Adrian broke into a loaf of bread, releasing a cloud of steam. His expression was distant as he said, “It seems to me like he’s been trying to help people. What about what you guys did, back in the Age of Anarchy?”
Hugh and Simon both tensed and Nova sensed this was not the first time they’d had this conversation.
“There were no rules to follow back then,” said Simon. “The code authority didn’t exist. We did what we had to do to stop the villains who were running the city. But imagine if we still operated that way. If every prodigy out there went around doing whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, all in the name of justice. It wouldn’t take long for everything to fall apart. Society simply doesn’t function that way, and neither can we.”
Nova bit the inside of her cheek. She agreed on some level—society did need rules and consequences.
But who had elected the Council to make those rules?
Who got to decide what punishments should be doled out for breaking them?
“We know there’s been a lot of controversy over the Sentinel’s actions,” said Hugh. “Good or bad, helpful or harmful. But the fight at the shipyard shows that he’s not … entirely stable. He needs to be found and stopped.”
“Neutralized, you mean,” Adrian said, his jaw tight.
“If it comes to that,” said Hugh. “The rise of the Sentinel is a good example of how important it is to keep the prodigy population under control. We need to ensure that the villains of this world will never be able to rise to power again. I know there’s some … uncertainty about Agent N going around the ranks, but we can’t have prodigies wielding their power without any restrictions.”
“Speaking of, you know who that Sentinel guy reminds me of?” said Simon, and Nova had the distinct impression he was changing the subject to avoid an argument. He gestured toward Adrian with his fork and Adrian sucked in a quick breath. “That comic you wrote when you were a kid. What was it called? Rebel X? Rebel…”
“Rebel Z!” said Hugh, his expression brightening. “I’d forgotten all about that. You’re right, the Sentinel does sort of look like him, doesn’t it?”
Adrian’s fork hung a few inches from his mouth. “You know about that?”
“Of course we do. There was that one summer when you hardly worked on anything else.”
“Yeah, but … I didn’t think you’d actually seen it. I … I’m pretty sure I never showed anyone…”
Hugh and Simon had the decency to appear embarrassed. Hugh shrugged. “We may have peeked through them when you weren’t looking. We couldn’t help it! You were so focused and you wouldn’t tell us anything. We were dying to know what it was.”
“And they were great!” Simon said, as if his enthusiasm would soothe over the little issue of privacy invasion. “Did you ever finish them?”
Adrian lowered his fork and twirled it through the spaghetti again, his shoulders tight. “I got through three issues, then lost interest. It definitely wasn’t great. I’m surprised you even remember it.”
“I thought it was fantastic,” said Simon.
“I was eleven, and you’re my dad. You have to say that.”
“I always wondered if Rebel Z might have been partly inspired by yours truly,” Hugh said with a wink.
“He wasn’t,” Adrian deadpanned.
“Ah, well. Can’t blame your old man for hoping.”
“What are we talking about?” Nova interjected.
“Nothing,” said Adrian, at the same time Simon answered, “A comic book Adrian started years ago. About this superhero who had … some sort of biological tampering done, wasn’t it?”
Heaving a sigh, Adrian explained, without much zeal, “It was about a group of twenty-six kids who were abducted by an evil scientist and subjected to a bunch of tests trying to turn them into prodigies, but only the twenty-sixth kid survived the testing. He turned himself into a superhero and made it his mission to seek revenge against the scientist and all his cronies. And later there was going to be a big government conspiracy involved, but I never got that far.”
“Sounds good,” said Nova, only partly teasing, because it was clear how uncomfortable this conversation had made him. She wanted to sympathize, even if it didn’t seem like anything to be upset about. A comic book made years ago—who cared? But then, she’d always hated when Leroy wanted to see her inventions before they were ready to be shared, so maybe she understood after all. “Can I read it?”
“No,” he said. “I’m pretty sure it got thrown away.”
“I don’t think so,” said Hugh. “I think it’s in a box in the office somewhere, or maybe in storage.”
Adrian cast him a look even colder than Frostbite’s icicles.
“Well, if you ever stumble across it, I’d love to see,” she said.
Simon cleared his throat, and Nova could sense him about to change the subject again before Adrian decided to never bring another girl to dinner. “Nova,” he started, dabbing his mustache with a napkin, “how are things going in weapons and artifacts? Did you ever find … what you were looking for?”
Nova aimed for innocence as she said, “What do you mean?”
“I figured part of your motive for applying to the department had something to do with your interest in Ace Anarchy’s helmet.”
Though Nova’s heart felt like it would jump out of her skin, Simon seemed nothing but jovial as he turned to Hugh. “You should have seen her with the replica. She took one look at it and knew it was a fake. I was impressed.” He grinned at her. “Have they shown you the real one yet?”
Pushing her food around, she said, “They showed me the box it’s in.”
Simon nodded. “I hope seeing it for yourself was a relief. You didn’t seem convinced when I said we had it well protected.”
Nova glanced at Adrian, and she knew they were both thinking of the conversation they’d had during the Sidekick Olympics. She kept her face neutral as she prompted, “Are you sure?”
Hugh guffawed.
“Now, don’t you go getting me into trouble,” Adrian muttered.
“What?” said Hugh. “What are you talking about?”
“Just that Adrian thinks he might be able to get into it, if he tried.”
“Ha! Adrian? No. Nice thought.” Hugh stuck a forkful of pasta into his mouth, as if the conversation were over.
“I obviously haven’t tried,” said Adrian. “But I think it’s possible.”
“How would you do it?” said Simon.
“Draw a door on it?”
“A door!” Hugh chuckled. “Please. That’s…” He hesitated, his brow creasing just slightly. “That would never work. Would it?”
They all exchanged uncertain looks.
Nova took a drink of water, avoiding eye contact so they wouldn’t see her budding urgency. “It doesn’t really matter. Adrian is never going to try to get that helmet. But it does bring up an interesting point. There are so many prodigies, with so many abilities. How do you know the box is infallible if you’ve never challenged anyone to get inside? It’s just a box.”