An Ecology of MInd (24 page)

Even if he had the shape correct, he suspected he was still missing things. He had noticed how wolves seemed to have a very keen sense of smell but when he
changed into a wolf, his sense of smell did not seem any better. While he may get the appearance right, the inner workings seemed to be missing.

Learning to move properly in a different form took time as well. Four legs were tough to adapt to when you are used to two. Flying had been a major hurdle
that had taken him weeks to get where he could actually manage to fly in bird forms. He never did reach the point that he could fly that way anywhere near
as well as real birds flew.

He had finally discovered he didn’t need to take any form. He merely had to will his body to move, and it did. So now if he flew, he usually did it without
changing shape. He might still do it in another form as a disguise, but it was not his preference.

He experimented with mixtures as well, keeping part of his body human looking while changing other parts, or combining different animal forms into a single
body.

Something that was a big help in learning was that he did not forget things. He never forgot anything. He had not been like that when he was young. It was
something that seemed to change after he changed from being a normal human into whatever he was now. Once he learned something, he never forgot it. He had
also noticed that physical skills for humans decreased if they were not used or practiced. It was not this way for him. Once he reached a level of
proficiency in a physical skill, he never got worse, only better with more practice.

He had learned when he was changing to different human forms how to change his voice as well. This was useful when he wanted to change identities but stay
with the same tribe.

His abilities were much greater with his own body. He seemed to be able to do things intuitively that he had not discovered how to do outside it. Healing
was one example, but shape shifting was another. He had tried shifting the shapes of real animals, and the results had not been good.

As he moved quickly upriver, underwater, he altered his shape and appearance to that of a strong younger man. He made his face different from any he had
used before.

Another quarter day later he angled towards the bank and then surfaced and waded to the shore. He looked around and saw that he was near a low mountain. He
began to run with the speed of a healthy young human towards the mountain. He did not tire but instead kept the pace up until he reached the lower slopes.
He continued by climbing. He located a relatively level open area below the summit that was shielded from below by trees. He carefully checked the area and
made sure that there was no one around to observe him.

The idea that had come to him had been as a result of his thinking about the problem he always faced when living in a tribe. No matter how careful he was
he would still often end up in a situation where he had to use his abilities to defend himself or others. This would expose him to all as not being a
normal human. Where possible, he would use actual fighting skills he had learned and pretend to be merely someone who was extremely good at combat. Some
situations, however, still required more than human abilities to protect someone he cared about.

This would then raise the possibility that he had faced so many years ago. No matter how strong or powerful he was, he could not always be there to protect
those he cared about, and they could be hurt as a way to attack or control him.

Other, less tragic, but troubling problems sometimes developed. Once it became known that he had some sort of magic power or abilities, he faced constant
requests or demands to solve problems or do things for people. Even if he tried to help or accommodate them, it became a bottomless pit of more and more
requests and demands.

If he ever had to use his abilities in front of other people he usually just left and changed his appearance to start over. This often meant emotional pain
from leaving those he cared about and the loss of the life he had been living. He could start over, but that process took time, and if he was grieving,
sometimes a lot of time.

In exploring his abilities he had succeeded in copying simple tools and other objects but living things had so far been beyond him. Even when they looked
right, they did not live. The thought which had occurred to him, and he had kept returning to for the past moon was that he had always been able to do far
more with his own body than he could do outside his body. He seemed to intuitively have much more control and abilities when using them on himself. The
idea took root, and he had finally decided that he would not rest until he at least tried it.

He had not found anything that could harm him since he got his abilities. This might do it, but he considered it worth the risk. If he was being totally
honest with himself, he had started to believe long ago that nothing could ever harm him.

Trying a new variation of this copying ability was what he was thinking about so intently. He had been thinking about it for a while now. What he was going
to try would not solve all of his problems by any means, but it might provide a solution for some of them, and he was willing to settle for that for now.

It might work. It might not. Other disturbing problems might result, even if he was successful.

Well, he felt he had thought the possibilities through as much as he could in advance and was willing to give it a try. He closed his eyes and focused his
mind on what he wanted to do and then concentrated. There was a lurching sensation and a slight feeling of disorientation. Worried about what he would see,
he opened his eyes.

It was an odd sensation, but his mind seemed to adjust quickly. His awareness seemed greater. He sensed a presence next to him and turned and looked at
himself.

He smiled at himself then stayed where he was and watched as he walked over to a tree and reached up to a branch. He did it. He made a copy of himself. He
seemed totally aware of everything both of him thought and experienced. Other than the initial mild disorientation, thought seemed unified and continuous,
just multiple.

DON WAS SITTING ON A CHAIR IN Wendy's office, looking over at Kim. His sister had just left with that Walker guy, and a guard had been left outside the
door, supposedly to assist them if they needed anything.

"So what's going to happen now?"

Kim looked up. "Wendy should be clear of any trouble. There will still be lots of activity, but nothing that should fall on her. The kidnapping plot to try
to get the code sample has been exposed, and it has been made very clear that the code has been spread to too many places to try to get it back or control
its spread. While the code itself was spread to enough places so that it could no longer be removed or deleted, the explanation of what the code is, was
not. A level of security was still maintained."

