Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

September 13th, 2019, Brooklyn.

 “The fuck you mean I’m fired?”

 The woman in front of her just sighed and smiled again. It was one of those fake, theethless smiles that middle aged white women gave to little kids, annoying teachers in PTA meetings and people who they thought were dumber than them. 

 “I’m really sorry, Kennedy” she said with a sigh “But we just think that Blaine might be more suited for the job”

 Kenna turned her head to the right, watching how Blaine was leaning on the desk, looking at his phone with a bored expression. He was her age, blonde, and already dressed in the uniform, although something seemed off…

 “His shirt is inside-out” she remarked, making the boy look at her with a frown of confusion, like he had forgotten that they had just been introduced to each other two minutes ago “I can see the seams” she continued. The boy looked down at his shirt. 

 “Shit” he muttered, taking it off right there. Kenna looked at her manager (ex-manager now, apparently) no doubt with the most flabbergasted expression she possibly could. The woman kept smiling at her. 

 “Customer service is a very tricky job, Kennedy” she told her with the same gentle-parenting tone. “And, well, not everybody can handle it…”

 “Are you actually going to use last week’s shitshow as an excuse to fire me?” deadpaned Kenna. 

 It happened on Thursday at four in the afternoon. A man had gone into the store, walked around and then went to her.

 “Excuse me” he had told her “The little sign there says that if you buy three cereal boxes, you get half the prize” He pulled out two boxes “But the machine keeps charging me wrong”

 “You need to buy a third one” had responded Kenna “Then you get the sale”

 The man scoffed. 

 “Why on earth would I need three cereal boxes?”

 “I don’t know, sir. But the sale doesn’t work if you don’t buy three”

 “That is the most stupid shit I have ever heard” he had exclaimed “If you buy three, you are only charged half, so if I buy two I should also be charged half” 

 She didn’t know what had been the deciding factor: The situation itself, the fact that the man’s face was going redded every second, that she only had an hour and half left until her shift ended or the five hours of sleep she was running on thanks to one of her roommates and her pretty loud boyfriend, but she found herself saying in the most concerned tone possible: 

 “Do you have a concussion or are you genuinely this stupid?” 

 To that, it had followed a bunch of insults, the involvement from the manager and other employees and the man’s teenage daughter who had just watched in horror as her father was escolted out of the store with ramblings about government scams and that whoever had decided that 6.99$ was a fine price for a box of chocolate cereals deserved to be put in prison. 

 The worst part was that Kenna kinda agreed with him.

 Her manager hadn’t said anything to her, didn’t even make her cut her shift short. In fact, she hadn’t even brought the incident up until that morning, when she had waltzed up to her with Blaine following her like a very sad puppy.

 “Kennedy, I think you should really look at this as an opportunity to reflect on your mistakes and look forward to your future”

 “I know he’s the son of the store director, Linda, he came to Bob’s birthday party two weeks ago” noted Kenna, looking again at the guy who was back with his phone, shirt now successfully put on the right way “If you just tell me that it will make this a lot more easier for both of us”

 Linda’s eyes widened and she put a hand on her chest.

 “Are you accusing us of nepotism, Kennedy?” she just shrugged. Linda frowned “Well, I’m very disappointed. I thought you were better than that. We just want to bring young people more experience, that’s what we hired you in the first place”

 “Has he even… Have you even done an interview?” she asked him. Blaine looked at her and shrugged “Ok, awesome. Fucking awesome” Kenna lifted her arms up and started to walk away “I’m out of here and, from now on” she turned around, pointing at them “From now on I’m shopping at Target”

 Kenna started to walk towards the exit, trying her best to calm down in the process. She had been working there for eight months, having to deal with Karens, creeps and the occasional person who asked where she was really from and if her parents came here legally . All her patience, forced kindness and overall labour had been thrown away in favour of some blonde kid who didn’t even know how to dress himself. She stopped to take a break, noticing then that she was in front of the party decoration aisle. She looked around, making sure she had left Linda and Blaine far enough (It was still pretty early in the morning, so there weren’t any customers yet) and walked in, trying to look as nonchalant as she could. Kenna walked through the aisle until she saw the birthday candles in the distance. She continued her walk and, without stopping, quickly grabbed the 1 and the 9, putting them inside the pockets at her pants. Kenna then went inside the employee break room and used the door there. The other employees there didn’t even acknowledge her. 

 The September air hit her in the face and Kenna felt the need to scream. Instead of that, she decided to walk towards the nearest train stop, taking out the candles and looking at them solemnly. She sighed.

 Happy fucking birthday to her.

 Kenna shared an appartement with three other girls. They were all older than her and went to the same university. She had been living with them for a whole year and had quickly learnt how to keep to herself without being too cold towards them. 

 When she opened the door, she found herself facing a shirtless guy in the middle of the living room. Kenna let out a small scream, and he imitated her, falling backwards on the couch. 

 “Jesus, Kylie, you scared the crap out of me” he muttered. Kenna apologized, closing the door behind her. She had given up on him calling him Kenna or even Kennedy. Once she was back inside her room, she went straight to her closet and changed out of her uniform to a hoodie and a pair of jeans. After fixing her hair, she took her laptop, her most precious possession which had taken Kenna a year of savings to buy. She put the old uniform and the laptop inside a tote bag and exited her room.

 “Bye!” she shouted, not caring if the boy answered her. Once she was back on the streets, she put her headphones on and started to walk, only stopping to read the job advertisements that were stuck to the streetlights, taking the numbers of those who seemed more fit for her. Dog walker, babysitter, even one asking for a fake date to a wedding (Not the weirdest thing she had seen on the streets of New York) She pulled out the uniform from her tote bag and pulled them inside a container for donating clothes. After that, she just started to walk around without a clear destination. 

