by P. S. Power
When they got to the same side door that the van had been parked near, the man actually made a pleased sound.
"You’re good. You didn't drop the cover we’d come up with at all, even if it doesn’t make sense as to why we’re doing it. I'm Walker. I head security here for the compound and Mr. Harriman’s protection."
"Connor. Nice to meet you, sir." The words were what you were supposed to say when you met someone new. Not that he'd been as polite earlier in the day, with Mr. Laveen. Clearly his cuddle friends Tim and Denise didn't count that way at all, since they wouldn't be recalling their time together later.
His words had the man nodding almost instantly.
"Meet me out here tomorrow at seven, we'll run further than this. I might bring some of the others along, since we need to exercise anyway. This is a little late in the day, since I need to make up the schedule and check all the posts at ten. Keep that in mind for next time? Earlier is better for my schedule." The words were almost friendly sounding.
They were also arranged in such a way that, if anyone was listening, they really could sell that they'd been out for a regular run that morning. Though it was probably close to noon already.
"Yes, sir. I'll be here. Now, I should go and shower. I get doing the other exercises, but I can't love the weather right now."
That got a laugh.
"Just wait till the ice and snow comes. You'll learn to love a little bit of misting like this. Good plan though. Get off to the showers and make sure to eat something. You're thin enough we don't need to starve any weight off of you." Then, as if that made any sense, the man walked away, his suit still messy.
Into the building though, where hopefully he could get his own shower.
Getting clean and dressed in a new suit, one that fit perfectly and was hanging in his closet, Connor had the next adventure of the day. Finding food. He knew where to go for dinner that night, having been in the room before, but not how to find a simple mid-day meal. It probably wouldn't be held in the same place. Just sitting and waiting in his room wouldn't work, either, he had to imagine.
Even if it felt weird, walking aimlessly around his own home, looking for someone to instruct him as to where to go, he retraced his steps to the far west wing, where the tiny girl doctor had studied him, the day before. It was either do that or go and bother Clarice. Either would have worked.
Something drew him to the younger, glasses wearing, person though.
Half expecting her to not be there, he found her sitting with her door open, visible from the hallway. The space she was in was large, being thirty by sixty feet or so. Most of it was filled with various equipment. Not all of it looked medical to him.
Glancing up, the girl, who had clear skin and a thin, somewhat long face, smiled at him.
"What's up?" She didn't sound upset, in particular. Just abstractly interested.
He smiled back, since that's what you did if you didn’t want a rather strong jolt to the lower back.
"Um, lunch?" He was about to go on and explain his predicament, not being able to find anything, when she nodded and stood up.
"Good plan. We can chat about all the interesting findings from yesterday. Some other things, too. I missed breakfast, so I'm starving. Come on."
She led the way, which worked for him. In her hands were several manila folders and a rather clunky looking gray data pad. Seeing him look at it, she snorted. She was only about ten feet away from him, meaning under the effect of his curse.
"These things look ugly, but are totally secure and hardened against emp. I'll get you one, eventually. It's all in house, but the library is pretty good here. That just means that you can’t get online for your porn needs. We have good files that way, for your viewing pleasure. You know, for when you masturbate?"
The words had an honest, but slightly wicked sound to them.
Connor sighed.
“I can’t do that… At school we were punished over the very idea, so often that even thinking about touching myself other than to wash leaves me shaking in fear. Worse, they didn’t take away my sex drive at all, so I’m kind of stuck. I mean…”
The Doctor winced and then nodded.
“That’s fucked up. You can’t really just get a handjob from a friend, either, given your powers, so… That limits things for you a lot. Well, we’ll figure something out. We won’t leave you hanging.”
She didn't pull away after that, but didn’t move any closer, either. They walked for a while, until they found a small dining room with thirty or forty people in it. Serving themselves from a buffet.
That worked for Connor, since he'd missed breakfast as well. Even if he was suddenly day dreaming about handjobs. From the tiny woman next to him, as it turned out.
Chapter three
They didn't get that close to each other, once they sat. They took up their own table however and it was a good five feet across. Meaning the woman wasn't going to be telling him any lies that day. Also, that she wasn’t acting like a zombie or being forced to speak. A thing that didn’t seem to bother him in particular. At least she didn't seem awkward about it or like she wanted to get away from him instantly.
She looked young still. Too youthful to be the doctor she claimed. A good year or two younger than he was, at a guess. She wasn't dressed up to impress anyone, either. There was no makeup or bright colors being worn. In fact, she still had her plain white lab coat on. Under that were blue jeans, running shoes and a black shirt that hugged her small chest. Denise the FBI agent had been better endowed that way.
Clarice the secretary as well.
Which reminded him of his manners.
"Sorry, Doctor Short, I... Should I get your first name or is that not..." He honestly didn't know the rules that way. Basically he was asking if he was just a research subject for her, or if they were planning on being friends. It would have been perfectly fine for her to insist on being called doctor, of course.
Rather than slap him down or signal the proctor that he needed to be corrected, the girl smiled.
