6:31 P.M.
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Already in the car, Adam buckled up, and before starting the engine, and just in case, he waited for his body to get over the tingling that the electric shocks had left in his muscles after the jumps. The relationship between his body and the electronic equipment had improved; what did it mean to lose a couple of seconds if with that he bought the certainty of knowing that nothing bad would happen?
Then, he laughed at the thought that just two weeks ago his biggest concern had been that a freighter boat would be stranded in a foreign port with the company’s purchases, or that his casual lover wouldn’t leave the loft before the bells toll for his visit to the toilet. Now the challenge was to experience impossible things every day and survive the experience.
On the way home, Malin felt the wound on her shoulder, making sure the gauze didn’t come off. Adam caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye and veered around the next corner.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To the hospital,” he said.
“No!”
“You have to see a doctor,” he insisted.
“I said no!”
“Alright, alright.” Adam raised a hand in a truce and started back toward his apartment. “Damn! What a temper!”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “But I’m fine. I need to rest for a while, that’s all.”
Adam shot her a suspicious look. “What are you afraid of?”
She looked back at him. “What’s that?”
“I thought you didn’t wanna go to the hospital because of your… fugitive status,” he said, “but I think it’s something else. Your rulers are far from here; you do not hide from them but from someone else.”
Malin gave the same enigmatic chuckle as before. “Sharp, huh? You’re definitely Juzo’s brother.”
“Are you hiding from the android? Or from the mercenaries?”
“Broga doesn’t worry me, and the mercenaries are on the other side of the ocean,” she replied.
Adam drummed his fingers against the steering wheel.
“Aha! So, other vultures are hovering nearby, huh?”
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“There are,” Malin said, “but trust me, they are my problem and mine only.”
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“What will you do now?” Adam asked her as they got into the elevator into the Carter Building.
“I promised Juzo that if something happened to him, I would take care of you,” Malin confessed.
Adam smiled wryly. “Take care of me? What, are you expecting to be my bodyguard?”
“I wouldn’t put it that way. More like a watcher, a…”
“…Guardian?” Adam’s eyes sent a clear message to Malin: ‘You are not welcome.’
“Don’t worry,” she answered, “Juzo’s idea was that you have protection against any threat, even if he was no longer present. But now that you have your own… powers, you don’t need me. I will disappear from your life as soon as I know you’re doing fine and you’re safe.”
“I’m doing fine and I’m safe,” he hastened to say.
The elevator doors opened, and they moved toward the loft entrance.
“Let’s make a deal that will be beneficial to both of us,” Malin said. “You’ll train with me; I’ll help you handle your fire, and when you are ready to defend yourself, I’ll go. What do you say?” She raised her eyebrows, making a gesture as if she were offering Adam the bargain of his life. “I’ll have kept my promise to Juzo, and I’ll have a clear conscience, and you’ll do whatever you want.”
Adam snorted. “Are you sure Eddanians are the only ones willing to trick one with unfavorable transactions?” The idea of training was not to his liking, much less if he thought he would have her bossing him around.
“Think about it,” Malin insisted. “If we do it, after a while, you won’t have to see my face and I won’t have to see yours.”
Adam curled his lips, though he didn’t know whether to turn them into a smile or a sour grin.
“Train to control the mess I’ve become,” he muttered.
The proposal didn’t tempt him in the least. How much skill would someone need to drop an energy bomb or fly? All right, he’d set his pants on fire and burned his thigh, and he’d also blown a hole in the ceiling. But what the hell would he need to control his powers for if he didn’t plan on using them? Those white flames terrified him, and the experience of flying he had had with Juzo and those thrusters, contrary to what he had always fantasized about, had turned out to be frightening as hell.
He wasn’t a soldier like Malin, or his brother had been, nor would he be. Yes, there were a thousand things that didn’t click in his head, yet he saw no reason to use his powers. He was determined to reclaim his former lifestyle. The moment he was certain there would be no more involuntary energy leaks, that he would not inadvertently hurt someone, and that he would not expose himself to the eyes of others, revealing himself as a lab phenomenon, the same carefree Adam from a few weeks ago would go back to his old habits as if nothing had happened.
But that memory returned to his mind: Juzo on his knees in Liberty Park, badly injured from trying to protect him, and that whirlwind of shame and responsibility marred his countenance again.
“Okay,” he said reluctantly. “I’ll do it for Juzo.”
Then he opened the door, and when he activated the light switch, everything remained in darkness. Damn! Did he just burn the circuit? Had the peace between him and the electronic systems lasted so short? Tried the lamp in the living room and nothing. There were no sparks, no electrical crackling; the switches just didn’t work. It was as if there had been a blackout, but only inside his loft; the light in the external corridor was still on.
Perhaps the apartment’s central fuses had blown.
Or perhaps someone had sabotaged them.