Soda supreme, p.28
Soda Supreme, page 28
She sat up, and waved at Hannah, tapping in the air, in a way that meant she needed their numbers. That meant her getting her own device out and checking, but Rick had those shortly. Then Devya looked at her solidly.
“Rick wants to know if you’re still on for next week?”
“I am. Thursday at four in the afternoon? I’ll try to bring either Aliza or Alistair with me. Both telepaths. If that’s cool, I mean?”
After a repeat, there was a nod.
“He says that sounds great, actually. Both of them, if they’re available? Oh... Um, can you do a pick-up job? We have a name that needs to be researched and, well, it’s time sensitive. Nothing that major?”
She stuck out her tongue.
“Right. I can... Go there for that? Into the little circle?”
That got a laugh.
“Right. Do it. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Hannah is coming into the command center, directly. Start timing her...” She waited, as Hannah stood, and closed her eyes... “Now!”
Then Devya hung up.
“I need shoes. See you there.”
Hannah struggled with it, but popped into place, inside the painted circle on the black tile floor. It was a thick white line. A thing she stepped out of, almost instantly. As she did that, Rick, standing behind her, called out.
“Forty-two seconds.”
That got her to nod and spin in place.
“Hey. I managed to get a boost to my powers. They sort of count as that now? I was kind of pushing into that range, before, I guess. So, you know how it goes... Now I have to learn to do better and don’t have an excuse not to?”
The man nodded at her, and seemed impressed.
“How did you do that?”
“In a different reality. Um, The Never? Basically, it’s Never Land, like from Peter Pan? I can do that kind of thing there. Give people powers that will work here, too? If you want to do that, there’s a committee that they, whoever you want to have powers, has to get passed. Alien pacifists, from the same planet that Superion X comes from? It shouldn’t be impossible, really, I mean, they sent him to us, but it’s a real thing, not just a government making super soldiers without thinking about the consequences.”
That got a considering look.
“I can send applicants to you, first?”
“Paperwork on them? Then we present that to the team, and see what they say. If you want anyone to go to their world, they have to be willing to have their personality changed. That’s for all of us, too. We need whoever is going not to be too violent or anything, to start with, and even then they’ll be in a special section, until we can prove out. Just to be clear, these are the rules from our side. It turns out we’re the scary primitives, so we need to protect them, before we do anything for ourselves.”
Devy popped in, wearing comfortable looking shoes, with bright pink laces on them, dressed like she had been when Hannah had left.
Rick changed the subject, instantly.
“We have a partial name, for an associate of one of the kidnappers from the Iowa situation, earlier. Did you hear anything about that, Hannah?” He looked at Devya, too, but it was kind of clear she’d reported in already. Probably as it had taken place.
That kind of thing was part of her day job, after all.
Devya shrugged.
“Hannah removed the necklace bomb. She also called me and Wisp in, for transport. Whose associate are we looking at?”
“Lester Ruin? This is... There was child pornography at his place. That’s in Oregon, but we were called in to look into it, in case there was anything out of the ordinary there. Technically this information will go to the FBI, directly, but Crypt found some names, and passing this along with more than just Dave, on a scrap of paper, might stop some pretty awful things.”
He waited, as if expecting Hannah to say something.
“Right. Dave? Let’s see what we can find?”
That, it turned out, with Rick on the job and her new power level, was a lot. They ended up working until so early that she decided to simply stay up for the day. Rick was exhausted at the end too, but had stayed for the whole thing. Devya seemed fine, but had left, and come back, several times. She’d even changed her clothing, so was in a uniform, for most of it. Blue military style fatigues and black boots.
Several times she brought food in, and coffee. It was actually hard, and Hannah had to work to hold her mental state in the right place, by the end, but they located seventy people in the kiddy porn ring. When they finished, Rick groaned.
“Well, fuck.” He tapped the sheet in front of him.
“Two of these men are House members. Another is a state Governor. The rest, well, most aren’t famous or anything. This will probably end up being shut down, before it reaches the people at the top. This... Well, at least it isn’t cannibals or a serial killer, this time. Not that this is good.”
Hannah just nodded.
“That sucks. Which names?” The man showed her, not speaking. Not asking why she wanted to know. His bald head shone a bit, under the fluorescent lights overhead. The light-colored walls in that particular work space didn’t help, of course.
For a moment, his face was bleak, then he stood up.
“Thank you. I know that this isn’t your job. Then, it isn’t anyone’s really. Half a dozen people in the world can manage things like this, so, you know...”
She did, after a fashion.
“Yeah. Anyway, see you Thursday?”
“See you then!”
She teleported out, going to a different location, which was familiar, if from only one trip. She was outside, and it was early, but when she knocked on the door, her mother answered, almost immediately. Dressed for the day, too. It was a light pair of yellow capri pants, a loose light-colored button up and shoes that were basically water socks.
“Hannah?” She put her head out the door, and looked around, which mainly had her looking at the ocean. It was a lovely place, really. “How did you get here?”
