Angela
October 4th, 2007. 6:01 p.m. Got pizza and soda on my left, Vivian and Sejong on my right, and Third Strike out in front. This gonna be a good night. The second the character select screen comes on, I immediately pick 12. “Aight, come on come on. Who wants to get their ass kicked first?”
“Let’s go.” Vivian takes my spare stick and picks Q.
The stage starts to load.
“Seriously? Q again? You know it's disrespectful to hold back.”
As soon as the match starts, Vivian taunts. “Excuse me? I don’t need to hear that from a filthy 12 main.”
“What do you mean?” I ask as I turn invisible.
“12’s garbo, Angy.” Sejong says with a mouthful of cheese. “Completely un-epic.”
“What are you talking about?” I try not to chortle. “12’s the best. Top tier boy.”
Vivian gets me with half her life left. “More like top tier trash.”
“Just gimme a few rounds. You got lucky.”
I start the next match by turning invisible again. Viv manages to get two taunts off before she starts playing for real. “Do you want to stop taunting and actually play?”
“Taunting’s how you play Q.” Vivian says before shoving a handful of skittles into her mouth. “If you don’t want me taunting, don’t let me taunt.”
Vivian tries to taunt a third time and I raw super her. “Like that?”
“I ain’t even mad. I deserved that.”
Me and Vivian get some matches in. She’s getting more and more predictable each match. It’s so easy to bait EX out of her. We play eight matches. I win five of those. Actually managed to get a double down once. I feel the hype and caffeine coursing through my veins. Oh great gam3r gods, hear my plea. Let me pwn any n00b that cometh my way.
“I’ve had enough for now.” Vivian stretches before retreating to the couch with a slice of pizza. “You want a turn, Sejong?”
“Of course.” Sejong nods before scooching up and getting the stick. “I haven’t played this since my bro went off to college, so I might be a little rusty.” he wanders on the character select screen before picking Chunners.
“Seriously?” Vivian swallows some cheese. “Are we tier-whoring tonight?”
“Of course not.” Sejong shrugs. “I cannot help it if my favorite just happens to be good.”
“Can’t help having good taste.” I start rushing him down.
He can’t parry for crap. He’s just mashing forward and eating all my low hits. This is actually sad, but I welcome free styling.
“Angela. Hey, Angela. Look at me.”
“Hm?” I glance away from the screen to see that Sejong has transformed into Chunners. “Oh… a-ah… ooooooh…” I drop my stick. “Hey. Hey. Lemme squeeze those thighs.” I start slinking towards Sejong making lewd groping motions.
While I was looking away, Sejong had beaten me by spamming heavy kick. “Only if you let me win.” Sejong winks.
“No no no. Hold up. You could just turn to waifus all along and you never let me in on that?”
“You never wanted to hang out with me before.” Sejong shrugs. “I rarely have the chance to speak with you.”
“Well I’m sure as hell talking to ya now!” My eyes remain glued to her thighs. “Do you just do this for funsies? Do you cosplay? Do you provide lewd services?! I need to know!”
“How does your Tech work anyway?” Vivian interjects before I can ask more important questions.
Sejong and Vivian go full-blast into the nitty-gritty about how they think their Techs work and all the useful applications for about 10 minutes and 21 seconds. Cool. I can go in n- and now the conversation somehow shifted to how some animals can do the same thing. They are now debating if animals can develop Techs or if animals developed the first Techs. It seems like Vivian was just joking at first, but it quickly evolved/devolved into another serious discussion. Somehow a conversation about octopi skin cells turns into a debate over whether or not a certain actor had an octopus-related Tech. Sejong insists the Tech was that the actor could shoot octopus ink and summon octopi of various sizes whenever she wanted. Vivian insists that an octopus developed a Tech that allowed it to mimic human forms and speech. They then talked about some rumor that she was using the octopi for carnal purposes. Then the conversation shifts to local laws regarding octopus ownership… How? Why? How is that relevant at all to what we’re doing? Stay on topic you two. Or at least talk about video games. I can contribute there. I can talk with you two… why won't you two let me talk? Please. I want to talk. Just stop talking about stuff I can’t relate to for two seconds please I’m begging you oh god why does this always happen Josh never does this Josh is cool Josh please tell them that I wanna talk you’re good at noticing that. Janelle’s okay at noticing. I don’t know if she notices or just is soft-spoken, either way, I wish someone else was here that I could talk to please god please let me into this conversation I’m begging you. I can’t play Third Strike by myself.