 She stopped at the park, bought a hotdog and sat on a picnic bench, opening her laptop and quickly updating her CV before starting to look through job applications. Kenna had been working nonstop she was fourteen, going from babysitting the kids from one of her foster family’s neighbours to now the lawns and endless customer service jobs, which seemed to be the only thing a freshly nineteen year old girl without a college degree like Kenna could aspire to do in order to get a paycheck without donating blood (Which she actually did every three months, perks of having a 0- type). She wrote all the data for those jobs she was fit for in a google document and looked up at the sky with her eyes closed, taking in a deep breath. It wasn’t normal to feel so tired so early in the morning and to feel so old on her nineteenth birthday, but her life hadn’t been normal in a long time. 

 Her life had never been normal, period. 

 A wet feeling on her forehead made her open her eyes, finding herself staring at a large grey cloud just above her head. Another drop. And another. In a few seconds, the sounds of the park were substituted by that of the pouring rain. 

 “Shit!” she shouted, quickly putting her laptop away and putting her hood up as she stood up “Shit!”

 Kenna ran out of the park and looked around until she saw a coffe shop nearby. She went inside, picking an empty table at the back of the place and putting her things down before ordering a lemonade at the counter. Once the barista gave it to her, she sat back down and pulled out her laptop, continuing her search. An hour passed, although it felt like she had spent her whole morning here. Every single offert was written in the exact same way, to the point that Kenna had begun to mix the details of each one. 

 Then, she saw it.

 It was a pop up ad, and at first she was goingds to close it without even reading it, but it was different from the other ones that had been appearing on the screen during her search. Weirder. 

  It was black, but with red decorations that were so bright that Kenna had to adjust her screen in order to look at it without squinting. It had no images, no gifts, nothing but those bright red letters writing the following message: 

IF YOU CLOSE THIS AD, YOU WILL BE SAYING GOODBYE TO THE OPORTUNITY OF YOUR LIFE

Do you want a job where you feel like you are actually contributing and not just wasting your mental abilities? 

Well, do not wait any longer! 

In this job, you will be able to provide help to one of the world’s greatest minds AND you’ll be able to witness global change on the first row. 

Please click the link below so we can evaluate if you are worthy enough for an interview

 Kenna read the ad again with a frown. She knew better than to click on random pop ups, but for some reason she was reticent about closing it. She didn’t know if it was the overconfidence of the sentences or the fact that the idea of “global change” was advertised in such a bizarre way, but she was intrigued. There was a button at the bottom of the ad that just said EVALUATION. Kenna looked around and, with a grimace, clicked on it. 

 Her screen turned black and she almost started to scream, laying her forehead on the table. Why the hell would she do that? Now her precious computer had probably been hacked by some turkish guy who would probably access her passwords and buy himself a very shitty second hand car, because that was the most expensive thing she could afford if she pulled all of her savings together. 

 She lifted her head up, finding that her computer was, in fact, not broken. In fact, the screen now showed a white page with the EVALUATION written at the top and what seemed to be a questionnaire. She quickly looked for a way to exit the page, quickly finding it in the upper right corner, but when she was about to click it, the same curiosity came over her. Kenna decided to read the questionnaire first, not because she was dumb enough to fill it, but because she wanted to know if they continued to have the same arrogant language as the ad. She scrolled down on the page. 

FULL NAME.

ACTUAL LOCATION.

LEVEL OF EDUCATION (ADD IQ IF KNOWN).

ABILITIES.

WEAKNESSES.

OPINIONS ON ROBOTS.

 At the bottom of the page, there was another button that read BEGIN EVALUATION. She went to click it, but a message popped up, saying that she couldn’t access it before answering the questions. Kenna read them again. The questions themselves weren’t weird (exceptuating the last one) but the person writing these hadn’t even asked for her age, job experience, or even a way to contact her. She read them for the third time.

 “I mean, it’s not like they have asked for my passwords or my bank account” she muttered to the empty chair in front of her. “And I’m bored”

 Against her better judgement, she filled the questionnaire. 

  FULL NAME

 Kennedy Narcisa Vidal

 ACTUAL LOCATION

 New York City

  LEVEL OF EDUCATION (ADD I.Q IF KNOWN)

  Finished High School with a 3.8 GPA. IQ of 115 (Last checked in 2015) 

  ABILITIES

  Multilingual (I speak English and Spanish fluently and have a basic understanding of Portuguese). I’m able to work efficiently under pressure and come up with solutions for problems on the spot. I’m also very punctual and have a very accurate memory. 

 WEAKNESSES

  Very stubborn and a bit distrusfull with strangers. When something doesn’t please me, I say it, although I try to be as respectful as the situation allows me. 

  OPINIONS ON ROBOTS

  Kenna’s fingers lingered over the keyboard. It was obvious that this person was looking for a very concrete answer. She thought for a bit and then continued to write. 

  Very important and necessary for the development of our society when the person creating them actually knows what they are doing.

 Satisfied with her answer, she pressed the button to continue the test. The screen went white and a processing bar appeared on the centre, with a small message written underneath.

THE DOCTOR’S ALGORITHM IS PROCESSING YOUR ANSWERS. IF IT DOESN’T CONSIDER THEM ADECUATE, YOU WILL BE KICKED OUT OF THE PAGE AND WON’T BE ABLE TO DO THE EVALUATION. PLEASE WAIT . 

 “Someone’s picky,” muttered Kenna, her curiosity rising after receiving an alias for the person behind the ad: The Doctor. When the processing bar was completed, the screen went white again for a few seconds. Kenna leaned over to the screen, holding her breath until it changed to a new message. 

CONGRATULATIONS! THE ALGORITHM HAS DEEMED YOUR ANSWERS SATISFYING ENOUGH FOR YOU TO BEGIN THE EVALUATION. THE FIRST PART CONSISTS ON A RIDDLE THAT YOU HAVE TO SOLVE IN 10:00 MINUTES. A TIMER WILL BE SET AFTER YOU CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW. IF YOU HAVEN’T SENT YOUR ANSWER BY THE TIME THE TIMER STOPS, YOU WILL BE KICKED OUT OF THE PAGE AND WON’T BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THE EVALUATION.

