“How’s your sister doing?” I asked Tanya. “Have you heard from her today?”
Tanya nodded. “Yeah, she’s at the zoo with a couple of the staff. She loves the zoo. She thinks animals are easier to understand than people. As she says, animals don’t lie.”
“That is true!” Hana agreed.
“I actually believe this could be government related,” I told Tanya. “My dad is very serious about school. For him to pull us out early, this has to be really important.”
I nudged Hana. “Come on buddy, you can tell me, ” I coaxed.
“I am not your buddy,” Hana said. “I detect there are times when you barely even like me. First of all, I am an artificial human so it is only natural for you to be wary of something so unnatural. And secondly, I am dating your dad, that must be strange.”
I sat back in my seat. “Nope, not at all,” I insisted.
“Your heart rate and perspiration rate have risen; your pupils have dilated ever so slightly. I detect you are lying,” Hana remarked flatly.
“Why would I lie?” I chuckled.
“Because you view me as a threat emotionally and physically,” Hana said. “True, you pretty much crushed an earlier version of me. But I am much improved and I am modifying myself daily. I cannot blame you for seeing me as a threat.”
“Then maybe sometime soon we should spar?” I suggested.
“Oh, I would pay to see that!” Jason grinned.
“You would?” Tanya frowned.
“Purely as a scientist,” Jason said. “Just think…the superhuman versus the super android. It would be a textbook scenario.”
“You’re such a geek,” Tanya said, giving him a little shove.
“And proud of it,” Jason replied.
I sighed.
Hana looked at me and smiled.
Before she could say anything, I spoke. “How about you and me do a little sparring after the meeting?” I asked.
Hana nodded. “I would find that to be quite enjoyable. I do love a challenge.”
“Good!” I told her, “Prepare to be challenged.”
We walked into one of BMS Lab’s fanciest meeting rooms. The elaborate room could easily hold dozens of people. But the only ones in the room were sitting at the oak table; my dad, a man in a dark blue suit and an older lady in a uniform.
When they saw us, Dad and the uniformed lady stood up. “Lia, Tanya, Jason thank you for coming.”
“I got the feeling we didn’t have much of choice,” Tanya said.
“This is Dr. Key and General Susan Sky,” Dad said. “I will turn the floor over to the general.”
“Thank you, doctor,” General Sky said. “You three kids are here for two matters of national security. First, I will start with the easy one.” She pointed to Tanya. “Miss Cane, you seem to have better control of your powers than your sister.”
“I do,” Tanya said.
“Good,” the general smiled. “We would like you to report here every day after school to help your sister harness her power. I know the people at the lab would also have appreciated this but they did not have the authority of the nation behind them. We believe teaching your sister to control her power is of the utmost importance to national security.”
“I agree,” Tanya said. “But I have a job after school. I’m a lifeguard. My powers come in really handy and I enjoy it…”
“We will pay you $3000 a week to help train your sister,” the general said.
“I’ll quit my job today,” Tanya said.
“Very good, you may go now,” the general dismissed her.
“What about the second issue?” Tanya asked.
“We don’t want to burden you with too much at once. Trust us, the other issue is less important.” The general paused to take in Tanya’s expression. “Now, please leave and prepare for your new job. I understand your sister will be back in the lab soon.”
Tanya raised a finger. She hesitated. She turned to Jason and me, “Good luck, you two.”
I stayed calm. I didn’t want Tanya to know I was excited about the chance to work alone with Jason.
The second that Tanya left the room, the general sat down. She motioned for Jason and me to do the same.
“Now, for you two,” the general said. “We’ve lost a clone. Not just any clone, a super clone.”
“Why us? Why here?” Jason asked.
The general grinned. “You see, Mr. Michaels, that's why we wanted you to team with Ms. Strong. Your scientific background and your knowledge of the school and the town should help greatly. Plus, we hope the clone will bond with you. After all, he has nano-improvement chips implanted in him. And you use nano-improved body armor.”
“Thanks,” Jason said. “I’m always ready to help.”
“And I take it you want me because of my power skills,” I said.
“Yes, those will come in handy, I suppose,” the general replied. “But we are more interested in you because we feel Adam will be drawn to you.”
“Because of my powers?” I asked.
“Indirectly,” the general said.
“Indirectly how?” Dad asked.
“Adam, our super clone has been designed to combat the Strong women in case any of them go rogue. Since most of the remaining Strong women live here, he is in disguise. His clone body, when combined with his nano-bots, allows him to change his skin and hair color as well as some facial futures.”
I stood up and smashed my hands on the table, cracking it in two. “Wait! You developed a clone to hunt me and my family?” I asked.
“We’re the government, we don’t hunt. We track and stop you if you are deemed a threat to national security, which I am happy to say you have not been. Hence, the reason why the clone has not revealed himself for the last three years,” General Sky said stiffly.
“Wait! You lost him three years ago?” Jason asked.
