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CHAPTER TWELVE, Thoughts


She draped a light blanket over the two comatose brunettes. "If it wasn't for the snores shaking the house I'd have thought they were dead."

Kim laid in bed -Shego's bed- still awake as the rest of the house slept on. The soft green sheets provided comfort and warmth while the silky material still kept her cool in the rain forest humidity.

A gentle glow came through the thin curtains, casting the room in just enough light to see but not enough to be disturbing.

Her head spun. While she did nothing but sit all day, her body, her soul, felt drained with all the new knowledge accumulated.

Her head worked overtime trying to make sense of it all.

The thunderous snoring leaking through the door wasn't really helping. Sometimes the snoring would be off sync so one would inhale while the other exhaled, and sometimes the snoring would be in sync for an extra loud barrage.

It was working up to be a potential recipe for inducing a murderous disaster: sleep deprivation did crazy things to people.

"Just swipe right for sound proofing, left for the the windows and blinds, down for the lights or to dim, and double tap to lock the doors." Talia had been referring to the touch screen inside every bedroom.

The stilt house may look ordinary, but Kim was quickly learning that there were secrets hidden within ever kook and cranny, technological wonders packed inside every solid inch of the place -all courtesy of Keegan, apparently.

Kim got up and stared at the seemingly plain space beside the door frame. At her touch the area lit up, a simple blue rectangle about the size of a book. She swiped right and the room instantly fell into silence.

That's amazing, Kim thought in wonderment.

She fiddled with it, experimenting with all the actions Talia had mentioned and then plus some.

The room's temperature was controlled by circular motions, clockwise or counter-clockwise for hot and cold.

The programming seemed to rely on simple swipe patterns for the basic commands.

Kim wondered what else it was capable of. But... She decided it was best to leave it alone -at least for now- in case they had a self-destruct sequence: That'll be an awkward thing to explain.

But the hidden tech got her thinking again.

When the great battle was over and both superpowered brunettes laid passed out on the couch, Talia had went to the kitchen island and tapped on the granite surface. A screen interface had popped up where she touched and at the push of a button two little robots had appeared from nowhere and hovered up the stairs outside. Repair bots, as she had called them. And man, was their name just. Kim sure wished she had those things around growing up.

When the repair bots had started squeezing out a grey goop into the pits and claw marks left behind Kim had squinted to take a closer look. "Wait. Is that concrete? I thought it was wood!"

Talia just smiled at her shock. "It's a concrete mix Keegan created painted to look like wood. It's far lighter but still just as strong."

"Really? Why haven't I heard of it? It would change architecture as we know it."

"Because." A sad look had overtaken the blonde's kind features. "Keegan doesn't trust the world, not even with little, harmless things like this. And I honestly don't blame her after everything the world's put her through."

The thought made Kim sad. Such an ingenious mind with so much to offer, too bitter towards the world to even help all the good people still left.

Kim was no fool, not anymore, at least. She knew the world wasn't perfect. She knew there was people filled with greed and hatred and anger. She's met and even fought those people, most of whom who were only villains because other people had pushed them to it. Back in her teenage days, she hadn't known, but graduating, becoming an adult, had led her directly to the people who made those villains, the people whom she could truly call evil. And yet, being everything that she is -world hero, international role model, Global Justice's prized operative- she was helpless to even touch those people; she was powerless to stop the people who needed to be stopped most.

It was a bit after noon when Shego and Keegan finally rejoin the living.

Talia had been cooking for the better part of two hours preparing the big feast the two carnivores would be surely demanding. Talia hadn't actually babied her this time and let her do all the things that required minimum gourmet skills: washing, cutting and peeling, and mashing potatoes. It was a lot easier now that she can stand without crutches.

The resulting meal was just a little awkward, or at least it was to Kim.

Shego and Keegan just plopped down at the table and stared for a moment like a couple of zombies. Their hair was all unruly and tangled like a bird had decided to call it home overnight. Their movements were sluggish and slow, lacking all the usual cat-like grace that Kim had grown to expect. Which, translated form them was about the normal speed and coordination of an average human being.

It was strangely shocking.

After they'd finished eating two brunettes just sort of blinked and shuffled back onto the couch-bed for another round of slumber. Not a single word had been said in-between.

"Um..." Kim scratched her head. "Should we maybe call a doctor or something?"

Talia laughed. "No. They're fine; they'll just be out of it for a day or two." The blonde appeared by her side, hooking a lightly tanned arm through the redhead's. "You seem to be getting along with the Exo rather quick. Since it's just us, how about we go find out just what it can really do?"

That peeked Kim's interest. This thing can do more than just let a lame person walk?


Kim giggled as she somersaulted and flipped all over the small clearing.

This was amazing!, she thought.

She had been hesitant at Talia's claims at first, but discovering that what the teen said was nothing short of the truth had brought about a childlike excitement in Kim that she hadn't felt since she did her very first acrobatic flip. It was pre-school all over again, but better.

Talia watched the famous world hero prance around like a happy toddler, the warm sensation of pride filling her chest. Yeah. Keegan did that. The girl was nothing if not a mastermind, a genius, a revolutionary, and Talia got to call her "mine".

Kim finally stopped playing and landed with a soft thump. A grin the size of Mexico split her rosy cheeks.

"So? What do you think?"

"These exoskeletons are unbelievable! I didn't feel a single thing. It was like I never broke anything in the first place. The joint was a little stiff, but I imagine that's intentional; no matter how powerful the gravity manipulator is too much movement is still counter productive." Kim blushed a little. "But I like knowing that I can still pull off my moves if I need to. It's kind of like a safety blanket, you know?"

Talia nodded, understanding. "The world is still what it is, big or small. We all need something to keep us going and sane."

All this friendly talk had brought Kim's instincts out. Every girl liked to gossip in some form or another. "Speaking of that, are you and Keegan...?"

Talia smiled, soft and sweet at the mere mention of the other girl. "Yeah. How'd you know? Normally when we go out people just assume we're friends. Keegan's not big into the whole public affection thing, but she has her ways."

There was that smile again. It was so cute. Seeing the light blush on her cheeks and the sappy look twinkling in her eyes made Kim long for something something similar.

Maybe...

No, don't be ridiculous, Kim! Shego's -actually, Shego doesn't seem all that straight.

No! Bad, Kim! No daydreaming about the bad guys.

Talia chuckled at the look on Kim's face. "You okay there, mate?"

Kim cleared her throat. "Perfectly fine! Peachy. Fantastic."

Talia cocked an eyebrow, not buying it for a second. "Alright. Whatever you say there, slick. But let's get back to the house; those two should be waking up by now."