Accidental Hero (Jack Blank Adventure) (21 page)

“I can see why Stendeval has taken such an interest in you,” Virtua told Jack. “Your powers appear to be growing by the day.”

Jack looked around, letting his mind reach out to the rest of the room. The voices of other programs started to fill his ears. “I think you’re right,” he said, trying to sort them all out. “Does that worry you?”

“Don’t you think it should?” Virtua replied. “When you consider that most of this city believes you to be a Rüstov spy, something that is already associated directly
with my people, I should say that any actions on my part to expand your power should certainly worry me.”

“Right.”

“That said, as long as you’re talking to machines,” Virtua advised Jack, “you might want to ask them how they work as well. With their help you’ll learn much, much faster. You just have to ask nicely. As I’ve heard many bi-orgs say, you catch more flies with honey. Although I can’t understand what bi-orgs want with
any
flies, let alone more of them.”

Jack chuckled and thanked the Circlewoman for her advice. He couldn’t quite figure out what this meeting was about. On the one hand, Virtua was worried about his powers. On the other, she was giving him tips on how he could learn more. It was confusing, but he did notice that the hard edge he had observed in Virtua’s voice back in the data center was gone now that they were here in her home. “If you don’t mind me saying so,” he began, “you seem a bit more relaxed in here than you did out there.”

“I have reason to be,” Virtua replied. “It’s getting ugly out there, don’t you think? I’ve been through this
before. Thankfully, we can still speak freely in C-Space.”

Jack leaned back in his seat, enjoying the privacy that Virtua’s cyberhome afforded them. “It
is
nice to get a break from all those stupid cameras Smart has everywhere,” he agreed.

“Jonas’s SmartCams are a nuisance, yes,” Virtua admitted, “but we Mechas have endured worse. Much worse. The Peacemakers… they practically ran Machina for years after the invasion, and the Mechas who live there suffered greatly. Believe me, if you weren’t under Emissary Knight’s protection first, and the Inner Circle’s protection later, you would have tasted the Peacemakers’ brand of justice long before now.”

Jack leaned forward in his chair. “Yesterday I thought the Peacemakers were going to arrest some kid just for saying hi to me on the street,” he said.

Virtua shook her head. “Even today, with Rüstov sightings dwindling, they wield more power than free people should ever grant figures of authority. And now people want to return their numbers to post-invasion strength. It seems that rumors are all that is needed for Jonas to keep his private army strong as ever.”

“You think all these Left-Behind sightings are just rumors?” Jack asked.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Virtua said. “Not really. When rumors are reported as fact for a long-enough period of time, people eventually lose the ability to tell the difference. But I do wonder… why is it that we never actually see any of these Left-Behind infiltrators on the NewsNets? Circleman Smart has cameras everywhere. If Revile and these others are all truly back in the city, why is there never video footage of anyone but you?”

It was a good question, Jack thought. It did seem odd that he should continue to take up so much news time, given everything that was supposedly going on in the city.

“As far as I am concerned,” Virtua continued, “the only confirmed Rüstov sighting… is you. Now, tell me the truth, Jack, it’s what we’re here for. Are you a Rüstov spy?”

Jack grimaced. It was just as he feared. Virtua was questioning his loyalties like everyone else. It seemed he had lost her support now too.

“No,” Jack told Virtua sternly. “I’m not.”

Virtua studied Jack for a moment. “Fair enough,” she
replied, surprising him. “I believe you. Congratulations, Jack, you will have my friendship and support, as well as my vote for a place in the School of Thought.”

Jack looked at Virtua like she was speaking another language. He couldn’t believe his ears. “Are you serious?” he asked. “You trust me? Just like that? No test?”

“On the contrary,” Virtua began. “I’ve been testing you from the moment you arrived here. The Energon beverage you drank allows me to track your brain wave activity here in cyberspace. If you were lying, I would know.”

Jack frowned. “So, you just tricked me, then,” he said, pushing his glass away.

“Please understand, the proof is not for me,” Virtua told Jack. “I am going to be attacked in the media for siding with you again. Of this I have no doubt. I was actually satisfied that my instincts about you were correct from the start. When I first met you, I saw a child standing up to the Rüstov, beating them in a way no one had ever done before. Even if I did feel otherwise, I trust Stendeval, and his belief in you is evidence enough for me. I believe that education is an inherently good thing. That teaching you will not empower a future enemy, but rather prevent
you from realizing that fate. I
want
you in the School of Thought, but as a Mecha I cannot be too careful where the Rüstov are concerned. I need to be able to validate my opinion in the public eye for my safety and the safety of my people.”

