Sandra’s Speculations

As Nick was readying himself to go home, Sandra walked up to his locker and told him they needed to talk. Nervously he agreed, grabbed what he needed for homework, and slammed the door shut, turning to face her curiously.

She shook her head: “Not here; outside. Maybe you could walk me home?”

It was close to a mile to her house, but not as far as it was to his. “Sure,” he said after a moment’s thought. “Maybe we could stop somewhere on the way for a drink and a snack.”

“Yeah, sure,” she said, but it was clear her mind was elsewhere.

As soon as they were off of the school property and nobody was close by, she asked: “Have you, ah, talked to your parents?”

“Actually, yeah, dad texted me just before last period. They planned to take me to dinner but would be happy to have you come along. We might be late getting to the dance, but should be able to do both,” he replied.

She brightened a bit at this. “Sounds great,” she said. Though she looked excited, it was clear something was bothering her. She looked around nervously, saw that they were on a street that had light foot traffic and that nobody was paying attention to the two teenagers. “Nick,” she said quietly, and a little nervously, “last night, after I got home, I couldn’t sleep so I started reading some of dad’s old comic books.”

Nick had no clue where this was heading, so just nodded his head.

“Did you know that there have been five Ultimate Warriors, and there are currently two in the books?”

“I stopped reading shortly after the first one, Astronaut Hugh O’Neil, was dying and transferred the power to, ah, Shin Kenjiro, I believe it was?” Nick replied after some thought.

“That’s right - that was also about when dad moved from writer to line editor. After Kenjiro, it was Olaf Sigmund who gained the power. Currently it’s split between two people, a man and a woman, who are stronger when they work together but just do not get along, archeologist Dale Warren and test pilot Michael Shin, grandson of Shin Kenjiro. But the thing is, the power always has to bond to a human to be usable, right?” Sandra said. There was something in her eyes that made Nicholas uneasy.

“I guess so,” he replied.

“Nick. Tell me, please, be honest - are you Protector?” she said after a slight pause.

He stopped walking. “What? Where is this coming from?”

She glanced around again. “In the comics, whenever the current, let’s call it a host, for the Ultimate Warrior power needs to change form, he - or she, now - comes up with some lame excuse to explain his disappearance and why he never sees the hero. ‘Oh, I must have been hit on the head by a piece of debris,’ ‘I dropped my phone down a sewer grate and was fishing it out,’ ‘I was trying to get to a shelter through the back alley when he saw me and flew me to safety…’” She was looking directly into his eyes as she said the latter. “You have gone missing both times he appeared, the first time in that hidden room under the automotive factory, and this last time you left the shake shop and just disappeared until it was over. Please, be honest with me.”

Nick wanted to lie, wanted to come up with something brilliant to deflect her questions, or do something to change the subject. But there was something in her eyes, in the earnestness of her pleas, that made him pause and think hard before answering: “Yes. You are correct.”

She opened her mouth as if to speak, closed it, opened it again and then laughed. “So, I did not waste half the night reading that stuff!”

Nicholas found himself laughing at this too.

She soon composed herself and said: “Can… can you show me how you do it?”

“We’ll need to find a place without cameras, first,” he said.

She nodded, her brain apparently moving faster than the conversation. “Peter might be able to figure it out, but I doubt anyone else will - and if we work together, we might both be able to keep everyone in the dark,” she said.

“I had not considered that,” Nick replied.

“Nicholas,” Sensei’s voice came in his head, “This may be a good idea or might not. That alley up ahead, between the lighting store and the music hall, only has one camera and I can access it once we are within twenty feet to block the feed.”

“Thank you,” he thought back at his unseen partner.

“I think there might be a good spot in that alley over there,” Nick said, pointing where Sensei had suggested. He led Sandra into the dark passage, looked around to see that there was nobody to observe them, and received an “all clear” message from Sensei.

He turned to face Sandra, and then reached back and tapped the base of his neck.

