Chapter Text
Every kid dreams of being a hero. Flying through the air to save the plummeting airplane, or holding up a falling building with one hand. Every kid watches movies and reads comic books and fantasizes about the day they stop the bad guy with their laser vision and save the entire planet.
I did. I just never thought that I would actually save the planet.
I started getting a little suspicious around the age of twelve when I realized that I was the only kid in my school that couldn't breathe under water. And then there was gym, where everyone else could run circles around me, and throw my weight like I could toss a piece of paper. And something about being outside... it just made me sick, dizzy, light-headed.
My best friend, Natalie, always said I was a nerd which was why I sucked at anything physical whatsoever.
But in the classroom, I prevailed. I made the top scores on everything, lead every group project and was always voted president for any club I joined. For some reason, I was the most intelligent person in my year.
When I turned thirteen, I tripped getting off the train after school, racing Natalie home, and fell on my arm. It hurt, but not terribly bad, and turned black and was bent oddly. I ran into my house, unlocking the door and calling out for my adoptive father.
“Paul! Paul!” I shouted out, running to his lab. He was a scientist for the government, but he kept his work mostly in our great room off the side of our main house. Paul had taken me in when I was baby after my parents died in the war. Our house was hit by a missile, but my bedroom had been mostly untouched. They'd found me in my crib, crying, and Paul volunteered to adopt me. And no one would mistake us for biological father and son... Paul had sandy blonde hair and fair skin, and I had olive skin and dark, curly hair. His eyes were bright blue, mine were hazel. I had dimples, he didn't.
“What's wrong, Adam?” he frowned, meeting me halfway. Then, he saw my arm and his mouth opened. “Oh no. Okay, alright, it's fine.” he nodded. “Let's get you on the table...” he took my backpack and dropped it where we stood and then led me over to his examining table and patted it twice. “Hop up here.” he helped me and then gingerly took my arm, gritting his teeth. “Okay, yeah. It looks like you've broken it.”
“Broken it?” I grinned. “My arm? You can't break your arm, Paul.” I rolled my eyes. “I'm not stupid.”
He made a face and shook his head. “No, most people can't. But you, Adam... you can.”
Furrowing my brow, I scoffed. “What do you mean, I can? I'm not different.”
He made another face and my mouth opened. “Unless... I am. Am I? Paul...”
Taking a deep, deep breath, Paul nodded, slowly. “Adam, this is going to hurt,”
And then, he pushed my bone back in to place and I screamed like a little girl.
Paul and I didn't really finish that conversation. All he said was that I was special and different from the other kids, and that I didn't need to worry about it. And so, I trusted him.
And three years later, on Birth Day, I got the rest of the story. But... I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start with the night before.
Natalie and I were sitting on the edge of Lake Bern, watching the stars. They were kind of faded out from the lights of the city, but at least the sky was clear of clouds.
“You think I’ll like Girls’ School?” she asked.
I shrugged. “About as much as you like school now.”
She smiled, knowing I was right. Natalie was certainly not a nerd.
“Besides, you already know the worst part. Not being around me.”
“Stop it.” She giggled, twirling her dark, curly hair around her finger and gazing back up at the sky. “You’re the one who won’t be able to handle life without me. Surrounded by boys? You won’t last ten minutes.”
“I can be a guy.” I narrowed my eyes. “I’m tough.”
“You’re a geek, Adam.” she sighed, laying back on the grass. “They’ll pummel you in gym without me there to protect you.”
“And then ten years later, when I’m at the Science Academy with my dad, I’ll build a robot to beat them up.” I laid beside her.
She scoffed. “That’s what all the nerds say.”
I made a face. “I wish you didn’t have to go. I mean, I know it’s an exciting part of life, growing up, but still. I wish you were a guy.”
Wrinkling her nose. “I wish you were a girl.”
We looked at each other for a second and for the first time I started to realize what Nat leaving really meant.
A voice behind us spoke softly, and we both nearly jumped. “Miss Natalie? Your father wants you to come home.” Her slave had stepped over to us and was now waiting patiently, hands folded in front of him. He was a year or two older than us and had been serving her family for as long as I could remember.
“Thanks, Kane.” She looked back at him and then back to me. “Let’s go get some Birth Day Eve dessert.” Her eyes grew wide and I grinned. Their cook, Mari, made the best cakes in the entire world. “Do you know what Mari’s making?” she asked him.
He furrowed his brow. “I think I heard talk of Peach Cake. But I could be wrong.” He smiled at her as her smiled turned into a huge grin, knowing it was her favorite. “Mr. Adam, can I take that blanket for you?”
I glanced down to the bundle in my hands and then back up at him, nodding. “Sure. Thanks, Kane.” Handing it over, I watched him. He was taller than us, older than us, but still just a kid. No more than eighteen or nineteen. His hair was curly and blonde, his eyes bright blue, and he had dimples when he smiled, but I rarely saw them. He wore grey scrubs, the color all slaves wore, and had a thick metal collar around his neck that connected to his spinal cord. They were impossible to remove without an electronic key and were issued by the government. We spent a lot of time with him because Natalie’s father often sent him to watch over her. They had enough slaves for their large family to spare one.
“Too bad your dad had to miss the fireworks.” Natalie wrinkled her nose. “I feel like he always misses everything.”
I sighed, nodding. “Yeah. But his job is so unpredictable. They’re always discovering new things.”
She made a face. “I mean, don’t get me wrong because my family loves having you around all of the time, but I just wish you had a mom too, you know?”
