Wilderness Hannah, page 11
part #3 of Damsel Series
About half an hour later, after everything had calmed down and all the heroes had fled, since what they’d been doing was illegal, Wisp showed up in her apartment. The blue outfit had blood on it in places. It didn’t look like it was his.
Hannah coughed.
“So, that was different than I’d figured on the night being.”
“I hear that, Damsel. This one actually worked, didn’t it? I... We don’t really work with that crowd, too often. The Requiem tends to hit lower end things, and magic, as often as not. This was pretty high profile, too. It had to be done, but that was a lot of exposure, for us.” She shrugged, as if that wasn’t a good thing. Hannah could see that one.
“All our people on the ground there had masks, except for Superion X and Diaspora. I agree on the press coverage part. That was pretty big. I don’t know what to do about that. Maybe nothing? Try to steer everything at Red Cape? He famous already, so might not notice us doing it.”
Wisp nodded, then sat on the sofa, as if exhausted.
“Right? Diaspora maimed a man. Cut his right hand off. She’s from a different culture, so the idea of not doing that kind of thing is a bit odd to her. Alien, I hear? Also, she’s incredibly impressed with you, by the way. She gave Guardia her number, so you can contact her. I think she wants some help, finding people. You know, specific bad guys? Just, if you do that, make sure you think they should die first. She tends not to leave that sort alive.”
Hannah didn’t comment, since to her there were levels for that kind of thing. If they were talking jaywalkers or even petty thieves, she was more or less willing to look the other way. Even if she were the one being robbed. It was annoying, but not a thing to actually ruin a life over.
On the other hand, she was kind of pro on the idea of castration for rapists and child molesters and murderers and kidnappers could have a rusty spike shoved up their backsides, for all she cared. Even if that was being done for real. Then, she wasn’t going to actually do that kind of thing. That probably meant she was a bit too soft for the world she was sitting next to, of course.
“I’ll keep that in mind? Not that I can’t help people that way. I mean, I’ve found criminals before. Lashondra had me doing that for an exercise, a half dozen times. I should probably start doing that most days, to get my brain in shape, right?”
Instead of going on about her lazy mind, which would have been more than fair, Wisp simply nodded. The blank face mask, covering the whole thing, seemed strange. Lacking in emotion, totally.
“Probably. Anyway, you’re good here? That was different than anything you’ve done before. Really on point, calling the actions like that. Ahead of when they were happening. Not by long, but by enough. Precognition hasn’t been a thing you showed before, has it?”
“Not really. I mostly deal in a kind of remote viewing. A bit of telepathy is involved in that, since those things are linked in regular people. Precognition is too, so that one isn’t impossible, I don’t think so at least. Not really my strong suit. So, I was probably just doing what anyone could have. If, you know, they were in a trance while muttering at people on the scene like that?”
That got her patted, on the thigh.
“Get with Lash on that? It worked, so increasing your training there might be in order. I don’t know, we could shock you with a cattle prod to make certain you get it right each time or something?”
Snorting, Hannah stood up then.
“You need water. Oh, was anyone hurt too badly? On our side? Nevernever is standing by, in case we need emergency healing done.”
There was a shrug then.
“Just the guy without a hand?”
“The lawsuit waiting to happen? We should probably do something about that. It will... Most likely be annoying.”
She was not wrong on that call. Debbie and Wisp had to go with her, to the guarded hospital room, open a rift there, push the man and his bed through that, into the Never, heal his missing hand using an amulet that she already had in her possession, having used it on her first trip there in fact, and then push him back through a rip in reality, as he called out for help. He sounded sort of pitiful, to be honest. Lost and small. Even if he was a large and powerful seeming man. She was removed just after Debbie, right before the police ran into the room, to see what was happening.
This time she had a mask on. Not just the little lace thing that covered her eyes, but a blue surgical mask as well, so that it would actually be hard to tell who she was. Except of course that she was freaking tiny and everyone in the world would probably assume a blonde person her size was her, right then. Possibly Terry though, if she wore baggy enough clothing.
If she ever needed an alibi. Not that shew as letting her friend take the fall for her actions.
When they went back, instead of heading to her place, they ended up in Lashandra and Debbie’s kitchen, everyone sitting around the table, sipping coffee. It was late, so she begged off.
“I have to get up at six. You know, VR practice. We’re getting a team together, and I want to see if we can beat Douchetastic’s behind, for once.”
Debbie grinned. It was nearly genuine seeming.
“Douchetastic?”
“Yeah. Carl. He picked the name, it isn’t actually the rest of us making fun of him. Everyone assumes he’s using some kind of aim-bot, but he isn’t. We’ll have to get a lot better, to actually take him out. He’s... Really, too fast for a regular person to beat, in a head-to-head fight. We’ll have to work something else out. Maybe put out bait and ambush him from behind?”
He could probably still beat that, of course. At least after the first time they used a trick like that.
It might not even be possible, but not trying wouldn’t get it done, either.
The others all nodded, a bit somberly.
Lashondra cleared her throat.
“John picked up a book for you to read?”
