Reflection, page 27
part #2 of The Infected - Mirror Man Series
All of which was true. Also, a thing that the man had clearly heard about from his sources.
“Holy fuck. You’re not bullshitting me?”
“Not on any of it. I need to get back to the club. We’re pulling out today. It looks like the local police were told about us and want to mess with the IPB for stepping on their toes. As if that’s not going to backfire on them. So, are we good on the money side of things? If not… Well… I can still get you out. Maybe some of those other people you mentioned, if they’re in the kind of danger you are. That won’t help your clients, though. If they won’t pay, you should hint there might be another way to make things happen… Then get in touch with me, fast. You have my number. We’ll arrange for you to vanish.”
His voice was still too high pitched. The other man didn’t seem to care about that part of things.
“I’ll run the offer by my contacts. I should hear back by this evening. Sooner, possibly. Do I tell them what you said? I mean about who your crew for this is? That… I mean, the IPB being in on it…”
Gary nodded.
“They’re the ones with the people that can get the work done. If they don’t want to work with Infected people… Well, then I can’t help them. Let me know what they say? It isn’t like it will cost them anything if we fail.”
Instead of answering directly, Tom leaned over and spoke after pressing the intercom button.
“We need to head back to the first location. Thanks, Marco.”
There was a turn, shortly after that. No speaking for a time as well. Just as the car pulled up to the curb, a thing seen only through darkly tinted windows, there was a soft whisper.
“I hope to god you can pull this off. I’ve got nothing else here. Lot of people are in the same boat, too.”
Gary nodded.
“It will be hard. We have resources that no one else does, so keep that in mind. If it can be gotten back, we can do it. If not… Well, we still might be able to help you out. Keep that in mind?”
Then he climbed out, walking back toward the fight club warehouse without waiting for the vehicle to pull away. It took him nearly a full ten minutes to get back. Gary just had to hope that he’d set up something that was going to be useful at all to them. A bit more information would have helped. It was a thing to chat with Cindy about when they got back.
Possibly with some minor yelling involved. Not that he’d do that. It was too divisive to go after people you needed that way. She was worth more to him as a friend than as just a colleague. Real friends were far less likely to sell you out, after all.
Everyone was gone from out front, though the husk of a burnt car was still there. It wasn’t smoldering or anything, meaning it was probably safe. The thing had started out a nice blue color and was now just black. It reeked of burnt oil and gas, as well. Plastic, too.
Heading in, Gary didn’t have to search too hard to find his people. They were in the main arena area, on the far side of things. With Sally and several others standing in front of them. His folks had their gear with them and seemed ready to travel.
The person speaking was Sally, who turned to stare at him.
“Your friends are leaving. I think they were planning to abandon you here.”
Rather than play into the line given, he shook his head.
“Not that one. They’re taking us to the IPB base in Montana. We all decided that we needed to get out of here for a bit. Really, we should all go. We have a plan for that. I go first, then Sally, if it works. Who else is going to give it a try? We can… Well, I bet we can see about setting something up for later, if you want to hang back here for a while. Make sure we don’t end up vanished into nothingness. Obviously, if we do, then put the word out about the IPB.”
Sally, both of her, looked at him closely.
“We’re really doing that? I figured it was just… You know, talk. People say things like that…”
He nodded. They really did. Most people were so full of B.S. it was amazing that anything ever happened in life.
“This is a bit faster than I thought. It’s just because of the things going on here. It’s a bit too dangerous for my blood. The others wanted to stay. We need Nancy and Peg to drive though and Price won’t stay without the rest of us. He’s really loyal that way.”
That actually seemed to make sense to them. At least one of the men, probably Mick, looked at Sally.
“I can set the fights while you’re gone? Probably not as well. You have the week planned for us already, so it won’t be too hard. Silver, you can take over for Gary? Keep people motivated like he does?”
That got a nod.
“Sure. See you in... How long?” She sounded suspicious. Like they weren’t coming back.
Gary didn’t really know.
“It could be a few weeks. Probably less than that. We might have to camp out and wait. If we’re accepted at all. We’ll be in touch, though.”
It was, in the end, far too easy to drive away with a whole Sally. She was on the mattress of the sex machine, with two men, leaving the city not less than half an hour later. There were a few uneasy looks from Peg at first.
By the time everyone relaxed, it was hours later. They’d stopped to get fuel once and fast food for the road. He got to eat a rather drab salad and a meat free side of pasta. Sally had the same. With several servings being delivered.
The woman, looked at them when they got back on the road.
“So, are we really going to the IPB base?”
Gary nodded.
“Instead of just running off with you for immoral purposes? We can do that later, after we get those nightmares taken care of. Things are different here than they seem, which was your point, right?”
That got two nods of the head and Price to glare at him, getting what was coming. Sally noticed that part, since it was so different than he’d seemed the rest of the time he’d been around. So Gary explained.