 Kenna felt a little satisfied and was ready to click the button when she stopped to think. She didn’t know anything about this doctor person, but by their (supposedly) writing style and the fact the timer was for ten minutes, she assumed that the riddle that was about to be given to her was not going to be easy. Since she could not exit the page without losing it forever, she looked around and then stood up, going to the counter. 

 “Hi, can I get a refill?” she asked the barista, who took the cup and started working on another lemonade “Also, do you have a sheet of paper I can borrow?” 

 The barista finished her drink and then went to the back of the stoçre, coming back seconds later with a page that had clearly been ripped from a notebook. 

 “Do you need a pen too?” she asked. Kenna shook her head.

 “No need. Thanks!”

 She ran back to her seat and looked into the totebag, pulling out a black pen. After setting everything up, she clicked the button and another text appeared. 

Five scientists live in the same street, but they have different architectural styles in each of their homes. 

They are speciacialized in different departments. 

Each of them drinks a different kind of coffee, uses a different type of security system and reads a different classical author.

Using the following information, please write below the order in which the scientists’ houses are situated on the street (left to right) and which one of them uses the Robotnik Building Security System.

 “What kinda name is Robotnik?” whispered Kenna after thanking God for deciding to get the paper before setting the timer.

 She started to read the ten sentences that, in theory, were supposed to help her solve the riddle. Kenna started to write the information down, abreviating the words so that she could save as much time as she could, not even looking at the timer and only stopping to read the information, drink her lemonade, and read the info again. Finally, she figured it out and quickly started to write. 

  Order of the houses: Marine biologist, theoretical physicist, chemist, engineer and astronomer. The engineer uses the Robotnik Building Security System.

 Kenna reviewed her answer and pressed the button to continue the evaluation, smirking upon seeing that it had only taken seven minutes and fourty nine seconds to solve it. After a few seconds, another message appeared. 

FOR YOUR NEXT TEST, YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST IN THREE MINUTES. A TIMER WILL BE SET AFTER YOU CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW. IF YOU HAVEN’T SENT YOUR ANSWERS BY THE TIME THE TIMER STOPS, YOU WILL BE KICKED OUT OF THE PAGE AND WON’T BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THE EVALUATION.

 “I get it, dude” she sighed, clicking the button and quickly reading the questions, her frown getting more pronounced as she scrolled down the page.

 It was, without a doubt, the most ridiculous part of the whole evaluation so far. The questions were about everyday things such as You need to do laundry, but the place closest to you has closed down because of renewals. You don’t have a car and it’s 20:00 pm. What do you do? Kenna quickly selected her answers and sent them after two minutes and twelve seconds (If she was going to do it, she was going to do it right) Again, her screen went white. Again, a message appeared in capital black letters.

FOR YOUR FINAL TEST, YOU WILL BE SHOWN AN IMAGE FOR FIVE SECONDS. AFTERWARDS, ANOTHER IMAGE ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE FIRST ONE WILL APPEAR, BUT WITH SOME MINOR DIFFERENCES. YOU WILL HAVE TO SELECT THEM ALL, BEING THERE TEN IN TOTAL, IN TWO MINUTES. A TIMER WILL BE SET AFTER YOU CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW. IF YOU HAVEN’T SENT YOUR ANSWERS BY THE TIME THE TIMER STOPS, YOU WILL BE KICKED OUT OF THE PAGE AND WON’T BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THE EVALUATION.

 “I wonder how many people have been kicked out already,” Kenna wondered out loud, before clicking on the button. A photograph covered the screen. It showed a lab, with holographic screens and lots of books and tools lying around. Kenna observed the image until it blinked out of her sight and another one occupied its place. Just like the message said, it was practically identical to the other one, except…

 “That is not the correct drawing on the screen” estated Kenna, clicking there. A red circle appeared “And there was a lab coat on the chair” 

 She clicked and clicked, annaliced the image and then clicked again until she counted ten red circles in total. As fast as she could, she clicked the button that read FINISH and waited. The screen went black. Then, another processing bar and more letters. 

THE DOCTOR’S ALGORITHM IS PROCESSING YOUR ANSWERS. IF IT DOESN’T CONSIDER THEM ADECUATE, YOU WILL BE KICKED OUT OF THE PAGE AND WON’T BE ABLE TO DO THE INTERVIEW. PLEASE WAIT . 

 Kenna blinked a couple times, remembering that all that was so that she could have the POSIBILITY of doing a JOB INTERVIEW. She still crossed her arms and tapped her finger on the table and waited for the bar to be full. Black screen again. Sudenly, a message started to appear on the screen, letter by letter. 

  KENNEDY NARCISA VIDAL, your job interview will take place September 14th, 2019, on the following address at 16:00 pm. The address to the Elevator is 230691

  The girl quickly took her phone and set the date and time on her calendar, as well as putting down the address. After checking three times that all the information was correct, she clicked on a button with the word EXIT. The screen went black again and, not even two seconds later, she was back at her initial website, where a woman offered to pay 10 dollars an hour for somebody to teach Spanish to her kids two times a week. Kenna took in a deep breath, looking again at the address in her phone, waiting for it to disappear. Maybe she had just allucinated the whole thing and, if she blinked another time, she would find herself back at her job in the supermarket, ready to be asked if an item could be returned after they used it, washed it, and lost the ticket. 

 But Kenna blinked again and she was still at the coffee shop and the address remained on her phone. 

 “Now what?” she asked the device, but it didn’t respond. An idea popped in her head and she stood up, walking back to the counter.

