Strangers and Lies

by P. S. Power

  "If you aren't a waste of space, I guess I can pull out the new tricks I've come up with. Based on Debussey's work. Heard of her? Stone bitch, don't let her charming ways fool you. Used to be a student of mine, about thirty years ago, before I got out of this line of work. Oh... Devon Tanburry. Doctor Devon Tanburry. Not that anyone cares if an old man was something more interesting at one point..." He settled his bag on the table and then looked at the others, his face angry again. "Now, get these morons out of here. I need to abuse you for a while to make this work and they'll just get in the way. You aren't a virgin, are you dear?"

  Those words, obviously meant to needle her and the others for some reason nearly got the man lynched. Robert actually started to go for him, which got Beth to hold him back. It was a close thing however, even if Bethany was Special Service now, and Mr. Vernor was a paper pusher. On the good side he didn't struggle long, since Gwen took care of it, by answering honestly.

  "Yes and no. The body I'm in isn't, but me, this personality, has never had sex. Is that part of this?" She felt a little uneasy, but if he really had to do things to her to make it work... Or even if that was the price of his efforts, she could deal, she thought. It might be harder than she expected, since she didn't have any experience there, but the angry gnome of a man just chortled. It wasn't a happy sound either.

  "Even as little as twenty years ago I would have told you yes, but the truth is that I'm just going to have to cause you a lot of pain and these people won't let that happen, clearly. Keep someone to guard your virtue and let's get rid of the rest. We don't have all day. I need a nap at six or I'll be cranky." There was a lot of fussing with the bag then, and he pulled out a half dozen different instruments which clearly had something to do with magic. One of them was simply a crystal pack, a round one that seemed a little like a battery and held magic, connected to two wires that ended in small round silver pieces that were a bit tarnished.

  Gwen waved people away and motioned for Bethany to stay. Not that her friend would want to see her in pain, but everyone else really would try to stop it, if it was nearly as bad as the man indicated. She pointed, gesturing with her whole hand, since that was considered a lot more polite here.

  "Bethany Westmorland, Detective and Special Service Agent." It was all the introduction she was going to be allowed it seemed, since the man moved to her and started to pretend to be working at her top, which wasn't going to work the way he was doing it, since the dress fastened in the back. After a few seconds, not having touched her at all really, he sneered again.

  "Or we can attach them to your forearms. Let me get the straps for that. One moment." He wasn't gentle overly, but he didn't seem to be trying to hurt her yet either. It was almost as if he wanted her to complain or balk, so that he'd have an excuse to simply leave, instead of doing the work.

  The leather straps were thin, and had cold brass buckles on them, the silver just being placed underneath that part of things, on the soft inner portion of her arms. Katherine's arms. The sleeves of her dress were pushed up, leaving them bunched and a little uncomfortable, since there was no stretch to the fabric at all.

  "Now, in a moment I'm going to try to mesmerize you. You'll be able to feel it, since I won't be subtle about it. Not to start with. When your mind relaxes and you feel the process starting, the pain inducer will, well, you get the idea, horrible pain. Then we'll do it again and again, until every time you start to be mesmerized, no matter how light or subtle the attempt, you'll respond with fear and terror. It will keep you from moving into the correct state. Ingenious isn't it? I've never gotten to try it on a willing subject before." He didn't seem pleased to be doing it now either. Just angry still.

  Gwen sighed a little, trying to relax.

  "This is how everyone does this here?" The second the words were out of her mouth she realized it wouldn't be, but the man didn't snap at her, he just shook his head.

  "Noooo. Most people take two years of study and practice daily to learn what we're going to do in a few hours. I was told you didn't have that kind of time however. Plus, I really don't care to waste my last days playing with you. If you want to do it that way, I can leave..." That got a slightly pleased sound into his voice finally. Almost as if it were his real plan.

  Gwen smiled a little and shook her head.

