The Infected (Book 9): Proxy: War Day

by P. S. Power

  Except that, inside, he knew it really was. Important, too.

  Penny snorted at him, sounding angry, as if he were the one responsible for the trouble she was in? True, he could have covered for her, but she really needed help.

  That didn't keep her from speaking though. He was the only person there that heard her, since Denis had lost track of her, and she was making herself really invisible. Probably by reflex.

  "Somebody did a number on your head. We should get you to medical." That was what they were calling the one doctor that had come with them. The rest had been off at a conference when the building went up. All the nurses had been away too, for different reasons. It was suspicious, but the head Doc had "died" with the rest of them, and a lot of people knew that the IPB had been spreading their resources out for a while before that. So far no one had even hinted at thinking they were alive, as a group.

  "I don't need to see Kiko, we just need to send a car. Mickey can do it. It's not like he'll mistake the man for anyone else. Just..." He walked away, because it was clear that no one was going to believe him.

  Sure Shot was on the main level, smiling happily. His first mode was joy, but his power allowed him to hit anything he aimed for with a projectile. He didn't just shoot guns either. He could throw knives, or even rocks, and leave a person crippled, or dead, even if they tried to dodge. It made him a class three on paper, and in practice, since he really was too nice and kind to be a fighter. If he'd been more normal that way he'd have been a class four. The power rated it, but the man just didn't have it in him to kill like that. It was a good thing, Brian decided. The world needed fewer people like Proxy. Not more.

  He was playing a video game with Dave, the blue man. He was nice, but too distinctive to send out into public. Mickey looked like he could be almost anyone really. Average, in an unmemorable way.

  "Hi! Mickey, I need you to go and get someone. He's walking this way on the old Highway North of here? You'll need a car. You'll recognize him. Try not to crash when you get it. He's pretty nice by the way."

  The man stopped playing the game, which looked to be a shooter, rather than something more in depth, like Final Fantasy. He kind of liked both kinds of games, for all that he hadn't touched a game controller in over a year. It was funny though, since it was clear that Dave was kicking his ass at it. If it had been real life, it wouldn't have been going that way in the slightest.

  "Sure thing." Mickey stood up instantly, and since he was going alone, didn't think that it seemed dangerous. It wasn't, but it was strange that the man didn't ask more questions, he just started to walk away. Like Brian had prepared him for what was coming?

  He hadn't, so he rolled his eyes as the man turned to head toward the front door. It was a nice and very sturdy thing that looked like wood, but was actually perfectly balanced two inch steel inside. No one would just kick it open on a whim. Not unless they were already inside, at least. Meaning one of the Infected living there.

  "Wait... You're going to meet a man called Jake. He looks almost exactly like you, and claims to be from a different reality. I'd send one of these other people with you, but you're all too trigger happy and high strung right now." He managed to sound like his old self on that one, which was playful and almost relaxed. Mickey grinned, getting it, but Dave stared.

  "You're saying that we're all too dangerous to go?"

  "Yup. Well, I could send Karen, I guess, but she's too high profile. Way too much so. Me too, for all I keep going out. How I haven't been outted in the press yet I don't know. That will come soon, I think. Probably in the next few days. Honestly... I think I have to go back to the IPB soon. Tonight." He knew it then, the idea hitting him way too hard to mistake for anything else. It nearly stole his breath.

  Crud. So much for his getting a vacation, and using the time to kill Braid, then. In fact, he didn't have that much time left. He needed to come back before the footage ran. Publicly.

  Grand.

  "Fuck. Well, go and get him, Mick? Tell him I said hi? Also, what are you two doing in here playing games? Mark needs help watching Penny. I think I have to leave. Now. Damn-it. No one else can really keep an eye on our little trouble maker either." For half a second he didn't know what he was going to do at all, but looking around he noticed the hallway where the offices were. Not everyone bothered getting one, since they weren't really working, but Christian had. She was the one in charge of the communications network, too. Telepathy. It wasn't impossible to crack, but it would be pretty hard, and Braid couldn't see what they, or anyone, was thinking.

