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...
Hermes's POV
After Adrian has tended to my side injury, I go to see my parents. Mom hugs me tightly while Dad gently rubs my back.
"I'm so proud of you," Dad says, smiling. "You fought really well."
"Thanks, Dad."
Commander Carl comes up to us. "I have the three Bionics detained in the cells," he says. "I've arranged for you and your friends to visit them."
"Who's on guard?" asks Dad.
"I believe it's Agent Terry and Agent Cassie," replies Carl.
Inwardly, I grimace. Cassie is not the most sympathetic of people, and she can be extremely tactless, both accidentally and on purpose. Terry, however, should be fairly calm and rational.
I take Anke and Adrian down to the prison with me. Neither Lateysha nor Noah want to see what has become of our friends. Dad comes with us but Mom stays in the office with Teddy and Hazel.
Perry's POV
When we get to the cells, Cassie is actually not smirking, as I expected she would be. She looks...sad.
"Can we go through?" I ask.
Cassie slowly nods. "Sure. But one of us should go with you, just in case."
She shoots a look at Terry, who says, "I'll come with you."
Cassie even gives me a smile as we go through. I frown in confusion and address Terry as we walk in: "Was Cassie replaced by a shapeshifting alien or something? Why's she acting so nice?"
"She's a mother now," Terry replies without looking at me. "Motherhood has a way of mellowing anybody out."
"Well, I like this new Cassie," I state. "She's nice, quiet, and polite. The exact opposite of how she was before. Plus, she doesn't seem to hate me as much."
I'm confused by the behaviour of my friend. Terry won't look at anyone and his voice is monotonous when he speaks, but nothing obvious seems to be bothering him. I don't know why he's being like this.
We reach the first cell, containing the silver bobcat, who is savagely scratching the back wall of the cell.
"Anton?" says Anke hesitantly.
The bobcat turns, and we all see his face. It's completely savage. He doesn't look as if he has any remorse for what he did.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Hermes, Anke, and Aaron."
"Adrian," corrects the panda quietly.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Anton sneers.
"I want to know why you attacked us," I say firmly.
"I wasn't talking to you, hotshot," Anton leers at me.
"Hey, don't talk to my father like that," snaps Hermes. "I want to know that too. Why did you attack us?"
Anton looks at my youngest son with an expression of what looks like sadness. "You could have been great," he sighs. "If you'd just come with us all those years ago. He promised us untold power, and you could have had that too. All the power and riches we could ever want. We could have ruled the Earth."
"I already have all the power I want, thank you," Hermes snaps.
I see him link hands with Anke, but I'm more focused on something Anton just said. "He?" I ask. "Who said that to you?"
Anton immediately kneels down and adopts a position that looks like he's praying. "The great, the almighty, the omnipotent, the Overlord."
"Fanboy much?" snorts Anke.
"Who is the Overlord?" Hermes asks.
"He bestows power on us," Anton says with great admiration. "I can harness electricity from the universe. Rose can make even a skyscraper invisible. Lydia can kinetically charge and blow up a living being."
Is it my imagination or did Terry just flinch?
"We never thought such things were possible," Anton continues. "But he helped us see who we truly are."
Anton bows low as if he is worshipping someone. We wait but he doesn't say or do any more.
"Let's move on," I suggest.
We do. The next cell is empty.
"Rose!" gasps Hermes. "She's escaped!"
Adrian steps forward and hits the glass hard. "That won't work, Rose. I can sense your heat signature, and I know you're in there."
The form of a small rabbit flickers on the bed. As the pink rabbit comes into view, I see Hermes tenderly touch his own throat, and I remember seeing this rabbit trying to strangle my son.
"Is that true?" she asks, half bored, half interested. "Could you really sense my heat signature, Adrian?"
"No," answers Adrian, looking a little pleased that Rose actually remembered his name. "But it got you to come out, didn't it?"
Rose raises an eyebrow and the corner of her mouth turns up slightly. "Clever."
"So why did you attack us?" asks Hermes.
Rose does exactly the same thing that Anton did: she gets down on her knees and adopts a praying pose. "The great, the almighty, the omnipotent, the Overlord. He promised us power if we did."
Anke snorts again. "You're just as bad as Anton."
"It's true," says Rose. "He can allow us to share our powers. We can rule the world."
"Why did the Overlord want you to attack us?" Hermes asks.
Rose lies back on her bed and closes her eyes. "We don't question what the great, the almighty, the omnipotent, the Overlord tells us to do."
"Of course you don't," snorts Anke.
"Are you going to be like that every time they say "the great, the almighty, the omnipotent, the Overlord"?" Hermes asks.
"Yes, yes I am."
"Get a room," sighs Rose.
"We certainly will," Hermes says, narrowing his eyes at Rose. I don't think he's forgiven the rabbit for nearly strangling him to death. "We're done here."
The group of us move on, to no complaint from Rose.
In the next cell, the blue turtle is sitting on the floor with her back to the foot of her bed.
"Hi Lydia," says Hermes sadly.
I think out of all three of the prisoners, Hermes feels most strongly for Lydia.
To my surprise, Lydia doesn't sneer, snap, or even seem evil. She turns her head and just seems sad. "Hello Hermes. Anke. Adrian."
"Did the Overlord tell you to attack us too?" Hermes asks.
Again to my surprise, Lydia doesn't immediately say "The great, the almighty, the omnipotent, the Overlord." All she says is, "yes. The Overlord promised me the thing I want the most if I did it."
I notice that she said "the thing I want the most" instead of "power". That makes me think that maybe the thing she wants the most isn't power, like Anton and Rose want.
"And what is that?" questions Adrian.
"A family." Lydia's tone grows bitter. "I never knew my parents. They abandoned me when I was a very young baby."
"No they didn't!" Terry suddenly bursts out. "They loved you very much and it destroyed them to lose you!"
"And how would you know?" snarls Lydia.
Everyone is staring at Terry, who closes his eyes and turns his head away. He doesn't say anything else but that doesn't matter. I've already worked it out. I look from Lydia to Terry, unable to believe that I couldn't see the resemblance before.
"Because he's your father," I say quietly.
...
and on that bombshell... XD
