by P. S. Power
“Several large laboratories in the United States have been working together to build a stronger version of humanity, for some time. Genetics research, drug treatment protocols, and even machine and computer implants. It’s most exciting, actually. Here though, in this bio-research lab in California, they created something rather dangerous. Neo-dracanoids.”
Eve could see that name working out for them. The woman in the picture was all white, but had scales. She was on two feet, but had a large tail, and if the picture was correct, seemed to be growing wings out of her back. Her eyes were a lovely gem green though, and she had bumps that corresponded to breasts, if without nipples, as well as soft features.
“Okay. I don’t see the problem yet? Are we suppose to hate them for being different?” She looked at The Cleric directly, but he smiled back at her, lovingly. It was a bit weird, so she looked away.
“No. If it was merely a difference in size and shape, I would have let the project go onward, and not bothered with it. Diversity is good for Humans, even though it’s also a great stress for them. The issue here is a simple one however, the neo-dracanoids can pass their differences through bites, and enjoy dining on Human flesh. It’s an imperfect process, and takes a lot of time to take hold of a person, but it would eventually, cause the deaths of thousands of people, if left unchecked. I wish to hire you, Miss Benson, to stop it now, before that takes place.” The man pushed his glasses up, the lenses distorting his face a little, as if they were real.
Eve looked at the pictures again, taking all of them one by one, then, without asking anything else, examined the file, and the building plans. The written part was the most useful for her, since it had notes from a lab-tech, outlining what had been going on with the eight subjects they had. They’d started with three, two women and a man, but they really did crave Human flesh, so had bitten people. Not everyone had survived that either.
After nearly half an hour of reading, she realized that Lenore had gone behind the counter, and was helping someone, and that the people in the back had walked past. Gregor, The Cleric, just sat there, watching her.
Finally, she sighed and sat up a bit straighter.
“So, you want me to kill them all, before they can spread?” It was the kind of thing that she could do, Eve knew. The creatures were strong and fast, having sharp claws and teeth, but they seemed a bit simple minded, and that was compared to a Human, not even a standard Vampire. Plus, if the papers were right, Vampires shouldn’t be able to catch the dragon virus thing, since their blood didn’t really pump, and there was nothing living to change inside of them.
The man, the Greater Demon, across the table from her shook his head.
“Not exactly. What I’d like you to do is go to this location, inject the Neo-dracanoids with a compound that one of my facilities has created, and then make certain they do not harm anyone for at least five days. The people at the facility will work with you, but I’d rather not risk this getting out. Having people go into the cages to try and do this, who might be affected, is less than optimal. They could, if you weren’t available, and of course, I could do it myself, but it will work better to have this handled by one of your people right now. I’ll pay, of course.”
Eve looked at the papers, and then shrugged.
“It will take a few days to get there. I think. If Ginger is coming with me. She isn’t fast, really. Immune to this kind of thing though, it looks like, so that won’t hurt. I could go in tonight though, and do the first bit, and come back during the day tomorrow? It… That’s a lot of work.” Mainly that she was making for herself, but it was probably the best plan, so she nodded. “Can you have the stuff I’ll need waiting for me? I’ll get the directions, and head out as soon as they can be ready for me. As for payment…” She didn’t remember what the stuff she needed to try and get was called.
Luckily, Gregor did. It was pretty clear that someone had briefed him on what was needed.
“I’ll trade you two kilograms of uniform nano-aligned graphene sheeting, built for spintronics applications. Plus share some information about the things happening around here? I don’t have all of it, but there are some things that have come to my attention that may aid you? Or not. The others are responsible for most of it, but it won’t hurt for you to know what things to avoid, if possible. Is that enough?”
Eve shrugged, then decided to negotiate, if poorly. All the Greater Demons did that, from what she’d seen. If she wanted their respect, she’d need to be at least kind of similar to what they expected.
“I’d like a bit more, so that I can feel good about how I took you to the cleaners. Any suggestions that way?”
The man actually reached out and patted her hand. There was a tingle, like she expected, but it was warmer, somehow. Different than what the Greater Demons did.
When he pulled back, the man nodded.
“I could, possibly, see that a certain real estate agent in Iowa learns to not be a bigot?”
“Without harming her? Physically or mentally?”
“Yes. She won’t even know that it happened, her mind will simply start to become more open over the coming months. So the two Kilos of graphene sheeting, the information to be named later, by me, and a powerful, but not harmful lesson for your friend?”
She nearly blurted out deal, but didn’t, simply giving a single nod. He might be an angle, underneath it all, but he was pretending to be a Greater Demon, so doing that kind of thing might give him away, if anyone was watching them.
“For my part, I’ll go to this facility, give the neo-dracanoids the needed shots, and then make sure no one is contaminated for five days. If the people there will actually work with me, then it will be easier.”
“They will. Believe it or not, they’re actually decent people, in the main. A bit adventurous, but that isn’t a sin, rumors aside. So, that settled, I should be making my leave. I have a few things to make ready for your arrival. Call it fifteen minutes?”
