Project: MI
Chapter 24

Darkness.Pain. No air! Fingernails scratched and clawed desperately at theearth until finally they broke through into the light. Speeding up her efforts,Amanda broke through the ground and took a deep gulp of air—sweet, glorious,air. Never before had it tasted so sweet. Her breasts, barely hidden by thetattered remains of her shirt, heaved as she climbed out of the ruins ofMalcolm's base, her lungs drinking in the air like wine. Amanda pulled her legout and collapsed to the ground, resting her face against the warm ground.

Neverhad freedom and warm light felt so good on her bare skin before, and shesavored every second of it.

“Overhere!” she heard a voice call out, and she looked up to see a CHC agent rushingtoward her, a Guardian following rapidly behind. Coughing, she rose up, hershirt slipping down over her shoulder slightly and she looked down at itspitiable state—burnt, tattered, and covered with dirt—before pulling it backup. Stubbornly, it slipped back down. Amanda decided to leave it be and she gotto her feet, dusting off the remains of her jeans. A pointless gesture, but ithelped her hands stay busy while she took stock of her situation.

That could have gone better…she commiserated, placing her hands on her hips. I've achieved nothing. Thethought hung heavy in her mind, but for the moment—just a moment—she couldbarely summon the strength to care. Amanda felt deathly tired, but shetried to listen for any signals that Malcolm may be broadcasting. She heardnothing for the time being and she quickly gave up.

Sighingdespondently, Amanda kicked lightly at the ground as the agent came to a haltbefore her. Behind him, she saw more agents, some approaching, flanked byGuardians, while others dug around the smoking ruins of Malcolm’s base.

“Yousure got here quick,” she remarked to the agent with a sarcastic tone.

“Areyou…all right, miss?” the agent asked hesitantly. Taking in her heavily damagedwardrobe, a furious blush crossed his features. Amanda shrugged nonchalantly,ignoring the obvious source of his discomfort.

“I’vehad worse.”

“Um…We are under orders to…”

“…Toarrest me, I know,” Amanda interrupted. “Don’t worry. I won’t resist.”

Theagent glanced around him uncertainly, seeming to be at a loss at what to do.Returning his gaze to her, his expression hardened, as though coming to adecision. Swallowing, he pulled off his jacket and draped it over Amanda’sshoulders.

“This…This will have to do until we can replace your clothes,” he said. Amandaoffered him a silent ‘thank you’ in the form of a smile as a host of Guardianstook up position around her.

Dariawas sitting at her desk, paging through the file on her computer when Kellyentered the room.

“Report,”Daria said without looking up.

“We’velocated the remains of the heroi’s base,” Kelly informed her. “Agents are goingto be sifting through it for a while, but so far it looks as though Ms. Baker’sreport has solid foundation. We’re looking at someone who has a clearunderstanding of Bronze Age technology.”

Dariaglanced up at her and nodded before spinning her computer screen around,displaying the image of a dark-haired man. “Malcolm Maher,” she said. “Thegreatest tech genius of his era. The last one too until we found Teruo. He waslast seen on the east coast just before the Great War ended. It had been assumed that he disappeared with all theother ruling heroi at the time.”

“Well,”Kelly began, adopting a more informal tone. “You know how they spell ‘assume’…”

“Idoubt the higher ups will believe this even with Ms. Baker’s corroboration. Idoubt they’ll want to believe it.” Daria rested her chin on her right hand asshe furrowed her brow thoughtfully. “Still, we have results now. Progress, andthat’s what seems to matter. Can’t wait to hear how the media will spin Ms.Baker’s attack though.” One finger traced a line along her cheek as shegrimaced, not enjoying the thought of a complication like what Amanda droppedinto their lap. One unknown heroi from a bygone era hiding out under their nosewas bad enough, but two?

Kellycould only offer her a supportive silence. It didn’t last long as Daria choseto broach another subject in a quieter tone.

“Howare the…adoption procedures going? Any complications?”

“Noneon our part,” Kelly replied. “But I imagine Kira will be one anyway.”

“Isshe properly suppressed?”

“Inspite of her best efforts to not be, yes.”

Dariaread the look on Kelly’s face. “Ouch,” she grimaced. “How bad?”

“AgentGary received a black eye. She has good reflexes.”

“Godsdamn it Amanda,” she whispered under her breath. “I just had to agree to this,didn’t I?”

“Youknow you aren’t legally bound to honor any deal you make with a heroi incustody,” Kelly offered tentatively. “You don’t have to have anything to dowith the girl.”

