by P. S. Power
Brian moved to the next questions and answered them all as honestly as he could, hoping he wasn't making too many mistakes. Finally the director stepped forward, after about twenty minutes, and smiled like a politician.
"That will have to be all for today, the doctors said that if we let you grill him for over twenty minutes they'd storm the room and I think I see them gathering in the hall right now." The reporters laughed, but Brian really did see several of the medical staff standing outside looking surly. He waved to them, getting another laugh from the press.
Even after they cleared out, Brian smiling the whole time because people kept snapping pictures while they backed out of the room, he found the day wasn't done. Everyone cleared out of the room suddenly, not as if planned, it just seemed that they all had other things to do. Some of them really small things. Taking a phone call that might not even come, going to the bathroom, things small enough that Brian felt more than a little suspicious, like it was a set up for something. About ten minutes later three people, two men and a woman, walked into the room through the door.
The first man that entered was small, dark haired and felt... old. Brian couldn't place why, the face was unlined, the movements seemed normal, not subdued or tired. He wore a suit that didn't quite match, the gray stripped slacks were neat and clean, ironed, and seemed, not new, but well cared for. The jacket was the same quality, not the best, off the rack probably, but well taken care of. Underneath this was a white shirt that did look new, it nearly glowed it was so white, as if a soft black light was hitting it all the time.
The woman looked older, not old, maybe forty or so. She looked nice, like a kind person, the few lines she had all showed she smiled a lot. She wore make-up, but just enough to make her look well blended in color and brighten her lips a bit. Her blouse was a deep navy, with matching slacks and bright red shoes that added a nice offset of color. Around her neck she sported a black scarf with white polka-dots all over it. The whole thing looked very retro fifties to Brian. She saw him looking at her and smiled, the kind of smile that makes you want to do it yourself, which he did.
That last man he recognized, the janitor from floor eight, and now that he saw him again, the waiter from the first floor. Gray haired, medium in build. He wore different clothes today, better, very nice clothing if Brian was any judge. The four thousand dollar kind of suit that most people, even the very wealthy didn't normally bother with. It wasn't just good, it was perfect. Everything about the man was. Each hair, now that he looked, set exactly where it needed to be, no lint or loose threads anywhere. Even the air from the ventilation system seemed to still around him somehow.
They were all white, but with distinctly different ancestries, the first man looked slightly Asian, the last a bit Jewish, the woman Italian. Something nagged at him about the first man. After a few seconds he got it, he'd seen that shimmer before.
Recently.
Instead of panicking, he looked at the woman, who stood smiling in the center of the group and made himself smile again.
"Hi. I don't think you and I have met before... I'm Brian Yi. Obviously I know these others, at least in passing..." He held out his hand to her, which, after she walked to his bed side, she took and shook firmly, her hand warm and dry in his.
"I really can't give my name just yet. Please don't take offense, it's a rule of sorts. Call me... Trivia." Her voice sounded smooth and as kind as her face looked.
Brian thought for a second and let go of her hand at the appropriate time, not clinging on too long in his distraction.
"God of where the three roads meet?" Brian asked, curious about what her answer would be. The woman's eyes lit up.
"Where all information eventually passes! Indeed." Her hand went to his chest, the right side away from the wound he'd put there trying to stop Tesseract.
The man on the left grimaced and rubbed at the wound on his own chest as Brian shifted his gaze to him.
"So, Tesseract, Trivia... and... Jan-i-tor? Please tell me it's Jan-i-tor, because that would be so cool. Everyone seems to get all pretentious with their superhero names. Or super-villain names as the case may be...." Brian let his eyes hood slightly, reached over to his left arm and removed the I.V. drip so he could stand. Trivia removed her hand from him slowly as if she really didn't want to startle him and took a step back, smiling.
She held up her hands, licking her lips a little as she did, not trying to be sultry, but seeming a little hesitant and nervous. "Mr. Yi... we freely admit that we aren't on the same side in what's coming, at least not in any way you'll be able to see, so in that way, we're the bad guys to you. We may even manage to kill you some day. Before that though, we come with a message..."
