by P. S. Power
Much so. Everyone knew that.
Avery got to leave Vince then, since he had a lot of paperwork to fill out now. Without calling first, she went to the back of Yoghurt World, through the node and stepped into the Shifter HQ.
Then, before she could lose her nerve, she walked out into the hallway, walking toward the President’s office. Her President. The one who could actually become upset with her for being willful and not following his commands. No one even tried to stop her.
Chapter three
Knocking on the door to the outer office, the one that held the secretary, Avery seriously considered ignoring her own intuition and just doing what she’d been requested. After all, she’d probably survive an attack, if that was real and she wasn’t simply imagining things. The issue there was that she didn't have much of a fantasy life, as far as she knew.
So she waited, figuring that the man at the front desk would take one look at her and send her away, since it wasn’t her place to tell anyone in the world, in any world, what to do. It took about half a minute for the person behind the desk to finish what they were doing, which seemed to be talking on the phone, and move toward her. It was difficult to not run then, as the roaring of his body moving through the air signaled that he was coming.
The picture of that, the inside of the office space, was clear to her. In fact, it showed up as an overlay on the world, allowing her to see the inside of the room. Not the inside of the walls, which were solid brick, but everything else showed up as a translucent blue to her. Including what the man looked like under his clothing. She tried to ignore that part of things, but it was constant.
She knew what weapons he had, which was a firearm in the small of his back, a knife strapped to his right ankle and an extra magazine in his right hand pocket. Given that it probably meant the lean fellow was right handed. He was also circumcised. Most Shifter men weren’t, but she’d noticed that part of things before. Some of them were, depending on where they were from. That meant it had happened when they were little children, before their first change. Otherwise it would come back every time they changed shape.
When the door was opened, the man stared at her for a few seconds, his face baffled at first, instead of hostile. Part of that was that he had to look down a bit to see her. Then, instead of asking her name, the fellow smiled.
“Ms. Rome? I didn’t know that President Samson had an appointment right now. Come in… Can I get you a coffee or perhaps some tea? A soda?” He sounded polite, even if he’d been a bit smug the last time they’d met. Though, that had been about him having information that others might not, rather than acting as if he were better than she was, specifically.
She could let that part go, since the man really had been doing his job well at the time.
“No, thank you. I don’t have an appointment or anything, I just…” She took a deep breath, trying not to seem scared. “I’m not going to take the Human President or anyone else around this Saturday. I can’t prove it, but I’m… I have a really bad feeling about it and think that no one should go. It’s a trap. I think.”
The man nodded a bit, but didn’t scowl at her or anything. There wasn’t even a hint that she’d be tied over a log and beaten for her willful disobedience.
“Let me see if the President has time right now? It won’t be but a moment.” She was left standing just inside the doorway, as the man moved away at very good speed. He didn’t personally seem concerned about anything. His voice stayed even as he first knocked on the inner door, then opened it after Jahn called out for him to enter.
There was speaking back and forth for a while, then both men rushed to the outer office, instead of summoning her for her scolding.
Jahn Samson, his light hair well groomed, smiled at her when he made eye contact.
“Avery! I know that the request was a bit improper, but the Human President asked if we could arrange it, so I sent that along. I hope it wasn’t insulting?” The strange thing was that he really seemed to mean what he was saying. That his concern was that she’d be upset by being asked.
That got her to pause for a few seconds, not knowing what to say.
“It isn’t that. It isn’t bad to ask at all. I… I can’t claim any great power to know the future, but this feels like it’s a bad idea. Worse than going into combat zones to get people. Like, I don’t know, if people do this, they’re going to die. Not me. I’ll be more or less fine, but… Everyone else? I’ve never had this kind of thing happen before, so it might be… Not real?” She waited then, but was surprised when Jahn suddenly became serious seeming.
“I understand. We can reschedule then? If we do it correctly, we should be able to look into things, and see if there was a plan in place for what you suspect. If nothing else we should be able to place your mind at ease. Fine then. At the very least I’m not going to be attending, given that kind of warning. Not considering the situation that’s been going on over the last weeks.”
Interestingly, the man moved toward her then and gave her a big hug. It wasn’t close or cuddly, but rather the type that he’d have given his own child, Gregory, if he’d been there.
When he stood back he smiled at her gently.
“Now, I hear that you’re attending a Human school? Openly announcing yourself as a Shifter. How is that going so far?”
The secretary turned to stare at her, as if he expected reports of harassment and rampant Avery hunting, but she just got to smile back.
“It’s only been the one day so far, but it’s going well. There have been no attacks and the worst thing I was called was a cannibal Dragon… I gave a report to my squad first thing. That’s called a home room, there. I told them everything, so that they wouldn’t be taken by surprise later, when they find out that I’m a killer. Even the line walking things.” She shrugged. “The girl that called me that didn’t even seem to be using it against me, simply asking if I was the one she’d heard of.”
Both men nodded at her, but the President spoke first, since that was his job. Being the one who did that kind of thing.
“No spitting, or physical attacks yet, however? Just people asking a few uncomfortable questions?”
