8.2 - From Infamy to More Infamy

The wooden floor creaked as I walked through the light gray hallway, with more Magical artifacts and bookshelves lining the walls.

I saw Madi asleep in another bedroom. Her forehead was wrapped in white bandages.

The sound of chatter drew me downstairs.

I didn't notice at the time, but Elaina's living room was a treasure trove of intricate items and motifs. A mobile of the solar system hung on the ceiling, and there was a large mural depicting runes and an ancient lithograph.

I wandered into the kitchen and found Lin and Marcus sitting at a long dining table. Elaina was flipping pancakes at the stove.

Marcus gestured with his hands as he spoke. “…which is why Ambrigado must have—…uh…”

They both froze as soon as they saw me at the doorway.

I did a slow, friendly wave to them. "H-Hey, guys, uh...what's...up?"

Lin said nothing.

"Hey, Jacen," Marcus answered. "How...are you feeling?"

"Better, more or less."

"All right..." Elaina said as she approached the table with a fresh plate of pancakes. "Eat up, eat up! I'll get the syrup."

"Thanks, Ela," Lin nodded.

"Thank you, Ela," Marcus added.

"Thanks," I said to her.

Elaina took a seat next to me.

The four of us sat in silence for a solid two minutes. I caught Lin staring at me, and I tried to smile at her, but she looked down at her plate.

"So...about our 'guest,'" Marcus spoke to Elaina. "Is he...?"

"Still asleep," she replied. "He'll probably wake up soon."

"Thanks again for getting me and my sister out of there." Marcus took a sip of his orange juice.

"Of course."

Marcus turned to me. "And...thank you, Jacen."

I paused as I raised a forkful to my mouth. "F-…For what...?"

"For taking down Ener-G," Marcus clarified.

"Oh, um, sure, man."

He continued. "We saw what you did, but...I hold nothing against you—"

"Marc," Ela cut him off, and she glanced from me to him.

Marc gave her a look that said to "buzz off" and he focused back to me. "I'm glad to be friends with the strongest Abnormal in the city. I wear that with a badge of honor!"

"Marc!" Elaina furrowed her eyebrows at him, but he shook his head as he continued eating.

"I...um..." I couldn't find anything to say.

"Relax, Mr. Blight,” Lin spoke up. “Vector probably has no idea why you're all giddy about him."

"Oh, right," Marcus shrugged.

"Here, Mr. Hero," Lin took out her phone. "Lemme show you."

"Lin," Elaina said to her. "Not right now, please."

Lin groaned. "Fine, mom. Geez."

"Oi," Elaina raised an eyebrow. "Just eat."

Lin glanced from Elaina to me and grinned.

Suddenly, she leaned forward at me and blurted out. “You’re an online celebrity, Vector!”

“LIN!” Elaina yelled, and she moved her left hand in a short, horizontal motion—as though she were pulling an invisible zipper sideways—and Lin’s mouth closed up.

She leaned back on her chair, grabbing at her mouth to try and pry it open, but Elaina seemed to be “holding” it shut.

“E-Ela,” I raised a hand. “Let her speak...please.”

Elaina glanced at me and sighed. She undid Lin’s mouth.

Lin exhaled and stuck her tongue out at Elaina, before turning back to me.

“What’s this about being a celebrity?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lin beamed. “It’s as—”

“It’s as Lin said,” Marcus interrupted. “You’ve garnered a lot—as in, a LOT—of online support over the past few days after you…defeated Ener-G at the train yard.”

Lin folded her arms. “Man, talk about spoiling the fun!”

“I didn’t,” Marcus shook his head as he ate a pancake slice. “That was just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Anyway, check this out!” Lin raised her phone to me.

She scrolled through her throwaway Stutter account, and in every single post on her feed, there was unanimous praise about my actions at the train yard.

“The Hero of Ave Strata strikes again!” Lin read aloud. “You’re famous!”

“He’s been famous,” Marcus corrected. “Just even more so now. Look, there’s another: ‘Way to show em Vector! Keep it up!’”

“Hmm,” I scanned the posts as Lin scrolled slowly, “Someone asked where I ‘ran off to’ right after that...”