She could make the trip in that time, but shook her head.
“Nope. I have to work here until at least six. Plus I need to find someone to watch Ginger… Unless…” She looked behind the counter, and then tried to count things off in her head. It was risky but they could do it, possibly. “Lenore, would you watch the shop for me? That way Ginger and I can run down now. It will take forever, but if we leave right away, and she doesn’t wimp out too much, we should get in about six or so?”
Lenore actually laughed, and shook her head.
“Or I could just watch her? She’s my daughter, after all. I’ve done it before.”
It would work better, so Eve agreed, standing fast.
“I’ll be back in the morning then? Ginger and Dave will need to meet me here. I don’t want to lose the work we’ve been doing. Nikki, too. Really though, she should be fine in a few more days. Maybe less.” They grew up so fast.
Lenore seemed resigned to filling in, but didn’t ask for anything for herself, which was strange. Not even after The Cleric left.
She just seemed a bit scared.
“Be most careful, Eve Benson. There is no way that this is as it seems.”
That pretty much had to be the case, so Eve nodded, then, after making sure she knew where to go, ran under the noonday sun.
It slowed her down, but not nearly as much as dragging poor Ginger along would have.
Chapter nine
After spending the following week running, a thing that felt literal to her, even if the fact was that she only made ten trips, back and forth to the lab complex, she felt ready for a break. Not that it was going to be in the cards for one Eve Benson. On top of everything else, that started to feel almost like a bit too much for her to take.
The situation on the ground had been dismal, especially at first. The scientists that had been working on the program had mainly been transformed into cannibal dragon beings that thought anything that looked like meat was fair game. That didn’t include each other, for some reason, but they did g
o at it like bunnies if left in a mixed sex group, so it was decided to hold the nine beings in two separate enclosures. Not eight, like The Cleric had mentioned, since another one had turned far enough to require isolation, while they talked.
As promised, the new highly experimental formula was waiting for her. That part went about as expected, with her darting into the closed off rooms, using her full speed. Leaving the rather slow, scaly creatures, standing there like statues to her way of seeing the world. So in that way they were all given their doses as scheduled. That was another thing that had sounded different when she’d been told about it. It wasn’t one shot for each of the new type of beings, all of them white and kind of standardized in form, to her eye.
No, they needed three pokes, every eight hours. No one else would risk doing it, and the fact that she could get it done meant that the vast majority of the people there wanted nothing to do with her. Not because she might drink their blood, either. It was a refreshing change up from Sheila the bigot Real Estate Agent. No, they were just afraid that she’d be bitten and change, then kill them all.
Like hiding in the break room was going to save them if that happened?
After the first five days, she was technically finished, that being what she’d contracted for with The Cleric. The beings were still a bit bitey, so she stayed at the white halled, hospital feeling place, until they all changed back enough that the others could communicate with them. That part was interesting, since over the course of seven days the creatures went from looking like aliens, into people again. It was slow, but each day she could tell it was happening.
The real trick was keeping Ginger going during the day, at the same time. That meant a lot of fast moving on gray freeways, passing cars that seemed to be hardly moving at all. Eve timed things carefully, so that she’d be with her as much as possible, without messing up the dosing schedule. Thank god she didn’t need to sleep. Dave and Nikki were both doing well enough on their own by the end of that week to not need her help or encouragement anymore.
Nikki, in fact, really didn’t need her at all anymore, and David was being watched by Edom, who didn’t need to do more than remind him not to lay down at about noon each day. That would probably take a while, since the Vampire in question was a bit lazy, by nature.
Careless too, as well as sloppy. Eve didn’t know when it had happened, but at some point the way that she viewed other people had shifted a lot. Somewhere in there being dedicated, hard working and precise had pushed past other things, in regards to how she saw everyone else.
David was cute though, which unfortunately didn’t help him much with the crowd at work. It had probably been a big shock to him, honestly, when he’d first turned. Good looking people had an easier time of things in life, because other people kind of wanted to fuck them, so treated them better. This entire embassy was staffed with Vampires that didn’t care at all about sex. That meant he’d gone from being a side of prime specimen, to just another person on the payroll, without warning. Oh, she could tell that David was nice looking, and symmetrical, but that fact wouldn’t get him treated any better than say, Cormack, who had been far more normal looking.
On her last trip back home, on the final day of the lizard project, she found herself sitting on her bed in the room Edom had provided her. It was small, and tidy, which was enough for her. She’d never really had a huge space anyway, and hadn’t used it as more than a changing room for a long time. She’d only stopped now, because there was a package resting there. Waiting for her. It had her name on it, in bold black printed letters, and several white envelopes were taped to each of the three things sitting there.
She didn’t dive in, being a bit leery about new and strange things suddenly. The writing on the outside was nice enough though, so, moving slowly, she opened the first one, which was an envelope that just sat on the rust covered bed spread. She’d never even laid on the bed, she realized, and it would need to be washed soon, since it had gotten a bit dusty. She could see that, since moving the things there around a bit left faint marks. Swooshes of color, shining lightly in the glow of the single lamp the space had.
