Infected 7: Ghost Girl, page 19
part #7 of The Infected Series
He nodded, his face sad.
"Keep me informed. Do try to keep the violence to a minimum. Karen is delicate, in many ways. I fear that if we go at her too hard, it will make the situation worse, not better."
Her sister made a face, then took two steps back toward the base, her feet silent on the ground.
"Don't worry, we'll get Scott to cry at her and seem sad about how she's hurting herself. It will warp her mind. Marcia can do it too. You can do that, can't you Prime? It's only acting, so we'll all get that it means you're strong." Everyone stared at her for a bit, except for him, and Olga.
After a bit, he smiled, not certain that he really could do anything like that at all. Karen wouldn't think he was being strong if he did that. He would be, since it was counter to what his first mode required, but that might not be enough.
"I... can tell her that it makes me sad. I can't cry." It was honest, and at least Dharma looked at him like she admired the effort. Char just looked troubled.
As if she didn't understand what was happening at all. Then, she really didn't know that his first mode wasn't narcissism. At least in part. It had just seemed like it was for so long that she'd grown to accept it. That would explain the look. Sighing, and wishing that no one else was there, he made the effort to tell her what was going on.
"I'm attempting to improve." His words choked off, and he stood, looking proud of himself, as if he was so powerful that single statement was enough. It wasn't, which was clear from the glare he got from his wife.
She didn't ask about it however. He understood that she wouldn't. It was one of the facts of their long term relationship. She didn't push him too often, on things like that. If he messed up in public, she'd berate him for it, but mainly in private. For his part he'd simply ignore her, when that happened. It was the key to happiness, when dealing with the Infected. You had to learn to get around their problems.
Becky nodded.
"Yeah, he's doing really well. Prime realized that most people find it strong and manly to be good family-man." She dead panned the line, but got stared at by Charlot and Moore.
Svetlana translated that, which had Olga looking at him.
"Da. Is good." There was a matter of fact sense to the words when she said it. Like it was a real thing, not just a trick to get past his mode. The older woman sneered a bit, but spoke very gently.
"It is truth. We should go now. This will not be made simpler by waiting."
They all went back in together, with Kevin chatting with Marcia on his phone, they were going to trade places in the restaurant so that someone in charge would be with the remainder of Spetnaz Ultima while they tried to find out if they had homes or not.
She met them outside the Team One dining facility, and looked at the Director as if wondering if there was a problem with the new people. He didn't help much with that.
"We have an issue. This is your team for it. They'll fill you in on the way." It was spoken firmly, letting them know not to talk about things right there.
Scott got it, but understood that no one else there really would. Kevin was worried that Marcia would come down on her friend's side and try to protect her. He didn't want to be the one arguing with her over the idea. So he left it at that, which had to hit Quartz right in the first mode. The suspicion was plain on her face. It normally was, but it got stronger. Especially after Char and Moore split off, leaving them alone.
The others actually looked at him, which meant he got to be the focus of her ire, if it came.
"Karen has a drinking problem. We're raiding her room and holding an intervention. You and I are supposed to be the emotional blackmail part of things. Becky too. Olga and Svetlana are the muscle, in case she started to wear us down." He smiled, making it all a joke, but Marcia looked shocked. He could relate, since he hadn't seen it coming at all.
"Are you sure? I know she drinks, but a lot of people do that. If we're telling her she can't drink, then a third of Team Two is going to have to get the same treatment. Team Three is better that way, I think. They have to be, since we haven't had to try and kill any of them yet."
Turning to Olga, she nodded, once. It was her job to see to things like that, after all.
"Da. We do. After this?"
It seemed that the IPB was going dry. Scott didn't really care, since he couldn't get drunk if he tried. He healed and processed things too fast internally. Some people would have an issue with it. It occurred to him that he really didn't know who exactly that would be.
"Is there anyone else, on Team One?"
No one knew, but that was something to deal with later. At that moment, they were going to room four on the main floor. No one knew what to do, so Scott, being an old pro at things like that, knocked. Twice. Nothing happened, so he pounded.
"Karen! Are you home?" It was loud, and early enough still that people looked out of their own doors, seeming shocked. There was no answer, so he turned to look at Tobin, who came out, dressed in his all black skin tight outfit. It looked like an alien had walked out, given his large head and green skin.
"Is somtin wrong?" Shaking his head, he stood a bit straighter, looking at Olga, then glancing at the rest of them, finally settling on Scott. "Something, I mean."
Scott noticed that Kerry wasn't with him. Not out in the hall at least.
"We're looking for Karen. Is she in with you?" It made sense to him. Tobin was funny looking, but so skilled, famous and kind that a lot of women were willing to see past that. Karen was so compassionate that people weren't supposed to sleep with her. Unless she asked. It was more than possible that she might, with him.
"Nah. I think she's in her room." It was pretty clear that he was trying to seem strong. His natural shyness hardly showed at all, even with the new people around.
Georgia came out of her room, looking at everyone like they'd missed her place. She smiled at everyone, and stared at the new people, her power spreading out just a bit. When she got excited, sexually, it kicked in. It made everyone else a bit horny. She was short haired and cute looking, so got the code name Pixie. She was in her uniform too, which was violet, like his eyes, with rainbow colors in different places.
