by P. S. Power
With a bit of waving they had Tim Baker coming along with them, Taman and Avery as well. Eve moved off to a different vehicle, collecting nearly twenty people from the various worlds with her. As well as at least five city folk who were going along with the funny seeming strangers. Two of them were clearly guards of some sort. Probably Royal Guard, since they had Prince Alphonse with them. The rest looked to just have been there when Eve started waving her hands around. She didn’t seem to find that part strange at all.
As he walked and his people closed with him, Turner brushed at her dark, rather curly, hair.
“There was an issue? Explain.” It was an order and sounded military, which he could have taken offense at, given the context. He didn’t bother. She wasn’t a sweet woman, really, but the lady was a good person, for all of that. The kind who actually cared for others, even if it was hard for her to show it all the time.
Before he could speak, Taman did. In English, so that not everyone there could hear them.
“A Fleet craft was taken by mutiny. They killed the officers first thing, then took the fleet commander, Alice Orange, hostage. The idea being they were going to kill the rest of the crew, if she didn't go along with them. Otherwise she would have probably killed them all. They forced her to put in at the Soam space port, which meant getting with Willum. We worked out that there was a problem in time, so he managed to get her free. They had to execute the mutineers, unfortunately. Will did most of that.”
The words were efficient sounding, lacking a lot of emotion. Turner looked at the smaller woman and nodded, slowly.
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Baker. We need to get you in to talk to someone. That’s the second or third event for you in… I don’t know how long. Within three months, my time. Even if that’s years for you, it’s too much to just leave you alone with.”
Brian sighed, but nodded.
“Yeah. It helps a bit, if you can swing it. Having people to connect to after things like that. Was your Admiral all right? Um… Orange?” He looked at Timon for some reason, as if he might have the name wrong.
That was the sense that came from him, anyway.
The tall, very attractive looking nobleman, nodded.
“She’s an Ancient. One of the elder ones. Thousands of years old, so she’s not going to be affected very easily by things like that. We don’t really speak, since she isn’t wild about very attractive men. If she’s going to be around, we need to get some disguises going for a lot of us.”
Rather than wait, Willum tapped the front of his shirt, focusing enough to trigger his amulet for that. Director Turner stopped walking for a step then made an odd noise.
“We… Need to get some of those. I can’t recognize you at all. That’s incredible technology.”
Tim tilted his head back and forth a few times.
“Tor’s work. We mainly use them for makeup, to be honest. I can get you some, though? Really, Will can do that for us. You can make those now.” That part was firm. A statement, which got a slow nod from Taman. She didn’t seem totally pleased by the words, for some reason. Even if it was coming in a strange tongue that almost no one there knew.
Brian was watching the whole world, as if an attack might come at them from any direction, including above. At any time. It wasn’t wrong, though it seemed a bit obvious, given the crowd around them. That was thinning a little as they moved away from the stage, toward one of the craft. It was empty, of course.
The man, who looked like he could be from Vagus, smiled and spoke in a low tone.
“I didn't know you could do things like that. Is that something that we’re hiding? You didn’t do it when you were training with us.”
That got him to smile, meaning it.
“Ah. I didn’t know how, back then. Not really. I’ve been practicing. I don’t know if I’m good enough for something like that. Disguise amulets… Those are pretty high end.”
Taman, giving him a dirty look, then sharing it with her brother, Tim, shook her head.
“You can do it. You reworked these transports in three hours, from scratch. In fact, I want you to work up a list of what the IPB should have and either make or collect that for them. Within a month, their time. You can make the deliveries.” She seemed almost angry about something, which everyone understood. It was just hard to get what it meant.
Brian, probably trying to be funny, sat in the driver’s seat.
“I don’t have a license for this, I’m afraid.” There was a smile that hid inside the sound of the words.
Willum, ignoring the tension between Taman and Tim, waved at the controls.
“It’s like using a computer mouse? Point where you want to go. It doesn’t go upward in the air, but otherwise it controls like a space craft or a fast craft here. No one has a license for anything, so it’s legal for you to drive us around here. Go ahead. Just go slow, since the people here aren’t really used to these things yet. It can only go about thirty miles per hour, full speed.”
The craft was purple and black, stretching back with comfortable seats that were in black, stretching back behind them. There were six of them there, but they had seating for nearly twenty more, as long as no one was too large. It gave the craft a funny, stretched out look. Waving at the wall, Willum closed the door.
Avery sat, gingerly, the seat melting a little bit underneath her. That was one of her powers. Magic couldn’t easily touch her. It could surround her though, so managed to hold her up, as long as she didn't try to push through it. Then it would snap, bend and warp over her, unable to resist her might. That probably meant they needed to not take her into space, unless they made special arrangements for her. A real chair, made of wood, might well do it. The wood would hold her up, and the magic would take care of the wood. It was something to keep in mind, if it came up.
What was probably happening at the moment was that her clothing, being real and very well made, was doing that work for her at the moment. She was in light green, wearing a skirt, nice black shoes and a fine top that had delicate buttons up the front and complicated stitching for decoration. The work on it was real. Masterful.