That had happened, so she nodded. The coffee everyone else was having smelled good. Even Wisp was drinking some, taking sips by teleporting a bit into his mouth, occasionally. There was real cream and sugar in the mix, but she resisted the idea, not wanting to mess up her sleep schedule by too much. That would mean not getting enough rest that night, of course.
“I started on that already. Also, some tutorials on how to use Blender. The graphics program? I’m working on a VR knife fighting training system. A kind of game, only a bit less plot driven? Pretty much just stabbing things and trying to not be cut up, really. Robin Loxly is coming in to help with that, on mocap and maybe some other things. I think Terry is going to be doing some voice work for that? Tyler is doing most of the real work, but wants me to actually understand what we can actually do, I think.”
Lashondra, instead of being mad at her for not going full on magic, all the time, smiled at her.
“That makes perfect sense. What else do you have going on right now?”
Wisp squealed on her, that being his way, no doubt.
“She guided everyone on the scene at the warehouse tonight. Over the phone. At least part of it was clearly precognitive. Nothing more than a half minute out, but during a fight, at a distance. So it wasn’t just about being in personal danger or anything like that. I was thinking we could make sure she knows what she’s doing that way? It actually helped. A lot. It would be useful to have that kind of thing on tap, if it’s possible.”
Lash shrugged, and seemed nearly bored, for a moment.
“Of course, it’s possible. She’s done it many times, already. Really, more than that will be available to you, if you’re accepting it’s possible for a person to be psychic, finally. You were fighting that a little, initially. People, truly the normal human design, only actually has one psychic ability. Everything we see is actually just about how it’s used. Meaning that, if you are willing to do it, anything any psychic can do, you can learn to, as well. We can set up lessons for that, in a few days? I have appointments scheduled already, or we’d start in the morning, of course. Though...” She looked at Debbie and shrugged. “Honey, why don’t you do that one? Hannah won’t need the tank for that, and you’re as good, or better, with psychic training as I am. Plus, you’re more willing to beat a person with a stick or hit them with a cattle prod, if they fail. That works and can make a huge difference when learning near time precognition.”
Deb laughed.
“That sounds like a good use of time. Can you be here at... Call it... Three, tomorrow afternoon?”
Hannah could, of course. Really, that was pretty much her daily time for studying things, if she was needed at all in the evening for work on anything.
“I’ll be here! Thanks. I don’t want to be a burden, so...” She didn’t really know what to say. Lash and Debbie didn’t have money problems, for some reason, which probably involved magic.
So they didn’t need that kind of thing from her.
It was only their time she was eating up, asking for special favors.
Debbie rolled her eyes and let her head play side to side.
“Girl, you just got us to kidnap a man, into the Never... so you could fix him and put him back. True, probably into prison, but if you have to do it, being locked up with two good hands has to be better than doing it with only one. That mainly got Diaspora out of trouble, and I didn’t hear you acting like she owed you anything for it. I think I can blindfold you and throw some bean bags at you for a while without having to feel too burdened over it.”
That sounded very different than what she figured would really happen, of course. Which was her going into a trance and having to focus on what was happening, in the very near future. Possibly at a distance from her body. Hannah wasn’t in charge of that, so didn’t insist on trying it her way.
“On that cheery note, I’ll get back home? I really should sleep, if nothing else is going to happen, right now?” She looked around, as if for a phone to ring, or something to pop up, behind her.
Nothing did, thankfully.
Wisp didn’t wait, simply touching her arm, and removing her with a soft pop to her own living room. John was asleep, on the sofa. There was a wave then, to say goodbye and Wisp left without ever saying a word. Then Hannah got herself to her own room, changed and made sure her weapons were in reach.
She didn’t think anyone would be attacking her in her sleep, but if it happened, they were going to see how well Hannah could shoot, lying down, with one eye closed. The answer was probably not very well, but she was certainly willing to try, if anyone were going to force her hand that way.
Five hours later, at about eight, not the six she’d hoped for, she rolled out of bed, feeling like she didn’t want to bother moving that day. For some reason she was actually sore, all over. Like she’d been the one fighting. Her legs were a bit extra sore, and she recalled possibly having pushed a bit much, the day before. It wasn’t too bad, so she got up, brushed her teeth and did her morning VR practice.
Once again that included some unsatisfactory blade work. It was something to keep up with, even if it really wasn’t a great program for that kind of thing. The best on the market, or so she’d been assured, by several people.
Her VR team actually got together for a practice, and even if it was weird, they went over several maps and how to hide on them, with four people watching as one tried to vanish, as best they could. There was less ducking than real life would have allowed for, but they managed it, and after a few real games, started to get a feeling for how to use cover to their advantage.
Carl didn’t haunt them, that day, so they actually won their matches.
Well, two of them. The last one had them actually going up against a league team. So they lost that one. But only by seven kills, overall. That was, according to Team Subzero Tundra, better than most did in random pairings.
Which wasn’t exactly a compliment, but was probably close to true. Then, getting out of that game, Hannah went over two others, since she was trying to push herself to get better in real life, not just in one fantasy realm with specific rules.
