Splat.
I kept trying to fly, but I didn't have the "feel" for it yet. I could feel Wonder's power in my chest, like his soul was within me trying to guide me. For half a second, I flew before crashing back into the gentle embrace of the sea waves.
My body was still "refining" the human filth in the Wonder's blood. It was toxic, riddled with the chemical stimulants the natives use to ignore their own fragile hearts.
My system was acting as a frantic refinery, choking on the impurities as it tried to extract the flight sequence from the sludge.
The nausea was an oily weight in my throat, making it impossible to focus, but my body was also telling me it was almost done, and soon it would expel them.
The first step was the biokinetic field that formed around me like a second skin, keeping the wind from peeling my face off. But I didn't know how to pilot it. Do I push against the air? Do I pull the earth toward me? Is it a mental flex or a physical shove?
It was time to use the human tech. They carry these little glowing boxes everywhere, and even without owning one, I've benefited greatly just by listening to them as people walk by.
It's how I learned half of what I know about this planet. The problem is I can't actually operate the device yet; it's encrypted with their written language.
I had taken the native's paper currency from the corpse, but I had left the box. Damnation, I could have used it.
Damnation.
I needed a translator. I needed the scrawny native from the shop. My internal reservoirs were flickering; the evolution was draining me faster than the sea could cool me.
I didn't just need his help with the box; I needed to feed. I needed that soft, spineless radiation of pity he emitted.
I took a final look at the horizon, then dove. The sky had rejected me, but the gills in my ribs were still humming with the Deep's power. I would swim back. I would be the shark in their harbor until I learned how to be the hawk in their sky.
I stepped through the door of Bryman Audio-Visual just as a black car with a loud engine sped away from the curb.
I looked exactly like I did three weeks ago. hiding the gills under the rags and the vibration under my skin until I looked pathetic enough for Hughie to recognize and pity
The bell rang when I walked in.
Hughie was behind the counter, staring at a stack of DVDs. He looked like he hadn't slept in three years. He was "leaking" that slow, steady drip of pity and exhaustion that I'd been farming since I found him.
"Hey... kid," he cleared his throat, looking away. "Look, I... I really can't do this today. My girlfriend, Robin... she's... she had an accident."
His hands were shaking. I didn't say anything. I just walked up and put the wet, salty bills on the glass.
Hughie blinked at the money, then at me. He didn't even ask why it was wet. He just sighed, that same sigh he always gave when he felt sorry for me.
I love it.
"Kid... where did you... ?" He looked at me, eyes searching my face for an answer I wasn't going to give. He wiped his hand on his jeans, looking totally lost. "You're soaking wet. Did you fall in the river? Jesus"
He pulled a stack of napkins from under the counter and pushed them toward me.
He leaned his elbows on the counter, his head dropping into his hands. "I can't... I can't deal with the this today. I can't deal with any of this." He let out a dry laugh.
"This guy was just here. A big guy. Said he was a fed or something you probably don't even know what a 'fed' is. He wants me to... I don't know. He's crazy. Everything is just... crazy."
He was looking at me like he expected me to say something, but I just kept my eyes on him, soaking up the pity. It was the only thing stopping the nausea in my throat.
Then the door opened.
The bell rang, but nobody was there.
Hughie stopped talking. He looked at the empty doorway, his mouth hanging open. "Uh... hello? Is... someone there?"
I didn't look at the door. There was nothing to see. But the air smelled different, the scent of expensive scents and a massive, bloated ego.
"Get lost, kid," a voice said. It came from the empty air, right in front of the counter.
Hughie jumped, nearly falling over the counter. "Who... what the hell?"
The voice was smug. It sounded like a man who knew he could do whatever he wanted because no one could see him doing it. "I said beat it, brat. Shop's closed."
I felt a shove on my shoulder. It was a hard, heavy hand.
I didn't fight it, but I didn't run yet either. I stayed for one more second, looking at Hughie. I watched his face twist from grief to pure, shivering terror. I took one last drink of that fear, testing the invisible man's patience. I waited until I felt the air around the invisible freak start to vibrate with real anger.
If this invisible Supe wanted to mess with the scrawny guy, I'd let him until I find an opening I would probably have a bio seizure if I consumed him while I was so close to finishing digesting wonder but invisibility was too precious to let it slip by.
Pies keep falling from the sky and I will choke on them to death.
Only then, when the limit was reached, did I turn and run out the door. I pulled it shut and slipped around to the alleyway.