Monthly Archives: October 2009

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 12

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The water didn’t help at all.

Both Grandpa’s design and my redesign assumed that the flying bots would be operating outside and made them water resistant, but they were still small. Getting hit knocked them to one side or another, making the swarm move more slowly because of the constant course adjustments.

That meant that they didn’t instantly leave the steel beams near the ceiling of the gym where I’d sent them earlier. It also meant that that Logan, Dayton, and Jody fought longer than they might have after I summoned the roachbots.

That gave Jody time to try some different attacks — a lot of them, actually, thanks to his speed.
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Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 11

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The chaperone backed away from the table as Logan, now considerably furrier, looked at him as if he were the snack.

A brush cut, blond guy I’d seen talking to Logan said, “Logan? Hey! Are you in there? Leave the guy alone.”

Joshua. That was the guy’s name.

He pushed his way around the table, standing between Logan and the chaperone. If Joshua hoped to intimidate Logan, I couldn’t see how it would work. The guy stood only a few inches taller than Haley, and she was only five feet tall.

He pulled a flask out of an inside pocket in his tuxedo jacket and chugged a few swallows.
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Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 10

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“Um… Yeah?”

Knowing that Daniel had a hard time reading my mind when I thought about technical problems, I thought about some ideas I had about redesigning Night Wolf’s car for more speed. Once I got going with that, I felt around mentally for a connection of some kind, especially inexpert mental touches.

I knew what they felt like. Growing up with Daniel as a best friend, I’d spent a lot of time in his head as well as mine, and knew as much about telepathy as any non-telepath could. Even beyond working with Daniel, I’d had his younger brother and sister attempting to poke around in my head nearly every time I came over.

Melanie barely touched my mind at all.
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 10 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 9

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Haley crossed the floor and stepped into the kitchen, the door swaying back and forth after she passed through.

Even as she passed out of sight, a rusty, white Ford Taurus raced through the parking lot, barely stopping before turning on to Jefferson Street. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I saw our waitress in the driver’s seat.

Though I couldn’t understand her words, I could hear Haley’s voice. She wasn’t shouting, but she wasn’t making an effort to keep the volume down either.
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 9 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 8

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Restaurants ran down both sides of Jefferson Street, most of them chains. Scattered among the McDonalds, Burger Kings, CVS Pharmacies, and gas stations were local businesses.

As we neared the restaurant, Haley stopped talking and asked, “What kind of restaurant was it?”

“Basically fine dining. A steak house, I think.”

Off to the right I saw the building, a long building, decorated to suggested a cabin in the woods — fake wooden logs for the walls, a big, glowing sign that said “Grand Lake Steak and Fine Dining” next to a picture of a buck.

I turned the car into the parking lot.

“Oh, this ought to be interesting,” she said.
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 8 →

Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 7

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If worst came to worst, Haley or I could summon her grandfather’s car. The only bad point would be the intervening walls. If we didn’t care about the property damage, the car would come right to us and we could get in and change — or just use the car to take out the problem.

If I wanted to use the roachbots, I’d need to modify them a little more, but the flying ones would definitely be useful as a distraction.
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Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 6

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Talk turned back to who people were going to the prom with. Vaughn and Cassie were both going, but not with each other. Kayla either wasn’t going or didn’t have a date. Either way, she didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t hear what the rest of the guys were doing, but maybe they didn’t say.

When Keith heard I was going with Haley, he said, “You should go to a restaurant with Courtney and I before prom.”
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Arc 2.8: Uncontrolled Substances

Uncontrolled Substances: Part 5

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As crazy as it sounds, part of the reason people might not have been paying quite as much attention to Sean was that there were other things to think about. For example, prom was that Friday. The administration had been talking about canceling it after everything that happened with Keith’s accident, the massive number of reporters, and the abduction of Keith’s uncle, but somehow they didn’t.

What this meant on a practical level was that I still had to go. Not that that was all bad, but I was going to not one, but two proms.
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 5 →