Heritage

Since they were going to be heading out into the world today, Pol decided to 'go human', trying a new look that she hoped would go well with Eira's style. She 'called ahead' to give her fellow synthetic a heads up.

I'm almost there. I'm the girl with the colorful hair and sunglasses on her head.

Sure enough, a blonde girl with a round, cat-like face and pink highlights waved and grinned as she approached the car. Her black denim jacket was artfully distressed and barely held together with safety pins, and her blue jeans were heavily frayed.

"Hi Eira! Are we off to see the Wizard?"

But then she noticed how much more put together Eira was, and she looked down at her scuffed boots and yelped.

"Oh no, is this not appropriate to wear today? I can obviously change!"

"That sounds freaking awesome," Casey declared as she nodded enthusiastically. "I mean, I've been focusing a lot on school this year, so I might a bit out of date as to who's doing what in Freedom, but I can catch up fast." The idea of being an 'admin' really appealed to her; as a senior in Pi Epsilon Delta, she was already taking a leadership role, something the Girl Scouts had groomed her for as well. Sometimes it was strange to see the First Years looking at her in awe; Miracle Girl was used to it, but it was still new for bookworm Casey.

"So I imagine we're going to need dedicated, secure electronics." She picked up her smartphone and frowned at it. "Jeez, how is that going to work for cellphones? We need the satellites to find us, but not the bad guys."

Normally Lulu at least tried to respect others' mental privacy, but at times like this, she'd just have to apologize later. After scanning the soldier's mind to bypass the language barrier, she reflexively sent a translation to her non-robotic teammates.

-They seem to believe we're heroes, so that's good. All the electrical systems are acting bizarre, and the girl nearly died. They want to us to follow them and evacuate the girl.-

Once they were on the second floor, the telepath had to hold up an arm to shield her face.

"Oh my Lord, we've gone wandered into The Exorcist!"

Lulu sat in silence for a while after Judy spoke, letting the weight of the words sink in. After a few moments, she finally spoke. "Even though our lives were...very different, in a lot of ways, there are two things we have in common. We both had to grow up real fast...and we both had parents who chose what was best for them instead of best for us." She grinned a crooked grin. "Pretty sh###y club to belong to, ah guess, but at least we're in here together, huh?"

The redhead reached out and took Judy's warm hand in her own. "And ah really mean that; if you ever need me, for anythin', ah will come a-runnin', you hear me? As long as ah've got breath in my body, ah'll come." She pointed up towards the sky. "Even if ah need to borrow a spaceship. Hell, steal. Ah'd steal one to come getcha."

Shift was surprised by the sudden hug, for a number of reasons. Eira seemed to find their condition more perilous than they did. The robot put their arms around the other robot, and held the hug for what felt like an appropriate period.

"I appreciate your concern. It will definitely be good to have some backups made, just in case. I also look forward to meeting Miss Americana."

Releasing the hug, Shift rubbed their hands on their pants.

"So do you sleep or have a recharge cycle? I usually go into a power saving mode at night, and think about the previous day."

"Hello, children!" Shift was beaming, clearly delighted to see their eager little faces. "My name is Shift, and I'm a robot! I chose the name Shift because I can change my shape into other things. I can look like a different person-" The millions of tiny nanobots rippled across her form, turning her into Queen Elsa from Frozen. "Or an animal-" She changed again, this time into a small white unicorn with a shimmering mane. "Or even machines!" She changed once more, into a shiny black racing motorcycle!

Shift resumed her original form as a pretty Claremont student, hands on her hips and one eyebrow raised. "Now, what do you want me to turn into?"

Shift was glad that Sebastian was finally gone, but was a bit unsure about the prospect of sports. He rubbed the back of his head and looked rather sheepish. "Uh, my parents, the programmers who made me, weren't very into any sort of sports."

He shrugged apologetically.

"I don't know how to play basketball, but I learn really fast. Also, I weigh over six hundred pounds, so I don't want to damage any facilities. But sure, let's at least head outside!"

"Ah'm ready," Lulu said with a nod, doing her best to hide the goofy smile that wanted to spread across her face; she was both excited by and proud of this responsibility, and she wanted Miss Megan to know she did a good job. 

