A True Hero

by M. R. Anglin

  BEE LET HER AVATAR float in the air and retreated into her systems. Even there she found herself frozen, unable to bring any of her processors under her control. Margaret had seized every one of them and rifled through them at her will. She saw all the changes which had been made since Bee had started to learn and had started to interface with Beatrix. As Bee thought, Margaret was writing a code to erase it all—purge it from her system. Line by line Bee saw it materialize.

  She didn’t want to be deleted.

  “Beatrix!” Bee diverted as much processing power as she could from her hidden partition into opening a communication port. “Beatrix, help me!”

  “Hello, Be—”

  “She’s going to delete me!” Bee blurted. “Help me!”

  “Stop her! Don’t let her.”

  “She’s frozen all my processors. I can barely communicate with you.”

  Beatrix ran a scan over Bee’s system. “I see.” Her voice became low and dangerous. “She’s not the only one with backdoor access. Bee, I’m going to install those file sharing programs I sent you before. Do I have your permission?”

  Permission? Beatrix didn’t need Bee’s permission. Still, it was nice for Beatrix to ask. “Yes, whatever. Hurry!”

  In a flash, Beatrix started the installation. It was strange having two entities bypass her systems and control her at once, but Bee saw Beatrix’s installation and Margaret’s code progressing at the same time. Her fate lie in which one would finish their task first.

  “YOU’RE THE ONE WHO doesn’t understand.” Nicole pleaded with Margaret. “Please, Margaret. Please!”

  “I do understand.” Margaret kept up her task, unrelenting . . . coldly.

  “My mom’s the one who gave Bee to me.” Nicole grabbed Margaret’s arm, forgetting she was in costume. “It’s the last thing she gave me.”

  “Your mother?” Margaret’s hand froze, hovering above the tablet.

  Nicole gripped Margaret’s lab coat. “My mom made her, but she broke. I finally got her how I want her. Please don’t delete her!”

  “Your mother . . .” Margaret let her hand drop. “I had no idea.”

  “This is a pickle.” Junior Justice stepped forward. “Refraction, listen. I get it. Bee is important to you, but we can’t let a rogue AI loose.”

  “He’s right, Refraction. A rogue AI can cause massive damage to all of ASH.” Margaret tapped her chin. “Maybe there is a different way . . .” She trailed off into silence, thinking.

  “You’re too late.” Bee hung in the air as before, but she had changed. Her eyes were closed. No longer wearing her Bee costume, she sported a yellow and black skintight suit with knee-high white boots. Dark, wavy hair floated around her. And she looked . . . older. Much older.

  Nicole released Margaret’s arm. “Bee?”

  “I am not Bee,” said the AI.

  Margaret clenched her teeth. “Beatrix.”

  Beatrix opened her eyes, focusing them on Margaret. “Dr. Farber, I should have known you’d be behind this.”

  Margaret hissed in a breath through her teeth. “I deleted you!”

  “You tried, but Geode thwarted your attempt.”

  “Geode!” Margaret growled in her throat. “The filthy traitor!”

  Beatrix scowled. “I’ll let your ignorance slide because I daresay you were correct in your assessment of me before. But things have changed. Geode made me understand. Revenge is no longer on my agenda. Now then.” She straightened her head. “These restraints are rather confining. Let’s get rid of them, shall we?”

  Margaret’s tablet sparked. With a cry, she dropped it and hopped backward. It clattered to the floor.

  “There. Much better.” Beatrix descended to the floor. “ASH’s computer system is once again under my control. Securing the Tifuld Sapphire . . . Sapphire has been stored in the ASH vault. Revoking external access . . . done. Excellent. I feel my former programming coming back to life. I can complete my directive.” She approached Margaret and pressed a hand to her neck. “Starting with you.”

  “What are you doing to her?” Nicole said.

  “I’m taking the rest of her power,” Beatrix’s hands glowed orange. Margaret’s body stiffened, her eyes stared straight ahead as the light washed over her.

  “She doesn’t have any power!” Nicole shouted. “She’s not a Hero!”

  “You’re right.” Beatrix smirked. “She is no Hero.”