  Just the results of it, but if they were careful they could plan in secret from her.

  He left the boys to handle the incoming man, and stalked down the hallway, his thoughts a bit agitated. Until he calmed them, like Mark had taught him to. That had really been for pain control, but it was useful for a lot of things. Like sneaking up on telepaths.

  Chris was good, but she actually blinked at him when he opened the door. Standing there without a thought in the world.

  "Brian? I didn't notice you. Is something wrong?" She actually seemed concerned for him. That hadn't always come across too clearly, in the past. He knew, inside that it was really just because he'd almost always been in pain, which hurt her nearly as much as it did him, but it had been hard for him to separate that from personal rejection at the time.

  It was probably related to the fact that he was a whining little bitch man, in his heart at least. A big part of him really wanted to go into the other room and play video games. Not eat Funyuns though. No, his new eating disorder was enough to make the very thought leaving him feeling slightly ill.

  "Yeah. I need to go back to the IPB. Officially. I was seen earlier, and it's going to hit the news in a few hours. If I come back first it will be a lot less likely to be traced back to here. Can you get in touch with Mary and set that up for me? Please? Sooner is better. I think I'll have to take Penny too. It's going to concentrate our Braid fighting ability, which sounds good, but really isn't. I'd rather we were spread out, but I can't leave her here." He still sounded relaxed, at least. His voice nearly mellow.

  He was going to blame Jake for that one. The man clearly had a real effect on people. Or at least him. Brian was kind of sad about not getting to hear the rest of his story, no matter how farfetched it was in the end. That could be a mind power though, or a trick.

  "We also have a second Mickey coming in. He's called Jake. I need you and Martin Joabs to test him when he gets here. Make sure he's on the up and up."

  The woman didn't even ask him to explain, even though he was trying to be mentally quiet. He knew things though, even if he wasn't thinking the words, and he didn't doubt that Chris could pick that up without much effort.

  She nodded, "true, but it's such a relief, not being bombarded like most people do all the time. Denis is doing better that way, too. Now if I can just get the rest of the people here to take lessons. I do appreciate the effort, don't think for a moment it's going unnoticed. Now..." She fell silent, but not for too long, perhaps forty seconds. "Ah. Mary said that she can be here in fifteen minutes? Is that enough time?"

  He didn't know. If Penny refused to go, then, well, that wouldn't matter. She had too, and would, even if he had to knock her out and carry her away.

  "Should be. I'll set things up here. It shouldn't be..." He wondered how big of a fight Penny was going to give him.

  Chris did something very strange then, and stuck her tongue out at him, while crossing her eyes. It was goofy, and while the cool blonde was many things, including kind of hot for a slightly older woman, she'd never managed that one around him before.

  "I've just asked her to meet you in the front room, now. That will save time. I'm almost certain she's willing to leave. Funny, but being exposed as a rapist and thief has left her feeling more than a bit raw, for some reason." The words were a tiny bit hostile, he realized, and that was suddenly aimed in his direction.

  "I didn't make it up. You kn
ow that though, don't you? Really, there's no way you could miss something like that going on, not over a span of years. Not even if she blanks your memory of it half the time." Blank mind and sounding calm or not, she got the idea. He was blaming her, at least a bit.

  The woman just shrugged.

  "You'll all get over it. There are so many things that happen around here. Not just here, either. Half of the things people do each day are close to criminal, Brian. I don't just mean the people you kill to protect others, either. Common things that they barely feel guilt over most of the time. If you think that Penny is the only one here that does things like that... Well, you'd be wrong. She's not even the only one that's abused you." She tried not to smile, but shook her head. "Of course you were there for what Marcia did to you in practice. That isn't normal though. Stripping you a half dozen times? No one else has that level of clothing damage. She enjoyed doing those things too. Don't let her tell you otherwise." She held up a hand, to stop him from speaking, but he wasn't planning to.

