Doctor Frankenstein

by P. S. Power

  “Hey! I wasn’t expecting you in just yet.” Interestingly, even though it wasn’t really how they’d been most of the time he’d known her, she moved in and gave him a hug. It didn’t linger long, since he patted her on the back and stood back. It wasn’t anything against her, of course.

  Simply that she still had a weapon in her hand, which made the whole thing awkward.

  “I’m trying to be unpredictable. So far, I haven’t seen anything suspicious in several days. As far as people trying to kill me, I mean. I’ve seen a lot of America, from the road. Those people can be pretty sketchy, let me tell you.”

  She nodded, yawned and covered her mouth with her left fist. It was about three in the morning, which was in the middle of when she normally slept. He smiled and waved at what she was doing.

  “You should sleep. We can talk in the morning? There are a few things I have to share. Nothing pressing, as long as everyone is done trying to kidnap me. I’m… I guess angry isn’t the right word. I’m a little upset with Warren though. He should have just talked to me, instead of trying to turn me against anyone using a trick like that. Right now, I’m not really thinking too highly of him.”

  The woman went still, as far as body language went, her face barely moving at all. What little happened there spoke of concern. Probably for herself and her team, not Oaks. Meaning, given the topic at hand, that she felt like her own behavior might be similar in some way to what his father had done.

  Except that, as far as he knew, the woman hadn’t been part of trying to have him harassed into going on to her side. It was possible that she had something going on behind the scenes. If so, it would be important for him to work that out, or could be. Instead of trying to find out with a sharp line of questioning in the middle of the night, he waved at her.

  “Sleep. At least don’t lose out on it on my account. I have some studying to do. A lot of it, really. It will be days for me to find out everything I need to.”

  That was, more or less, true.

  For one thing he needed to start to learn about chemistry. He had a tiny bit of it down already, but there was a lot of the subject that was still beyond him. At least in regards to the level Liam was going to need it, if he wanted to understand the process of life creation for his own kind. It was possible that he’d need to learn about alchemy, as well. The first of his kind were old enough that pure science wasn’t the driving force behind their being.

  He wasn’t certain but it seemed to him that the stories of golems, beings made of clay and earth, might be similar in some way to his own people. Even if they were said to be creations of magic, or even divine intervention. Not that it was his first priority that night. He needed to wash his clothing, then start on the scientific portions of what he’d been thinking about that and some facts and data that he wanted to know. It wasn’t as important, naturally, but he really wanted to know about certain things. Like how Yellowstone was formatted geologically.

  There had been signs as he went from one natural feature to the next interesting happening there but most of them were no more than a few hundred words at most and a few rather basic drawings. There was almost certainly much more to that kind of thing. It was important not to get bogged down in having too much to do, of course. Liam had long ago learned that lesson.

  One of the most important things in life was focusing on what was important, first thing. Right now, that had to be something other than geological processes.

  Brenner yawned again, patted her mouth with her left hand, looked at her firearm a bit warily, then smiled at him. Sleepily. He was able to tell that now, having noticed it on others over time. A lot of people while he’d traveled. Mainly at rest stops.

  “Okay. That’s a good plan. I’m going to sleep anyway, unless I take drugs to stay up. So, if you really don’t need me until morning? Welcome back, by the way. I missed you. A lot of people did.”

  She turned then and walked away. The only thing that Liam noticed though was that, just before she turned, her face seemed troubled. As if she were lying about missing him. He understood that, he thought. The woman wasn’t that close to him, on a personal level. He was there, with her but they weren’t truly tied together in any way. So she’d lied about what she’d said.

  That was fair enough. After all, he hadn’t missed anyone at all. It was a bit of an empty feeling, when he thought about it. There was, in the end, no one in the world that he needed to have near him for a sense of completion or safety. Humans had that kind of sensibility. Liam didn't know if it was the case for the others of his kind, lacking that kind of thing but he thought it might actually be the case. That it was simply a thing that he wasn’t ever going to have.

  He’d been gone but also hadn’t missed his home. Even if driving was, ultimately, not that interesting. At first it had been fine but after learning the basic pattern of America, he’d only been interested in the new things. The people who dressed funny, or the buildings that were unique or charming. After ten days that part of things had stopped almost totally.

  After Tiffany left the room, he settled in behind his computer, simply looking up a basic chemistry lesson. He absorbed the information behind that in about seven minutes, then moved to more advanced levels, working some problems out, when they were offered. It was a complete subject but he had a good base in the topic by the time anything in the house changed particularly. That was light coming through the windows, glinting off the screen he was looking at. It didn’t become hard to see, though he ended up moving the screen so that the glare wasn’t shining directly on his skin. It wasn’t enough to stop him but was a bit distracting.

  Just as he resettled, he heard a voice. One that sounded as if it were from far away. Possibly down a well. It was feminine, and just behind him, which had him refocusing to see that Abbie the Ghost was there, behind him, her face serious. She only showed up for major events, or had so far. The girl, and she looked about sixteen, which was the age that she’d died in a car accident, stood there, unmoving for a few moments. To Liam she was transparent but in full color and easily seen.

