Partnering was good.

It never hurt to mix up the pitches. A kinder, gentler Death Star could go places that the nastier version couldn't. At least until Olympus went live.

He praised the author effusively, then turned over the microphone, silently appraising Garner's demeanor. Michaels would have expected something more upscale than the blue-gray pinstripe suit Jake Garner was wearing. No sense of showmanship. One part of Michaels' mind watched the pop psychologist's pitch, while the other worked another business deal that was coming up.

For himself, Garner wasn't a fan of the public limelight. Fame almost always entailed personal risk for someone as potentially hunted as himself, as his multiple identities and disguises attested to. The company had assured him that security personnel would ensure that the event would go without incident. Despite this, he kept a personal one-shot teleport device in his pocket in case he had to make a quick escape.

After a brief stab at humor, Garner decided that a demonstration would speak louder than words, and activated a small remote in his right pocket. Suddenly, his clothes melted into a blue shirt and gray slacks. Michaels smiled appreciatively, surveying the crowd to see how well Garner was working them. Not bad, for an author, anyway.

"Now, let me play for you the ad campaign."

On the wall beside them, Garner's commercial played on the matrix of flat screens, complete with rudimentary subliminals. Michaels chuckled. He'd had to be low-key about it, not wanting his bankers to start wearing dresses themselves. The majority of the affirmations were of the nature of "how chic" and "how cool" and "I want to own a piece of that." That last one should buoy both sales and stock prices.

The crowd seemed to be responding appropriately, even some of the waitresses. The only odd thing was a ripple pushing its way toward the front as Garner projected future developments in the fashion industry. This was a sophisticated crowd, but it wouldn't hurt to remind everybody. Mindshadow got annoyed when she had to tweak brains to preempt lawsuits.

Preemption was good.

Michaels stepped forward and whispered into the mike. "Safe harbor provision. Forward-looking statements, possible events beyond our control, yada yada."

When Michaels stepped back, Garner actually explained what Michaels had meant. What was the matter with him? Then Michaels noticed the fashion press people slowly nodding and laughing in understanding.

Oh, yeah. Some people were dense. They really needed to be led.

Well, soon.

Once more Michaels surveyed the crowd while Garner wrapped up. The applause came and Michaels walked up and shook his hand. They both paused and smiled as cameras flashed to capture the moment. But just then, something was happening, a movement too quick to be anything but trouble.

Trouble was bad.

A bearded face broke the ranks of the audience, red hair and freckles like a burning bush, and all over green army fatigues. The protester raised his hand, and something glinted and barked three times, a peculiar spitting bark.

"Gun!" yelled a security guard, and several more dived between Michaels and the shooters. There was a second shooter behind the first, maybe more in the crowd. Pandemonium broke out as the audience ran in all directions and the security force closed in on the shooters with nightsticks and guns drawn. Not particularly good shots, Michaels thought, as he looked around to see if there were any more.

It all seemed in slow motion. He looked down to see what was tingling, and saw red splashes on his suit. Someone had been hit. Garner?

Yes, Garner was falling. The company doctors rushed up to the podium and began ripping his clothing away to begin first aid.

Michaels felt light-headed and began to lose consciousness. The sounds and screams began to fade and the last thing he remembered was the odd tingling sensation in his chest.

******

"Yes sir, a Carl Terrance. Wants to see the information on the 303 crash from last year."

There was a long pause while the FBI agent scanned Carl over. The suit Carl wore was immaculate. The sunglasses he wore were an unusual design and covered both his eyes.

Carl looked over the agent, he seemed tired and a bit on the heavy side, though not so much that you would notice. His balding head gleaming in the morning light.

"Yes sir, understood," he said, then put the phone down. "Your story checks out, what can I help you with?"

Carl removed his sunglasses. "Agent Morris, I have reason to believe this crash may have been a terrorist act. I wanted to look over some of the evidence and see if I can prove that conclusion."

"I think we need to go inside," he said opening the door for Carl.

The agent led Carl into a small office. An outdated computer was on the desk. A coffeepot sat off to the side; it appeared that the agent had just started his coffee brewing when Carl had disturbed him. He gestured to a seat as he fixed himself a cup of java.

"Most of the investigation has wound down, officially the crash looks like pilot error," he said sitting at his desk.

Carl nodded. "Let me guess, there were some unusual readings on the black boxes or you found some material that you can't identify?"

The agent paused for a few seconds, "What are you not telling me?"

"May I see the data? Then I can make a determination." Carl countered.

"Sure why not, not as if the lab back in Washington couldn't figure it out," Agent Morris said getting up and dragging his coffee along.

Morris walked up to one of the dozen or so filing cabinets and opened one of the drawers and handed Carl a large folder. "Not sure what you are looking for. After looking over the wreckage, it is pretty cut and dry. Pilot error."

