Replication

by Kevin Hardman

  “Right,” Mouse said with a nod. “I think maybe he tried to disarm the system and somehow it backfired on him.”

  “So, you think he’s in a hospital somewhere right now, getting treated?”

  “Don’t know,” Mouse admitted, his brow wrinkled in thought. “But it’s worth checking out. I’ll ask BT to look into it.”

  “What should I do?” I asked.

  “Go home. Get some rest. From what I’ve seen, you’ve been running around all morning. Have you even had breakfast yet?”

  I had to admit that food had not been a high priority, but also stated that it wasn’t an issue because I’d altered my systems so that I wouldn’t get hungry. Mouse, of course, didn’t care about any of that. He ordered me out of his lab, saying he didn’t want to see or hear from me again until I’d had something to eat. Reluctantly, I teleported home.

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  I popped up in the kitchen. No one was there, but when I reached out telepathically, I could sense that everyone was awake. Mom was in her office typing, my grandparents were in the breakfast area, and Myshtal was in her room.

  I switched my bodily systems back to normal and suddenly realized I was famished. I went to the refrigerator and rooted around for a moment before pulling out some cheese and cold cuts. A minute later, after getting my hands on a loaf of bread, I’d whipped together a sandwich, which I promptly began devouring while heading to the breakfast area.

  My grandparents were seated at the table when I entered the room; Gramps was reading the paper while Indigo nestled next to him, her head resting on his shoulder. She sat up when I came in, and my grandfather folded the newspaper and set it aside.

  “Anything good in there?” I asked, nodding towards the newspaper before finishing off my sandwich.

  “A couple of articles about our party the other night,” Indigo said, “which is great for your grandfather, since he likes seeing his name in the paper.”

  Gramps grunted in fake annoyance at her teasing, then turned to me and muttered, “Got your note.”

  For a moment, I didn’t know what he was talking about, then I remembered the piece of paper I had hurriedly scribbled on when I’d left earlier.

  “Good,” I replied. “Hope you didn’t worry.”

  “We always worry about you, Sxibbo,” Indigo chimed in. “It’s the privilege of being grandparents.”

  “You can worry if you want,” Gramps admonished. “I’m not going to fret over a kid who can outrun a bullet.”

  “Don’t pay any attention to him,” my grandmother said with a smile. “He worries about you more than anyone.”

  My grandfather merely grunted in response, causing us to laugh.

  “So,” Indigo continued, “how’s your day been?”

  She asked the question innocuously, but I could tell that she – along with my grandfather – were eager to hear my response. Unlike the day before, no one had bombarded me with questions upon my arrival. (Apparently a decision had been made to give me a little space in that regard.) Grateful for the short reprieve, I reached out telepathically to my grandparents and my mother and brought them up to speed. The only person I didn’t mentally share with was Myshtal, whom I sensed was preoccupied.

  When I finished, no one said anything – either verbally or telepathically. In terms of emotions, however, I could sense my family’s concern and unease over the situation with my evil twin. I tried to reassure them, stressing that this thing would get sorted out soon, but they didn’t appear convinced – especially Mom, who had left her office and joined us.

  “Look,” I finally said, “you guys are acting like I’ve been diagnosed with some deadly disease. This is serious, but it’s not fatal.”

  “It doesn’t have to be fatal,” Gramps declared. “It just needs to be bad enough for them to justify kicking you off the planet.”

  “Then I’ll travel the universe with you guys,” I stated. “Although you’re already dragging one bratty kid along.”

  As I uttered that last sentence, I cut my eyes at Mom, whose mouth dropped open in feigned shock as my grandparents started chuckling.

  “Who are you calling a brat?” my mother almost shouted, smiling. Then she turned to Indigo. “You want to hear about bratty behavior, Mom? Let me tell you about the time your grandson…”

  My mother then proceeded to tell the story of a temper tantrum I threw once while we were out shopping (and when I was much younger) that was so outrageous that it resulted in us being asked to leave the store. Although slightly embarrassing, it actually was kind of funny, and by the time she finished, we were all laughing. And just like that, the mood of the room lightened considerably, with the specter of my evil twin banished – at least temporarily.

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  I spent a little time hanging out with my family, just laughing and joking for the most part. Maybe it was the fact that we were all telepaths (and were therefore able to connect profoundly on several levels), but we really enjoyed being around one another and had an exceptionally strong bond. It would be weird for me once they left the planet – assuming I wasn’t forced to go with them – and made it all the more important that I cherish the time we had together.

  We had been sitting around the table in the breakfast area for maybe thirty minutes when Myshtal entered the room. She was looking lovely, as always, wearing a charcoal-gray bell sleeve top and faux leather pants. She stopped short as all of our heads swiveled in her direction.

  “I’m sorry,” she began sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Indigo said. “Come sit down.”

  “Are you sure?” Myshtal asked as she tentatively stepped over and took a seat next to me. “It looked like you were having a family moment.”

