Hero complex, p.7
Hero Complex, page 7
“Is that because you can’t re-create the zeptobots or because our program doesn’t work?” Bard stood and moved around her desk. She crossed her arms.
Alpha swallowed audibly. “The program elicits emotional response, ma’am. Subject One is proof of concept and our emotional response subjects are allowing us to fine-tune delivery dose and methods. We’ve seen less success with the zeptobots, but that’s likely because she’s been relegated to an inert stage for a year. Had we been able to keep her conscious and do testing—”
Bard picked the first thing her hand landed on, and she launched it at Alpha. He managed to dodge it, and it landed with a thud on the thick carpet. “You’ve had samples of her blood for a year. What do I pay you for? The program needs to work, and we need zeptobots.”
Alpha bowed and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Subject Two is undeniably brilliant. Untangling her work is difficult. It also appears as though the zeptobots are…never mind, ma’am. We will not rest until we break the code.”
“You’re the Alpha now.” Bard pointed at her scientist. “I expect you to deliver results. Make my program work. I can’t have an army of computer-faced soldiers marching around the world. I don’t want individual human operators like Subject One, who should have been put down a long time ago. Men can be defeated. People see them coming. Fix the zeptobot problem. I’m expecting great things from you.”
As soon as the door closed behind Alpha, Bard turned to Antonio. “What would you do about our two injured scientists?”
Antonio evaluated her for a moment. He looked to be weighing his words carefully. “Is your goal to finish your program at the first moment possible or to motivate your scientists to produce for you on this and every project moving forward?”
Bard took a moment to consider. “Find me a way so I don’t have to choose.”
A smile, the smile that gave Bard goose bumps, spread across Antonio’s face. “Then you know what needs to be done. It’s the only way. Say the word and I’ll take care of it.”
Although it made her insides crawl, Bard knew Antonio was right. Antonio was always right about these matters. “Do it. Retire them. Make sure the other scientists know the cost of failing me. Give the ones remaining a pay raise to offset the consequences and keep them in place.”
Antonio left to carry out her orders, leaving Bard alone with her thoughts and her guilt. She opened her lower desk drawer and pulled out Bronte’s melted laptop. She still didn’t know why she’d kept it. Perhaps it was a trophy. Bronte had given up everything and Bard had thought she’d won. Now, was she so sure? Where was Bronte? Bard needed more time. Once she was ready to bring her own version of zeptobots and her program to market, Verstrand Industries would be the most profitable company in the world, and she would be the one being feted for her accomplishments. Even Ludo couldn’t take that away from her.
Chapter Eight
Bronte held her hands loosely in front of her, scrunched her eyes closed, said a little prayer for the first time in her life, balled her fists, and thrust her hands out assertively. She opened her eyes. Her shoulders slumped. Her hands were as non-reflective and fleshy as they’d been when she closed her eyes. Was there a password she was missing? A ritual? A sacrifice? She’d said “please” multiple times. What would it take to get the zeptobots to the surface?
Although she’d created the zeptobots and knew every design spec, code, and tiny piece of hardware, they were foreign to her now. She’d wanted the zeptobots to be a cutting-edge cancer treatment, not a metal super suit. Nothing in her years of development and testing had hinted at them behaving as they were now. How was she supposed to communicate with something she’d conceived of but no longer understood?
She picked up the wire crimpers she’d found in the toolbox and stripped the plastic sheathing off a length of wire on her workbench. It had taken a few days of hard work, but their warehouse was transformed into something that almost passed as livable.
“I’m going to stick this wire into my thumb. It’s going to hurt like hell.” Bronte held the wire above the pad of her thumb. “An exoskeleton would be nice.” She rolled her eyes. She’d resorted to talking to herself. Was it herself? Were the zeptobots “her”?
She or they gave no response.
“Last chance to save us.” She jabbed the wire into her thumb. “Ow. Son of a bitch. What the fuck. I thought we were on the same team.” She removed the wire and stuck her thumb in her mouth. The metallic taste of blood was ironic enough to make her laugh.