“Teleportation. I learned how to do that, um, mainly yesterday? I have some minor superpowers now, so, yay me! I can fly, too. Nate had me out doing that yesterday. Also, I can probably beat you arm wrestling now. I can’t beat Nate at sit ups though. So, you know, to give you an idea of my real power level there? He’s in freaking great shape.”
Her mother hugged her, then held her for a moment and finally pulled her inside.
“Well, that sounds unlikely. Also like a story. Is that why you came?”
She grinned.
“Nope. I have the names of several American politicians who are part of a kiddy porn ring. The bad kind. I mean, none of them are good, but... You know, these aren’t some innocent nudes with the kids’ families or something, these people are producing bad things. They’ll probably walk. The High Command asked me to do the initial research and the FBI will get the names, but it’s almost certain nothing will happen to these three. So, the Khan Collective can do a bit of blackmail? That or use the information to ruin them. I don’t care which. It would be a bonus if whatever it is stops them from doing it in the future?”
Hannah wrote the names out for her, then, sitting in her dark, but rather nice beach house, which had a nice laid stone motif inside, she also worked out exactly where all the other dirt on the men could be found. Including all of their bank account numbers, everywhere in the world and any associations that might be useful for people who didn’t have their best interests at heart to know about. It took a while.
Clearing her throat, her mother looked at the notebook pages that had been filled.
“Are you certain about this, honey? I mean, I’ll hide where it came from, but I heard that you handed us Venezuela. To protect the people there, but... There are people who might not like it if they find out that you’re giving us information.”
Hannah nodded.
“I know that. I also know that if those people want me to not do that, they need to not let pedophiles run the country. I’m not hard to please that way. Oh, hey, ask Zero One if he’s good with me popping in, occasionally? Or really, I can send letters to him, directly? I won’t do that, if it’s a problem, but I don’t really want to be caught, if at all possible. I’m not a revolutionary, after all.”
Just like she wasn’t a superhero, probably. After all, this wasn’t the first time she’d helped out the Khan Collective. She snapped her fingers then.
“Oh, right. I have something to do, later today. With Grandma June? That is hard to say, you know that? She looks younger than I do. She has a better figure, too. That’s hardly fair.” She grinned though, as her mother laughed.
“Your Aunt Larina is the same way. Also a shape shifter. I haven’t seen her for years. She’s... Actually, not a bad person at all. I was a bit jealous of her, growing up. I was ordinary, somehow, and Larina didn’t just have Mom’s powers, but Dad’s, too. Super strength, immortality and she can look like anyone in the world she wants, perfectly.”
There was some staring then, which Hannah realized was her own mother asking if she was actually someone else. She smiled.
“On that note, I’m going to teleport away. If you need me for anything, or to make sure I’m me... Talk to Al? He’ll know that I’m okay with you knowing that I’m really me and all that.”
Her mom grinned then.
“He’s a bit young for you, but a cutie. What’s the situation there?”
Hannah sighed and shook her head.
“At least I know where I got it from... He’s coming to stay with me, in a few days, I think. For the summer. Not in the way you were asking about, of course. I’m working with some kids. Training and all that? I’m... I was there for it, but I’m not really certain how that happened, to tell the truth.”
She blamed Carl.
Her mother laughed. It seemed real and not that dark or anything like that. Not what a proper super villain should have been using at all.
“Good. Not that I thought you’d do the wrong thing there. I’ve learned not to be too harsh in my judgements, over the years. Now, you’re doing something with June, later?”
“Maybe? I just had an idea for a fun activity we can both share in. Anyway, talk to you later?”
That meant standing up, giving her a hug goodbye and then focusing for a bit while being watched. It made the whole thing take longer, but she finally returned home. A thing that took her most of a minute to pull off. Then she planned out what she wanted to do. It took going into a trance, first, and then calling June.
“Hey, can you get a cell for me? I mean, not for me... But for a special someone? The kind of person we don’t mention, over the phone?”
“I’ll have that in thirty minutes. At the tower. Sub-basement two.” The woman didn’t even ask who had called.
For a second that made Hannah feel good, until she realized that June had simply agreed to get a cell for a random caller, probably not understanding it was her at all.
Then she felt good again. After all, her grandma was the kind of person who, when hearing that anyone needed a cell for someone, simply put that kind of thing together.
At ten in the morning, she teleported to the basement of The Society HQ, and then did something she wasn’t certain she could. It was brutally hard, but as June stood there, smiling a bit and seeming curious about what she was getting up to, Johan Carter appeared behind the containment field of the cell glass. It was more of a glass mesh, with wires in it, but she doubted the man was going to punch his way out. He was old, wrinkled and naked. Also, with a hard on and in mid thrust when he popped into place. He stumbled forward, and cried out.
“What is this! Do you know who I am?”
June, wearing a mask, since she was at work, shook her head.
“I’m sorry, no, I don’t know who you are at all. Damsel?”
She wasn’t in a mask at all, but the man didn’t seem to understand who she was, even if he had to have at least seen pictures. Then, possibly not. To him she might have just been a name.