 “Hi, can I please get a chocolate scone, please?” the barista smiled and went to grab it, but then Kenna chimed in again “And a lighter, if you have one”

 The barista looked through her pockets and handed her a blue lighter and then the scone. Kenna thanked her and went back to the table, putting the paper and pen away and setting the scone in the middle. She looked through her tote bag and pulled out the two candles that she had stolen from her job earlier, opening the package and setting them on top of the scone. Then, she lit them up carefully. After running back to the counter to give them to the barista, she sat back down and looked at the numbers with resolution. She closed her eyes, thinking about something to wish for. It wasn’t very difficult. 

 I wish tomorrow’s interview doesn’t turn out to be the biggest mistake of my life.

  Kennedy Vidal oppened her eyes and blew out her candles.

Chapter Text

September 14th, 2019, Manhattan.

 The address given to her had taken Kenna to stand before a gray building that was at least thirty stories tall and had long, black windows and a revolving door. It seemed like a place where normal people went to work, which was a bit of a green flag. It didn’t seem like the type of place where somebody would drug her and harvest her organs to sell on the black market. Not that Kenna had completely ruled out the possibility of that happening. 

 She walked through the revolving door and, once she was inside, she looked at her surroundings: She was in a bigg lobby with gray walls and a couple of black couches on the far left. On the right, there was a desk and, just in front of her, the elevator. Kenna contemplated the idea of going to the desk and talking about her motives, but when she saw the queue of businessmen in front of it she decided against it and walked towards the elevator.

  It looked like she needed a password to access it, but the button was normal. She pressed it anyway, while looking around to other elevators that she might have missed when she had come in, but there were no secret spots or anything of the like, so she just waited until the doors opened and a man dressed in a three piece suit stepped outside without looking at her. She went inside the elevator and looked around until she saw a little panel under the numbers. She opened and it showed a small screen with a number keyboard. Kenna pressed a button where it read the world POWER and the elevator’s doors closed, leaving her alone. A message shined on the screen. 

 INSERT PASSWORD

 “Bingo” she muttered, quickly pulling out her phone and finding the password “230691” she recited as she typed the numbers, pressing another button to indicate that she was done. 

 For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then the elevator started to go down. Fast. Way too fast. Kenna gripped a metal bar situated in front of the mirror and took a deep breath, wondering if that was really how she was going to die. The elevator abruptly stopped, making her almost lose her balance, and the doors opened. Instead of the creepy basement she had thought she was going to end up in, it showed a nicely decorated waiting room. Kenna stepped out and the elevator’s doors closed behind her. The room was empty, except for a few chairs, a small table and a black door on one of the left corners. Kenna sat down, looking around and noticing a digital clock above the elevator that showed the hour: 15:57 p.m. 

 “Ok, so I guess this is it” she muttered, turning on her phone so that she could entertain herself until they called her, but she had no connection. With a huff, she decided to just open the camera and make sure that the elevator hadn’t messed up her hair or makeup. She had decided to go to the interview dressed in a garnet jersey and black pants. Her dark brown hair was pulled up in a braid, with a few loose estrands enmarking her face. After seeing that she looked presentable, Kenna closed the camera, looking again at the clock. 15:59. She felt a bit uneasy about being the only person in the room and kept looking at the elevator while tapping her feet on the floor. What kind of person was this doctor and what kind of job would they ask her to do? All the possibilities, ranging from the ridiculous to the creepy, passed through her mind. 

 The clock reached 16:00 p.m and the door opened. 

 A man stepped outside the room and made eye contact with Kenna, who stood still on her chair as she annaliced him. He was tall and skinny, with skin slightly darker than hers and short black hair. He was dressed in a suit and had a kind smile on his face. 

 “Kennedy Vidal?” he asked. Kenna nodded and he started to walk towards her “I’m Agent Stone, the doctor’s assistant. Nice to meet you”

 Kenna stood up and went to him, shaking his hand. 

 “Likewise. You can just call me Kenna if you like”

 He bowed his head. 

 “And you can just call me Stone” he moved to the side, showing her the door “Now, let’s not keep the doctor waiting, shall we?”

 Kenna just smiled and nodded, making her way through the door. Stone gently knocked on it and then opened, letting her step in before him. She thanked him and sighed before going inside. The new room was smaller and, except for the bright white led lights on the walls, it was completely black: Black walls, black desk, two black chairs in front of it and even a black ceiling fan. There were no windows, or decorations or anything of the like. But that was not what caught her attention. 

 Behind the desk, a middle aged man looked at her with a bored expression. He was also dressed in black and had pale skin and short brown hair, although the most noticeable part of his looks was the moustache, which was styled so that the tips would be looking upwards. It kinda reminded Kenna of that one Spanish painter of the XX century, the one who painted the melting clocks. What was his name again?

 “Who’s this?” asked the man of the weird moustache with a voice higher than she had expected. He looked at Kenna up and down, clearly judging her. She pretended not to notice. 

 “Kennedy Vidal, doctor, your 16:00 candidate” Stone said, looking at her with the same smile “Kenna, this is Doctor Ivo Robotnik, founder and CEO of Robotnik Labs, the most successful robotic enterprise in the world” he added with clear admiration in his voice. Kenna nodded and looked at the man, who was staring at her, obviously liking the praise. “Please, sit down,” instructed Stone. Kenna obeyed, taking a seat in one of the chairs. Stone circled the chair and stood up behind Robotnik with his hands behind his back. They all stayed in silence for a few seconds until Kenna asked

 “Your name is Ivo Robotnik?” the doctor just tilted his head to the side, glaring at her. She quickly faked a smile “That’s so unique. Where is it from?” 

 “I do not care for small talk” estated Robotnik, rolling his eyes “It’s useless and a waste of my time”

 Kenna nodded, looking at Stone, but he just gave her a smile and a thumbs up. She gulped. 

