Changing Masks

by Nicholas Metelsky

  The lock on the door to the office had a contact identifier, so that was not a problem: the taser needed to be discharged and the path was free. Carefully passing the computer desks, I approached the door to the management office. That's when it got a little more complicated: I was faced with an electronic P&P lock that took a contactless card. To solve this problem, I had a mysterious device, representing a mini-magnetron emitting electromagnetic waves through a narrow beam. The magnetron itself looked like a 5-inch-long tube and could change its frequency and power. The tricky thing was to apply it nice and easy; then the lock wouldn’t stand a chance, which is exactly what bad happened a couple of minutes later.

  Entering the office and closing the door behind me, I froze. Something’s wrong.

  'Well hello, my ... hmm ... little friend. And who are you, might I ask?' The lights went on at the same time as the lock clicked, blinding me for a second. After rubbing my eyes, I saw a woman with dark blue, almost black hair, sitting on the edge of the desk surrounded by five giants all around the room. Hmmmm. Check, sir. Check.

  'Be our guest. Have a seat. Take your mask off. Tell us about your life as a thief.' If only you knew what feelings overwhelmed me at that moment. I was mad at the whole world. Yes, the world, not the people living in it. I was angry at myself and the client. I felt bad that Koyama wouldn't know why I had disappeared. It was just unfair, that's all. I was able to take my petty chance of surviving in this interworld journeying but couldn't manage to get away from a bunch of small-time crooks.

  I threw my backpack in front of me on the floor, squatted down, and took out the electric taser. Watching me with curiosity, the woman smiled.

  'It's a nice toy, it helps fend off some animals: cats, rabbits, mice, you know, but only if you don't miss.'

  What do we have here? The only way out of the office is behind me, but in order to open the door, I need two minutes. The glass on the windows is bulletproof. The ventilation is too narrow, even if I could get to it. Five thugs against an eleven-year-old child. I have no advantage.

  'Listen, kid, we want nothing from you. Just answer our questions, and you can go.'

  What did I have? Recalling all the things that I had brought with me, I concluded that all I had was the shocker. The only object in the office was a poker propped against the chair, and it wasn't obvious what it was doing there. It was behind one of the men standing close to the wall.

  'Deaf dwarf. You've had a tough life. Or are you keeping silent for another reason?'

  Plan, plan, plan! I had no plan. My knowledge was useless to me now. I’d be able to defeat one adult man, two of them—most likely, but three—highly doubtful. Needless to say, I did not stand a chance against trained fighters, none at all. I couldn't run either. There wasn’t time to open the door; I couldn't knock it out, let alone the bulletproof windows. Thinking processes occupied my mind, supplanting all others. For a couple of moments, these processes emptied my mind of everything else completely, only capable of comprehension. What a curious state of mind. Everyone experiences it, at least once in a lifetime, we just don't always observe or notice it. It is as if something clicks in your head, and you realize you had simply forgotten what you needed to do. Why not, the chances weren’t great, but still…

  I pointed at the woman and then pointed to the door: open it, I gestured. Then I clicked the taser a few times looking at the woman threatening to torture her. The men’s faces did not change, but the woman's eyebrows slowly began to rise.

  'What a squirt! Am I supposed to apologize for being here?' The lady said with an ironic smile. By the way, she looked pretty good. At first glance, I’d say she was twenty-five to twent-eight years old, but after a closer look, I'd add five more years. Anyway, let's continue with our game. I bowed my head as if I was thinking, and after a couple seconds, waved my hand at her making it clear that I could do without her apology. In response, she lifted her eyebrow and just waved her hand in my direction. Immediately, tearing themselves away from their seats, I was approached by two terminators. I was proud: two men for me alone. That was for the better.

  My target was lying on the table next to the woman. I just had to walk past those two, well, maybe one more, if I got stopped. In order to have just one giant approach me, and not the rest of them, I would have to move slightly to the side, to the right or left wall. OK, let's go.

