Dial H for Heroics

Jack waited for the medicine to kick in. He didn’t want to leave Massa in the lurch

when he wasn’t sure what would happen. He decided to walk around the hospital.

He let Jane know that he would be around, and if things went worse than he thought,

he could get there fast and call on Doctor Strange to create a counter agent.

He found himself walking around the outside of the building, wondering how they

were going to keep the bricks white. Josie had done a good job, and the cleaner who

was stuck cleaning it needed more than one silver to do that. He thought about

creating a mana battery to help people get better faster.

Jack wondered how many people needed to use such a thing in the city. He expected

more than what he could number.

Elaine and the kids arrived with a group of people in plain clothes and armed. He

smiled at her.

He raised his eyebrows when he saw Eric Fass and his second in the crowd. They

must have used their influence to get this many people together.

Fass didn’t look happy when he saw Jack inspecting some flower beds in front of the

hospital.

Jack grinned at the crowd as he approached. He didn’t understand the lemony look,

but he was used to it. He had done some things to make Fass wary of him. Eric had

been there when he had created the Enterprise after all.

“Jack,” said Elaine. “I brought over all the adventurers we thought we could use as

orderlies to help out.”

“That’s good,” said Jack. “Hey Eric, Budd. Good to see you again.”

“This is Jack?,” said one of the women. “He doesn’t look like a madman.”

Jack noted the Ducklings, except for Alicia, roll their eyes at that. He supposed they

knew better.

“This is my wife, Eileen,” said Eric. “She wanted to see the building.”

The words seemed muted to Jack. He supposed Fass had wanted his wife to be kept

separate from the various things that the champions of order had going on. He could

accept that with good grace.

What they did was not something the ordinary people of the world would want to get

involved in.

Saying with great power came great responsibility was different when you had to live

it.

“Hello, Madam Fass,” said Jack. “It is a pleasure to meet you. You are just as

beautiful as Eric said.”

“You are a good flatterer,” said Madam Fass. “I know Eric said no such thing.”

“He could have,” said Jack. He grinned at her. “Jane is around, keeping an eye on our

test case. Maybe I can get her to give you a tour. Are all of you going to be working

here?”

The group gave him various notices of assents.

“I’ll call Jane and ask her to send someone down to give you the tour,” said Jack. “I

am waiting in case I have to do some kind of emergency intervention.”

“How do we fit in?,” asked Budd.

“The first thing we are doing is making sure that the Amazons are clear and healthy,”

said Jack. “Then we are going to start moving the initial women that Fass’s Fighters

saved from Jane’s House to here and cure them enough to at least get them back on

their feet, and sent home, or integrate them into the Amazons. Eventually we will take

people in and help them with their injuries and illnesses. I suppose if an adventurer

gets hurt on the job and can make it back to the city, the Hospital will fix them.”

“And how do we fit in?,” asked Budd.

“The Amazons can’t handle all the work themselves,” said Jack. “We need people to

move the sick, make sure the rowdier elements stay out of the Hospital while they are

working, gophers, the usual. It’s not going to be like delving a dungeon to get a

treasure, or killing some rowdy monster. It’s going to be slow but good work. And

you get free help while you work here for your injuries and sicknesses.”

“Administration?,” said Madam Fass.

“I have no idea other than Jane is running things, and her number two and three are

Madam Harp, and Massa,” said Jack. “One of them should be able to point you to

whomever is in charge of whatever thing needs to be done.”

“Is it good work?,” asked Madam Fass.

“You will be dealing with the injured and sick,” said Jack. “I don’t know how good

that is, but someone will be helped.”

“What is the pay?,” asked an adventurer Jack didn’t know.

“Whatever Jane tells you,” said Jack. He shrugged. “I’m getting nothing.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” said Elaine.

“My pay is not monetary,” said Jack. “I am going to call Jane. She’ll come down and

walk you through the scanner to show you how it works and give you the tour. I

imagine she and Madam Harp already know how they want to use you. Do not give

her any guff. It will just irritate Josie, and that will be bad.”

He saw a small shudder pass through the crowd. He grinned at them.

“Give me a second,” said Jack. He walked off to be alone to make his call. He

triggered the com band. “Hey, Jane.”

“What is it now?,” asked Jane.

“Your adventurers have arrived,” said Jack. “I told them you would give them the

tour and set their pay. Eric’s wife seems interested in helping to run things. It’s up to

you if you think she can do any good.”

“All right,” said Jane. “Massa has been stuck in the water closet for a while. She says

that it is embarrassing.”

“Portable scanner?,” asked Jack.

