Contractor (4 page)

you thought it was all a dream. I apologize

for my harsher remarks." Xik gave him a

slight tip of his hat. "You see, I’ve studied

you for about a week, and you showed no

small disdain for your current situation, in

life, and in this education facility. I

mistakenly believed you would snap up an

opportunity for change."

Daniel squinted. Even in the dim

lighting, the top hat flashed like an inverted

rainbow. "…I guess you guessed wrong."

"But you saw the Vorid on that young

man earlier, yes? Surely you’ve come to the

conclusion that this isn’t a dream?"

"The only thing I’ve concluded is that

I’m schizophrenic." Daniel swept an arm to

his waist and bowed. "Good day to you,

magic frog man." He started washing his

hands at the sink.

"You’re a tough nut to crack." Daniel

focused pointedly on scrubbing between his

fingers. "Ignoring me, now?" Xik asked. "I have it on good authority that’s almost

universally impolite amongst humans."

Daniel ripped few paper towels free

and mopped his hands. "Not every human is

universally polite."

"If you had magical power, those

threatening you would be easy pickings."

Daniel threw the paper towels away,

stood silently for a moment, then turned back

to Xik. The frog was waiting patiently for a

response. "The fact that you’re trying to lure

me into it just makes me more suspicious,"

Daniel said.

"I know you’re not enthusiastic, but I

don’t decide who is chosen and who isn’t.

Can’t I take an interest in your well-being

without being suspected of ulterior

motives?"

"Why me?"

"It’s more or less random. Though,

limited to individuals of fifteen years or

older. We judged this age restriction was

appropriate after reviewing your physiology

and culture."

"Are you going to keep harassing me

until I accept?" Daniel asked.

"Harass is such a strong word. Bother -"

Xik lifted a finger. "No, remind. I’ll remind

you until you accept."

"I don’t believe in shortcuts. I don’t

believe in magic. I don’t believe in you."

Daniel pointed at the spindly frog. "I do

believe in hard work and careful planning. I

do believe in myself. I don’t need magic to

feel or be special, let alone solve my

problems. Go back to whatever crack of my

brain you crawled out from."

"Your confidence is admirable," Xik

said. "But will your determination hold up

against a gathering of your peers looking to

harm you?"

"Watch and learn." Daniel left the

bathroom.

Standing outside were three girls he

really didn’t want to see—Brenda, Alice,

and Alex. They were the golden trio of

femininity at his high school, the pinnacle of

fashion and popularity. In other words,

squawking vultures with too much makeup.

He’d been proud to include their cars on his

list of prank targets. Apart from them, the

hall was empty.

"Hey Daniel," Alex said. She tossed her

bleached hair over her shoulder. "We’ll be

watching the show. My boyfriend said he’d

give you a black eye just for me."

"Which one’s your boyfriend?" Daniel

asked.

"Josh Harrison," she said. "Everyone

knows that."

Harrison. He was one of those guys that

spent all his time cutting class out by the auto

shop, smoking, and wearing leather jackets.

"How nice," Daniel said. "You’re perfect for each other."

Alex looked at him like she smelled an

insult, but her single functioning neuron

couldn’t quite catch it. "Yeah. We are. What

do you care, anyway?"

"You’re right. I don’t."

"We heard you talking to yourself in

there," Alice drawled. "But don’t worry. We won’t tell anyone you were playing with

yourself in the bathroom." They laughed

through their noses and drifted away.

He was definitely bringing the bat.

"Well," said a voice in Daniel’s ear. He

flinched. Xik was next to him, rubbing his

smooth green chin. "It’s amazing how they

can be so stupid and yet so irritating," he

said. "Is that what you were thinking?"

"…take that, add some swears, and

you’re about there." Daniel glanced up. "Is this one of those deals where only I can see

and hear you?"

Xik looked surprised. "How did you

know?"

"I took a wild guess."

"You’re quite discerning."

"Just give me a heads-up if you’re going

to start talking when people are around."

"Certainly."

Daniel sighed and cupped a hand to his

forehead. Having conversations with an

imaginary friend couldn’t be healthy.

****

Daniel waited in the AV Club room just

after the bell for last period. The club room

was the pinnacle of modern technology,

assuming you were a nerd 15 years ago.

A mess of wires connected a blinking

stack of ancient routers to a series of

computers set along several tables. Most of

the computers were real dinosaurs, fat, bulky

monitors resting above ugly tan casings. The

whine of the cooling fans filled the air. A

secure locker in the back held a few cameras

and video recorders. The place was

basically an excuse for the club to hang out,

play old video games, and put another

interesting line on college applications to

make themselves look like worldly

individuals worthy of tertiary education.

Slowly, they came. Daniel watched from

the front, leaning against a whiteboard. There

was Tom, a fat kid with a soul patch about

three inches long hanging off his chin. Then

Jake, a bag of skin and bones that never shut

up about World of Warcraft. Daniel actually

did like video games, but there was only so

much he could take about balancing DPS

with crit percentages before he tuned out.

The rest of them he knew by sight and

body odor. The stench that one of the fat ones

gave off was palpable. It had been Jake that

had confided in Daniel and asked for his

help, and to Jake that Daniel had relayed

instructions; he didn’t care to learn the rest

of their names.

There weren’t any girls, obviously.

None of them had the balls to talk to women.

The seven of them sat awkwardly, heads

low, shoulders hunched. Their poor posture

accentuated the motley collection of body

types. Xik had vanished. Maybe he was

watching, or maybe he’d gone ahead to the

meeting grounds. Or maybe Daniel was

slowly edging closer to the deep end.

