Geekomancy by Michael R. Underwood Page B

the weresuit seemed more insane in retrospect, albeit more funny and less terrifying.
    Eastwood nodded. “So, like I said, the guy in the fur suit was an Atavist. They channel the power of a primal spirit, and for the truly hard-core Furrymancers, it means suits like that. The more they give in to the spirit, the more real their powers become.”
    “Freaky. And what about ghosts? Could Angela’s spirit still be there somewhere in the house?”
    Eastwood looked down and away, pacing without making eye contact. “Not likely. If she follows the pattern of the last two suicides, her soul is absent from the scene.”
    “So then there are ghosts.”
    “Yes.”
    Ree nodded, processing. “And werewolves, sort of? What about the rest? Vamps, mummies, changelings, succubi, demons?”
    “Most everything is around in one form or another. Vampires used to be the Dracula types, but in the last ten years most of them have become weak, brooding androgynes that only go after teenagers. A friend of mine took the opportunity to rid his whole city of them after the fourth Mormon Vamps book hit and the sparkle meme was at its strongest.”
    “So does that make Ms. Mormon Sparkle Vamp a hero?”
    “Of a sort. Before they started to sparkle, there were a lot of vamps who were tortured antiheroes, thanks to Rice and Whedon.”
    Ree grimaced. “Do you know if she was clued in?”
    Eastwood shrugged. “She’s very secretive, no one in the Underground has been able to say for sure. It’s all rumor. My guess is she lost someone to a vampire and decided the greatest revenge she could inflict was to turn them into a laughing stock.”
    Ree blinked a few times, her head still foggy from the booze. “So, what do we do next? If I keep going investigator on this, the interview list is getting stupid-long, and I have a job.”
    Eastwood stopped a couple of paces from Ree and looked at her. “Next I teach you more about genre emulation.”
    Ree shrugged. “I did the Sherlock thing just fine.”
    “But with more control, you can use more power, longer, and with better effect. I knew a Geekomancer who channeled Star Wars so well she called herself a Jedi and no one questioned her.”
    Ree raised an eyebrow, thinking, Now, that would be cool. She imagined herself in Jedi robes, wielding a real lightsaber, “Duel of the Fates” playing in the background as she faced down Darth Maul.
    Ree shook off the daydream and saw Eastwood smile at her. “Cool, right? Channeling genres takes a lot out of you, and you’ll get better with practice. It’ll also be easier to switch when you need to. For now, you should stick to watching a whole movie or episode, preferably things you already know and love. Your emotional attachment to the material determines how much you can get out of it.”
    “So Die Hard is a better choice for action-fu than Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever. ”
    Eastwood snarled at the mention of the second film. “I hated that movie so much, I got my ninety-one minutes back.”
    “Huh?”
    “Not relevant.” Eastwood waved his hand, dismissing the thought. He turned to his wall of screens, typing a few things in on one of a half-dozen keyboards. “I’ll handle the witness investigations, but to do that, we need to pick up some things. Ready for a field trip?”
    Ree pulled out her pockets. “I forgot my permission slip. Does this mean we get to raid the stacks?” she asked, eager to dig into his Willy Wonka–level stash. In the short time she’d spent in the Dorkcave, she’d already decided that she could spend a solid month rummaging through all of his loot. You could run practically run Gen Con out of this place, she mused.
    “Are you still channeling anything?”
    Ree shook her head. “Not unless Drunkomancy is a thing.”
    Without missing a beat, Eastwood said, “Dipsomancy is very real, but it takes more than just getting hammered to do anything useful.”
    “I was joking,” Ree said, half apologetic and half