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Cover Artwork is copyrighted by the author, whofor some odd reason seems to feel the undying need

to create his own illustrations and designs.

2010. All rights reserved.

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T.O.A.D.Volume 6

The Grasp

By Keegan Hennis

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I love my family.

My sweet wife supports me,

My smart son and daughter inspire me,

On to excellence.

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This book is part of a series, written in

chronological order. Pick them up out of order andyou may become confused or frustrated by the

story.

T.O.A.D.The Fall

The RiseThe Run

The Push

The ReachThe Grasp

The Pull

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There are many other series and single

books by Keegan Hennis.

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1Lenny woke before his alarm would have

sounded. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. A few

more seconds sitting in his bed and he stood on thefloor of his bedroom, stretching. Quick thinking

and he turned off his alarm clock before it might tryto chirp. A casual glance over to the other side ofhis bed and he felt confident that he wouldnt be

missed in the coming minutes. His wife snored

softly on her pillow.It was a cute snore, a soft one that told the

listener, I am a lady. Though she claimed to not

snore, and Lenny had often considered recording

her nocturnal rumbles for evidence, he let herbelieve that she didnt. Because really, what

productive benefit could come from the end of that

conversation?Lenny softly walked into their bathroom and

closed the door. He left the light off, knowing the

place by heart, not wanting the light that leaked

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under the door to disturb his sweetheart. She had

been up most of the night leg pain. It would be niceif she could get at least another hour of

unconsciousness.

In his morning shower, he stood for a few

extra minutes in the hot water, knowing that when itturned off, hed have to face it again. It waited for

him outside the fortress. It haunted the hallways asfar as it dared. It seemed to give no quarter in its

assault of those that dared to leave the comfort of

their beds. The unthinkable cold stalked the islandand its residents.

The recent cold snap that had plagued his

people for days, and seemed to have no rhyme or

reason came from the south, their weather datashowed, with no sign of warming again until the

seasons changed. It was an unseasonal change, withstill several weeks left in their plans before the rainsstarted again. Here, the mercury threatened to let

their first snows fall on the island since the residents

had arrived years before.Snow on tropical pacific islands wasnt

unheard of, but it was rare enough to be thought

impossible for the long stretches in between its

sightings. Consequently, the residents werent fullyprepared for it. The only outer clothes that could

help them were their rain jackets, but the insulation

in them did little to stave off the unwelcome chill.True the temperature still hovered around

the low forties, but in the time they had lived in

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their paradise homes, it had never before dipped

below 55 degrees.Lenny manned up and turned off the water

and stepped from the glass panels to towel off.

Thought the temperature seldom changed in the

fortress located a dozen feet below the sand, it stillfelt just a few ticks colder to those that chose to

notice it.Lenny stepped into his dressing room, off

the bathroom and also connected to the bedroom.

He pulled a pair of long pants from the neat stackon his shelf, a button-up shirt from a hanger on his

side of the closet bar and a pair of socks from their

bin on a lower shelf.

He dressed in his chosen outfit and thenlaced his leather belt through the loops at his waist.

Then he put his keys and wallet case and othernormal pocket tools into their places on his person.When it came time to take his phone from the

charger, he double checked to make sure it was set

to silent before it left the cradle. Otherwise it madea sound when removed from the contacts and Lenny

wanted his beloved to sleep just a bit longer.

Somehow he had managed to get out of his

room without waking his wife. A few seconds afterplacing the Do not disturb sign on the door

handle, a soft voice near him gave no small amount

of shock.She up again last night? Red quietly

asked.

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Lenny nodded as he walked, Yeah. I told

her to take her pain meds, but she refuses.Red spoke as they turned a corner, I

remember when I broke my ankle. It was the same

one she did, actually. My dad didnt think I needed

the pills. I think he was afraid of me getting hookedor something. It was tough, but shes tougher.

Shell pull through.Lenny nodded again, as they walked into the

dining hall. Breakfast had been set out again for

them, the normal assortment. Fruits, breads, a fewhot and cold cereals, and some eggs and bacon and

hash-browns. Lenny served himself a bowl of his

usual, white rice. He put a sprinkling of cinnamon

on it and then a pinch of sugar. And then he pouredcold milk across the whole pile.

Luckily, his rice couldnt get any soggierthan it already was, unlike cold cereals. This wasanother reason he liked his rice breakfast over the

frosted corn-based puffs and flakes.

As he walked to his normal seat, he noticeda note lying near his chair on the table. It looked to

be normal paper cut into a small piece, folded over

once with a single name written on it in cursive.

Since the name was in fact Lennys, he slidthe note over to a place near his tray and pondered

the last time he had seen anything written on paper

for him. It had been a while, which made this noteseem all the more suspicious. Carefully Lenny

opened the note and read the words written in the

same hand as his name on its top:

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To my dear husband,

I cant tell you how happy you make me, on

a daily basis. You encourage me to excel and you

support my sometimes abnormal creativity. I

appreciate you and your addition to my life.

Love always,Alicia Stuart Hatching

A warm light filled his mind for quite some

time as he thought about his sweet wife going to the

trouble of making a note for him and putting it in aplace where hed find it. Right then he decided to

return the favor. Hed let her know that he

appreciated her and enjoyed her additions to his life

also. But how to do it

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2When his team had assembled, Lenny began

the morning meeting, Did anyone notice the fresh

fruits in the lineup this morning? Food servicessays they are composting more fruit than they used

to, and Heaven knows a little more fresh fruit in ourdiets couldnt hurt. So theres their plug on that.A few mumbled comments and a chuckle or

two filled the gap between his meeting points. But

he continued, This morning we have a newassignment for three volunteers. The server which

holds our recent backups is physically in the way of

planned expansion to the networks. Itll need to be

moved. This means new anchors drilled and placedin the concrete floor for its new position, the old

anchors cut off at the floor and ground smooth and

flush with the cement.Lenny placed a set of pliers on the table in

front of him, a physical symbol of the job need.

Whoever picked up the pliers would take on that job

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and be considered the foreman or manager of the

task. This was how they often handed outassignments, by literally handing out items to be

held. It helped folks remember that they had an

assignment or task. In this case, whoever pocked it

up would be responsible for getting two others tohelp them, and then returning the tool once the task

was finished.As Lenny tried to start on the next item, he

found the need to turn his digital tablet to another

angle so that the glare off the ceiling lights could nolonger be seen. But then an idea hit him and he

turned it back and forth a few times realizing a

possible path. He smiled and then pulled himself

back to the list of tasks.Doc, are you and Josh still waiting on the

parts for Bruces hands?Doc answered, No, we have them. Joshpicked them up last night from Creativity. They

called and said they had finished them. We were

going to start preparing to set the grains in the ramsthis morning.

Lenny felt a shock of excitement as he

realized the team could soon take another step

toward finishing Bruce. It had taken months to getthe engineering and mechanics of his body figured

out, and for a while he and Stu and Pete couldnt do

much else on the mind until the parts of his bodywere finalized. Creativity was a separate division

of TOAD, Inc. They had built it in a much newer

building not far from the main entrance to the

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subterranean fortress. Within its walls they had

built and arranged machines and processes that theyused for producing their most expensive parts.

Josh had commented a year before about the

cost of ordering such parts as created sapphire and

synthetically produced diamonds. They learned thatmost of the cost attributed to the parts was in fact

the production time, and not the material itself.They ordered the machines, hired two people who

had knowledge and experience working with them

and set them up building gems for purposes in thecompanys inventions.

The only problem with the processes they

used for creating and machining sapphire and

diamond parts was the time involved in the entireprocess. It took a long time from start to finish, and

that time held up other things from moving forwardas well.Lenny put his tablet down and spoke,

Were going to put the server relocation on hold

for a few days. This is more important for now. Doyou need help assembling the parts?

Doc nodded and shrugged his shoulders, I

guess we could use the help. Josh?

Josh shrugged, Sounds fine to me, but toomany cooks in the kitchen spoil the something-or-

other.

Lenny spoke energetically, If you ever feelcrowded, just tell us and I can kick some people

out.

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Josh chuckled once and then said, Sure,

Lenny. You can help us.Just before they left the table, Lenny decided

he needed something from the art supplies closet.

