Chương 78: Worth

Chris explained how we were surrounded on the trip back as best he could. With his powers, things like potential energy and all that are always objectively there, he can see the trajectory of things even if he doesn't know where they're coming from. At some point, he realized what he thought was just tree branches wavering in the moonlight were actually signs of three more trajectories. And when we left, he looked up and could see that on either side of the building we knew three men were on were two more men.

What bothered him was that he couldn't find the sixth, but he knew that he felt their presence.

"So there's a second person with powers there? Someone who turns invisible?" I asked.

"I... no. I don't think it was someone turned invisible. I think it was something that just couldn't be seen." This shit just keeps adding up. Wendy claimed there hadn't been any supervillains in decades. If these henches were around for so long, she was talking out of her ass and likely being lied to for a while. That, or these guys were just that efficient from experience. Both of these things seeped into me with great worry. More than I was ever used to.

A bunch of dimwitted dope-merchants scared of one guy turning their arms into pretzels was one thing, but these are experienced and hardened criminals-for-hire that I had certain legal limitations against. After confirming none of them were following us, we managed to make it back to the base. In the common area, it was May sitting at the kitchen island, reading, while Sam's kids were playing with... May's prosthetic foot.

It was a metal hook-looking device so it at least didn't look like they were playing with an amputated foot. Chris went off to go shower before I could even speak, which was fine by me. For once I wasn't stuck dealing with his enthusiasm. He could use a bit more grounding in reality. But I was still curious about that foot and I couldn't let the question just sit between my ears.

"There any reason they've uh... got your foot? And that they're here at all?" May looked up from her book.

"Nanny got sick and Sam's in a meeting. I was having a bad phantom limb episode, and taking the prosthesis off makes it feel better for some reason." Taking a seat across from her, forearms stretched over the kitchen island, I nodded.

"I see. What do you mean phantom limb, though, is it hurting?"

"Just... it feels like my foot's there and the prosthetic's stuck in it and it hurts. I know it's not there but my body's still not getting it." Under my skin ran a cold water as she uttered that.

"I... shit. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Didn't I already tell you no pity-parties? Frankly, it's a good sign that it's hurting, that my body still keeps making that screw-up. Means Lafeuillade should be able to actually bring it back, you know? That's what matters!" Another nod from me.

"Well, you're handling it better than most people. That's good."

"Yeah. It's... not really the first time I've dealt with something like this. I said before I was a gymnast. It was actually my Plan A, growing up. I was super nimble and I wanted to make the Olympics. So my dad started paying to train me, a lot of money." She properly faced me instead of just half-glancing at me, her eyes dead serious. I'd seen less intensity from an angry Tancred.

"I was good, Leo. I was doing shi-" She stopped, glancing over at the twins.

"-Stuff at eight years old that even teenaged Olympic prospects were struggling with. But, funnily enough, on the same ankle I'm missing now, I botched a flip. It went at a right angle and never recovered one hundred percent. I was still decently nimble, just, I couldn't push like I used to. I lost that skill." Made me think of Tancred's letter. Made me wonder if there was a second punchline to his recruiting choices. Billy said something about him liking people who felt remorse. Maybe it wasn't just about killers.

"But," she added, her fist lightly tapping the table.

"If my leg grows back, that injury isn't gonna be there. I can do everything at full pelt again. You've seen how fast I was when I just don't have to deal with my ankle hurting, Leo." She began beaming with excitement.

"Imagine what's gonna happen when I get its mobility back too. You're gonna have to be the one chasing me across those rooftops. I can't wait."

"What a way to look at it," I remarked, raising my eyebrows.

"That kind of foresight's why you're second, I guess." It kind of snagged me a little, for lack of better words. How could she be able to get over it while I couldn't?

"Leeeoo?" Small voice. Samuel's. My gaze shot over to him. He had at some point climbed up the stool to the kitchen island while his sister was still messing with May's prosthesis. I tried to avoid taking to Sam's kids. They didn't need a bad influence like me.

"What's up?" I asked in return, trying to keep my voice soft enough that maybe my words won't echo whatever's wrong with me into his head.

"Why don'tcha talk to mommy anymoooore?" Jesus. I shot a glance towards May, whose lips were tightly pursed as though she heard the kind of joke you don't say around grandmothers and small children. Never did tell her what Sam did. Wanted to avoid complicating things. My reward for avoiding complication, of course, had to be more complication.

"It's not that I don't, I just uh... we're both busy. We've discussed it, I promise."

"That's not what she said." He wasn't looking at me. He was just observing the room, arms posted on the surface of the island. That prompted raised eyebrows from both May and I.

"What'd she say?" She asked, inadvertently making it clear I wasn't getting out of this conversation.

"Well I had a bad dream and I went to go find mommy and mommy was in her lab crying and she was sayiiing 'Why can't we just talk?' and I know she talks to May and Chris and Jairooo." He wobbled about as he spoke like some kind of metronome, the emphasis in his words the same as a request for treats or telling you what color a stop sign was.

"So was she talking about you?" Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. I scoffed with an attempt at a fake laugh while May's gaze bored into me. She didn't look mad, but she was definitely concerned and curious. Blue eyes are the worst thing to be stared at with. Makes your neck tense up like it's trying to stop a noose from tying around it.

"It might be a misunderstanding. You want me to go talk with her right now?" He continued to sway side to side. I couldn't tell if he was deliberating or not.

"Hello? Earth to Sam?" Asked May, tapping his arm.

"Umm..." he trailed off, holding that "um" for a solid three, four seconds.

"Yeaaah." One really must wonder what makes a kid need to think that hard about a yes or no question. Unfortunately, I needed to get Shivvy actually examined and I couldn't keep holding it off. This was clearly some kind of opportunity calling collect.

