Whisper

by P. S. Power

  Agent nodded, his tan face seeming serious again.

  “That’s right. It would be best to keep this under your hat for a while. We’re not certain what his disposition is, as far as rights go, at the moment. We… Frankly, it could go either way. So far, he certainly isn’t a threat at all. We need to make sure he isn’t carrying anything. Viruses or bacteria that might hurt people.”

  The words got a nod from the older man, indicating he understood the meaning. His white hair didn’t move as he did that, not being long enough. Liam tried to recall what the older human looked like, in order to be able to draw him later. He wasn’t going to get better without practice and had been told to keep learning. As far as he knew, that meant learning everything he could.

  Goodman patted his arm, touching the blue top he was wearing. That was loose and comfortable. The trousers he had on were made of the same material. It was what he’d always worn, though he had several different, nearly identical, outfits.

  “I don’t think he can host such things, to be honest. Not at all. He’s simply too different as far as life forms go. Really, that probably means he’s safer for the public than you or I are. At least as far as infections go. Disease won’t be an issue for him. At a guess. We really will need to run some tests.”

  After selecting a strange light from one of his pockets, the old Doctor gave him a funny look.

  “I would like to take a peek at your throat, if that’s all right? Just to see what’s going on there. I might have to use a special tool for that.” A thing he didn't have on him, it seemed. If the thing in his hand wasn’t it.

  “Say ahhhh.”

  That came out as a simple hiss, which had the man nodding. Then after a moment he moved to the counter of the room and pulled a single drawer open. Inside there were a lot of things, all of which weren’t identifiable to him. When a strange tube was pulled out, the man froze.

  “I need to get that look down your throat. It probably won’t be comfortable.”

  Liam was used to that kind of thing, since Mary had done something similar, more than once.

  “To look at my vocal cords? They’re part of my throat.”

  That seemed to get a simple nod and a tube put into his mouth and then down his throat. After a minute, there was a soft exclamation.

  “Oh! You meant that, I see! The vocal cords are there, but lay almost flat against the sides of his throat for some reason. Which is why he whispers like he does. There’s nothing there capable of vibration. It doesn’t seem to be a sign of disease or anything like that. Just an accident of birth, most likely.”

  Then, with a pat, the man let him hop off the table. He got to keep his clothing on, though parts of it had been lifted and pulled down, to make certain he was normal in different ways. The trousers had been taken off totally, though the top had stayed on, his arms being secured behind him making it too hard to remove the thing.

  Brenner had looked at him more than the others when he was half without clothing. His body was lean and very yellow. If she was able to see more than that in him, it was down to her holding skills he didn’t. At least he suspected that to be the case.

  When he was dressed again, the two people with him walked him out of the room. People in the hallway stared at him. Some looking at his face and strange color. A thing that Mary had suggested might happen and that he shouldn’t take offense at. The rest looked at his hands, which were still behind him.

  When they got to the car, a strange thing that he’d only ridden in the like of once before, on the trip over to the hospital, Brenner growled again.

  “This is starting to piss me off, Sanchez. If word gets out that we’re treating innocent people like this… Well I’m going to be on damage control already. There are at least three groups that will take personal offense that we’re holding him prisoner like this when he hasn’t broken any laws.” She shook her head, then helped Liam into the back seat. “Watch your head. Sorry about the cuffs.”

  She glanced around, as if she might be speaking to someone else. That, or she was afraid it might be happening. She seemed uneasy about it, as far as Liam could tell.

  Agent moved around to the front of the vehicle, on the side that had the control wheel. He didn’t speak, until they were moving again. The huge world shifting and twisting was visible through the windows of their conveyance. It was majestic to behold, with lights on poles along the way, so they could see what the world held for them. The rest was either black or so dim that it seemed mysterious and interesting. Magical, in a way.

  After some minutes of silence, Agent cleared his throat.

  “I don’t suppose we could just point out that he isn’t our prisoner? We need to find a place for him, which will have to be with you, Tiff. At least for now. Possibly longer than that. I’d take him home with me but Linda told me that if I did that kind of thing again she was taking the girls and leaving. It wasn’t in her playful voice, either.”

  Liam listened to everything, since a lot was being said, without it being directly mentioned to him. Agent had a wife for instance, which was a woman who lived with a man and had natural children with him. Except that sometimes a wife could live with a woman and then they might adopt a child or make one using techniques similar but different to what Mary had done with him.

  Being that Agent was clearly a male, it was probably that first one. The girls being his female children. Liam was new and while young, it was clear that he seemed older. Like an adult, or nearly so. He wouldn’t age or grow lines on his face like a human man, so had been created to look older to start with. How much so, he couldn’t tell from his reflection in the glass.

  Brenner, who might also be called Tiff, though he wasn’t certain of that at the moment, stiffened in her seat, not talking for a while. Then, being directly in front of him as they rode, she waved her left hand. That was visible off to the side, so Liam could tell it was happening.

  “Why not? I’ll have to make some calls to let people in the community know what’s going on that way. They have their own health and welfare system, after all. Still, other than my weekly orgies and having different men over three times a week, I’m sure it will be fine.”

