H.E.R.O. - Horde (17 page)

We also took skin samples.  Professor Gently split the team into two groups based on their interests for their papers.  One group would study the blood in depth, the other the skin.  While the red and white blood cells looked fairly normal, the skin cell group also immediately found differences from normal human cells.

The cell density was higher, the same unusual structures were found there, and the entire cell structure had been altered somewhat.  One of the students noticed that I no longer had sweat glands, but did have a new type of gland in the dermis of the skin.  It appeared that the group had quite a few new things to study even this early in the program.

After class I looked through some recipes on my phone and stopped at the grocery store to pick up food to prepare for the evening and headed home.  I rushed around the house for a while cleaning up, apart from Rael it had been a while since anyone was over.

I tossed some paper towels on the couch, pet the head of Binky, my stuffed bunny for a moment and then began dusting the hard surfaces in the room.  Movement on the couch caught my attention.  Binky shambled over to the towels, picked one up with both hands, moved to another table and began attempting to wipe it off.  It didn’t look like it was doing an efficient job, but it made me smile to see it even try.

I pulled up the recipe on my phone and began the early preparations before I took the time to change and make sure my hair looked good.  I made sure to dress up a bit more than normal – I didn’t want to hear Diva’s thoughts on how I needed to work on looking good or some such.  Not that I minded my costume, but it was nice not to wear it for a change.

Binky was still working on that one end table.  I picked up the towels and took the one from it, pet him for another minute and set it back in the center of the couch.

Before I knew it, the doorbell rang.  I rushed over and opened the door.  Silverlash stood there with a bag in her hand.  She wore jeans and a zip hoodie with the hood up.  It had a fuzzy interior that made me want to reach in and pet it.  I felt the material on my cheek through Silverlash’s mindview as she brushed against it.

I smiled, hugged her tightly, and then gently pushed her away as she began leaning in to smell my hair.  She followed me in wondering at the smell.

Once inside she put the hood down and unzipped the hoodie partway, took off her shoes and followed me to the kitchen.

I said, “Wow, you have eyes.”

She laughed, “They help me stay incognito, along with a wig when I’m off duty sometimes.  Otherwise wearing something like this keeps my hair hidden fairly well.  I brought a dish for us, plus snacks.”

“Awesome, thanks.  Well, this is my humble abode.”

“You live alone?”

“Yep.  How about you?”

“I do, I’m so involved in events and heroing, and most guys seem to be intimidated when I’m out and about in my costume….  Then there’s the paranoia about people learning my identity.”

“I think I ruined mine by continuing to go to the University.  I started out with a mask, but stopped using it because of my hair.  Metallic gold hair kind of stood out to most people.”

“It does.  It’s got great shine.”

“So … did you hide your costume under there?  I’m actually seeing skin on you apart from your hands and face.”

“I wear my costumes so often; it’s good to have a change of pace.  Yours doesn’t cover much, do you have it on?”

“No.  I’m sure the guys can handle one night.”

A loud thump and metallic bang came from outside.  I quickly walked to the door, but Silverlash beat me to the window.  I heard Diva’s mental voice, which put me at ease.  The other two surprised me though.

I opened the door to see Chrome, the metal-skinned woman I’d freed from Arissa’s mental control last Friday getting up from the ground.  Tiriffa, the blue alien woman was in Diva’s right arm.  She held a box in one hand, and had a satchel in her other hand.

I said, “Hi guys.”

Diva said, “Sorry I didn’t call, I found a few more that needed a night like this.”

Diva released the alien woman, walked up to me and hugged me.  As I hugged her tightly, she wondered if I liked her more than I was telling.  I didn’t get why I had to like someone some special amount to hug them.  I liked her outfit – short pants and a very loose top.  I knew I wouldn’t be staring at her butt through anyone’s eyes as I might have with her mini-dress costume on for the evening.

Tiriffa said, “Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you again.”

I stepped over to her and gave her a hug.  She leaned in to sniff my hair.  Her mindview was pretty much like any other person’s – it was interesting than an alien found the same smell pleasant.

She said, “You have a pleasant odor.  I would have thought we would have found each other slightly less so, being different species.”

