company. Tonya was, as always, oh so curious.
“Suzie’s a pushover. Sure, she’s one of the first Focuses, and she’s got her dark withdrawal imprinting tricks, but if it wasn’t for those, she’d be an absolute nobody. She doesn’t have any of the extra zip, the extra charisma, that it takes to be a leading Focus these days. I mean, the two of us have been banging on each other for what, four years now, and I know you’ve gotten better because of our, um, tussles.” Lori turned away, and sighed. “Besides, she’s the only Focus who calls me Dr. Rizzari.”
Bingo. Lori just wasn’t paranoid enough. The fact Suzie was the only one who used Lori’s honorific should have been a clue to her about how dangerous Suzie was, and what she risked. Suzie had basically told Lori that her PhD was her weakness, implying Suzie had something on Lori that if publicly released, would cost Lori her teaching position, if not her academic career. Tonya weighed telling Lori, and decided not to. Eventually, she would need Lori on her side, when the time finally came to push the issue of control of the Council. A few more of life’s hard knocks would serve the younger academic Focus well in the meantime.
“Interesting,” Tonya said, blank of mind and face.
Lori shrugged. “You know, I’ve found a new translation of a southern India myth cycle that echoes our current situation. You might find it interesting that…”
Here we go again, Tonya sighed to herself.
From Gail’s Second Phone Call With Tonya
“I’m glad to hear the visit went well,” Tonya said. “Did Beth give you any pointers?”
“Yes,” Gail said, and tried to push the image of Tonya torturing Transforms out of her head. “Yes, she did.”
“What kind of pointers?”
“Well, a bunch of stuff.” Most of which Gail had a hard time trusting. She wondered if they were the generally accepted wisdom of the Focuses or just Beth’s personal opinion. “Like bodyguards.”
“What about bodyguards?”
“Well, she said you should always have a Transform bodyguard. And if you have two, it’s best one of them be a Transform and one of them a normal, just in case you’re badly injured and far from home. I shouldn’t worry about shorting the Transforms in an emergency, because I’d be pumping them like nobody’s business. She said I needed people who will take a bullet for me.” Not bodyguards assigned by the household because they were unemployed and male. Real true bodyguards. “She also mentioned the bodyguard training the various Focuses pass around.”
“Good, good. All definitely true,” Tonya said.
Beth was probably right, at least on this. But still…
“But do you really need those bodyguards?” Gail said. “I have trouble with the whole bodyguard thing.”
“Bodyguards are important – your Transforms might die if you’re killed, or even if you ’re badly injured,” Tonya said, firm. “Hopefully you’ll never be attacked, but if you are, you’ll need those bodyguards. As a Focus, you’re much more of a target than you are as a normal.”
Gail shook her head. “Have you ever been attacked?”
“Well, I’m a little high profile for a Focus, but yes, twice so far this year,” Tonya said.
This year! “You’re serious?” Gail said, her discomfort with Tonya forgotten, replaced by an itchy fear. “What happened?”
“The first attack was by the brother of a Transform. The Transform died because no Focus had a slot free to take him, and the brother went round the bend. He started shooting at the first Focus he was able to find, which happened to be me. Fortunately, he missed his first shot, and my bodyguards handled the problem.”
“Holy cow,” Gail said. “What did they do?”
“Well,” Tonya said, “My normal bodyguard covered me, and the Transform killed the man.”
“Oh,” Gail said, shocked to find the danger so real.
“Suzie’s a pushover. Sure, she’s one of the first Focuses, and she’s got her dark withdrawal imprinting tricks, but if it wasn’t for those, she’d be an absolute nobody. She doesn’t have any of the extra zip, the extra charisma, that it takes to be a leading Focus these days. I mean, the two of us have been banging on each other for what, four years now, and I know you’ve gotten better because of our, um, tussles.” Lori turned away, and sighed. “Besides, she’s the only Focus who calls me Dr. Rizzari.”
Bingo. Lori just wasn’t paranoid enough. The fact Suzie was the only one who used Lori’s honorific should have been a clue to her about how dangerous Suzie was, and what she risked. Suzie had basically told Lori that her PhD was her weakness, implying Suzie had something on Lori that if publicly released, would cost Lori her teaching position, if not her academic career. Tonya weighed telling Lori, and decided not to. Eventually, she would need Lori on her side, when the time finally came to push the issue of control of the Council. A few more of life’s hard knocks would serve the younger academic Focus well in the meantime.
“Interesting,” Tonya said, blank of mind and face.
Lori shrugged. “You know, I’ve found a new translation of a southern India myth cycle that echoes our current situation. You might find it interesting that…”
Here we go again, Tonya sighed to herself.
From Gail’s Second Phone Call With Tonya
“I’m glad to hear the visit went well,” Tonya said. “Did Beth give you any pointers?”
“Yes,” Gail said, and tried to push the image of Tonya torturing Transforms out of her head. “Yes, she did.”
“What kind of pointers?”
“Well, a bunch of stuff.” Most of which Gail had a hard time trusting. She wondered if they were the generally accepted wisdom of the Focuses or just Beth’s personal opinion. “Like bodyguards.”
“What about bodyguards?”
“Well, she said you should always have a Transform bodyguard. And if you have two, it’s best one of them be a Transform and one of them a normal, just in case you’re badly injured and far from home. I shouldn’t worry about shorting the Transforms in an emergency, because I’d be pumping them like nobody’s business. She said I needed people who will take a bullet for me.” Not bodyguards assigned by the household because they were unemployed and male. Real true bodyguards. “She also mentioned the bodyguard training the various Focuses pass around.”
“Good, good. All definitely true,” Tonya said.
Beth was probably right, at least on this. But still…
“But do you really need those bodyguards?” Gail said. “I have trouble with the whole bodyguard thing.”
“Bodyguards are important – your Transforms might die if you’re killed, or even if you ’re badly injured,” Tonya said, firm. “Hopefully you’ll never be attacked, but if you are, you’ll need those bodyguards. As a Focus, you’re much more of a target than you are as a normal.”
Gail shook her head. “Have you ever been attacked?”
“Well, I’m a little high profile for a Focus, but yes, twice so far this year,” Tonya said.
This year! “You’re serious?” Gail said, her discomfort with Tonya forgotten, replaced by an itchy fear. “What happened?”
“The first attack was by the brother of a Transform. The Transform died because no Focus had a slot free to take him, and the brother went round the bend. He started shooting at the first Focus he was able to find, which happened to be me. Fortunately, he missed his first shot, and my bodyguards handled the problem.”
“Holy cow,” Gail said. “What did they do?”
“Well,” Tonya said, “My normal bodyguard covered me, and the Transform killed the man.”
“Oh,” Gail said, shocked to find the danger so real.
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