). Without further ado:Volume Six: Interpersonal Chemistry (Issues 401-541)
At the Infirmary, the orgy persists in earnest. Erin nearly reveals the secret of Miriam’s parentage to Adrian before Jacqui stops her by shoving her head down on his cock. Laura and Amy scheme to use the pendant to convince Hayley to fuck their boyfriend once again, which she eventually does while pretending to be Amy. Adrian briefly tangles with Einfríður thanks to Dani’s programming before she returns to Johannes’ room upstairs. The rest of the evening proceeds, with Adrian’s women putting him through his paces before everyone turns in for the night.
Julian arrives unannounced at Claudia’s hideout and disables a surveillance device hidden behind one of her study’s paintings, of which she was unaware. They discuss Adrian having the Watch; when Claudia suggests taking it from him by force, Julian reveals he has the broken lattice from the hit-and-run but says they are unable to repair it and do not have the power source even if they could. He also lets Claudia know about Cherry’s coma and her uncertain status. Claudia still wants to try to steal the scallop so they could use it to repair the Watch; they could then force Adrian’s women to their will, such as using Erin to heal Cherry. Julian points out that his women are far too formidable for that idea to be possible, and proposes instead that he and Claudia tell them where they can find Jakob in exchange for them repairing the Watch and healing Cherry. Claudia is distraught at the idea, but Julian assures her Jakob will eventually turn on them anyway and that this is the best course of action.
At Sawyer’s, it seems Vik has stopped by to spread some PC to an unknown party. It is unclear whether this is Yves, Sawyer himself, or another entity represented by the club’s security guard, but they seem to be planning to test PC on the girls at the club. We also see an empty hospital bed, implying that Vik has recovered Alex and Katie at this point.
The morning after the orgy, Johannes and Einfríður have left; at a diner, they have breakfast and discuss their itinerary, Einfríður displaying the completed scallop she has received from Danielle. Jacqui calls Ezra and tells him it is time to reveal the truth of Miriam’s parentage to her. He tells her that he married Jacqui when she was in college, after she had gotten pregnant and been rejected by the father. Jacqui then calls said father, Patrick Cavanaugh, and his wife Miel, to tell them about Patrick’s daughter. She encourages them to come to Kearsarge and tells them about her relationship with their son. Miel calls Adrian soon after and informs him that Miriam is his half-sister. Adrian eventually marshalls the troops and introduces everyone at the Infirmary to his parents via video call, saying they can meet the rest when they come to visit.
Jacqui reveals to Miriam that Adrian is her half-brother, much to her chagrin. She and Adrian have an awkward reunion, and she asks him to tell her about Patrick. They discuss family matters, and Miriam also wonders if Erin’s ritual enabled her to break Jakob’s psychological restriction on her having sex. Though it was under odd circumstances, she thanks Adrian for a wonderful first time.
At cheer practice, Caitlyn and Hitomi discuss their relational drama, Hitomi revealing her new relationship with Coates’ crew. In the locker room afterwards, Hitomi makes a pass at Caitlyn, finally acting on her attraction, and Imani seeks to join the party. Caitlyn calls Adrian to make sure he is okay with the arrangement, and when he gives his approval, they enjoy each other. Imani tells Caitlyn amidst their fun that Astrid and Coates are having a party and encourages her to invite the entire SJI bunch, saying Astrid would love to meet them.
Julian checks into the Motor Inn in Kearsarge, where he has previously been staying. The desk clerk, Patricia, welcomes him back; however, when he heads to his room, she calls an unknown person and alerts them of Julian’s arrival. She goes to his room later with towels, claiming he had requested them, but when we next see them, Patricia has been stripped naked and held at pendant-point. Under trance, she claims that the man in room two wants her to come and shoot Julian; from her description, and the yellow car we see fleeing the motel, we can assume it is Vik. Julian begins to condition Patricia to serve him; when we next see her, her head is buried between his legs as he receives a return call from Angela, Johannes’ secretary who secretly works for Jakob. She tells him that Jakob is currently in the Geneva house, but then hangs up and warns Jakob to vacate. On the road, Vik is stopped for speeding by a female officer, but he doses her with PC to not only escape a ticket but coax a blowjob out of her, leaving her nude and strung out with cum on her face in her cruiser.