 “I understand… I assume you were the one to design the evaluation? It was a very original way to find people adequate for a job” she said, hoping that praising him would make the doctor a bit less intimidating “Very impressing”

 The doctor moved his hand around. 

 “Please, I would have been able to solve that before I even started walking” he said “What you did yesterday was a heavily watered down version of the evaluation Agent Stone had to do in order to be considered fit for his job. I was going to publish the same one, but he suggested that it would be more fit to level down the difficulty so that more people would be able to pass. I was heavily against it, since I don’t want to sit here and entertain idiots for hours!” he shouted the last part and Kenna blinked in response “But since the job you are applying to doesn’t need that many braincells anyway, I indulged him. You must be very thankful for that” 

 “I am” she said, because it was the thing he wanted her to say.

 “Well, let’s begin the interview then… I have to give credit where credit is due for you being truthful about your punctuality” the doctor scoffed “Although that’s like thanking a computer for being able to connect to the internet” he started laughing then, a loud, aggressive sound. Behind him, Stone snickered. “Anyways, Miss Vidal” he said her name with sarcasm “Why would you be a great fit to work for this company”

 Kenna straightened up on the chair. 

 “I’m a very hard worker,” she started. The doctor rolled his eyes again. “I’ve been working ever since I was legally allowed to in a large variety of jobs, so I have a lot of experience and I can be very versatile…”
“But you didn’t even go to college?” chimed in the doctor. Kenna glared at him and sighed. 

 “No, because I’m broke and didn’t qualify for any scholarships in my high school” she spat “Which has also given me a very realistic point of view in life, if I do say so myself”

   Not something you rich people are familiar wit h she thought

 The doctor didn’t say anything, just shrugged and continued talking. 

 “Yes, yes, the deeply flawed American education system that prioritizes wealth and publicity before giving opportunities to young, desperate people, we all know that story… I need something with organization skills for this job, Miss Vidal” he laughed “And not just being-able-to-place-books-in-alphabetical-order type of organization skill -Again, I would have been able to do that when I was five without breaking a sweat- Real, perfect organization skills” the doctor narrowed his eyes “Do you honestly think you can deliver on that aspect”

 Kenna leaned over and closed her arms over the table.

 “Why don’t you try me?” she asked. He smirked. 

 “Oh, I will” he responded with malice, before sliding something to her. It was a tablet “You will be given an empty schedule for next week. A bunch of notifications are going to appear on the screen, symbolicing meetings, lab revision days and stuff like that” he tapped the screen with a gloved finger “You, Miss Vidal, must be able to perfectly organize the schedule in less than five minutes, discarting those compromises which are useless and also being able to leave both saturday AND SUNDAY free for me to work on my badniks in my lab without one single molestation” 

 “How do I know which compromises are useless?” asked Kenna with a frown. The doctor shrugged. 

 “Figure it out and cross your fingers you have good intuition”
 I obviously don’t, since I’m sitting here with you she thought again, but she bit her tongue and nodded again.

 “Let me guess, if I haven’t finished by the time the timer stops I will be kicked out of this room and won’t be able to complete the interview?” she taunted. The doctor’s grin went widder (Kenna couldn’t help but wonder if he would be able to make The Grinch’s iconic face and shivered at the mental image that gave her)

 “Would you look at that, Stone?” he asked, looking at the man behind him “She’s smart enough to figure that out. My faith in her has increased 2%”

 “What percentage is it now, then?” she inquired.

 “2%” he deadpaned “Now shut up and start the damn test”

 Kenna pressed a button on the tablet’s screen and the schedule appeared in front of her. Immediately after, a bunch of symbols started to pop up next to it, and Kenna started to move them around. She was silently thankful that, if she clicked on one of them, she was able to read more about the reasons and objectives of each meeting and the dates and timestamps those requesting it could be able to hold it. Kenna placed the symbols on the schedule, changing days and dates and putting those she thought the doctor wouldn’t be interested in attending (A meeting with a CEO who wanted to merge the companies or going to a charity gala) inside a cartoon trash can in the down right corner. The velocity in which the symbols appeared was enough to make her sweat a little, but the doctor was definitely not helping, as he kept shouting the time she had left at an irritatingly high voice. Kenna seriously thought about hitting him in the head with the tablet at least five different times in under two minutes. When she was done, she pressed the button to stop the test and placed the tablet back on the table. The doctor took it immediately. 

 “Three minutes and fifty five seconds” he said, shaking his head “Tsk, tsk, tsk, Miss Vidal. My faith in you is now at 1%”

 “But you still have it,” she retorted. The doctor ignored it, too busy looking at the screen. Stone leaned over him to look at it, softly nodding every couple of seconds, which gave Kenna an inch of hope. After a minute or so, the doctor slowly raised his head to look at her, eyes unblinkling.

  “I even managed to make friday’s evening free as well,” Kenna said with a shrug. They looked at each other for a while, until the doctor snapped his head to look at Stone. 

 “Well, don’t you stand around like a statue, say something!” he shouted. Stone remained unfazed. “She’s going to be your assistant, after all!”

 “Wait, what!?” she exclaimed. The doctor looked at her and rolled his eyes for the third time. Kenna regretted not hitting him with the tablet. All those condescending comments and she wasn’t even going to work for him????

 “Yeah. Stone, here where you see him, is my personal assistant, bodyguard, and general chores boy” he explained, tapping Stone on the arm. Stone’s smile became a little more genuine “However, in the last couple of months, he has been slacking. He has been way more busy than I need him to be and, so, I came up with the brilliant idea to hire some soul slightly dumber than him to aid him with his duties and make him be more focused on his actual job”
“Which is?” asked Kenna.

 “Submiting to my every whim, of course” said the doctor, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

 “That tracks” responded Kenna “And what would I be doing?”