  It really wasn't the first time he'd heard the idea. Both Becky, the ghost that used to live in his head, and Penny had mentioned it before.

  She went on.

  "I know that it's different, but my point is that even though I knew about it, there's almost no way I could have made it stop without doing things nearly as bad to her, myself."

  She meant mind control. Brian had suspected it was a talent of hers for a while, but hadn't confirmed it with her. If she really could do that sort of thing, she was probably close to being a class seven as well. Not that it mattered, except that having Braid just happen to jump from a very high place might be handy, if the woman ever happened by one while she was paying attention? Oh, not if she had to feel it happen, but if she could pull out in time? That might be useful.

  "You should get going. Stay safe." The words seemed to be meant, which was kind of her. They didn't really get along that well, he knew. He tried, and she probably did too, in her own way. They were both just too different to really mesh well.

  "You too. Tell everyone else I said that too? And that it was me that stole Penny away before they could get their well deserved revenge. Warren is probably going to need to talk to someone. I mean for real. There's... He's hurting, in a bad way. Worse than most of us seem to be. Can you find someone for him? Even if he can't remember this later, he should have help."

  "I'll see to it. Thank you, Brian." Then she waved him away. She did that when things got too hard for her. Her first mode made other people unpleasant for her. As far as he could tell, they just really got on her nerves, if she was near them too long. She could take them for about five minutes, then it became a real chore for her. He was at about the end of that, so he waved and walked out, not speaking again.

  They weren't close, and she didn't need him to pat her on the back and tell her to buck up. They did need to keep working together though. Like that guy had said. If they could all manage that one simple thing, most of the world's problems would be gone in a few months time.

  It was easier said than done though. Even Jake had been about to kill that man who'd gone for him, hadn't he? That was kind of the antithesis of working as a single team.

  The front room had a lot of people in it when he got there, including a rather invisible Penny, who was standing behind Dave, watching him play his video game alone. When she noticed Brian coming, she shook her head.

  "No one will ever play with me. I'm pretty good at this one, too. So, what's the plan? Am I being kicked out? Or are you going to just kill me?"

  He didn't bother to pretend he wasn't talking to her, even if no one else could see him do it, they could hear him. It wasn't a thing he was going to hide from them.

  "Neither. I have to go back. I was caught on video, and it's going to run in a couple of hours. I need to report in before that, and let everyone know I'm alive. No one else here can really watch you, so you're coming with me. Officially. The story is that I teleported out, and you were off base when it happened. No one knew about it, because, invisible girl. Just so you know, if you ever touch another person without their permission, in a sexual fashion, I'll kill you. I mean it too, Penny. Anyone. I'll take their place, and slit your throat where you stand. Do you understand that? If you don't tell me you do, I'll..." He shook his head. Short of killing her right then, there was no point in going on with what he was saying. He was angry at her, for what she'd done to the others. He didn't really matter that much, but some of them, like Warren... That was plain old rape.

  If she were a man and had stuffed a sex toy up Dave's ass, Brian would have killed her on the spot.

  He mentioned that, out loud. The all blue man, who was wearing jeans and a gray t-shirt, spun in place, understanding who was being spoken to.

  "You would? For me?"

  As if that was some kind of shock? Even Penny got the idea. He could tell by the way she shook her head.

  "I'm so embarrassed now. They can all see me. They saw. Now they hate me, because of you. I wish you were never born!" She actually stomped her foot, like a spoiled little girl. That got him to smile at her, his eyes lighting up enough that she froze.

  Realizing what she'd just said, to a person that was practically one of her best friends in the whole world. Even if she didn't like it all the time, he was the one that could always be there for her. So what she was saying was basically that she truly wanted to be alone.

  Except that probably wasn't really true.

  In the end, she just didn't want her crimes to be known. Not that anyone there would be able to keep things in mind about her soon. Not with the field she was putting off. He understood that a bit better now. It reminded him of something that Tara Strong, the actress had said to her once, right in front of him.

