Author's Note: Sorry to keep folks hanging for so long between chapters, but the Muse really does want to alternate between this and "Pin-Up Boy," right now. I guess it's just as well, since it keeps me from getting either too serious or too silly. As ever, thanks to all who have read and/or reviewed, and to those who continue to offer their support while my husband continues his recovery from cancer surgery. So far, so good on that front, and I hope all keeps going so well. Now, on with the story!
Chapter Eight
Gift of Hope
It was no longer of question of if, only of when.
Their system and all the worlds and all the life upon them were doomed. The artificially created unstable wormhole had defied all attempts to stabilize it or collapse it, and had already taken many lives in the attempt alone. Once all the stardrive-capable scout ships had been swallowed in brave efforts to put a stop to the thing, every intrasystem ship the Ayalthans had available to them were called into service, and even braver crews volunteered to to take them and the equipment that might close the vortex to the very brink of it, knowing full well that if the attempt failed, their ships and their lives would be forfeit. Seven hundred Ayalthans and five hundred Potrell had sacrificed their lives in these efforts; a hundred and fifty Glaupeks who were skilled pilots had been lost as well, since even their great powers could not save them from this nightmare that had been created by one of their own.
By the time the last of the ships was lost, still more lives had been consumed by the beast. Cobin, being nearest to the thing, had been devoured first, the planet and all its inhabitants swallowed up in a process that had taken several days, as the vortex hadn't yet grown as large or as powerful as it would become. Two weeks later, Batuu and its unique reptilavian people were lost, the process going more quickly now that the beast had eaten both Cobin and uninhabited Lihaar. It expanded more quickly after that, and their greater distance from the inner worlds had thus far spared both Ayalthis and Glaupek — but not for long. As the black hole continued to expand, coming closer and closer to their sun with each passing day, its burgeoning gravity pulled the outer worlds closer — slowly, to be sure, but inexorably. Their orbits were being compressed, though they wouldn't quite converge before the beast reached their star and devoured it.
That would be the end. With the mass and energy of the system's star feeding it, the vortex would explode in size and strength, it would swiftly reach out to grasp all the fuel available in the system, and the remaining worlds would be swept in to feed its voracious appetite. By all observations and calculations, there would be only a matter of hours between the loss of the sun and the destruction of the two remaining inhabited worlds. The scientists studying the situation had determined an approximate day and time, but they acknowledged that they could not be exact, since the vortex had a history of sudden and erratic expansion.
It was a horrifying situation, and even the Ayalthans with their powerful belief in destiny were terrified by the knowledge that the end was upon them, inescapable doom. And yet amid all the fear and grief, they held fast to the one small bright point of hope that was left to them: for the first time in almost a thousand years — and the last time, forever — a Great One had been born among them. He had been carried to birth, had come into the world surprisingly strong and healthy and seemingly normal, and he had survived the three days of post-natal adjustment, alive and well.
On his fourth day, he had been taken to a beautiful plaza at the center of their capitol city, where the planet's Council of Elders assembled whenever they made announcements of especial importance, to be presented to all the peoples of Ayalthis. It was a magnificent place, an exquisite achievement that combined nature and art, fashioned with loving patience over thousands of years. The broad, flat surface of the plaza was an elaborate design of inlaid filigree work, made by many careful hands out of all the gemstones of the land and the shells and corals of the sea, some polished to glittering brilliance, others left in their simple, natural state. The vast round mosaic was surrounded by a ring of water, which began as the spill of a waterfall that plunged down from a rocky cliffside that was the head of the plaza. Three wide bridges of carved wood and intricately worked metals crossed over the split streams from the waterfall, one at each of the three remaining compass points, giving access to those who gathered there. Narrow bands of carefully tended gardens grew on either side of the flowing streams; beds of colorful flowers from all over Ayalthis flourished on the inner side, while trees of all heights and species stood as ancient sentinels on the outer ring. In the streams themselves grew specimens of those flora that thrived in all the fresh waters of their world. And the sounds of the wind flowing through the branches of the trees and the water singing over stone provided the music most suitable to the place, as they sang the song of the world itself.
On this day, just after the sunset of what their scientists told them would be no more the fifth from the last their world would see, the Ayalthan ruling Council and those who had worked hard to make all the preparations came to this marvelous place that would soon be gone, to bring the fruits of their last labors to the little one for whom they had been made.
