Different Strong

by Nat Kozinn

  “I don’t care about evidence for court. He reminded me of that Speedster we took out a couple weeks ago. Same look in the eyes, same physiological symptoms. Maybe there’s some new drug that has a weird effect on Differents’ systems. What about that Speedster, can you get a copy of his arrest record from the police? They should have done a toxicology test.”

  “There isn’t any arrest report Gavin. The police let him go.”

  “They let Arnold go? Are you kidding me?” I say opening my mouth wide to indicate my shock.

  “I thought you’d be happy they gave him a break. He was a kid who took the wrong drugs and freaked out. When a stupid human kid does that and get’s arrested, he’s allowed out in the morning with a stern warning. Shouldn’t a stupid Different kid be treated equally?” Captain Murphy says with a smile. He’s proud of what he deems to be his progressive attitude.

  “The wrong drugs? Who would even want to try a drug that makes you violent, paranoid, and delusional?”

  “A stupid kid. He told the cops someone gave him a bunch of pills and he took them even though he didn’t know what they were. You know who takes mystery drugs? Stupid kids. I know you’d rather think the bad guy is some monster you can fight, but there isn’t any bad guy, there’s just stupid. Now why don’t you go back to the office, have a beer, and give yourself a pat on the back for saving lives. This was a good day,” Captain Murphy says and pats me on the back.

  “I’m not allowed to consume alcohol, it’s one of the terms of my parole. There’s no point anyway, my body can process the alcohol without becoming inebriated.”

  “Whatever you’re allowed to do to relax then. I’ve got to get going, the press is waiting downstairs. They’re going to have to settle for me, even though you’re the one they really want see, Mr. Hero,” Captain Murphy says and walks out of the room.

  I stare at Victor for a few minutes. He saved my life, and I didn’t get a chance to thank him. When he recovers, he’s going to have something new to resent me for. The press seems to be giving me all of the credit for taking down the Heater. I’ve already read a few articles that don’t even mention Victor. Nobody wants to think that a guy who tainted a couple of World Series could change and become a hero. Severe burns and none of the credit is not a good reward for saving the day and my life.

  I can repay him by figuring out what happened to the Heater. Something’s not adding up. Captain Murphy might not believe it, but there’s something deeper going on here. Maybe the Speedster was young and dumb enough to take a random drug, but Stephen the Heater is at least thirty, why would he be stupid enough to do that? I have to find out what was wrong with Stephen, which means I have to find him.

  He’s got to be in the hospital somewhere. He didn’t suffer any burns, I’m not even sure he can be burnt, but between the tumble down the stairs, Victor’s epic shove, and my killer right uppercut, he’s got plenty of other injuries that need treating. I’m assuming they would stabilize him before moving him to a secure facility to await trial. If I find where he is, maybe I can sneak a little peek at his blood toxicology report.

  I head into the hallway and start searching. I lock eyes with a nurse, who eyeballs me like she’s looking at a ghost. Since I’ve been ignoring my pain signals, I forgot that I look like a roasted turkey leg.

  “Sir, you need to go back to your room. You’re badly burnt,” the nurse says with concern.

  “Actually, it’s not as bad as it looks,” I tell her and flash my “D” tattoo, “I’m with the OEC. My abilities help me deal with the burns.”

  “Wait… It’s you, The Beast Slayer. It’s really you! I just assumed you were one of the victims from this afternoon. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you because…” she says with a look that says she doesn’t know how to tell me I look half-dead.

  “Because my face is covered in horrible burns? You really don’t have to worry about it. I don’t feel any pain, and I’m a quick healer. I’m not going to have any scars or anything.”

  “Wow, that’s amazing. You’re the one who took out the Heater, and you’re still on your feet. People who got within fifty feet of him are in worse shape than you are. You really are a hero,” she says genuinely.

  “My partner did the hard part, but thanks for saying that. Speaking of the Heater, is he still in the hospital? Do you know where he’s being kept?”

