Not Your Sidekick

by C. B. Lee

  “Chả is charging,” Jess says. “I don’t think it’ll be a good idea, you know how it is with stairs—”

  “Chả!” Emma calls loudly. “Please come clean this up!”

  “Cancel clean order,” Jess says immediately, hoping her voice carries enough, but it’s too late; she can already hear metal clanging upstairs.

  A few moments later, Chả’s oblong silver body comes tumbling down the stairs, bouncing off the steps with heavy thunks. The little lights in Chả’s display blink rapidly when it sees Emma and Bells.

  Oh no, it’s going to try and impress them. No verbal commands will stop it now; nothing short of manually rebooting the MonRobot’s system or uninstalling the A.I. will stop it once it has a task in mind.

  Jess slumps on the couch and watches helplessly as Emma directs Chả to the mess. The robot shakes eagerly, rolls right to the holoscreen, and starts the cleaning process. Chả’s display screen flickers orange to signal a “busy” mode, and it starts sweeping methodically, an inch at a time.

  “You do realize this is gonna take an hour,” Jess says.

  Bells shrugs. “You’ve got something better to do? Because this is pretty entertaining.”

  Emma is directing Chả at the holoscreen. The robot is stalled, cheeping at Emma.

  “Like this,” Emma says, moving in a circular motion, hips swaying.

  Chả follows suit, spinning around the screen, whirring as it cleans. Bells is watching Emma; his expression seems wistful. Jess watches and smiles; it’s odd how someone who’s so animated can get so focused. Bells glances back at Jess and shifts when he notices her watching. Jess lifts an eyebrow and watches with delight as Bells starts to blush.

  “You know, I think I have a lot of homework,” Jess says. “You two should go watch the movie. I’m cool here.”

  Emma looks up. “What? No, we came over to hang out with you.”

  “We’ll watch that movie next week,” Bells says, running a hand through his hair. No matter what he does, the overall effect is always unmistakably cool. The way he’s lying on the couch should look ridiculous: upside down, feet dangling over the back of the couch, lanky frame sprawled everywhere. But he looks as if he belongs in a fashion magazine.

  “We could just… leave,” Emma says, waggling her eyebrows. “I mean, Brendan totally doesn’t need someone to babysit him; he hasn’t left his room for hours.” Brendan had actually come downstairs during an episode of The Gentleman Detective to grab a box of circuits, but he’d taken one look at Jess’ friends and squeaked, “Hi, Emma and Bells!” before dashing back up the stairs.

  He is largely self-sufficient, if a bit socially awkward. Jess can’t blame him; Bells’ hair does look spectacular today.

  “Yeah, but he might try and use the stove again, and last time he almost set the kitchen on fire,” Jess says. “You guys should go watch the movie. Chả is gonna take forever.”

  “You know, we don’t have to use the holoscreen to watch a movie,” Emma says, glancing over to the shelf where Jess hides her DVD collection.

  Bells’ eyes widen. “Jess! You still have that vision-tella thing?” He sits up, and his back goes rigid. “You know that we’re supposed to surrender any pre-Collective tech so it can be recycled!”

  “I know,” Jess says. “But, um, my dad, when he was flipping this old house, found this storage locker, and I just really wanted to see if they had a sequel to that movie we watched last week.”

  Several weeks ago, Shockwave had actually taken one of Master Mischief ’s caches in a successful raid and had found boxes of contraband tech and media. Victor hadn’t turned it in to the League yet, and Jess—Jess loved the stuff. She’d hidden a television and a box of DVDs a few months ago when they uncovered the first stash, and she and her friends have pored through every movie. Jess couldn't just turn in this new stash without looking through it. She put together a box of some of the tech—movies she didn’t like, electronics that didn’t work, random assorted cables, a clunky rectangular player that didn’t take the DVDs—and gave all of it to her father to turn in to the League. Jess knows the laws about pre-Collective tech are to conserve resources and she agrees that’s incredibly important, but she doesn’t see the point of banning most of the media produced before 2035. Why is Shakespeare allowed but Star Wars isn’t? The Collective banned most of Jess’ favorite films.