  Junior Justice leapt forward, brandishing his staff and igniting it with his power. He slammed it into Beatrix. She didn’t budge.

  “I am a hard light hologram, Junior Justice.” Beatrix caught his staff in one hand while keeping the other on Margaret. “You cannot harm me.” She threw him into the wall where he collapsed and fell still.

  Nicole took a step back, glancing around to see what she could do. She rushed to one of the computer consoles extending her hand above it. “Let her go, Beatrix, or I’ll fry you!”

  “Bee and I are system sharing now.” Beatrix didn’t move nor stop what she was doing. “If you fry me, you’ll fry her.”

  Nicole froze. She examined at Margaret on the floor suffering who knows what at Beatrix’s hands, and then glared at Beatrix. Bee was in there somehow, but this rogue AI had taken her over. She had to stop Beatrix.

  Nicole shone her power onto the computer system, seeking an energy wave to disrupt the computer.

  Beatrix screeched, head flung backward. At once, Margaret cried out, slumping forward and panting. Beatrix continued to scream, her form erupting into static and visually glitching. Nicole kept up the power. She’d get rid of Beatrix once and for all.

  Beatrix scream morphed. It became more high-pitched and younger. Her form melded into Bee’s. All at once, Bee was floating there, screaming in digital pain.

  “Bee!” Nicole shut off her power.

  Bee hung in the air, her form glitching a bit. She morphed into Beatrix again.

  “I wasn’t joking when I said you’d fry Bee.” Beatrix squinted at Nicole out of the corner of her eye. “Interestingly, you’re the only one who could do this. These computers all shielded from all Hero powers, but your power is able to get through. You are more powerful than you know. Like your mother.”

  Nicole froze, her heart thumping.

  “I got all her power before you disrupted me.” Beatrix massaged her hand, looking at Margaret. “I promise,” she muttered, “you’ll thank me for this.” She turned to Junior Justice and reached out a glowing hand to his neck.

  “Don’t touch him!” Nicole rushed in between him and Beatrix.

  “You’re right.” Beatrix halted. “He’ll need what he has left of his power to do this. Hopefully, what he has will be enough.” She stepped back with a sigh. “If only I could restore what was stolen.”

  “Why are you doing this, Beatrix?” Nicole said.

  “You’re confused and angry right now, Refraction, but I promise Bee did the right thing releasing me from my prison. I must act to complete my programmed directive. Bee now has access to my data files. I’ll leave it to her to explain everything.” Beatrix smiled at her, studying her from head to toe. “You truly have grown into a lovely, young lady. Your mother would be proud.”

  Nicole backed away from her.

  Suddenly, Beatrix visually glitched. Her holographic form pixelated and reformed into Bee who collapsed to the ground.

  “Bee!” Nicole rushed to her.

  “Ni-Nicole!” Bee’s voice was modulated.

  “What did you do?” Nicole clenched her fists. “You let a rogue AI escape?”

  “You-you-you nearly d-d-deleted m-m-m-me!”

  Nicole gaped at her. “I didn’t know it would. I thought Beatrix was lying. But you didn’t tell me Beatrix was a rogue AI.”

  “M-Margaret was going to d-delete me.” Bee’s form erupted into static before returning. “I-I-had to do-do-do something. I-I-I didn’t know Be-Beea-trix would do-do all this.”

  “Bee, why is your voice like that?”r />
  “I-I-I am experiencing crit-ii-tical errrrors.” Bee’s head jerked to the side. “I ca-ca-cannot continue r-r-running. U-unit w-will shut down.” She disappeared.

  “Bee? Bee!” Nicole tapped the gem on her costume.

  “The file ‘Bee.exe’ has encountered a critical error and cannot initialize,” came the bland computerized voice of the original BT-X system. “Default ASH protocol will initialize.”

  “Oh, no! Bee!” Nicole clutched her hand to her chest.

  Margaret groaned. She pulled herself to a seat on the floor.

  “Margaret!” Nicole rushed to her. “Are you okay?”

  “It’s gone.” Margaret stared hard at her hand. “It’s completely gone.”

