Summoned Again?

Chapter 103: Getting Closer

As soon as I left the bank, I hailed a taxi. I pushed ahead with my plans to visit the miscellaneous people that had worked at the facility where I was being held, since the bank thing took so long. I took out the list and got dropped off a block from the place. After using Search several times through the city, I was getting a nice and accurate map of everything.

I walked down the street to the man's house who was the head lab worker. After a quick Search spell to give me the layout inside, I used Detect to find the people inside and security cameras. There was only one person inside and no cameras, so I walked right up to the door and knocked. If my guess was right, he wouldn't recognize me at all.

Hello? A skinny man said when the door opened, as if it was a question.

I'm terribly sorry to bother you. I said and took out the fake detective's NSA ID. I just have a few questions for you.

The man sighed and stepped back. I stepped in and as soon as the door was closed, I equipped rubber gloves and grabbed him by the neck and squeezed the artery. He didn't struggle and passed out almost right away.

You need to work out more. I joked and carried him into the living room. It was a nice house inside and I laid him down on the couch and sat beside him. I rested my hand on his forehead and used a Cleaning Hands spell first, to start the qualification for the Memory Modification spell, then my extensive testing with it began.

Working out how to use the very low powered spell to get a similar result as the full powered spell took a lot of experimenting and errors on my part. I couldn't get a full quick reading of memories with just one casting either. The most I could do was shuffle through recent memories with a single spell. That was perfect for me, since I only wanted recent things anyways.

I had to let the rings recharge and started using the Memory Modification spells again. Once I had found the ones that concerned working on my things and the paperwork he filed, where it went, and who was getting it, I edited the content for him to remember him working on normal wedding rings. There was nothing special about them. I also plucked out the last memory of him answering the door to let me in.

As far as he was concerned, it never happened. As a last 'screw you', I used the Memory Creation spell and gave him some of my deep regret about my sister Jenny, disguised as a memory of one of his coworkers. He was going to wake up in a little while and he was going to feel the same way about her that I felt about Jenny.

I was tempted to play with his mind a bit more; but, I had wasted enough time there already. I knew the limits of the spell now and I left his house with new knowledge. I had discovered that the others in the lab gave him their reports and he was responsible for sending them off, which meant that I didn't have to visit them if I didn't want to. I probably would later, when I had the time. Right now, I had an angry agent to visit.

I called another taxi and rode all the way back downtown to the block with the vacant building. I walked over to it and went inside, went up the stairs to the right floor and entered the room I had left the agent. I put my ear to where the door was and didn't hear anything. I cancelled both spells and the door appeared. I unlocked it and opened it to see the agent was sitting up in the tub.

Hey, you're awake. I said and closed the door.

How the fuck did you make a door appear?!? The angry agent asked.

Magic. I said. Now I know it does conceal both sides. I see you didn't spill the water bowl.

I'm not a dog. He spat.

It's all I could find. I shrugged. You can't hold a cup anyway.

You better untie me and let me go or you're going to regret it. He said.

Really? How am I going to feel even more regret? I asked, curious. Your operation wrecked my life, ruined my relationship with my sister, you stole all that money from me, and caused me near financial collapse. I took a chair out of inventory and sat down. So, go ahead and tell me what the big bad agent is going to do to make me regret this.

The angry agent sat there and didn't say anything.

Well? I'm waiting. Go ahead and tell me what you're going to do to me. Kidnap? Have me arrested? What? I asked and chuckled. Riiight. You've got nothing, because you no longer have complete deniability. When you blew the operation against me, you lost whatever temporary authority you had.

He stayed quiet and didn't say anything.

Hey, are you hungry? I asked. I have pizza.

He gave me an incredulous look.

I've got one with cheese and pepperoni and one with the works. Piping hot. I said and make both boxes appear.

What did you do to the others? The agent asked.

What others? I asked with a smile.

You killed them!

Ha ha... no. That's too easy. I said and opened the top box. I want them... and you... to suffer like you made my sister and I suffer.

He stared at me like he couldn't understand what I said.

Don't try to work out what I mean by that. I used a knife to cut up a piece of pizza into bite sized chunks and put it on a plate that I took out of inventory. You can't understand my reasoning, so you won't understand what I'm planning, either.

