Chapter 18:

Will felt fuzzy as he came back to consciousness, and he realized why when his hand came away bloody from the back of his head. Then, he remembered his first official sparring match and took stock of himself.

He didn't think he was too badly damaged, considering he'd definitely gotten his ass kicked. Plus, he could already feel his condition improving, as his nanites had apparently gone to work to start healing him.

"I feel like our ability to heal really puts a damper on the fear of physical damage."

"Ha! You're not wrong, though pain is still something most people avoid.

Also, we usually like our things to be intact, so really letting loose at home is usually avoided, outside of controlled environments.

Then again, some people are just plain boring, and fail to appreciate the physical nature of what we can do. They see it as beneath them. From what my grandfather has said, you could slap a wig on them and they'd fit right in with the founding fathers, minus the cool parts where those guys were smoking hemp all the time."

Will snorted at that, before asking, "So, what’s the verdict coach? Am I good enough to kick the shit out of, a few more times? Maybe on a semi-regular basis?"

"Oh yeah. You have a lot to learn, but you definitely have potential. We'll have to get you registered soon at The Activated, too."

"Groooaannnn… don't love that. I knew you hadn't gotten to everything, yet. I'm going on record saying stereotypes are annoying, especially when they come true."

"I get that, but it's part of how they keep national governments off of our backs. They end up pulling our identities from national and state databases, and putting a fake in place. The society maintains their own databases of our people.

It's also part of them keeping track of us paying our dues. Don't worry, though. They have accountants that are actually trustworthy who function as a sort of intermediary between us and the IRS to keep things easy."

"You made it worse on purpose."

"Probably."

After a few more minutes spent recovering, while Cierra filled him in further on his new secret world, they were both ready to get back to their feet.

There was something missing from Cierra’s explanation so far, so Will decided to broach the subject.

“So, I think I have a pretty good handle on what I’ll have to do as part of this super special club, but you haven’t explained much about the leadership structure. I get that it’s a cell structure, but that means there has to be someone leading the various groups.”

“Yeah… Well, to be honest the local branch head is a prick, so I try to avoid him.”

Will snorted, again, at the blunt response, so Cierra continued.

“Basically, each branch has a council and head at the top. Small branches are sometimes more like subsidiaries to larger ones nearby, but even those still have a small council and head. Reno branch is actually an offshoot of the Sacramento branch, but is growing quickly, so that will probably change soon.

As I understand it, it mainly comes into play where voting power is concerned with the higher levels of leadership. That said, for our purposes right now, it’s not really important to talk about.

Reno branch has three people on the council. Two of them are basically decent people, though they both suffer from a serious case of being the most milk-toast, boring mother fuckers since the cereal creep. Pretty sure black pepper is too spicy for them.

Number three is a different story. I’m pretty sure he’s a certifiable sociopath, or whatever that’s called now. He’s creepy as hell, and I avoid him like the plague. Or Covid. He and the leader get along well, from what I hear, which is just a great sign of that guy's character.

Then there’s the head. He’s some cousin of the branch head in Sacramento, and the poster child for why nepotism is bad. The Sacramento head is actually supposed to be decent, but he basically ignores anything outside of his city.

That leaves our leader alone to be a complete tool. Basically, good policy is avoiding those last two, and be grateful he doesn’t actually have much power.”

“If he’s the branch head, isn’t that enough for him to make our lives suck?”

“Oh, it would be, if we weren’t a sub to Sacramento. Pretty much anything he wants to do has to be cleared through their council. I just hope he’s replaced before we split.”

“Okay, I get it. Enough of that shit. I’m about ready to head home for the night.”

“Oh wow, time flew by,” Cierra said as she really looked around for the first time in a while. It had gotten a lot darker than she realized. “My friend is probably waiting for me, so I should go too.”

“Sounds good, but we’ll definitely have to get together again soon. Something tells me I'm going to need a lot of practice getting my ass kicked to learn to hold my own in a fight.”

“Wouldn’t miss it!”

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As Will picked his things up he was thinking about the meeting with his new friend. He was having trouble understanding why he’d trusted her so easily.

Sure, he didn’t reveal anything he shouldn’t have, but he had found it way easier to take her words at face value than he would’ve expected for someone he just met. Even if she was super good looking.

When he thought about it, he realized he’d been having a similar reaction to Sil and Artie. He was normally a cynical bastard who didn’t like many people, so this stood out when he looked back.

The ones to ask about it would be Sil or Artie, but since they were part of his confusion….

“Nope, not going down THAT rabbit hole,” he said aloud.

“What was that? Rabbit holes? You speak to yourself quite a bit. Some would call it a bad habit.”

Sil’s voice had come from the earbud still in his ear, and he only just realized it had been in through the brief fight, and managed not to fall out.

“Impressive,” he said, thinking about the bud, once again speaking out loud.

“If I didn’t know you’re immune to cancer, I would be asking if you had a brain tumor.”

That reply had a definite grumbling tone, making Will smile.

“Alright, fine. I was wondering about how easily I’m taking you, Artie, and now Cierra at your word, when the stuff you’re telling me should be bat shit insane. It’s a lot more trusting than normal for me.”

“Ah, I see. That is actually an aspect of your abilities that has never really been explored. As far as we’ve been able to determine it functions as a sort of subconscious empathic link between those with sufficient energy infused into their systems. It also seems to get more powerful as the people involved do.

I, personally, made it a point to follow that intuition in my life. I just wish I hadn’t been blind to my brother before he attacked me.

In retrospect, I believe he had a severe antisocial disposition that the nanites couldn’t fix for whatever reason. My intuition, where he was concerned. had been very ambivalent. At least, it was until moments before he attacked.

At that point, I began to feel repulsed by him. It was as if he suddenly became the most vile person I could imagine. At the time it was lumped into my anger at being attacked. In retrospect, It seems obvious I was picking up on his revelry for the impending violence.”

“That… could be extremely useful information. If you’re right, it implies that Cierra is trustworthy. It also means we should definitely be suspicious of the branch head and his pet councilor. She might be picking up on something and not know it.”

“Your logic is sound, though I should also point out that she is extremely attractive, and it’s been proven that people are more quick to trust people they’re attracted to.”

“Yeah, I’m aware I need to try and avoid thinking with my small head, thanks.”

“What can I say? Some things transcend even species lines.”

Will just snorted in response, and began the trip home.

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As Cierra hiked back to her friend’s place, she briefly had a similar train of thought that Will had. She had learned to trust her instincts a long time ago, though, so it never morphed into real suspicion. Where her thoughts got held up was when she realized how much she was already looking forward to getting to know him.

Putting that aside for the moment, she changed her focus to Kara. Her friend was going to thoroughly enjoy the story Cierra had to share, and she really wanted to make the most of their time for the remainder of her visit. Deciding to do just that, she sped up her pace back to the house.