“What are you doing to yourself over here?” Athena pulled on Bronte’s arm until she allowed Athena to see her injured thumb.
Athena deposited the first aid kit she’d been keeping with her on Bronte’s workbench. She handed over antibacterial cream and a Band-Aid.
“I don’t have an unlimited supply of this stuff and I have zero doses of tetanus shots. Self-inflicted injuries are going to be triaged pretty low when I have to ration Band-Aids. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.” Athena took the Band-Aid when she saw Bronte in danger of fumbling it without the use of one thumb.
“Galen jabbed me to get the exoskeleton to appear before we fought our way to freedom. I thought if I threatened to injure myself I could make it appear as well.” Bronte held up her bandaged thumb. “Experiment failed. Hypothesis disproved.”
“Not a failure then. One question answered, a few hundred more to test. Isn’t that how science works?”
Bronte smiled. “I didn’t know you cared.”
Athena returned the smile. “So what if I do?”
“I would like that very much.” The words were out before Bronte could sensor. “Won’t anyone miss you?” she said quickly.
“Miss me?” Athena looked confused at the abrupt shift.
Bronte pointed toward the door. “Out in the real world. Friends or family? You went to work one day and then disappeared. You’re the one who said we kidnapped you. Won’t someone wonder what happened to you?”
Athena looked toward the door and smiled. She was clearly lost in a memory Bronte had no part in. “No. They’ll think I took off on an adventure. No one will worry for a while longer. It wouldn’t be the first time I quit my job and left for a few weeks to parts unknown.”
Bronte took a step back. Her chest tightened at the thought. “Adventure? You used to go on extended trips with no planning? That sounds simply dreadful.”
“It’s not. It’s freedom and exploration and a thrill I can tell you’ve never experienced. This is its own kind of adventure, don’t get me wrong.” Athena indicated around the warehouse. “But not the kind I’d choose for us. When we’re done with whatever this is, I’ll come up with something much nicer. You’ll see. It’ll be fun.”
Bronte doubted that very much. “We’ll see.” That was as much as she was willing to concede, no matter how beautiful Athena looked when her smile reached all the way to her eyes. “I have more work to do.”
“Uh-huh.” Athena removed one additional Band-Aid from her kit and slid it across the workbench to Bronte. “That’s all you get for the rest of the day. Use it wisely.”
Bronte chuckled as she turned back to her work. It was harder than she expected not to turn and watch as she heard Athena walk away.
“Lord as my witness, I will get that sexy scientist to unwind a little before this is all said and done.”
“I heard that,” Bronte said over her shoulder.
“There’s no way you could have heard that.” Athena sounded alarmed.
Bronte turned. Athena was across the warehouse in their newly designated kitchen with a water bottle halfway to her mouth. Athena was right; the distance was far too great for Bronte to have heard and yet heard she had.
“Can you hear me now?”
“Yes.” Bronte held her arm aloft showing a thumbs-up in case Athena’s ears weren’t as sensitive as hers seemed to be.
“What the fuck. Off-key singing in the shower, swearing under my breath, commenting on your ass, will nothing be private around here?” Athena’s hands were on her hips, but Bronte could hear the laughter in her voice. “Seriously though, we might need to get you earplugs.” Athena was more serious now.
In the hospital, she’d experienced something similar but hadn’t been sure if it had been her imagination. Now there was no doubt her hearing was enhanced. Was this also a result of the zeptobots? And what triggered it?
“Now you decided to come out and play?” Bronte scowled at her hands as if that was where the zeptobots gathered when they needed to have a face-to-face chat with Bronte. Not that they ever seemed to be so inclined.
Athena made her way back over. “You know this makes you a legit superhero now, right?”
Bronte cocked her head. “I was illegitimate before?”
“Yes. A bastard superhero. Fewer than two powers. It’s in the bylaws. But now? Now you’re legit. Super hearing and metal skin sneaks you in the door.”