 “Your job will be organizing the doctor’s schedule, as you have already done” started Stone “Clasifying his emails, running errands such as shopping or taking his clothes to the dry cleaner…”
“You want an intern” she realiced, looking at them “You want an intern” she repeated, letting herself fall back on her chair “All of this and I’m not even going to get paid?”

 “Of course you’re going to get paid,” the doctor stretched out his arms. “It’s one of the many downsides of working with real people, but what can you do other than wait another five to ten years until you’ve developed enough technology to prepare a robotic worldwide takeover” he grumbled. Before pointing at Kenna “You will be paid minimum wage until I deem you worthy enough to have an official position in my company. When and if that happens, I will pay you the same as I pay Agent Stone. We will discuss the details once we are back in Washington”

 “Washington?” she repeated “Do I have to work remotely or…?”
“Are you stupid?” chimed in the doctor “You are coming to Washington. With us” he explained, pointing between him and Stone “If that’s a problem to you, then you are free to sign an NDA and walk back to that elevator and return to your lowlife jobs, since that is the only thing young girls like you can afford to do without a degree. But remember how generous I am for giving you this opportunity, Miss Vidal”

 Kenna should have gotten up and left. That man was, to put it mildly, an asshole, and his cartoonish villain vibes, the narcissistic vocabulary and that stupid moustache were a parade of red flags that she wasn’t able to ignore. Plus, she loved New York, she had moved there just after finishing high school and it was almost as good as the movies had painted it. But, what did she have there? Not family, she hand’t had one of those in a really long time. Definitely not friends: All the girls she hung out with in her last high school had erased her out of their lives once they moved for college, her roommates ignored her and she didn’t know how to make connections outside of a classroom enviroment. She sighed and looked at Stone. 

 “How much does he pay you?” she asked. Stone looked at the doctor, who just nodded, and he came closer to Kenna, whispering a number into her ear. Kenna’s eyes went wide and she turned to Stone, then to the doctor, with her mouth agape and her eyebrows raised “Are you serious!?” she shouted. The doctor nodded with satisfaction. Kenna bit the inside of her cheek and clasped her hands together. 

 “Ok. I will need to gather my stuff, though”

 “Of course,” agreed the doctor. “Agent Stone!”
“Yes, doctor?” 

 “Accompany Miss Vidal back to her residence and help her pack her belongings. We will be leaving tomorrow at 12:00 p.m” he got up and walked towards the door “Now, leave, I want to work on some stuff and I can’t with you around”

 “Of course, doctor. Kenna?” Kenna looked up at Stone, got up and followed him back to the room and into the elevator “Welcome to the team. Don’t worry about the trial period, I’m sure you’ll pass it”

 Kenna humed in response, still assimilating everything that had happened in so little time. The elevator’s doors closed and she turned to the man (and new coworker, apparently) and tilted her head to the side. 

 “Can I ask you some questions?” she inquired. Stone shrugged. 

 “Of course, although I don’t promise to answer them all”

 “If you are from Washington, why did you come all the way to New York to do the interview”

 “Ah, that’s a good question” the elevator shot up, again with too much intensity. Kenna grabbed the metal bar, but Stone stood up still without even flinching “You see, at first the doctor wanted to make it so the ad would pop up to people worldwide, but he realized that it was too much work, so he reduced it so that only people in the States could see it and access to the evaluation”
“So you have been interviewing people all over the States?” she asked “And I’m the most qualified one?” 

 Stone grimaced. 

 “You see, across the country, only fifteen people clicked on the app. Of those, seven of them were quicked out after the initial test, as their answers didn’t align with the doctor’s beliefs. That leaves only with eight posible candidates, you included. Three of them weren’t able to solve the riddle in time, two of them weren’t able to do the multiple answer test before the timer stopped and, of the remaining three, only you were able to pick up the differences between the images”

 The elevator stopped and Stone and Kenna made their way towards the front door of the building and to the outside. 

 “So I was literally the only option” she muttered, feeling a little disappointed in herself. 

 “Don’t beat yourself up” said Stone “The algorythm could have still thought that your answers were not sufficient, whether it be because the answers were not correct or because your times were a little too tight. But you managed! You should be proud of managing to get the doctor to hire you, Kenna”

 “Thanks” she responded with a smile.

  They stopped at a store to buy a couple of cardboard boxes and then went to her appartement, where Kenna had to explain to her very confused roommates that she just got hired into a new job and had to leave for Washington tomorrow. When they brought up the lease, Stone asked for the money needed to cover it and then pulled up a checkbook, wrote something in it, and gave it to one of them who just took it without saying anything else. They went into Kenna’s room, packed the little stuff she had in less than two hours. After that, Stone made a call and a black car was parked outside the building in twenty minutes. They put all of the boxes in the trunk and hopped in. 

 “You will be staying at the same hotel the doctor and I have booked for the night. Don’t worry, I already paid for your room while you were packing”

 “Where will I be staying in Washington?” she asked, suddenly alarmed about having to apartment-hunt in a new state. 

 “With us, too. The doctor owns an appartement complex in the city. He lives in the penthouse, I live on the floor under him and you will live on the floor under me. Sounds good? I’m afraid you will have to ask him permission if you wish to redecorate, but it is a very well situated place”
“In the same building?” 

 “Yes, so he can have us near if he need us” he smiled at her “You have make the right decision, Kenna, you’ll know it soon enough”

 Kenna just nodded, looking at the window. She felt a little uneasy, sure, she was now working minimum wage for an asshole, but extrangely enough, she felt more excited about what her life now looked like than she felt scared. She didn’t know it would end up crashing and burning all around her or if dr. Ivo Robotnik was a ticket into a whole new world of possibilities that she had never even dreamed off, but she was more than ready to figure it out.

Chapter Text

November 8th, 2019, Washington D.C.