“The growths on her spine are disappearing, and the tumor on her liver is shrinking,”

said Jane. “Your elixir is doing the job. The problem is how it is doing the job.”

“Tell Massa and her nurse if she has one to look out for her, that she needs to drink

water until she feels better,” said Jack. “She is probably flushing out more than the

spines and things. If you can get the adventurers set up, a lot of the actual work will

be easier to do.”

“All right,” said Jane. “She wants to know why so she can tell others going through

the same thing.”

“Her body is acting like it is under heavy heat and spoiled food,” said Jack. “It is

flushing out good water along with the bad. She needs more water to replace the good

water until she stops getting rid of the extra stuff.”

“I’ll tell her,” said Jane. “All right. She is going to make a note to pass on to the

nurses on what to expect when they take the elixir. I am glad we started with a lower

power. I hate to see what would have happened if you had mixed the pill higher than

this.”

“It wouldn’t have been pleasant,” said Jack. “Come meet your temps, and show them

around.”

“Let me tell Massa,” said Jane. “If this Eric’s wife is any good, we can use her to

assist Massa, or the bookkeepers.”

“It’s your show,” said Jack. “You make the call.”

“All right,” said Jane. “I’ll see what kind of chaff we have to work with, and do what

I can.”

Jack nodded as she cut the call.

He walked back to where the adventurers were talking. None of them seemed ready

for the amount of things they might have to cover for Jane. Eric, his wife, and Budd

talked about things a little away from the rest. The Ducklings and Elaine were in their

own bubble too.

“Jane is coming down to talk to you,” said Jack. “I want you guys to be on your best

behavior. She is having a bad day, and we don’t need to add to the load. Madam Fass,

I did tell her that you wanted a position, and she said she will talk to you about it. If

you need anything fixed that isn’t life threatening, we will put you on the list. If you

need something fixed right away, we will give you a room until we fix it. Some of this

will be easy work, but some of it will be hard. Do your best.”

He walked over to Elaine and hugged her. He had wanted to do that since he had seen

her with the crowd, but knew he had to get things moving with the adventurers.

“How did you get all these people here?,” he asked.

“Eric did it,” said Elaine. “Everyone knows he had a major payday working with

Josie, so they want one too.”

“Unless the Hospital comes under attack, they are going to be greatly disappointed,”

said Jack. “But if it does, they will earn their keep until Josie uses the Enterprise to

vaporize her enemies.”

“I am sure the city will not be ready for anything like that,” said Elaine.

“Can we go home?,” asked Matilda. “We left Aviras alone.”

“He was reading the Warner Archive when I left,” said Jack. “I doubt that he got into

any trouble in the few hours that we have been out and about.”

“I’m worried about him,” said Matilda.

“I guess you guys don’t need to be here,” said Jack. “Laura? Bea?”

“Beatrice can enhance my flight,” said Laura. “It was terrific.”

“The ring is a great weapon,” said Beatrice. “I still say you are a loon. Nothing will

change my mind on that.”

“It isn’t a weapon,” said Jack. He paused. “Technically, it is a weapon, but it is also

a tool that you can use to do things. It won’t allow you to build a mountain of candy

somewhere, but it will allow you to build a gumdrop out of air.”

“Is that the point of Maxwell’s Demon?,” asked Beatrice.

“I suppose,” said Jack. He grinned at her. “As long as you keep an eye on things, it

will help you. You guys go ahead and head home and do your chores. Elaine and I

will be home once we straighten this noodle soup into lines.”

“I would like to talk to you about this moving thing,” said June. “I have a rough map

of the city. I don’t know where the quests will go down, but I think the Frankenstein

factory that Boim was at is almost in the center.”

“Let me get through this thing with the adventurers, and then we will talk,” said Jack.

“When Josie comes back with the Enterprise, we will see about going out there and

looking around. You will be a little closer to Shemmaria, so you will have to keep

your guard up a little more.”

“If there is more of those murderers there, what exactly am I supposed to do?,” asked

June.

“Do the best you can,” said Jack. “I don’t expect you to do a miracle, or anything.

You and Boim will have to figure things out. Maybe you can put a curse on them to

make them doctors, or something.”

“Just be on the lookout for the tattooed men,” said Elaine. “They take women and

make them slaves, or worse.”

“All right,” said June.

“Ask Aviras if he has seen any monsters that have repeated in his reading,” said Jack.

“That’s also something you might have to look out for while you are protecting the

north.”

“So I should write them down?,” asked June.

“I was thinking of pinning them on the map, but writing them down would be good

too,” said Jack.

“All right,” said June. “I can do that.”