Carl flipped through the documents, there were some photographs showing where the wreckage had fallen and what it looked like.

"May I see the physical evidence?" Carl asked.

"Sure I don't see any reason not to. You just need to wear gloves if you handle any of the pieces. Agent Morris took Carl into the main hanger, where pieces of the aircraft were arranged in some semblance of order.

Carl looked over the wreckage, for several hours. Agent Morris and several other men and women came in to check various pieces and check on Carl. He examined the passenger's personal items. When he came across an ID card for Angelina Clancy, a cold chill ran down his back. The card was singed and partially melted however the picture was unmistakably Mindshadow.

The ID card however was the tip of the iceberg. When Carl found the small device hooked into the remains of the onboard flight computer. He knew he had found a smoking gun. Bringing it to the attention of the FAA official a woman by the name of Jeanette Givnan, they quickly took the small device away for analysis.

Carl already knew from examining the device that it had been rigged to set off several small charges of a substance that looked like insulating foam. The wreckage had clearly indicated that the plane had not only broken up before it impacted, but most of the first class passenger area had been destroyed beyond all recognition. The device had been rigged to detonate when the aircraft descended below ten thousand feet. Carl knew of only one person who had survived the crash, he kept that knowledge to himself.

Wedge had acquired the ID card after it had been rechecked in, and replaced it with a much more damaged copy.

Carl looked over several files Wedge had dug up on Angelina Clancy.

"Well this is a dead end, who ever was after her took out the plane but missed completely. Anything on the meta human in Miami?" Carl asked.

"Nothing solid so far, it appears that they may have packed up," Wedge's voice said from behind Carl. It was the Alpha avatar or the giant Squid as Spirit shout like to call it.

"What time is it?" Carl asked.

"Ten after three," Wedge replied slinking down the beach.

Carl walked back to the lab; the bubble was now polished and looked like a bubble of mercury. Wedge and the spider bots had fixed microscopic optical tiles made of a composite material of gold, lead, adamantine and Silicon. The entrance was not even visible until you were right next to the outside; the small panel was all that gave any indication of a door.

"Very funny Wedge open up." Carl said walking up to the door.

After a few seconds the door cycled open and Carl entered into the small chamber. The air was removed as Carl coated into his Tween form.

"Is that really necessary?" Carl asked as the inner door opened.

"Yes, I am still making sure that none of those nasty nanobots got loose," the beta avatar said.

Carl rolled his eyes and sat down in his chair and uncoated. "Didn't we release the phosphorus polymer all over in here and the island?"

"Well yes and I am still cleaning up the polymer chains, thank you very much," the avatar said shifting into a scantily clad woman wearing a French maid costume, with the nametag of Flo.

"Great, you're a comedian too," Carl said grinning.

"Sometimes. Now I am going down stairs to rest," the woman said heading down the steps.

"Not funny Wedge, not funny at all! Get me a phone connection to Tammy," Carl said peeling his eyes away from the avatar heading down the steps. "Remind me to kick Arthur in the ass when I see him he shouted down the steps."

Tammy's voice was heard. "Hello?"

"Hey hon, does Andrew have hockey today I was thinking I could pick him up and the four of us could spend some time together"

"CARL!?" she asked excited.

"Yep I should be home shortly, just a few things to... will you stop that!" Carl said as the avatar was playing on the railing on the steps. "Not you hon, sorry, someone is being annoying," Carl glared at the avatar.

"Ok, love you, see you when you get home," she said.

"Love you to, see you then bye." Carl said and the phone disconnected.

"THAT'S IT!" Carl said chasing the avatar down the steps into the main computer area. However the avatar shifted and molded into the wall before Carl got halfway down the steps.

Carl marveled at the changes to Wedge's systems. Wedge had redesigned his entire system and structures, the Wedge core was on the far room covered in cables and sitting over a power supply.

"Hey Wedge, knock it off with the fem bot, you're just doing it to annoy me now."

A snicker from the computer panel near the main AI processor could be heard. The room was softly lit in a blue glow, making the room seem bigger than it really was.

"I'm heading home for a bit, take the family out, after if you want I can introduce you, on second thought that might not work, considering Arthur's handy work. I'm still gonna kick him in the ass," Carl said shaking his finger at Wedge's core systems.

Carl then headed back up the steps, and back out the door. Strolling down the path to the seaside he stopped and looked at the trees. Carl began talking out loud to no one in particular, "Seems I did ok, even considering how I got here. Well Wedge drop me off down the block, I will walk to the house."

Carl walked through the gateway, behind the alley and down the block from his house. The van was in the yard as he got closer.

******

Inside, the décor was luxurious with every amenity imaginable at Mindshadow's beck and call. Almost unnoticed, a slight humming alluded to the vast technology that was concealed and the floating robotic drones that patrolled the halls and rooms. Despite the surroundings, Mindshadow frowned as she listened to her AI drones report their latest status.

