Chapter 9

My mind was still reeling from finding out that I had actually been in a club owned by Roberto Ricci. I sure hope that nobody else recognized me, that could tip them off that I was looking into them.

Kimiko then told me her background. She was 20, and taking Criminology at the local college. Her desire was to get into law enforcement, and the dancing was the only way she could cover her expenses, and still have a schedule open enough for school.

“They really don’t care what we do otherwise, quite a few gals there are students like me. The only requirements are no drinking alcohol on the clock, no drugs other than weed, no weed 4 hours before or at the club, and no prostitution. Also, no dating either customers or staff. I had done the fake ‘grind to orgasm’ in the back before, so they are kind of used to that. This was just the first time that it was real.

“And yes, Roberto owns the club. It’s not like in that old TV series where they hang out in the back room though. We are purely money laundering in addition to being a legitimate club as far as the mob is concerned. Every few days guys come to the back about 90 minutes before the club opens with briefcases. They go to the office, spend about 15 minutes, then leave. What they’re doing is dropping off cash.”

“Wait, dropping off cash? Not picking it up?” This puzzled me.

“Yep, as I said, money laundering. The club is pretty much an all-cash business for the most part. Who’s to say if we bring in $10,000 a day, or $50,000 in a day? At the end of the day the manager adds some of the mob money into the daily take. Taxes get paid, it goes into the bank, and for all legal purposes it’s clean. And the beauty of it is, they can’t even try to get him like Al Capone on tax evasion! Taxes are paid on it as if it was any other income.”

I whistled at that. It was actually rather impressive when I thought about it. “And that’s why he’s so strict on the rules, he doesn’t want the cops or anybody to get involved.”

“Exactly. In fact, other than the 2 bagmen who come by to drop off the money, members of the gang are forbidden to ever be in the club during working hours. Once in a great while if I’m working an opening or closing shift, I’ll see them come in the back before or after hours. I have even seen Roberto himself a few times, checking things out.

“I even got called to give him and 2 of his guys a private show one day after hours. I was helping the waitress clean the tables when they came in, and Roberto told the manager he wanted to see me dance. So I had them play some music as I got on the stage. I was dressed as you saw me, but I went ahead and did my stripper act, and they sat at the stage and watched, him and 2 of his enforcers.

“At the end, he thanked me, and gave me a $500 tip. Then they went with the manager into the office, that was the only time I ever saw him up close or had any interaction with him. I was scared he might try to demand more of me, but that was it, I think he honestly just wanted to see me dance. But I can be your girl on the inside Bohica. I can feed you information if you think it’s important, I just have a few requests.”

I thought for a few minutes, then nodded. “OK, but what are your requests?”

“First, my name is never mentioned in reports. I have to remain anonymous, and all information only goes from me to you. But when everything is settled, I want to be officially acknowledged as the inside source within Control. I’m doing this for a few reasons. One, I always wanted to be a Paladin, but they said my powers were not strong enough. Fine, but if I can’t be a Paladin, I want to work with Control. I can still be an asset even if only as an enforcer or investigator.

“I’m serious about criminology, I want to put people like Roberto and Paulo away. They’re a poison, but right now the kind of one I need if I want to get my degree. And I want to use that degree, more than just being a beat cop. I want to put people like them down.”

I thought for a few minutes, then nodded my head. This was decision time.

“OK, I’ll keep you anonymous, but I’m going to inform at least one other person about who you are, maybe two. One is Dire Wolf, she’s actually taking the lead on the Roberto Ricci matter, I’m only getting involved because he’s moving into Darktown. She’s the lead Paladin on his case, and all information goes through her. But I’ll have her agree that all material you give us will be scrubbed and anonymous so it does not point back to the club.

“The other who may get involved is The Sensei. He’s also involved, but not to the same degree. He only has to know I have an inside person, and nothing else. But that I trust that source impeccably, it is not just some intercepted or 4th party source. Fair enough?”