He ran to it and rummaged through a box of

markers for a specific color. It wasnt a visiblecolor, but an invisible hydrophobic coating for

repelling water on smooth surfaces. Once he foundit, he dashed to his apartment and then slowly and

silently entered. The lights were all off still, and

would let him get into the bathroom withoutdisturbing his sleeping wife. It was only seven in

the morning still and one might sleep in longer by

accident.

Half an hour later he emerged from hisapartment with a smile on his face. He made his

way to the workshop under the launch bay. Oncethere, he found the group of people gentlyunpacking the ordered parts from the boxes in

which they had been layered. Here and there a

small bit of material received a touch on that bit oranother with a caliper to verify the required

dimension.

Once all pieces were carefully placed on a

padded surface and counted and measured, the teamstood for a minute to take it all in. There, under the

glow of a bright light they saw over a hundred parts

and pieces, ready to be assembled into a pair ofworking robotic hands.

Nearly all the parts were composed of the

hardest of the alloys, excepting those fashioned

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from created sapphire. Josh asked, You think

sometimes we make too many things out ofsapphire?

Lenny answered, Were not just doing it for

the fun of it. These parts need to be wear-resistant

and dense, and the sapphire will do nicely. Besides,I like the color they did this time.

Yeah, said Josh. The rich dark bluelooks good on him. And the dark gray of his fingers

will be fantastic.

Josh referred to the tungsten carbidecylinders with odd-formed extensions from their

ends. The cylinders were hollow in the second and

third segments, with solid pieces for the fingertips.

The hand itself had no motors or servos, though therest of the body would be without them as well. For

a while the team had been clueless about how toaccomplish specific finger movements withoutmotors or hydraulics.

But then an idea came to Josh as he

considered how the hydraulics system would workin the first place. He realized that instead of using a

pump to push fluid through hoses to move the

plunger in a hydraulic cylinder, they could simply

embed a few grains of the depleted uranium riceinto the end of the same mechanism, and let the

Hatching Drive control systems move the rod

through a diamond bearing set.The rod would try to remain stationary if

energized throughout the exercise, so it would have

to be worked intermittently, or in conjunction with

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the movement of an arm. When not in use, the

fingers would simply hang loose, also savingenergy. The pushrods with the grains of rice in

them would be concealed in the hand and connected

to their corresponding segment of finger by steel

cables as thick as cotton yard.How strong do you think his punch will

be? asked Doc.Without looking away from the large

unassembled puzzle of metal and gems, Josh

answered, By the numbers, he should be able topunch through a brick wall. Not a cinder block wall

with cavities in it, but a solid brick wall with no air

spaces between the surfaces. Of course, using the

Hatching Drive abilities as a reference, he will alsobe able to slowly push his hands through a cement

wall, too. If not careful, he could do the samedamage to a human skull.Lenny spoke their common thought, We

need to make sure he never applies that kind of

force to a living being; that he knows to only do it ifneeded against verified inanimate matter. Its still

not too late to be too careful.

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3The hands came together quickly, with tiny

bits of circuitry encased in resins and bolted into

place in the wrist joint ball. The small bits of techwould each communicate with their master

controllers through near field communicationtechnology, the same science behind someswipeless credit card options. They were also

powered using inductive coils hidden here and there

throughout the skeleton. Even without the physicalconnections the joints provided, the limbs could

potentially move through the air.

Josh put on a glove and switched on the

electronic bits in it, which would measure hisfingers positions and translate them to the newly

assembled hand replicas. For initial testing outside

the attachment to the AI mind, this would be theirmethod. It would allow them to make certain that

the body had at least human range of motion, if not

more.

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Josh closed his fingers slowly, watching the

robotic hand imitate him. He moved as fast as hecould, but as far as they could see there would be no

hesitation, no lag between the control signal and the

mechanical response.

Doc put an unopened soda can into the gripof the mechanical hand while Lenny and Josh were

talking, not noticing the action. Hey Josh, squeezeyour fingers together, please.

Josh complied, and the group found

themselves sprayed with the once containedcontents of the aluminum can. Once the shock wore

off, and they saw that the hand still reacted as if it

were dry, Lenny said, Well done Dr. Webster.

Youve proven that it can work when wet. Nowplease be good enough to clean it up. Completely.

Doc chuckled and then said, Alright, but Ithink at this point, it might be easiest to just chuckthem into the dishwasher. Theyre waterproof,

right?

Though Lenny would have preferred to seeDoc dismantling the units and cleaning them with

cotton swabs and tooth brushes, he said, Fine. But

no more soda testing, clear? That was over five

hundred hours worth of hardware you just hosed infifty cents worth of cola.

Sure thing, and sorry, agreed Doc.

Josh spoke up as he wiped his face with ashop towel, Shower break?

Lenny agreed, Shower break. Ill see you

back here in an hour. I have a feeling itll take

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more than a single rinse to get the soda out of my

hair.Doc spoke as he removed the hands from

their stationary mounts, Im really sorry. It wont

happen again.

Lenny wanted to warn him that it had betternot happen again, but in the end he simply walked

away from the shop and into an elevator. The tripwas short, and he soon found himself standing

outside his apartment.

Lenny gently opened the door and walkedinside. He had just enough time before his wife

threw her arms around him to warn her, I got

sprayed with soda.

But she hugged him anyway, planting a bigkiss on him. She whispered, I dont care. And

kissed him again, and then hugged him tightly.Lenny tried to be careful with her, as shestood on one foot with no crutches near her, her

casted leg raised off the ground. Stu asked, Josh

playing pranks again?This time, it was Doc, answered Lenny as

he began to take his shirt off. He put a cola in one

of Bruces hands and Josh didnt know before he

squeezed with the glove on.Stu looked surprised and excited at once,

His hands are done?

As he walked into the bathroom to discardhis soda-soaked clothing, he answered, Yeah, we

assembled them this morning. They work great.

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As I can see by the soda all over your

back, said Stu. How long until theyre attached tothe arms?

Lenny answered as he turned on the water in

the shower stall, As soon as theyre cleaned up

again. Im having Doc clean all the soda out of themechanisms.

Stu grimaced, They got all wet and sticky?Yeah, answered Lenny from this shower,

But we made them waterproof, so its no big deal.

Theyll wash right off again.Stu got a clean pair of jeans for Lenny, and

the next shirt hanging in line on his side of the

closet, and then she made sure his pockets were

empty before returning his pants to the laundrybasket. She placed the clothing on the counter near

the shower stall and then waited nearby in case hewanted to say anything else to her.And he did. He came out of the shower

when he felt clean again and said, So I guess you

found my note?As Lenny dried his hair, Stu answered, It

took me a while, but yes, I found your note. I was

standing at the vanity mirror doing my hair when I

noticed the steam from my morning shower hadcollected on the full-length mirror behind me, and

there, in the fog I saw words written. The words

were backwards, so that I had to read them fromacross the room with another mirror. And then she

reread the words from his otherwise invisible

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message on the full-length mirror, using her hand

mirror.My smokin' hot wife,

I love you so much, and I work every day to

give you no reason to question if I appreciate your

additions to my life. Without you, I'd be in a sorrystate indeed.

Love always,

Leonardo Hatching

Lenny smiled and added, And then you

went and found some water-reactive marker andwrote a message for me on the shower wall, so that

when it got wet the words would appear in bright

red. And he read them aloud:My cute husband,

If not for our love, Id still be a homely nerd

in a research institute somewhere. Thanks forseeing past my faults.

Love,

Alicia

Yeah, I thought you wouldnt see it untiltomorrow morning. Lucky me, I guess.

Lenny spoke as he dressed again, If it

werent for our mutual knowledge of science, Id

think this place was haunted. I mean, dripping redwords appear on the shower wall after a few

seconds? Thatd freak other guys right out.

Stu kissed Lenny again and then hobbled onher crutches back out of the bathroom. She sat

carelessly on their sofa, making sure to keep her

cast from hitting the floor too hard. Lenny sat near

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her, You know, youre going to continue having

fitful sleep until you either find a way of not hurtingwhen you lay your foot on the side, or until you

break down and take a pain pill before bed.

Or until I heal, added Stu playfully.