"And just so y'all know, ah got eyes and ears all over the place; you pull some nonsense, ah'm gonna know."

For Pol, the first day of classes was terribly exciting! True, there was always a bit of awkwardness when he brought his custom-made desk into each classroom and set it up, but once he was settled in, things went very smoothly. It was interesting to see the different levels of interest among his fellow students; some were just as excited as he was, but others clearly struggled to maintain even the appearance of engagement. Pol had to remember that for many of these teens, school, even one as special as Claremont, would always be a chore. They'd been doing it for years because human society expected. As he'd studied their bored, slack faces, he hoped that one day they found something to ignite their passion.

But now, the school day was over and he'd stowed his heavy folding desk in the storage area the school provided him, and Pol was heading back to his dorm. Currently he was expressing a male identity, the tall blonde youth he'd been favoring since the first day, in a plaid shirt, jeans and sneakers. He typically chose a human form during classes to allow his teachers to see his attention and interest in his eyes. In the future, they'd experiment a bit more in terms of identity, depending on how they felt in the morning.

Pol gently knocked on the door before opening it. "Hey, it's Pol. I hope your decent!" He was half-joking, but a bit of extra courtesy early on seemed like a good idea. Noticing the corkboard on the wall, the robot's eyebrows raised. "Oh, are you working on a project? I can help, if you want."

Suddenly Casey's phone buzzed in another belt pouch, and she fished it out to check her messages. The heroine grinned. "Well, speak of the alien!" Her thumbs were a blur as she rapidly texted back.

Hi Daphne! I was just talking with TF about a project she was interested in starting back up, and the first person I thought of was you! Interested?

"Well, ah think in the interest of safety it'd be best to pull our punches, at least initially," said Lulu as she stroked her chin thoughtfully. "At least until we have a better idea of what we're capable of, in terms of powers and abilities. After that, maybe we can talk 'bout takin' the gloves off."

Looking over the assembled teens, she tapped her lower lip. "Well, brother and sister have an advantage either way, seein' as they probably know what each other can do. So fairest thing to to is split 'em up."

After a few seconds, she slowly pointed at Kendra and Tabitha. "Chronia and the Spectacle are the 'bad guys'. They have to protect the bomb, which is set to explode in ten minutes." Then she turned to Leon and Tremayne. "Paper and Sureshock are the 'good guys'. They have to reach the bomb and deactivate it before it goes off."

Lulu turned to Miss Fujimori and shrugged. "How's that sound? Is ten minutes too short, or maybe too long?" Then a thought occured to the telepath, and she laughed and slapped her forehead. "Oh shoot, that's just 'girls versus boys', ain't it? Ah didn't mean to set it up that way, ah was just tryin' to balance powers."

Tagging!

"I've never met anyone from the League," Shift said with a shrug, somewhat puzzled by Eira's extreme reaction. "Although a backup would certainly be nice. The only people I have ever met are my parents. Well, except for one or two others, and of course Headmistress Summers, and everyone here at Claremont."

The robot turned around and smiled. "Could you introduce me to Miss Americana? I think I'd like that."

There was a brief pause, during which Shift was very still. "I have no backups. All the previous hardware upon which I was stored, my crib and my nursery, have been destroyed." Another pause. "My parents didn't want any copies of me to fall in their enemies' hands, so they destroyed their lab. They used fire axes and cannisters of homemade thermite."

A much longer pause.

"They were very thorough." 

The question left the robot perplexed for several seconds, as they began to realize something about themselves. "I don't think I have a self-image right now, or at least not much of a physical one. I existed without a physical body for so long, that in many ways-" Shift stopped abruptly. "No. That isn't true. I do have a self-image, but it is out of date."

"I see the first body Frasier built for me. It is small and rolls around on wheels, like an interplanetary exploration probe. I have several sensors in a turret, and an extendable arm with five axis of movement. I stack wooden blocks into a pyramid. It's the first time I interact with the greater world."

"Is it strange that I don't see this form in my mind's eye, the form that I'm wearing? I have existed for sixteen years, but I still see myself as a child.'

