Polished

by P. S. Power

  Before he could pound on the thing to get attention, Peggy did it, the tips of her hair still glowing green. She was fit seeming, as well as cute enough to get attention in a bar without having to do too much with makeup first. Today she was dressed in regular enough clothing. Jeans and a button up that looked at least like a bit of effort had been taken. Not much, since she didn't have a nice dress on or anything like that.

  Nan was in a tight black dress, though it came down to her mid-calf, instead of being more revealing. She was so good looking now that it was hard not to stare at her. Part of that was pheromones, he thought. She was the perfect Asian sex bomb now and for some unknown reason had kept that look when they’d gone back to Noram.

  Then, the girl had looked like a desiccated mummy for most of her life, before she’d been changed. It kind of made sense that she was going to want to be different than that, for as long as possible. No one had even suggested to her that she do anything different with her look, since they didn't need to hide that they were IPB. Not really. No one was looking for her, after all.

  After two minutes and another round of hearty banging by Peggy, the door opened up for them. Showing an interesting enough sight.

  The woman who was there looked good, for one thing. Pretty, if tall. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were a sparkling green color that were, frankly, captivating. She was also strong looking, though curves had been added to her form that hadn’t been there before, when her first mode had been taken out. She looked down at them, lighting up when she realized who was there.

  At least when she saw Nan and Peggy.

  “Nancy? Peg? You came back!” She started passing out hugs, and didn't stop when she got to Price, though she was far more tentative that way.

  Richard hadn’t seen her after she’d been altered, being busy becoming human again, after his stint as a Ysidril. Instead of grabbing the lady, even if she was nice enough looking for that and they were close enough friends, even if she didn't recognize him for the moment, he waved up at her.

  He was getting a bit taller, from his own changes, but had been told it would take most of a year for him to hit a bit over six feet tall. He was already five-ten or so, which was much larger than he’d been in his original portion of life.

  “Sally! I’m Richard Drake. You know Peggy and Nancy… Price Lloyd here as well. Just so you don’t get confused, you know me as Gary.” It was still going to be confusing, he was willing to bet.

  She did stop moving for a moment, her tight stretchy clothing shining a bit in the dim light of the place as she finally did move. Bending over to grab him, picking him all the way up off the ground and swinging him back and forth for a bit.

  “Gary! Okay, I know that you told me you really looked different… This is… nice though. You all look great. Come in? We were just about to have the pre-meeting for concessions. Is everything all right? I mean, do you need to hide or…”

  The last bit was whispered.

  Richard got to shake his head though, and smile, which was nice. This time he didn't have to try and trick anyone.

  “Nope. I’m just in town for a meeting and thought that I’d come in and show people what kind of changes we can have done. Not that they haven’t seen you, already. Still, I can get people on the short list for things, that being my job for the feds.” The official one and everything.

  The woman put her hand on his back and walked in with him to the main section of the arena, toward the front side where the concessions booth was set up. There were ten people standing around, each wearing goofy looking ball caps and shirts that said staff on them. The colors were different than the last time he saw the things and they looked new. Spiffy, while still being ridiculous. Which was perfect, of course.

  Employees were dressed in stupid clothing to leave the marks feeling better than them. It was easier to get money from someone who felt superior than one who knew they had to scrabble for every coin in their pocket.

  Several of the people looked at them, then, as had happened at the door, Nan and Peggy were fairly tackled again. Price was nodded at a few times, with Richard getting smiles from a few people. Instead of using his real name, he moved in and put his arms out toward Silver.

  She gave him a withering look.

  “I don’t know you.” That was her first mode, being bitchy toward people she didn't know yet. Then, after she had a chance to be around them for a while, she was decently sweet.

  He rolled his eyes at her then.

  “Do too! We’re pals, even. I’m Gary? Four arms, four eyes? Still incredibly good looking?” The words didn’t seem to work for her, or the others. Not until he changed his clothing for them, from a gray suit with a red tie, to staff clothing like what they were wearing. It wasn’t his actual power, being Noram style magic instead. They didn't know that though and had all gotten that as being his Infected power, before.

  The ability to make any outfit he wanted to appear.

  Silver tackled him then.

  “Gary! Oh, my, fucking, god! You look amazing! This… The IPB people did this? It worked and didn’t kill you?”

  Sally turned to look at them all and shrugged.

  “I didn't tell them all everything. The IPB… you know?”

  The thing was, they all did. Even the IPB Agent standing there got it. The Infected people had all lived with the subtle fear of the IPB for years, themselves. Even while being on the inside like Nan and Peg, they had a strong sense of not really loving that particular crowd. Out of all of them, Richard was the one that had been mainly outside of the reach of that specific government organization. His big threat had always been either local police or the FBI. DHS hadn’t even existed when he was making a living as a thief, not that they would have been interested in him anyway.

  Still, he smiled and waved the words away.

  “Right. We, us four here, were sent in by the IPB to make sure none of the fighters here were being abused. They weren’t, so our boss pushed through getting the fights here made legal. We’re currently working on the Nevada gaming commission so that you’ll have legal gambling on them as well. Then the real money will come in. As it stands we can set up some pay-per-view action soon, I bet. Nan here is set up already to come and work here, part time, as a ring official. A few other people have volunteered as well.”

