Jack followed Melanie down to the living space. He smiled when he saw the four

lovebirds talking in the central area. He looked for his lovebird. He spotted Elaine

moving in the kitchen.

She was busy, and didn’t need him. He decided to go down to their bedroom and

work in his office. Now that he had a clear idea for Melanie, and Alicia, he needed

to work on their mana machines to give them abilities.

He hoped that he was doing the right thing in giving Melanie worm holes. He

wondered how much she actually knew about the concept other than the stargates he

had created.

Brilliant but lazy seemed to apply. He wondered how brilliant she actually was. He

already had an idea on how lazy she was.

Jack smiled as the elevator door opened on his room’s foyer. He stepped in the

bedroom, and headed over to the space set aside for his office/workroom. He sat

down at his desk and looked at the picture on the wall.

He wondered why his magic worked like it did, but the Ducklings and Josie dressed

as the Avengers amused him no end.

He pulled out the pieces of metal he needed to make the machines for the girls. He

already had an idea for Matilda, and Angelica. He hoped the four of them liked their

gifts as much as Laura and Aviras.

He worked for an unknown amount of time. Melanie’s gift was the simplest to make.

She needed a wormhole generator. He could make one of those in his sleep. He put

that aside when he was done. Angelica, Alicia, and Matilda needed what he thought

of as living encyclopedias to do what he wanted them to be able to do. Those were

a little harder for his magic to make.

He set up a base and loaded them with starter skills. The girls would have to work to

expand the encyclopedias to make them better at what they could do.

A ding went off in the middle of his working, but he disregarded it. He could check

the quest reminders when he had things ready. He wanted to give the girls something

since they were celebrating June going home.

He hoped they liked the gifts.

He put the four machines in tiny boxes when he was done. He scooped them up and

put them in his pockets. He wondered what time it was. He missed having clocks on

the wall. He did have his phone, but he didn’t know if the time on it coincided with

the time in Hawk Ridge.

He decided to go upstairs and see how things were going.

He wondered if he should go home with June to make sure she got through her fight

without trouble. She needed to win if she wanted to come back. The Society had

made that clear enough.

It wouldn’t be the first time he had helped her out.

He took the elevator upstairs to the common room. The girls and their guests had

surrounded the table. Plates and cups had been set out for dinner. The smell of

cooking filled the room from the kitchen.

“Josie back yet?,” he asked.

“Not yet,” said Elaine. She joined him by the door. “What have you been doing?”

“Making stuff for the girls,” said Jack. “How’s things here?”

“Dinner is almost ready,” said Elaine. “Thad gave Alicia some help with her sparring

so she would quit talking about his hair.”

“Still calling it a raccoon?,” asked Jack.

“Yes,” said Elaine.

“Do you think they will miss us if we go upstairs,” said Jack. “I could use some

snuggle time.”

“Snuggle time?,” said Elaine.

“Yes,” said Jack. “It’s where we lay on the grass and hug to be close knowing we

can’t do anything else because Josie and June might be here soon to stop us.”

“That might be nice, but I think you should join us here at the table and see what

everyone thinks,” said Elaine.

“Okay,” said Jack. “It’ll give me a chance to practice my dad talk. Wait, I promised

to test the falling device on Case, or Budd.”

“I think you can do that later,” said Elaine. “I doubt either one of them want to go

first.”

“Maybe you’re right,” said Jack. He took her hand. She smiled at him. “I feel tired.

I guess the watch uses a lot when you are working with it.”

“Maybe you should give the girls their gifts so they can practice with them,” said

Elaine.

“That’s a good thought,” said Jack. “Maybe that will get us the couch so we can do

our snuggling in style.”

“Maybe a little more than that,” said Elaine.

“You’re naughty,” said Jack. “I think I like it.”

“You’ll have to clear the room,” said Elaine.

“I hope they like them,” said Jack. “Melanie said she wanted the ability to open gates.

I told her that she would have to start small. I’m hoping that this is something I won’t

regret.”

“Melanie won’t let you down,” said Elaine.

“I hope she won’t,” said Jack. “The future is going to need her when she wants to

help out.”

“Let’s go and get this done before Josie comes home,” said Elaine. “She will be busy

dealing with Thad and Case, and may not get a chance to help the girls if we wait on

this.”

“You’re right,” said Jack. “And they will need to practice anyway.”

He metaphorically flipped the switch in his brain to put his doubts aside. It was time

to go to work.