Ding Dong
knock knock knock
“Mail call.” A grunt and the sound of cardboard shifting against carpet could be heard from beyond the door.
“Aw hell yeah that’s my stuff from home.” Vivian stops talking to Sejong and makes for the door.
“Ready to keep going?!” I finally blurt out.
“Of course.” Sejong picks his stick back up and picks Chunners again. “Sorry. Went on a bit of a tangent there.”
“Don’t worry about it.” We enter into another game. “Yo, Viv, what’s in the box?”
I hear Vivian drag the box in and open it. “My decorations from back home finally came in the mail. I can finally deck out my room. You two keep playing. I’ll be right back. Just gotta set everything up.”
Yuko
October 4th, 2007. 9:02 p.m. After giving the Headmaster and local police a debriefing, dumping Janelle into the student hospital, and hearing the Headmaster verbally berate Janelle, I finally get to go to bed and just… just go to bed. If I go to bed, the night can’t get any worse. Will insisted on chilling with Janelle in the student hospital. Josh just booked it back to his room as fast as he could. I see Angela and who I hope is Sejong playing some game in the living room and hear Vivian humming in the bathroom.
I open the door to my room and… what the hell am I looking at? Viv’s side of the room has been completely decked out in anime merch… Bright posters, figurines, body pillows, you name it… Her desk and nightstand are almost completely covered in figurines. Each and every last one of them has some vaguely horny outfit and massive titties. Good to know she likes big titties.
Why was that my first thought? Regardless, the quality of these things is pretty kickass. I pick one up and peek up the skirt. Kickass. It’s even got elaborate lace panties modeled on. Where did she even buy all these?
creak
The door behind me opens and I immediately slam the figure back down on the table and turn around. Vivian’s wrapped snug in a bathrobe. Smells like sweet lotion too.
“Yoooo. Yuko. You’re back early. How’d the dinner go?”
“Food’s good. Janelle’s a bitch. I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Fair enough.” Vivian shrugs, walks over to her bed, and begins taking off her towel.
“Hey! Hey!” I turn my head away from her and make for the door. “Give me some warning before you change.”
“Eh? What’s the big deal?” Vivian puts a hand on her hip. “You change in front of me all the time.”
“What? No. I change in the morning when you’re still asleep!” I open the door and refuse to peek at her.
“You… you thought I was asleep?” Vivian tries to contain her laughter. She sounds like a goddamn deflating balloon.
“You mean you weren’t?” I kinda just want to die now.
“Yeah… I just like to chill in bed for a little bit before getting up. I kinda sorta saw everything already.”
“Christ…” I bang my forehead against the wall.
“I thought you knew I was awake and was just cool with it. Sorry.” I can see Vivian begin undoing her towel from the corner of my eye. “Want me to flash you so we’re even?”
“No.” I head through the door. “Tell me when you’re done changing.” I shut the door behind me, snag some vodka from the fridge, and take a good shot.
“Oh come on!” I hear Vivian through the door. “I don’t have any surprises! You can’t be real friends with someone without seeing them naked at least once!”
I damn near spit out some good vodka and manage to trade glances with Angela.
“She’s right.” Angela nods. “Once I saw Josh’s dong, I trusted him with my life. It takes real trust to hang dong in front of someone.”
A.D.
October 5th, 2007. 3:12 a.m. Okay… Okay… Things… things are getting too busy. No matter how many anti-heroes I try to outsource to, they all say their backlog is too big to help me. There’s too many people who need help... Why can’t people just be nice for five minutes? I’m doing way more work than I was as a normal student only with slightly more pay and I don’t have to kill anyone. It’s a lot of work… but I can’t stop. I cannot stop until the world is safe for everyone. It’s… so much work… but it must be done. I just need to get back some money that was stolen via civil forfeiture and put some cops in their place.
Unfortunately, I got some blood on my gi. Again. Fat bastard was more aggressive than I thought he’d be. I really need to wash this thing.
I climb up the side of the wall to my dorm window, slide it open, hop in, and close the door window behind me. That climb’s only getting easier. Good. I’m tired, I’m hungry… there’s a bunch of other people that still need help at four in the morning… but I can’t keep going… I need to sleep. I nee-
click
The light in my bedroom suddenly turns on and nearly blinds me. “Who goes there?!”
“Really A.D.?” Headmaster’s sitting on my bed with a cup of coffee in her hand and a folder lying beside her. “You’re doing anti-hero shenanigans now?”
“What are you doing in my room?! And where’s Will?!”