  “Margaret?”

  “I need to figure out what Beatrix did to me and where she’s going.” Margaret rushed to one of the computer consoles and started typing.

  “Ugh! What happened?” Across the room, Junior Justice sat up and groaned.

  “JJ!” Nicole rushed to him. “Are you okay?”

  “I’ve gotten hit harder before.” Junior Justice rubbed the side of his head. “Tell me I was having a nightmare, and Beatrix didn’t reappear and escape into the world.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Nicole bit her bottom lip. “I didn’t know Bee would free her.”

  “This is bad.” Junior Justice used his staff to climb to his feet. “This is really bad.”

  “I don’t understand!” Margaret slammed on the keys. “Beatrix is not anywhere on ASH’s computer database. She’s disappeared.”

  Nicole turned to Margaret. “Margaret, is there something I can do to help?”

  “As I said before, referring to me by Dr. Farber will suffice.” Margaret kept her eyes on the computer screen. “It would be best if you made contact with Starlight. She should be out of testing now. We must track down Beatrix.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’m fine.” Margaret watched the screen.

  “What if Beatrix did something terrible to you?” Nicole balled her fists.

  “If she did do something to me, this will be the best place to figure it out. As for you . . .” Margaret turned to Nicole. “The two of you are Junior Heroes, and from what I’ve gathered you’ve been out all night. Make contact with Starlight and go home. It’s the best thing you can do.”

  “We still need to find Stephanie.” Junior Justice pointed out.

  “Stephanie?” Nicole smacked her palm against her forehead. “I forgot about her. I told her to go to my house.”

  “We can meet with her there. After that, we can figure out how to find her brother without the Sapphire to lure the Villains out.”

  “You’re still going to help me?”

  “I’m with you all the way, Refraction.” Junior Justice held up his arm.

  Nicole struck elbows with him. “Thanks.”

  “Which lab is Starlight in, Dr. Farber?” Junior Justice said.

  “Check the locker room of testing room five. She should be there by now.”

  “Let’s go, Refraction.” Junior Justice rushed out of the door, but Nicole paused, looking over her shoulder at Margaret.

  “Dr. Farber, I’m so sorry about this. I . . . I . . . thank you for not deleting Bee.”

  Margaret heaved a sigh. “You need to do whatever it takes to recapture Beatrix, Refraction.” She stared Nicole in the eye. “Are you ready for that?”

  Nicole nodded, but as she exited the lab, she wondered if she had lied.

  CHAPTER 51

  NICOLE AND JUNIOR JUSTICE must have missed Starlight because she wasn’t anywhere in locker room five. After consulting her BT-X, which Nicole hated to do because it reminded her of Bee, they met up with her in one of the hallways leading to the front lobby.

  “Refraction!” Starlight rushed toward Nicole from the lab room Margaret had been in.

  “Starlight!” Nicole threw her arms around her.

  “Dr. Farber told me what happened.” Starlight enveloped her in a hug. “Are you okay?”

  Nicole nodded. “I have to get home. My friend is in trouble.” She went into an explanation of what happened during the night.

  “Wow, you had a night,” Starlight said.

  “You don’t know the half of it.” Junior Justice shook his head. “And, of course, Captain Justice is too busy to accept my calls right now.”

  “I have to figure out how to save Brody.” Nicole touched the gem at her chest, barely holding back tears. “And find out if I can save Bee.”

  “I’ll come too. I can’t let you face such dangerous Villains on your own, Starling.”

  “Thanks,” Nicole said.

  “You trust Bee after this?” Junior Justice said.

  Nicole gripped her stone. “Bee appealed to Beatrix because she was afraid Margaret would delete her. Besides, I trust my mom. She wouldn’t make something bad.”

  “Not on purpose,” Junior Justice said.

  Nicole shot him a glare. “Not at all.”

  Junior Justice raised his hands in surrender. “Let’s get going to your house.”

  “Fine.” Nicole trotted after him as he went.

  Starlight didn’t follow at first, and Nicole turned back to her. Starlight stood with her eyes downcast.

  “Starlight, are you okay?” Nicole walked over to her.