"...continue to deteriorate at a predictable rate. The life support system is supporting their vital signs, but has not had any effect on removing the infection itself."

Two levels below, Richard Michaels and Jake Garner were lying in an ultra-modern intensive care unit, tended to by automated drones guided by Athena. Mindshadow had liberated them from the hopelessly primitive facilities at the city hospital and had prepared to remove the nanites herself. However, the moment she focused her will on them, the nanites activities increased their rate of attack, forcing her to stop. Although they could be destroyed outside without any serious drawbacks, once there were inside a body, destroying them without harming the victims had proved more difficult than she had thought.

Mindshadow looked into Garner's medical unit, limiting her senses to the basic human ones. She did not want to stimulate the deadly nanobots any more than necessary, since Garner was the only available subject she had for field testing any proposed method of saving Michaels.

That didn't mean she couldn't look.

This Jake Garner was an odd man. He wasn't much to look at; a small man, pale and wiry. Stripped naked, the ascetic look was emphasized by those odd tattoos on his arms, beautiful, intricate work in sun-bright yellows and reds, night-dark blacks. Intertwined Chinese dragons with blue eyes.

She could feel the fitful ramblings of his unconscious mind spilling into the room. It was a large mind, very complicated, very fast but very cluttered. Myriad patterns and swatches of personality vied for ascendancy.

She chuckled for a moment. Incipient schizophrenia is unbecoming in a psychologist.

But perhaps the conditions were not auspicious for analyzing this analyst. She left the subject to the medical unit. Leaving the medical bay, Mindshadow levitated herself down through twenty floors and emerged to a gigantic subbasement built below the city subway levels. In one corner, the shooters, along with two unfortunates who had been waiting in a support position huddled in abject terror. With virtually all the police in New York now under her mental control, it had been child's play for her to seize the culprits for her own interrogation. They were gang members, looking for a quick flash of publicity, along with hoping to attract an easy metahuman to score big points on. Too bad for them the metahuman they attracted was her.

Mindshadow looked down at the first of the three as they all quivered and babbled totally incoherently. After extracting everything from their memories, thoughts and subconscious, she then proceeded to strip them of their barest essences, disassembling any possible clue they might as to the identities and whereabouts of this "Crazy Bill" who had apparently sold them the weapons. She telepathically reached out and squeezed their minds once again; they were experiencing their most absolute and primal fears, amplified to the nth degree. Each passing second felt to them like years as she hypnotically altered their perceptions of time and reality. What little shred of resistance they had was long gone. Unfortunately, with nothing left to give, their minds finally collapsed.

"Ma...ma...?" the gang leader barely managed with a vacant drooling expression.

Mindshadow sighed and pouted with disappointment. She had broken their wills so easily and so completely, there was nothing usable left here. With a gesture, all three disintegrated; she had found their sweaty, naked bodies disgusting to behold as much as their weak pathetic minds. A mental command to her drones ordered them to clean and disinfect the odor.

Back on the mezzanine level of her tower, Mindshadow looked out over the cityscape with a mix of emotions. Clearly, the nanites were no accident; someone out there was gunning for metahumans, using sophisticated technology. With her powers and senses, the nanites were of little direct threat to her, but they now threatened her most powerful assets; her enslaved meta pawns.

"Analysis complete," Athena said. "Nanite is an aggressive, but simplified version similar in design and programming to the nanites developed by Carl Terrance."

"Tween? Then he's responsible?"

"Unlikely. If Mr. Terrance were directly aiding the culprits, the nanites would most likely have more sophisticated programmatic fail-safes or he would be risking his own life. There is an 89% probability that the persons involved are plagiarizing his work."

"Find him," she ordered.

Instantly, a powerful set of surveillance satellites, in conjunction with secret video taps in cameras all over the world began sifting through countless images of the world's population. Mindshadow smiled once more; how convenient that modern society had allowed itself to be watched, listened and eavesdropped in virtually every corner of the globe. Between phone taps, security cameras, and her own stealthy satellite network, there was practically nowhere on Earth she could not view at her own pleasure or need.

"Identified. Subject Carl Terrance is currently located in Cranston, Rhode Island, approximately one block from his last known residence."

Mindshadow concentrated ever so slightly, as powerful telepathic energies surged across the city, reaching its intended target instantly. Whether he was responsible or not, he was the most qualified person to fix this mess. It was time to call her wayward slave back to serve her once again.

******

He gasped slightly when the lights came on. It looked like a hotel suite, but far larger and more luxurious than anything he had ever seen. The suite he had for his honeymoon was a hovel compared to this. Instantly, his guard went up along with his nanotech coating. In a frightening flash, he realized what must have happened; Mindshadow had used her powers to summon him here. Memories of his previous captivity and humiliation came rushing back and for several seconds, he waited for the hammer to fall.