"He is Natoshi'ana, beyond question," his mother's mother Tayames declared to all those assembled, his father's father Methraad standing beside her to offer his own professional ratification of her findings. A large three dimensional display of the genetic scan made only hours earlier hovered over the plaza, confirming it for all to see in bright patterns of complex color that delineated the newborn's unique and rare gene structure. "Though he is not sickly or feeble in appearance as those of his rare kind who came before him have been in infancy, there is no question that Mykaal Thejhan possesses the mind and gifts and the full potential of a Great One."
The baby in question, held in his mother's arms as his proud and protective father held her in his own, burbled happily, as if aware of what his grandmother was saying. In generalities, he was, though he had no true language skills as yet. Mykaal had been astonishingly alert and aware since he'd fully awakened from the birth trauma a day after coming into the world. Whether or not he actually understood the words being spoken was immaterial; he clearly perceived the emotions of others, and reacted to them. His parents had been very careful to shield him from the fear permeating these tumultuous times, not wanting him to be upset or made ill by it, but despite their best efforts, he would often pick up on their own sadness.
Yet rather than cry or become sad himself, he would babble and giggle and smile all the more, as if deliberately attempting to cheer them. And in their hearts, both Kyrel and Eliaan knew he was doing just that. The love and caring and support that had been poured out to him while in the womb was now reflected in his irrepressibly cheerful spirit, a thing for which his parents were intensely grateful. Rather than be dismayed by the sadness around him, he tried to soothe it, as he himself had been soothed and calmed so that he could be born and survive. It was vastly preferable to being a fretful or moody child, for in the times to come, he would likely need all the optimism and cheerful attitude that he could muster.
Now, he smiled and made happy baby sounds as he looked out at all the people assembled around him and his parents. His brilliant green eyes, so huge in his tiny face, saw the pretty colors of the genetic display and was as fascinated by it as ordinary babies would be mesmerized by colorful mobiles dangling above them. And beyond that, he appeared perfectly aware of the assembled Council, a thousand members strong, resplendent in their finest formal garb that was worn only for the most solemn official occasions. Even the Elders of the Potrell wore suitable finery, of different styles and types that complemented their android bodies, in the hues of the watery environs that were most fitting to their culture. Beyond them were gathered many more thousands of citizens who came to offer their respects and their hopes to the little one who would be their final legacy to the universe. The small ceremonial lights they held were their symbols of that hope, twinkling in the deepening twilight like an ocean of tiny stars flickering bravely in a gathering sea of gloom.
And higher still, streaking through the deepening twilight skies were the dancing ribbons of light that were a rare treat to see on nights during the colder months of the year. Now, they were almost commonplace as the war being fought between the expanding vortex and the system's primary sent frequent bursts of charged particles throughout the entire system. They were a sad reminder to the doomed peoples of the fate that would soon be upon them, but to baby Mykaal, they were a never-before-seen delight.
The infant's happy demeanor brought smiles to many faces while the Elders examined the proofs put before them — a mere formality, since they had agreed to all that was needed to save the child and all the knowledge of their civilizations, months ago. The evidence was not presented to prove that Mykaal was a Great One, but rather that he had indeed survived both birth and the period of danger that followed, alive and healthy. The visual image of his complex and singular genetics was less convincing than the sight of the four-day-old baby, strong, cheerful, alert, and attentive, much more so than any ordinary newborn of any species in their entire stellar system. He would live and thrive, and that was what they wanted to be assured of, more than anything.
At the head of the circle of Elders, the two Eldest — one of the Ayalthans, Jynaar, and one of the Potrell, Mirii, neither actually the oldest members of the Council but rather those who had been elected as the most wise and just by their respective peoples — gave the signal asking for the other councilors to accept or reject, and the answering signs were unanimous: acceptance. Without words of pomp or ceremony, the members of the various ministries who had been asked to help make the vision of Mykaal's family a reality brought what they had prepared. Shenaal, his mother's father, spoke for them.
"It was a significant challenge you posed for us," he told the couple as he and the other ministers and technicians who had worked on the project came forward to be recognized. "The amount of information you wished to be included was in itself daunting, and never before have we created and coded exclusive data gems to be the teachers of the future for a child not yet born! But I am glad to say that all of us were able to rise to the challenge and meet it. For the other worlds of our system, we were only able to include their complete historical records, and their ambassadors were most helpful in providing what was needed. Complete and detailed records of all the history, science, technology, arts, and culture of both the peoples of Ayalthis have been assembled, and are included."