Lenny looked at her in that way that says,You know better.

Stu looked away, Please dont give me thatface. You know why I dont want to take them.

Your cousin got hooked on pain pills ten

times as strong as the ones your competent doctorgave you. I get it, you dont want to get addicted,

but I think youll be fine. It isnt just you who has

trouble sleeping when youre in pain, you know.

Stu lowered her gaze to the floor. I know.Just be patient with me, please.

I always will be, said Lenny as he kissedthe side of her head. I gotta get back to work now,honey-pot. Ill see you in a few hours, alright?

Ill be there. You have a date for lunch,

said Stu.

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4Work went smoothly assembling the arms

and legs to the respective joints. The diamond

bearings fit perfectly into their sockets ensuring thatthey wouldnt wear out in the next few thousand

years, assuming Bruce lasted that long and he neverwent swimming in diamond dust. Because as everyscientist, engineer and jeweler knows: the only

material that can cut a diamond, or wear its surface

is another diamond.The Creativity division also used a few

machines to make parts otherwise not possible with

normal machining processes. These bits were

produced through the process called 3D printing.Though there are several methods for printing 3D

parts out of their resource material, the one they

used applied a powder-based material in layers andthen laser-sintered the powder into a solid mass.

The outer surface had to be polished or machined a

little for mating surfaces, but otherwise the texture

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added a handsome quality to the parts. Lenny

thought it looked a little like the metal had beensand-worn or bead-blasted.

The limb skeleton parts they printed from

titanium dust. The torso frame, which held not only

the computer and battery, but also the inductioncoils for power, the team produced from stainless

steel. And the skull, for lack of a better word, theteam had built by Creativity out of 3D printed

tungsten carbide. The face itself fit onto the outside

of the skull, and had to be made from carbon fiberfabric layered onto a mold. Bruces shoulders pads

were also made of carbon fiber, for heat resistance

during flight.

That was the only other abnormal attributeto Bruces mechanism, his power needs. In order

for him to be able to work in any environment,including under the waves if needed, they haddesigned his body without a socket for power.

Once the lithium polymer battery was installed and

sealed inside its compartment, the only way forBruce to recharge was to fly like a superhero.

A small wind turbine would extend from his

back on a pivot arm and as he flew through the air,

the propeller of the generator would rebuild hisenergy reserves. Through some loophole in

science, they calculated that it would take less

energy to fly around in the sky than he would buildby using the passing wind to recharge his battery.

Therefore, when low on power, he could just zip

around for a few minutes at just under mach a few

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thousand feet above the ground and then get back to

whatever his assignment had been.It just seems too easy, Red had remarked.

Physical testing confirms it, though, said

Lenny. Hell be a self-contained defiance of

perpetual motion laws.But this, too, they would keep from the

reports they filed with the military and governmentliaisons. There would be no telling what kind of

havoc could be wreaked on society and the world at

large if most of TOADs secrets got out of theirprivate custody.

As Lenny worked with his friends to

assemble the parts they had collected, using the

exploded diagrams and other drawings from theirdesigns, his phone rang. It rang three times before

he could pick it up and speak, Ahoy.The female voice on the other end of the linespoke patiently, yet firmly, Whatever youre

fiddling with, put it down. I know youre having

fun building androids right now, but its time to eatsomething.

Lenny looked at his watch and winced.

Sorry, honey. Ill be there in ten minutes.

Stu hung up and Lenny put his phone in hisshirt pocket. A few more degrees of rotation on the

torque wrench and it clicked, telling him the bolt he

turned had reached the proper tightness. Setting thewrench down on the bench and standing he

announced, Fellahs, I need to go to lunch with my

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wife. Id like to request that work stops on this until

I get back. I dont want to miss a thing.The other workers shrugged and nodded.

Their specific steps were finished and they too

walked to the elevator with the intent of eating. As

they sat down in the dining hall, Lenny apologizedagain to his wife. I got caught up in the assembly.

I'm sorry, its just so exciting.I know you like putting things together

also, said Stu. But I'm not sure youll stay

healthy if you forget to eat too many times. Whatwould you have done if I was out of town visiting

my folks or something? Just not eat until the others

have to leave for the night?

Lenny shrugged and said, Ill try to bebetter. But thanks for helping me.

Stu winked at her husband and started to eatfrom her salad. It had all sorts of things on it,including meats like grilled chicken and bacon, as

well as sliced boiled egg and shredded cheddar.

She chose to eat it without dressing, as was herhabit.

Lenny returned with his sandwich and apple

and bottle of milk. He made sure the sandwich had

no sauce and then took a big bite. The crisp lettuceand pickle added the right amount of vegetable

crunch to his food.

After the first half vanished, Lenny reported,We got some of his legs assembled, and his arms

and torso.

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Stu spoke after a bite of her own, Thats

good for you. I think today I may get back on theprogramming end of his mind. It was harder than I

thought it would be to code for a nonstandard

hardware design, but I think with Blades, I mean

Darcys help we should be ready to test it out inanother day or two.

I knew the software part would be thehardest hurdle to jump, said Lenny. Maybe I

should step away from the hardware and work with

you girls again.We have our rhythm, said Stu. Adding

you into the mix would throw that off again. But

thanks for the offer.

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5The evening wore on as Lenny worked to

assemble the titanium, stainless steel, tungsten and

other bits together. They left the thick armor platesoff the torso while the computer in his chest

remained not yet programmed. The team began tonotice the combined weight of his parts growingheavier, until he could no longer be moved about by

hand. A repurposed hospital gurney became his

primary form of travel about the shop as bits andthings were bolted to his body.

After a while of tinkering in small areas,

inserting wiring and other flotsam, Red asked, Do

you think he needs any weapons?Besides his hands? asked Josh. Im not

sure we could make him any more dangerous with a

gun or knife. His punch is going to be set to top outat six hundred miles per hour. At speeds much

faster, his fingers would break the sound barrier and

sound like a gunshot anyway.

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Red paused threading a bundle of wires

through a pipe and then said, What if we give hima sound weapon?

Lenny spoke, Anything he can carry may

be used against the one hes protecting.

No, clarified Red, I mean, making himhave the ability programmed into his mind, to do it

with his hand or something. Like, he can hold uphis hand like this, Red put up her own hand as if to

stop a person from approaching her too closely,

And then he can just move it forward at over thespeed of sound and send a sonic boom forward at

his target.

Josh stopped working also to think out loud,

If effective, it could cause ringing ears, bleedingnose and disorientation. But can it be made that

directional? How would we make it not hurt theprotectee?Lenny thought about it for a few seconds

and then said, Well, we can test it out in a

controlled lab environment with microphonesaround him to detect the resulting sonic

disturbances in the various areas and distances. If it

doesnt work like we want, we can just tell him not

to do it, or only under specific circumstances.As Red plugged a bit of epoxy-encased

electronics into the corresponding Hatching Drive

module, the one designed to fit in Bruces leftbicep, she had another idea. Hey, what if we also

make him able to be took over by someone, to do

something he wasnt programmed to do?

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Like what? asked Kyle.

Red explained, Say we need a person to gointo a dangerous environment and flip a switch or

something like that. Could we make him able to

react like we would in the motion-capture studio at

the same time?Lenny answered, That might be tough for

extreme distances. Like if he were on the other sideof the globe, there would be a noticeable lag in

reaction time simply because of the types of

communications wed need to use.Then how about we make a mobile suit

thing that we can be in nearby and make him more

responsive? suggested Doc.

Lenny nodded slowly as he considered thepossibilities. A person could do phenomenal things

if he were controlling one of these Bruce units.For scenarios we cant plan for in advance, I guessthat might make for a useful option.

As each began again to assemble the parts

and pieces they were handling, they all withoutexception also considered what might be possible to

them if they were controlling a mindless unit such

as Bruce would be without his programmed

intelligence.Late in the night, the team had finally

exhausted their supplies of parts and pieces in the

assembling process. Three times they had had todismantle an area of his body because they had

forgotten a step, or realized a bit would go together

easier in another way. When he finally lay in one

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mostly finished piece, they all stood back and

looked at their creation.In their minds they had all just assumed he

would come together at some point, but it always

seemed so far off a day. And there he lay before

them, like so many Hollywood robots fromuncountable movies, awaiting the mind that would

give him simulated life.Lenny spoke up, Weve not gone too far

yet. We can still pull the plug now, if we choose.