  Her voice was odd when she spoke. A thing that he only vaguely understood. So, being a good boy, and trying to learn he made himself ask about it.

  “Is that sarcasm? I’m not good with that one yet.”

  That, his soft and breathy words got her to stop, when she spoke, half turned around, there was a smile on her face.

  “Yep. That’s sarcasm. Mainly because I live a strange life that a lot of people would think of as being a bad environment for a five-month-old. Even worse if you were the age you look, to be honest. A lot of my contacts in the supernatural community are directly related to the idea that I’m willing to open my legs for them. That means having adult sexual relations. Prudish people can have a problem with things like that.”

  Liam nodded a bit then.

  “I’ve heard of that before. Sex. Not that people have problems with it. I’m not allowed to look at that kind of thing online. Mother told me that I should wait until I’m older for things like that.” It was difficult to know if he’d been heard clearly or not.

  After some moments the woman shrugged again.

  “Still, it’s not like you have to join in. In fact, you aren’t allowed to do that kind of thing at all, for now. If we’re claiming that you’re only five months old, then that would be child abuse, so even if someone offers, say no. That could come up, so remember that and follow it all the time. As for the rest… Well, we really do need to have at least something for you. A place to stay and… I should hire a nanny or something. Maybe a tutor? I’m getting comped for this, right?” She grinned then, and looked over at Agent, who was regarding the road closely.

  “Sure. Within reason. Not that you don’t have enough money to handle things on your own. I’ve never been too certain why you work, to be honest. If I had a trust fund that big, I’d be li
ving in Hawaii full time.”

  Brenner didn’t say anything for a while. When she did, it sounded matter of fact, compared to what she’d been doing earlier.

  “People need me here. It isn’t the life I would have chosen but if I leave it others are going to suffer more than they need to. Are we the good guys or what, right? Besides, Hawaii is a tourist trap built on an active volcano. Nebraska is good enough for me.”

  That got a nod, as the man kept driving.

  The trip wasn’t a short one, either. First Agent drove, as Brenner slept. Then the woman took over the controls, when they stopped to get liquid fuel for the vehicle and to use the facilities. Liam didn’t know if he’d be required to take a turn next, though that seemed reasonable, given there was a pattern being established already. To that end he watched Brenner carefully as she steered the large vehicle carefully down the road. There were rules to how things operated, which he tried to learn from context. Occasionally he needed to ask questions.

  “The sign said to stop. You did so, but only briefly. Then looked at the other street openings and then went. What if there had been other cars there, wanting to go as well?”

  The woman jumped, then glanced into the rearview mirror.

  “What? I couldn’t hear you.”

  He was no louder repeating himself, though she seemed to get the idea then.

  “The person arriving before the others there goes first, then around to the right. If four people drive up at once, then you carefully signal the person to your own right to go first, meaning you go last. The real trick is making sure you know what the other people are doing, which means making sure you can stop if they do the wrong thing. It comes up. We all have to learn to drive but the test only has to be taken once. Then a lot of people forget things, if they don’t use them often. Different states have slightly different laws as well. Like turning right on a red light.”

  That took explaining, as did merging on the freeway and how to navigate, both with the GPS computer system and without it, using a map. They had one of those which showed the whole country. She described how to use one while he looked at it, after the folded thing was tossed into the back seat. He traced the route they needed to take with his finger, after working it out from clues she gave him.

  It was hard to twist around with his hands cuffed but not impossible. He twisted hard and bent in a way that he’d never seen anyone else manage. The map was laid out flat to his left. On the long, soft seat.

  “We’re going through three states... You traveled very far to hurt Mary?” Not that Brenner had done it herself. The bad men had.

  The woman nodded anyway.

  “That’s right. We’re FBI. The Supernatural Division, which by the way doesn’t officially exist. People don’t know that other kinds of people are a thing. Vampires and werewolves, elves, fairies and that kind of thing. It’s our job to make sure that everyone living in the United States gets treated fairly under the law. I’m the main liaison for that, so was sent out on this. We have to travel a lot, for our jobs. We drove, this time, since it wasn’t that far, compared to a lot of the work we do. For that we fly. We didn’t know what we’d find there. That… Well, calling herself Doctor Frankenstein isn’t subtle, is it?”

  Liam had heard that before. From both Brenner and Agent, as well as Mary, who’d taken the name on purpose to use for her work.

  He whispered about it.

  “Mary, for Mary Shelley, the woman who recorded and fictionalized the tale of the creature that Frankenstein the chemist made. Frankenstein to redeem the name, from the abusive father that had abandoned his own creation, almost forcing him to become a monster. She isn’t really related. Then, the man wasn’t named Frankenstein in real life, clearly. That isn’t a very Italian name at all.” He was repeating what he’d been told, though he’d read the tale for himself. Several times.

  The main character, Victor Frankenstein, was a Genovese. A man of Genoa, not Geneva. That was very clear in the book. There was some hinting that his family had come from another land, though the movies, what Liam had read about them, got almost everything wrong.