Also, if he had it right, hand made, by the woman herself. Her skills in that area left her dressed in finery that few could have managed to afford in the world they were in. Even the very wealthy would have been pressed to match it.
It meant he was staring a bit at her, which she caught him doing. Instead of hiding it, he smiled. She did it back, which was interesting, given he looked very different at the moment. She was a kind person however, so it wasn’t that shocking.
Brian cleared his throat then, which was clearly being directed at Taman.
“Sit, please? I’d say strap in, but this thing doesn’t have belts, so hang on to something. As I… crawl slowly through the streets. Which side do we drive on here?”
Willum understood that one, having seen the well-organized street of an American city before.
“Down the center? There won’t be a lot of traffic. If you meet someone coming the other way, pick the closest side of the road and try to allow them to pass. People will probably give over to you, being that you’re the kind of person that drives around in a magical craft. That pretty much means a noble, to the minds of the people here. Other than that, just move slowly?”
That seemed to work. Oddly enough, Brian Yi was very good at controlling the craft, and though he did tend to stay to the right of the road, that worked pretty well. The one time they met another vehicle it was one of their own. A matching purple and black thing. One that had Lobo from the IPB at the helm. They passed without issue, even on a fairly narrow street.
Having rules for that kind of thing really seemed to work, at least at the moment. Most of the people on the other vehicle seemed to be city folk, getting in on the free ride. The clothing worked for that, being real and in the Noram fashion.
Finally, Timon rolling his eyes at his little sister a bit, explained the tension to the others.
“Taman has
been trying to push Willum, magically. Hiding how well he’s been doing from him, as if that’s going to work for long. Not that you get out of doing the work, Nephew. We should have you sit in on the classes today, given that.”
Taman snorted, sounding mean and upset, but Willum had to shake his head.
“I can’t. I have to plan a party for this evening. I have no clue how to get that done. The King and Queen are coming, along with the Heir to the throne of Noram. I invited them, but… Yeah. It was probably a mistake. The IPB people are bad enough. I mean, fifty dignitaries from another world at my house like this…”
It was daunting, but Avery Rome looked over at him and smiled.
“I can help with that? I bet we can get Eve to as well. She doesn’t eat food, but is pretty good at catering. Maybe we could get Eva and Samantha to help us? I’ve worked with both of them on similar things before.”
Brian, sitting at the controls, suddenly let go, stopping in space instantly, so that a collection of small children in what was probably their best festival clothing, could run in front of him without being hit. Not that they were making a lot of progress. The streets of the city were a maze. On purpose.
To prevent easy troop movements if it were ever attacked. That hadn’t been in any of his lessons, but it was so clear to him that he didn't need to read a book on the idea. Given the congestion in the streets, they weren’t moving that quickly for a while. Really, people were being good with them, trying to get out of the way, instead of just standing there, as they tried to pass. It meant there was time to look at the banners that had been put up. Those were just simple purple and black flags, in the main. A few of them were white and blue.
Those were the colors for Queen’s day, but Will could kind of see it.
“After all, what do you fly when a river is put up?”
Everyone looked at him, like he was being insane, which was probably fair. Only Brian spoke though, changing the topic instantly.
“I’m in, to help with food or whatever you need. I can’t really cook, but tell me what you need and it will get done.”
“Thanks. I have food units, so we just need to make the dishes and work out how to get them on a table. It’s a festival, so… I don’t know, I think we can do something different. Instead of a fine palace style meal? I don’t want to insult anyone.” He sighed and shook his head. “You know, I’m half tempted to move to your world, Director Turner. It’s easier in a lot of ways. No one expects the back-country boy to throw massive parties for one thing.”
That got a snort, from Taman. Crossed arms as well, though it was clear that her mood was back to normal.
“Don’t worry, I can set things up for you, Willum. No one really expects you to be up on things like that here, either. Not that I’d blame you for leaving. We haven’t really treated you that well so far, have we?”
There was a series of tight head nods from the others, including Avery, which probably wasn’t fair, really.
“Oh… Um, Avery, can I get with you soon? For lessons in what we talked about?” He wasn’t trying to be vague, or hide things, but it had to sound that way to everyone else there. Even as the girl nodded. It was tempting to claim that she was going to instruct him in sewing, since she had real skills there, but he didn’t. Everyone there was in on his training as a spy, more or less.
The outlier was actually Mr. Yi. He was important at the IPB in some kind of ill-defined fashion. Which didn’t translate directly to him understanding what Willum had been doing the entire time. Except that it was clear that his mind had already captured the data and filled out parts of the idea for him. They trusted him though, Marcia Turner did, and he was fighting in the war to save reality, so it was probably safe enough to mention things. He was a line walker, after all.
Made that way by his Infection, not training, but he had the power, which was all that really counted that way.
“Avery has worked out how to travel without a node. She thinks I might be able to learn how to do it. It’s slow, but if you aren’t right by a node, taking half an hour to get into the void might be worth it. Especially if I ever end up getting stuck somewhere or trapped.” It felt like it should have been hard for people to get, but they all did.
