The Distort Arc: Cape High Books 1-4 (Cape High Series Omnibus) (8 page)

"Does she complain this much all the time?" Technico asks my brother.

"Not really," Sunny says.  "She just doesn't like you.  Besides, she's got a point.  If you have kids you've got to have a minivan or something."

"Nah, not with two teenagers," Technico says.  "But fine, tomorrow we'll go over to the junkyard and pick out a different one.  I can sell this one for cash."

"Maybe you should paint it first, though," Sunny says.  "It'd bring in better money."

"And replace the back seat," I add.

"I've changed my mind, we're keeping it," Technico says.  I glare at him, because I almost swear he's doing it just to spite me.  "It's a classic!  If you're so against it, I'll take you out to the junkyard and you can make the next one," he repeats, looking me straight in the eye.

"I don't know how to do that!  All I can do is blow up televisions!"

"That's the time you need to go to the junkyard the most," he says.  "Tomorrow, bright and early--"

"We have school," Sunny says.

"Skip school," Technico says.  "Nothing you learn there is as important as this is, anyway."

"You're a lousy parent," I say.

"Sure I am," Technico says.  "But which is more important, who started a war a hundred years ago or you blowing up a school this one?"

"I'm not going to blow up a school!"

"Try going into the computer room sometime.  Oh, sure, you'll be fine--even if you're the most vulnerable you're going to be for the rest of your life, but your norm boyfriend and other classmates won't.  Honestly, your transfer papers are probably written up and signed already--"

"Transfer papers?" Sunny asks.

"Yeah.  You're going to a new school as soon as it’s completed."  Technico is saying this far too casually as he leads us to a rickety looking elevator.  He pushes the button, but nothing happens, so--unlike any logical person I know--he pries the doors open with brute force and looks up.  "Huh," he says.

"What are you doing?" I demand.  "You could have waited for it to come down!"

He looks down.  "Up, you mean.  For it to come up.  Man that sucker's slow.  Well, get in."

"What?" Sunny says.

"Get in.  You can climb, can't you?"

"I'm taking the stairs," I say, walking away.

"This is part of your training," Technico tells me, grabbing me by the back of my shirt.  "In you go," he declares, tossing me into the empty space that the elevator is supposed to go through.

"This isn't training, this is child abuse!" I declare, grabbing onto the wires that lift the elevator.  "We should report you!"

"The elevator's coming!  You better start climbing!" he replies.

"What about you?  Why aren't you in here, too?" Sunny demands as he’s tossed in a bit higher than me.

"I'm already trained.  Top floor, kids, and you're wasting daylight!"  Then--to my shock, although I should really stop being shocked by anything--he closes the doors again.  I look down, seeing the elevator coming.

"Climb!" I yell at my brother.  He starts to climb and I follow.  My heart is in my throat because I can just picture myself being smashed to bits by the elevator, dead before I can even drive, much less use my powers.  Hand over hand we haul ourselves up as fast as we can, stopping at the top and looking at the elevator doors.  "Can you open them?" I ask Sunny.

"I don't know," he says.  "Probably not with just one arm."

"I'll get the right door, you get the left," I say--just as the doors are shoved open for us.

"Not bad," Technico says.  "A bit slow, though.  Well don't just hang there, get in already!"  I stare at him.  "What, does Daddy need to give you a hand?" he asks, holding out his hands in a mocking fashion.

"I hate you," I declare before jumping.  I land in his arms, much to my irritation, and he puts me down to the side before offering help to Sunny, as well.

"Look down," he says when we're both on solid ground again.  I can't help but lean down and see where the elevator is--the second floor.  "You were perfectly fine," he says, patting my head.  "We're going to set up some obstacle courses on the roof.  We'll get you two in better shape in no time."

"You're just assuming that we're going to become super heroes," I snap.  "What makes you think we even want to?"

"Heroes?  Nah, I'm not going to force you to be that.  But kid, you already are a super," he says.  "Regardless of how much you might want to be a norm, you never will be.  Even if you spend your entire life trying to be like them, you never will be.  And when a situation comes up--an accident, or an attack, or even just a stupid kid running out in the street, will you really be able to just stand there and let it happen, knowing what you are?"

I look away.  He's got a point, even if I am still mad at him.  "Even a norm would do something if they can," I say.

"But we aren't norms," Sunny says.

"Exactly," Technico says.  "So I might suck as a parent, I won't argue with that, but I know how to train people.  I trained my sister."

"Who's your sister?" Sunny asks.

"I think they call her Firefly nowadays," Technico says.

"Firefly?" I repeat, shocked.  "You mean the one that manipulates electricity?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"She's amazing!" I say, fangirling helplessly.  "Sunny, our aunt is Firefly!"

"You mean I could have gotten electrical powers?  That's so not fair," Sunny complains.

"If you're a technopath, why can you fly?" I ask, ignoring Sunny's complaints.  "You can, right?  That's what it said in the book."

"Genetics," Technico says.  "We've got all the basic super powers thanks to my old man, flight, speed, strength--I'm assuming you'll gain them, although it's possible that Sunny won't.  Your mother couldn't fly.  And what book?"

"We had a Super Awareness week a few weeks ago," Sunny says.  "That's how we found out about you."

We've entered our apartment.  I'm only now looking around.  It's really modern looking, with black metal and glass tables and a white couch.  The kitchen looks the same, with flashes of red here and there.  I'm actually surprised to see that it looks like somewhere you can actually live.

"Not bad," Technico says.  "Stay away from the remote control," he tells me.  It's at that time I realize there's a huge flat screen hanging on the wall. 

"I can't even look at it!  It'll blow up!" I say.

"Nah.  Just don't try and get inside its head.  Computers, on the other hand, we'll keep you away from until I can get you a really crappy one."

