The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  "I'm on this floor now?" It was too strange for him to credit. Until he'd come to the IPB he'd never even had his own space at all. Now a short seven years later he was moving up to the top floor?

  "Yep, right up to heaven. It's a good room. We need to get better clothes for you and a uniform. I can help you design it? I did my own. I think you should be in blue though, not brown like what I have going on. It will go with the black better." She marched into the hallway, closing the door behind them, but not locking it. Then as soon as he was out, they went to his new room.

  It let him in with a fingerprint and everything. It was too high for the eye scanner to work for him, without a step ladder, but still, the device claimed he actually lived there. It was amazing. They went in quickly and he looked around without really being able to determine what the whole thing was about really. It was different than Bridget's room, which he'd been in earlier. Nicer and done in rich oranges and gold colors, with very good furnishings, expensive things that would look about right on a television show, not his space.

  It actually felt wrong, being there, but the girl left him, running away and coming back a few minutes later with all his things. His one little duffle bag of stuff suddenly seemed shabby and out of place. Like his whole life's worth of things wasn't enough to be worthy of the room. Not even close.

  "So, as your new partner and you being the junior member, that means it's my job to get you oriented. Less difficult for me than the others that have Doug and Jessica, since they're new to the IPB as a whole. You already know how to fight and have been performing, so the public stuff won't be a big problem. That just means the political stuff. That and the constant glad handing that you need to be ready to do. We'll actually practice all that. I know that your first mode will make that part hard, but if you do a good job, I'll blow you." She said it in a rush and he nearly missed the words at the end, they were so unexpected. Then, she was Impulse and that really would be a good way to get him to try hard, wouldn't it?

  He did anyway, forcing himself to smile, but not very big.

  "You're under age for that." It was his mantra with the girl. She wasn't old enough, and him pushing her there would be at least as bad as what Rob did with Karen. Worse, because thanks to a weird time travel thing, Bridget was Brian's granddaughter, even if he wasn't old enough to be, in linear happenings.

  "Nope. Or at least not for long. Next month, on the eighth. So if you want to be all correct about it we wait a bit, then I pay off for you. If you do your part." She looked at him and smiled herself, it was an expression that wasn't exactly hard to read. "If you want. I won't make you do anything, of course. But the offer is out there."

  He decided that he could stammer about it, or say no, or actually think for once and not let his looks get in the way. She'd offered, and it was for after she was old enough. It might not make it right, even then, but she had time to change her mind, didn't she? He needed to ask someone about that, a person that wouldn't just kill him out of hand for entertaining the idea in the first place. So not Brian, Denis, Rachel, or Marcia. That left very few people that he knew who wouldn't just pump their fist in the air, and tell him he was gay if he didn't go for it.

  A lot of the guys on Team Two were a bit rougher than not.

  "Um... Well, sure. That would be good. If we wait and it's really okay. I don't know who to ask about that."

  She moved in and hugged him, which he let happen, since the door was still open and she just clasped her thin arms around his, so it wasn't romantic or anything.

  "I think you should ask my dad. My mom would just say no and Brian... I don't know what he'd do, but it would embarrass him. Or, well, you could ask my grandma, since she's both a responsible adult and will probably offer to do you first. She's... Her first mode is a bit like Georgia's? Not as intense, but she has a lot of friends and will probably want you to be one too. That's fine, but I saw you first, even if she is cuter than me." There was no real sense of bitterness there, but she kissed him then, and it wasn't just a peck on the cheek. It was a real kiss, with her tongue on his after a few moments. He had no clue what he was doing really, but she didn't stop for a bit, and did make some suggestions. Politely though. It left him hard, which she noticed, but she didn't do more than look for a bit, walking to the door, along with most of his things.

  "I'll get these laundered for you. Then we need to set up a practice session for you. Probably with dad. You have those lines to work on too. I can come back later and help you with them. We'll have dinner at five-thirty. That's near the start of the meal rush, so we'll be able to be seated. That little snack wasn't enough for me earlier. Are you hungry? You don't eat that much, do you?"

