Granny’s Cookies

A Conversation and Baked Goods

Hank, Victor, and Caedechron walked away from the EMT’s and the crowd of confused parishioners of the Church of Reflectionsand headed next door, to the house of Hank’s Grandma. As the three of them approach the house the smell of baked goods wafts through the air.

Hank turns to Caedechron and asks “So why did you disintegrate that guy? Was he hurt?”

Cai responds, “He had kidnapped one of my friends. The little girl, she’s got several people inside her, and it seemed like the guy was taking advantage of her mental state.” The robot picks at some leftover bone fragments in his armor. “He felt the power of my gun already, and had surrendered, I was ready to let him go. You should have seen what his face looked like when Gryphon, one of the members of SAVIOR, talked about the Night Lords decoratively. “He was taking advantage of all of those poor teens, and his master was literally pure evil. It seems like mumbo jumbo to me, but an old member of Savior smote him with holy powered pistol whipping. So, long story short, he was evil, and choose to forfeit his protection because he attacked me when I unmasked him. I would not have fired on anyone else in that room. I had proof he had nefarious intentions.”

The horseman pauses his walk, “Why didn’t you arrest him?”

“I probably should have, but in the heat of the moment, with the threat of it splashing over on his victims, I made a snap decision. ”

“George taught me that killing is against the commandments of Our Savior and the law. Is it normal to make snap decisions to break the rules?” Hank looks very seriously at Cai.

“Not for most people. But no one is perfect, and I’m working on my aggression. Part of the Human Condition is to constantly better yourself,” remarks Cai.

“You are human? You don’t look it.” Hank pokes Cai, feeling a very not human body.

Cai: chuckles, “Yeah. My body was murdered, and my consciousness fled into this body to escape. My mind is human, so I’m human.”

“Then you know what it’s like to die?”

Cai looks down, “Yes. I’ve seen my death through my eyes, and had the opportunity to even see it psychically through my killers’ eyes.”

“If you are good guy like Savior claims to be, will you not kill anymore? I don’t want to be on the wrong side of the gun if I have to try to save someone. I still don’t know why I am supposed to be here. I’m just a normal horse guy.”

“If that is what it would take to make you feel comfortable with us, yes. I pledge so to do,” intones Cai seriously.

Victor breaks into the conversation, “So, Hank, tell me more about how you met your Grandma.”

Hank nonchalantly replies, “I called Walter and Grandma answered. She says I haven’t seen her in forever so I decided swing by and she’s human now and makes really good food.”

Cai: murmurs in Spanish, loud enough for Victor to hear, ” así que la anciana senil no es ni siquiera tu abuela …” (so the senile old woman isn’t even your grandma….)

Victor pushes, “So, you don’t actually know her? She just answered Walter’s phone one day?”

“She said I’m her grandson and she knows all about me and what I like. Um yeah I think I would know my grandma when I see her. Plus with cooking like that how can she not be my grandma?”

Victor gives up, “Ok, amigo, all good, just making sure. Let’s go have some of that great smells- hope she has more Tecate®, as I only have 4 left!”

Hank stops the other two right before the door. Hank: “Ok make sure you wipe of your feet.” Hank wipes off his hooves on the door mat. “Plus she has to use the big phones like me.” He pulls out his phone with big buttons out of his fanny pack.

On the porch Victor says, “So, Senor Cai, you say the former member of Savior pistol whipped the one you killed before with holy power, si? So there used to be a member of Savior filled with the power of God?”

“Yes. Or at least I think so. His weapons were holy relics at least. He stepped down as a full time member as I was joining, so I don’t know the whole story.”

Hank pauses, “Wait you guys killed another person?”

“You came in just as he died.”

Victor asks, “Why did he get killed? You replaced the guy with Jesus Christo’s guns? Dios mio! I am so confused “. Victor looks around making sure there are not people listening. “Si, no abuela, creole que trabaja para la agencia que nos cambió.” (Not grandma, I think she works for the agency that changed us)

Cai replies to Victor’s question, “Yeah, it’s a confusing situation, and I’m not the one to ask… Some of the others have a better understanding of all of the events that transpired before I joined Savior. I am relatively new too – I’ve been a member for a week.”

Hank, finally stops wiping his feet. “Did he shoot at you guys or something?”

“Victor, what do you remember from the discussion before you guys went to the Church? I got there late, Hank, and I was caught up in other projects earlier today, so I didn’t really get the full story about who the First Reflector was – that’s the first dead guy.”

An elderly voice calls out from inside, “You boys best wipe your feet afore comin’ in here!”

Hank responds, “I am grandma. They are,” and opens the door.

Cai calls out, “Yes, ma’am! I wiped, and we cleaned up before coming over!”

The elderly voice yells, “C’mon in, c’mon in. I baked your favorite cookies.”

The smell of baked good is even stronger now as you walk inside. The house has a homey, lived-in feel that is offset only by the disrepair her meager possessions are masking.

Hank joyously says, “Hey grandma! This is Victor and robot guy Cai.” Hank whispers to Cai, “No guns at the table.”

Granny smiles, “You’re friends of my grandson here? Welcome, welcome. Don’t mind the mess, I’ve been cookin’ up a storm!”

“Did you save the beater for my like you said Grandma?”