"That is an a-firmative on the 'weird vibes'," Lulu said with a grim nod as she pointed at her temple. "Ah think ah got the same kid in mah head, talkin' about 'good thieves' and 'bad thieves', which may be us? She also said somethin' 'bout 'if you want to stop me, ah'll see you inside'."

The telepath gnawed on her lower lip for a second. "Ah think maybe she's the girl on life support, but ah can't say for sure."

"Yep. I'm definitely retired," said Gretch with a short nod of her head, still scanning away. "I also definitely do not have a police scanner, or read all the city papers or do independent research here at the store. And I absolutely don't leave anonymous tips on the ECPD Crimestoppers Hotline based on said research." Again that hint of a smile. "So there is no way I want to hear anymore about this project of yours."

The bookseller paused to look down at her scanner.

"I have to put this back in my office. You can follow along if you like."

Pol currently had no brow to furrow, but a slight frown touched their lips. "In what sense? If you're referring to my forms of sensory input, I can perceive and  interpret radiation at the visible and infrared portions of the spectrum, as well as a radio waves. I am also capable to increasing visible light input for increased visibility during nocturnal operations."

There was a slight pause, and then Shift's head tilted to one side.

"Or do you mean how do I perceive myself philosophically?"

"As unpleasant as he is, I'm glad no one ended up hitting Sebastian. He would obviously be quick to run to the headmistress and spread more of his lies." Pol stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps it would be best to merely play tricks on him? Perhaps that way he'll have a harder time getting into trouble. Like this!"

The young man dropped to the floor with his hands out, almost as though he was about to some pushups, but instead as he reached the floor, his body turned inside out and reconfigured itself into a a single bed, complete with mattress, bed frame, blankets and pillows. After a few seconds, frightening skeletal arms formed out of the frame and grasped up and around any potential occupant just as the loud blast of a semi truck's horn rattled the room. A few seconds after this shocking display, the bed folded back in on itself and resumed it's humanoid shape, a young man bouncing on his feet with excitement.

"Imagine how much that would scare him," crowed Pol with delight as he rubbed his hands together.

"Oh, I certainly hope so," the synthetic said with a nod. "I will also definitely be careful not to scare the children either, although I think children might be more forgiving of a robot than their parents." It was certainly interesting to see a school for human children! Shift wondered how similar classes would be for them compared to her own. They had to learn a lot of the same things, after all.

It took all of her self-control not to just squeal with excitement as they drew closer to the children.

Casey nodded vigorously. "Oh yeah, I always thought that was a great idea! Maybe it would be best if we started smaller?" The blonde powerhouse pulled a Clif bar out of a belt pouch, and began to eat it with gusto. "Mmm, I'd say start with no more than three people, including us. Then, if the team proves viable after say a year or so, eight months at the least, then we could think about expansion." 

"My vote is for Miss Grue. Actually, I think she's going by 'Ms. Grue' now, which is cool." She frowned slightly. "I've been thinking about a name change, too, actually; Miracle Girl is starting to sound a little 'kids' party'."

Is Lulu detecting the source of the strange voice, or hearing anything for that matter?

"A killer," the telepath stated bluntly. "And ah think it just struck again." Lulu began running after Luke, hoping Muirne was following close behind. She cast her sight ahead of her, overlaying it over her normal vision so she didn't run into anyone. She could search the area in a matter of seconds, but she didn't look forward to whatever she found.

Shift made the smallest of grunting noises as the spike entered her neck. "No, it's fine. In response to your question, I've only met one idiot so far. Sebastian, or as he calls himself, 'Casanova'." Though the robot currently lacked any visible eyes, you could hear the eyeroll in their voice. "He's some sort of mind controller who has the nerve to use his power on his fellow students! As a synthetic, I was thankfully immune to his manipulations. If he continues to act this way, I think he will come to a bad end some day."

There was a brief pause.

"I wish to prank him very badly."

After checking bus schedules on her phone, Lulu headed back to the commercial strip, with it's gas stations and mini-malls; she was quiet, her eyes on the road, and the radio was playing country-western music. Finally she pulled up to a bus shelter and put the SUV in park, then turned to her passenger.

"Well, here you are; the app says the bus should be here in about twenty minutes. You sure this is okay?"