Project: MI
Chapter 11

Finally!Teruo thought, crashing into his chair at home and pulling out his small robotfrom his pocket. “Okay,” he said in an eager tone, hitting the power button onhis computer and snatching up a cable. “Give me everything you’ve got.”

Afterhis computer finished booting, he plugged the two together. At once a downloadscreen came up, depositing the mounds of files into a secure folder. Lickinghis lips, he gave a cackle and quickly accessed it.

You know, in spite of everythingthat I already know about what the CHC is hiding, this is fun!

Hecouldn’t help it, given his oft-cited mischievous nature, and right now itseemed to be paying big dividends.

This is quite the gold mine here,he thought, giving a quick glance through the first handful of files, pickingout keywords and mentally filing them away for later devouring and digestion.He frowned. I’m not sure where to startnow. I…

Theknock on his door caused the boy to give a startled cry and hit the desktopbutton to hide what was there—crude, but quick and easy for the eye to miss ifthey weren’t searching for anything particular. Spinning around in his chair,he saw John poke his head in

“Sorryabout that. Just wanted to see what you wanted for dinner.”

“Anythingis fine!” Teruo said, wishing that he didn’t sound as desperate to get rid ofthe man. He gave him a nervous smile, wondering if he looked half as suspiciousas he felt he did. If his face betrayed anything, John missed it, much to hissurprise—and paranoia. John simply nodded. “All right. I’ll come up withsomething easy then and let you know when it’s ready. I’ve got some work totake care of, so if you could keep it quiet tonight…”

“Nota problem,” Teruo promised, raising one hand in salute. With this much info to dig through, I’ll be sure to be as quiet as acadaver. “Scout’s honor.”

Smirking,John returned the salute and closed the door with a click. Spinning backaround, Teruo returned to his work.

“Okay,”he said, bringing back up the last page he was on. “Speak to me your secrets,oh creepy and super-secret government organization…”

Hewas going to have so much fun today.

“TheChief of Cabinets called again,” said Kelly Coleman to Daria as she hung up hercell phone. Daria glanced up at her, a dark look on her face.

“Hecan wait,” she said. Just like the fivemillion and one reporters and officials who all want a piece of my time.“Do we have a statement prepared to address the public with?”

“Wehave a draft,” Kelly said, handing her a computer pad. “It’s due to be given atsix pm sharp.”

“Atleast we have a little bit of leeway to edit it,” Daria sighed with relief,checking the time. The clock read 4:15. Returning the pad, she got up from herchair. “What about the news reports? What are they saying?”

“Justour initial statement about how we are investigating the attack, but stilldon’t have a suspect.” She pressed her lips into a thin line. “It won’t lookgood.”

“Ofcourse not,” Daria said in an irritated tone. In this game, when one don’t havean instant capture or even a lead it never looked good. “Does the investigationdepartment have anything from the footage?”

“No,”Kelly replied with a shake of her head. “They insist that the heroi is not inany of our archives, local or federal.”

“Ihate to replace a silver lining in all this,” grimaced Daria as though she had abad taste in her mouth, “but that actually makes us look better if the higher ups screwed the pooch on this and give usnothing to work with.” She massaged her forehead. “Only one week in and alreadythings are going to hell on me…”

Kelly,in a rare moment of breaking with formality, placed a comforting hand on hershoulder. “We’ll get this worked out, ma’am. Don’t worry.”

Dariagave her a tired smile. “It’s times like this I wish I was still a fieldagent.” She sighed heavily and the formality between them returned. “Anyway,now that I have some spare moments, what have we got?”

“Theschool’s Hall Monitor report,” Kelly said. “This one sees like it’s going towork the best in our favor. It’s responsible for holding back the attacker anddriving him off, and since it was our department that suggested placing them inschools for just such an occasion…”

“Awonderful silver lining backed by the lack of casualties,” Daria said with atouch of sarcasm. “What about the Companion? What is its report?”

Kellytapped on her data pad. “Elevated levels of activity in James’ Q-Field, butit’s consistent with a normal human’s adrenaline rushes and the fight-or-flightresponse. Nothing out of the ordinary that would suggest that he’s a danger tothe school or anyone else. Guardian Orbs are going over the area to corroboratethe two reports, so we should be getting something shortly from them. We’reestimating one to two hours before the final reports are in.”

“Cuttingit awfully close to our live statement,” Daria observed. “But there’s not muchwe can do about that. All right, keep me informed. What about the childhimself?”

“Heseems to be…” Kelly was cut off by the ringing of Daria’s cell phone. Sighingirritably, she glanced at it, and her eyes widened noticeably.

“Holdthat thought,” she said, lifting her index finger in a just a minute gesture. “Director Foster here,” she said uponhitting the call button. Kelly listened intently, trying to hear what was beingsaid, but Daria turned her chair around, preventing her from hearing much morethan garbled sounds. “I understand,” Daria continued, and Kelly noted astrained tone to her voice. “When will he arrive?”

He?Kelly raised an eyebrow.

“He’sarriving in fifteen minutes?” Daria shifted in her seat. “All right. I’ll meethim.” There was the sound of a beep and Daria turned around, pocketing herphone.

“Problems?”Kelly asked tentatively, seeing the look on the woman’s face. Daria looked upat her.

“Certaineyes are looking our way now because of this debacle with the Grey case.They’re sending an Epsilon Sentinel here.”

“AnEpsilon…” Kelly Coleman felt her mouth dry up at the name. “They’re taking himseriously, aren’t they?”

Dariascribbled out a note and stood up. “Call your brother and have him contactAmanda Baker before meeting us on the roof.” Folding the note, she handed it toKelly. “This is the message he’s to give her.”

Kellynodded, accepting the note. “I understand.”

Thehelicopter had just begun its descent when Kelly saw Agent Coleman approachfrom the rooftop’s entrance. She nodded to him in greeting.

“Didyou contact her?” she asked over the noise of the blades. Her brother nodded.

“Shewasn’t happy, but she understands the gravity of the situation. She willcooperate.”

Of course she would, all thingsconsidered. Kelly swallowed anxiously beforereturning her attention to the copter. An Epsilon Sentinel. She still hadtrouble believing it. She had never met one before during her ten years workingat the CHC with Daria.

Then again, Clark City hasn’tseen much action until recently. I hope that this isn’t an omen from the gods.

EpsilonSentinels. The name Epsilon itselfwas already difficult for her to feel comfortable about. The line dividingheroi from normal humans was paper thin enough already and Epsilon’s weresomething that shouldn’t be, but were; non-heroi who gained heroi-likecapabilities through various means, be it technology or somethingelse—lightning strikes, radiation exposure, meteors. They lacked the geneticmutation that made heroi what they were, and yet, somehow, they existed. Theywere an anomaly. No one knew why or how and it made certain people nervous.Heroi were one thing as they could be identified early. An Epsilon—or even a Gamma—could be anyone.

EpsilonSentinels are the refined versioncreated by the government and intended for the sole purpose of fighting firewith fire in the event that all standard means of controlling a heroi failed.

Kellyshuddered. If they think James Grey isdangerous enough to send one in… She didn’t dare let the thought finish,but all the same, she felt sick to her stomach thinking about what could happento not just James Grey, but anyone even remotely associated with him.

Thehelicopter finished its descent and as the blades began to slow, the dooropened and out stepped a tall, powerfully built, bearded, dark-skinned man.Kelly blinked, a bit surprised by how…charminghe looked, smiling at them and adjusting the tie to his suit. He approachedthem and held out his hand for Daria to shake. The woman took it cautiously andhe clasped it companionably.

“Hellodirector,” he greeted. “My name is Bruce Kane. I’m from Federal SecurityServices, Section Cross Guard. My superiors should have contacted you about myarrival…?”