Dariasnorted and got out of her seat. “And be like my mother? No thanks.”

ComeHel or high water, she would stand by her promise as best she could.

Kirarubbed her arm where the needle mark was, glaring angrily at the padded wallsaround her. She wasn’t surprised that she was here. Not really. She expectedthat she would end up here at some point, given that she was a heroi. All thesame, she didn’t want to be here, in this muffled, soft prison.

Herfree hand ran the length down her arm and stopped at her knuckles, now bruised.Bereft of the protection of invulnerability, her whole hand throbbed. Still, itwas a satisfying pain, and she hoped that the agent felt worse than she did.

Kira’sears perked up at the sound of a crackling noise. A voice—artificiallydistorted she thought—spoke up from one of the loudspeakers as she looked overat the false mirror directly across from her.

“I see that you’ve calmed down alittle,” said the voice. “How do you feel?”

Kiralooked away, but the dark look on her face spoke volumes far better thananything she could put into words.

“I’m sorry that you feel thatway,” the voice continued. “Allow me to introduce myself as theDirector of the CHC, or just ‘the Director’ if you like.”

“Icould care less,” Kira muttered. “Why don’t you show me your face? Are youscared or something?”

Therewas a pause on the other end before the speaker continued. “Perhaps a little. As I understand, you put up quite the fight todayand injured one of my agents. Not very peaceful.”

“Idon’t feel peaceful right now. Where’smy sister?”

“Safe for now.”Another pause. “Would you like to seeher?”

Nowthat got Kira’s attention, and shequickly scrambled to her feet.

“Isshe safe? How…?” Kira suddenly hesitated as suspicion crossed her features.“This is a trick, isn’t it? You want to get me to do something, right?”

“I won’t deny that it’s ourintention for you to be more…cooperative.”

“Thengo to Hel.”

Therewas a strained chuckle on the other end. “Doyou talk to your mother that way?”

Kiraleaned back against the wall and settled herself back down on the floor, notresponding. The speaker sighed.

“We have entered into a deal withyour mother. She has agreed to…take the fall for you. In exchange we will beproviding care for your sister and repairing the damage that Romana Pax hasdone to her. As for yourself, you are included in that deal, but we would likean assurance that you will behave.”

Kira’seyes flashed dangerously. “So you’re going to use Ran as a hostage?”

“We are not so cruel, Kira.”

Thegirl relaxed a little. “So what? My mom then?” That was a laugh. Her mother wasresponsible for everything Ran went through. As far as she was concerned, shedeserved everything she got.

Didn’tshe? That had been the line she told herself for so long now, but rememberingthat, in the end, it had been that very woman who broke into Romana Pax andfreed Ran left a seed of doubt inside her.

“As I said,”the speaker continued, “we are not socruel. It would also be…pointless in her case.”

Kirablinked, uncertain as to what that meant. She shifted uncomfortably in herspot. “Then…what?”

“Your mother didn’t tell youthis, but you have been under this district’s protection for quite some timenow. This…incident with your mother and Romana Pax has brought you and yourfamily under scrutiny, and as more information comes out, there will likely berepercussions.”

“Holdon! You just said…”

“We are not so cruel,” the speakeremphasized, “and we would like to keep itthat way. You are a high level Beta heroi, and because of that we cannotpromise the same from others within our government. We have the ability toprotect you as we did your mother for as long as you’ve been in this city. Allwe ask in return is your cooperation. If you promise us that much, then all theproblems you have right now… Everything going on with your sister… We can makeall that go away. But we can’t do it without your help. It is entirely up toyou to make our job easier and keep yourself and your sister safe.”

Turningoff the speaker system, Daria folded her arms across her chest as she took inKira’s silence.

“Well,”she began quietly to Kelly, who stood next to her, “she seems to be thinkingabout it. That’s a good sign.”

“Doyou think she’ll go for it?”

Dariashrugged before turning back on the speakers. She didn’t like to engage inwhat-ifs when the source of the answer was right in front of her.

“We’llbe releasing you into to care of a guardian. What you do is, as I said, up toyou, so if there is anything you want or need…”

“I want to see Ran,”Kira interrupted. “I’m not doing anythinguntil then. I don’t care what you say. I want to see her first.”

Dariapaused before finally nodding. “All right,” she said. “We’ll send an agent toescort you to her.”

Turningoff the intercom, Daria turned to Kelly. “All right,” she began. “Make surethat she is provided with a Companion before you leave.”

