I spent the largest part of Saturday morning working in the lab. No one was in when I walked through the door, and that part of the morning may have been the best part.
Lost in my thoughts, I worked on a bot that could use a satellite connection. Combined with bots that could tap into a phone line, I’d have redundant communication methods.
Neither of them, unfortunately, would allow real time control. Continue reading Remote Control: Part 1
In my rearview mirror, I saw Courtney’s shoulder’s tense. “That bothers me. Remember Mr. Beacham from high school?”
Keon glanced over at Courtney, and said, “I can’t say I remember him at all.”
Courtney nodded. “I know. You didn’t go to high school with us, but give me a second. Nick and Camille will remember him.”
“Nick’s mentioned him,” Haley said, “and I met him once. He was the teacher Evil Beatnik possessed.”
Courtney looked from Haley to me (to the back of my head, anyway). “Evil Beatnik possessed Mr. Beacham?”
Keon frowned. “Wasn’t Evil Beatnik a big deal back in the 1950’s or 60’s?”
From the back Camille said, “Yes. It was awful.” Continue reading Off Campus: Part 10
The photographer said, “Not happening. I took those pictures. They’re mine. End of story.”
He pulled his camera with one hand, and held his left a little away from his body as if he intended to block with it. It didn’t look like he’d had any kind of martial arts training. The way he held his arm, it would come up too slowly.
Hunter asked me, “Isn’t there some kind of law against taking pictures of people like us?”
I glanced over at Haley, and she shrugged.
Haley and I both laughed a little at that. Ironically, if we had broken his camera, the trend would have continued. Calling us celebrities wouldn’t be quite accurate, but thanks to our grandparents, the Rocket and Night Cat were household names.
Then Haley’s expression changed to a frown, and she glanced backward. I followed her gaze to see Gifford walking towards us followed by Hunter, Courtney, Camille, and Keon.
Gifford reached us first, taking long steps that I hoped weren’ t obviously boosted with his power–a hope that ended as a gust of wind passed me.
If the photographer had only been taking pictures of the crowd, it wouldn’t have worried me.
Instead, he’d aimed his camera in Gifford’s direction. Gifford was dancing with a girl I didn’t recognize. Hunter, Courtney, Keon and Camille were dancing nearby. Keith and Zoey were closer to us, but we weren’t that far from Gifford either.
Besides, no one who saw her could confuse the glow of Zoey’s skin with anything but superpowers.
“I’m not sure what power juice has to do with anything.”
Keith tilted his head, and said, “You know, the whole thing where power juice became illegal, making us all technically criminals? Plus, you remember Logan at our prom. He was a total druggie, and then he got into power juice and tried to eat the school.”
I shook my head. “Not an issue. I don’t have any powers, and it wasn’t illegal back then. All this amounts to is secret identities. To continue to have one, I have to keep mine secret. I haven’t told anyone who I am who hasn’t figured it out first. You didn’t figure it out, so I could avoid telling you.”
That brought back memories–at least one memory anyway.
Two years ago, back when we’d begun to get the first inklings that something was wrong with the city’s mayor, and that he might be part of something bigger, I’d flown to Chicago and checked out the house of someone we thought might be his associate.
Dark Cloak had been waiting for me outside, bitterly unhappy with how he’d been treated by the FBI, and warning me that they’d use me and discard me.
I blinked. “That’s going to get awkward. What are we supposed to do about that?”
Haley frowned. “I don’t think there’s much we can do without leaving. I think we should warn Courtney and see what she wants to do.”
Keon rolled away, briefly looking down at the ground. It was all rocks and dirt, and couldn’t have been easy to roll over. Shaking his head, he looked up, and rolled toward the club.
I would have helped, but he started moving before I could say anything, and once he started moving, he didn’t look like he wanted help.
At any rate, he didn’t need it, and he didn’t ask for it.
Plus, Camille stepped out of the van and joined him.
Camille smiled at the group. “Someone talked about going dancing.”
Hunter raised his hand. “That’d be me. My mom has friends who own a club in Denver. It’s called Club 32. It used to be an old factory. We can walk right past the line if we want to. Vincent Sucks is playing, but they’ve got a DJ after that.”
Keon rolled to a stop next to the van. “I’m in. I love dancing.”
I’d been thinking Keon would be my best potential ally for going to a movie instead.
Evidently, I made too many assumptions about paralyzed people.
“Uh… A bunch of us being who?”
“People in my class. I don’t know everybody who’s going, but a lot of first years. I invited Courtney and Camille. Gifford invited me and Hunter.”
She had my full attention. “Gifford? The guy Jaclyn and I took out?”
She nodded.
Then something else occurred to me. “Wait, he asked you? Does he know that we’re dating? He wasn’t um… after you?”
Haley frowned. “He wasn’t asking as a date, but he does like me.”