"Get inside its head?" I repeat.

"You do it instinctively," he says.  "It's there, your mind is going to automatically start trying to figure out how it works--er, we'll discuss this in another room.  Or on the roof," he decides, grabbing my arm and tugging me away from the television.  "For now, pick your rooms.  The one with the biggest bed is mine."

I can't help but glance back at the television a bit longingly.  I haven't watched television in over a month.  I haven't checked my email or my web sites--my virtual pets are probably starving to death even as we speak.

What?  It's important!

I shrug it off and look into one room, then the next, debating on which I want.  They're rather boring, actually, plain tan walls, a full sized bed and a desk.  The two are about the same in size, as well.

"I'm taking this one," Technico declares from the third room.

"Then I'll take this one, I guess," I say, heading for the one on the right.  It's fine, I decide.  At least there's no Justin poster on the wall.  I was really starting to hate that poster.

I blink as Sunny steps in.  "It's the same as mine."

"Yeah, pretty much," I say, dropping down on the bed.  "We don't have anything to hang on the walls, either.  So it doesn't really matter.  You want this one instead?"

"No, it's fine," he says, heading for my bed to sit down next to where I lay.  "Looks like we're leaving our school."

"Yeah."

"It would have been easier before Trent and Max," he mutters.

"Yeah."

"Technico's insane, isn't he?"

"Yeah.  He absolutely is," I say, my mind going back to the elevator shaft incident.

"Think we'll die?"

"Maybe."  I can't help but wonder if life wouldn't be easier for the super villain if we were dead.  It's a callous thought, but he's already admitted that the only reason he's taking us in is because he has to.  I doubt he has any feelings for us at all.

So the question is... just how bad is this bad guy?

Needless to say, I don't sleep very well that night.  Morning takes forever to come, and I can't help but get up at seven, like I usually do, wondering if Technico had been lying about skipping school today.  I get dressed and head into the bathroom I'll be sharing with Sunny to brush my teeth.  I can hear someone moving around in the kitchen, even though they're a lot quieter than they should be.  I can only assume that it’s Technico.  Sunny never bothers to be quiet.  He's never really awake at this time, either.

After washing my face and brushing my teeth I head into the kitchen, looking at the man at the stove.  He's been stuck in a cell for fifteen years, I think, staring blankly at the shirtless man, but he looks like one of those muscle men on the front covers of those embarrassing romance novels you see at Walmart.  Do you know how disturbing it is to have a dad that looks like that?  And he's wearing those baggy sleep pants that have pictures on them.  His has cars.

He glances up at me.  "Pancakes okay?" he asks, flipping one with a flick of his wrist.

"Did they have a gym in the Cape Cells?" I ask.

"Yeah.  Not much else to do, really.  They stuck me in a bodysuit and collar that kept me from doing much more than turning the channel with my mind.  So I spent most of the time working out, drawing up random designs, watching TV, the usual."

"Seems like a waste," I say, sitting down at the table.  It also seems horrible to me.  I don't think I like the guy much, but I bet his potential has been completely wasted for the last fifteen years--

"Most of the stuff I designed has been used," he says, sitting a plate of pancakes in front of me.  "A lot of today's technology is based on the work I did in the cell.  So I guess it's not a total waste."

"If that's true, why are you so broke?" I demand.  "You should be rich!"

"I probably am," he admits.  "I just need to wring it out of Double M's stingy little grasp.  At least he gave us a decent place to live, though."  He's starting up another pile of pancakes, as if this is a normal family and he's a normal dad.  "Decent television, as well--at least it is now."

"It is... now?" I repeat.

"I upgraded it last night.  There's also the remains of the computer in the front room--he might have picked out a decent big screen, but his tastes in computers," he drawls with a derisive snort.  "Terrible."

"I thought you weren't going to allow me to blow up the computer!" I say, poking the pancakes before grabbing the butter and syrup.

"I'm not.  Me taking it apart is completely different from your blowing it up."

Sunny comes in wearing his pajamas--a pair of boxers and a tank top.  He yawns loudly before staring at the two of us blankly.  After a second he heads to the table as well--and promptly faceplants where his plate should be.

"He's ah... not good with mornings?" Technico asks, holding a plate that I assume is for Sunny.

"Not really," I say.

"Today we'll be going to the new school after we go to the junkyard," Technico says, placing the plate next to Sunny's head and going back to the stove.  "Your training will be construction work."

"What?" I ask.  "You're kidding, right?  Why can't we go to our school and you go do the construction work?" I demand.

"Because you're cheap labor."

"We're children!" I protest.  "There are laws against that!  And people are going to notice us not going to school, you know--they'll start looking for you!"

"I'll call in sick for you," he says, waving it off.

Sunny's waking up.  For a moment he just stares at the plate in front of him before sitting up again and starting to eat.  He's not going to be any help in this argument, not until he's been awake for a bit longer.

"Our friends are going to notice," I say.  "They'll talk to the teachers--"  I'm reaching.  But I'd been planning on telling Max what has happened today and now I won't be able to!  What will happen if we just go missing all of a sudden?  Will he do something?

"Look, kid," Technico says as he sits down at the table with his own plate of pancakes.  "I really think you should dump the norm.  It's not that I'm against the whole having a boyfriend thing--"

"Max is not a norm!" I snap.  Then I stop, realizing what I've just admitted.  I wanted to keep that a secret, right?  But--

"Oh?" Technico says.  "Then what is he?"

"He's... um..." I look at Sunny.

"Maximum," Sunny says.

For a long moment Technico looks blank.  Then he lets out a bark of laughter.  "Oh man, you're serious?" he asks.  "You're dating Double M's kid?"