He gestured to the head of the Ministry of Education, a willowy woman whose smiling violet eyes still smiled, though they were dimmed by a veil of sadness. In her hands she carried a flat box of shimmering blue metal, without any apparent hinge or seam, two hands square and not quite four fingers deep. She brought it to Kyrel and Eliaan, holding it up before the happily burbling Mykaal, whose attention was instantly drawn to the shiny flat thing with a pretty silver design emblazoned on its flat upper surface. "As all these data gems are keyed to respond and give up their teachings only to your son, this case will open only to his touch on the reactive surface design—"
As if he understood precisely what had been said, the wide-eyed baby leaned out of his mother's arms just far enough to slap the palm of his hand on the top of the blue box, touching a part of the intricate silver design. It glowed faintly in answer, but remained closed. The minister smiled warmly. "As I was about to say, it will react only to his touch, and will open only when the sensors in the contact lock determine that he has reached maturity. Make certain this is secured well in his escape vehicle, along with the Master Teacher." She nodded to Shenaal, who held a smaller brushed silver box containing the device that would allow the data in the crystals to be accessed.
"They should both be kept safe until the proper time comes," Kyrel's father said, "though not so safe that they cannot be found, and might become lost over the years before he reaches maturity."
Eliaan understood. "We've been working with my brother to make a record that will give Mykaal certain information and guidance during his younger life, Minister Avennen, a data sphere that will be released to him or those who take him into their care, upon landing. It's encoded to respond only to his touch, and to others in direct physical contact with him, and we'll be sure to include instructions about these items you've provided. Thank you, all of you, for your hard work and this gift."
As the group who had come forward graciously acknowledged their thanks, one of them spoke up, a Potrell who had been part of the team assembling all the information on their most advanced cybernetics. "I've heard that one of my people is to be sent with your son," the gray-green eyed male ichthyoid said, his tone querulous.
Kyrel nodded. "A youngling of my work partner and her mate, Ootori Patomataa. Tori was instrumental in helping guide Mykaal through the difficult stages before birth, and by the estimation of many Potrell in Dusiomi City, he shows promise to become an excellent min'yaaun. He is quite young but very clever, and he was eager to have the neural implant to facilitate above-water speech and the direction of an android habitat, so that he could remain with his 'little brother,' to continue to help him after birth. Ootori is almost fully recovered from the surgery, but he's still slightly disoriented, so his parents felt being here today might be too overwhelming for him. But yes, when the time comes, he will go with Mykaal, and one child of the Potrell will find his destiny on another world as well."
The piscine technician inclined the torso of his cyberbody in a grateful bow. "Thank you for confirming the rumor," he said with a soft, bubbling sigh that became a small smile when Mykaal imitated the sound in the way that infants have, fascinated and delighted by every new sight and sound and experience. "I'd heard that it was a purely random selection, but if Ootori was instrumental in helping your little one survive the difficulties of his own genetics and already feels a filial connection to him, then he has more than earned this opportunity."
A ripple of understanding and grateful sounds and movements came from the rest of the assembly, especially the Potrell. The ichthyoids, while a people with a powerfully protective and loyal nature, were generally not given to jealousy, unless it was somehow rooted in their strong protective instincts. Those watching who had younglings of their own may have felt some envy toward the one who had been chosen to go, but hearing of Tori's love for the "little brother" he had helped even before birth, they understood why he had been chosen and was indeed the only good choice of a youngling to send with Mykaal.
For his own part, baby Mykaal was oblivious to the actual conversation, being vastly more intrigued by the colorful fish in the android's habitat and the amusing sound he had made, which of course he had to continue to imitate until he'd perfected it. In the skies overhead, the ribbon lights suddenly pulsed more brightly. The magnificent display diverted the infant's attention, something his newborn's mind saw as being solely for his entertainment, which he could not have known then was actually the result of energies being thrown off by the titanic struggle going on in their stellar system as their sun itself waged war for its very life.
Under those beautifully colored streams of light, those from the education ministry returned to their places among the assembly. As they moved back to their places, the two Eldest looked up at the vivid lights and understood what Mykaal did not. "The River of Destiny will soon wash away this place and all who abide here," the Eldest of the Potrell said, her voice clear and sad, but resolute. "That the universe should not forget us, that we existed, that we lived, loved, and learned, it is good that another world will have a chance to meet the last of each of our peoples. Let us all hope that these two younglings will reach their destination safely, will be nurtured with kindness and love in their new home, and will grow to be proud examples of what is best in both our races."
