The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  "Right. Well, I don't think there's a lot of value to that psychological crap, but sure, I can arrange interviews, I guess. Send them to your office?"

  "That's right, I do have an office. I forgot. Really though we can just chat wherever. It will take about two minutes each, unless they want to hang out for a while. Who was directly in on it? Tobin and Lauren?"

  He actually looked at a different file before answering, as if he wanted to make sure she had it exactly right.

  "Dave too. He was drawing fire at the time. The decoy. I can page them. I think that Lauren was in the T.V. lounge with Dave earlier. Tobin is..." He glanced at his wrist and nodded. "Probably in the gym, this time of day. He likes to get a work out in early, before the place fills up. First mode stuff."

  Penny knew how that one could be. Poor, totally visible, little guy.

  "The closest two first. Hey, you know about the jet, does that mean Lancaster got with you on the Agents side of things? Chauffeured van ride for Lobo to his Aunt's and back. Does he need more than that? I mean, do we arrange for special foods or anything for him? Does he want a companion with him?"

  "He should be good food wise. This will take care of him. Now we just need to find a way for the rest of the kids to get to use their vacation time. Not everyone has family that wants to see them, you get me? They can't just head off to Vegas either. Not the ones I'm talking about."

  It took about half a second but Penny had an idea. It probably wasn't a great thing, but it might make sense. If they could pull it off.

  "Why... don't we rent out a meditation retreat? They tend to be isolated and as long as we get the right one it might work. I don't think the hate community is big on contemplation after all. I know it isn't show girls and hookers, but..." From the look on the man's face he didn't think much of it, but his words were a bit more gentle at least.

  "I can ask if anyone is interested. It seems a bit like a consolation prize though, don't you think? Like telling them they aren't good enough to go where other people do. It's an issue for a lot of them."

  That... Penny had heard about that a lot, actually. It wasn't bad, if you looked normal, and was survivable if you were hot, even though you were different. Prime was kind of like that. After all, who had golden colored skin? Most of Team One could pass for normal though, with a change of clothes and scenery to throw people off. They might be recognized, but probably wouldn't be in most cases.

  Team Three was the same too. The strangest person they had was her. True, that wasn't an easy thing to be, but no one spit at her in public, or tried to have her lynched just because she was there.

  Hell, the rest of them were freaking famous even.

  It wasn't exactly like they knew all about the real hardships of the ones that couldn't hide who, or what, they were.

  "Right. I'll try for something nice then. I... can't fix society for them. I would, if it was possible. Maybe I can work something else out? Let me talk to some people and see what we can do."

  The man huffed once, then let a small smile come across his face, one that didn't look too judgmental, just a bit doubting. As if he didn't think invisible people had the ability to get anything done.

  "You did right by Lobo already, didn't you? I probably shouldn't doubt you too much. Plus, from what I've heard you can kick my ass, so I'd rather stay friends. Anyway, the first two should be in the T.V. room. Do you know where it is?"

  She nearly frowned at the man, then did, since he couldn't see her do it anyway.

  "Know where it is? I have my own spot in there you know. Haven't you ever wondered why there was a chair on the coffee table along the back wall? It's my place for movie night."

  "Really? I always figured someone was just storing it there to keep it out of the way."

  That was probably part of her power affecting him too, she knew. If he ever noticed it while she was there, his brain would come up with an excuse for it to be normal. No one had messed with it overly, since she set it up to watch the Lord of the Rings with them a few months back, just after the attack on D.C. That meant it was hers now. Mwa-ha-ha.

  Lauren was in the television area, her giant black eyes staring at the screen, unblinking. There was no movement on the outside of her body at all. She really did look like a giant suit of armor and was so vast that the sofa she was on bent under the weight of her presence. She was brown and black, and looked kind of sharp really, a slight sheen to her carapace. There were a half dozen others in the room, most of whom Penny recognized, but didn't know that well really. Dave was special though, since he was all blue. Everything about him was too, blue hair that was nearly black, but wasn't. Eyes with several shades of the same color and skin that was just a bit darker than the sky on a clear day.