Kellyraised an eyebrow at this. “You’re notcoming?”

Dariashook her head. “Not yet. I don’t want her to know that I’m the one in chargeof all this.” She gestured around them for emphasis.

“Idon’t think she’ll appreciate the deception,” Kelly said.

“Neitherdo I, but for now, the fewer complications, the better. All she needs to knowis that when she meets me in person, I’ll just be the person taking care ofher.”

Kiralooked up from the small, tubular device Kelly Coleman handed to her with alook of disgust.

“ACompanion?” she asked, recognizing it.

“Thisis not negotiable,” Kelly replied before continuing in a gentler tone. “I am sorry,but the Director needs assurance. Consider this a ‘trial basis’ until we cantrust you.”

Kirawas ready to argue, but the desire to see her sister welled up in her strongly.Taking the Companion, she twisted it, and an electric blue light flared to lifein its eye.

“Companion Module, 1382…”it began in a cold, lifeless voice.

“Knockit off,” Kira grumbled, stuffing the Companion into her back pocket, where itcontinued to ramble its identification, though muffled. “All right, let’s go.”

Theydidn’t have to go very far, as the CHC had many suppression rooms available forprocessing and interrogating heroi. Kelly explained that, due to the sensitivenature of Ran’s case, and indeed the situation involving her family as a whole,they couldn’t afford to have her case processed by any of their processingcenters that weren’t directly in the main building. In short order, Kelly tookKira into a room with a window that presented a familiar view of a padded roomsurrounded by speaker-like devices. In the center of the room sat Ran, legscrossed. Her upper body was wrapped in a jacket that tied her arms off. Herexpression was neutral, and her eyes closed.

“Ran!”Kira exclaimed, rushing over to the window and hitting it with her hands. Thenoise caused the older girl’s eyes to open, startled. Kira looked over at Kellydesperately. “Quick! How do I talk to her?”

“There’sa button right here,” Kelly said, approaching and pointing out the intercomattached to the wall. “Just press this when you want to talk, or when you’refinished.”

Noddinga grateful thanks, Kira slid over to the speaker and hit it. “Ran!” she calledagain, and the girl’s head jerked around, as though trying to replace her. Therewas something in her eyes that did not sit well with Kira, but she pressedonward.

“KiddiePie?” Ran whispered. Untangling her legs, she slowly, carefully so as to notupset her balance, got to her feet. “Is that you?”

Kirablinked back tears. “Yeah… It’s me. Ran! I…” She bit back a sob. “I’m so gladthat you’re okay. Are you okay? Are you hurt or anything? Is there anything Ican do for you?”

Ranapproached the window—a mirror from her side—and brought herself to restagainst it, caressing its surface with her cheek.

“KiddiePie…” she whispered. “I can’t fly anymore. I can’t go play.”

Ranretreated from the window, leaving a small smear from where a tear trickled outof one eye. Turning around, she let out a loud cry that startled Kira, causingher to jump. “I can’t replace any of my friends! They don’t come! I can’t go andreplace them!”

“Ran…”

Thegirl spun around and rushed back up to the mirror, eyes alight. “You’ll helpme, right? You’ll help me replace all my friends! The doctor Jones and…and Jamie?”She pressed her face against the mirror again, angling her eye as if under theimpression that by doing so she would be able to see what lay on the otherside. “I still need to play with him!The doctor Jones wants me too! She won’t let me out if I don’t.”

“What…?I don’t…” Kira began, backing off with a horrified expression. Approaching,Kelly laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Why is she like this?”

Itwas a pointless question. Kira knewthat Romana Pax did something to her, and her encounter with her drove thatpoint home very well. Still…it was a completely different thing to see thisfrom her sister in person. At the time she refused to believe that the illusionprojected by the older girl had been the form her sister adopted, or that shecould be anything like the way she acted then.

“Weare still investigating,” Kelly informed her. “I can’t tell you anything aboutwhat was done to her… I’m not authorized to tell you what we do know exceptthat Romana Pax went to great lengths to affect her mind in such a way that shehas seemingly regressed mentally.”

Kirapulled her hands into tight fists. “I want to know why they would do that! I don’t care what’s supposed to be asecret, I want to know!” She approached the window and placed her hand upon itssurface, where Ran’s face lay. “They’re going to pay for this,” she whisperedunder her breath so as to not be heard. “I promise you Ran. I will make them pay!”

He beheld darkness, broken onlyby a light—a small one, little more than a dot. He ignored the dot in favor oftrying to see something amidst the never-ending night that surrounded him.