  "No, not like you. I guess we could go to dinner. Is that like a date?" He was confused and sounded like it, but she shook her head, which brought the world back into normal balance for him.

  "Not this time. Just a regular meal. We still have to dress nicely, and there will probably be other people there. I'll see about getting some of the others in with us. Let me see about all that. You just do the lines, and I'll take care of the rest." She seemed so confident that it was easy to believe that if she said something, it was just going to be done.

  After she left, Tobin just sat on the sofa, which was a nice and brightly colored thing that was probably too much so to avoid being tacky, having polished wooden arm fronts and legs, but a very fuzzy, velvet like, pumpkin orange color to it. It was cheerful and left him feeling a bit better than the light blue of his room walls. His old room, unless they came and made him go back. He did get that Bridget putting him in the system might not count at all.

  The floor was almost gold in color, like the metal, and should have made the whole thing look wrong, but whoever put it together did a good job and he felt wowed by it, but not oppressed.

  The practice of his lines wasn't hard. He had a good expression range for his voice, and as long as he got help from Denis to seem like he should for the part, then it would work. He probably couldn't do it otherwise, but, if he had his new job understood correctly, he was going to have to anyway. Just thinking about it left his stomach doing flips.

  After he had the Tiny Tim part down, he decided to practice all the songs, one after the other, then worked on variations for each of them. It was a way to kill time and he needed to keep up with his vocal exercises, even if he was just doing it for fun. At about five there was a knock on his door, and when he opened it, his clothing was all there, on a silver cart, folded neatly, or on a hanging bar underneath. Sticking his head into the hallway he couldn't see anyone at all. Even looking both ways.

  That being the case and the IPB being weird at the best of times, which this had to count as, since someone had done all his clothing for him, Tobin got the cart into his room and put it all away in the nice chest of drawers and the closet. He didn't have much, about seven outfits, and that many pairs of sweats. It was enough, or had been before, on tour. Now he wasn't really sure anymore.

  He changed into some small black slacks that had been made for him, in case he had an interview or something, and a nice white button up the front shirt. That, with his belt and shiny shoes would have to do, because everyone in the world agreed that a tie would look stupid on him. He didn't know if he was supposed to wait for Bridget, but walked toward the restaurant, going slowly, in case he couldn't get in without special permission still. It was the Team One dining facility, but that was so new that he still figured that it would be pulled the moment that the Director found out about the idea.

  The man clearly hated him, after all. Trying to arrest him for protecting himself was a sign of that, wasn't it? Even Marcia had said he was a bit of a bigot. Or words that meant that to Tobin at least, which was about what it had seemed like at the time.

  Just as he passed room six, the door opened and a smiling person came out. She was about five-six or close enough that he couldn't tell, and had red hair too, but in a bright shade that was fake, rather than auburn or ru
st colored. Or it used to be. Now it was a rather stately brown pixie cut. The woman saw him and waved. Somehow that Tobin didn't understand, she made the action seem suggestive. Sexy without even trying. It wasn't her looks, which were cute, but not on a level that would turn heads on anyone else. Not more than a little.

  People noticed Georgia though, since she exuded sex. It was part of her power, to make people do it uncontrollably. Her first mode was in the same line, so even if her power wasn't that dangerous really, she could really cut loose and distract some people when she wanted.

  Right now she was just being her natural and friendly self, he thought.

  "Hello." He tried to seem assertive, and it was better than his normal bit of mumbling.

  "Hi! I heard that we're teammates now? That's super! Are you going to dinner? I normally go a bit later, but thought I might call it an early night."

  "Yeah. Bridget is supposed to meet me, I think." The thing to understand about Georgia, for someone like him, was that, like most girls, she wanted the best looking men, and in her case, women, to warm her bed. Not little freaks or those that are too warped, like him. Not that Tobin had ever asked her, but it was a thing that a lot of Team Two guys had talked about over the years. She was supposed to be pretty easy, and not all that picky, or at least the press said that, but it didn't play out that way for a lot of them.