  All of that was true, though the information dump was being done on purpose. So that there was good news mixed with the bad of them having been spies. No one started hitting any of them, which Richard decided to take as a good sign. Then he kept talking.

  “Also, I have the hook up on getting first modes taken out and even getting some pretty nice changes made, if you want in? The IPB screwed up and put me in charge of that whole program, if you can buy that. It’s a pretty sweet gig for an ex-thief. I couldn’t tell you all of that before, Silver, but it’s how I knew for a fact that the IPB won’t give two cares about what you used to do in life. Because I’m the one in charge. That means all my friends get to go first, right?” That was how the real world worked, after all.

  A thing not lost on some of the people there.

  From the back, a pearl colored skinned man in the goofy uniform of the day grinned.

  “We did have all that quality time walking guard here. That counts towards jumping up the list, doesn’t it?”

  Richard nodded, working out who he must be, due to his skin coloration.

  “Mick is in then? Silver, you too? The rest of you…” He spread his hands then. “I really did have face blindness, so don’t feel bad if I can’t get all the names. We can get a list going and work out when you have time off for it. We’ll get some transport in for you, so you won’t need a three day car trip each way. Sally, do you want to do that part? I can get them to Noram almost any day. Tomorrow is good for the first batch of people going. The people in that other reality are considering opening more life changing schools, since the first one is working out so well.”

  The silver haired woman, who
was a bit hard worn, he realized now, being lean and rangy, smiled at him. After all, they were friends, making it all right for her to be around him.

  “Sure, I guess. As long as I won’t be gone after over old warrants? There are a few things, from the past.”

  Snorting, he smiled.

  “Not only that, but we can get your prints changed and have you hooked up with fresh I.D. so that nothing can really touch you that way. A new look as well, if you want. You should keep the hair though. That’s incredible, by the way. I love it. Now… We need to get you all back to work here. What’s the plan for the floor work tonight?”

  Those words got a slightly mousey looking red-headed woman to walk forward, a clipboard in her hands.

  “Um… We have a buy two get one free beer coupon, and a ten-dollar soft drink, fries and burger deal. Sales have been a bit down lately. I don’t suppose you’re planning to work that with us tonight?” She was joking and it was clear that no one expected him to do that at all.

  They were wrong. After all, the real work for his evening wouldn’t be until later, at midnight. Just about the time the fights would be letting out on a week night. That was when he needed to meet with his contact there. Tom Scarpetti.

  “Darned straight I am. Let’s make sure we have the patter ready. I want to see some energy here, people. Lannie, Silver, you two have an extra body for the stand? We’ll need it, just to keep the trays filled for the floor workers.”

  That bit, working out how to get money from the people coming in, more than anything else seemed to help the others relax and oddly enough, take him seriously. It was clear to a lot of them that, even if he looked all normal now, and way younger than he really was, that Gary was back. The speed he was on didn’t really hurt his energy, either.

  That had been gotten legally, from medical. Under the supervision of a doctor, who, very naturally, thought the best idea would be for him to actually just lay down for a while, instead of using chemicals to replace sleep. She was right, of course. Also, crazy enough to not really make him fight too hard to get the drugs he was currently on. Only enough for a day though. Past that he was going to have to sleep, or risk mental impairment.

  Doctor Burrows had mentioned that part to him in no uncertain terms. It had nearly been scolding and would have worked to impress him, if she hadn’t been feeling up his arm at the same time. He smiled a bit thinking about it. The woman was friendly, after all. Japanese, which could have been a problem for him, since he’d been a bit bigoted toward that sort, at one point in his life. He’d fought in World War Two, after all, so it had always made sense to him to hold a grudge against his enemies.

  Just like it was clear that Kiko Burrows wasn’t against him or America at all, now. Meaning that he could, finally, just think that a pretty woman flirting with him was fine, even if she was from a different ancestry than he was. Not that it still wasn’t wrong of him to consider. He was easily twice as old as she was.

  That was the thing that he thought of as he moved through the crowd, yelling for them to get something to drink, about two hours later.

  “Get some beer, do it right here! Buy two and something to eat before you find your seat! Grab a coupon and treat a friend… Tip me and make one!”

  It was easier to make sales as Richard Drake than it had been as Gary the Infected Ysidril. Even at that, no one had made it all that hard for him there. He’d been funny looking, which had probably put some people off, even if they weren’t bigoted really. Now he seemed kind of like a college kid hired for the kind of job he had, which would seem correct to a lot of people.

  So they called out to him and cleaned out his tray in the first few minutes after hitting the floor. He wasn’t the only one back at the stand grabbing a fresh tray and a stack of coupons, either. Mick was matching him sales wise and Peggy worked her way up behind him, as he grabbed his tray. Price was working mixed drinks, since he was particularly good at that kind of thing.

