silent, she stalked around to the other side of the van, calling out, “You try to peek and I’ll break your nose.”
Ben waited as groans of disgust and shuffling evidenced her attempts to change without falling over. A squeak of surprise was followed by Dani running back around, now wearing a hot pink jumpsuit. She plucked at the waistband and arms, which were just loose enough to give her free range of motion. Otherwise it fit perfectly.
“This thing shrunk! And changed color!”
“One size fits all ’round here.”
She craned her neck to study the outfit from all sides. “But why pink?”
“It switches to the wearer’s favorite color.”
“I don’t like pink.”
“Accordin’ to the suit, you like it a lot.”
“How do I change it?”
He briefly shut his eyes. When he opened them again, his dusty blue jumpsuit had turned forest green. “Just a mental command. ’Course if you get too distracted or knocked unconscious, it’ll revert back. Pink’s nothin’ to be ashamed of.”
She scrunched her eyes in concentration, and her outfit flickered between silver, cherry, and black before settling on tan. After confirming the absence of pink, she smoothed it down. “It do anything else?”
He pointed to her left shoulder, where red threading had appeared, reading: Dani . “Cleaner uniforms are also self-sanitizin’. You could dunk it in a septic tank and it’d be spotless half an hour later.”
She looked down in new admiration. “Better than magic armor.”
“Plus, it’s fire retardant and will keep blot-hound puke and other Scum fluids from dissolvin’ your skin if you get hit. And the uniforms help us blend in wherever we’re workin’.”
“Blend?”
“Yup,” he said. “Who pays attention to a janitor or two? We’re everywhere. Hospitals, malls, office buildings, schools.”
“To fight the forces of Corruption,” she said. “Scum?”
“Oh, good. You’ve been takin’ notes.”
Ben opened the passenger door and looked to her. She stared at the seat and remained unmoving. Finally he waved and made a mocking bow.
“Well? In you go. Chivalry ain’t my strong suit, so take it when you can get it.”
She darted to the back and grabbed a clean cloth and bottle of cleaning fluid. She attacked the seat with these until the faux-leather gleamed. Only then did she deign to slip inside and perch herself on the cushion.
Ben muttered to himself as he got in on the driver’s side. She sat hunched in her seat, boots tucked up in a full-body cringe.
This won’t be no joy ride, that’s for sure.
The afternoon Denver sun slanted between the skyscrapers as he navigated the van out of the garage and through the flow of businessmen, tourists, joggers and bikers along the sidewalk.
Astonishment wiped away some of Dani’s pensive expression. “We’re still in the city?”
“Where’d you think HQ was? The Twilight Zone?”
Her scowl returned. “As if that’d be any weirder than what I’ve experienced so far.”
“Think of this as an education on how the world really works.”
“My world was working just fine,” Dani said. “One more year and I’d be heading to med school to become a doctor. And now I’m stuck in some smelly van with an old fart for a boss instead of in my dorm, feeding my lizard and learning things that won’t give me nightmares. I bet I’m stewing in germs just sitting here.”
He straightened, making his neck, shoulders, and spine pop. “A’ight, this is what I don’t get, princess. You have these big dreams about bein’ a doctor, bein’ up to your armpits in sick folk and tellin’ people to turn and cough, yet you can’t handle a little dirt?”
“Not all doctors deal with patients,” she said. “I figured I’d go into research. Lab work where everything’s sealed up behind glass. Where I could fight germs from a distance.”
“And what makes you hate germs so much, huh? You get bullied by one when you was a kid?”
Her gloves
Ben waited as groans of disgust and shuffling evidenced her attempts to change without falling over. A squeak of surprise was followed by Dani running back around, now wearing a hot pink jumpsuit. She plucked at the waistband and arms, which were just loose enough to give her free range of motion. Otherwise it fit perfectly.
“This thing shrunk! And changed color!”
“One size fits all ’round here.”
She craned her neck to study the outfit from all sides. “But why pink?”
“It switches to the wearer’s favorite color.”
“I don’t like pink.”
“Accordin’ to the suit, you like it a lot.”
“How do I change it?”
He briefly shut his eyes. When he opened them again, his dusty blue jumpsuit had turned forest green. “Just a mental command. ’Course if you get too distracted or knocked unconscious, it’ll revert back. Pink’s nothin’ to be ashamed of.”
She scrunched her eyes in concentration, and her outfit flickered between silver, cherry, and black before settling on tan. After confirming the absence of pink, she smoothed it down. “It do anything else?”
He pointed to her left shoulder, where red threading had appeared, reading: Dani . “Cleaner uniforms are also self-sanitizin’. You could dunk it in a septic tank and it’d be spotless half an hour later.”
She looked down in new admiration. “Better than magic armor.”
“Plus, it’s fire retardant and will keep blot-hound puke and other Scum fluids from dissolvin’ your skin if you get hit. And the uniforms help us blend in wherever we’re workin’.”
“Blend?”
“Yup,” he said. “Who pays attention to a janitor or two? We’re everywhere. Hospitals, malls, office buildings, schools.”
“To fight the forces of Corruption,” she said. “Scum?”
“Oh, good. You’ve been takin’ notes.”
Ben opened the passenger door and looked to her. She stared at the seat and remained unmoving. Finally he waved and made a mocking bow.
“Well? In you go. Chivalry ain’t my strong suit, so take it when you can get it.”
She darted to the back and grabbed a clean cloth and bottle of cleaning fluid. She attacked the seat with these until the faux-leather gleamed. Only then did she deign to slip inside and perch herself on the cushion.
Ben muttered to himself as he got in on the driver’s side. She sat hunched in her seat, boots tucked up in a full-body cringe.
This won’t be no joy ride, that’s for sure.
The afternoon Denver sun slanted between the skyscrapers as he navigated the van out of the garage and through the flow of businessmen, tourists, joggers and bikers along the sidewalk.
Astonishment wiped away some of Dani’s pensive expression. “We’re still in the city?”
“Where’d you think HQ was? The Twilight Zone?”
Her scowl returned. “As if that’d be any weirder than what I’ve experienced so far.”
“Think of this as an education on how the world really works.”
“My world was working just fine,” Dani said. “One more year and I’d be heading to med school to become a doctor. And now I’m stuck in some smelly van with an old fart for a boss instead of in my dorm, feeding my lizard and learning things that won’t give me nightmares. I bet I’m stewing in germs just sitting here.”
He straightened, making his neck, shoulders, and spine pop. “A’ight, this is what I don’t get, princess. You have these big dreams about bein’ a doctor, bein’ up to your armpits in sick folk and tellin’ people to turn and cough, yet you can’t handle a little dirt?”
“Not all doctors deal with patients,” she said. “I figured I’d go into research. Lab work where everything’s sealed up behind glass. Where I could fight germs from a distance.”
“And what makes you hate germs so much, huh? You get bullied by one when you was a kid?”
Her gloves
Similar Books
