12-04-2019, 02:49 PM
When Troy left, Mander came over to the couches and spoke to Helen.
"Might not be a bad idea havin' someone round who looks like Your Countessness. We don't know what other shenanigans Whyte's got planned."
Helen turned to him.
"Whyte's seen Rita's show, he knows who she is. I already blew my 'being in two places at once' thing this afternoon, and Rita signed up for parties: champagne, caviar, the occasional quick one with Justin Trudeau on Malcolm Turnbull's bed; not risking her life in some convoluted quintuple-bluff scheme to lure Whyte into the open." She leaned over to me. "Oh yeah, Justin can tell us apart, too." She turned back to Mander. "Still, good call on waiting until the guy who would've absolutely said no left the room to mention it."
Troy returned.
"Coffee's going. I miss anything?" He asked.
"Only why Canada and San Finzione have so many mutually-favorable trade deals." I told him. I turned to Mander. "There's something I can do to help with the tiredness, if you trust me."
Mander looked at Helen.
"Do you trust her?"
Helen looked at me.
"Yes." She said.
"Then I'm being paid enough to trust ya, too." He answered. Troy went back across the room to sit with Julie as I stood and offered Mander my spot. He took the seat, and I looked him in the eyes.
"When I tell you," I commanded him. "You're going to take a five-second nap, then wake up feeling like you've had a full-night's rest. Now!"
He was still wearing the sunglasses, but I saw his eyes close behind them. A few seconds later, they opened, and he looked at his watch.
"Fuckin' amazing, that is!"
"Yeah, it is." I told him. "But you should have that coffee anyway, and still be careful. I can give your mind a quick rest like that, but your body's still going on whatever it's got since you last slept. It's not something to keep doing, and if you push it, there'll be a hard, sudden crash when physical exhaustion catches up with you."
"Yeah, we found that one out the hard way." Julie said, smiling and patting Troy's knee.
"That's... REALLY good, Susan!" Helen said, sounding sincere with the impressed-ness. "The special training that I give the Ultimados requires conditioning and reinforcement, but that's a pretty good start."
Mander stood up and offered my seat back. I sat down.
"Thanks. And I have to say, Mander, you seem to be taking all of this very well. I know you've got to keep the 'always on duty, ma'am' thing going, but you were there today. You've got a voice in this, too."
"Well," Mander said as Troy offered him another chair, where he could see Helen and the doors. "It would not be the first time that knowing 'Er Countessness has caused me to question everythin' I believe. I know that there's four people in the world who can control minds; one of whom hears voices that have names and personalities; but she's not crazy and might, in fact, have some psychic connection to 'Er Countessness. Luckily, all of 'em seem to be decent people. Or, they could be complete prats who're just makin' me think they're geezers, but if they were doin' that, I'm sure I wouldn't even consider it."
We all had a laugh at that, because he had a point. Not a big one, though, because, you know, he had a point.
"I should see how they're doing up there." Troy said, looking up the stairs, at the hall to the library and Julie's studio. "I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be like the movies, and they'd instantly produce some 'DamningEvidence.proof' file, but I really have no idea how long hacking takes."
"Might not be a bad idea havin' someone round who looks like Your Countessness. We don't know what other shenanigans Whyte's got planned."
Helen turned to him.
"Whyte's seen Rita's show, he knows who she is. I already blew my 'being in two places at once' thing this afternoon, and Rita signed up for parties: champagne, caviar, the occasional quick one with Justin Trudeau on Malcolm Turnbull's bed; not risking her life in some convoluted quintuple-bluff scheme to lure Whyte into the open." She leaned over to me. "Oh yeah, Justin can tell us apart, too." She turned back to Mander. "Still, good call on waiting until the guy who would've absolutely said no left the room to mention it."
Troy returned.
"Coffee's going. I miss anything?" He asked.
"Only why Canada and San Finzione have so many mutually-favorable trade deals." I told him. I turned to Mander. "There's something I can do to help with the tiredness, if you trust me."
Mander looked at Helen.
"Do you trust her?"
Helen looked at me.
"Yes." She said.
"Then I'm being paid enough to trust ya, too." He answered. Troy went back across the room to sit with Julie as I stood and offered Mander my spot. He took the seat, and I looked him in the eyes.
"When I tell you," I commanded him. "You're going to take a five-second nap, then wake up feeling like you've had a full-night's rest. Now!"
He was still wearing the sunglasses, but I saw his eyes close behind them. A few seconds later, they opened, and he looked at his watch.
"Fuckin' amazing, that is!"
"Yeah, it is." I told him. "But you should have that coffee anyway, and still be careful. I can give your mind a quick rest like that, but your body's still going on whatever it's got since you last slept. It's not something to keep doing, and if you push it, there'll be a hard, sudden crash when physical exhaustion catches up with you."
"Yeah, we found that one out the hard way." Julie said, smiling and patting Troy's knee.
"That's... REALLY good, Susan!" Helen said, sounding sincere with the impressed-ness. "The special training that I give the Ultimados requires conditioning and reinforcement, but that's a pretty good start."
Mander stood up and offered my seat back. I sat down.
"Thanks. And I have to say, Mander, you seem to be taking all of this very well. I know you've got to keep the 'always on duty, ma'am' thing going, but you were there today. You've got a voice in this, too."
"Well," Mander said as Troy offered him another chair, where he could see Helen and the doors. "It would not be the first time that knowing 'Er Countessness has caused me to question everythin' I believe. I know that there's four people in the world who can control minds; one of whom hears voices that have names and personalities; but she's not crazy and might, in fact, have some psychic connection to 'Er Countessness. Luckily, all of 'em seem to be decent people. Or, they could be complete prats who're just makin' me think they're geezers, but if they were doin' that, I'm sure I wouldn't even consider it."
We all had a laugh at that, because he had a point. Not a big one, though, because, you know, he had a point.
"I should see how they're doing up there." Troy said, looking up the stairs, at the hall to the library and Julie's studio. "I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be like the movies, and they'd instantly produce some 'DamningEvidence.proof' file, but I really have no idea how long hacking takes."
Like, Comment and Give Rating.
![[+]](https://xossipy.com/themes/sharepoint/collapse_collapsed.png)