Hmmm. Have the Machine eat the door? Ask around for She Who Wots, who was probably still Spider’s secretary? See if anyone knew another way to get in? That might take some doing. Everyone was seriously distracted tonight. There’d been either a giant monster attack while I sulked, or a pinup calendar release.
Click.
My eyebrows raised. I reached for the handle again, but yellow arms pushed the door open first. A yellow plastic woman with a stiff posture and a much less expressive face than mine stood in the starkly lit cement stairwell on the other side.
“Hello, Bad Penny. Spider was taking the evening off, but is willing to make an exception in your case. Please do not follow me. I am a robot adult right now and it makes sense that robot children move much faster than robot adults,” said Polly Vinyl Chloride.
I grinned. As I darted forward, I raised a hand. She might look serious with a permanent business suit baked into her body shape, but she lifted her own. A clonk echoed through the stairwell as our palms slapped, then slid past each other.
In fact, I sat on the railings and slid down the stairs. Might as well do this right. At the other end, I pushed open the door and strode boldly into the erratically lit, web-strewn garage.
Spider hung upside-down in that web where she always had, a gleaming black widow the size of an SUV. She held a book out of the way in her second pair of legs, and behind her in the shadows lurked a lumpy white cocoon. Too big to be a human, thankfully.
“I expected you to seek me out much sooner,” she said, skipping the introductions. As always, she sounded as bland and businesslike as my mother. There must be a school somewhere that teaches that tone.
“Everyone warned me not to talk to you. Apparently it’s much worse when you take advantage of my situation than when they do,” I answered. Despite the sarcasm, I made no attempt to hide my wary stare.
She tsked. “No one ever understands my motivations. I admit I have only myself to blame for that. Keep in mind when you get older, a dramatic reputation is useful. While people are trying to stop the you they imagine, the real you is free to act.”
I lowered my eyelids and smirked. “And that didn’t make you sound creepy at all.”
“Actually, I was stalling. Polly, what do you see?”
My foot lifted by itself to take a step, but without my teleport bands, that reflex had become useless. Besides, I’d been loosely aware of the footsteps descending the stair behind me, and the sweet smell of burning gasoline that always accompanied her. Polly Vinyl Chloride might be the only person in LA I was absolutely sure would not betray me. Come to think of it, the only other person I could think of was her brother Bull. Not because they loved me so much, but it just wasn’t in their nature.
“She appears to be Penelope Akk so far,” said the robot.
My mouth opened. Emotions and words rearranged repeatedly before something coherent came out. Turning to squint at Polly in disbelief, I said, “You believe me?”
Spider answered instead. “Did your friend Barbara not tell you? Miss Chloride has an interesting super power. She can see minds. In some ways, it is more useful than being able to read them.”
“Of course, I prefer to be known for my intellectual accomplishments and love of family,” said Polly.
I had to make sure I understood this correctly. “Your power even works on robots? And it shows that I’m the real Penelope Akk?”
The tiny legs by Spider’s fangs rubbed together, and for once she sounded amused. “Really, Bad Penny. There may be only a couple of hundred active super-powered combatants at a time, and their powers may be a bit repetitive, but there are thousands of non-combat powered individuals in Los Angeles. Did it not occur to you that at least one would have the ability to reveal the truth?”
“It only makes sense,” said Polly cheerfully. “However, I will not be a party to dishonesty. The appearance of your mind and its reactions in this conversation are consistent with my limited interactions with you before transformation. I would need to compare you with the biological Penelope Akk to confirm that she is false.”
I nodded. “That won’t be a problem. The thing that took over my body is a parasite spawned by my super power. Its evil will show up, if nothing else.” I shot a suspicious look at Spider. “I take it you’re offering to have Polly publicly confirm I’m the real Penny. That’s why she’s here waiting for me, instead of Abigail.”
The giant arachnid stroked a rope of her web with a back leg. “Miss Chloride works for me in a clerical capacity, and was available on short notice. I certainly have been curious as to whether you are really Penelope Akk, and needed that confirmed before making any offers. In essence, however, you are correct.”
