“DGI?”
“Don’t Get Involved.”
Danya wrote out a quick note and handed it to Nadia. “Just to let Mother know I’m borrowing her car.”
“Fill it up before you bring it back,” Nadia replied.
Danya kissed Willow goodbye while giving Nadia the finger over her shoulder. She caressed Willow’s cheek before turning and charging into the crowd at a full run. The crowd didn’t seem to part or thin, but Danya cut through it as though running through smoke.
Willow watched her leave, a look of pain on her face. “Fifty years is too short for this crap. I’m going to get something to eat.” She looked at the exhibition hall exit, turned around, and went toward the small food court at the back of the hall.
Nadia shook her head as Willow walked off. “I feel for her, but moping isn’t going to change anything.” She started resetting one of the recently used systems back to the intro screen. “Willow’s having age issues. There’s not much even we can do to prolong life. For any of us. She’s angry because she’s going to die of old age and Danya’s still going to look young and beautiful. She knows Danya’s going to keep on living, move on, and find someone else to love.”
Nadia paused and wiped a stray tear away. “I feel the same way. When I die, Mother will be there to bury me, and she won’t look a day older than she does today.”
I patted her shoulder. “Rose and I are in the same situation. I just can’t think about it. Dragonbound are programmed not to.” I started resetting another system and decided to change the subject.
“Is a
Don’t Get Involved
field the same thing as a
Somebody Else’s Problem
?” Even as I asked it, I thought it was a silly question. I just wanted a different conversation.
“It works on the same principle,” Nadia replied. “DGI is just more powerful. Instead of just not noticing you, DGI creates an active aversion that causes people to move out of your way. Mother developed it after her first trip to Los Angeles. She tried driving around using a
Somebody Else’s Problem
charm and it made the traffic worse for her.”
“Is there a spell more powerful than DGI?”
“Yep.
Canción de los Mariachis
. People think you’re a four-piece mariachi band who won’t stop following them around and playing music until they’ve given you all their cash.”
I stopped in my tracks. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Mom created it as a joke, but it’s a real spell.”
“That has to be a good story…” I paused, hoping she’d take the bait.
She did. “Mom got the idea after we visited this goofy-ass Mexican restaurant in Denver during a family road trip back when I was a kid...”
A lump of suspicion grew in my chest. “Big pink building with a clocktower?”
“Oh, yes.” Nadia couldn’t suppress a quick shudder. “We were driving out to an event in Pennsylvania with a bunch of other folks. The other families had made this trip before, and liked to stop at this crazy restaurant so the kids could run and play after a full day of driving. So, we stopped for dinner. It was great! All the kids went tear-assing around the place, playing adventurers. Alissa, my foster-sister, tried to pick the lock on the door leading to the cliff-diver’s platform, but Mother caught us.”
“Oh, busted!”
She chuckled. “Yeah, and for taking too long, we all got extra practice with blindfolded lock picking.” She laughed again, shaking her head. “We only went that one time. Angus said that restaurant reminded him too much of home. Crazy places to explore, random murders in the streets, swarms of street urchins, and, of course, coin-hungry bards.”
“Aha.”
“Yeah. The band saw Angus tip the waitstaff a couple of hundreds and they were on him for almost an hour.”
I started laughing. “Rookie mistake. How did you get rid of them?”
“He found a nice dark spot and dropped his disguise.”
I waited to see if there was more to her statement. “That’s it? That was enough to scare them off? What, is he a troll or something?”
“
Dokk Alfar
. Drow. Dark Elf. Obsidian skin, white hair. When they’re angry, sometimes their eyes turn red and start glowing.” She snickered. “The musicians got a good look, dropped their instruments, and ran for their lives. Angus wouldn’t have hurt them, of course; he wasn’t even armed.” She checked her watch and shook her head. “I hope Danya didn’t run into trouble. The kid she’s working with has some severe issues.”
“How do you mean?”
Nadia looked around to make sure there were no kids in earshot. “It’s her art. People overdosed in a doorway on the Strip, a hooker washing her privates with water from a pothole in the middle of a parking lot, a bunch of people standing around two dead bodies…stuff a kid shouldn’t see, much less be drawing.”