“Theydid,” Daria nodded. “Although I would have appreciated it if they gave me somewarning when the Grey Case was being reopened. When the report went out, no onein the upper echelons seemed to make so much as a peep about it.”

“I’mafraid that there’s a great deal going on that changed that,” Kane said, givingher an apologetic look. “I’m also afraid that in the interests of nationalsecurity, I cannot tell you any more than that. My job is to observe the boyand judge for myself whether he is an immediate danger to the current globalclimate.”

“Ifhe is?” she asked, half-regretting asking the question.

“Ithink you already know the answer to that,” Kane replied. Daria reluctantlyagreed mentally. No doubt the Sentinel knew perfectly well what everyonealready suspected James Grey was. Given the potential risks involved, there wasno way that he would just let him continue roaming around.

“Verywell,” she said, inclining her head toward the roof’s entrance. “If you wouldfollow me…”

Dariaopened the door to an observation room and she, Kelly, Agent Coleman, and Kaneentered. Kane immediately made his way over to the window and drew to a halt,folding his arms behind his back. Before him, sitting against a padded, whitewall was James Grey, staring down at his arms, folded across his knees.

“Howlong has he been here?” he asked.

“Twohours since the incident at the school,” Daria replied. “He came quitewillingly and without resistance.”

“That’sgood. And there is no sign of his powers activating since the case wasreopened?”

“We’regoing over his Companion’s reports with a fine toothed comb. So far everythingpoints to elevated Q-Field activity, but nothing more than that.”

“Andan online report about two people jumping into the air in this city yesterdayisn’t included in any of its files?” Kane glanced at Daria, who looked at himwith abject confusion.

“I’m…I’msorry?” she could only stammer out. “I’m afraid that I haven’t…”

“There’sno need to apologize. One of our net sweepers only came across a rumor latelast night. It seems to have disappeared since the initial discovery and wehaven’t been able to track down anything else like it, except in other cities.The timing with the school attack seems a bit coincidental, but it could bejust that; coincidence and rumor. Heroi aren’t uncommon in cities after all.”

“I…see.”Daria glanced at Kelly, who immediately turned her attention to her data padand began typing out inquiries. “If you would like, we can provide you with anyand all information we have regarding James’ activities within…”

“Ihave no need for that, director. My apologies, though I thank you for theoffer.” Kane tilted his head to one side, narrowing his eyes. “He looks afraid,doesn’t he?”

Dariaturned to look at James, feeling somewhat flustered by Kane’s personality. “Iremember being his age,” she said. “I was afraid of places like this then too.”

“Yourprofile doesn’t mention you being in a prison,” Kane said matter-of-factly.

“Ivisited one of the old jails from the late Bronze Age when I was a child,” shereplied. “It was a museum trip.”

Sheshuddered, remembering how much she hated the sight of the place then; allcold, crumbling stone, rusted iron bars, and burnt-out anti-heroi force fields.A wax statue of a heroi lying on the ground, a starved, horrified expression onhis face—a replica of the reputed lastinmate of Juniper Penitentiary—stood out most prominently in her mind.

Kanegave a dry chuckle. “Heroi or not, you have a point. He would be scared.” Changingone hand into the other, he gave the boy a contemplative look beforecontinuing. “I would like to speak to him in person, if you don’t mind.”

Kellypaused in her queries to look at Daria. She nodded.

“Verywell,” she said, turning to Agent Coleman. “Show the man inside.”

Jamie sat in acell…or rather a room of some kind. Unlike most prison cells that he saw on TVor read about in stories, this one did not have a cage of iron bars or a wallof stone overlooking shark-infested waters. The room was simple white cushionswith an array of what appeared to be speakers sitting atop the plush walls,just below the ceiling. All were aimed in his direction.

At least, they look like they’re aimed at me, he thought,shifting on the floor. The room was void of any other features save for thespeakers and cushioned walls…save for a solitary mirror. Nothing else. No bed,no chairs. Not that Jamie was complaining, but the blandness of the room, withthe only thing interesting to look at being the mirror, had a bit of anoppressive feel to him.

He leanedforward, wrapping his arms around himself, doing his best to not look at themirror. The emptiness of the room that it showed him was unnerving. He tried tofocus on something else…anythingelse. Unfortunately, the only things that dominated his thoughts at the momentinvolved Monster, and the mysterious person who threatened him withconsequences if he didn’t meet them in the park after school.

Touching thebelt loop where Beth normally rode for comfort, he sincerely hoped that thechoice of ‘after school’ meant any time after school, and not immediatelyafterward.

What if… What if I end up staying here for a while?Like, way longer than he’s willing to put up with?What will he do if I can’t show up? Oh crap. I’ve got to replace some way get outof…

The wall opened,catching Jamie’s attention as a tall, dark-skinned man entered. He gave Jamiean easy-going smile that was so white it seemed to shine like the moon.

“Um…hi?” Jamiesaid, getting up warily. A part of him wondered if he could get around the manand possibly trigger his powers so he could escape, but the idea died veryquickly as the door closed shut behind him.

“Hey littleman,” the man greeted in return. “My name is Bruce Kane. I hope you don’t mindif I talk to you for a little bit.”

As long as it’s quick, Jamie thought.“Are you the boss?”

The man raisedan eyebrow and chuckled. “No,” he said. “Though you could almost say that, in away, I am. I hold a great deal of power that I am authorized to use in regardsto you.”

Jamie’s eyesdropped, frowning. He suddenly had an idea that what he said now or in the nextfew minutes would determine his fate.

“Okay… What about…What about my parents? Are they all right? Do they know…?” He swallowed, tryingto clear his mind of every worry that threatened to well up inside him.“I…didn’t think to call them. Beth usually does that but everything was socrazy…” He shook his head. “Beth! What about Beth? My Companion…”

“All three arefine,” Kane said, kneeling down in front of the boy so that they were more ateye level. He actually wasn’t aware of whether or not James’ parents were awareor ‘fine’, nor did he know the details regarding his Companion Device, but heassumed that a comforting lie was useful in this scenario.

He named his Companion, he noted.

Jamie breathed asigh. “Well, that’s a relief. Mom will probably be mad that I’m stuck in jail,but at least there’s a good reason for it. Uh…I think.” He looked around him,gauging his cell. No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like the kindof place that would be able to hold a heroi that was determined to get out.“I’ll probably be grounded anyway…” he continued, furrowing his brow.

How much longer is this going to go on?

Daria folded herarms over her chest as she listened to the exchange between the two. So far itseemed to be a fairly standard interrogation with the Epsilon Sentinel playingthe role of the ‘good cop’ and just trying to get to know the child.

“He’s…not at allwhat I expected someone like him to be,” she said aloud.

“I’m sorry?”Kelly asked, wondering if Daria’s statement was directed at her.

“Hm? Oh, I wasjust thinking out loud. I’ve heard so many rumors about these E.S. personneland he goes completely against the grain.” She frowned. “For now anyway.”

Kelly returnedher attention to the scene before them. “Do you think he’ll…execute James?”

“I’d say thatthere’s a strong possibility. Maybe not now. He’ll probably have to interviewhis friends and family first after this to form a judgment but…” She sighed.“That kid really got the short end of the stick when he met Adam Bishop in thepark. He’d probably just have been normal if not for that. It’s not his fault.”

“No ma’am,”Kelly shook her head in agreement. “It isn’t.”

Daria wasn’tsure whether her assistant was simply agreeing with her due to formality, orbecause of their friendship and she really did agree. Once upon a time, shewould have said that it was her own opinion, but the difference between theirpositions changed things. Setting the matter aside, she continued to watch thescene before them play out, with Kane continuing to draw out James so as todetermine what his ultimate fate would be. It made her sick to her stomach andcaused her to wonder if Amanda Baker and her daughter would get out of thiswithout being noticed.

