by P. S. Power
She grinned at him, shaking her head.
“So, you can go to other worlds? How’s that? I mean, Brian can do it and my grandma, Mary, but she’s from a different reality, where that kind of thing is, well, a thing.”
He nodded at her, since that kind of made sense. It wasn’t that common of an ability, but their core worlds were kind of clustered in an area of reality where that could be done. Otherwise they wouldn’t have known about the others at all.
“I took lessons. I’m from a different reality, too. Tim is my uncle? His oldest brother is my dad. I’m being trained to go into other realities to spy, which you weren’t told about but probably need to know. Ms. Turner and Lydia were informed directly. Cindy read my mind, but has it all as well. So far that’s all. I’m supposed to hide that part, but only to practice. Otherwise, I’m really here to learn how to fight.”
That got a nod.
“Nifty then. All right, you’re not from around here. That means I need to get you up to speed. You don’t sound weird, so that works. You can dress yourself without calling too much attention. So, the basic set up.” She started to walk then, waving in different directions. “The Infected Protection Bureau. The IPB for short. Our job is to handle any superhuman or Infected threats that come in. We had, kind of a thing, a war really, not long ago and most of the Infected threats were killed. By me. It wasn’t a good thing, but… It happened. I didn’t have a choice.”
A wave of sadness poured off of her, but was schooled well after a few moments.
“Anyway, this is our main base. We have Operatives and Agents here, as well as some medical and Administration people. Not all of us are Infected. Agents can’t be, by law, for instance. Those are regular people who take care of most of the lower powered problems for us. Tough guys. Not a lot of women on that side of things, since the standards are hard to meet if you don’t have powers. We also have some military stationed here. They’re waiting for orders to attack us. Mainly super soldiers, but they can’t win, so their bosses are holding them back for the time being. Wisely.”
She seemed to mean it, not being bothered by the rain as they walked.
“Currently we’ve been coming under attack. We don’t know from who, exactly, but it’s high level. They can copy people, but not powers yet, we think. So we have to watch anyone that doesn’t have that kind of thing really closely. If you can read minds, part of your job will be to stay on the lookout for that. Though even then it can be really hard to tell the difference. Otherwise we would have won by now.”
He just took the data in, as they walked. That was toward a low building, about a quarter mile away. They moved fast, but didn’t run. She smiled at him anyway, without explaining that most people couldn’t keep up with what they were doing. It didn’t feel that hard to him, which was her point, he thought.
“That’s different. Are they linked to The Adversaries? The people trying to destroy all of reality?”
She shrugged, her shoulders going up very high. It was, for her, an old habit. One she was trying to break, since it looked a bit immature.
“Unknown at this time. All we can do is wait, now. Try to stay ready. That’s the big stuff. Most everyone here will assume that the hair and eyes means that you’re one of the cool kids. Being on Team Three as well. It kind of marks you as being powerful. We’ve been trying to blur the lines there a bit, but Marcia is old school. She’s been around for a while. She looks young, but she’s over fifty, you know? Not everyone here ages at the same rate, really. She probably won’t do that at all. I should a bit, but not much. Brian, he’s my grandpa, he went to the future once and met me there, apparently in a hundred years I should look about nineteen.”
From her expression she was trying to warn him about that part of things. That some of the young and good looking women would be much older than he was. That got him to smile at her, putting a hand on her shoulder as they walked. It was a bit forward, but she just put her hand on his back for a bit, in return.
Then he looked away.
“I’m seventeen. Except that I’m also not. I spent a very long time in the void, learning to go from one reality to another. Thousands of years. So Ms. Turner being a little older than she looks wouldn’t be a problem for me. Now, the fact that she’s my aunt in a different reality could be. Not that we’re related by blood there, so even that would only be a minor thing.”
Instead of going into his potential dating life with their boss, she nodded. It was a large thing, but she managed to stop after a few seconds, which took focus on her part.
“I’m sixteen, myself. I’m dating a guy from in town. Named Will, actually, so that’s similar, he isn’t you. Just so you… You know, I’m legal for sex, but the press follows me around, so I need to be really good and not get caught doing that kind of thing with anyone but him. Which means…” She took her hand off of his back, as they got to the door of yet another tan brick building. “It means that I need to get better at this kind of thing. I’m rehabbing my image.”
She didn’t explain what that meant, so he put the idea away, getting a little bit from the concepts coming off of her.
Inside the new building, there was, interestingly enough, useful things. Clothing, bedding, pillows, toothbrushes and things of that nature. Going behind a desk there, she got on a computer, tapped in a secret code, which she told him all about, muttering it out loud, including what the numbers and letters were to get in, then she got something from a desk drawer and brought it over to him.
“Put your finger on the gray bit there?” A light shone from under it, which tickled a little. Then she had him hold part of the device, which was round and covered his left eye, up to himself. The device tried to blind him then, but only for a few seconds. Then there was a buzzing sound.
She grinned at him.
