The last two hours crawled by, and then Emmett left the lab without much of a goodbye—
Which felt weird.
Even if Dr. Venture and Clara hadn’t officially accepted him into their operation, even if he wasn’t officially a super or a cape… Emmett couldn’t help feeling as if everything had changed.
Even if it—technically—hadn’t yet.
He couldn’t help seeing t...
2023-03-10 18:41:43 +0000 UTC View PostEmmett spent the rest of the day working on his project and taking breaks to catch up with Lock. Apparently, the concert had gone smoothly, except for a rowdy drunk that Lock got to throw out the gate himself.
He still had trouble picturing Lock as a bouncer—despite Lock’s thick build, Emmett knew him too well. He knew that Lock would rather spend his time relaxing and expanding h...
2023-03-10 18:41:34 +0000 UTC View PostDr. Venture led Clara out of Emmett’s apartment and through the upstairs hall.
Venture wasn’t sure what he had expected to see, but inwardly he was relieved–Emmett Laraway was a gifted undergraduate engineering student, both focused and closed off. So far, he’d been trustworthy, and in their short visit, Venture’s scans hadn’t found any trade secrets locked away on Emmett’s ...
2023-03-10 18:41:18 +0000 UTC View Post“Your dad used to be a cape?!” Despite the aches, Emmett had swung around so he was sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Yep.”
“Which one?”
Clara shrugged. “I can’t tell you.”
“But…” Emmett tried not to let dejection show on his face.
“It’s not like that,” Clara replied. “Even though Dad’s retired, it’s not like he goes around t...
The first thing Emmett heard was beeping. Steady and quiet.
He woke up to bright lights and in a white room. He was propped up in a bed…
His head swam. Was he alive? How?
The last thing he remembered was lying on the street, unable to get up.
And a truck flying through the air at him.
Emmett tried to sit up and look around, and immediately winced. Pain shot throu...
2023-03-10 18:40:21 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning, Emmett was watching the rooftops pass by from the bus window when he saw a missed call from his mom. He must’ve missed it ringing.
He checked the voicemail.
“Hi Emmett, just calling to say hi and see how you were doing. We’re talking about getting together one of these Sundays. Antony has a couple of weekends off from their games. Darryl is figuring out w...
2023-03-10 17:04:00 +0000 UTC View PostEmmett grabbed his things from the locker room, left the lab, and hustled down the Eastside to the bus stop on 61st Street.
The first and second bus of the day was a mix of passengers—students, workers, and retirees going down town—but this bus was almost exclusively workers going home from Gnosis.
Then he settled in for the long trip back to his apartment by putting on some tun...
2023-03-10 17:03:01 +0000 UTC View PostAs it turned out, Dr. Venture’s idea of celebrations was as understated as he was.
There was a small break room near the testing hub—one of the only other rooms Emmett had seen. He’d gotten to sit in it precisely twice, not including this time.
There wasn’t much to it: Several cracked leather chairs were arranged to face a wall of displays. The few times Emmett had been in t...
2023-03-10 17:02:01 +0000 UTC View PostAfter class, Emmett walked quickly out of the C Building and across campus to catch the two o’clock bus to the edge of Eastside.
The far East side of the city was barren compared to the rest of the research district. Where earlier it was impossible to walk the block without being bombarded by billboards of electronic ads, here they were almost non-existent. The only two billboards were ...
2023-03-10 17:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostA superhero leapt across the rooftops, and Emmett watched from the seven o’ clock bus.
He turned in his seat to follow them, but they were gone as quickly as they appeared. It could’ve been Lux or Graynight. They were both active on this side of Adelphi, but Emmett couldn’t see well enough from the street.
Emmett turned back around in his seat, smiling—no one else on the bus...
2023-03-10 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post