Sandra’s jaw dropped, and she clapped her hands together. In what was meant as a whisper, but her excitement made her say it a bit louder than she intended, she exclaimed: “That is SO cool! That liquid metal effect is awesome!”

“That it is,” he said.

Sandra looked puzzled for a moment: “Are you trying to say something? I heard a muffled sound but could not hear any words. Ah! Ultimate Warrior can only talk to others of his kind or the monsters, so maybe you have that limitation too?”

He nodded and tapped the back of his neck again. The armor retreated and he said: “Yeah, I do seem to have that problem. Lord Kao could talk to me, though - it was really weird.”

“Did it seem to have a name for you?”

“No, it just kept calling me ‘the Prototype’.” Nick admitted.

“‘Protector’ sounds a LOT better than Prototype!” Sandra replied, smiling.

Nick had to agree with her on that.

“So how do you learn what you can do? I mean I have not seen anything like those blasters on Protector’s arms in the comics.” Sandra asked.

“I think we should hold off on this until we are somewhere indoors,” Nicholas replied.

Sandra looked like she was about to say something more, but then raised one eyebrow, and nodded. She then reached out, took his hand, and led him back out of the alley. Once outside, she slowed her pace so that they were walking together, but still holding hands. Nick wondered how such a simple thing could feel so nice.

His musings were cut short when she stopped and looked at him. “I could use a soda and some fries, you know.”

They were standing outside of a shop that sold junk food. Historical records suggested it was part of a chain of such shops and bore a different name before the Collapse and Restructuring, but now it was just The Golden M. Nick nodded and opened the door with his free hand. She slipped past him and walked up to the counter. There were a few kids that both of them recognized as from school, but who neither of them really knew scattered around in small groups, as well as a couple with an infant in a carrier and a small child running around their table, occasionally taking breaks to grab food.

Nick laughed at the child’s antics for a moment, until he heard Sandra ordering. He stepped up to the counter, took out his City Cash Card, and said: “A second cola, and an apple egg roll for me.”

“Sir, we call them ‘apple pies’,” the clerk behind the counter said.

“Right. But I call them what they are. Either way, you know what I am ordering, right?”

The kid - maybe a year younger than Nick, sighed, took his card and rang up the order.

“Did your mom up your allowance?” Sandra asked.

“She said she was going to when I mentioned taking you to the dance,” he responded. “Also, she added to my list of chores for the weekend.”

Sandra laughed. That was so like his mother. Hers was a little less strict, but the two women were a lot alike. It was no wonder they had been best friends all their lives, until their adult careers kept them apart increasingly more often.

They got their food and sat down at one of the smaller tables. She insisted on sharing the fries.

Nick simply ate his ‘eggroll’ and sipped on his soda. In between bites of fries, Sandra kept looking over at him and smiling. She could almost forget how strange the last two days had been - here she was with a boy she had known all her life and had been ‘crushing on’ for close to a year, and it all felt so normal and right. The few times he looked up, their eyes met and they both blushed and looked away.

Then he reached for the last fry just as she did. Their hands touched and they looked at each other and laughed. “You take it,” he said, trying to pull back, but she snapped the crispy potato in half, and gave him the slightly larger bit. “No, we share,” She declared, smiling. For the second time, well, ever really, he let himself notice just how pretty she was, and he realized he felt really lucky to be here, with her.

He returned her smile, and said: “Let’s get you home, hmm?”

“Yeah. Say,” a sudden thought struck her, “do you play backgammon? Janet finds it really boring so we could probably have a game or two in peace to talk until my mom gets home and can drive you to your place.”

“Dad taught me several years ago. I’m not very good, but it sounds like fun,” he stated, rising from his seat. She also stood and he walked over to the door, opening it for her. He then saw the family with the two kids heading that way and paused to hold the door for them. The mother thanked him profusely while the father just nodded and tried to keep control of his older kid. As the four got into an old-style fuel cell car, Nick had a brief thought: “could that be Sandra and me in a few years?”. He quickly banished the thought. Life was too chaotic to think that far ahead, and they both had plans for college first anyway.

