Read Online Love and Darkness (The Cause Book 2) by Randall Farmer - Free Book Online
Authors: Randall Farmer
Ads: Link
to be kidding. I haven’t had that much fun since the Battle in Detroit.” Predators!
“You have other things to do, your grace,” Occum said. “You’re letting yourself go to seed.”
“I’m not letting myself go to seed, Master Occum,” Hoskins said.
“In that case, both you and Sinclair need to stay with me and learn a few new things. You’re due for another upgrade, and Sinclair needs to learn how to manage the changes, as well as learning the new commoner stabilization techniques.”
Sinclair nodded and Hoskins’ eyes lit up. “You learned more about improving Nobles?” Hoskins said.
“I do work over here, your grace, as opposed to some of us who go gallivanting around the countryside. I think we can get you a few more physical enhancements, plus a couple more points of IQ. Shadow thinks he’s figured out a way to speed up your change into your combat form by several hours, if there’s adequate élan available, and I should teach you that as well, since your adrenaline’s up. Also, you need to learn a few meditation techniques to give you a better sense of your own body. Allow you to manage yourself better on your own.”
“Good,” Shadow said. “Occum, we need a proving quest for you, to get you recognized as a Guru. We’re going to need a good one, if we’re going to get you the stature you need.”
“What about you, Shadow?” Gilgamesh asked. “What are you going to be doing?”
Shadow leaned back. “Now, I establish myself as a Mentor. I’ll be doing some politicking with the senior Crows, which will involve some traveling. Also, I’m going to declare our position. It’s time for us to go public, which will mean some pretty hefty risks.” Shadow paused. “It’s time for me to publicly work with the Focuses. My first stop will be Inferno, in Boston. In the daytime.” The other Crows backed away from him, even Sky.
---
Gilgamesh and Sky waited behind the Gallivan Boulevard Testing Clinic, one of the new Neighborhood Testing Clinics sprouting up in every major city. The clinics would conduct tests for any number of diseases and conditions for anyone who walked in off the street, but the real point was to identify Transform Sickness. This was a bright idea from the CDC, now the Center for Disease Control and Prevention rather than the Communicable Disease Center, and the idea was that anyone who felt some suspicion that they might be coming down with Transform Sickness or any other communicable disease could just drop in for a quick test. No hassles, and a very low cost. The authorities wanted to catch a much higher proportion of Transforms before they went into withdrawal or became Monsters.
The Neighborhood Testing Clinics also collected fingerprints and pictures of Transforms, for the obvious uses. The public and media didn’t know this, yet – and whether to rat them out was the major current Crow topic of conversation on the Grapevine at the moment.
These clinics even worked. More Transforms did come in, looking for a Focus so they could survive. The clinics were an imperfect solution, though. Just last week, the newspapers blared a lurid story about a Monster conversion in one of those clinics and the expected mayhem and gore.
Gilgamesh shook his head and checked his watch again. Ten fifteen. Haiku had been due at ten.
“You think he’s chickened out?” Gilgamesh asked.
Sky shrugged. That was the sort of thing you could never predict about another Crow. It would be nice if Haiku would wait until he actually did something risky before he let the fear take him, though.
“Let’s wait until 11:00,” he said. Gristle dross removal was a multi-Crow job, the more Crows the better. Gilgamesh preferred Orange Sunshine, but the beefy Crow was sleeping off some sort of Charade disaster. Gilgamesh was starting to suspect the household tuning trick wasn’t as easy as Sky claimed.
Haiku showed around 10:30, coming
“You have other things to do, your grace,” Occum said. “You’re letting yourself go to seed.”
“I’m not letting myself go to seed, Master Occum,” Hoskins said.
“In that case, both you and Sinclair need to stay with me and learn a few new things. You’re due for another upgrade, and Sinclair needs to learn how to manage the changes, as well as learning the new commoner stabilization techniques.”
Sinclair nodded and Hoskins’ eyes lit up. “You learned more about improving Nobles?” Hoskins said.
“I do work over here, your grace, as opposed to some of us who go gallivanting around the countryside. I think we can get you a few more physical enhancements, plus a couple more points of IQ. Shadow thinks he’s figured out a way to speed up your change into your combat form by several hours, if there’s adequate élan available, and I should teach you that as well, since your adrenaline’s up. Also, you need to learn a few meditation techniques to give you a better sense of your own body. Allow you to manage yourself better on your own.”
“Good,” Shadow said. “Occum, we need a proving quest for you, to get you recognized as a Guru. We’re going to need a good one, if we’re going to get you the stature you need.”
“What about you, Shadow?” Gilgamesh asked. “What are you going to be doing?”
Shadow leaned back. “Now, I establish myself as a Mentor. I’ll be doing some politicking with the senior Crows, which will involve some traveling. Also, I’m going to declare our position. It’s time for us to go public, which will mean some pretty hefty risks.” Shadow paused. “It’s time for me to publicly work with the Focuses. My first stop will be Inferno, in Boston. In the daytime.” The other Crows backed away from him, even Sky.
---
Gilgamesh and Sky waited behind the Gallivan Boulevard Testing Clinic, one of the new Neighborhood Testing Clinics sprouting up in every major city. The clinics would conduct tests for any number of diseases and conditions for anyone who walked in off the street, but the real point was to identify Transform Sickness. This was a bright idea from the CDC, now the Center for Disease Control and Prevention rather than the Communicable Disease Center, and the idea was that anyone who felt some suspicion that they might be coming down with Transform Sickness or any other communicable disease could just drop in for a quick test. No hassles, and a very low cost. The authorities wanted to catch a much higher proportion of Transforms before they went into withdrawal or became Monsters.
The Neighborhood Testing Clinics also collected fingerprints and pictures of Transforms, for the obvious uses. The public and media didn’t know this, yet – and whether to rat them out was the major current Crow topic of conversation on the Grapevine at the moment.
These clinics even worked. More Transforms did come in, looking for a Focus so they could survive. The clinics were an imperfect solution, though. Just last week, the newspapers blared a lurid story about a Monster conversion in one of those clinics and the expected mayhem and gore.
Gilgamesh shook his head and checked his watch again. Ten fifteen. Haiku had been due at ten.
“You think he’s chickened out?” Gilgamesh asked.
Sky shrugged. That was the sort of thing you could never predict about another Crow. It would be nice if Haiku would wait until he actually did something risky before he let the fear take him, though.
“Let’s wait until 11:00,” he said. Gristle dross removal was a multi-Crow job, the more Crows the better. Gilgamesh preferred Orange Sunshine, but the beefy Crow was sleeping off some sort of Charade disaster. Gilgamesh was starting to suspect the household tuning trick wasn’t as easy as Sky claimed.
Haiku showed around 10:30, coming
Similar Books
