More often than not, he failed at the task. This would result in Jack getting angrily berated by the scientist, with each additional failure causing a notable increase in the verbal abuse. At one juncture, she grew so furious and frustrated that she actually leaned across the table and slapped him. The blow was so forceful that it snapped his head to the side, and the sound of it seemed to reverberate in the air long after he’d been struck.
“I’d say that supports the theory that he’s not telepathic,” Mouse commented after we were done viewing that particular video.
“Yeah, but we still don’t know what he’s up to,” I said. “What’s on the next page of his playbook.”
“Maybe nothing,” BT suggested. “Maybe he just blends into the background now. Disappears. If he’s truly a shapeshifter, it should be easy enough.”
“But if that’s the plan, why reach out to Jim?” Mouse asked. “Why show up in Alpha Prime’s mansion? Why go on a date with Vestibule?”
“Li’s theory is that he wants friends,” I offered.
Mouse seemed to consider this for a moment. “It’s possible. I mean, it’s not like his home life was warm and nurturing.”
“And maybe it’s easier for him to form relationships with people who already view him as a comrade,” BT suggested. “Or rather, those who view Jim that way.”
“Perhaps,” Mouse droned, not sounding convinced. “Anyway, we’ve been going at this for a while now. I say we break for lunch and then maybe BT and I can tackle this situation from a fresh angle with food in our bellies.”
“What about me?” I asked. “Aren’t I included?”
“Well, you certainly aren’t excluded,” BT assured me. “I think Mouse was just making it clear that you aren’t required to stay.”
“At the moment, I’ve got nothing more pressing than this,” I reminded them. “Plus, I’d probably be hanging out here anyway, even if we didn’t have this issue with Jack.”
Mouse glanced at BT. “He’s probably right. He spends so much time here that it’s practically his lab, too.”
“How about this?” I interjected. “I’ll run out and grab lunch – my treat – and we can figure out afterwards whether it’s worthwhile for me to hang around.”
“Far be it from me to turn down a free lunch,” Mouse said. “Alright, make it happen.”
Chapter 62
For lunch, I teleported from Mouse’s lab to Jackman’s – a local grill owned by a couple of former superhero sidekicks. It was an eatery that was frequented by a fair number of supers, and not just in support of two of our own. They actually served great food. The place was also a favorite hangout for a lot of super teens, including me and my friends, and we usually came by at least once a week.
I popped up in the parking lot. Based on the number of cars present, there didn’t seem to be a lot of patrons – a fact that was proved correct when I went inside the grill a moment later. (Of course, it was the middle of the school day, so the throngs of teens that I typically saw when I came here were all in class.)
I went straight to the takeout counter, intending to make a quick to-go order. When I got there, however, the waitress on the other side, a twenty-something brunette wearing a hairnet, placed a bag on the counter and pushed it towards me.
“Here’s your order,” she announced. “Right on time.”
“Excuse me?” I muttered in confusion.
“Your order,” she repeated. “I told you it would be ready in ten, and it was – almost on the dot.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but I think there’s been some mistake. I haven’t ordered yet.”
She giggled. “Well, if it wasn’t you, it must have been your twin brother.”
“Except I don’t have a…”
I stopped speaking, the words frozen in my throat as reality set in.
“Look,” the waitress said, “it’s already paid for, so you might as well take it.”
She then walked away, headed back to the kitchen.
I stood there stunned for a moment. Jack had been here, not fifteen minutes earlier. Plus, bearing in mind that he’d ordered food, there was an expectation that he’d be back soon.
However, before I could make plans on how to best utilize that information, I heard a soft heads-up whistle that seemed to be directed at me. I turned in the direction of the sound and then stared.
There, sitting in a booth and waving me over, was Jack.
Chapter 63
I frowned, suddenly ill at ease. By coming here, this faux clone was overtly invading another aspect of my life, and I didn’t like it. However, understanding that there was an opportunity here, I decided to take him up on the invite to join him and began walking over. However, I hadn’t taken three steps before he cleared his throat and then nodded towards the bag the waitress had placed on the counter. Rolling my eyes, I turned around and grabbed it, and then resumed my approach to his booth, with Jack smiling broadly the entire while.
When I reached him, I tossed his order onto the table and sat down across from him. Ignoring me for the moment, he opened up the bag and took out a burger and an order of fries.
“Oh, man,” he practically gushed, “this looks great.”
“What are you doing here, Jack?” I asked.
He gave me an appraising glance. “You know my name. Someone’s done their homework.”
I ignored his comment. “I’ll ask again. What are you doing here?”
Having just taken a bite of his burger (which seemed to be loaded with lettuce, tomatoes, and everything else), he held up a forefinger to indicate I should give him a moment while he swallowed his food.
“I would have thought that was obvious,” he replied. “Getting lunch.”
“Yeah, but why here?”
“Why not? This is one of our favorite places.”
