Deen and I walked inside the atrium of our secret hideout.
In the center of the room was a table with a circular cake in the middle. It was split into two halves - a vanilla half and a chocolate half. Paper plates, napkins, and sodas were to the side. The rest of the team except Dario was already here.
“Happy birthday girls!” Reo said.
“It’s not their birthday,” Myra sternly said. Her arm had regenerated fully.
“Oh oops, why did we get the cake again?” Reo asked. Myra sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”
“Hi Erind and Deen,” Myra waved at us.
“Hey guys,” Deen said.
“Hi,” I meekly waved.
We said our hellos to the rest of the group. I really wanted to have the cake, but we had to wait until Dario arrived. It would be pretty weird to celebrate without our “leader”.
Soon after, Dario came by.
“Hey guys, sorry I’m late,” he said. “I had a meeting call with the professor.”
“You should have brought him over,” Johann said. “My friend makes really good cakes.”
“Yeah, that looks delicious, but unfortunately he’s staying at work for now,” Dario replied. “It would also be best if he doesn’t get seen with anyone here.”
“If he came here, some in the BID might get suspicious right?” I asked.
“Indeed,” he said. “He’d already risking himself by giving us Artificial Cores. I’d rather not risk him any further.”
“More cake for the rest of us, I guess,” Reo said.
Johann grabbed a knife and started cutting each half of the cake into multiple slices.
“Oh, guys,” Deen said.
“Yeah Deen?” Dario asked.
“Erind can make another clone,” she said.
“Wait really?” Myra asked.
“Come on, show them,” Deen said to me.
I really should be the one taking the initiative with explaining my new powers. Not Deen. I was planning on waiting until after we ate the cake. The timing just felt better to do it that way. Also, I was playing on my phone with my 2nd clone. Ugh. I guess I’ll stop playing and bring her here.
SpookyErind unsummoned herself.
“Sure thing,” I said as I had my 2nd clone unsummon herself. Now I had the sensation of two orbs in my left hand.
I held out my left hand and focused on summoning. An embroidered mask formed from floating gold liquid. But this one only had one symbol of an Artificial Core. Does that mean I can only summon clones in the order I got them? That was stupid.
SpookyErind’s mask floated over to the left side as I focused on summoning the 2nd clone. The mask that formed had two identical symbols of Artificial Cores right next to each other in the center of the forehead. SpookyErind appeared as a normal Erind clone as my 2nd clone’s mask floated over to the right. In an instant, my 2nd clone appeared, causing its mask to vanish.
“Impressive,” Dario said. “Can it also transform like your other clone?”
“Yeah,” I said. I had my 2nd clone bring out her left hand and focus on summoning her Ento face. Well, it was actually goggles, but in a sense, it was a face.
She put the goggles on, and everyone else seemed to get bigger from her perspective. Wow, being short really sucks. As a kid, sometimes I would get surrounded by a bunch of adults when Mom dragged me around. One day, I told myself that I was going to grow as tall as Mom and probably be taller than some of them. Unfortunately, it seemed the world had a vendetta against me because I was nowhere near as tall as Mom. Maybe I should just wear really tall heels like her. Nah, that still wouldn’t put me anywhere near her normal height.
“Your clone just turned into a kid scientist,” Myra said. Uh, that was kind of obvious. Maybe her arm injury extended to her head. But her arm already regenerated. Then she was just a stupid bitch. And she sure was for attacking me.
“Maybe she can help do your med school homework,” Reo said. “Ouch!” Myra punched him in the shoulder.
“So your 2nd clone doesn’t keep the same clothes as your 1st clone?” Dario asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I mean, my normal clothes wouldn’t fit on her anyways.”
“Good point,” he said. He took a look at the syringes sticking out of my 2nd clone’s apron. “Do those syringes do anything?”
“I’m not sure,” I lied. It’d be really awkward if I revealed my experiments with them. “But, I don’t think it’s a good idea to test it on anyone that’s not an enemy. I just have a bad feeling about it.”
“I understand,” he said. “Regardless, it’s like we have a new member to the team.” We all laughed.
“All right, let’s celebrate with some cake!” Johann said. “A slice for everyone.” I took off my 2nd clone’s goggles, and she grew in height. Everyone was still taller than me though. I internally grumbled. Maybe Johann will let me eat three slices.
“Can each of my clones also have a slice?” I asked.
“Sure,” Johann said.
“Hey! That’s not fair,” Reo said. “Why does she get more than one slice?”
