Tag Archives: Jeremy Barrows

Arc 8.3: Everybody's Got One

Everybody’s Got One: Part 2

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Wind blew in the background, not loudly enough that I had any difficulty understanding his words, but loud enough that I knew it was there.

“It’s been a while since we last talked.” Daniel’s dad’s tenor voice came over the phone. “Ordinarily I wouldn’t have called you this early, but my wife assured me that you were up.”

Daniel’s mother wasn’t as strong a telepath as his father. Most of her abilities only worked on people who were asleep, but under the right conditions, there was no known limit to her range. If she said someone was awake, you could assume she was right. Continue reading Everybody’s Got One: Part 2 →

Arc 8.2.5: Hackjob

Hackjob: Part 3

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Wednesday found me attending classes and quietly wishing I had a lab on campus like I had when I’d been in the Castle Rock Compound for the summer. I’d spent Tuesday evening back in the lab in the Heroes’ League’s headquarters watching my bot factories build robots, and loading them into my “assist pods.”

Then I let the pods float into the air, dispersing bots to their assigned lamp posts and telephone poles.

All of it went without a hitch despite the fact that it was 99% automated. Continue reading Hackjob: Part 3 →

Arc 8.2.5: Hackjob

Hackjob: Part 2

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I laughed. “You’re probably right about that. We don’t even do our social media. I assume it’s being done either by our board’s staff or maybe by someone on the ‘for profit’ side of the operation. So far as I know, no part of the League released the dragon video, though.”

I thought about that. I’d never asked who did our social media. For all I knew, someone on the board thought it would do some good.

Coming back to myself, I continued, “You might be right about not caring who knows his secret identity. If he grew up in a compound, he might not have one.” Continue reading Hackjob: Part 2 →

Arc 8.2.5: Hackjob

Hackjob: Part 1

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Watching as the people Jeremy had been talking to turned to look at me, I said, “I saw the YouTube video where he said he planned to join the Heroes’ League. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Jeremy grinned. “I guess we’ll see what happens. He struck me as small time compared to the League.”

The girl next to Jeremy elbowed him. “Small time? He’s from Los Angeles. Everybody looks small time there unless they’re part of SoCal Defenders. I’m sure he’s been in more fights than the new kids in the Heroes’ League.” Continue reading Hackjob: Part 1 →

Arc 8. 2: Super Social

Super Social: Part 9

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“I didn’t beat them. You were there. Everyone here was there. And when it comes down to it, Lee planned and directed the final battle with the Cabal.”

“I know,” Sydney said. “I fought, but I wasn’t involved–not the way you were. You let yourself get taken captive to help rescue our families, and Lee planned. Sean and I and the rest of Justice Fist followed.”

Camille shook her head. “Justice Fist. It was a nice try, but it was such a mess. You had Lucas, heir to millions or billions and already a doctor saddled with us, a bunch of high school kids who were full of hormones. And then there was Sean who didn’t like playing second fiddle to Lucas and also didn’t like how Julie and Shannon both were seriously crushing on the guy–not that Lucas pursued either of them.” Continue reading Super Social: Part 9 →

Arc 6.5: Glory

Glory: Part 7

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Lim walked a couple steps more up the ramp, and joined me. “Keep on moving. I’ve got to get in there to thank everybody in person, and to assure them that their friends are getting the best medical care available—which is true by the way.”

I turned around, and started following Daniel for a few steps before turning back toward Lim to ask, “About those rights and responsibilities—“

Lim interrupted me. “We’re looking into it, but in the end you may have to flat out ask them. Of course, you may have a few more resources than most of us. Use them and you’ll have a head start.” Continue reading Glory: Part 7 →

Arc 6.1: Intergalactic Sherlock

Intergalactic Sherlock: Part 4

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“That, and I suppose when you kill as many people as he has, the enemies add up.” Plus he wasn’t exactly nice about it. The few times I’d seen him fight outside of training, he’d pushed people’s buttons deliberately.

That’s the kind of guy who would end up on the run from his entire species, leaving them pissed off enough that they destroyed any planet they found him on. Granted, it wasn’t just because of that, but it put things in perspective.

Normally they committed genocide over the long term. When they found he’d influenced a planet, they did it immediately.

“Exactly. You need someone to balance out the crazy.” She sounded amused.

Continue reading Intergalactic Sherlock: Part 4 →

Arc 6.1: Intergalactic Sherlock

Intergalactic Sherlock: Part 3

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By Wednesday night I had a response from the Xiniti—yes. I could take the League “jet” to the jump gate and go through their logs. They’d be happy to help investigate. In fact, they were already doing so on their own.

Not that they told me so directly. Lacking an official Xiniti email address, I’d emailed Isaac Lim, and he’d sent it on through appropriate channels. I had no idea how much bureaucracy “appropriate channels” involved, but the impression I got from Lim was “too much.”

Whatever the case, I’d gotten my reply within twenty-four hours of asking Agent Lim, so I wasn’t in a position to complain. At least I wasn’t in a position to complain about that. I was in a position to complain about what they’d done with the Xiniti’s reply.

Continue reading Intergalactic Sherlock: Part 3 →

Arc 5.8: Chance & Fate

Chance & Fate: Part 2

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Jeremy hung up his towel inside his closet, and said, “Is this major?”

I didn’t know I was that easy to read.

I looked away from the computer, and up at him as he stopped next to my desk.

“Seriously,” he asked, “How big?”

And the crazy thing was, I really could tell him. Daniel had telepathically blocked him from passing on information to anyone outside the League.

On the other hand, the less he knew, the better. If Daniel didn’t maintain it, the mental construct would dissolve on its own eventually.

Continue reading Chance & Fate: Part 2 →

Arc 5.8: Chance & Fate

Chance & Fate: Part 1

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I stared at the screen. “You’re kidding.”

[They’ve been ordering the appropriate materials for the last three months.]

I typed, “How do you even know this?”

[Your grandfather assigned me the task of tracking materials that might indicate the presence of Abominators or other aliens’ technology on Earth.]

I thought about the implications of that for a second. Certainly aliens were the obvious possibility. Grandpa’s technology was generally twenty years or more ahead of current tech. It didn’t seem like a big stretch to think mine might be too. Aliens were a real possibility.

I thought about it a little more. I couldn’t just consider aliens. Another armor designer might be behind it. Syndicate L, one of the few big criminal organizations not dominated by supervillains, had a guy, and whoever he was, he was pretty good.

I’d been attacked by enough of his work to appreciate its effectiveness. This might be his headquarters.

Continue reading Chance & Fate: Part 1 →