“I’ll see you guys when I get home,” said Jack. “Stay out of trouble, or keep June out

of trouble since she is the biggest troublemaker of them all.”

“I find that hard to believe,” said Melanie.

“Archery?,” asked Alicia.

“Chores first, young lady,” said Jack. “Where did you get a bow?”

“June,” said Alicia.

“This is exactly what I was talking about,” said Jack.

“It’s not going to be anything fancy that shoots around corners,” said June. “It’s just

a straight ahead bow for her to practice on.”

“What’s next?,” asked Jack. “Teaching Angelica how to make talking cakes?”

“That sounds like something I would never want to know how to do,” said Angelica.

“But if you could, it would be something the town would talk about for years,” said

Melanie. “After they burn you at the stake for messing with people’s food.”

“I think we should go before Milord thinks of some other ill-advised use of

skillcraft,” said Beatrice. “Laura?”

“I’m ready,” said Laura. She smiled. She exerted the power given her. “We will have

our schoolwork done by the time you two come home. I will watch out for Alicia at

the range.”

“Go ahead,” said Jack. “This shouldn’t take too much longer.”

“Can I get a ring like Beatrice’s?,” asked Melanie.

“You will have to work a little harder,” said Jack.

“Bah, work,” said Melanie. She flew into the air with the rest of the Ducklings.

“I think she needs something like karma to keep her being a positive influence on

herself and others,” said Jack. “And it goes well with the fact that she is lazy.”

“Karma?,” asked Elaine.

“It’s a religious thing that has been turned into a way to explain certain types of skill

sets or powers,” said Jack. “I think it is something Melanie needs since anything else

will be unused or abused to satisfy her craving to not move from the couch except to

get food.”

“She will resent it,” said Elaine.

“I know, but I think it would be good for her in the long run,” said Jack. “But it could

also be a curse that she never learns how to redirect. No one wants bad luck to follow

them around forever.”

“I think you should talk to her and figure out what would be best for her,” said Elaine.

“A skill that grew as she used it would probably be better than something she has no

control over.”

“What do you think I should give Angelica?,” said Jack. “I do like the idea of singing

cakes.”

“I think that would be exceptionally bad,” said Elaine. She shook her head. “No one

likes talking food.”

“It would be like Calvin and Hobbs where Calvin is looking at the meal on his plate

and it starts singing,” said Jack. He grinned at her. “Calvin chows down to stop it.”

“Exceptionally bad,” Elaine repeated.

While they had been talking to the girls, Jane and Madam Harp had arrived. They had

the adventurers enter the building in a line and ran them through the scanner. Pictures

and sheets were given out to show if anything was wrong with the men and women

who had arrived to help out.

Some had conditions that would need to be treated sooner or later. Madam Harp

assured them the things would be fixed as soon as the Hospital was up and running

in a systemic way. The tour started for the group.

Jack and Elaine walked at the back of the crowd. She had already been shown

everything and helped with Marla’s babies. He only cared since he was at her side.

Work would carry him away soon enough. Until then, he planned to bask in her

presence as much as possible.

“What do you think the new quests will be?,” asked Elaine.

“Probably something to do with Shemmaria,” said Jack. “If the Society wants June

to help out, they only have the rest of the day and tomorrow to issue the quests.”

“Do you think she will be good at this?,” asked Elaine.

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “There’s a lot of decisions that you have to make and half

the time you are dealing with the rest of people’s lives. It is so easy to mess that up.

I’m hoping for the best, but expecting the worse.”

“I think she will surprise you and do better than even she thinks she can,” said Elaine.

“I will be happy if she finds a place she likes, and does what she can,” said Jack. “It

took her a while to get into the fight game, and win against other women. There’s a

short life in something like that. June has told me stories of women who went into the

grinder and came out with nothing at the end of it. This could be the same thing for

her, and we’re her means of not being destitute and living on the street.”

“Are you fine with that, if that is all her arrival is?,” asked Elaine.

“Yes,” said Jack. “Josie and I have made plenty of enemies that we can share with

June and Mister Warner.”

“You know what I mean, Jack,” said Elaine. “Are you fine with her using you to run

away from whatever is in your world that she doesn’t want to deal with?”

“What she doesn’t want to deal with is being alone and old,” said Jack. “She has the

rest of the family, but she is the oldest and our mother has expectations that Juni

never fulfilled, and doesn’t want to. Her coming here is a nag for me, but it’s a fresh

start for her. I am willing to let her try to do what I do just to see if she can do it

better.”

“You sound like you want to shuffle the work off on her like Melanie would,” said

Elaine.

“I can be more than two things,” said Jack.