Chapter 7

Once they were fed and rested, Angel's mother drove them to the Chinese. While they were in their meeting, she would be at a nearby market, shopping.

"When you're done, give me a call and I'll pick you up. And Angel," she paused, giving her This Is Significant look. "Use the phone. Lena is not a public utility."

Both girls laughed, but it made Angel think. "I have been kind of taking you for granted," she apologized. "It's just kind of, I don't know, addictive. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Most of my friends go through it. And the practice is good for me." Then she got her own grin. "Besides, my tan might need a touch up from time to time. And there's always the free movies."

"And the popcorn. Don't forget the popcorn." Angel laughed, happy to give Lena her own line back.

When they got to the office, the manager thanked them both for coming. After offering them seats, he repeated his earlier apologies.

"Please believe me, I had no idea it could turn out like that. Some of us had suspected he had such attitudes, but we couldn't prove it or do anything. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to prejudice you against him. That was a horrible failure of judgment on my part."

She accepted his apology - again - and he went on to fill them in on the fallout of the morning's excitement.

The abusive manager was being fired, for cause. He tried claiming that she had set him up and had lied to the management about what happened, but that stopped when Mr. Moore started playing part of the recording he had made of Angel's call. They made it clear to him that if he bothered her, or any employee of the theater chain, or so much as bad mouthed the chain or any of them, they would go forward with the prosecution. Angel's age, and his (now former) position of authority, made the potential charges very serious.

He was also to seek psychotherapeutic help.

For the time being, he was still in jail. He still faced charges of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, and wouldn't get a bail hearing until Monday.

Andy would be running that theater for the rest of the Summer, temporarily promoted to manager. He cancelled the early matinees until the crew could complete cleaning and disinfecting the concessions area and the restrooms. The public reason is that a (now) former employee got careless with cleaning supplies, and the closing was a precaution while they cleaned up the problem and aired out the theater. Which was true, as far as it went.

Andy requested that Angel return as soon as she reasonably could, to inspect the cleanup. He was not comfortable opening some parts of the concessions stand without that.

The employees at that theater, especially the leads and assistant managers, were to be screened for such attitudes toward the transformed. They wouldn't be fired, but they would be warned to behave and would be watched.

Turning to Lena, he said "Radar, you've already played a big part in this. Would you be willing to help with the screening?"

She reminded him about the legal limitations on what he could do with the information. Including the fact that if she uncovered individual wrongdoing, such as pilferage, they couldn't do anything more than use that as an indication to keep an eye on the thief in the future. Once he acknowledged that he understood that, and that it would be the same with any other telepath they engaged, she got a familiar gleam in her eye.

"Ok, what's in it for me?" she grinned.

He offered a fairly generous consulting fee, then added a sweetener. "I could also throw in some passes, so you won't have to keep mooching off of your friend, here." He returned the grin. There was some good natured give and take over details, but in the end it was agreed.

While Lena quietly conferred with her parents, he turned to Angel.

"Another misjudgment of mine was your initial status. If I had thought things through a little more thoroughly, some of this could have been avoided. But we can remedy a part of that. Would you be willing to continue, if we promoted you to Manager, and made it clear that you work directly for the chain? Your salary would increase accordingly, and you would gain some additional benefits."

"Would I still get the free passes and concessions?" she asked, mock seriously.

He grinned. "I think we can arrange that."

The down side was that she would have to do more paperwork, especially reports.

"Ugh. More homework!"

"School comes and goes, but homework is forever." He grinned. "But at least you get paid for the time you spend writing these reports."

She nodded, ruefully.

"At this rate, you could be my boss by the end of the Summer." He grinned.

Angel asked for some privacy, to consult with her mother by phone. He agreed, and rose to leave. before he did so, Lena formally accepted his offer. He smiled and nodded, then left.

Angel called her mother and filled her in. After some discussion of the commitment it represented, and the responsibilities, she agreed to let Angel decide for herself. She asked Lena where the manager was, and learned he was up by the box office.

She found him, and let him know that she accepted. He smiled at the news, and asked her to wait a moment. When he finished what he was doing in the box office, they returned to his office. He had her give him her ID card, then ran it through the machine. It no longer showed her as working for the Chinese, and it indicated she was now a manager.

"Your new badge, a shiny gold one like mine," his smile quirked, "will be waiting for you tomorrow at the next theater on your list. Along with some company equipment. Thank you again."

He made a Contractor ID for Lena, which would also get her the passes and limited concessions, and handed it over with a flourish.

After the girls left the office, Angel called her mother. She would be there when she finished the shopping, so they had a few minutes to wait. Angel decided she was hungry, and Lena agree, so they headed for concessions.

When the college aged girl behind the counter brought their Brunchies and saw Angel's card, she couldn't help herself. "No way!" She ran the card, and it verified Angel's status. "How the heck do you make Manager and a staff position in less than a week?"