"Okay. Is she having her meeting in her lab?" I asked, glancing towards May.

"Should be," she answered.

"If she's in the meeting, odds are high she needs to show off data and she can only do that from her lab." I nodded, before making my way out of common area and off to the lab. I opened the door quietly to try and avoid making my presence too known, so as to avoid interrupting the meeting. Sam's voice echoed in the room.

"I'm trying to explain we don't have the space for that. You know how big a laser interferometer has to be just to detect variances in a space of just a few angstroms? You know how unreliable just a few angstroms' worth of data is? Do you even know what an angstrom is?"

"Of course I do, I met the guy!" Casney's voice, with an almost jovial disregard for Sam's tone. I didn't know what an angstrom was and I didn't know it was a guy. They were clearly talking about something way out of my ballpark.

"Ignoring how horrifying that information is, do you understand how expensive that kind of technology is? The LIGO observatories that already have been made cost hundreds of millions of dollars! And it took four years to just put them together, and detection still isn't possible yet."

"How isn't it possible yet? They were buildin' those in the nineties!" I could hear Sam groan in frustration.

"They're not even done with calibration, the test run they did only finished in 2010 and produced nothing of note. The projections on it being able to make those kinds of detections is still firmly at Summer 2015 at the earliest! I get it, I can do miracle technology, this is not something that can be done large-scale and cheap."

"There's got to be some other way we can make the detections, Dr. Way." Tancred's voice came up.

"You're twisting her arm so hard it's gonna pop off. I'm already down one fucking limb with the New Sentinels, Casney, we can't afford another. Lay off." First time I'd ever seen Tancred actually advocating for us. Then again, knowing him, he was probably doing this more as an opportunity to scold Casney.

"Fiiiine, fine. I'm gonna get into a chat with those Swiss eggheads, see if maybe they have anythin' with that big stupid boom-tube of theirs that could be relevant. I'm certain you'd all enjoy a vacation to Europe!"

"Are you fucking kidding me, Casney?"

"I am absolutely not. Regardless, that's my own report on my own end. Anythin' new from either of ya' regardin' the boy's powers?" Sam's voice finally broke back in.

"Testing's been difficult since he only really talks to you two. I don't get many interview opportunities, so I'm stuck just reading his EEGs and vitals. He seems to have stabilized neurological activity, but it's not sustainable. There's moments where he's intentionally dipping into that dissociative state to get more out. There could be serious consequences if Tancred's intel is correct." Glad to know Tancred's letter wasn't private.

Shouldn't be trusting him with fucking anything, and here I was thinking I'd spill the beans to him about Shivvy. Casney's voice followed in.

"I see. I will put that on the dossier for next trainin' session. Now, I got a hot date with approximately seven different spies who are all convinced I'm givin' them precious information tonight so I will have to end our meetin' here. Take care you two!"

"I hope to God one of them finally figures out how to kill you, Casney." Tancred blurted out.

"Better have tried!" Some sort of sound played afterwards, followed by an echoing sigh in the lab. Meeting was over. I took a deep breath before making my descent down the stairs, arms dangling at my sides since I couldn't exactly put my hands in my pockets. Risked disturbing Shivvy. With how long he'd been napping, he'd definitely want to eat if I woke him up.

"God, I hate them both so much," I could hear her saying. Well. It was an opening.

"Preaching to the choir," I affirmed as I made my final step. I could see her flinching away from her desk as she saw me.

"Oh-" She started, taking a step back.

"Leo-" Another step back.

"I haven't gone out and gotten any more food for Shivvy bec-""I'm not here about Shivvy."

"Oh, I-""Well. I kind of am. But Samuel asked me to talk to you, so here I am." That didn't seem to lower her guard, only stopping her retreating steps so there was a table between us. I was lucky I was used to that kind of alienation.

"Then, what?" Sam asked, trying to straighten her posture up. I shook my head.

"Just wanted to do what he asked me to so he wouldn't keep asking about it. I know you also need to actually research Shivvy materially. I'm in with the HenchNet and the time I'm spending undercover should be enough for you to take care of that." Reaching into my pocket, I finally woke the little mass of liquid metal up and let him coil up my arm before slinking over one shoulder.

"Small," I said, catching his ball form out of the air. With a gentle toss, I sent him flying off to Sam. She couldn't catch him, instead having to pick him up from the floor.

"He's got that word and L-O-N-G, that turns him into a stick about my height. Give him a squeeze and he turns back to normal. Haven't managed to teach him anything else yet, he's got a bit too much of a personality of his own for that." Sam closely observed the metal ball in her hands, nodding.

"Okay, I guess. He's a lot lighter than you'd think with all of his mass packed into a small size. I've got a few options I can go over to at least give you the basics on how he works." I nodded, turning to make my way back to the stairs.

"Hey, uh-" she started.

"What?"

"How much of that meeting did you hear?"

"Nothing I really give a shit about." Without any further words, I made my way out of her lab and to my room to get myself some measure of privacy, and to check to see if I'd received the invitation yet. Going through my phone, I discovered a notification for a group called "Virginia Laborial Circle" which just had a picture of the state flag. Accepting it, I could immediately look through the group. Lots of posts.

Most of them were vague statements, or things like Big Balls commenting on having barbecues and such on certain dates. Almost felt like a farce. Just a performance by a bunch of losers. But I had to give it a shot, see if I could start making my mark. One post, from ten minutes ago, caught my eye. Looking for some help with some easy labor this weekend. Lot of standing around. Easy $$$. First five to message get it. Was an opportunity and I wasn't going to miss it.

I sent my message out inquiring about the job, lying down with the dogs to catch the fleas.