“Where am I?” the young boyasked, squinting his eyes. He felt something solid beneath his feet, but he sawnothing. The darkness might as well have been a solid object for all the goodhis eyes did him. Holding out his hands, he stumbled forward, hoping to replace atleast something that could ground him, even if he didn’t know what it was.Having something other than what lay beneath his feet that he could touch woulddo him a world of favors. As it was, the unending, thick shadow left him with adisorienting, sick feeling that he was floating in nothing. Even though he knewthere was something below…

Scratch that. The young boy’sfoot came down, and the expectation of solid foundation was destroyed utterly,causing him to cry out in horror and flail about in an attempt to replacesomething to grab onto. His stomach churned while he spun in the air, and withevery second that passed, his heart thudded against his chest, flooding hisbody, wetting muscles and his brain with its terror. He clenched his teeth,trying desperately to keep the fear—a living, twisting, spidery terror—fromclawing its way out of his throat and howling its triumph to the shadow.

He spotted the pinpoint of light,and at once the whole world stopped dead in its tracks. He hung there,suspended in midair, panting heavily, grateful that he was now no longerspinning, all the while wondering just what had happened.

“Who are you?”

“Huh?” The youth looked aroundhim, puzzled by the voice that emerged unexpectedly from…where, exactly? As hesearched for its owner, his mind was already turning the question over in hismind. Who exactly was he? Now that he thought about it…

“Who are you?”

“I…don’t know?” He blinked at hishalf-question before speaking again, this time louder, and with more certainty.“I don’t know. I don’t know!”

A new fear began to build up inhim just then, trumping the terror from his spinning. Reflexively, his hands,which earlier had been questing for some sign of his surroundings, went to hisface, touching his features to confirm that he had at least that much and not ablankness as equally unrecognizable as his surroundings. A nose, eyes, lips,hair… They, unfortunately, told him nothing about who he was.

“I can tell you who you are…” thevoice prompted. “I know.”

“You do?!” the boy askeddesperately, turning toward the pinprick of light—what he now believed to bethe source of the voice. “Tell me!”

The light now grew before him—orapproached, he wasn’t sure. It grew in intensity until he was forced to shieldhis eyes. An image of a boy began to materialize within the light. Squintingharder, the youth tried desperately to see who it was, but the light obscuredthe figure, cloaking him with shadow. A ghost of a smile appeared on thefigure’s face as he replied.

“You are…”

“…JamesGrey?”

Blinkingblearily, Jamie awoke, wet and shivering atop an operating table. He feltsomething attached to his stomach pull away, but he paid it no mind, andinstead turned away from the bright operating light above him and toward agoggles-wearing man with a medical mask over his mouth. Jamie opened his mouthto say something, but with the oxygen mask over it he could only get out amuffled noise. The doctor nodded all the same, as if he had expected this.

“Welcomeback, James. You have been through a serious accident today, but you’re safenow. Safe and all right. Can you move your toes?”

Jamienodded without thinking as to why the man was asking such a question and closedhis eyes, feeling his feet curl and wiggle said appendages.

“Good,good,” the doctor nodded again. “And your hands? Can you lift them?”

Jamiedid that as well.

“You’rea very lucky kid, James. Very lucky indeed.” The doctor looked up at the nursessurrounding him. “All right. Let’s get him to a recovery room.”

Where am I?he wanted to ask, but his mind felt sluggish and groggy, possibly fromanesthetics. His memory was spotty as well, as he found himself unable toreadily recall why he was there in the first place.

I hope Monster’s okay,he thought as the nurses began to dry him off before covering him with ablanket. That guy in the park was reallyfreaky…

Thethought felt…off, but try as he might he couldn’t explain why. Warmthimmediately began to settle over his body as he chased the thought around. Thegrogginess in his mind refused to allow him to pursue it for much longer, andhe quickly dropped back off to sleep.

Thedoctor furrowed his brow as the nurses carted Jamie out of the operating room.Pulling off his gloves, he looked back at the medical pod thoughtfully.

“SoI take it everything went swimmingly?”

Whirlingabout back in the direction of the door, the doctor saw Bruce Kane step inside.

“Yes,”he replied, tossing the gloves into the nearest waste basket. “It went about asI expected. There was no rejection of the treatment. All that is left now isrehabilitation—muscle and brain stimulation namely so that he can be back up tospeed. We’ll have to move him to a less…chaoticfacility however.” Reaching up, he adjusted his goggles. “Don’t expect thatthis will be a perfect job though. Thanks to your sudden orders we had to flushhim out quickly.”