 “On a scale of 1 to 10, how angry is he going to get?” asked Kenna as she stood still next to Stone on the sidewalk “1 being typical Doctor temper tantrum and 10 being the unleash of a destructive robot Doofenshmirtz style” 

 Stone didn’t say anything, just continued to stare in front of him, where an empty building stood. It had light green walls and large windows through which you could see the emptiness inside. There was no problem with the building itself, but with the fact that, only a mere week ago, it had actually been Steamed Empirium , aka the only coffee shop in the whole ass world that sold the lattes in the exact way that Dr. Ivo Robotnik liked them. Every morning, at twelve p.m, he drank one in order to get his brain extra batteries. They had needed to go away from Washington for a week in order to do some business things in Vermont, so Stone had bought seven lattes just before leaving and had actually heated them for the doctor to drink every.single.day. (Of course, the doctor had complained about them being to hot or cold or that the milk wasn’t steamed enough, but he had at least drink them in the end and hadn’t thrown them to their faces)

 But now they were back in Washington and the coffee shop was closed. And the world was also possibly doomed.

 “It might be for the best,” said Stone. Kenna looked at him like he had lost his mind (he had)

 “Are you crazy!?” The last time the coffee shop had closed because of the owner catching the flu, the doctor had broken into an hour-long rant about how he once had invented a doctor capable of copying whatever he said in record time so he could finish his homework when he had a broken arm. He had actually built the robot with only his left hand and Kenna hated the fact that she was a little impressed, but she didn’t want to repeat the experience. 

 “I mean, he will get a little angry at first” corrected Stone, sending her a knowing look “But I know how to minimize the damage”

 “Please, lead the way” answered Kenna, signaling the road with her hand. Stone and her continued their walk, getting to their destination in less than ten minutes. The building where all three of them lived was tall and painted in black, with large tinted windows. They took the elevator and got to the penthouse where the doctor’s home/lab was. Stone used his key to get inside, where a 90s song was blasting through the rooms. 

 “I knew he liked the playlist I made” muttered Kenna, clenching a fist and feeling vindicated. 

 “Doctor, we are back with the groceries!” exclaimed Stone, leaving the bags he was carrying on the counter. 

 “Just in the nick of time! Please come to the lab”

 He sounded… nice. He had even said please , which in Kenna’s eyes meant that the world was not definitely doomed, but she didn’t feel like pointing out the obvious. Instead, she walked with Stone to the lab, where the doctor was sitting in his chair, looking proudly at two holograms in front of him that showed the prototypes of two androids: One had a squared head with a touch of yellow while the other one’s was rounded and had red on the top. 

 “What do you think?” asked the doctor with a huge green, dramatically pointing at the holograms. Kenna observed them. 

 “They look good. Are these the security androids they asked you back in California?” she asked. The doctor shook his head maliciously. 

 “No, miss Vidal” he turned around and extended his arms “These are OrBot and CuBot, aka” he said every letter slower than the last one in order to add dramaticism “The droids you two imbeciles will be replaced with once I programe their artificial intelligence to PERFECTION” he shouted that last world, getting closer to them. Kenna and Stone didn’t even flinch. 

 “That’s wonderful doctor” congratulated Stone with a bow of the head “Glad to see you had a productive morning”

 “I always have a productive morning” replied the doctor, rolling his eyes. 

 “Of course, doctor. Is there anything else you want?” inquired Stone. The doctor held his chin in a thinking gesture. 

 “Let me see” he started to count with his fingers “Global recognicion, domination, DESTRUCTION” he clenched his fist as he said the last world before returning to an eerily calm expression “But first my latte, that you apparently left in the kitchen five minutes before 12 p.m”

 Kenna gulped and looked at Stone, who just stood in silence for a few seconds. She breathed deeply through her nose. 

 “You see, doctor” she started, sighing “It seems like the Steamed Empirium has… closed”

 “What?” deadpaned the doctor. Kenna nodded. “Do the idiots that work there catch the flu or some other disease again?”

 Kenna shook her head. 

 “No, it seems like they are definitely closed. I think that I heard the owner talking about selling the business to buy a farm or something like that a couple months ago” she turned to Stone, who just shrugged “But I thought it was wishfull thinking?”

 “WHAT!?” The doctor started to pace around the room like a maniac. “How am I supposed to stop my brain from shutting down if I don’t get my caffeine!?”

 “You see, doctor” began Stone, finally deciding to talk “I think I might have the solution for that” 

 The doctor stopped, twisting his neck so he could look at Stone, and smiled. 

 “Please, Agent Stone, enlighten me. Are you going to kidnap the owners and make them open up again, perhaps?”

 “No” answered Stone “But I have been taking your order there for almost two years, so I know exactly how they make it. I think I might be able to prepare it for you just before 12”

 Kenna arched her eyebrows, intrigued. The doctor stood completely still, before grinning again. 

 “By all means, do try it, Agent Stone. I can’t wait to see what you do”

 Stone beamed and Kenna couldn’t help but smile a little as well. 

 “Of course, doctor. Be right back”

 And off he went, leaving Kenna and the doctor alone in the lab. She crossed her arms and stared some more at the holograms of the droids. 

 “I gotta say, I thought you would act a little more… aggressively” she admitted. The doctor shrugged. 

 “What can I say, the idea of Stone trying to please my superior taste only to fail miserably it’s too amusing for me to stay angry”

 There it was. Kenna hummed in response, focusing back on the holograms. OrBot and CuBot, weren’t they called? She wondered if there was one supposed to represent her and one supposed to represent Stone, but she didn’t ask because she knew the answer she received would be nothing but sardonic. The minutes passed and Stone waltzed back into the room holding a black and red cup that he gave to the doctor. Without thanking him, the doctor took the cup and took a sip. 

 His expression became blanc and Kenna frowned, looking at Stone who just stared at their boss with nervousness. The doctor took another sip. 

