Chapter Eight: Homecoming
A couple of hours later, Brad was driving his parents' car back into Tremorton. He hadn't spoken a word to the talking metal ring that was now in his back seat. Nor had the ring said anything to him. All Brad could think about was the apparently dangerous situation he had left poor Jenny in. He couldn't help but wonder whether he had somehow made things worse by showing up.
"I guess I'll have something else to apologize to Jenny about," Brad thought, gloomily, "I just hope I get the chance."
When Brad got back to the Wakeman residence, he was disappointed to see Dr. Wakeman there waiting for him, but not Jenny. Because she had the ability to fly at supersonic speeds, Brad had figured that she would have easily beaten them back.
"Oh, Bradley, what were you doing out there? You could have been killed" Norene said as Brad got out of the car.
"Never mind that." Brad replied, not wanting to talk about it, "Where's Jenny? I thought she'd be back by now."
"I don't know. I haven't heard anything." Norene answered, "I'm worried sick."
"Excuse me, but I could use a lift back here," Norene heard a familiar voice from the back seat of the car.
"Oh yeah," Brad responded.
Brad opened one of the back doors of the car and pulled out a metal ring, about three feet in diameter.
"Before she sent me away, Jenny put this talking metal ring in my car." Brad explained, "She seemed to think it was important."
"Of course I am! I'm here to help." The ring said, "I can't, in good conscience, stand idly by while my creation wreaks destruction upon the world."
"Good gravy! Is that you, Steven?" Norene exclaimed.
"It is," the ring responded.
Just then, a tiny, silvery wisp of nanyte swarm fell away from the ring, formed itself into a small bird and perched on Brad's shoulder. The bird had unnaturally bright, blue eyes.
"Whoah, this is kinda weird." Brad commented to the strange, silver bird.
Steve ignored the teenager.
"Dr. Wakeman, I'll do what I can to help you all to stop SS-36, but as you can see, I don't have very much mass to my name." Steve explained, "I was hoping you could provide me with some suitable matter to absorb and an alternate power source other than this awkward metal ring, which I currently can't stray very far from."
"Hold on, Steven!" Norene cut in, "How on Earth did this happen to you?"
"There will be plenty of time for explanations later." Steve responded, "Suffice it to say, I had an unusual encounter with my nanyte swarm. He disobeyed me; my own creation! Can you imagine that?"
"Actually, I know the feeling." Norene answered.
"Hey look!" Brad exclaimed, pointing into the sky.
It was Jenny. She obviously hadn't reached supersonic speed on her way back or she really would have beaten Brad. She appeared to be injured. As she got close, it became clear just how injured. Her left arm had been severed below the elbow. Every now and then, sparks would fly out from live wires extending from the stump. Jenny landed gingerly in front of the house.
"Oh, my poor XJ-9!" Norene ran up to her daughter to inspect the damage, "These look like scorch marks. XJ-9, did you do this to yourself?"
"Yes," Jenny replied, "I had to get rid of some nanytes."
"You could have called via your head phone, you know. I was worried sick about you!" Norene scolded.
"Sorry mom. I guess I had a lot on my mind." Jenny said.
Indeed, from Jenny's expression. It was obvious that her composure was close to cracking under the pain of her severed limb.
"Well, let's get you inside right away so we can fix you up." Norene helped Jenny in through the front door of the house.
Before she went inside, Norene turned to face Brad and Steve.
"Bradley, I want you to take Steven and his ring into the garage." She ordered, "Dig up some old scrap metal and have him absorb it."
"Sure thing, Dr. Wakemen." Brad answered.
Norene nodded and then followed her daughter into the house.
"So, my silver-feathered friend," Brad said to the bird as he took the metal ring and made his way to the garage, "What exactly is your story?"
"Well, let me see. I was born at John Rockefeller Memorial Hospital. My parents were Arthur and Jenine Turner." The bird answered, "When I was five, I started attending Quakerton elementary."
"I didn't mean your WHOLE story!" Brad interrupted.
