Reality Hack (25 page)

‘They did not hurt you,’ Faline said, ‘and you sent them a message. They will not try to get at Trina through you a second time.’

‘Maybe. It’s weird, something doesn’t feel right. It’s like…’

‘An odd feeling of tension?’

‘Uh… yeah. I do feel kind of tense.’

‘It’s only a few days until the full moon.
I’m
feeling tense.’

Nisa blinked and then grinned at her cat. ‘I suppose it could be that. We could try easing the pressure.’

‘No. I want it to all come out at once. I don’t think I’ve been looking forward to it like this… since I can remember.’

‘You were all “it’s not so nice for me” a few days ago.’

‘I was, but since then it’s been getting closer, I’ve been feeling it… A-and I’ve been remembering what it was like last time. I don’t feel like feeling so needy is quite such a bad thing. Maybe it’s just that I haven’t had such a good partner for a while.’

‘Huh. Well, I hope I’m going to live up to expectations.’

Faline looked up at her and smiled. ‘As long as you just let yourself go, you will do.’

Westminster, October 7
^th
.

There was no sign of any of the Queens, or whatever Jilly was calling her cronies, around the flats as Nisa left for work in the morning, but there was a distinct sensation of being watched, which Nisa did not enjoy. The feeling vanished as she got on the train, but then she got to work and it was downhill again.

‘Lisa Anne May,’ Kellog said as she passed his office door, ‘remember her?’

‘The writer?’

‘The same. Her husband reported her missing last night.’

‘So…’

‘Uniforms are canvassing the area. We’ll leave it to the regular force to handle things for now, but keep an eye on the reports they file.’

‘Right. Do you think it’s worth looking around the area? Just… see if there’s anything to see?’

Kellog peered at her. ‘Be my guest. Let me know if you do.’

‘Not coming with me?’

‘I don’t think it’s dangerous, and you need to be able to work alone.’ He sagged a little. ‘Also, I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on.’

‘I’ll try not to enjoy the fresh air too much,’ Nisa replied.

Hammersmith.

There was a weird feeling of
wrongness
about Hammersmith Grove as soon as Nisa walked onto the street. The odd thing about it was that, somehow, in some way she could not quite put her finger on, it felt like the alternative reality she had been in after the Glitch had hit her. Well, like that had felt after the men and women in black suits had started dropping hints. It was sort of like being somewhere you knew you should leave, even though it seemed perfectly normal to be there.

Frowning at the odd feeling, she focussed herself on that and began trying to draw in power for a spell. It kept slipping from her for several seconds until it seemed that she had found the local weirdness in the world around her, and then it flowed in freely, but when she did cast her mind out into the surrounding area, it felt as though someone had sucked all the life out of her muscles. She staggered, stumbling against a fence, and almost lost the spell, but then she pulled herself up and walked down the street toward the Mays’ house.

It was not until she was in front of the neighbouring building that she felt something. It was there, nothing really strong, but there was definitely something wrong around the front of Lisa May’s home. As Nisa walked closer, the spell let her feel more, and she somehow wished it did not. There was definitely a taint of Unreality about the house. She could feel it well into the building.

Stopping, she looked up at the home Lisa had made her own and focussed on it, trying her best to draw in the strange feeling of non-existence that seemed to be sitting over it. She closed her eyes, and an image leapt out at her, just a flash on the insides of her eyelids, a flash of bright white light which meant little until the shock of it made her open her eyes and she saw the negative image superimposed on her vision.

Hovering in front of her, wherever she looked, was the shadow of a man.

Westminster.

‘You’re quite sure about this?’ Kellog asked. It was the third time and Nisa was getting a little irritated, but then, her partner was looking distracted and worried…

‘I got Norbery to take me down to the vault and I cast the same spell on the shadow residue down there,’ she said, varying the reply a little. ‘I got the same image from that. I don’t know why I didn’t notice it before…’

‘Ah well, there I could suggest something. Frank, you noticed her sudden acquaintance with Daath as well?’

Norbery nodded. ‘You were trapped in some sort of manufactured, unreal reality… Well, to our minds it was unreal, but I suppose–’

‘You are really best to not go down that road,’ Nisa advised. ‘I’ve been there and it’s got “hazardous bends” signs all the way down to the cliff edge.’

