had been the night before when she viewed it. 

"Joy... are you... a v-villain?"

Besides the audio playing through Mint's speakers, a silence fills the room as Murmur watches with undivided attention and Mint listens to the familiar scene she has memorised in detail by now. A little while after the playback ended, when true silence save for machine hum permeates through Mint's basement, Murmur finds herself at a loss for words. More painfully silent seconds pass before the woman can finally think to say...

"There's the crow."