“Youdo a wonderful job, doctor,” Kane assured him. “They don’t call you the LifeMaker for nothing.”

Thedoctor harrumphed at the titlescornfully. “Maybe so, but I’ve found that nature favors the hidden flaw. Iremember how things went last time withthat child’s psychological delusion…”

Kaneraised one hand at that, as though urging him to watch his tone or his words.The doctor harrumphed again.

“You’reonly delaying the inevitable. Anyway, what’s done is done. I’ll put togethersome medication that should correct any unexpected flaws that show up…and they will. Rush jobs are slop jobs.”

“Thewhole world is counting on you to make sure that’s not the case.”

“Justas I am sure the world was counting on you to make sure that this didn’t happenat all. We can only do this so many times. Depending on me…” The doctor laughedbitterly. “That…” The doctor turned back toward Kane, a dark look on his face.“…is a bad idea.”

Takinghold of the lid on the medical pod, the doctor—the Life Maker—slammed it downwith a resounding clang.

Howmuch time went by since Jamie found himself on an operating table he did notknow, but as he awoke in a hospital room to replace a setting sun dipping behindthe building across the street he had something of an idea. A blurry memory ofhim lying on the ground, Justin over him with a scared expression on his facecame to mind, remembering that the sun was fairly high up in the sky.

Justin!At the memory he bolted upward, or at least attempted to, but fell back almostas soon as he started to rise, letting out a woof upon landing back on the bed’s mattress. His arms felt weakand uncooperative. His heart pounded hard in his chest, as if to tell him hewas working too hard.

“Beth?”he began, looking around him. The name sounded…strange and unfamiliar to hislips, but he looked to his side, expecting to replace the Companion Device sittingnext to his bed. There was nothing for him to replace however. Nothing but himselfand the room’s plant sitting over in the corner.

Offto his side, he heard the door creak open, and in walked a female nurse with afood tray in her hands. Upon seeing that he was awake, she flashed him a smile.

“Gladto see that you’re up,” she greeted. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,”Jamie croaked, trying to get into a sitting position. His voice had an odd noteto it, like he wasn’t used to it. “My arms hurt.”

Thenurse nodded in understanding.

“Wewere told that you would be like that when you were brought in from ClarkGeneral,” she said, stopping at the side of his bed. Her lips were pressedtogether into one thin line, as though replaceing something about the hospitaldistasteful. “We have you scheduled for physical therapy. You were injuredpretty seriously today. Do you remember any of it?”

Jamiethought for a moment before shaking his head. Something was missing. It feltjust outside of his reach, like he could reach it if he tried hard enough, butfor now it danced just beyond his reach. With the way he felt right now…

“That’sall right,” the nurse said, setting up the tray on his bed. “I wouldn’t want toremember something like that. Do you need help with eating?”

Jamieslowly raised one hand and took the fork sitting on the tray and lifted it. Theaction took surprisingly more effort than it should have, and his wrist shookbefore the utensil fell from his fingers. His wrist dropped back down as hegave a small cry of dismay.

“It’sokay,” the nurse said, touching his arm soothingly and lifting the fork. “I canhelp you with that. Pulling up a chair, the nurse set herself down so she wasfacing him more fully and began to stir together the boy’s meal—mashed potatoeswith beef gravy and a side of mixed vegetables.

“Ican do it!” Jamie said irritably, and he once again tried to pull himself up.His arms protested, refusing to lift him, and he groaned, his irritationturning quickly to frustration.

“Easythere,” the nurse said, taking a more firm hold of his shoulder. “You’ll haveplenty of time to beat yourself up tomorrow. Right now you just need to focuson getting your strength back up.”

Beforesurrendering to the indignity of having to be spoon fed—or in this casefork-fed—Jamie made one last attempt to have some measure of independence andused his legs to push himself up into a more suitable sitting position. Hislegs weren’t in any better shape from the way they also complained, but theydid the job better than his arms.

“Whathappened to me?” Jamie asked, looking down at his arms. “Why am I so tired?”

Thenurse pressed her lips together and gave him a sympathetic look. “You’ll haveto ask a doctor or one of the other nurses later,” she replied, her voicechanging slightly. “I’m…only here for you.”

Jamie’shead snapped up at her in confusion before recognition tickled at the back ofhis mind. As he watched the nurse, the skin around her face paled and an ambercolor flooded her irises.