  It was sheer luck that her parents found another cache just a few days ago. Jess hasn’t had time to go through the films, and had been hoping to watch them with her friends, but she hadn’t counted on Bells being such a stickler for the rules.

  “Come on, these films from Old America aren’t that cool anyways.” Bells crosses his legs, leans back, and scrunches up his face. “Like the picture was all flat, and it’s boring, not being able to see it from whatever angle you want.”

  “Really? I remember you really liking this one.” Jess presses the hidden lever under the bottom shelf, and the back panel opens to reveal her hidden compartment. She roots about and pulls out a colorful plastic case that’s decorated with Old America’s superheroes, before anyone actually had powers. The film was a lot of fun, and Jess liked the story a lot more than what passes for entertainment in the Collective. She waves the case and sees Bells’ eyes light up. “Yeah?”

  Bells huffs in mock reluctance. “You know me too well.” He takes the case and reads the title and summary fondly. “Yeah, we can watch this again.”

  Jess reaches back inside the compartment. “Didn’t I say I found the sequel?”

  Bells’ mouth falls open, and he’s already making grabby hands. “I guess it’s all right,” he admits. “I mean, you’re going to turn all of it in after we watch it, right?”

  “Right,” Jess says. “Here, help me with this.”

  The television is a small, unwieldy block made of different types of plastic. The three of them pull it out from the hiding spot, and Jess pulls out the box with the DVD player and all the assorted cables. It’s been a while since they last used it, but finally it’s all set up, and they flop back on the couch. Jess leans back, and Bells slings his arm around her shoulders as Emma puts her feet up in her lap. Jess pokes at Emma’s socks, and they laugh when Bells tries to get the DVD player to accept a voice command.

  “It’s not my fault this stuff is ancient,” Bells says.

  Jess laughs, gets up, and, amused at the flimsy plastic, puts the colorful disc in the player. An old-fashioned menu pops up, and Jess has to use the arrows on the primitive machine to start the movie.

  “It’s not that old,” Emma says. “My nana still remembers what it was like.”

  “Really?” It always seemed like ancient history to Jess. In 2028, the solar flares that would ignite the events known later as the Disasters and throw the population into a time of social and economic peril and great food insecurity… any student could recite a version of the events that changed the world forever, and it always started with “in 2028.” “How old is your great-grandmother?”

  “A hundred and seven,” Emma says. “She was born during the Disasters. She was old enough to remember when they formed the Collective after the war. She doesn’t really like to talk about it, though.”

  “I bet. Everything must have been so chaotic,” Jess muses. “I mean, people springing up with powers for the first time?”

  Emma nods. “Can you imagine making something like this today?” Bells asks. He holds up the DVD. On the case, a luridly costumed male superhero holds a swooning woman. “Captain Orion would have a fit.”

  Jess laughs. “Yeah, if the Collective made movies with superheroes.” All the official entertainment is so boring. That’s one of the reasons Jess likes twenty-first century movies: people seemed to have free reign to be creative. Still, rules against fictional media about superheroes makes sense; the lives of the actual heroes provide enough interest. “I bet Captain
Orion would be the one holding the swooning—”

  “Ooh, Starscream?” Emma says with interest. “I heard they were on again.”

  Jess shakes her head. “Nope, broke up, according to yesterday’s Gazette.” She never reads the entire newsholo, but Orion’s love life always makes headlines.

  They gossip about Captain Orion’s romantic life and then get into a silly discussion about the most attractive heroes in the League. The movie is playing but they aren’t paying much attention. Jess lost track of the plot a few minutes in. She’s enjoying her time with her friends as they argue about who is hotter: Starscream or Copycat.

  Emma and Bells are waving their DEDs at each other, flicking through their favorite holos. Bells’ projection of the official League holo of Copycat and Emma’s holo of Starscream keep bumping into each other, causing both holos to flicker.

  “It has to be Copycat,” Bells says. “She’s got those stunning green eyes, you know?”

  “Yeah, but Starscream’s jaw!” Emma says. “No, this holo isn’t a great one, no, I need a better—Jess! Help!”