Her handstightened around her, thinking of the woman. She didn’t like her, but…none ofthis seemed right.

Thejunkyard of Clark City was well-known to the city’s youth. A maze of wreckedcars, broken appliances, mountains of debris that was said to stretch backacross the Ages, from Gold all the way to the present day. Although today itsaw little of the kind of action that caused such a buildup for the place to begiven its own geographic features, it still grew through the deposit of wasteand broken material that followed in the wake of any city.

ForClark City’s youth, none of the top layer interested them in the least. It waswhat lay below that top layer that mattered—mattered enough that the place waslocked down and well-guarded around the clock. Mattered enough for a greatnumber of Clark City’s youth to attempt to breach its defenses as a ‘coming ofage’ ritual, or, in a fair number of cases, just to have something from the oldAges. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on one’s opinion—the secrets ofthe junkyard remained well-kept and, aside from one incident fifty years priorwith the cities water supply, undisturbed.

Orso it was believed.

“We’ll never have a better time,”Kira remembered Monique saying once during a time that felt so long ago. Sheglowered at the gate where a man in a blue uniform sat. He looked angry. Kiracould only guess why, though she was certain that being here was one of them.

Ignoringthe incessant buzzing from her cell phone—her mother no doubt, as she was theonly who tried to reach her since the incident at school—Kira began to walkalong the fence, dragging a finger along it, her invulnerability brushing offthe electricity that attempted to ward her off.

Tothis date, she had yet to replace a place that could keep her out.

Theround of buzzing ended and Kira sighed with relief.

I should just shut the thing off,she thought, retracting her hand from the fence. Nah. That would be a bad idea. She’d only get angrier.

Thebuzzing resumed again almost as soon as it started, and Kira rolled her eyes,returning her hand to the fence and ignoring the sparks that showered downaround her. I sent her a message tellingher I was all right and that I’d be home for dinner. What more does she want?

Shewished that her mother would stop calling her phone so that she could letMalcolm know to futz with the sensors. She could get in whether they were on ornot, but as long as they were on, simply flying in would cause too many alarmsto go off. As a result, she had to use an alternative approach, one that, byaccident or design, was supplied by the very nature of the junkyard.

“Therewe go,” she smiled, her hand disappearing into seemingly nothingness. Found the gap.

Steppingforward, she phased through the fence as though it weren’t even there andreappeared on the other side amidst mountains of broken down vehicles. Kiranodded to herself in satisfaction.

“Homesweet home,” she said almost sarcastically. Well,not exactly home, but it’s better than what I have back there.

Wastingno time, she sprinted forward, vanishing around a number of piled cars—oldhover models from the Silver Age that had once been a pristine white. She casther eyes around her as she ducked this way and that, trying to replace a familiarlandmark. Of course, it was pointless to do so. Yesterday’s trash would alwaysend up being buried beneath another layer of garbage, and she couldn’t affordto come here often.

Still,there was one individual that she could trust to help her replace her way,provided that she found him.

Turninga corner, she slowed and glanced behind her. The fence, though still visible toher, now seemed to be an eternity away. True to form, the junkyard was workingits magic. She was going to have to be verycareful from this point on. Returning her attention to the path ahead of her,she bit back a curse.

“Wonderful,”she grumbled, settling for something less offensive. Narrowing her eyes as shescanned the piles of broken-down machinery around her. She was now in adifferent section of the junkyard, and in one of the most dangerous. Wardroids, scrapped doomsday devices marked with all manner of warning labels fromat least a dozen mad scientists from the Silver Age… She shuddered alittle. She didn’t think any of what she saw was at all still operable, butthere were always exceptions to the rule. She herself learned that the hard waywhen she first came here.

Eying themcautiously, she continued forward, feeling an unsettling sensation of beingwatched. Turning another corner, she gasped insurprise and fell into a fighting stance, this time swearing for real. Shecaught herself at the last moment, and carefully relaxed her arms, heart stillpounding in her chest. Narrowing her eyes she strode forward to a broken heapof metal that looked as though it resembled a giant, humanoid robot. Whateverit was, it had been pulverized beyond total recognition, with what may havebeen an abdomen bearing a massive, inward boring dent. Kira didn’t have to lookto know that there was a gaping hole on the other side.

Afterall, she had made it herself.

Jumpingup slightly, she landed above the dent and looked down to replace exactly what shewas looking for; the head of the great beast. Its electric eye was empty andlifeless with a long, spidery crack crossing its surface. She didn’t trust itthough.

“Keep running, Kira! It’s gettingcloser!”

Sheshut her eyes against the memory, willing it away before reopening them,bringing her glare harshly down on the robot’s head.

“Youplayed dead the first time I came through here,” she said, feeling her heartracing again, though this time for an entirely different reason. Kneeling downand touched its surface before balling her hand into a tight fist. Rearing herarm backward, she drove her fist forward with all her might, smashing throughits thick, armored surface. The robot’s body jerked and the ruins of its limbsrose slightly as though in one last bid for resistance, and then fell back toearth. Kira withdrew her fist, and smashed it into the machine’s head one moretime, feeling a great sense of satisfaction with that last punch. She sat therefor a moment, breathing slowly and deeply, basking in the fire burning in herchest before she withdrew her hand one last time, flexing her fingers andblowing off flecks of rust from her skin.

“Aboutas tough as I remember,” she grumbled, frowning at her now dirt-encrustedknuckles. “But I’m strong now. I don’t have to worry about things like youanymore.”

“Kira! Run!!!”cried a girl with curly brown hair fromwhere she lay, hand stretched out, begging her to keep going. The ground shookand behind her the giant war machine loomed into view, having found itstargets…

She ground herteeth together as the last bits of memory stubbornly clung to her much like therust on her hand. With an effort, she unclenched her hand and dusted it off onher jeans.

“Makeenough noise yet?” came a familiar voice. Glancing down from her place on topof the robot’s remains she found herself looking at a smaller, humanoid robotwearing a dirty, scuffed pair of overalls. A single electric eye winked red ather and it waved a thin, metal arm at the girl. Hopping down to the ground shestrode over to the robot and nodded in greeting.

“HeyBob,” she said. “I’m here to see him.”

“Ithought so,” the machine nodded. “You don’t come here for anything else. Allright, say no more. I’ll take you to the nearest entryway.” He gestured for herto follow after him. Kira did so, though she took a moment to cast one lastlook over her shoulder at the destroyed monstrosity before turning andcontinuing after Bob.

Should have kicked its head off,she thought regretfully. Next time…

“You’revery lucky that I happen to have been in the area,” Bob told her as they madetheir way down the twisting paths, their feet walking along a path worn smoothby a thousand footfalls before theirs. “I was just going to investigate aperimeter breach in the area. Ted thought it was just a pigeon and that’s whatI’ll tell him. You might want to try a different side next time though, or atleast not show up for a while. Our security just took a big punch today so he’sgoing to be more paranoid about anything that sets off the alarms.”

“Iget that,” Kira replied. “So how is he doing?”

“Nodifferent from last time. He stays in his place, gathering information likeusual, sending out hard-light projections to interact with people in the realworld… The usual. At least for h-h-h…” Bob paused in his stutter and hit theside of his head with a loud clang. “…him,” he finished. “Sorry about that. Myprocessor is getting worn out.”

“He’llmake you a new one won’t he?”

“Can’t.”Bob shook his mechanical head. “Well, I won’t let him. It’d be too suspicioussince I’m supposed to be covered by the company that runs this place. If I get‘retired’, he’ll take me on, so it won’t be an issue then.” Grabbing his suspenders,he pulled them taught. If it weren’t for the complete lack of a face, Kirawould have sworn that Bob looked proud. “No one knows this place better than meafter all. I’m cheap to keep around for someone like him.”