“Mo…”Jamie shook his head and tried to back away from the ‘nurse. Something in himcould not say her full name. It slipped away from his tongue, much likeeverything else danced merrily out of his reach.

“Monique,”she finished for him, her skin flushing back with color and her amber eyesreverting to their previous color of simple brown. She looked a little saddenedby his reaction, but she quickly schooled her face to stillness. “I’m sorryabout this, but when I heard you were being moved I had to see if you were allright.”

Jamielooked frantically around for the call button, but upon spying it, foundhimself unable to perform the simple task of lifting his arm and taking hold ofit. Clenching his teeth, he tried desperately to command his arm to move.

Why am I so freaked out by her?he wondered. He could only barely remember anything right now. His memorieswere a jumbled mess, but all he knew was that, right now, he was deathly afraidof this nurse-turned-metamorph.

Amemory of a girl, younger than the nurse, standing in his home, flashed throughhis mind, only to stop there. Somethinghappened there. What…?

Jamie’sthoughts and struggles stopped as a gentle hand placed itself on his face andturned him toward Monique, who quietly slipped a spoon full of mashed potatoesinto his mouth. It tasted…surprisingly good for hospital food.

“Mwuh…?”he mouthed, tense but unmoving.

“Don’ttalk with your mouth full,” she scolded before spooning up another batch ofmashed potatoes. “Just focus on getting your strength back up, okay?”

Hesaw her tilt her head toward him, as though looking at something. Whatever itwas, she seemed intent on it. Jamie swallowed his food. His stomach suddenlygrowled eagerly, demanding more. The memory and fear still tickled him at theback of his mind, but for now they seemed less important than they did a momentago. She seemed to genuinely want to help him.

Relaxinghis guard just a little, Jamie decided for now to accept her help, if onlytentatively.

Moniquefelt a touch unsettled, but only a little.

At least now he’s calming down,she thought as she continued to feed the boy. Maybe he’ll trust me?

Shesighed mentally. If only it could be thatsimple…

Asshe leaned forward to feed him again, that sense of unease came again as shelooked him in the eyes.

Itmay have been just a trick of the light, but she could almost swear that one ofhis eyes was of a different color than the other.

Dumpingthe transmat device into some bushes for safe-keeping, Teruo approached hishouse and ducked into the alleyway. Rushing over to the fence, he took hold ofit and pulled himself over, only for his grip to slip as he went. He struck theground, knee first, and a sickening pain cut loose throughout his body.Swearing mightily, but quietly, he forced himself back to his feet and limpedover to the back door, hoping that John was not home, or at least was somewherewell enough away from the house’s entrances so he could get back in withoutbeing noticed.

Hehoped to the gods that his absence had likewise been unnoticed.

Hedidn’t think that was the case though, and he was quickly proven right as hepushed the door open with a low creak, alerting the man in the kitchen to hispresence.

“Ohdongles,” Teruo muttered, seeing John sitting at the table, a grave expressionon his face.

“Idon’t suppose you would care to explain where you were this time, would you?”

“Practicingmy escape artist routine mostly,” Teruo replied, coming inside and closing thedoor behind him. “But also trying to replace a way to get you to see Jenny again.It’s been how many days since I lastgot arrested by her?”

Johndid not look in the least bit pleased by this story.

“Seriously,”Teruo muttered just loud enough for John outside his room to hear him whileabsently reading a small graphic novel on his bed, “what do I have to do to getthat guy to ask her out?”

Johnof course hadn’t bought that story, so he fell back on a half-truth that he hadbeen looking for his creation—the spider-bot that he lost in the junkyard—butbugged out when he saw the CHC arriving in force. It was true enough, and John,though still angry with him, had put in a call to keep an eye out for such arobot.

Ofcourse, the problem with a tiny machine in a landfill full of machines was thatit was a junkyard version of the proverbial needle in a haystack. To top thingsoff, the spider-bot was programmed to avoid being detected by CHC agents andAI’s. He highly doubted that he would see his little creation for quite a longwhile now.

Teruosighed despondently and turned the page of his novel, revealing a picture of acostumed heroi getting a hole shot through his chest by a normal wearing adark-brown trench coat. Government sponsored propaganda against the nation ofAlbion no doubt, as they still had among the largest number of active heroi inthe world in spite of how the Bronze Age ended.

Oh well… At least the trip wasn’ta total loss.

Asmall grin played across his face as he glanced at his secret compartment whereall his stolen data lay hidden, waiting for him to put to full use now that hehad what he wanted most.

Wasn’t a total loss at all…