I was aghast. “Those are on display over there?”
“No. I was snooping in her portfolio. The ones on display are things like a statue of a blue angel, a white lion shooting craps in a VIP room, and the Virgin Mary shielding a group of kids from drugs and guns.”
“That’s a relief.” Something tickled at the edge of memory…two women killed…“Nadia, the one with the dead bodies—did it show Fremont Street in the background?”
“The Fremont Experience, yeah. Have you seen the picture before?”
“No, but I heard a description of a scene like that on the news yesterday morning. Two women knifed to death and nobody saw a thing.”
Nadia shook her head. “Coincidence. She did that piece two months ago.”
“There have been too many coincidences lately. What if it was a precognition?”
“If it was a precog, I doubt it was her first.” Nadia paused to acknowledge our greeters stepping out to take a comfort break. “No matter the world, having visions is enough to freak anyone out.”
“It certainly did Joan of Arc no favors.” Another question came up across the booth, so we tabled the discussion.
Our greeters returned, and Nadia took her turn just before a fresh group of attendees filled the booth. More began surging through the main doors. Afternoon check-in must have started. As I made the rounds watching everyone make new characters, I wondered if Danya’s student really could have foreseen the murders.
Back at my laptop, I pulled up the Vegas paper’s web archive. The murdered women had worked at the Meadows homeless shelter. I locked the screen and went over to the art exhibit, waving at Rose as I tiptoed past the enraptured children clustered around her.
The portfolio Nadia mentioned was easy to find. The pen and ink with the two bodies had some additional details Nadia hadn’t mentioned. All the onlookers looked away, staring at anything but the dead women. Each of the onlookers had been drawn in exquisite detail, with easily recognizable faces.
The info sheet next to the display pieces said the artist was Toni Aguilar, currently studying vocational skills through Meadows homeless shelter.
I made my way back to our booth pondering the implications. Was the sketch accurate? If so, did this Toni Aguilar see it in a vision, or did she carry it out using the sketch as a guide?
Abandoned Treasures
When I returned to our booth, two guys in suits were waiting for me. One was from exhibitor management, the other from corporate legal. “Mister Fraser, we’ve received a complaint alleging you are allowing underage children to play a game with pornographic content.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to be more specific,” I said. “Did the complainant identify the children involved, or give you details on what this pornographic content entailed? Did you question the children themselves, or talk to their parents? I trust you demanded to see some degree of proof before coming all the way down here.”
“The allegation is one we felt required immediate response. Erotic or pornographic content is not allowed.”
While we were talking, Shae approached two teenage boys to see if they had any questions about the demo. They huddled together, shoulder to shoulder, trying to block anyone from seeing the monitor. When Shae asked, “How’s it going”, they jumped away from her and she got a good look at what they were watching.
Shae yelled for me and flicked the monitor off. The boys took off running, right into Vex and Frisco. Vex tackled one and Frisco ran the second right into a security guard. Once the fight went out of them, the boys had the good sense to stay put and look embarrassed.
Nadia popped the DVD drive open and lifted the disk out with the tip of a pen.
“Big Butt Angels 14
,” she announced. “Anyone have an empty manila envelope?”
The lawyer took one out of his briefcase, removed the contents, and handed it to Nadia. He ripped up the papers from the envelope and tossed the shreds back into his briefcase. “I saw those kids walk up to that machine while we were waiting here. It was running the same demo as all the others. I know a setup when I see one. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Mister Fraser. Enjoy the convention.” With the security guard backing him up, he walked the boys out of the show and took their badges.
“Folks, check all the demo units for unauthorized software. Shae, Vex, Nadia, good job. And thank you.” I turned back to remaining suit. “I’m going to pretend this incident never happened. Whoever you got your information from is a clueless oaf, and this pathetic frame-job isn’t worth my time or yours. I’d hate to see someone lose their head over this crap.”
The suit nodded. “Agreed. I appreciate your understanding. If you will excuse me, I need to make sure this matter is documented and resolved as a false report. Please enjoy the rest of the show.” We shook hands and he left the booth.
