I said, “Uhh, I mean, many of the supers out there in Metrocity don’t seem to have body armor from what I know.”
Mike nodded, “Yeah, generally only the bricks seem to have much armor.”
I nodded. “Some of the mutants do as well, though I haven’t seen any blasters or psychics that have armor yet.”
“Good thing they have ranged attacks so they don’t have to get close enough to get beat on, or shot easily.”
“Hmph, not from what I’ve seen. It seems like every fight requires up and close combat.”
Both of them caught the word ‘seen’ in my statement.
Damn it. I need to be more careful.
I continued, “You know, the articles talking about the fights being in, uh, tight quarters an all.”
Jim asked, “They are? Geez, most of Sunday’s paper was on supers what with the meteor shower, and I don’t remember anything like that.” He stared at my eyes as he sat thinking about the paper.
“I, uh, get some of the superhero trade rags. I never hurts to pick up as much information as possible if you’re planning on studying them, right?”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
Mike said, “Well, if I could choose one super power, I think it’d be super intelligence. Then I could build an artificial intelligence and program like mad.”
Jim nodded, “Yeah, that would be a great one to have.”
I asked, “But how would super intelligence help in being a superhero?”
Jim said, “Super detective, anyone? You’d work out clues and puzzles fast. Breaking into their computer system to get information would be easy. You could build gadgets to fill in a lack of other powers.”
“Wouldn’t you need knowledge of a lot of other fields to build things? Electrical, engineering, mechanics, and so on?”
“Yeah, but that all becomes easy when you are super intelligent. You might have to do some research, but it all becomes child’s play.”
“Huh, I guess it would. Imagine facing a villain who had all those gadgets. Or used that mind to make weapons. That could be scary.”
Mike said, “The smart villain who did that wouldn’t face you. He’d be behind the scenes letting others use those devices against the heroes.”
A chill ran down my spine. Those bola rifles weren’t normal; they were designed to take down heroes. Before I’d left the garage one of the F.B.I. agents had been thinking about taking down the remote controlled cameras as well.
Jim shook my leg, “Hey, are you okay?”
I snapped out of my reverie. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I was just thinking about how scary that possibility would be.” I went back to munching on fries to give myself more time to think. They seemed happy to eat and continue watching me for a minute as well.
I asked, “So Jim, what would your favorite super power be?”
“Well, it’s not one power, but I think I’d like to be a brick.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I know, it’s pretty different from how I am. But to be able to charge in and save the day. That would be nice.”
“What about out of combat? How would you handle having such massive strength you break stuff all the time?”
“Well, I’d think super strength would only come into effect when you wanted to use it. So I’d be just strong the rest of the time, not super strong.”
“Hmm. Okay, but what if the super strength was ‘on’ all the time?”
He looked at me, wondering at the insight. “I guess I’d just have to learn to be really careful.”
Mike said, “The super intelligent guy could build furniture to handle your strength.”
Jim said, “There’s already a store that sells stuff like that. Big and Strong, it’s downtown.”
I looked surprised. “Really? Where’s it at?”
“Down on Fifth and Washington. It’s a big store, the furniture has a lot of oversized stuff. They even have clothing that fits guys up to eight foot tall. Sturdier than normal too, though I thought that was because of the fights.”
“Heroes wear costumes to keep their normal clothes from being damaged. I bet the clothes are to prevent them from accidentally tearing them when putting them on.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. It’s a really cool store. The prices are high though. I asked a sales guy, he said that the stuff isn’t mass produced, so it doesn’t see the prices drop like in a big chain. Also, many of the materials are stronger than normal, so they cost more to make.”
I nodded at that. “Wow, I’ll have to take, um, myself down there and check it out sometime. That might be a good place to actually talk to a brick.”
Jim said, “The manager is a brick, I got to talk with him a little. He’s huge.” He made a motion as if he had huge biceps. It made me think of Lance and his massive steel-hard muscles. It was fun lying across his shoulder the other day.
“Did you shake his hand?”
“No, he didn’t offer. He actually seemed to avoid getting too close to me.”
I nodded. “He was probably afraid to bump into you or crush your hand. I’ve heard that many are.”
“Really? Where do you get that type of information?”
“Uh, I dunno. I read it somewhere?”
I noticed it was approaching two o’clock and said, “Guys, I need to meet my study group up in the library. Thanks so much for picking up lunch for me! You saved me today.” I smiled at Jim. He beamed back at me.
He said, “Oh! Here’s your change back.” He deposited the crumpled up bills and coins in my hand. I grinned.
“Thanks. Oh, and thanks for the info on that Big and Strong place. I’ll pass that on … uh … my way home. I’ll see if there’s anything neat there.”
