by Lucas Flint
“I don’t have money—”
“Then I’m not interested,” said Techno. “And don’t give me the spiel about ‘the greater good,’ because I don’t believe in it. It’s all about justifying your power. That’s what that phrase means.”
“I wasn’t about to say it was for the greater good,” I said. “Maybe you need to listen a little better instead of, you know, accusing me of saying things I haven’t said.”
“Don’t care,” said Techno. “And if you don’t leave now, I’m going to invoke my Second Amendment rights and disintegrate both of you on the spot.”
I was getting really annoyed with Techno now and starting to understand why TW had been so hesitant about going to him for help. “Then why did you let me in at all if you had no intention of helping me whatsoever? For such a smart guy, you sure are inconsistent.”
Techno’s seat whirled around, to the point where I was sure Techno would fall off. But he stayed on his seat and glared at me with such intense hatred that I was sure he was going to start shooting laser beams from his eyes at us. Maybe his disintegration beams would come from his eyes rather than some hidden blaster somewhere in the apartment.
But then Techno sat back in his chair and said, “Tell me, do you know why I had a falling out with your grandfather, kid? Did TW see fit to tell you that?”
I glanced at TW, but kept my focus on Techno because I was worried that if I took my eyes off him for too long he might attack me. “No, he didn’t.”
“It wasn’t important,” said TW. “I didn’t tell him because I didn’t need to.”
Techno laughed, which sounded strangely robotic. “Oh, you didn’t want to crush the boy’s idealization of his old man, did you? I understand. Like I said, Gregory always wanted the glory all for himself. His PR game was on point, given how most people even to this day, ten years later, don’t know my story.”
“What are you talking about?” I said. “You’re acting like you have some dirt on Grandfather.”
“I don’t just have dirt on him, boy,” said Techno. “I have an entire mountain on him, which if people knew it, would utterly destroy your grandfather’s legacy for good.”
“What is it, then?” I said. “Go ahead and tell me. I can handle it.”
Techno cracked a smile, revealing that several of his teeth had been replaced with metallic teeth that looked sharper than any human tooth. He gestured at himself and said, “The reason I’m a cyborg is because Gregory made me into one. And he did it quite deliberately, too.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“What do you mean?” I said in surprise. “Do you mean that Grandfather actually modified your body himself?”
Techno snorted. “Don’t be so literal-minded, kid. I did the actual modification work. Gregory is responsible insofar as he put me into the situation which resulted in me having to make the changes in the first place. Had he not put me in that situation in the first place, I might still be able to live a normal life as a normal person … but of course, then Gregory would never have gotten the glory, now would he?”
I looked at TW. “TW, is that true? Did Grandfather really hurt him?”
“Yes,” said TW, though he didn’t look at me. “But it wasn’t intentional, not in the way Techno says. It was an accident. And he knows that.”
“I only know that the entire situation could have been prevented by Gregory if he had been just a bit smarter,” said Techno. “Or less glory-hogging.”
“Tell me what happened,” I said. “I’m willing to listen.”
Techno folded his hands over his lap. “I guess it can’t hurt to tell you. It won’t change my opinion of your grandfather or anything, but I’ve always been one to believe in knowing the truth, even if it hurts. And this truth will hurt. However good you think Gregory is, this story will reveal another side to him, one he never showed in public.”
I hated Techno’s smarmy attitude, but I had to admit he had me hooked. For the longest time I had thought of Grandfather as a great hero, maybe even the greatest superhero to have ever lived. It helped that my parents always spoke of him so glowingly and that I didn’t have very many memories of him due to being so young when he first vanished. I didn’t see what Techno could tell me that might be so devastating, but perhaps Techno knew something I didn’t.
“I first met Gregory twenty years ago,” said Techno. “I was a young man, fresh out of college and working in IT as a computer programmer. The two of us, although from different generations, nonetheless hit it off well, because Gregory was also interested in technology and computer programming. Eventually, he began seeking my assistance with problems he ran into during his superhero career that required a tech head to deal with, assistance I was happy to provide at first because I thought he was a great hero and I was willing to do whatever I needed in order to help him make Rumsfeld a safer place for everyone.”
I was struck at how much Techno and Grandfather’s relationship resembled mine and Kyle’s. Kyle was my go-to tech guy for whenever I needed help with technology, just like Techno had been for Grandfather. It reminded me of the saying Dad always told me, about how history repeats. It was a weird echo at any rate.
“Our partnership was very successful,” said Techno. “Together, we took down many dangerous threats to Rumsfeld, such as Virus, a supervillain who could turn into a computer virus and had taken control of the city’s power supply in an effort to enrich himself. We were an unstoppable team, with his powers and my brains, to the point where a lot of people even began calling me his sidekick. I never formally worked for him like that, of course, but we were closer than brothers at that point and were willing to defend each other whenever we were in danger.”
Techno actually sounded nostalgic as he spoke, though I figured it was against his will, because he certainly didn’t sound happy as he recounted his past. Maybe he was conflicted, because on one hand these were happy memories he was reliving, but on the other hand he didn’t like Grandfather anymore and didn’t want anything to do with him anymore. I guess he was still more human than he let on.
