Letter to home (Cryogene's intro)

[Cryogene]

Well, maybe you could sleep with your med badge too, s'way they can evac you if need be, it'd save them a whole lot of shoe leather that way.

I thought about that idea and even asked Miss Gemini, but the problem is that I'm not technically dying under those conditions, any more than you would be if one of those snow creatures froze you in place. My heart-rate is fine, I'm still breathing (if shallowly), my blood temperature hasn't even changed... I just can't move. So I wouldn't set off the badge.

I'm mostly just going to trust the good folks at, umm, whoever made my coff... toaster, that they made it as failsafe as they claim.

[Mana Cannon]

*flies around seeming in a hurry* Oh! Hello! Nice to meet you Im Mana Cannon but everyone calls me Mana. Nice ears. They look good on you. *drifts off* Sorry but I really must run...err fly welcome to St. Joes!

[Cryogene]

*can't help but smile in amusement a little* Sandy's not in right now, Zack.

[Mana Cannon]

Ehh that just doesnt sound right. *seeming frown from under the face plate* Lets stick with Mana for now and maybe something will come up later.

[Cryogene]

Issue 10 Update

The abduction of Amy Davis, Joni's closest friend, took a huge toll on Joni, and the fact that other students (including Kai, who she knew moderately well) didn't make it at all only made things worse. After a couple days of attempting to vent her frustration on the invaders, the stress got to be too much, and she "refocused her attention" on Salamanca's issues for over a week (not even telling anyone where she was). She considers herself a coward for retreating like that, and right now she's simply avoiding doing anything heroic, feeling there are better people for the job.

Her opinion of Mimi, whom she formerly looked up to as the first person to make her feel welcome at SJS, has taken a nosedive at the "betrayal." She's avoiding Mimi whenever possible right now, and hasn't spoken a word to her since the first day of the invasion, and anyone else who suggests Mimi was even remotely in the right regarding Amy will get much the same treatment.

On the flip side, Joni and Alex Dutchman have become close over the past month, and Amy's return has partially lifted her spirits again. Nonetheless, her tendency to isolate herself has reasserted, and she's spending a lot of time in her dorm room, requiring some effort to extract.

[Cryogene]

Issue 11 Update

Joni spends a lot of her time with Alex these days. Amy too, when she can, but the would-be-Rikti spends a lot of time occupied with treatments and avoids the campus whenever possible (understandable, given the hostility some of the other students have toward her) so they don't see each other as much as they'd like.

A more recent development is her relationship with Jacob, which is... complicated, given the multiple-personality business. She's convinced that Hellfire hates her (which may not be as inaccurate as she normally is on these things) and she's constantly worried about whether he'll find other ways to screw up whatever happens between the two. Jacob actually seems relatively confident that it'll work out somehow, and between that and the small part of her that's gleeful knowing she CAN beat Hellfire, she's still giving things a chance, but that little voice in her head just keeps raving about how it'll all end in tears.

[Cryogene]

Issue 12 Update

Joni's life has gone through some major whiplash over the past couple months and she hasn't come out of it quite the same. Although the breakup with Jacob in February was an early sign of things to come, it was Alex's abrupt personality shift (which only a few people know was partially Joni's fault) that truly devastated her. Joni spent that period in a state of nervous breakdown and refused to get close to anyone, convinced she was a walking bad omen.

The adage about "darkest before the dawn" proved true. Alex reverted to her familiar self, and her continued unconditional support of Joni post-switch, even after Joni (in her own words) "nearly killed you," has led Joni to reevaluate her assumption that Alex and others were "just being nice." As a result, she's now actually listening to advice on how she might improve her feelings of self-worth. Students will notice she's started wearing brighter, more casual clothes again, but more surprising is that she's thrown aside her familiar stilted enunciation in favor of letting her natural Savannah accent roam free.*

Paragon itself has offered additional evidence that she just might be liked, by adding the name of Cryogene to the roster of Heroes of the City. In her case, this honor included an improved combat uniform with advanced insulating material.

Joni still faces the worry that she's burning karma fast and the universe will remember to kick her soon enough. She's also still unhealthily dependent on Alex and her approval. However, she's smiling more than she has since the breakup, which would seem to be a good start.

*Note from Jonimun: The accent has been shown up to now by "ah" instead of "I" in her sentences, but I'm dropping this as it's a hassle and looks a little silly; just assume she's continuing to speak with the accent regardless of what's typed.

[Cryogene]

Joni has continued to emerge from her shell over the past year. A major turning point in her life has been her reunion with her estranged mother in January, and the two remain in contact. Her three-month relationship with Diego was self-initiated, and although it ended painfully, she emerged from it angry at Diego rather than convinced of her own unlikeability, a serious improvement over her last breakup. More recently she's been seen with a young college student; he seems determined to make her blush a lot, but she clearly enjoys the attention. In general, she remains the quiet girl of a given group unless spoken to directly, but has a friendly smile on her face that says she'd welcome the attention.

Now eighteen and having more or less caught up from starting high school a year late, she's mulling over the option of applying for her diploma early, and has already started the classes necessary to meet her remaining minimum requirements. Alex has graduated, Jessiy is on the verge of doing so, and she sees Amy more often at the hospital or GIFT than on campus, leaving her with few true attachments to the school. Nothing has been finalized, however.

[Blitzen]

Jo!

Holy cow, seems like just yesterday we started, doesn't it? Not really, on account of I think a ton of stuff happened in the in-between time, but it did seem to go real fast. Anyway, I'm glad to see you've been happier lately. I'll miss your toaster oven, sometimes, I'd use it to keep a mug of hot chocolate warm.

Anyway, stay happy and all that. See you around,

-Sam

[Cryogene]

*wondered why her bed smelled like chocolate sometimes*

*hugs Sam anyway, not like she gets to keep the thing* *hopes the school doesn't demand a damage deposit, though*