Present Day
Gwendolyn
“So, what you’re saying is that you want to give away your cozy robots for free?” Phillip Griffin, the head of Griffin Enterprises, sat across from me in his large office, his brow furrowed.
I nodded.
“I wouldn’t say that’s what I wanted unless it truly was. I know personally how much good these robots can do to people with needs. Not just kids, but everyone stuck in a hospital.”
I believed in my robots and have been tinkering for years to get them just right. They were finally ready for mass production.
Phillip was a tall man, blond hair, hazel-brown eyes, and lean. He’d always been nice to me, never making me feel like I was different. Instead he made me his chief robotics engineer. Right now, I was throwing myself on the line for this project.
“Have you thought about my other offer?” His eyes sparkled, and from what I’d learned over the years, that meant he was excited but curious. I wished I’d have brought Pops with me to this meeting; he was always helpful at deciphering emotions for me.
“If I join the Hero Society, will you accept my project and its price?” I countered.
He’d been after me to join his secret society of superheroes for a year now. I remembered the world before Phillip and his gang turned back time. It was great at first, but then the world fell. They had their second chance, and so far they had been doing it the right way this time. But I wasn’t good with social situations, he knew that. I wasn’t the type of hero to jump in front of a bullet or run into a burning building to save people. I wished I was.
“I can agree to those terms. We can test the product at Seahill Hospital. After the results from a one-month trial come back in positive, we can start mass producing. As for the Society, I don’t expect you to hang out with everyone, just that when your skills are needed, you take a leap and come. Both in robotics and your other power.” He winked, and I sat there running through my mental pros and cons.
“I’m not sure I’m your typical hero,” I confessed, feeling the idea more in the con section than the pro one.
“There is no perfect hero—just people trying to help in the ways they can.” He leaned over and gave me an intense stare.
“You have so much more to give this world than you give yourself credit for.” He could see I was uncomfortable, so he looked away and put on a kind face.
“No rush, think it over. I don’t expect you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with. Think you can have thirty cozy robots out to the hospital by the end of the week?”
Numbers I could do. Thirty robots would be simple.
“Yes, sir.”
“Sounds good. If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to call. Keep up the good work, Gwendolyn.” He smiled, and I smiled back, feeling like my vision for people who needed a friend would come to fruition.
The elevator ride down the few floors to my office was quick, and thankfully there was no one in there that I had to try to make small talk with. I sucked at small talk. I never knew what I was supposed to say, or when. So, I usually just stood there with a straight face, looking at something on the floor or wall.
The people I passed on the robotics floor didn’t wave to me or greet me as I passed. No doubt they were instant messaging each other, cracking jokes about the human robot who was heading back to her charging station, as they liked to call my office.
Things didn’t get better after high school. I was continually picked on. People tried to belittle me, and I had no friends besides the guidance counselor, Lynn.
She had a sister who came into powers when she turned sixteen but died a few years later. Apparently if you suppress your powers, they will consume you.
The Hero Society, when they re-established last year, had spread the word about people with powers and how they had come to be.
The old Greek gods and goddesses were dying and threw their powers out into the DNA of mankind. These powers stay hidden until they land in the perfect host, and then on their sixteenth birthday—Boom! —they have some sort of superpower.
They’d been given to humans to protect each other. Used for good. Of course, some people tried to go the other way and use them for their own self, but that’s where the Hero Society stepped in. They were the protectors of mankind. They had been doing a good job this second time around.
I hit the right key code in front of my door and walked in after the beep.
My office was fairly large. All white, glass windows, and completely organized. Chaos was not something I did well. I like routine and structure.
“How did it go?” Pops was sitting on my desk, waiting for me to come back.
“All right. He is letting me do a one-month trial and asked if I would consider joining the Hero Society.” I walked over to my refrigerator and grabbed myself a bottle of water.
“You should do it. Could be fun.”
