Chapter One

2018, our adventure begins.

YEAR: 2018 LOCATION: Headquarters of the ‘Masked Thieves’ STATUS: Bored

Sitting still is hard. I twitch ever so slightly, letting my legs shift into a more comfortable position. My cybernetic arms, of course, don’t get uncomfortable. If only all of me was cybernetic, then I wouldn’t even have to sleep. I immediately shove the thought away. No. If I were all cybernetic, I’d just be a robot. Having built AIs before, using my technopathic powers, I know that they’re nowhere near as human-like as… well… a human.

“Shade to Technologist. Come in, Technologist.” My ear-radio crackles with static, but I can hear Red’s message loud and clear.

“This is Technologist,” I reply. “What’s going on? You should’ve been here ages ago.”

“We ran into some trouble. Get your wings ready, the fight’s coming to you.”

I shift again, this time risking more movement. Crouching, I peer into the room from the shadowed alcove I’m hiding in. Though there’s no one in the room, there are motion-detecting cameras in each corner. I don’t want to activate them. With almost undetectable clicks, my wings shift into place on my arms. If I had normal, human arms, the wings wouldn’t work. Only someone with super-strength or arms made of, say, nearly unbreakable metal, could use them. Normal arms aren’t strong enough to hold up a human’s body weight in sustained flight.

Speaking of flight… Another click and I know my rocket-boots are online. As a technopath, I can not only build devices that da Vinci wouldn’t be able to make heads or tails of, I can also control my inventions with a thought. As the final pieces of my wings click into place, I make sure my palm-knives are in position. Any moment now. Red did say the fight is coming to me, after all. 10… 9…  I start a countdown, and my breath quickens despite my training. 8… Well, self-training. After all, the organization I’m part of - Clandestine - was started by me and my few close friends. 7… Our small city was visited by some heroes a few years back, and I was able to glean some ideas off of them for an organization. 6… From there… it was a lot of time spent in my bedroom, with notebooks spread on the floor and my friends gathered around me as we planned out the schematics for our new base. 5… 4… 3… I shift again, by now the cameras have caught my movement. Come on, Red. I glance at the clock on the wall. 2… 1… 0…

The door bursts open, and the motion-detecting lights flicker on. Masked men and women in nondescript black suits pool into the room, many wounded by blade, lightning, or fire. Some have signs of shadow-burn. Red. I grin, then leap into the air. Some of them shout when they see me, and they all raise their weapons. My palm-knives slide out to counter the many blades. One thing’s for certain. None of these masked officials have powers. My grin stretches into an almost maniacal smile as I flick my wings and spin in the air, landing feet-first on the ground. A second passes. Then I spring into action.