“All right. I gave you a nifty room on the second floor. Next to mine. Cin is on the other side, so you can get your emergency booty calls taken care of in a pinch. She’s not a bad person, but kind of a psychopath, so her morality is a bit iffy at times.” They were going there, apparently, since the girl took off at a near run then, even though he was half blind from carrying a large pile of things. After a bit she went faster, though she didn’t try to lose him really. When they stopped she wasn’t really breathing all that hard. Neither was he however.
She just nodded.
“Neat. That was a good way toward, oh, one-fifty or so? The building doesn’t have an elevator. Which is great, really. We don’t need to be lazy, after all.” It was taller, having five stories, with windows that ran up the side. Otherwise it was blocky and a bit ugly seeming. Functional, but made of more tan blocks. Larger ones this time. The stairs going upward flowed around in a white hallway, ending up heading out into yet another, going to his quarters. Those, when the door opened, were fine. Not nice really, having a metal framed bed that was a drab gray color, a small desk and a single chair. Also a bathing chamber that had a toilet and sink in the same room.
“All the comforts of home. As long as you didn’t come from a palace.”
He smiled at her then.
“You know the last two places I stayed were palaces? The one before that…” He stopped, seeing that there was also a chest of drawers for his clothing to be placed in. “The spot before that was basically sitting outside in front of Aunt Taman’s tiny pod house in Soam. On the ground. So, I’ll live. I don’t sleep, so I won’t need a bed really. Also, I have a clothing amulet.” To demonstrate that he changed his clothing to match hers. Except that over his left breast pocket the name said Baker, instead of Chambers.
Instead of jumping away at the sudden magic, she just nodded, as if that kind of thing were normal.
“You know that, as your partner, you’re morally and ethically required to get me one of those if possible, right?” She was joking with him, but he had two extra, so dug one out, explaining how to use it.
“You can’t be wearing other clothing. Once you have it around your
neck, just want it to turn on and tap it.”
Instead of acting shy, she stripped. She had red hair down below as well, but nothing on her arms or legs. Under her arms was bare, too. That hadn’t been the case for anyone in Soam. When she tapped the device on, it put her in a student’s brown outfit. That fit perfectly, but made her look very young.
“If you ever have to vanish inside Noram, that’s a good starting point. It’s what rich kids wear to school. Now, if you imagine what you want to be wearing it will change. Try to match me first?” She did it pretty well, her focus being fairly sharp, it seemed.
Then she played with it, making her outfit change colors and then, rather than putting a dress on or anything like that, used the thing to match the background behind her almost exactly. Her face showed, but the rest of her just seemed to vanish, until she moved.
“Um… Try a mask, like this?” The eyes had to be left uncovered, but with a little trial and error they found a pretty good way of making it seem like they nearly weren’t there.
She grinned at him, changing back into an outfit that was essentially what she’d been wearing. She didn’t have any of the loose threads, creases or anything like that however, making her seem just a bit too perfect. He pointed at his own boots and added tiny, almost imperceptible scuff marks in the black polish, then did a few other things.
That got copied, but in different places.
“Got it. So, I can use this for any clothing? Lingerie or bathing suits?”
He didn’t know that, since he always bathed naked, himself.
“Probably? You’ll have to try that and learn the things you want to use, so you have them ready to go on command. We can go over that later, if it’s allowed?”
Or right then. It wasn’t as if he had plans for anything yet.
The small woman nodded at him, started to touch him, then pulled away.
“We should get you situated here. Then, I need to get some food. Do you eat?”
It was a strange thing to say, but instead of making an issue of it, showing that he wasn’t normal, he nodded.
“A lot, really. I haven’t had a chance for that much in a while, but I’m growing still, so… I could do with a bite, if that’s possible.”
That got a laugh.
“It honestly is. A lot of people here need to eat more than normal. Good, so you won’t have a problem with me needing to eat five times a day? Here, let’s do this first, then get some grub.”
Will could only hope they didn’t have to eat grubs in particular. He could, if it was required, thanks to his training so far. Instead, after putting everything away, he was taken to a large building where they had a very large choice of foods to pick from. None of them were normal seeming to him, at first, but absolutely none of what he could see appeared to be insects or worms.
Bridget got a brown tray made of plastic or something similar, gesturing for him to do the same. Then she got three white plates and started to load them with things from a long line of food. As she did, the woman waved to the far side of the place.
“We can eat over there as well, but I normally don’t bother. The long tables in the main section are where most of us hang, most days. The cool kids. If you want to use the restaurant side and be waited on, you need to dress up. Wear makeup, all that. Well, you don’t need makeup, but I would. You do know that you look a bit like you have eyeliner on all the time, right?”
He hadn’t, but shrugged.
“Part of my charm? You should see my Uncle Tor. Tim’s older brother? He’s so pretty that he looks a bit like Taman’s more attractive sister. Which is mean of me to say.” Also stupid, given that he was supposed to be hiding that kind of thing from the other people there. She got that however and just didn’t comment on it. At least he’d whispered and the room was close to empty still. There was one woman over where they were headed, once they had all the food that could be balanced on the trays without spilling off.
