“Is she okay, now?” he hears one whisper. He dares to open one eye ever so slightly to see them. They’re hovering over their mother, looking worried. One of them leans in closer and listens for a moment.

  “She’s okay,” he whispers. They nod at each other. “We wanna go to school?”

  “No, ‘cause ‘Danna is running around doing hero stuff,” the first whispers. “We should go help her! This is my chance to be a hero!”

  Oba frowns at that, because he still isn’t sure which one is which. They look almost identical, and even smell the same according to his weakened nose. If one of these children is a robot, it’s astonishing how lifelike they make him seem.

  “But I don’t wanna be a hero, I’m gonna be the next Panther,” the other boy whispers back. Oba almost lets out an audible sigh of relief.

  “But I’m not, I’m gonna be a hero and have a theme song and fight bad guys… like you!” the other boy says.

  “That might be fun,” Cubby whispers.

  “What if we don’t get caught?” Robo asks. “Let’s take Flora! Sunny put her on the roof, right?”

  “For sunshine,” Cubby agrees.

  “Then we’ll tell Flora to take us to ‘Danna and we’ll go help save the day,” Robo decides. The two boys nod, as if they’ve come up with the PERFECT solution, and head out the door, opening and not quite shutting it behind them. Oba gets to his feet, not quite sure who “Flora” is, but knowing that the two are up to something dangerous. He pauses, looking at his daughter-in-law. She’s sound asleep, but she looks pale and fragile, still. She’s not strong, and yet because of him she had to go through this.

  Another face replaces hers in his mind and his hands shake slightly before he shoves the thought aside. They have healers here. The healers will make sure she’s fully recovered. Until then, he should tell his son about the children—

  He hears them creeping up the steps and he forgets all about figuring out how to pass this on to his son. His grandsons are about to do something extremely foolish, and even he can’t stand by idly and watch it happen! The security system that surrounds this place could easily kill both of them, robot or not!

  He takes one last glance at Amara and heads out the door far more silently than the two boys had. The building seems almost empty. He finds that odd, at first, since it had been full of people the night before, but he supposes most of them are at work.

  The boys are heading past all of the floors and for the roof. He pauses, feeling a little off, but then continues, sneaking along behind them, intent on not being noticed until he finds up what they’re up to.

  They rush out onto the roof and he slips out as well, seeing the large seed-like structure sitting there. He goes still, his eyes widening in surprise. He’s seen something much like this, before. Where, though?

  “Flora! Flora! Let us in, we want to go flying!” the boys call out, knocking on the seed.

  “Nyaaaaaan,” the “seed” says, and a small creature appears on top of it, looking down at the boys.

  “Flora!” they say happily, jumping up and down with excitement. “Let’s go for a flight!”

  The cat creature looks straight at Oba, tilting her head slightly before a hole appears in the side of the ship. The boys jump in and Oba rushes forward, intent on hauling them right back out. He staggers, almost tripping over the bottom of the hole, and falls into the spaceship, instead.

  The door closes with a sucking sound and he pushes himself up. Both boys are staring at him in shock.

  “Grand… um… Grandpa?” one asks.

  “Can I call him that?” the other asks.

  “NYAAAA!” the spaceship calls out and several images flash over the walls before all three of them are wrapped around the waist by jelly-like bands. Oba is pulled to the ground while the boys are pulled up against the wall.

  “Flora!” they hear someone say, and an image appears on the wall. It’s a teenage girl, by the sound of it. “What did I say about using the security system on your own—oh… is that you, Pan? Why are you on the floor?”

  The brothers look at each other, since Oba is still pulled face-first into the ground. “Zoe! Papa and us are going to go help ‘Danna and Sunny!” they say, almost falling over each other verbally. “We got adult suu… per… visible!” They sound so proud of that fact.

  “I… well, Flora would be a faster way to take the serum to them,” she says, hesitantly. “But I don’t recall you entering the apartments—”

  “Gotta go! Bye bye! Flora hang up!” the boys shout and the window closes, with them gloating over how they’d gotten their way.

  “Flora,” Oba says through gritted teeth. “Free me.”

