“This is NASA,” said the captain, “We’re itching to get home, but you know our scientific curiosity is always…wait! Wait! What? You’re outside? What are you, a ghost or something?”
“I’m Ms. Infinity. I’m a superhero. I know. I feel weirded out by it myself sometimes. But don’t worry. I got you. You will all be safe.”
“I almost don’t want to admit it, but I believe you!”
“So…where do you want me to drop you off?”
In the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Jenna Storm reported the news of the distressed Space Launch mission. Far from the perky sidekick from A-NY’s anchor desk, she conveyed a seriousness her audience had never seen in her.
“I am deeply humbled as I try to imagine what these heroes are thinking now. Certainly, this is a very dark day in NASA history. When America’s future generations discuss our space program, I hope they remember the sacrifices of our pioneers, not least the astronauts who are losing their lives this day.”
Jake shut off his camera. Jenna raised her fist and cried “Yes!”
“Oh yeah,” said Jake, “Dark day.”
“You don’t get it, Jake! The first one was great, but it meant I was identified with a female celebrity. You have to understand something. For a female reporter, that’s like the kiss of death. It means ‘human interest.’ I don’t want to end up asking actresses how they balance work and family.”
“So, you don’t want to be typecast,” said Jake.
“Exactly!” said Jenna, “You get it!”
“Well,” said Jake under his breath, “I’m sure America’s unemployed would love to hear that complaint.”
“What?”
“Nothing,”
“Hey. It wasn’t like there was a future there. Tom’s crazy suggestion was to try and find out her true identity. The sad thing is, if I was stuck with her, I think it would come to that. If I want to do more than daytime fluff, then I have to go where nobody else goes, so I guess I’d have to expose her. Ugh. Glad I’m not going there.”
Jake was just listening as he checked his text messages. He suddenly looked up. “Uh, Jenna. How well do you think you can do that?”
“Well, I’m good, but I don’t know...Wait, what are you saying?”
“I just got a text. I don’t think you’re going to like this.”
“What?” said Jenna.
“The ship is landing safely. There are reports that Ms. Infinity saved it.”
“WHAT?!!?!”
“I think we’d better drive over to the landing site. We can’t be absent for this event.”
“Damnit! Damnit!” said Jenna, “How can she do this to me!”
Many other reporters were on their way from local and national outlets, hopping to attention at the appearance of this strange new savior. Indeed, Jenna was not the only out-of-towner. Among others was Kaz Pimple of the independent Comics Crash Pad Blog. He just happened to be in town from New York, visiting his mother. When he heard of Ms. Infinity’s approach, he raced over with his video camera.
Ms. Infinity dropped the vessel gently into Kennedy Space Center. The astronauts alighted. Captain Spacey seemed to struggle some getting out of the space shuttle, and all were injured and clearly exhausted from the ordeal. Still all were smiling. Several, including the captain, made a point of showing the “Thumbs Up” symbol for the cameras. But the reporters were not particularly interested in them. The person being bombarded by reporters was Ms. Infinity. Cameras and microphones were being jabbed in her face from every direction, and with each came a strange question.
“Where did you come from?”
“What is your real name?”
“Is there a Mister Infinity?”
“Is it true that you got your powers from a failed cosmetics experiment?”
“Are you vulnerable to kryptonite, or do you lose your powers if your bracelets are chained together by a man?”
For some reason it was the pure stupidity of that last question that finally roused her from her stunned silence, and caused her to snap at them, “I don’t wear bracelets!”
In the midst of the insanity, Jenna Storm quietly edged in with Jake. “Hi! Jenna Storm here. You remember me. So you’re not an Amazon?”
“Ummm, no! I’m a huge fan of Wonder Woman, so I know what you’re talking about, but no.”
“Ms. Infinity, Kaz Pimple from The Comics Crash Pad…”
“Oh yeah!” said Ms. Infinity, “I’ve read you online.”
“Awesome!” said Kaz, “So I have a question. Could you make a rock that even you can’t lift?”
