The Good Doctor's Tales Folio Six Read Online Free

interstate highway.  All in the name of progress, to cut down on the traffic jams and make Philadelphia a more vibrant city.
    “Who is it?” Tonya said.  She had hoped to get at least a few moments of rest, perhaps even a little time to grieve, a little time to comfort those who had been close to the Luke brothers.
    “Ma’am, she said she spoke for Focus DeYoung.”
    “Spoke for?”
    Honey shrugged.  Honey was Tonya’s head of household, her number one Transform, and, to be honest, her head snitch as well.  Tonya heard about any of her people who got on Honey’s bad side, and if warranted, punished them.  Lowered their juice to painful levels. Tonya’s job was to maintain the flow of juice from Transform to Transform, to keep them as close to the optimum as possible.  However, she could use her ability to move juice against Transforms as well, as punishment.  Having low juice was painful, a good lesson for those who slacked off in their work or who didn’t obey orders.  A Focus household wasn’t a place for laggards and malcontents, with everyone crammed together and always in each other’s hair – they had to get along, and work hard, or else.
    “You have her in the office area?”
    Honey nodded.  The formal motel office and lobby were the only place large enough for people in Tonya’s household to meet, and served not only as the common meeting area, but also as their common kitchen and dining room.  They didn’t have much choice in the matter – society wasn’t kind to Transforms, and few employers would take on a Transform if they could help it.  Many of Tonya’s Transforms were unemployable, simply because they were Transforms.
    “Send her up here,” Tonya said.  She glanced quickly around her room to verify her people had cleaned it properly.  Neat narrow bed, plumped pillows, two chairs beside a small table with a vase of several fresh marigolds, several boxes of used children’s clothing and old household accounting ledgers stacked neatly behind the chairs.  Slightly messy desk, but no one but Tonya ever touched her desk.  She sat behind the small desk and thought. 
    DeYoung was three years y ounger as a Focus than Tonya, and had a reputation for being both talented and uncooperative.  Not a local, either – she lived in Richmond, Virginia, and was part of the Southern Region of the overall Focus organization, the UFA.  Tonya belonged to the Northeast Region, and was rather important, as well – for a year, she had been their official representative on the Focus Council, the national governing board that coordinated all Focus activities.
    Honey brought the woman, to Tonya’s surprise a Transform woman, to Tonya’s office.  The woman was stern looking and young, with wavy black hair, a half head shorter than Tonya.
    “Come in,” Tonya said.  She didn’t rise from behind her desk.  “I’m Focus Biggioni.”
    “Poe,” the woman said.  “I speak for Focus Martine DeYoung.”  No last name, Tonya read on her, to Tonya’s surprise.  The woman possessed exceptional control and poise, giving off almost no emotional signals at all.  Trained by her Focus, perhaps?
    “You’re one of her Transforms, then?  All the way from Richmond?”
    Poe nodded.  “I am held in high trust by Focus DeYoung, Focus Biggioni.  I have represented her throughout the country.”  Strange.  Few Transforms would stand for that, Tonya knew.  Most had a hard time leaving the town the Focus lived in – and some weaker-willed Transforms had hysterics if they were forced to leave their household unaccompanied by their Focus.
    “Have a seat,” Tonya said, and motioned the woman Transform to a chair.  She pulled it up to in front of the desk.  “What can I do for you today, Poe?”
    “Martine and several of us in the DeYoung household have decided to do something about the deplorable state of Transform life.”
    “I see,” Tonya said, turning frosty.  Individual Focuses, especially