Vile Machinations

by P. S. Power

  Part of that was simply that he knew that his Father wasn't lying to him about it. To the best of the man’s knowledge, it had simply taken place. That lifted a lot of potential doubt about the situation, even finding out about it a decade later. Clearing his head, Connor smiled a bit, ignoring what had been going on inside his rain box. After all, not everyone was going to be a good person in life. Not all of the bad ones were worthless, either. Some of the most brilliant people in history had probably been huge assholes or far less than savory.

  Parker sighed, her chest moving out more than was needed for that kind of thing to take place. Almost as if she were aiming it at him, on purpose. Trying to control him using her body.

  "First hallway, room seven, that side. The one that you're on. Now, if you aren't setting off an alarm, I should get away from you, before I go into all of the other secrets. Like how I'm not really interested in you, even though I have orders to get you into bed, if I can." She grimaced a bit, and moved back, her lips still trying to move, even as no sound came out.

  Connor nodded at the words.

  "Well, I can see that one. The not being interested in me part of things. Though, I just have to say, great personality here. I mean... Totally worth spending time with. Plus, I have a really cute behind." That probably wasn't the truth and almost certainly wouldn't be the issue at hand. Even though he attempted to look behind himself, playfully.

  The woman, holding a white towel in her right hand, hugged it to her side. Seeming almost upset.

  "Sorry. This trick of yours is kind of intense, isn't it? Really, you should report me. That will probably end up with me being kicked out, if not killed. Still, that isn't your problem and if you don’t do it, you might be in trouble. It’s pretty clear they can’t really trust you yet." Then, quickly, she walked off. Showing that her behind was rather shapely as well.

  Connor just followed her instructions, getting to room seven in about the same time it would have taken to get back to his own room. He knocked on the door, wondering if he should have called first. Not that he had a way of doing that. When it opened Doc froze, then leaned back, her face seeming shocked.

  She didn't go zombie, having managed to stay far enough away from him to easily prevent that. He was standing back himself, which helped. They had a good five feet between them.

  The woman had her standard white lab coat on. It washed her pale skin out, more than a little bit.

  "Hey, Connor. I was just thinking about heading over to your room for a booty call later. Did you come to do that now?" She moved back, allowing him to flow in after her, the door being shut.

  Inside, she backed off a bit, to about ten feet, then waved for him to follow along.

  Her front space was filled with lab equipment, instead of places to sit. Even her big and special looking refrigerator was there. The vials and syringes seeming the same as they had the other day. At least to his uneducated eye. There was no lock on the thing, so if he ever needed to borrow some lethal pathogens he could probably just help himself. Then, stealing might not be needed, if it came up. So far Doc had been more than nice to him and might just share that sort of thing.

  Moving away a bit, he spoke, his voice strong, given the distance.

  "I wasn't planning on that, actually. Later though, if you want? Or really, if you have the time and are willing. Right now, well I have two things. First, Parker just mentioned that she was working for the Mariah group, and had orders to get me into bed. That might not be her only task, from the sound of it. She did mention I should report her, which was helpful. I just don't know who I'm supposed to get with for that. Then I need some help with some science type stuff. When I think of science junk, I instantly think about you. I also instantly think of you when sex comes up, in case you need to hear that sort of thing from me. It’s true." He got ready to explain that portion of things, when Doc made an annoyed sound.

  "Crap. I hate Mariah. Inept science paired with child sacrifice magic that doesn't even work. Let me call that in. We'll want Doug Walker on that. He’s in charge of security." The instant she spoke the name, Connor felt like rolling his eyes. He didn't do it, since being shocked painfully wasn't fun. Even if he wasn't wearing a harness, his mind still considered it as a potential problem. If he ever had one of those on again, he didn’t want to have a big collection of things to get caught up on.

  Pulling a strange, rather clunky looking cell phone, if it was one of those, being covered with small wire coils, heavy lines that connected to them and not enough buttons like it was. The color was silvery, hinting at gray and it looked like it might be uncomfortable to carry in a pocket. Too many things on it looked pokey, at least to him.

  After a moment, two buttons being pushed rapidly at the same time, Bertie started to speak. Her voice rapid and a bit annoyed seeming.

  "Walker? This is Short. Harriman, Connor, just got with me. Apparently, Parker just admitted to him that she's with Mariah. Also, that she has orders to seduce him, if possible. Probably in an attempt to turn him." She listened for a second or two and then nodded, holding her hand over the mouthpiece of the silver device. "What did you say, when she told you that? About Mariah?"

  Connor spoke then, just going into the truth, since there was no reason not to at the moment.

  Unless there was.

  "That I was fine with that? At least I don't know anything negative about Mariah, so... It wasn't a problem for me. We didn't have a long conversation about it. She recommended that I report her, so I don’t get in trouble."

  That got repeated, the man's voice just barely audible to Connor as he stood back. Meaning that it was pretty loud. As in, the man wasn't taking the news as mildly as Connor or even Doc, had. As if it might be a slightly bigger deal to him than it seemed like to begin with.