I folded my arms. That I trusted Polly was the only reason I was even considering this. “And what will I owe you in return?”
“Nothing.”
My chin tilted down, so I could give her an even more skeptical look. “Not buying it.”
Spider made what sounded like a small, restrained chuckle. “You should, because my motivations are entirely selfish. Penelope Akk is a valuable individual, with or without powers, and with or without your official name and body. I do not care which of you is real, only that this issue is resolved and I know the truth.”
A yellow robot arm raised a hand to get my attention. “Spider is telling the truth without deliberate deception, although this does not change that her thinking on all issues looks like a labyrinth of details and contingency planning. This often appears like deception to individuals expecting simple results.”
Spider let out a sigh. “Yes, thank you, Polly. Do you accept, Penny? I do not guarantee any answer, only to bring out the truth. I expect others will try to do the same, which if you are the real Penny should improve the odds that you will be vindicated. What you do about the truth once it is revealed is also your business. Your feud is a legitimate community action regardless. You do not have to be right to be engaging in a struggle within precedent.”
I chewed on my lip, although carefully, because I wasn’t quite sure whether that would cause damage. Finally, I nodded. “I’m the real Penny Akk, so I’m not afraid of the truth.”
“Then if you will pardon the brusque dismissal, I will return to my meal.” She waved a leg at the door.
That seemed to be that. I exited, and climbed the stairs in a mild daze. Everyone had been right that Spider would have an angle. They hadn’t guessed what angle, and tentatively, it looked like mine.
I believed she meant it about revealing the real Penny Akk. I believed Polly would tell the truth. As the original Penny Akk, that meant I win, and the parasite loses.
So, uh… woo! Now what?
I was in Chinatown, why not have a good time? My fellow mad scientists were—
Criminy. On second thought, no. At least not until my identity was established, and my peers would hesitate before kidnapping and dismantling me. Being an interesting technological trophy really nailed home who my actual friends were. Maybe if Cybermancer or Red Eye were alone… but Cybermancer wasn’t even around, and Red Eye was with the others.
Hmmm. Of course, I had real friends who might be around. None of them were immediately visible, but that didn’t mean anything. Kids would probably be in the back rooms out of the way, with the place this busy.
A faint glow in the darkest empty shop drew my attention. Looking around… no, no sign of Entropy. So with any luck…
Mirabelle sat all alone, a book in her lap, watching the crowd outside with a curious smile. That meant she saw me immediately, and waved a hand. “Penny! I hope you’re looking for me.”
“I was, and not for healing.” That made me wave an arm in a circle, feeling at the scars left by the melting bracers. “Although I guess it wouldn’t be a bad idea, if you can do it while we talk. Hanging out was the main idea.”
She laughed, soft and amused. Sliding elegantly to her feet, she pulled her chair up almost to the door, dragging it behind her at arm’s leng
th rather than lifting it. Then she sat back down, swept her glittering tail out to the side, and pointed at her feet. “Kneel, supplicant.”
I snrrked, and kneeled as instructed. “You’re feeling lively tonight.”
“I’ll hear about it when my brother tells my parents that I have my tail out, but it breaks just as often from me sitting on it.” She leaned forward and laid her hands on my shoulders. Her glow lit up brighter, and… criminy, that felt gooooood. Warmth flooded down my arms, and at least trickled down the rest of me.
“Sorry to make you move,” I half apologized.
Only half, because I got the smile I expected. “Thank you for giving me an excuse to move closer to everyone. Even I feel a little rebellious sometimes.”
I hooked an arm over her knees, which felt perfectly normal and bony beneath the thick, rough fabric of her layered skirts. Her fingers almost felt normal on my throat. Smooth, but smooth like soft skin, and so warm they were almost hot. She did have tiny claws, but they weren’t much more than points I occasionally felt brushing against me.
Without muscles to tense up, I hadn’t felt the ‘so relaxed I could pass out’ sensation much lately. It was nice. I resisted the urge to lay my head in her lap, because that would be a little too weird.