"Bertie. Short for Bertrude. So, you can see that I'm pretty much stuck on the nickname front. At least in polite company. Now, I hear that I have some real winners with the others, that they only use when I'm not around. The best one right now is Doctor Nerd Girl. I’m keeping that one as my super villain name."
Connor was used to his friends having awkward first names. His wasn't that bad, but half his school friends had names that were family things or even their mother’s maiden name. Duke and Elsworth were the lucky ones. That and Dave. David had been a popular name at Etain, for some reason.
"Got it. You're my buddy Doc from now on." He smiled, since giving him her name didn’t really mean she wanted to be friends in particular. She just couldn't lie to him at the moment. If he’d asked her to list her crimes she could have not spoken, but if she did everything she said would be honest.
Still, she nodded.
"I can call you Connor? Mr. Harriman might be a little confusing, if we have two of them around here. Especially if one of them is going to claim to be my new pal." She took a bit of a noodle dish that looked good enough. He had some, since his plate had largely copied hers. That meant there was no meat and a lot of carbs. The dish in front of him was a bit sour, tasting of buckwheat and lime. Astringent being its main attribute, after the first bite.
He didn't react to that, simply eating, since it was what his plate held. If given a choice, he wouldn't take them again. The rest of the salad seemed far more normal. Greens and plants of various sorts with a thin dressing. Plum was the base of that, he thought.
About the time he looked over at her, the girl was wiping her mouth. A look of disgust on her face.
"Okay, that tastes like crap. Still, this is the employees’ dining room and the food is free, so I can't complain too much. I do wish they'd step up their game a bit. It isn’t like cooking is rocket surgery or anything. Anyway, I was going over the numbers from the tests yesterday. Have you ever ask
ed anyone to do anything in particular while under the affect of your field?"
He got to nod then, having done that earlier in the day.
"This morning, in fact. They, people will walk around and perform simple tasks, as long as I’m touching them. For about twenty seconds, then I have to remind them of what I want done."
Taking a bit of chopped green salad with cucumbers and tomatoes in it, the woman nodded, happily.
"I thought so! It should work on basically the same level as everything else. At about ten feet from you, people will tend to do what you want, unless they don't want to for a real reason. Then they can probably fight it. If they're already willing to do it, then they probably won't have a problem with anything you ask. Pretty much the same as when you ask people questions. So, if you yelled at me to do jumping jacks in here, I'd say no. I hate those things."
Plus it would be rude to the other diners there.
"So, if I suggest you eat more of the awful noodles you wouldn't, but if I recommend the salad, you'd take a bite?"
He'd done neither of those things, but there was a nod, as she took a bite of her greens.
"Exactly like that. Apparently. So, you couldn't just order me to strip down and kneel. Well, I mean, it might work if we were alone, but not in here. I'd resist that. On the other hand, if you wanted to borrow money, I'd just fork it over. I have about twenty-six dollars and change on me, right now."
Connor didn't ask for it, even if it would have been delivered. He didn't really need it. His accounts held more than he ever spent, anyway. Not that he'd ever had a chance to do much of that before in life. Everything had been provided for him at school. He'd never gotten to go on any pleasure trips like the others, either.
Off in the forest or mountain tops he'd eaten bugs and small animals, most of the time. Vendors of other types had been rare in those locations, for some reason. There were no squirrels selling cars or anything. He could drive, of course, since it had been a class at Etain. What he didn't have was a license to do it legally.
"That's a bit different. That people will kind of want to do what I ask. I guess I need to be careful that way from now on. Not that I won't ask if you want to do what you suggested, if we're alone some time. Kneel and all that?" Not that he particularly wanted to have sex with a woman that wouldn't remember it later.
Rather, he wanted the sex portion of it. Kind of badly, if he were going to be honest about the matter. He really needed some kind of relief that way, and soon would be better than doing it later, if he had a choice in the matter. It was just that it would be annoying for him to be physical with a woman who wouldn't even recall it later. Plus, he didn’t know exactly what to do. He'd had some contact with a few boys that way, but that had mainly been either sucking each other off or using their hands.
Some of them had done anal with each other, but it was too hard to find lubricant for him to ever risk that kind of thing, himself. Most of them had used bits of oil or even butter stolen from the dining hall for that kind of thing, or so he'd been told. He'd always been very careful not to steal anything if he could be caught, since you could be punished for it at Etain.
Harshly. Worse, the rules weren't always doled out evenly. What would get one boy shocked into a near coma would be waved off for someone else with barely a verbal warning being given. It was consistent though, as far as who got kinder treatment, however.
Connor had always been roughly in the middle that way. If his manners failed or he did more than grunt manfully when injured, he was hit instantly. On the other hand, he didn’t know if he'd have been hit for being a few moments late to a class. Even as a child he'd worked out that letting that happen wasn't worth the risk.
There was a nod from the other side of the table. The only problem was that he couldn't remember what he'd just said. His mind had wandered too much. Another thing that he could have been jolted for.
Doc winked at him.