When they got there he noticed that she was rather large for the people around him. A good eight feet tall or so. She also had a lot of muscle on her, which made her uniform ripple as she pulled her tray around.
She froze for a bit, when she saw Will. From inside of her there was a sense of embarrassment. Over almost everything. How much food she was eating, even if her tray only looked like his own. How brutish and stupid she looked, even if to him she seemed a bit like some of the larger female nobles that he’d met. He could take her to Noram and no one would have thought anything of her that way, other than perhaps that she was a little plain.
Even that would probably change if she were in a dress and had some makeup on.
Bridget waved at her, from across the table, sitting on the bench easily. It took him a bit to climb over it, but that was because he wasn’t used to doing that kind of thing. When he settled, Bridget waved at him.
“This is Will. Team Three. New kid, clearly. Physical stuff. Pretty quick, strong. Hard to hurt. He also reads minds and can teleport. Sort of. It doesn’t hurt that he looks like this, but Marcia decided to hold him back from the television work for the time being. This is Olga. She’s the second in command of Team Two.” There was nothing about her words to indicate that she wanted him to behave any given way, but inside she was worried that he was going to call her ugly, or not like her based on her looks.
Which would be insane of him.
“Hi! Nice to meet you. Bridget was just making fun of me for looking like I have makeup on all the time. It’s just my face though, so I can’t do much about it. I guess I look a bit funny, huh?” He worked to seem a bit embarrassed about that, which oddly got the woman to feel a little bit better that way. Why no one had thought about having her changed emotionally yet he didn’t know.
Then, while she struggled with it constantly, the woman didn’t let it show to the world too much, since that would have been embarrassing. It could be that no one really got how tough things were for her that way. Taman was there however, so he was willing to bet that she could, and would, help the woman out. If not that day, then probably soon.
She nodded, looking down at her tray, which was still mainly full.
“Is good meeting you, too. I don’t think you look funny. You are very pretty.”
That got Bridget to giggle, then eat for a bit, as the other woman blushed.
“That’s kind of the issue, Olga. He’s a bad ass, power wise, but looks like he could go to a photoshoot. Well, luck of the draw. My dad is like that. So is Argos. When mom finds out about him she’s going to try and pull him for Team One. I’d bet money on it.”
That got a nod from the large woman, who embarrassed or not, had to eat. The hunger was too great to ignore. Seeing that, he did the same for a while, trying different things. He ate them all, but not all of them were exactly what he’d consider good. There was a finely chopped salad that tasted all right, being pickled, if freshly. The bread was fine, but soaked with butter and garlic, which was different. There was a strange thing built of bread rolls, vegetables and a meat round that was different as well. It wasn’t horrible, but was truly different than anything he’d ever eaten before. Similar to a sandwich, if it were fat and too round to make sense to him.
When he was about halfway through his meal, others came into the space. There were about a hundred and fifty in all, but he was able to figure out who his new people were there, since the other cool kids sat with them. It was an interesting collection.
Cindy, from the office was there, a few spaces away from him, near Olga. Next to her was a rather fine looking young woman, who had flawless skin, a nice body and looked to be about thirteen or so, making her too young for him, according to the rules of even his own home. Inside she was a lot younger than that, being about seven. Thankfully Cindy was projecting that at him very hard, so he didn’t make a mistake and flirt with the youngster. Her name was Sara. He got that when the word flashed behind his eyes.
There was other writing as well, which was interesting. After
a moment he worked out that it was Cindy, talking to him in secret.
Sara is special. A shape shifter. In this shape we all pretend she isn’t Infected.
The part under that expected him to have some kind of issue or problem understanding that. He was there to do similar things however, so that bit made a lot of sense to him. The girl was young, but already being trained to take on a task similar to his own one day.
Smiling he waved at them.
“Hi! I’m Will. The new person?”
That was enough to have him accepted by the others, it seemed.
They didn’t even make it hard for him.
Chapter twelve
The night was interesting for him. After all, he didn’t need to sleep, so it made sense to work on something, even though the others around him didn't think he actually needed to be doing anything until the next day. At ten in the morning he was due to report to his first training session, but until then, Will was just on his own. It was unexpected, really.
His first thought was to run off and spend the fourteen hours taking messages to different realities. The problem with that was a very simple and common sense one. Nothing would have come in yet. Even if it had, the goal was to set up a business that allowed him days or weeks to get things into place. Doing it faster was probably a smarter model for that kind of thing, as for earning coin, but the fact was, the entire concern was a front to allow him access to many different realities without being too noticed.
Even that was about him having a chance to train and learn new and strange things, in order to collect data about customs that he otherwise might not even have thought of in the first place. Which probably meant that he needed to be finding out more about the world he was in for the time being, instead of just running off. What he needed for that, of course, was either an insider to provide him information, or books that would allow him to study up on things.