They had a washing machine, so she could do that later. It made it a lot easier to keep on top of things that way, compared to going to a laundrymat.
The note, inside the envelope, wasn’t a long one. The printing was pretty nice though. Very clear and easy to read.
The larger box contains the graphene. The smaller package holds what information I think you can use, at the current time. Gregor.
That was it. The other envelopes said basically the same thing. It was a bit redundant, but it was just possible that The Cleric didn’t think she was all that bright. Compared to him, she probably wasn’t, but she could have made it through with only one letter to direct her easily enough.
She set the larger box, which was bigger than she thought it would be, but lighter, to the side, and opened the smaller thing, which was filled with papers. They were clean and sharp, with no smudges or hints of dust on them. She could smell the fresh ink that had been used, which meant they’d been done in the last few days.
The reading was a lot more fascinating than she would have figured on.
For instance, the first ten pages, written long hand with very good and legible penmanship, outlined what Fram had planned. There was more than one plan in the works, because the Greater Demon would change up, if he was stopped in one place. He’d told her about the planned Vampire/Human war, but if this information could be trusted, that one was already a bust. Apparently because she hadn’t killed Lenore. It said it that way specifically too. It wasn’t about one of them dying, or Zack killing her. Just her taking out Lenore, as if that was the only real option.
The next most likely thing would be a set of financial attacks on Zack’s holdings. The ultimate goal, which wasn’t stated, really seemed about a combination of things. It wasn’t about The Line Walker though, but Keeley. If everyone loved Zack, they seemed more than a little bit less enthused about The Mistress of Souls.
Fram was actually leading a rather careful plan to set her back for a good long time. At least as far as this information went.
Under that, in the same hand, was a sheet that told her the story of Brian Smith. The bouncer. How he’d actually been a Greater Demon the whole time he’d been employed at the club, and that the same being had been around her in more than one place. There was, naturally, no name attached. The point wasn’t to tattle on the Demon, just to let her know that she really didn’t need to start looking for his grave off in the countryside. That was clear, since Gregor had kindly added that in for her.
The rest was constructed out of bits of information that were in single lines. Like the one that just said she needed to work with Ginger on handling her desire to feed on Humans, before she was reintroduced to her parents.
It was leading, suggesting that it happen for some reason, and that wasn’t lost on her. It also wasn’t a horrible idea. Looking at the time, she nodded, stood up, and went to the phone in the light colored living room.
It range a few times, and when it was answered, the man on the other end sounded bored.
“Roy Benson. What can I do for you today?”
“Hey Dad. It’s me, Eve. I thought that I’d finally call, making me only the fifteenth worst daughter in the world, instead of vying for number three. I’ve just been busy, and you know, avoiding you and Karen. How are things going?” She didn’t explain herself, but delightfully, she didn’t need to. Her bit of honesty seemed to be enough to tell the whole story, without having an argument about how she was a horrible person. She knew that one, so it would probably be a bit boring anyway.
“Things are going well here. We saw you in the news a few months back? When you were in that box? Those guys, the ones that, ehem, you know, I take it they’ve been dealt with?”
Eve had to actually think about that one, having kind of forgotten about it, actually.
“Well enough. A friend of
mine had them cursed, so their lives won’t be much fun for a few years. This is a great location if you want to do things like that. Speaking of which, I need to get with him. Go to a movie or something. I’ve been working almost constantly, outside of being in a box.” At that, she was done. Everything she felt like sharing had been spoken already, and it seemed like her father felt much the same way.
They ended up talking about Richard Swerlin, and who had messed with his mind, in order to get him to out the Vampires like he had.
Eve shrugged.
“A Greater Demon, and not Darla or Keeley. Other than that, I don’t really know for certain. He doesn’t know. I asked him about that.”
“Swerlin?”
She nodded, knowing that it wouldn’t be heard.
“Yep. I’m connected in certain areas now. If you ever need a good deal on animal blood, let me know, and I can totally get you a discount. You know, if you get any Vampire officers going? You should look into that. It will probably mean having them on night shift, but I bet it would come in handy in a fire fight. The whole not dying thing, I mean.”
“Plus, that might set some of the men at ease. They’re all becoming paranoid that they’ll meet up with something they can’t handle, and end up dead, or someone’s human servant. Do you have any recommendations for me?”
She knew that he meant individuals that might be able to do the job, but she really didn’t, off the top of her head. All the ones she knew that would be good for that kind of thing were kind of already working for the Council.
But she knew who to ask, and could do that for him. That was being a good daughter, wasn’t it? Helping her dad out with his work?
“The Council has a database of Vampires that are useful, and good at various things, but the Chief here, Althea Sims? She’s one of us. I bet she has some great ideas that way. She’s still not out, but might have some officers that are. I can pass her your number?”
