Enhancer 2

by Wyatt Kane

  Enhancer 2

  By Wyatt Kane

  Copyright © 2018 Wyatt Kane, All Rights Reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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  Also by Wyatt Kane

  Enhancer

  Note

  Early readers of the first book in the Enhancer series may notice that one of the characters’ names is now spelled slightly differently. The author apologizes for any confusion.

  Table of Contents

  1: Threats From A Toad

  2: Everyday Heroism

  3: Fried

  4: Wires And Solder

  5: From Thin Air

  6: Lilith

  7: Unwilling Servant

  8: Preparing For Battle

  9: The Battle Begins

  10: Player Two Has Entered The Game

  11: Boss Fight

  12: An Unwelcome Reward

  13: Information Control

  14: Lies

  15: Work

  16: Food and Flirtation

  17: Installation

  18: Dinah’s Bedroom

  19: Raging Hellspawn

  20: A Promise To Help

  21: Waffle Batter And Questions

  22: An Unexpected Call

  23: Bike

  24: Catching Up

  25: Fun And Games

  26: Estimate

  27: Rubio’s Bistro

  28: Crime Lord

  29: The Value Of A Favor

  30: An Uplifting Experience

  32: Comparisons

  33: Scare Kingdom

  34: An Immediate Threat

  35: Limitations

  36: A True Superhero

  37: Enhancements

  38: No Time Like The Present

  39: In The Basement

  40: Darkness And Chains

  41: Life Or Death

  42: Prison

  43: A Comfortable Chat

  44: A New Threat

  Author's Note

  1: Threats From A Toad

  Ty Wilcox was sitting at the main bar in the Concubine Club with the rest of the staff occupying other stools or standing around him.

  For once, the ceaseless pseudo-music that typically thudded throughout the Club was nowhere to be heard. It was still fairly dark, but at least there weren’t any flickering strobes and dancing lasers. The Club was half an hour from opening, and even though he’d had to come in early, it was still Ty’s favorite way to experience it.

  Although, “favorite” might have been overstating things. Ty didn’t like the noise, the cloying, the rank smell of exhaled alcohol, or the way the soles of his shoes stuck to the floor. Yet without the perpetual noise and strobes, the place was at least tolerable. Even though Angie the Hutt was addressing all the staff as if she despised every last one of them.

  “Honestly, I don’t see how any of you expect to keep working here!” the grotesque woman said from the center of the floor. In the dim lighting, her body modifications were less apparent than normal. She appeared almost human, but Ty knew that her skin had been turned a sickly green so that she looked like a toad.

  “The numbers are in for last week, and they are even worse than usual. Drink sales are down, as are the receipts from the kitchen. The only stable revenue stream is the income we get from the gaming machines. And that means virtually none of you are doing your jobs!” she thundered, spittle flying in every direction.

  Ty could feel the dislike and hatred emanating from his fellow workers. He knew that most of them did the best they could. Many survived on the tips they received, so made it a point to keep people happy. Yet beyond that, there wasn’t much they could do. They certainly couldn’t make additional customers appear out of thin air.

  Ty wasn’t the best placed to know how busy the Club was when compared with previous weeks, but Badger, one of the bouncers, had mentioned it felt a little light.

  Not that it mattered. This was one of Angie’s normal motivation techniques. Or demotivation techniques. She would berate the staff with everything she had, lashing at them with a tongue made of venom and spite. And while they might hate her, they would still end up working harder than they might otherwise.

  Ty knew from experience that the technique worked on him as well.

  “But there’s nothing we can do if the customers aren’t there,” said one of the servers, a new girl who couldn’t have been more than twenty. Deb, if Ty’s memory served.

  At her words, a collective wave of anxiety spread through the room. It was as if everyone there was silently willing the new girl to stay quiet.

  Naturally, Angie immediately rounded on her. “Nothing you can do?” she said, her eyes bulging from her head. The girl had few mods on display. Just a purple pigment in her pupils that made them seem luminescent, and elongated canines. She looked around at the others, vaguely puzzled, but didn’t understand what she was sensing.

  “It stands to reason, doesn’t it?” she asked. “If we get two hundred customers in one night and just one hundred the next, we can’t expect to get the same return, can we?”

  Deb spoke as if talking to a rational person. Her words were logical and the way she expressed herself was completely inoffensive. Yet it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Angie the Hutt shifted her bulk so she could face Deb more directly. Then the loathsome woman swelled like a toad sucking in air, preparation to croak.

  “Did you hear me ask for your opinion?” Angie screamed, her broad mouth a straight line filled with rancor and disgust. “Do you think I give a rat’s ass about your opinion?”

  The look on Angie’s face might have been mistaken for anger that the serving girl dared to speak out of turn. Yet there was a hint of relish in it, as if Angie actively enjoyed the opportunity to berate the poor serving girl.

  Ty had seen that expression many times before. She had used it on him as well, whenever he had been foolish enough to say something, often in his own defense, that contradicted Angie’s view of the world. He pitied the serving girl and knew that many of his co-workers did as well. It didn’t matter that what she said was correct. All that mattered was Angie’s perspective.