Kiragrimaced, not sure if she liked that kind of view.

To each their own,she thought.

“Well,here we are,” he said as they came to a stop in front of a broken down bus witha chunk of garbage in front of it. “Oop,” he noted. “Looks like Greg coveredthis entrance up. Hang on.” Moving over to the pile of rubbish, he carefullypushed it aside, revealing a dirty plate of metal with a button on top beneathit. Wiping it off, he pressed the button and the plate unfolded outward and aladder rose up. “There you go, m’lady,” Bob saluted. “He’ll be waiting foryou.”

Kiranodded, not even bothering to ask if she was expected. She was certain that healready knew she was there. After all, Malcolm was the reason how she got intothe place as often as she did.

“Takecare of yourself Bob,” she said. Taking hold of the ladder, she began to climbdown.

“Haveyou met with your friend yet?” Bob asked suddenly, causing her to stop in herclimb and go rigid.

He always does this…

“No…”she said slowly. It wasn’t exactly true, given that she just saw Monique thatvery morning, but she didn’t hang out with her either.

“You should,” Bob replied. “She’s waiting foryou. It’s not good to keep people waiting.”

“I’ll see her eventually,” Kira said, resumingher journey. Just not now. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t keep asking methat.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to remember that nexttime.”

Noyou won’t, Kirathought, disappearing into the dark hole.

Her cell phone resumed buzzing again as thelid closed over her.

Kirabit back a curse as she tripped over one of the many cables strewn across thefloor of Malcolm’s base of operations.

“Carefulmy dear,” he said, not bothering to turn around, hitting a few buttons on ahanging touch pad. “And please watch the language. It’s not very lady-like.”

“Asif I care,” Kira shot back, shoving a cable to the side as best, and ascarefully as she could, minding her physical strength. Always… I always get strongerwhenever I’m out of the house… “Anyway, do you have anything for me? Or doI still need to stick close to that kid?”

“You’vemade progress?” Now Malcolm turned around, raising an eyebrow.

“What’sthat mean?” Kira asked a little heatedly. “I’m not putting it off…”

“Ididn’t say you were.” Malcolm turned back toward his rows of computer screens,tapping on one of them and bringing up a readout. “I was just under theimpression that Mr. Grey was under lock and key and being investigated sincethe incident at your school. That doesn’t allow for much social interaction.”

Kiraran a hand through her hair. “You’re a piece of work. Do you know what’s goingon or…?”

“Idon’t know much beyond that, except that a government-styled helicopter landedon the roof of the CHC’s building. Interesting timing.” He tapped a fingeragainst his mouth. “Unfortunately I can’t deviate any Spheres for closerobservation. My ‘spy’ helped me plant a seed so I’m threading through theirsystems in regards to that…”

“Idon’t care about a stupidhelicopter!” snapped Kira. “I need to know whether I still need to bother withthat James kid! Do you have anything aboutRan?”

Malcolmglanced back at her and frowned, and for an instant Kira thought helooked…disappointed in her. Returning to his computers, he tapped one screenand it projected a beam of light directly in front of her. Kira backed awayslightly in surprise.

“What’sthis?” she asked, giving the projection a quick look. It looked to her like abuilding—the Romana Pax building that she broke into—with a number of wavesspreading out from it.

“Youranswer,” Malcolm answered, approaching, pencil in hand. He pointed it at thewaves. “During the attack on your school, there was a sudden burst offrequencies in the upper EM band.” He scowled, circling the projection, tappingthe pencil on his chin. “It’s very familiar. I haven’t seen something like thisin a while. It almost looks like someone made use of local-area Q-particles andshaped them. Your sister’s power was illusion, correct?”

“Yeah,”Kira said warily, working on where Malcolm was going with this. “So…what? Areyou saying that she’s making illusions or something?”

“I’mjust formulating a hypothesis.”

“It’sa dumb one. Ran’s illusions don’t touch anything. They can’t even castshadows.”

Shethought back though to her encounter with her sister’s ‘ghost’ in the bathroom,causing a seed of doubt to form in her mind.

“It’shardly ‘dumb’,” Malcolm continued, unaware of the girl’s thoughts. “Q-particlesare sometimes compared to computer code, only for reality. Done right they canrewrite a section of the world, tell matter how to behave and organize… Withenough power virtual particles can even be used without problems. In short,creating ‘something’ out of ‘nothing’. That kind of god-like tech was used backin the Silver Age, but it’s been illegal ever since. Not that it stopped peoplefrom trying to use it anyway.”

“That’sgreat, but what does that have to do with Ran?”

“That’sthe million aureu question, isn’t it?”

“Isshe there?” Kira felt her hopes start to rise up. To think that she had been soclose then… “Is she in that building?”

“Don’tjump to conclusions,” Malcolm said, nodding his pencil at her in an attempt todismiss her thoughts before they became too concrete. “I’m still gatheringdata, and so far the few instances that popped up on the radar have been toobrief. The timing of the signals could just be a coincidence…although thepatterns suggest otherwise.”

“Sowhat am I supposed to do in themeantime?!” Kira exclaimed hotly, waving a hand behind her. “Play pretend withthat kid while I wait on you?” She glared at Malcolm. “You said you’d help me…”

“Iam,” Malcolm replied coolly. “Watch your temper. If you go bursting in thereand make a mess, the CHC will be all over you. Worse yet, if we’re wrong, Romana Pax will catch on to thefact that they’ve been noticed and they’ll take greater pains to hide whatthey’re doing. You lose everything that way. Is that what you want?”

Kiraflexed her fingers, fighting down her anger. “Fine,” she said with an effort.Malcolm regarded her with sympathy.

“I’msorry, but right now we can’t do much more than the status quo with the currentplan. Chess games like this require patience.”

“Idon’t play chess.”

“Really?”Malcolm shrugged. “Well, you might want to try it sometime. It’s quite theclassic.”

BruceKane reentered the observation room and adjusted his tie.

“Allset,” he said. “You can let him go.”

Thatcaused Daria and Kelly to both look at him in surprise. Daria quickly caughtherself and nodded toward Coleman.

“He’spassed your judgment?” she asked as Coleman brushed past Kane. She hadn’tthought that Jamie could have possibly done that, yet here was the evidence.

“Notcompletely,” Kane replied, turning to the window as Coleman entered the boy’scell to inform him of the good news. “I think he’s hiding something, but as youpointed out, that’s fairly normal for someone his age. Given the dangersthough, I’m going to expand my investigation. I’m going to need a list ofteachers, family, any friends he has…anyone he interacts with on a regularbasis and their respective addresses.”

“KellyColeman here can provide you with that,” Daria said, indicating the other womanwith a nod of her head.

“Good.Are his parents in the building by any chance?”

“Hismother arrived here about an hour ago,” Kelly said, tapping her data pad. “Youcould interview her now if you would like.”

“Whatabout the father?”

“No,”Kelly shook her head. “When we made contact with him…” Turning to Kane, shelooked uncomfortable. “…it seemed that he didn’t have any interest in cominghere.”

Kaneraised an eyebrow at that. “Is that so? Well then…perhaps I should interviewhim first before I get around to the mother.”

Is he…concerned?Daria resisted the urge to shake her head in disbelief. It didn’t seempossible. “We can put you in touch with his employer to determine the best timeif you would like.”

Kanegave Daria a warm smile. “If it’s not too much trouble,” he said.

Dariaregarded him for a moment before nodding to Kelly, who immediately turned herattention to her data pad. After a moment, Kelly blinked as an emergencymessage pinged on the screen.