The elderly lady says, “And watch out for Petey and Phoebe. I dun know where those two git off to but they’ll be back soon to eat.” She stops and looks at Hank with a stern stare that softens lovingly. “Now, boy, you know that ain’t healthy for you. Raw eggs ain’t good to be eatin’ like that. Here,” and she sets out a tray of about 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies and a dozen frosted sugar cookies.

The kitchen is a mess of pots, pans, flour, and other baking paraphernalia.

Hank mumbles, “Mom would have let me….” and is very pouty.

Victor perks up, “Si, ma’am, Grandma ma’am, friends with Hank for a long time Do you have any Tecate®?”

The old woman looks the three guests up and down. “You boys don’ look very clean. Go wash up before you eat.”

Victor asks, stuttering, “Where is the Bano, I mean bathroom?”

“Boy, mind you manners an’ show your friends to the bathroom.”

Hank lazily points down the hallway but realizes his grandmas look of his laziness and decides to escort Victor and Cai. Hank goes into explaining which towels not to use because they are decoration. You see a faint hoof print on one and he definitely looks like he got scolded before.

Victor, after washing, sits down to chocolate chip cookies and one of his last 4 Tecates®, checking the windows every 5 minutes

Granny responds to Victor, “Tecate®? No, that don’ ring a bell. Is that some kind of new snack?”

Grandma gives Victor a disapproving look when he pulls out the beer, but she doesn’t say anything. She does make a point of pouring three glasses of milk and placing them one the table, one for each of you.

Granny looks to Hank. “Boy, c’n you help me figure out this thing? I can’t seen to work it right.” She passes over a new phone. “I don’ wan’ lose your number again. It’s been ages since you visited or called. I’m so glad you’re here.”

Hank looks at it, slightly confused and struggling with his hooved hands.

Cai: whispers, “I’m pretty technologically literate, want me to help?”

“Any of your friends who c’n help, that’s right by me,” says the elderly woman.

Hank hands the phone over to Cai. As the conversation dims, the three guests notice the poor condition of the house. It needs some real maintenance and repairs. It’s all little stuff, but potentially a big problem if left alone. Water stains, cracked walls, what might be some mold in a couple damp places. You’ve also noticed the pictures on the wall. There’s a picture of Grandma when she was younger, with two boys. A picture of one of those boys, older, in some military uniforms. The other boy, older, is in pictures with a woman and then a woman and their child. The most recent seeming pictures are one with the grandma, the older boy, and the grandson (now early-teens).

The pictures seem to tell the story of this woman having had two sons, one in the military who seems to have died, and the other who was married with a child but wasn’t with the child’s mother anymore after some time. The most recent of these pictures seem to be about 5 years old.

Grandma gets up slowly, trying to hide the pain in her back, and goes to start cleaning up the kitchen while you three are eating cookies and milk.

Cai makes the aspect ratio on Granny’s phone larger, so that it’s easier to touch singular buttons and read titles of apps. He also creates a shortcut to Dial Hank on the home screen. He asks, “Hank, should we help with cleaning up?”

Hank replies, “Sure. I’ll pick up the non-breakables.” Meanwhile Victor is busily checking the windows, looking outside nervously.

Cai gets up to help 3-handed. His right utility hand is doing the stuff with her phone. Grandma accommodates the help, moving around, taking things and handing you things as you three work together. Grandma is contently quiet, occasionally humming a tune to herself.

Victor, finding no evidence of anyone arriving on scene yet, turns back away from the window and sees a terrifying sight, for him. Two cats enter the room through the pet door out front and walk through the house into the kitchen.

Victor: “Dios mio! El gatos diablos!” says Victor, barely able to contain yourself long enough to safely avoid them.
The cats enter the kitchen and begin mewing.

Grandma says “Oh there you two are. All right, all right, I’m coming.”She stops picking up to open up some cat food and place it in a dish for them on the floor. She pours some milk too.

Victor calls out from the living room, “Anyone want a Tecate®? I have 2 left.”

As Cai and Hank are working together in the kitchen, Hank’s tail knocks over a stack of dishes and glasses. Cai, with his sensors you recognize what’s happening quickly enough to catch all the dishes before they hit the floor and break while Hank is still processing what just happened.

Grandma says “Tsk. You boys need to be more careful.” She comes over and starts taking dishes off of you from how you quickly loaded up to save them.

Meanwhile, the cats Phoebe and Petey finish eating and look for a human or human-like creature to visit for attention. While the commotion in the kitchen pleases their need to be in the way at the worst possible time, they do notice you and they instinctively sense they should go to you instead. They lazily walk towards Victor.

“Thanks grandma for the cookies I have to go be on the news now”, Victor says as he rushes out the door as if he has seen a ghost.

A moment later Grandma says, “It’s getting late. All you boys should be getting yourselves home and ready for bed now. Don’t be strangers now!” She begins to usher the other two of you out.

Hank replies, “Ok grandma. Take care.” To Cai he says, “Need a lift home?” as he pulls out car keys from his fanny pack.

Cai replies, “Nah, I can fly. I could take you, if you wanted… I could probably even carry your car, if you wanted”

“No, that’s fine. I like to feel the wind in my mane and I have a lot of thinking to do.”

Cai says, “Sounds good. I’ll check up with Victor. I’ll go talk to Geist, he’ll talk to you more about the group. We’re really a good force in the city.”