  Pretty.

  It took a bit for her to work out how to hook Lauren up with an ear piece, lacking anything but a small hole for hearing on either side of her head. It got done with some scotch tape and a bit of balance. Dave was easier, and since he was normal in shape. Fit looking and not ugly at all, just a little strange thanks to the coloration thing.

  "Hi! Um, not to be a pain guys, but I was sent to see to your psychological health. So tell me that you don't feel suicidal and all that, and I can leave you to your programs." She waited as Dave looked around, Lauren just making a low hissing sound. However she breathed it wasn't done using regular lungs, Penny didn't think.

  The giant armored woman spoke, her voice sweet and soft. Almost a little breathy.

  "Penny?" She didn't look around, even though the man sitting next to her was. "Is that you? Or is this a telepathy thing?"

  "Nope, it's me. Time delayed ear piece taped to the side of your head. Dave has one in his ear. So, are you two good? Do you need to talk to anyone? Need a vacation? Charles and I are planning something. Maybe a retreat in the woods. I haven't gotten a location for it yet, but... Well, we only came up with it like ten minutes ago. If you have ideas for that, share." She tried to keep a happy lilt to things, and Dave actually smiled, if not at her directly. When he spoke it was different, since he sounded like a robot, his voice having several different parts to it.

  "Hello, Penny. I'm doing well. I guess this is about yesterday? That was pretty harsh. That guy didn't stand a chance. He killed people though and I don't think he was really going to stop. He knew he was dead after all. There was no reason for him to do anything but what he did." If he felt sad about it at all, it didn't show on his face. He seemed pretty balanced about it all, actually.

  Lauren sounded sad, her voice lonely, but that was her thing, feeling isolated all the time, wasn't it?

  "Poor guy. At least he had someone for a while though. He should have just moved on. He was good looking too. Well, you know, good enough to get with someone else. Not like me. Though..." There was a pause and Dave patted her arm, interrupting her as the others in the room looked on, not even acting like the two talking had gone insane or anything.

  "Denis is helping with that though, right?"

  Penny hadn't really heard about it, but Lauren actually shared, which was strange really.

  "Um, yes. He can... You know, his power lets anyone feel anything, so he figured out how to make it so I'm not lonely all the time. Also... He, ah, can make it so I... feel nice." She was going to leave it there, clearly, but Kerry, who was at the back of the room, smiled and chimed in.

  "He can cause her to orgasm. I'd try it myself, but, you know, he's my half brother, so... pretty gross, right? Does it count if he doesn't touch me though?" The trouble there was that she sounded almost tempted to try it, which really would be kind of sick.

  A short man that couldn't have been over five foot tall, but was vastly muscled and had a great, and very bushy brown beard snorted from across the room.

  "Yes. That counts. He's doing good work, but if he was doing that with you, I'd have to kick his ass. Since I'm not at all certain I can do that, I have to suggest you don't entice him to try. Please." He grinned about it though and mov
ed to pat the plain looking girl on the back, not adding anything else. He wasn't flirting with Kerry after all, just letting her know what was right or wrong. She'd had a pretty screwed up life, her father having married her when she was a kid. It was evil, but at least the man was already dead, so Penny didn't have to do it.

  She nearly had.

  As in finding the man in his sleep and holding a gun to his head. It was only that they needed to discredit him first for political reasons that she'd held her hand there. Instead she'd just collected DNA evidence from him. They'd needed to prove he was the kid's father, and out him as a child abusing freak.

  It had worked, more or less, and one of his other daughters had offed him, later. He had a lot, about a third of them being Infected. The only surprise was that it had taken that long for one of them to do it.