“Price doesn’t really have a first mode. None of us do. Though I am suffering from face blindness for the time being. Which, by the way, is way worse than it sounds like it should be. We were sent in to make certain your fight club wasn’t setting Infected people up to die. You passed, by the way. I have connections with the IPB and their program to get changes made. It works, pretty well. We can’t take away Infected powers but a lot of other things are negotiable.”
Nan, who was driving, smiled. When she spoke her voice was sweet sounding. Kind and gentle.
“I used to look like a mummy without the nifty wrappings. For over twenty years. They, the people that do the work? They did this for me in less than six hours. Peggy here used to have a rather prominent face.”
The other woman laughed a bit. Seeming slightly tense.
“Like an alligator? I mean, it stuck out a good fourteen inches. Just boom, right out to here.” She measured that off with the palm of her right hand, turned halfway around, to demonstrate.
Price made a face.
“And I’m not actually Infected, at all. The specialists we have for this kind of work did all of this on request, for my cover. Agent Price Lloyd, IPB.” After saying that the man went very still.
Sally just stared at Gary.
“What about…” There was a wave at him. Taking in his entire body.
“Infected and rather normal looking, most of the time. I can walk into mirrors and through them. The rest of this is magic or due to it. I currently look like an alien. A Ysidril. One of them is a wizard from a different reality, so he hooked me up this way. You’ll love him. Great guy.”
Sally went still, sitting on the mattress for a while, just waiting.
“So… This is different. I’m being kidnapped?”
Gary shook his head.
“Nope. We’re just using our inside influence to hook up our new buddy. I mean, you probably noticed that we kept having the IPB in and they didn't go around shooting anyone for being Infected? That wasn’t down to us being there. The IPB is the Infected Protection Bureau. The Director there Marcia Turner is pulling out the stops to live up to that name now. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to stop threats sometimes. Just that we’re stepping up now when we can. Getting the hook up for our infected pals and making sure the regular cops don’t start things that end in death, when possible.”
It was a bit of a speech, though Peggy nodded instantly about it. Price did too, after a moment.
“Kind of like that. We were always trying to do that. After the thing with Impulse a few years ago, we suddenly had fewer threats. That helped get a lot of people calmed down.”
There was a shudder from the large woman, her seven-foot frame shaking more than a little.
“Impulse. That kid freaks me the fudge out. Step out of line and she’ll show up to kill you. It’s worse than with Proxy, even. At least he only comes at you if you’re killing people. You have a way to control for it, just not doing that. Impulse though… She could snap at any time. Then we’re all screwed, aren’t we? A whole world of nuclear weapons packed into a teen girl.”
The snort that came from Gary was rough. Almost angry sounding, like a dog’s bark. Sally actually pulled back from him a little. It was just in shock from the sound, not fear itself.
He rolled all of his eyes then. It was still disorienting. A lot more so than doing the same thing as a human would have been.
“That is not what Bridget is like at all. She’s a tiny little sweetie, to tell the truth. When she heard that we were heading out to make sure your fight club wasn’t setting up Infected people to die, she lent us this van. Think about that… Impulse has a sex van.” The words got silence in return.
Sally patted the mattress she was on, which was made up as a bed with both sheets and blankets.
“She looks too young for that. I mean, can she even drive?”
It was Price who answered.
“For a few years now. Perfect driving record, as well. She really is a good kid. Nearly eighteen now, I think?”
Peggy shook her head.
“Just now turned eighteen. A few weeks back. I was thinking we could take her with us next time we go to Noram and see about getting her aged up a bit? Otherwise she’s going to look thirteen for the next hundred years or so, I bet.” There was a slightly snarky tone to her voice, as if that kind of thing wasn’t a good plan.
The thing was, Gary had to admit that doing that kind of thing was important, too. Forcing Impulse, one of the most powerful beings on the planet, to suffer through even a bit of discomfort they could work around was stupid. On the other hand, getting her set up would endear her to them.
Honestly, it was a nearly brilliant thing to get in on.
“Right. We have to go to a different world for that. They really do good work. Like I said, I’ll go first. I’m not certain what they can do for you, exactly, Sal. The Infection won’t let some changes take place. Those are mainly in the powers. So, if you have to have two heads, then it can’t be changed. The first modes are doable all the time.”
They chatted about what would be needed that way, with Peggy trading off with Nan on driving every six hours or so. They had to get out every now and then and people did stare at them when it happened. On the second to last stop, a group of teen boys called them names. Dirty Infected was part of that. A few other choice phrases, with shouts about having too many eyes and heads being part of that. Some of them were even a bit sexual. It didn’t sound fun, the way it was put.
Rather than get upset or kick their asses, Sally just waved and laughed at them.
“Five years ago they would have thrown rocks. We would have seen people like that on every stop, too. One of those boys actually looked embarrassed and waved back. That’s a huge improvement. It’s almost like this won’t be going on forever. Like maybe there’s hope?” She shook her head. The right one. The one that did and said the practical things. “Which probably means that I’m going to die, trying to be changed. Still, I’m ready. If I have to die, then I’d rather do that than go on like I have been. I just want to sleep.”