‘You were trapped in a hallucination caused by a huge surge of Daath energy,’ Norbery said, giving Nisa a look which said that it was a simplification and he knew it, ‘and you emerged with a remarkable insight into that esoteric sphere.’

‘Your experience of it may have attuned you to it,’ Kellog went on. ‘So you’re noticing things about it which you did not before, and we would not anyway.’

‘Okay,’ Nisa said, nodding slowly. ‘Makes sense and suggests I didn’t just get the spell wrong. It seemed like there were traces of them all over, but they had really burned themselves into that house, recently. I figure they went in and took Lisa out of there, somehow.’ She saw Norbery’s face darken. ‘What?’

‘If they are using Daath, then they may have unmade her. She would be gone. Gone into… nothing.’

Nisa shook her head. ‘I don’t believe that’s what they did. I don’t think what I was feeling was a spell powerful enough to vanish her. And my understanding is that using Da’at like that would remove even the memory of her from existence. I think it was just the number of them and them being active. I mean
really
active instead of just watching.’

‘Which begs the question of what a bunch of shadowy men, possibly System Agents, want with a magazine article writer?’ Kellog said.

‘I don’t think these things are that kind of shadowy figure.’ Nisa knew she was saying it because of the warning the Men in Black had given her, but she still found herself avoiding mentioning that fact. ‘I think they’re something else. I think they’re something that shouldn’t exist and that’s why they stink of Da’at.’

‘Then what would something which shouldn’t exist want with Mrs May?’

‘I have absolutely no idea.’

Tower Hamlets, October 8
^th
.

Faline was off her food and exceptionally tactile about saying hello as soon as Nisa walked into the flat. Of course, Nisa knew why, and her own stomach was not in the mood for a lot of food either. They were both waiting for the sky to darken and the tension was obvious.

Having eaten a slice of toast and poured two glasses of wine, Nisa gave up trying to eat more for the time being as the sun set around six-thirty. Faline was looking restive, but not changing yet, so Nisa went to her bedroom and stripped. And then she padded back out into the lounge and curled onto the couch while her cat sat on the rug in the middle of the floor and watched her with a most un-cat-like look of… Actually, no, it was a cat expression, but twisted: Faline was looking at Nisa the way cats watched birds in trees. There was going to come a time, real soon now, when she could pounce… Nisa swallowed and felt her nipples hardening and knew that Faline could probably smell her getting wet.

And then, as the light dimmed outside, Faline began to change. She did not slink away to hide this time. It was almost as though she wanted Nisa to see it all and that that would somehow make this all seem more intense. And it did. Nisa watched as the cat-shape flowed and distorted, as the limbs rearranged themselves and Faline’s features rearranged their form into their pixie-like, human shape.

But when the transformation was complete tonight there was still the same hungry, waiting, animal look in the woman’s eyes, and Faline prowled across the floor toward Nisa. For a brief instant Nisa was actually afraid; she was looking into the eyes of a woman so lost in the animal part of herself that Nisa wondered whether she was going to survive the night.

And then Faline’s hot hands touched her thighs and Nisa, too, was lost in the moment.

~~~

Trina watched the sun going down with an odd feeling of dread. She had spent the last week worrying over Jilly, who should have been in a hospital, but should certainly be no threat currently, and yet there was something about the whole business…

She was walking back toward her turf from Limehouse, cutting the corner across from Agnes Street to Burdett Road. It saved several hundred yards compared to going all the way up Agnes Street, though as the sky got darker it seemed less of a good idea. She was under trees here, not many and not thick, but the shadows were deeper and seemed to move on their own. Maybe this had been a bad idea, but why the Hell was she getting so damn nervous? Jilly was just a girl like any of the other ones Trina had taken down in her time. Right?

Something moved on Trina’s right and she turned quickly, dropping into a ready stance. She saw Jilly’s unmarked, smiling face as she stepped into what light there was. ‘Jilly…’

‘Kind of,’ Jilly replied.

‘I beat you… Why aren’t you black and blue? I
know
I broke ribs.’

‘Yeah… that hurt, but I learned my lesson.’

Trina stepped back and straightened up. ‘You’re asking for a truce?’

Jilly stepped forward quickly, her right arm extending from behind her back to jab a stun rod into Trina’s ribs. Trina jerked as several tens of thousands of volts turned her nervous system into electric chaos, and then she fell to the floor, twitching. ‘No. I learned that if you want to get ahead in life, you have to cheat like a bitch.’

