Chapter 1.1.51 — Sleep Over

Emmett didn’t go back to the apartment that night. More Fast-Response Drones arrived on scene to evacuate Clara and Emmett and take them back to the lab.

Apparently, their fight had attracted the attention of lower members of the Summit of Heroes. Clara and Emmett had just escaped before they arrived to cordon off the area.

Emmett was glad to be cocooned inside the drone. It was dark and quiet, and he was safe. No one saw him while quiet tears fell.

He couldn’t get the image of Porcelain out of his head. One moment she’d been alive. The next, not. She was a pile of rubble on the floor.

Was that how easy it was? All that super had to do was squeeze. The Code made morbid sense.

As Emmett rode in the drone, he was grateful for the isolation. He needed… Emmett wasn’t sure what he needed, but somehow, being alone felt right. Maybe it was penance for not being able to make a difference.

Emmett relished the numbness of his mechanical cocoon.

The drones deposited Clara and Emmett back in the armory unceremoniously. Emmett did his best to put on a neutral face. Physically, he felt fine. Tired, but fine. Far better physically than his other superhero outings. Mentally, though, he was drained.

Drained was being generous.

He’d come so close to getting answers, then Porcelain had been murdered in front of him. Thinking of her face made Emmett shudder.

Tonight could’ve been worse. Much, much worse.

Dr. Venture was there to greet them and barely waited for Clara to get out of her exosuit before hugging her.

“I’m alright, Dad. Honest!”

Despite the forced smile on her face, Clara walked with a limp and winced when Venture squeezed her.

“Easy, easy!”

Venture backed up, still holding her by the shoulders. “I’m just glad you’re alright. Both of you.” Venture met Emmett’s eyes, relief apparent on his face.

But their relief was short-lived.

“Who was that?” Emmett asked.

Venture replied, “Most likely someone from Gnosis, given what they said to you.”

“You heard?” Emmett asked. He was surprised, but also relieved. It saved him from having to recount the event. “...But that doesn’t make sense. What does Gnosis have to do with all of this?”

Venture said, “If this rogue super or supers behind the attack on Amarque and Champion street were using mutagen derivatives, Gnosis might be trying to cover it up. They wouldn’t want word getting out.”

Clara added, “They’re cleaning up their mess.”

Emmett sighed. That meant Gnosis was probably tracking down the culprits, and that now it was a race between their group and Gnosis. The only other way to get answers about Champion street would be to question the Summit of Heroes and Emmett wasn’t sure which organization he’d rather cross.

Emmett said, “That super… Porcelain thought they were there that night on Champion street.”

“What was that guy?” Clara asked. “What does Mutagen-X do?”

“Over the last forty years, Gnosis has developed dozens of mutagen compounds. It’s related to Mutagen-A in the sense that it affects almost every cell in the body. However, Mutagen-X is a late-stage capstone formula given only to the most qualified applicants. It turns a normal human into a Class 3 super. Most become assassins and super soldiers. It is Gnosis’s most valuable formula and its most closely guarded secret.”

Emmett’s throat was dry. So that man could have killed them. Easily.

“How do you know all this?” Emmett asked. Venture had hinted at his ties to Gnosis, but never been honest about the extent.

Venture sighed. “I’ll tell you. I promise. But that’s enough for tonight. Come, the guest room is made up for you. You can get a few hours of sleep before classes.”

Emmett stared, dumbfounded, at Dr. Venture. Slowly, he realized that it was almost 4 A.M…. Monday morning.

“Oh man,” he muttered. “You don’t have any special pills for sleeping, do you? Like sleep in a bottle?”

Venture smirked. “No. If I invented that, I would be rich enough that I wouldn’t be doing this anymore. But your new body should help you manage better than most.”

~

Emmett followed Clara and Dr. Venture out of the armory and down the main hall to the door marked section 001—the only wing of the lab that Emmett hadn’t been in yet.

Their living quarters.

TINA greeted them at the door with one of the oldest looking lock and entry systems: A simple numerical keypad. Emmett made a point to look away while Venture entered the code, and Clara chuckled at him.

The doors hissed opened and Emmett followed them down a short hallway. It opened to a living quarters that wouldn’t have been out of place in a nicely furnished apartment. The walls were white and a lush carpet covered most of the room. The only thing remotely odd was that the sofa and chairs were arranged to look at a wall without a TV.

Whether it was how out of place it felt down here or just his lack of sleep, Emmett snorted a laugh.

When Clara turned in offense, Emmett replied, “It just looks so… normal.”

She rolled her eyes. “As if. Tina, give us a view.”