Out of the corner of my eye, when her hand left my neck to touch my cheek for a moment, I saw threads of pale yellow light connecting the shining glass to my shell.
“Penny!” squealed a voice behind me, sending me rocketing to my feet. I had to stumble backwards and fall on my butt again to avoid falling on Mirabelle, probably with disastrous results.
Cassie, eyes glowing blue with excitement, grinned with open-mouthed joy at me from the doorway. “Wait here! I’ll be right back!”
Mirabelle lay her fingers over her mouth, and giggled. She had a fluttery, girly laugh, like Claire’s. “Sorry. I think I gave you a little too much. My power is harder to control than you’d think.”
I climbed to my feet, and dusted off my lab coat. “No complaints. I’ve taken a few hard spills. Now I can be sure I don’t have microfractures. Hey, listen, when I’ve got my body back, why don’t I steal you sometime?”
She blinked. At least, I thought she blinked. It isn’t the easiest expression to see on a transparent glass face. “What?”
“For a joy ride. I’ll take you out to have non-dangerous fun, without your brother’s permission. Yes, he’ll be furious, but I’m willing to face that risk.”
The end of her tail flicked rhythmically, and she gave me the biggest smile I’d seen from her. She adjusted the wide brim of her sun hat, then took it off and gave her curly hair a shake. It sent prismatic rainbow sparkles all over the room. “He would never grant permission, but I can make him forgive you. That sounds wonderful.”
Tilting my head to the side, I grinned. “I won’t ask you what you like. I’m pretty sure you haven’t had a chance to find out. By the time we get the chance, I’ll have a list made up of things to try.”
Cassie’s voice squeaked again. “You’re still here! Stop struggling, squirmy britches. I know where I can get some glue.”
She backed into view, dragging the struggling figure of her friend Will along. Cassie had been dressed to kill, in a white, ruffled, silk blouse and tight, pale-blue pants, which matched her hair. Now, Will’s attempts to get away had knocked a couple of buttons off the shirt and wrinkled the pants, while the arcs of electricity crawling down from Cassie’s hair over her body poofed the silk with ridiculous, billowy domes of static electricity.
The electrical zaps might explain Will’s struggles, although with my history of fighting and watching people fight, I could tell he wasn’t seriously trying to get away. When he spotted Mirabelle, he nudged Cassie, and they both suddenly stopped fighting and stood stand by side, straight and respectful.
Well, until Cassie bonked him on the back of the head with the heel of her hand.
Sheepish, Will took a step forward, and offered me his hand. “Sorry I was a jerk.”
I studied his expression. That tight, sheepish half-smile, downturned face but upturned eyes, looked awkward and embarrassed rather than resentful. So, he meant it.
Good enough for me. I took his hand and gave it a firm shake. “The whole thing is crazy. What can you do?”
Whether Will or I had any more to say on the subject was moot, because Cassie leaped in and looped her arms around both our shoulders. “You are so lucky to have me, boy. My sibling of doom could come back any time, and I wasted a good sixty seconds of valuable Penny Akk fixing your dumb mistakes.”
He rolled his eyes. “From the girl whose phone—”
“Hey hey!” she warned him, lightning flaring in her hair so hard I could hear the crackle.
In response, he ducked out of her grip, backing way into the room and watching us with a smirk.
Dismissing him from her attention, Cassie grabbed my hand in both of hers. “You’re not mad at me, right? I swear, if I knew which of you was which, I’d be on your side in a second, but until then is it okay to be excited that the most interesting person I know has doubled?”
Back in the shadows, Will opened his mouth and pointed his finger at his throat in gagging motions. Mirabelle had both her hands clamped tight over her mouth to keep from laughing. Between them, any chance I had of being angry evaporated. “Naah, it’s cool.”
Cassie looked up at me—well, slightly down at me—with literally shining eyes. “Really?”
I placed the hand she didn’t have in a death grip over my heart. “I swear by my Heart of Steel, by the illegible theoretical notes of Tesla himself, and by my inscrutable Machine, that I do not hate you for hanging out with that evil parasite who stole my body and is just manipulating and using you.”