Dr. Keys smiled. “We didn’t really lose him. He left us. He actually erased all the information we had on him including what we’d stored in our minds. Luckily, we did a data backup and that’s where the information regarding Adam popped up. Truthfully, none of us can remember anything about him. Everything we know is because of what we’ve found in the data.”
The general glared at the doctor. Now you decide to tell the truth about what happened?”
“I thought it was relevant that they know.”
“You lost him three years ago?” Jason repeated.
The doctor stood up and grinned proudly, “Yes. I made him to be the best at what he does, to be able to fit in and strike when needed. Luckily, he has not felt the need to strike.”
“If he had, we would know who he was and we could have apprehended him,” the general said.
The doctor snickered. “Perhaps., but doubtful. He is very well designed.”
I decided to speak up. “So where do I fit into this plan exactly? Besides being a target.”
“Ms. Strong, we have been watching you carefully this last year. Your powers and personality are both impressive. We want you to track down and confront the clone. Once you have him, your computer will signal us and we will take him away. We will place him back in the lab environment where he belongs until he is ready for the real world.”
I crossed my arms. “Seems like he’s been ready for a while, especially since he’s been living here for three years,”
“You can take a wild animal and put it into society. It may remain calm for a while but eventually, it will strike. We want to remove Adam before that time occurs. Frankly, we are lucky it hasn’t happened yet. The poor boy is really just a child.”
“So I am looking for a little kid?”
The doctor shook his head. “Now he has the body of a teenage boy. We removed him from his life cocoon four years ago. Until then, he was growing and maturing. We were constantly feeding him information but he had no real world experience.” He paused. He grinned. “I’m fascinated to see what he has become.” He paused again. “As long as he’
s not a killing machine which he does not appear to be.”
“Have you sent your people after him?” Dad asked.
“We only relearned about his existence two months ago,” the general answered.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Dad said.
“Yes we have,” the doctor said. “To no avail. He’s extremely good at fitting in and staying hidden. I’m so proud.”
“So you will help?” the general asked, though it seemed to be more of an order.
“Sure,” I said. I was actually looking forward to working with Jason again. Just him and me.
“Of course,” Jason said, “with pleasure!”
“Great,” the general said. “We have given you two get out of school passes for whenever you need them. It has already been cleared with the school. You will be given extra credit for doing this. Plus, we will give you a small government stipend of a hundred dollars per day. Is that acceptable?”
My brain jumped up and down in my head. Wow! A hundred dollars a day for tracking down a super-clone. That money would come in handy. I took a few deep breaths. Yes, the money would be nice but we’re talking about another human being here. Sure, he’s a man-made human but a human nevertheless.
“So he will not be hurt?” I frowned.
The general and doctor both shook their heads. “No, not at all. He is far too valuable to be hurt. We just want to teach him to properly channel his powers. We want to develop him more.”
“Why can’t he do that in the real world?” I asked. “That’s how I learned.”
“True, but you were not made in a lab. You’re used to dealing with people. However, regardless of that, you still knocked out a mall…” the general said. “Then there was the time you dropped a herd of rhinos and a nearby village… As well there was….”
“I get it! I get it!” I said.
I didn’t totally get it. Sure, I’d messed up on occasion but I learned from each of those mistakes and became a better person and a better superhero because of them. Still, I didn’t love hearing my mistakes read back to me.
The general looked at Jason. “What about you, son?”
“I’m not your son,” Jason said, surprising us all. I liked that Jason showed a little attitude. “But I understand this is an important mission and I accept. Though it’s weird to be doing this for money. The lab already pays me a nice sum for my consulting work and even then I feel guilty… I mean I love doing this stuff and we are helping the country and the world.”
“What Jason is trying to say is we’ll do it!” I said.
Jason nodded. “Yep.”
“Good,” the general said. She looked at my dad and Hana. “Doctors? Do you have any questions or concerns? After all, these are your students.
“What are Adam’s abilities?” Hana asked.
The general and doctor shared a look. The doctor glanced at Hana. “Frankly, we don’t know. The nano-chips in his cloned body are very adaptable. We can guess he is far stronger than a regular human. He may have some energy control. We don’t really know.”
“Not a lot to go on,” Hana stated coolly.
The general and doctor stared at her. “Hence, the reason we are bringing in your people,” the general replied just as coolly. “If you want, we can handle this ourselves. We will just have to increase the size and scope of our operation. We may have to isolate your town.”
Hana put her fingers to her chin. “Now, that could be a logical alternative for your people.”
“No, no it’s not!” I said, glaring at Hana. “We can handle this without endangering the town!”
“Plus, it’s a lot cheaper to use us than the army or Special Forces,” Jason added.
Hana nodded. “Agreed.”
“So you will start now?” the general asked.
Jason and I both looked at each other. We grinned. “We will!”
We got up and started walking out of the room. Where are we going?” I asked Jason.
“To my office, of course!” he said.
“Wait! You have an office in BMS labs?”
Jason laughed. “Yes, I’ve had one for months now. You’ve been inside it, the corner room with the big tinted windows and a nice comfy chair and a computer with 80-inch monitors.”