“Er…Ms.Foster? It seems there’s a bit of a situation…”

Kirapushed up the lid to Malcolm’s base, trying—and failing—to cool her simmeringemotions.

Another day wasted,she thought. She had really been hoping that today would bring something otherthan the current status quo.

Thatwasn’t all that bothered her about today, but it was foremost on her mind.

Closingthe lid behind her, she dusted herself off and waited for Malcolm’s signal. Hepromised to clear the skies for her long enough so she could fly home withoutbeing detected—compensation he had told her. If nothing else, she knew that hewould follow through on it.

Therewas a slight buzzing in her pants pocket and her Q-Field flared to life,enveloping her in its embrace. With a light tap to the ground, she shot intothe air, her ponytail waving behind her like a cape. She rejoiced in thesensation of the wind blowing across her skin and she closed her eyes, allowingherself a moments respite from all her worries in the world…

Thatmoment was lost the second something small and spherical smashed into the sideof her face.

“Ah!”Kira dropped in the air as metal fragments rained around her, her Q-Fieldalmost winking out of existence. She recovered quickly and looked around her,quickly spying the falling remains of a Guardian Sphere plummeting to theEarth. She watched it for a moment, confused as to what just happened. Did…I just run into that thing…? But…Malcolmsaid… A rocket of realization burstin her mind as she heard warbling sounds coming from all sides. The buzzing ofher cell phone… Oh…no. That…that wasn’tMal at all. That… That was my mothertrying to get a hold of me! Crap!

Wastingno time she threw herself in a straight line skyward as the warbling soundsstarted to increase in intensity, signaling their fast approach. In anemergency, this was her best bet if she were to escape immediate capture. Pullingout her cell phone, she flipped it open and checked her messages.

Damn it…She grated her teeth in confirmation. Sure enough, her mother had been the lastone to message her. Hitting the dial button she called up Malcolm and quicklygot an answer.

“What are you doing?!”the man exclaimed over the other line. “Ithought I told you to wait for my signal!”

“Iknow! It’s my fault!” she replied, hoping beyond hope that the wind wasn’tcompletely obscuring her voice. “My mom’s been trying to get a hold of me and Iforgot to check! Now what’s the scoop?”

Therewas no response save for the sound of the wind blowing across her eardrums.“Mal? Mal?” Kira glanced at the phone’s reception just in time to see thesignal bars drop to zero. “Crap…” she muttered. Pocketing the phone, she pulledout her mask from her break-in at Romana Pax from her back pocket and pulled iton. She had no idea how much information the Guardian Spheres had on her now,but at this point there was no harm in trying to hide her identity. Once themask was on, she looked down to see a small flock of orbs surging after her.

Looks like we haven’t hit theirmaximum altitude yet. I hope that doesn’t mean they’ve been upgraded…Pushing everything she could into her Q-Field she shot upward at a faster pace,putting as much distance as she could between herself and them. A howl eruptedfrom her teeth as she punched through the clouds and came to a halt. Pantingheavily, she waited, and listened carefully.

Shecould no longer hear the warbling sound and she felt herself begin to calmdown.

“Isthere a problem?” spoke up a voice behind her. Spinning around, Kira narrowlyavoided having her ankle grabbed from below by a dark-skinned man wearing asuit and beard. Emerging from the clouds, the man adjusted his tie casually andtook a look around him, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Quitethe view,” the man said. “I don’t suppose that you would be willing to comequietly, would you?”

Kiranarrowed her eyes, wondering who this man was. A heroi? She didn’t ask. Her eyes flicked over to the small devicein the man’s ear, suspecting it of having voice-recognition software. Shedidn’t know anything about him and she wasn’t willing to fall into a trap. Forall she knew, this could easily be the CHC trying another method to captureher.

I reallyhope this mask is going to be enough…she thought, raising her fists. The man’s smile dropped off his face and heplaced his arms loosely by his side.

“Pleasetell me that you’re not going to make me do this,” he said. “I don’t much likefighting heroi, especially when they’re young girls. It…makes me feel dirty.”

Then let me keep you clean bytaking off, Kira thought, doing a back flip inmidair and diving back beneath the clouds. She made zigzags through the densecloud cover. She couldn’t see anything around her, and she hoped that this,combined with her Q-Field’s interaction with the fabrics in her mask would beenough to hide her from the man, whoever he was.

If only I had my full costume onthen I wouldn’t have to worry as much, shecommiserated before being unexpectedly yanked from above by her shirt and tornfree from the clouds.

“Whatthe he…?” she gasped before lashing out reflexively. There was a loud crack asher right knee impacted the man’s face, sending him flying backward severalpaces before coming to a stop, one hand held to his nose. He narrowed his eyesat her, as though taking in her response before dropping his hand back to hisside. Seeing him, Kira felt as though she had just been punched in the gut.

He…he doesn’t look like I evenhit him. That punch was enough to knock down a brick wall. What is this guy’sskull made out of? Adamantine steel?

“Superstrong,” he said, more to himself than to her. “And your hand is undamaged fromthat blow.” He pulled his fingers into his palms and raised them up toward her.“Which means…invulnerability as well.” His eyes visibly darkened and Kira gotthe distinct feeling that she had two gun barrels now pointed directly at her.“You should have surrendered peacefully,” he said quietly before rushing towardher again. Kira barely got her arms up to block an incoming blow as he was onher. The bones in her arm felt like they vibrated from the force of the blow,but she barely had enough time to focus on it as a second blow came careeningtowards her face, smashing into her just below her left eye socket.Pain—something she hadn’t felt in a while—exploded across her brain as shehurtled through the air, her Q-Field vanishing as though it never existed. She plummeteddownward, barely noticing gravity’s hold on her. Her vision was dark; blurryeven.

What’s going on…?

Thevibration in her pocket brought her back to life and her Q-Field reappeared,stopping her dead in her tracks. She took a moment to gather herself and took alook around her. She was now just above Clark city, alone—for the moment—withnowhere to hide.

Warblingsounds began to move on her from all directions.

This…isn’t good,she thought, seeing a cloud of Guardian Spheres enclose around her, effectivelyboxing her in. Every one of them had their weapons focused on her, and she sawwhat had to be at least a hundred lasers playing across the surface of herbody. She swallowed nervously.

I…can at least take the firstbunch of blasts, she thought, steeling herself. I don’t know about any of the others. Theymight already have my Q-Field…

“Doyou surrender?” came the voice of the man above her. Looking up, she saw theman descending toward her, arms folded over his chest and still looking none theworse for wear in spite of her earlier punch to his face.

Herphone again vibrated angrily, causing Kira to tighten her fists in response.She was really starting to hate theblasted piece of technology.

Theman, for his part, simply saw her movement as being a continued desire toresist. “Very well,” he said, raising a hand to the device in his ear. “Firewhen ready.”

Kirabraced herself for what she knew was coming. There was a whine of as thespheres powered up and then fired.

Shefelt nothing. Blinking in confusion, Kira looked up just in time to see thespheres were now all pointing at the man who attacked her, darting toward himand firing at him. The man’s eyes widened in shock as the blasts struck him,burning holes in his suit, but otherwise causing him no harm.

“Whatis…?” He pressed a finger to the device in his ear. “Cease fire! Cease fire!!! What are you…?” The manthen gave a scream as one particular blast struck the device, causing it toexplode in his ear. Not needing to know what the new buzzing from her cellphone was about, Kira shot away, whipping around buildings at a rapid pacebefore flying straight into an alleyway. Her Q-Field vanishing, she tore offher mask and raced down the alley and around the corner, hoping to lose herselfin the crowd. She no longer knew where her pursuer was, but as long as she losthim that was all that mattered. Pulling out her cell phone she quickly redialedMalcolm’s number, seeing that he had been trying to get a hold of her very recently.

