Tag Archives: Haley

Arc 5.8: Chance & Fate

Chance & Fate: Part 4

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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 →

Arc 5.7: Doom

Doom: Part 6

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“I’ve got a new direction though,” I said. “Rachel said I discovered this myself somehow, so I’m thinking that what I should really be doing is whatever I’d be doing normally if I didn’t know.”

Haley nodded slowly. “That sounds good. What do you think you’d be doing normally?”

“Tonight? Well, I was going to work on a new Rocket suit which is kind of the same thing as the suit I’m making for Cassie at the base level. It should solve the problem where I can’t carry around a decently powerful suit—once I figure out how to make it lighter anyhow. Anyway, I’m sure I’d be working on Cassie’s version even if Rachel never visited Infinity City, or those alternate universe versions of us never showed up.”

For a moment, Haley’s pupils began to widen into slits. She blinked, her mouth tightening, and they became normal.

“I hope so.” She said, ignoring what had happened.

More than a year into dating her, I knew better than to draw her attention to it. Continue reading Doom: Part 6 →

Arc 5.7: Doom

Doom: Part 5

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I could open the suit’s faceplate, and did.

Haley looked the suit up and down as they walked toward me. “Is that yours or did you get it from somewhere?”

Still wishing I could take the suit off, I said, “I made it but I deliberately used other people’s designs. I brought in Chris to help. He’s figured out a lot of his grandfather’s stuff. Plus I made the joints similar to how Armory did joints back in the 1980’s?”

From the expressions on their faces, none of them knew who Armory was. “A mid-tier hero who became a mid-tier villain, and disappeared after the island he lived on blew up. He did his joints differently than most armor designers.”

Camille stared at my knees, and grinning, said, “I completely see it now.”

I bent my right knee forward, and the knee reformed, the layers splitting and coming back together.

She blinked. “I… actually do see it.” Continue reading Doom: Part 5 →

Arc 5.7: Doom

Doom: Part 4

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Cassie sat back on her bed, leaning back against the pillow. “So, when’s it going to be ready?”

“Uh…” I thought about that while the suit continued to post messages about testing the systems.

“Well, there are a couple different issues. The first one’s easy. The second is going to depend on you. See, first off, I need to get the suit’s boot up time down to something reasonable. Right now you can get it on in maybe a minute, but by the time it’s done testing everything, twenty minutes have gone by.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? That’s worse than when you put the suit on by hand.”

Continue reading Doom: Part 4 →

Arc 5.4: Picking Up Pieces

Picking Up Pieces: Part 11

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Cassie noticed the men, frowned, and said, “Let’s go into my room.”

We walked upstairs. I couldn’t help but remember other times I’d been inside, most of them during the summer before we’d reformed the League. Cassie had been on bed rest after the treatments that activated her powers. I hadn’t known it at the time. I’d just thought she was sick.

I’d helped her gather everyone for movie nights while wondering if she’d make it through the summer.

Even then it hadn’t been a cluttered house. It always felt clean and orderly, but a little like a hotel. Her mom commuted to Washington D.C. a lot and had hired people to keep it clean.

Sure, her cover as a realtor had never been blown, but I’d always wondered if adding a little mess to the house might have helped.

Continue reading Picking Up Pieces: Part 11 →

Arc 5.4: Picking Up Pieces

Picking Up Pieces: Part 10

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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 →

Arc 5.4: Picking Up Pieces

Picking Up Pieces: Part 9

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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 →

Arc 5.4: Picking Up Pieces

Picking Up Pieces: Part 7

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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 →

Arc 5.4: Picking Up Pieces

Picking Up Pieces: Part 6

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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 →

Arc 5.4: Picking Up Pieces

Picking Up Pieces: Part 4

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A little more loudly than necessary, Jack said, “Jethro Tull is a group, not a person.”

Haley scowled. “Sorry. Just curious.”

Then she shut off the comm, and looked back at Flick. “I’m not going be able to talk to him much longer.”

“Sorry, hon, but you might like him better once he changes.”

To judge from Haley’s expression, she doubted that. “Once he changes into what?” Continue reading Picking Up Pieces: Part 4 →