“He’s visiting Janelle in the student hospital. There was some altercation at Vinny’s with a villain.” She takes a sip from her mug. “Now could you answer my questions or are you going to keep being a little edgelord?”
“I’m helping people! What’s wrong with taking some extra hero work on the side?!”
“Oh, really? What kind of ‘heroism’ have you done tonight?” She takes a sip of coffee and scratches her leg.
“I helped find a bunch of lost dogs, got back some stolen money, and put some corrupt cops in their place.” I rub my eye and try to stand up straight… but it’s not working. I’m more exhausted than I thought.
Headmaster locks eyes with me. “Good.” She smiles and stretches. “Have a seat. We need to talk.”
I tilt my head and furrow my brow. I can’t tell if she’s planning something. Her smile’s a complete enigma to me. Regardless, I sit down and keep my distance from her. “Am I in trouble?”
“That depends. Did you leave behind any evidence tonight?”
“I don’t think so… why?”
“Because some officers from the LAPD came into my office bitching that one of my students has been harassing them.”
I feel my heart fall into my stomach. “They have any evidence it's me?”
Headmaster opens the file and shows me surveillance pictures and a gorgeous police sketch. “Dear god… that sketch is immaculate.”
“I know, right?” Suzy chuckles. “Getting back on topic.” She whacks me over the head with the file. “What the hell are you doing?”
I flinch backwards and try to shoo the file away. “... Are you mad that I’m harassing the LAPD or that I got caught? I thought you hated the LAPD.”
“I hate some people in the LAPD.” Headmaster rubs her temple. “As the headmaster of a hero academy, I have to play nice with them.”
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“Why!?” I raise my voice. “They’re a bunch of thieves who get paid to-” I try to keep yelling but feel my vocal chords slam shut.
Headmaster points at me. “Listen, boy. Are there a lot of scumbags there? Sure. There’s still a lot of good dudes there and I still need to cooperate with them to keep this hellhole of a city from blowing up.”
“Why?” I feel my vocal chords relax a little.”
“Because every time some dumbass vigilante starts attacking officers, the police pull out, and every two-bit anti-hero and villain in a hundred mile radius starts raising hell. People die, homes get burglarized, small businesses go up in flames, then people beg the cops to come back because they’re too chicken shit to take care of themselves.” She takes a deep swig of her coffee. “I’ve seen it happen too many times and I’m not going to let it happen again. Just be a good boy and let the adults handle this.” she points to herself. “Capiche?”
“So you just want me to sit back and do nothing!? Those bastards will keep getting away with-” My vocal chords slam shut again when Headmaster points at me.
“A.D., look. Just stop whatever anti-hero shenanigans you’re trying to pull. You suck at keeping your identity a secret.” she tugs at my gi. “Also, the cops were completely justified in subduing that homeless guy.” She gently waves her folder.
“No. They could have restrained him. There’s no good reason to resort to lethal force.”
“How would you restrain someone shooting acid everywhere?”
My eyes shut and my face grimaces. “... What do you mean acid…?”
“Do you remember seeing anything… gooey that fateful day?”
I feel my heart sink into my stomach. “Yeah… what of it?”
“That goop used to be an officer. I reviewed the CCTV footage and had some staff independently interview eyewitnesses. The cops offered to buy the man some food and he attacked them with an acid Tech. 110% self defense.”
“What do you mean eyewitnesses? No one else was around during that!”
“I got eyes everywhere in this craphole.” Suzy puts the folder down on my bed and shows me a CD. “Feel free to review the footage if you want.”
I try to say something - anything - but my brain stops working.
“You walked onto a bad scene and automatically assumed the worst, didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah. It’s the LAPD.”
“A.D., never assume anything in this line of work. Do you know what happens when you assume things?”
“... Bad things happen?” My resolve and even my sense of self begin to wither away the longer I talk to this woman. Her voice and gaze are melting me from the inside out. This has to be part of her Tech. No voice can be this powerful on its own.
“You make an ass out of you and me.” Headmaster flicks my forehead. “If you get caught doing this crap again, I’m turning you in immediately. I’m also garnishing your pay until the cops’ medical bills are paid in full.”
This can’t be happening. This can’t be true. I’m supposed to be the good guy. This has to be some kind of joke. “This has to be some kind of mis-”
Headmaster points at me. I can’t move. My mouth feels like it’s stitched shut with barbed wire. “A.D. Buddy. Look. Listen. I know more than you. A lot more. You should listen to me. It would be beneficial to both of us. Do me a favor, okay? Take a break from this anti-hero business for a week. Eat some food, get some sleep, go to class, make up with your team already, and for the love of God please take a shower.”
