Chapter 217 - Courier Concerns

Once Miss Calculated manages to get her breathing mostly under control, she wipes away a bit of moisture from the corners of both of her eyes and looks at 08 once again.

“Ahem, carrying on. How likely do you think it is that your owner would willingly sell at least your core for a reasonable price, but ideally your shell as well, once it is available? Considering he had your core remounted so you could keep working while your body is out for repairs, I assume he noticed that you’re... more developed than usual.” As Miss Calculated finishes saying her observation at the end, 08 sharply rotates its head to look at 23 to click and beep at it at a faster rate than their previous conversations.

23 doesn’t even bother looking at it as it makes a few leisurely clicks, still packing pastries into the box.

Eventually, 08 faces Miss Calculated again, tilting its head forward slightly to give an external indicator that it is thinking. ...Processing? Loading? Calculating? Whatever.

Finally, after a short delay, it looks up at her.

“Highly likely. But, only due to recent events. My owner may have to choose between expediting repairs on the cafe versus finishing paying off my shell’s service fees as well as the subsequent delivery charges. Turning me from an expenditure into a source of profits will most likely be a simple decision on his part. Besides, without a functioning cafe, he has no need for me. His... awareness of my... state is unlikely to be as comprehensive as yours. I believe he still considers me as expendable as any other one of his bots, merely a bit more useful.” As 08 gives its answer, Miss Calculated has a growing smile and then makes a firm nod once it’s done speaking.

“Perfect. Mind Flare is going to be thrilled that we found... one of 23’s close relatives so soon. I’m sure 23 can bring you up to speed on our plans so far. Having Mind Flare come over to offer to buy you after ‘noticing’ you while you’re on loan to Lucas shouldn’t pose any sort of issue.” Miss Calculated’s smile manages to reach its upper limits while she’s talking.

When she turns to look at 23, it had already finished neatly taping shut her baked goods care package and shifted its attention to a new box to tend to Miss Chievous’s requests. Unsurprisingly, she can’t decide which brownie she wants, so 23 just puts two of them in the box alongside some cookies, which manages to appease her.

Upon 23 noticing Miss Calculated’s attention in its direction, it nods.

“Certainly. The two of us working together should be able to determine the network password sooner, too.” 23’s answer earns a return nod from Miss Calculated before she turns to look at Lucas.

“Speaking of Mind Flare, shouldn’t you two have left to go join them for dinner by now? Ah, by the way, we won’t be joining you. Mash and Nightshade have already agreed to watch over Willy while you’re occupied, and Chi will be accompanying me back home so I can begin working.” As Miss Calculated gives a gentle reminder, Lucas groans.

“...I was tryin’ to use waitin’ for everythin’ to finish gettin’ packed as an excuse not to leave yet. Bah, not like we’re bringin’ any of it to dinner with us, though. Err... how are we gettin’ it all home, anywho? I somehow doubt that those boxes are built for handlin’ superspeed...” Lucas turns to look at Jonathan while saying this, catching sight of him patting Willy on the head one last time before he stands up and walks over to him.

“A-as long as it’s, um, n-not too much, it should be okay. M-most of the time, I can keep a few things at the same, um, s-speed as me. S-some of them might get a little crushed, though. But...” Jonathan’s attention turns to the multiple boxes that are already packed, then to the number of things still in the display case that are most likely still in edible condition.

[...That’s several trips worth, and every single time he might have to deal with tasks, which means not carrying quite as much so that he can free his hands without throwing everything aside, which means even more trips. Also, even though he’s able to do it fairly quickly, I imagine it’s hardly an enjoyable chore running back and forth across the city repeatedly.]

‘...Er, yeah...’

23 slides Miss Chievous’s and Miss Calculated’s boxes of baked goods, as well as the box of miscellaneous things Miss Calculated claimed from her time spent at MF’s, across the counter towards Miss Chievous.

“One of the bots at MF’s informed me earlier that two of their compatriots made a delivery to your home today, and even stayed to wait for your return instead of leaving your purchases unsupervised. I shouldn’t have any issue following the same ruleset they were given for directions, were I to go ask for it. Would you like for me to carry all of it back for you?” As 23 makes its offer, Jonathan’s face lights up and he starts nodding repeatedly.

However, Jonathan becomes self-conscious in short order, as he realizes that Miss Calculated and Miss Chievous have been staring at him ever since he last spoke. He clasps his hands together in front of himself and takes a small step back, partially hiding behind Lucas.

“W-what..?” Jonathan can’t even manage normal conversational volume as he timidly questions them.

Miss Calculated’s thoughtful expression softens into an amused smile.