There was a sense of that from all of them, instantly. No one wanted to end up being trapped in a different reality, locked in a small room or something. It was interesting, but the person there that seemed to get that one the most was Brian. He was driving them, but managed to stiffen up anyway.
“I hear you on that one. That sounds… We should get you up to speed on that if it’s possible. How do we do that? The time works best doing it here, but…”
Taman looked around and locked eyes with Avery.
“That’s up to Ambassador Rome, I believe? As her student, Willum needs to jump to her demands, not the other way around.” She seemed a tiny bit short about it, but not so much that Yi responded to the insult in her words.
The strange thing there was that the woman was feeling tense and poorly about things, but not upset with any of them directly. It wasn’t the crowd, either. Really, it was as if the woman simply needed to go on a vacation. That, or as Brian had said, talk to someone.
It hadn’t really occurred to him before, but the woman was only a few years older than he was. Since childhood she’d been pushed into being one of the greatest wizards to have ever lived. Now she was spending her time trying to save all reality. It was important work, but that didn't mean it wouldn’t be trying for her. For a moment he felt really poorly for her. Then Avery smiled at him.
“We can set that up? I’m on a weekend right now, so next week? We’re shooting for Red Rain. That will be… I can be here late tomorrow, then spend a few weeks? We’re nearing the end of the season already. I start school after that, so…” She looked away, seeming embarrassed. “I don’t know if that’s something you do here in the same way? We go five days a week.”
Willum nodded.
“My Cousin Dareg is off at school right now. It’s why he couldn’t come today. I didn’t go to higher schooling, myself. I was an apprentice wood worker for three years. I need to get back to that, eventually. After all, this is all going to end eventually and I’ll need to do something for a living.” That wasn’t going to happen, he didn't think. It was a fine enough career, but his message business was probably a better thing to be doing, as far as helping the world.
It didn't create anything though. It was rare, so important, but not generative or useful, beyond just shifting things around.
That got them to talk about other things, as they finally left the river gate. There was a path for carts and vehicles like their’s beyond the walls, so they made better time after that. The press of bodies was simply much lighter outside the expanse of tan stone that ringed the city. Instead of taking an hour to make a few miles, they were at Will’s tower, out past the groves of fruit trees in about ten minutes. They floated along smoothly, over the focus stone path, once they were away from the rather large festival area. That had a footprint that was nearly half of what the Capital itself had. There were fascinating things behind them, such as a small mountain, with waterfalls, and a strange bent castle. Things that he’d never seen before at all.
Really, it looked fun, but he doubted that he was going to get to try anything out. None of them were. Another purple and black craft pulled in behind them, followed by a third. Looking back, Taman waved at the drivers. Tor the mighty wizard and richest man in their world was in the one directly behind them.
Driving.
His Aunt winked at him.
“What do we call these things, anyway? Will-craft?”
The last words were in Standard, but he shook his head anyway.
“No. We call them Tam-cars. Of course. That’s what this kind of thing is, after all. Plus, that way I can blame you for the color choice. Today at least that’s true. You put the order in, after all.”
She blew her cheeks up, but Tim nodded at he
r.
“That does sound fair. I think the last one in line behind us has the fleet people. My guess is that Constance will pack Clarissa into the transport box. That felt like her plan and makes sense. We can get right into work, it looks like. You’re up for that demonstration, Director Turner? Along with the young girl we have lined up for that kind of thing? It sounds like these others are planning the party out for later. We should get something going for Mr. Yi, as well, however.” He sounded tentative.
Which was, strangely enough, about not wanting to take a worker away from the meal. As if Brian Yi, who regularly went into fights for his life without notice, wasn’t worth more than impressing a few people.
“Do it. I want him to be set up at least as well as Philip or I am, if that’s at all possible. Really, he needs to be faster as well. I heard that Dareg has something…” That was also a rather horrible thing to do to a person, as far as he could tell.
Dare had been made so fast that he saw time as a distorted and warped thing. Constantly moving in slow motion around him. He’d learned, after thousands of years in the void, to control that kind of thing, a bit, but before that it had nearly driven him insane.
A thing that Timon knew, having done the work in the first place.
“Understood. I have a slightly different idea that we can try? Greater speed and the ability to move into and out of that kind of perception. Along with faster healing and being much harder to hurt. Increased strength and endurance. I think that will mesh with his other abilities. Working on Infected people can be tricky at times however. The entity that inhabits them will demand certain things and not allow changes if it doesn’t fit its plan.”
There was a snort from Turner then, but it wasn’t doubting, really.
“How like a god…” She murmured the words, but everyone heard her anyway.
Will got it. She wasn’t commenting on the powers of the being that Infected them all, either. She didn’t understand that kind of thing, after all. Willum didn’t know if it were literally true, either, so didn’t comment on it. Marcia was focused on giving Proxy powers that would probably make him virtually impossible to stop by human beings. He was already very tough that way, after all.
