Sidekick

by Carl Stubblefield

  The next day, the woman gave her the card and shooed her out the door, pointing to the list. The girl had to pull her by the hand and get her to come with her. The woman didn’t understand that tokencards worked on someone’s unique DNA fingerprint and the owner must hold onto the card when paying. It did no good to steal anyone’s card.

  The woman and girl went together the first couple times, but being out in the foreign environment was very uncomfortable for her. She corrected the shopkeeper when he tried to overcharge them, and he scowled at her and threatened to kick the little girl out.

  “We can just take our business to the other market on Sixth, it’s just as close,” she said defiantly. The clerk abruptly stopped complaining and rang up the rest of the groceries, muttering under his breath.

  The girl began calling the woman ‘Auntie’ and their arrangement was worked out through pantomime and gestures. Eventually, Auntie became more and more reclusive, so they would go to one of the cash kiosks and pull out money. Then the little girl could shop alone.

  Auntie never seemed to worry that the girl would run off with all of her money, though she easily could have. By then, though, they had a comfortable routine. The girl would handle the bills and Auntie had access to the money and would cook for the pair.

  The girl happily made sure the electricity stayed on and the rent was paid, even though she didn’t like how much someone was charging for the crude construction of sheet metal and bare wiring. Still, it kept the heat in and the girl wouldn’t trade it. A month in the elements was enough for her.

  After living with Auntie for a year, the girl began to notice strange things about herself. It started when she was very happy or very angry. She would begin to see tiny greenish-tinged sparks appear near her fingertips. There were only about five or six at a time, but they scared her. She really didn’t know what was happening to her.

  One time after they had made the monthly money run, Cass had made a quick shopping trip. Someone must have been watching because they thought she had the full amount with her. The girl only took barely enough to pay for what they needed for just that reason. The rest they kept hidden in a coffee can under one of the loose metal plates in the floor, covering the plate with one of the couch legs.

  When she had turned off the main street on her way to the store, a teenage boy grabbed Cass. He wanted the money and she gave him what she had, hoping to avoid him hurting her. He clutched at her wrist harder and began to lift the small girl off the ground and shake her a little, demanding the rest. He didn’t accept that was all she had.

  The sparks appeared and the girl shouted, “Stop!” Her hands burst into fizzling showers of sparks and the teen had to let go of her as the sparks burned into his hands and arms. As he let go, she pointed her free hand at his face and sparks puffed at him like confetti. He ran off, covering his eyes and wailing.

  As soon as it started, the sparks guttered out and were gone. The girl had no idea what had happened, and looked around, making sure no one had seen. The boy had dropped the money in the confusion and the girl scrambled to pick it all up before the wind blew it away. One or two bills blew away, but she still had enough to get most things on the list.

  The girl played with the ability in secret from then on, trying to consciously bring it up, but it was intermittent and unreliable. Some days she could do it with ease, others it was like she had imagined the whole thing. Emotion really was the only reliable trigger for her.

  Around that same time, Cass began teaching Auntie some English. Over time she learned Auntie came to America to get married. Her husband was very old though, and died soon after she arrived. From what she described, Cass understood that she inherited his money.

  The lawyers, knowing she couldn’t do anything about it, gave her the minimum they could and kicked her off the property. She was all alone in a foreign country with no idea on the customs. If it weren’t for her opportune meeting of Cass, she would have been drained dry from dishonest people fairly quickly.

  From there, the video sped up and Gus saw the day Auntie disappeared. Then the vision faded.

  Gus sat stunned at what he had seen. “Aurora, I never knew. What happened to Auntie?” He looked over and she was biting her lip, her eyes red and uncertain.

  “I guess that once she learned enough to communicate, she figured she didn’t need me anymore and left without a trace. I still don’t know what happened to her. I ran into Rory that same day and he recruited me into the academy.”

  “Do you think they somehow arranged for her to be gone? That seems to be too close to be a coincidence,” Gus asked suspiciously.

  “No. I don’t think they would have tried to recruit me if I hadn’t used my powers to defend myself. Auntie abandoning me just helped make the decision for me; the academy was really the only option if I didn’t want to be homeless again. Life got dramatically better for me in pretty much every way after, though. So I don’t blame supers for the problem. The worst times of my life were before that, as you have seen.”

  Gus had thought he had it hard, but felt ashamed at seeing her perspective. His life had been relatively good, and he was at a loss for words.

  “It seems to me that it’s not just supers that have problems, but a lot of people suck in general—regs too,” Aurora said.

  “So that’s how you got your powers. My family never talked about the how. It was always a big secret.”

  “Well, now you know all my dirty secrets, whether I like it or not.”

  “If anything it impresses me even more, to be honest.”

  “What, that a dirty homeless girl got to be a super?”

  “No. That you did it without getting bitter and angry at all the people who should have been there for you—but weren’t. I would be sorely tempted to get some payback in my own less-traumatic-life-by-comparison if I wasn’t stuck on this island.” Gus shrugged his slumped shoulders.

  “Well, thanks, I guess. I still would have preferred Daphne kept that private,” Aurora whispered.

  “I’m glad I know, and I won’t tell anyone, if that makes you more comfortable.”