  A thing that humans couldn’t really manage, for some reason. Liam didn't think it was about a special ability, really. The light that hit her was in the visible spectrum, and she made the air move as she tried to speak. It was faint, in both cases. Nothing that was beyond what an ordinary person would have been able to manage.

  No, he was starting to think that humans didn't see such things because they simply didn't want to. They weren’t comfortable as a species with the strange and unknown, those parts of the world that were too different. So they refused, on some level, to notice what was right in front of them. Werewolves did the same thing in regards to ghosts. Elves saw them without any problem and while they had keen senses, they weren’t that much better than what a lot of human people had going on.

  It probably explained why little children could interact with that sort of being. They didn't know the rules that told them not to see that sort of thing.

  For most it didn’t really come up a lot, of course. Most of the time there really weren’t ghosts standing behind him, at least. That it was happening at the moment was special.

  “Abbie. How are you doing?”

  He turned then, so that she could see his face without moving. The girl was in new clothing though it was fairly normal, if a bit dated. She had jeans, a t-shirt in black and a brown vest on. It was cute, really, though not something he would have worn himself.

  She nodded at him.

  “I just got word, from over here, that you should get in contact with Sondra the vampire and her people, later tonight. That man, Donald Brogan is probably going to be killed if you don’t. That… He has work to do yet. Important things. If they take him out, then things will be a lot worse in the coming decades than if they let him go. Vampires don’t always see that violence isn’t the best method. Which is weird, but true. I mean, the rest of the time they’re always about the politics, you know? If you can get them
to let him go, with a suggestion that he move to a different topic for now, that would be better. I tried talking to them a few hours ago. That went over like a ton of bricks.”

  She smiled then, shaking her head.

  “This is what I get for having been a werewolf, back when I was alive. Everyone over here thinks that means I’m the best one to send when information needs to be passed to people like the vampires or even you. If we had a vampire spirit over here we could avoid a whole lot of trouble, I bet. I barely even know their rules. I just showed up and told them what I was told and they all acted like I was lying to them just to save the annoying writer. Which makes no sense at all. Believe it or not, our job isn’t really about keeping people from dying. Honestly, the dead at the top are breaking half a dozen rules to pass this along in the first place.”

  She shook her head, then gave him a look like he was supposed to be collecting more information than was being spoken of directly. There was a bit that he had gotten, of course.

  That Abbie wasn’t working alone, that she had people she considered above her and that she was sent there, to do something. A thing that was figured to be important enough to break the rules over. Also, ghosts and spirits had actual rules. At least some of them did. None of which meant that he would be the right one to get involved, either.

  “I can’t think of why they would listen to me, in particular. I already suggested that they simply compel him, if they can’t trick him into thinking that Sondra and the others aren’t just humans playing games. Living them. Other than saying that again…”

  There were ways that might work, of course. Bribing them, or even using threats, could work in potential. So might forming an alliance or even getting to Donald first and moving him away to protect him. That wouldn’t work forever, of course. Not if the vampires wanted the man to be dead. Liam didn't want to bother with the whole thing, honestly.

  Still, he had information and a sense that Abbie’s people found it important. That the man would be useful in some way to making a better world, later. Probably by writing a book. The only thing that made sense would be for him to write something that would talk about there being other things in the world, in a fashion that would prevent the government from taking action in the moment.

  Nodding, he looked at the dead girl, seeing through her, the dim room behind her actually helping him see what was going on.

  “Is there a specific thing needed here? This is about a book project? About vampires, do you think? It will be hard to convince them that he should be allowed to write about what’s really going on that way.”

  There was a throwing gesture then, as if she were trying to push the idea away from her. That or she didn't want to take responsibility for what she was doing.

  “Yeah. We know that. It, what I was told makes sense but it isn’t certain at all. The future isn’t certain at all. You know that. Your visions weren’t perfect, right? Better than most, without being like looking at the scene for real. Which… You could lie to them. Tell them that you had a vision that says Donald needs to live? Then, having two sources, they might listen. Probably not. If this doesn’t work… Well, things get darker, instead of better. It won’t be the first time in history that’s happened, or the end of the world. Except for Donald. He’s not going to be coming back, I bet.”

  Liam tilted his head at her, trying to seem curious about what she was saying.

  “Not everyone comes back?”

  “Right. Almost no one is really allowed to do that kind of thing. Some that have unfinished business get to stay for a while. Days, or at most, months. Really, I’m practically a special agent, compared to most. I get… I guess it’s like a day pass, as long as I’m doing the work I’m ordered. I can’t go and visit my family, or anything like that. The only reason I get to come to you like I have been is that you aren’t really alive. I mean, you are, clearly but you aren’t in the natural order of the world. It’s why you shouldn’t let Oaks run with his plan to take over. Not that you couldn’t do a better job running things. Really, you probably would. It’s just that there’s no real way for the world to adapt to it being done.” She stopped, then held her left hand out, palm down, pressing as if pushing the idea back into place.