I ‘heard’ her thinking that Diva hadn’t smelled anywhere near as good to her while they flew, and assumed my pheromones were universal in some way.  I didn’t mention that she did smell somewhat odd to me - it would have been rude to say.

I grinned, “Thank you.  Please, head on in.  There’s still cooking to do, but some snacks are out.”

Chrome said, “We brought more.  It’s really good to see you again, Psystar.”

I was almost overwhelmed by the momentary gratitude she felt for my help in the last week.  She put her arms out to hug me, although she didn’t move closer.  Her mindview told me how paranoid she was about hugging – she had a vivid memory of crushing her husband the last time she hugged.  I stepped up and gave her a hug.  Even if she couldn't give me one, at the least she could receive a hug.

I had wondered for a moment why Diva brought Chrome along, but her need for company was extremely obvious from her thinking, even if she didn’t speak it.

I picked up the bag she’d dropped and nodded toward the door.  I wondered what was in the duffel bag in her hand.  She didn't think about the contents, so I decided not to pry.

“Come on in.”

I walked into the house with them and broke out the additional food in the kitchen, the others gathered around to help.  Chrome didn’t move much, though – she was paranoid about bumping anything or touching anyone.  I reached over, squeezed and held her forearm a few times.  Through her mindview, I felt the warmth and grip on her wrist, even if the pressure was nothing to her.  It meant a lot to her to be touched, far more than most people, since she felt that if she touched anyone else she would crush them.

While the food cooked, we moved with snack plates and drinks over to the living room.  Chrome sat on the floor.

Silverlash asked, “Hon, why don’t you sit on a chair and be comfortable?”

Chrome replied, “I don’t want to break the chair.  The last couch I sat on I went right through to the floor.  The warden has chairs that are made for heavy people; I should see where he got them.”

“Big & Strong – it’s down near the river.  The entire store is made for brick types.”

“What do they sell?”

“Clothes that are big or that don’t rip.  Shoes, furniture, I think they even sell office supplies like pens that are super heavy duty.  I’ve heard of it from talking with some of the guys like Big Man and Gatecrasher, but haven’t gone in myself.”

I said, “Spartan had to go there to find new shoes that fit, he’s got such big feet now.”

Diva said, “He
does
have big feet.  That Zonk guy had a lot smaller feet than Spartan, which seems odd.”

Silverlash said, “It’s probably the jumping thing.  Spartan seems to have a power for jumping long distances – none of the other bricks leap a block at a time or more like he does.”

I said, "He can go a lot further than a single block when he wants to.  I've heard him think of a half mile for sure."

Chrome said, “He’s really strong.  I mean, they had me test these new big handcuffs to see if I could break them, and while I was testing them both Spartan and Black Tiger showed up to test them too.  When he psyched himself up, he was able to bend them easily.  The poor warden wasn’t happy that they could be bent like that.”

Silverlash said, “Wow, they’ve got some that work on you?”

She nodded, “The warden says I’m one of the strongest bricks he knows of – I’m far stronger than both of the other bricks at the Jail.”

“I wonder if it’s something to do with the metal.  How much can you lift?”

“They aren’t sure, but Garrick guessed 70 tons, perhaps even more.”

Diva said, “That’s a lot.  I could barely pick up some construction vehicles out of a building for Gatecrasher after I caught him way up in the sky.”

Silverlash asked, “Why couldn’t he lift them?”

“Something was strange with him.  He tried walking and started floating up again, so he held onto his Jeep while I did it.”

Chrome put her hand against her mouth, “Oh my god.  I threw those construction vehicles into that building.”

Diva said, “You
threw
them?”

“Yeah.  I had way too much to drink and was with Shrinker, and I was pretty mad about everything.”

Silverlash said, “That’s right, there was an A.P.B. out on you.”

“Yeah, not a shining moment for me.  I’m on probation and am working as a guard as of today at the Jail, though.”

“Congratulations.”

Diva asked, “How did you throw them?  I could barely lift the big one.”

“I don’t know, I just grabbed it and chucked it.”

“How far did you throw it?”

“Hmm, it was in the street.”

“You covered the entire parking lot?!”

“I guess so.”