“Yeah. Well. I don’t. Your mom will have to do.” I grinned, opening the front door and leading her in.
Her entire family was there, already dishing out large slices of peach cake onto plates and passing them around. Natalie did have a really big family. Her dad’s parents were there, her two younger sisters, her one older brother, and an aunt and uncle. She was only missing her older sister who had only just been married and moved off. Slaves bustled around, serving glasses of water and cups of steaming coffee. Kane took our things and hung them on the coat rack and then joined in to help out. While I generally felt sorry for most slaves, Natalie’s family was very kind to theirs. I’d seen her father thank them warmly for working hard, ensure that they had warm coats on cold days, and even get down in the front yard and work with them. Her mother did just as much housework as the slaves did, and even the kids had chores to do. All of their slaves were well rested and seemed fairly content. I’d certainly never seen her father shock one of them through their collars or hit any of them.
Most slaves were abused. I’d seen many teachers growing up shock the classroom slaves until they passed out or retched, I’d seen shop slaves be beaten until they were bleeding, and I’d seen families shouting at their slaves for the most menial of tasks. Paul had never owned a slave and swore to never own one for as long as he lived. Not just a slave – any human. He worked for the Academy of Human Sciences and I suppose when you spend all day running experiments and tests on humans it makes you feel sorry for them. He refused to buy one as a slave or as a pet, so I’d spent my life cleaning up, cooking, trimming our hedges, doing the laundry, and even making my own bed. It was rough.
We all went around the table and told our favorites stories from the past year as we ate slice after slice of Mari’s amazing cake until Paul called, bidding me home. I hugged Natalie goodbye, knowing this was the last Birth Day Eve we’d ever spend together. It was sad and exciting all at the same time, but finally I walked out the door and headed home.
Paul was there when I arrived, and he smiled at me, his bright green eyes sparkling and his blonde hair brushed to the side like he’d come home in a hurry. He was a very handsome guy and everyone wondered why he was still a bachelor. With a great job and that smile, he could’ve gotten any lady to convince her father to let her marry him.
“So, how was the peach cake?” he seemed to be in a very good mood.
“Brought you some home.” I told him, laying the plate on the counter. “Natalie’s family says ‘hi’.”
“That’s sweet of them.” He walked around our island to get to the drawer with the forks. “Did you have a good day?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I mean gym sucked, as usual, and some idiot threw a net on me in the locker room and left me stuck. But I made a perfect score on my History test, so…” with a shrug, I set my bag down and glanced over at the picture on the edge of our counter, the only one of its’ kind: me and my birth parents.
Paul followed my gaze and then smiled. “You were tiny. Your dad could almost fit you in his hand.” He laughed, walking over and picking it up.
“What were they like?” I looked up at him, crossing my arms on the counter.
He made a face. “I’ve told you what they were like. Your dad was a doctor, like me, and your mom was the best cook in the provenance.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Tell me something you haven’t already told me. Like what did they like to do?”
“Like to do?”
“Yeah.” My brows furrowed. “For fun.”
“Oh.” He made a face and set the picture down, taking a bite of Mari’s cake and failing to hide how delicious it was. “Well, your mom’s cake was way better than this.”
“No way.” I laughed. Saying she could cook was one thing, but saying she could out-bake Mari seemed like blaspheme.
“She could sing too, man could she sing.” He shook his head. “Her voice was like...” but he couldn’t find the words, so he just chuckled. “I don’t know. I was just incredible. And
your dad, he was the best Uggen player I’ve ever seen.”
“You’re pretty good.” I pointed out.
“And together, we were incredible.” He closed his eyes for emphasis before smiling back at me. “We never worked on anything big together, just some smaller, undocumented
things. In fact, your dad never actually had a chance to publish anything, but he was working on something-“
“Big, yeah I know.” I sat up straighter. “You told me that. Something new, remember?”
“You’re a little demanding tonight, you know that?”
I chuckled. “Sorry. It’s just something Natalie said. About how I’ve had a weird life because I didn’t have a real family.”
Paul suddenly looked hurt. “You don’t think you and I are a real family?”
“No, of course not.” I shook my head. “Paul, you’re all the family I’ve ever needed. You were an amazing mom and dad, all while trying to change the world at the Science Academy.
We were just a different kind of family.”
Natalie had been right. The only kids with one parent were the ones whose mom’s had died. All of the students who’d lost a dad now had a step dad, or were living with their
uncle’s family. But she’d also been wrong. I hadn’t missed out on anything. I’d had a great childhood.
He gave me a small smile. “I thought about marrying, when I first got you. You know, so you could have a mom, but…” he pushed his mouth to the side, wrinkled his nose, and
shook his head, “I just couldn’t find a woman good enough.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well no one is perfect. And I’m moving out in a few years.”
“Five years. That’s a long way away.”
“But still! And then you’ll be alone and-“
“I was alone before I got you.”
“Yeah, for like three years. Before that you lived with your parents.” I pointed out, then winced. We didn’t really talk about his parents either. They also died in the war against
Earth, only a few years before mine did. I think it’s part of the reason he took me in, so we could be orphans together.
“I was fine. And I will be fine. You guys will come visit me all the time and have little babies I can play with when I’m not saving the Fyndorian race through science.”
Laughing, I nodded. “That’s right. Superhero Grandpa.”
“Too young to be a grandpa.” He shook his head, also chuckling. Then, he let out a sigh. “Alright, kiddo. It’s late. Time for bed.”
Yawning, I bobbed my head up and down in agreement. “Alright. See ya.”