“Do you want me to call you that now?”
He opened his eyes and focused on Morgan.
She tilted her head and gave him a steady stare with one eyebrow lifted.
Her concern made him smile.
“You can always call him A-Man, like I do,” JR12 helpfully stated from Ari’s shoulder.
Time to nip that annoying suggestion in the bud right now. “No, I like it when you call me Ari.” He grinned at her and ignored the bot. “Less of a mouthful.”
She frowned. “Okay…Ari.”
The sweet sound of her voice with the slight rolling of the “r” in his name made him itchy. In a good way.
“So, Terra Twins,” JR12 didn’t move from his perch on Ari’s shoulder. Even though the bot didn’t weigh a damn thing, having that mechanical voice right in his ear took some getting used to. “Now that we’ve cleared up thismuy importanteagenda…A-Man,“ the bot’s slight snicker made Ari’s eye twitch. “Why don’t you clue me in on what’s going on here?”
“Well, first off, what did you mean by saying he blew upElemi?“ Morgan insisted. She thumbed over her shoulder at As’ni. Before the bot answered, she put up her hands. “Hang on. I’d better hook you up to my multicorder first. That way you’ll get up-to-date on what’s going on here and give us access to your stored memory bank.” She pulled up her handheld and typed something in it. “Jump to the table and I’ll sync you to it.”
The back panels on JR12‘s silver-gold body parted and iridescent wings flickered out. He buzzed to land on the table and sat on his butt, his back legs fanned out. “Ready.”
“Okay, here we go.” Morgan placed the multicorder next to the spider bot. “After this is done, maybe you can advise us the best way to helpElemiheal so she can get us out of here.“ Pushing on the top of the screen, she stepped back.
The droid became still, nary a twitch from his legs or eyes. A few seconds passed before his multifaceted eyes reflected different colors before settling on the shiny black orbs they were before. “Well, as the great George Washington said,‘The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.’And that’s what we got here, boys and girls. An impossible task and nothing to work with.“ JR12 eyed Ari. “Unless we can get you to use your powers for good once again.”
“Huh?” Ari scratched his jaw. “What do you mean?”
“Well, slap me sideways and call me Sally! So, it’s true, then? You don’t remember anything?” JR12‘s head tilted like an inquisitive hound dog’s.
Ari closed his eyes to capture the fleeting images that refused to stay. The harder he strained to grab them, the more elusive they became. His mind remained a fog—a dense barrier that refused to yield any details of his past. Frustration rose like an uncontrollable tide and bubbled inside him, leaving an acidic aftertaste. He shook his head.
“Dang, A-Man. Nothing? You sure?”
With a growl, Ari opened his eyes. “Of course I’m sure. I can’t remember afrukingthing!“ He slammed his fist on the workstation tabletop.
The air rippled with energy, causing loose objects to vibrate and lift off the floor.
With a selfish grin, he welcomed the chaos, feeling a twisted sort of satisfaction as the surroundings mirrored the turmoil in his mind.
The sound of As’ni‘s laughter and clapping hands snapped him out of his brief outburst and brought everything down. His head spun as his mouth soured. Rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palms, he then dropped his arms to his side. Acting like a child wasn’t helpful. No matter what he did, nothing filled the void of forgotten memories. Emptiness gnawed a burning pit in his gut. He was more lost and alone than ever before.
“You okay?”
Morgan’s soft whisper was a balm to his bruised soul. She put her hand on his arm and gave him a gentle squeeze.
He placed his hand over hers, grasping it like a lifeline.
“Don’t know what you’re so upset about, A-Man.” JR12 twirled his golden foreleg around the room. The small bot shrugged, making his upper abdomen shake his four front legs. “Looks like you still got your powers and all.”
“Yeah, well, it’d be nice if I could figure out how to use them.” Ari couldn’t help the bitter tone in his voice. What was the good of having any so-called powers if he couldn’t remember how to use them?
“Maybe you should go up against the purple mental giant over there again,” JR12 offered. “Who knows? Doing the same thing might reboot your brain.”
Morgan’s pretty brows furrowed. “What does that mean, doing the same thing? What did they do?”
JR12 gave a mischievous chuckle. “Why don’t I show you?”
Ari stilled and studied the bot.