“Angelica, Alicia, Melanie, and Matilda,” said Jack. “Come on upstairs. I want to

give you your things so you can practice with them.”

He stepped inside the elevator and went upstairs to the top floor. He opened the roof

door and walked outside. He stood on the grass. The sun was going down. June would

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

be there in a few.

Maybe he could ask her to show Alicia some moves before she went home.

The girls arrived, looking confused. They had no idea why he had asked them to

come up to the surface. He smiled at them.

“I made you guys gifts,” said Jack. “I want you to try them out and tell me what you

think.”

“What kind of gifts?,” asked Matilda.

“Melanie wanted something to use like the Spot,” said Jack. “Alicia wants to be a

better fighter. Angelica wants to be a better cook. And I am going to give you an

intelligence booster, Matilda, so that everything you read and learn can be used to

better yourself faster than the people around you. These gifts will make you stand out

to others, and they can isolate you because it will be like magic, and not a lot of

people like magic that doesn’t work for them.”

“So we could be targets?,” said Melanie.

“Already are,” said Alicia.

“What?,” asked Melanie.

“I think she means that just being sisters to the Missus makes us targets for people

who don’t like the Missus,” said Matilda.

Alicia nodded.

“And she’s right,” said Angelica.

“And there are a few people who know about the Enterprise,” said Jack. “Only four

people can control it, but that won’t stop people from trying to get onboard and take

it from us.”

“All right,” said Melanie. “I understand.”

“So I am going to give you these things and hope they will take care of you when

Josie and I aren’t around,” said Jack. “I want you to use them with responsibility so

you can make things better for yourself and those around you.”

“So I can’t raid the Royal Treasury?,” said Melanie.

“Not funny,” said Jack. “And not good with the Queen visiting us.”

“All right,” said Angelica. “Let’s get this over with. I don’t want my bird to burn

while I am doing this.”

“Just remember, you are going to have to practice with what I give you until it feels

natural,” said Jack. “Then you can try to expand the talent out to where it does what

you want.”

“We understand,” said Melanie. “And I won’t make any more jokes about robbing

places. I won’t need to with the ability to travel.”

“You’ll need to practice with it until you can move yourself across any distance,” said

Jack.

“Understood,” said Melanie.

“The same goes for the rest of you, even though I am giving you skills and not a

power,” said Jack. “You will have to practice with it to make it better and easier for

you to use.”

The girls nodded.

“Turn around,” said Jack. “I am going to put these in you, so you can get started.”

“Really?,” said Melanie.

“You want to use the machines, they have to be inside you,” said Jack. “It only takes

a couple of seconds, and they will show up on the scanner the hospital uses.”

“This is so bad,” said Melanie.

The girls turned around. Alicia swept her arm in front of her.

“I am going to have to touch the backs of your necks,” said Jack. “There will be a

stinging sensation. That will go away as the machines come online. You will have a

small amount of vertigo, then things should start working.”

He put the four boxes on the ground. He changed into Doctor Strange and started

work. It took a few seconds for each girl, but each machine was locked in place.

“How do you feel?,” asked Jack. He let Doctor Strange go.

“Dizzy,” said Melanie. “I’m seeing dots.”

“I can see slots on one side of my vision,” said Angelica. “There is a number at the

bottom. It looks like a seventy nine.”

“Probably Fahrenheit,” said Jack. “So the first obvious boost is you can see the

temperature of the air.”

“How would I know for sure?,” asked Angelica.

“When we go back downstairs, look at the inside of the icebox,” said Jack. “The cold

air should be at thirty or forty degrees. If the number falls to that, then you know

that’s what’s going on.”

“Jack,” said Alicia. “Something is wrong with Matilda.”

“Aviras will bite my face off if something has gone wrong with her,” said Jack. He

moved down to examine Matilda. “I don’t even want to know what Josie will do.”

Matilda stared into space. He could see pinpoints of light in her eyes. She smiled

suddenly. He waved his hand in front of her eyes to see what would happen.

“I know what friends with benefits means,” said Matilda. She smiled even wider. “No

wonder Josie didn’t want to talk to me about it. I’m too young. I don’t even have a

boy yet.”

“How old are you?,” asked Jack.

“I’m eight,” said Matilda. “It will be a while before boys will start looking at me. The

best I could do now are weird old men.”

“All right,” said Jack. “I based your gift off a show called Limitless. Take it easy. At

some point, you will be able to remember everything you have ever seen, or done.”