“Mal!”she exclaimed as soon as he picked up. “What…?”

“Calm down, calm down!”he returned. “Do you want to make a scenewhile you make your getaway? I’ll explain everything I can. Now slow down…”

“Ican’t! I…” She glanced around her, seeing the number of looks she was gettingand ducked to the side before disappearing into another nearby alley. “I can’t slow down,” she continued in aharsh whisper. “I’ve got some super-freak agent after me and…”

“…and I’ve got him tied up at themoment. Don’t worry, he’s lost you now. I hacked into that flock of orbs.They’ll be keeping him busy for a while. Right now I’m assessing damagecontrol.”

Runninga hand across her face, Kira leaned back against the wall, feeling unexpectedlyshaky. Her fingers brushed against the spot where she had been punched and shewinced from the contact. She wondered if she would get a bruise now, the firstin what had been a long time.

I didn’t think anyone could hurtme anymore, she thought as she listened toMalcolm’s hasty explanation. Who was thatguy?

Pushingherself off the wall, she reoriented herself and merged back into the crowdoutside the alleyway. She felt a little bit more in control of herself now.

Yetfor some reason, she couldn’t remember ever feeling so vulnerable.

Jamie’sjourney home with his mother was made in silence. He sat in the passenger carseat, trying not to look anxious or fidget. Next to him, his mother wore anempty, neutral expression.

“Are you all right?”came the memory of the first question she asked upon seeing him. She hadsounded so…formal, that the woman who escorted him to her seemed rather takenaback before releasing him to her custody. Jamie, who was more used to this,had simply nodded. “Okay. Let’s head tothe car then and get out of here.”

Therehad been no hug. No looking for any injuries. No anything beyond a verbalquestioning.

Theyturned down the street and eventually rolled to a halt just outside thedriveway that led to their home.

“Allright sport,” Libbey Grey said, throwing the vehicle in park. Again, her tonewas neutral, showing no more worry or concern than if he never existed in thefirst place. “I’ve got to take off and get back to work. I’m going to beworking late tonight, so dinner is in the fridge.”

“Whatabout Dad?” Jamie asked, unbuckling himself.

“He’sworking late too. That’s why I didn’t pick him up to get you at the CHC. Hesays hi by the way and hopes that you’re all right.”

Forthe briefest of moments, anger flashed across Jamie’s face, but he quicklyschooled it. He couldn’t come and see me?He couldn’t at least try and call?

“Okay,”he replied a little stiffly, grabbing his bag and opening up the car door.

“Hey.”A hand fell upon Jamie’s arm and he paused. Turning toward his mother, the womangave him a quick embrace and a kiss on the cheek. “See you tonight. We’ll talklater. Stay out of trouble, okay?”

“Yeah…Sure.” Jamie got out of the car and closed the door. Stepping back, he watchedhis mother turn the car around and, after a quick wave, turn back into traffic.He waved back in return, but he felt empty inside.

“They mean the best,”Beth said helpfully from by his side.

“Iguess,” Jamie replied, not really feeling up to debating the issue. Hescratched the side of his head. “On the plus side…I need to get to the park andthis gives me time to do that.”

“Are you…sure about that?”Beth asked worriedly.

“No.”

“Then why take the risk? Jamie,your powers are fluctuating, and not only that it’s about time that you tookyour pax. I have to file a report every time you take them, and if you don’ttake them on time…”

“Soreport me already,” Jamie mumbled.

“I’m sorry, but…what?”

Jamiesighed and lowered his head, allowing his hair to fall over his eyes. “No…I’m sorry. I’m just a little freakedout. You know…what with being attacked in the bathroom and by some crazypsychopath who stole Monster.”

Bethbeeped. “Actually there seems to havebeen a reported posted that he’s been found.”

Jamieperked up at that and quickly unhooked Beth from his belt loop. “What?! Are youserious?”

“Quite. I have a phone number andaddress. We can go there today.”

“Ihave his license in my room.” Jamie licked his lips, his mood darkening rapidlyagain. “I…I can’t blow off the thing in the park though. That guy said that ifI didn’t show…”

“Jamie… Can I point out that hewas a student at your school?” Beth’s eyeblinked three times rapidly, signaling some slight annoyance. “Perhaps I should enroll you in aself-defense course. You wouldn’t be so afraid if you were able to stand up tobullies.”

“It’sagainst the law for me to learn that stuff, remember?” Jamie countered,frowning a little.

“Ohhh, data fart,”Beth replied in annoyance, her electric eye blinking three times again. “The latest patch is causing problems for mymemory. I’ll have to file another error report.”

“Haveyou been doing that a lot today?”

“More than I should. I don’tunderstand…” Beth’s eye blinked once thoughtfully. “Anyway, before we do anything else, you should take your medicine.”

“Ialready did, remember?”

“My memory problems are not that bad mister. So nice try.”

Worth a shot… Jamietook a deep breath. Now that he thought about it, what reason did he have formeeting the person who sucker-punched earlier him? Beth only turned off that one time. That might have been a patchproblem. It…can’t happen again, right? The company should fix her up prettyquick.

Hefrowned again, wondering if he was only trying to comfort himself.

Healso wondered what he was still doing standing in the driveway.

“Allright, fine,” he conceded, turning and heading for the house. “I’ll take thestupid pills and then we’re heading off to get Monster. Jeez… How the heck didhe get away from that guy? That was really crazy how he just decided to grabhim like that and…” He paused. Now that he thought about it, it seemed like anodd thing to do. And to see the man twicein such a short period of time?

Am I being targeted by someone?

Hedidn’t notice the curtain to the front porch window shift slightly, disturbedby movement behind it. Pulling out his house key, he fitted it into the lockand turned it. Pushing open the door, he stepped inside and closed it behindhim, locking as he went.

Thesound of a shoe touching on hardwood floor caught his attention.

“Jamie!” Bethshouted in warning before, unbeknownst to the boy, her electric eye dimmed downto nothing. Her warning wasn’t necessary however as Jamie, spotting movementfrom out of the corner of his eye, jumped backward and swung his book bagaround in a defensive posture.

“Whoare you?!” he shouted, shaking the bag threateningly. “Get out of here!”

“Now,now, there’s no need for that,” said the thin, plain looking girl with curly brown hair and apurple, fuzzy sweater as she drew to a halt in front of the door. “I’m not hereto start a fight. I’m just here to see you.”

“Wha…buh…who…?” Jamie shook his head and tiltedit to one side, trying to grasp what was going on here. Okay, there’s a weird girl in my home and she’s looking…familiar? “HaveI…seen you somewhere before?”

“Twice actually, but I looked different thesecond time,” Monique smiled. “Since there was a bit of a complication today, Ihope you don’t mind if we have our scheduled meeting here.”

“Threetimes is a pattern,” Steiner said to Elizabeth via the webcam that connectedthem.

“And you believe that it is agood idea to allow her to continue?” the womanasked, giving Steiner a hard expression. The man nodded.

“Everyhero needs a villain; the more insane, irrational, and out of touch withreality the better. I don’t think we could do any better than this.”

“Your ‘hero’ is still a child andunderdeveloped in his powers,” Elizabethreminded. “And the subject would beviewed as more of a victim than anything else.”

“Whoeversaid I was referring to Ran as anything buta victim?” A small smile crept across Steiner’s face. “Real villains aremore masterminds. They create victims through machinations. Foot soldiers, thugs,employees, experimental subjects… They’re victims, either because of theirhelplessness or because they are made so complicit in a crime or thedestruction of others around them that they have no other choice but tocontinue in that role.” Steiner threaded his hands together and leaned back.“Society will not forgive them. Anyone with a vested interest in their ownfreedom knows this. Only a truly special person will willingly sacrificethemselves on a cross.”