“No, it’s not one of our favorite places,” I corrected. “It’s one of my favorite places.”
“Well, I’m you,” he insisted.
“No, you’re not. If you were me, you wouldn’t have to avoid certain people because they can tell the difference between us. If you were me, you’d know I take my burgers with veggies on the side. If you were me, the security system in my father’s mansion would have recognized your biometrics and gone passive instead of blasting a hole in your midsection.”
“Well, I’m you to the extent it matters, such as for any major purposes.”
“Major purposes?” I echoed. “What does that mean?”
Jack seemed to contemplate for a moment before answering. “You’d agree with me that there’s currently conflict between countries all over the globe, right? Everything from border skirmishes to open warfare.”
“Okay,” I muttered, not sure where this was going.
“Now, just imagine for a second that the leaders of two warring nations suddenly sit down next week and sign a peace treaty. And then two more a few days later, and then two more shortly after that, and so on. We could be on the cusp of world peace within a month.”
“It’s a nice dream,” I noted, “but good luck with making it reality. You’re talking about armed conflict that, in some cases, has been going on for decades. Getting the appropriate politicians and heads of state to change their minds in a week – which is what you seem to be suggesting – simply isn’t going to happen.”
“I’m not talking about changing their minds. I’m talking about changing the person making the decision.”
“What, replacing them? That involves new candidates for the requisite positions, them running for office, winning their respective elections, and so on. And all this assumes we’re talking about countries with some kind of democratic political system as opposed to a dictatorship or a monarchy.”
Jack laughed. “You’re overthinking this. Isn’t there a way we could replace them almost immediately?”
I frowned. “Not without somebody dying. And even if world leaders did start dropping like flies, there’s always someone next in line, but
you don’t know if that person’s going to care about things that are important to you. I mean, you don’t know how they’ll feel about global issues like world peace and nuclear proliferation, or even topics that hit close to home, like access to health care, education, minimum wage…”
I trailed off unexpectedly as my thoughts veered in a new direction, prompted by my brain suddenly connecting the dots between my current conversation and something I’d heard earlier.
“That congressman,” I droned. “The one who voted differently than anticipated on the minimum wage law. It was you.”
Jack gave me a sly smile. “You know, telekinesis makes it ever so easy to drug somebody.” He nodded towards the end of our table, where a set of salt and pepper shakers were located. As I watched, the salt shaker rose up about an inch and then tilted slightly, spilling a bit of its contents upon the table before going back to its original position. However, the action was so subtle that, had Jack not called my attention to it, I might never have noticed it.
“So you inconspicuously slip him some knockout drops,” I summed up. “Presumably something untraceable – maybe in his coffee, or juice, or the glass of wine he sips to relax after work – and then shapeshift into him and vote the way you want.”
“Pretty much,” Jack agreed.
“And now you want to step up your game – take it up a notch. Go from domestic affairs to global politics.”
“It’s the level where I think I can do the most good.”
“Good?” I said incredulously. “You don’t see anything wrong, morally, with what you’ve done or what you’re proposing?”
He shrugged. “I guess I see it as the ends justifying the means. But in terms of the world peace I mentioned, I can’t do it alone. I can shapeshift into one person, but not two – not at the same time, anyway.”
There was no need for him to break it down any further. I clearly knew exactly what he was suggesting.
“You’re crazy,” I blurted out. “There’s no way I’m helping you with this insane plan.”
“That’s hurtful, Jim,” Jack said, but in a tone that didn’t imply that he felt pained at all. “Especially coming from you, since we’re the same person.”
“We’re not the same person!” I practically hissed, trying to keep from raising my voice.
“Well, we’ll just have to agree to disagree on that point,” he declared with a slight smile. Emotionally, I could sense that he found my position on the subject amusing.
“Regardless,” he went on, “world peace is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much more we can do, so much we can achieve, if we work together.”
“There’s no working together,” I stressed. “Look, Jack, simply based on the things you’ve done, your moral compass is off. You don’t seem to draw a strong distinction between right and wrong. That said, I don’t blame you entirely for that. I know what they did to you – what they put you through to cause the development of your powers.”
Without warning, I felt heated emotions – led by unbridled animus and fierce resentment – roiling in Jack like a tempest.
“You can’t imagine all the things they did to me,” he growled with balled fists. “The things they’d still be doing if I’d let them…”
There was a faraway look in his eyes, and from the emotional vibe I was picking up, I knew that he was remembering some deep-rooted trauma he had experienced. His pain seemed so palpable that even a person without empathic abilities would have picked up on it, and – despite the things he’d done – I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.
“But hey,” he blurted, snapping out of his reverie, “that’s all in the past. We’ve got other fish to fry. I’m taking off now, but just think about what I said. We can do great things together.”
And then he was gone, along with his food.
Chapter 64
“I’m not seeing any lunch,” Mouse noted critically when I teleported back to his lab.