  Knowing that gave him an edge, since he was able to just take the idea off the table right at the start, even as her power pulled at him gently, like it did with everyone, trying to claim that he had a shot with the perky looking woman. She was being nice enough, so he didn't ignore her. They needed to work together after all, or might have to at some point. It might pay not to make her hate him.

  She nodded, and gestured toward the restaurant on the other side of the building.

  "She rarely misses a chance to eat. Then, she has to, or she'll starve in a day or two. I can't actually blame her for that, even if it would make keeping a trim figure a lot easier." She glanced at her hips, pretending that they were fat or at least looked out of balance with the rest of her, but it wasn't the case at all. She looked cute and trim. They all had to stay in shape, to be on Team One. It was in the rules, he thought.

  "Or it would be horrible, if the food ever runs out. A few days without support from the government and she'd have to turn to a life of crime just to keep herself in tasty cakes." It seemed really obvious to him, but the woman next to him stopped walking, her eyes going wide. She actually seemed to be about to say something, probably about not saying such things on camera.

  That was smart, so he clammed up, feeling embarrassed suddenly. Instead of taking him to task or anything, she gave him a strange, slow look.

  "We should go on a hike soon. There's a nice river about five miles from here. We can take a picnic, just you and me? Tomorrow maybe?" There was a blandness to her words, which he took to mean that she didn't want to discuss anything happy, or naked with him.

  Nodding he kept walking, forcing her to move or be left behind. It was a more comfortable thing than having to stare into her eyes.

  "All right." He was back to seeming shy, even if he got the underlying message. It was time to pass secrets. What she knew and thought he needed to, Tobin didn't know at all. It wasn't about a beating though, he didn't think. Not if they were going alone.

  She grinned and moved toward him, letting her hand graze his shoulder gently, as if trying to make any possible watchers think they had a real date.

  "Perfect! I'll set up the meal and some blankets. You can help me carry them, right? Super strength, and all that?" She playfully squeezed his arm, then pulled away suddenly. "Oh... That's solid. I didn't think..."

  He knew what she meant. He was hard enough that punching him would be a mistake for a regular person. It had to be that way, being as thin as he was. Even weighing so little, he needed that kind of density, or the physics probably wouldn't work.

  "I can do that. Carry things."

  They didn't speak until they got to the door of the place, which looked the same as earlier, but with fewer people inside it. Karen was there, talking to a man that looked about fifty, who was casually touching her lower leg with his foot. Georgia noticed what he was looking at and shrugged, her face softening a bit.

  "It happens. You give a guy some rather normal attention, and he suddenly thinks that you're on the menu too. It isn't that bad for me, since I like it, but for her, well, it's hard for her to say no. That's a Senator however, so we can't just run over and tell him to keep his hands off. We need his vote against the reformed Hooper act. So far it isn't going well, and this is really important. We'll probably have to sell him Karen to make it work too. I need to go and see if I can take her place for a bit. It..." She looked around, then acted like she didn't have a clue how to do that at all.

  Tobin didn't either, but he waved at the sporty looking redhead and started to walk over anyway, not having a clue what to say at all. Nothing came to mind either. He was about to panic and just stammer when something occurred to him. It wasn't some huge or clever plan, but he didn't have anything else at all.

  "Karen?" He made his voice soft and a little sad sounding, which wasn't hard. It got her to turn and look at him, a shocked look on her face. "I was wondering if you remembered that we're supposed to run lines with Bridget? For the holiday special? I don't want to interfere with your dinner, but after that? Georgia said that she'd be glad to show the Senator around." That's all he got out, and the woman half jumped up, her face looking horrified, as if she'd left him locked in a car in the sun.

