Supercharged Infield (7 page)

Penny gulped. “Lifting stones? How?”

Jonny grinned proudly. “First, I took two mice, fastened the electrodes onto their
bodies, then, little by little, I began feeding information into the computer.”

“What kind of information?”

“Formulas. I took the color graphics program and set up a model of the human body, showing all its muscles.” His face beamed.
“Then I programmed the voice commands to send electrical vibrations out through these tubes to whatever muscles I highlighted
on the screen. But I had to do it in steps, and each step was a separate formula which was able to work only when done in
the correct sequence. Follow me?”

Penny’s forehead was already knitted. “I don’t know,” she confessed. “What about the mice? What did you do with them after
you stuck the electrodes onto their bodies?”

“I placed hunks of cheese inside a two-inch-square box,” Jonny explained. “Then I laid the stone on top of the box and just
waited for the mice to get good and hungry.”

“And?”

“Well, I experimented with each one separately, to see if the reactions would be the same. And they were. When the mice got
good and hungry, they lifted the stone and got the cheese. A stone five times their own weight.”

Penny stared at him. The ice around her spine had melted. But she was still cautious, wary. She still could not make herself
trust him one hundred percent.

“What happened? Did the mice start bulging with muscles?” she asked, curious.

He chuckled. “No. They just got strong. Their muscles simply became like steel.”

“That’s why no one could tell that the girls had changed by just looking at them,” Penny observed.

“Right,” said Jonny.

“But it affected their minds,” she said. “Their behavior. How come?”

Jonny shook his head and looked away from her. “I’m not sure. All I can think of is that the change in their bodies caused
by the computer must have also created a reaction in their brain waves. I don’t think it’s anything damaging, or permanent.”
He started tapping the edge of the computer table nervously with his fingers.

“But you’re not sure.” It was more a statement than a question.

“Not completely, no.”

Penny shook her head, incredulous. “But you must have seen a change in Shari’s behavior, Jonny. And in Karen’s. Why did
you continue with your experiment? Why?”

He shrugged. His face began to look pale, drawn. “I wasn’t worried about their behavior. Not at first. I just thought it was
a normal, unimportant side effect.”

“‘Normal? ‘Unimportant’? You must be kidding!”

“No. I figured it was just tied in with their physical change. That it was just a temporary thing.” He met her eyes squarely.
“Penny, don’t you understand? I was so surprised that the experiment worked I didn’t give much thought to the girls’ emotions!
I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true! I really didn’t think the experiment would work!”

Penny sucked in a deep breath, let it out, and went on quietly, “Shari was the first girl — victim — you tried it on. Didn’t
you explain the experiment to her? What might happen to her if it worked?”

“Of course, I did! I explained it to all of them!”

“But none of them — including your own sister, Karen — was a bit worried? Not one bit?”

Jonny shrugged. “Well, Shari was a bit cautious at first. But I picked her because she’s a jolly kid. And daring. She wanted
to
know what the experiment would do to her, if it succeeded, and if it would leave any aftereffects. I told her it should improve
her playing ability, but that’s all. And that she should be normal again in a week or so.”

“But it’s lasted longer than that,” Penny said. “A lot longer. Jonny, I can’t believe you.”

Jonny nodded. “Yeah. I know,” he murmured. “I can’t believe me, either.” He sounded sick.

“Why did you do it?” Penny asked. “Why didn’t you pick on another animal? A dog, for example. Or a cat?”

He lifted his shoulders. “The Hawks were losing games, that’s why. And the infielders were playing the lousiest of anybody.
Including you, Penny. Harold and I used to talk about it. And I thought . . . well, if my experiment worked, I would turn
Shari into a superplayer first, then, one by one, you other infielders, and the Hawks should start winning. When Karen saw
how Shari was playing after I gave her the treatment, I had no trouble convincing her to have it, too. She thought it was
fun. And exciting. Well, I did, too. And Harold helped by getting us all together.”