“I’m relieved we cleared that up. The only hiccup I see is I’m not interested in being a superhero.” Bronte folded her arms across her chest.
“That’s because you don’t have a name and a costume yet. We’ll work on those later and if you can still resist the hero urge, we’ll talk about it. Right now, let’s see what else you’ve got. Do you think you have super speed? Or strength? Can you lift me with only your pinky?” Athena took Bronte’s pinky between both of her hands and held on tightly.
Where had this excitable fangirl come from? It was endearing and damn cute. It was true Bronte had no intention of being a hero to the masses, but if this was the reaction she got from Athena maybe she should reconsider being a hero. If only Bronte knew how to pull that off.
First, she tried lifting Athena with her pinky. “My strength is the same as always, overworked scientist who doesn’t know how to get to the nearest gym. I’m incredibly sore from moving all this stuff around the last few days and my back hurts.”
Athena let go of her pinky. “That’s okay. Maybe you’ll have super strength and speed when you’re metal. Do you think you’ll be able to fly?”
Before Bronte could ponder that horrible thought, Athena had taken Bronte’s science journal, flipped to a blank page, and was writing. Athena was writing in her science journal. No one touched her science journal. She tried to snatch it back only to have Athena swat her away.
“I’m pulling from deep in my memory banks here, all the way back to Mrs. Fenderwick’s eighth grade science class where we learned nothing but the scientific method. To test your hearing we need a hypothesis, a methods section, and results, correct?” Athena turned the notebook so Bronte could read what she’d written.
Bronte looked at the notes Athena had scribbled. There was more there than section headings. She’d developed the outline of a scientific plan. Bronte filled in the rest of the details. They’d test her hearing at multiple points around the warehouse. If Bronte was being honest, listening to Athena talk wasn’t a hardship. By the end of the experiment they’d have multiple data points to better understand the strengths and limitations of her enhanced hearing.
Athena pulled over one of their makeshift chairs and pointed Bronte to sit. She counted off ten paces and made a note in the science journal. Bronte was impressed with Athena’s scientific attention to detail. But then, a nurse had to pay attention to detail too.
“What about your family and friends? Why didn’t I see your face all over the news? Haven’t they missed you over the past year?” Athena continued taking notes as she talked.
Bronte sat straighter in her chair. She fought against the wave of melancholy that always crashed through her when a stray thought of her parents swept through.
“You could simply ask if I can hear you.” Bronte barely needed to raise her voice to be heard.
Athena shrugged. “What fun is that?”
“This is science, not fun.” Bronte squashed a smile.
“Pardon me, I wasn’t aware they were mutually exclusive. You answer the questions and I will make sure not to enjoy myself.” As she was saying it, Athena giggled. “Oops. From now on, serious of purpose.”
No more giggles escaped although Bronte could see Athena trying hard to suppress a smile. What the hell? They were living in a warehouse, and she was testing a newly discovered superpower that would apparently ensure she was legit. At least in the eyes of someone whose opinion she realized she valued. Why did this particular experiment have to be serious as long as they collected good data?
“To answer your question, it’s unlikely anyone noticed I was missing. Those that did either didn’t care enough to follow up or didn’t know enough about me to file a report.” Bronte hung her head. What must Athena think?
Athena paced off more distance between them and recorded it. “Why wouldn’t everyone want to know you? I haven’t known you long at all and I want to know far more.”
Heat rose from Bronte’s neck to her cheeks. Why was she blushing? She needed a safer topic. “I lived and breathed my work for years. That didn’t leave me much room for anything outside of it.”
“You’re going to have to speak up. I’m lacking one or two superpowers.” Athena pointed to her own ears and shrugged.
Bronte cupped her hands around her mouth. “Married to my work. No social life. Hang on.” She looked around until she found the walkie-talkies she’d spotted earlier. It was convenient they’d holed up in a warehouse full of electronic debris. She turned both on. Thankfully, the batteries were still good. At least now she’d be able to answer Athena’s questions without shouting across the warehouse. She wasn’t sure she needed Galen and Spero listening to her side of the conversation.