Avery thought for a bit, then tilted her head to stall for time.
“Not even that, so much. People were kind, really. A few walked away from me, rather than getting too close, but that was the only sign of fear. I could be reading that wrong. Everyone there is kept very busy, so it could be they simply had to run to their next assigned class.” She snorted a bit, then went on. “Oh… Also, there are others there. A Mage boy and an Edtha. Also I found two Greater Demons. The Rotted and The Technician. They’re pretending to be school students, and have collected a group of Humans around them. We bargained for line travel for their friends. They have to bring me food each day for that. It isn’t a great trade, but it’s about what Human kids can be expected to afford.”
That news got a very strange reaction from the men. Or, not that weird at all, since it was the one that Avery had nearly gone with herself, earlier.
“We need to pull you from school there instantly then!” This came from the brown haired secretary, who seemed ready to run to his phone to do that instantly, regardless of what anyone else had to say about the situation.
That made Avery feel safe, for some reason. Knowing that this man who she’d only met once before was willing to protect her that way.
President Samson took a shuddering breath then and nodded.
“We can’t risk you that way. It’s dangerous enough, coming to the attention of the Humans. What if you made a mistake and accidently told the others what they were? They might kill you for it.”
Avery smiled then, looking down at her feet.
“They both openly proclaimed themselves to the room. They seem to feel that even their own friends won’t be able to hold the idea for long. No one was afraid of them or anything. I was worried about that, but…” She didn’t know what to say, though something did occur to h
er then. “I should probably go and find out more about them, if I can. There are some leads I can follow. The Rotted is Tyler Gartner’s mother. Also Zack, The Line Walker’s, friend. A Greater Demon and insane, I think. I can check on that. The Technician… I don’t know about that. They can’t be trusted really. Still, as a line walker, I can’t let them push me around too much, or act too afraid of them, if it isn’t needed.” She might be around for a long while after all.
Thousands of years was possible.
Everyone had told her that she probably had stopped aging already and Dragons were known to be long lived anyway. Even the regular Human line walkers were functionally going to live until something killed them physically. They normally only lived about a hundred years or less. So letting herself be pushed around, while comfortable enough to start with, might not work over the centuries.
Jahn did not seem all that pleased to hear the idea, but he didn’t forbid her from checking things out or attending her classes.
“We can contact Mr. Gartner? I’ve had good dealings with him… I don’t know how to find out about The Technician, but perhaps he’ll know where to start such research?”
Before she could say anything about it, the secretary ran to his desk and made a phone call, apparently from memory. After a moment he held up his right hand, one finger up in the air.
“Mr. Gartner? This is Sam Lewet, from Jahn Samson’s office? It seems that Ms. Rome, our line walker, has made the acquaintance of two Greater Demons, The Rotted and The Technician…”
Avery could hear the conversation, which she had to figure Tyler knew might be happening, since he was projecting a bit, indicating that he understood that Shifters tended to have decent abilities that way. That made sense, given that he worked with all the other groups. It was the point of the Sparks embassy, in a way. To have a group ready to talk to the Humans in their own lands.
“Oh? Well, I’ve had dealings with both of them. Avery should feel free to come and pick my brain about it, at any time. We can set that up for today? I’m at the office right now… I can be back home by about seven?”
The man behind the desk looked up at her, which got Avery to sigh a bit. She could get back to the mall, and see her friends off, then get there in time, but she had school work that needed to be seen to as well. That would probably have to come out of her sleep time, which was unfortunate. Sleep was, after all, one of the best things ever.
“That would be fine. Tell him I can meet him at his house?”
That got shared going the other way, since Tyler wasn’t a Shifter, or a Vampire. He was, more or less, the most powerful of zombies. At least that was how it had been described to her, by her friend Scotty. The call only lasted about a minute, meaning she was able to say her goodbyes to the men, feeling awkward about it when the smaller one, Lewet, hugged her.
That was mainly because he started to become slightly aroused as he did that part. It was flattering after a fashion, since she tended to think of herself as being rather plain looking, but also uncomfortable, given that she didn't know what to do with a man like that. Rather, she understood the positions and that kind of thing, that having been part of her training as a girl, to be a good wife, but she’d never practiced any of them and didn't really want to. Not as more than an intellectual exercise.
Which was an actual point. She thought about it as she went back to the node room.
If her old people, The Gray, were wrong in what they believed, then living to their standards wasn’t the best of plans. Her new world suggested that she be far more open that way, having sex and close friends, without concern for the morality of what had been described as a nearly insane cult group.
When she got back to the mall, it was no harder to move directly to the back of Pretty Plus than it was the rest of the nodes there. Really, there was only one node, it just showed up in a lot of different positions, if you looked at it from normal space. As she stepped out, Valerie turned and let out a squeak, then laughed.
“All right, that’s the second time in ten years anyone has done that. I am not used to it! Your friends are changing right now. I was just going to see if I could alter this line here. Unfortunately, I can’t get the machine to work right.”
