Dr malone couldn't help but smile a little, seeing Marisa sleep on the couch, thankfully little lyra hadn't seen the blood running down her mother's leg, and dr malone could only put two and two together. Lyra was crouched beside her mother, holding her hand. "hey... Lyra" she whispered with a smile, catching the girls attention. "you like superheros?" Mary asked, lyra grinned and nodded. "i do... But pan is all i need, he can change form and he's with me all the time. Roger.... He's a friend from school..." lyra smiled thinking back to all the wild adventures they'd go on together.
Lyra of course, was getting up to mischief, standing in the hallway, looking more focused than possible. Her daemon, pan, in the form of a pine marten, was placed on her shoulder, whispering into her ear. "lyra, the rules are simple" she nodded, her eyebrows raising, why did everyone assume she'd break them. She turned to look at pan, his face turning too as she did. "we know the rules, pan." her hands were braced on her thighs, hoping to get a good start in what she was about to do. There was a silent look between her and her daemon until her friend Roger, broke it, amused as ever. "you don't obey the rules!" he said, his body slightly hunched forward, getting ready too. "it doesn't mean i don't know 'em!" she replied sarcastically, her eyes widening and shaking her head, making Roger's grin grow. "we need to win this time" pan told lyra, at this her face turned much more serious, looking straight ahead so she'd know where to go. Roger still had his grin on as he placed one foot further forward. "just count us down." she said quickly, shaking her hands out to the side. "three, two... One" in the gap, after three, he shot forward, beginning to run, his arms helping him to be fast, lyra too shocked wasted time in looking at him for a second in disbelief, her eyes wide. "oi! Cheat!" she grinned though, lyra never took anything too seriously.
Mary now crouched by lyra, she could tell lyra was reliving an experience, and it was a pleasant one at that. "so.... Each superhero has a lab, a batcave..." lyras eyes widened in awe, her mother would sometimes read her stories on a nighttime, even the flash comics, they were her ultimate favorite, a boy as fast as lightning, but too slow to save his mother, but the boy who was able to keep his heart pumping, the love inside, like her mother, she may not understand or even be aware of the horror she was going through, but she had a good heart, and for Mrs Coulter, her lyra, was Barry, and Barry's dad simultaneously, always believing in each other no matter what, and mrs Coulter was more than ready to sacrifice. Mary took lyra in her arms, watching marisa shift a little. "I'm no hero, but wanna see mine?" she asked, lyra nodded enthusiastically and grinned, so dr malone picked her up and took her down to her work to watch her for a bit.
The sight made lyras mouth drop open, she'd never seen anything so exquisite. She had sat on the desk beside Mary who sat in a chair, attaching wires to her forehead, and lyra was proud to be given the task of watching the screen in front of her, after a moment, and a nod from Mary, lyra had noticed some activity. "it's moving!" she exclaimed, her eyes lit up as though she herself as a scientist had discovered something extraordinary. Mary nodded "not as much as I'd like" she said with a sigh, she thanked lyra and stood up, she should probably take her back to her mother. She turned around "lyra...?" she asked, she frowned and saw the girl sat in her chair, staring at the wires. "can i...." she pointed to the wires, Mary froze a little, it wasn't often she found herself responsible for a little girl, well, it was never, and she hesitated, but she nodded. "alright... But this is our secret, ok?" she didn't want to tell marisa that she put wires on her daughter without asking, at least not until she knew her. Lyra leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes, she thought of a memory, the one she'd been thinking about earlier, running around outside with roger and their daemons.
Mary hear a buzzing from the screen and dropped her bag in shock, she creeped forward, looking at the screen over Lyra's shoulder. "b... But that's..." until now it seemed impossible. It had to be impossible. The lines were moving much more, somewhat becoming more blurry but ultimately, coming together, particle by particle to make an image, a serpent it seemed, though, Mary couldn't see it for long as Lyra's eyes opened and the lines went back to their original place. "oh well..." lyra sighed, sad and disappointed nothing had happened, she thanked Mary for letting her try it anyways and hugged her.
With that hug, Mary took lyra back upstairs, holding her to her chest, and soon she was back in her office, lyra sat in her lap asleep, she had nearly dozed off herself when she heard Marisa moving from the sofa. In fact, she had dozed off and until she'd heard the beautiful woman on the sofa say her name, she wasn't aware she had. She woke up and held lyra tighter when she woke up. "hey..." she simply nodded when Marisa silently thanked her, and for all the silence Mary had heard and been through in her life, this one was the far least awkward. She desperately wanted to know how lyra could work the machine, her unpublished work, did Marisa possibly know what dark matter was.
"Marisa..." Mary whispered. Just who was this woman exactly?
