Mod Superhero (Book 6 STUBBING on Oct 27th)

Chapter 6.55 - Changing Dynamics

The morning after passed in a daze. Everyone in the backup lab passed the time in different ways. They were waiting until noon or until Antony woke up—whichever came first.

Emmett, Mod, Lock, and Clara alternated working, training, and spending time with the others. Mom and Dad tried watching the news, but most channels were covering last night's battle. Thankfully, they didn't watch it for long.

There was a maddening amount of propaganda against them, and it was hard to watch the news for more than a few minutes. The Binary Brotherhood was putting their fingers on the scale of public opinion—omitting details and outright fabricating others.

Thankfully, there were cracks. It looked like Bethany Wonder and others at the Belport Bulletin were starting to push back against the narrative. But if they pushed too far, they risked getting canned. They'd have to be careful if they wanted to keep their jobs at the Bulletin.

Bethany and others like her would have to make that choice for themselves—whether to stay inside the system and try to change things from within, or to leave and build something new.

Emmett had already made that choice.

~

Even though he was training, that didn't stop Emmett's mind from wandering. At first, it was just a way to practice traversing cyberspace, but as time passed, Emmett found himself exploring the backup lab.

Training didn't stop his doppelgänger from wandering either.

As Emmett moved through cyberspace, he'd catch glimpses of his other self. Mod wasn't following him—they just happened to run into each other. They were both checking up on their loved ones, and the backup lab's systems weren't that big, so it was easy to sense one another.

That didn't make it any less weird though. It felt like Emmett kept catching glimpses of himself in a funhouse mirror.

As for the others, Dad and Darryl took the nephews to the control hub to play around with the holographic table. Mom and Maci used the quiet to catch up on reading.

Or at least, that's what they did for a while.

~

Clara went to Maci's room, where she and Mom were reading. They were both sitting on the bed and leaning against the back wall. Mom tossed her tablet aside and beckoned Clara over.

"Wait, wait!" Maci cried. "You've been working out—don't sit on the bed!"

Clara sat down beside Mom, chuckling. "Nanites, remember?"

"See?" Mom said. "Not a drip of sweat."

Maci sighed. "Okay. Maybe those nanite-things aren't so bad. They make good pillows and blankets."

"And armor," Clara added.

"Can you make me a suit?" Maci asked.

Clara hesitated. "Oh... You have to ask TINA."

Maci looked across the bed, clearly joking. Mom playfully slapped her away. Clara sighed.

TINA's voice came out of the wall behind them, booming loudly. "Maci, your suit is under construction. Your training begins tomorrow at 0400. Prepare to sweat."

The three women snorted a laugh. TINA did too, in spirit.

"That's too early. I take it back!" Maci gasped.

As the laughter died down, Clara said, "You're handling all this well."

"We're all safe, the kids are occupied... I'm telling myself it's a vacation." Maci said.