  “Um,” Deb started, but that was as far as she got.

  “Because I do not!” Angie said. “You have been with us for what, three weeks? Do you think that gives you the right to have an opinion? Because I’ll tell you right here and now, sweetheart, it does not!”

  Perhaps Deb was a little slow on the uptake. Angie was at her repulsive, unreasonable worst. She had positioned her unnecessary bulk mere inches from the younger woman, her chins quivering in righteous anger and her eyes flashing dangerously in the dim club light. Most others would have backed away if only to introduce some distance between themselves and Angie. But Deb stood her ground. She looked more puzzled than afraid, and largely unconcerned by Angie’s closeness.

  “But –” she began.

  “But nothing!” Angie overrode her. “Your three weeks here entitles you to obey my commands and no more than that! If I tell you to do something, you do it. No back chat, no second-guessing, nothing. So if I tell you that sales on drinks are down this week and it is your responsibility to bring them back up, that is what you will do!”

  As one, the Club staff glared at Angie with eyes full of hate, at the same time as glancing at De
b with expressions of sympathy. But Angie was as immune to that hate as she was to the idea of positive, normal relationships with her staff.

  As for Ty, a week ago, he would have felt uncomfortable and powerless just being in the room. He would have done all he could to shrink into a corner, or otherwise hide from Angie’s gaze for fear it might land on him.

  But he had changed a lot since then. Thanks to the cybernetic device clasping his wrist hidden beneath his shirt sleeve, not only was he taller and stronger, but he was more capable and confident as well.

  Ty had awakened a skill within himself that had the potential to change everything. He had joined a real-life superhero team, faced real villains (one of them superpowered), and walked out alive.

  Perhaps just as importantly for his sense of self worth, he had formed meaningful relationships with not one, but two of the most spectacular woman he’d ever known.

  Tempest Flaire and Dinah Lore. The other two members of his superhero team. Tempest was fiery and passionate, and Dinah was the soul of warmth and elegance, and each of them was beautiful enough that they should have been well out of Ty’s league.

  In his old roommate’s vernacular, Ty hadn’t just leveled up. He’d changed class entirely. His character in the game of life had gone from about a level two loser through to a level six hero, and it might have been even better if it weren’t for the fact that he still needed this crummy job.

  And it wasn’t just the trappings of life he counted. As well as his newfound strength and confidence, as well as the woman who had come into his life, Ty felt different as well. For the first time ever, he could step back from the situation he found himself in and look at it objectively.

  He sympathized with Deb as Angie continued to hurl insults and abuse her way. He felt the wash of sympathy and dislike that flooded the room. Yet at the same time, it was meaningless. A tiny drama that had no real impact any more.

  Ty had faced life and death. Even now, Bain was still out there. As was the mysterious teleporter, and whoever it was who was pulling their strings. Worse, the villains knew where Tempest and Dinah lived. Even now, Bain’s cohorts could be planning another attack, and Ty was stuck at work at the Concubine Club.

  Ty knew that Tempest was stronger than him. She was the better bet to defend both women against any attack. Yet the danger was real, and Ty hadn’t been happy to leave them to potentially face it alone.

  It was a reality that put things into perspective. No drama Angie conjured could possibly compare to real, life-or-death danger. So instead of shrinking into a corner, Ty stayed where he was and let the various petty hates and power posturing drift over him like a breeze on a summer’s day.

  “You have only been here for such a short time and you’re already getting on my bad side,” Angie was saying. “Let me tell you, you’re not smart enough or pretty enough or valuable enough to survive here very long. Just remember, like the rest of you, I can replace you in a heartbeat. Think about that next time you want to say something out of turn!”

  Ty realized he had missed part of the tongue lashing. His mind had been elsewhere entirely. No longer was Deb able to stand up to Angie’s wrath. The poor girl had nowhere to go, but she looked like she would have run if she could. Her face had crumpled and she was trying hard not to cry.

  Angie’s expression was one of gloating and triumph.

  Ty didn’t even think. He didn’t consciously decide to say anything. But the words came out just the same.

  “Leave her alone,” he blurted. “Can’t you tell she’s had enough?”

  2: Everyday Heroism

  Several things happened all at once. The atmosphere in the room changed from sympathy to a kind of relief. It was as if Ty had voiced what was on everyone else’s mind to say. Someone actually barked a laugh. And Angie spun as swiftly as her slug-like bulk would allow.

  “Who said that?” she demanded.

  Ty knew that speaking up to someone like Angie was not a career enhancing move. The toad-woman was vindictive and mean, and much of her bulk was made up of spite. He also knew that his own role within the Club was fragile enough that he should keep his mouth shut.

  Yet he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t enjoy seeing people suffer for no reason.

  “I did,” he said. He figured that at the very least, he could draw Angie’s venom to himself rather than Deb.

  “You!” Angie said. Her voice was filled with real glee. Her usual sneer turned into an approximation of a smile. It was as if she was truly delighted to have been gifted another target.