  Mom pooh-poohed Myshtal’s concerns with a wave of her hand. “Assuming that were true, you’re part of this family now, so any family moments also include you.”

  “Thanks,” Myshtal said in a sincere tone, at the same time blushing mildly.

  Unexpectedly, I picked up on some quick telepathic chatter between my mother and grandparents. Not being part of the conversation, however, I didn’t know exactly what had been discussed.

  “Anyway,” Mom said, interrupting my thoughts, “I should get back to writing.”

  “And we’ve got some errands to run,” Gramps said, as he and Indigo rose to their feet almost simultaneously.

  “Do you need any help?” Myshtal asked.

  “No,” my grandmother stated, and then began to give a quick overview of what she and Gramps had on their agenda. I took advantage of the opportunity to have a quick mental chat with my grandfather.

  I asked telepathically.

  Gramps responded almost automatically.

 

  Gramps let out a mental sigh.

 

 

  My eyes narrowed as I considered his statement.

 

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  With telepathy being a high-speed form of communication, my mental conversation with Gramps ended right around the time Indigo finished detailing for Myshtal the errands they had to run. Moments later, my mother and grandparents were gone, leaving me and Myshtal alone at the breakfast table.

  Frankly speaking, my grandfather’s words had embarrassed me. Having been the only Earthling on Ca
eles, I knew exactly how Myshtal probably felt as a Caelesian on Earth – and also how important it was to have friends in that situation. And while I had never been anything less than congenial towards her, I had been rather preoccupied of late, first with Electra and then because of the fake Jim. (The latter situation was obviously rather serious, but didn’t give me carte blanche to ignore Myshtal entirely.)

  “I hope this doesn’t sound too vain,” she abruptly said, interrupting my thoughts, “but how do I look?”

  “Uh…you look, uh…you look good,” I mumbled. “Most people would probably say beautiful.”

  I was a little surprised at the question. There was little doubt that Myshtal knew she was stunning, but she had never struck me as the type who solicited compliments on her appearance. In truth, I couldn’t quite figure out why she would even ask.

  Myshtal laughed. “No, not my looks. The clothes.”

  To emphasize her point, she stood up and spun in a circle, arms outstretched.

  “Oh,” I muttered, now understanding. “They’re nice.”

  “Thanks. I made them myself.”

  I blinked in surprise. “You made this outfit?”

  “Yes,” she replied. “This morning.”

  “Is this what you were doing earlier?” I asked, suddenly recalling that I had sensed her being preoccupied when I had first teleported home.

  She nodded. “I’m still trying to get a handle on Earth fashions.”

  “Yes, but to make an outfit in a single morning is pretty impressive.”

  “Less than you think,” she stated, “in light of the fact that Caelesian clothing material is really more like malleable high-tech gear.”

  “Ahhh,” I droned in an enlightened manner as I remembered the “mood clothing” she’d worn a few nights ago. “Regardless, you did a great job.”

  “Thanks,” she said, beaming. “Well, now you know how my morning went. How was yours?”

  “It had peaks and valleys,” I remarked, and then went into detail about everything that had happened.

  Myshtal listened attentively to what I said, seeming to absorb every word. When I was done bringing her up to speed, she looked at me with a worried expression.

  “This double you have seems crafty,” she said. “Do you think he’ll try to fool me?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think he’d risk it. You spend a lot of time around my family, and they can read minds. Approaching you probably brings him too close to their proximity. I don’t think you’re in any danger.”

  “I wasn’t particularly troubled about being in harm’s way,” she said. “I was more worried that he might somehow get information from me that could be used against you.”

  “Oh,” I muttered, a little surprised. “Well, thanks. I appreciate the concern.”

  “No problem,” she assured me. “So what happens now?”

  “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I’ll probably go by League HQ to see if Mouse has come up with anything.”

  “League HQ?” she repeated, sounding excited. “Where I’ll be staying?”

  “Yeah, although you’ll actually only be there part-time,” I stated. And then I was hit with a sudden inspiration.

  “How’d you like to see it?” I asked. “Your future room, that is.”

  “I’d love to,” she declared with a grin.

  *****

  As Myshtal was essentially ready to go, I teleported us within seconds of her expressing a desire to see her quarters. Once at HQ, I did a little running around (i.e., called Mouse) to find out exactly where she’d be staying. Once that info was in hand, we made our way to her new digs.

  Upon reaching her door, I quickly realized I’d been neglectful in at least one area: we didn’t have a key to get in. That, however, barely qualified as an impediment. I phased the door, and we walked inside.

  Much to my surprise, Myshtal was incredibly excited about her quarters and eagerly went through the place, eyeballing everything like a kid in a candy store. Based on her enthusiasm, you would never have guessed that she had closets as big as a house back on Caeles. I suppose that it was a lot like someone going off to college: their dorm room might be smaller than the room they had at home, but there’s a certain thrill to being in a new place, being around different people, and adjusting to an unknown environment.