That sounded nice, he had to admit. Days got far longer when you didn’t have any real down time.
Gary nodded across the mattress at Sally. His pal, for the moment at least.
“You’ll probably live. Some have died. Not a lot. It’s a lot safer than surgery would be here. We’ll have to see how it comes out in the end. Still, it’s worth it. These people helping us are some good folks. Largely students there, learning magic. A special kind. That’s how we’re getting in. They do the work for free and we provide people for them to practice on.”
That news didn't get so much as a hint of a frown from either head. After a while, nearly two hours, Sally nodded.
“I’ll do it. Like I said, I’m ready to die. If there’s a chance of things getting better…”
Rather than coddle her too much, Peggy, who was driving, spoke loudly.
“I know. We all do, at least a little. Anyway, we’re nearly at the new base. We should call in that were coming so that the gate guards know to let us in. We all look different. I don’t have my IPB badge or I.D. with me, either. Plus, it’s night. This way people can be gotten around to visit with us.”
That was a really good point. To that end, Gary called Lydia, since it was her operation, being in charge of communications like she was. The girl picked up instantly.
“This is Lydia.”
“Hey, kid. It’s Gary and the gang. We’re almost at the front gate. Can you meet us out front? It was mentioned that none of us have our I.D. with us for some reason. Personally, I blame the Democrats for that one. We have a new friend with us. Sally. You’ll all love her. Great gal.” That last bit was just to let them know she wasn’t a threat.
Sally smiled at him anyway.
Like he was flirting with her.
At least the head on the left did. That part was very interesting. He wouldn’t have been able to tell who she was in a crowd, if other people in it had two heads going on as well. Still, he could tell what her smile meant without even thinking about it.
Nothing was done back on that one. Not because he didn’t like the woman, just because grinning for himself was right out. His facial muscles just weren’t up to the task.
They were still fifteen minutes out when he hung up and when they got to the front gate, they were met not just by several women, but one tiny one that had red hair.
Nodding as the van pulled up, he pointed.
“That has to either be Bridget or Rachel Chambers.” That or possibly Pixie from Team One. That woman was taller though, he thought.
Price made a small noise in his throat. It sounded slightly bemused.
“Bridget Chambers next to Lydia and Director Turner. Brian Yi is behind them.”
That sounded right, once Gary looked that far back. At first, he hadn’t really gotten that it wasn’t a fourth woman. Not that Yi was soft or had the right curves. The crowd just messed with his ability to see what was going on. A thing that he wasn’t going to miss, as soon as he could get the right changes made again.
They stopped at the group, with everyone piling out. Sally didn’t go last, trying to merge with the rest of them, as if she belonged. Interestingly, Bridget moved in first thing and gave him a hug. It felt incredible still. Like they were best friends that hadn’t seen each other in years.
“Richard! Did’ya miss me?” The voice was almost in the same high register as his own.
The truth was that he’d barely thought of the kid when they’d been gone. They weren’t that close at all. Still, polite people lied when asked questions like that. It was more important to be liked than to be honest on things like that. Especially with a woman who, if she ever got mad at him, could literally remove his spine from his body.
“I did! We all did, in fact. Except Sally here, who hasn’t met you yet. She’s come to get in on the next trip to Noram. I told her that I’d get changed first to prove it works. That just seems fair. You’re coming along, right Bridget?” He shrugged then and looked at the others there. “Really, we all should go. That way we can chat about some things. Unrelated to Sally or her fight club.”
They moved to walk toward the head office, instead of driving over. It wasn’t that close, giving them some time for innocent sounding chit chat. About the operation they’d been on.
Peggy, brushing at her glowing green hair, light still coming only from the tips like fiber optics, smiled.
“That’s all fairly legit. For an illegal operation, I mean. The fights aren’t rigged and Sally tries to keep them fairly even as far as skill goes. The biggest problem seems to be that they have to hide their power class levels, being afraid that they’ll be forced to become government slaves if they show too much that way. It messes with how the fights are arranged. The few deaths they’ve had really had to do with that and a lack of good referees. We could task some operatives for that part, with the various fight clubs, I bet.”
Nan, who’d moved over by Brian for some reason, nearly brushing her sexy shoulder against his, waved her right hand. That meant bumping it into Proxy, who just grinned at her a bit.
“That’s true. We didn’t have any problems while I was there and all I did was break things up four or five times. It wouldn’t take that much power to get it done, either. Just enough to make it stick when people are worked up.”
As they got to the head office, Turner stopped and put her hand out toward Sally.
“Marcia Turner. Director of this place. It sounds like you have things running pretty smoothly. We might have some ideas to help out with things, if that’s all right with you? First, we’ve put out an official directive so that you can hold fights in any state that allows that kind of thing. Complete with rules for it. There aren’t a lot of those, since it’s actually safer not to load things up too much that way. We had someone working on that while you were all gone. Cindy did most of it.”