Athena circled ninety degrees to Bronte’s right. “Next question. Do you come from a long line of scientists determined to make the world a better place?”
Bronte paused. One beat, two, three. She knew she needed to answer but wasn’t sure how. Or if she wanted to.
“Can you hear me?” Athena sounded confused.
“Yes. I heard you.” Bronte turned so she was facing Athena. “I’m the only scientist in my family. They’re embarrassed by me.”
Athena looked like a cartoon character with her mouth hanging open practically to the floor. “Didn’t you say you hoped the zeptobots would be a cure for cancer? Your family is embarrassed by that?”
“They’re artists. They see the world entirely differently than I do. Pursuing a career that doesn’t allow your brain the creative freedom it deserves is a waste of human potential, according to them.” Bronte clenched her jaw as she spoke. She consciously relaxed each muscle as she counted to ten. They weren’t worth the tension headache she would cause herself.
Athena rotated again and looked ready to ask a follow-up question.
Bronte interrupted her. “My turn to ask a question. Why have you stayed? You could have left at any time. We wouldn’t have stopped you, despite our kidnapping you initially. I protest labeling it as such, for the record.”
“I’m not sure.” Athena looked around the room. Her gaze finally rested on Bronte. She smiled. “You three have all the flashy powers, but it seems like you might need a little saving yourselves. And what bigger adventure am I going to find than you three and a case of stolen research being sought by a bad guy who will gladly kill at least one of us and imprison the others?”
“I thought it was because there isn’t anywhere safe outside the doors.” Bronte wasn’t sure she liked the idea of needing saving.
“That too, I suppose.” Athena moved again. “I’m certainly not staying for the amenities. We’re running out of cash and food, and I don’t have any clean clothes. What’s your favorite color?”
Bronte furrowed her brow. She was worried about the things Athena mentioned as well.
“Focus, Doc. Favorite color?”
“Color? Green, why?” Bronte craned her neck to look at Athena.
“For your costume, of course.” Athena pulled a different, smaller notebook from her front pocket and jotted something inside.
Bronte shook her head vigorously. “No. Nope. No costumes. Absolutely not. You might be cute, but you’re not sweet-talking me into spandex and spangles.”
Even from halfway across the warehouse Bronte could see the mischievous smile on Athena’s face. “Could I sweet-talk you out of them is the question. Since I’m so cute and all.”
Bronte came close to falling out of her chair. “What are you doing?”
“Flirting. Or trying to, although if you have to ask I must not be doing a very good job.” Athena moved farther away. “Can you still hear me?”
“Just barely over my thudding heart.” Bronte didn’t depress the walkie-talkie button.
“Did you say something?” Athena held her walkie-talkie and gave it a shake. “I can’t hear you, remember.”
“I said, yes. I can hear you.” Bronte squeezed her hands together until her right index finger turned an unhealthy shade. Her palms were sweaty. “I don’t know how to flirt.” The words escaped in a rush, like schoolchildren released on the final day before summer vacation.
“Do you want to? Flirt, I mean?” Athena’s voice was kind and comforting. She wasn’t teasing or flirting now. She was giving Bronte the space to speak her mind.
Bronte didn’t need to think it over. “Yes, of course I do. With you. Not generally.”
The static from the walkie-talkie felt like an accurate representation of the status of her thoughts. Jumbled, nonsensical, and loud.
“Then we’re going to be fine.”
Athena was as far away from Bronte as she could get in the warehouse, but Bronte felt connected to her. She liked it almost as much as it scared her. She’d never let herself form attachments to others before. It got in the way of her work. What did a connection between a “legit superhero” metal robot human and a goddess like Athena even look like? Why would Athena want it? Maybe Athena was enjoying the adventure now, but there were other women outside the warehouse to catch her eye. Other “normal” women, without metal skin and super hearing. Besides, wouldn’t she need to know who and what she was before she asked someone else to know her?