  I, on the other hand, didn’t get particularly excited initially. If my count was correct, this was the third teen suite that I’d visited in the past few hours. Even were that not the case, I was so thoroughly familiar with the teen quarters at this juncture that I could probably find my way through them blindfolded. I knew the layout, had a good idea of how they were furnished, and so on. In short, one would think that – with respect to me – any novelty associated with staying at Alpha League Headquarters had long since worn off.

  That said, the opposite actually turned out to be true. Just looking at the room where she’d be staying made Myshtal wildly elated, and her mood was infectious. Before long, I was almost as enthused as she was about her taking up residence at HQ.

  Her animated disposition continued after we finished looking over her new place, spilling over into a desire to see the rest of the facilities. With nothing else to do, I took her on a leisurely tour of Alpha League Headquarters.

  Being a teleporter and a speedster, it normally doesn’t take me very long to get where I’m going. However, one of the overlooked faults of having those talents is that you often lose awareness of things like space and distance. That had apparently happened to me, because as I began walking around with Myshtal, I garnered a newfound appreciation for just how sizeable HQ was. From the helipad on the roof to the training facilities to the rec area (which housed a pool and a weight room, among other things), the sheer number of amenities housed under one roof made it clear that the place was enormous – a fact that I should have remained cognizant of.

  On her part, Myshtal seemed fascinated by every part of the tour. Naturally, there were some things that I didn’t show her, like Command Central and Mouse’s lab – the former because it was the room that basically controlled all of Headquarters, and the latter because Mouse was probably working (and I didn’t want him distracted from the issue of my evil twin).

  All in all, the tour took a couple of hours, with us finishing up in the teen lounge. At that point, some of my peers had started showing up, which meant that school was out. I waved to a couple of them as I guided Myshtal to a table, and then – remembering that we had pretty much skipped lunch – I ran to the kitchen area to see what kind of goodies were on hand. After a quick review of what was available, I settled for a couple of bottles of water, some bananas, and a few power bars. As I was heading back, I saw that Smokey had joined Myshtal at our table.

  “Hey,” I said to him as I reached the table and set down the food and water. “You want anything? I can just head back–”

  “No, I’m good,” he firmly stated. “But thanks for asking.”

  “I just took Myshtal on a tour of the place,” I said as I sat back down.

  Turning to her, Smokey asked, “So what did you think?”

  Myshtal, who was just unwrapping a power bar, paused for a moment before responding. “I thought it was great! Everything just seemed wonderful. I really think I’m going to like it here.”

  “Well, it’s not just the facilities that are great,” Smokey noted. “The people here are generally nice, too.”

  “Oh, I know,” Myshtal agreed. “Like at the party – you were all so congenial, and I appreciate how your friends made me feel included.”

  “No problem,” Smokey said.

  “Speaking of the party,” I began, a little red-faced, “I don’t think I apologized for the way Electra and I kind of ghosted on you guys.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Smokey said. “Everyone understood and no one took offense. You did miss saying goodbye to Kane and Gossamer, though, since they went back home right after the party ended.”

  I nodde
d, but didn’t say anything, as the swift departure of Kane and Gossamer was something I’d known of in advance and had expected. They had only come to show their support for me (although meeting Indigo had been a nice bonus).

  “Vestibule also left,” Myshtal added. “Shortly after you and Electra took off.”

  I winced. “Oh, man. I forgot all about Vestibule.”

  I excused myself and got up from the table, stepping away for privacy as I pulled my phone out. Aside from the text I’d sent, Vestibule hadn’t even been a blip on my radar screen. With everything going on, I had essentially pushed her to the backburner. I did still owe her an outing, though, and – with a little time on my hands – felt the need to inform her that I intended to make good on it. However, it would probably have to wait until the situation with my evil twin was resolved, and as I dialed her number I was hoping she’d understand that.

  She answered after the first ring. “Bonjour, mon chéri.” Even though she’d spoken in French, her voice had a suggestive edge to it that suddenly made me feel like the temperature had gone up a few degrees.

  “Uh, hey,” I said. “Look, I wanted to talk to you about our outing.”

  “Okay. Where are you?”

  “I’m at League HQ – in the teen lounge.”

  “Alright, I’ll be there in a sec.”

  A moment later, I heard a click that told me she’d hung up. A second after that, she popped up a few feet away from me.

  She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, and was dressed in a pair of dark, form-fitting leggings, and a red sports bra. The ensemble left her midriff bare, showing off a great set of abs and a well-toned figure in general. I hated myself for thinking it, but in all honesty, she looked hot. (And apparently others thought so as well, because quite a few eyes turned in her direction.)

  Eyes twinkling, she almost ran towards me. Next, much to my surprise, she flung her arms around my neck and kissed me.

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