  Taking off, I ducked under the arm of the nearest man, simultaneously shocking him with a taser in the leg. Taling a couple of steps, I twisted and with that, avoided the hands of another. Now I was close to the right wall. The third was almost flying through the air attempting to knock me down and, perhaps, send me sprawling considering the difference in our size. I was able to get away, tumbling as I went. Standing up and taking two steps, I was on my way towards the boss and, particularly, the revolver that lay next to her. Later, after learning of her mastery in hand-to-hand fighting, and thus her reaction and speed, I realized that the only thing that stopped her was the surprise at my arrogance and the fact that I was able to dodge three of her thugs.

  Tumbling over the table and picking up my weapon, I rushed back to the door. Considering my physique and the caliber, I was sure that I could only shoot once. Even if I managed to keep hold of it after the blow-back, which was unlikely, I simply wouldn't have time to take aim a second time. I had to make it as close to the door as possible due to the impact. I might miss the lock even from a short distance.

  The third guy, who had tried to knock me down by jumping on me the first time, now made his way towards me by sliding on the floor. I left him behind. I got past the second man by rolling forward and to the right of him, just as previously I had dodged under his arm. The remaining two had apparently decided not to cause too much mess and stayed in their seats. At a distance of five feet, I aimed the freaking gun at the lock and fired. I didn't even try to keep hold of the gun as it jumped in my face. I moved my head to the side and sped up, as far as I could throwing all of my eighty-four pounds against the door. It didn't feel good on my shoulder to go to the hilt against a piece of wood, which didn't even move. What could I say? Checkmate.

  Lying on the floor, I noted that no one was trying to pounce on me. The poignant silence in the office was pierced only by the sound of clapping.

  'I applaud you, Mr. Dwarf,' I heard the woman's voice say. 'That was a terrific move. Perhaps, rugby should be your thing rather than stealing? I'm pretty sure that even with your complexion you could have achieved impressive results.'

  My shoulder was aching: after all, I had hit it pretty hard. Standing up and brushing myself off, I bowed to the audience. The lady twirled a remote control in her hands, which she had not let go of since I entered the room.

  'As you've probably gathered by now, the door has more than one lock. It has two: one electromagnetic, and the other electromechanical that's hidden. Good try though, really good. Your back leap was beautiful. I hope now you understand that you can't get out of here? I still suggest we solve the issue peacefully. All I need to know is who you are and who sent you.'

  She didn't say what was going to happen after that. I didn't even know who the client was, and there was no guarantee she'd believe me. Even if I told her who I was, I'd be on her hook for the rest of my days. Her words were hogwash. If this was the end for me, I wanted it to be pompous. You’re not getting any information out of me, I thought. I sighed heavily, looked at the woman, and flipped her off. Yep, just like that.

  'Well, if that's your choice… Take him, use force.' I didn't even have the taser anymore. It was lying around somewhere by the boss's desk. If this was some fantasy tale, I would have activated my hidden powers at this point, and at the price of future injury, scattered them about like puppies. But it was not a fairy tale. I did have hidden energy, and I even activated it, but the only bonus it gave me was strength and speed, and even they weren't very high. After all, you can’t make something out of nothing. And if you can lift, for example, fifty pounds, you can try r
eally hard and lift sixty, but still, you’ll never be able to get away with five hundred, no matter how hard you try. If you exceed your limit, you're going to tear your muscles and, as a result, won't even be able to lift twenty.

  What 'using force' meant, I experienced in the very next few moments. Instead of catching me, the man nearest to me, the only European in this company, struck me with his hand. Evidently, their plan was to tie up my unconscious body. The speed of these armadillos, by the way, increased by two. A strike from the right threw me under the feet of another giant, and, by some stroke of luck I managed to get away from his kick. As the situation allowed, I, still lying down, caught the beater's kicking leg, which caused him to lose his balance, and then I hit his other leg with my two. Doing a reverse somersault, I jumped forward, flying over his body sprawled on the floor.

  In this vein, I spent the next seven minutes or so, wriggling between the bodies, arms, and legs of the males who were cursing through their teeth. The lady didn’t remain indifferent either. Throughout the entire time that I was being caught and beaten up, she encouraged her people, commenting and giving advice at the same time.

