by Power, P. S.
Ron however understood it as being from the opening of an old seventies television program. She read up on it for a few seconds, about twenty, and then looked at Brie and cleared her throat.
"Sounds fun. So... I'm going to some kind of prison thing?" That made sense to her, but she was pushed on the arm again. The hand was pale, but the face wasn't too annoyed yet. She got the idea.
She was the one that people were supposed to be asking things, not the other way around. The problem there was deciding who to check with on that topic. Brian didn't really know what the plan was that way, and Bridget thought that no one would be able to really keep her for all that long, so locking her up was a poor plan. They could kill her at any time, and in almost any location, which wasn't a joke, she found out almost instantly. Brian held that information, and was even considering how to best do it. The idea made him... Sad.
That was due to him actually liking her still. She hid a wince over that one. Not because the guy was bad, or unpleasant. Really, for a nightmare that could take you out at any moment, his story was remarkably pure and reasonable. It was simply that she'd been using him, had gotten caught at it, and the man wasn't able to instantly turn that part of himself off. She could do that, and so, she realized, could Brie. Her information was dazzling to get at however. It was a lot less like reading a book and more like having the library of congress at her fingertips.
Still, in the end the decision was going to be down to several other people who she'd never even met. Marcia Turner, and someone named Chris. Christian Pours, who was, despite the name, a woman. It took her a few seconds to find her, cross referencing from Turner, who was still worried, and being forced to drink a large quantity of oil at the moment. That part was baffling, but she didn't take time to research it, since she had a goal at the moment and getting side tracked with every interesting bit of life would make everything take far too long.
The thing was, much like with June, the telepath, when she touched this Chris person, something very different happened.
A woman appeared in the room with them, smiling.
It was clear, at first, that no one else saw the apparition. She had rust red hair, and while she wasn't the best looking person in the world, her looks were good enough that she could have gone to most bars and walk out with one of the better looking men without anyone wondering too hard how that had taken place. The strange thing there was that her story was strange. It started, very clearly, with her death...
The girl, who looked about nineteen or twenty, and fit, rather than thin, waved at her.
"Because, you know, the awesomeness that is me, is a ghost. I'm Becky. Christian pushed me at you to check up on who was trying to bug her. She isn't always a people person." There was a glance around and a head shake then. "I didn't guess on this. Here, let me get things set up..." She closed her eyes, and a second later Ron, across the table, smiled and squeaked at the same time.
Then Bridget stood up, her face beaming.
"Becky! About time you came. I was going to invite you, but you don't eat. Did you come to hang with the cool kids?"
Instead of tell on her, the ghost, if that's what she was, and it did seem correct, nodded.
"Got it in one Rat-rat. I didn't want to interrupt the meal, but you all look close enough to done for the cool chit chat part of things now. I'm here to help babysit the new kid? I hear that she's into all sorts of kinky stuff, so it should be a good show." There was a direct look at Cindy while she spoke, but a smile too.
Next to Brie, on the far side, Brian nodded.
"That... Is actually a good plan. Cindy is... Well, she's a compulsive serial killer. We don't know if it's her first mode or not really. She doesn't seem to have physical powers. Mental. I take it she was trying for you or Christian?" He worked it out as he spoke, knowing Chris and Becky pretty well. Especially the ghost, who he was mad at, on a deep level.
Also as close to as anyone could be. They used to be one being, after a fashion. That part was another of those interesting tidbits that she just didn't have time to go into when it flashed up, trying to survive first, as she was.
The solid looking ghost moved around the table and put her hand on Bridget's tiny shoulder. It looked just like she was a real person at the moment, but that was telepathic projection. Being provided by Pours, who was, now that Cin could get some data on her, one of the most powerful straight ahead telepaths in the world. If not the most powerful.
She realized that she'd been distracted, but still hadn't worked out what was really planned for her. What Becky here had said was one thing, but what would happen was different. The story that played out over her head, and looked like the pages of a paperback novel, told of how Chris didn't really want to be bothered by Cindy, so had sent her little lackey. The ghost that lived in her head and who handled public interactions for her, as often as not.
The ghost waved and then wrinkled her nose cutely. It was a thing that Cin did herself, since it was cute, without actually meaning much. It seemed believable, without giving anything away, like that the person doing it actually didn't have emotions on a given topic.
"Christian. No one wants to read the mind of poor Becky, do they? I swear, you die once and no one even gives you a Christmas card." She looked around and winked. "That's a hint, by the way. Presents won't do much for me, but cards really show where the love is, right?"
Cindy looked at her, read for a bit and then nodded. This girl, and she was young, dead or not, really needed that kind of validation.
"Got it. Send cards, or you'll haunt us." Then she stopped, forced a fake grin, and shook her head. "Or is that send cards and you will haunt us? I should have gotten you to hand out candy for Halloween. Not that anyone would have gotten it." She was too solid looking, but the red haired girl nodded, her face serious.