Nothing weve done to his point is permanent.Red continued, We can melt down his

metal parts and crush his gems and destroy his

circuits. And nothing would ever come of it. But at

this point, I think we should press on.The team nodded and agreed with her,

Lenny felt the need to see it through, but in his mindhe asked, But at what cost will he be finished?The workers left the room for the night,

Lenny locking the door after all had gone. He

hadnt felt the need to lock any doors in his fortressfor a while, and certainly not an area of science.

Could this be a reason to not continue? If he felt the

need to lock down an unfinished prototype in a

secure lab, in a nearly-impregnable fortress, locatedon an island most didnt know about, Lenny

wondered if Bruce would be safe anywhere.

He consoled himself aloud with the thoughthe had spoken so many times before, We havent

gone too far yet. Its still possible to proceed

cautiously.

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The walk to his apartment became a lonely

one as he noticed that he had separated himself andothers from the rest of the world simply because

they didnt want to be around a more unsavory

crowd. They wanted to work in private and not be

bothered by their oversight, which they themselveshad brought about.

And while he lay in luxury on his ownprivate tropical island, he knew that there were

other people, other millions of people that went

hungry, that were cold in winter. Other millions ofpeople had only the most basic of necessities for

life, and some didnt even have those. As he neared

his home, he felt an overwhelming self-loathing as

he saw the selfishness in his choices.He and those he saw as worthy of his utopia

enjoyed lavish lifestyles free from turmoil andstress for the most part, while others cowered in thestreets, feared for their lives and those of others.

But what could he do for them that he wasnt

already doing? He had set up charities andfoundations to help those less fortunate, he had

given scholarships and grants to promising students

in need. But was it enough? Were his efforts even

making the tiniest difference in the grand view?Thinking back on his life to that time, he had

done much, but very little comparatively. Once he

had seen the earth, the whole of humanity and itsexistence in one view, in one pane of sapphire lens

aboard Clarence. He had seen in his view, what had

been described as the pale blue dot, floating in a

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vast sea of blackness. And it had changed him, but

he wondered if he had in turn done enough to returnthe favor, to change the pale blue dot for the better.

Feelings of profound inadequacy flowed

over him as he neared his apartment door. Lenny

felt like walking out and away from his island, sothat someone else more disserving could take his

place, to use the tools he had been given to makethe world a better place, to do more than he would.

As he walked silently into his room, he saw

his wife sleeping on her side of the bed. Notwanting to disturb her, he stayed up and turned on

his digital tablet. He opened his journal and began

to write down all the feelings he was having,

knowing that someday, he may look back on it andhave an answer to his most durable questions.

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6This is telling, a voice spoke as Lenny

woke from his uncomfortable dreams. He had

stayed out on the sofa instead of climbing into hisbed.

What? he asked in a groggy voice.I said that this is telling, said his wifeagain, from the chair near his makeshift bed.

As he looked up at her, he saw that she held

in her hands something familiar. She looked tohave been reading from his tablet, and a feeling of

nervousness came upon Lenny. But before he could

speak again, his wife took the opportunity to, You

know, I knew you had feelings and thoughts, but Iguess I never knew you did anything about them

until now. I'm sorry I read from your journal.

Lenny jumped up and took the tablet fromher lap energetically. The screen of it was off so he

turned it on to see what she was reading

specifically. But she spoke again, I didnt know it

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was your journal, though, until about half way

through the most recent entry. I picked it up to putit on the charger and the document was still open.

Lenny felt upset that she would read it, but

he also understood that she didnt know what it was

at first. He wrestled with his feelings, trying not tosay anything hurtful, anything he would regret. At

last he spoke, And what do you think about whatyou read?

Stu spoke calmly, I think youre suffering

needlessly. If you speak to me these feelings yourehaving, I might be able to help you with them.

Lenny felt embarrassed and ashamed about

what he had written, but he had never intended

anyone else to see it. That was why he was able towrite such things freely, without the thought that he

would have to defend his thoughts and feelings atsome point.He spoke, I guess you saw what I've been

going through lately, huh?

Stu spoke calmly, I only saw last nightsentry. I didnt go back any further. Would you like

to talk about it? She noticed Lennys reluctance

and added, Its okay if youre not ready, or if you

never are. But I'm here if youd like to talk. Its inmy job description, you know.

Software engineer? asked Lenny.

Wife, answered Stu.She got up from her chair and crutched her

way into the bathroom. As she left, Lenny

wondered how this event would change his

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relationship. He wasnt used to being so open with

his feelings, had never been so before, but he knewhe would have to be for his marriage to work.

Calmly Lenny walked into the bathroom

with her. As she stood carefully leaning against the

counter, preparing to put on whatever little makeupshe generally wore, Lenny stood next to her, leaning

his back to the wall and looking in the oppositedirection. She knew how to move forward, as most

women do, from experience dealing with and

discussing feelings with other women. And so Stucalmly waited for Lenny to take his next step.

Id like to talk about the things I wrote

down last night.

Stu carefully lined her eyelids with a kind ofpencil and spoke without twitching, What would

you like to say?Lenny felt very self-conscious about hiswords, felt like he was learning to do something

brand new with very little help from manuals or

trainings. But he pressed forward how he felt best,I have recently been fighting with myself about

how much I can do, I mean for others. I know I do

some, but we live pretty high on the hog out here. I

sometimes think we could do more for others, butdont because of an unconscious selfishness. Like

we would rather not do more, so we dont. And

since most of the rest of the world doesnt knowabout us, and we know that, were very comfortable

here not seeing the ways we can help others.

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Stu calmly continued to apply her makeup,

Lenny not knowing that she was just about donewith the process, as she spoke, I can see why you

would think that. But you do far more for others

than you realize.

I dont do enough, said Lenny.You do a lot, and there are many many

people who are better for having at least met you,let alone the gifts you give them. This island is no

exception. You have provided a place here for

people to learn and grow and build and be creativewithout fear or stress. Dont get me wrong, we all

have our stresses we deal with, but here we suffer

from only what we put upon ourselves. This

includes you too.Lenny looked up to his wife. She in turn

looked in his eyes and continued, I know where Idbe now if it werent for your presence in my life.And it isnt pretty. Do you know that you literally

saved me from death?

Lenny jerked, surprised at her words, sheexplained, Do you remember when we met first? I

had no health benefits at a dead-end job. But I was

secretly fighting a condition that not even my

family knew about. Did you ever see the claimsgoing through the company health insurances in

those first few months? I received treatments that

werent covered by my previous benefits. Before, Ihad maybe six months to expect to live. Now, I

have a long life to look forward to, thanks to your

influence, your interest in me and my skills.

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Lenny looked into the eyes of his wife, now

overflowing softly. He said, I had no idea.I know. I wanted it that way. The last

thing I wanted was to be treated differently because

I was sick. You saved my life, and I will be grateful

to you for that as long as I live.The couple embraced, Lenny trying not to

tip her over. After a few minutes, Lenny spoke,You know, your crying messed up your eye

makeup. Youll have to redo it.

Stu laughed and kissed her husband.

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Darcy simply stared through the thick plastic

window from the observation room, almost as stillas Bruce himself. At last she spoke, surprising

everyone, Well, crap!

Stu made her way over to the diagnostic

console and typed a little on the computer keyboard.She reported after a minute of staring at various bits

of information on the monitor, His bios neverinitiated the main OS startup. After a few seconds

of waiting, it timed out and shut down again.

Darcy rechecked the info in the screen, Buthe worked just fine in the virtual machine. I dont

get it.

Josh spoke up, At least it didnt burn out

the computer hardware. Thats good.Maybe when he got transferred into the

new hardware something got left behind in thevirtual setup. Red was trying to help.Darcy ordered, Stu, bring up the virtual

machine again. We only copied him, not

transferred him out of it.Stu complied, letting the custom virtual

supercomputer come up to speed on the network

servers. It powered up fine and ran through its

numbers as it should have. She saw in the verbosestartup sequence as much as she could that it

seemed to be working right. After the virtual Bruce

showed ready, Darcy spoke, Well, I can try planB.