  'Who fights like that? Even a child can get up after your weak hit!' which I then demonstrated.

  'Lead him to Serge.' Come on. He must be my former countryman judging by the name. 'Lee, go from the right!' This one must be Chinese.

  'Mouse, you're such a saboteur!' The one who was called Mouse, hoping to get me with a chair, missed, which resulted in the breaking of the glas in the door of one of the bookcases which now belonged in a junkyard.

  'Hey, buttheads, if he dies prematurely, I’ll immure you in a wall myself!', she said after one of her boys threw me into the wall.

  'Let's go, guys! Can't you see he's exhausted!' No, not yet. Maneuvering between the three bodies, after which two of them crashed into each other, I proved that I was still in the game.

  'For Heaven’s sake, did you really? Mouse, not you again!' I got a kick from the left, then from the right. Rising from the floor with difficulty, I leaned on the second bookcase behind me. Then Mouse threw another chair into me. I dodged, but the glass doors had no chance. A minute later, I managed to avoid blows and kicks and dodged flying furniture but nothing lasts forever, and the next blow knocked me out. When I regained consciousness, I found myself handcuffed to a chair next to the desk, the same desk from which I had stolen the revolver at the beginning of the story. The lady was sitting in her spot, that is, on the same desk. All five men were once again spread out around the office, not paying any attention to me.

  'Well, did you get enough sleep?' Bloody witch. 'Can we begin our conversation now?'

  I looked around. My mask lay on the desk next to the revolver, among other things. My backpack was still where I had left it, that is at the door. The men did not pay any attention to me. They were busy doing their own thing. Serge, for example, was twisting an awesome knife in his hands. If I'm not mistaken, it was a Katran-45. The knives of the Katran series are made in Tula for frogmen, but they became popular in the army. Katran-45 is a modification for Air Landing Troops, and in this world, that can be taken as a sign. This kind of knife is given once for service and is not taken back. If you see a civilian who owns this weapon, there is ninety percent probability that he served in special forces. What is an elite fighter of the Russian Imperial Army doing here with some kind of inconspicuous criminal? Now I was not surprised that I had been so quickly dominated. This fellow had the rank of a Veteran at least; it's kind of weird that I was left floundering for so long.

  'I can't understand the reason for your silence. Even if I assume that you're terribly loyal to your master...' Is she trying to mortify my pride? 'What will change if you tell me why you are here?' Well, for instance, you might figure out who my client is. 'Also, if your master,' I was getting sick of her talking about the master, 'is just a mediator, then I have no reason to be mad at him.' Wow, I'm speechless. Does she take me for a fool? Tell me the reasons for your visit and who your client is, and you will be free,’ with a voice so touching as if she thought I was a really gullible child and might tell her everything. Alas, I did not believe her, and that was it.

  No, there was a chance that I would be left alive. But who was I going to be after that? Right, either a water boy or bait. I could, of course, wait five or six years and then, restoring my Destroyer abilities, tear them apart. I could also promise her a bunch and lie, and as soon as I had a chance, run to the neighbors. I already knew that Koyamo Akeno, Shina's father, was a Master. However, this option was even more ill-fated. Besides, the chance still remained that they’d decide to get rid of me. In addition, I do not like to obey. If I started talking, that would mean that I'd have to obey.

  'Gonna stay silent? It seems that because of your very young age, you do not quite understand what awaits you. All of us here, by the way, were quite amazed when we realized that all this time we were chasing a child. You know how to surprise, that's for sure. But you see, the fact that you are a child will not save you from... our desire to get answers.'

  Walking away from me, she walked towards one of the pictures. As I expected, there was a safe behind it. She clicked the lock, opened it, and took out... a taser. She sat next to me on the chair and looked me in the eyes.