“Things changed, though, on a hot summer day in July, about a year before Gregory disappeared,” said Techno. “Have you heard of the supervillain Holes?”
“Yeah, of course,” I said. “I haven’t just heard of him. I fought him yesterday.”
“Yes, I saw the news article about his escape from prison,” said Techno. He grimaced. “Didn’t expect him to break out of prison. Doesn’t help that none of the news sources I read explained how he got his powers back. That’s a trick I’d like to learn the secret to.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Can you continue your story, please?”
“Sure,” said Techno. “Sorry for the digression. I hate Holes almost as much as Gregory, because Holes is just as guilty for what happened to me as Gregory. If we hadn’t run into him … things might have been different.”
Techno sighed. “Anyway, like I said, it was on a hot July day, very much like today. Holes appeared in downtown Rumsfeld, where he tried to rob the Rumsfeld First National Bank. As usual, Gregory went to confront him as soon as he heard the news and the two of them clashed. It was an intense, but inconclusive, battle, because Holes ran as soon as the police showed up, even though my understanding is that he had the upper hand against Gregory due to his powers. Gregory got frustrated by this and went to visit me, thinking I might be able to build a weapon or something he could use to nullify Holes’ powers.”
“Did you?” I said.
“Of course not,” said Techno. “I’m smart and talented, but I’m no chemist. Still, I considered Gregory a friend, so I tried to help him as best as I could, though our brainstorming session wasn’t very fruitful, so Gregory left to go to dinner with his family. As for me, I stayed in my apartment and focused on completing a programming project I’d put off all week. I was by myself and defenseless. This was before I cared about my security, though I should have cared even before I was attacked.”
> “Attacked?” I said. “By who?”
“Holes,” said Techno. He touched his eye. “Holes was always a pragmatic sort, unlike most supervillains. He was well aware of my partnership with Gregory and he was afraid that I might have some kind of tech I could use to help Gregory beat him. As soon as Gregory left, Holes entered my apartment and nearly killed me.”
I looked at Techno’s mechanical limbs. “Is that where you got these limbs?”
Techno nodded. He raised his mechanical arm and rotated it in its socket. “Yep. Even back then, Holes knew how to use his powers to inflict maximum damage. Only reason I didn’t die was because my neighbor heard the commotion and called the police, though by the time the police got there, Holes was long gone. The police rushed me to the hospital, but they were too late to save all of my body parts.”
“What did Gregory do?” I said. “Did he visit you when he heard what happened?”
“And here is the part of the story where Gregory reveals himself for the jerk he really was,” Techno said. “He didn’t show up at all. He didn’t call or text me or do anything to show that he even knew I had nearly been killed by one of his enemies and was bleeding out enough blood to flood the streets of Rumsfeld. Nah, dumb bastard didn’t show up until two days later, and he didn’t even have an excuse for why he didn’t show up quicker.”
I looked at TW. “TW, what took Grandfather so long to check on Techno? Did something come up or—”
“It doesn’t matter why,” Techno interrupted before TW could say anything. “All that matters is that Gregory and I had a big fight, which ended with our friendship being completely shattered. Afterward, I began work on prosthetics that would replace my missing limbs, though I needed help from a prosthetics company which had all of the necessary materials that I lacked. Still, from that point on, I didn’t help Gregory and he never came to me for help, and for good riddance.”
I shifted uncomfortably where I stood. “And you blame Grandfather for what Holes did?”
“Yeah, I do,” said Techno. His mechanical hand curled into a ball. “If Gregory hadn’t let the jerk get away, Holes would never have come after me. I would still be fully human, instead of this grotesque cyborg mockery that I have to live with every day of my life.”
I wanted to ask TW for his perspective on the matter, but something told me that Techno was not going to listen to anything TW said. Or rather, he had already listened to TW’s side of the story and didn’t care about it. I would still have to ask TW about it later, though, because I was sure there was more to the story than what Techno had shared with me.
“Anyway, that’s the story,” said Techno. “Full of drama, highs and lows … it makes all of those superhero movies everyone loves watching look boring by comparison, wouldn’t you say?”
“I—”
“I don’t care what you think,” Techno said. “You know my story. And now you know why I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“But if you help me, I could beat Holes,” I said. “Now that Holes is back, he’s probably going to come after you again.”
“If he tries, I’ll kill that jerk on the spot,” said Techno. “Disintegration lasers, remember?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Again, don’t care,” said Techno. “Now, this is the last time I’m going to say this: Leave. Or I really will disintegrate you on the spot.”
I bit my lower lip. I found Techno’s constant orders to leave grating, but at the same time, there was no way I could force him to help me. If he didn’t want to help me, then he didn’t have to, and that was that, however much I wished it wasn’t.
So I nodded and said, “All right. I understand why you don’t want to help me, even though I think you’re wrong. But if you don’t want to do it, that’s your call. I’ll just go look for help somewhere else.”
“Good,” said Techno. His chair swiveled around once more, its back to me. “Door’s unlocked. Oh, and one last thing: Don’t come back. Ever.”