  The band pulls away and he stands, giving the boys his most stern look. They grab onto one another, suddenly scared. “And just what do you two think you’re doing?” he demands, inwardly wondering what HE’S doing.

  “We’re going to be heroes!” one boy says, trying to sound bold but still clinging to the other.

  “Cubby,” Oba starts out.

  “I’m Cubby, he’s Robo,” the other boy says, amusement creeping in and fighting for dominance with the fear.

  It catches Oba off guard. He would have sworn that the quieter one would be the robot, but they don’t seem to be lying. He sniffs, smelling only the faintest of difference even at this distance. “You are Robo?” he asks the boy.

  “Uh huh,” Robo says. “I’ve got special bones. I’m a robot!”

  Oba nods, reaching up and touching the boy’s chin and turning his face left and right to examine it. “Yes, I see,” he says finally. There’s the slightest of lights coming from the boy’s eyes, but even that is natural in some supers. This is definitely NOT what he expected from a “robot.”

  “Do you not want me?” Robo asks in a tiny voice.

  Oba hesitates, not sure what to say to that. “I did not expect you,” he says, instead.

  “Most people don’t,” the boy says, cheering up. “But I’m going to be a stealthy superhero, so it’s good! If they don’t expect me, they won’t see it coming!”

  “I… see,” Oba says, not quite sure what to say to that. “Flora, turn around.”

  “She won’t listen!” Cubby says quickly. “Flora, we’re going to help ‘Danna! We have to do it quickly so that nobody gets sick like Mama did… and like… like Grandpa did.”

  “And what do you—” Oba stops, seeing their determined expressions. “How do you plan to help them?” he asks, instead. These are his grandsons. Yes, one’s a robot, but they’re still his family, and unlike his granddaughter, he doesn’t think they hate him. Nico’s words are echoing in his mind, how things had turned around by his father being a good grandfather. He just wishes that he had a clue on how to do that. Right now he’s floundering in front of little boys.

  “We’re going to use Flora!” Robo says excitedly, squirming out of the seatbelt and tapping on a small counter. “Flora, is there any strange alien substance on the planet that could make a full grown super sick?”

  “Nyaaa,” the cat creature sitting in a small basket to the side says. Several zeroes and ones appear on the screen.

  “But I was—” Robo starts out.

  “Nyaaa,” it repeats.

  “Okay, okay, Grampa, we need to get against the wall,” Robo says, taking Oba’s hand and tugging. “Flora says she’s gotta go up way, way high, and she don’t want us bouncing around like popcorn.”

  “She did NOT,” Cubby says.

  “She did so!”

  “She did not!”

  “Who speaks binary, you or me?” Robo says, sticking his tongue out at Cubby before backing up against the wall. Oba moves beside him and another band shoots out of the wall, strapping them in. The next moment, they’re shooting up through the air so quickly that it’s hard to breathe. He glances at his grandsons to make sure they aren’t hurt.

  Their grins are so wide that the speed is pulling their lips back and showing their gums. The moment the pressure lets up they both start cheering their heads off, like a carnival ride.

  Oba can’t help but smile slightly, even though something about this ship really, really bothers him. It’s sentient. He’s positive that anything that can take you into space and be sentient at the same time is probably not a good idea.

  And the floral smell is almost familiar, but not quite. It’s like it’s on the tip of his tongue. He stares at the cat creature in the basket, only stopping as he feels a pair of eyes on him. Robo, he thinks, starting to tell the two apart. “What?” he asks.

  “They left a little in you,” Robo says with a hint of worry.

  “We want to see if my immunity system will create an antibody,” he explains, and then wonders if he used too large of words for a child.

  “I see,” the boy says. “Don’t worry, Grampa, I’ll keep an eye on it.” He even reaches over and pats Oba’s hand in a comforting manner.

  Oba has absolutely no clue how to respond to that, so he just nods slightly and goes back to thinking about why this entire situation sends a chill down his spine.

  ***

  “Pan,” the call makes Pan jerk and almost drop the beaker that he’s holding. He had almost been about to make a breakthrough, he thinks as he looks up with a sigh. But only one man can patch through his phone system like this, so he figures it must be important.