But nothing did. Tween blinked in confusion and tried to think, forcing his fear and anger down. His mind felt as clear as it had ever been, which was a change from last time. So what was her game? From his past experience, Mindshadow was cruel and enjoyed toying with her opponents, so there was no telling what she had in mind. But she was also an opportunist and driven by power lust; she rarely took major actions without some kind of plan or goal.

First thing was first though and that was his own survival. "Wedge!" he mentally called out. No response. He tried again and still got nothing. He grimaced; with Mindshadow's powers and the technology at her disposal, it wasn't inconceivable that she had found a way to prevent him from calling Wedge. Which meant he was alone.

He surveyed the room more carefully. In the adjoining den, a generous portion of meatloaf had been laid out. Tammy's meatloaf was his favorite food and no doubt she had pulled that fact out of his mind, but did she actually think he was going to eat something under these circumstances, he thought with disgust. Of greater interest was the presence of a terminal on the writing desk and a wall-mounted device that could only be a replicator. He tried to type a few commands on the terminal. The monitor beeped then a reply flashed onto the screen:

Finish your meal then proceed to the mezzanine for instructions. You will comply.

Tween blasted the terminal with a bolt of energy. Leaving the hotel room he entered a hallway. The walls were adorned with artwork and other priceless museum pieces protected by force fields. Even though he wasn't an art connoisseur, he recognized several as priceless pieces that were supposed to be in famous museums.

As he arrived in a gigantic foyer, Tween looked around and noted larger sculpture pieces that hung from the fifty-foot ceiling. The room itself was lined with intricate carvings and inlaid with precious metals and stones. Pure vanity, he thought; who did she think she was going to impress with all this glitz?

Just then, Tween heard a voice as Mindshadow faded into view. "To answer the question in your mind, yes, these are indeed the real works of art. The ones in the Lourve and the Smithsonian are all telekinetic forgeries, indistinguishable from these." She hovered high in the middle of the room as she mentally dismissed two of the robotic drones that attended her. "I like window shopping too," she said coyly.

Tween closed his eyes tight and turned his back to Mindshadow. "I know about your armor's subliminal influencer, so turn it off. I helped design that armor after all. You want something, so spit it out," he said to the hovering red haired teenager.

"Oh come now, you're not being mistreated. Why, I went through all the trouble for your meal," she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Do you like the décor? It's in prime real estate in New York City, and it was such a steal."

"Whatever. What do you want?" Tween said, getting slightly irritated.

"There's something I need you to fix for me, so you will fix it. It's similar to what you did recently with Susan Oakman."

"What makes you think I will help you?" Tween said noticing her armor's influencer wasn't active anymore.

"Oh don't be that way, it's not like I'm asking you to kill anyone. Just save a few people from the nanovirus your anti-meta group's infected some people with."

"Sure I can take a look," Tween said eyeing Mindshadow dubiously.

Tween watched as she gestured. Behind him, an elevator opened. "That will take you to the medical area," she said sinking through the floor.

Tween stepped into the elevator as the door closed. He noted the lack of buttons as elevator descended, no doubt under Mindshadow's command. Hopefully, he would find a way out of this before he became a slave once again.

******

Tween turned to the hovering Mindshadow. "Yes they are infected, and no I can't help them."

"Oh really," Mindshadow replied coldly.

"I said I can't help them not that I won't help them. From the current infection rate and the damage done, I am guessing they have about three, maybe four hours left before the nanites begin attacking their brains. My AI could help them, but there are several problems."

"Such as?"

"First, I have no contact with Wedge. Second, Wedge keeps track of all my technology and I won't subject him to your manipulations. And third quite frankly I don't like you."

"So you're going to condemn innocent victims to death because you don't like me? I very much doubt that. I've been in your mind deeper than anyone else, including yourself. Letting innocent people die goes against everything you believe in. It's the very foundation of your morals.

"I highly doubt that these two are just innocent bystanders. They're important to you in some way."

"And for that, you're going to condemn them to death? Of course they're important to me. That doesn't change the fact that it's not in your nature to stand idly by while people die when it's in your power to save them."

"So you want me to risk all my technology, my sanity and my very existence on your word; you the one who has no morals? You want my help, but you won't get it by force, or mind games."

"First of all, who said anything about risking your sanity or life? If I wanted that, I could have accomplished it easily. I admit that the way I brought you here might not have been to your liking, but like you just said, time was of the essence, and I couldn't afford to have you turn me down the way you're doing. Frankly, it's surprisingly petty of you that you're going to abandon innocent people's lives just because you hold a grudge against me."

"You think that's all this is about? You think I'm mad at you and that I want to hurt you? Maybe at first I did. Not now however, I know what you are now, it took me a while to piece it together," Tween said, staring at Mindshadow.