“Johan Carter. Zero Six, of The Khan Collective.”
The temperature in the room changed then. At first Hannah thought it was her imagination, but after ten seconds her breath showed in the air, as June began to shake a bit. In a rage.
“The man who kidnapped and raped my grandson? Who tried to have my granddaughter killed, at least twice?”
The man froze, not bothering to cover himself.
Hannah nodded.
“That’s the one. Um, just to clarify things here, I’m Hannah, de Peyser? You probably don’t remember me. This lady is-”
He growled.
“Liberty.” He smirked then. It was nearly a sneer. “If you don’t release me, this instant, video of your grandson sucking off all comers will be put up online.”
June looked honestly concerned. Hannah laughed.
“And? We can use it to start his porn career. Do you think that will stop us from removing you from the playing field? That Nate will be too embarrassed by some pictures to act? Did he ever seem that weak to you?”
The man, who did not do pleasant well, from what Hannah had ever seen, shook his head.
“Perhaps not, but the might of The Khan Collective will rain down on you! I will not be held long, no prison on Earth is beyond our grasp! No...”
Hannah went to the ground, gasping from the pain in her head, as she suddenly threw everything she had into moving another person. This one wasn’t naked, and actually managed to step back, almost instantly, and recover his feet, from what had to have been a full seated position. It was done in a way that spoke of super human abilities. Pretty solid ones. She would have been on her behind, even knowing it was coming.
Gasping still, she waved at him.
“Um, hi. Sorry about being abrupt.”
The man was good looking, had a clean shaved face and stopped moving, after a moment. He’d clearly been going for a weapon, but noticed Liberty, which caused him to lean in a bit.
“June? I haven’t seen you in... What century is this?”
“John! This is unexpected. I think I have the idea. This man, Johan Carter, Zero Six in your current organization, had your great nephew kidnapped and raped. He held him prisoner for years. Hannah brought him here, to stand for his crimes. He was just mentioning that the Khan Collective wouldn’t allow that and that no prison can hold him? I think that was the reason for the abrupt... Summoning?”
Hannah did some math then, and frowned.
“Um, you said that you two used to date?”
Liberty nodded, then made a soft sound of surprise.
“This is your grandfather’s brother. Not mine. That’s gross.” She looked mildly put out by the idea. It was funny.
“Oh? Small world! Anyway, it occurred to me that June has Superion X on her team.” She grinned, but no one in the room understood her, the man in the cage laughed.
“So? He can’t kill! I heard that when his wife and child were murdered that someone else had to step in for them and remove the problem, him being too weak to handle it himself.”
John, Zero One, cleared his throat.
“Miss de Peyser here did that, actually, Johan. You have something else in mind, given that? If you wished Johan Carter merely dead, then he would be. Superion X does owe you, of course...”
She nodded.
“He also has a brother. A very sweet and kind man. Peaceful on a level that this world can barely understand. He’s in charge of our alien exchange program’s modification division. To pacify the minds of people, to their deepest core, so they can interact there, without being rude or upsetting? I was thinking that we could use an experimental subject? I don’t know for certain, but we can probably even protect your organizational secrets, at the same time. I can ask after that, for you? Then, we can have him... Well, we won’t even need to punish him, then. He probably won’t live long, given his enemies list, but if you want to hide him after that? So that your people know that you care for your own?”
The man went totally still, for a long while. Then, slowly, he nodded.
“It will be allowed.”
Johan Carter screamed in rage.
“The collective needs me! Without me, you’re nothing!”
John, if that was his name, at all, laughed then.
“Do you really think that any organization of note needs any individual to survive and prosper? I created the Collective and if I vanish today, it will still go on. If all the numbers at the top go away tomorrow, the next day it will carry on as if very little happened. Any organization that isn’t more than the sum of its parts isn’t one worth having.” The man shrugged. “Besides, Johan, you had to know that taking one of our own member’s children would, eventually, end in your death. True, I figured that it would be a blast of light, in the middle of the night that ended you, but this works as well. See to this, then, Hannah?”
She nodded, but instead of teleporting Chris to them, since that really hurt to do for some reason, she just called him.
“Superion here.”
“Hannah, on this side. We have a volunteer for Neary? Two of them, actually. Lara, but also Johan Carter. I don’t know if you’re aware of him?”
The man actually hissed.
“I was told something about that. By Lashondra. You know where he is? I’ll help you take him.”
June called out then, clearly having heard the whole conversation, from over ten feet away.
“Cell two, in the basement. His own organization is allowing this.”
“One moment.”
It wasn’t that fast, but not much more than a few seconds, either. When Superion walked in, dressed up in his cute blue and red outfit, looking hard and ready to kill, if it was needed, he was already speaking to Neary.
“Here we are. This man is a horrible criminal, Nereas. The likes of which our world has never seen. His crimes... You’ll need to use a selected filter in order to do the work on this. Probably with a partial memory redaction for the time frame. If you can safely alter this man, then all Earth humans will be able to be modified, at their request. What do you need for that?”
