Enhancer

by Wyatt Kane

  Dinah held out her hand and Ty took it automatically. Her skin was warm and soft, and at his first touch he felt a spark that brought to mind Tempest as she had been earlier, naked on the boulder.

  “It’s a lower level than I would like, but I also have a secondary skill that I hope you enjoy,” Dinah said, speaking to Ty directly. As she spoke, a tinge of color appeared on her cheeks, and Ty realized with some surprise that she was blushing. He wondered what her secondary skill might have been and his mind immediately went to a naughty place.

  At the same time, Tempest stifled a laugh.

  Dinah closed her eyes for a moment, yet she was still smiling. “I knew you would think that,” she said to Tempest, although she didn’t seem very upset. “I meant cooking,” she clarified.

  Tempest was still grinning as if in response to a joke. “Dinah made those waffles that you demolished so quickly this morning,” she said.

  “Really? They were delicious.”

  “Thank you. I’m pleased you liked them. And on that topic, I know you will be curious to look around, but why don’t we postpone the grand tour and eat first? I whipped up a few things I think you’ll enjoy. Call it a late lunch, if you like. And while we are eating, you can both fill me in on what has happened.”

  Ty couldn’t help but admire the easy way in which Dinah took complete control. With an elegance and poise that made him think of soaring eagles, the deerkin turned and flowed effortlessly from the entryway, obviously expecting Ty and Tempest to follow.

  Yet at first, Ty could do nothing but watch the fascinating woman depart.

  “Told you you’d like her,” Tempest said.

  Ty looked at the blonde woman. He didn’t know what to say or even think. Belatedly, he realized that his reaction to Dinah might be inappropriate considering what had happened between him and Tempest only a few minutes before. But he couldn’t help it.

  Yet Tempest didn’t seem to be upset at all. She was grinning more broadly than ever. “Now you see why I wanted to have you all to myself for a while before we came here. Dinah – there’s something special about her. She’s irresistible.”

  “Uh, so are you,” Ty blurted.

  “I have my moments. But Dinah is a whole new level of wow.” As she said it, she tilted her perfect head to the side. “I wonder why my father didn’t include that in the device’s display. Irresistibility. If he did, then Dinah’s would be like a hundred and twenty.”

  Ty still didn’t know what to say. Dinah was, as Tempest said, special. And yet, Tempest’s acceptance of this, as well as her acceptance of Ty’s reaction to it, was unexpected.

  He didn’t understand her at all.

  Tempest flashed him another quick grin. “Well, are you going to stand there looking like you’ve been hit by a truck forever? Come on. Let’s get some food into you. You’re going to need all the energy you can get with what I have planned for you later. And maybe the food will distract you from Dinah for long enough that she can’t steal you away from me completely.”

  19: Feast

  Ty wondered, not for the first time over the past day or so, if he had died and gone to heaven. Or perhaps he was in some sort of coma and was dreaming everything that had happened. Maybe Bane had caught him and damaged him to the point of death, or maybe the device on his wrist had actually injected toxins into his bloodstream.

  He could think of no other reason why his life could change so dramatically for the better. The feast that Dinah presented was the stuff of his wildest imagination.

  Ty’s family had been a long way from wealthy when he was growing up. And when he was studying, things were tight. Even now, with his steady job, he couldn’t afford to eat extravagantly. As well as alcohol, the Concubine Club served basic food, from pizzas and sandwiches through to steaks. And Ty was friendly enough with the cooks that they made sure to send some his way.

  Other than that, he would occasionally pay a street vendor for something barbecued on a stick or plate full of noodles if he was hungry enough. But even that was a rarity.

  Neither the Club food or the street food qualified as fine dining, and it was sparse as well. Ty’s thinness was as much a result of not eating as it was the result of natural inclination.