"She should be in, here, let me try? Why are we pounding? Is she late for something again? That girl doesn't like mornings."
Almost everyone was out in the hall then. From Team One at least. Marcia looked around and shook her head.
"We're having a meeting after this. You have a shoot this morning? So, call it two in the afternoon. There are some new rules coming down. Right now we need to check on Karen. Georgia? Why don't you try?"
There was more pounding then, and when that didn't work, Olga stepped in.
"Let me?" She looked at Scott, her heavy features questioning. It was, she realized, that the woman didn't know the chain of command. He was bossy, and that meant it could confuse people.
So he nodded. She didn't want permission to knock, or make noise. Without waiting, she palmed the door, lowering her body so that she could tap the door right over the handle. It blasted open with a mighty crash, getting a scream from inside.
Scott called out, making his voice as friendly as he could.
"Karen! It's us! We're coming in. Everything is all right. Well, not your door, but you didn't answer." They found her standing next to her bed, glowing blue, with her bed sheet pulled up to her top. The glow was enough to cover her nudity, but people were silly that way.
"What's going on? I... Is there an emergency? Another attack?"
Svetlana pushed past him, her eyes going sharp and her face mean, looking at Karen, as she stood there glowing at them. It was hard to do, since even being around Lady Glory tended to leave most people feeling kind and loving.
"No, thank all goodness. You would be dead, if it had happened. Worse, you would have left your team without essential resources, lazily sleeping off you drunken stupor." Moving in, she sniffed at her, and winced. It was fake, but she seemed legitimately angry about it. "Now, get up. This is unacceptable. You will drink no more. Just yesterday this base was under attack, several times. Being unfit for duty is criminal. We should lock you away in that little gulag down below."
Karen didn't speak, her face hard to read, glowing as it was. Her tinny voice, the way she sounded when her power was active, came out a bit worried sounding.
"What? I... What's going on?"
It was different than what he'd been thinking they were going to do. Still, it seemed to be working, for the time being.
"New rules Karen. We're under attack, so we need to shape up a bit. It was mentioned that you've been drinking too much, and aren't combat ready. We all have things that will be changing now. Svetlana is going to be working with Marcia and I on some of it. Svetlana is in charge of that though, so if she says we don't drink and that we have to shape up, then we do." It was a lie, but if felt right. Marcia didn't tell him to shut up, and the hard looking older woman smiled.
"Yes. That is my place here. This is not the military, but people seek our lives, so we will not give that to them too easily. Now, Scott, you and Olga will search this room and remove all contraband?"
That got a look from Karen that he didn't know how to read, but that seemed angry. She didn't lash out, but it took prompting for her to get dressed. Tobin was looking through the door, his face scared. There were others behind him, that could be seen, with more out in the hallway.
"Tobin, could you go room to room and have everyone give you whatever they need to get rid of before the search later? It will go more smoothly if everyone just goes with us on this. It's too dangerous right now for people to be impaired."
Georgia moved in behind the small frog looking man, her body pressed against his back solidly, but she was nearly two heads taller, so easily seen.
"What counts as contraband? I can't say I like this change." There was a bit of a narrow eyed glance at Svetlana's back, but Becky was the one that spoke.
"Booze, drugs, unless they're prescription, and anything that would keep you from fighting if it comes to it. So that means you can keep your sex toys and naughty lingerie, Tobin." She winked at the tiny man, who took a deep breath.
"Good. It would be embarrassing if I had to bring all of that out." Then he left, along with most of the rest of the people. Everyone had something, except for Mickey, who simply stood in the door, smiling.
Olga gestured at him, her giant hands making huge gestures.
"Why grin?"
That got him to come in, as if invited, and explain his first mode, while the room was carefully tossed. Olga could smell where all the open alcohol was, and Karen didn't try to lie about where it was.
She just kept looking down and saying she was sorry.
It was enough that even Svetlana finally gave in a bit. Only after Karen was dressed.
"That is a start. From this point on you need to be with someone, so you will not be impaired. Your Team Leader will assign people." She looked at Prime as if he were in charge.
Marcia gave a single nod.
"Right, then. For now I want Karen to stick with Olga. She's the new second for Team Two. We're doing this for every floor. Get with Lancaster and Bridget." She stopped and looked around, then sighed. "This has been needed for a while. Good thinking Scott. Olga, you understand all that?"
The giant woman cocked her head, and then spoke to Svetlana for a few minutes, finally she turned.
"Da, Marcia. Karen is with me. We will work with Team Two."
That wasn't exactly right, but Marcia simply acted like it really was what she'd meant the whole time. Maybe it was? Making Lady Glory the new Team Two secretary might just shake some people up enough to get cooperation fast.
For his part, after that, he just searched. There actually wasn't any hidden booze around at all. It hadn't been against the rules, so she hadn't bothered. Everything would be seen anyway, so most people probably wouldn't bother. There was yelling, from down the hall, from Debbie. Scott heard the voice, and was moved along by the older soviet lady, who didn't seem certain about what to do at all. Marcia and Becky traveled along, leaving him with all the bottles, which left the room with him, tucked into a white plastic bag. It was enough he went carefully. Having it break would make a mess.