  Penny didn't speak about that though, since only the two in front of her could hear her anyway. She was standing right in front of the big screen television, which was a huge thing that took up a quarter of the slightly orange wall behind her. Most of the floor was done in blue, so it was an energetic change-up. A kind of nice bit of spark in an otherwise overly mellow place.

  "Cool. Well, if you're both good, then get with everyone and let me know what kind of things people want to do. I... don't know that I can manage a big destination spot. You know, one with people. But camping, trips to the beach, white water rafting, bigfoot hunting, we can do that stuff. That and survival training. I don't know if anyone wants to try that for a vacation though, but we have people that can run it. Make notes and get someone to drop them on my desk? I share an office with Marcia on the second floor. Deputy Director Turner." She winked and then laughed at herself, realizing they wouldn't have understood what she meant, even if they'd seen it. "That makes it sound like I'm actually more than the gopher, doesn't it? I'm not, but hey, it's only my second day, what do people want from me?'

  Lauren promised to see what everyone wanted and actually got up to see to it. It didn't seem like people had all that much to do most days, even on Team Two. They were sent out to fight and had regular practice for that kind of thing, but other than that they just... sat. Waiting to become important for a few brief and shining moments.

  Penny could sympathize having been all but useless for years, herself.

  Tobin was in the gym, lifting vast weights, when she found him, his arms barely the size of her wrists at their thickest point. He still picked up nearly two thousand pounds, using one of the machines for it. Bench press. He did it over and over again, without stopping for nearly a minute. She didn't speak to him until he sat up, moving to another area to work his biceps.

  "Good morning, Mr. Peterson!" She made her voice sound like she was drawing everything out a bit, but held to a lot of energy. It was kind of funny and a few seconds later he smiled, touching his right ear a bit.

  "Hello to you, Ms. Cooper. Can I help you with anything?" His tiny body had a slight bit of glistening to it from his exercises, but he smelled a bit like soap and something more primal, but not at all offensive. Slightly salty too.

  "You can. I was sent by the brass to make sure you feel all right. Not too worked up over yesterday or anything? Tha,t and to make sure things are going well in general. I was already on floor five to see to Lauren and Dave. They seem OK." She didn't want to lead the man, so gave him a few seconds to realize she wasn't talking anymore and respond.

  "I'm good. A bit nervous, since my album is actually doing pretty well and I'm supposed to start touring soon. The thing last night... I didn't like it, but what else could be done? Poor Lauren though. She had blood and brains all over her hands. We had to disinfect her for hours when we got back. It was really kind of icky. Not her fault though." He paused and set the machine in front of him, tapping some numbers on a pad that would control the amount he was lifting to the ounce. "Is this something new? Most of the time we just get sent to psych, if we seem like we're having trouble."

  "Kind of new. I think Marcia realizes that Team Two is kind of what keeps this place running most days and wants you to all feel loved. It's touching and sweet really. You should ask her out on a date." She was teasing, but stopped herself, realizing that someone that looked like Tobin really could find that offensive. "Team Two should, I mean. You should save yourself for the groupies. Hey, have you heard what's up with that Christmas thing? The Food Network show? I had to, um, leave, before the guys that came, Glen and Alan, left. Am I supposed to be doing something for that? Props or whatever?"

  The smaller man stopped and tilted his froglike head, clearly thinking about the topic, not speaking for a long while.

  "Nothing yet, I don't believe. You should get with Brian on it. He knows more than I do. Maybe Mark or Warren. I know that Denis is just kind of doing what he's told as far as that goes. I get to play Tiny Tim though, isn't that neat? They decided that would work, given that we aren't hiding the fact that there are Infected people involved in it. Since, you know, Mark's show is filled with people like us."

  "Congratulations. Are they having you sing too? That only makes sense."

  "Yep. I'm in a lot of it. It's almost like I'm famous or something already. Now if half of that wasn't people offering to have me killed online, it would really be sweet. That's the life of an Infected person though. Even Prime gets death threats. Karen too, and people love her."