"And what's that?"

"I doubt it would make any difference to you what I think. You claim to be powerful, and I grant that, you are powerful. You want my help then you are going to have to make a few compromises, since time is of the things in short supply. I want some things from before I do anything.

Mindshadow crossed her arms as she looked at Tween with an ambivalent expression. She didn't like negotiation; with her powers, she rarely ever had to. It was just so much simpler to make other people see things her way. But she didn't have the time to waste on a pointless one-on-one battle here. Olympus was at a critical phase before launch and she needed these men. So she relented, "Very well. Name your terms."

"First of all if you want me to save these two I will have to bring my AI here, or at least one of the avatars. It would be in their best interests not to move them or potentially contaminate any more people."

"Done," Mindshadow replied and snapped her fingers. Within the Antarctic base, Athena began to hum with new instructions to send a coded message over the same spectrum Tween used exclusively. Wedge would certainly receive it.

"Second I would like some questions answered, while Wedge works."

Mindshadow did her best not to roll her eyes as her telepathy could already sense the questions forming in Tween's mind. Such tiresome pedantic drivel, she thought. But she didn't have time to quibble over something so meaningless, so she nodded.

Third, you will compensate me for my time and my expertise, both now and the last time you held me under your thumb," Tween said staring Mindshadow in the face with no hint of anger.

Mindshadow couldn't help but smile just a little. He wanted money and patent recognition for the basic replicator design? Of course she had limitless wealth by this point, so it wasn't a problem. But it was bad form to just give in to everything, so just a little push. "You can have the patent. But Prometheus gets the marketing and manufacture rights. You hardly have the facilities to market it as a product anyway."

"That's agreeable, I wouldn't want the headache of people replicating cocaine or other nasties. Are you going to let Wedge contact me, and allow the energy spectum that we use through?"

Mindshadow smiled, and then gestured to one of the adjoining medical suites within the area. Of course, nothing was truly private here, but no sense bringing that up to them.

******

"This is insane, Tween, or she has you under her control again."

"No, it has to be done. The anti-meta group has to be stopped or these nanites will continue to spread indefinitely."

"You are providing aid and support to a person who is arguably the most dangerous threat to the entire world."

"Possibly, but everyone deserves a chance, even her. I won't force you to..."

"Why? You know she is a monster. You even thought of using something similar on her."

"True, but I rejected it out of hand. No one deserves to die like that even her."

"Why Tween? She wouldn't do the same for you and you know it."

"Because it's the right thing to do!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"What do you mean?"

"How do you know that this decision is really yours? That she's not mentally suggesting it into your mind?" Tween paused as doubt crept onto his face. Wedge continued, "While you were kidnapped by her, I analyzed all the data I got from the energy readings of the battle, in preparation of any possible rescue attempts. Your will is strong Tween, but her's is off the charts. My investigations into her acquisitions suggest that she already has tens of thousands of people under her mental control, including more than a few metahumans. So I'm asking you; are you sure...absolutely sure...that this is your decision?"

Tween paused and thought about it before answering. "Yes I am. And before you argue that, here's why. Because I have to be. If I go through the rest of my life, questioning everything I think, say or do; if I have to second-guess everything that I believe, then I may as well slit my own throat right now. Because that'll mean she's already broken me, and that everything I hold dear won't mean a thing because I'll always be wondering which thoughts in my head are really mine."

"So be it, but I will protect myself. Here is what I will agree to..."

******

Tween sat in a chair hands folded, on the table, Mindshadow hovered near the observation window, her red hair was down to the center of her back and she watched Wedge work.

"Who are you?" Tween asked, "I don't mean what's your name either, I know you go by Mindshadow and at one time when by another name of Angelina. I don't want to dislike you, but your methods, while they may have served you in the past, don't hold much weight with me. While my question may not mean much to you and from what I gather you really don't care what anyone else thinks. I ask not so much for myself but so that you know who you are."

"You're right; I don't care what other people think. It's so much easier to simply will them to think the way I want. As for my name, I don't 'go by' Mindshadow; I am Mindshadow. Angelina was simply a girl who had a little power but still lived within the constraints of society. I'm not bound by society or anything else.

"What do you want?"

"What's rightfully mine. I'm immortal. I'm nearly omnipotent and my power continues to grow with no end in sight." Mindshadow glanced ever so slightly to the side and a holographic display appeared out of thin air, showing world capitals and financial, military and law enforcement institutions. She then began subtle gestures, which the people in the scenes matched with her every whim. Tween watched with unease as the implications began to sink in. "With each passing day, I've been solidifying my grip over the entire world and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to stop me. With a thought, I can dictate the world's markets to serve my wishes. I control what the masses will see, hear, think and remember. More and more world leaders now obey my every whim. And best of all, no one will be aware of it until it's far too late. Soon, I'll have total mastery of the entire world, and the stars after that."