"We can do that. I mean, you're cute enough. Not dazzling that way, but clean and in shape. A bit young for me. Plus, it isn't like I'll have to remember it later. I can't get pregnant. The eggs ran out about... Oh, a hundred years ago? When I was forty something or other." She shrugged then. "Before you ask, it was an experimental serum that I made, back in the day. Using a particular plant that only grew in one spot in the forests of India. I'd noticed that all of the animals that ate it seemed to rejuvenate. What I didn't get at the time was that they became younger and totally stopped aging. I have the only cultivars left. Not that I need to use it. I'm pretty much stuck this way." She ate a bit more, waving at her body with her other hand.
That news was interesting, since it was both true and meant the woman was strange. Special as well. Plus, old enough that he didn't have to feel bad about having sex with her, as long as she agreed first. Which probably wasn't true, but was still about what he was going to have to go with. Masturbation wasn't allowed, and he wasn't going to be able to last much longer without some kind of relief.
"Hence being a doctor while looking sixteen. Neat. I also look this way. My issues are totally different, I'm afraid. Not that you don't know that."
There was no speaking for a bit, since someone came toward them. A woman who looked at them questioningly, as if asking permission to dine at the same table. Connor just shifted to the left, so that the woman wouldn't end up stuck way too close to him. She was slightly older looking, which didn’t mean much at their table. She was probably in her late twenties, which was pretty youthful for the room they were in. The rest seemed to be in their thirties or forties, at least in looks.
Unlike Doc, she was made up, her clothing tight across the front, over her rather ample bust line. She was cute as she sat down, but a moment later she seemed lovely. Her face didn't change though, it was simply that she was somehow more compelling, suddenly. As if he were going to burst if he couldn't have her, right that moment. He was totally hard, in the region of his pants. Even if she was attractive, which she was, that was a bit over the top.
The incredibly old woman, looking like a teen nerd girl, rolled her eyes. Matching the younger body, instead of the old and staid mind within. She didn’t speak though, as Connor tried to recall his manners. The fear of pain was enough for him not to respond out of turn.
After a moment, shaking his head a bit, he took a deep breath. Which made the whole thing worse. He literally started to throb, painfully, in a way that had never happened before. Like he might just split, if things weren’t taken care of immediately. He understood enough about physiology to know that wouldn’t be happening. Also, to take a guess at what was going on.
"Pheromones?" It was just a question and Connor had to guess that he was probably wrong.
Doc Short laughed a little and nodded.
"Bingo, my hormone filled friend. Caught out already, Parker. You might want to dial them back, before he has to run away, given everything. Besides, I already made a date with him for later, so, clearly, don't freaking cock-block me. I'm sure we can share. He’s a teen boy, which means that he has love to spare, I’m willing to bet."
The feeling didn’t suddenly go away, but as Connor tried to get his reaction under control, the woman went from being the most interesting person he'd ever met back to simply being attractive in a normal way. She had to reach into her handbag to make that happen. Meaning the trick wasn't strictly biological. At least not inside of her body.
Though, he hadn't wanted to have relations with her bag, or even Doc, the moment before. Just her. That spoke of something complex and related to her in an intimate fashion.
Smirking a bit, the new woman nodded.
"Okay. I suppose we can do that. Share? I'd heard that Harriman's kid had come and worked out that the new boy must be him. So, I can't get in on billions just by hitting you with a bit of tickle juice? I'd be sad, if not for the fact that it's kind of impressive that you managed to resist that. Still, Bertie... Well, I guess if you like them geeky, you can't go wrong picking her. A bit fla
t up top though, don't you think?" Her words were a bit mean. Clearly what she meant to say though.
Which was interesting. She didn’t seem to be fighting not to speak at all.
Across from her, Doc smirked a bit, having worked that part out for herself.
"You probably won't need to trick him into bed, Parker. He's seventeen and just coming back from a situation that's basically been eight years of prison. Maybe a psycho concentration camp. The trouble is that if you touch him, you won't be able to remember it later. Still, you should do it. Just, you know, safe sex. I don't want to have to treat him for the clap. Not that you aren't clean right now, but being a nympho for a living leaves you a little open that way. Though, I do have a new treatment that might help with that, if you're willing? It's safe on animals at least. You too, Connor? It really should help. Against almost any kind of disease. At least for about twenty years. After that you’re kind of screwed, if you don’t get a booster. It’s worth doing, since it’s basically a super power."
She was about to go on, when phones started to ring. Almost all of them in the room. Connor didn’t have one, so felt slightly left out for the moment. The whole space rang at them, with music playing in the mix, as well as the sound of bells and buzzers at the same time. It was nearly painful.
Pulling a small black unit from her coat, Doc tapped the front then stuck it to the side of her head. Everyone else was doing the same thing. The big difference was that, while they all got up and started moving toward the door, she actually waved at him.
"Come with me, back to the lab. Meet me there in five minutes? We need the hallway to clear before you go through. We're all supposed to get to duty stations and you don't have one of those yet." She stood as the other woman, who still looked sexier, rolled her eyes.
