Touched by an Alien

a fishbowl. I couldn’t wait.
    I pointedly sat next to Martini, who was at the far end of the room, earning another glare from Christopher. I glared right back and then turned to watch White usher everyone else in.
    Several of the Dazzling Sisters filed by and took seats around the table, then Mom, Gower, and Reader came in as well. Mom leaned down and said something privately to Christopher, who nodded, and looked away from me and Martini. Then she came and sat next to me.
    “Please try to remain civil,” she said as my personal aside.
    I wasn’t thrilled with her choosing to side with my enemy. “Sure, no worries,” I muttered back. “I’m used to him being a total jerk. So, is he the son you’ve always secretly wanted or what?”
    “Boy, do we need to talk,” Mom said with a sigh.
    More women came in and a few more male agents as well. The conference room was packed. Gower and Reader were across from each other in the middle of the table, but standing with their backs against the glass walls, as were the other male agents. In fact, the only men sitting were Christopher, Martini, and White. I found this yet another interesting tidbit to file away in hopes of it meaning something more later.
    “We’ll dispense with the introductions,” White said by way of calling the meeting to order. “Miss Katt’s had a long day, and I don’t want to lose any of her information to delay or fatigue.”
    Martini made some motion on the table, and suddenly it was a movie screen, albeit a weird one. It appeared to be showing only one picture, but as I looked down in front of me, I could see the images closer up, as if the screen had adapted just for me. I looked out of the corners of my eyes and could see it was the same for Mom and Martini.
    We watched the news report of what had happened. “You know, I’m never buying linen again,” I said to Mom. “I look like I’ve slept in that suit.”
    “It’s you. I just figured you had.” My mother, the standup comic.
    “Do I really run like that?”
    “Yep,” Martini confirmed. “Don’t worry, I think it’s sexy.”
    “Thank God. I think I look like a cheetah on drugs.” I looked over to White. “Why are we watching this? This is the fake.”
    He nodded. “I wanted you to see what the news media’s shown. It may matter later on.”
    “Like when Mephistopheles or one of his pals comes to try to kill me or ask me to join their exclusive club?”
    He had the grace to look unhappy. “Yes.”
    “Fine. Seen it. It was more exciting in real life.”
    White nodded, and the picture changed. This time, it was the real thing. I watched the man sprout wings again, saw the carnage. Only it was worse this way. In real life I’d only seen him kill his wife, and I’d stopped watching that to focus on how to stop him . Now, I knew he was stopped, and I was able to see what he’d done. It was sickening, in all the worst ways.
    Martini reached under the table, took my hand, and gave it a little squeeze. I squeezed back, harder, and didn’t let go. The benefits of being with an empathic man were starting to look pretty good.
    “What can you tell us that we can’t already see?” White asked me.
    “I have no idea,” I had to admit, as I scanned everything I hadn’t seen before, which was a lot. “Your cameras really caught everything, more than I saw at the time.”
    “Not our cameras,” Christopher corrected. “This is a compilation we made from the variety of amateur shots taken.” He glanced at his father. “At least a dozen different camera phones and a couple of video cameras caught some or all of this. We had to alter them all and then make sure they matched each other.” White didn’t seem impressed one way or the other.
    However, in the interest of remaining civil, I decided to be Suzy Supportive. “Nice job. Very smooth, not choppy at all.”
    “I’ll let my team know you appreciate their work,” Christopher said, snarl and glare both set to low.
    “Panoramic, even.” In fact, I had to figure at least one of the photographers had been there doing something else, because there was a lot of detail far away from the main action. “Someone was really focused on the top of the building, weren’t they?” As I said this, I noticed a movement in the upper level of the courthouse and a flash of color that didn’t fit. “Um, can we do a rewind?”
    “Sure,” Martini said and made some different hand motions. “Tell me what you’re looking