  “Technically I’m not supposed to tell anyone this, but I suppose you’re with the OEC, so you’re on the need to know list. We have a Maceo Steel room in the basement where we’re keeping him. He had some bad internal bleeding and a nasty concussion. It’ll be a while before we can get him stable enough to move. He’s being kept under heavy Tranq sedation.”

  “Thank you,” I say as I walk away.

  When I get to the basement, it’s obvious which room Stephen is being kept in. It’s the one with two police officers standing in front of it. And it is a mismatched pair. There’s my one friend on the force, the beautiful and lovely Maria Vasquez, and then, the horrible Detective Rose.

  “Hey, if it isn’t everybody’s hero. Are you sure you won the fight, kid? You’re looking worse than the guy in the hospital bed,” Rose says with a sneer.

  “My partner’s the hero, I’m just the guy who is still standing. And I’m not as bad off as I look,” I say to Rose before I look at Maria, “Hi.” She gives me the tiniest nod.

  “Can we help you?” she asks like she’s never met me before. That’ll bruise the ego.

  “I was wondering if they did a toxicology test on Stephen. When I was fighting him, he seemed like he might have been on drugs or something like that,” I ask.

  “Yeah, the reports came back and the results said they’re none of your business because it isn’t your job,” Rose say.

  “I’m not trying to step on anyone’s toes. I’m trying to understand what happened. If you let me in I could test his blood,” I reply and hold up my hands to show I mean peace.

  “Sure. You want to arrest and prosecute him too? I told you your job is done. Now, the only way you’re getting through that door is over my dead body. You did your job monkey, go back to your cage,” Rose says and puts his hand in his overcoat. He wants me to know he’s fingering his gun.

  The image of knocking him out and taking his gun flashes through my mind.

  “Listen, this was a good day, you’re the big hero,” Maria chimes in, somehow reading my thoughts with her normal human mind. “Now it’s time to let other people do their job. Go home and heal up,” Maria tells me.

  I take the hint and turn to walk back up the stairs. I don’t know what I’m more disappointed in, that nobody seems to care what made that Heater go crazy, or that Maria acted like she didn’t know me. That’s not really true, it’s Maria. It makes me feel bad that my mind puts more importance on a woman I’m interested in than figuring out what’s making Differents go ballistic in the Metro Area.

  If I want to figure out who drugged the Differents, I need to find the Speedster and ask him some questions. That’s going to be impossible on my thirty minute lunch breaks. I have to devise another way out of the office.

  #

  I hate wearing this goofy uniform. It looks like army camouflage gear had an illegitimate child with a blue police uniform. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to help me blend into, blue vomit? It’s really harsh fabric too. I can feel it causing minor injuries to my still-burnt flesh.

  This appearance is for a public thank you from the Governor. My guess is that it’s because he’s been taking a lot of heat from the Different community and its allies over his refusal to sign off on the Ultracorps management takeover of the municipal water system. He wants to show that he’s a friend to Differents by congratulating me. Of course, he originally voided that Ultracorps contract because of the outcry from people in the anti-Different community who didn’t want to put more power and jobs in the hands of Differents in the wake of The Beast. Such is the life a politician; you’re forced to talk out of both s
ides of your mouth. Different-friends have more money and Different-foes have more votes and a politician needs both.

  I’m lucky I was able to heal the burns on my face in time. I spent all of last night carefully directing the process of removing dead skin cells, fighting off infection, and growing new healthy skin. I didn’t think I would make it. Now I’m ready to address the crowd, assuming the Governor calls me up to speak. I’m going to thank everyone for the honor, but I’m going to be sure to give the credit to Victor. That’ll elicit a torrent of boos from any baseball fans in the audience, but me thanking him is the least Victor deserves.

  I’m standing up on a stage with a few of the Los Angeles Metro Area’s Aldermen and the Lt. Governor. Governor Hayes finally walks out onto the stage and addresses the crowd of supporters and reporters. He looks like hell. He’s wearing makeup to cover the massive bags under his eyes and to give color to his pale cheeks. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days. Has he had to work that hard to deal with fallout from the fire?