The pain around my mouth melts away. It still hurts, but I can talk. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Yuko told me there’s some… animosity between you and Vivian lately. I don’t care what the cause is. You’re teammates. This school has enough issues and drama. Make up already.”
“I’m not working with a child murderer.”
“Okay.” Headmaster puts down her hand and throws a blank resignation form at me. “Then I want this resignation letter on my desk by noon tomorrow.”
“Excuse me?! No no no! I joined this school to help people, not to work with child killers.”
“Do you think that’s the first time an Aegis student has killed someone on a job?”
“... What are you getting at?”
“I’m saying heroes can and do kill. At least 20 people a year are intentionally killed by our students during missions. Most of them are in self-defense or part of the mission. You can find those statistics online. Not like I try to hide them or anything.”
“Heroes don’t kill people.” I shake my head and return the form to her. “I’m not leaving this school.”
“So attacking cops on sight is okay?”
“...” I sigh.
“Then how about we agree to disagree?” Headmaster tucks the form back in her folder and stands up. “I disagree with you and you agree to take some time from anti-heroing this week. How’s that sound?”
“I don’t think that’s what agree to disagree means…”
Headmaster pulls out a cellphone from her shirt. “Okay then I can just call the police and turn you in for a nice bounty.”
“Wouldn’t that be a PR nightmare? I’m sure turning in your own student would make some bad headlines.”
“You would be just another headline.” Suzy flips her phone open. “I’m sure those officers you beat up would looove to have a word with you.”
“...” I grit my teeth and look down at the floor. “Fine… you win.”
“Good boy.” Headmaster opens the door and begins to head out. “Good night.”
“Good night...”
Headmaster pauses and turns to face me and flashes a small smile. “You know… if you do want to be a little more… proactive, Aegis does offer an accelerated program.”
“Really?” I turn my head. “Who’s the teacher?”
“Me. It’s more of a paid internship than a class. You’d be working directly for me. Full benefits and starting at 100k a year.” Headmaster retrieves a card from her pocket and tosses it into my lap.
“What’s the catch?”
“You just have to do what I say, but you’d be able to keep living the anti-hero life you love so much with some… additional protections. What do you say? You’d get to make the world a better place.”
I rub my thumb over the card. It feels like it cost a fortune to design and print. This sounds good… too good… and her smile… that damned smile... “I appreciate the offer, Headmaster. Just…” my head feels like mush. My stomach feels like it's about to start digesting itself for nutrients. “Give me some time right now, okay? I don’t think it’s a good idea to be making any career decisions this late.”
“That’s the first smart thing you’ve said all night.” Headmaster yawns and points to the card she gave me. “In case the curriculum gets a little slow for you, feel free to call me. I’ll have some missions that are more your speed.”
“Thank you.” I nod. “Good night.”
“Night.” Headmaster smiles and moves to close the door behind her.
“... Wait.”
Headmaster stops and looks back at me. “Yes?”
“What is it you want?”
“I want to go to bed.” Headmaster yawns.
“That’s not what I meant.” I cross my arms. “What does this little ‘accelerated program’ really do for you?”
Headmaster closes the door behind her and turns around to face me. “I want freedom for me, my students, and everyone else.”
This should be good. “What do you mean?”
She smiles. “I don’t want me or my students getting taken advantage of.”
“Who would take advantage of us?” I ask.
“I’ve seen too many of my students fall off their path. They either get adopted by some corporation and paid to read from a script and look pretty or get hired by the government and follow orders. They forget what they were fighting for…” Headmaster’s smile fades and her irises hollow out. “Breaks my heart every time I see it.”
“Headmaster… you’re sounding kinda like a villain.”
Headmaster looks right into my eyes with a completely serene smile. Her eyes are focused, but gentle and her lips curl into the only smile I’ve ever seen her wear. “If only you knew how bad things really were.”
“Tell me how bad it is.” I can’t look away… but it feels like I should.
“That knowledge is reserved only for students in the accelerated program.” She extends her right arm to me. “You in?”
“...” I stare at her hand for a good while. “I’m sorry… I need to sleep on it.”
“I understand. My offer’s always open.” Headmaster puts her hand back in her coat. “Good night.” She turns off my light and closes the door behind her.