Jack’s eyes brightened. “But now you have proof that I’m not a Rüstov spy? Will it be proof enough for Mr. Smart?”

Virtua shook her head. “Any proof of mine will have little use beyond political cover. Jonas won’t trust my tests. He won’t trust any machine he didn’t build.”

Jack held out hope. “Other people might trust your tests, though, right?” he asked.

Virtua shrugged and gave Jack a pained look. “Who knows? I’m a Mecha, Jack. Just like the Great Collaborator.” Virtua gestured to a portrait on the wall. It was a digital image of herself standing in Hero Square alongside the Imagine Nation’s most infamous Mecha traitor. Jack recognized his picture from Smart’s book.

“You knew the Great Collaborator?” Jack asked, getting up to look at the portrait.

Virtua’s glow dimmed. “I choose not to remember him
that way, but yes. I knew him. Silico was my very good friend. I can only hang this picture in cyberspace. People in the outside world wouldn’t understand. But I keep it to honor the memory of my friend, regardless of what other people may think of him.”

“Why did he do it?” Jack asked. “Why did he betray the Imagine Nation?”

“That is a good question,” Virtua said. “I’m not sure I have an answer for you. To the Rüstov, Mechas are just scrap metal. They think of us as little more than spare parts, not equals, and certainly not allies.” Virtua shook her head, frustrated. “Sadly, no one cared about that after the invasion. Jonas Smart killed Silico, the Great Mecha Collaborator. That was the only story people cared to hear, and the only one Jonas cared to tell.”

Jack thought about the danger that Virtua put herself in by keeping this picture, even if it was just in cyberspace. “Why are you showing me this?” he asked her.

“Because I wanted you to see that I stand by my friends, come what may,” Virtua told Jack. “No matter what others might say about people, I remain a free thinker. I make up my own mind. We came here to talk of truth, trust, and
the Rüstov. Since the invasion, I have seen very little of each. But your presence here is changing things.”

“I don’t understand,” Jack said. “What do you mean?”

“I think you are part of something we cannot yet completely comprehend,” Virtua replied. “And I believe that the Rüstov threat is more real than it is rumor. But I don’t believe you are conspiring with the enemy any more than I believe Silico was a traitor.” Virtua paused to gaze upon the picture of her long lost friend. “Mark my words, Jack…the real Great Collaborator is still out there.”

Jack stood at a window in the Ivory Tower watching another superfight going on outside. It was hard to say what surprised Jack more: seeing his comic book heroes in real life, or the fact that he was getting used to it. He barely even flinched when one of the fighters, a glowing woman, was thrown right into his window. A being made of pure light, she rebounded harmlessly off the reinforced glass. Before Jack could worry if she was okay, she zapped back into battle as Blue called Jack down for dinner, telling him that Jazen was almost finished cooking.

Jack hurried down. As usual, Jazen had made a sumptuous feast, cooked with spices that Jack’s nose had never smelled before. “Pan-seared scissor shark steaks, fresh from the fish farms of Atlantis,” Jazen announced as he set down the plates.

“Let’s do this,” Blue said, rubbing his hands together as he sat down at the table. He took a bite and melted into his chair. He was in heaven. “I tell ya, I’ll never understand how someone with no taste buds can cook this good.”

“Watch out, Jack,” Jazen said as he sat down with Jack and Blue. “If you’re not careful, Blue here will be digging into your plate for seconds before you even get started.”

“You know, I don’t need to come here to be abused,” Blue said. “I’ve got supercriminals out there for that.”

“Speaking of which, was that another superfight I heard hit our window?” Jazen asked.

“The tower shields took care of it,” Jack said with his mouth full.

“Anyone you recognized, big guy?” Blue asked.

“Actually, yeah—it looked like Laser Girl,” Jack guessed, recalling a heroine from his old comic book collection. Jazen raised his head to look out the window. The fight
was moving farther away, but his robotic eyeballs made a whirring sound as they zoomed in, tracking the action across the city’s skyline. “It
is
Laser Girl,” Jazen confirmed. “Good eye, Jack.”