  He starts addressing the crowd. He speaks loudly so everyone can hear him, but it doesn’t sound like he’s yelling. I don’t think I could pull that off with my voice; he’s got a lot of experience at this.

  “Thank you all for coming here today. As you know, we had an incident involving a disturbed Different individual. For reasons unknown, this individual threatened the lives of myself, and many of this Metro Area’s best and brightest. We do not know what motivated this person, but we do know this press conference could have been morbid. I could be standing here telling you all about a great tragedy that befell our great Metro Area. I could be listing lives lost and reporting on entire swaths of Metro Area burnt to the ground. Or perhaps I would not be standing here at all. But that is not what happened. Instead, there was only a few thousand dollars in property damage. Instead, there were only a few dozen injuries with everyone expected to make a full recovery!” the Governor says, then pauses while the crowd applauds.

  “There is one man to thank for this, and we all know who it is. It is not the first time that he has come to the aid of our Metro Area, although this time he had the legal authority to do so. Let’s all give a big round of applause for OEC Agent, The Beast Slayer, and the LA Metro Area’s own, Gavin Stillman,” he says and indicates for me to step forward.

  I’m greeted by an uproarious round of applause. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel pretty good. I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t feel guilty about the fact that I’m getting all the congratulations while Victor, the true hero, is still sitting in a hospital bed months away from recovering. The public doesn’t want the truth. They want a hero, and they already consider me one. I tell myself I have no choice in the matter. I’ll fix things when I get a chance at the microphone. The Governor addresses the crowd again, but instead of calling me over, he starts his own speech back up.

  “Gavin, you have accrued a debt this Metro Area can never repay. You have also showcased the great adaptability of this Metro Area. After the actions of the terrorist Different The Beast, we all said never again. We said it was time to get the Office of Exceptional Cases on call in the Metro Area so that we could be protected from dangerous Different individuals. Gavin has proven we succeeded. The OEC is here, and they can protect this Metro Area. We adapted. Los Angeles has always adapted. When the city of Los Angeles needed water, we found it. When the nation needed Los Angeles to be more than a city, we transformed ourselves into a Metro Area. Adapting is what we do,” the Governor pauses for another clapping break.

  “It is because I know this Metro Area can adapt that I can take some measure of solace, before making an announcement that breaks my heart. Unfortunately, certain issues have come up in my private life that render me unable to perform the duties required of me as Governor of this Metro Area. That is why, effective immediately; I must resign as Governor of the Los Angeles Metro Area. I leave you in the immensely capable hands of my Lieutenant Governor, Lewis Khan. It has been my most esteemed honor to serve you all as your Governor. I cannot thank you enough for giving me this opportunity.

  “Unfortunately, I will not be taking questions. I hope you can all understand my desire for privacy on this matter. I now yield the microphone, and the Governorship of this great Metro Area, to Lewis Khan.”

  Well, that was unexpected. Governor Khan steps up and is immediately bombarded by questions from all sides. The former Governor quickly makes his way off the stage, ignoring the barrage of questions. The Aldermen on the stage start filing off and I take the cue to follow them. It’s time to give the new Governor the floor. I was worried about all the questions I was going to get after this press conference. I don’t have to worry about that anymore. All of the reporters forgot I existed the moment Governor Hayes made his announcement. I start making my way through the crowd to meet up with Linda and Captain Murphy, so we can head back to the OEC office.

  As I push through the crowd, I feel a tapping on my shoulder. I turn around, and I’m greeted by the sight of Ben, wearing a baseball cap and a fake beard to hide his identity.

  “That was a surprise, huh?” Ben says with a smirk.

  “What are you doing here? Aren’t you a wanted fugitive? I can’t be seen here with you. There are cops everywhere,” I respond.

  “Look around Gavin, does it seem like anyone’s paying attention to us? I could be dressed like a clown and no one would notice me.”

