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  Instead of mouthing off like a punk kid, about how he didn’t want to do the work, he nodded.

  “Right. We do have some people that won’t be easily identified right now. Peggy and…” The name escaped him for a moment, even though the face slapped him in the forebrain pretty hard. She was cute enough now but had looked like an unwrapped and desiccated mummy the first time they’d met. That had been changed by magic workers from a different reality.

  Both of the women had been made to look a lot different. Peggy was better looking but both were kind of on the decent side of average now. Easily cute enough to turn heads while walking down the street. More to the point, they hadn’t been on television recently. That meant no one in the world could connect them to the IPB. They were, for all intents and purposes, not involved with them at all. At least as far as the public was concerned.

  Snapping his fingers, trying to get the new memory of the name out he got it. Hopefully.

  “Nan? Are either of them decent in a fight?” That got addressed to the boss, since it was her job to know that kind of thing. At least in his book.

  Turner actually smiled.

  “Both of them are good enough for this kind of thing. All our operatives can fight. Peg is a class three, Nan is a four. That will put them at the top end of this little fighting club?” She addressed Christian on that, seeming happy with a nod in return.

  The cool blonde looked to be melting though, her nerves being stressed by the meeting. Even if her first mode was gone. That was a thing that he’d noticed himself. He didn’t manically want to steal everything in the world anymore but his desire to take things that weren’t strictly his was still there. Like it had been his own life. With Pours, she still had her social awkwardness or introversion going on. It just didn’t dominate her world now.

  Turner glanced back at Rich, then tilted her head.

  “Who else do you like for this?”

  That part was a bit harder. They needed to send in at least one man with them. Not because the women weren’t capable. They probably were, even if they were skirts. It was simply that more than half of all fighters, even ones that were Infected would be men. The managers probably would be as well. They were the people that were interested in fighting, as a rule. Then, most would think that government agents would be in the same boat, so that could work for them. The team needed to be balanced though.

  “What about an agent? We can get them fixed up in Noram and pass them off as Infected. Then send in Peggy as one of the managers? Can she pull that kind of thing off?” He didn't really know the woman.

  Oh, sure, the rather busty, honey blonde woman hugged him each time they met, now but they hadn’t had a lot of time for that kind of assessment. She was just happy that he’d gotten her in on getting her looks changed for free. No that he didn’t enjoy her response to it. She was dating Denis Thompkins though and the man was crew. They’d done a job together. Really, they were still on that job. It was a big thing, too.

  The truth was that his friendship was more important to Richard at the moment than a piece of trim. Even if Peg had turned out to be a rather nice-looking gal. Kind, too. Also, a murderer, if he recalled the story correctly. That probably meant tough but might not mean savvy when it came to undercover work.

  Yi nodded.

  “That… I think that’s the plan then. Peggy and Nan, Agent Lloyd and Richard. You and Lloyd will need to be a bit more distinctive though. You both look like you could pass. So do the other two now. Something dramatic? This is, it’s mainly run by Infected people, right?”

  Those words got a head shake, from Mableton.

  “In part. The people at the top are mainly uninfected or can pass. No real bigots though, so that will work. If you’re willing to change enough for the job. I don’t know Agent Lloyd?”

  Looking around, Brian shrugged.

  “I don’t either. I mean, I think we’ve met, in passing but that’s it. I just picked up his name as being the right one. Precognitive? We can ask?” The words sounded a bit dark and gloomy. Raspy, like the man was ten or twenty years into his three pack a day smoking habit.

  He wasn’t. He was really just so shell shocked that his mind probably should have snapped years back. Instead the man got up each day and fought to save lives, instead. It was brave as all get out but not precisely sane.

  Then, no one ever said that being sane was required of him. No, his power set the rules, which meant he had to go and fight to the death on a nearly daily basis. Sometimes more than once. It probably meant Yi was a good enough fighter to go in with them. The man was simply too recognizable.

  The fellow that kept killing the murderers was too well known not to be noticed. Especially by people that were doing illegal things. That kind would know who their adversaries were, out of simple survival.

  At the head of the table there was movement as the Director pulled a small, black mobile phone. She did it like it wasn’t a miracle of science. Then, most people did, so it was a thing to keep in mind. He’d used that kind of thing himself in the past but had never bothered to own one. Really, Rich needed to get in on that kind of thing, since it looked like he was going to be around for a while. Dying in an old folk’s home it hadn’t been needed.

  Now it was strange that a kid his apparent age was walking around without one. As in he’d actually gotten strange looks a few times when he’d mentioned not having that kind of thing in public. Part of his new job would be blending in. Which meant not looking like he did when they left on the mission. He needed to be older, or at least strange seeming. Like Yi had mentioned.

  Turner spoke almost instantly.

  “Burks. We have a mission for Agent Lloyd. Undercover, with a team. He’ll need to get some changes made, to pass himself off as Infected.” There was silence then, the whole room waiting for whatever the response would be. Turner just nodded and kept going after a bit. “Right. We need to pass him off as a professional fighter. Illegal pit fights, with Infected. We have a team selected for it already.” The names weren’t listed off though.