After that, she wandered to the kitchen, ready to try and find something to eat, if possible. Knowing it needed to be done. There she found her brother, seeming happier than she’d seen him in a while, making her four pieces of whole wheat toast, with natural peanut butter thickly spread on it, and some fruit.
“I know, but it’s what’s on the list of what you need to eat. So, get this down? I, um, have some news?”
She grinned, kind of getting it.
“Is it that you’re dating Terry?”
He shook his head.
“No? I hadn’t even thought about that as being possible. No, I’m dating Jaime. You know, Linear?” He was, clearly, holding his breath.
She just snorted.
“At least he’s cool. Cute, too. Too bad for Terry. Also me. I mean, I only know so many men and I was thinking about trying to find one, you know? Jaime is pretty awesome.”
Her brother nodded, then smiled.
“So, you aren’t going to act shocked that I like men, too?”
“No? Why would I? Cock is awesome. One of my favorite things, really. Should it be weird that you like the same things I do?”
She meant it, but ate for a bit, actually feeling a little hungry. Also bad about eating as much as she was. Still, she made herself finish it all.
Nate just looked at the kitchen door, since they were eating in there, and John was walking in.
The man actually ignored their conversation, then.
“Coffee? I will be your friend, if you can make that happen.”
They could of course. Hannah had some, as well. So did her brother. John, after half a cup, sighed.
“I need to book passage back to London, later, Hannah. You need to be ready to head that way as well. I have what I need for the spell work, finally. Then we need to get ready to move that werewolf and see what we can find out.”
Chapter eight
Not having much else to do, other than train, which was kind of the same thing every day, Hannah really did try to work out a plan to help out the werewolf that was in custody, being held, illegally, by a private laboratory in the city. Elysium Labs.
The trick there was that, when she called the Doctor in charge, the woman mocked her. Openly. Like a school yard bully. It was strange enough that Hannah had to prevent herself from laughing at the woman.
“Ohhh... You’re going to fix the widdle puppy with magic? How sweet. Or, how about this honey, let me finish my observations and use real science to handle this, instead of letting you take a dangerous creature to a literal land of make believe?” Doctor Sendra had pitched her voice in a way that made it seem like Hannah was stupid.
For actually coming up with a plan that might really work.
“Listen, we can actually do this. You can’t. This isn’t a science matter, so, tell you what, when you fail to do anything, and flounder around long enough, give me a call and I might, maybe, come in and save your bacon.”
“Anti-science Luddite!”
Hannah nearly came back with a zinger about the Doctor being a nasty cunt, but she held her tongue. After all, it wasn’t really normal for professionals to start out by attacking people on the phone like that. She might just be having a really bad day.
“Not really. I’m pro-science. Science is just a bigger thing than some people think. Now, you have this number?”
She didn’t, but the woman did claim to be taking it down, and managed to stop acting like the queen nerd girl at a private school. Mainly.
Hannah didn’t slam the phone across the room, just forcing a grin as she looked at her own hand, holding the device.
“That was less than pleasant. I normally have to earn the hate. This one just gave it to me for free.” She let it go though. After all, the world was filled with people who weren’t going to like her, for one reason or another. Worse, now she had to go and look up what a Luddite was. That it turned out just meant a person who was anti-technology, a thing that simply wasn’t true. She was helping to make a VR game, after all.
Meaning the bitchy woman didn’t understand her at all.
“One point for freaking me!”
That meant nothing, of course.
In the afternoon, Hannah went to Lashondra and Debbie’s, still fuming a bit, over her interaction with the doctor. The woman hadn’t been logical about her reasons, even if there was a bit of that in there, too. She wanted to finish her observations first. That was fair enough, probably. Hannah even could see the value in waiting past the next full moon, to see if that would shake the person out of their current state. That probably wouldn’t work, but a few things she’d read had certainly indicated that the full moon was incredibly powerful for people with that particular curse.
She had to Uber over, leaving at before two in order to get there at three in the afternoon. That meant leaving directly from the gym, after working out with Terry, Kate and Ty. She only worked for an hour and a half, but that plus showering, changing and having Doctor Dan ask if she was following her new diet plan, meant that there had been no time to go back home first.
Then, once inside with Debbie, the woman, who was dressed in tan slacks and a loose blouse, instead of one of her nicer dresses, which was her norm, gave Hannah a strange look. One that was almost hard.
“Well, this isn’t your normal self at all, Hannah. What’s going on?”
She sighed.
“I called Elysium Labs earlier and spoke to Doctor Sendra... She...”
Debbie cleared her throat.
“Ah. I get it, now. Not a pleasant lady at all. Brilliant, but no-one wants to work with her... except Superion. She’s actually nice to him. That only works because she wants to bang him. I’m not kidding, either. The woman is not subtle on that score at all. What did she say?”
They covered that, the whole call. Including Hannah adding in exactly what she’d said in return, and what she’d been thinking at the time, which was very different than what had come out of her mouth. Not all that much to the better, either.