Lenny asked, Plan B?

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Yeah, clarified Darcy as she typed a little

in the terminal. I was afraid of this so I built intothe bios on the real supercomputer the ability to

boot into a basic higher-level OS that has the ability

to receive data bursts on the remaining 4G antennas.

And she paused to type a bit some more, itlooks like that came up right. Now, Stu, do you

remember what we namedoh here it is.Darcy continued to work on the computer

for a minute more before reporting, Ok, so I

thought this might be an issue back when I wasbuilding it in the Lair of Woe. So I made a way for

it to be loaded while running. And Stu and I built

that function into his mind. He can transfer his

buffered mind from one system to anothercompatible system without shutting it down.

Nearly all the others in the room voiced thesame reply in unison, Whoa.Darcy spoke up, Are we ready?

Lenny nodded and they watched out the

window as Darcy entered the commands to orderBruce to inhabit his new body. Stu spoke up,

Well, I'm getting a snack. At his file size and the

data connection speeds, the move could take up to

an hour, it looks like.The engineers and other hardware workers

filtered out of the observation room leaving Darcy

behind to stare out at her creation. She knew itwould work. She had double- and triple-checked

the code line-by-line. And here she stood, watching

the hard-earned reward for her months of labor.

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She watched the progress bar slowly tick its way

across the dialog box, symbolizing in simplicitywhat would be the closest thing to a child being

born to her. She had worked for months on it,

coddled it, fed it, and protected it several times from

network failures. The only question in her mind:would her new baby be still-born? She didnt think

she could take that pain. Not again.

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8Hank sat on his sofa, reading from a letter he

had received in the daily mail pouch. His legal

affairs had finally caught up with him, after hisyears of hiding from them. He owed a debt of a few

hundred dollars to his old bank for an account thathad remained open and collecting fees, but nodeposits.

Near his leg on the sofa cushion he also had

another letter, which had coincidentally chosen hesame day to arrive. In the other letter, his late

wifes insurance company had found him and was

presently asking for information on the payout

amount he was scheduled to receive as beneficiaryto the policy, due to the death of his family in that

accident all those years ago.

A few days before, he received and filed forlater action, a letter of apology from the company

that owned the train that had hit her vehicle. They

too were asking about where to send the money

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they felt he deserved from the accident. Hank

understood about why they were contacting him,understood the numbers they offered him to console

him and cover their final expenses

He stood from his sofa and dialed his phone

as he walked out of his apartment. Lenny picked upthe line, Ahoy.

Boss, I need to take a leave of absencefrom my position here. Just for a few days.

Lenny knew something was up the moment

Hank had asked for time off. He never asked fortime off. He never left the island for personal

reasons. Sure thing, Hank. Whatever you need.

Ill meet you in the launch bay in just a few

minutes. How long should I pack for?Hank answered, You dont have to worry

about it. I can take myself.Lenny spoke more assertively, Youvedone so much for me over the years. I want to go

with you.

Hank replied simply, Suit yourself. Packfor three days, but no more than five.

In an hour, they had Clarence parked in a

nondescript location outside the city where Hank

used to live. It had been so long for him, it almosthurt him to get out of Clarence. The feelings

washed over him quickly and intensely, but in not a

long time he had composed himself again.How could I have let it go this long?

Were fixing it now, said Lenny.

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They walked a few hundred feet from

Clarence and then looked back at him to make surehe was hidden from view. The dense forest area

they used served them well. Then, as an

afterthought, Lenny used his remote to lift Clarence

up a foot or so, rotate him upside down, so that hishatch faced the ground, and then set him back on

the soft dirt. The drive module remained powered,ensuring that they would find it there again when

they returned.

A short walk later and they rendezvousedwith their taxi. As they rode, Lenny worked on his

phone, texting and emailing his team and friends,

letting them know about his unplanned excursion

and his planned return in a few days. His wife hehad told when it happened, she understood.

The taxi arrived at the first stop and Lennyspoke to the driver, Please wait here and wellmake it worth your while with a handsome tip.

The cabbie nodded and picked up a book.

He opened to his bookmark and started reading,while Lenny and Hank stepped from the car. They

walked near each other through the glass doors and

found a place to sit on a sofa. In not long a young

man smartly dressed approached them, "Can I helpyou gentlemen?"

Hank stood and said, "I need to pay a fee on

a closed account."The young man motioned to follow him as

he spoke, "Yes, sir. I can help you with that. Right

this way, please."

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The men followed the bank employee to a

counter and waited for him to log in to the terminal."Do you have your account number?"

Hank handed a small slip of paper to the

banker, who then typed for a minute on the

terminal. He looked up and asked, "And how willyou be paying?"

"With cash," answered Hank."The total due is six hundred seventeen

dollars and twenty cents."

Hank thumbed out a handful of hundreddollar bills and then slid them across the counter to

the banker. The young man drew a line on each

with a marker, obviously checking for counterfeit

bills. Hank tried not to be offended at thesuggestion that he, the manager of a multi-million

dollar company with government contracts, wouldresort to passing a few hundred dollars in funnymoney. He knew the banker was just doing his job.

After receiving a receipt showing his

account paid in full, as well as his change, Hank leftthe building sternly. They climbed back into the

taxi and gave their second destination to the driver.

This trip would be a little longer, but not by much.

The offices of the insurance company werehoused in a tall building, an inspiring edifice of

metal and glass. Again Lenny asked their driver to

wait for them, but warned that they might be awhile. He paid well for the time and travel already

rendered and again promised a handsome tip for

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waiting. The driver again picked up his book and

began reading at his mark.In the lobby of the tower, the two men found

a building directory and searched for a listing of the

agent who had written to Hank. They found him

and made for the elevator. Up thirty floors theyrode in silence. When the doors opened, Lenny let

Hank lead the way, as they were acting on hisbusiness, after all.

In minutes, the adjuster admitted them into

his office cordially. "Good afternoon, gentlemen.I'm Oswald Stein. Thanks for answering my letter.

It seems we owe you a death benefit that never got

claimed."

"Yes," said Hank somberly."I'm sorry for your loss," said Mr. Stein.

"How will we be making this payment today?"Hank answered, "Thank you for theconsolation. Just a cashiers check for the present

cash value, please."

Mr. Stein looked over some paperwork in afolder and then warned, "You realize you'll be

taking a hit to the value by cashing it out at this

point?"

Hank nodded, "Yes, I realize that. But I amfirm on my decision. The cash value, please."

Mr. Stein worked on his computer for a few

minutes, typing and clicking his mouse and thentyping some more. After what seemed like an hour,

their host spoke up, "I'll need you to sign some

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forms for me real quick and then I can have the

check brought up here."Mr. Stein retrieved some papers from his

desk printer and wrote a bit on them himself before

handing them over to Hank. As he explained the

parts of the packet to Hank, who probablyunderstood more about legal-speak than the adjuster

did, a young woman in conservative attire alsoentered the small office and sat down.

"And when you're ready to sign, we have

Miss Hansen here to notarize the forms."Hank wasted no time filling in all the lines

he needed to fill. He handed them back to Mr.

Stein, who signed a few places and then handed the

forms to the Notary. She stamped the forms withher stamp, filled in a date, signed her name and then

left the office, respectfully nodding to Lenny andHank.Mr. Stein asked, "Can I get you gentlemen

some water or coffee? It'll be a few minutes before

the check gets here.""No, thank you," said Hank as Lenny shook

his head also.

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9Once the two were standing outside the

tower again, Lenny waited for the taxi driver to

circle around the block. No doubt he had been toldthat he couldn't wait in the same spot for as long as

they had needed. Inside the taxi, Hank spoke to thedriver, "Central terminal, please."Again the men asked the driver to wait,

again paying for services rendered, again promising

a heavy tip if he should return for them. The twowalked into the train station, and then found their

way to the offices of the company who owned the

train that entered Hank's life all those years before.

They sat and waited on uncomfortable chairs forsomeone named George.