She reached up and rested her hand on my cheek for a moment, and closed her eyes. A few seconds she opened them and nodded. “Yes, that’s fine. I can tell you’re good at keeping secrets, don’t ask me how other than I can feel it. Some of the things you told me tonight were funny, they were the truth, and yet also lies at the same time.”

“What do you mean? I’ve been completely honest with you since we started to talk frankly.”

“No, it was before. One that sticks out is when you told me that you had a crush on the girl that got you into anime. That’s true, you did get into anime because of a girl. But, you did not have a crush on her. I can almost see her in my mind when you talked about her, but there was no feeling of desire, love or lust when you talked about her, she was just a friend.

“And when you talked about the Kietero-Naru love thing, it was like you were jealous of her, and that you would never have done that if it was you. You said it one way, but your thoughts and emotions were something else. It’s strange, I’ve never felt such strong and honest, yet conflicting emotions before as I have with you.”

Wow, this was shocking! Kimiko was saying she was denied Paladin ranking, but this was among the strongest empathic skills I’ve ever heard of! “Kimiko, I want to ask you a few things, but first I need to tell you something, is that OK?”

“OK, but hold my hand, please. My ability is somewhat strange with you, but I can tell if you believe something to be true. Oh, and please, just call me Kim.”

“OK, and Bo for me. OK, first of all, you need to know we’re being recorded.” She jerked when I said that. “This is going to be sealed and coded in my system, my access only, only openable by Dire Wolf in the event of my death. And I’m glad I am, because everything you said about why and how you want to work with me will be confirmed if needed at a later date. Call it insurance for both of us, OK?”

She thought for a moment, then looked into my eyes. “OK, because I trust you and you’re telling the the truth, you are hiding nothing.”

“OK, another thing, Dire has connections inside Control. I want to try and arrange to have you re-evaluated, I think that you’re a Paladin class. Maybe they didn’t understand the strength of your powers, maybe they did not understand what a strong empath can do. But you are a living real-time lie detector, and I bet you can project emotions as well.”

“I don’t know if I can or not. Like tonight with you, it may be my reading you helps me adjust what you want by acting appropriately. Or it might just be we wanted the same thing and I’m fooling myself.”

“No, trust me, it is more than that! I’m completely devoted to Gloria, and I can’t imagine ever cheating on her with another girl. Even now, I’m having a hard time justifying the private dance, because why would I do that if I had her waiting for me? Why would I have done those things? I was pretty much cheating on her, and it makes me a bit ashamed.”

Kim cocked her head and looked at me closely. “OK Bo, you just did it again! That was both being completely honest, and a lie at the same time! I don’t get this! How can you be telling the truth when you say you would never cheat on Gloria with another girl, and yet be lying when you say you are completely devoted to her? Sorry, I’m going crazy here. Are you psychotic or something?”

Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!

“OK, this goes no further, promise? This is something only a few others know, OK?”

Her hand went back to my cheek, and I felt her honesty when she said “Yes, I agree.”

“OK, I’m a Chameleon. I was born a female, but transform into Bohica here when needed. I live a dual life, you might say my real form is my secret identity. And as such, she has a boyfriend. She is the one that was told by a female friend about Love Hina, and she loved it as most teen girls would. So when I say Bohica is completely dedicated to Gloria, and would not cheat on her with another girl, that’s true. Not only would I as Bohica not cheat with another girl, my other persona is 100% straight, and would no more sleep with another girl than I would as Bo sleep with another guy.”

“Oh wow, now I understand! That makes perfect sense! Now everything falls into place. Yes, I’ll keep this secret, but it also explains a lot. I’ll be honest, I’ve been a Fangirl of yours for years now. You seem to have some of the least Paladin class powers in the region, and yet you make some of the largest impact in your community.

“You are adored, your neighborhood is safer than it has been in living memory, and with only 2 or 3 real powers you have stopped most major crime in an area covering several dozen square miles. I spent maybe 3 years trying to figure out who you were, it was like you came from nowhere. No background, you never went to school here, or anywhere else that I could figure out.

“How could somebody like you have no background? Nobody going ‘Well, when I was in school, Bohica and I... ‘ No stories like that at all, it was like you just appeared one day. Now it makes sense, you literally did just appear one day. In fact, you only came into being on the Night of Madness.”

