Shine (The Infected: Mirror Man Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  The man turned his back politely, instead of observing him the whole time. The string, a brown thing that seemed to be made of natural fibers, was soft enough around his neck, once he slipped the thing over his head. It hung down to nearly his solar plexus. As promised, tapping it once caused him to be wearing clothing suddenly. It was a brown canvas outfit, with boots on his feet.

  There was no underwear to the whole thing, or socks, but it wasn’t that uncomfortable.

  Thinking about that, wanting a pair of boxers on as a buffer, caused a shifting under his clothing. It didn't take him long to get the basic idea, so he made some nice socks, and then, thinking about what he wanted to wear, envisioned a nice, expensive, charcoal gray suit. It had a tie, which was in black, and shiny patent leather shoes. With a little bit of focus he added in cufflinks and a tie clip. That was just a falcon, since he used to have one like it, years before. It was done up in gold, as were the links on his sleeve. Not that you could see them with the jacket on. He made a matching hat appear as well, with a long white feather in the brim. It was a bit over the top, but got a pleased sound from Tor.

  “Very nice! Now, we should get our friends? Time runs faster back home, so an hour here is eight there…” He seemed concerned, as if pushing for speed didn’t make sense.

  It did though, given that.

  They hurried, walking at a decent pace, to get into the office, which had everyone that was going already standing there, waiting for Tor to come and get them, it seemed.

  Cindy waved at the man, standing there in a nice white and gold dress.

  “Come on then, everyone? This won’t take that long. Today we have people that work here on the base, tomorrow and the next day as well. After that… Well, Howard is in charge of that. He’s also busy on another project, so… That might put a crimp in things.” She was speaking to Tor as everyone else, most of them in tan fatigues, followed along with them.

  For all he was supposed to be in charge of the whole thing, the blonde girl seemed to think that wasn’t real. Then, she was the Ambassador, so it might have been needed with the new people. If that was the case, then going along with her was the best plan. Really, since it didn't matter to him at all, as long as he didn’t accidently start a war or end up engaged to Tor, he was fine with it.

  That was different, but women did more now than they had when he was younger. They’d always had their place and a certain kind of power, but in the modern age they’d taken part of what little men had going on that way as well. Only the good parts, of course. That was probably natural. No one wanted to be the garbage man or the sewer worker, so those kinds of jobs were still forced on men, while the ladies insisted on being put in control of everything else.

  Some of them. Kerry wasn’t like that, in particular. He was thinking of her, because the slightly boxy girl moved in beside him. Next to her was a woman with a very long, reptilian seeming, snout. Her skin was all pink and she didn't have scales. She was muscular and strong looking. Den was next to her, dressed like the rest of them in a tan uniform.

  “Hey Rich. Nice threads there. This is Peggy, my girlfriend.” The man didn’t seem defensive about her looks at all. It was, really, as if he didn't care about that. Which was the correct thing.

  Looks were nice, but ultimately not that important in life. What you did and how you did it were a lot bigger of a deal. They were walking, so he didn't put a hand out to the woman, but he did smile.

  She had nice, rather long, golden hair in a single braid down her back.

  “Nice to meet you, Peggy. Denis and Kerry mentioned you to me. Before you ask, yes, it was pretty favorable.” It kind of had been, so it wasn’t a lie or anything. Den just nodded, though the long-faced woman made a sound that was probably a sigh.

  “Really? So, they didn't mention the part where I’m a convicted felon?”

  As they got outside, no one spoke for a bit, since there was a large craft there, to take them away. It was different seeming enough to get their attention. It wasn’t until they’d loaded up, each of them being handed another glowing tile to wear for the trip, by Tor, that Howard spoke again.

  As they took a seat, the things being very large and well padded, seeming like bright red leather, he winked at the woman.

  “Murder, wasn’t it? I can’t see that being a problem. If you’re a friend of Kerry and Denis, you’re in good with me.” It was more or less true, he realized. The other two were in his crew now. They’d not only committed crimes together, but pulled the jobs off.

  Tor didn’t call out what he was doing, just making the side of the thing seal up and rising straight upward at a speed that was probably dizzying. It didn't feel like they were moving, but his stomach tried to drop anyway. After two minutes, the man, who was about fifteen feet away, in the pilot’s seat, put his hand under the floating control gem, which seemed like a piece of milky quartz, meaning it would be of minimal resale value, and then took them back down. That part didn’t take a lot longer.

  When Howard looked out the window, he kind of got the idea. They were near the Rio Grande, but the walled city there was El Paso or whatever it should have been, given the position. It was strange seeming. Almost primitive, compared to what he was used to seeing. The houses were mainly made of adobe, though there were tile rooves in several different colors. The most popular seemed to be red, but there was a good showing for yellow as well.

  They settled outside the city however, in front of what seemed to be the palace of Versailles. Except in the wrong place and newer looking. The outer structure was about the same size as that other grand building, with all the column work on the outside and multiple thousands of windows. It was done in a metallic gold color, with enough cream to make it look less fake. A little bit. It was grand enough that almost everyone except Cindy was gawking at it a bit.

