Microstory 190: Monique Attar

This is an experimental Bellevue Profile microstory. The introduction can be found in Microstory 101. More to follow.

Monique Attar was sister to Solange, and aunt to Zoey. She spent her whole life in the shadow of her younger sister. Solange was a performer, famous for her beautiful singing voice and spot on impressions. In order to “find herself” Monique left home and traveled across Europe. She had the ability to tamper with the feelings and, to a degree, the thoughts, of any living creature, including humans. She could create, alter, or otherwise manipulate pheromones, and place her target in a hypnotic state. She was never able to control their actions, or change the target's true feelings on a subject, but she could convince them to do things for her with greater ease than other persuasive people. She never used her ability to steal or harm others, but she was regularly able to crash on strangers’ couches, or enjoy a meal at a discount. and sometimes for free. The more she used this ability, the more she learned about what was really happening; the science behind it all. She also became stronger, and was later able to hypnotize more than one person at once. After a couple of years, Monique had grown tired of Europe, and decided to check out some of Africa. She soon found herself working as a safari tour guide. She became famous in certain circles for being able to allow visitors to draw unusually close to wild animals without coming to harm. She returned to France when her sister became pregnant with Zoey, and was struggling with her accelerated development. After Zoey’s rapid growth continued following her birth, Monique insisted they go to Bellevue headquarters in Usonia. After the problem was corrected, the family decided to remain in Missouri where Zoey attended school, and Solange worked in Records and Archives, keeping track of the organization’s history. Used to staying on the move, Monique went out into the field and provided security and protection for operatives and innocent civilians.