“Yes, but to make an outfit in a single morning is pretty impressive.”
“Less than you think,” she stated, “in light of the fact that Caelesian clothing material is really more like malleable high-tech gear.”
“Ahhh,” I droned in an enlightened manner as I remembered the “mood clothing” she’d worn a few nights ago. “Regardless, you did a great job.”
“Thanks,” she said, beaming. “Well, now you know how my morning went. How was yours?”
“It had peaks and valleys,” I remarked, and then went into detail about everything that had happened.
Myshtal listened attentively to what I said, seeming to absorb every word. When I was done bringing her up to speed, she looked at me with a worried expression.
“This double you have seems crafty,” she said. “Do you think he’ll try to fool me?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think he’d risk it. You spend a lot of time around my family, and they can read minds. Approaching you probably brings him too close to their proximity. I don’t think you’re in any danger.”
“I wasn’t particularly troubled about being in harm’s way,” she said. “I was more worried that he might somehow get information from me that could be used against you.”
“Oh,” I muttered, a little surprised. “Well, thanks. I appreciate the concern.”
“No problem,” she assured me. “So what happens now?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I’ll probably go by League HQ to see if Mouse has come up with anything.”
“League HQ?” she repeated, sounding excited. “Where I’ll be staying?”
“Yeah, although you’ll actually only be there part-time,” I stated. And then I was hit with a sudden inspiration.
“How’d you like to see it?” I asked. “Your future room, that is.”
“I’d love to,” she declared with a grin.
*****
As Myshtal was essentially ready to go, I teleported us within seconds of her expressing a desire to see her quarters. Once at HQ, I did a little running around (i.e., called Mouse) to find out exactly where she’d be staying. Once that info was in hand, we made our way to her new digs.
Upon reaching her door, I quickly realized I’d been neglectful in at least one area: we didn’t have a key to get in. That, however, barely qualified as an impediment. I phased the door, and we walked inside.
Much to my surprise, Myshtal was incredibly excited about her quarters and eagerly went through the place, eyeballing everything like a kid in a candy store. Based on her enthusiasm, you would never have guessed that she had closets as big as a house back on Caeles. I suppose that it was a lot like someone going off to college: their dorm room might be smaller than the room they had at home, but there’s a certain thrill to being in a new place, being around different people, and adjusting to an unknown environment.
I, on the other hand, didn’t get particularly excited initially. If my count was correct, this was the third teen suite that I’d visited in the past few hours. Even were that not the case, I was so thoroughly familiar with the teen quarters at this juncture that I could probably find my way through them blindfolded. I knew the layout, had a good idea of how they were furnished, and so on. In short, one would think that – with respect to me – any novelty associated with staying at Alpha League Headquarters had long since worn off.
That said, the opposite actually turned out to be true. Just looking at the room where she’d be staying made Myshtal wildly elated, and her mood was infectious. Before long, I was almost as enthused as she was about her taking up residence at HQ.
Her animated disposition continued after we finished looking over her new place, spilling over into a desire to see the rest of the facilities. With nothing else to do, I took her on a leisurely tour of Alpha League Headquarters.
Being a teleporter and a speedster, it normally doesn’t take me very long to get where I’m going. However, one of the overlooked faults of having those talents is that you often lose awareness of things like space and distance. That had apparently happened to me, because as I began walking around with Myshtal, I garnered a newfound appreciation for just how sizeable HQ was. From the helipad on the roof to the training facilities to the rec area (which housed a pool and a weight room, among other things), the sheer number of amenities housed under one roof made it clear that the place was enormous – a fact that I should have remained cognizant of.
On her part, Myshtal seemed fascinated by every part of the tour. Naturally, there were some things that I didn’t show her, like Command Central and Mouse’s lab – the former because it was the room that basically controlled all of Headquarters, and the latter because Mouse was probably working (and I didn’t want him distracted from the issue of my evil twin).
All in all, the tour took a couple of hours, with us finishing up in the teen lounge. At that point, some of my peers had started showing up, which meant that school was out. I waved to a couple of them as I guided Myshtal to a table, and then – remembering that we had pretty much skipped lunch – I ran to the kitchen area to see what kind of goodies were on hand. After a quick review of what was available, I settled for a couple of bottles of water, some bananas, and a few power bars. As I was heading back, I saw that Smokey had joined Myshtal at our table.
“Hey,” I said to him as I reached the table and set down the food and water. “You want anything? I can just head back–”
“No, I’m good,” he firmly stated. “But thanks for asking.”
“I just took Myshtal on a tour of the place,” I said as I sat back down.
Turning to her, Smokey asked, “So