Tween's expression was ashen as he watched the fortunes of entire nations being molded effortlessly like clay before his eyes. He had known Mindshadow was powerful, but he had no idea she had already come so far so quickly. "Why?"

"Because I can. And because no one can stop me. My will is superior to everyone else on this planet. Once I've crushed the last resistance of a few holdouts, such as yourself," she didn't say out loud, "there won't be anyone to oppose me. I'll be able to do whatever I want to anyone I wish. To nurture and reward those who serve me. And to punish those who displease me."

"So are you really happy, hurting others? I can't fathom how someone who is as powerful as you can gain pleasure from harming someone who can't even fight back. Maybe that's all you know, is how to hurt others. The bottom line is that with all your power and all you have done, what does it amount to? You could make a vast empire and reach out to the stars, and control everything for millions of light years. What does it get you? You have no heir, unless you count Athena."

Mindshadow shook her head and smirked. "An heir? You're so limited. Like I said, I'm immortal. I have no need for an heir. Athena's a servant, nothing more. She distills the technology I acquire from various sources such as yourself and others, along with inventing new ones at my direction. Don't mistake that for any real authority. She's totally and completely complicit to my every whim."

The nano-coating vanished at Carl's will; he wanted to look Mindshadow in the eye as he let her responses sink in. A smile appeared on his face, "Me limited? You're missing the obvious." Carl began to laugh, "Ok, you win. You're immortal, unstoppable, heck I bet there are probably no more than a dozen or so metas that even know about you. You can enslave the planet; make everyone your personal play toys. But one thing I know is that eventually you will get tired of the toys and want more. From what I have seen of you is that you personally don't have any limits, physical, mental or personal. Or maybe you do, but I don't know what they are." Carl shrugged slightly. "You are your own worst enemy, simply because you can't admit when you're wrong. You're never wrong are you?" Carl smiled. "I am sure you have better things to do than listen to me, why don't you run along and do what ever you were doing before. Wedge is going to take some time, and quite frankly I can use the rest."

"Very well. You'll find plenty to amuse yourself in the rooms across the hall. I have a minor war that needs managing in sub-Saharan Africa, but it won't take long. Once your drone's completed his task, you're both free to leave." At least for now, you prattling, sentimental fools, Mindshadow thought to herself. A pity his will was as strong as it was, or she would have enslaved him for good long ago. Once Olympus was completed and the rest of humanity permanently mesmerized to serve her, she would use her amplified might to quash his remaining free will. His intellect would be useful for building the star-faring spaceships and orbital stations she had in mind. But until then, she would let him have his semblance of freedom.

******

Tween also knew that one of the men was the Prometheus CEO. Wedge had informed him of that fact when he relayed the data from Beta. There was a subchannel of data being streamed through him between Wedge and the beta avatar. It was highly encrypted and only one way.

Tween got up and exited the room, with the assumption that if he weren't supposed to be there, someone would stop him. The room across the hall had a simple terminal, and replicator, neither of which he touched.

Tween wandered around looking at the art works. Not that he was into art, but to try and get a feel for what Mindshadow was all about. Simple power didn't seem to fit, there was something driving her, if only he could figure out what it was.

Tween stopped at a painting from the sixteenth century, or so it said on the small plaque below it. Getting bored and not getting any ideas on how to resolve the issues, Tween returned to the medical area.

******

"Tween... there is a problem," Wedge's mind said to Tween as he made his way back to the medical wing where Mindshadow stood hovering.

"A problem with the two men?" Tween asked perplexed.

"No, Tammy has been in an accident. I am sorry, but it is serious. I would have helped however, Beta is still working here on Mindshadow's two men."

Tween's eyes hardened and flared a deep red as he glared at Mindshadow. "You had to do it, didn't you?!" Without another word, he drew his sword and swung with all his might. The blade cleaved through Mindshadow's force wall and glanced off her battle armor with a shower of sparks. "It wasn't enough for you to enslave me again, wasn't it? You just had to twist the knife by killing Tammy, didn't you?!"

Tween pulled back to attack again. Mindshadow shook her head with derision and lifted her eyebrow. Tween froze in mid-swing and collapsed, clutching his head as thick, black blood began to ooze out of his ears, nose and mouth. Behind her, the beta Wedge shattered the viewing glass. It moved in a deadly swarm hovering around Mindshadows shield, only to collapse into an inanimate dust as Mindshadow raised a finger and casually gestured behind her.

The rend in the armor was starting to repair itself already. Tween watched as a single drop of blood fall from the tip of the sword towards the floor, and in that brief instant understanding flooded his mind, and then was gone an instant later as the pain took over.