A few posters with clichd images on them

filled cheap frames on the walls. The potted plantson the receptionists desk had a certain plastic flare

to them that made Lenny feel like they only cared

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about appearances, not reality. Would they do the

same in person?After a long wait, but realistically neither of

them had measured how long on a clock, the

receptionist received a call on her desk phone, the

characteristic ring that told her the call came frominside the office. She answered it, spoke a few

words and then stood from her desk.If youll follow me, hell see you now.

The two men walked down a narrow

hallway, which led into another hallway. A roomahead of them opened and out walked a woman in

slightly disheveled attire, looking like she had

hastily styled her hair very recently. She avoided

the glances that both men respectfully gave, tellingboth men that she felt embarrassed to be seen where

she was at that moment. Thought they bothshunned assumption, all the evidence suggested anindiscretion had occurred in the room she had just

left.

The room she had left turned out to be theroom they were destined to enter. Hank resisted the

urge to call their host on the fact that instead of

giving their visit the proper attention, he had been

making kissy-faces with some cute young coworkerwith smeared lipstick.

Hank instead spoke coldly, yet deliberately,

You sent me a letter.The placard on his desk announced his name

to be George Shively. Mr. Shively stood and

offered his hand to Hank, who refused it. He spoke,

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Yes, sir. Wed like to offer our condolences to you

on the tragicMr. Shivelys voice trailed off with the

intensity of Hanks stare. But he picked up his

thought again after a few seconds, Our Company

would like to offer you a monetary settlement in anattempt to compensate you for your lost income and

final expenses and suffering.Hank stared back, waiting for a reason to

pounce. He couldnt help very much how he felt at

that moment. The feelings he had endured all thoseyears ago had come back, and mixed unhealthily

with those new emotions he had found in the

hallway, when seeing how Mr. Shively spent his

salaried time.Handing a sheet of paper to Hank, with a

signature line at the bottom, Mr. Shively spoke up,In exchange for signing this form, which really isjust a receipt for getting the check, Ive been

authorized to offer you a hundred thousand dollars.

For you loss, that is.Hank, who had more experience in legal

matters than his host had ever dreamed, looked

quickly over the form and shuddered in his soul.

Would he really fall for this? Would he roll overand let this man cover his backside?

Mr. Shively spoke up, You dont need to

read it. Its pretty much all just lawyer language,nobody understands that junk anyway.

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Hank looked over the top edge of the page at

Mr. Shively, Do you know what my profession is,Mr. Shively?

His host looked to relax in defeat as it hit

him what he had said. He weakly asked, Lawyer?

Hank nodded and read the whole page fromstart to finish. The form itself had two parts, one

told hank in essence that he would receive a checkafter he signed the form, but no earlier. The other

section said that by signing the form, he released the

company of liability for the collision, and waivedhis rights to further legal action on the matter.

Hank set it down gently on the desk, looking

intently into the face of a man he had decided to

despise. It took a lot to earn Hanks ire, but this manhad somehow successfully done so in under two

hours. The island resident spoke, I am notinterested in opening old wounds any more than I

have. I came here to put a stop to this whole mess,

but I changed my mind after reading this insult. Ihave a mind right now to go file actions in the

courts from which your company will never fully

recover. But would it teach you a lesson? No. Im

going to sign this paper, because I dont want toever see your face or hear your name again, but my

silence will cost you dearly, both your company and

you personally.Mr. Shively looked like he was about to

throw up. He knew that Hank had the right to do

exactly as he had planned, based on other facts that

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had come out in the years since the collision. But

Hank continued, Ill sign this form, and nevermention the memos that leaked to me concerning

your responses immediately after the accident, in

which you assign a value of a few thousand dollars

to, Hank opened his briefcase and pulled out apage and read from it, and I quote, the stupid hick

woman and her bastard children who were toodumb to stop at a train crossing.

Lenny himself felt his mind enflamed at the

audacity of this man and his ignorant remarks. ButHank continued, Ill even surrender this page to

you, giving my word that its my only copy of it.

And Ill even sign a contract stating that youll

never hear my name again in any matter henceforth.But I wont do so easily.

Mr. Shively shook in his chair as he offered,Name your price.Hank stood and faced the desk. Ill be

meeting with your superiors on this matter in the

coming days, and as an owner of twenty-eightpercent of your companys stock, I will be visiting

with some of the other voting members of your

board. I think by the time I'm done with you, youll

wish you were in that car with my wife andchildren.

Mr. Shively stood and ran to the door,

blocking it as he begged, Please, please, askanything, anything at all. But please dont do this.

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Hank glared down at Mr. Shively as he said,

Fine. I want a check for twenty million dollars andyour resignation, effective immediately.

The horror on his face actually made Hank

feel a little better, though he seldom enjoyed

making others hurt. After a minute, Mr. Shivelystood slowly and answered, Done. Ill have the

check here in an hour. And Ill be gone by the endof the day.

Hank replied, No, youll have the check

here in fifteen minutes and youll be gone in twenty.Or youll find out what its like to have your name

up in lights.

Slowly nodding, Mr. Shively walked back to

his desk and picked up the phone. He called thecompany accountant and made the request, and then

he called his supervisor and laid the whole thing outon the line for him. Looking very dejected, Mr.Shively handed the phone over to Hank who spoke

in a calculating fashion.

Yes sirI understandno, you can counton itno further legal actionI swear itthank

you sir. Good bye.

Hank put the phone on the hook and stood

waiting in the small office. The time ticked by forminutes, unending minutes that seemed to smear

into each other as they passed. Hank tried to feel

good about what he had just done, tried to justify itas what his wife would have wanted. He tried to

tell himself that it was for her honor that he did it,

but in the end, he knew it was for himself.

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Less than fifteen minutes after Hank ended

his phone call, a messenger entered the office. Hehanded an envelope to Hank, who opened it briskly.

Within it he found a certified cashiers check for

twenty-two million dollars, with a typed note that

he folded up with it, stuffing them both in his jacketpocket. He signed the messengers digital pad and

then looked at Mr. Shively.Ill be escorting you out of here. Get your

things.

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10When they stood again outside the terminal,

they found the taxi they had hired and climbed back

into the seats. Lenny asked the driver to take themto a modest hotel. And then thought better and said,

Actually, could you take us to the nearest policestation?Once inside the precinct, Hank followed

Lennys lead. Lenny said to the desk sergeant, My

friend here has come into the possession of a largeamount of money and we would ask for a security

escort. If you have an off-duty officer who would

like to earn a little extra cash, wed be obliged.

The officer made a few calls and thenannounced to the sitting Lenny, I got a guy coming

in. Hell be here in a few minutes.

Hank read the note that had been stuffed inthe envelope with his check. The words were

simple, and probably what he himself would have

written if he were ever in the same position.

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Mr. Roddaburke,

I cant fully express how sorry we are to

have to face this with you. We regret the actions

our employee has taken in the past, and we feel that

your demands are not too large to satisfy in light of

the facts that have come out. We hope that in yourmourning you have found some peace.

Our condolences,

Hank folded the page up again and put it in

his briefcase. Then he looked at the cashiers checkagain, reading all the words printed upon it. What

am I to do with this? Have I just sold my wife and

sons for a few dollars?

Lenny answered solemnly, No, I dontthink so. But if you need an idea on what to do with

the money, you can give it away. You can do goodwith it in their honor and in their name. Whatwould they want you to do with it?

Hank sat back on the ill-padded chair in the

police precinct reception area. He looked out thefront doors at the darkening sky and wondered,

what would they do with it, if they had a voice?

Lenny walked out of the station and

addressed the taxi driver. He asked the total bill tothat point and paid it. Then he also gave the driver

a thousand dollar tip, for his time. The driver

actually tried to give some of it back, but Lenny leftthe car sitting and walked back into the station.

Their escort had arrived while he was

dealing with the driver. Hank and the officer were

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discussing a few things when Lenny reentered the

building. He wore no uniform, but that might havebeen better for them, they realized. No need

drawing unnecessary attention to themselves.

My car is around back, said the officer

who wanted them to call him Mike.They rode in his car to the hotel, and paid

for his room to be next to theirs. Though theydidnt truly expect anything to happen to them,

because really no one knew about them and their

situation, it still made them feel a little better to puthim up for the night in a nice room.