  The feast Dinah presented could have kept him content for a month. The beautiful deerkin placed a full turkey on the table, complete with stuffing of a sort that Ty had never had before, and rich, fruity sauce he couldn’t even name. As well, there were potatoes, beans, and several other vegetables that Ty had heard of but never tasted. There was fancy bread with a dipping sauce, and every last thing was cooked to perfection.

  As a whole, every dish combined to give off a wonderfully blended aroma that made Ty think of warmth and comfort and the type of life he’d never had.

  He was salivating even before he sat down. He gave the two women an incredulous look. Even the setting was remarkable, a formal dining room lined with rich, paneled wood, and a table that could have easily seated a dozen.

  “This looks incredible,” he said. If this was how Tempest and Dinah lived, he couldn’t help but wonder at the difference between their lives and his own.

  Nor was he the only one to experience that difference. Tempest had taken off Ty’s backpack and let Gremlin out in the entryway, and the cat was now busy inspecting every inch of her new surroundings and purring loudly. Yet she didn’t stray out of Ty’s sight.

  When Dinah caught sight of her, the deerkin woman had clapped her hands together, said, “Oh, a kitten!” even though Gremlin was a couple of years old, and immediately found a small dish that she filled with an assortment of meats.

  Only then had she turned to Ty. “Take a seat,” she said. Ty needed no further encouragement and chose the seat closest to the end of the table without being at the head.

  The sheer quantity of food, the smells and anticipated deliciousness, were overwhelming. Ty hesitated, barely knowing where to begin.

  “Is there something the matter?” Dinah asked. To Ty, she seemed to be the soul of hospitality brought to life, as if she was single-handedly running the finest restaurant in existence.

  Ty was quick to reassure her. “No. Not at all. This is just too amazing.” He looked at her and smiled. “Usually I’m happy with a bowl of noodles. I’ve never seen food like this before.”

  It was more than enough to bring a smile to the woman’s lips. “Well, I hope you enjoy it.”

  She and Tempest took their seats as well, with Tempest sitting opposite him and Dinah at the head of the table, and within moments each of them had full plates in front of them. For a few minutes, there was no talking. Everybody just dug in and enjoyed the feast.

  To Ty, it was even better than it looked. It was almost sensual how good everything tasted. He savored every mouthful and couldn’t help but murmur in true appreciation.

  At some point during the feast, Tempest started to tell Dinah what happened. She started with Ty’s call and her first experience with his apartment, describing the mercenaries Ty had put down before she arrived, as well as his stun gun.

  Nor was that the only form of communication going on. Ty became aware that the two women were sharing intermittent, knowing looks with each other, sly smiles and glances that Ty couldn’t easily interpret.

  Dinah seemed to be impressed. “You made a stun gun?” she asked, and Ty nodded.

  “Yes, he did,” Tempest said, sounding very proud of him.

  Dinah looked at Ty with new respect. “Impressive. Will you be playing an active role in the team, then? Like Tempest and … Zach.” The name of the dead hero caught in her throat and Ty was reminded of how recently they had lost him.

  “I don’t really know yet,” Ty said. “At first, my stats didn’t seem to support it. But I’ve been thinking my skill might be more useful than I originally thought.”

  Tempest continued with the story, describing Bane’s appearance, including his enhanced strength. “His name is Bane Fury. Do you think you can find out who
he is and where he came from? And where he got his device?”

  Dinah nodded, appearing thoughtful. “I’ve already spoken to the others. As far as we know, the Architect made only a couple of dozen devices to begin with, including his own. Of those, only the Architect’s is unaccounted for. Everyone else still has theirs.”

  Ty washed down a mouthful of potatoes with a swallow of juice that he couldn’t name. “You mentioned there were others before,” he said to Tempest. “You’re saying that there are more than twenty people with devices like this?”

  “Yes. In different cities around the world. Hotspots, like New Lincoln, where there is lots of crime. We are the biggest group with three members. Most cities have just one of us, but several have two. It can be a lonely experience for some of us. We were lucky.” Again, she shot Dinah a knowing glance.

  Ty was more than curious. “What are their powers?”