TW flashed back into the Watch and I took off my costume before I opened the door and left the apartment, with a lot of questions on my mind and a feeling that beating Holes was going to be a lot harder than I thought.
CHAPTER TWELVE
TW said nothing at all until I got back to the house and into my room. It was pretty clear to me that TW intensely disagreed with Techno’s characterization of Grandfather and, hey, I didn’t quite agree with it myself. After all, I still hadn’t heard TW’s side of the story, which might provide some context or information that Techno either didn’t know or had left out of his story for his own reasons.
As soon as I closed the door to my room, TW flashed into existence before me. He floated up toward the ceiling, a frustrated and disappointed look on his face.
“I take it that you didn’t agree with Techno’s story?” I said, looking up at TW.
“That’s putting it mildly,” said TW. “His story was … I mean, he had the basic facts right. Gregory did go to his apartment, he really was attacked by Holes, and, I am sad to say, Gregory didn’t check on him until a couple of days later. But he completely misinterpreted why Gregory was late. It had nothing to do with him being a ‘glory hog’ or whatever. That is simply ridiculous.”
I sat down on my bed and leaned back on my hands. “Then what did take Grandfather so long to check on Techno? Surely it couldn’t have been that important, could it?”
“It was,” said TW. “There was another supervillain attack that very night on the other side of Rumsfeld. It was Holes’ associate, a supervillain known as Calamity Jane, who got into a very big fight with Gregory. Gregory won, but he had taken such a beating that he had to spend the next couple of days in bed. He couldn’t even go to Marge for healing, though if he did, it wouldn’t have helped, because his injuries were extensive and not easily healed even by her powers.”
“So the reason Grandfather didn’t check on his best friend was because he was also really badly injured?”
“More or less,” said TW. “But as soon as he heard the news that Techno had been attacked by Holes and was in the hospital, he went to see him and make sure he was okay. He even offered to pay Techno’s medical bills, though Techno denied his help because he felt betrayed by him.”
“What a jerk,” I said, shaking my head. “Grandfather even offered to pay his bills and Techno rejected him because of a misunderstanding? For being such an intelligent tech guy, he sure doesn’t seem all that smart.”
“Agreed,” said TW, “but Techno has always been somewhat moody, especially in comparison to Gregory. Techno used to style himself as a ‘realist’ in comparison to Gregory’s ‘idealism,’ but it seems he’s entirely dropped the ‘realist’ part in favor of outright cynicism, maybe even nihilism, though I would hesitate before calling him that.”
“Whatever his deal is, he’s useless,” I said. I walked over to my bed and sat down on it, crossing my legs as I did so. “And now we’re back to square one, at least when it comes to getting you fixed.”
“What did I tell you?” said TW. “I told you he wouldn’t listen or help. His hatred of Trickshot—or, really, Gregory—is deep and has had ten years to fester. I’m surprise he didn’t just disintegrate you on the spot like he kept threatening to do. It would have been very in character for him. Perhaps he just didn’t want to deal with the murder charges.”
“Yeah, because the police would definitely be able to deal with a cyborg shut-in who has disintegration lasers built into his apartment,” I said sardonically. I rested my chin in my hands and sighed. “It doesn’t really matter now, I guess. But you seem to be taking this pretty well, TW, given how Techno is the only guy who could have fixed you.”
“As I said, I already expected him to say no and send us away,” said TW. “That’s another life lesson for you. When your expectations are in line with reality, you are rarely disappointed, no matter how bad the outcome of a particular situation is.”
“Then how are we going to fix
you?” I said. “There’s got to be someone else we can talk to.”
“Gregory could fix me, but of course he’s still being held prisoner by Icon,” said TW with a shrug. “I w-wouldn’t worry t-too much about it. What we n-need to focus on is getting you ready to d-defend Rumsfeld from the threat Gregory foresaw coming. T-That’s what matters in the end.”
I frowned. “TW, you’re stuttering again. Maybe you should take a break.”
TW’s form flickered in and out a couple of times before it stabilized again, though TW wore a very concentrated expression on his face. “Don’t worry about me, Jack. I just lost focus there for a bit. As long as I maintain my f-focus, I won’t stutter or flicker in and out of existence.”
I wondered how long TW could possibly maintain his focus. Probably until his programming gave out entirely, which seemed likelier and likelier by the day. Still, I had to admit that TW had a point. Right now, there was nothing I could do to fix his programming, nor did I know anyone who could. I considered asking Kyle, but Kyle was still in Florida on vacation with his family, and besides Kyle had never fixed something as complex as TW. I was worried that Kyle might accidentally damage TW’s programming beyond repair if he had access to it.
“All right, I guess we’ll return to this topic some other time,” I said. I looked at TW. “How has your research into Mr. Salt been going?”
“Excellently, actually,” said TW. He held up a palm and a holographic image of Mr. Salt’s face appeared in it. “According to my research, Mr. Salt lives in an apartment in north Rumsfeld by himself, not too far from the headquarters of your father’s construction company, actually. I’m not sure if he keeps his superhero artifacts there or if he stores them elsewhere, but it’s a good place to start looking, at any rate.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said. “When do you think we should go after him?”