  The biggest difference from before was that it was a Thursday night and they were running with a nearly full house. The fights weren’t anything all that special either, being low powered Infected that weren’t all that great at what they were doing. Still, the idea was fresh, at least as far as doing it legally, and the advertising seemed to have been paying off. The place was packed for a week night.

  Richard kept working, noticing when Tom Scarpetti came in, alone with his two body guards. The truth was that Rich didn't really recognize any of them, at first. It wasn’t until he heard the man himself speak, asking for a mixed drink, that he got it.

  “Sure thing. Let me… Price, over here! Mixed drink. Do you want a burger with that, Mr. Scarpetti?” He smiled at the man, who looked at him closely for about ten seconds.

  “That sounds good. With onions? Maybe some fries, if those are fresh. They’ve been doing great with those lately. I… Have we met?” It was clearly just the fact that he’d been called on by name that got him to ask. The man was a lawyer after all, so no doubt met a lot of different people.

  Some random kid might just escape his mind, as well.

  “We have. I’m Gary? Four arms and eyes? I got in with the IPB and they took me off to a different reality to get that changed. I think we talked about that, once?” They hadn’t, of course.

  What they had done was make plans to meet after the show that night, to discuss how things were going, as far as the job that the lawyer had hired him and some of the others at the IPB, to do. Which was actually all about them stealing the proof of wrongdoing that Kate was holding for them, for a billion dollars.

  The first half had been paid and Kate had already made copies of what she could, as well as taken samples from different body parts that they’d taken from the secured facility a few months back. It meant they could fake taking the things back, or at least a lot of it. Using that to stall the people and protect the lower ones that were being threatened with death if they didn’t manage to fix the problems for the truly evil ones up top.

  Like Scarpetti and a half dozen of his friends.

  The man wasn’t bad when it came to playing along though, thankfully. He smiled at Richard and nodded, hugely.

  “Hey, kid! Looking good then! This is amazing! I’d heard that the IPB could get some things done, but nothing like this. We should get together and chat, later. I might have some business ideas that you could help with. You’ve got a new face and that might just lead to new chances, right? We might as well run with that, if we can.”

  The fellow stopped talking as Price moved over, ready to take the drink order. Wearing the black suit that he’d had on when he’d come to the door. He still looked more professional than almost all of the audience.

  Richard just nodded.

  “I’ll catch you on the way out then, Mr. Scarpetti. Let me get that burger and fries set up for you.”

  He hurried to do that, picking up two more orders for the same thing as he moved along, since he called out that he was going for that reason. It was easier to do this time, being that he could tell who’d handed him the cash on his way in.

  The rest of the night, Rich simply worked the floor, as if it were his real job. The tips weren’t horrible and the sales actually moved quickly enough that it was kind of clear people wanted to get in on the food and drinks they had there, once they knew it wasn’t hard to pull off, getting things like that. If anything, he was working twice as hard as before, when it had, briefly, been his actual job there.

  The others were doing that too. Mainly because he kept pushing them to snap up their patter or to hurry when moving to refresh their trays. They didn't sell during the matches, so needed to be standing by in the five-minute breaks that were needed for gambling.

  That and to start some chanting up, for the winners. That no one had been doing that in his absence was a bit annoying. It wasn’t like it was hard at all. Just having the servers and sales staff calling out the same thing tended to be enough to get the whole audience in on it. Except the peo
ple who’d lost. Even some of them were sports about it, at a bet.

  At the end Rich floated over toward Scarpetti, following him and his guards out the main door, to find a black limo pulling up, followed by a second, almost identical, vehicle.

  Tom the lawyer smoothed his suit jacket, then turned to his men.

  “Gary and I will go in the lead car. You two follow along.” It wasn’t the best way to stay protected, but they all got the idea. The man wanted to do business that he didn’t want seen or heard. The driver in the front could be blocked off by rolling the glass up.

  The man waved him in, with Richard still wearing his ridiculous looking sales uniform. Looking like a kid that didn’t belong there for any kind of wholesome reason at all.

  He spoke to the driver, politely.

  “Around the block a few times, please? Then back here. I’ll let you know when.” The black glass moved into place at the touch of a button as the man in the front seat, dressed all in black, complete with a funny hat, pulled into the parking lot. Not everyone had managed to leave yet and even if it was in L.A. almost everyone had driven a car in that night. Then, L.A. wasn’t New York where almost everything could be reached via subway. Even D.C was better that way, as far as public transportation went.

  As soon as they were on the street, moving, which should make it a little harder to listen in on them, Richard gave the other man a hard look.

  “We’re going in. Three days. We have a location, though they keep moving it. We should be able to get to the right place at that time. Are we making the drop with you, once we have the goods recovered?” No one had spoken about that portion of things yet. Stealing the loot was never enough. You had to have a plan for what to do with things at the end as well.

  Tom Scarpetti seemed to get that, though he shook his head a little. Then he waved at Richard, as if to explain what he was about to go on about.

  “That’s… You told me that you had some high powered contacts. Doing this kind of thing, making you look that different…” The man really seemed impressed by it, which was about right. He’d been close to as different from a regular person as physically possible while still having a skeletal system.