  Tor actually blushed, going a bright red.

  “I… Told my friend Collette that we had special guests coming. I didn’t know she’d do this to the place. It’s a bit…” He waved at it, as they finished moving down to the ground.

  Rather than act awestruck, Howard moved toward the front of the vehicle, they seemed to be there, after all. Not fifty feet from the front door of the place as well. Hovering over a walking path that had a nice lawn on either side.

  “Oh, does it change, like the clothing amulets?”

  Taking the line that had been given, Tor smiled and nodded.

  “Exactly. This is about as large as it can get. I hope it isn’t off putting to you all? I know that you aren’t used to this…” He stopped, and then bowed. “Forgive me. I don’t know that at all…”

  Howard waved for him to come back up, bowing first, since the Noram people seemed to like that kind of thing.

  “We aren’t. It isn’t a big thing for us, either. Are we going in, or having people come out here for the work?”

  The man stood up then, seeming relieved. Not that anyone seemed all that upset with him. Or rather, some of them looked pissed off, but it seemed to be a fairly constant thing.

  One woman in particular, who looked nice enough, for a woman pushing into her late forties, who had clearly taken a lot of time and effort to not seem like that at all. She had frown lines though, and looked ready to bite some people’s heads off. On the great side, she hadn’t said anything.

  “Inside, if that serves? My students are waiting for us. They should be. They might have run off to the market as well. The one here is supposed to be very grand. We could go and visit it, before you all leave?”

  Cindy, who moved in behind Howard and touched his back, shook her head.

  “Maybe on vacation, but not when we’re supposed to be working. Besides, Rich here hasn’t even been around to steal some of your gold yet. Hint, hint, Richard. He has a vault here with about ten million in gold coins in it. It isn’t even his main account. I bet we can work that out.”

  Tor rolled his eyes, instead of taking overt offense at the offer of stealing from him.


  Howard just explained the joke to the man.

  “My first mode, you know what that is for Infected people?” It was going to make the day difficult if he didn’t.

  “I do.” The man sounded certain of that at least.

  “Mine causes me to feel compelled to steal things. It’s… hard to fight. I was hoping that one of your people could take a crack at removing that for me? Is that doable, do you think?”

  The man waved for everyone to follow him, which didn’t take long, since no one had brought luggage with them. They just climbed off the space craft, which was put away, becoming a tiny tile that was placed on a string around the giant young man’s neck.

  “Oh, definitely. That isn’t even hard for us to do. Some of the other changes will be more interesting. The Infection, the being that possesses you all, insists on parts of the powers being left the same. We might need to have Timon in to negotiate for us at times. So far it hasn’t been intractable that way. It wishes you to have certain capabilities, but is open enough to changes, as long as the basic parameters are held to. I’ve worked with it a few times. It doesn’t seem cruel, or capricious, that being.”

  The words, which seemed to be casual, not stressed in any way, caused most of the people to stare at the tall man. That or they’d finally realized how good looking he was.

  Denis took a deep, loud breath.

  “The Infection is an entity? Like, we’re all possessed by ghosts?”

  Tor got them to the door of the grand place and shook his head.

  “It’s one being, not many. Vastly intelligent, and inside each of you here. I don’t know what its reasoning is. Perhaps I should ask, if I get a chance? Didn’t you all know this?”

  Peggy snorted, doing a better than average job of it, considering the shape of her long face.

  “Nope. We haven’t been able to tell what it was at all. We knew it wasn’t a virus, or bacteria. That’s about it. It’s a being? I… Well, it has to be something. Is it… You said it’s intelligent?”

  The man waved them inside.

  “Oh, very much so. Now, let’s get everyone settled? I have ten students here, ready to practice. Or should, if I wasn’t away so long they got bored. We could set up in the drawing room? Sara… I think that some people want to speak with you, if you don’t mind? In the other room.”

  That was just a large space, with a glossy stone floor, ten crystal chandeliers and what seemed to be amber, instead of wall paper. There was wooden furniture, as for polished tables, as well as soft sofas and chairs. Tor moved out himself, only to have ten red robed men and women dash in, about three minutes later. They all looked more or less Chinese. Except one of them who was about four feet tall, had purple and red scales, four eyes and four arms. Each with three fingers on the end.

  Who that was didn’t get mentioned at all. It was probably a person that had opted for distinctive changes, given what they were planning to do for the day. No one seemed to find it odd at all.

  Tor spoke to them in a different language, then waved at the people that had come with them.

  Several of the people there pointed at Peggy, and another woman who looked like an unwrapped mummy. That got both of them to cringe a little, but Tor smiled after a moment as they bickered with each other.

  “They all want to work with both of you, since you seem like the most fun… That won’t work, of course. I think that…” He waved at one woman and a man who looked about thirty, pointed at them and spoke in a sharp voice. There was a smile to go with it. Then the man looked around and waved the others into place.

  Interestingly the small one with all the arms and eyes was called over to him.

  “Erath, this is Richard. He has the same name as the King here, but isn’t him. You can tell by the size and different hair color?”