“You shouldn’t be having more than one slice anyway,” Myra said, pointing at his belly. It was pretty weird since unlike the rest of us, Reo seemed the least fit. But I guess because of his powers he didn’t need to be fighting directly with the Adumbrae.
“That’s also not fair,” Reo replied.
“Maybe each of your fairies could get a slice,” I suggested.
“Good idea!” Reo said as he instantly kneeled and prepared to summon.
“Don’t give him those ideas,” Myra said as she rolled her eyes and picked him up. “I don’t want to see him summon - it’ll ruin my appetite.”
“Hey, I’m not actually restricting you guys to one slice each,” Johann said. “Nobody’s going to get in trouble if you have more than one slice.”
“Thanks man,” Reo said. Johann nodded as he started giving out cakes to all of us.
I had my main body and my 2nd clone each grab a slice of cake. SpookyErind also grabbed one. We all started eating it and were met with the sweet taste of the extra creamy vanilla cream. Okay, I’ll have to say, Johann’s baker friend makes really good cakes. How did they make the cream so good? I’ll have to ask for the recipe. Maybe I should take up making sweets as a hobby.
As we were chewing the cake, I was reminded of the vanilla ice cream taste of the humans I ate on Saturday night. This cake was way sweeter than that. Was there a way to make the humans taste sweeter? I’d probably just be covering them in sweeter cream. That sounds like too much work.
Hopefully, I’d be able to experience that soon. There was just something good about having complete control over the life of a puny creature. In a sense, that was what humans were to me. I was both an Adumbrae and a Corebring. Of course, I wouldn’t just go around attacking innocent people. Rule #4 prevented me from doing that. I imagine if I just went on a killing spree of innocent people, the BID and the Corebrings would soon be after me.
On the other hand, if I just experiment on those who bother me like the 2Ms, then I’d easily get away with it. What were the BID or Corebrings going to do? Get upset that I’m killing their enemy? Actually, they might just attack me for being an Adumbrae. Still, the point stands. Rule #4 was a necessary measure to Rule #8. I can kill myself only after I have killed everybody else. The probability I’d be able to kill everybody else was pretty low, so it was important to not attract attention so I could maximize my chances of not dying.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Speaking of Corebrings, I wondered how it would be to eat some of my teammates after stabbing them with the ant syringe. Actually, wouldn’t they still have their superpowers if I shrunk them? To be fair, the only one I would ever intend on shrinking is Myra. What would vanilla-flavored tree bark taste like? Vanilla, obviously.
She could still stab me with those spikes of hers. I don’t think it’d be a good idea to eat her like that. It’d be like eating a cactus. Not that I’ve ever eaten a cactus.
After that, I finished my cake. We were still celebrating. SpookyErind was hanging out with Deen. She was still too touchy-feely with her. I also wasn’t interested in any of their conversations. May as well get to know some of my teammates. Generally, I’d find interacting with other people to be draining, but I was in a good mood after tasting so much cake. And after all, knowledge is power. Furthermore, I would be presenting a face to them, so they wouldn’t be learning as much as I would about them, giving me way more power. If I gave them fake knowledge, does that mean they get fake power?
I walked my main body over to Myra and Johann. Meanwhile, I had my 2nd clone go to Reo and Everett.
“Hey Erind,” Reo said.
“Hello,” Everett said, staring at Deen, who was still talking to SpookyErind about nonsense on the other side of the room.
“Hi guys,” I said.
“Dude, you got to stop staring at hot girls when other girls are talking to you,” Reo said to Everett.
“Hey, you’re supposed to be backing me up,” Everett said. “Sorry about that Erind.”
“No, it’s fine,” I said with my 2nd clone. “I’m used to being the third wheel when it comes to Deen anyways.”
“Third wheel?” Everett asked. He was intrigued. Now was an excellent time to mess with him.
“Yeah, there’s this dude called Adrian she hangs out with a lot,” I said. “Sometimes, I just get let out. But I understand. She probably has a crush on him.”
“Looks like you got competition,” Reo said to Everett.
Everett sighed. It was funny to break the hopes and dreams of other people. And it was funny to do it in a way that didn’t seem mean.
“Really?” he asked.
“Yeah, actually, I think they might have gone on a date once,” I said. “They had it like a couple of weeks ago at the Sanders mall.” Everett cringed when I brought up that name. While I didn’t know if Deen actually went on a date, and I doubt if she would tell me, it was fun to assume. It was also the place that Everett burned down and felt guilty about it. As they say, killing two birds with one stone.