"Save the chain millions of dollars, then get beat up by a psycho manager." Lena responded.

"I wouldn't have put it quite that way," Angel added. "But yeah, pretty much."

Angel had never seen someone's attitude shift that quickly. "That thing downtown?"

Lena looked at her briefly, then said "Yes. She was at ground zero for the fireworks."

"Geez. I guess I don't need a promotion that much. You ok?"

"Pretty much," Angel answered. "It was pretty bad for a while, though."

"I bet. Well, I'd better get back to work before some manager sees me slacking off. Take care."

Munching their snacks, they headed out the door and went to wait for their ride. They were just finishing them when the car pulled up. They brushed the crumbs off of themselves, then piled into the car.

On the way home, they told her about going back to the other theater that afternoon. She shuddered a little, but accepted it. Their tentative plan was to get a ride there with her, then make arrangements when they were done.

She offered to get them lunch before they went, but they declined. They could get something at the theater, when they got there. When they got home, they helped put away the groceries. Angel's mother suggested they change into outfits more in line with their new status. Lena thought that was a good idea, but Angel groaned. She just knew her mother was going to make a big deal out of it.

She had an idea what she needed to shoot for. Andy wore nice slacks, with a shirt and tie. Mr. Moore wore a suit, and she was now ranked with him. She dug through her closet, ruefully remembering all the times her earlier self had laughed at the image of a girl with a full closet wailing about having nothing to wear. She grabbed what she was starting to think of as her "interview dress", and some matching flats. She would be damned if she was going to spend the afternoon in heels. Not with what she was going to be doing.

While she neatened her makeup, she left it as light as she had done it that morning. The woman from the chain office didn't seem to have much more, so she figured she was fine. A quick run of the hairbrush, and she was ready to go.

Lena appeared a few minutes later, just as Angel was starting to rethink lunch. The Brunchie was nice, but not all that filling. Before she could act on that, they were back in the car and on their way. All the way there, she was developing a growing desire for pizza.

Lena?

Yeah, pizza sounds good. Now cut it out! You're making me hungry. They exchanged grins.

When they got to the theater, they piled out of the car and wished Angel's mother a good afternoon. They walked into the theater, and spotted Andy standing by the concessions area. He was talking with the woman from the chain - the one from that morning.

"Ready to start?" he asked, with a smile.

"Actually, I was hoping to inspect the pizza first. And then do a little quality control. It's been a long day."

"I think that can be arranged." He smiled. "But I would like to get this going as soon as I can."

"No Problem. It looks a whole lot better than it did this morning. I can tell you that already."

"Great. You two go thumb in, and we can get started."

Angel showed Lena where and how to thumb in. Angel's new status came up when she demonstrated. Lena's title as Consultant came up for her. That done, they went back out to the lobby. Angel took a close look at the pizza carousel. Most of it was fine, and the pizza itself was "clean". There were a few spots of contamination in parts that didn't contact the food, so she got Lena a slice and then passed it over as she reported that to Andy.

As Lena and the woman walked off toward the office, Angel started a more detailed inspection of the area. As she was doing so, she noticed Andy sending the workers up to the office, one at a time. All told, she found about a dozen small areas of contamination, none of which threatened the food. When she reported that to Andy, he signaled his people to open the concessions for business. He suggested she get her pizza and a drink, then take a break.

That struck her as a wonderful idea. She couldn't believe how tired she was. She served herself, then had one of the cashiers run her card for her stuff and Lena's pizza. Then she found her way to the break room, and collapsed into a chair.

Half a slice, and a third of a glass later, she was just starting to feel human again. The door opened to two female voices.

" ... scary. I mean, what if there were other people here when he wigged out?"

"He always was kinda ... oh!" The girls stopped just inside the doorway, drinks in hand. They looked at her like mice eyeing a python."

"What?" Angel asked. "Do I have pizza on my face or something?"

They relaxed a little, and gingerly sat down at the table. Both were older than her, but they knew she was someone important. She was dressed nicely, and their new manager was deferring to her.

The older one worked up her nerve. "Is it true?"

"That depends. Is what true?"

"Did Mr. Hooper go nuts, and beat up some girl from the regional office?"

"Sort of. What else did you hear?"

"Um..." the younger one ventured. "We're not supposed to gossip about stuff." She looked at the older girl, significantly.

"That's ok. Consider it a request from the regional office." she laughed.

"Well ... he's always been kinda creepy about some things. Especially morfs."

The older one added "Yeah. When my little brother went through it, I had to make sure we didn't say anything about it here. Even though half the people here knew about it, if he ever found out I'd be out on my can."

"Or any of his little spies. And you notice, there's nobody here who even looks like a morf."

'So when this, like, super morf comes from the head office for some big inspection, he was going ape shit. Last night, everything had to be cleaned twice."

