Of course the morning came sooner than I thought and I was rudely awakened by someone shaking my shoulder. I tried to bury my head under my arm, hoping whoever it was would go away. No such luck.
"Five more minutes." I mumbled and I heard someone laugh. Instead of leaving me in peace, Berto stuck his face near mine.
"Come on, it's after 9 am. You have to get up sometime." He told me, moving back a little as I looked up at him.
"Says who? Besides I don't have training until this afternoon." I grumbled, finally sitting up and rubbing my eyes.
"Actually Commander Forge asked me to come and get you. He wants to see you." Berto explained as I climbed to my feet and stretched. A little more alert now, I followed him as he led the way. Along the way I noticed Shock wasn't present and asked Berto if he'd seen the Ultralink.
"He's with Forge at the moment." He told me just as we reached a room I'd never seen before. "Here we are."
"Good morning." Forge said as we walked into what I soon found out was his office. Shock was hovering over a computer set into the wall and he joined me once I entered the room
"And you as well." I said, relieved that Shock hadn't disappeared. "So what did you need me for?"
"Straight to the point, huh? Okay, well I wanted to know why you tried to escape yesterday." Forge asked me and my eyes went wide.
"I thought I already explained that to you. I was being held prisoner and Shock came to my aid. End of story." I replied my arms firmly crossed against my chest.
"You weren't a prisoner and you know that." Forge said.
"Could have fooled me. Being trapped behind four walls and then threatened kind of makes me think I'm a captive. Must be annoying that a complete stranger wipes the floor with you and your highly trained agents." I commented, earning a glare of my own from Forge.
"I don't have time for this. Look, I called you here because I wanted to explain more about your powers." Forge said and I grinned.
"Huh, so what do I need to know?" I asked, curious.
"I already know that Kat explained to you the basics of Turbo energy. What you need to know is these important points. You and Shock are now permanently linked. Also if the both of you are separated for more than eight hours, you explode from an overload of Turbo energy and Shock shuts down from too little energy. "Forge told us and I looked over at Shock.
"Whoa then we better stick together." I said and Shock nodded in agreement.
"Secondly, you can't let anyone outside N-Tek know you have Turbo energy or that you have Shock. The third point is that you'll need to get use to your new powers." He finished and I nodded.
"Yeah, last time I couldn't control them I took out a wall." I replied.
"Plus you did almost fry me in the Canyon." Shock pointed out and I rolled my eyes at him.
"I said I was sorry. Wait a second, I just thought of something. How did Berto find me last night?" I asked and Forge smiled at that.
"That's also thanks your Turbo energy. You've been giving off an energy signature since you ran away and that's how Berto was able to find you. Him and the Elementor, actually." As soon as he mentioned the Elementor I groaned, images from the fight I lost the night before flashing through my head.
"You just had to bring that up again, didn't you?" I grumbled.
"Shock can prevent anyone from picking up your whereabouts again. Steel can explain that when he and Max get back from class." Forge said.
"Wait, Max has Steel with him? I thought you said that I had to keep Shock a secret." I asked him.
"Aside from the obvious, they need to be in close contact in case we need them. The same goes for you and Shock as well."
"No offence but how do I stay hidden?" Shock asked and I swear Forge actually smiled.
"In your bag. The same as Max, when he's at school. When you're here, he can come and go as he pleases." Forge told me, producing a backpack from underneath his desk.
"Awesome." I said, taking the bag from him. It was a pretty big sized bag and it was the same color as Shock. "Hey, it matches you, Shock." I added as he examined it.
"It is a nice color, I have to say. " Shock said and I smiled.
"Oh wait. How am I supposed to go outside wearing this suit? While it's awesome and everything, I'll definitely be noticed if I walk around in it." I pointed out.
"No problem. Like I explained the other day, you can't take the suit off. However after speaking with Berto, we came up with a solution. Hold still." Shock told me and as I did as he asked, he attached himself to me again. In another burst of green light, he changed my outfit again. This time, however, I wasn't wearing the green and white suit anymore. This time, I found myself wearing clothes similar to what I usually wear. Now I was wearing a pair of jeans, a white shirt and a light green jacket over the top. As I admired my new look, I noticed that there was a symbol of some kind on the front of the jacket. After a moment I realized that it was the same size and shape as Shock. Once Shock detached himself, he hovered in front of me. From the look on his face, he seemed to be admiring his work.
"Wicked. How did you do that?" I asked, noticing that I was also wearing a pair of sneakers that matched my jacket.
"It's a hologram. So now you can outside and blend in, while still being safely contained in the Turbo suit." Shock told me.
"Nice, so camouflage mode. Okay that's one problem solved. "I said with a grin.
"What's the other problem?" Forge asked me.
"Since Max and Steel won't be here until this afternoon, what do I do in the meantime?" I asked him.
"Pretty much anything you want, as long as you stay within Copper Canyon." Forge told me. "If we need to contact you, we'll call you on your phone."
"My phone?" I said, instantly reaching into my pocket only to remember that I didn't have it. "I think it disappeared at some point because I couldn't find it."
"Actually that's why I'm here." Berto told me and handed something to me. As I took the object from him, I realized that it was a new phone.
"Where'd this come from?" I asked him as I checked it out. The phone itself was fluorescent green in color and about half the size of my hand.
"Your original phone ended up in pieces when your powers overloaded back in Copper Canyon and since we need to stay in contact, I put together a new one." Berto told me as I turned the phone on.
"Very cool. Way more advanced than my old phone. Thanks a lot, Berto." I said as Berto grinned.
"You're welcome. Like Commander Forge said, we need to be able to contact you and this is the best way." Berto replied as I slipped the phone into my jeans pocket.
"Cool. Do you need me for anything else?" I asked Forge, who shook his head.
"Not right now. If something comes up, I'll contact you." Forge told me. After saying goodbye, I left with Shock.
If I had stayed longer I might have heard what Forge asked Berto to do next.
"Keep an eye on her, Berto. I need to know if she's telling the truth about how she ended up in Copper Canyon. "Forge said and Berto sighed.
"With all due respect, I believe her. But I'll still keep an eye on her." Berto replied and walked away.
"I hope she is telling the truth. Otherwise, I don't know what we'll do." Forge said to himself.