I added a fork and held the plate down in front of his face. Open up.

He turned his head for barely a second, then he headbutted the plate out of my hand.

I reacted immediately and stored the plate, the fork, and the bite sized pieces of pizza before they hit the floor. You do realize I need you alive, right? I would have killed you already if that's what I wanted. The food's not poisoned.

Fuck. Off. The agent said and I sighed.

I used a Detect spell to see where the man's stomach was and dropped a bite of pizza into it.

UGH! The agent grunted and jerked. What... what did you do to me?

Something neat. I said and dropped two more pieces into his stomach.

Stop! STOP! The agent yelled and then groaned, because there was a reason you had to chew your food beforehand. There isn't a lot of room down there if you swallow things whole. Oh, god. I feel like it's going to burst.

Well, that's a new way to force feed someone. I said with a smile. I guess you really don't feel like eating any more, do you?

He shook his head and leaned back in the tub.

I took the plate out and put the remaining bite sized pieces on it. I placed it at the other end of the tub on the bottom. I'll leave this here in case you get hungry later.

He gave me a glare and I thought he was going to kick the plate or something. He didn't. I ate a piece of pizza myself and then stored the pizza boxes. He kept staring at me, only blinking occasionally, and I finished eating. I used a Cleaning Hands spell on him to clean him up and he jerked and almost yelped in surprise as he felt it.

Don't worry about all of this. I said and waved at the bathroom. You're not going to remember any of it.

What? You can't make me forget any of this. That's not physically possible.

It's magically possible. I said with a smile and he looked frightened. Yes, you're thinking about it, aren't you? I asked. What else have I made you forget? What have I done to you before? How long have you really been here?

The man looked terrified now.

There we go. That's the look I wanted. I said and applied pressure to the side of his neck. I'll let you keep that memory. I whispered as his eyes fluttered closed and he fell unconscious.

After that, my real work began. I rummaged through his mind and found out his cell phone was inside his car, which was one of the two cars I had previously identified and didn't have the keys for. Surprisingly, I could not find a memory of where the keys were. I didn't waste time trying to look, since I didn't have to open the car to get the phone out. I just had to use Detect and then store it.

I found out who he had orders from and I was surprised that it was the stern man that had conducted the initial tests on the gold coins I had submitted to the government to get my identity reestablished. He was also the one that refused to let me leave the building with them after I produced them. The funny thing was, I didn't know his name and the angry agent only referred to him by the code name 'Janus'.

Apparently, my donation of nine million dollars with what they considered foreign gold, pushed him really far up the latter in the treasury, for ensuring the stability of the US. He had me under observation the entire time and when he heard that I had deposited another hundred million in gold, he waited until someone I barely had any kind of connection with committed a crime, Diane's husband, to start the whole thing off.

I managed to not curse at the man and held my temper for a moment, until I created a fake memory with it. I used Memory Manipulation to put the memory into the agent's head and my hatred for the stern man became his. Hopefully. His mind should adjust to rationalizing it into job related pressure and I replaced my presence in his mind to be that of the stern man.

I chuckled and let the unconscious agent's terror at me be redirected to the stern man, since the agent now believed it was the stern man doing all of this and not me. It was a perfect little logic loop and the whole operation was just a ruse to get my gold. I let the altered memories settle and then untied the agent. I gave him his shoes back and then carried him down the stairs and outside, after checking to make sure the coast was clear.

I ducked down an alley with him and made his car appear. I used Detect for the cell phone and stored it, then took it out and checked it. Sure enough, there were dozens of calls to the 'boss'. I only had a phone number and no address or name. I also couldn't call someone to get it, either. I didn't want my name associated with looking for him just before something bad happened to him.

So, I came up with a better solution and sat the agent down beside the car and sat down myself. I texted Jenny to tell her to get supper for herself and Crystal, if they didn't eat all the pizza already. I was still busy fixing things and would be back in a few hours. She responded that they already ate and she would see me when I came home. I put my phone away, put handcuffs on myself, and waited for the agent to wake up.

If my guess was right, he would wake up afraid and would have a strong desire to take care of the stern man. I would mention it and egg him on as soon as he woke up, of course. I needed to be brought to the stern man to settle all of this, and the angry agent should take me right to him, to wherever the stern man was.