Vex waited until the suit was well out of earshot. ‘“I’d hate to see someone lose their head’? No disrespect, man, but you need more practice making veiled threats.”
“It wasn’t a veiled threat,” I said. “It was a regular, right out in the open threat.”
Vex raised an eyebrow. “Well, carry on then.”
Nadia put the compromised unit back in demo mode. “They went into the BIOS and enabled the DVD drive. The BIOS password hasn’t been changed, nor has the keystroke combo to switch out of demo mode. Someone gave them that information.”
“Mitch.” I took a series of deep breaths, counting backward from thirty before I said anything. “Change the passwords and key combos on all the systems.” I wrote out two copies of a new twenty-one character password and gave one to Nadia. I made sure none of the others saw what we were entering. It isn’t paranoia when someone actually is out to get you.
An hour later, Rose bounced back into the booth, flopped down on a folding chair, and pulled me down next to her. “I’m so high right now,” she announced. “Those kids are all so great! I feel like I’ve eaten too much candy. They listened, and laughed, and made me talk in funny voices.” She snuggled up to me, rubbing her head against my shoulder. “All but that one Danya brought back. She’s kind, but frightened. She’s so sad. It runs through her like a river. She reminds me of someone I used to know…but never mind about that. It’s just my mother licking the hive again.”
“Does that mean she’s sticking her nose in somewhere it isn’t wanted?”
Rose nodded. “Yes. It’s not important, though. We were talking about that child. What could make her so sad?”
“If her art is any indication, she’s had a rough childhood. She has great raw talent. I hope it can give her a chance to have a future.”
“If she has the talent, I’m sure her family will see to it she gets the proper lessons.” Rose started to stretch, but stopped when she felt my reaction. “What’s wrong?”
“She doesn’t have a home, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have a family. Her bio sounded like she was on her own.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean she may be living on the street, or at least staying long-term at a homeless shelter. She might be a runaway, or her parents might not have been able to cope with her problems and abandoned her. It’s sad, but it happens.”
Rose looked confused. “Why would…how could a parent abandon their child? Don’t they understand what a gift they’ve been given? A child isn’t a piece of trash to be thrown away. That’s sick.” Her hands started shaking and her skull distorted, pushing her face forward into the beginnings of a snout. One cheek puffed out, then pulled tight against the scales forming under her skin. “What kind of parents could abandon their children? Miserable, ungrateful, unspeakable savages. I’ll find them. Find…Burn! Burn them all!”
I pulled her to me, thinking calming thoughts for all I was worth. “Rose, not here. Take yourself home. Rose! You need to portal home.”
She couldn’t hear me. Emerging talons burst her fingers from the inside, splattering me with blood and bits of flesh. The serrated inner curves of her talons ripped through my bicep. I stifled a shout, but it was the worst pain I’d felt since training at Stonewall. With my good arm, I tried to pull her under the backdrop curtain and into the space behind the booth. I couldn’t budge her.
Another convulsion went through her arm and her talons dragged me sideways. Her head was still only half-Human, tears pouring down her cheeks and becoming lost in the scales running down her neck. Her eyes were still Human, because Dragons can’t cry. Through the tears, she was still ranting in Draconic, and heads were turning our way.
In the middle of the booth, Nadia chanted the last stanzas of a spell. She swept her arm from left to right in a broad arc over us, and everyone staring at us remembered they had somewhere else to be. Vex and Frisco pulled the curtains closed while the others pulled the demo machines out of Rose’s reach. Shae stepped toward us, flinching as Rose’s wings ripped through the skin on her back and shredded her shirt. Her talons convulsed again, flaying my forearm to the bone. Black splotches filled my vision, leaving me near to passing out.
Shae got down on her knees and touched Rose’s cheek. “Rose, I grew up without my family. It happens. Sometimes it’s for the best.”
Rose bared her teeth. “Did your parents cast you out? Did they decide you weren’t worth keeping?” She took a ragged breath. “All those people who want children, trying everything they can think of to get pregnant. It’s not right. It’s not
fair!
”