At dinner, Hank asked, So, Mike, tell us

about yourself.

Officer Mike shrugged and answered, Notmuch to tell, really. I'm single, living with my

brother. Our parents are retired and living inFlorida.Hanks face seemed to ask more than he

voiced. But he spoke also, I saw the pamphlet in

your car. Whos getting treatment?Mikes face fell. He spoke softly, I

promised myself I wouldnt be that guy. I wont

take your money. Im better than that.

Lenny asked, And if we wanted to put youin touch with an agency that offers help, would that

be the same thing?

Mike looked away, We can handle it.Were fine.

Hank spoke, My wife and two sons died in

a tragic train accident years ago, and Ive recently

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been given a lot of money for it. I feel like I need to

do something really selfless with it, to honor themand respect their memory. If I were to give you

money in their name, would that be acceptable?

Mike wiped his eyes quickly, and cleared his

throat, Yeah, I think in that case, I wouldnt wantto offend their memory by turning away a gift. But

not too much please.Hank pulled a small plastic card from his

jacket pocket and handed it to Mike as he spoke, If

money is offensive, then use this as your insuranceprovider. Itll take us a few days to set you up on

our system, but by the time you go anywhere next,

just give the clinics and doctors this card and no

matter the treatment cost, youll be covered. Butonly your family, please.

Through tears again, not hidden this time,Mike whispered, Thank you so much.The chilly night air fought hard to grip the

two island residents bodies, but as they walked

back to the officers car, it felt like not even arcticwinters could take from them the feelings they

enjoyed in their hearts.

The hotel room felt a little lonely, but Hank

satisfied himself with the fact that he wouldreverence the memory of his departed family by

doing good in their names.

Lenny spoke on his phone as he lay in hisbed, I dont know, honey. But I know this has

been weighing on him for a while. Its good for

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him to deal with these emotions, to do what he

plans with them. Thanks for understanding.In their apartment in the island fortress, Stu

asked, So, how much did he get?

I dont think its my place to say, said

Lenny respectfully. But suffice it to say that itisnt enough to make him feel better.

Would any amount make you feel better inhis shoes?

Probably not, said Lenny.

Well, I respect what youre doing with him.Be safe, come home soon, but give him the time he

needs to do what he feels like he needs to do.

I will, said Lenny. I love you. Good

night.

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11In the morning, after their breakfasts, Hank

and Lenny, along with their escort Mike, walked

into a large bank near the center of the city. Theywalked to a receptionist desk and asked to see

someone regarding their accounts.TOAD, Inc. had several business relatedconnections to the institution, and they were

accustomed to deal with Lennys somewhat creative

methods. Their usual phone helper came down tomeet them in person, eagerly shaking all of the

hands in the group.

Right this way please, Mr. Hatching, Mr.

Roddaburke.The overly giddy woman ushered them into

an office and shut the door behind them. As she sat

in the chair, she said, I never thought Id get tomeet you two in person. This is a treat. How can I

help you today?

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Hank handed the two cashiers checks to her

and waited for her to respond, which she did in asurprised fashion, Well, thats a lot of money, Mr.

Roddaburke. What would you like to do with it?

Hank answered, Id like to set up a

perpetual foundation for helping others in need. Idlike it to run on its own with little interaction with

people. What have you got that matches that?Sheryl answered as she looked through some

folders in a drawer, Well, lets see. Do you have a

501-c3? Of course you do, here it is. Well have topay a bit of taxes on the initial funds because the

government counts it as income, but after that the

foundation should work tax-exempt. How many

employees will it have?Before Hank could answer, Lenny spoke up,

This foundation will be completely automated withno permanent employees after the initial setup. Andall work supplying it with resources and equipment

will be volunteered and donated free of charge. Itll

be like the one I set up last year, remember?Sheryl thumbed through some paperwork,

changed folders and then spoke up as she pulled a

form out, A-ha, yes, here it is. You want to model

it after that one? Thats your choice. I can have theforms ready to sign by this afternoon. Are you sure

you want to put the entire amount into it?

Hank nodded, Yes, the entire amount,excepting five thousand dollars, please. And well

take that five thousand in twenties, if its alright.

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Sheryl shrugged, Its your money, Mr.

Roddaburke, Ill do as you wish.Thank you, said Hank.

Sheryl wrote a little on a yellow legal tablet

as she typed in the computer a lot. As she worked,

she asked, Have you thought of a name for thefoundation?

Hank nodded, Yes. The Elsie, Alex andJeffrey Roddaburke Foundation.

As she typed, Sheryl asked, Family?

Hank said solemnly, Yes, deceased.She stopped and looked into his face and

said, My condolences, Mr. Roddaburke, for your

loss.

For the first time that week, Hank felt likesomeone truly meant that statement. He replied,

Thank you.As I said, I can have the paperwork readyfor you by this afternoon.

As they all stood and shook hands, Hank

said, Thank you.If you wait a moment I can have someone

here to give you your cash.

As they walked from the bank building,

Hank asked, So Mike, is there anything you wantto do to kill time? Our treat of course.

Mike rubbed his neck and said casually,

Not that I can think of.Lenny spoke, I have an idea. You like

kids, Mike?

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Twenty minutes later, the three stood in

clean scrubs waiting for entrance to a seldom-visited wing of a hospital. The sign above it

designated it as the Hatching Pediatric Wing. Mike

whispered, Is that you?

My late father, answered Lenny.They entered when they were allowed and

found that they were keenly awaited by many youngpairs of eyes. A nurse announced, Come over

here, beautiful children. We have some visitors

today. Lenny, Hank, Mike, Id like you to meetsome very special kids.

To describe what happened next would be

difficult with dry eyes, but it went well. Lenny,

Hank and Mike met with a large number ofchildren, some who would never leave the hospital

alive. A few of them were recovering from beingbadly burned, some were severely deformed frombirth, and a few others had been receiving treatment

for terminal conditions. Nearly all of them

belonged to families who either could not pay forservices, or could pay only a few dollars per visit

for treatment. But by order of the wings

benefactor, none of them would be turned away.

Lenny played hide and seek with them,Hank read story books to them in a little child-size

lounge, and Mike couldnt seem to escape at least

two hugs per minute.Lunchtime came to the hospital in what

seemed like just a few minutes from their arrival.

They enjoyed sandwiches and fruit and milk. Hank

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deliberately drank the milk so that he pulled his

glass away with a milk mustache. And when thekids laughed and pointed, Hank acted like he didnt

know what had happened, What? Why are you

laughing?

Mike found himself admiring the twowealthy men more by the minute. But neither Hank

nor Lenny was doing it for his admiration.At about three in the afternoon, a nurse

walked up to Lenny and asked, Can we take your

pictures?Lenny shook his head, Id rather not.

The nurse persevered, A few of the kids

asked to have pictures of you gentlemen.

Lenny looked around, and reconsidered, Inthat case, I think it would be okay. But please dont

let them leave the hospital.The nurse assured him, The press wont getthese.

Each and every child smiled big for their

picture with their new friends. One young lady,about five years old, even kissed Hank on the cheek

when the camera flashed. A few group images were

taken and printed off then and there, and then

pinned up to a bulletin board with a large banneracross it saying: Our Friends.

When they left, with waving and hugs, Mike

said sincerely, Thanks for that. It meant a lot tome.

A nurse stopped them before they had

walked too far, and said, Thank you gentlemen for

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stopping by. I know you dont know, but at least

one of those children is expected to pass away anyday now. And when you made them smile and

laugh she stopped to breathe heavily, It meant a

lot to them.

Lenny hugged her and said, It was ourpleasure to meet them.

And to their surprise, Mike spoke up, Illbe back next week. Count on it.

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12The forms filled out, and filed, Lenny and

Hank left the bank with Officer Mike. When he had

dropped them off at their hotel, Hank said to him,Thanks for escorting us around. Heres some

money for your gas and time.Mike took the money and counted it, then hehanded most of it back, or tried to anyway. But

Hank refused it, We want to show you our

appreciation for your services.Mike said, Yeah, but I dont pay two

hundred bucks per gallon of gas. Take it back or

Ill arrest you.