  They chatted for a few more minutes, but the man actually had things to be doing and leg pressing thousands of pounds was loud, even with the fact that the machine had sound buffers on it. She took off after a bit, since he seemed to be doing better, if anything. That was down to what Denis had been doing to him, she thought. Really, she wasn't sure why Lauren hadn't had the same thing done for her first mode too yet. Penny would have, if it were possible. It would be so sweet, being able to just be herself all the time, and not some kind of awkward social outcast. She was doing better now, true, but that wasn't her doing really, but everyone else making a point of reaching out to her.

  Taking a few minutes to pick up the second Marcia treat for the day, which was another container of oil and sugar, so not all that fun looking, she got back to the office and started working online. It was hard to get her new boss to drink the crap in the large glass bottle, but she did it with only a few threats, and some minor extortion. Penny didn't even have to lecture her really, which was nice. It was going to get old pretty fast if she had to do that three or four times a day. While she might not have been all that easy and sweet about keeping herself fed, the woman just listened to her plan to set up a vacation for Team Two and nodded. She wasn't difficult about everything after all and was really pretty good about caring for her people. Just not herself.

  "One second here..." Getting on the phone she talked for about a minute and hung up, smiling.

  "You have a thirty thousand dollar budget for it. I didn't even have to argue with Moore about it, so how's that for a first? We can get you more, but if you can come in under that it would be better. I think Kevin wants to see what you can do. Keep me updated when things change, will you? I might want to go along myself. I haven't gone anywhere just to get away for years."

  That was her own fault though, of course, being a bit of a workaholic like she was. Penny didn't mention that, just nodding, feeling happy about the turn of events. It would be fun. She hoped.

  She spent the rest of the day working on that, except for her boss feeding duties and making sure that Marcia got to the photo shoot in time, which meant an hour early, since Clari the make-up lady needed the time to fix everyone up for it.

  In the afternoon she e-mailed twenty places, asking about the chances of getting entire facilities reserved for the IPB. She'd have to do more than that, since most of them probably wouldn't get back to her at all. The first one that did, which was for a "Dude Ranch" not too far from where the base was, actually wrote in all caps and called her a dirty Infection monger that wanted to destroy the man's business.

  "Well, I didn't befo
re, ass-munch." She growled the words at her monitor, which was a nice one, about twenty-two inches across, however they measured that kind of thing.

  No one else bothered to get in touch after that though, so she went to find Marcia again, carrying some bar treats that Warren had made for her. They had a lot of nuts, which would keep the texture from being too gooey for the woman. That was the plan at least.

  The plate got stuck in front of her, in the Directors office as the two spoke, their voices low, but a bit heated. The man seemed more than a little perturbed too.

  "We need to get a handle on this Ms. Turner. The word is spreading that anti-Infected political personnel are being executed by a single Infected individual. All of them have some link to Senator Hooper too. This last one took place inside the man's panic room. Locked from the inside. We can't let this go on. The press is starting to look at us about it. Because, clearly, we control all Infected in the nation."

  Penny waited as they went on, picking up most of the topic easily enough. It was the clawed thing again. It killed the men and left the women and children alive. But harmed. The description was odd, since it was described as being a furry lizard creature that smelled like gasoline. That wasn't normal at all, was it? It had claws and glowing red eyes, like some kind of made-up movie monster. Clearly Infected then. That or a robot built to look that way.

  As far as she knew though, no one was doing work that sophisticated yet. If they were it would probably all be in producing sex-bots, wouldn't it? Who needed hairy lizard things anyway?

  "Hey, Marcia, you have a plate of treats there. I expect you to eat them and report back to me on how you like the texture."

  Both the people jumped and the plate got pushed away from the woman due to the movement. She still had her make-up in place and looked good, Penny had to admit. Like a model or something. One that ate Kleenex and cocaine most days to hold on to her figure.