Jim looked at me oddly. He wondered why I changed my wording on the sentence. He definitely thought I was odd, but was enamored of me.
I said, “I really don’t mean to run off on you guys. I hope I see you again for my next lunch. I honestly can’t go into the cafeteria.” I shuddered at the mere thought of the barrage of thoughts the place held. Classrooms often had people thinking about the same topic, and mostly focused on the professor. The cafeteria was a chaotic scene where everyone was mentally thinking about different things. No, I didn’t want to go back in there any time soon.
Jim said, “I’m really glad to help out. Are you always done around twelve thirty?”
“Yeah, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The other days I come … well, came down for lunch earlier – more like noon.”
“We’ll look for you then!” They were polite and stood up as I did. I could tell that sitting in one position for some time cramped up their leg muscles. It didn’t seem to affect me anymore. In fact, I realized that the motion of standing was far, far easier than it had ever been in the past, as though I weighed very little.
I gave them each a quick hug, grabbed my book bag and headed off to the library. Both of them wondered if I’d be here again or if it was just a line. I stopped and looked back. I said, “I’ll wait over where I was when you first met me next time, hope I see you!”
Then I rushed to the library. Sometimes I felt like I was in some sort of cybernetic virtual world. Video windows with random views, topics, and often of me appeared and disappeared as I walked through the corridors. Even if most people were quiet, the walk was never quiet for me. In addition to the mindviews, I picked up so much mental chatter from those in the halls, and often from people inside classrooms that the place sounded constantly buzzing with activity to me.
I was in a whole new world. I thanked my lucky stars for the power of flight. It at least allowed me to escape all the noise at times.
Chapter 7 – Study Group
Stephanie’s Viewpoint
Our study group always met on the fourth floor of the library, sometimes at tables, sometimes in the more cozy sections with couches and chairs surrounding a low table. We tended to get more pure studying done at the tables, but found the relaxing area more fun.
When I found them, all five were already seated in one of the couch sections. Carey and Odes sat on the two chairs, on opposite sides of the low table. Megan sat on one couch with a pile of books and papers spread out around her. Kell and Trevin sat on the opposite couch, with some space between them as guys were often wont to do.
I came up behind Megan quietly, although the others were watching me by that point. She was just turning around to see who they looked at when I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
I said, “Hey guys! Thanks for saving me that seat in class, Megan. Megan’s hogging the couch, you guys mind if I squeeze in with you?”
Kell and Trevin looked at each other, grinned, and started making gestures to join them. They were probably the two biggest troublemakers of the group.
This ought to be fun, especially since they’re bound to find out the news about the special class soon.
I dropped my backpack before me and slid between them. They didn’t give a lot of extra room – I thought that was on purpose. Their mindviews verified my suspicion.
I didn’t even need to look around at the group to see what they stared at. I was center target in everyone’s mindview. Especially my eyes and hair. Only Odes didn’t recognize me at this point. That surprised me.
I licked my lips and said, “Our studying will be out of whack until you guys do it, so ask.”
Kell said, “Wow, what a change in hair, and … and … oh, my god.” He leaned at me quickly. I almost thought he was going to kiss me, but instead he started, well, smelling my shoulder and neck. He enjoyed it so much and was so close that the emotion flowed in a wave over me through his mindview. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensation.
After who knows how long, Megan said, “Are you wearing the same perfume as yesterday?”
I blinked a few times, opened my eyes and looked at her. My expression had softened; eyes only half open from my reaction to Kell’s reaction to my scent. I said, “I’m not wearing any perfume, Megan. I wasn’t yesterday either.”
“But you said….”
“I know, I know … I apologize. I … I’ll come clean today. Really.”
Odes said, “Kell, buddy, calm down. Give the girl some space.” Kell unwillingly pulled away from me slightly.
I smiled at Odes. “Thanks, it is a little distracting.”
“You’re distracted? He’s the one distracted.”
Trevin said, “I honestly didn’t think you’d show today.”
I asked, “Why’s that?” I barely noticed him sliding his hand down my back, it only struck me when his fingers hit my costume around the small of my back and began tracing it along my side. I blocked his hand with my elbow tight at my side.
He leaned forward and pushed my skirt against my legs slightly to clearly show my boots. “Nice, new boots?” Then I noticed the image he had in his mind of a magazine with pictures of me in flight. Other pictures showed me posing for the photographer in front of the hospital.
Ah, Darian the paparazzi already sold the pics to a magazine and they printed it. That was fast work.
I said, “You’re enjoying your big ‘reveal’ aren’t you?”
“My dear, whatever do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing, okay, I’ll play along. Yes, they are new boots.”