Stepping forward, Andrea began to trudge through the ashes.
Part Two: The Darker Side of Light
New Millennium City, MD, 28th June 2015.
‘Now, hold still or I’ll have to do this again.’
Svetilo stood in the middle of the lounge floor, naked, with her arms held out from her sides while June ran a scanner over her. It was a necessary step in the process June used to design and then manufacture costumes. It also tended to have an amusing quality when it was someone June knew well enough. Everyone in the house knew Svetilo well enough.
‘Does she really have to be naked?’ Zoe asked. She was sitting on one of the sofas, thoroughly enjoying the show.
‘Well, not entirely,’ June replied. ‘The system could manage with bra and panties. For some outfits, or people, a bra might be better. I’m fitting clothes to the model, yeah? So, the boobs need to be where they would normally be. Dom’s boobs don’t move much whether she wears a bra or not.’
‘I’d imagine men would need to wear briefs,’ Cygnus said.
June’s cheeks coloured. ‘I haven’t had my first male commission, but I’d imagine briefs would be needed to hold everything in place. Anyway, Dom spends a lot of her time naked, so I might as well get all the, uh, data I can.’
‘Data,’ Svetilo said. ‘Da, data.’
‘No talking,’ June snapped.
Zoe giggled. ‘Have you had any ideas about your own costume? Did the wig work?’
‘Yes, and yes.’
‘She looks fairly good as a blonde,’ Cygnus commented.
‘I’ll show you later. Denny, could you display Astraea costume model two.’
‘Of course, June,’ Denny responded and the wall screen lit up to show a rotating 3D model of June. The mask was the one she had worn to the Hero School day: black, covering the bridge of her nose and then up over her eyebrows. Glossy black thigh-high boots were on the model’s legs; not a surprise since June seemed to like that kind of thing. The leotard was different; it had high hips and close to a thong in the back, but while it was sleeveless, it covered her torso all the way up to her neck with black plastic. However, the opacity of the suit varied from fairly transparent at the neck to opaque at the gusset, which would have left June’s breasts on show if there had not been an opaque V across them. It still showed a lot of cleavage.
It was the first time Cygnus had seen it. ‘That’s… I like it, but I can’t help but think there’s less of you on display than my costume shows of me.’
‘Sort of,’ June replied, holding back a giggle. ‘But… Denny, would you show Cygnus her new costume?’
The display switched to showing a model of Cygnus in almost the same outfit, but in white. The boots were a little more translucent than the ones the Astraea model had been in, but the bodysuit actually seemed more opaque. There was a pattern of pale-blue stars across the chest too.
‘There’s less cleavage than yours,’ Zoe said.
‘It’s the colour. White shows the translucency less than black. But it works out because the stars stand out more this way.’
‘That’s Cygnus, right?’ Cygnus asked. ‘The constellation.’
‘Uh-huh,’ June replied. ‘Bending it over your boobs does make it a little harder to recognise. What do you think?’
‘I… I like it. It is a little more practical than the last one. The skirt looks fine in flight, but it tends to get dirty when it’s trailing around in debris from a fire or something.’
‘I had noticed that, and I am done here. Denny, could you start integrating those images?’
‘I will have a model ready for rendering by the time I have told you I am doing it, June,’ Denny replied.
June grinned. ‘Smart ass.’
‘As you are aware, I do not have an “ass.” Should I prepare the design you have already done for display?’
‘Yeah, put it up when it’s ready.’
‘You’ve already done design?’ Svetilo asked, assuming she could talk again.
‘I doodled. You can put your clothes back on. Or not. Yeah, I was playing with a design and, well, it might be that my first thought is a good one, but I’ll come up with some more options and let you decide.’
The screen switched to showing a new model, clearly of Svetilo. It was dressed in a full-body suit and over-the-knee boots. The suit had quite a high collar, but it was also open from the throat down to a quite low neckline. There were also vents around the waist, almost down to the hips at the front and curving higher toward the back. The suit was white with silver trim along the exposed edges. Svetilo gawped at the screen as it revolved.