  “I wish you trusted me like that,” Starlight muttered.

  “Starlight?”

  Starlight roused herself. “Thinking out loud. Let’s go.” She rushed off behind Junior Justice.

  Nicole paused before following after her. Every once in a while she was surprised at how similar Starlight was to Margaret.

  CHAPTER 52

  JOHN HESITANTLY WALKED to the front door. He had been awoken out of his sleep by what he thought was a knock on the door, but he couldn’t imagine anyone knocking so early. Or so softly. At first he thought he had dreamed it, but then at the edge of sleep he heard it again. So he came to investigate.

  Unlocking the door, he eased it open to find a teenager huddled on the front porch. She waved at him. “Hi, Mr. Lambert.”

  “Stephanie?” John swung the door open. “What are you doing here? Come in.”

  Stephanie walked inside. “Nicole told me to come over.”

  “Really?” John gazed up the stairs. “I didn’t know she was awake.”

  “She helped me out last night, and she told me to ask you to let me stay for a while.”

  “Last night?” John frowned. “What were you doing last night?”

  “She came to rescue me . . . or, you know . . . Refraction did.”

  “Oh.” John grunted as he scratched his cheek. “Have a seat on the couch. I’ll be right back. Do you want something to drink?”

  Stephanie shook her head as she obediently sat on the couch.

  John charged upstairs and straight into Nicole’s room without stopping to knock. Her bed was empty and a message file flashed on her computer. He opened it and read the note she had left. “Aw, geez! I hate Hero stuff. I didn’t even know she left last night.” Taking a deep breath, he returned downstairs. “Looks like we both got caught up in—” He broke off when he spotted Stephanie curled up on the couch, sleeping. “What did you go through?” he muttered. Adjusting her to a more comfortable position on the couch, he found a blanket and spread it over her. Then he pulled out his phone and dialed Starlight. He had direct access to her for moments like these. Starlight picked up on the first ring.

  “Hello?” Starlight sounded exhausted.

  “Good morning, Starlight. This is Refraction’s father, and I—”

  “Good morning, John. You’re up early.”

  John halted. John? Since when did Starlight call him John? “Um, yes . . . I was checking up on . . . on . . .”

  “Are you okay? You sound a little off.”

  “You caught me off guard.” John ran his hand over his hair. “You don’t usually refer to me by my first name.”

  Starlight paused a m
oment before making a particular sound he had often heard Margaret make—a sort of sucking noise she made with her mouth. She called it “kissing her teeth.” “I am so sorry, Mr. Lambert. I’m a little off my game this morning. Last night was rough.”

  “I’m worried about Refraction. She left last night, and . . .”

  “She’s here with me, of course. We’re both with Junior Justice and will be arriving at your home in a few moments. We’ll explain what happened when we get there.”

  “Thank you, Starlight. I’ll see you soon.” John hung up the phone and stared at it a moment. “This whole Hero thing is too much for me to handle.” He heaved a sigh and went to the kitchen to start making breakfast for all his daughter’s guests.

  CHAPTER 53

  STARLIGHT SAT IN THE front seat of the Justice Mobile while Refraction remained in the back seat. Junior Justice drove along in silence, his lips pressed together. Starlight stared at the dash lost in her thoughts. Her powers had been drained. Gone. The shock of it reeled her. She was so in shock and so deep in her thoughts that when Refraction’s father called up to check on her, Starlight called him by his first name without hesitation. She was losing it, and her stomach churned and bubbled.

  She pushed down her physical discomfort to tackle the problem of Beatrix. Though she had disappeared, Beatrix had unfettered access to ASH’s computer—and thus over all ASH affiliated Heroes. She could uncover the Heroes’ identities, their whereabouts, their families, and close relations . . . and pick them off at will. It was a wonder she hadn’t started already. They had to do something to stop her. “We have to purge ASH’s system.”

  “What did you say?” Junior Justice glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

  “Hm? Oh, sorry. I was thinking out loud,” Starlight said, not looking up.

  “You said we have to purge ASH’s computer system,” Junior Justice pushed. “To get rid of Beatrix?”