“Yes, I could,” sassed Ms. Infinity, “but then I’d be able to lift it.”
“Really?”
“Kidding! Kidding! I’m not omnipotent!”
“Michael Klozet,” said another reporter, “Blox News. The people want you to go on record with your religious faith.”
Ms. Infinity paused a moment. “I don’t have an affiliation with an organized religion…”
“So, you’re an atheist?”
“I didn’t say that…”
“Then what is your religion?”
“Listen,” said Ms. Infinity calmly, “Nobody should take this personally. I treasure America’s pluralistic society. I love that we have separation of church and state, and that you can be any religion, or none at all.”
“So, you’re none at all?”
“I don’t have an affiliation. Listen. I love that on Earth there are so many different religions. I believe that this adds to the richness of the discussion…”
“Wait!” called Jenna, “On Earth? So, are you not from Earth?”
“Not originally, no.”
“You’re an alien?”
“You might say that.”
“You’re not even human?”
“Not exactly.”
“So do you care to tell an old friend who you really are?”
Ms. Infinity was beginning to feel her nerves rising. Somehow the question of her origin made her even more uneasy than the topic of religion. She stood up tall. “Once again,” she said, “I am Ms. Infinity. Never forget the power you have inside you!” With that, she once again flew away, quickly becoming invisible in her super speed.
Jenna’s cameraman looked over at her. “So, Jenna, I take it…”
“Oh, this isn’t over! Looks like I just bought myself an exposé.”
Meanwhile Lisa’s eyes were glued to her TV. Once again, she was less interested in the heroine’s super feats than in her interview. She took particular notice of the peculiar look on Ms. Infinity’s face when she dodged questions. She could also discern the same unease about her that she had noticed about her friend from the previous day.
But most interesting of all to her was the way that Ms. Infinity sassed Kaz Pimple. Whether or not the superhero realized it, this mannerism was unmistakably familiar to her best friend; it was the very thing she had recently described to Julia as Bonnie Boring’s “moxie mode.”
Ms. Infinity flew back northward, heading for Queens. She thought about returning home, changing back into Bonnie Boring, and having a nice quiet evening at home. But just over New Jersey, she was astonished to see another emergency before her. There was a plane plummeting from 50,000 feet. Looking with her super senses, she saw that it looked like a corporate jet.
Faster than human imagination, she soared across sky. Within a couple of seconds, she was next to the plane, impersonating its downward trajectory through the harsh, ceaseless winds of the stratosphere. She flew even with it for a moment before she grabbed it by the tail. With tremendous, superhuman strength and will, she sparred with gravity until she slowed the plummet of the plane. She then turned the plane back to its side and stabilized its flight.
Once it was on a safe trajectory, she used her X-ray vision to look inside. To her surprise, there was nobody aboard. As she scanned farther, she discovered that there was a large bomb inside. There were also many metal parts that would scatter in every
direction once the bomb detonated.
Ms. Infinity quickly got under the tail once again. With her awesome strength, she turned the plane upwards. She ascended with the jet at an inhuman speed of tens of thousands of miles per second. When she reached the thermosphere, she prepared to go into a spinning motion in order to throw it into space. But at that moment, it finally exploded.
She felt a powerful, explosive force, then saw millions of pieces flying in every direction. At a dizzying speed, she flew to catch the remains; were someone able to watch, it might have seemed that she was everywhere at once. Nearly outpacing the speed of the combustion, she flew around the debris and collected as much as she could, throwing each item into deep space.
“Well,” she said to herself, “If nothing else, I prevented further pollution of the Earth’s orbit. If whoever sent this thought it would kill me, then he or she doesn’t know me very well…”
At that moment, she noticed the underside of one of wings flying toward her. She was astonished at something she had not noticed before, the familiar “Gunn” logo.
“Johnny Gunn? So, he’s not just a corrupt and tyrannical businessman, but a murderer too? This must be dealt with, but how?”