‘The fabric I have in mind is wipe-clean,’ June said, ‘and also temperature resistant to a couple of hundred degrees. I can show you how to fix holes if you need to.’
‘Is zamechatel’no. Wonderful, da? I thought you would give me bikini. Well, no, I did not really think that, but…’
‘Considering what I’ve dressed Twilight and Cygnus in, you expected a lot more flesh. And I’m going to come up with some briefer designs. But I think you should go more European and this doesn’t really hide your assets. The bodice is structured to support your boobs, which actually gives you more cleavage.’
‘I am already sold.’
June tutted. ‘You’re paying for the service, so you get more options before deciding.’
‘I never get options,’ Cygnus said, pouting a little.
June shrugged. ‘You don’t pay me.’
~~~
‘Fabrication isn’t a problem,’ June said. ‘I have a deal with the Union. I’m doing costumes for the students who want them and the Union is giving me access to their fabrication suite. Delivery is a little quicker than getting things sent over from Fullerton Technologies.’ They had got to the food and conversation portion of the evening, and they were sitting around the dining table for it.
‘Costume design is taking off for you,’ Svetilo commented.
‘Yes, but not enough to give up the day job. I’m seeing your agent tomorrow.’
‘Good. Ha! Now we can have two people on calendar for price of one. June Summerfield and Astraea.’
‘I’m not sure that would be such a good idea. Might make it easier to work out that they’re the same person.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Cygnus said. ‘Not if we have them both in the same picture.’
‘How– Oh, yeah, that.’ June looked across the table at a perfect copy of herself.
‘Wow!’ Zoe said. ‘I did not know you could do that.’
‘I can do whatever I feel like,’ Cygnus replied. ‘Well, mostly.’ There was a shimmer and June was replaced by a copy of Zoe.
‘Do not give me ideas,’ Svetilo said.
‘Oh, speaking of ideas,’ fake-Zoe said, and she changed back into Cygnus, but with different hair. The white was almost incandescent, but it shaded down to a pale blue at the tips. ‘What do you think? It’s for the new costume. I might have to check the blue is right for the stars, but…’
‘Is good. Interesting change.’
‘You must save a bundle on hair dye,’ Zoe commented. Cygnus giggled.
‘That should work well with the costume,’ June said. ‘That should be here on Tuesday, so we can test the look then.’
‘Tuesday?’ Cygnus asked.
‘Uh-huh. I’m going to go in and register on Wednesday. Then I’ll have the name and look locked in for when I actually start going out.’
‘Some UID agent is going to have lucky day,’ Svetilo said, grinning.
1st July.
June had worn her new costume, in its entirety, the night before, but this was the first time she had worn it for anyone other than herself and Penny. Penny’s new Cygnus costume had been delivered at the same time, so that had been tried on too. June smiled to herself as she remembered what had happened after the admiring of costumes had been done with.
The door into the registration room opened and a man in a suit walked in. He was tall, fair
ly attractive, tanned, and had a body which benefited from some form of fitness regimen. Black hair in a moderately expensive, designer-tousled cut. Blue eyes which flicked over June in her long leather coat as soon as he entered. He had thin lips, but they twitched upward at the corners when he saw her. Not an unusual reaction, but June’s other senses were giving her more: this was an arrogant sort of man who liked women but had little respect for them. He knew he was good-looking, but thought he was easier on the eye than he was. He was also feeling a little guilty – not very guilty, but a little – because he was cheating on his girlfriend of three months, repeatedly.
‘Good morning,’ he said. ‘I’m Special Agent Shaver.’ Ah! Randy Shaver, the man who had been the straw which had broken Heather Bryant out of the UID. June considered it a validation of her powers that they had likely nailed Shaver perfectly.
‘Good morning, Special Agent,’ June said. ‘I’m Astraea.’
Shaver walked over and sat opposite her at the interview table. He placed a form down and got a pen from his jacket. ‘Could you spell that?’
‘A S T R A E A. I’ve been classed as an A-four by Doctor Ultimate. Super-strength, supersonic, space-capable flight, projected force screen able to stop small arms fire, and some empathic abilities.’