"Oh, I see. Okay, long story short; I was an accomplished scientist and engineer, just like Dr. Wakeman." Steve said, "I was on my way to the top; a billionaire. SS-36 was supposed to see to that, but then he went crazy and absorbed me, and turned me into this."
Brad lifted up the garage door. There were dozens of old wooden crates in the corner with the word, "scrap" painted on them.
"How come you're still alive after being absorbed by Shadow Swarm. Shouldn't that have killed you?" Brad asked curiously.
"I don't know. Maybe, unconsciously, SS-36 just couldn't really destroy me because I'm his father, or maybe it was just a fluke." Steven answered again, "At any rate, this whole mess really puts a hitch in my career."
Brad pulled the lid off of one of the wooden crates. Inside, were hundreds of pieces of old and defective robots and other mechanical components.
"I bet Jenny would find this kind of disturbing if she could see this, don't you think?" Brad commented.
"Well, lets make sure she doesn't." Steve responded.
With that, the little silver bird flew off of Brad's shoulder and became a shapeless wisp of silver which then proceeded to engulf the scrap metal, piece by piece. It was a slow process at first, but as Steve's swarm gained in mass, he was able to absorb more and more material at a faster rate. After about twenty five minutes, the silvery swarm had broken down the entire crate full of metal. It was now large enough to form a human figure. Steve concentrated, but the only preprogrammed pattern he could recover was the humanoid schematic that Shadow Swarm had created during his escape. Steve decided it was better than nothing and took the shape.
"Whoah, you look so cool!" Brad exclaimed when he saw Steve's new form.
Of course, Steve looked pretty much, exactly like Shadow Swarm when in his humanoid body, with the segmented joints and everything, except for the fact that he was silver instead of jet black. Also, instead of red eyes, Steven had large light blue eyes. They still looked nothing human, but were definitely more pleasant.
"Hey Steve, I just realized, since you're a nanyte swarm too now, you could beat that monster at his own game. You're nanytes could go on an all out war against his!" Brad exclaimed, sticking his fist in the air for emphasis.
"It's a heroic idea Bradley, but as long as SS-36 has that sub-quantum particle, there's no way I can match him. Speaking of which, I still need to get myself a proper power source." Steve said as he picked up the metal ring.
"And here it is." Norene said as she entered the garage, closely followed by Jenny, who had been fitted with a new forearm and was now as good as new.
Norene handed Steve a small, metal cylinder, about the size of a pop can.
"It's a rechargeable battery pack, with an EM emitter mounted on it," She explained, "It's the same sort of device that powers XJ-9."
Steve pressed the battery pack into his chest. It sank right in as if he were made of putty. Steve's body rippled for a moment and then re-solidified.
"The transition is complete," he said, discarding the metal ring, "Thanks."
"You seem to be in a better mood than when I first met you today," Jenny said.
"I've had a change of heart," Steve said simply, "I now believe that it's possible for us to beat SS-36. But we have to move immediately. It won't be long before his swarm spreads beyond Quakerton."
"Why does SS-36 concentrate himself in one city?" Norene mused aloud, "He could spread much more quickly if he had started numerous smaller swarms in different places."
"That's just it!" Steve exclaimed.
"What's it?" Jenny asked, intrigued by Steve's enthusiasm.
"As I mentioned to your mother before," Steve explained, "I made SS-36 with a very simple mind. At the end of the day, he's just a calculating machine. He can only think linearly. All he knows is his is desire to create static, architectural perfection."
"Plus, he seems to have inherited your arrogance and self importance." Norene joked.
"Thanks a lot," Steve said, not amused.
"Wait a minute. If Shadow Swarm is really so stupid, why has he been kicking our asses so easily?" Brad said.
"Because he has the advantage of an immense nanyte swarm." Steve explained, "He also has my sub-quantum particle, which serves as a more than adequate power source to run all those nanytes."
"What? Why didn't you say before that he needed this central power source? All I have to do is blast that thing and BAM! No more Shadow Swarm!" Jenny exclaimed, brandishing her blaster.
"No, that's not a good idea," Steve said, "My sub-quantum particle is enclosed in a glass orb that emits a resonance field to keep it stabilized. If you try to destroy the particle by blasting it, you'll disrupt the field and the resulting explosion would be powerful enough to vaporize the entire western hemisphere."