9. Identity Complex
That night, the “Crystal Palace” complex on the top floor of Gunn Fortress was treated to a shock when Ms. Infinity appeared in a flash of lightning—actually an illusion; teleportation was a power she did not possess. She had actually flown in from a back entrance and through the stairs using her super speed.
“I demand to see Mr. Gunn this instant!” said Ms. Infinity to the stunned receptionist.
Linda did not answer. Ms. Infinity waited impatiently, but as it became clear that the poor receptionist was shaking with fear, she collected herself and smiled apologetically.
“I’m sorry. I promise that you have nothing to fear from me. Please understand that I have to talk to Mr. Gunn. It’s very important.”
Linda rang her intercom. “Sir, Ms. Infinity is here. She’s demanding to see you.”
“What?” cried Johnny Gunn’s voice, “How can that be?”
“I don’t know how to answer that.”
“She can’t make demands on me.”
“Watch me!” said Ms. Infinity. A split second later, she was inside his office, staring him in the face.
Johnny Gunn looked up at Ms. Infinity in shock. “How did you get in here?”
“Through the door,” said Ms. Infinity, “Did you really need to ask that? What were you trying to do to me out there?”
“Are you bothered by my speaking the truth?”
“You know damn well what I mean. Why were you trying to destroy me with one of your planes?”
“My plane?” said Johnny in a mocking tone, “Oh you must be hysterical. Female superhero. Whose idea was that? Sooner or later, all girls crack up.”
“Cut the crap,” snapped Ms. Infinity, “You’re the one who’s reality challenged. I just saved your plane from falling, then I had to fly it into space before it exploded.”
“Oh,” said Jonny mockingly, “So that was you who destroyed that fighter jet.”
“So, you do know what I’m talking about.”
“Of course not. No idea.”
“You just said right now…”
“You imagined it, I’m sure…”
“Don’t give me that,” said Ms. Infinity, “You immediately knew what I meant. That plane even had your name on it!”
“Well,” said Johnny, “You might have seen my name on a plane. I am a major contractor for the military. I supply a lot of our fighter jets.”
“It doesn’t sound like any fighter jet I’ve ever heard of, unless they’re testing some weird version of kamikaze warfare directly over New Jersey.”
“Nothing strange about it. It must have been an unmanned military plane, practicing moves over an unpopulated area.”
“It was over Perth Amboy!”
“So? What business is that of yours?”
“You just said it was an unpopulated area.”
“No. I didn’t.”
“You did. Just now.”
“Never.”
Ms. Infinity took a deep breath, trying her best to avoid getting angry at what was obviously a psychological game. “Never mind. You clearly intended that for me, otherwise why were you unnerved to see me in the first place?”
“You’re crazy,” said Johnny with a self-satisfied smirk.
“Oh maybe, just maybe. But you’re lying through your teeth.”
“Lady, don’t speak of what you don’t know. I can expose you in ways you never dreamed of.”
“Is that supposed to scare me? You are the one who is in danger. Whatever you’re pulling, it will be discovered, and I will put an end to it.”
“You are a pathetic excuse for a superhero. I bet you hit like a girl.”
“Yes, Mister Gunn. I hit like a girl. And believe me when I tell you, you do not want to feel it on you. Goodbye!” With that, she left in another blinding flash.
“Pam!” called Johnny, “Pam!”
“I’m here,” said Pam, “I haven’t left your side.”
“I didn’t even see you. What did you…?”
“Just staying out of the way, dear.”
“So, you saw her. It didn’t work.”
“I know,” said Pam, “So, let me get this straight. You sent an exploding plane as your weapon?”
“Weirdo witch! What will it take to kill her?”
“More than that. I could have told you, this would never have worked.”
“Don’t talk to me like that, woman!” snapped Johnny, “I know what I’m doing” With that, he got up and stormed off.
Pam sat down quietly. “So that’s her,” she said to herself, “Now I understand.”