  "No, let's get it done. I really don't have time. Erin Debussey seems to be gunning for me and I don't think she's going to wait two years to kill me. So yes, I have heard of her. She wants to sacrifice me or something, that part wasn't too clear. Um, I'm basically her daughter from a different reality. Me, not this body. I can explain later, if you care. Right now I think I'm just stalling, since this sounds like it might hurt."

  Devon the tiny man in front of her growled a little, but after about half a minute he nodded, his face set.

  "Let's be about it then."

  He started and as promised, seconds after a warm and relaxed feeling of energy hit her, she was in horrid pain. It ran through her whole being, not just her arms. It didn't seem to be at the point of contact at all, coming from inside the center of her chest instead. It was only a few inches away from the place she'd been stabbed and felt a lot like that, except more so. It was a bigger point, nearly larger than her body, the whole thing going at once. She screamed and couldn't help it at all. Really it was probably a lot more pain than was needed, just to condition her against this, she thought. It would work she guessed.

  As long as it didn't kill her.

  There was a commotion as Charles and Robert tried to rush the door. Beth stopped them, holding a power conduit in her right hand. It wasn't her silver one, but rather Gwen's little reddish one that would just knock the men back if they were hit with it. The butler had given it to her, so he recognized it at least.

  "No. Gentlemen, there will be more screams, but it has to happen. Please remove yourselves." There was no hesitation in the words, or doubt, as if this was normal.

  Gwen thought she understood it. For her it was. This was part of how the Westmorlands were trained, most likely. If so, it really did suck as much as they'd all hinted.

  She waved a hand at the men, shewing them away, gasping a bit.

  "We're going to have a lot of repetitions of this. Sorry about the yelling, but that's going to happen too. No help for it, we're on a short time schedule."

  There was silence for a few seconds, as everyone stared at her, except Beth, who just held her position, face set.

  "Now, gentlemen. Drawing this out won't help her at all."

  Not that she didn't want to stall if she could, but that wasn't really up to her. The second Beth got the men to pull back, the tiny monster in front of her started again, his eyes dark the whole time. After she finished screaming, he did it again, and again.

  The feeling got lighter each time, but she dreaded the sense of it already. On the good side that probably meant it was going to work. On the other side of things, she didn't want to go on with it at all, wondering instead of going into hiding wouldn't work better. After all, if Debussey and her friends couldn't find her, it would be impossible to take over her mind, wouldn't it? It seemed reasonable, but she didn't say anything or beg for the pain to stop. She was kind of already committed to this course of action.

  Sweat had pooled in her armpits and her hair was already moist and sticking to her slightly when the man gasped himself and let her have some water, half an hour later or so.

  What he said was a lot different than she expected.

  "We... can't go on with this. The pain..." He looked at Bethany, who still had the PC in her hand, but pointed it at the floor.

  She shook her head.

  "We need to finish this, unless you can't continue? Is there a health reason?" She waited, but the man shook his head.

  "It's not that, but the girl..."

  Gwen gasped then, her voice ragged from the screaming.

  "I'm fine. Keep going. We need to fix this. It's working already. I can feel it."

&nb
sp; They did keep going, even as the man begged for them to stop every ten cycles of pain or so. They didn't, not until the crystal pack was drained on the device, which took about four hours. Doctor Tanburry was shaking by that time. Gwen was too, but she didn't have to look at herself, so it wasn't nearly as bad. To everyone's surprise, Beth freed the charge crystal and held it so that Gwen could recharge the thing, which got a glare from Devon that seemed half insane. His tiny fist clenched as if he was going to fight the Westmorland on the whole thing then.

  Beth didn't pay attention to him at all.

  "We have to do this again. Over and over, until the slightest hint of mesmerism triggers you into the resistant state. At these pain levels it should only take about three hundred repetitions. We're at seventy-six right now." There was a cold hardness to the words, even as Gwen worked to get the crystal back up to full. It didn't take long at all. About two minutes. It wasn't a large thing, but it was hard to focus.