Josh
October 7th, 2007. 4:11 p.m. I’m dedicating this day to just staying inside. Faust can’t find me in here… right? Okay… just let me go over what I know about her. Immune to fire and minor explosions from what I’ve seen. Apparently even blue fire from Janelle didn’t take her down. Will might be able to counter her. Key word being might. Either has to sneak up on her or make sure he gets every bit of himself sharpened up. God knows I won’t ever get the drop on her… she always seems to notice me before I can even lay eyes on her. This ain’t fair dude…
I got a headache… had maybe one too many jack and cokes last night and Janelle’s been blasting Phil Collins for the past three hours. I can’t take this anymore. I gotta shut her up. Off the bed, into the dorm corridor, and knock on her door. “Hey! Janelle! Mind if I come in?”
“Go ahead!” Something sounds like it just got knocked over. “Angela, cut it out!”
“No! You cut it out! Wryyyy!” Angela Wryyy’d.
I open the door and… the hell am I looking at? Half the room looks like what I’d expect from Angela: Sonic the Hedgehog posters, some standard figures, and a poster of some obscure musician that I’m sure even my grandma wouldn’t know about. The other half looks like it was dragged out of a set of a budget 1940s cowboy tv show. I’m talking a cactus lamp, cowboy boots by her bed, a ten-gallon hat hanging on a wall, a CD player on the desk, and an anime poster of some Zac Efron looking bastard. All the while Phil Collins continues to assault me.
Janelle looks like crap, but is still managing. She’s got two black eyes and looks like a week old banana, but she’s standing just fine. Angela’s in her usual Sunday worst. They’re tossing and toiling on the floor next to some rolled up poster.
“The hell are you two doing?”
“Oh, hey Josh.” Angela looks at me while still struggling against Janelle. “I’m just trying to put up one of my posters, but Janelle won’t let me.”
“That garbage is disgusting!” Janelle looks ready to headbutt Angela.
“You take that back!” Angela bites Janelle in the arm and doesn’t let go.
“Angy.” I bend my fingers and pull the poster from the two. “Let go of Janelle or I’ll destroy this.”
“Fine…” Angela rolls her eyes and lets go.
Janelle rubs her arm and looks back at me. “Josh! Don’t look at it! It’s evil!”
“Oh, come on. I know Angy.” I begin unrolling the poster. “It can’t be tha-”
Wow. I hate everything about this. The lighting is incredible and the shading is damn near lifelike. In terms of sheer quality, it looks on par with some stuff you’d see in the Louvre. As to the content of this poster… well… uh… let’s just say it involves Sonic the Hedgehog and a bike pump.
I hear the door open behind me and Will’s voice fills the room. “Excuse me? Who is blasting Phil Collins?”
Janelle raises her hand.
“Really? You like Phil too?”
“Of course.” Janelle bats her eyelashes. “Who doesn’t?”
“Haha! That’s awesome! What is everyone doing he-” I can’t see where Will is looking, but I can tell. “What is that?”
“Janelle, get the fire.” I roll up the poster and place it near Janelle.
Janelle puts out her hand and shoots out a small pillar of flame from her palm.
I chuck the poster in and watch it crumple up and disintegrate before my eyes.
“No! Give it back!” Angela tries to pull it out, but burns her hand. “That was mine! Do you know how many paychecks I spent on that?!”
“Too many.” Janelle and I say in unison.
Oliver
October 7th, 2007. 6:31 p.m. New secret villain lair. I have been told it is a ‘big secret heel lair for the biggest of heels. It’s damn near invincible.’ The ‘near’ part does not inspire confidence, but it has worked so far… I want to sleep… I hope they’ll let me sleep tonight… There is only so much dayquil and iv drips can do. The hallucinations are starting to set it. Oh, goodie. This time it’s the Trung Sisters and Genghis Khan. The Trung Sisters are just repeating jokes about the french my dad made while Genghis Khan is begging me to stay awake. The sheer sincerity of his voice and mysterious harmonies of his throat singing touch my heart. They get quite ‘up in there’ as the kids like to say these days. The kids today say those right? I do not know. I have been out of the loop. I am not sure I want to re-enter the loop. The loop is fickle. The loop is unforgiving; like Catherine de Medici when the protestants get uppity. Aw… Catherine… I imagine she was quite the milf back in the day… If only my Tech actually let me go back in time by sleeping…
If I could do that… think of all the poetry I could save. Imagine all the historic photos I could photobomb. I could plant a slew of pornographic japanese books into Qin Shi Huang’s throne room and just see what happens.
