my way to be friendly to you Focuses!”
“Ah, you’re making a mistake,” Tonya said. “The first Focuses are not the Network. Your work with the active Network Focuses has succeeded. The Network loves you. Focus Claunch loves you, but can’t admit to it in public. You’re one of the Network’s favorite people. On the other hand, the other first Focuses look at reality in an entirely different way than Claunch and the Network. As far as I know, you’ve won only one of them over to your style of doing business, Focus Fingleman. You aren’t worth anything to the other first Focuses if they, through the Council, can’t deal with you directly.”
Carol frowned and didn’t respond.
“The first Focuses don’t want control over your day to day activities. What they want from you is a proper business relationship. From their perspective.”
“You’re saying they would be willing to kill me if I refuse to have a proper business relationship with them?”
“Yes.”
“The first Focuses are as arrogant as they are insane,” Carol said. “So they went after me in Chicago just because I wouldn’t deal with them?”
“No,” Tonya said. “Not the Firsts, but the Council, I’m embarrassed to say. The Firsts told us to solve the tagged Transform kidnapping problem, but didn’t give us any orders regarding ‘how’. The Council was leaning on the FBI because all of us were convinced you were poaching tagged Transforms. We couldn’t conceive that someone like Rogue Crow existed.” Tonya sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. It took an effort of will to open them again. She had attacked and broken the Commander! Attacked twice. She could argue that Patterson had controlled her, so it wasn’t her fault, but Tonya knew better. Being Patterson’s pawn only showed weakness, not lack of culpability.
“Lori here told us everything we needed to know to make the right decision, and in our arrogance, we refused to listen ,” Tonya said. “I screwed up, plain and simple, because I was the one pushing hardest on the theory that you were our enemy. That’s why my being here is so appropriate.” Looking back on her memories, she couldn’t even say Patterson had been controlling her, regarding this.
Carol fixed Tonya with her predatory gaze. “Huh.” She studied Tonya for another minute, and then leaned back and folded her arms. “Rogue Crow played us both like a fiddle. Back then he had me convinced the Network Focuses were after me, and he had both Gilgamesh and I pinned down by his Hunters.”
“Hunters?”
“Rogue Crow’s charges are no longer mere Beast Men,” Gilgamesh said from the couch to Tonya’s left, where she now saw him sitting next to Lori. “Rogue Crow uses directed withdrawal scarring to keep Beast Men from losing their humanity; his Chicago area beasts call themselves Hunters. They share the same scarring, and they’ve named it: the Law.” Like Shadow’s voice over the telephone, Gilgamesh’s voice was melodic and attractive. He didn’t say much, but when he did, people listened. Tonya understood the danger the Crows represented – Gilgamesh’s version of Major Transform charisma made her want to cuddle with him as if he was a big teddy bear.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Carol, what do Chimeras get as their version of Major Transform charisma?” Tonya said.
Carol laughed. It was a nasty laugh. “I’ve never put a name to it. It’s like what Arms have, but more animalistic.” She turned to Gilgamesh. “What have you Crows named it?”
“The Terror,” Gilgamesh said. “When a beast roars at you, you go instinctive and mindless.” Tonya wanted to curse and throw a tantrum. Back when she had been investigating the Transform killings and kidnappings, she had encountered several cases where witnesses had heard this ‘terror’, without realizing they were hearing Chimera charisma in
“Ah, you’re making a mistake,” Tonya said. “The first Focuses are not the Network. Your work with the active Network Focuses has succeeded. The Network loves you. Focus Claunch loves you, but can’t admit to it in public. You’re one of the Network’s favorite people. On the other hand, the other first Focuses look at reality in an entirely different way than Claunch and the Network. As far as I know, you’ve won only one of them over to your style of doing business, Focus Fingleman. You aren’t worth anything to the other first Focuses if they, through the Council, can’t deal with you directly.”
Carol frowned and didn’t respond.
“The first Focuses don’t want control over your day to day activities. What they want from you is a proper business relationship. From their perspective.”
“You’re saying they would be willing to kill me if I refuse to have a proper business relationship with them?”
“Yes.”
“The first Focuses are as arrogant as they are insane,” Carol said. “So they went after me in Chicago just because I wouldn’t deal with them?”
“No,” Tonya said. “Not the Firsts, but the Council, I’m embarrassed to say. The Firsts told us to solve the tagged Transform kidnapping problem, but didn’t give us any orders regarding ‘how’. The Council was leaning on the FBI because all of us were convinced you were poaching tagged Transforms. We couldn’t conceive that someone like Rogue Crow existed.” Tonya sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. It took an effort of will to open them again. She had attacked and broken the Commander! Attacked twice. She could argue that Patterson had controlled her, so it wasn’t her fault, but Tonya knew better. Being Patterson’s pawn only showed weakness, not lack of culpability.
“Lori here told us everything we needed to know to make the right decision, and in our arrogance, we refused to listen ,” Tonya said. “I screwed up, plain and simple, because I was the one pushing hardest on the theory that you were our enemy. That’s why my being here is so appropriate.” Looking back on her memories, she couldn’t even say Patterson had been controlling her, regarding this.
Carol fixed Tonya with her predatory gaze. “Huh.” She studied Tonya for another minute, and then leaned back and folded her arms. “Rogue Crow played us both like a fiddle. Back then he had me convinced the Network Focuses were after me, and he had both Gilgamesh and I pinned down by his Hunters.”
“Hunters?”
“Rogue Crow’s charges are no longer mere Beast Men,” Gilgamesh said from the couch to Tonya’s left, where she now saw him sitting next to Lori. “Rogue Crow uses directed withdrawal scarring to keep Beast Men from losing their humanity; his Chicago area beasts call themselves Hunters. They share the same scarring, and they’ve named it: the Law.” Like Shadow’s voice over the telephone, Gilgamesh’s voice was melodic and attractive. He didn’t say much, but when he did, people listened. Tonya understood the danger the Crows represented – Gilgamesh’s version of Major Transform charisma made her want to cuddle with him as if he was a big teddy bear.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Carol, what do Chimeras get as their version of Major Transform charisma?” Tonya said.
Carol laughed. It was a nasty laugh. “I’ve never put a name to it. It’s like what Arms have, but more animalistic.” She turned to Gilgamesh. “What have you Crows named it?”
“The Terror,” Gilgamesh said. “When a beast roars at you, you go instinctive and mindless.” Tonya wanted to curse and throw a tantrum. Back when she had been investigating the Transform killings and kidnappings, she had encountered several cases where witnesses had heard this ‘terror’, without realizing they were hearing Chimera charisma in
Similar Books