  The small person nodded, a mouth with black teeth showing. They were shiny, and not rotted looking. Like obsidian.

  “Hello! I am Erath. A Ysidril. We are people that come from far off in space. Would you be willing to help me in my practice? I understand if you do not wish to, given my differences. It would be strange for you, perhaps, to suddenly have the correct number of arms. That would be for the best, but I understand that you might not want that.”

  Tor tensed over the words, but Howard winked at the small being. Who seemed to be an alien, rather than someone that had been changed. That was different.

  “Sure. That sounds great. We should save the extra arms for now, since you’re still learning. Maybe later, if we can go back and forth? I was hoping to get my first mode changed.” He was willing to talk about that with the being, but there was a simple, very human, nod instead.

  “I can feel that. Yes. You would like other alterations as well? I can’t change your looks, reliably. It shames me, but all you human people look the same to me. I can do other things though? Make you taller, or stronger?”

  That got him to blink.

  “How about a bit taller? About six feet?” He held a hand up to show what he meant by that. “It might not be a thing you can do. I guess the Infection made a set point for me? We don’t really know yet.”

  That seemed to make the little guy very happy to hear, for some reason.

  Chapter eighteen

  After a few hours of just sitting there, while people were being worked on, Erath, the little alien, did something behind Howard. Whatever it was had Tor jogging over, taking his place, for about twenty minutes, with no explanation at all. No one else was getting that kind of treatment, which could have been a lot of different things. For instance, Erath not being able to manage the work, because Howard was just too different. It wasn’t that.

  At least Tor moved in front of him, bowed about a quarter of the way down and waved for him to follow him out of the room. At the same time, a small tile, this time with a green glowing man on the front, was handed to him.

  “This is a healing amulet. It will allow the changes made to take place very quickly. It is… Erath did fine work that way. You should end up a bit taller than asked for. About six-four? It will take about two years for you to finish growing, but not be a problem. It…”

  The hesitation had him worrying a bit. It was probably that his first mode had to stay or something, the Infection insisting on it. If so… Well, he’d live, but it was going to be a problem. That desire to steal was so strong…

  Only, it wasn’t. He could feel that already. It wasn’t just fading, either. He simply didn't feel like taking anything at all, from anyone. Not as more than an academic exercise. The thought of doing it didn’t bother him, either, so it wasn’t some artificial morality having been put into place. He also felt fine. If anything, he seemed a bit stronger, or at least like gravity was pulling on him less.

  “I feel all right.”

  That got a nod from the very tall man.

  “Oh, certainly. The work was well done. It was only that Erath noticed that the entity inside of you left instructions for you? Along with your powers. What it hopes you will do? He couldn’t understand what you are supposed to do, since Ysidril don’t understand everything in the same way that we do. It seems that the being wishes you to remove some people from power? That part wasn’t exacting, but it felt as if you have already started on that? I tried for clarity, but that seems to be the heart of the matter.”

  It was different sounding, he had to admit. Then, their whole take on what the Infection was held a different flavor there. For one thing, they seemed to know what it was. A thing that had totally gotten past even their best scientists where he came from.

  “That sounds… Interesting, then. I think I have a basic idea of what is wanted. Thanks for letting me know. Also, thank Erath for helping me out. I didn't have that first mode long, but it’s a pure relief for it not to be there now. It was about to be a real problem for me. Actually, I should do the Erath thanking part of this, myself. In case he needs feedback about it. About how long do you think the others will need?”

  Their
mages were still all working on them.

  Tor wrinkled his nose a bit. It was cute rather than disgusted by their poor work.

  “A few hours? You were the simple one. I was afraid that no one would trust Erath, being as different as he is. Young too. He only just started to show signs of developing a gender. It’s a bit early for it, I think… Still, no one is worried, among his people. They seem to think that he’s just spent so much time on a real planet that it’s causing him to show normal Ysidril development, rather than it being strange.”

  It was a lot of information. Things he didn't really have a place for, other than that he was supposed to understand that a kid had done the work on him. Apparently well and faster than the others had.

  Tor walked him away from the people still being worked on, taking Howard gently by the arm. The others came out over time. It didn’t take too much longer for most of them. Denis was the first one, seeming to be pretty much the same.

  He was holding a healing amulet. One that had the same glowing man, but that was on a smooth rock.

  “I just had my first mode taken out. Greed. This is… It’s so different that I don’t know how to process it yet!” He seemed pleased by that part, anyway.

  The next people out came at the same time that Cindy and Sara walked in. Cin waved at them. There were two women. They both looked nice. Better than most people did, even with makeup on, even though they clearly didn't have their faces painted. One was a young blonde woman, who was shapely, having a nice hip to waist ratio, and a pretty face. More adorable than simply hot, but it was a good look. The other one was pretty, but was recognizable. The one that had seemed like she was going to rip people apart, at the beginning.

  She seemed younger, but it was clearly her own face.

  The blonde smiled nervously.

  “So, is it all right?”

  He recognized the voice and when he paid a bit of attention, the facial structure. It was still her, if a little softer and less boxy.