Reo looked at him.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure there are other girls that are in your league,” Reo said.
“It’s not about that,” Everett said.
“You sure?” Reo said. “As my mom said, got to be open to all the girls.”
“I hope your girlfriend hasn’t heard you say that,” Everett cringed.
“It works!” Reo said. “Try your charms on Myra first.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s more interested in Johann,” Everett said.
“How about Erind then?” Reo asked. What the fuck?
“Umm…” I murmured. Unlike Reo, Everett was pretty fit. I could see his chest muscles through his T-shirt. Of course, while many girls may find that attractive, I didn’t. I wasn’t really romantically interested in anybody.
“You can’t just do that!” He panicked. “She’s right here. Sorry about him Erind.”
“It’s fine,” I shrugged.
“Hey, I was just trying to be your wingman!” Reo said.
“Fine,” Everett said. “Hey Erind, would you like to go out for some coffee?”
“Actually, I don’t drink coffee,” I said. I drink tea instead. “Nice try though.” I also didn’t want to try and fake a relationship with him. He’d probably be too focused on Deen for me to manipulate him and eventually break his heart.
He faced palm and Reo laughed.
Meanwhile, my main body was having a bit more of a productive conversation with Myra and Johann.
“So, how’s med school going?” I asked.
“It’s going okay I guess,” she said. “I’m surprised I’m still able to keep up with studying even while doing all of this.”
“That’s definitely impressive,” I said. It wasn’t actually. I’ve had way more shit thrown at me, so I’m juggling way more than she is. Hmm, I should learn to actually juggle.
“I just hope we’re able to find the Red Island soon so we can save Kelsey,” she said. Oh right, we still need to save her sister. But if she’s an Adumbrae, how could we save her? It’s not like there was much we could do. Just like me. SpookyErind was taking over my body and my clones from my Corebring power.
Wait a minute. I could still control my 2nd clone. So why was SpookyErind able to control my first one? Did she just let me control the 2nd one on my own? I never really paid attention to that fact. I should learn more about Adumbrae takeovers. Sadly, most of that stuff was confidential.
“Wait, so Johann over here has access to a bunch of AIU files right?” I asked. The Adumbrae Intelligence Unit. It was originally part of the FBI before it got its own agency.
“Yeah, but nothing has come up on the Red Island,” he said. “I’ve been also trying some hacking on some of the 2M’s outposts we’ve encountered, but nothing on the Red Island was there either.”
“Wait, you can hack?” I asked. I think that was mentioned before, but honestly, I forgot if it was. I didn’t really find him important. “I think that might have been mentioned before, but we haven’t really interacted so I forgot.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Learned the skill in my free time. I originally was planning on being a cybersecurity pentester before joining the AIU.” I had no idea what a pentester was. Do they deal with pens? But that didn’t make sense. What do pens have to do with cybersecurity.
“A cybersecurity pentester?” I asked.
“Oh!” he said. “Somebody who hacks systems to make sure they’re secure. Basically a good hacker.” Okay, that made a lot more sense than something to do with pens.
“Ah, I get it now,” I said. “Maybe we should give you an actual code name. Hacking may as well be a superpower.”
Johann and Myra both chuckled.
“Maybe so,” he said. “Got any ideas?”
“Cyberman?” I said.
“Erm, maybe not that,” he said. I couldn’t think of any cool hacking names at the moment. But since Johann was always acting as our main driver and info-getter, I could do a name around that.
“How about Mission Control, or MC for short?” I asked. “Since you basically drive our van - our control center during missions. Oh wait, Everett already has that name.” It was more of Em-cee, but the pronunciation was the same.
“I like the idea though,” he said.
“Maybe something like Headquarters, or HQ?” I asked.
“Short and simple,” he said. “I like it. HQ it is.”
I was establishing a friendly face with everyone here. In the case that anyone here I found out I was an Adumbrae, they’d be less likely to fight with me. There have been many such cases of people letting their friends and family get away with being an Adumbrae. Wasn’t it funny? They all detested Adumbrae, but when it came to the people close to them, they flipped on a quarter. Or was it a dime?
“All right everyone,” Dario said. “I have a briefing for our next mission.”
We all gathered in a circle around a new TV monitor in our secret base. Apparently, Reo, Everett, and Johann helped installed it. A laptop was connected to the side of it. On the screen was the picture of a woman with beautiful olive skin and silver hair in a fashionable bob cut. She had facial features that were sharp yet delicate, including high, well-defined cheekbones. Curiously she had silver pupils that matched her hair.