“Well, actually a month later. I had some tragedy at that time, and while I felt the burning pain many did, nothing seemed to happen. I just assumed I had some minor ability that might be discovered later, like that one gal who can blow bubbles out of her pussy.”

Kim started to giggle hard at that. “Oh my god, I have actually seen those videos! Imagine most mutants get something at least fun or powerful, and your mutation is the ability to do that! Well, at least she’s making money on the porn circuit. I know Roberto has actually been trying to get her to headline at another one of his clubs for months, but she wants more money than he’s willing to pay.”

“Yea, well that was what I figured I had. Those who felt the agonizing pain like we did all got mutations, but some may not be obvious until later. Then one night about a month later I was jogging through the park, and a guy attacked me. Hell, he threw me to the ground, pressed a knife into my ribs, and he was going to rape me! That was the first time I changed. One moment I was myself, then the next I was what you see now. I threw him 10 feet away, and he ran away. I then fainted when I realized I had lost my pussy and grown a huge cock.”

“Oh my, I can’t even imagine! Yea, now it makes sense why you are a Paladin, full Chameleon is one of the most powerful and rare powers there are. And there are rumors of changes as big as yours, but now I know they are true. Yea, I’m gonna keep your secret. But do you think that my status can be changed?”

“It’s happened before, like Atilla. His ability of being able to predict things was thought of as minor, as he only predicted things right near him moments before they happened. Nobody at that time understood that with some training, he was basically a walking analytical machine. Almost unbeatable in combat because he saw attacks before they happened, and could plot and re-plot hundreds of responses before settling on the right move.”

“Yea, I’ve not thought about him. He was almost like Sherlock Holmes from that movie with the Iron Man guy. But I’m not sure how I could ever do something like that. But I guess I can still keep working on my abilities, see if I can use them in some other way.”

“Kim, you did mention 2 other abilities. What were they again?”

“Metabolism control, and heightened sensitivity to the emotions of others. The latter is part of empathy, but I can also sense things without touch. With touch, I get much clearer ideas, almost mental images. Without the touch, I could sense you were not telling the entire truth. But with the touch, I can sense so much more. When you told me you were actually female, I can almost see you. You are a bit taller than me if I’m not wrong. And, and, I think you’re ... white? A few years older than me, you have maybe light brown hair, just past shoulder length?”

“Wow, actually that’s pretty close. So yea, that’s more than just empathy. And metabolism control?”

“Well, I can will myself into states where I do not need to breathe. During my testing, I was able to hold my breath for almost 10 minutes underwater. I can adapt to extreme heat and cold, and I can even will my period to stop. And, I can even will an end to a pregnancy.”

“Wait, you can what? Are you serious?”

She nodded, and gave me a sad smile. “About a year ago I got pregnant, and my boyfriend left me right after when I said I wasn’t going to have an abortion. I was about 2 months along, and that night I went home in a funk. I remember thinking that I didn’t want to have a baby by myself, it would force me to quit school and end my dream. I woke up the next morning, and my period started.

“Bo, it wasn’t even a miscarriage. I went to Control and they did some tests. The pregnancy simply ended, the ultrasound showed that the baby was simply being absorbed into my body, and a week later the fetus was gone. It was as if my body simply decided it didn’t want to be pregnant any more, and instead of aborting it, it instead reabsorbed it into myself.”

“Wow, that’s some heavy stuff. You know what this means, right?”

“Yea, if I really get pregnant in the future by choice, I have to be very careful to never get the feeling I don’t want the baby. Oh, you’re similar, right?”

I nodded. “Yea, if I decide to get pregnant, I have to stop being Bohica for the entire pregnancy. The moment I transform, the fetus will just vanish since I don’t have a womb in this form. So not exactly the same, but very similar.”