The next morning, Bonnie Boring arrived at Lisa’s house en route to work. Lisa’s parents greeted her at the door.
“Hi Bonnie!” said Rob Lin, “How’s the job going for you?”
“Ah, hi Mr. L!” said Bonnie, “The job is pretty good, but there are some weird customers. Lisa must have told you about them.”
“Yeah. she has. Well I meet some characters on my mail route too. That’s the service industry.”
“Hey Bonnie!” called Lisa as she descended the steps, “I would say my friend here has met some very interesting people lately! Wouldn’t you say so, Bonnie?”
“You mean the talky guy who tries to cheat us?”
Lisa looked at Bonnie curiously. For some reason, she was wearing glasses.
“So…Bonnie,” said Lisa, “when did this happen?”
“Just now,” said Bonnie, “when I got dressed.”
“Never mind,” said Lisa, “Let’s just go to work.”
As the two friends left, Rob closed the door and moved toward the kitchen, looking confused. As he approached Tracy, he asked, “Am I missing something?”
“Oh, you can count on it!” said Tracy as she cleared the table.
“Anything you know?”
“Honey, there are some things you don’t ask questions about.”
“Oh.”
Rob began to clear his place at the table, but soon he looked up again at his wife.
“So wait,” he said, “Is that to say that you aren’t asking, or that you know what’s going on, and you think I shouldn’t…”
“Rob dear!” interrupted Tracy, “Just clear your plate. You need to get to work.”
As Bonnie waited on line at the food vendor during her break, her eyes widened at the sight of Hal on the same line. She motioned at him to meet her by the door, and they took lunch together at a bench outside. Hal kept himself unusually neat considering that he was eating pizza without a table. Despite Bonnie’s best efforts, she got ketchup and mayonnaise on her clothes, and even some traces of asparagus.
“It’s nice to see you,” said Hal, “I haven’t been getting out much. My sister’s been needing me. I got a break today because my mom
took her to her swim lesson.”
“Really?” said Bonnie, “Why has she been needing you?”
“Well, my parents have been fighting a lot lately, and it’s just, she’s only seven. She shouldn’t be in the middle of all that.”
Bonnie did not answer. She looked on sympathetically.
“Actually,” said Hal, picking up his head, “I’ve been hopeful lately. I think something is going to go right for her. Once she gets her dive right, she gets something called the Silver Swimmer Certificate. It’s this huge deal to her. Anyway, I’ve seen her dive lately, and I can tell she’s just about there.”
“That’s what you’re hopeful about?” wondered Bonnie with a bemused smile, “Your sister?”
“Well, is that bad?”
“No. It’s actually very sweet.”
“She’s wanted this since last summer. She even practiced for it back in December when we were down in Florida for Hanukkah. It’s that important to her.”
Bonnie smiled warmly at Hal. “That’s wonderful that you care so much about her. I don’t have a sister or brother. Lisa is my best friend, and I think of her as a sister. I wish I had things figured out like she does. I just don’t know where I’m going.”
“At least I know that much. I’m looking for… ”
“…My mom will not stop bothering me! I mean, I don’t blame her, but it’s not like she can answer that question for me.”
“Do you at least have an idea?”
“I guess somehow I want to put my talents towards the greater good.”
“Wow,” said Hal, his eyes picking up with curiosity, “That’s good that you think that way. What kind of talents?”
“Oh!” said Bonnie, “You know um, it’s complicated.”
“Well, that’s okay. For me it’s not about that. I’m trying to get a job as…”
“If I only didn’t have to worry what other people thought! I’m just trying to do what I believe in, but people want to criticize who I am instead of looking at what I do.”
Hal was silent for a few seconds, looking down and fidgeting in his part of the bench. Bonnie twitched, wondering for a moment if she had said too much, but soon Hal smiled warmly.
“I’m not sure if this helps,” said Hal, “I don’t know exactly what you’re doing, or I’d be happy to comment on that. But I can certainly say that I like who you are.”
Where Infinity Begins Page 9
