Iris giggled as she ran down the hallway of the building. At two years old, she was quick on her feet, with wild red hair, and currently sporting colorful polka dots. At two years old, she also understood that she could pass on her polka dots to others in a game of tag, which greatly amused her. In the chaos and commotion generated by all the new people at Haven, it was easy for her to slip away from the makeshift nursery and wander, poking people and giggling as they broke out in colorful dots. The was caught and returned to the nursery multiple times by increasingly exasperated adults, but was not done playing the game yet, so she managed to slip out again.

She had not been to this part of the building yet. There were fewer people to play with. Iris was not afraid of strangers, but, toddling around, she was suddenly feeling sad. When was Mama coming back?...

Sam left the room and made his way down to the lobby. He pulled out his badge that hung around his neck and let it lay over his shirt. A visible sign that NYPD was in the building maintaining order. He observed how people were standing, moving, interacting with each other. People often telegraphed their intent—something Sam was making a point to avoid.

Having been let loose to explore the publicly occupied areas of Haven was a blessing that Sam had worked for and he wasn’t about to use it. The question was who would be his target and how he could approach them unseen by others.

Periodically Sam gave an update over his communicator. Routine updates with a fair amount of time between. Something to create a regular pattern of activity with a wide buffer to act. All maintaining a professional air and indicating everything was calm and orderly given the situation.

It was the giggles in the hallway that caught Sam’s attention. Sam had seen a few children already but not the one giving spots. Could that be the one? He needed to verify before he acted.

Sam rounded a corner, heading toward the giggling and patter of small feet. His fingers lightly touched his keys in his pocket.

Iris toddled down another hallway, turning corners at random. There had to be snacks somewhere. "Mama? Mimi?" Playing tag was fun, but being alone was not fun. Especially being alone with no snacks. Iris wrinkled her nose and sniffled again. Then turning another corner, she came face to face with a stranger. She stopped, looking at him with large eyes, tilting her head. Iris generally had no fear of strangers within the Mansion; everyone in there was friend, and Mama and Mimi and Sis were there to protect her. But this was another place with new people. Irish had tagged the other kids and some of the adults, though. It was fun. After some hesitation, she reached out one hand, aiming to poke a finger at the man. "Ta?"

”Howdy there, small child.” Sam said warmly as he knelt down and waved a hand at the kid. ”Got free from your minders?”

Was this the kid? The one that had the curse of spreading powers. Sam considered himself lucky. Perhaps he could keep her around long enough to finish the key from the one he had prepared. This would either take a fair amount of genetic material or her presence.

”We should get you back to them, or you could help me keep this place safe. There’s a lot of bad stuff happening outside and I’m here to keep everyone safe and you could help.”

>>"Howdy there, small child. Got free from your minders?”

The big man with the shiny necklace looked friendly. Iris was generally surrounded by friendly people, even in this strange new place. She toddled closer, craning her neck to look up at him. He did not seem to want to play tag.

>>”We should get you back to them, or you could help me keep this place safe. There’s a lot of bad stuff happening outside and I’m here to keep everyone safe and you could help.”

Help people. Safe from bad stuff. She knew those things. Mama and Mimi did those things. Iris nodded enthusiastically, then giggled, reaching out a finger again to poke him. "Ta!"

While still kneeling, Sam pulled a key out of his pocket. It was brass, a few inches in length, and had a decently sized round head. The key had intricate designs engraved all across it. The kid approached Sam, nodding. The kid was reaching out to poke Sam. Sam brought the key up between them, offering the head to the child.

”I’m going to use this key to keep everyone safe. It’s not ready though. Can you take it and hold it for me?” Sam wiggled the key a little. He knew that before everything was done he would be touched and cursed by the child’s power, but it would hopefully only be transitory as he would soon lock the child’s power. ”Take it and then just wave it around. Imagine you’re locking all the doors and keeping the bad stuff trapped.”

The big man knelt down, and wiggled a shiny key in front of Iris. Iris liked shiny things, they were pretty. Mama and Sis wore a lot of shiny things. And Mimi walked through them which was funny. Iris' eyes grew wide as she inspected the key, forgetting about poking the big man. When it was offered, she grabbed the key with both hands, and waved it around, making zooming noises. Then, for good measure, she put it into her mouth. Because it looked like a very shiny lollipop.

Sam couldn’t help but smile. The kid was having a good time. It bolstered Sam’s conviction as he knew he would be helping the child and in doing so improve his ability to further cure the world. The key going into the kid’s mouth was unexpected, but in retrospect should have been. That’s what little kids did. They put things in their mouths.

”Okay. Now let’s finish this key. Make it ready to help everyone.” Sam reached forward to grasp the end of the key sticking out of the kid’s mouth. As he did there was a brief spark of light as mystical energy was passed into the key. The kid likely had a flash of warmth and a taste of pennies in her mouth.

Sam pulled on the key to take it from the child’s mouth ”It’s ready. You did fantastic. Best helper!”

Iris squealed and jumped as the key did something. The spark was funny and it made her giggle, but the taste it left was not to her liking. Iris scrunched up her face, spitting the key out and sticking out her tongue. It was not a good thing to chew on. It didn't taste like candy. She gave the man an accusing look. "Bad."

The child spit out the key and stuck out her tongue. As Sam had a hold of the key he just moved it away from the child’s face. The child called Sam bad and he chuckled a little. He brought his hand to his chest and said, ”I’m sorry it tasted bad, but you did good. The key is good. It’s like medicine. It can taste real bad but it can help people.”

Sam smiled at the kid for a moment. ”It is ready to protect people now. It can lock out bad stuff. It can keep you safe, so you can keep having fun while all us silly adults stay afraid.” Sam said and brought the key closer to the child. ”It might feel tingly for a moment but it just goes in and turns like a key in a lock. Might even sparkle a little.”

He went for it. It was simple, it would slide in through her clothes and body like it was going into a lock and they a turn to lock, a turn back, and remove.

Iris looked at the key curiously. She was not unfamiliar with magic objects, ever since Mama and Sis started making them. And something that kept her safe from all the scary stuff sounded like a good thing. She watched curiously, giggling as the key passed through her clothes and then turned, making a sparkly and tingling sensation. The polka dots disappeared. Iris had goosebumps, which made her giggle again. She tried to grab the key. "You!" If she was safe now, he should be safe too.

The spots disappeared and the child reached out to Sam. Sam palmed the key away so her hand only touched his closed one.. ”Careful. Touching the key again could break its protection.”

Sam held out his other hand as he tucked the key away. ”How about we go find you some more people to play with now that you’re safe.”

Iris pouted as the key disappeared from sight. She wanted the magic safe key. She reached out but the man stood up, holding out his other hand. Iris reached out, poking his hand with her fingers. "Ta!" If they were done with the shiny key, they could always play tag. But... surprisingly, the dots didn't appear on him. Iris inspected her own hand for a moment. Where had the dots gone? It was not sleepy time yet. Tag things went away with sleepy time. She reached out again to touch his hand. "TA!"

Sam had to admit the kid was cute as she stood there pouting about the key being put away. Likewise, her surprise at nothing happening when she touched Sam’s hand was cute.

Smiling Sam now felt he was truly doing the right thing. The kid could now play tag without spreading dots or whatever other curse she otherwise would be bestowing that day. Hopefully she would never know who had helped her and just grow up thinking she had been spared by fate, God, an angel, or the spirit of Christmas.

When the kid tagged Sam a second time he smiled and said, ”Oh. Tag. Am I it now? Let’s go find some more people to play with. More people we can keep safe.”