  "I totally forgot! I was having so much fun. Oh... Senator James... I can't miss out on this. Georgia, would you? I know that it's an imposition, I..." She seemed really worked up, as if it had been some really big mistake and Tobin was just being polite with her. What with his not yelling or hitting her for the lapse.

  Georgia just put her hand out to the still seated and rather upset looking man, and waited for him to touch her, passing a thrill of sex along that was strong enough that even standing several feet away, Tobin was about ready to burst. Karen moved out of the way, and let the trade happen, the man apparently happy enough with the substitution after he got what it probably meant for him later.

  He didn't even notice that his "date" did nothing more than move across the room, to a large table that the hostess waved them over too.

  "Miss Chambers asked for seating in an out of the way spot? We have screens coming." Then the woman left, her eyes watching Tobin so carefully that they fairly scraped his flesh. There was a smile with the words at least, and she didn't glare at him, or insist he leave. So while it wasn't comfortable, he didn't feel like she wanted to spit in his food either.

  That left him alone with Karen, who smiled at him, her face a bit red, from embarrassment, he thought.

  "I thought you didn't like me." The words weren't harsh, but not playful either. Just a statement from a person that expected everyone to think she was great, just because she was her. It worked the vast majority of the time, too. Everyone loved Lady Glory. Her power pretty much made that happen, but she was a sweetheart even without using it. What wasn't to love?

  Tobin got the idea, not being stupid. He'd stopped talking to everyone for weeks. That drove her crazy, most likely, her compassion making it hard for her to ignore his obvious discomfort.

  He shook his head, but didn't explain. How could he? The words wouldn't mean the same thing to her as they did to him. She wasn't able to understand him. Not really. He was just too different, and lived a life that she'd never had to.

  That got her to seem embarrassed again, but she changed the subject, which was nice.

  "It's sweet of Georgia to switch in for me like that. I can't really tell the man no, and don't want to, but he's married, and I'd feel horrible for his wife if we did anything. You know how that is, don't you?"

  Looking at her, even if it took a lot of work, he let himself smile.

  "I know
that I always feel bad for the husbands of all those women that throw themselves at me. I know they can't help themselves, but it's heartrending. Just awful." He shook his head sadly, since shy didn't mean he couldn't be sarcastic, did it?

  Karen however didn't get it at all.

  "That has to be really hard. What do you tell them?"

  For half a second he thought she was actually teasing him, or making fun, but then he realized that she couldn't. It wasn't a part of her to do that. Not on that kind of level at least. She was too kind for that and didn't have a choice. It made him feel bad, having been playing with her, so he rolled his eyes.

  "I don't know. I was kidding, since that doesn't happen. I'll let you know if it does. You saw, you were there, on the tour?" She had been too, and that meant she had to know that the closest he'd gotten to getting any action on the whole trip was when Peggy had accidently crawled into his and Marcia's tent one night, thinking it was the one she had with Karen.

  She pretended that she didn't know what he was talking about, waving it all away. The screens came, nice silk things that turned their table along the wall into a little dining room. It didn't make things any quieter, but when Bridget and Doug showed up a bit later, with a very pretty woman he didn't know coming along with them, he stood. That was a thing they did on television, wasn't it?

  Bridget waved at the others, and smiled when he pulled out the chair to his right for her, hoping he didn't seem like he was being too awkward or stupid. It got Doug to do the same for the new woman, who did look familiar, but only in passing. She had long honey blonde hair, and was slightly golden in color. Like a good tan, not like Prime.

  The tiny redhead scooted herself forward, her dress not stopping her at all, and then spoke.

  "Tobin, you know Doug, this other newb is Jessica. Gravity and Spectrum. She does force fields that are really pretty. Tobin is code named Goblin. He's the new guy on Team One, but has been here for years." She stopped and looked at the others, neither of whom said anything, though the woman seemed surprised. "My new partner. I'm doing a drill after dinner, in my room. Political handling and training. Mom and dad are going to be there, and I thought we should all go."