Elizabethfurrowed her brow. “I’m afraid I don’tunderstand why you’re referencing an ancient tool of execution…”

Steinerchuckled. “It’s from the book, The New Testament. It’s a classic tale amongstheroi of the Old World and features some of the most common elements that makeup the heroi ideal; one person against an empire for the highest stakesimaginable: the world.”

“I thought it was service to thepeople.”

Steinerchortled and waved a hand almost dismissively. “That was Augustus Caesar’sphilosophy, or rather political brinksmanship. I should note that he not onlyruled the Roman Empire with an iron fist at the time the New Testament tookplace, but also claimed he couldn’t be killed—a contrast to Julius Caesar, hispredecessor in the field of empire building. Yet evidence clearly shows that hewas nothing more than a human mortal. Anyway,” Steiner shifted in his seat, “Ifeel that this is the best course of action. I will make arrangements to ensurethat work on the City continues without complications from associations with mycompany, but Grey has to be viewed in the best possible light before theunveiling.”

“I would rather that we convenefor another meeting and discuss this. There are still other options to pursue,such as the location of Adam Bishop. If we could replace him, then the situationwould be less traumatic for our side.”

“Exceptfor the fact that the CHC has hidden him somewhere so deep and dark that evenour best agents amongst Planet Pol are unable to replace him. The Dark Age iscoming and we don’t have the luxury of locating him. How long do you want towaste chasing ghosts and their rumors? I was made to understand that this was the agreed-upon action.”

Elizabethgave him a hard look. “Very well,”she said. “But your latest round of newsdoesn’t fill me with confidence.”

“I’msorry that it does that,” Steiner chuckled, “but the last time I withheldinformation, it cast doubt upon my part in the plan.” His smile disappeared ashis expression became serious. “I have far less time than I thought. There canbe no question about it now. The damage done to Ran Baker will cause her to snap again sooner rather than later. Even withthe seals, I suspect there is very little we can do to restrain her once thatoccurs. It’s what we want but…”

“Yes,”agreed Elizabeth. “There’s that ‘but’.You will need a successor.”

“Iwas thinking Beck, as he is the most able.”

“But no less compromised. Weshall take him under advisement, but the final decision is for myself and theothers to make. In the meantime, you will continue to carry out your part.”

“Thatis all I can do right now,” Steiner smiled with a nod. Returning the nod,Elizabeth reached forward and her screen went dark. Steiner leaned back in hischair and gave a heavy sigh.

It seems that my day was a shortone dad, he mused despondently.

“Whoare you?” Jamie demanded as Monique approached him, one hand sitting on herhip. “And what do you mean you looked…different…?”Jamie trailed off and shook his head at the unfinished sentence, connecting theday’s events together. “I lookeddifferent the second time.”

That sounds stupid. That’s…That’s… I was attacked by a guy! Or was it that crazy lady who stole Monsterand attacked the school? Thing is, she looks nothing like… Wait!He narrowed his eyes at her as a thought occurred to him. “Are you a heroi?”

Anotherthought occurred to him just then as her mouth drew up into a smirk. Is she getting taller?

Somethinghad changed about her. She looked only a little bit older now. Not by much, butenough to be almost like one of the seniors at his school. What’s going on?

“Stayaway from me,” he said, shaking his book bag at her menacingly. Monique seemedto be only amused by the gesture, but drew to a halt nonetheless.

“Icould answer your question,” she said, “but I prefer the idea that seeing isbelieving.”

Asif to suit her words into action, a light flared around her body and her neckarched as she began to flex and twist her body. Jamie’s jaw dropped as thegirl’s curly brown straightened and took on a deathly white color. Her skinbleached as her body became rail-thin, and her eye color became a bright yellowwith large, dark, reptilian irises. She flashed him a grin.

“Better?”she asked. “This is the way I was born, all pale and pasty.” She draped a handoutward. “Pretty androgynous too.” She brought the hand over to her chest andran it down the length of her body down to her waist. “No curves. No breasts.No anything. I’m not really boy or girl.” Her wolf-colored eyes observed theboy carefully. “Are you too young to care about the way my plumbing operates?”She laughed a little as Jamie swallowed and took an unconscious step backward.“Or are you still at that stage where you’re disgusted by that sort of thing?”She took another step toward him and Jamie’s bag came back up defensively.“Gods know,” she continued, “there were enough boys who couldn’t get over it,even though I could be any dirty dream I could come up with.”

“I…Idon’t…” Jamie stammered before finally replaceing his voice. “You’re…a morpher?”

“Metamorph,”the pale girl corrected. “You may call me Monique. Not that I am her, but…” Shebrushed aside her pale hair. “…that’s the name I’m going by for the durationthat I’m in her place.”

Jamie’sback bumped against the wall. He let out a small, breathless cry, having notrealized he had backed all the way down to the end of the hallway. Themetamorph’s eyes gleamed eerily, like a cat, as she continued to approach.

“B-Beth…”he gasped, one hand clambering for the Companion. Upon unclipping her, henearly dropped her to the floor as one pale hand slammed against the wall nextto his head.

“Ah!”Jamie cried out, jumping in place. The pale-girl inclined her head so that itwas more at level with his. Her eyes had changed, the yellow becoming ringssurrounding large, dark circles. Her hair brushed against her arm, with onestrand clinging to her face.

“She’sturned off and can’t help you,” she told him in a low, almost menacing tone.“Until we’re done here, don’t expect anyone to rescue you, got it?”

"Comealone,” spoke hismemory. “If you don't, if you contact theauthorities, there will bea penalty."

Jamie’sheart, by this point, had been beating in his chest so hard it felt as thoughit were about to burst free. At her words, something broke and a thin glimmerof light surrounded his body. A photograph on the wall began to shake andclatter against the wall. After nothing more than a moment, it ripped itselffree and shattered against the wall across from it. Monique looked back, anintrigued expression on her face. She dropped her arm away from the wall andtook a step back, smiling at Jamie in bemusement, the suffocating sense ofdanger suddenly melting away from her.

“Niceone,” she said, her body shrinking a little so that she was more at his height.“That’s the first step for you.”

Jamieblinked, shifting his grip on his bag. “Huh?”

“Anewly born heroi’s powers are activated during times of stress,” Moniquecontinued, kneeling down toward the picture and picking it up off the floor.“You’re not a virgin actually, but because you’ve been popping those pills, youmight as well be.” She gave him an indifferent shrug. “Not like they’re reallycapable of stopping you from using them though…”

“Huh?”Jamie repeated, his confusion deepening. He was starting to wonder if that wasgoing to be his default response until things started making sense for him.Hadn’t she been threatening him earlier? “I don’t…” Clenching his eyes shut, hetook a deep breath. “What the heck is going on?!” he exclaimed loudly.

Heblinked and found her standing in front of him again, one finger pressedagainst his lips in a shushing gesture, smiling again as her eyes stared intohis.

“I’mhere to help you,” she replied. “That’s my mission.”

“Sorryif I freaked you out,” Monique apologized, heading up the stairs with Jamiestanding at the bottom, not bothering to follow after her. Jamie didn’t answer,and instead glared at her back, noticing her long hair was retreating up herneck. Turning to look at him, she gave him a prissy look. “Don’t be like that.It’s not like I actually hurt you or anything.”

Jamiejust continued to glare at her, and Monique sighed, descending back down towardhim. “Don’t tell me that our relationship is going to be like this. I’m goingto need you to talk to me so you can get a handle on your powers.”

“Whatif I don’t want your help?” Jamie finally asked, his tone tense. “What if Idon’t want to learn anything about mypowers?”