“One other thing, my body has not really changed since the Night of Madness. My face does look a bit older, metabolism does not seem to affect some of the collagen loss that is natural. But even still, my face has only aged maybe half as much as it should have. But my body is the same as when I was 14. I can still wear my clothes from Junior High, and sometimes even do on stage. My breasts are still an A cup, the same as they were on that night. I’m still only 5 foot tall, I have not grown a millimeter or gained a pound since then.

“And literally I can go for weeks without eating, or eat like a pig for weeks and never gain or loose a pound. An interesting ability, and one that comes in handy for a student in college. I still feel hunger, but it does not affect me other than discomfort.”

We talked for another 2 hours, and told each other quite a bit about ourselves. She was a local, being raised in the suburbs North of town until she moved to Dockside to attend the local college. She had been a gymnast, but had to quit because mutants were not allowed to compete against non-mutants.

She had several boyfriends over the years, and even a girlfriend in a relationship that burned hot and fast, then burned out within 3 months. She originally wanted to go to the Olympics as a gymnast, but when that ended and she realized she would never be a Paladin, her interest instead turned to Criminology. She was carrying a 4.0 average as a Sophomore, and was already having recruiters from the FBI and US Marshal Service talking with her.

She had never used drugs, and as she had said earlier had never prostituted herself. She was known as giving some of the “lowest mileage” of any of the girls in the private booths. She had no shame in showing her body, but did not let others touch her in areas not allowed.

“Before tonight, I’ve had little actual contact with another mutant. I have a feeling that my abilities might actually be enhanced by your powers. I’ve danced with hundreds of guys in the last 2 years. I might even get a tad excited, but absolutely nothing like what happened tonight.”

As we talked, I had a feeling that this was much more than just the two of us. “Kim, do you mind if I bring Di into this?”

“Di? Who’s she?”

I reached out and took both of her hands into both of mine. “Sorry, Dire Wolf. As I said, this is really her case, I’m just tagging in because of my location. But I think she can really make a difference. And I trust her completely, she’s the only one that knows of my true self. I believe we can trust her.”

She nodded, and I made the call. When Di answered, I gave her a 5 minute version of what had happened tonight, and she was actually super excited. With Kim’s permission I told her where we were, and she said they would be over in a half hour.

I asked Kim if she was hungry, and she said she could eat. So I made a quick drive to a local Pizza place and got a pizza and 2 large sodas which we were still eating when Di arrived.

I made the introductions, and we all sat around one of the picnic tables as Di and Kim talked. Di was impressed with some of the information Kim was telling her, and it was during that that Fang came over. He had sniffed Kim when he first arrived, but this time he laid his head in her lap. By reflex, she started to pet him.

Then she stopped and gasped.

“Kim, what’s wrong?” I asked, concerned at her suddenly stiff posture.

“Shhhh, nothing, wait a moment.” She then stood up and she and Fang stood looking into each others eyes, her hands on his face. They stood like this for several minutes, then she shook her head, and gave him a big hug before sitting again.

“OK, that was, intense. Scary, intense, and also incredible. You know he’s intelligent, right?”

“Well, he was always intelligent. He was about a year and a half old when I got him, and he was always very smart.”

“No, no. I mean REALLY intelligent. As in, I think it’s almost a human level of intelligence. But strange, different. He absolutely loves you, completely and utterly, and would die for you. Your ... puppy ... he would die for too, but likely not your mate.

“The big hairy one, and Bo he would get seriously hurt to protect. But he will not die for them. I’m pretty sure he meant Sensei. But yes, he’s highly intelligent, and actually understands most of what we say to each other! Most of it he filters out as ‘jabbering’, but he can actually pick up quite a lot of what is said around him. Here, watch. Fang, if I ask you to do something real quick, would you do it for me?”

Fang looked at Kim, then Di, then Kim again and slightly lowered his head.

“Thank you. Let’s see, can you go and get a pine cone, and bring it over and put it on the table in between Bo and Di, but closer to Di?”

He looked into her eyes, then turned and walked off. A minute later he returned, a pine cone in his mouth. He then placed it on the table right as he was asked, between Di and I, closer to her than me. We all exclaimed at that, and I suddenly had much more respect for him. But something struck me.