“Who’s that she’s fighting?” Jack asked.

“I don’t recognize him,” Jazen said.

“Probably someone doing something they shouldn’t,” Blue said. “I swear, every time I turn around, someone’s trying to take over
something.
Trouble is, every time we lock ’em up, they always end up breaking out sooner or later. Is it like that where you come from, Jack?”

Jack nodded. “It is in the comics,” he said. It came as no surprise that Empire City’s heroes and villains constantly tumbled through the sky in battle. It was exactly like that in Jack’s comic books. Every day, heroes were hard at work trying to stop villains from extinguishing the sun, reversing the earth’s magnetic poles, or conquering the surface world with an army of subterranean molemen. It was hard to keep track of it all.

“Don’t get me wrong, Jack, I don’t mind having to go catch a bad guy two or even three times,” Blue said. “I just can’t stand all the paperwork that goes with the job.” Blue
looked at his watch and grumbled. “Hate to eat and run, guys, but I’m going to be late,” he said, forcing an entire scissor shark steak into his mouth at once.

Jack quickly wolfed down the rest of his dinner to try to keep up with Blue. He had places to go too, and Blue was dropping him and Jazen off on his way to the police station.

Jack had another School of Thought test scheduled for that evening, a test he was greatly looking forward to, because it was being taught by the hero of
Unreal Tales #42.
Jack’s head spun like a top as Blue’s HoverCar flew over the streets of Empire City’s alien borough. Jack was getting used to the idea of seeing superheroes on every street corner, but Galaxis was something else entirely. Galaxis was
the
traveler’s hub for the Milky Way galaxy, and nothing prepares you for the first time you see an intergalactic spaceport up close.

Galaxis was on the cliff side of Empire City, right next to Hero Square. Launch pads lined the edge of the floating island, and aliens of every shape, size, and color were hurrying back and forth between crowded stargates. Rocket ships and flying saucers took off and landed without
pause, space freighters eased in and out of HoverDocks, and starfighters blasted off into the cosmos. Galaxis was a hotbed of extraterrestrial activity, filled with space-faring Calculans, Draconians, Radians, and, of course, Valorians like the one Jack was on his way to see.

The aliens of Galaxis were so focused on their own comings and goings that they would have overlooked Jack completely if not for the SmartCams that followed him everywhere he went. As images of Jack popped up on NewsNets throughout the borough, all-too-familiar looks of fear and scorn were cast in Jack’s direction once more. Jack hated those SmartCams. Always watching him, always putting his Rüstov infection between him and everyone else. The star-crossed travelers of Galaxis knew of the Rüstov long before any Earth-born residents of the Imagine Nation. They knew the enemy better than anyone. They knew to fear the Rüstov inside Jack.

Things were different in the house of Prime. Back in the sphere, Prime had told his fellow Circlemen that the sons of Valor knew no fear. As Jack entered the headquarters of the Valorian Guard, he found out that was true.

Inside the Valorian’s dome-shaped garrison, Jack
encountered a legion of silver-skinned soldiers. They stood watch at every door and marched through the halls with a proud military gait. Confidence oozed from their lustrous metal pores. They looked at Jack without fear or contempt. He was a person who had business with their leader, nothing more. At the main interior gate a guard in a blue form-fitting supersuit stepped forward. “Jack Blank,” he said matter-of-factly. “I am to escort you to the Valorian Prime. Follow me.”

The guard simply led Jack and Jazen up to the very top of the dome and out onto a roof deck. There, waiting in the cool evening air, stood Prime. Jack’s escort snapped to attention, raising a fist to his heart in the Valorian salute. Prime returned the motion, and the guard flew off into the night, leaving Jack to his lesson.

Jack wasn’t the first student to arrive that night. As Prime crossed the roof to greet him, Jack noticed Allegra standing at the far end. Like Prime, her gleaming argent skin reflected all the lights of the Galaxis night sky, but the similarities between the two seemed to end there. Prime came across as influential and strong. He walked with willful purpose, carrying himself like a general.

“Good evening and welcome, candidate Blank,” Prime said. “It pleases me to see you advancing through our program. I was afraid I might not get the opportunity to test you here tonight.”