"I know, right? Who doesn't love a good apparition? Anyway, Chris sent me along to hang with you all for a bit. I think she's kind of annoyed with me to be honest. Her mode makes her kind of insular, and here I am underfoot, in her own head, all the time now. Things are getting stressed. She knows that she should do Burrow's treatment, but..." She stopped, and it was vague enough that a lot of people in the room didn't know what she meant. That was important since human experiments weren't legal, even on Infected people.
Doctor Burrow's however wasn't just a normal M.D. The woman was, from what those around the table were able to tell her, both a slightly vixen-ish cutie, and a true medical genius. One that might possibly be Infected, though no one knew if that was the real case or not. At least none of the people, or ghosts, that were there who were easy to read. Without waiting to be prodded, she did her own work and found the right set of information.
It was fascinating. The woman wasn't Infected at all.
No, she was just kind of insane. As in full out mad scientist. One with a wicked sense of humor and very little regard for laws, or the rules of men. Smart too, which was how she'd managed to get away with what she was doing so far, which had broken about fifty different laws.
Becky had kept speaking, so she honed in on that, knowing that missing what was being said that way really might not help.
"No women have gone yet, since Kiko loves to play with men that way. Chris doesn't want to risk it."
Cindy sighed, and shrugged, knowing it was her job to play the little furry pig that way.
"I think that's going to be me. I... Really, I don't know if that's my first mode though. I mean, I didn't kill before, or feel pushed to it, but it could be that I'm just a psychopath. I think... maybe that's always been the truth? I know that I never cared all that much about the feeling or needs of others. Oh, sure, if it serves me at the moment, but not otherwise." She spoke honestly, which had everyone looking at her.
It was Ron that said something about it however.
"You seem pretty open right now. Is that, I don't know, just you..." He didn't know how to politely ask what he was mulling in his head, which took nearly a page o
f reading to work out.
When she got it after a long silence, she smiled.
"No, I'm not really faking this. It's... Look, I can tell that my best game plan right now is to be honest. There are too many mind readers around for me to lie to anyone. Besides, I don't care about how you feel, in regards to what I say, most of the time. I guess I kind of understand it. From before? I wasn't always like this, I don't think. Not totally. So I remember feeling things, even if it wasn't the same as what regular people have all the time. I also know that if I don't play the game set out, I die. Everyone is making that really clear." They were, if not verbally. Not one of them denied that either, and Bridget, as if she were trying to be cute about it, took a big bite of a berry cream pie thing.
Cindy wasn't hungry anymore, but it really did smell good.
The tiny powerhouse swallowed first then spoke, looking at her directly.
"Yeah. Things change fast like that. Don't let it get to you too much. We'll make sure you don't kill the wrong people or anything from now on, regardless of the treatments. I know you don't want that, but it has to be a thing. Besides, you kind of sucked as a serial killer." She said that last bit like it was simply true and both Brian, and oddly, Scott, nodded about it.
Prime looked at his daughter and then her, casually.
"True. You always left the bodies, which alerted the police every time you killed. Plus your signature, leaving the knife in their throat... You always cleaned off the prints, but that meant it wasn't a mugging gone wrong or anything like that. It still threw everyone off a bit, that men were being killed. The profilers suggested that had to mean a big, powerful, person doing the killing. They all said men, right?" He looked at Brian then, as if he were the go to person on the idea.
"That's true. I wouldn't have guessed short woman on that either, and I know that anyone can kill in the right circumstances. I was almost taken out by a midget woman once, so there's no excuse for me. It was really sloppy though, over all. The second time it happened we started seeing reports about it. No one thought it would take the cops here that long to pick up on it, or that they'd let us come look into it after eight people were dead. Why did you pick them? The men?"
Everyone was looking at her, and it felt private suddenly. She was about to lie, or try to, when Brie shrugged, which was fluid, and called attention to her breasts, which got all the men except Ron to look. From the words over his head he'd noticed, but was being polite and not taking the bait. Cin glanced at him and nodded. It seemed there was more going on inside of him than the surface ever showed.
Trivia waved her fork, just a bit, and explained. The thing there was that what she said was different than what Cindy had thought the truth of the matter was.
"Her fixation is on men that are like her third grade teacher. Mr. McAvoy. The man was fine by the way. He really loved working with kids and was a good teacher. Nothing weird about it or anything. He just looked a lot like her father, so Cindy's subconscious mind made her think that it was all about her dad this whole time. It really is part of the Infection, too, Cin. You're just a complex and interesting person."
The thing was, as soon as the name was said, she could feel it. She burned with pure hatred, near rage, for the man. Oh, he'd been a good enough teacher, but she'd never liked him for some reason. One that, apparently, had very little to do with him. A sudden desire to go and kill him came to her then. Still, the way that Brie had spoken on the subject indicated that he was dead, and when she tried to call up a page for him, nothing showed up. Not at first. When she started to look back in time there were words, but everything was old. She dropped it, feeling enraged by the contact, after only a few seconds.