  Immediately forgetting the poor serving girl, Angie lumbered in Ty’s direction.

  Before, Ty might have given in to despair. He might have hung his head and just accepted his fate. But he had leveled up. Angie was not even a minor boss in the game he was playing. And yet, she still had power over him. He still needed his crappy job.

  “If my eyes do not deceive me,” Angie said, her voice filled with glee. “Ty Wilcox, the latest in a steady stream of cannonballs to work in your position. The boy who is literally begging to be fired.”

  She came right up to Ty as she had done to Deb, her intimidation tactics not changing at all. She even giggled at her own joke, but Ty had heard it before. Cannonball. Something to be fired. Funny.

  Ty was twenty six years old. Angie calling him a “boy” was intentionally demeaning.

  “Ty Wilcox, who thinks he can abandon his shift whenever he chooses without any consequence,” Angie continued. And in her mind, she was doubtless just telling the truth. Ty had left his shift halfway through the previous evening. He and Tempest had set a trap for Bain and his men, but the monstrous villain had been a step ahead of them. Instead of stalking Ty at the Concubine Club, Bain had gone to the penthouse and captured Dinah.

  Instead of continuing his shift, Ty and Tempest had done all they could to secure Dinah’s return.

  “It was an emergency,” Ty said flatly. “I left a message. It was all I could do.” He would make the same choice again in a heartbeat if the situation recurred.

  It wasn’t enough to satisfy Angie’s malicious intent. “An emergency?” she barked. “What was it, did you leave your laundry out in the rain?” Angie’s voice was a condescending sneer.

  Ty couldn’t stifle his response. Even though this woman had power over him, he could no longer accept her nonsense. “If you must know, one of my girlfriends got kidnapped,” he said.

  Angie was confused. “One of your …?” she started. At the same time, a ripple of amusement went around the room. Angie became aware that she was losing the initiative and replaced her confusion with a snarl. “I don’t care what your reason might or might not have been,” she said. “All I care about is that it will not happen again. Do you understand me?”

  Ty could have told her that she didn’t get to define what constituted an emergency for him. He could have told her the truth, in that if Tempest or Dinah needed him, he would drop whatever he was doing to go to them. He could have even asked if she really expected him to value work over legitimate life and death situations.

  But he could see no value in any of that. He had achieved his purpose. Angie the Hutt was no longer picking on Deb. Nor did he want to escalate the conflict to the point where she might fire him for real.

  He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Angie loomed over him like a mountain of green jello. Her expression indicated that she thought him revolting, like a bug she found crawling over her shoe.

  Maybe she wanted to spit additional bile his way, or threaten to fire him. Maybe she wanted him to beg for forgiveness.

  It didn’t matter. Whatever she wanted to say or do, she didn’t get the chance.

  “I’m sorry, Angie,” someone interrupted from behind her. “I think we may have a problem.”

  It was Martin, the DJ. A studious-looking man with thick glasses, the DJ had gone for luminescent tattoos in lieu of the more overt body mods that most seemed to favor. He was slim and completely
bald, and it wasn’t normal for him to attend these staff meetings.

  Angie’s expression became one of pure fury and she spun about to face this new intrusion. Ty could tell at a glance that Martin was worried, although he had no clue what it might be about.

  “What do you want?” Angie demanded. “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?”

  Within the Concubine Club, Martin existed in a rare state of relative power. The Club was nothing special as far as clubs went. It was fairly spacious, with a number of rooms, and customers could order food and drink, dance, and play arcade and casino games if they wished. All fine as far as it went, but nothing to write home about.

  The one thing that drew the crowds was the music. Day in, day out, the Concubine Club pumped out a weird blend of ambient techno punk that filled every last corner of the place. Angie the Hutt knew as well as anyone that it was Martin who kept the music playing.

  As such, Martin was largely untouchable. The only person Angie deemed too important to lose.

  “Sorry, Angie. The system’s shat itself. Can’t get a peep out of it at all. Thought you’d like to know right away.”

  For a moment, it seemed she didn’t know how to respond. She just stood there, gaping at Martin as if he had told her that she needed to lose weight and the green color of her skin made her look awful.

  “It’s dead? Are you sure?”

  Martin nodded. He didn’t look happy about the situation. “Yeah. Started her up just like normal, and at first, all was good. Then the main mixer spat a bunch of sparks at me and let out a big cloud of smoke. It’s a wonder the fire alarm didn’t go off. I cracked her open, but it’s a mess in there. Circuit board is fried.” He shrugged. “I can replace a needle or a snapped turntable belt, but this is beyond me. We have to get someone in.”

  Despite Angie’s ongoing complaints, the club typically ran fairly smoothly. True calamities were few and far between, and when they happened, it quickly became apparent that Angie was out of her depth.

  She gaped at Martin as if she didn’t understand. Her natural instinct was to rage at a problem until it went away. But even she understood that raging at the DJ’s mixer wouldn’t bring it back to life.