The alarms within the capsules of the bionic teens went off at the same time it did every morning, and true to habit, all three groaned at the rude awakening. Due to their capsules, it only took mere minutes for them to get ready, and with that part of their routine done, they headed up to breakfast.

Chase had noticed immediately that morning that he felt different, but he couldn't place his finger on it. It was a strange sensation, a sensation of being empty. And Chase had never been empty before; being that he was the one with super-intelligence, he had been full to the brim with knowledge from the very start. It wasn't that he was feeling un-knowledgeable, but…. He couldn't figure out how to put it to words, so he simply gave up.

"Good morning, you three," Tasha greeted cheerily as the bionic children groggily lumbered into the kitchen. "How are we feeling this morning?"

Adam and Bree groaned, obviously feeling the bruises from the day before. Chase felt a little guilty still, but he also felt that his recent… accomplishment? No, that wasn't the word. He couldn't think of anything else, so he gave up again. He was starting to grow worried, but he reassured himself, thinking It was the only way, and it's obviously for the best. You should expect this.

What had he been thinking about before? Oh yeah, the guilt. He had been thinking that he had made up for yesterday for the most part. There. He did it. He made a whole, cohesive thought.

Chase snapped back to attention as Tasha asked "What would you like for breakfast? You're choices are yogurt, toast, and cereal."

"Yogurt for me, please," Bree said.

"Pour me some of that cereal, Tasha. I need my cup o' sugar for today!" Adam said as he patted his stomach, looking genuinely excited for his breakfast.

"I'll have some cereal too," Chase said simply, sitting down at his spot.

"Wow, no lecture on sugar today, genius?" Bree asked him quietly, giving him a knowing look.

Chase refused to look at her, pretending that he hadn't heard. Leo chose that moment to join the majority of the Davenport family, temporarily saving Chase from the interrogation.

"Guess what day it is, people!" Leo announced happily. They all turned to him, and he continued, saying "Today's the week long anniversary since Janelle and I started dating!" His eyes were wide and a silly grin smothered his face.

"Yeah, talk about weak," Adam scoffed, as if to say duh!

"Adam!" Bree scolded.

"You're just jealous because I got a girlfriend before you," Leo sniffed. "And I will have you know that it is a very strong relationship!"

Adam let it be at that, turning back to his food with a shrug. While Leo had been making his announcement, Tasha had placed Chase's bowl of cereal in front of him, so when he turned around to face it, he began eating right away.

Before Bree could try to press Chase again, he was once more lucky; at that point Mr. Davenport entered the room, saying "Come on, everyone, eat quickly. You can't be late for school."

"We're not going to be late, Big D," Adam said with conviction, but then he paused, frowning as he asked Chase "Will we?"

Chase just shrugged, saying "I would just eat, if I were you." It was apparent that Adam was glad to comply with that statement.

Bree shot her little bionic brother a look, but then she smiled mischievously, and within the second, she had finished her breakfast with the aid of her super-speed. Chase looked on enviously.

Soon after, Adam had polished off his, and not long after that Chase and Leo had followed suit. With food in their stomachs, the four kids and Mr. Davenport exited the household, Tasha calling "Have a good day at school!" after them.

The car ride was quiet that morning. It was not terribly unusual, but it wasn't ordinary either. That morning everyone kept their thoughts to themselves, and each was thankful for that.

Mr. Davenport, Bree, and Leo all worried about a Spike appearance. Chase was not worried about that, but he certainly had other problems at hand. Adam just wondered what a tomato dipped in butterscotch pudding would taste like (and yes, he did in fact forget that he had already tried this and had decided that it was awful).

When they arrived at their destination, they exchanged goodbyes with Mr. Davenport before heading into their school, Mission Creek High. As soon as the Davenports and Dooley were among the crowds of kids in the hallways, Chase made an escape from his siblings with the help of his small stature. If they weren't around to ask questions, he wouldn't be forced to answer.

Chase grabbed all that he needed from his locker right off the bat before his siblings or few-and-far-in-between friends could look for him there. From there he made his way to his first class of the day, biology. I'm glad no one I know well is in any of my classes, Chase thought as he sat down at his desk. I might be able to get by without being discovered as I figure out this new stage in my life.

But when he thought (which had strangely become unpleasant lately) about it, he realized that that couldn't be true. Bree knows. But how did she find out? I was sure that no one could find out.

It wasn't long before the bell that signified the start of class rang, and Chase found the noise sweet to his ears. How could I have ever hated the sound before? Of course, it was awfully loud before, but besides that, it means I can relax now.

But he was not in for relaxation that day, as he quickly found out. The teacher started class, the day's agenda being a lecture about ecosystems. As she dived in, she briefly summed up what they had learned the day before, and then began telling them about the specific components in most ecosystems.

On a normal day (for Chase), he would have sat back leisurely and listened intently, finding satisfaction in hearing other people talk about and teach what he already knew, what he'd known since a very young age. In a world that looked down their noses at him due to his small size, his assumed weak physical prowess, his unpopular interests, and superior intellect, he generally felt unimportant, like an annoying outsider. Chase knew that others resented him for being smart and 'rubbing it in their faces all the time', but now he recognized that maybe because he had never really felt all that smart, he needed to prove it to others before he could believe it himself.

That was all and well before (not really), but now Chase didn't even have the brain to back the claim. What he was hearing his teacher say now was gibberish to his ears, and he was lost. Utterly lost.

And that was terrifying.

Chase was in the process of trying to cope with this revelation when his teacher, expecting him to already know the material like the back of his hand as he normally did, asked "Chase, would you be so kind as to enlighten us?"

"Huh?" he asked, his head shooting up and his eyes widening in brief panic.

She sighed. "We all know that you are an expert on everything being taught in this class, but I think it is a common courtesy that you at least pay attention."

"I-I…," he trailed off, unable to come up with a plausible excuse.

The teacher turned to the blackboard behind her, underlining the question they were discussing. Chase had to squint to read what it said, when normally his super-vision would have allowed him to see every granule of chalk on the board.

"Now will you please share your thoughts on the matter?" she asked him.

Chase blinked once. Twice. He sighed in defeat, saying softly "I don't know."

"Whoa, Davendork doesn't know the answer? That's a first!" Chase heard someone from behind him say, and he resisted the urge to turn around and confront the kid.

The teacher just looked at Chase in shock. After a moment, she shook herself out of it and continued on with the lesson. It wasn't until she had broken them up into groups to fill out a packet that she called Chase up to talk to her.

"Chase, are you feeling okay today?" she asked him.

"No, not really," he replied honestly. "Can I go home?"

She gave him a long, hard look before saying "Alright, you may go. I hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks," he replied with a humorless smile. He gathered his stuff up and left class, relief washing over him once he was alone. He dropped off whatever he didn't need at his locker and left the school, not looking back. He wasn't going home, not just yet. He needed to figure some things out.

Chase walked over to the nearest park, which was a quarter of a mile away and along the route to his home. He sat down on one the benches, dropping his backpack at his feet, and leaned his head back, closing his eyes as he breathed in the fresh air.

He hadn't thought removing his chip would be so difficult for him to accept, but now he knew the truth of it. The chip stored not only Spike, but also his super-senses, his molecular kinesis, his super-intelligence, his magnetism, his override app, his levitation, his scanning technology, his force-field, his memory reserve, his GPS….

Who knew that I had completely defined myself by the abilities on my chip? Without my chip, I feel like someone else. Without my chip, I'm not even Chase Davenport anymore – I'm just as much an imposter as Spike is.

Those thoughts deeply disturbed the youngest bionic, but they rang true. Who knew that in trying to get rid of Spike, I could lose so much?