"Is this everyone?" Daniel asked.

"…yeah," Jake muttered.

Daniel brought his hand down on the

front desk. The hard smack of palm on wood

made them jerk to attention. "You guys look

like you’re going to a funeral. I said we’d be

getting revenge. Time to seize the day."

"The hell do you want from us?" Tom

asked. If a wet paper bag had a voice, it

would sound like he did. "We’re going to get

our asses kicked. Nothing new there. Except

this time they won’t stop at our asses

because you went so crazy."

Daniel stared at Tom until he looked

away, then swept his gaze across each of

them in turn. "So are you going to blame

other people for your problems or do

something about them? I don’t remember

mentioning anything about letting them walk

all over us. Who’s got the key to the locker?"

Mr. Stench raised his hand. "Great. Unlock

it. I want two people with cameras. We’re

recording the whole thing."

"They’ll just smash the equipment!" Tom

protested.

"No, they won’t." Daniel hefted his

backpack up onto the desk. "We’re going in

armed and ready. Is there anyone here that

isn’t eighteen?"

****

They walked through the grassy field

behind the high school. Daniel led the hike

with as much spring in his step as he could

reasonably fake, which wasn’t much. The

attitude of his companions was oppressive. It

felt like a death march. It was a simple plan,

really, but they all thought it would fall flat.

Morons. All you have to do is point and

shoot.

Jake and the smelly fat kid carried the

cameras. Each dangled from a shoulder strap

that kept it fixed to the cameraman’s chest,

leaving their hands free. They would see

more or less what their owners saw.

They plunged into the woods past the

field. After a long walk filled with snapping

twigs and crunching leaves, they started to

hear voices. Daniel caught a flash of clothes

through the trees. They arrived at a wide dirt

clearing.

The clearing was a hotspot for all the

school’s illicit activity. He’d even heard of

raves happening there on the weekends. The

scent of stale beer wafted over the forest’s

cool dank.

About ten or twelve guys were waiting,

clustered in small groups. Every offended

clique had representation, though the jocks

and some of the nastier goths made up the

majority. True to their word, Brenda, Alice,

and Alex were all there. Their matching

smug grins stretched all the way to their ears.

Daniel’s troops were immediately

demoralized by the difference in numbers.

Daniel cleared his throat. "Make sure you’re

recording, now." They checked the cameras.

"Fancy seeing you here!" Kyle stepped

out from his group. The wart on his face

trembled as he walked. "You guys ready to

get the shit kicked out of you?"

"Wait a minute," Daniel said. "I thought we were here to talk about this."

His own side gave him weird looks;

others laughed. Kyle just snorted. "I really

hate you, Fitz. You know why?"

"I’ve got the strangest feeling you’re

about to tell me."

"That’s why," Kyle said. "You just can’t keep the arrogant shit from spilling out.

You’re always looking down on everyone

like they’re your little peons, like you’re a

step ahead of everyone. I’m gonna hit you so

hard your mother’ll wake up with bruises."

Kyle placed a thoughtful finger on his cheek.

"Oh. Wait. She’s dead. Guess I’ll have to

settle for your dad. He’s kind of a bitch,

though, right?"

Daniel inhaled, exhaled, and slowly

forced his clenched fists to relax. "Kyle, we

don’t want to fight. We just want to talk."

"If you’re not coming over here, I’m

going over there." Kyle started forward. His

gang quickly joined him.

"I’m prepared to defend myself," Daniel

said loudly, "but I don’t want to fight!"

Kyle raised his fists. "Shut up!"

Daniel lifted a pen out of his pocket and

pointed it forward. "Bang!" he shouted.

Kyle stopped, and blinked. Everyone

else stared.

"What?" Daniel asked innocently. "It’s just a pen. But you should be aware that I’m

within my rights to defend myself if you keep

threatening me."

"I’m going to enjoy this," Kyle said. He

moved to close the gap.

Daniel pressed the button on his fake

pen. A cloud of pepper spray blasted across

the six feet to Kyle, catching him straight in

the eyes before fizzing out. Kyle screamed

and clutched at his face. He lost his balance

and fell to the ground.

Someone kicked Kyle to the side. It was

Harrison, Alex’s boyfriend. "Oh no, pepper

spray," he said. "Too bad you only had one."

Daniel took the next pen out of his

pocket and sprayed it before anyone could

react. Harrison was wailing on the ground

next to Kyle in seconds. "Too bad you’re a

dumbass."

Angry bullies rushed forward.

Empowered nerds came to Daniel’s defense,

each one wielding several of the single-shot

pens. Daniel drew back behind the line and

let them do the work.

Foggy streamers of aerosolized pain

crisscrossed the clearing. Some of the

attackers tried to cover their eyes to protect

themselves—but that just forced them to fight

blind, and it didn’t save them from breathing

the stuff in. Even Daniel’s socially inept

soldiers couldn’t screw up that advantage.

In less than a minute, eight more had hit

the deck; the rest took off, stumbling back

through the woods. One of the nerds took a

nasty uppercut, but he got back on his feet in

short order. Alex was left standing alone

near the trees, whimpering over the loss of

Harrison.

Daniel caught the attention of his

cameramen, and made the arranged gesture—

a flick of his fingers across his eyes. They

cut the footage.

Daniel took a little bottle of bleach out

from his other pocket. Harrison was still

sniveling on the ground, clutching at his face.

Daniel shoved him onto his stomach with his

foot and dumped the bottle all over the back

of his jacket, destroying the leather.