Shaver lifted his head and gave her a frown. ‘Empathic abilities?’
‘Specifically, I can sense guilt.’
‘Uh, okay.’ Shaver began scribbling down notes. ‘Doctor Ultimate made the classification? You know him?’
‘We’ve met a couple of times. He’s interested in how I got my powers. He said A-four was a good enough rating.’
‘I’ll take his word on it. Uh, how much can you lift?’
‘A thousand pounds without breaking a sweat. Close to two thousand if I have to.’
‘Okay. Yeah. Not going to argue with Doctor Ultimate on this. Uh, we need pictures.’
June got to her feet and began to unbutton her coat. ‘Of course. I know a few people who’ve been through this.’ She slipped her coat off and dropped it over her chair. Shaver made a sort of strangling sound which repeated as June walked over to the wall where the pictures were taken. ‘Put your tongue back in your head, Special Agent. You’ve seen enough women in less than this, even when you’re supposed to be seeing one exclusively.’
There was another strangling sound, but it came over more as ‘Oh shit! She knows,’ than a man gawping at an attractive woman. Okay, so detecting guilt could be downright unpleasant at times, but it certainly did have its high points too.
San Francisco, CA.
Diamond was not one to hold meetings without comfort if she could help it. Hence, this meeting was taking place in a suite at the top of a large hotel with a view out over the Embarcadero and the Bay. You could see the bridge to Oakland, not the Golden Gate, but Diamond had decided that the latter was overrated, even if it was sort of red.
Diamond entered with Wraith on her heels. It had taken a little while to turn Helen Parks into Wraith, to make the name the press had given her something real. It had been worth it. The other two members of Diamond’s little group were already inside; Diamond had decided that the first day of July would be a good day to get things started.
Detonatrix was glowering out the window at the view. She was a tall woman, strong-looking and full of hard edges. Her face looked sculpted, apparently by someone trying to create the perfect dominatrix having never met one. You could have cut paper on her cheekbones. Her short hair was scarlet, which matched her eyes. She wore a black-and-red bodysuit and wedge-heeled knee boots, her costume: she was the only one of the four with a really fixed image as a villain and most of the public had forgotten her since she had been in the Fortress for years.
Cherry Blossom, Susan Fong, sat on one of the room’s two sofas in one of her cheongsam dresses, this one a peach colour. She looked relaxed, but there was a hint of tension in her shoulders. It seemed likely that that stemmed from being alone with Detonatrix. As always, she was an exotic Asian beauty with her black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her pale, greenish-golden eyes fixed on Diamond as the two women walked through the door.
‘Well,’ Diamond said, a smile on her lips and in her voice, ‘now we’re all here, we can get to know each other.’
Detonatrix turned and gave Wraith a once-over. Things had changed for Helen Parks. She was not long off the drugs and might slip back yet, but she was working on it. Regular food had put a little more flesh on her bones. Her coppery hair was washed and styled into a bob. Her blue-green eyes were clear and even if her skin was pale, that just fitted her new image. She was dressed in a simple, red, string-strapped minidress and red pumps. Diamond knew her protégé was mimicking her, but she was perfectly happy with that.
‘Okay,’ Detonatrix said. ‘I get why you want the psychic. I’m here to blow shit up when you need it. What can the junkie do for us?’
‘Oh, honey,’ Diamond said, ‘there’s no need for such bad language. Wraith is off the drugs, aren’t you, Wraith?’
‘Yes,’ Wraith replied, though it was not entirely convincing.
‘And what she can do is put the fear of God in you and then feed on your terror. So, you take a little care what you say to her. We’re all gonna be friends, so let’s be nice.’
Detonatrix’s full lips twisted into a sort of grimace and then she started over to the sofas. ‘I’ve spent too long in prison to be nice. I can be civil, if I’ve got reason to be. What exactly have you got planned, Diamond?’