“After what happened last week, the 2M’s have been laying low,” Dario pointed out. “Unfortunately, Johann hasn’t been able to get any info about them. However, the Professor has given me information about a new potential customer of the 2Ms. Bianca Eleanor Ceressa.”
“Wow, she’s hot,” Reo hooted. “Wait, a minute, I feel like I’ve seen her before. Was it on TV?”
“She’s definitely popular,” Dario said. “She has her own TV show - the Bianca Travel Diaries.”
“Oh, I remember seeing that!” Reo said.
“You watch this stuff?” Myra said grudgingly.
“I only see it when I flip through the channels. I don’t actually watch her show.”
“So, Bianca’s a TV star?” I asked.
“Not just a TV star,” Dario said. “She also is the daughter of Mario Ceressa, a luxury hotel baron. And there’s also the Royal Ceressa Cruise lines. Their family has a lot of power and influence. But what was most interesting was their recent investments in the bio-augmentronics industry. Perhaps they were seeking to extend their lifespans, and the 2M’s came offering their services.”
“Those silver eyes definitely look creepy,” Myra said.
“Augments,” Johann said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s trying to get a stronger body.”
“No, it’s actually contacts,” Reo said. We all looked at him. “She talked about it in her fashion show.”
“So you really watched her show!” Myra sneered.
“Bianca said she’s against any type of augmentation. It’s definitely odd that she’s a prospective customer for the 2M’s.”
Maybe that was just a face. Similar to me. Tell the public you don’t believe in augmentation, and then secretly get Adumbrae powers in private.
“Yeah, but their finances indicate otherwise,” Dario said. “Furthermore, I trust the Professor on this.” He moved to a video of two bodyguards standing next to Bianca.
“Oh! That’s Zachary and Xazary. Fraternal twins with awesome names,” he said.
“You really pay this much attention to her?” Myra said folding her arms.
“Actually, I was just preparing for this mission in advance,” Reo chuckled. “Anyways, according to some unofficial sources online from an unofficial forum that I definitely don’t browse on the regular, they’re both augmented and enhanced to the legal boundaries. Steroids and performance-enhancing drugs galore are pumped into them.”
“The Professor’s sources also state that their bio-augmentronics might even rival Jim’s Ambroses,” Dario said. Jim Ambrose. That name sounded familiar. Where did I hear that? Didn’t Dario mention that Jim cut off his leg? I swear I heard that name somewhere else.
At the docks! That augment guy stunned me and blew up when I was in my Red Hood form. If he was really that easy to kill, then I should have no problem dealing with these two.
“So, what’s our plans?” Johann asked.
“We should probably get close to her and find information about the Red Island,” Dario said. “She’s probably in the city, so Myra can disguise herself and–”
“Me?” she asked. “Also, you want me to dress up and befriend to her?”
“I’ll do it if you don’t want to!” It was obvious who that was.
“Wait, it’s just the brainstorming phase,” he said.
Everyone but me and Deen started bickering. Should I speak up? I wasn’t the type to argue over others. But then, Deen raised her hand, and everyone stopped talking. Was this another superpower of hers? I should get that.
“I have a plan. I’ve actually seen Bianca in person at a party last week. Since she’s in the city, if we just find out where’s she going - like a restaurant - then I could try befriending her. We don’t personally know each other, but we share common friends, so it’ll be easy to strike up a conversation.”
“Could you also get her autograph?” Reo asked. Myra facepalmed.
“But the 2Ms already know your face,” Dario said. “They tried capturing you and Erind.”
“I agree with Deen,” I said, interjecting. Time to stand up for my best friend. Ew. “She already has her guardian angel, so she’d be able to get out of harm’s way. And since she has the most connections to Bianca, she’d be the best to do it.”
“Yeah,” Deen agreed. “And Bianca doesn’t even know who we are either. So we should be fine.”
“I’m not so sure about this,” Everett said.
“Yeah,” Myra said.
“I could go with Deen,” I said. “I can use my clones to tell you guys what’s going on, and then summon them to me if the 2M’s decide to attack us. That way, Deen will be extra safe.”
“Thanks Erind,” she said. “I’d be happy to have you with me. With both of our powers, we should be able to get out of this alive.” I was surprised by her answer - I expected her to reject me since she wanted me to be safe. What was going on inside her head?
“All right, that sounds like a plan,” Dario said. “Everyone agree?” Everyone nodded.
“Let’s do this,” Deen said.