“Like when you did the recitation for the show?,” said Matilda. “You had the whole

thing memorized and had notes for what you thought of as improvements.”

“It’s a function of Mister Fantastic,” said Jack. “Eidetic memory.”

“I understand,” said Matilda. “I can see the whole world in a different way. I’ll have

to hide it.”

“Why?,” asked Melanie. She frowned at the younger girl.

“The same reason you hide how smart you are,” said Matilda. She closed her eyes. “It

all makes so much sense. I think I need a lie down.”

“How do you feel, Number Two?,” asked Jack. He grabbed Matilda and lowered her

to the ground.

“Okay,” said Alicia. She clenched her fist. She fell into her sword fighting stance,

moving as if she was holding a sword in her closed hand. “The movement seems a

little smoother.”

“What did Matilda mean?,” said Angelica. She looked at Melanie. The older girl

pushed her dark hair back from her face as she stepped back.

“She’s pretending to be dumb,” said Alicia. She looked at her hands. She moved them

in figure eights. “So she can be lazy.”

“Is that true?,” asked Angelica. She didn’t look at Alicia for a facial cue. She knew

the other middle girl was stoic and neutral most of the time they were together.

Melanie backed up. She looked at the angry Angelica glaring at her, and the stoic

Alicia looking at her own hands as they moved through the air. Matilda was down on

the ground, drooling in the grass. She turned a little to face Jack.

“You don’t have to explain anything to us,” said Jack. He held out a hand. “It’s okay.

I wondered how you got so much better during the rematch. Everyone has secrets,

Mel. There’s no shame in keeping yours.”

“Everyone?,” said Angelica.

“Except maybe Matilda,” said Jack. He grinned at her. “She’s not old enough to have

secrets.”

“I should have known that anything that made Matilda smarter would cause her to

realize I have been hiding some things,” said Melanie. She frowned. “The cup was

probably the clue she needed to put everything together if she actually does remember

everything she saw and heard.”

“The cup?,” said Angelica. She didn’t hide her confusion.

“Hyouka,” said Alicia. “The lazy student called on to help his friends with their

problems.”

Jack nodded.

“I think that Jack’s right,” said Angelica. “Everyone has things they don’t want to talk

about because of the subject, or such. I am willing to let this go if you want,

Melanie.”

“What about you, Number Two?,” asked Jack.

“It’s not my concern,” said Alicia. “I’m Melanie’s sister, not her mother.”

“Do we keep this secret from Josie?,” said Jack. “It will be dangerous, but doable.”

The girls nodded almost in unison.

“She knows,” said Melanie. “Thank you for saying you would defy her for me.”

“I don’t know about defiance,” said Angelica. “But we’re not tattlers.”

“All right,” said Jack. “It’s going to take a bit to get used to the new sensory stuff.

We’ll get through dinner, and then you can sleep the rest of the effect off.”

“Mine doesn’t seem to work,” said Melanie. “I can feel the thing wanting to activate,

but it keeps sliding away.”

“You’re going to have to practice with it,” said Jack. “You might not have enough to

move anything bigger than a pebble.”

“Try a blade of grass,” said Angelica. She bent down and plucked piece of green from

the ground. She handed it over. “Try to move this.”

Melanie stared at the blade of grass in her hand. She held up her other hand so both

hands were at the same level. She closed her eyes. The blade fell into a hole just

above the palm of her hand, and out a hole over her other hand. She opened her eyes.

“You can move grass,” said Jack. “It looks like the experiment was a success.”

“All right,” said Angelica. “I have to get back to the kitchen and finish cooking.”

“Angelica, Alicia,” said Melanie. “Thank you for not saying anything.”

“You’re our sister,” said Angelica. “You were literally in the next room of the

dungeon when we were rescued. You voted to stay together with us. You have looked

out for us, even when you were complaining about the effort. We would never have

flown the first time if you hadn’t whined so much. Just don’t be so lazy in the future.

We’re still going to need your help.”

“Need you for our third try,” said Alicia.

“You’re going to have to work a little harder for that,” said Jack. He grinned at them.

“Let’s go downstairs, and at least put Matilda to bed so she can sleep off her sensory

change.”

“All right,” said Melanie. “I think you should explain things to Aviras.”

“That will be marvelous,” said Jack. He bent down and picked Matilda up. He shook

his head as he started for the stairs leading down into the Hangar.