“Change of plans,” I said, then recounted my recent tête-à-tête with Jack.
“And this just happened?” BT asked when I finished.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “A few minutes ago. I came straight here afterwards.”
A solemn expression settled on BT’s face. “Any idea where he went?”
“No,” I answered, emphatically shaking my head. “But I think it’s safe to assume at this juncture that he does not intend to go gently into that good night.”
“No doubt,” Mouse agreed, “but in speaking to you, he’s given us info that we didn’t have before.”
“You mean his plans for world peace?” I inquired.
“More like world domination,” BT asserted. “Because if you’re talking about replacing world leaders – even temporarily – to significantly alter the course of global events, then there’s no other term for it.”
“Well, I’m not just focusing on that,” Mouse said. “I’m also talking about Jack’s power set. In pretending to be that congressman, he confirmed that he’s a shapeshifter.”
“Huh?” I muttered, puzzled. “I thought we already knew that.”
“No,” BT chimed in. “I think initially there was an assumption that he was a shapeshifter because he looked like you on tape. We’ve since learned that his natural features replicate your own. Thus, even when he was pretending to be you, he never had to alter his appearance. This is the first indication that he can actually look like someone else.”
“Hmmm,” I droned, thinking. “So there’s this broad overlap between his power set and mine.”
“Yeah, but that’s to be expected,” BT contended. “Even though he’s not a true clone, a good portion of his biology is sourced from you, so it makes sense that he has a lot of the same talents.”
“But there are still some abilities I have that he doesn’t,” I noted. “Like telepathy.”
“What’s your point?” Mouse asked.
“It sort of begs the question,” I said. “What powers does he possess that I don’t have?”
Mouse and BT exchanged a glance, and I could tell from their expressions that my question wasn’t one that they had previously considered. However, before either of them could comment, my phone rang.
I glanced at it, and then became immediately annoyed when I saw who was trying to reach me: an anonymous caller.
Gray.
Chapter 65
“First, let me say thanks for meeting with me,” Gray began. “You took off yesterday before we actually had a chance to finish our conversation.”
“No thanks necessary,” I said. “Just get to the point, Gray.”
We were in the back seat of the SUV again. After taking his call, we had agreed to meet up as we had last time, and I had immediately teleported from Mouse’s lab to the appropriate street corner, where Gray’s vehicle had been waiting for me.
“Well, I know that you’ve crossed paths with Jack a couple of times,” Gray began. “I just wanted to tell you to be careful in dealing with him.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I simply waited, sure that there was more to come, but after a few seconds it became clear that Gray had said his piece.
“Wait – that’s it?” I asked in surprise. “You had me come all the way across town just to tell me that? As if I didn’t know after the things he’s done?”
“You act as though you had to take a taxi, the subway, and two metro buses to get here,” Gray countered, chuckling. “And yes, I had you come so I could give you a warning, because I thought it was necessary.”
“And why is that?”
“Because – even though you know what Jack’s capable of – you’re not likely to see that side of him. Generally, he’s going to be on his best behavior around you.”
“What’s so special about me?”
“You mean other than the fact that he’s basically a clone of you?” Gray asked sardonically. “In essence, he wants you to like him. It’s important to him.”
I frowned. Gray’s words had a r
ing of truth to them, and Jack’s demeanor did comport with what I was hearing.
“That’s a tall order, considering the things he’s done,” I finally said.
“Paramount did things that were just as bad – maybe worse. You’re best buds with him now.”
“That’s an entirely different situation, but I will say this: I don’t blame Jack for being the way he is. I saw the things that he was put through. It was enough to unhinge anybody, let alone a kid.”
Gray nodded. “I know what you’re talking about, and yes – what happened to him was horrible. If I’d known about it, I would have stopped it. Putting a halt to those kinds of things is part of the reason why I got involved.”
“Oh, come off it, Gray!” I snapped. “You don’t get to say that you inserted yourself into the process as a way to keep bad things from happening, then turn your back and let them shoot this guy out of a cannon. Either you’re a good guy or you’re not. You can’t have it both ways.”
“It must be great to be young and idealistic,” Gray shot back. “To see everything in simple black-and-white terms. Given everything you’ve experienced, I would think by now you’d realize that the world simply isn’t that clear-cut. The lines between right and wrong get blurred a lot more often than you might think.”
“Blurred lines?” I repeated, eyebrows raised. “You’re the draftsman here. If there are any blurred lines, it’s because you drew them that way. But you know what? If it makes you sleep better at night to tell yourself a pack of lies, go right ahead.”
“It’s not lies,” Gray said defensively. “And you can vilify me all you want, but as I stated before, none of this was my idea. That said, I can follow the logic of the people who authorized Jack’s creation. They saw a potential threat and looked for a way to neutralize it, if that ever became necessary. From that standpoint, their actions are justifiable.”
Replication: A Kid Sensation Novel (Kid Sensation #6) Page 28