The effort got Trivia to nod, and then reach over to pat her arm.
"He passed away a few years ago of a sudden heart attack. This isn't a rational thing. He really was, as far as I can tell, always a good man. Not even unpleasant or creepy to anyone. No more than anyone else is. This is all you. So bury that rage you're feeling about him, and..." She looked around and then shrugged. "I was going to ask for the room, but for once it doesn't really matter. The press is gearing up to come visit, so we don't have a lot of time to get to things, but... Ron, Lyn, you need to keep this quiet for now. Not that anyone will hurt you over it, but it's best not to tempt anyone."
It was, Cindy realized, time for the big disclosure of info. A dump of it that might just catch one or two people by surprise.
The brown haired and light skinned woman looked around, and locked eyes with each and everyone one of them in turn, without making it seem like she was trying to do that at all. When she finally spoke, everyone riveted, the woman took a meaningfully deep breath, and dove right in.
"There is, I guess the best term for it is actually a coup attempt, going on in the IPB. That's why Rachel and I are here, uninvited. Most of it is coming from the Agent's side of things, but there are Infected involved too. Some of our own people have been brought over. The thing there is... Well, not everyone in the government is exactly pleased with Impulse. They think she's too powerful, and dangerous for them to control. They think, and they aren't wrong about it, that the current power structure of the IPB will back her up, and not let anyone try to take her out. In order to do that, they're going to have to take out at least ten key people."
Bridget moaned. It was the kind of thing that spoke of not wanting to clean your room, or do the dishes, rather than hearing that people hated you so much they were willing to kill others for the chance at taking you out.
"Seriously? I do all that work holding the government together, and this is my thanks? What do I have to do, sew a flag to my butt?" Her voice, high and piping sounded truly annoyed about it all. Not worried, but then, she really wasn't. Anyone coming for her would have problems doing it, which was the point of the people planning things.
Coming for her friends might work, but even that would mean going after some of the most powerful people on the planet. It wasn't going to be easy or anything. If these people were Agent side, then they'd be smart enough to think that one through. In fact, it occurred to her to wonder why they hadn't just come to her and ask how she felt about things, rather than moving directly into a fight that they probably wouldn't win.
That one got an answer, without being asked. Brie reached out and put a hand on Cindy's back, which was odd, but when she looked over, wondering if it was the woman signaling that Cin needed to do something, she turned and noticed that the woman was just, on a subconscious level, trying to come on to her. Instead of making an issue of it, given the topic, she let the woman speak, and didn't bring that bit up.
"They know all of that, and think they have some things arranged to really do it. No one is even imagining they can take you in a fight, which is unfortunate. If they were, then this wouldn't be a real problem. They're layering plans about twenty levels thick instead, gearing traps for each person that are designed to remove them from either their position or the world. If they can. This isn't just a fight, or we'd win. There are politics involved here, and PR campaigns..." She looked at Charlotte and then shook her head.
The sharp looking woman, who was well made up, even if her lipstick was a bit too red for her, nearly glared from across the table.
"So, everything we've ever done is about to be leaked to the press?" She wasn't happy about that, but the words above her were planning out how to defend them, if it came to it.
Brie however shook her head.
"Noooo. That would be too easy. We're all about to be hit with a combination of truth and lies that we can't defend against. With a lot of us that won't make too much difference. Everyone knows that Bridgie is a killer after all. They've seen it, and know they can't stop her. She's too young, and female, to be considered a pedophile, either. So no one will even try to bother with her that way. Oh, maybe a bit to keep things interesting, but that's all. A lot of things are about to drop about other people however. Like Marcia supposedly ordering her people to cannibal
ize corpses after a fight." She turned and looked at Brian then.
For his part he smiled. It was a cold thing, that was nearly brutal to look at.
"Which, of course, they have real footage of her saying. It was a hypothetical, and not meant for the real world, or for us at the IPB really. She suggested once that soldiers could do that to save on resources and to scare the enemy. I think it was a joke. I think."
That got a nod from Prime.
"I see. So anything that we've said, for the last twenty years, will be brought back to haunt us? Out of context too, I bet. Every word uttered by team two about not liking normal people, or any hint of us trying to get out of doing what the government wanted will be taken as us being against them. That kind of thing? Then ridiculous things like that, except a lot of them. Anyone against the Infected will be able to pour through it and find something to go on about? Like with those climate scientists and their emails?"
He was pointed at by a single finger from the attractive brunette next to Cindy.
"It's just one of the many phases of this too. So get ready for your names to all be soiled beyond redemption. On the great side I know who most of the major players are already. On the bad side, there's no way to undo this now. If we cull them, it will look like we have something to hide. At the same time, we need to protect the targets that can be taken out with assassinations. Brian, President Lawrence, Charlotte, and Doug."