Tag Archives: Daniel

Chance & Fate: Part 5

The voice on the other end barely gave me time to finish. “What kind of new information?”

“There’s a factory making a material for armor I came up with. The weird thing is that I only came up with it a couple days ago, but they’ve been making it for months.”

He didn’t say anything, leaving me to look over the jet’s glowing dashboard, and then look out towards St. Louis’ growing skyline. The Gateway arch rose just past the river, and skyscrapers on either side and behind it.

Lights from below made it stand out.

Chances were that that would be destroyed if we failed too.

My mind substituted shattered skyscrapers and a fallen arch for the scene ahead. Continue reading Chance & Fate: Part 5

Chance & Fate: Part 4

Before making any calls, I walked to the campus parking garage. The van wouldn’t be as warm as my dorm room, but it was warmer than standing outside.

I turned the key, and it began to hum. After the fight where Rook had ripped chunks out of the van, and flipped it over, I’d done some fairly extensive repair work. Among other things, I’d switched the van’s power source over to the same fuel cells I used for Cassie’s armor—not to mention changing its engine substantially.

Its heating system didn’t work as well as I wanted, but there were tradeoffs.

One was that the new engine barely made any noise at all, and once it warmed up, I could comfortably sit inside without guzzling gas. Another, of course, was that the armor was vastly improved. There were a few more.

I dialed Rachel’s number. She answered, taking a deep breath as she saw me. Continue reading Chance & Fate: Part 4

Picking Up Pieces: Part 10

Daniel had taught me how to telepathically get his attention so long ago I didn’t even remember when.

As we walked down the stairway, I gave him a mental poke. Hey, what did you learn from Courtney? How’s she handling it?

I felt a mental pause, and concentrated on the next step as Daniel answered my question. Chances are he was checking what was behind it.

Our footsteps tapped on the brown linoleum, and a few steps later, he replied. She’s scared. She’s wondering what she’s gotten into, and she’s wondering how we’re so calm about it.

I took a few more steps, thinking about that.

Continue reading Picking Up Pieces: Part 10

Picking Up Pieces: Part 9

Part of me wanted to argue with him, but I couldn’t persuade myself that it would be worth it. He could go look up information on the Xiniti if he wanted. There wasn’t much information, but you could find out that they were around.

You could even find out information about the hyperspace jumpgate if you wanted to.

There weren’t many details, but it was in Wikipedia.

Of course, it wasn’t as if we were allowed to use it. The Xiniti were there to stop us from trying, and to prevent hostile groups from coming through.

Someday we’d be allowed to use it, and then maybe familiarity would kill all the stupid conspiracy theories.

It wouldn’t happen today. Continue reading Picking Up Pieces: Part 9

Picking Up Pieces: Part 8

Daniel, Izzy, Jeremy, and I left for my room shortly after. We didn’t say much. I didn’t have anything I wanted to say that could be said aloud.

Daniel could have created a four way telepathic conversation, but he didn’t.

When I shut the door to the room, Jeremy started talking. “I never guessed! This is so crazy. I wanted to see the League and everything, but this…”

His voice trailed off, and he started talking more quietly (which was good because he’d been way too loud at first). “You’re the Mystic, and you’re the Rocket, and that was Night Cat and Captain Commando back there…” He looked up at Izzy. “I’m not sure who you are.”

That was totally okay.

Continue reading Picking Up Pieces: Part 8

Picking Up Pieces: Part 7

Images of Rook’s base, the glow of the jet’s dashboard during our flights, and the earlier fight with Rook’s people blurred inside my head.

Daniel gave me a mental poke. Nick, talk.

“Just kind of out. Uh… This is Daniel, a friend of mine for years. You’ve met Haley, and probably Cassie…”

He nodded, which was good, because I wasn’t sure I had introduced him to Cassie.

I indicated Izzy with my hand. “This is Izzy. She’s visiting from California. Uh…”

I’d looked at her, realizing that she was wearing the same black and blue exercise clothes she’d worn during the fight. The only difference was that instead of wearing a mask, she was wearing glasses. Continue reading Picking Up Pieces: Part 7

Picking Up Pieces: Part 6

I felt a flash of uncertainty that turned into an uncomfortable feeling.

Daniel’s words floated into my head. I don’t like our options. We can either trust her, or I can blur her memories a little.

I think you’d have to do more than blur her memories a little. She was in the van when Rook attacked, and she changed into a spare League suit. Plus she went with Vaughn and Travis to Haley’s cousin. You remember the doctor? You’d have to edit her whole night.

My memories of the night—starting with when Courtney and I went to the house—flashed through my head. I knew I wasn’t doing it.

That’s worse than I thought. His frustration washed over me. I’d have to wipe the whole night after you started walking away from the house. Continue reading Picking Up Pieces: Part 6

Picking Up Pieces: Part 5

Jaclyn paused, and then said, “What happens next?”

Flick said, “Well, then we have to decide whether we take them in as soon as we can, or whether we watch them, and hope they’ll lead us to other people the Nine hired.”

The tone of her voice turned sarcastic as she said, “But that’s not the best part. The best part is the committee monitoring how we do it, and second guessing whether watching him without taking him in is really worth it. Plus with this we’ll get to discuss at any moment whether what we do will cause an international incident.

“Look forward to it kids, this is what you’re training for.”

Continue reading Picking Up Pieces: Part 5

Picking Up Pieces: Part 3

Text appeared below the screen that showed our position and that of the other planes.

[You’re making yourself completely vulnerable. I’m not suggesting you attack, but landing and turning off your shields represents an unacceptable risk.]

I shut off the comm, and quietly asked, “What would you suggest?”

[If you have to appear vulnerable, lower the jet, but don’t land, and give me permission to turn on the shields whenever I think it’s necessary.]

“You need my permission?”

[Yes. My makers wanted artificial intelligences limited to minimize their risk.]

Continue reading Picking Up Pieces: Part 3

Breaking & Entering: Part 12

Flick threw a ball into the main group of heavy bird bots as they began to run across the floor toward us.

The ball punctured the bird bot’s chest, coming out the other side, and continuing through each bot behind it.

I’d never known for sure what her power was, but it had something to do with controlling mass and momentum. I’d heard that there were very specific rules about how it worked, but I’d never seen her in action, so I didn’t know what they were. Continue reading Breaking & Entering: Part 12