They knew he was joking about arrestingthem, but Lenny said instead, If you dont want to

keep it, give it away. Find someone worse off than

you and give it to them. There has to be thousandsof folks in this city worse off than you are, right?

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Mike nodded and then folded the money and

put it into his pocket. Youre good guys, he saidat last.

Just trying to be, said Hank.

They walked inside the hotel and packed up

their bags. Leaving a hundred dollar tip in eachroom, they left the hotel and found a taxi waiting

for them at the sidewalk. Getting inside it Lennyasked to be taken to the place where they parked

Clarence.

As they rode in the taxi, Lenny got an oddfeeling about their driver. They hadnt much paid

attention to him when getting into the car in front of

the hotel, but as they sat, Lennys nose smelled the

same odor that the other cab they had ridden in hadsmelt. What were the odds?

But then, if he recognized Hank and Lenny,why didnt he make some sign or say somethingthat would let them know that it was him? The odd

feeling in the back of his mind grew as they traveled

and Lenny noticed that the meter wasnt running.No driver would forget to set his meter before

leaving the hotel.

Silently Lenny took his phone out of his

pocket and texted a message to Josh, hoping hed beable to comply, hoping against his life that the

driver wasnt really in the mood to harm them.

As they neared the place where the driverhad picked them up the day before, Lenny searched

the dimming sky for any sign that his message had

been received. No Starla, no Gretta nothing

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appeared to be visible to him. The cloud cover

added a little darkness to the night, and would havecovered the approach of an incoming vehicle.

As the taxi pulled to a stop slowly, Lenny

tried to decide if he should warn Hank about the

possible danger. But would there be any danger?Or was his mind playing tricks on him?

His answers came as the driver got out of hisseat as well, once he put his car into park. He

pulled from his pocket a small gun and pointed it at

Hank as he stepped from behind the rear door. Thedriver spoke, I dont want to hurt you, but I will be

taking your money. All of it. I know you guys

have much more than regular dudes. Open that

briefcase.Hank calmly complied, making no sudden

movements. Lenny looked up again searched thesky again, but nothing came into view. The drivermisinterpreted his actions and said, Cool it kid. I

dont hear any helicopters. We got time.

Just then, seemingly from nowhere, a figuredropped from the sky fast and landed on top of the

taxi like a three ton gymnast, crushing the roof of it

in. The driver looked over fast, shocked that he

wasnt alone, and that a person had done what hehad just witnessed. But the driver looked back

quickly at Hank and Lenny, to make sure they

werent taking advantage of his surprise.Who the crap is that? he shouted. You,

get off my car!

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The figure slinked over to where the taxi

driver stood, giving him a good view of the manwho had dented his car so severely. But the driver

obviously didnt recognize the shape, or the way it

moved up to him. He aimed his gun at it and fired

off a round.Both Lenny and Hank ducked, trying to stay

out of the way of ricocheted bullets. The shotpinged off the hardened skin of Bruces chest, and

hit the ground somewhere out of sight. When the

driver noticed that the man in metal didnt evenflinch with his first shot, he fired again. Sparks

came from Bruces forehead, just above where the

black face met with an inch-thick tungsten skull

cap.The driver attempted to fire again, but he

doubled over in pain, holding his ears. Lennynoticed that Bruces hand was still outstretchedafter the driver went to his knees, though it had

moved too fast to be seen. Lenny watched with rapt

attention, hoping that Bruce would just leave thedriver there.

Bruce looked over at Lenny and spoke in

Joshs voice, Get to Clarence. Ill hold him off

until you leave and then follow you out.Lenny yelled as he and Hank ran toward

Clarence hidden in the trees, Wreck his car so he

cant get away.It became apparent to Lenny that Bruce's

body was at that moment being controlled by Josh

in the motion capture studio back on the island, the

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two systems communicating over Bruce's 4G data

links. Bruce, under the control of Joshs actions didas Lenny ordered. He dug his fingers into the seam

between the hood and both fenders, and then he tore

the hood away like it was silk and tossed it a

hundred feet behind his back. Then he lifted his footand landed a crushing blow to the top of the taxis

engine, destroying it in one stomp. Bits of metaland plastic flew a good distance as smoke billowed

up from the front of the car.

The driver cowered a distance away fromBruces body. Josh induced Bruce to take a bit of

metal from the engine compartment and walk over

to the driver. He bent one end of the thick steel

around his wrists. Then Bruce walked back over tothe immobile car, dragging the fighting driver as if

there were no resistance to his grip. He reached theother end of the bent metal through the driverswindow, which ended up as a pile of broken glass

fragments in the drivers seat. With a quick few

movements of the wrists, the other end of the scrapsteel he bent around the steering wheel through the

window. The loops he had made in the twisted steel

were just tight enough that the driver couldnt

escape, but just loose enough that his handswouldnt fall off.

As he stood staring at the driver, who

cowered crying and probably in soiled underwear,the robot spoke again, My buddy there tells me

that a police officer will be here soon to collect you.

And just remember, whatever you tell him about

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me, he wont believe you. So make it easy on

yourself.As he watched, the robot looked up and

rocketed into the sky making no noise that he could

hear. Had it been a dream? No, the metal bracelets

he wore let him know that it had indeed happened.An hour later, the lights of a police car came

upon the driver, having not moved from where hehad been tied. Two officers stepped from the car,

one in a uniform and the other in plain clothes, but

still on duty and talking on his phone. They walkedup to the driver and just stared at him for a while.

The one on his phone spoke, Yeah, I'm

standing in front of him now. And how did his car

get wrecked? He paused as the other end of theline talked, No idea at all, huh? What about how

he seems to have a thick metal piece bent around hiswrists? Another pause as he listened. And willyou be coming back to give a statement? We cant

charge him unless you do.

The driver curiously kept his mouth shut thewhole time. When the officer put his phone in his

pocket, he spoke to the other one, You still got that

hack saw in your trunk? This ones going to take a

while.

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13Inside Clarence, as they lazily flew in the

night sky at a few hundred miles per hour, Joshs

voice came over the radio. I thought it would befar more useful to send Bruce here to help you then

to come bursting down with Gatling guns firingfrom Gretta. Turns out I was right.Good work, said Lenny. But I think next

time well just keep our bodyguard around until we

leave. I gotta tell you, pal, I was really worriedthere for a few seconds that Bruce would actually

hurt that guy.

Josh answered, We werent able to test his

reactions to such things in the lab yet. As aprecaution, we thought it best to simply ask him to

step aside and receive instructions from the motion-

capture suit in the studio. That way, we wereguaranteed that he wouldnt over- or underreact in

his first real world scenario.

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Also, that was so awesome! said Lenny.

The way you dropped out of the sky like that, itwas amazing! It was like one of those comic

movies only up close. Dibbs on the next test.

Josh laughed, Be my guest. After that test,

I think everyone needs to experience the suit at leastonce.

As the two flew, Lenny glanced out thewindows at Bruce. His outstretched arms and

horizontal body looked reminiscent of another hero

hed seen before, from a different comic universe.He wondered what it would feel like to actually be

in a suit out there in the air, soaring through the sky

like an iron bird. But he pulled himself back to his

flying before anything dangerous happened. Thatidea would be best saved for another day, he

thought.

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14Surprisingly, Hank didnt say a thing about

how irresponsible it was to send out an unproven

combat system and sic it on an armed criminal. Hedidnt lecture them about the dangers of Bruce

falling into the wrong hands. All he said was,Thanks Josh, when he exited Clarence.He walked out of the launch bay somberly,

dragging his small bag behind him. Lenny and Josh

let him go, knowing hed be back to his normal selfwhen he felt ready to do so. Lenny spoke, I dont

think he really ever had to face a man with a gun

before. I mean years ago, he met with the marines

and they had guns, but they were responsible andwouldnt have shot him. That driver back there, he

really had the intent to use his gun.

Hell be okay, said Josh, standing inperson.

With Bruce back in the test chamber, and

Lenny and his team sitting around a table, he

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decided to speak to them, We need to work on

testing him out in realistic situations. And I thinkthat means we need to pit him against people in a

controlled environment. But who can we get to

agree to let him beat them up?

Red answered Lennys question, Whatabout soldiers. We could allow them body armor to

limit their injuri