A few minutes later they were walking into Sandra’s house. The garage door was open and there was a car parked there that Nick did not recognize. “Dad’s home!” Sandra exclaimed. “Did not expect him for a few hours!”

She hurried to the door, and Nick followed a little more sedately. The door opened as she waved her ID card in front of it, and Janet was just walking past inside. “Did you bring your BOYfriend over again?” She asked.

Nick dropped down to one knee and looked her in the eye: “Why, yes, she did,” he said in as flat a tone as he could manage.

Janet’s eyes widened. “Are you two going to be… kissing?” She asked.

Nick smiled at Sandra and then replied: “we had not planned to, but if you would like to watch, maybe…”

“EWWW!!!! No!” The little girl cried out and turned to run… right into her father’s leg.

William Cummings held out a hand in welcome. “Nicholas Sato - nice to see you in the flesh today. Have not seen you in person since late, ah, June, I think it was. Our first barbecue of the season.”

“Sounds right Mister Cummings,” Nick replied, shaking the offered hand. “We were out of town for the second one and the other one was on Mom’s birthday, so we went to her favorite restaurant instead.”

“Ah, that explains it. Well, do you two kids need anything? Snacks? A ride home?”

“We were going to play a game or two of backgammon and then see about getting Nick home,” Sandra said.

“Ah, backgammon. Made a lot of… beer money in college from that game. If either of you need pointers, give me a shout out. Otherwise, have fun,” he replied, waving them towards the game room.

They both thanked him, and Sandra showed Nick to the game room as William headed off to a different part of the house. “This is the one room we do not have cameras in,” she said as they entered the room in question. “Well, other than the bathrooms. Mom has meetings here when security is important.”

Nick wandered around admiring their game collection and making notes of ones he might like to play on other visits while she set up the board. Then she walked over with her hands closed. “Left or right?”

He tapped her left hand. She opened it and handed him a black checker. “So, I'm white and you’re black this time,” and showed him where to sit. As he did so, she set the “doubling cube” to two and passed him the regular dice. He took the dice, and she said; “Now, I was asking about how you learned what you can do … uh, in that other suit?”

He smiled, shook the dice, moved two pieces, and heard “Touch the back of her hand,” from Sensei.

Nick reached over with the dice, but then took her hand in his before dropping them into her upraised palm

Both of them clearly heard: “Hello Sandra. Nick calls me Sensei.”

She yelped, pulled back her hands, and the dice fell down to the table.

Her dad came running into the room. “Everything OK?" He asked, worried.

“Oh, uh, Nick just made a move that surprised me,” Sandra managed. Seeing her dad’s expression start to get menacing she quickly added: “in the game! A move in the game, Dad!”

William glanced over at Nick, back at his daughter, nodded and said: “Keep it that way. Your mom just called, and she’ll be home in twenty minutes. And then I can take Nick home.”

“Sounds good, sir,” Nick agreed. Mister Cummings gave him a careful gaze, smiled at his daughter, and left the two of them alone.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Sandra leaned over and asked: “What WAS that? It seemed to talk directly to my mind?”

Nick answered: “As it said, I call it Sensei, though I think it is what they called ‘The Prototype’ - it seems to be an Artificial Intelligence of some sort “

*I can see where that would be helpful,” Sandra mused. “Well, my turn is over,” and she passed the dice back.

After a short while, they finished the game - Nick still had three pieces on the board and had just barely avoided a gammon - when Senator Cummings came home. She greeted both of her daughters, said hello to Nick and then headed in to the kitchen to check on dinner.

“That is our cue, Mister Sato,” William said, following in his wife’s wake. “Let’s get you home. And we have a few things to talk about, I think.”