  Jess laughs, throwing up her hands. “I refuse to get in the middle of this. I’m a Captain Orion gal myself, but I will bring my desktop down so you can find all the pictures you want.”

  Beeping as it wheels back and forth, Chả is still trying to clean the holoscreen. Shaking her head, Jess picks up the robot. She carries it up to the main floor and sets it down in the living room. “You can clean here,” Jess says. “I’ll do the holoscreen later.”

  Chả cheeps in affirmation and starts vacuuming. It promptly gets stuck under the coffee table, meeping until Jess picks it up and turns it around. Chả chirps and heads down its new, clear path. Jess trudges upstairs, lingering outside Brendan’s room. She hears a few beeping noises, but that’s normal.

  She grabs her desktop projector and goes downstairs, where Emma grabs it and syncs her own DED to it, to look up photos of Starscream. She gets distracted checking her notifications and then she gasps.

  “Oh my God, there’s a new superhero over in Devonport.”

  Jess looks over her shoulder at the projection. Emma waves at the air, closing all her open windows: various messages, homework documents, and photos of Starscream and Lilliputian. She enlarges the newsfeed holo from the official Heroes’ League of Heroes. “Oh, wow! He’s our age. The bio says sixteen.”

  Emma pokes Bells in the shoulder, but he just shrugs and gets up to manually turn up the television’s volume.

  Emma faces the holo toward them, grinning as she waves her hand to play a featured clip from a news segment.

  “And what do we call you?” On the holo, Wilton Lysander, the most popular newscaster of all the latest superhero news, stands in downtown Devonport in front of its iconic fountain. With a broad smile, he holds his microphone out to the brightly clad hero next to him.

  “I’m Chameleon!” Like most meta-humans in the public eye, Chameleon wears a mask; it matches his brightly colored rainbow-hued bodysuit and sits high on his face. A shock of dark hair spills over the forehead. The tight outfit shows off his broad shoulders and tapered waist, and Emma sighs and reaches out to trace the air around the projection.

  Chameleon stands with a hand on his hip and points to the reporter. Then, in the blink of an eye, Chameleon turns into a duplicate copy of Lysander, from his coiffed blonde hair to his navy suit, complete with the matching pocket square.

  “Amazing!” Lysander gasps. He turns to the camera and winks, gesturing theatrically. “Welcome, Chameleon, the newest and youngest member of the Heroes’ League of Heroes!”

  Chameleon hands the pocket square to Lysander, who compares it to his own. The camera zooms in on the pocket squares; they match. Lysander is examining them when the second pocket square disappears. The cameras pan back to Chameleon, who is back to his own look. He winks at the camera.

  Emma stops the holo. Leaning back on the couch, she grabs a pillow, clutches it to her chest, and squeals, “Isn’t he cute?”

  “Can’t see half his face,” Jess says. “No idea.” She turns to Bells for his opinion, but Bells is staring at the television. “Bells? What do you think?”

  “Like you said, we can’t see half his face. I can’t tell if he’s cute or not,” Bells says in a monotone.

  “But it’s an incredible power,” Emma says. “I’ve never seen anything like that. Do you think he’s A-class? I mean, he’s working with the League already.”

  “Well, they do like to introduce their younger members before they start on their own,” Jess says. “Remember Powerstorm? She was like, fifteen when she first started.”

  Jess remembers it well; it was her sister’s introduction as a new superhero. For a time, Claudia had tailed along after the League and they had helped get her name out as she handled minor search and rescues and a few reconnaissance missions on the Villain’s Guild. Jess is pretty sure she was mostly fetching coffee for the members of the League, but Claudia played it up as a huge educational experience. Claudia was still in her training program when the League started introducing her to the public, but they always hand-pick the most promising to join the League. “He’s probably still in Meta-Human Training,” Jess says thoughtfully. “And if he’s a teenager, he probably hasn’t had a lot of time to practice control.”

  “Well, the League doesn’t accept just anybody,” Emma says. “Bells, come on, back me up. Isn’t Chameleon amazing?”