  'You see, electricity is a very good way of loosening the tongue; it's effective and clean. There is no blood, teeth, or flesh. This method has only two disadvantages, in my opinion — the wires and the socket. Sometimes neither are handy. The taser is not an option, it immediately knocks a person out. This is why a friend of mine made this gizmo for me.' As she said it, she demonstratively tossed it up on her palm. It was a black, rectangular taser. 'I won’t go into the details of how it works, I'll just say that you're not gonna feel very good. You're gonna feel everything, and you won’t lose consciousness.'

  Heh. How scary! I even forgot to turn off the pain sensation. By the way, pain control was the first thing I had restored when I arrived in this world.

  'So, first, let me introduce myself. My name is Nakata Akemi.' I didn't reply. What could I say, I wouldn't have wanted to meet her at all if it was up to me.

  'Kid, you're about to get yourself into real trouble. Your silence is pointless. There isn't a person in the world who does not break under torture. Fiction books and movies are all exceptions.' Yeah, and in my own world... Although I strongly doubt that there is anyone in this world who can turn off pain.

  'Boy, do not ruin your life. I promise, if you answer my questions, I'll let you go. I'll keep you for a couple of days and then let you go.' Here it dawned on me. She didn’t want to torture me. That was it and neither did her assistants. They still hadn't looked at me. Hmm, what's going on in here? Judging by the special taser in Akemi's hands, she had some experience of the techniques of torture. Same goes for her men, saying nothing of murder. However, they didn't feel like torturing a child. What was really curious was whether they would even be capable of killing me? While I was wearing a mask, I was considered an adult, though a dwarf. They could beat me up and kill me if necessary. What now? Something was telling me that the Russian wasn't going to do it, although logically, I couldn’t say why. I did not know what to think of the others though.

  'Well, why are you closed as an oyster?' I could not resist chuckling at these words. 'Say something, you moron. Maybe you don't believe that I'll let you go? That's too bad. After what you’ve demonstrated here, I wouldn't mind you working for me. Candidates like you don't grow on trees.'

  That I could believe. Did I really need it? It was time to decide what to do. Keeping silent any longer was simply dangerous. No matter how much I wanted or didn't want to, no one was going to let me go for nothing. So, I was better off giving her an excuse to continue the conversation. However, if I didn't show any interest, it would shorten the length of our communication. Whenever you don't know what to do, and there is still a chance, try and buy some time. I could possibly act up, just not too harshly. />
  'Excuse me, ma'am, of course, I am flattered by your attention and benevolence, but would you be willing to go for a walk if I gave you specific coordinates?'

  'What coordinates?' She snorted.

  'Fourteen degrees twenty-four minutes south latitude, seventy-one degrees seventeen minutes west longitude,' I said indifferently. 'Have a pleasant journey.'

  'Kid, I suspect that you're sending me very, very far.' Unexpectedly for everyone, something tweaked on Akemi's table. She quickly ran to it and, cursing under her breath, turned to her terminators.

  'We have guests.' There was a pause. She was either gathering her thoughts or assessing the chaos in the office. 'Although everything is not quite as we wanted it to be, we have to act according to the plan' Isiatama, that's a fun nickname, 'throw the kid in the corner.'

  The man, who she called Knucklehead, took me under the armpits and transferred me to the corner of the office that was the farthest from the door. Even handcuffs could not break my high spirits. Once again, I was unbelievably fortunate.

  'Stay still. The slightest peep, and I'll cut your tongue off,' he threatened. The corner of a bookcase and Akemi's desk obscured my view. A few seconds later, the lights went out, and the office was plunged into darkness. Fidgeting for a bit to get into a more comfortable position, I settled and looked out from the corner of the bookcase to look around.

  'Be quiet, kid. Stop making a noise,' the woman whispered. For the next ten minutes, nothing happened. Not a single movement or sound: an ideal setting for meditation. That's exactly what I did for nine minutes, accelerating regeneration and getting myself back into shape. I hadn’t actually received too many punches, but you have to bear in mind that it was an eleven-year-old body.

  The sound of the door being opened, albeit a well-lubricated one was perfectly audible, as was the sound of footsteps. Five people had evidently entered the office. The people who came were obviously not going to move on, settling at the door. Having realized this, Akemi turned on the light, and the silence suddenly became unbearable.