  “It varies. We have a shape changer, a mind reader, and Delve can flicker in and out of this plane of existence. Several of us are inhumanly strong or fast, and Kayla has this ability to alter her mass. A mix of physical and psychic abilities, mostly. And some have more than one skill, like Zack and Dinah.”

  Dinah smiled warmly at both Ty and Tempest. “What she isn’t telling you is that she won the lottery. Of all of us, she is the truest reflection of what a superhero should be. She is strong and fast and packs a mighty punch, but she’s also thoughtful, kind and generous to a fault.”

  At these words, Tempest blushed and turned away, as if she wasn’t completely comfortable with the compliment.

  Yet Dinah hadn’t finished. “The only one of us who came close was Zach,” she said, and Ty couldn’t mistake the sadness in her tone.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “For Zach, I mean.”

  The deerkin gave Ty a warm smile. “Thank you. He was a good man. I miss him. I’m just glad that his device landed in your hands and not those of Bane or anyone else of that nature.”

  The way she said it implied a degree of affection that Ty found surprising given they had only just met. Yet it seemed natural, and it matched the immediate affinity he felt for her.

  More than that, Dinah’s words, combined with something Tempest had said earlier, triggered a thought. “The Architect avoided giving devices to people like Bane, right?”

  It was Tempest who answered. “Yes.”

  “How exact were his methods? Did he ever get it wrong?”

  Tempest smiled sadly. “Nobody knew the tech like he did. He understood how it would interact with people more clearly than anyone else. But he was also a perfectionist. Even with all his tests, the risk of getting it wrong was too big. So he took genetic assays from the candidates and spliced them with the nanites in the system, and modeled the results.” She shrugged.

  “Even then, it wasn’t an exact science. He didn’t predict the enhanced attraction that supers would feel toward each other. And while he predicted Dinah’s gift for information, her skill with food came as a complete – and rather pleasant – surprise.” Once more, the two woman shared a private look.

  “But overall, it worked well enough. There were many, many candidates he passed over because the risk of enhancing unfavorable characteristics was too high. Bullies. Narcissists. Some with minor flaws, but others with more major ones. Can you imagine what would happen if someone truly psychopathic was given the ability to control the minds of others? It would be a nightmare.”

  Tempest fell silent, but Dinah spoke in her place. “It seems that fewer men possess the combination of characteristics the Architect was looking for. Most of those who wear a device are women. Zach was an exception. And the Architect himself, of course. I don’t know if Tempest said anything, but when you, a stranger who we knew nothing about, wound up with a device, we were both very worried.”

  Ty gave a rueful smile. “So I gathered.” He was no longer hungry in the slightest, but there was still food on the plate in front of him and it was delicious. He cut another portion of turkey and loaded his fork.

  “Are we assuming that Bane’s device used to belong to the Architect?” he asked.

  “There doesn’t seem to be any alternative,” Tempest responded, sounding a little glum.

  Ty could actually think of more than one. Either someone else had come up with similar tech independently, or they had found the Architect’s device and copied it. Either option was as unappealing as the other, as it meant that Bane’s device could be just the start.

  As could Bane himself be.

  Ty decided not to say anything about the possibilities he’d thought of. But he did have other questions.

  “Someone found him. Your father,” he said.

  “So it would seem,” Tempest replied, sounding resigned.

  Ty understood her reaction. Perhaps she’d held onto some form of hope that her father was still alive. That hope was now gone.

  The devices only came off when the wearer was dead.

  “I’m sorry,” Ty said again.

  Tempest smiled. “It’s okay. We all knew the chances of him still being alive were slim. It’s just – when he disappeared, we searched for him. If anyone could have found him, it would have been us. But there was nothing. We didn’t know if he’d been killed or if he simply walked away never to return.” She sighed sadly. “We still don’t know, really.”

  There was silence for a while. Ty took another mouthful, chewed and swallowed. Despite the somber tone, Dinah’s cooking was still delicious.

