Ch. 2: Interludes 1
In which life continues, the DEO meets a mysterious benefactor, Jason shows his inherited genius, and a birthday is celebrated.
Max drove Jason to school the next Monday, three days after they had begun to live together. The community high school was not as well kept as those closer to the center of the commercial district. The building was faded brick, fenced in, and built like a penitentiary. Teenagers dressed in casual hoodies and ripped jeans were milling around, taking, shoving each other and roughhousing.
"Enjoy today," Max offered. "I'll be back at three to pick you up."
"Four," Jason corrected dully, already half out the car.
"Four then."
The door closed. Max exhaled. He didn't think it would be so harrowing simply driving his son to school and letting him go when Max had just gotten him.
He set five alarms to remind himself to pick Jason up and still arrived early. The school grounds were practically empty; only a few small groups of kids leaning against the outside of the fence remained.
Max spied Jason at the corner of the block with some other punk-dressed teens. Jason spied his car and began walking around the corner, out of sight of the school. Max had his driver follow.
Jason waited halfway down the street and got in the car.
"How was your day?"
"Fine."
Silence.
"Did you enjoy it?"
"Sure."
Silence.
"You turned away from the school."
"You're rich. They're not."
Oh. Max understood. Suddenly coming into wealth made Jason a target for teasing, supplications for money, favors, and stuff.
"I need eyes inside that building! Someone get me the cameras!"
The larger display screens all flicked to the appropriate feeds. Hank's anger abated abruptly. "Good work. Now let's see what we're dealing with."
"Sir, that wasn't us," a technician said. "We're locked out!"
Lines of pink text scrolled across a currently unused screen. "Hello. You may call me Labyrinth. I will be helping you today," a robotic voice read out, both male and female voices overlayed to sound androgynous.
"Who are you," Hank growled.
"I hacked your systems months ago. You never needed my skills until now, so I remained silent, watching, waiting." The screens all flicked to track their runaway alien. "I am good at what I do."
"We'll deal with this later. Apprehend the target!"
The cameras flicked again, half of them following the squad and the other half the alien.
"Do you have an antidote prepared for anyone that inhales its gas?"
"What?"
"Please do your research. This alien has attacked six times before and all its victims have died of an inhaled substance that melts them from the inside out. There's nothing left, which is why it took you so long to discover it."
Alex cursed.
"I'll walk you through creating a compound," Labyrinth said.
The compound worked, there were no casualties, the alien was apprehended. Labyrinth had gone quiet during the hour and a half when Alex and the medical team had to speed to the location and bring them the antidote.
"I'd appreciate it if you would release my systems," Hank directed at the screen. There was no response. "Labyrinth!"
There was a short pause. "Apologies. I do have better things to do than babysit an extra-legal organization. Real life had called and you seemed to have things under control. Do speak up if you need further assistance." The screens returned to their normal DEO standard.
Jason perked up when he found a drone recording on LordTech's hidden private servers. The drone was flying in the air, above the city. He watched, riveted, as the drone followed Supergirl, did measurements and recordings and gave itself away. The tech was brilliant, managing to keep ahead of Supergirl's speed and dodging her attempts to grab it. She had to resort to blowing it up to stop it, and that was when the feed fizzled and went black.
Jason smiled and pulled the video off the server and onto his own laptop.
"So it's your birthday this weekend." Max actually only knew that because he had read the medical records the night before. "Sixteen years old. Is there anything in particular you would like?" He wasn't really expecting an answer. In the month Jason had been here, he had not asked for anything, not spent any money on the credit card, not expressed a like or dislike from food to clothes (though he continued to wear the black punk-type clothes he retrieved from his apartment instead of the nicer and more appropriate dress shirts Max had filled his closet with).
"The rent on my mom's apartment ends next week. I want to continue it."
Max startled, not even considering saying no. It was the first thing Jason'd ever asked for, and Max would do it. Even if it meant buying the entire building. "I can do that. Anything else?"
Jason shrugged. It looked like they were back to nothing again.
Max still resolved to make the day special.
Thank you for still reading! Nothing plotty happens in this chapter. Sorry about that. Next one will have much plot.
-Locks