"Twice? What were you using?"

"Oh, just this cheap shit he gets. Supposed to be saving some big bucks and making him look good to the Powers That Be, but we have to work twice as hard to get stuff clean."

"Ok, so ... you cleaned everything twice?"

"Yeah, and he's saying shit like if that inspector sees anything, we'll all be fired and they'll close down the theater. And how she'll probably make something even if she doesn't find it, just because she's one of them. A morf."

"What was she supposed to be like, this inspector?"

"To hear him talk, she must be eight feet tall, with big fangs and horns, but she can shape shift to look any way she wants."

"And she can be invisible, read minds, and teleport. And make other people into 'her kind'."

"Her kind?"

"Morfs. When he's not being careful, that's how he talks about them."

"What about everyone else?"

"Most of us have friends or family who have changed. But we have to be careful what we say. His assistants, and some of the leads, are almost as bad as him."

"So what happened?"

"He was going to make sure she didn't wipe out his career and close the theater. But when some girl from the office got here, he went nuts and beat her up. Then he attacked someone else from the office, and a cop. That's when they took him away."

"What about the girl?"

"She went to the hospital, or something."

Angel was having a hard time keeping from laughing. "Or something. Actually, she's pretty much ok. She's a bio elemental, but not a very powerful one. her nature lets her see biologically active contamination, and neutralize it. That is why the chain is having her do the inspections. Not to punish anyone, but to spot and eliminate potential sources of food poisoning and the like."

"It also let her heal her own injuries. After the beating, the chain people and the police took 'grams of the injuries, then she healed them."

"You know her? Of course you do. You work for the main office. What is she like? What else can she do?"

"I think she's pretty nice. And she's easy to talk to, apparently. She can do things like heal shallow wounds, and give you a tan. And heal scars. Even old scars, like that one." She pointed to a scar on the back of the older girl's hand.

"If she was here, would you want to get rid of that scar?"

"Sure. But how would she do it?"

"Probably about like this." She drew her finger over the scar, urging the cells to go back to what they knew was right. When she pulled her hand away, the scar was gone. The two girls stared at the hand, then at Angel.

"You ... you're her. You're..."

"Angel O'Connor, at your service." She grinned. "And apparently, resident boogey man." She looked at the older girl, as though waiting.

"Tina. Tina Pierson. Thank you, Ms. O'Connor."

"Ouch! C'mon. I may be a manager, working for the chain office, but I'm still younger than both of you. It's Angel. At least, when we're not out in public."

"Sorry, Angel."

"It's ok. Sometimes I have that effect on people." She grinned, and turned to the younger girl.

"I'm Shelly Butler. Shel, to my friends and occasional family members."

They exchanged smiles, then Angel glanced at her watch. "Oops. I'd better get back to work. Any idea what other damage your former boss might have done?"

The girls looked at each other, then chorused "Restrooms." Angel groaned, then nodded.

She swallowed the last bite of her now cold pizza, and washed it down with a swallow of her soda. She tossed her plate and cup, then headed out.

She had a conference with Andy about the cleaning supplies, and suggested he check the books. Maybe it was just the bad taste the confrontation had left in her mouth, but she had a nagging feeling that not all of the savings from the cheap supplies was going back to the company.

Since the public was already there, the restrooms were a little tricky. They waited until the lobby was empty, then put a "closed for maintenance" sign on the door to the men's room. Andy went in first, to check for stragglers. Once inside, Angel was surprised the chain hadn't gotten complaints about it. Her earlier self had been in some pretty poor restrooms, but this one had no business being in a family theater. She pointed and described, suggesting a very thorough cleaning - with proper supplies - as soon as the theater closed. She also noted that the paper supplies were not up to the standards of the other two theaters, and mentioned it.

If anything, the ladies room was worse. She caught hints of something that bothered her even more. After having Andy open the wall mounted vending machine, she found the inside contaminated and the sanitary supplies substandard. The packages of the supplies were intact, so at least the products themselves were not contaminated. But girls would be handling the outsides and then the product. The thought made Angel a bit ill. She sterilized the machine and the wrappers, then they closed it up and left.

Walking back toward the concessions stand, she told him "Well, the good news is that they're not an immediate threat to the health of the customers. But I'm surprised that the health department hasn't already shut down this theater."

She heard a sudden drop in the background noise level, and something metal hit the floor. The people in the concessions stand were just staring at her, with a range of emotions from fear to anger.

Wake up! Lena's mental voice caught her by surprise. Did you really mean for all those people to hear you order Andy to shut down the theater?

Of course not. That wasn't even what I was saying.

They think it is. Your move, oh great Manager.

Angel spoke up, making sure they could hear what she was saying to Andy. "We want to keep this place open, so you really need to get things like that cleaned up."

Andy finally caught up with what was going on, or else Lena told him. "Sure thing, boss lady." He grinned. "I want to keep this nice cushy job."