  A moment later she hung up.

  “He’ll be over here in a few minutes. Charles, Nan and Peg are on Team Two.”

  The rather bulldoggish looking man, who had a manly bit of a mustache and the look of law enforcement around him, nodded.

  “I’ll get them in directly. This is a bit of a different mission for us.” He seemed a bit uneasy about it, which at least Pours and Mableton seemed to get.

  Christian was not handling the room well though at all. She seemed ready to sprint out, in fact.

  Seeing that got Richard to shrug and wave at her. She was doing her best to hang in and fight her nature. Having recently gotten rid of his own mode that way, a compulsive need to steal he knew how hard that could be.

  “Hey… We need to set up a trip out later today. We really don’t have a need for it for another few weeks. You should go with us and get that Mode ripped out.” He knew she’d already had it done. At least he thought that was the case. If nothing else her nerves could be settled a bit, around other people, even if it needed a bit more work. The people, the kids learning to do that kind of thing, seemed to appreciate the practice, so it wouldn’t be an insult to them.

  The woman looked at him and then rolled her eyes.

  “It isn’t that. I’ve already had that done, like you were thinking. I’m just…” She looked uncomfortable and didn't speak then.

  Cindy did, since that was the kind of woman she was. A bit bitchy, but honest enough.

  “It’s gas. We all had burritos earlier, you know how it goes.”

  That was true enough. Not that other things hadn’t been on offer. Richard had eaten battered fish and fries, himself. Which was a good idea.

  Instead of making a big deal of his mistake, he shrugged.

  “Got it. Sorry there, doll. We should go and get people, then meet back here then? Everyone that’s going. I don’t know exactly how to get us there.”

 
Really, he knew three different ways. The easiest being to get with Brian Yi, since he had powers that allowed that. Plus, the man was sitting right across from him and in on the mission planning. Normally Rich would have tried little Sara first, since the kid was just as capable that way and liked to help but she was already off in that other world. Going to school, of all things.

  It was a boarding school type situation. A thing that the kid had been at for nearly a year already. She came to visit every few weeks but couldn’t stay long, since they ran eight times faster in Noram than they did in the IPB world.

  Meaning that to the kid, she probably felt a bit neglected. Except that they kept sending people in to visit her every day or so. About once a week, in the time frame she was living in. What they hadn’t done is get them all in at one time.

  Turner made a small sound.

  “We should get Lydia in on that then. She’s up on the roster for inter-world travel this week. Who do you want for that?” The question was directed at Richard.

  Which was pointed. It basically meant that she was putting him in charge of the mission. It would probably change as soon as they had their Agent on deck, of course. After all, Rich had a whole two months of experience in the IPB. Most of that had been spent working on off base projects, the one he wasn’t allowed to think about openly in particular. That or in getting bodies for wizards to practice life changing magics on. It hadn’t been that hard really, since they’d gently put out to the public that it was possible.

  As in they’d gone on the news and simply told people about the program and how to get in on it.

  People from other worlds was a known thing. That some Infected had their first modes removed was as well. The hard part was getting people to trust them enough that they were willing to show up at the base. Even those that were willing to try it kind of suspected it was a trick and that they were going to die.

  Most of them didn’t.

  Out of the several hundred that had gone so far, six of them had. The IPB had put that out to the press as well. The reason they were being gifted with such changes was all about being willing to help trainees learn to do the work. A few of them had failed. More than a few people had been saved by other wizards with more experience stepping in and taking over just in time. The whole procedure was dangerous, after all. Even if everything went right, there was always a chance that the subject could die.

  Even given all of that, thousands of Infected were on the waiting list. A two percent chance that they’d die was more than worth giving the new techniques a shot for a lot of people.

  Of course, the ones that needed the big changes were the most likely not to make it. They were also the most motivated to try in the first place. That factor was probably pushing the death toll up a good bit. On paper it was bad that anyone died at all. In real life it was working out for them perfectly. They told the press that there was a real, if small, risk to the procedure. That meant the people who were willing to try it seemed brave, instead of just greedy.

  On the other side, with the Wizards and their people, the ones that were willing to risk their lives seemed nearly like heroes, instead of people scamming them for free work. Not that Richard wasn’t planning to go off that day and do exactly that.

  Con his way into unneeded changes for the sake of a mission that no one in that world had any reason to care about at all. For that matter, unless it was really about something bigger, they probably didn’t need to work it as a real mission at all.

  Except that, for some reason, several of the people there wanted him, personally, to go into that situation. It could have been a test, of course. Making sure he was a team player and all that. He was, at least as far as getting specific tasks done. Meaning it wasn’t a big deal to him if that’s all the whole thing was about. Making sure he was willing to give his all to the project at hand.