  “You better not. I’m trusting you. When I was in the academy, there were rumors that went around. Do you even call them rumors if they’re true? I acted like I didn’t know what people were talking about, and over time they just went away. That life seemed like it had happened to someone else after a while.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  “So can you see why I kind of bonded with your mom?” Aurora leaned forward.

  “Yeah. I’ve been remembering more and more about her lately. What else can you tell me?” Gus peered intently at Aurora, eager for any more he could learn.

  “One thing I remember is that she was very persuasive. I remember that she cowed these strength-build Minmax supers. She was very tolerant of most things but foul language was her pet peeve. I don’t know what she said or did, but they never spoke like that around her. She never raised her voice or made a scene.”

  “The little I do remember of her makes me feel good.”

  “Have you ever thought about going back? Why don’t you call your dad? I know he could send some reinforcements, or give you some advice.”

  “That’s a hard no. I don’t think I’m ready yet. I’m sure he’ll look at how I’ve developed my skills and allocated my points, and pick them apart. ‘Why didn’t you focus on this skill? So many points into that stat?’ Even talking about it, I can feel his disapproval.” Gus scrunched his nose in disgust.

  “I never got that impression. He’s actually one of the better generals. Sure, he expects you to keep your commitments, but he’s not as rude and dismissive as most of the others—”

  A flashing light warned of more supers approaching.

  “So soon?” Aurora asked.

  “Of course they are, let’s go.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Doucheworm Attacks!

  Gus and Aurora ran to the beach and saw a large super wit
h a gold breastplate patterned after some Greek warrior standing on a hovering dais a hundred feet off shore.

  “Ah, nice of you to finally wake up and join me.”

  “Who is this douche?” Gus quietly asked Aurora.

  “This is the psychopath who kept me prisoner for a month. His name is Basileus.”

  “Your name is Bacillus? Like bacteria? What the heck are your powers? Infection?” Gus yelled to the dais.

  Basileus looked taken aback, never having anyone criticize his name before. “No, Bass-IH--lay-us,” he articulated carefully into the microphone amplifying his voice. “It means king or emperor—I… I don’t have to explain myself to you!” he stammered, getting irritated at the interruption in his well-planned monologue.

  “Coming by yourself? Probably not the wisest course of action,” Gus taunted as he slowly began to hover above the ground, ready to charge.

  “Don’t bother trying to reach me—actually, I take that back. I wouldn’t mind seeing you splatter against the shields.” Gus relaxed and let himself drop down to the ground. Basileus gave him a golf clap. “So you can be entreated. Good. I came to discuss your surrender.”

  Before Gus could think of a retort, the pompous super turned. “Aurora, nice to see you again. I’m surprised you didn’t like our accommodations in the Manticorps sewers; I’ve heard you came from the slums. I thought you would be right at home there.”

  “Hey,” Gus said with dawning recognition. “Are you the guy from the station who throws lava balls?” Gus shook a finger at Basileus. “Yeah, I think you’re the guy.”

  “Lava balls? No! Why does everyone think that? They’re plasma. Plasma! Does no one know science? It’s a fourth fundamental state of matter. People know solids, gases, and liquids; how do they not know plasma? It’s ionized gas. Why is that so hard to comprehend?”

  “Is that it? Sorry, I didn’t know you were so sensitive about your balls,” Gus yelled back.

  The pilot of the dais-craft could be seen chuckling and Basileus threw him a warning look.

  Visibly flustered, Basileus blurted, “Aurora, I hope you don’t expect any help. I found your little hidey hole and I stopped the burst transmission. I’m sure you sent a distress call piggybacked on it, waiting for when we got in position under the satellite. Well, forget it! No one is coming, you’re all alone! I’m giving you two the chance to leave here quietly because you’re not worth my time. I know you’re the only ones left on the island. You have one day.”

  He hit the display, turning off the speaker, and motioned for the pilot to maneuver the dais back to their own camp.

  They watched the ship disappear to the northeast, contemplating what had just happened.

  “Is he serious?” Gus asked, looking stunned.

  “Don’t underestimate him, he’s kind of insane.”

  “How does he know we’re the only ones here?”

  “We should have had some of the decoys meet us outside. They will probably be less effective now. His transmission would have been sent to everyone at the manor. It’s not too far a leap when only two of us show up. I should have thought of that before.” Aurora tapped her lips, trying to remember anything else she had overlooked.

  “He’s fun to mess with, I know that. I guess he is crazy if he thinks I’m just going to give up the manor. Do you have any idea what is here that everyone wants so badly?”

  She motioned and they walked back up the beach to the manor. “I spent so much time looking through facilities upgrades, and I came up empty. There’s nothing out of the ordinary. I searched by highest FP cost for anything that seemed out of the ordinary and worked my way down. Nothing popped out to me. I honestly wonder if it wasn’t all just an exaggerated story that kept getting bigger as it got passed along. Don’t get me wrong, the manor is awesome as a base, but it’s not that different than what I’ve seen at Purple Faction, just that the manor is stacked vertically instead of being a large compound.”