“Geez, no wonder you were able to hold me down.”

“You didn’t seem like you’d ever wrestled either, Diva.  I used to against my brothers because they liked to pick on me.”

“Yeah, then that jerk Psycom showed up.”

Chrome chuckled.  “Yeah, that wasn’t very nice of him, taking a picture of you like that.”

Silverlash asked, “What did he do?”

I said, “Here.”  I swiped Diva’s mindview over to Silverlash’s as the bluish-purple haired heroine remembered Psycom taking the compromising photo.

The silver-haired woman said, “Oh … that wasn’t necessary.”

Tiriffa asked, “Psycom is the male city defender we met outside the detention facility?”

Chrome nodded, “What does he do?  I mean, he did something to make me float in the hospital so I couldn't hit him....”

Silverlash said, “He’s a telepath and telekinetic.”

I said, “You know, he never did call me back on trying to learn about telepathy.”

“Did you offer to pay him?”

“No.”

“He’s a hero for hire.  He looks for the events that he knows will return a good commission and goes to them.”

“Wow, that seems wrong.”

She shrugged, “There’s no rule blocking it, and he’s smart – he knows which are high or low valued.”

Tiriffa asked, “I take it he does not aid others out of generosity then?”

Silverlash nodded, “Right.  What do you do, Tiriffa?  I’ve never seen a mutant like you – not that I mean anything by that, you’re just different.”

“I am not a mutant.  I am Gahranii – to you I am an alien.”

Silverlash chuckled, “No, really.”

“I am quite serious.”

“Wait, you aren’t joking?  Tell me she’s joking.”

Diva said, “I’ve been inside her plane.  It’s not from around here.”

“Her plane?”

Tiriffa said, “She speaks of the Selestor – the starship my science team hired to bring us here.”

“You can
hire
a starship?”

“Of course, assuming you find the owner of one willing to transport you.  We paid quite well for Captain Trilk’s services – his ship is a newer model with a Gate device capable of creating very far reaching bridges.”

“Oh my god, how did I miss that aliens are in Metrocity?”

I said, “You were one of the few who didn’t respond to Captain McCain’s calls the other night, I’d guess.”

I got a flash of memory of a long bath and more.  I flushed red and wished I could turn off mindviews.

Tiriffa said, “I am unfamiliar with skin color changes in your species.  What does it mean?”

Everyone looked at me, which only made me redden more.

Chrome said, “Did you read someone’s mind?  I thought you had to wave your hands around in the air to do that.”

Tiriffa said, “She did do that quite a bit at the building with many dead beings before falling unconscious.”

Silverlash said, “What
are
your powers?”

Diva piped up, “She flies – she taught me how to.”

Chrome said, “Captain McCain says she’s a really powerful telepath.”

Diva said, “And she had something to do with the most awesome dance club action I’ve been to in a while.”

I said, “Well, yeah, I’m a telepath and I fly.  I’ve got pheromones as well, that’s the fragrance that everyone notices.”

Silverlash asked, “Were you … did you?”

I coughed.  “Yeah, see, the problem with my telepathy is that it’s always on.”

“So ... you’re constantly hearing our thoughts?

Hmm, how much to admit to.  Probably better to be honest.

“Actually, right now, I hear, see, feel, taste, and smell everything each of you do.  I have a TV in my vision for each of you.”

Silverlash frowned, “Why would you read our minds?”

“It’s not voluntarily.  If you are close then I get it whether I want to or not.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing in the years I’ve been a super.  You have a power that is literally always active?”

“Yeah.”

Diva said, “I’m always strong, and have hard skin all the time too.”

Silverlash said, “But I’m speaking of active powers – the ones you have to, well, use.  You have to want to use them.  Telepathy is one of those powers.  I know three telepaths – well, now four.”

I shook my head, “Nope, stick me in a room with fifty people and I’ll hear ‘em all.  Granted, the distance affects whether I just hear them or if I get all the other senses and pictures.”

“That’s crazy.  So you just walk down the street and hear everything everyone is thinking?”

“Those nearby.  It happens at the University all the time.  I get a lot of background noise from thoughts and the mindviews appear and disappear constantly.”