"I use it to keep things from freezing, Tobin! I need it." She was holding a bottle of vodka, the outside of it frosty, from where her hand touched. Being worked up, she was sending out waves of cold so bitter that he wanted to shiver, even from eighty feet away. Almost everyone else had moved, but Tobin was still near there, holding his hand out. Shaking violently already.
Scott solved that one himself.
"No, that's right. Debbie gets to keep hers. Just don't get drunk. We'll cover that in the meeting later. Also, no sharing it." He managed to sound so confident that Svetlana nodded, even if she didn't understand it all.
"Correct. The rest of you need to give the small comrade anything that might impair you. If you have a real need for it, other than things that impair duty, come and talk to me. I'll probably say no." There was no smile to go with it, but that was enough for a rather snooty looking Ice Queen to escape back into her room along with her bottle of anti-freeze. She was in uniform too, meaning that she was going to have to come out again soon.
It didn't take long, and no one seemed that worked up, but a few weren't all that happy with them. It was apparent from the way they looked at him and Olga as they passed. Svetlana wasn't really noticed that much. Probably because she was busily looking through her loot.
The bags, and there were four of them, held drugs, pot, alcohol and in one case a jar of carpenters putty. He had no clue whose that was at all, or what it was used for. Something that someone was ashamed of, no doubt.
Then, without waiting, they all got to go to the fifth floor. Marcia got the remaining people to gather in the front room, and stared at them all until they went silent.
"With Charles on assignment, Team Two has been without a leader. Olga is going to be your new second in command. She had a long military career, has held leadership positions in the Soviet Army, and has been a member of Spetnaz, the Soviet special forces, for five years. This means that, at least for you here, there might be some changes. We're all undergoing some right now. Svetlana," she gestured at the older woman, so that everyone would get who was who. "Is going to be our new base preparedness expert. Given the latest attacks, this means that we're confiscating all drugs, booze or anything that can impair you enough to make it so you aren't ready for duty. I know, it's a pain in the ass, but we can't let ourselves be vulnerable right now. If you have any problems with this, take it up with Prime. It was his idea. I think you all can get the point of that one? If Scott sees this as needed, then you have to know it's real."
Lobo, the violet lobster clawed man made a sound that wasn't human at all, and yet still managed to make his derision clear.
"Sure. Everyone has their stuff taken away, except Team One, I bet. This is just more crap being dumped on us. We get it. Some of us are ugly. We don't need our own people to shit on us too."
Becky stepped forward then, and pointed over at Karen, who was still glowing.
"We stripped Karen of everything in her room, and she's on Team Two now. Not forever, but these changes aren't bullshit. If you have a drug or drinking problem, you have to break it. We all need you to. So we aren't leaving anyone on their old team if that's the case. Not for day to day things. So, if you have a problem like that, stand up. The rest of you go and get your drug crap and toss it out. You can come to me if you have a problem that's a problem, if you don't want anyone else to know about it. So, Dave, I'm here for you, if you want to talk about that porn addiction." That got a chuckle, except from the all blue man she was looking at.
"Sure... take away my love life."
Svetlana shrugged and pointed at him lazily. "No need. As long as it doesn't stop you from being ready to do your job."
The thing there was that she was taking it seriously. It was good to hear, for some of the people. They probably had some strange hobbies. Not that he knew that, but being who they were, it just made sense. Infected people were often estranged from society, and some of them had been for a long time before the IPB found them. Living in an attic alone for years could cause a person to be a little strange.
Collecting bodily waste in jars kind of bizarre.
Other than the two fights, the whole thing went smoothly enough. Olga handled both, mainly. The first one was with Lobo, who had enough alcohol in his room to start a bar. It was more of a scuffle than a real fight. He pushed the woman when she moved to his room door, which got him pushed back.
That was fine, and Olga didn't even act like it counted at all. They were both warriors, at least to her mind. That meant a man pushing her was just discussing things firmly.
When Kerry got to her room, she made the giant lady fly into a wall at about fifty miles an hour. It made a large hole, and the fight there was a bit more intense. Strange too. Kerry didn't have booze at all, just a small collection of pills. Most of them in bottles that indicated they were from medical. None had her name on them at all, and most of them were depressants of some kind. That, or muscle relaxants.
There was no discussion about how she needed them, or that they had a real medical reason. She just lashed out, and started fighting instantly. Scott was impressed. Olga was used to batter Quartz, and then he found himself flying at Svetlana at decent speed. Luckily he managed to kick a foot down at the floor, raising his body as she ducked, missing her. It was an interesting situation for them really. All of their powers were physical in nature, meaning they needed to come into contact with the upset woman, except for Lady Glory, who was just standing there, looking away.
Pretending not to notice. That was in revenge for her having to not drink anymore, Scott was willing to bet. Standing up he started to let his right hand glow black. It was a less than perfect answer, since his power blasts were devastating when they hit something. Really, the girl wasn't a good target that way. She was powerful and could toss them around like dolls, but if she were hit with a fist or power blast, it could kill her, just like a regular woman.