Mykaal apparently understood enough of the emotions swirling around him to grasp that what was being said somehow concerned him. His face suddenly became very serious and the wide green eyes blinked most solemnly, favoring Eldest Mirii with a grave nod, almost as if to say, "Of course I will!"
Then just as suddenly, his air of maturity dissolved and he squealed and smiled and giggled, waving his tiny arms toward the cases held by his father. Kyrel passed the wriggling newborn to her husband, who cradled him in the crook of one long arm as he held onto the precious boxes with the other. It was close enough for Mykaal to satisfy his curiosity by touching the smooth, shimmering metal. The reflections from the lights in the sky and those being held by the watching masses danced on his innocent and happy little face like the sparkle of stars and the promise of an even brighter future before him.
Eldest Jynaar gazed upon the infant with a soft and wistful expression. "None of us have ever before seen a true and living Natoshi'ana, save in what is left to us of historical recordings and images from our past," he said. "I do not know if those who came before were somehow different or if this little one is an exception among exceptions, but if Sejillaas and the others were so active and aware so soon after birth, it astonishes me that no one thought to record them in their infancy!"
Many in the assembly smiled and nodded their agreement with this observation. Jynaar let loose a deep breath of resignation. "But perhaps their families considered it too personal, too private, or such records were lost. I for one am glad to have had this opportunity to see our last and very much alive Great One with my own eyes. I confess that I had doubted the worth of this venture to save him and send him from this doomed place with all the knowledge of our world, but I doubt no longer. You named him for the brilliance that is the potential of his birthright, yet seeing him now, a spring of happiness amid the darkness, perhaps you should have named him for the hope he has brought to those of us who have seen nothing but hopelessness in our future. In the Time After, I pray that it is granted us to see what comes of the Destiny laid before him."
A happy shriek from the babe in question brought smiles to many faces, and tears to many eyes. Mykaal didn't understand it then — nor did he for well more than three decades — but Tori and the gifted boxes and all the other contents of his escape pod weren't the only things that would go with him across the galaxy. Unseen, untouchable, but nonetheless very real and present were the hopes that would ride with him, the dreams of two peoples whose children would never grow to adulthood, would never realize the promise their parents had seen in them since their birth, would never know the fruit of the seeds of their potential that were trapped on the barren soil of a planet soon doomed to die. He knew none of these things, and remembered none of those feelings in that moment.
What he remembered forever after was the beauty of the colorful streams in the sky, the twinkling of lights surrounding him like thousands of stars come down from the heavens, and the singing. It started softly, one voice raised up in an ancient song known to all the people of Ayalthis. Mykaal didn't recognize it, of course, nor what it was about, nor what the words meant — but he remembered that moment and that music for the rest of his life, a song which was part of a moment of perfect beauty that resonated in his dreams as encouragement made manifest.
"I didn't know that they were saying goodbye," Megamind told Roxanne and Minion after he'd tried to describe it to them, inadequately, he felt. "Not just to me, but to the entire planet, to life. The end didn't come for another four days, but that was the last time all those people would be together. After that, they all went home to do what they could or what they wanted to do to prepare for the end."
They had adjourned to the central living room, where the couple settled on a couch while he told his story, Minion taking the large overstuffed leather chair that had been especially built to accommodate his big robot body. Roxanne was leaning against her husband's shoulder, first to listen attentively, now to offer comfort. "I can't imagine being in that situation and being able to handle it so... calmly," the reporter said, brow creased with her effort to put herself into such shoes. "I'd be screaming for someone's blood, or freaking out at the very least."
Megamind's answering smile was wan. "Oh, they did freak out, big time, but not until the end. I remember that, too, people running around and panicking — as if it would do any good when your entire planet's getting swallowed by an artificially made black hole. I don't think they were any different, really. People here on Earth can have the same kind of knack for ignoring a problem or pretending it doesn't exist until they don't have any other choice. The whole ceremony I think was a way for some of them to feel that they were doing something rather than just sitting and waiting for the end to come, and for others, it was probably the kind of 'magical thinking' that the superstitious have. If they do all the right things and prepare for the worst, they're sure that'll prevent it from happening. But it didn't."
"Was this recorded and put in with the things you learned last night?" Minion wondered. He couldn't visualize it because he hadn't been there, but he very much wanted to.