  “Okay, fine. What do you want? Why are you here? Do you have any more friendships you want me to ruin?” I demand.

  “I’m guessing it didn’t go so well with your friend the giant?”

  “No it did not go well. I managed to repair then immediately destroy my relationship with Gary thanks to the crazy ideas you put in my head. There’s no big conspiracy. He doesn’t know anything about Santa Fe or Nita trying to have The Beast kill me, or if The Beast is still alive. You were wrong about Gary. He wasn’t my friend because Nita ordered him to be, he was my friend because he liked me. At least he used to like me before you convinced me to accuse him of being part of some sort of massive conspiracy whose purpose you don’t know and whose existence you have no evidence of,” I whisper as loudly as I can to show my anger.

  “Okay, we’ll call that one a dead end,” Ben says with no reaction to my angry rant. “But that’s not why I came here to see you. Aren’t you surprised the Governor resigned? Popular politicians don’t usually leave office by choice. He was probably going to win reelection next year, then who knows? Governors have always made for good Presidential candidates, especially successful ones.”

  “You heard him. It’s a personal matter. Do you know anything more about it?”

  “Not exactly, but I do know it Nita is involved. The Governor shut down the Ultracorps takeover of the municipal water system. Nita is not going to take that lying down. She sent The Beast out to protect that contract before. She showed she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get that contract.”

  “How could Nita get the Governor to resign?” I say somehow finding myself sucked in.

  “I’m still trying to figure that one out. Lately, I’ve been consumed with trying to find out what happened to a copper mine located outside old St. Louis; for some reason I feel like they are related. It was a highly productive mine, then about a month ago out of the blue it shut down in a single day.”

  “You feel like they are related? Aren’t you supposed to be a genius? That doesn’t sound very scientific.”

  “Because I’m a genius I know the value of my intuition,” Ben says with a smug grin I can see behind his fake beard.

  “It was probably a Plague outbreak; you know how Cabot’s bacteria love to eat copper.”

  “I may or may not have committed some trespassing recently and looked at the records for Plague containment teams, but none were sent to St. Louis recently. It wasn’t easy to get those records, let me tell you, I pretended to be an exterminator there to kill some roaches...”

  “I don’t care about
a copper mine. What could that possible have to do with the governor? More importantly, even if I believed you that this matters—which, let’s be clear, I don’t—why are you telling me this? I don’t know anything about mines or St. Louis.”

  “Because there are some records relating to Manna deliveries in the St. Louis area that have been redacted. Lots of Manna, maybe enough to feed The Beast. Maybe Hayes found out about it, and that’s why Nita had to get rid of him. I need a way to look at the paper files to know for sure. Ultracorps keeps a lot of records in the lab facility you used to work in. I need you to go back to the lab, find a way into the archives, and look at the hardcopies of the files to see if that mine has really been shut down.”

  “Sure, I’ll violate my parole by leaving the OEC office without permission, trespass on Ultracorps property, and then steal official documents. All because you think a mine shutting down two thousand miles away was a little suspicious. Why don’t you just have me try to beat an explanation out of the former Governor? That would actually involve breaking fewer laws. Do you think I’m stupid? I know you’re talking about The Beast again to manipulate me. He’s dead. He fell from a three hundred-story tower. He’s not in some mine in St. Louis.”

  “There is one way to find out for sure,” Ben says suggestively.

  “I don’t have any way to get into the lab, and even if I did, I don’t see why any of this matters. Mines shut down. Not everything is a conspiracy, Ben. I think you might need help,” I say sincerely.

  Ben sees something behind me and his face goes white. “Good idea. I’ll make an appointment,” he says hurriedly. “Ultracorps is going to get that water contract. You’ll see.” Then he abruptly turns around and hustles away from me.

  I turn around to see what scared him off. It is Officer Maria Vasquez and she’s headed right for me. My mind immediately recalls yesterday when she acted like she didn’t know me in the hospital. I push it out of my head. I don’t want it to affect my attitude. I need her help even if my ego is bruised, no matter how black and blue.