Brian looked at them, and stood up slowly, watching them all as closely as he could, pretty sure that any one of them could kill him at any time. He didn't know it for a fact, but if they hung around with Tesseract and felt safe just walking into IPB headquarters like this, they were probably not to be taken lightly.
"Let me guess... don't get in your way or you'll kill me? Kill my friends? Torture puppies in my name?" Snorting softly he took a single step forward. Tesseract started to shimmer and the light in the room shifted toward a purple hue. Trivia put up her hand toward the man, as if telling him to stop.
"Not at all. Threatening you would be beyond useless and threatening your friends worse than suicidal, even if some people don't really understand that yet. As for puppies... That would just be too wrong to consider." Her smile looked sweet then, innocent.
"No Mr. Yi, our message is this only; when she begs for you to drop it and tells you to leave her alone, even though it breaks your heart to do so and might drive you mad with grief - do it. That's all."
She walked back to him and placed her hand on his chest again, warm through the dry paper of the hospital gown. Then, slowly so as to not spook him, she leaned in her lips finding his cheek.
"For what it's worth, this time at least, what I just told you is what has to happen. It doesn't matter who's side you're on. I'm sorry. Please remember that. When she needs you to drop it, and begs you to leave her alone, you have to do it. The balance of our reality depends on it."
Then Tesseract flared suddenly, causing Brian to surge toward the man expecting an attack, hoping to take the man before he could change the physical space around them too much to move coherently again. None of the others reacted outwardly, they all seemed to shrink in place, not moving, but looking like they weren't getting smaller, just moving further away rapidly, somehow not seeming to move at the same time. Then they were gone. No sign that anyone had ever stood there at all. The silence they left was eerie, almost painful in a way. It felt like his senses all ached with the sudden removal of stress, like stretching too far for too long, only to have it hurt when the move was released.
A few moments later people poured into the room, looking confused and angry. Lauren came in first, her face plate shifting around the room, her huge hands in fists. "Brian! I... I just suddenly knew you needed me for some reason..."
Everyone tried to crowd in at once then, no one saying anything important, but everyone making just enough noise that the room got loud again.
"Yeah. Tesseract and a couple of his friends were just here with a message for me." Brian told them all what was said, mainly because secrets generally didn't help at all, and honestly, he didn't know what the message meant anyway. Drop it and leave her alone?
He wondered which woman in his life would say something like that to him first. Penny? That seemed likely, but Karen might too, even Marcia. Talk about vague statements. The only thing he could tell about it for certain was that it had something to do with a female. Provided it really was the truth and not just these people trying to screw with him. Of course, why would they even bother? Yeah, he'd gotten lucky with Tesseract, but that didn't mean that he could do it again. Even if he could, the best he could manage at the moment would be a draw, both of them dying. Hardly a major threat. After
all, Tesseract could just avoid him, or better yet, just stop trying to kill people. Then, no person in peril, no Brian showing up. Easy.
Penny came to his side and hugged him, a full bodied hug that should have hurt, but didn't thanks to how the Docs and medical team had done the surgery. He still stood, so Penny slowly worked him back toward the bed gently trying to get him into it. Brian shook his head and smiled at the girl so she wouldn't think this was some kind of big deal or that she was doing something wrong. Brian just didn't want to lay down and feel vulnerable at the moment. He also didn't want to fight with Penny over it, so he sat on the edge of the bed instead, the plastic covering on the mattress, there to prevent blood and other things from ruining more than the sheets, crinkled under him as he settled. The room was crowded suddenly, The director went to the front staring at Brian the whole time. The move forced the man to walk backwards, bumping into people who scurried out of his way.
"Everyone leave. Now." The man's voice sounded dead when he spoke, he didn't turn to look at anyone, gaze locked on Brian alone. "Go please."