  “What was his skill?” Ty asked.

  Tempest’s expression was wistful. “It was more subtle than most of ours. He wasn’t superhumanly strong or quick or anything like that. His skill was his mind. Pattern Analysis, he called it. He could understand how everything was interlinked, how it was all connected.” She smiled with fond memories. “Even before the device, he was brilliant, but he just never seemed to fit anywhere. After … well, he became bitter.”

  “Bitter?”

  “Yes. His skill was a curse as well as a gift. He could solve problems before they even occurred, but not everyone wants the problems solved. It’s like the light bulb manufacturers of old. There is no reason why a light bulb should burn out unless it’s designed that way. Programmed senescence. Guaranteed for a thousand hours but designed not to last for a thousand and ten. Solving the problem of a light bulb burning out would have meant less profit for the manufacturers.”

  Ty understood where she was heading. “The mega-corporations of today are like the light bulb manufacturers of old,” he said.

  “Yes. As far as the mega-corporations are concerned, we’re nothing but customers. Sources of income.”

  It was a disheartening thought. Ty sought to lighten the tone. “You are the Architect’s daughter,” he said. “What did he think of you wearing one of his devices?”

  Tempest responded with an echo of her usual smile. “He wasn’t happy at first. But he tested me the same as he tested everyone else. He saw my potential, and that was enough. When it came down to it, my father was a practical man. If there had been another candidate with better potential than me, that person would have received the device instead.”

  Ty realized that he had put away a mountain of food. Perhaps it was a reflection of the changes his body had gone through. He chewed another mouthful and thought about everything that he had heard. There was one more question he needed to ask.

  “You said Bane seemed stronger the second time around,” he said.

  Tempest nodded. “Yeah. The first time I fought him, when Zach died, we were about equal. But at your apartment, he was stronger. I couldn’t budge him. Yes, I held back a little for fear that we would damage your apartment, but even so, I was hitting him very hard. He should have felt it.”

  “But how is that even possible?” Ty asked.

  Tempest shook her head. “I don’t know.” Then she thought about it. “The skills we have grow stronger over time. My stats are improving. The device is always refining things.
Like your strength, what was it? Six? If you work at it, you will get stronger, and much more quickly than normal. But not that much, and not that quickly.”

  That was interesting. “He’s leveled up,” Ty said.

  “Yes. But I don’t understand how.”

  Ty hesitated. “What if he has a skill like mine?” he asked. “What if he made improvements to the device? Made it more effective, and enhanced his own capabilities in turn?” He couldn’t help but liken it to finding a cheat code of some kind.

  Tempest looked at him with an incredulous expression. “He couldn’t…” she began. Then she changed gears. “You can do that?” she asked.

  Ty nodded. “I don’t see why not. I made the stun gun without even thinking, and the ideas that I’ve been having since then are quite exciting. All I need is a few tools.”

  All at once, the atmosphere at the table changed yet again. It had started out warm and almost flirty with both of the women exchanging curious but meaningful glances. Then it had grown a bit sad as the conversation turned to the people Tempest and Dinah had lost. Then the talk of Bane had added an unsettled element.

  But now, it had taken on a lighter tone. Tempest was back to grinning broadly, and so was Dinah. They glanced at each other again, as if sharing a secret.

  “Should you tell him? Or should I?” Dinah said.

  “I will,” Tempest said. Ty stared at her in confusion. He had no idea what was going on. Nor did Tempest seem to be in any hurry. She cocked her head to one side and bit her lower lip, but said nothing.

  “Tell me what?” Ty asked.

  Even then, Tempest took her time. By the time she actually started to speak, Dinah was trying to stop herself from laughing.

  “What would you say if I told you,” the gorgeous blonde started slowly, “that this place used to belong to my father?” she asked.

  Ty still didn’t get it. He looked from Tempest to Dinah, then back again.

  “You are so mean!” Dinah said. “Just tell him already!” Yet she was still laughing.