by Bob Dattolo
Tara giggled, “I tried to be as honest as I could. The intention was to have people understand what it’s like being someone else. Within reason, obviously. It’s not like I can program bloodlust or anything like that.”
We stared at the screen, where Marisela’s former body was stuck trying to grab the box.
“What do you think?” She sounded so hopeful…and so scared.
I so badly wanted to try and string her along, but I couldn’t do that to her. “Honestly? I think you’re a freaking genius.”
Marisela laughed at the look on Tara’s face, “You really thought she’d say, what, that these were stupid ideas?”
“Umm…yeah? After what her mom said, I was sort of thinking these were like boiling babies and all of that.”
I patted the headset and shook my head, “Not even close. My God…you are going to be a billionaire. Maybe not from the dating app. Maybe not from the VR. Maybe not from the interface updates. But I think you’ll be at least a millionaire from the first two. More from the third. The chip? No words. I don’t know what the typical thing is for something like this. Is it a payment to buy the tech? Do you still own the patent, or does that get sold? Or…is it better to build a company from scratch, with you retaining ownership of everything? I’m not sure.”
Grabbing her up in a hug when she started to cry was a no-brainer. “Are you…are you fucking with me?”
“Not even remotely.” She let me hold her for long minutes. “Now…it’s late, what do you both want to do?”
Marisela joined our hug, “How about…some of what we talked about earlier?”
The smell of desire hit me, making me sniff deep. “That sounds fun to me!”
Needless to say, we spent a few hours having fun, then the girls crashed in my huge bed with me. I offered them one of the guest rooms, but they both wanted to have that quiet twilight talk thing that you have at sleepovers. Well, that we’ve seen on TV and in movies.
Honestly, it was pretty freaking fun.
Chapter 9
We were showered and ready for school, bellies full of a good breakfast that I managed to put together for us, when Mom and Sumi appeared.
Mom smiled at my friends, “Wonderful to meet you, girls. Did you have a good night?”
My friends stared at Mom with a little bit of awe in their eyes.
“Uhh…uhh…” Marisela got out.
“Yes?” Tara’s voice squeaked.
“We did. What time did you get in?”
She frowned, “Just after 5am.”
“Ugh…bad scene?”
She shrugged and pulled out the coffee maker, “Not a bad scene, but it involved fey magic. Not a tremendous amount of it, but they needed some assistance picking it apart. In the end, it ended up being a domestic thing. One of them somehow managed to get their hands on a fey wand. She’s in jail now. He’s in the hospital.”
“That sucks. I’m so sorry you got in so late.”
“No worries. I’ll be fine. This won’t be the first day where I’ve had little to no sleep. In the past I would have just stayed there and kept working. I wanted to see you all before you left, though.” Her eyes sparkled, “So…how was it?”
“Mom? You have…just…wow. You have to see it. Maybe we can show you tonight or something? We need to back these. Or start a new company or something.”
“So, impressive?”
“That’s just the start of it.”
She hugged Tara, getting another squeak from her, “Fantastic! I look forward to seeing everything. I am expecting to be off work at a normal time tonight, so feel free to come over again?”
Both girls nodded, not quite answering. Sumi interrupted by hopping onto the table, Ceri! I haven’t seen you in too long!
The girls scrambled backward at hearing her voice. Or, since it’s mental, you know what I mean. “Hey, Sumi!” I hugged here, picking her up and rubbing her tummy for a second, then tossing her into the air so that she could go to her larger form. It’s something that we do, so I was able to toss her and lean in, getting a huge armful of massive cat. Her purrs are freaking amazing this way. “They treating you right at work?”
She licked my cheek with her colossal tongue, They are. I have my own computer there and everything. I’ve even been able to meet with some of the agents. It’s most fun. They have me talking to a team of scientists today. They want first-hand information about what life was like way back when. It should be fun!
“Awesome. Well, I hope you have a great time!”
I will try. You as well!
They left in a flash as Sumi went back to her smaller form, leaving me with two perplexed and somewhat terrified new friends.
“What. The fuck. Was that?” Marisela finally asked.
“Umm, that was Sumi?”
Tara smacked my arm, “You know that’s not what she’s talking about! Or…not everything…”
The larger girl put her plate in the dishwasher, “Seriously. I don’t even know where to start. You said your mom was a badass, but I never…I’ve never felt anyone that was even remotely as powerful as she is. Well, except for you. What the hell?”
“Umm…it’s sort of how she is?”
That earned me a glare, “Thanks for that. You do somewhat the same thing. When you get angry it’s like you’re leaking or something. Like normally you’re sealed shut and holding back so, so much power…but you can’t hold it back when you’re angry.”
“Sorry. It does get harder to hold things back when I get angry.”
Our shorter friend leaned against the table, “Are you saying you’re as powerful as she is, you’re just…what, hiding it?”
My internal debate about what to admit to disappeared as I realized that these two are becoming friends and holding back would be stupid. Not that I’d spill the beans or anything like that. “I’m not sure that I’d say that I’m as powerful as she is. She’s said that I’m more powerful in some respects, but I can’t compete with 7,000 years of knowledge and training. My biggest problem right now is that I’m recovering.”