  Which he was. Besides, they kind of needed to come up with some way to reassure the Noram people that the recent deaths weren’t a deal breaker. The IPB barely noticed the risks. The wizards and mages on the other side were freaking out enough that they’d stopped what they were doing and were reevaluating their programs. That needed to be nipped in the bud, if at all possible.

  Part of his con there required them to keep helping. That meant making certain their people weren’t too afraid to do the work. After all, even the less skilled magic users were mainly good enough. A few special cases had hit them at the wrong time, that was all. Hard things that might not even have been possible to do at all.

  They broke up as a group then, with a rather embarrassed seeming Christian fairly bolting from the room. He felt bad about it, since he was the one that had brought it up in the first place. Putting her on the spot like that wasn’t a great way to make friends. Mableton walked across the room and slapped him on the shoulder.

  “Don’t feel too bad. It would have been worse for her if she’d exploded in the middle of the meeting. I’ll be going in with you later, if that’s cool? I actually have people to check on over there, if you can buy it. A whole boyfriend and everything.” She waved that away, as if it weren’t real.

  Rich nodded anyway. As far as he’d heard it kind of was.

  “Sounds like a plan. I think I need to find… Lydia? I don’t know her very well. I’ve seen her a few times. Any hints on how to get her help with this?” It might be her job of the moment but alienating people was never a good idea. Especially since courting her for more work later was a good idea.

  Interestingly, Mableton touched his shoulder again. She held it as well. It was an odd move, to be certain. Almost flirtatious, which was out of place having just mentioned her boyfriend not ten seconds before. Him thinking that got a squeeze, not her hand taken off. Given she was standing there, probably reading his mind like a book, that meant something.

  What, he wasn’t totally certain.

  “Lydia… Really, she’s feeling a little underappreciated at the moment. Not… Well, she moves people around and answers phones but that’s about it. She isn’t really in on anything. Find a way to include her and you’ll probably be in on some underage poon-tang in no time.” There was a pause then.

  After a moment, there was a smile.

  “She’s still fifteen. The age of consent here is sixteen, which is two months away for her. Not that I want to cock-block her or anything. There are rules though and really, she thinks that you’re cute, so you need to be ready to fend her off for at least that long. Especially if you go with my plan and start treating her like an actual adult. It’s going to have an impact on her fragile little mind.”

  There was a hint of wicked teasing in the words. No lying though. It wasn’t even meant to be cruel, he didn't think. No, it was just the invasion of privacy that was the joke of the moment. Only it wasn’t one, at a guess. Just a heads up about a real potential issue, before it became one.

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Most of you are kids here though. Hardly anyone is even in their fifties.” Shaking his head, Rich tried to make the words playful.

  Cin cleared her throat.

  “No doubt. That’s got to be off-putting. We don’t even know the right movies to talk about. Anyway, I think that Lydia is in class right now. In the school building, with Lauren.” Instead of letting go of his shoulder, she moved in and gave him a small hug first. Then backed off a few steps.

  He took that as his cue to leave.

  “I think I can find that. Thanks for the information. We’ll meet back here in… Call it two hours?”

  It probably wouldn’t take that long but there were always problems to be worked out. For instance, if they had to find a different Agent to go with them for some reason. That or if Lydia was too busy for them that day.

  That was his job to take care of for the time being, so, dressed in his tan fatigues with matching boots, he left the headquarters building directly. That space kind of matched him. It was mainly in tan and brown as well, from the carpet to the brick outside. The new school buil
ding was just a spiffed up double wide that had been put near the back of the complex, behind the motor pool. It was a bit of a hike to get there. On the nice side, when he went in, not knocking first, the decor was in decently bright colors, instead of the drab tan that was so popular for the rest of the space.

  It was almost as if they didn't want to stunt the minds of the people learning at all.

  There were three students inside, working on computers. Along with a teacher at a decently official seeming desk at the front of the room. She looked up and smiled at him, then spoke in a normal tone of voice, even if the space was quiet otherwise.

  “Hey, Richard. What’s up?” The teacher, Lauren, spoke in a friendly enough tone. They sat at the same table at meals on occasion.

  The lady had a nice enough figure on her and wasn’t officially dating anyone. A thing that had been mentioned to him several times. Not all of them by her, either. She did seem to be nice enough to be worth seeing. A thing that he probably needed to look into. If he wasn’t going to be abusing girls that were far too young for him anytime soon.

  The others there, two girls, who both looked to be teens and a man who seemed to be in his thirties all glanced up at him. One of the girls, the one who wasn’t Lydia, being a bit white for that job, smiled at him as well.

  “Fucking monkey spunk.” She grimaced after the words came out. “Hot come in my mouth.”

  No one else seemed shocked by the words and even he’d heard the trick before. It was just her first mode. It caused her to blurt things out like that. If they were pointed at all, he didn’t know.

  Some of the telepaths probably did but if so it wasn’t on the rumor mill that he’d heard about.

  Nodding he waved toward the front of the space.