The normal sounds of activity in the concessions area resumed, just in time to face a wave of people as one of the theaters let out.

"Any idea how much longer Lena's likely to be?"

"At a guess, another two hours or so today. Got something in mind?"

"I want to snoop around, and see what else there is to see. I just have this feeling there's something I need to see. I'll let you know what I find."

He thought it was a good idea, and they went up to the office to get her a spare set of keys.

"Don't bother. I QUIT!" One of the assistant managers came slamming out of the office, barely missing them with the door.

Miss Miller, the woman from the Chain office, was typing something into the computer. "I've cancelled his ID. Is he planning anything?"

"He knows where Mr. Hooper kept his secret stash, and plans to get it before anyone knows that he quit. It's in the back of the mop closet between the restrooms." Lena told her.

Andy heard, so he turned and ran down the stairs. Angel followed. They caught up with him just as he was unlocking the door to the mop closet.

"Excuse me!" Andy called out. "That is for employees only!"

The former assistant manager tried to bluff it out. "But I'm..."

"The person who just resigned. I will take those keys now, and your nametag." Andy was taller than the ex-employee, and in much better shape. Looming over him, he had him trapped between the still locked door and himself. For a moment, it looked like he was going to try to fight his way out. But then he deflated and gave in. He tore his nametag off, breaking the pin in the process. He slammed the badge into Andy's waiting hand, followed by the keys. Andy didn't even blink.

"Your ID card has been deactivated, so don't bother trying it. And with so many people hearing your shouted resignation, any attempt to stir up trouble probably won't get you very far. Now I suggest that you leave, unless you want to join your former boss." He didn't have to spell out that alternative.

Angel let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, while she watched the guy tromp out of the theater, shouldering a couple of customers aside in the process. Andy waved one of the leads toward the couple, then turned back to Angel.

"Let's take a look." He said, as he unlocked the door and opened it. He turned on the light on the way in, then closed the door behind them.

"Ow! Sunofabitch, that hurt!" he swore quietly, turning his hand to show her the gash the broken pin had opened on his palm. "Can you do anything?"

She looked carefully. "It doesn't look too deep for me, so let's give it a try." She put her finger over the injury, finding the "wrong" and urging it to make itself right. At the same time, she drove the staph infection out, before it had a chance to take hold. She was right about the depth - it was easily within her limits.

A moment later, all that was left of the injury was a small blood stain around the wound site. Andy washed his hands in the utility sink while he thanked her. Then he asked her to look around for anything unusual, commenting that the closet looked too shallow. The ones at the Chinese and the other theaters he had worked were deeper. It didn't take her long. There was an active stain spreading from under the apparent back wall of the closet, and what looked like the residue of a number of unwashed handprints - also active enough for her to notice them - on one part of the wall and under an adjacent shelf. Looking under the shelf, she saw what looked like a smallish wad of used chewing gum. But it looked wrong. Like it was plastic or something. And the only evidence of biological action was from the smeared fingerprints.

Also, it didn't quite touch the wall.

She pointed it all out to Andy. He tried pushing on the "gum", and they heard a soft click from the back wall. Andy went to pull on one of the things hanging on the wall, but she told him there was no hand residue there. He then tried pushing on the wall at the spot she had seen. It moved slightly inward, then stopped. He let go, and it sprang open like a cabinet door. A brief glance inside showed some equipment that had no business in a mop closet.

"We'd better get the others." As he opened the outer door, the back wall closed itself. He shrugged, then walked out. She followed, and then looked to him for advice.

"I'll watch the door here. This is something for you headquarters types. Go up and figure out the next move together. I doubt it's going anywhere."

He was almost wrong. Angel went upstairs, and sketched out what she saw. Lena was unusually quiet, and not in the way that seemed to indicate a telepathic conversation. Miss Miller listened quietly, then got on her eCom to the office. They sent out another team, to take a look.

Angel looked at Lena, who just said "Don't talk to me. I can't talk to you right now."

Miss Miller took up the theme. "We have to be very sure that none of our information about the stuff downstairs comes from her, in any way. Otherwise, we can't take action on anything we find there, no matter how illegal."

Angel understood, and said so. But it was frustrating. From the looks of things, Lena was even more frustrated than she was.

Twenty minutes later, she was showing the team from the office the secret door and describing the way they discovered it. She warned them about the secret door closing when the outer door opened, then waited for a good time and left. She went and talked to Miss Miller.

Miss Miller was actually pleased with the way that part had worked out. "You're not the only transformed specialist on staff. John is a very specialized electricity elemental, what's sometimes called a technopath. He can read a computer or other electronic device the way you can read microbiota. And unlike Radar, his testimony is admissible. Since he can do that without touching anything, David could gather fingerprints while he was working. Nasty stuff, apparently."