His ward nodded. "I suppose they considered it the last important official event of our homeworld. I've had dreams of it from time to time over the years, but I was never quite sure if it was real. I was only four days old, and I had the attention span of a squirrel. I kept latching onto anything new and interesting — which was everything, especially with so many people around. And my brain didn't even start processing words into language until the day before we left, so I didn't really have time to start understanding more than a few words and phrases."
"Like your parents saying that they loved you," Roxanne noted, recalling the very first thing she'd ever seen from the data sphere that had been accidentally ejected from his bouncing, crash landing pod and returned to Megamind when he was six. "I imagine they said that to you a lot — and it's amazing that you actually understood any of it, even if you didn't remember it clearly. Human babies can't even hold up their own heads at four days, and it takes months before most even start to recognize any words and their meanings, usually a year before they develop any actual understanding of language."
The blue genius cocked one eyebrow at her in an amused and quizzical way. "I thought you told me you could say a few simple phrases when you were only eight or nine months..."
She blushed and laughed. "What can I say, I was precocious when it came to wanting to be nosy and shooting my mouth off. It was probably just self-defense, given my parents."
"No, it proves what I've always said: you're the smartest person I know," Megamind countered, kissing the side of her head as she leaned against his shoulder.
Minion, well used to their little by-plays, was more thoughtful. "If that teacher device can work for me and shows events like that, I think I'd really like to have a chance to use it soon, sir, tonight, if you don't mind — unless you'd rather use it first, Mrs. Roxanne." Ever the polite fish, he was willing to delay his own eagerness if the lady of the house wanted to have her chance first.
But Roxanne shook her head. "Not until tomorrow night at the soonest. I'm probably just as excited by the idea of finally learning some hard facts and history of your planet, but not until after Wayne's interview — and not until you've had your chance, Minion. It is your homeworld, after all, your past and your history, and for all intents and purposes, you were both babies when you had to leave it. I'm just an interested bystander — very interested, but still a bystander. I can wait a day or two. Besides," she added, eyes twinkling with mischief, "this way I get to see if there are any nasty side effects for us ordinary folk who don't have a miraculously gifted once-in-a-thousand-years type brain."
Megamind squirmed uncomfortably, even though he was reasonably certain she was teasing. "Do you think that whatever it put into my head last night really did turn me into a freak?"
But his wife didn't hesitate for even an instant. "No, because you're still the same person you were yesterday, nothing's really changed. You were born with special gifts, Mykaal, extraordinary ones, and if that's what you mean by 'freak,' then it's something you've always been — a good something. Do you think all those people on your planet would've worked so hard to help you live and have a chance to be everything you can be if they thought that what you are is bad?"
He considered it for some moments, then finally shook his head. "No, I don't suppose they would. I used to have the idea that wherever I came from, it was a planet full of villains and evil sorts, and that my parents were even watching me from Evil Heaven — but all of that was skewed by the idea that Wayne was born to be the hero, and I was born to be his nemesis."
"And you were only six years old when he drummed that idea into your head, sir," Minion pointed out. "Or maybe I should say when your teacher, Ms Driscoll, did. If she hadn't been prejudiced and wanted to suck up to the powerful rich kid and his parents, I have a feeling Mr. Wayne wouldn't have been quite so hard on you. He did know what it was like to be different, after all. He just needed someone to teach him about compassion instead of being a selfish show-off."
Roxanne snorted. "Sounds like someone else I know..."
That won her a not-too-hard elbow jab to the ribs. "At least I didn't fake my death and try to pull a hoax on an entire city before I learned better!" Megamind protested.
She rolled her eyes. "No, you just took over as Evil Overlord and ran rampant through the streets for months! But you did learn, and nobody had to twist your arm to get you to do the right thing."
"Unless that little speech you made on live TV about me never giving up counts as arm-twisting..."
She conceded the point. "Maybe it was a little. But the choice was still yours, sweetie, and nobody forced you to make it, not like we had to lean on Wayne to get that murder rap off your head." She let loose a huge, sighing breath. "I really hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow. I know that Wayne's been pretty much of a pompous jerk for years, but he's been trying hard to find a way to fix the mistakes he made, or make reparations for them. It's just so strange, finding out today that the even bigger mistakes that his father made are what's responsible for all three of you being here."
Megamind shrugged. "Or it could just be destiny. Both of us have our ghosts to live with. For me, I just hope that the Elder who wanted to be able to watch me from the afterlife didn't get his wish. Now that I know what my real destiny was supposed to be, it makes me sick to my stomach, thinking what a huge disappointment I must've been to them for most of my life, especially my parents."
