Before I knew what I was doing, I dashed over and gave him a fierce hug, which he returned. Then I stepped back, and looked him all over, still surprised by what I saw. Now I understood the odd response I’d received when I’d asked about seeing him, and perhaps what my family had been so excited about the night before.
“When did this happen?” I asked.
He winked. “You should know the answer to that. This is your handiwork.”
Of course! I’d almost forgotten: when I had healed Queen Dornoccia back on Caeles, she had actually grown younger as a result. The same thing had apparently happened to Gramps.
“So what does this mean?” I asked. “Are you putting on a cape again?”
“Ha!” my grandfather barked sharply. “No, your grandmother and I lost a lot of good years. In a way, this gives us a chance to get those back, and I’m not going to squander it. Besides, I think the world’s in good hands with this new generation of capes.”
With that, he gave me another wink and clapped me on the shoulder.
*****
I spent the next couple of hours at the embassy, first talking to Gramps, and then everyone else as they trickled down for breakfast. As I’d suspected, my grandfather’s rejuvenation was why everyone had felt excited the night before, but they’d decided to let me be surprised. (Needless to say, they all laughed when Gramps told them my reaction upon seeing him.)
We were all having fun – it seemed like forever since we’d simply been able to enjoy one another’s company without some issue hanging over our heads – but before long, it was time for me to meet Mouse. That being the case, I quickly said goodbye to everyone and teleported.
I popped up in the lab, where Mouse and BT were already waiting on me.
I thought we’d immediately launch into a discussion, but instead they had me put on an electrode cap (which, as the name implied, looked much like a swim cap with a bunch of electrodes attached to it).
“This has been slightly modified,” BT said as I donned the cap as requested. “It’s going to give us an idea of your synaptic patterns.”
“I thought you guys already had that info,” I stated. “Isn’t that what you got from my Caelesian crown?”
“We’re just trying to confirm,” Mouse replied. “It’ll take a few minutes to get any useful data.”
“That’s fine,” I declared. “In the meantime, can we talk about yesterday?”
Mouse nodded. “That’s the plan. Where would you like to start?”
“The neural blocker,” I replied. “Jack lost his powers but I didn’t. Why not?”
“Let’s come back to that later,” Mouse suggested.
“Fine,” I acquiesced. “Let’s move on to the nullifier. What happened to it?”
“You have to understand a little about the configuration first,” BT began. “Each of the four corner skyscrapers housed part of the nullifier equipment. For power, we hooked them into the electrical systems of their respective buildings.”
“Unfortunately, one of the buildings had an older power grid,” Mouse said. “There was a short that caused a power surge, which in turn caused the nullifier equipment in that building to turn on. However, because all of the nullifier components were synced, the entire thing switched on.”
“That’s when you told me to veer off,” I surmised.
“Right,” Mouse acknowledged. “I figured you could do without the experience of zipping around skyscrapers and then losing the power of flight.”
I merely nodded, as this was the same thought that had occurred to me when the event actually happened the day before. (Also left unsaid, but coming to mind unbidden, was how things had ended for Jack.)
“What followed next is pretty much elementary,” BT declared.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Jack’s precognition allowed him to see the nullifier threat, so he took out part of the equipment with his Bolt Blast.”
“And with only three-fourths of the necessary equipment, I couldn’t get a fully functional nullifier,” Mouse admitted. “No matter how hard I tried.”
“Well, it worked out for the best,” I noted. “And I even developed a new power.”
“So I heard,” BT said. “How exactly did that come about?”
I launched into a quick overview of Jack’s heightened sense of smell and how it played a role in the advent of two Jims.
“Basically, I was trying to leave a portion of myself behind while at the same time go somewhere else,” I explained. “The end result was that there ended up being two of me – one in each desired location.”
“If you don’t mind satisfying my personal curiosity,” BT added, “was there any issue in controlling two bodies?”
I understood BT’s interest in that aspect of my new power. As part of a hive mind, she was actually only one component in a network of clones, all being controlled by a single consciousness. It was only natural that she wonder how things worked for others in a similar situation.
“There was no issue whatsoever,” I confirmed. “It took me a second to realize what had happened, but after that, everything felt completely natural. Controlling two bodies was substantially no different than being able to control your right and left hand.”
Mouse shook his head in mock derision. “Man, with all these clones and copies running around, we’re going to have to change your name to Kid Replication.”
We both laughed at that – but only momentarily, as BT put us both back on point.
“Any side effects?” she asked.
“No,” I initially reported, and was about to shake my head for emphasis when a crucial fact came back to me. “Uh, wait. There was something. When the two Jims came back together, I was completely ravenous – hungrier than I can ever recall.”
“Hmmm,” BT mused.
“What are you thinking?” Mouse asked her.
“The type of replication Jim manifested is incredibly rare,” BT responded. “There are only one or two documented cases. But what Jim’s describing in terms of hunger is consistent with what’s been reported before. In essence, the copies, if we can call them that, are all connected to a single core. For instance, they’ll draw energy