Einfríður asks Dani if she is certain Jakob is alive and remarks that his survival is a disaster for the family. Dani sharply retorts she does not care less, as the family left her at Jakob’s mercy. Their conclusion is that Jakob landed in the Faeroe Islands. Einfríður and Johannes leave, but Dani and Einfríður have one final exchange before they go; Einfríður asks how she will know when to use the scallop, to which Dani simply responds she will know.
At the record store, Erin and Jacqui admire Patrick and Miel’s album cover, Erin giving her approval. They discuss the recent developments with Miriam, and Erin seems to suggest she could enable Jacqui to have another child if she so desires. Adrian arrives and takes Jacqui to the back room; Miriam is close behind and makes out with Erin in the front. Ezra follows behind and says they are planning to meet Johannes for lunch, then waits for Jacqui and her in the car. Miriam asks Erin about her powers, and while Erin dodges the question, she tells Miriam to meet her at the theatre that night after rehearsal.
At lunch, Ezra and Johannes continue to discuss the fallout of Jakob’s possible survival, while Miriam texts with Reka about Erin’s plans and Einfríður texts Dani with updates on the conversation between the men. Einfríður chimes in that Dani is more than willing to help Jakob stay dead. Ezra tells Miriam to forget anything she heard during lunch, and she coldly responds that among all the other things she didn’t hear was acknowledgement of Jakob’s abuse of her. She chooses to walk back to the store in a huff, leaving Ezra behind.
Mallory, Marliese, and Amy discuss how Zenon is still not seeing patients. They realize that Dani’s crystal is the one he was using, which means they will need to begin pulling records on his other patients to potentially undo any programming he gave them.
Q and Kanti have sex over her lunch break. She misses a call from Vik in her passion, and he leaves her a voicemail saying not to tell anyone he called and that she shouldn’t believe the stories about him. However, given that we see his abuse of the policewoman, as well as Katie and Alex being used by him, overlaid with the voice memo, his position is dubious at best.
Mallory is summoned to see the head librarian of Wilmot Campus, Miss Randall, seeming intimidated by the concept. We later learn she is being sought to become the Head Librarian when Randall retires, but that the library safeguards dangerous things, and this duty will be yet another burden on her shoulders.
After leaving work, Danielle is confronted by Julian, who has put his guns and ammunition in a pile on the ground before him. Dani approaches and holds him at gunpoint, and Julian asks her who she hates more: him or Jakob. She calls Adrian, who arrives with Jacqui, and they and Julian talk. Julian claims that Jakob will do anything to recover the scallops and proposes the deal he had discussed with Claudia: if Erin agrees to heal Cherry, he will tell them where they can find Jakob. Adrian asks if he expects them to kill Jakob, and Julian replies it would be a wise decision. When Adrian says he will ask Erin, Julian expresses disbelief that he does not simply command her to do as he wishes, but Adrian remains resolute and promises to be in touch.
At Sawyer’s, the strippers are apparently being called in for personal review. Based on previous context, it is likely they are being experimented on with Pink Clouds, at the behest of whoever Vik gave them to at the club.
Speaking of Vik, Kanti goes to meet with Vik, Q hiding nearby to ensure her safety. Vik claims he has been set up by Q, that Q is the one who started making PC again and framed him. Kanti encourages him to tell his side of the story and stop running, but when Vik sees that Q has been keeping tabs on them, he shouts at her, calls her a whore, and doses her with PC. He abducts her in spite of Q’s best efforts, clipping Q with his car before speeding off.
At the theatre, Miriam shows up to speak with Erin. She thanks Erin for helping her recover her memories, but asks if she did something else to her during the ritual. Erin admits she and Dani stripped out Jakob’s programming, and though Miriam is somewhat upset at her head being meddled with without her consent, she is grateful. She asks once again what Erin is and can do, and while Erin does not have a word for what she is, she claims she can teach Miriam some things. We later see Miriam reading from a rather thick tome by red wax candlelight, so we can assume Erin has begun to induct Miriam into whatever secret power system Erin controls.
At the Infirmary, Mallory, Dani, Erin, and Adrian share their respective news with the others. Erin says that, technically, her “healing ability” is instead the ability to take people’s injuries onto herself and then self-heal. Cherry possibly having brain damage from blood loss and oxygen starvation poses a risk that Adrian is not fully comfortable with, though he does admit Julian seems fairly desperate. Mallory comments they are being told to kill a stranger, but Dani counters that she knows Jakob and that they must kill him, or he will not stop until he takes them all.