But neither his wife nor his best friend would have any of it. "You did the best you could, sir," the ichthyoid insisted. "If they really had wanted you to follow a specific kind of destiny, they might've done something to make sure you'd know what it was, right away."
Roxanne agreed. "And besides, no matter how hard you try, every kid winds up disappointing their parents, somewhere along the line. Just because you were born with phenomenal gifts doesn't mean you can't make mistakes. I'm sure they both disappointed their own parents at some time or another, and it seems that the more gifted the child, the bigger the disappointment when they do make mistakes. Minion's right. You did the best you could, especially considering where you landed and how old you were when people started browbeating you into thinking you were destined to be a villain. Peer pressure can be a terrible thing, as bad as bullying, and if you put the two together...! You weren't left with much of a choice, hon. And if your parents were somehow watching you, I'm sure they could see that and understand — which would give them all the more reason to be especially proud of you now. You had a hard beginning to your life, and in spite of it, you still turned things around and found your real destiny. Any good parent would be proud of that, no matter how many mistakes you made getting here."
For some time, Megamind said nothing, but from the way he slouched down, legs propped up on the low coffee table, brow scrunched up in deep furrows, he was thinking about what they'd said, and thinking hard. His eyes kept flicking back to the two boxes on the table that he'd brought along when they'd moved to the greater comfort of the living room; each flick lingered longer and longer on the cases. Finally, he sighed, his green gaze shifting back to the faces of those closest to him.
"So, what now?" he wondered aloud. "I've just discovered the reasons I was saved when all the rest of my people died, and I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. They wanted the legacy of all their knowledge and history and civilization to live on through me — but what am I supposed to do with it? I'm just one person! To keep it from falling into unscrupulous hands who'd misuse it, they keyed everything but that one basic storage gem so that only I can access what's on it. Am I supposed to give up everything else now, and spend the rest of my life learning everything that's in them so I can teach it to others? Or should I just learn enough to find ways to transfer the information into other media, and then find people I hope I can trust to go through it and figure out what's safe and what isn't? Does being what I am and knowing it mean that my life will never be mine anymore?"
It was obvious that this was troubling and confusing him, and both Roxanne and Minion could understand why. "That would be like going from one kind of prison to another," the latter said with a shake of his head. "From everything you've told us about them, I can't believe your parents would've wanted that, not unless you did."
Roxanne agreed. "I think they wanted to give you a choice, Mykaal, not a burden. Sure, people who have great gifts and great powers usually wind up shouldering a lot of responsibility, but in the end, it's up to you just how much you're willing to let all of this dictate your decisions." She gestured to the boxes, shimmering in the soft light from the lamps and the tall leaded glass windows. "They were sitting locked away, hidden for over thirty-five years. If they'd been destroyed or you'd never found them, the world wouldn't end; Earth would go rolling along just as it always has. And if you want to do nothing at all with them, or you want to wait another ten years, the world will still be the same. You don't have to do anything. Yes, the people who sent you here hoped you might do something good with it, but they're gone and you only get one life to live, your own."
Megamind listened attentively, then gave her a considering look. "And what do you think I should do?"
"It doesn't matter—" she began.
But the blue head shook. "Of course it matters! My life isn't entirely my own, anymore. I gave part of it to you when I asked you to marry me, and part of it belongs to Minion, too, as my friend and my brother. I'm not asking you to tell me what to do; I'm asking for your opinion, so I can factor it into whatever decisions I do make. And that goes for you, too, Minion. I really want to know how you feel about all this."
They were all quiet for a bit before Minion broke the silence. "It's a lot to think about, sir," he admitted at last. "And a lot of potential change. You know I'll be right behind you no matter what decisions you make, but I have to agree with Mrs. Roxanne, you don't need to rush into anything. I mean, I know how long you've wanted to learn about where we came from, and about some of the advanced technology they must've had, but I don't see why you can't just take the whole thing slowly. Rushing has always gotten you into trouble, sir, you know that. And with something this big, I don't think you want to rush ahead and wind up feeling..." He didn't want to say, couldn't bring the words to his fishy lips.
But Megamind knew exactly what he was thinking. "And wind up feeling like a failure again," he said, almost sadly. "You're right, that's exactly what I'm afraid of. This isn't some villainous plot or nefarious scheme that has failsafes built in so that if it blows up in my face, the only things that'll get hurt are me and my invention and maybe some surrounding property. It's... important. Very important. And I don't want to screw it up, or stop being me."