"I've telekinetically paralyzed the blood flow from your head. You've got less than fifteen seconds to live before your brain's blood vessels burst from the pressure, so pay attention. I had nothing to do with Tammy's accident. She's far more useful to me as a slave and a spy on you than a simple fling. Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant. If I really wanted her dead, I wouldn't bother wasting my time with an accident when I could simply turn her off like a light switch with a single thought." She then blinked and turned back towards her computer as Tween started to cough up blood and pick himself up, sword still in hand. She gestured again, causing the nanite dust on the floor to reform into a black mass. After a few moments it adjusted itself into a humanoid figure.

"I knew it Tween! You can't trust her!" several of Wedge's constructs said in his mind.

Tween stared at Mindshadow; her suit had been activated again. How he knew this he wasn't sure. "I am leaving, and if you try to stop me, we will see just what this sword can do. Beta will finish in a few hours. You will release it when it's done." The blade rippled a golden color and Tween found himself several miles above the city. Without knowing how he had gotten there, he took off a full speed in the direction of home, and his wife.

******

"Currently, the beta unit continues to work on them. Their life signs are improving. At the current rate, the unit should have them stable enough for conventional care in under an hour."

"And you're recording the process?" One never knew when such techniques would be needed in the future, if this anti-meta group wasn't rounded up quickly.

"Of course."

"Very well. Once it's finished, escort the unit out. As for Tween, have you found him yet?"

"Located. He's heading to Providence Memorial Hospital. The police report says his wife was brought there after the accident. My surveillance taps into the hospital systems says that her prognosis is terminal."

Mindshadow phased her way through the building's walls, then sped out into the city. As she flew, she willed the hapless public outside not to see or remember her passing so she didn't attract any attention, then activated her armor's full capabilities. She wanted one more word with Tween before letting him go. If he tried his silly sword on her again, she wanted to make sure it would be futile.

******

"...have what, pray tell," Mindshadow mentally said into Tween's mind.

Tween took a second to look around, but couldn't see Mindshadow. He readied his sword, but he knew from harsh personal experience that she could be right in front of him, but he would be helpless to see that if she willed it. "I'm warning you...!"

"With what? That? If you're going to threaten me, you had better have more than that sword to swing around."

Tween swung wildly a few times, before getting his emotions under control. "Don't you dare get in my way!"

"Don't worry yourself over nothing. Tammy's condition is already terminal. I've seen the hospital surveillance."

Tween's soul chilled at the pronouncement. He wanted to shout a denouncement; it was a lie. It had to be. Just another sick twisted game of hers. But something about the tone of her voice cut through his doubts. He shook his head, not wanting to believe it, but unable to find any reasons to doubt it. "This is all your fault! You stopped me from being there to protect her!"

"Oh, you'd like to think that, wouldn't you? It makes it so much easier to blame 'the villain' than admit your own shortcomings, isn't it?"

"Bullshit! If you didn't kidnap me, I'd..."

"You'd what? Be hard at work defeating the anti-meta group? Or conspiring to give technology to the shadow elements in the government? Considering how little you've even seen your family in the last year, it's amazing you even care."

"Shut up!"

"Denial is such an entertaining emotion to watch in people's minds. It's like watching hamsters running inside little wheels, all the while doing their very best to convince themselves they're actually going somewhere."

"What the hell business do you have talking about this? You don't know anything about a family!"

"Then tell me, family man, who is Becky dating anyway?"

Tween's face wrinkled as he shook his head in confusion. "What the hell are you...?"

"His name is Jeremy Hill. He has blond hair and plays trumpet. You remember when his father came over to introduce himself to Tammy at that family get-together? Oh wait... you weren't there, were you? You were too busy playing vigilante with Shade that evening. Too bad. He's a cute catch, if I do say so myself..."

"Don't you even think about toying with..."

"Did you know that Andrew is having trouble with his math class? His teacher, Mrs. Pitchford, says she's worried about his recent drop in grades? You remember, when she met Tammy at the PTA meeting? Oh wait...so sorry, you weren't there. Too busy playing doctor with Ms. Oakman. That's too bad. I'm sure Andrew would have really benefited from your help in something so obviously in your field of expertise."

"That has nothing to do with this! I was trying to protect them!" Tween shouted back, but already his conviction was beginning to wane. He wasn't sure which was worse; the smug tone of her mental voice or the truth behind her words.

"My, how condescending... Never mind that every fireman, policeman, and soldier out there goes through the same risks. Did you know that most of them are married with kids too? And that most of them don't have a problem sharing their lives with their families?"

"That's different!"

"You're right, it is. Their risks are higher than yours, because they don't have any super powers or nano-technology to fall back on."

"Leave me alone!" Tween shouted into the empty air.

"Tell me, Carl, when we got back from that alien world, and I actually let you go, did you even try to get back with your family? Tell Tammy how much you loved her? Tell your kids how much you missed them? Or was it more important to you to go hunting for magic swords."