"Good Lord, Steven!" Norene exclaimed, "Why would you create something so dangerous and then keep it around?"
"Well, it was never supposed to actually be used!" Steve retorted, "It seems we'll have to separate the orb from the nanyte swarm without damaging it."
"And how on Earth are we supposed to manage that?" Jenny said, rolling her eyes.
"I haven't had nearly enough time to look through that huge file about SS-36 that you emailed to me, XJ-9" Norene said.
"You don't need to. I'm the expert here." Steve said with confidence.
"So, does SS-36 have any weaknesses?" Norene asked.
"I don't lack foresight entirely. I recognized the potential danger of nanotechnology long ago, believe it or not," Steve answered, with a meaningful glance at Dr. Wakeman, "I designed a special synthetic polymer compound which prevents the tiny appendages of the nanytes from sticking to solid surfaces. If you spray it on something, it becomes immune to absorption by the swarm."
"You mean it's, like, nanyte repellant," Brad offered.
"Yes exactly," Steve said, "However, I only made one can full … back in my lab. You know, for experimentation purposes. I never seriously believed I would need to be prepared for something like this."
"So, what's the plan, mister smart guy?" Jenny asked.
"The first thing we have to do, XJ-9, is go back to my laboratory. Hopefully, even now, it has yet to be absorbed. If I can spray you with my 'nanyte repellant', you'll be able to combat Shadow Swarm directly, without being absorbed," Steve explained, "Somehow, we need to lure Shadow Swarm away from the city, so that the main swarm can't back him up."
"How?" Jenny asked, "I don't think he's quite that stupid."
"Simple," Norene chimed in, "Appeal to his vanity."
"Yeah, you could, like, call him a loser and a coward and then tell him to prove you wrong by fighting you himself, outside the city." Brad suggested.
"Do you really think he would fall for that?" Jenny asked.
"We have to try," Steve replied grimly, "Anyway, once you have him distracted, XJ-9, I'll sneak up on him with my nanyte repellant and spray him with it. He keeps the sub-quantum particle in his chest. Once sprayed, the nanytes surrounding the particle will get all gummed up and lose cohesion. He will literally fall apart."
"Cool," Brad breathed as he stared off into space, imagining how the scene would look.
"Yes, cool," Steve said, humoring Brad's lighthearted outlook, "Once I have the orb back in my possession, I can adjust the resonance field to neutralize the particle safely. Then, no more Shadow Swarm."
"Sounds like a plan," Norene commented, "But it sounds to me like a lot of things could go wrong."
"Ideed," Steve replied gravely, "But it's the best I've got."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jenny exclaimed, "We have no time to lose. Let's get back over there!"
"Alright then," Steve answered as he went to follow Jenny out of the garage, but then he turned to Norene, "One more thing, Dr. Wakeman. I imagine the military will have launched their own counter strike against SS-36. Perhaps you could send word to them not to interfere. We need SS-36 to be focused on us, if we are to succeed."
"I understand," Norene replied, "I'll see to it immediately."
Jenny walked out into the front yard. She engaged her pigtail jets and was about to fly off when Brad stopped her.
"Jenny wait," Brad called.
Jenny hesitated and turned to face Brad.
"Look Jenny, I never said this to you properly, but I'm really sorry for getting you in trouble and then getting you infected with nanytes, back in Quakerton." Brad said seriously.
"It's okay, Brad." Jenny grinned after a moment's pause, "I'm just glad everyone's alright. That's what's important."
With that, Jenny flew off into the distance, back towards Quakerton. Steve came out to the front yard and formed himself into a perfectly spherical, silver ball which floated in midair for a moment and then followed after Jenny. Brad waved after them as they disappeared.
Author's Notes: Well, here's another one. I know, it's all talk and no action. But it's yet another necessary transition chapter. The next one will be an improvement. I'm sorry I took so long to post this one, but I've been quite busy lately. And I'm afraid you'll have to wait a similarly long time for the next one. Please read and review!