The air was brisk as I walked, and I felt the breeze cut through my clothes like a blade. I had become used to my suit protecting me from the weather, and as I walked without it, I felt exposed. I trudged with a quickened pace towards the park, pausing every now and then to listen, in case the normal noises of the night were merely the disguise for something sinister.
Yet the streets were void of visible danger, and the only sounds that hinted at peril were that of distant helicopters searching for my alter ego. I found this troublesome, especially considering the events of the night.
I kept my pace as my thoughts wandered and reminsinqued about the day. First the appearance of the guards had caught me off guard, then the almost perfect framing of me, and lastly the stolen officer ID. The first two circumstances were without a doubt in my mind created by the Automaton. The stolen ID however, seemed below his normal schemes, which left me with questions. Questions that could unfortunately only be answered by research and surveillance, something I couldn’t do in my civilian form without drawing unwanted attention to myself.
I sighed in exasperation at my predicament. I would probably have to lie low for a few days, or at least keep my nightly escapades to a minimum, I thought to myself as I reached the park. I glanced down at my watch, checking that I was in the right location before eyeing my surroundings. When I saw no one I uncloaked my parked car, and walked over, pulling open the drivers door. I blinked in surprise for a second at the sight of my grandfather sitting behind the wheel.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as I walked around the car. “It’s not safe for you to be out at night.”
“Hogwash. If you’re out here at night then I can be too.” My grandfather huffed, as I ducked into the car. I sighed as I clipped myself in.
“Besides,” He glanced at me as he turned on the engine. “You owe me a great deal of explanations.”
“Can it wait till we’ve returned home?” I inquired, as my grandfather drove the car away from the park.
“You can tell me now, on the way home.” He argued. “With the amount of things that have happened today, I feel it is of the utmost importance that I know what in heaven's name has you so spooked.”
“Who said I was spooked?” I questioned him, as the car turned quietly down another street.
“Your computer, believe it or not. Now explain yourself, so I can tell if this is serious enough of a problem to come out of retirement.”
My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, “you're not seriously suggesting that you put on a suit again.”
He chuckled, “I was just as, if not more, effective than you are at keeping this city safe.”
“But you're almost ninety years old, not only would it be unsafe for you, it would be down right reckless.” I blurted, still barely able to wrap my head around the idea.
“I’ll be fine, I know everyone there, or their fathers at least. Besides I’d be removed from any situation ‘too dangerous for humans’ and be replaced by one of those Security Bots they have now.”
I wanted to argue, I wanted to keep him from doing this, but I couldn’t. It was too perfect, not only would he be able to try and convince them I was being framed, but he’d get access to the files I needed to analyze. The more I thought about it the more I realized, it was way too perfect, frighteningly so.
“Alright, fine.” I sighed, accepting the situation. “But only if you allow me to monitor everything from home.”
“Switching roles now are we?” My grandfather chuckled at this. “It’s a deal. I’ll see how fast I can get back out there. In the meantime though I think it’s best that you get a good night's rest as soon as possible.”
I open my mouth to protest this suggestion, but he cuts me off quickly as he navigates the car up the long drive to our house.
“I know that there is probably a lot you want to research and look into.” He glances over at me, noticing my displeasure. “I assure you, you’ll have lots of time to do that tomorrow. After you take a nap. I don’t want you pulling the waiting till a minute after midnight again.”
“I’m not as young as I used to be.” I commented as he pulled the car to a stop. “I can make decisions on my own.”
“Oh I’m well aware.” He says. “Your decision making process is rather boyish, and frankly unhealthy.”
“I’ll rest tonight. Then tomorrow I’m getting down to business.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For probably one of the first times since I started my career path, I found myself waking up after seven in the morning. Which was about an hour later than I was used to waking up at, hence why I was so disoriented when I went to check the news. It was probably also the reason why I wasn’t expecting for the main hallways and rooms to be spotless.
“Sir, are you alright?”
Turning around, I was able to spot Charles, one of the butlers, standing behind me. “Yeah, just a bit disoriented, normally I get up before you're finished cleaning.”
“I see,” he handed me a package, “this arrived for you last night.”
I took it and studied the package, not seeing a name on it, “Any idea who this is from.”
“I believe it's from Master Leo.”
“Really. How's he doing down in the carribeans?”
“He says everythings going great, though he did ask if we had found anything relating to your father, so I’m not so sure it is.”
I sighed, we’d never found anything regarding our father, and Keith was very sensitive about the subject. That had never stopped Leo however, from doing his absolute best to try and find even a crumb of information regarding him and our mother.
The box was a lot heavier than I expected it to be, so it was a surprise when it turned out that he had sent me a puzzle box. Knowing Leo, whatever was inside the puzzle box wouldn’t make any sense until he actually told me what it was. So of course, it was a key, with a note reading “Don’t Lose!”.
“Would you like me to keep that for you sir?”
I held out the key for him, “Sure, though I don’t know how long you're going to have to hold on to it for.”
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