All around, the walls changed from drab white to a starry night sky, like they were in a high rise in the center of Belport. Even the door behind them had changed to give a 360 degree view of the city skyline and the harbor.

Emmett’s mouth was hanging open as he followed the highway traffic and the boats out on the water.

“Is it in real time?”

“Approximated. And that’s just one view,” Dr. Venture said with a hint of pride. “It makes staying down here more manageable.”

As awesome as it was and as many questions were swirling around Emmett’s head, his eyes felt like they would collapse if he didn’t get to sleep.

Clara must’ve noticed. “Come on. I’ll show you to the guest wing.”

Clara led him by the arm down the first hallway on the right. Emmett tried not to react—he could feel Dr. Venture staring at him as they walked away.

The hall was lined with about ten rooms in total. Clara stopped at the first door on the right and it opened immediately. Inside was a simple bedroom with two twin beds along the walls and end tables to match.

“You’re not staying here, are you?”

Clara chuckled. “Mine and dad’s rooms are on the other side. We just have extra guest rooms and beds in case people stay over… You know, for guests.”

Emmett shook his head. “Right. Of course.” The bed looked comfy enough.

Who was he kidding? It would do for a few hours—

Emmett didn’t even want to think about how tired he would be in the morning.

“How do you do all this?” Emmett asked, exasperated. The question tumbled out of him. It definitely hadn’t been what he’d meant to ask, but thankfully Clara read between the lines.

She put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. “It gets a little easier. I know how that sounds—cliche and kind of horrible—but it does. But you know what else? It still hurts. I still cry. I still have nightmares.

“Every super deals with the bad days differently. You’ll have to find your way of dealing with things, too.”

Emmett nodded solemnly. He had no idea what dealing with it would look like for him, but Emmett knew that he would have to find a way. This was his life, and he wasn’t about to walk away from it, or Dr. Venture or Clara.

“Thanks,” Emmett said, and meant it.

Silence dragged on between them, and Emmett felt the weight of sleep pressing on him again.

Emmett rubbed the back of his neck. “This might be a weird question…”

As he spoke, Clara’s eyes widened.

“...Do you have any notebooks I can borrow for class? Otherwise, I’ll have to go all the way back home first.”

Clara let out a long sigh. “Sure. Bathroom’s at the end of the hall.” Then she walked out and the door hissed shut behind her, leaving Emmett alone, and feeling like he’d missed something.

~

When the alarm went off in the morning, Emmett leapt up to check his phone. It felt like it was the middle of the night again, and he expected to see a text from Clara or Dr. Venture.

It was just his alarm.

For classes.

Emmett scrambled to get his bearings and found a stack of notebooks and pencils waiting on the nightstand for him. Emmett grabbed the stack and the rest of his things and stumbled out the bedroom door.

The smell of fresh coffee hit him and a moment later he saw Dr. Venture waiting for him in the living room. He was already pouring himself a cup.

“Want any?”

“Yes,” Emmett replied enthusiastically. “But can I get it to go?”

Venture grumbled. “Kids these days.” He rummaged through the cabinet and handed Emmett a red thermos. “We’ve got milk, sugar, and, um, powdered creamer.”

Emmett took milk and sugar and made his thermos. “I guess I’ll see you guys after classes.”

“Unless you’d prefer to take the day off.”

As tempting as it was, Emmett had work to do. He had mods to make, mutagens to test…

Venture smiled somberly. “I can see that I’m not dissuading you. Come by after class. We need to talk about the next steps.”

“Next steps?”

“Yes. We’re going to track down that super, follow them, and find out who they’re working for and what the end game is.”

Emmett took a measured breath. He wasn’t exactly keen on running into that guy again. Instead, Emmett asked, “You can track him? Because of the mutagen? …How does that work?”

“Do you really have time for that answer?”

Emmett chuckled awkwardly. “No, I don’t. But if you can do that… Does that mean someone could track me?

“How to do it isn’t exactly common knowledge, and the tech to do it isn’t something most people, even supers, would have access to, but theoretically, yes. Someone could track you if they wanted to. All the more reason to lay low while you're out on the rooftops.”

Emmett nodded. It wasn’t exactly a comforting thought, but hopefully he was a small enough fish that no one would bother tracking him like that.

“Emmett. You’re doing well with all this, you know that, right? This life is hard, even when everything goes according to plan. You’ve just gotten a taste for when it doesn’t.” Venture’s eyes were intense, but there was hope and pride in there as well. “I had high hopes for you, Emmett, but so far, you’re exceeding them.”

Emmett couldn’t help but smile. As tired as he was, he felt renewed.

“Thanks, Dr. Venture. I won’t let you down.”

“I know.”

~ ~ ~