“Didn’t Karen notice that the treatment
also affected Shari’s personality? And worry that it might affect hers the same way?”

“Yes. But I told her it was temporary. Not anything to worry about.” He shook his head, and Penny could see that he was really
suffering over this now. “I’m really sorry, Penny,” he said. “I really am.”

“Sorry?” She looked at him squarely. “Sorry won’t help, Jonny. The parents of those girls must have noticed that something
is different about their daughters by now. If they find out that you’re behind it, you’ll really be in hot water! Jonny, you’ve
got to change them back, you hear me? You’ve got to bring those girls back here and turn them into normal human beings again!”
Her anger mounted, and she clenched her fists and felt like pounding him on the chest to let him know she meant it. “Do you
hear me, Jonny?” Her voice rose in a crescendo as the words left her mouth. “You’ve got to change those girls back to normal!
Now!”

Jonny’s face seemed even paler than before, his voice almost inaudible as he stared at her and said, “I can’t, Penny. I don’t
know how.”

A
LL LIFE SEEMED
to drain out of Penny as Jonny’s raw, slowly delivered words registered in her mind. She had to find a chair and sit down,
she thought, or she’d faint.

A worn cushioned chair with wooden armrests was directly in front of her, facing the right-hand side of the computer closest
to her. She went to it and sat down, resting her elbows on the armrests and her forehead in her hands. She closed her eyes,
Jonny’s words still humming in her ears: “
I can’t, Penny. I don’t know how
.”

But he
had
to know how! If he could change them into superstars, there
had
to
be a way that he could change them back!

She lifted her head and looked at him. His worried blue eyes looked back at her. There couldn’t be any delay in trying. Now
that she was here with Jonny she was going to
force
him to try. She could see now that he was concerned, frightened.

“Jonny,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm, steady, “you’ve got to do something. You can’t say you can’t. You’ve got
to change those girls back.”

He looked more worried than ever. “Oh, man, Penny. I didn’t think . . . I didn’t realize what I did. I mean, I never dreamed
that Karen — my own
sister
— Shari, and the others would stay that way. I told you, I thought it all would be just temporary.”

“But it isn’t,” Penny said tersely. “Look at Karen. She — ” She cut herself off. How could Jonny even try to restore one of
the girls to her normal self if none of them was present?

“Where’s Karen now?” Penny asked sharply.

Jonny shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably at our aunt’s. She’s been going there a lot lately instead of to her friends’.”

“Call her,” Penny suggested. “Tell her to come home. Tell her it’s important.”

Jonny looked at her, fear in his eyes.

“Go on,” Penny insisted, looking around and noticing a telephone at the other side of the computer in front of him. “Call
her right now. You know your aunt’s number?”

He nodded, picked up the phone, dialed, and asked for Karen. A few seconds later he hung up. His eyes sought Penny’s. “She’s
in the pool, and she doesn’t want to come out,” he said, his velvety voice sounding harsh and hurt now.

Penny stared at him. She thought of Shari, of Faye, of Jean, Jonny’s most recent victim. Jean had walked out of Jonny’s house
less than half an hour ago and had probably gone home. If any of the girls could return, it would be Jean, Penny thought.
Excitement sprang up in her as she told Jonny to call her and have her come over immediately.

Jonny looked up Jean’s number in the phone book and dialed. Seconds later he hung up. “There’s no answer,” he said, his face
looking as lifeless as his voice sounded.

Penny froze. Oh, no! What now? Should Jonny call Faye, too, and see if she’d come?
Faye was Penny’s best friend. That is, she was until Jonny had changed her into a superplayer and left her, as he had left
the others, like a robot as far as emotion was concerned. Penny didn’t know if they were friends anymore. The part of her
that Penny had known so well, that had been active and bubbly and always filled to the brim with fun and laughter, was now
dormant. Or maybe dead.

Penny shuddered at the thought and had to say something to drive it out of her mind.