While Laura and Hayley settle in for a romantic evening, Caitlyn returns to her place to find a nude Hitomi waiting for her. Hitomi begins to massage her and eventually initiates sex. Amy is approached by a desperate Q and informed of Vik’s abduction. They head to the record shop, and Amy calls her sister and Laura, telling her to meet them and Q to begin brewing up some of the antidote.
Mallory, Marliese, and Dani enjoy each other while they wait for Erin and Adrian to finish their fun. As Adrian goes to them, Erin calls her mentor, Aiken, and entertains him via video call. Dani waits for the others to fall asleep and retrieves a box from her room, beginning to look over pieces of Watch lattice. Erin and Aiken discuss Miriam, and while Aiken approves of Erin training her, he cautions her to be careful; regarding Cherry and Jakob, he tells Erin to let Cherry die, and to kill Jakob for what he did to her.
Vik meets with someone unknown, unhappy about a deal he has made, but begrudgingly accepts a bag of cash in exchange for Kanti, Alex, and Katie.
Jacqui stops at Rain’s once the antidote has been brewed. She says she needs Rain to ask her father a question. Rain says she regrets how things happened and asks if Adrian knows about her and Jacqui, once again indicating the still nebulous past between the two. Rain agrees to ask her question and seems to consult some celestial power, asking her father to look down. Whatever it is works: Rain sees Vikram sending Kanti and the other girls to a Princess Pink truck behind a warehouse. Jacqui thanks her and they take off. When they find the truck, she sends Laura and Amy out as bait, holding antidote-laced cloths over their noses in hopes of counteracting any PC Vik tries to dose them with. In the meantime, Jacqui and the others will follow the truck.
Amy tries to placate Vik, but he sprays her and Laura with PC. He tells them to get in his car and gives them his own laced cloths but based on their expressions, the antidote seems to be working. Amy activates a tracker in her purse so the others will be able to keep up with Vik’s location, and they stop at a gas station for Vik to make contact with his POI. The girls follow his instruction to fool around in the backseat of their own accord, but they hear a scream, and we see the red creature Cherry summoned approach Vik from behind as he is on the phone. When they run to find him, he is nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, Jacqui’s crew tails the Princess Pink truck to Sawyer’s. They come around the back and find Yves driving the truck. Suspecting him of having accepted the girls from Vik, they demand he open the van. Yves is confused but complies, revealing the van to be empty. With only one other possibility, the crew heads back to the warehouse where Rain had seen Vik and the truck. Within, they find, of all people, Julian, and with him are a dazed Kanti, Alex, and Katie.
This is confusing to me, as the last time we saw Vik, he was attempting to use Patricia to assassinate Julian at the motel. Now, however, he and Julian seem to be making a deal over PC and the girls? If this is merely Julian trying to establish goodwill, why not simply neutralize Vik? If the deal is legitimate between the two of them, why does Julian so easily return the girls to Jacqui and Q? Questions, questions.
Regardless, Julian agrees to return Katie and Alex to the hospital, while Q is relieved to have recovered Kanti. All three girls are dosed with the antidote to clear Vik’s lingering suggestions. With Laura and Amy’s signal clear, Jacqui and Hayley rush to their location, where they reunite with Laura and Amy in the aftermath of Vik’s scream and disappearance.
Erin has a dream about the red creature and, seemingly on a hunch, calls Jacqui and warns her of the creature. The group finds a bloody patch of ground and a blood-stained pistol, but no sign of Vik. The ladies debate what to do, as their presence has likely left DNA evidence and recordings on the security camera, but before they can decide, Laura tells them to run. They turn to find her staring down the red creature. She draws her pistol and fires as it swings for her, clipping its hand and eliciting a physical reaction (unlike earlier, when bullets did not seem to affect it at the airport). She dives for the car, and the ladies make their getaway, returning to the Infirmary, where everyone settles in for the evening into their own sexual triads.