  After a bit, Doc nodded once, and smirked.

  "Got it. I think Connor is going to be in my lab for the time being. Having sex or possibly doing something science related. He said that last part, but I'm not certain it isn't a line. So, you know, knock first, before barging in?" She laughed, then hung up with the press of a single button. It clicked, audibly.

  Then the franken-phone was tucked, almost delicately, into her side pocket.

  Turning to him, she pushed her glasses up. The thick frames not moving much, if at all.

  "So, if we're doing real science today, move away from me? It's too hard to think creatively, otherwise. If it’s about sex, then we need lube first. Don’t go in dry. That leads to chaffing."

  He walked backward, going slowly, as to make certain he wasn't going to trip over anything expensive. When his back was against the far wall, she realized that she was going to have to move back as well. That let them speak from about thirty feet away, both of them hugging walls, on opposite sides of the room.

  "There's a plan underway, to use chemicals in the food and water to get people to kill themselves. It isn't working. I was wondering if we could figure out what's stopping it? Some kind of chemical to block things, maybe... That or, I don't know, putting in false reports about what's in the food? That kind of thing." He felt stupid, saying all of that. Instead of staying where she was, Doc moved deeper into the room, closer to him, and pulled a small, hardened against EMP, data pad off the coffee table that had been left there. Then she moved back to her previous position.

  After nearly three minutes of tapping and reading, the small, rather young looking old woman cleared her throat.

  "Got it. I do see what you mean. We'll want front line readings on things. I mean we need to get the data ourselves, since we can’t trust anyone else’s work. Food and water samples. Then, depending on what we find, we might need to chase things up the enemy food chain. I can... Work on that tonight, if you don't mind missing your fun time with me later? How important is this to you?" She winked, as if sex wasn't going to come first to his teenage boy’s mind.

  "It's not that important, of course. It's probably nothing, after all. I mean, what are the odds tha
t I’d look into this on my first day and work out a problem that has been stopping people for over a hundred years? I’m incredible, of course, but that sounds a bit unlikely. Still, we should look into it. I need to find out who's sabotaging everything, if I can. Do you know anything about what’s been preventing us from saving the world?" She was too far away to be forced into honesty, of course.

  Instead of worrying about it, he just listened. It was how normal conversations took place, after all.

  "Other than having investigated twenty different plans of my own that didn't work, for some strange reason? Not much. Whoever, or I suppose, whatever, is doing this has been remarkably good about covering their tracks. They're there, but they always just walk me in a circle. I mean, I can find what happened, but it seems to come back to the people doing the work in the first case, each time. Including on my own projects, which isn't what happened. On the last half dozen I got video of everything I did, so can prove that I didn't fake data or derail things from my end. The investigation still showed otherwise."

  The words barely made sense to him. Still, that was probably close to what would have to happen, if whoever was doing it wanted to avoid capture. If Doc had video evidence to prove she wasn't acting under mind control or as an agent for some other team, that should indicate that the data was being faked later. Meaning, if it was true, that it wasn't a giant conspiracy from the organizations themselves.

  "So, an outside group is doing this. One that can infiltrate well enough to change things, without being caught on video?"

  Across the room from him, her clunky pad in hand, Doc shrugged.

  "Maybe? We need a break, if we're going to find them." She stopped then, tapping for a bit. After a long while, she looked up, then smiled. "Anyway, I couldn’t help but notice that you're still alive. So, the meeting went well, last night?" She seemed interested, which was a bit odd. After all, it had to be a thing that she’d seen a hundred or more times before.

  He nodded though, since it was possible that he was just more interesting than he’d ever assumed before. That or she honestly wanted him to think so. Which had to be close to the same thing. Or would if she’d been closer to him. At the distance she was at the moment he knew for a fact that she could lie to him.

  "I think so. I decided to see if I could work out why everything keeps failing, if I can. See if I can get anything done that way or at least uncover who we’re working against. I didn't do any ceremonies or anything like that, so I'm probably not actually in the Order yet. They didn’t even teach me the secret handshake or give me a membership card." Whatever it was that their secret group did that way. Being raped and abused, from the sound of it. That and tricked into making mistakes.

  Which wasn't going to work on him. Not easily.

  His friend, if they were that close, looked over the top of her computing device. Her brown eyes glinting a bit.

  "That will come, sooner or later. Still, jumping right into work is the best way to avoid things like that. You'll need to get the loyalty testing done, as well. Using the machine. I'll set that up for you. After dinner? I can't do the work on it, since we're dating. Even the Sisyphean Order won't allow that kind of thing to get in the way."

  She grinned at her own words. Then, it was clear she was lying to him. Not about the need for him to be checked out, just the dating idea. He really didn't doubt that she had no intention of doing anything like that at all. If she was closer to him, the words wouldn't have even come out, he was willing to bet.