“ThenI guess you’ll be fine with the government executing you when they replace out youreally are a time bomb waiting to explode.” Turning on the stairs, she reachedout and placed a finger on Jamie’s chin, causing him to jerk his head back. Shepressed her lips together into one thin, pale line and continued, retractingher hand. “And you are, whether you like it or not.” Jamie’s brow was knottedin a fierce scowl and he did not try to meet her gaze. She sighed again.

“Iguess I have my work cut out for me in gaining your trust.”

“Youattack me at my school. You break into my house and shut Beth off. You freak meout in more ways than one and you think that I’m going to suddenly trust you?”

“No,”Monique replied succinctly. “Especially not after I attacked you, but as aheroi, I would have thought you wouldn’t just go by appearances and at leastgive me the benefit of the doubt.” She cocked her head to one side. “At least,that’s what your profile says about you. Guess it needs updating.”

“Ihave a profile now?”

“Youhave a Companion and you didn’t think you did?”

Jamieopened his mouth to retort but quickly snapped it shut with a sharp click.

“Thereason I attacked you was more for my safety than anything else,” Moniquecontinued, her tone gentler as she folded her arms over her chest. “You…don’tknow anything about what kind ofheroi you are, do you?”

Jamiedidn’t answer again, but Monique took his silence as response enough.

“Allright,” she nodded. “We have a lot to talk about. Well, I’ll be the one doingmost of the talking, and you can decide how much you can trust me then.”

Sheturned around and resumed heading up the stairs, but before she could get somuch as even up one step, Jamie spoke.

“Idon’t want to talk to you,” he said clearly. “I want you out of here.”

Sheglanced at him over her shoulder, her expression clearly annoyed. Raising ahand to her face, she ran it over her skin. Light flared over her head and herhair retreated into her scalp, becoming red. Her skin-color warmed, losing someof its paleness and becoming more Caucasian. As her hand slid down, she revealeda face that Jamie was all too familiar with: Bradley Moore.

Jamiejerked back on the steps, grabbing at the hand railing to keep from falling.Light flared around his body and there followed a small rumble and tinkling ofglasses as the walls of the house shook.

“Ifthat’s the reaction I can get just by looking like this guy, or even the guywho attacked you earlier today, just imagine what would happen if they wereright in front of you for real,” Monique said, running her hand back over herface and returning to her ‘normal’ appearance. “I can help you, I’ve beenthere,” she continued in a soft tone, her hair descending past her shouldersagain. “Will you let me?”

FuriouslyJamie threw his bag down to the floor and light again flared around his body.The house shook once more, this time with greater intensity, causing Monique tograb hold of the railing this time, her wolf-eyes wide in fear.

“Isaid get…out!!!” Jamie shouted. “Idon’t want you near me! I don’t want anyonenear me! I’ve had a rotten day and everyone who keeps showing up isn’t makingit any better!” The shaking of the house increased even more. Off in anotherroom, something hit the floor and shattered. He barely heard it though.Something in him was rising, and he wanted it out of him. “Get out! Get out! Get…”

Moniqueflew at him just then, pulling free a piece of gold cloth from her back pocket.Before he could do anything, she crashed into him and bound the cloth aroundhis eyes. Jamie struck the wall but managed to keep his feet. He struggled withthe girl, trying to rip the cloth from off his face, but she held firm. Thesensation of something rising inside flickered and died back a little bit. Helashed out, trying to keep hold of it.

“Calm down!”she hissed into his ear as she struggled to keep him under control. “I said…”

Withan angry cry, Jamie ripped the cloth off and Monique fell back, striking thebaluster of the staircase. She slid to the floor as Jamie leaned against thewall, face flushed and breathing heavily. The rising sensation he felt wasdying down now, leaving him feeling exhausted. The sound of the house shakingreturned to its steady silence.

Wincing,Monique carefully rose to her feet.

“Ifit weren’t for this,” she said, lifting the cloth in her hand indicatively,“you probably would have killed me just then and leveled the house.”

“Wha…?”Jamie wheezed, his legs shaking from the effort of standing. He couldn’tremember ever feeling so tired before. “What…What did you do to me?”

“Nothing,”she replied calmly, approaching him and looping one of his arms around hershoulders. So tired was he that he nearly collapsed onto her as he found itincreasingly difficult to keep his eyes open. “It’s what you did. Take it easynow, okay? You’re running on fumes.”

Jamiewas about to ask her what she meant before the world suddenly went black forhim.

Moniquefinished setting Jamie down on his bed and unclipped his Companion Module fromhis belt. Retrieving a similar device from her pants pocket, she raised it upand clicked a button on its top. Almost immediately, Beth’s electric eye cameto life, flashing blue.

“Systems rebooting. Companion Module 847826-31-d4137a…” Beth paused,swinging her electric eye around before focusing on Monique. “A heroi…!”

“Don’t bothertrying to contact the CHC,” Monique said, dangling her device in front of theCompanion. “This contains a bot setup that began transmitting using yourcarrier wave while you were out of commission. Your superiors should have a reportright now saying that Jamie took his pills and is now doing his homework.”

Beth’s electriceye narrowed. “You’ve hijacked myresponsibilities. You’ve hijacked me.”

“Only for alittle bit today. I want to have a little conversation with you first, withoutyou trying to get in touch with your bosses. First though, I would like toenlighten you about the little ‘patch’ you downloaded this morning, just incase you try to send a separate message contradicting ‘your’ report. Romana Paxintercepts everything you send and edits them before the CHC gets a hold ofthem.”

Beth’s eyewidened, as if shocked, before narrowing down to a needle-fine point.

“Facial analysis indicates you’re telling the truth.But why…?”She hummed for a moment before continuing. “…whyare you telling me this? Who are you?”

“I won’t giveyou anything more than I gave Jamie,” she smirked. “You can ask him when hewakes up. She turned Beth around so that she was facing the unconscious boy.Beth vibrated violently in Monique’s hand as though in alarm.

“What…?!”

“He’ll be fine,”Monique assured, turning her back around. “He nearly lost control of hispowers…”

“What?! But how! His pills…!”

“He didn’tactually take them. Not like those things actually do anything,” Moniqueinterrupted flatly. “At least, not the latest batch Romana Pax supplied storeswith. It’s all a placebo with enough documentation to hide the truth.”

Beth’s eye againwidened and Monique nodded. “You know what’ll happen if James starts losingcontrol now, right?”

“But… But the government… T-They wouldn’t. Not ifthey knew about…”

“It’s too deep,”Monique replied, shaking her head. “And James is a potential Omega. You knowyour protocols as well as I do. Once confirmed, there’s only one way—the best way—to deal with an Omega beforethey come into their power. You’re a Smart AI. You’re almost human. Protocolaside, are you comfortable with that?”

Beth’s blue eyeshifted away from Monique uncertainly. This was an awful amount of informationto suddenly have to deal with. Her mind was rapidly running through simulationsand protocols, trying to determine how she could salvage this.

If what she says is true… And she seems to be…thenJamie is in danger because of Romana Pax. All indicators say she is telling thetruth, but…Beth’s electronic eye swung back up to Monique. …if she’s a practiced liar, she could easily fool even me.

Getting up fromthe bed, Monique clipped Beth to her belt loop and gave her a gentle pat on thetop of her casing.

“You and I needto talk for a bit while I clean the mess downstairs.” She glanced over hershoulder at the sleeping young teen. “He should be okay while we getacquainted.” She furrowed her brow and looked down at the AI. “Just so youknow, I’m kind of sorry about how this. I didn’t mean to hurt him or anything,it’s just…” She paused briefly before continuing. “It’s just there’s a wholenation of heroi out there, and sooner or later someone will realize who needsto be put down before things get out of hand. I can’t let them do that to him.

“After all, he’sthe M.”