“Mhm,” Elaina nodded. “There’s also been some talk about you getting ‘abducted’ by the Anomaly.”

I blinked. “Huh? Abducted?”

“Yup,” Elaina closed her eyes as she continued eating. “People are saying I stole you for myself.”

Lin smirked. “I meeeean…”

Elaina shot her a look to shut her up.

“Point is,” Marcus continued. “You’ve become a positive symbol for Abnormals. Who knew a guy known as ‘the most infamous’ became an overnight icon!”

I frowned and massaged my temples. “Ugh, why is this my life? One day everyone wants to steer clear of me, now people are praising me for tearing a guy’s arm off.” I sighed. “I think I’m getting famous for the wrong reason.”

“Here ya go,” Lin slid her phone across the table to me. “See for yourself, Mr. Hero.”

I scrolled through her feed some more, and my eyes jumped from post to post as I read them aloud to my friends.

“‘I wanna see him without his hood on!’”

Marcus and Lin cracked up with laughter. Elaina sighed and shook her head.

“‘Has anyone ever seen him with his hood down?!’”

I caught Elaina’s glance at me and continued.

“‘Maybe Abnormals ain’t so bad after all’…‘As long as tey keep each other in check. Guess their fine’…‘Whoa he so fast!’…‘Whats his powers???’…‘Somethin about wind?’…‘Nah can’t be it’…‘Think he’s got a girlfriend?’…‘I volunteer as tribute!’…‘Meh, it’s nothing to feel good about. He shoulda made sure that Abnormal guy was dead’…‘Did Vector even kill him?’…‘What about the hostages??? Does anyone care about them?’…‘Who cares. Weren’t they also Abnormals?’…‘I thought the one girl wasn’t an Abnormal?’”

That took me out of it.

I turned to Elaina. "Hey, Ela, um...H-How’s Sami, um…?”

“She’s fine. She’s upstairs, too. Same room as Madi.”

I relaxed. “O-Okay. Great, I’m glad…I’m glad she’s all right, too.” I exhaled, and continued chewing on my pancakes. Then I blinked and turned to Elaina again. “Oh, I like your place, by the way."

She froze.

Lin snorted and Marc covered his mouth, clearly smiling. They avoided looking at me.

Elaina's face reddened as she looked at me. "Oh, uh, y-you think...so?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

She swallowed. "You…don't think it's a weird crib?"

"Oh, no, it's weird, all right. But I like it. Feels oddly homey."

"Ah, t-thanks."

Lin elbowed Marcus and whispered to him. "Damn, looks like 'Mom' and 'Dad' are gonna get some tonight."

Marcus laughed while he chewed.

Elaina balled her right fist and punched a firebolt at Lin with her left. "You damn brat!"

Lin casually dodged the attack with a smile, and the firebolt exploded into nothing as soon as it passed her head. She took one last sip of her apple juice and excused herself. "Aight! Back to work!"

"Thanks for the food," Marcus said. "I'll uh—ahem!—I'll just join Lin at her desk over there!"

Elaina and I were left alone at the table.

"Hey," I said to her.

"Hm?" she chewed.

"Do you...really believe Isah and Anya exist?"

Elaina swallowed. "I do."

"Huh..."

Elaina drank from her glass of milk. "Why the random question? I thought you don't buy into that 'hocus-pocus' nonsense, right?"

I met her eyes, feeling a bit hurt by that comment. She ate her last pancake slice.

"I...I wouldn't say that, no."

Her chewing slowed to a stop. "You mean...you wouldn't say that about yourself now?"

"Yeah."

Elaina wiped her mouth with a napkin and collected everyone's plates and glasses.

"Hey, Ela?"

She turned to me. "Hm? Yeah?"

"Can we...talk for a sec, ah...in the living room or wherever when you're done?"

She raised her eyebrows.

I continued. "There's, um...something else I wanna talk to you about...about the other night."

"Sure," she nodded. "Meet me in the study room. I'll clean these up real quick."

"Okay."

I pushed everyone else's wooden chairs in and left the kitchen.