Everyone left, except Penny. After a few seconds the older man nodded, looking at Brian, not even bothering to try and figure out where the invisible girl was. "You too Penny. Some things have to be discussed here and... well, it may or may not concern you at some time in the future. So, for now, please leave." The older man held up a single hand about half way, it shook gently, either from age or fear, "And no, I don't know you're here for certain, I just know that I'd try to stay if I were you. Normally not a big issue, but right now... please?"
Looking more than a little shocked and muttering something about secrets Penny left the room.
"All clear Brian?" The Director asked, still sounding serious.
Telling him it was, Brian waited. The other man looked at him and asked if he could describe the people again, carefully. After going over the whole story twice, the director reached into his pocket and pulled out a faded and wrinkled photo. There were seven people in it, three men, four women. Brian nodded when he saw the familiar faces. One of them sat next to him, looking about forty years older than the man in the picture. It was him though, that was clear.
"Yeah, this one is Tesseract, which you already know, obviously," He pointed to the half Asian looking one in green military fatigues, a solid color, complete with combat boots, everyone in the picture wore the same thing. "This is the other man. I called him Jan-i-tor, because the first time I saw him he was cleaning my room on floor eight when I kept trying to kill myself. He told me stories about his grandkids... Seemed pretty nice really. Didn't say anything this time though."
Director Moore moved to sit next to him on the bed, not looking at him for a time, then looked back at the picture and pointed at one of the women.
"Was... the other one her?" His thick finger pointed at a woman that stood next to his own image in the photo, a much younger version of the man, still thick looking, but unwrinkled.
"No, it was this one, she called herself Trivia." He felt stupid saying it, since he'd already mentioned it six or seven times. There was only the one woman in the group that visited him. In the picture she smiled and looked younger, but not that much, maybe five years or so.
"Good." The Director actually sighed with relief.
The gray haired man looked around then asked again if Penny were there, finding she wasn't went to the door and locked it firmly, checking it twice. When he turned around to look at Brian, the director took a deep breath and then sighed.
"We were the original team one, Alpha squad. Back then that didn't mean the public face like it does now, it meant the best. We were... powerful. Too powerful to have the responsibilities we did. There was no one that could check us when we strayed and eventually, as all organizations do if they're strong enough, we did..."
He pointed to each in turn, the men first.
"Tesseract, master of space and time. To call him the only known class eight is ridiculous of course. That's just to help people sleep at night. One boogie man that, while hugely dangerous in potential, normally leaves everyone alone. If people, the same ones you've been saving over and over again, really knew what we face at times... well, the Hooper act would be the least of our problems."
He moved to the next face, the other man.
"Stillness. He could get anyone, anywhere, to do anything and keep doing it for as long as he wanted. I think that's how they cleared your room. He used to be a show boat, today's work was... subtle, refined. No one even guessed why we left your room like that, it just made perfect sense at the time. I'd say it made him even more dangerous, but the truth is, he was that dangerous already. He just didn't announce himself today. That... I don't know this for certain, but I think it might have been about you, not any of the rest of us. I think they probably didn't want to risk you moving to fight too soon." A small smile crept across his face. "You called him Jan-i-tor to his face? He probably got a kick out of that. He does have a sense of humor, at least he used to."
He pointed to a short woman in the front row, she looked cute, short red hair, big smile. She looked a bit like Bridget. Brian pointed out the resemblance.
"Yes, she does indeed, that's Foggy. Scott Chambers mother. Sweet girl, friendly. Kind of like Bridget, only back then we didn't have first modes categorized like we do now. Not as impulsive, but... well, more than once I woke up with her in my bed having gone to sleep alone... Prime thinks he's strong, but Foggy... I don't think there have been a dozen beings since I last saw her that could match her in a fight at all. Maybe Lauren, but I wouldn't want to waste her in the effort of trying to take Foggy down. At one point I thought I loved her." The old man's voice had gone soft for a moment, he stopped talking and sighed.
His finger moved to a dusty blond woman.