  That Christian had told her that Penny was a pirate too. He'd figured it was about illegally downloaded music and movies at the time, but now he got it. It was about plunder and rape. That reminded him not to trust that Tara woman, if their paths ever crossed again. She'd seemed all right, but if Chris thought that she was mentally like Penny...

  Well, they'd probably never meet again, and if they did, he'd try to stay ready.

  The girl in front of him shied away physically for a bit, so he stared at her, which he knew wasn't going to help. Her first mode would make her see that as hostile, or whatever it was that made her shy.

  "Penny, relax. Mary will be here in a few minutes, and she'll want to see you. You can't hide from this forever."

  "Can too. It's what I do."

  That got him to grin a bit, and then relax himself.

  "Cool. I get it. But still, Penny, if you're going to be a pirate, you can't act like this every time people get ready to keelhaul you. Toughen up a bit and stop being a-" He nearly said pussy, as rude and sexist as that would have been, but Mary appeared, the space to his left, behind him, warping before she moved into place.

  A warm feeling came over him, covering the cold, dark place, where he kept his heart most days anymore.

  "Love! I let myself be distracted by things earlier, and then had to go feel bad for an hour because I didn't get to kiss you! What kind of a boyfriend does that?" He moved in and did it then. She was a good kisser. Warm and willing, all the time. At least she'd never told him no, or pulled away from him when he'd moved in to try.

  Behind him Penny sighed, but it wasn't some kind of conflicted girl crap, thankfully, which might have just gotten her kidney punched in the moment, if it was. She was just trying to relax, using a trick that Mark had taught her. Brian had learned the same one, since at times it was useful to let your body go limp, even in a tense situation. Tension burned energy, sometimes it was a very bad thing. After a bit she appeared. Her skin was a dark tan, and her hair a deep brown now, though she was normally a pale blonde. It was all makeup, though he didn't know why she'd picked those colors. Even her contacts were wrong. Brown instead of blue.

  "Hi, Mary." She looked sheepish. Then she looked unconscious, as M
ary stepped in, and hit her right on the chin. Hard. It took her all the way to the ground, and made her go invisible again. To everyone else, except him, of course. He didn't really know why he could always see her, but whatever the reason, he truly did.

  "Well done, my love! We have apprehended the villain, and may now remove her from the lands of your people, to end her days. Come."

  That required him picking the unconscious girl up, and carrying her over his shoulders, as Mary looked triumphant and made the world turn a solid blue color that faded slowly in to a very different, and rather open, space.

  He recognized it, since it was the old IPB base. The current one too, since it had been blown up. Rigs, the new guy, hadn't been wrong when he'd described it as a hole. It was pretty much exactly that. Surrounded by army style surplus tents, and a mobile trailer that was off to the right. Next to the armory building. The slag pile of melted rock that sat in a lump, which used to be that, he thought.

  His girlfriend turned to him, and then pushed Penny off his shoulders, even though she couldn't see what she was really doing. It meant a hand to the face for the girl who was just recovering from the punch she'd taken, right before the nearly five foot drop onto her side.

  "Whoof. Ahhh." It was a bit uncomfortable sounding, but she'd live.

  Unless Mary wanted to finish the job? He probably shouldn't let her, because the other woman might still prove to be useful. Rather than fight about it, she just kissed him again. It was a lot nicer than bickering, and no matter what else was going on, Mary understood the need to compromise from time to time. Her entire world required it, of almost everyone. You either went along with what the most powerful wanted, or you died. They didn't have any trouble with overpopulation there, Brian had noticed.

  "I'm in town, at my shop? Come visit, when you can? Things are most hectic here of late. Perhaps you can stay with me?" Then, with a third kiss, a gentle one that lingered for nearly a minute, she stepped back and removed herself in a ripple of twisted space that he was nearly certain most people wouldn't have seen.