“There’s one other thing we can try,” she said, the words rushing out of her without her thinking too much about them.

“What?” Jonny asked, curious.

“Put those electrodes on
me
. Change
me.
”

Jonny’s eyes widened. “Penny! You know what you’re saying?”

“Yes!” She was clear-minded now. She knew
exactly
what she was saying. “You run the experiment through several stages, don’t you? I mean, you just don’t turn the computer
on and
puff!
the change has been done?”

“Right. There are five stages,” replied Jonny. “Start. Increase power by one. Then by two. Then three, and so on.”

Penny’s heart pounded as her hope suddenly
revived. “Okay. Let’s start cracking. Get out those electrodes.”

Again Jonny stared at her, as if he were giving her another chance to change her mind. But her stern, demanding look took
the place of words. He rolled the chair on its small wheels to the front of the keyboard and monitor beside Penny, pulled
out the electrodes, and stuck the suction cups on her wrists, two on each. Then he switched on the computer and waited for
it to warm up. In seconds the screen lighted up, and Jonny began to punch some keys. Instantly the date flashed up on the
top left corner of the screen, then, underneath it, the time: 4:22.
p.m.
The monitor was located just back of the keyboard, far enough for Penny to see what was appearing on the screen, even though
it was at a difficult angle.

Striking the letters one at a time, Jonny typed “MU-CH-PH.” Underneath the capital letters appeared the line “INFORMATION
RECEIVED. NEXT, PLEASE.”

“What does MU-CH-PH mean?” Penny wanted to know.

“Muscular Change Phase,” Jonny answered. “Now, don’t keep asking me questions. Okay?”

“Okay,” Penny replied, reluctant, for she really wanted to know what he did — every step of it — to effect the change. After
all, wasn’t she volunteering to be his “victim” now? But she let him continue pounding the keyboard without interrupting,
and only watched the words as they popped up on the screen. Also, asking Jonny questions every time he pounded out a word
might bother him so much he’d make mistakes, thereby delaying their experiment. And they didn’t need that.

“MU-CH-PH II” appeared next on the screen, and almost instantly Penny felt a faint prickle shooting through her arms, her
stomach, her legs, and her head. It only lasted a second, but the sensation left her staring at the tubes extending to her
wrists as if they had suddenly turned into live snakes.

Jonny again struck a few keys, and “WRONG” popped up on the screen. He erased it, struck another series of keys, and this
time “OKAY” came up, followed by “PROCESS IN PERFECT COORDINATION. PROCEED WITH CARE. STRIKE THE PROPER CODE WORD EXACTLY
EVERY TWENTY SECONDS.”

“There!” Penny heard him say, and she saw a smile of satisfaction come over his face. Obviously he was on the right track now.

But fear suddenly crept into Penny’s thoughts. Her idea was to have Jonny change her as he had changed the other girls, and
to tell him to stop after having reached one of the higher-powered phases. But she’d been so eager to volunteer for the conversion
that she had completely forgotten to tell him!

She had to make sure to tell him to stop while her faculties were still intact. If Jonny went too far, her mind would be affected,
she’d forget to yell “Stop,” and she would become another super softball athlete! She had to make sure that would not happen!
Otherwise, how long would she and the other girls remain in that state? Probably forever — unless someone else tried to help
Jonny restore them back to normal. But who knew who that would be? Or when? No. It had to be done now.

Jonny was looking at his digital wristwatch. Suddenly he turned his attention back to the keyboard and began to strike the
keys again. “MU-CH-PH III” appeared on the screen. Then, directly beneath it: “OKAY. POWER INCREASED. MUSCLES IN
ARMS AND LEGS GIVEN TEN MICRO-ELECTRIC CHARGES.”

There was a slight pause, then new words appeared on the screen: “STOMACH MUSCLES FIRMING. CHEST MUSCLES FIRMING. HOLD FOR
TWENTY SECONDS, THEN PRESS NEXT CODE WORD.”