Page 2 of Seductive Architect
Connie didn’t wait for permission. She seldom did. She might act like a sweet and innocent desktop computer, butI had seen her browser history. For a computer, she loved horror movies and porn with more than a little spanking.
“Orion!” Arthur yelled. “Patch me through.”
I clicked a button on my gauntlet. There was no use in trying to hide. For the other two, this would probably be the first note in their permanent records. Mine had gotten beefy since accusing our window washer of being an alien invader. In my defense, hewasan alien, but he had already registered with Vanguard’s Department of Interstellar Immigration. Whoops.
“How many times have I told you no heroing?—”
“Seven,” Wyatt jumped in. “You’ve told us not to super on our lunch break seven times.”
I shot Wyatt a dirty look. He had gotten better at discerning sarcasm, but he struggled with hyperbole.
The Hole had grown tired of waiting. He turned, walking toward the school bus. Nobody ever said being a hero would be easy. Nowhere in the superhero manual did it talk about balancing a job with our secret identities. We were essentially winging it. Maybe when we finish the HeroApp™ upgrades, we could talk about including some educational material forotherheroes.
“Orion, of all people, you should know better. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be updating the app’s database?”
“Boss, I’m trying to save innocent children.”
I took this job because my coffee maker demanded I interact with humans. I didn’t even like heroing. This hadbeen Drew and Wyatt’s idea. I came along to be a team player. I would rather be sitting in my office, lost in code, or sitting at home playing video games. Machines… at leastthemI understood.
Arthur grumbled. Hard to be mad when we stopped kids from being slaughtered. “Fine. But don’t forget the updates.” His tone softened.
Cool weapons were the by-product of my abilities. Manipulating them with my mind was my superpower. With a thought, I armed the blasters in the palms of my gauntlets.
“You know, if you gave me full control, I’d have ended this already.” I didn’t doubt it. Connie’s persistence on efficiency bordered on ruthless.
“Yeah, that’s why you don’t have admin access.”
“It’s next on my agenda, boss.” He hated being called boss.
I pointed at Wyatt and Drew, then to my eyes. When I had their attention, I pointed at the Hole. They nodded. I held up three fingers, ready to count down. Before I dropped the first finger, Wyatt shot forward. We needed to work on our team-building skills.
“Making Connie do your job doesn’t count, Orion.” I didn’t have to see Arthur to know he rolled his eyes. He did it every time he talked to me. “And Wyatt, you have a virtual meeting with the League of Champions. And Drew, what’s the status on the Fresh Water deal?”
“They’re still—” Drew huffed and puffed. “—interested. We’re going to discuss brand options next week.”
I jumped into the air, my backpack kicking on as I soared to the right. Drew ran up the middle as I asked my backpack to prep the stun rounds. Wyatt blocked the Hole from the bus, but as he zipped toward the villain, he vanished into a black portal. Great. Our heavy hitter could be any— Wyatt reappeared in front of the museum, crashing downward onto the stairs.
A twenty-foot radius around Drew turned black as he tinted the color of the air. Enveloping the Hole in darkness, he jumped away before being teleported. My turn. Blasters raised, I fired pulses of purple plasma while rockets shot from my backpack. The lasers flew harmlessly through the darkness… until they hit a statue in the museum’s courtyard. The missiles, our last chance, locked in the Hole and fired electrified nets.
Drew threw up his hands to remove the darkness. I expected to see the Hole, pinned to the ground, twitching from the electricity pumping through his muscles. Instead, empty nets were stuck to the cement, doing nothing to anybody. Our villain had created a portal and fled the scene of the crime. We were victorious, but after getting our asses handed to us, it wasn’t worth celebrating.
“Oh look, my employees are on the news.”
I spun to see the news van. Action News 7. With their distaste for superheroes, they didn’t need our disastroussave to spin this. I had a working theory that they were funded by shell corporations belonging to America’s financial elite. I was only a few steps from having enough evidence to blow the story wide open.
Drew walked over while Wyatt descended from above. In true hero fashion, we needed to make a getaway and maintain our mystique… and plausible deniability.
“We should go,” Drew said. “Mr. Supreme, can I get a lift?”
There was arguing on the comms as Arthur yelled something. His sister yelled at him to go sit in his office while wrangling the phone from his grip. “Hey, Wyatt, if you’re heading back, can you grab me a hoagie from Billy’s?”
“On it, boss lady.”
“She’s not your boss,” Arthur yelled in the background.
“Yes, boss lady’s brother,” Drew said with a grin.
“You’re my favorite,” Janet said before hanging up.