  “I am working as quickly as I can, Nico. I think I have something here,” he says.

  “That’s not it,” Nico says, bringing up another screen on Pan’s wall with a flick of his finger, “Your sons just carjacked my son’s spaceship.”

  “They did WHAT?” Pan says, this time actually dropping the beaker. It crashes to the ground, but he ignores it.

  “Aubrey brought them to the apartments to stay near Amara, but this morning they decided they wanted to help out Adanna, instead. So now your two boys and your father are taking Flora for a joyride,” Nico sums up as a video of them talking to Zoe appears. They both see Oba on the floor.

  “How, exactly, did that happen?” Pan asks.

  “Zoe saw your dad’s profile and assumed it was you, since the boys were there and she was in the middle of class,” Nico says.

  “And what about you?”

  “I thought it might be good,” Nico admits. “I’m keeping an eye on them, since I’ve got Flora’s system connected to mine. And honestly, Robo had a pretty good idea.”

  “How can it be a good idea?” Pan asks, but he’s calming down slightly. “My father is not very experienced with small children, and we still do not know how he feels about Robo.” He looks grim at the last part, because he has a very good idea. “Has he hurt Robo’s feelings?”

  “I think,” Nico says, “that he’s trying his best, in his own way. But if you think it’s a bad idea, I’ll have Flora return now.”

  Pan hesitates. “I do… but I also want them to know each other,” he says. “And neither Amara nor I am in a position to watch the boys. But is Father up to it? We were attempting to get his immunity system to fight the infection.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on that,” Nico says. “Robo’s actually scanned him a few times to make sure it’s going well.”

  “Robo can do that?” Pan asks, surprised.

  “I upgraded him when I switched out his bones for the living metal,” Nico says. “Now we just need to remind him not to look at people in their underwear and giggle.”

  “Has that happened?” Pan asks.

  “Do you really need to ask?” Nico says. Both of them try not to laugh. “Now get back to work there, I’ve got almost thirty crop dusting backpacks for whatever it is you come up with ready, and I plan on getting the parts for more this afternoon. I think I’ll take the kids and put them to work.”

  “I think I’m well on my way to coming up with a cure,” Pan says. “It’s slightly familiar; I just cannot seem to understand why…” He frowns, looking over at the Petri dish with the sample from the backpack.

  “You’re wearing the E.P.B. on space setting?” Nico asks, distracted by Pan’s movements.

  “My lab was created to be decontaminated easily, and while I HAVE hazmat suits, I’ve found this E.P.B. setting works far better than a hazmat suit and is much easier to move around in,” Pan says. “You must have realized that when you added it to my system, right?”

  “Hadn’t thought of it,” Nico admits a bit cheerfully. “I just tend to upgrade family to the highest level I have at the moment.”

  “And it is up to us to discover how to use such upgrades to the fullest. Thankfully, I am quite good at that. Now, how are Adanna and Sunny doing?” Pan asks as he cleans up the broken vial and then sprays down the floor.

  “Liz is with them, they’re fine,” Nico says. “But that has me worried about something else.”

  “What’s that?” Pan asks.

  “Marigold offered to make Liz her successor,” Nico says. “When she retires, sure, but… Can you picture Liz as a Hall leader?”

  Pan thinks about it for a moment, and then smiles slightly. “Your sister will be a most excellent Hall leader, Nico,” he says. “Congratulate her for me.”

  “But she’s just—”

  “A full-grown woman with far more experience in the field than you,” Pan sums up. “She’s also extremely intelligent and creative, both of which make for an entertaining leader to follow. And thanks to your influence on her, I am sure she will make sure her villains are well taken care of, as well.”

  “Well… at least it’s Liz and not Skye,” Nico says after a long struggle with himself. “Can you imagine Skye as a Hall leader?”

  “Skye is extremely intelligent, as well… in her own manner,” Pan says.

  “They’d have the entire Hall living off of candy,” Nico says.

  “Cajun, and THEN candy,” Pan corrects him. “But you know as well as I do that while Skye would officially be the Hall Leader, Doris would be the one running the place.”