His wife's blue eyes blinked at him, startled. "You're afraid that learning about your people and their technology will change you? Why? Because you've gotten excited a few times and started babbling about things in detail? That's still you, sweetie, just using a bigger vocabulary and maybe talking about things you didn't know yesterday because you just learned them last night."
The ex-villain snorted. "Maybe, but I also managed to walk into a room I'd lived in for years, set off all the alarms and security safeguards I'd never triggered before, and completely fried the sensor system and half the electrical wiring in the high security isolation wing. My little 'improvements' had something to do with it, but not that much! Something in me has changed — and even if it's just my brain finally working the way it's supposed to, it's a little..." He swallowed nervously. "...frightening."
Roxanne saw his point. "Then taking it slow is the best idea, one step at a time, one day at a time. You can go through all those data thingies, find out what they have to offer you, and pick out a few that cover subjects you really want to know more about. If your people ran their educational systems at all like ours, I'm sure they'll have everything set up to take you through each subject from introduction to advanced levels. Start at the beginning, and if things begin to feel scary to you as the levels get harder, stop."
Her suggestion was perfectly reasonable, but Megamind still felt uneasy. He bit one corner of his lower lip, the pink tip of his tongue peeping out on the opposite side. "What if I can't?" he eventually blurted out. "I don't know exactly how this Master Teacher device works. I got the point, very clearly, that it'd be harmless for anyone else who uses it to see what I saw last night — but what about me? I supposedly have this oonimiginably rare kind of intellect, and the people who made these things knew that, they coded everything to work specifically with my genetics. What if it's supposed to worm its way into my brain and reprogram it into some kind of organic walking supercomputer that won't be me anymore, or—"
"Mykaal, stop!" his wife commanded, sitting up and turning to look him straight in the eye, Minion doing much the same from his chair nearby. The rising pitch and speed of his voice and the recurrence of mispronunciations when he'd been doing just fine told them very plainly how much the blue genius was agitated. "Your parents loved you, and from everything I've experienced with you, what you feel when you say 'love' is the same thing we humans do, just stronger. You were someone incredibly special to them, and if all they'd wanted was to send a machine out to take your people's knowledge to another planet, they'd've spent their time working on that, not on saving your life."
"Yes, she's absolutely right!" Minion chimed in most emphatically. "I may not remember much about the details of the time I spent on our homeworld, but I remember the feelings, sir, especially the ones from your mother, since I spent so much time helping her before you were born. I never felt anything to make me think she expected you to be a... an unperson, just a thinking machine. She wanted you to live and be happy, and machines can't be happy without a heart that's free to feel. This is an opportunity they sent with you, not an obligation or a trap — not unless you choose to look at it that way, and make it one."
Megamind stared, wide-eyed, at the two of them, blue and amber eyes blazing, both adamant in their positions, both very clear in their support and their love for him. He felt like curling up in shame for the way he was acting in the face of their affection, but he couldn't seem to shake the sensations of discomfort that had gripped him.
From his body language — shoulders hunched, arms drawn together tightly in front of him, head lowered like a turtle about to pull into its shell — Roxanne knew what he was feeling, and it only took a moment for her to see why. "If that accident at the prison hadn't happened, would you still feel so afraid? Because you weren't acting scared when you left home this morning, you were all excited and eager about the whole thing. Did the accident frighten you?"
The blue hero cringed just a bit more to hear it stated so baldly, but then he nodded. "Like you wouldn't believe. It wasn't quite so bad when we were still at the prison, but after we came home and you went to go over your notes for tomorrow's interview while we were waiting for Minion... I wound up spending too much of the time while I was alone thinking about what'd happened and how I've been acting all day."
Minion sighed, familiar with this problem. "Sir, you know it's not good for you to brood about things that really bother you, you always get yourself upset over nothing."
"It didn't feel like nothing!" his ward defended, though without any real vehemence. "It felt like..." He paused. "Do you know the old saying, 'be careful what you wish for, you might get it?' Well, you know that when I was a kid, I always wished I'd had some kind of real superpower, like mind control or something I could use to fight Metro Man, or at least get people to think I was something more than just a skinny, geeky loser with a big head and blue skin. Something more impressive than mere intelligence — more obviously impressive, anyway."
Roxanne smiled crookedly. "So you kept coming up with bigger and more impressive machines and gadgets that never quite worked the way you wanted."