“Ah, sorry, that was rude of me. Just... you have time dilation, too? And it’s shareable, at that? That would certainly explain how you were able to manage that level of control over your speed in such a short time... I would have thought that would be more of a mental power than physical, but I suppose speed does make sense as a companion power.” As Miss Calculated muses aloud, Lucas and Jonathan both have blank expressions.

Miss Masher looks up from her phone, shooting Jonathan a curious glance as well.

Miss Chievous crosses her arms and nods a few times.

“I knew something weird had to be going on with your speed! Sounds like you don’t really have full control over the time manipulation part yet, though? Hmm, that’s not too strange, I guess. Physical powers do tend to be quicker to master than mental ones.”

‘Uhh... What are they all goin’ on about?’

[...Actually, they may be right. I largely wrote it off as being due to the fact that you don’t have any ranks of enhanced vision yet, but have you noticed how sometimes he’s so fast that you don’t see the movement at all? He’s so shy, it’s not at all surprising that he wouldn’t mention that he wasn’t always consciously doing things at high speed even after joining the system...]

‘Wait, what? How’d you guys even get that idea?’

[He mentioned matching foreign objects to his own speed. That... isn’t how physically enhanced superspeed works. I wasn’t putting much thought into it at first, but now that they pointed it out... If his power was just a mutated variant that was still at least related, then his connection to the Superhero Enhancement system should have granted him mastery over it when he took speed as his entry power. Of course, this is all just speculation. If it is inaccurate, at least he found an explanation that they seem to have accepted as to why he has control over his speed at his young age.]

‘...How the hell did Boss System not notice it any sooner then!? So you’re telling me he actually has mental powers instead of physical? I told you he seemed too smart, you just didn’t believe me!’

[Er... The system identifies powers by making comparisons of detected traits with its database of identified cases. It doesn’t just magically scan people to instantly know what they have and how it works...]

‘You’re avoiding answering me! You were totally settin’ the bar too high for countin’ as bein’ smarter than normal! Admit it!’

[...We won’t know for sure until we have an opportunity to speak to him in private. But... maybe you were right.]

‘Oooh, that feels good.’

[...]

While Lucas was distracted by his conversation with 427, Miss Masher was squinting at Jonathan.

Meanwhile, Miss Calculated and Miss Chievous quietly chatted amongst themselves in their unique cant.

Miss Masher suddenly blurts out, “Wait. He shoulda’ aged faster then? An’ gone through a large chunk of puberty faster, if it was enough time for him to get solid control over his speed?” leading to both Miss Calculated and Miss Chievous turning to scrutinize Jonathan once more.

Poor awkward Jonathan goes to fully hide behind Lucas as he stammers out, “I-I don’t know.”

‘Er, oh well for havin’ a believable cover story.’

“Hey, enough of that. He’s still too young for anyone to be able to tell either way, yeah? No point in harassin’ him about it. He’s enough of a nervous wreck as it is.” Lucas’s scolding proves effective, as all three of the sisters avert their gazes.

While they mutter a mix of apologies, Jonathan makes an annoyed, “Hey!” after Lucas’s insulting addition at the end.

-----

Lucas’s total kills: 9

Lucas’s total deaths: 12

Lucas’s total assists: 1

Lucas’s current GDV: 20.36 [+.01 net change]

Lucas’s fame level: 7.25* [The VoDs of the stream are circulating, starting to gain some traction.]

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 1.0*

Jonathan’s total kills: 8

Jonathan’s total deaths: 4

Jonathan’s current GDV: 8.11

Jonathan's fame level: 5.75* [Even with the attention gained from the broadcast of him briefly being badass while beating the befuddled bully, he still isn’t as famous as Mr. Quacks.]

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 1.5*

Willy's fame level: 5.5*

Mr. Quacks’s fame level: 6.0*

Supervillain social circle size: 16

-----

Little character theater:

Jonathan, warily creeping around Lucas, acting like he wasn’t just blatantly hiding behind him: Um, i-it’s okay...

Willy finished licking off the last of the whipped cream from his snoot while everyone was busy chatting. With a low whine, he trots over to nuzzle against Jonathan’s leg: Arf.

Lucas, disproportionately smug: I’m not wrong, though.

427, sighing: [‘You admit he’s right about ONE thing and he just...’]

Author, watching 08 instead of the chatting people nearby: Poor bot’s worldviews have all been crushed today. At least its life will get better, going forward. Er, is life the right word? ...I didn’t mean to sign up for this metaphysical stuff when I first started writing this.

Mr. Quacks and Quackette are now using the tablet to research every known variation of super speed as well as all the information they can find about time manipulation powers: Quack...?