“Uhh, recovering?” Tara looked at Marisela, then back at me.
“Yeah. We had a bit of an issue. We were both kidnapped along with someone from my last school. I had to save each of us…we were nearly dead. I’m still raw and healing. Otherwise I’d show you some cool stuff. Not that I know a ton yet.”
Marisela looked to the collection of clean clothes and the bags of new clothes, “You seriously folded clothes with magic last night. That’s pretty cool.”
“Maybe.” I grabbed my plates and put them into the dishwasher as well, “Then again, it’s the difference between knowing you have tusks and then seeing you do the jaw thing. What I did was cool, but nothing compared to what I’ve done. Have you ever seen an entire shifted rhino stripped of their skin? Every bit of it?”
“Uhh…fucking hell no?” My large friend frowned.
“I have. An entire family of them, too. Just before I started killing every one of them. So, power? I have my share.”
Tara spoke up, “Sumi…is she really a sabre-tooth tiger? Or was that…I don’t know, some sort of weird shifter that I’ve never heard of?”
“Uhh, no. Not a shifter. She’s a sabre-tooth tiger.”
“But…they’re extinct. Right?” She looked to Marisela for confirmation.
Not that I waited. “They were. Not any longer.”
“Not…any longer? How is she back?”
Their eyes went wide at my smile, “I brought her back to life. I needed a ride from school to the between lands to save Mom during the attack I mentioned. I couldn’t get there myself quickly enough, so I had to improvise.
Tara laughed, but it sounded strained, “Improvise…You have to be kidding me.”
Our ride to school passed in the blink of an eye. Neither girl was very talkative after we left the kitchen and I locked up. Melissa’s clothes were in the car since we did briefly discuss having them head home after school. I’m not su
re if that’ll happen or not. It probably shouldn’t. I know Mom will love what Tara created. It’s very, very exciting stuff and I just know it’ll be huge. Even something simple like the dating site? Oh my…I see that one going over so, so well. It allows you to put in your preferences as far as races or species go, but it also allows you to put in something like your fetish and search that way. So, if you prefer a partner that chews up food and spits it into your mouth? There are people out there that do that as a matter of course. It’s part of them, like tusks for orcs. Or if you enjoy a partner that is naturally submissive and able to take pain? There are people out there like that, too. So many different types that it’s crazy.
She’s going to be loaded from these inventions, and I hope like hell we can make these things work. Especially since she alluded to having many other inventions in the works in her head, but no money or facilities to pursue them.
Melissa was walking across the front parking lot when I pulled in. She looked so lost as she walked, holding her arms and staring down at the pavement not even five feet in front of her. The only time she looked up was when someone called out to her. When she did, her face lit up and she looked like she was perfectly fine. Yet the set of her shoulders…she’s not fine. This is a girl that’s hurting. Crazy-bad.
Someone stepped out from between two cars towards the front of the kid’s lot where I have a permit to park, and Syl appeared for the first time today. Appeared and watched me pull in. The change in his face showed me pretty much exactly when he saw that I had my passengers in the car with me. Hmm, seems like he doesn’t like me being nice to people? Too bad I don’t give a damn what he thinks about…anything. Pretty much anything at all.
Neither girl reached for the door handle as I parked. “You guys coming in or what?” Neither of them smiled at my question. “Hey, what’s wrong?” I looked between them, turning to face Tara in the front seat while also seeing Marisela in the back seat.
Tara fiddled with her phone before taking an abbreviated breath, “Ceri…I know you’re new to school. You…you can’t give us these phones.”
Marisela nodded at the statement.
“You sort of mentioned that before. I don’t see why not. What’s anyone going to do? Call me names?”
She held the phone out, “You can’t do this. No one is going to accept you doing this for us.”
“Umm, no one is going to accept it? Who has to accept it? The only people in this transaction are me and either of you. Who cares if someone else doesn’t accept it? It’s not their issue.”
“It’s just not done, Ceri. We’re not human.”
“Either am I.”
She held the phone out farther, “You’re just not getting it!”
I laughed, filling the car with the sound of bells, “You’re right. I’m not getting it. At all. I’m wearing jeans today. Did I not wear them because other people are going to be upset at it? Or not wear something else because others don’t like that other thing? No. I wore what I wanted, subject to the rules here. Beyond that? It’s not their business what I wear. It’s not anyone’s business if I get either of you a phone. It’s twenty bucks a month for both of them. Twenty. I get it, it’s a lot of money, but in the scheme of things? Tara, I can nearly guarantee that you are going to be a millionaire at a minimum before the end of the month.”
She hissed, pulling the phone back, “What?”