“Kim, do you think you can find out if he was always like this? And if he is this intelligent as a Sheppard?” She once again laid her hands on his face and looked into his eyes, and for a minute they shared their silent communication.

“No, he was not always like this. Like you said, he was smarter than most dogs, but still a dog. When he transforms, his thinking increases but only in this form. He still retains most of his, call them concepts as a dog. But he can’t really call on them.”

Di shook her head and told her “Kim, these are unquestionably Paladin level abilities you are showing here. What you told me you already had was borderline, almost a judgment call if they qualify or not. But Animal Empathy? Throw that in, and it’s unquestionably Paladin level.”

Kim shook her head, and looked directly into Di’s eyes. Reaching out she took her hands and started to talk passionately.

“Di, you don’t get it! I don’t have animal empathy. In fact, that really does not even exist I don’t think. Trust me, I have a cat! At most I sense ‘hungry’, ‘horny’, ‘bored’, ‘bathroom’, things like that. Fang here is not really a wolf, he’s a full person! I can sense from him almost as much as I can from you and Bo, the context is different because he does not think like us. But his emotions are even stronger, call them animal emotions.

“He’s a person, and a mutant. That’s why I sense him so strongly. I would say that you should never treat him like just a wolf or dog, but it’s obvious you do not. His concept of you is ‘Pack Leader - Mother’. And he knows you would die for him, as he would for you. But there is something else that he knows.”

She took a deep breath, and reached out and took one of our hands in each of hers. “Realize this, empathy is not perfect. Almost like a lie detector, if a person tells me something they are absolutely convinced is true, it’s true. To them. I only sense their concept of truth, not if something is a fact. And this is very important here. Imagine you put a can of soda on the table and walk away. Then Bo drinks the can and throws it away. If I go up and asked you where the soda was, you would tell me it was on the table. That would be 100% truthful based on your knowledge, but also completely untrue. Because you had no idea it was no longer there.

“Fang truly believes that he would die for you and you for him. Because he believes if either one of you dies, the other will die. He will die for your children, because he believes you would die if something happened to them. That’s why they are the only other ones he would die for, because he honestly believes if one of you dies, the other dies also.”

Di went around, and gave Fang a huge hug, softly crying into his mane. “Fang, please forgive me if you ever thought I mistreated you. Or took advantage of you.”

He pulled back, looked into her eyes, then nuzzled her cheek. But at least Di now knew, Fang was more intelligent than anybody ever suspected.

“OK, decision time” she said as she wiped her eyes and sat down again. “I am sure you figured out, I am also a Chameleon, but not to the degree of Bo here. I change size, Fang goes from German Sheppard to wolf, that is really about it. In my other life, I work at Control. My husband works there also, and is highly placed. I can guarantee that we can promote you to Paladin almost immediately, but I am going to ask you to not do that yet.”

Kim was still holding our hands, and nodded. “Yes, you really believe that. Why?”

“As a Paladin, you become immediately answerable to Control. Your ID is immediately changed, and you are registered in a database that anybody can access. As a regular mutant, you do not. I want you as my mole, an undercover off the books asset that even Control is not aware of. I will talk to my husband, and I want you to put in a request next week for a phone. Justify it as, oh, in the event you are ever needed to try and use your empathic abilities. I guarantee it will be approved.

“I will also have him put into your secret file that when you are tested and certified to have Paladin class abilities, that it becomes retroactively effective to this date. To include stipend and all other benefits. Oh, and in case you did not know Paladins get free tuition. So effective that date all tuition and book fees will be refunded to you. I figure this may take a year to conclude, but you are going to go from struggling stripper student to wealthy independent student overnight.

“And I can also guarantee that when you get that degree, Control Investigations is going to want you. I am actually on the regional board here for that department, and I can guarantee the position. So your future is secure, if you want it.”

Kim was now crying almost uncontrollably. “Yes, that’s all I ever wanted! To help people and make things better.”

“Well, you got it, and right now you can help us best by remaining as you are. Being off the books, you are actually safer than you would be otherwise. Does the club know you are a mutant?”