  “That’s a fact,” Nico agrees. “So… what if she says yes?” he asks, showing a vulnerable side that only a select few will ever realize is there.

  “Then you give her a teleportation watch and any assistance she might need along the way,” Pan says. “Now, please do keep an eye on my family, and I will contact you the moment I have what you need.”

  “Got it,” Nico says. “And Pan?”

  “Yes?”

  “I have a kid that… well, when he’s calmed down, I would like you to work with him. IF he calms down, that is, and if both of you can get past some certain… circumstances.”

  “You know I will,” Pan says, and then waves a hand to hang up so he can focus on his work. All worries about his father and sons are gone. He trusts Nico with his family implicitly.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Charles takes a step back from the Science room door, wondering if he could get away with making a run for it. Before he can even attempt to do so, he feels a hand on his shoulder.

  “So,” Nico says, “spying this early in the game?”

  “If you knew I was there, why didn’t you say anything?” Charles asks.

  “Because, kid, I’m testing you,” Nico says. “You’re out to find anything you can to twist and use against us, right? Well, I’m sure that you have plenty to work with by now.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Charles lies, his eyes almost blinded by all of the information floating in front of them. He blinks, trying to get rid of it so he can see. He’s only had his powers for a few days, and a lot of that was spent in a plain white room. After he’d examined the medical devices thoroughly the words had disappeared, leaving him able to see. Now, though, he’s dealing with…

  “What is that watch?” he asks, his eyes glued to the device. “Teleportation, but more, right? The man on the screen was wearing something like it, as well. Do you know how dangerous it is to work in a lab without proper equipment? The number of lab accidents that have created mutations is—”

  “He’s fine,” Nico says.

  “What can I do to get people to trust me?” Charles blurts out, only to groan and run a hand over his face. “Forget I asked that. I don’t care if they trust me.”

  Nico watches him for a long moment, and then shrugs. “Fine,” he says. “Come in here and I’ll show you some things, first. Then we’ll discuss your little issue with the Anti-Super Society.”

  “You ALONE are enough to overthrow the government, aren’t you,” Charles says. “You could take over all the financial systems, and then—”

  “Kid, I wouldn’t have to bother with the financial systems for that,” Nico says, startling him. “Oh, sure, I’d do it, but that wouldn’t be the biggest problem.”

  “The military,” Charles says.

  “They’d be troublesome, sure, and I would rather not have rockets being shot at me, but that wouldn’t stop me, either. I’m somewhat capable when it comes down to stopping weapons, especially the high-tech ones.”

  “Then what? What stops you from taking over the country?” Charles asks. “Why do you not just go in and do whatever you want?”

  “There’s an agreement between the Hall and the U.S.” Nico says. “There are agreements between every country and supers that live there. All of them are loosely based on the agreement that was created in 1776, and established in 1793, the same time America became established as their own country. Oh, sure, the other countries had their own situations, but ours seems to have worked best, so the other supers borrowed some parts from it.”

  “Why?” Charles asks.

  “Because it’s worked for this long, with a few minor amendments here and there, and it’ll keep working as long as both sides follow the terms set.” He brings up a document on the wall and motions Charles to look. “The Constitution of Super Americans,” he says.

  Charles reads it, and then reads it again. “This is… almost exactly the same,” he says.

  “It is,” Nico agrees. “There are a few small changes here and there, including the ‘rights to bear arms’ includes super powers, but the biggest difference is where the supers swear to keep their own kind from stopping others from their pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. Supers aren’t under norm law, kid, that’s something you’ll learn in class, but that’s because supers are under SUPER law, which is a lot stricter in several ways. But we vote and we pay taxes through the Hall, and for those with secret identities, that often means paying taxes twice. Thankfully we have very good accountants. They can only vote through their secret identity, though, the Hall makes sure of that. And there are other things that the Hall and the government are constantly negotiating over, but for the most part, we’re all good with the way things are now. Except,” he says, looking Charles in the eye, “we take our vow to protect the norms from our own kind very seriously. That means all of the D-class capes weren’t about to go after revenge, even with all the things you and the other Anti-Super group did to them.”

 

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