Heroes of Necessity

By Dawn Vogel

Not all heroes wear spandex and capes. Sometimes, they come from the most unlikely of places. Heroes of Necessity collects four such tales of women who become the heroes that the situation calls for.

When a weather app starts talking to her, Molly realizes that her programming abilities can be used for far more good than she anticipated. After the zombies rise, Satchel finds out that not everyone with the zombies' speed shares their insatiable lust for brains. A night out drinking on Spring Break turns into a strange opportunity for Kirsteen. And in a city filled with heroes, Leila discovers that her power of amplification and suppression works a little differently than she expected when there's a volatile teenager with newly awakened powers in her house.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DefCon One Publishing
• Release date: Dec 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370892303

Dawn Vogel

Dawn Vogel has been published as a short fiction author and an editor of both fiction and non-fiction. Her academic background is in history, so it’s not surprising that much of her fiction is set in earlier times. By day, she edits reports for historians and archaeologists. In her alleged spare time, she runs a craft business, helps edit Mad Scientist Journal, and tries to find time for writing. She lives in Seattle with her awesome husband (and fellow author), Jeremy Zimmerman, and their herd of cats.

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Heroes of Necessity

By Dawn Vogel

Copyright 2017 Dawn Vogel, except where noted

Smashwords Edition

historythatneverwas.com

patreon.com/historythatneverwas

Army of Me is copyright 2016.

Origin Story is copyright 2016.

Drink Me is copyright 2017.

Fortissimo Possibile is copyright 2013.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

Table of Contents

Army of Me

Origin Story

Drink Me

Fortissimo Possibile

About Dawn Vogel

Army of Me

Sasithorn, I need your help!

When I woke up to those words in Thai, I realized there were three problems.

First, no one calls me Sasithorn, aside from my extended family. They were approximately 8,000 miles away, which immediately eliminated them as the source of this plea. I've been going by Molly since I arrived stateside, as it cuts down on the where are you from? questions by at least twenty percent.

Second, I was 99 percent sure I was alone. I hadn't heard my roommate come in last night. Flicking my gaze over to her bed, then checking the floor and what I could see of the bathroom confirmed that.

Third, can you get any vaguer than I need your help?

When the words repeated, I listened more closely. They sounded tinny, and they were coming from my desk. Which added a fourth problem to the roster. The volume on my iPhone was supposed to be completely disabled while I was asleep. I wrote my own app for that. Being a programming super genius has its perks.

I climbed out of bed and looked at my phone. The screen, which should have been blank, showed the familiar cartoon character from Nariphon, my preferred weather app. There was something charming about having a woman dressed for the day's weather show up on your screen when you were trying to figure out what to wear. Only I was fairly sure that Berkeley in November wasn't warm enough to go nude. The Nariphon character always had at least a bathing suit on. And, like I said, it shouldn't have been showing up on my phone screen with no prompting from me.

I hovered my finger over the home button. What do you need? I asked in sloppy Thai. My parents had insisted on speaking English after we moved to California. The only exception was when the extended family back in Bangkok called on birthdays and holidays and used my given name.

The voice, which I was sure wasn't Siri at this point, rattled off something I couldn't understand, but it sounded like it was pleading with me further.

Sorry, do you know English? I asked, not even trying Thai this time.

What sounded like a sigh came from my phone. Yes, I speak English. And I need your help.

Right, I got that part already. Help with what, exactly?

Someone has removed my clothing.

I can see that.

A hacker.

I frowned. It was one thing to start carrying on a conversation with an app on your phone. Siri is sort of capable of that. This felt different, somehow. It wasn't just a stack of rote answers, like the ones Siri gives you when you ask her if she follows the Three Laws of Robotics.

What are you? I asked.

Again, that sigh. I am Nariphon.

Right, you're the Nariphon app on my phone. But you've never spoken to me before. What gives?

"Something awakened in me when I was