  The words shocked the Doctor, but Gwen took it to mean that Beth actually had a good grasp on what they were doing. That meant it really was the way that the Westmorlands were trained, most likely. It was barbaric, but they were the best at what they did, so it should work. If she survived it.

  They managed to get halfway through it all when Tanburry had to stop. He was exhausted and clearly didn't want to go on at all for other reasons. Gwen felt a sense of relief, since it meant she might get to lay down, possible sleep and not have any pain for a few hours. That didn't happen. Instead they both just left the room and about ten minutes later a tired looking Westmorland man she didn't know came in. He was about twenty or so, but had a dead look to his eyes. It took his otherwise plain looking face that might have been halfway cute in the right light and made it into something ugly.

  "Mesmerism?" He got this just from looking at Gwen, his face hard suddenly.

  Beth nodded.

  "Pain aversion. We need about a hundred and fifty more repetitions. We're eight hours in right now."

  Now, Gwen considered, as she started screaming in pain, most people would have hesitated, or even given her a few seconds to set herself, but this guy moved right into the whole thing as if he enjoyed it. That wasn't fair though, nothing about him seemed to be taking pleasure in what he was doing, but he didn't stop at all or let up, just doing it over and over again.

  The fear was there each time she felt that little relaxed tingle start, no matter how soft and gentle it was. The tiny tickle started just behind her eyes and she was wracked with pain that before that day she wouldn't have thought possible. There were tears, but she didn't cry out, between the events themselves. She didn't beg either. That wouldn't have helped at all, she knew. This was what she had to do, and Westmorland super-soldiers weren't going to let her off easy or anything.

  Besides, it was her choice. She could call it off at any time, but then... She couldn't. It really was too important for her to give up on, no matter how much she wanted to.

  It was about nine in the morning when the man, whose name she didn't know, took the pain device off.

  "Time for testing then. Gwen, I need you to close your eyes and try not to think of anything in particular. Then after a while, I'll try to very carefully worm my way into your mind. If we did this well enough that won't happen." The voice sounded more lively now at least, but then he wasn't going to cause her pain this time, Gwen didn't think. Just panic and fear.

  Sitting with her eyes shut she waited, wondering after a long while if the whole thing had failed. She didn't feel anything at all, which could mean that she was already mesmerized. After about ten minutes she was about to open her eyes and suggest they put the pain device back on. She didn't though, not wanting to be in that much pain if she could help it. If it didn't work, she wouldn't ask for more. Sometime after that she felt both the slightest tickle and a wave of pure terror that made her jump, almost as if the pain had come anyway.

  Beth clapped a few times, slowly.

  "Perfect. No one will be able to get past that." Her friend looked wrung out, but smiled then, if tiredly. "I'm... very impressed Gwen. I normally have to be strapped down in order to be kept from running away. You just sat and didn't give up at all. Well, if Debussey is using similar techniques on people, it's no wonder that they break. She probably uses something similar, but tied to any attempt to struggle against her will, mentally. After long enough a person wouldn't be able to fight at all. On the good side, we got there first. Now, I dare say, that you won't be easily influenced mentally by anyone."

  She seemed to be trying to be positive and cheery but the younger man agreed readily.

  "No one will take you that way. It leaves everything else, but that's just life. What area of specialization?" It was a funny question, but Bethany answered, sounding proud.

  "Um, Manly, Gwen isn't one of us. She's Gwen Farris? The woman from another world? I know that everyone at central has been talking about it..."

  The man made a face and rolled his eyes then as if the woman next to him was being stupid.

  "I know that. I was asking what area she wants to specialize in. We might as well set up some working states for her. She has the talent and lacks early training. I didn't think an adult mind could handle this kind of thing, but she's already proved me wrong on that score. So what do we do? Teletransport, Precognition and healing wasn't it? So three states?"