“The things you made…they’re freaking amazing. Even if we only want to pursue the computer chips, we’d have to pay you a retainer or something like that. And I don’t think you should sell the chip entirely. Hold out for an initial payment, ownership of the chips and additional developments, and then cuts of the profits going forward. Millions of dollars. Millions. If not billions. Especially if there are other advancements that can be made. Me getting you a phone? Come on, if we’re friends I can do it without a problem. If we’re getting involved from a business standpoint, it only makes sense for me to get you a phone. Heck, if we get into a business, we can have the business pay for the plan. Not that it’d be any better. Or even the phone being any better. Beyond that? Screw these kids in school. Screw ‘em. If they have a problem with you having a phone, direct them to me. I mean that. Don’t think to try and protect me. If they come after me, I’ll deal with it. Hell, the FBI is monitoring me 24 hours a day, so they can even step in if it comes down to it. I don’t want to get into this school and slaughter a bunch of kids that think they can control what I do, but I’ll be damned if I won’t stand up for myself and leave their corpses behind me if it comes down to it.”
She fiddled with her phone more before putting it into her pocket.
Marisela sniffled from the back seat, “We’re not in business and I’m not looking to be a millionaire…”
“And yet the same argument still stands. I can buy whatever I want for whoever I want. If it comes down to it, if people bitch enough, maybe I’ll buy a phone for every other single person in school except those that have a problem with it. Then they can stew in their own ignorance wondering just what the hell happened.”
She laughed through her tears, “Don’t do that. That’d be millions of dollars.”
I shrugged, opening my door, “Probably. On the other hand, I’d still do it even if it’s just to piss of whoever has a problem with things.”
Sliding out without waiting for them, I moved around the truck towards their doors. Syl was still down the line, watching me. Us. I swear his shoulders tensed even more as the girls got out of the truck. He disappeared around the cars as he headed off towards school before either girl noticed him there.
Why do I think he’s going to be a bastard about things? What is wrong with people? I really want to know that.
The girls walked with me towards the school, splitting off as other kids called out to them. They didn’t seem to want to do that, but I gently nudged them on their way. I don’t want to keep them from their other friends. Not that I’m against joining their circles, but the others seem like norms, at least from what I tell. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Far from it. I’m game for anyone as a friend. I can’t say no to that, you know? What kind of hypocrite would I be? Growing up looking for friends, only to set requirements about it. That’d be messed up.
Instead of heading right for home room, mainly since we’re crazy early, I hit my locker to grab some books, then roamed the hallway a bit. I shared nods with more than a few shifters that I didn’t know. I’ve learned that there’s a decent supernatural population here. There are something like 35 shifters, with a third or so being wolves. That’s pretty normal, though. Wolves are the white guys of the shifter world. They’re the default, at least for America. Not that they feel that way, it’s just how most of the rest of the world sees things.
All told, I’ve only met two of the five orcs here. They’re spread up and down the grades, so that’s not unexpected. I haven’t met any freshman, as an example. Very few sophomores. Only a tiny handful of seniors.
We have one goblin, Tara, obviously. One troll. Derek, of the aforementioned marching band. One vampire, too.
Of the shifters I’ve met…shoot, 13, I think? Others were mentioned, but again, they’re in other grades so I didn’t mix with them.
The heavy population, beyond the norms at most of the school, is the mages. There are something like 50 of them floating around here. From what I’ve gathered from other conversations, they’re not all part of the same circle or coven. I have to assume that some are, since I can’t imagine there being 50 unaffiliated families in one area. That’d be pretty much impossible. Unless we were in New York City or LA or something like that. Here? No, I can’t believe that. Too bad I can’t tell affiliation. Or, it might be possible if they really smell the same. Like with the shifters. You can smell the family bonds there. Or, not the bonds, but that they smell the same. Even though they have the same base smell of a shifter and then the animal they are, it’s not the same as being able to smell that they’re fr
om the same family.
Mages may smell like the same family, but then again, they may not if they don’t live in the same house. I figured they would, but they’re not like shifters that way. They may have a core place to gather, but they usually live in their own houses. That makes it harder to sniff out the connections that way.
That means that I may have possibly pissed off four mages yesterday, but I could have also pissed off all 50 of them if they’re part of the same circle.
Conveniently, as I thought that, a spell moved down the hallway and dove at me.
The protective barrier around me flared up, stopping the spell. I had an immediate vision of a really built guy laughing in a classroom. It’s not familiar, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it as I moved between classes. I started walking, moving through the milling people with a vengeance. Not that I touched any of them. Those that didn’t see me coming got moved around. Those that saw me moved out of my way before I reached them.
My spell gave me a slight tug as I walked up to the door of the classroom that I thought he’d be in. Not that I went through.
“I don’t get it. What’s it supposed to do?” A guy asked.
A voice that I swear matched the vision in my head laughed, “It’s nothing huge. It’s supposed to tell me who the most dangerous person in school is.”
“Uhh…why would that do anything?”
He laughed again, “I told you, you guys don’t seem to really understand the classes they give us. You can’t mess with Nathan. I know he’s only a junior, but he’s a freaking vampire. The spell I cast will tell me who the most dangerous person in school is. Nathan.”
“I still don’t get it?” Another asked.
“Look…you guys want to ask him to bite you? I’m trying to get you not to do that. Vampires are…wow, so dangerous. It’d be better to find a shifter that you like and see if you can get in with them. They’re more human.”
Yet another voice spoke up, this time a girl, “And you can’t help us? Make us a supernatural? Maybe be able to do magic?”