"The kidnappers should be done with Wendy and you, and their bosses should be done as well. There will still be some loose ends and a shaking of the bushes
for who may be involved within the NSA, but Wendy should be safe and may even get a promotion. You were an innocent victim in all this and should be
released to return to your life. It's should basically be all over as far as you and Wendy go except for some administrative details. "

"You seem to have everything all wrapped up. What was the phone call that made Walker suddenly so cooperative with you?"

"You'd have to ask him that, but I don't expect he would tell you."

"So you are some kind of secret agent?"

"Nope, I just have some identification to give me clearances for some government computer projects I work on and know how to play the game so people make
assumptions."

"You are faking it? Bullshit, what about the bodies, you left at the house I was being held in? I haven't seen you call the cops about that."

"I don't know anything about any bodies. I located you and you were restrained in a locked room, and I released you."

"What are you talking about? You killed four men and left them there."

"Did you see me kill these alleged four men?"

"No, but who else could have? And what do you mean, alleged? You also insisted you were alone, or was that a lie?"

"Listen to me closely Don, you can tell anyone whatever you want, but no evidence of the men you are referring to will ever be found. There is nothing at
that house to indicate anything other than I found you and released you. Anything else is an unnecessary complication for all involved."

"People died. You can't just pretend it didn't happen."

"Yes I can."

"That's convenient. Who the hell are you?"

Kim laughed. "You keep asking that. I keep telling you, I'm a friend of Wendy's."

Don glared at her then after thinking about things a bit he seemed to relax. "Okay, I'll accept I'm not allowed to know some things. I do thank you for
getting me out of there and for helping Wendy."

"You are very welcome Don. I don't have a lot of close friends, so I tend to try to take good care of the ones I do have. She was very upset and extremely
worried about you. She loves you a lot."

"Yeah, we are pretty close, even though we don't see one another all that much. I appreciate you looking out for her."

"She is very capable on her own, but this was outside the realm of normal challenges, and I thought she needed help."

"Great, glad you were around. Is it okay to use the phone there? I should phone work and let them know what happened, and that I may be away for a couple
of days."

"Sure, go ahead. You may want to be careful about how much detail you tell them. I'm pretty sure the NSA doesn't want any word of that code leaking any
further. Just tell them you were kidnapped to try to pressure your sister into getting them some classified information."

Don sighed. "Yeah, I can do that."

"If it helps, feel free to tell them that a SWAT team rescued you. Don't want to ruin your macho reputation."

Don glared at her again. "You like giving me a hard time don't you?"

"Just a bit, and only if you deserve it," said Kim smiling.

Kim suddenly tilted her head slightly and seemed to have a look in her eyes like she was looking at, or hearing something else altogether. It lasted for
about two seconds, and then she snapped her concentration back to Don.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to leave right away. You can wait here for your sister to come back. If you need anything let the guard outside know." She
tossed her car keys on the desk in front of him. "I won't need my car for a few days at least. Take the keys and feel free to use it to get around. Use it
to get home if you want. When you are done just park it, and I'll get it when I need it. Tell Wendy I'm sorry, but I had to leave right away for something
important."

With that Kim started toward the door.

"What the hell?" asked Don in exasperation?

"It’s nothing to do with Wendy's and your problem. Nice meeting you Don, but I have to go now." She opened the door to Wendy's office and told the guard.
"Stay here and look after Mr. Wallchuk until his sister comes back. I have to go to deal with another unrelated crisis."

"Yes ma'am," answered the guard.

Kim closed the door behind her blocking off the start of a protest from Don. She turned and walked quickly down the hall. As she walked she rapidly ran
over things in her head.

The kidnappers were dead. That should be a strong message to their bosses to back off, especially with the cat out of the bag already about what the code
was and with so many copies of it spread around the NSA. Walker should keep Wendy out of trouble as directed.

The call to Walker was Kim’s doing. He got a phone call from the President asking him to cooperate. Walker was told that this would be a personal favor to
the President but because of some highly classified matters, the President would treat the call as never happening, and he asked Walker to do the same. The
call was a complete fabrication and not from the President, or even an actual person, but it had done what she wanted it to do.

When they went to speak to Wendy's boss, Nelson Swift, they would find him dead in front of his computer. The virus he had prepared ready to be triggered
was visible on his computer. They would quickly figure out he was the one at the NSA behind the plot and the one who had been keeping tabs on Wendy.

Kim was sure if they dug deep enough they would find out why he had done what he had done. Nelson Swift's heart attack was Kim's doing as well. She
couldn't have the sleaze ball getting away, and having him dead in front of his computer that way made his involvement clear and further helped to
exonerate Wendy.

Don should be fine as well. Kim's sudden disappearance right now was odd, but it should not disrupt anything important. Regardless, this new item took
precedence, and time was of the essence.

Kim reached the outside door to the building and exited past security. Her fake identification made getting out even easier than getting in. Once outside,
she walked a short way to the right of the doorway and stopped. She reached out and made the eyeballs of anyone who could see her right now turn away to
the side for a moment. When the eyes moved, the person moved their heads to look in that direction. Kim made the eyes move, and the people made up their
own reason for why they looked to the side for a couple of moments.