“Like she would mind,” sniped Will, then sidestepped in a blur as Cassie tossed a thin bolt of lightning his way.
Holding onto my hand became hugging my arm. It didn’t feel like invasive affection, but desperation. Looking out the doorway, Cassie cast about. “Ruth is with Cybermancer somewhere, digging out his special stock. She’s got a job planned, and she wants magician of chemicals’ strongest potions.”
“Strongest?” I asked, amused.
“The power-up elixir?” chimed in Mirabelle.
Cassie started, as if she’d forgotten Mirabelle was even there. Then she nodded. “Yeah, those. Whatever your powers are, that stuff gives them a brief but crazy boost. Her giant purple people smoosher form is strong already, but with a jolt of this she’ll be able to rip through concrete, steel, and that funky armor stuff Mech makes in seconds. No going through traps or sensors, no being there when the big, big super-powered hammer comes down.”
Mirabelle pursed her lips, her voice turning soft and concerned. Okay, actually, she always sounded like that. “I hope she’s strong enough to handle it. My brother used one of those once, when he knew he was going to have to fight odds out of his league. You know he’s not very careful about bystanders, but even he was upset by the devastation he left. The area is still sealed off and not safe. He won’t use it again.”
“It’s expensive, too,” put in Will.
Mirabelle nodded, scattering rainbows everywhere. “Very much so. Cybermancer demanded a few grams of my glass as part of the price, and I think Entropy would have killed him if I hadn’t been there and clipped my claws.”
Cassie nodded too, a lot faster. “Yeah, but a power booster? People actually have killed for that. The other Penny has been trying to build one, so she can use her power actually during a fight. So far, no go. Her power doesn’t mind making them, but it’s never usefully portable and multi-use, so she keeps having to break it down for parts to make the next one. It has to be small enough to hide from her folks, any—oh, I’m so sorry, Penny. I shouldn’t talk about Braided Beauty the Second, should I? I’m such a bad friend!”
I took her hand and gave it a squeeze this time. “Don’t worry about it. I’m getting too much of a kick out of seeing yo
u excited.”
Her eyes went wide, and she froze up. For a second, I thought she’d have a stroke or pass out.
Privately, I thought she was being a bad friend, but not to me. Between spilling half the plans for Ruin’s next heist, and my parasitic duplicate’s secret battle plan, I was discovering that Cassie was absolutely terrible at keeping secrets when she got excited.
Cassie’s moment of ecstasy passed, and she latched onto my arm again. “We should go have fun while we have time.”
I held up fingers with my other hand. “Number one, I have no intention of leaving Mirabelle. Number two, hearing how you’ve been sounds like fun.”
That got me another stricken stare. Cassie let go of my arms, took the kind of deep breath that made me stand in front of her to conceal her busted shirt buttons, and let it out again. Suddenly much more calm, she said, “You have no idea how great you are, Penny.”
Will made the gagging gesture again.
I nudged Cassie with my elbow. “So?”
“Well, I’ve been saving up my allowance, and I bought a ticket to a concert coming up. The band plays nautical folk music, and even if you’re not into that as a style, it’s so different from rock and roll it’s worth a listen. But the thing about the concerts is that they play dozens of different instruments, and keep switching for every set. It’s like a magic trick, or an acrobatics act, or something, a display of skill you don’t usually see on top of the fun music. I was thinking about trying to sneak you in, but now that I think about it, this is something I’d like to go to alone, just for me.” It was a long speech, but delivered with a shy, hip-tilted, suddenly relaxed air.
Something clicked in my head. Looking at Mirabelle, I said, “When I get my power back, I should build you a remote virtual body to inhabit, so you can attend concerts like that safely, in a body that won’t break—or is at least disposable.”
She touched her fingers to her lips, and lifted her face to look at the ceiling. “I wonder if I could get my brother to buy me something like that—oh, dear.”
“What?” I asked, concerned.
You Believe Her Page 19