‘Oh, that’s easy.’ She walked to a sofa and sat, crossing her legs. As always, Diamond was wearing a red dress, this one with a pencil skirt to her knees. She waited for Wraith and Detonatrix to sit before continuing. ‘San Francisco was owned by the Nine Kings tong until recently. Then they tangled with Mink, Cygnus, and Twilight, and those three burned their house down. The crime in this city lost its heart. It’s not organised crime. We’re going to build that house back up, put the organisation back in place. Instead of Nine Kings, however, there’s going to be four queens. The Four Queens.’
‘This is the card thing again, right?’
Diamond smiled. ‘You’re the Queen of Clubs, hon. You’ll handle the brute force requirements. Wraith will be our Queen of Spades. Spades were swords in older decks and Wraith will be the more surgical application of force. Blossom is the Queen of Hearts since she can get just about anyone to do what she wants.’
‘And you’re the Queen of Diamonds, I get it.’
‘I’ll handle the planning. You follow my lead, you all do as I suggest, and we will be living like queens in no time at all.’
‘You know that the Princes have been looking to expand into this city from L.A.?’ Cherry Blossom said.
‘I know. I have my boys keeping a close eye on them. We’ll use Mink and the SFPD to take care of them when the time’s right.’
‘You believe you can manipulate Mink?’
Diamond smiled. ‘She’ll help push the Seven Princes.’ She raised a finger. ‘I correct myself, the Five Princes since Cygnus killed one of them and another was arrested. Mink will help to push them out because she doesn’t want them here any more than we do.’
‘Yes, but–’
‘And then we’re going to make sure she isn’t around to do anything about us.’
‘Jade Flame believed he could do that.’
‘He did and he failed, sure. But he had one really big disadvantage.’
‘What’s that?’ Detonatrix asked.
‘Why, sugar, he wasn’t us.’
New Millennium City, MD, 4th July.
‘On his tour of American cities, Captain Freedom stopped off in New York today.’
‘Wonder when he’s coming here,’ June asked. The evening news was on and Captain Freedom was still the top story on ACPN.
‘No idea,’ Penny replied.
‘… used the opportunity to make a speech regarding the recent alien incursions and the destruction of the nation’s capita
l.’
‘That’s the museum,’ Penny commented as the view switched over to a recording showing Captain Freedom at a lectern outside a fairly modern building, if modern was defined as being the late nineties.
‘Almost thirty years ago, New York City was destroyed,’ Captain Freedom said. ‘That destruction was at the hands of a human. A human turned into a monster, but still a human. This year, America saw an attack of an entirely different kind. People died at the hands of beings not of this Earth. Aliens came to our world and destroyed the most hallowed of our institutions, assaulting the bedrock of our beloved democracy. This must never happen again. I am here to make sure that it never happens again.’
Whoever the audience were, they were lapping up the speech. The cheers were still going as the view cut back over to the presenter. ‘President Vanlaren said that the American government had taken a hard hit from the nuclear attack on Washington, DC, but that it continued to work in the interests of Americans everywhere and would be working with Captain Freedom to ensure the safety of the American people.’
‘Yeah,’ June said, ‘but it’s not like he could have done much more than you did, is it? Dukh Naroda died trying to get them out of Moscow.’
‘Given his known capabilities,’ Denny said, ‘he would have been capable of doing significant damage to the battle transports which attacked New Millennium City. However, his defences are insufficient to mitigate their weaponry. He relies heavily on his rapid regeneration. Also, he would have been incapable of taking on Naryan Tan’s command vessel, even if it had landed in America. While it remained in orbit, Captain Freedom would not have been able to even approach it.’
‘And now I know,’ June said, grinning.
‘In other news,’ the presenter said, and June and Penny began paying attention again, ‘Francesca Hart, a well-respected defence advocate from Los Angeles, announced her intention to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. Hart is an Ultrahuman with empathic abilities, which makes her the first Ultra to run for office. Political experts have suggested that the recent issues with the District of Columbia federal reserve are the trigger in Hart stepping forward. It has generally been considered unlikely that an Ultrahuman candidate would win due to the issue of an Ultra taking office in the DC area. One of Hart’s early campaign promises has been to remove the reserve status as soon as possible and permanently.’
True Dark Page 7