“What? That’s you’re office!” I gasped. “I always thought you were using somebody else’s…”
Jason laughed again. “No, it’s rude to use somebody else’s computer. Your dad says that as a valuable member of the team, I deserve a nice office.”
“Ah, okay,” I stammered.
Dear Diary: I’m not sure what I am more upset about. The fact that Jason has a cool office in the lab and I don’t. Or the fact that I never figured out my BFF has an office. I hate being jealous of Jason. After all, he’s my BFF and I know he wouldn’t be jealous of any office I had. Jason is cool like that. But for my dad to give him an office and not me, stings a little. I realize that’s petty though. So, I guess I should try to focus on the big picture instead.
The big picture is this…the government actually created a super clone to combat my family and I. In a way, that’s flattering. In a bigger way though, it’s unnerving. The government, my government, thinks of me as a national security threat. Not only that, they know who I am and who my mom and grandmas are. They like us because we fight crime and help people. But man, they could turn on us for any reason at any given moment. I just have to make sure we don’t give them a reason.
Now…onto the immediate big picture: tracking down this clone. Kind of creepy that he’s been secretly watching me for a few years. I wonder if he is somebody I know?
Looking for Suspects
Jason sat at the impressive modern looking desk in his office and typed something into his computer. I tried not to think about how cool his office was.
He glanced over at me. “You’re thinking about how great my office is,” he said.
“No, I’m not” I replied.
His glance didn’t waver.
“Okay, maybe a little,” I admitted.
His glance held steady.
“Okay, a lot!” I shouted.
He grinned. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”
“Yes, yes it was, Jason!” I told him. “I mean…I don’t get it. Why do you have a super cool office and I don’t? I mean…I don’t like being jealous, but seriously, it’s hard not to be.”
“Well, the soft-serve ice cream machine was something I asked for that I’m surprised I got…” Jason said.
“I think I have a locker…” I replied. “So I can change…if needed. But that’s it!”
Jason leaned on the surface of his desk. “ Lia, this entire place is about you! Why do you think your father started this huge company? It’s all for you. You just don't have an office here because you can use any office at any time. Plus, you don’t have to do your work undercover at home. Your mom knows exactly who and what you are. I have to sneak around my dad, the chief of police and my mom, the judge. That’s why I have a home away from home right here.”
“Oh,” I said, I felt my face turning red, bright red. I had never thought about how much Jason had to hide from his family to be my friend and to help me. Since I didn’t know what else to say, I changed the conversation.
Pointing at his computer screen I asked, “So what are we doing?”
Jason spun back to the keyboard. “I’m hacking into the school’s database.”
“Can you change my grade on my last history test from a B- to an A?” I asked jokingly.
“I could but I won’t,” he said. “You get what you get.”
“I know. I was only kidding,” I said, even though I really wasn’t. “So, whatcha’ looking for?”
“Kids…boys who came to our school three years ago,” Jason explained.
“And?” I asked.
Jason pushed a button on the keyboard. Three names popped up.
Randy Boss -- 1224 Lark Street
Henry Singer -- 636 Lexington Dr
.
Brandon Gold -- 1 Park Rd
Jason and I knew all three of those kids. They seemed to be nice decent kids.
“Man, I forgot that Brandon only got here three years ago,” Jason said. “It seems like he’s been here a lot longer.”
“He’s pretty dreamy,” I said aloud by mistake.
Jason smiled at me. “Yeah, I know all you girls think that. Plus, all the guys like him too. He’s a nice kid.”
“He can’t be the clone. Right?” I asked.
“Why can’t he?” Hana said walking into Jason’s office. “Look at me. I am the perfect woman yet I am a machine. The general does not even know I am a machine. She thinks I am a human doctor,” Hana laughed.
“Nothing personal, Hana,” Jason said, “but after talking with you for a bit, it’s easy to figure out that you’re not quite human.”
“Thank you. I am better than a human,” Hana beamed.
“Well, we don’t get that vibe from Brandon,” I said. “He seems totally normal.”
“But he is perfect. And perfect is not normal,” Hana replied.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve even heard the guy fart,” Jason said. “Everybody farts in the locker room. It’s kind of a guy thing.”
“Remind me never to go into the boys’ locker room,” I said to Jason. Turning back to Hana I said, “We’ll check Brandon out after we check out the other two.”
“Okay,” she said. She remained standing in her spot.
“Is there something else we can do for you?” I asked her.
Hana just grinned. “I thought now might be a good time to take you up on your challenge. It should be a good work out for the both of us. I am anxious to learn how much I have improved from my previous models.”
“Ah, I’m working with Jason right now,” I said.
“Actually, I need to do some more research on these guys and also see if there’s anybody else who could be a suspect, maybe somebody who is homeschooled. Should take an hour or so.”
Hana walked up and put her arm around me, “Excellent. Then we have time for a workout.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess we do.”
Boyfriends and Best Friends Forever! Page 4