~~~

An hour after sunset, Faline seemed to be in seventh heaven or a near approximation thereof. The strap-on was a big hit and the Witch Cat was lying with her face pressed into the back of the sofa and her butt stuck up in the air, utterly lost in the sensation of Nisa ramming the thick, rubber phallus in and out of her friend.

Faline had been quite insistent at first, apparently wanting very much to be between Nisa’s thighs, even though the cat was the one in heat. Knowing they would likely be at it for hours, Nisa had just gone with it, but when Faline had got her off and was mewling for release herself, Nisa had got up and gone to the bedroom, and returned wearing the harness and dildo. Faline’s eyes had gone as wide as saucers. Nisa was going to have to call a break soon, because her thighs were feeling the strain and she needed more food now that the initial heat was over.

It seemed that Faline was feeling the strain too since, when the final shudders of her next orgasm were dying, she turned her face to Nisa. ‘Enough… Enough, please… I don’t think I can do… that again.’ Which had to be treated accordingly, even if Nisa was in agreement. She grabbed Faline’s hips and pulled as she sat back on her haunches. Faline let out a squeak as she was impaled further while sitting in Nisa’s lap. ‘Please, love! I-if I come again, I’ll b-be useless for hours.’

Nisa giggled, snuggling her nose against Faline’s neck. ‘“Love,” huh?’

‘I-it was a slip of the tongue,’ Faline replied, her cheeks heating. She was squirming, a fish caught on a hook she was unwilling to slip free of.

‘I don’t mind,’ Nisa told her. ‘I quite like it. I’m getting tired too. We should eat something if we’re going to go again later.’

‘We should, and we will. I am more comfortable in my skin now, but I want more of you. I have not tasted you enough tonight, and I wish you to force more of this fiendish toy upon me before morning comes.’

‘I am going to be a wreck at work tomorrow, aren’t I?’

‘I believe they are aware of the issues associated with my kind, and are also aware that the benefits outweigh them. But I will try to ensure that you have
some
sleep.’

Grinning, Nisa allowed the cat-woman up from her lap, and then followed her toward the kitchen. ‘Some sleep?’

‘Indeed.’ It was Faline’s turn to giggle. ‘I may have to wake you for a last quickie before the sun comes up though. Perhaps you could go in a little late?’

Westminster, October 9
^th
.

‘Full moon?’ Sandra asked as Nisa passed her in the corridor.

‘Yeah,’ Nisa mumbled, hiding behind her sunglasses. She has considered using make-up to hide the dark rings, but the glasses had been easier.

‘Frank has some very good herbal pick-me-ups.’

‘I’ll remember to ask about them.’ Nisa walked on to her office, unlocking the door and heading in. She was unsure how much work she was going to really get done and had considered calling in sick, though she
would
have explained that she had come down with Faline-induced exhaustion. Well,
she
thought it was a reasonable malady in their line of work.

Kellog appeared in the door of her office, looked at her slumped in her office chair for a second, and then said, ‘Full moon last night, right? You probably should’ve stayed home and slept it off.’

‘Thanks. I’ll remember that next time.’

‘Since you’re in, let’s get some coffee. Norbery says the results of that facial reconstruction are in.’

‘Facial reconstruction… right… be right there…’

‘Full moon last night?’ Hanson asked as she walked past Kellog in the corridor.

‘Uh-huh,’ he replied.

‘Next time take the day off after,’ Hanson called out as she walked on, apparently entirely unbothered.

‘Does everyone know I’m banging my cat?’ Nisa grumbled as she made it to the door.

‘Everyone knows how Witch Cats are every quarter,’ Kellog replied as he started for the break room. ‘Everyone knows Faline is a Witch Cat because she was here to help bring your Probrum down. And we know you’re not averse to female sexual partners, because we did a background check.’