  “No, I don’t buy it,” Gus said, pushing the call button for the elevator. “My gut says there’s something unique here, and he’s not getting it. That reminds me, let me check on something before training.”

  “Will you be long?”

  “I’m just going to phone a friend, and I’ll meet you down there.”

  “Sure, I have things to practice,” she said as they entered the elevator. She stepped off at the arena’s floor and Gus waved as the doors closed again.

  “See you in a bit,” Gus called as the doors closed and he headed to the control center to call Dave again. He picked up on the first ring.

  “Gus, how have things been?”

  “I’m still alive.”

  “I had no doubts, brother. Tell me about what powers you have now.”

  Gus caught Dave up on the battles and new powers he had acquired.

  “I think you’re more powerful than a lot of supers we used to work for! Good job, man!” he said.

  “Yeah, we used to work for some losers though.”

  “‘Tis true, but I’m kind of partial to staying alive. The powerful ones are always fighting and expect their henchmen to do the same. I ain’t no fodder!”

  “Dave, I am your fodder!” Gus said with a Darth Vader intonation.

  Dave laughed. “Then can I borrow twenty bucks? What else is going on? Have you unlocked anything cool in the manor?”

  “Actually, I haven’t told you about Aurora yet, have I?”

  “Wait, that sounds like a girl’s name. It’s not some weird robot slave girlfriend, is it? Gus, you dog!”

  “Calm down, hornball. She’s a super that I worked with on the station. She stowed away with the supers attacking me after she escaped their prison. She’s been helping me ever since.”

  “Is she hot?”

  “Look her up, you have the holonet. She’s Purple Faction.”

  “Hold on.”

  Gus could hear keys clacking over the connection.

  “Dayum, dayum, dayum! Dude! You’re making me jealous. She looks a little serious though. She’s not one of those uptight prissy supers, is she?”

  “She’s pretty chill.”

  “You like her, dude! I can tell. Have you made a move?”

  “It’s not like that—”

  “Don’t BS a BS-er. Just sprout some balls and ask her.”

  “Dude! I need her help. I don’t want to make everything all weird by hitting on her. What if she’s just nice, and I screw things up by being all clingy? Besides, she said she hated it at the academy when guys just saw her as a potential girlfriend.”

  “You’re gonna get friend-zoned. Just sayin’.”

  “Whatever.”

  “It’s true, dude. Don’t be that guy that she always confides in, telling you how much other guys hurt her bad—”

  “She’s way out of my league, anyway.”

  “Hey, I have a cousin, Carl. He married a girl way out of his league. The dude is goofy looking too, so I’m telling you…” Dave said, drawing out the words.

  “…so you’re telling me there’s a chance. Yeah, I get it.”

  “It works for me. Well, sometimes. But it has worked. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You’ll never know if you don’t try.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Hey, when did it happen?”

  “When did what happen? When did she get to the island? It was like two days ago.”

  “No, how soon after you got powers did you make your vow of celibacy?”

  “You suck, you know that?” Gus asked as Dave cackled on the other side of the line.

  “I would go for it, if I was in your shoes.”

  “Sure you would. Now you’re just saying crazy stuff. I never saw you hitting on girls when we all went out as a group. Are you drunk or something?” The moment Gus said it, he wanted to grab the words and take them back. “Sorry, that came out wrong,” Gus said, cringing.

  “No, that’s fair,” Dave said soberly. “It’s getting closer for my verdict
pronouncement. It’s scaring the hell out of me, Gus. I haven’t drank anything since, and I haven’t even been tempted. Maybe I’m legit scared straight.” The mood had changed and Dave pushed on.

  Gus could tell he was upset, and he mentally kicked himself for the poor turn of phrase. “Hey, about that—” Gus tried to say.

  “Here, let me give you that information I got on Methiochos.” Dave plowed forward as if he hadn’t heard. “He was a super about fifty years ago. Worked with an outfit named Manticorps. I guess they were kind of a big deal, but something happened and Methiochos disappeared. Everyone thinks he embezzled a large amount of money and retired to his own island or something. Funny that they’re partly right!”

  “After that, Manticorps hit hard times. From what you said, they must have had a lot of money tied up in the manor. When those debts came due, they really struggled. There probably would have been four Factions worldwide if this hadn’t happened to them. They managed to stay afloat, but just barely. It wiped them out, and after they lost their financial base, a lot of supers jumped ship and dispersed to the Factions. That’s all I really have. It’s run by a guy named Archon. Everything says he’s still alive. Probably will be succeeded by his son Bah-silly-us? I don’t know how to pronounce that.”

  Gus wondered if that was all they were trying to do. Reclaiming their lost property, and there he was trying to keep it from them.

  “Does it say anything else? Anything about the manor?”

  “Nope, sorry, dude.”

  “What was their reputation like, did they do good things?”

  “Is any corporation good? I guess they’re pretty similar to most. They don’t stand out as doing anything shady. No scandals, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Okay, thanks for checking that. At least I know a little bit more about who’s attacking me. That guy Basileus is here and he’s kind of a joke. I have a lot to think about.”

  “Hope it helps. I better let you go. Like I said, look me up when you get back. I’m not sure if you can visit, but who knows. Alright, catch you on the flip side.”