Mod Superhero (Book 6 STUBBING on Oct 27th)

Chapter 6.24 - Therapy

TIMESTAMP ERROR DETECTED

APPROXIMATELY -4.13.5 PRE-INCIDENT

Emmett slipped into the new Training Room to find Lock finishing his workout. He was sparring with Emmett's new nanite training dummies. The idea was little more than a prototype right now, but it was something that Lock could spar with on his own time and at his own strength. He didn't need Emmett to control it and didn't need to worry about hurting one of his teammates.

Lock must've heard Emmett come in, even though he was trying to be quiet.

"Thought I told you not to sneak up on me?"

"Wasn't trying to. Just didn't want to throw you off."

Lock scoffed. "Don't worry about it. I was just leaving."

Lock turned and walked past Emmett and out of the demiplane. Emmett just nodded and let his former roommate go. With the move to the backup lab fairly recent, everyone was still on edge. Some more than others. Emmett was too, and no amount of TINA's reassurances had helped.

Emmett reformed the nanite training dummy and regarded it with a critical eye. He was already thinking of ways to improve it—make their connections stronger and their communication faster. That way, the training dummies would withstand more damage and reform faster after they broke apart. Maybe he could even see through them one day...

But Emmett wasn't in the demiplane to spar or to work on upgrades. He was there to talk to Athena.

He wouldn't have to wait long. She liked to wait until the user had finished their sparring before coming in to patch up the demiplane. The structure was far from critical, but Emmett could see it flickering around the edges.

A minute later, Athena walked in, magic staff in hand.

She paused when she saw Emmett. "I can come back later—"

Emmett let the nanite dummy disintegrate. "No. It's okay. I just wanted to talk."

Athena raised an eyebrow. "About...?"

"You. How are you holding up?"

She shrugged. "Good enough. Learning magic is keeping me busy."

Emmett waited expectantly for her to continue. Athena stared back, unflinching.

"That's it?"

Athena turned away and started fiddling with the staff. "What were you expecting?"

Even though Athena was trying to keep her tone even, there was an edge to it. Emmett tried to choose his words carefully.

"You've been off ever since Gnosis."

Athena glanced back over her shoulder. "You need a fake eye to tell you that?"

"No. Clara and Lock noticed too."

"Then why aren't they here bothering me about it?"

Emmett smirked. "Do you actually want me to answer that, or is that rhetorical?"

Athena turned back toward him, eyes narrowed. Emmett was glad he had nanites helping regulate his body or he would've turned into a stuttering mess.

"...Fine. They're scared of you. Not like you're going to murder them. More like they respect you like a mentor and don't want to question you."

"So, where does that leave us, then?"

Emmett shuffled uneasily. "I'm just worried about you."

"You don't need to worry about me."