“Yes, but only about the metabolism control. They questioned if I was really 18 when I applied, because I still look like a kid. I explained to them about my mutation, and how it stopped all growth at that time. I was going to be forever a 14 year old kid, even when I was 45. I even showed the manager an article written about me at the time in the local paper, where it talked about the rising Olympic level gymnast that had her career ended because of a minor mutation that should be considered insignificant. But a dissenting view in the same article stated that I would have an advantage as I could continue to advance in ability, but not size or body shape.

“I showed them I was still as limber as I was at 14, doing perfect splits, then a handstand and a few other floor exercise tricks. I was hired on the spot, and nobody since ever questioned me about it at work.”

“Good, the perfect plant. You are already in place, have been for years, and you have your abilities known but not fully. When you get your phone, have Control patch you to me and Bo here, we’ll add you to our direct contact lists and you can get ahold of us whenever you need. But all we want is information, you are not to actually do anything. Copy?”

Kim nodded, and gave each of us a hug. “Yea, you got it. And here’s something you should know. I overheard the manager talking about a ‘big shipment’ at the docks that’s coming in on Wednesday. It’ll be there at 8 PM. And Roberto will be there. I do not know what it is, but I suspect it’s something illegal.”

“Thanks. Bo, write up the contact report. List Kim here as a ‘trusted inside source that wishes to remain anonymous’. Hmmm, how about we use the code name ‘Belldandy’?”

“Wait, from ‘Oh, My Goddess’? Oh hell no! She’s a female empath, in a Japanese anime series. If anybody finds out that name it will point back to me almost like a photograph. Call me, Flinx. It’s a character from a science fiction novel, a male with erratic abilities who’s also a thief.”

Di nodded at that. “Even better. This way we can even refer to you by that name on occasion, ‘Source Flinx’, and it is unlikely it would ever be connected back to you. Probably somebody else on their main crew. Perfect.”

A bit later we all parted, Di and I both getting hugs before we got into our cars and driving away. I had barely made it 2 blocks when the phone rang.

“Yea Di, what is it?”

“Two things. Uplink the video and audio take encrypted to the server, as you said only to be deciphered by me upon your death. Then remove anything you want to keep from the car and bring it in to Control tomorrow morning. We already have a matching replacement for you to use while we are tricking your car out so nobody will know the difference. The upgrade is being fast tracked, it should be ready by this weekend.”

“Awesome! OK, you got it. I assume we’re going to try and intercede on Wednesday?”

“You got it. I am bringing in Clint tomorrow, on this ‘anonymous source’ of yours. Let’s see if the three of us can do some damage to Roberto and get some answers.”

Monday morning I got up early and got the coffee going as I went and took a shower, then changed and got dressed. This time I decided to go “Business Casual”, and wore some tan slacks and polo shirt. I double checked to make sure all personal effects were out of the car, and the title in the glovebox before I headed over to Control.

I showed the guard at the gate my Paladin card, and I followed the signs to the garage, pulling in at just after 8. There it was pretty easy. I had already filled out a form listing my preferences for what needed to be done, and they were just going over them again with me. An hour later I had signed over the title, given them the keys, and they gave me the keys to a matching loaner car.

I then decided to pop in and say hi to Doug. He was surprised to see me, and asked if I needed anything. I told him I was just dropping off my car, and wanted to pop in and give him my thanks and to say hello. I think he was gonna have to learn that I did not just go to see people if I needed something.

And I did chuckle when I saw his Wall of Fame, and my photo was prominently displayed in the center. He was not kidding, pretty much every Paladin in the district was on that wall.

I then spent most of the day patrolling the area where Darktown bordered Dockside. The word on the street had not been wrong, most of the dealers, pimps and girls were white, and most seemed to be Italian. Roberto was trying to change the area, big time. But I got a feel for the area, and the action going on. I then drove down to the docks, and drove around the wharf where the transaction was going to take place.

It was a peninsula, with shipping containers stacked up 60 feet high right by the entrance road. Well, it looks like that was gonna be my spot, probably a blocker for any that tried to escape.