Miriam, now free to explore her sexuality as she sees fit, showers after a night with Wes and Reka. At the record shop, she mentions she is job hunting around Kearsarge and makes out with Erin when she arrives. They head to the back room, and Erin asks if Miriam is up for another ritual that they had previously discussed. Miriam agrees, and Erin once more tells her to join her at the theatre after rehearsal. Adrian arrives and bumps into Miriam as she heads out, offering her coffee and mentioning that, with his folks coming to town soon, Miriam will get a chance to meet her biological father. Jacqui is nonplussed at the upcoming reunion.
Dani and Mallory discuss the upcoming dance at the strip club, and (contrary to my previous posts) Mallory informs Dani now that it will conflict with her birthday. Dani proposes a solution: simply celebrate Mallory’s birthday at the strip club, to which Mallory agrees.
It is telling that an event which has been in the works since the first 100 issues, complete with a birthday party which is set to be at that event from the early 500s, has yet to make an onscreen appearance.
Following their night of intimacy, Hitomi suggests that Caitlyn introduce her to Adrian that evening. Caitlyn is enthusiastic about the idea and snaps a picture of Hitomi to send to her master.
Jacqui heads off to yoga class, and Erin and Adrian discuss the entity Cherry created. Erin says that only Cherry can dismiss it, or that it will dissipate itself in the span of weeks, bringing them back to the question of whether or not Erin should heal Cherry. Erin proposes a solution given to her by Dani: use the Watch’s neural realignment to work around the edges of Cherry’s brain damage, then have Erin heal what the Watch can’t fix. Adrian is reluctant to use the Watch again, ordering Erin to tell the others not to take any action until he first consults with Rain.
The morning after her rescue, Q wakes Kanti and tells her they need to deal with Yves. When we next see them, however, they are discussing the ongoing search for Vik, and that will not be until the next Volume.
Erin leaves the record shop and bumps into Raven, who bashfully asks for a second day. Erin asks how far her place is, and the next we see them, Raven is eating Erin out in her bed. Erin asks her amidst their fucking to help her with something that night, likely the ritual with Miriam.
At yoga, Jacqui talks with a classmate named Heidi, owner of a local fish shop who has recently hired Miriam. On her way back to the record shop, she bumps into Erin and Raven, the former properly introducing the latter to Jacqui for the first time.
Laura, Amy, and Hayley agree to an evening together before going about their day. Laura meets with her TA, Professor Compton, and discusses her accidental development of Pink Clouds. The professor agrees that it will be a serious problem if the formula gets out there, as Laura says a serious meth lab could manufacture it. She does produce the cure to demonstrate to Compton; however, the ladies throw themselves at each other when the aphrodisiac-side effects of the formula overwhelm them. Meanwhile, Hayley discusses the complexities of the harem with Marliese, as she is beginning to fall for Laura and is actively dating both her and Amy, but is hesitant concerning Adrian. At Zenon’s office, the good doctor is still out, but his former patients are flooding Amy’s reception desk, claiming it is very important they keep their appointments.
At cheer practice, Imani confirms with Hitomi that she is going with Caitlyn to meet Adrian that night. Imani tells her to show him a good time, and asks if Hitomi knows what to do regarding Caitlyn. Hitomi replies that she does.
Overwhelmed by the deluge of coeds, Amy calls Hayley, but she has been dragged into the laboratory with Laura and Compton to join in their fun, leaving Amy without assistance.
STOP
Volume Six continues turning the wheels within wheels which began to spin in earnest in Volume Five. With Cherry hospitalized, Claudia and Julian are forced into the uneasy position of attempting to ally themselves with Adrian and his women against Jakob. Ezra and Johannes, meanwhile, begin speaking to the larger consequences that Jakob’s return to life will cause beyond the Wilmot crew’s bubble.
Several relational wheels are continuing to spin. Caitlyn, though she knows it not, has been targeted as the entry method for Astrid’s plans into Adrian’s harem, and Hitomi being an “offering” of sorts to Adrian sets the stage for what Astrid will do to her in Volume Seven. Meanwhile, while it may have seemed benign at the time, Erin beginning to teach Miriam her witchy ways in this early phase of the serial has long-lasting and still unresolved consequences, as the current nonsense which has stretched from the 1160s all the way to the 1530s is confirmed to be a direct result of Miriam’s growing talent in the arts that Erin and Aiken practice. Laura and Amy continue their quest to induct Hayley into the harem in spite of her protests, and Vik and Kanti’s relationship has forever soured after his attempted abduction of her.