  There was no lightning in the book, or bolts in the neck, for instance. The skin wasn’t green or gray at all, just yellow. The creature, never named by his horrible father, had been built to be eight feet tall, as a lark. He was described as fast though, not lumbering. With joints more supple than a human being.

  Liam understood that. He was strong, fast and far more flexible than any human being who wasn’t a contortionist could hope to be.

  He went on, since it was a thing he’d explored a good bit, in his life.

  “The formulae used wasn’t lost, though never given to Mary Shelley at all. There is some thought that the story was related to her by the creature, nearly a hundred years after when his creation had actually taken place. She was a talented author, for her time. My mother used a copy of that same chemical formulae to create me. Only, with a smaller size, so as to not frighten people as easily and with a better face. The creature was shunned due to his face being out of proportion and fearsome, in the novel. She wished for me to have a better life than that.”

  That had been what she’d always told him, at any rate. There was no way for him to prove that the notebook she’d used had been that of anyone even remotely near Frankenstein the character. Truly, the tale was at least in part, if not mainly, fiction. That meant things in real life could have gone very differently than they’d been written down. Even the idea that the tale might be related by the creature would explain a lot.

  Frankenstein didn’t come off as being a good man in the book. Really, he was the villain of the piece in a very clear fashion, even with the creature taking revenge by killing those close to the man. Whatever his real name had been.

  From the driver’s position, Brenner sucked in air.

  “It sounds like you know a lot about this kind of thing. I would have figured that she would have hidden it from you. That or lied about it. We could claim you were something else. A teen with jaundice or something. Most people will buy that, even if you’re a bit too yellow for it. Not that there’s anything wrong with being that color. Some of my best friends have different colors.” She hunched over then and gave off some strained laughter. “Ohhh, now I’m doing it. I’m the bigot that claims having a friend of color means that I can’t be prejudiced. Damn.”

  Liam worked out that she was using humor, without actually understanding the joke. He lacked context for it.

  So he thought for a moment, not making a sound. When he spoke it was soft and nearly blended with the hum of the car engine. He thought it had an engine. The thing that got louder when the right-side floor pedal was pushed, making the vehicle travel faster. The next pedal over slowed it, or when depressed hard, made the whole thing stop. That was done when lights turned yellow or were already red.

  “Wouldn’t having friends in the group you were supposed to hate mean that you didn’t hate that group?”

  There was a snort then.

  “See, you’re trying to use logic in a situation were only irrational feelings are allowed. You have much to learn, my young padawan.” She cleared her throat then. “Padawan is from a movie. It means apprentice, basically. Student? I don’t know what you know yet.”

  Liam nodded.

  “I understand. I don’t know that either, most of the time. I know student, apprentice, movies… I’ve only seen the G rated kind. I understand logic but can’t see why it wouldn’t be used in this case. You were joking. I know that. I didn’t understand it.” That part left him feeling bad. It was clear that the woman, one of only a handful he’d ever met, was trying to be kind to him. Joking was a sign of friendship, he thought.

  His lack of understanding could ruin that. Mary was, for the time being, gone, however, so he needed to learn from the people with him. A hint of fear tried to rise in him then, coming from the bottom of his feet and stopping only when it hit the top of his head. Then it passed back down,
since no one was screaming at him.

  The woman didn’t seem upset by his awkward words, thankfully.

  “Don’t worry, you aren’t expected to get the jokes until you turn at least five. Maybe six or seven years old, even. We have people in our society that are being really sensitive to racial issues right now, which was what I was mocking. It’s good not to be a racist but a lot of them are making it so that people of the wrong color, like me, aren’t allowed to not be racist, no matter what we think or do in life. It’s been bugging me, so I said all of that.”

  It was still vague as to meaning, though a few things clicked for him then. He could see that there were human people outside the windows, in other cars and occasionally on foot. He’d thought that he’d seen most of that sort online already, though he didn’t recognize any of them as they passed. No one stared at him all that much. A few people that went by looked at him for a while. They seemed placated well enough with a smile and a wave from Brenner.

  Even if true yellow colored people were rare.

  “I understand then. I’ll try to learn faster than that. Five years is a long time not to understand what the people around me are saying. I’ve already been speaking for four months, after all.” It was true, and got a chuckle from the driver’s seat.

  Brenner sounded pleased enough when she said her next words to him.

  “Doesn’t it though? So, what kinds of things do you like to do? When you aren’t learning, I mean?”

  The basic concept was one that he understood. Not that he wasn’t learning all the time, no matter what he did. Everything was new to him, which wasn’t what he was being asked. Brenner was, most likely, attempting to find things out about him, in order to provide what he’d need to be comfortable, later.

  “I’ve been working on learning to draw, though my skills are primitive at the moment. I was also thinking of learning to play an instrument. Mother suggested it, since singing won’t work for me. My voice might always be too soft. I read, most of the time. Books and things off the web, to teach me about the world.” He tried to project, being as loud as possible without the ability to really do that sort of thing at all.