Mod Superhero

Chapter 2.1.2 - Night and Day

Following Emmett's confrontation with Lock and subsequent recovery, he'd moved into another apartment in the Woods—just two buildings down from his old one. His new roommates were nice enough. Jensen was a digital art major, and Michela was a bio major. They'd even helped him with a few boxes and asked questions about his radio locator project.

Emmett explained how the tabletop version worked, and neglected to mention that he used to have a full-sized version on the roof of his old apartment. Venture had transported it to the lab the same night as the fight with Lock.

Classes and relocating helped keep Emmett's mind off of what happened, but he couldn't help but glance at his old building. Contractors were rebuilding it, walling off the hole in the side of his old room. Every day for the rest of the semester, Emmett walked past the wreckage of his old place. By the last week of classes, they finished putting up new siding, and the building looked as good as new.

Like nothing had ever happened there.

The last week of classes rolled around, and Emmett turned in his final assignments and gave his final presentation for the radio locator project. Then he started moving his stuff out. He could've waited another week while the rest of classes finished at Belport University, but Emmett didn't want to stick around. There was nothing left for him there.

Besides, he already had a new place lined up.

~

After the patrol, Emmett followed McGuire back to his apartment on the edge of South Side.

It was in an older part of the city, all brick fronts and faded signs. The apartment was one of several on the block, each sitting on the second or third floor. The first floor of each building was a storefront—everything from a pizza shop, to a boutique, bookstore, flower shop, and corner grocery store.

It was a prime location, both in regards to the surrounding stores, and for the two masks. The numerous alleys and fire escapes provided numerous ways to sneak in and out of the block.

McGuire's apartment occupied the third floor above an electronics repair shop, Circuit Surgeons. The neon side on the front crackled with age.

The duo skulked down to the street, following the back alleys behind the shops until they got to the fire escape of Circuit Surgeons. Then they climbed up to McGuire's apartment and ducked inside the window.

McGuire flipped on the nearby standing light, illuminating the living room. Even though Emmett had been living there for the past week, the place still caught him off guard.

He wasn't sure what a tech super's place was supposed to look like, but McGuire's place wasn't it.

The apartment hadn't been updated in decades. The original hardwood was covered with flowery area rugs. Homemade blankets covered the sofa and chairs. Knick knacks covered the shelves. The only parts that hinted that tech supers lived there were the drawers of spare parts and a handful of projects that were allowed to sit out in the living room. The main project being a master universal remote keyed to appliances in the kitchen—it currently sat on the coffee table in several pieces.

Even though McGuire's mom was a gadgeteer like him, she apparently had a thing for not letting the shop below creep up into her apartment.

Both Emmett and McGuire pulled off parts of their disguises and hid them in the storage trunk by the window through which they entered. Compared to the apartment, McGuire looked normal. His face was freckled and his red hair was buzzed short. He was almost two years Emmett's junior, having graduated high school the year before last.

The only other thing was how scrawny McGuire was underneath his vest and coat. He'd clearly reinforced the coat with additional padding on top of his shock-absorbing airbag contraption.