this. Every time he tries to remember, his head starts to hurt.
"This what?" he finally asks when he notices the man just staring at him.
"Your EX client is now officially out as a super hero! He's running around, right now, showing off just what a freak he is!" he pushes a button on the TV controller and a video starts playing. Tom watches for a second before pointing at the little water girl.
"Her! I know her name!" he says. "We can do something with that, right? If we know her name, we can track her down, right?"
"FINALLY you do something useful! What's her name?"
"Ma… something. Mal…" Tom frowns, trying to remember what it was, exactly. "Malina!" he says. "She had a weird name—and she was short! One of those little people!"
"Did you get her LAST name?" the tall man asks.
"No… I mean, I didn't even think—"
"You IDIOT!" the tall man says, raising a hand to slap him.
"Now, now," a familiar voice says as a man steps out of the shadows, "really, Sam, we should treat our help better than that, don't you think?"
"Senator Herold," Sam says, jerking his arm back down as if he hadn't just threatened Tom. "Sir, we had clear instructions for Tom, here, and he failed on every count! He's useless! We need to put him back in the box."
"Box?" Tom repeats. His head starts screaming in pain and he grabs it with both hands. It's like something is trying to drill through his cerebral cortex. He's not even sure WHICH part of his brain is the cerebral cortex, but he's positive that the drilling is hitting it, too.
"That is not an option right now, Sam," Senator Herold says. "Tom, my friend, thank you for all of your hard work," he goes on, walking over and holding out a hand. Tom stares at it for a moment before shaking, wondering why something looks wrong about that hand. He can't seem to put a finger on it…
"Thank you," Tom says instead of dwelling on the hand issue. "I just—I'm sorry, I don't know how I wound up failing so badly. I just couldn't seem to keep my feelings to myself all of a sudden." Something seems wrong about that, too, he thinks with a frown. He'd always been—
"He needs the box," Sam repeats, looking over at the senator.
"We can't DO the box right now, Sam. We're going to have to find out what all he knows and work from there," Herold says a bit sharply.
"You have beautiful hands," Tom blurts out, only to wonder where it comes from. But it's true, he realizes as he looks at them again. "For your age, especially—do you use some sort of special cream?"
"Thank you," Herold says with a smile. "I try to take good care of my appearance. Now, why don't you tell me about who else was with your ex-client?"
"Well… Falconess was there! She's a real babe. And there was this strange kid with a lizard haircut—" he starts rattling off whatever he can remember. The idea of being "stuck in the box" sends a chill down his spine. He's almost grateful that he can't remember why.
***
"That was pretty amazing," Cole says, still laughing as we go past the Colorado/Utah border sign. I ignore him, my eyes glued to the sign as it disappears behind us. We're here. I can't help but feel nervous, even though we've already had a run-in with Negatia. Now we're in HER territory. There's no Mastermental to hide behind, nothing to keep us on our mission except for her willingness to let it happen. Even if Nico's the son of Superior, I still can't expect him to force her to do anything she doesn't want to. There's a good chance we'll be visiting the Hall before we even get to our next gig. I look over at Falconess, who's playing a video game on the wall. "So he's built this into all of the dorm building?" she asks Malina, who's right next to her.
"Yep," Malina says. "Every once in a while we wake up and Nico's in the middle of the main room and things are floating everywhere."
"But why?" Falconess asks. I think she borrowed Malina's phone for the game, since I really doubt teal is her color.
"Um…" Malina
"This what?" he finally asks when he notices the man just staring at him.
"Your EX client is now officially out as a super hero! He's running around, right now, showing off just what a freak he is!" he pushes a button on the TV controller and a video starts playing. Tom watches for a second before pointing at the little water girl.
"Her! I know her name!" he says. "We can do something with that, right? If we know her name, we can track her down, right?"
"FINALLY you do something useful! What's her name?"
"Ma… something. Mal…" Tom frowns, trying to remember what it was, exactly. "Malina!" he says. "She had a weird name—and she was short! One of those little people!"
"Did you get her LAST name?" the tall man asks.
"No… I mean, I didn't even think—"
"You IDIOT!" the tall man says, raising a hand to slap him.
"Now, now," a familiar voice says as a man steps out of the shadows, "really, Sam, we should treat our help better than that, don't you think?"
"Senator Herold," Sam says, jerking his arm back down as if he hadn't just threatened Tom. "Sir, we had clear instructions for Tom, here, and he failed on every count! He's useless! We need to put him back in the box."
"Box?" Tom repeats. His head starts screaming in pain and he grabs it with both hands. It's like something is trying to drill through his cerebral cortex. He's not even sure WHICH part of his brain is the cerebral cortex, but he's positive that the drilling is hitting it, too.
"That is not an option right now, Sam," Senator Herold says. "Tom, my friend, thank you for all of your hard work," he goes on, walking over and holding out a hand. Tom stares at it for a moment before shaking, wondering why something looks wrong about that hand. He can't seem to put a finger on it…
"Thank you," Tom says instead of dwelling on the hand issue. "I just—I'm sorry, I don't know how I wound up failing so badly. I just couldn't seem to keep my feelings to myself all of a sudden." Something seems wrong about that, too, he thinks with a frown. He'd always been—
"He needs the box," Sam repeats, looking over at the senator.
"We can't DO the box right now, Sam. We're going to have to find out what all he knows and work from there," Herold says a bit sharply.
"You have beautiful hands," Tom blurts out, only to wonder where it comes from. But it's true, he realizes as he looks at them again. "For your age, especially—do you use some sort of special cream?"
"Thank you," Herold says with a smile. "I try to take good care of my appearance. Now, why don't you tell me about who else was with your ex-client?"
"Well… Falconess was there! She's a real babe. And there was this strange kid with a lizard haircut—" he starts rattling off whatever he can remember. The idea of being "stuck in the box" sends a chill down his spine. He's almost grateful that he can't remember why.
***
"That was pretty amazing," Cole says, still laughing as we go past the Colorado/Utah border sign. I ignore him, my eyes glued to the sign as it disappears behind us. We're here. I can't help but feel nervous, even though we've already had a run-in with Negatia. Now we're in HER territory. There's no Mastermental to hide behind, nothing to keep us on our mission except for her willingness to let it happen. Even if Nico's the son of Superior, I still can't expect him to force her to do anything she doesn't want to. There's a good chance we'll be visiting the Hall before we even get to our next gig. I look over at Falconess, who's playing a video game on the wall. "So he's built this into all of the dorm building?" she asks Malina, who's right next to her.
"Yep," Malina says. "Every once in a while we wake up and Nico's in the middle of the main room and things are floating everywhere."
"But why?" Falconess asks. I think she borrowed Malina's phone for the game, since I really doubt teal is her color.
"Um…" Malina
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