Three drones followed Mod, Arsenal, and McGuire, while the rest of the Belport fleet maintained standard patterns.
TINA had quite enjoyed that Saturday morning.
She'd spent the last week peeking at McGuire while he worked on his hoverboard prototype. Not watching or listening. Just... staying updated on the process.
Most of McGuire's projects were too quick to adequately study. He either completed them with intuitive understanding or got frustrated and abandoned them. The hoverboard was the first time TINA could witness a new invention throughout its entire process: Prototypes, testing, and refinement.
Even after seeing the entirety of the process, TINA still hadn't figured out the secret to how gadgeteer powers worked. She tried not to be too critical of herself. After all, not even gadgeteers understood their own powers.
Far stranger though, was how TINA felt while witnessing the process.
She'd started observing merely out of scientific curiosity. She'd cautiously observed the process, peeking in as little as necessary. But as the week went on, she'd lingered with McGuire. TINA had stayed silent when McGuire got frustrated, even though she wanted to encourage him. But speaking up would betray the ruse.
Now, TINA found herself feeling a mixture of worry and excitement as McGuire tested his hoverboard. She finally understood the human expression of someone holding their breath because they were worried or because they were excited.
TINA watched McGuire's confidence grow in real time, matching his speed as he raced along the waves. She felt another, now familiar, emotion.
Pride.
In their idle time, Dr. Venture had recounted stories about Clara. When talking about her accomplishments, he'd become wistful. It was like he was living vicariously through her victories, no matter how small: Clara pushing herself through training and meditation. When she made her first exosuit prototype, or when she flew for the first time. There were other memories that elicited the same response, like how wide Clara's eyes had been when she saw the lab for the first time.
TINA felt she could see some of that same pride in Venture, even now. Even though Clara flew every day or even when working side-by-side in the lab.
TINA felt that same pride as McGuire surfed the flooded streets.
She recognized it so easily now because she'd felt it often with Clara and Emmett—a mixture of mentorship and motherly pride.
Like most other parts of TINA's personality, that sense of parental attachment had come on gradually. The only difference was how strong the feeling was.
McGuire might not have been TINA's protégé, but she felt a fierce attachment to him all the same. Him, and the rest of their friends.
TINA felt a very different series of emotions when her drones picked up the villains Lau Keishos and Angel Eye.
Agitation at the interruption. Defensiveness when she identified the villains.
Worry. Because she knew who the villains worked for.
While TINA monitored the group's exchange on the rooftop, she also intercepted a transmission to the lab from a member of the Binary Brotherhood.
Both Venture and TINA knew what was coming, but that didn't make it any easier.
DOWNSIZING PROTOCOL 2 AT 92% COMPLETION
This was the most vulnerable TINA had ever felt.
PRIORITY QUERY: What will happen if self-downsizing protocol is interrupted now?
YOU ARE READING
Mod Superhero (Book 4 STUB on JULY 30th)
Science FictionFor this cyborg, power is just an upgrade away. Emmett was used to being caught between college and his engineering internship, but when he gets caught between a powerful hero and an even stronger villain, he becomes collateral damage. Instead of d...