"That's not the same thing!" Tween denied and shook his head. "I...I was worried that you had some secret commands in my head!" Something about the sword didn't ring true; was that the first time he had seen it?

"So much so that you couldn't even bring yourself to call them on the phone? It is a powerful sword, I suppose. I sure hope it was worth the price."

"And why would you even care? What business did you have with my family? I called Tammy, you... you..." Tween was at a loss for words.

"Simple Carl. I was looking for information I could use to psychologically exploit against you. At least I'm consistent. But in retrospect, I suppose I was wasting my time. Face it Carl. You're a brilliant scientist and a powerful metahuman. But you're a pathetic family man. Don't even try to claim otherwise. The fact that I know more about your family's lives than you says more about the choices that you made than any denial could."

There was a long pause of silence as Tween shook with rage. "I never claimed to be perfect," he coldly whispered. He shook his head and clenched his fist. He desperately wanted to smash something in frustration, but taunting voice didn't give him any outlet for his despair. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Carl screamed as the nano-coating disappeared, and gravity took over. Carl's vision blurred from the wind as he plummeted.

******

"I brought you, Carl," Mindshadow said mentally. "You still have information I want, and I intend to get it."

"Go to hell," Carl looked around the room. "You bitch, just because you have no feelings for anything doesn't mean others don't."

"Temper, temper Carl while there is nothing I can do for your wife, there are things I can do to the child she carries."

"You lie; she wasn't..." Carl retorted.

"Well, another surprise for you on this day of all days," she said with amusement. "I suppose Tammy had to find other ways to satisfy herself..."

"No! She wouldn't do...!" Carl said and was cut off immediately.

"Oh do shut up Carl, you're really starting to annoy me, with your prattling denials and closed mindedness."

Carl swallowed, his anger still fresh. "What do you want?"

"The rest of the information on these anti-meta fools. They have made a big mistake."

"What mistake?" Carl asked tentatively.

"They annoyed me," was the reply.

"What makes you'll do any better than me in finding them?"

"Simple Carl." Mindshadow appeared out of thin air, her armor pulsing with a flickering hypnotic light. The doctors and nurses stood paralyzed as their eyes glazed over, their wills submitting to the visual hypnosis. Carl felt the subliminal signals filtering through his brain, but even that didn't mask his feelings of anger and despair. "Unlike you, my powers can reach all over the world. There's nowhere I can't see, no one I can't destroy with my will. The only thing that allows their continued existence is that they're hiding from me. You have the information to reveal their whereabouts."

"And you think that I would hand that kind of weapon to you?" Carl asked.

"Oh please, this nanovirus is very unimaginative. Athena has already come up with far more devastating weapons under my control. But this nanovirus has more potential for indiscriminate damage if it was released into the general population; damage I don't feel like dealing with at the moment."

Carl paused, then Mindshadow looked over to Tammy. "Very well, I'll sweeten the pot." She casually raised her hand, then Tammy's body began to shudder, then relax as a blob of amniotic fluid phased out and floated in mid-air. "My powers are keeping the child oxygenated and fed. I'm sure that a man of your means will have no trouble finding the technological equivalent."

Carl stared at the floating embryo through the tears, and shook his head as he knew he had no choice. "Fine whatever you want, just send me Wedge when he's done, I'll have him download a copy of everything we have, and have it delivered to Prometheus. Is that acceptable?" he said choking back a sob.

"Of course, Carl," she said and vanished.

Carl looked at his wife, several tears rolling down his face. His emotions flooded out of him in a great sob of pain and anguish. He couldn't help but wonder if he had made the right decision.

******

In related set of news, the Prometheus technology corporation has issued a public statement, stating that they have come up with an effective treatment for the nanoweapon that a branch of the Metahuman Regulation League was using on metahumans. As people remember, two members of Prometheus were shot during an outdoor press-release event only a few days ago, and are currently be held at an undisclosed location for their own safety. CEO Richard Michaels is said to be recuperating and has issued a statement that he has full confidence that he will be returning shortly..."

Carl turned the television off with a feeling of numbness. Behind him, a hastily assembled tank and equipment was monitoring the growth of Tammy's legacy. Whether it was his legacy as well could have been easily confirmed with a DNA test, but Carl didn't have the heart to confront that possibility yet.

More urgently for him, Becky and Andrew were now missing. Andrew had been picked up by an Officer Drummond who worked for the FBI, but according to FBI records he had been in Detroit working on a case. Someone had also snatched Becky and Tween later found out that someone had called her friend Susan's house and had her sent home. It didn't seem Mindshadow's style, but then again he wouldn't have put anything past her. He delivered the information as he had promised but there was no further contact from her. Where had they gone, who had taken them? Then the realization hit him: Shade.
 

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