"Earthling. Stone cold bitch that would just as soon bury you alive as flip you off and her finger was always ready to send a message. Tended toward over kill. Why just bury one bad guy when you could bury the whole town with him, that kind of thing. We probably should have just killed her back then, but we really didn't get that some people had to be kept out of public service. She had an attitude problem, but everyone just thought she was angry at the world for her Infection. She killed more people than the rest of us combined... And we killed a lot of people back then. More than you do now and without a tenth of the sense behind it. Infected, enemy soldiers, you name it. We even fought other teams of Infected from around the world. Few could match us at all."
He pointed at Trivia and smiled.
"Know-it-all. She does too. Everything, about everyone, all the time. Any information a human being anywhere knows, she does too, more than that, she knows if it's real or not. She can't be fooled by imagination or wishful thinking. It sounds minor, but honestly, she can do anything. Brain surgery, fly a plane, infiltrate a compound without any problem at all. Deadly in a fight. She literally knows what you're going to do before you do. It's not telepathy, she just knows what you know and can guess what you'd be thinking at any moment. Sweet girl too. She and Foggy were great friends. Probably more than just friends, but back then that kind of thing didn't get talked about."
Moore pointed at the last woman and swallowed. The woman had plain brown hair, dusky skin that made her look a little Latino or possibly Native American and big brown eyes that looked innocent and like they held secrets that no one should ever have to know, all at the same time.
"Braid. My wife. I lived with her for nearly twenty years, made my whole life about helping and managing Infected and... really Brian, I don't have any clue what her powers actually are. Some kind of precognition, only more than that. She showed me ten thousand times and she was effective as all get out, but... It was too hard to see. No one got it, but we couldn't argue with the results. Even Katie, the one that called herself Trivia? Even she couldn't tell what Braid knew or how. I loved her then, Devorah. I still do really. But... If you ever face her... kill her Brian. I don't know if you can, or if anyone can, b
ut... after what she did..." He shook his head and swallowed back tears. Just sitting for a while he finally pointed to the image of himself.
"Less. I made things vanish and never come back. People, Infected, soldiers, buildings, once a mountain. There didn't seem to be a limit to what I could do. It was thought that I could destroy the whole world by myself. Make it all simply not be any more. Luckily my temperament didn't allow for such things. Plus, you understand, I live here. Eventually I gave it up all together. Just destroying... It wears on a soul after a while and even if there are no bodies, killing people was never my thing."
Brian stared at the picture, memorizing it if he could, just in case he ever saw any of them again. After a while he handed the picture back.
"Tesseract, he killed Bravo squad?" Brian asked, hoping it wouldn't bring back too many bad memories for the man beside him, who suddenly looked a lot older and more tired than he'd seen him before.
"Yes. Braid had him do it, pulling strings none of the rest of us could see. At first I didn't get that she'd done it, but eventually even my mind managed to put it all together. She had, has, a plan. What it is I don't know. Tess slaughtered them all so fast... That's when I knew that we were too dangerous to hold the power we did. Back then the government was more than a little afraid of us. Oh, they didn't cow-tow and cower, but they didn't have anything that could stop us, not Alpha squad. After a while they tried to set Bravo on us. It didn't make sense, but I didn't know what Braid was up to at the time either."
"Foggy and I, we tried to talk the others into holding back, talk things out. Earthling just fought, of course, but Bravo could have taken her down if Tess hadn't stopped them. So fourteen seconds later, the only people left on the battle field were us. Alpha. The military started to try and fight, but they pulled back, thank god. I think Stillness made them do it, but he never said anything about it. Except for one man, a private, who set down his weapons and walked toward us, with his fists raised, as if he was going to box us into submission... it was ridiculous of course, except... the others just ran away. Then the boy, he couldn't have been twenty, I don't think, just nodded at us and walked away. No one ever saw him again, wasn't even a member of the unit he'd been with as far as anyone could tell. The others fled with Tesseract, except Foggy and me. We stayed and, in time, tried to rebuild things. I'd... kind of hoped that the others were dead, or at least retired. I don't know what they want with you, or if the message they gave you is real at all. I can tell you that them sending three like that means something... They see you as an equal at least." He dropped his hands, the right still holding the picture, into his lap.