  He didn't speak, allowing her to go on, and express what she was really saying.

  “You, your kind, don’t really fit here. Not yet. Over time things will adapt to you. It will take… Oh, like a thousand years or so. That’s why some people come for you. Because they can tell that you aren’t part of the world, properly speaking. It used to be worse, from what people told me. When Oaks was your age nearly half of all people responded like that. Now it’s only a fifth. In another two hundred years, it will probably be one in a hundred or so. At that level, you’re practically being accepted.” She grinned then, as if that wasn’t a very long time to wait to be treated like a normal person.

  He thought about her words, since they were actually helpful to him. At least if she could be trusted. Abbie had explained part of his essential being. It probably meant that the actual effect was more psychic in nature than he’d been thinking. Like Oaks had suggested to him, since just after they’d met. On the bad side, it meant that potassium wasn’t going to have a great effect on stopping that kind of thing, most likely.

  Still, there was hope, since time would, in the end, heal the issue. Eventually, if he lived long enough, Liam Frankenstein would fit in to the world around him. That was faint comfort in the moment. Eventually it would make a difference. That, he was starting to think, was a major part of how reality itself worked. If you had enough time, you saw the changes being made. Pain and harm came when things took place too fast.

  Sometimes, because other people existed, you didn’t get a choice in the matter. It was less important to him than it might be to someone else, of course. As far as he’d been told and read about in the book that Oaks had made, he probably wouldn’t die. Not in anything approaching a natural fashion. That meant he could easily live to see a better world, where he wasn’t hated simply for being himself.

  “Ah. I understand, I think. That doesn’t mean that I can really go and convince the vampires of anything in particular. I can lie, maybe but I don’t really want to, if there’s another way. Tricking them seems like a poor plan. Especially when it is as obvious as this will be to them.”

  Instead of arguing the point with him, the ghost rolled her eyes. It was an obvious move that lasted long enough for him to really get that she meant to do it. She was saying he was missing something that was easy to see.

  “Then don’t lie? Have a vision that will be real and tell them about it? I don’t know why you haven’t been doing that more often anyway. It’s a cool trick. It’s nearly magic, even if it’s about projecting possible futures based on things you know already.”

  She waved then, her face smiling at him.

  “Now, go forth and see the future. It’s a skill but one that you should be able to master in time, if you work on it. Focus on Donald first though. Also, remember that nothing is written in stone. You can think through things pretty accurately, and map what might be. You can even understand things that you haven’t seen, based on the negative pattern their passing has left on the world. Like how you knew what Narran looked like, without ever meeting her? Your drawing wasn’t perfect, sure but it was close enough for people to understand who it was supposed to be. That was based on what a woman like her would pretty much have to be, without going through all the steps consciously. This isn’t psychic, really. It’s more like a hyper sophisticated mental process. I’ll get out of your hair now. Unless you want to make out first?” She seemed to find the last bit funny, for some reason.

  He laughed at what she was saying, not feeling like that at all. He could tell that she was flirting with him and even that she was attractive. If Vincent was correct, he was simply too young for that kind of thing and would be for many years.

  “You want to make out with a one-and-a-half-year-o
ld? Sick.” He was teasing back and got a chuckle, as the woman faded from being. The girl who had been dead much longer than she’d been alive.

  “No doubt. Sick and wrong, to the extreme. Still, I don’t get a lot of chances at guys like you, so I need to take my chance to set things up for later, don’t I? I’ll… I don’t know when I’ll be back, or if it will be me who is sent, if it happens. It’s pretty likely though. I mean, we can visit you without technically breaking the rules. Hitting the vampires was a lot more dangerous that way. If we do the wrong thing, then there can be trouble.”

  Then, without so much as waving, she vanished. The girl hadn’t been loud or distracting but her absence left him feeling as if the space was suddenly empty. For a moment, Liam just sat at the table, his computer open to an advanced chemistry course. It would take at least a day or two for him to get through the first few years of study on the subject, he thought. It was tempting to go on with his prior plan but there had been, like it or not, a directive from the other side.

  They weren’t his leaders, or in control of him directly. That didn't mean helping in their goal of the day was a bad thing. Even if it wasn’t really his job or responsibility. Nothing in the whole world was, when he thought about it. He had no duty in the world at all. He was, in many ways, one of the freest people in the world. Which would last right until he chose a purpose in the world.

  Honestly, he’d already started that kind of thing. Working in dentistry and medicine impacted the lives of others, and created an obligation to care for those he’d once helped. Even if he got paid for it, part of the time. Doing things like that meant he was, slowly, becoming part of the community around him. Other things, little ones, tied him to those he knew, as well.

  Watching out for Donald, if it was even possible, was like that, no doubt. Not that he felt a need to protect the man from his own actions. It was simply that they’d met and he’d already come up with a good course of action on the matter.