Avery moved in, looking at the sewing machine closely, focusing on it. The brand was different than what her mother had used, probably not being the cheapest available, but the idea was clearly similar. Part of the issue was that the bobbin needed to be replaced, since they were working with purple lace. A large zig-zag pattern was also going to work better, as well as slightly less tension.
A bit rudely she waved for the woman to move, to get that set up, then carefully fixed the problem, which was all about the sides needing to be taken in by about three inches, along a curved line. That had been well marked in lavender chalk, she noticed. Given how large the cup size was, it would be for Terra, Avery had to think.
It took about ten minutes to do all of that, with the Alede woman standing behind her the whole time. One hand on her shoulder. A bit of magic came from her, but bounced off, even as the woman caressed her in a way that even Avery understood as sexual. It felt nice enough. She kind of thought it was supposed to have more effect on her however.
When she was finished, she had to trim the loose threads carefully, so that it wouldn’t look sloppy. That wasn’t allowed, after all. It had been in her lessons from her mother. The other women as well.
Valerie Swanson hugged her. It wasn’t the family friendly version Jahn had used.
“Perfect! We need to go and get Terra to try it on. Come on.”
The changing rooms were in the front, though there was a viewing area that was screened off from the rest of the store. The screens were large and tan, though decorative as well as functional. When they got there, there were three people standing and waiting to be judged on their sexy clothing. Alan, Terra and an older woman with deep brown hair, who was rather plump.
She was looking at the others, smiling.
When she saw Val, she grinned though.
“Well, two people here look adorable. Then there’s me. I feel like I need circus tent stripes.”
Valerie smiled back, moving to touch the woman. Unlike the other two, she wasn’t in purple lace, but a nice see through cream colored fabric. It showed that she shaved all her body hair off, and was either chilly or interested in one of the others there. Possibly all of them. Her eyes did stray toward Alan more than once. He was thin, and wearing nothing other than lace panties and a robe that wasn’t long enough to hide anything. Avery would have been shocked, but it was very close to how she saw him all the time anyway. There were more colors, but no desire to stare at him that way.
Terra was in slightly more than that, but nothing was being left to the imagination. Valerie passed the altered body covering over to her, then winked.
“Let’s see you in this? Now, Cora, don’t be ridiculous, you’ve been losing weight, so we need to tailor things for you a bit. Robert is out for a few weeks, so this might take some time. I can do the measurements right now?”
The plump lady, who was still decently attractive, sighed a bit.
“I… Have a date later tonight. I was hoping to have something new for that.” She seemed sad about the idea, so Avery looked at her watch. It wasn’t even six yet, she noticed.
“I can do that part, if we hurry? I have a meeting at seven, with Tyler Gartner. We can’t leave our friend unprepared for battle though.” She was about to wince, since that had to sound strange, when Valerie stood up a bit straighter.
“Exactly. Thank you, Avery. Let me get to this then?” Oddly, she glanced at Alan, her face a bit sad. “Can you stay here for a bit? We should be able to see to you before you have to leave, if you can?”
He nodded, but didn’t mention what was going on.
Avery just watched the tailoring marks being made, so that she’d get things done correctly the first time. It took about fifteen minutes to make the changes, with most
of that being down to very careful seam cutting. It was clear that you weren’t going to be very successful ripping the threads out of lace, after all. She hadn’t worked with it before, except for earlier, but she had to think it wasn’t that hard, if you took care. Not that this was lace. It was more regular and finer than that, in many ways. Tulle, Valerie called it.
They had to make more corrections, but only once, and those were minor, which meant that Vince, Terra and Alan were all there at about six-fifty, when she had to leave for the night. Alan was clearly embarrassed about his clothing at the moment, which looked very funny, but Vince just stared at Terra, who was showing a lot more skin than she had been at school. It was very clear that she was noticing him noting her as well.
She didn’t seem upset by the attention, at least.
Avery waved to them all then.
“I have to go soon. This was fun, we should do it again. Vince, how did your thing go?”
He turned away from Terra, glancing at Cora, then finally Avery.
“That went well. Ms. Weise contacted her father, who didn’t even ask for recommendations. I guess he was impressed that anyone had come in at all, given the current situation, so I’m officially staff here at the Mage embassy. Junior intern and general lackey, but I actually get paid for it, which is better than I’d thought would be happening. Now we just need to find these two something and we’ll be set.”
That last bit was, clearly, a throwaway line, but Avery nodded.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll ask around.” She glanced at Valerie then and shrugged. “Do you have any leads?” It couldn’t hurt to ask after all.
The highly attractive blonde woman actually made a face then. It was friendly.
“You know, I do have some. We could use someone to restock the floor here. Alan, perhaps you could do that? Especially if you don’t mind dressing up for some of our clients? That would be darling, I’m certain. Terra… Would you be willing to entertain the idea of working at the Fun Zone? Most won’t since Riley, the being that runs it, is a Trickster. I’d have to imagine that doing what he wants would be enough to keep you safe however. It isn’t that he’s a bad person or anything, just that what he thinks needs to be done really does, for the most part. That’s what I’ve heard.”