  That started a discussion that Gwen really couldn't track and wasn't expected to. She was pulled off to her bedroom by Bethany, with Manly following along, chattering about what could be done and which would be best to work with first. He thought that healing would be best, but Bethany thought that Gwen should be left in control of her own mind, which meant doing the whole thing in a new way. It seemed to excite the new guy more than a bit.

  "I do have some ideas..." Then, almost as if he had somewhere else to be that he hadn't mentioned he turned and walked away.

  It was a sudden thing, but not one that meant too much to Gwen at the moment, her entire body feeling tired and like someone had been beating her for hours. It wasn't true, since the pain devices didn't do physical damage at all, but her muscles tensing under the stimulus left her feeling exhausted and uncomfortable. She wanted to just fall into bed, but took a shower first, the water pounding her as if from a garden hose on crack. It poured out, but the pressure was high, and painful against her skin.

  She couldn't take it anymore, she decided, if nothing else she was going to have a decent showerhead. She decided to make one herself, or if that wouldn't work, hiring someone to do it. It wasn't that hard after all. They had everything they needed here, they just didn't do it for some reason. Maybe just out of a perverse sense of austerity?

  Then she fell into bed and slept, her mind replaying pain over and over again. She kind of associated it with Doctor Tanburry and Manly Westmorland, but not Bethany, so there was that. As far as she knew she wasn't going to be required to work with the other people again, or if she was, there was no reason she had to like them. It wasn't fair, since they were only trying to be helpful, but it was kind of like people not liking the dentist. It was something needed, for her own good, but it was all too easy to associate the unpleasant parts with the people doing the work.

  When she got up it was after noon, and her entire body felt like someone had decided to tighten all of her muscles, leaving her feeling sore and like she could barely move at all. It wasn't fun, but she got herself halfway dressed in one of Katherine's older things, a dress that didn't look ready to party at all, but had more of a shop girl feel to it. The thing was tan and a little plain, but it suited her mood, which was just a tiny bit surly that day. She plastered a smile on her face and vowed not to take it out on everyone else.

  To her surprise, when she finally made it down the stairs, she found everyone lingering over the lunch table, looking somber. Including Manly and Doctor Tanburry. She really thought he would have taken off by then, but he looked at her and actually smiled. It was nearly a happy t
hing.

  Then he tried to mesmerize her.

  That got a reaction, one of panic and fear, as it was supposed to. It wasn't a happy event, but she realized as soon as he stopped, even as her heart pounded and she started to sweat a little, it was. He clearly hadn't been trying very hard, so even a little bit of attempted influence was enough.

  Mrs. Vernor started to stand, her voice stern.

  "Enough of that! She's been through too much..."

  Manly answered his eyes on his plate.

  "For now, I have to agree. She needs to heal and recover from all this. It's good to know the work is holding, but it simply will now. I doubt that anyone will be able to shake it now."

  Bethany actually seemed happy about it, which might have been fake or not, but was cheerier than anyone else was being.

  "This is most excellent, of course. Now we can include Gwen in the secret planning. Or parts of it. After the next set of... Well, yes." She didn't elaborate, but Gwen really didn't want any more pain if she could help it.

  The rest of the meal went well, since the kitchen was more than willing to serve her, even if everyone else had already finished, and sat around sipping coffee, even as she nibbled at each tiny plate of food, not really hungry yet. The tiny forks and spoons brought with each dish clicked lightly, but no one stared at her overly as she ate at all. That was good, since she kind of had an issue about people watching her eat.

  The conversation was interesting, since Manly indicated that he had to go back to Central in a few hours, but had wanted to chat with Beth and Gwen about future work together. It made it sound like a fun and instructive adventure, rather than a horrible experience no one would ever want. She wasn't fooled, but she really did need to be up to speed a lot faster than she could get herself otherwise. If they could use these techniques to make her more capable of controlling magic, then that was about half of what she really needed and in a much shorter time frame. Then she'd just need to learn everything else that a person her age was supposed to know about a world. It would take some time, no doubt.