  “Do you seriously like him just because he has powers?” Bells blurts out, his voice sharp with annoyance.

  “What?” Emma frowns. “No, I just think he’s cute and really cool, you know.”

  “Like Jess said, you can’t see his face,” Bells points out. “So all you know about him is what’s listed on the League’s holo and this video. Kinda soon for a crush, don’t you think?”

  Emma huffs. “How is this different than what we’ve talked about with any of the other heroes we find attractive?”

  Bells gets up and grabs his backpack. “Whatever. I just realized I have to finish my history essay. I’ll see you in school.”

  “Do you need a ride?” Emma calls, but he’s already at the top of the stairs.

  The basement door shuts with a thud, and they can hear Bells’ footsteps echo through the house and then the front door open and close.

  “I guess he’s walking.” Jess bites her lip; it’s not that far to the nearest bus stop.

  Emma’s mouth is still open, and she’s frozen, staring up the stairs. She shakes herself. Her eyebrows knit and she turns to Jess. “What was that about?”

  Jess and Emma finish the movie, but the mood has changed. Emma keeps biting her lip and looking toward the stairs.

  “I’m gonna go see if he’s okay,” Emma says. “I feel like I should apologize, but I’m not really sure what for. Like how is me finding Chameleon cute different than Starscream or Copycat?”

  Jess brushes through her hair as she thinks. She ties her hair in a ponytail as Emma watches her. Great, Emma knows all her tells; she probably thinks Jess knows something.

  Jess has suspected for a while that Bells has feelings for Emma, who crushes on a new person almost every week. Her focus is intense but fleeting, and she always wants to talk about them. It’s only lately that Jess has noticed that Bells gets a withdrawn, resigned look whenever Emma talks about a crush, except a crush on celebrities or superheroes. Maybe Bells doesn’t care about Starscream and Copycat because they are older and unattainable, but he’s upset because Chameleon is their age?

  “Maybe you guys should just hang out and talk about it,” Jess suggests.

  Emma nods. “That’s a good idea. See you around, Jess.”

  Jess cleans up in the living room and heads upstairs to charge her phone. She runs into Brendan at the top of the stairs.

  “Mom and Dad are doing hero-stuff with Clauds,” Br
endan says. A pair of goggles dangles around his neck, and he smells like burnt rubber. Jess isn’t sure she wants to know about the scuff marks on his face. “Mom said we can order food.”

  “Cool, you want pizza?”

  “Oooh, can you pick up a mushroom and cheese from Lenny’s? And also I need a few more parts from the hardware shop.” Brendan hands Jess a list.

  Jess scowls. “I’m not running your errands for you, and we can just order delivery from Pizza Joe’s. Lenny’s doesn’t deliver, and I’m not supposed to leave you here alone.”

  “I’m thirteen, not three. Look, I know they left the Smashmobile at home and I won’t tell them you took it out. You know, if you wanted to drive it instead of taking the minivan.”

  Jess narrows her eyes, but the temptation of driving the sports car is too much. Besides, she can park in an alley across the street from Lenny’s. No one would notice her getting in and out of the car.

  And she could get Thai tea from the shop next door.

  “Fine,” Jess says, and strides to her parents’ office. When she finds the drawer with the Smashmobile keycard, a thrill of exhilaration runs through her. She grabs her backpack.

  The modified sports car drives like a dream. Her mom’s logo is painted on the side, and inside there’s a complicated dashboard with a communication relay to League headquarters. Grinning, Jess runs her fingers over the console. She takes the car for a spin around the block, and then on a whim zips out of the suburbs. She laughs as the wind catches in her hair as she drives down the highway past the gleaming solar fields.

  The desert landscape opens out in front of her; but she doesn’t want to risk running the car out of charge or worse, having someone mistake her for her mother and ask for help with hero stuff.

  Jess zips around the outskirts of Andover, taking twenty minutes to herself. She imagines she’s flying. It’s thrilling, and then it’s too easy to remember she’s just driving a car. There’s nothing special about that, even if she’s controlling the vehicle instead of the computer.