  It was a thing he could basically understand. At school he'd always stuck with guys that were no more than a year or two younger than he was. Even at that, it hadn't been what he liked. Most of his boyfriends had been the same age or older. Not because he was a great guy that didn't do kids out of moral objections, as much as him not having anything in common with the younger ones. Except that they went to the same school, which somehow had never seemed like enough.

  With Bertie, things were like that, only about a hundred and thirty times worse. She wasn't just older than he was, she was actually ancient. So old that, even if he were more worldly and educated in popular culture from the last century, it was very possible that they still couldn't have a good conversation about such matters. They just didn’t have a shared context for most of it. They functionally couldn't. Granted, she did a great job at seeming younger than her years. That didn’t mean she wanted to put up with his poor conversational talents for any length of time.

  So, dating in a meaningful way, was probably out for them.

  Rather than take the bait, he simply nodded.

  "Where do I need to go for that?"

  She didn't act like he was ignoring her words, just looking at the door at the front of the lab space for a moment. A hint that she wanted him to get out of her space, without being forced to say it.

  "Come back here, at about eight? I'll call this in and make certain we're doing it tonight. We might not. It depends on who's available right now. If we have someone that can run the tech, we'll probably be on their schedule."

  He was still just standing there, on the far side of the room, feeling a bit purposeless, when the pocket phone of his friend rang. She picked it up, making one of the buttons click loudly almost instantly.

  "Short here. Go ahead." There was listening then, and a soft noise, that came about fifteen seconds into the conversation.

  Finally, she spoke, her voice loud enough to carry.

  "We can do that. I was just about to see about it, honestly. For a different project. Connor Harriman requested that we allow him to prove his good will, since it might be a problem, otherwise. It's a good plan. We're doing that after dinner tonight. About eight. We can do Parker at the same time, if you want?"

  That seemed to be about right, since the grunting sounds she made after that sounded about right. Positive and friendly.

  When she clicked the thing back off, she waved toward the door.

  "So, we get a twofer, it looks like. That was Bennet. She's coming in to see about Parker anyway. Spies are expected, but we don't normally have them confessing in the hallways, on camera. Not like this. On the good side, we can test her using the machine as well, then if you live, run her past you. Not that anyone is doubting her word on this. She didn't even bother lying about it, when Walker picked her up. You should go and do something fun for a while. Watch television and rot your brain or play a videogame. I'll see you later. Sweetie."

  She seemed nearly wicked, on the last word.

  Connor moved away from her, heading toward the door to the space.

  "Later, honey. I'll be outside, a bit before eight. We can have some of that unmemorable sex after that? Well, I mean, I remember it..."

  She smiled at him, seeming nearly sweet about it, as he walked out, looking back at her.

  "That's pretty much about ninety percent of sex, regardless of who you are, so don't feel too bad about it. Sure though. As long as they don't execute you after reading your thoughts, I mean. That probably won't happen." She seemed to be teasing, so he nodded.

  The point was all about him being a pain in the behind to work with, he didn’t doubt. He had a power, of sorts. It worked pretty well in a few places, like in finding out who was against them. It should be useful if anyone tried to attack him personally, hand to hand, as well. When they touched him, he'd be fighting an unmoving zombie who wasn't going to be motivated to hurt him any longer.

  Everything else about his ability made him harder to deal with than a regular person was. A true annoyance at best, who needed to be avoided whenever possible. Even fairly honest people didn't really want most of their secrets to spill forth unbidden, after all.

  Waving, he left the lab. Or rather the room that was otherwise identical to his own that had been turned into a laboratory. That part, getting the equipment in, was probably special. At least no one had indicated that he could have done something similar. Not that it was needed. Connor didn't have a clue how to use most of what had bee
n in the room at all. Even the pocket phone or the data pad might just be too much for him to manage.

  Taking off to his room, he felt a bit uneasy. Not just because of the massive changes in the last few days, either. After all, if someone were to know all his secrets, they'd probably work out that he was at least a bit uncertain as to how loyal he was planning to be, in regards to the Order. Not that he wasn't going to be all in on the idea. After all, he didn't particularly want to die and it seemed like it was kind of a family tradition. Belonging to the special organization and helping to destroy the world, or at least most of the people in it.

  Instead of finding a game to play, or watching a picture show on the large screen in his room, he brought up the computer files about the attempts to save the world that had failed again and kept pouring over them. Re-reading each and every one of them. Mainly to distract himself from the plans that were going to come, later in the evening.

  After all, it didn't matter how well you lied, if the truth was a thing you didn't really understand anyway. That was a fact Connor felt himself to be fairly certain of. He just didn't know how he felt about some things in his life. Most of them, he had to admit, since honesty seemed to be the current theme of his reality.

  He didn’t understand almost anything about his world at all.

  Chapter eight

  Connor had to appreciate the welcome he received later that evening. The machine that he was placed into had straps to hold his head steady, made of leather, with plastic buckles on it. There was a table as well, with a shaped headrest that was, oddly, rather comfortable. Then, for some reason the woman who walked into the room and ordered him to lie down didn’t bother with the straps at all.