I mostly wish there was more to do at this safe house. One can only watch so many pirated copies of Vietnamese dramas and heavily biased historical documentaries before one’s eyes grow weary. Adding onto my troubles, my poetry notebook has grown full and my soju bottles have grown empty… Wait a second. I can write a poem about that. I roll up my sleeve, grab a marker, and begin blessing my arm with poetry.
“Knock knock!” Jimmy yells from behind the door before kicking it wide open. “Ey! Oliveman! Good to see you’re still up and kickin’!”
“Jimmy, please… please…” I clutch my chest and try to control my breathing. “My old heart cannot take this.”
“Bruh, you’re 27. You’re older than my mom when she had me.” Upon closer inspection, I notice Jimmy is carrying a vast array of groceries. “I’ve got everything you need, my lanky friend. Got the yogurt, vegetables, pasta, oh, and they had this sale on hummus so I just bought it in bulk.” Jimmy pulls out a jar of hummus the size of my head and rolls it next to me. “Think that’ll be enough?”
“Uh… I believe so.” I roll over to the jar and look at the logo. He got the brand right without even asking. It seems he truly does care. I shall write a poem in his honor, after I get dummy smashed that is.
“Hella.” Jimmy flexes. “I even got you some vegetable chips and the lemon soju.”
“You are a fantastic ally. The Lithuania to my Poland. The Austria to my Hungary.”
“The Obi-wan to your Anakin?” Jimmy begins putting away the groceries.
“Uhh… I do not think that is a good analogy.”
“Huh? Why not? Ain’t they allies?”
“Have you not seen the third one?”
“Nope. Been meaning to.” Jimmy scratches the back of his head.
“... Have you not seen the original trilogy?”
“I mean I been planning on it, but doesn’t it make sense to start from episode 1?”
“Right you are… Right you are my good friend.” I yawn.
“You wanna watch the third one tonight?”
“Absolutely.” I yawn again. “I am ever eager to consume fine media.”
“You feeling alright?” Jimmy takes out a container and rattles it. “Need some protein?”
“I need sleep.” I rub my eyes.
“Well I got news for you.” Jimmy cracks his knuckles. “Boss says you get to sleep tomorrow night.”
“Oh thank god…” I nearly cry from the news.
“Ah, one more thing. We hired a new ally to help keep you safe.”
A woman walks up from behind Jimmy. She looks more deadpan than I do. Scars and tattoos all over. Looks like the kind of woman that would give my mother a heart attack if I invited her over for Christmas. I am sure she is capable… but why must she be bald? Short hair is such a travesty… Long haired women are key to a safe and strong civilization.
Suzy
October 7th, 2007. 9:21 p.m. Office as usual. That Doc woman should be staying with us starting Tuesday. The data room will need some extra security. Just in case. Who to use? Let’s see… Vivian makes sense. She’s in good condition and she can actually listen to directions. Yuko would make a good pick as well, but she might not be willing to do it. I’ll put her as a maybe. I’m not putting Will on. There’s a good chance he was healed by Doc. I’m about 99% sure… I don’t know how she managed to sneak in either… but whatever. A.D. is A.D. I don’t even know if that little edgelord is going to be a student by Tuesday. As for Familia… Josh would be a good pick. He wants to stay on campus for the time being. Janelle’s out of commission currently. Until a month ago, Angela would have been able to hack into the lab and the records… Good thing I had that generator installed and transferred all the documents and reports. And for Sejong, I can throw her farther than I trust her. Still not convinced on that alibi… but I don’t have anything to prove her wrong. Damnit. If only I had two Camerons.
A glob of black goo drips from the ceiling in front of my desk. Drip by drip, the goo solidifies into the lanky boy I know and love. Spindly arms, long noodley legs, a paper thin body, and the camera head that’s as clean as I left it.
“Well speak of the devil.” I sign to him. “Didn’t expect to hear back from you so soon. Looks like the mission went well.”
“Oh my god, Suzy. This is bad. This is super bad. I didn’t get caught or anything. Promise, but things are going real bad real soon. I’m talking big bang boom catastrophes.” Cameron’s fingers blur into each other as he signs.
“Hey. Hey. Calm down. Calm down. I’m having trouble reading your signs. How about we just calm down with some decaf and you can tell me what happened?”
“Ah… of course… Sorry, boss. Better get a new cup. I’ll be here a while.” Cameron sits down next to my desk, faces the wall, and fiddles with the little numpad on the side of his head. Footage becomes projected on my office wall and sound begins playing from the back of Cameron’s head. Looks like some villain meeting. 134 minutes of meetings and plotting go by.
“How nice… just what I needed.”