Surprisingly, her husband was unoffended. "When I tried to make them bigger and more showy, yes. It was always my smaller and more subtle things that actually worked. When I blew the isolation cell's security system and slagged the power lines without even doing anything, it kinda felt like maybe I had suddenly gotten those mind powers I always wanted. I know that isn't what happened, not really, but if just one session with that sleep teacher could turn on things in my brain and make it do that, what might happen if it turns on other things? Things like the kind of powers I don't really want anymore?"
Both his wife and his partner pondered this for a bit. Minion spoke first. "I know my memory for things that far back isn't good, but I don't think your people had those kinds of abilities. Maybe something along the lines of a special empathic ability, but I think that's mostly because of how strong the emotions of everyone from our planet were."
Megamind accepted that, though he wasn't wholly convinced. "But what if I'm a special case that way, too? The last Natoshi'ana lived almost a thousand years ago, so nobody alive had any experience with them, except as babies who never survived if they even made it to birth."
"Then maybe that's what you need to study first," Roxanne suggested. "If people like you are so rare and so special and always brought about significant change, they must have figured pretty prominently in your history. Find the stones in that box that cover history, and see if any of them deal with the nootish— the Great Ones," she said with a wry smile. "Sorry, sweetie, I guess I understand how you feel with some words, now. I can't quite seem to get my brain to wrap itself around it, much less my tongue."
But Megamind didn't really hear her apology; his mind had locked onto her mention of a data gem that might cover the history of the Natoshi'ana. Something tickled at the back of his thoughts, something about teaching, about proper guidance and preparation, something he'd heard more than once in what he had learned last night, and in the recordings of his parents that had been able to occasionally help him in childhood. He abruptly sat up perfectly straight, eyes still unfocused as his inner eye focused intensely on his thoughts; then he stood up so suddenly, he nearly startled Roxanne right off the couch. "Excuse me a moment," he said even as he dashed out of the room.
The reporter looked at Minion. "Have any idea what that's all about?"
The ichthyoid both shook his head and shrugged. "Maybe there's something else he found in the pod last night," he speculated. "Or he just needed to use the bathroom, all of a sudden." He made the second remark so puckishly, Roxanne couldn't help but laugh. She managed to keep it to a modest if not quite ladylike chortle rather than exploding into a full-bellied and therefore suspicious guffaw, which was good, as Megamind returned only a few moments later.
With the determined concentration of a man on a mission, he returned to his seat on the couch, only this time, he sat on its edge so that he could pull over the larger of the two boxes on the coffee table. As he did so, he set down the familiar little cube that contained the message sphere from his parents. He thumbed it open with one hand while he laid his palm on the larger case's silver emblem to open it. As the lid pulled back to reveal the thousands of tiny data crystals inside, he picked up the message globe with his other hand. Its usual display of soft lights began the moment he touched it, but did not coalesce into the image of a recording.
"Something you remembered from last night?" Roxanne prompted, as both she and Minion were leaning forward to watch with curiosity.
"Just a hunch," Megamind replied as he held his now free hand over the rows of tiny glittering stones. "Things the two of you said about history and education and not rushing, and things the recordings mentioned about the Great Ones needing proper guidance. My parents were concerned that I wouldn't have any here on Earth, and they were afraid that it might make things too difficult for me now. If they believed that, they might've tried to do something to help, and this was what helped me before — ah!"
As he spoke, the lights that emanated from the larger sphere wrapped about him as they always did, though this time, they seemed to wind more tightly about the arm stretched over the box on the table. They grew brighter as they flowed down his arm to his hand, where they stopped and seemed to writhe, waiting for direction. Megamind curled his fingers of that hand into his palm, save for the index finger, which remained extended. When the light moved to its tip, growing a bit more intense, he then swept it back and forth over the stones, slowly, looking for some kind of a reaction. When he reached the stone at the lower left-hand corner, the light suddenly turned bright blue. Hesitating only for an instant, he pressed his finger down to touch the stone. It shone brilliantly in response.
He swallowed thickly as he looked up, green eyes wide and bright with astonishment. "The History and Socio-Scientific Studies of the Natoshi'ana," he all but whispered as he sensed the content information of the shining stone. "They did find a way to help. They showed me where to begin!"
Roxanne acknowledged both the remark and his amazement with a single, solemn nod. "And now, Mykaal, the question is: do you want to begin?"
To be continued...