 “This does not taste like the ones they make at the Steamed Empirium , Stone” he declared. Kenna sighed, getting ready for the upcoming verbal beatdown her coworker was about to get when… “It tastes better ”

 “Really?” asked Stone with a smile.

 “Really?” asked Kenna at the same time, leaning over to him. The doctor took another sip. 

 “Really” he said, looking at Stone “What exactly was it that you changed?” 

 “That would be the steamed austrian goat milk, sir” answered Stone proudly “I heard that they have so much better properties that regular american goats”

 “Interesting” the doctor took another sip “That settles it then!” he pointed at Stone “From now on YOU will be preparing my daily lattes, Agent Stone. And I want them JUST like you made this one”

 “Of course, doctor”

 The doctor nodded and then looked at Kenna, then back at Stone. 

 “Well, don’t you have work to attend to? Get out of my lab!” 

 “Yes, doctor” said Kenna and Stone in synchrony before exiting the lab. Kenna laughed “Holy shit, I think I just witnessed a miracle” 

 “I told you” chuckled Stone in response. 

February 22nd, 2020, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

 Things Kennedy Vidal liked about the Brazilian Carnival: The costumes, the music, the fact that Brazilians were the funniest people to walk the Earth.

 Things Kennedy Vidal did not like about the Brazilian Carnival: The glitter. 

 “Oh God, it just doesn’t go away” she cried, trying to use her nails to get some golden sparkles out of her hair, without success. She looked at Stone, who was also trying to get the glitter out of his suit jacket, but seemed less bothered than she was. They were in Brazil because of an international deal the doctor was signing and they had just been lucky enough to be there for the carnival season. The doctor had retired to his hotel room to work on some of his stuff and had told them to Get lost and not bother him for two hours , so they had decided to take advantage of the situation and go to one of the parades. 

 “It’s a great sight, though,” said Stone.

 “Yeah, it is,” agreed Kenna. “The most cheerful parade I went to was in thanksgiving when I was fourteen. My foster parents at the time made me take the little ones while they stayed back and catched up with their friends” 

 “You’re a foster kid?” asked Stone. Kenna nodded. 

 “Yeah, haven’t I mentioned it before?” she asked. Stone shook his head “My parents and I moved a lot in my childhood. They died when I was eleven, and were in the system until I turned eighteen. Twelve foster homes in seven years” she grimaced “I don’t like to talk about it” They stayed in silence, watching as the parade walked away and more glitter stuck to their clothes. 

 “My parents kicked me out when I came out to them” he suddenly said and Kenna looked at him so fastly that she hurt her neck. Stone shrugged “I spent the last year of my adolescence in a shelter until I was able to enlist in the military. Changed my surname to one more english-like in order to not get into much trouble and moved on from there”

 “Huh” said Kenna, massaging her neck “I just realice that I don’t know your actual first name” Stone laughed.

 “That’s because it’s classified information” he estated jokingly. Kenna faked being offended. 

 “I thought we were close, Stoney” she said through fake sobs “We even spent Christmas together”

 They had. They made burgers and then watched 1974s Black Christmas. It has been fun”

 “Aban” he finally said “My name is Aban”

 “Cool name” responded Kenna while nodding. 

 Twenty minutes later, they were back at their hotel in the doctor’s room, as he wanted to show a new invention he was working on OrBot and CuBot had become more like passion proyects he worked on the side, as he claimed that the AI keep making them stupider than them.

  “Look at this” he exclaimed, showing off the robot. It was supposed to be some kind of remote explosive that, whenever it got destroyed, a smaller one would pop up to finsh the job. He was just showing off the smallest of them all, a small white circle the size of a marble with a small helicopter on top that quickly flew towards Kenna. Her reflexes acted faster than her brain and she hit it with her hand, making it fall on the bed. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands. 

 “I’m so sorry” she apologiced. The doctor shook his head. 

 “Not necesarry” he grumbled “I need to be, once in a while, reminded of the fact that even my most perfect inventions need to be perfectionated” he started to play with the tablet “What’s the point of a small explosive if it can just be pushed away like it’s nothing?”

 “It doesn’t have an explosive right now, though, right?” quietly asked Kenna. The doctor shook his head, an action full of sorrow. 

 “Of course not, Vidal, I only add them when I’m finished!” He then continued to do his thing with the tablet, while Stone looked over his shoulder and nodded at every little thing the doctor said and Kenna took the little droid, playing with it by passing it from one hand to another. After a few minutes, she noticed that a little bit of glitter had been stuck on the droid’s surface, so she cleaned it with her finger. She then tried to get rid of the glitter in her hands, but all she managed to do was pass it from one finger to the next. 

 “You should make it sticky” she commented to no one in particular. 

 “What?” replied the doctor. Kenna looked at him and shugged. 

 “The little droid” she explained, taking it and showing it to him “You should make it so it sticks to the skin, like glitter. That way, if someone tries to punch it away, it would be stuck in their hand” 

 The doctor got up from his chair and, in a few large steps, had his face mere centimetres from Kenna’s. She pulled back and gulped. There was a look in his eyes she wasn’t completely able to identify and cursed herself for daring to give advice to the madman in front of her instead of just nodding and telling him how great he was. The doctor ripped the droid out of her hand. 

 “I’m impressed, Vidal” he spat out “It seems like being in my presence has actually become beneficial for you” he went back to his chair “Congratulations: You are officially hired” 

 Kenna blinked a few times and then the realization of what that implied settled onto her. The raise. The fact that she had been able to actually cause a positive reaction out of the doctor. The fucking raise. She didn’t do anything, just thanked the doctor and gave Stone a triumphant smile. 

 It would be hours later when she realiced that her suggestion would mean that the explosive would be blowing somebody’s hand off, but she figured out that, whoever they sent it to, they probably would have it coming anyway.

June 30th, 2020, Washington D.C.

 Most people would be ecstatic about the idea of helping the US Goverment with their inventions. Honored, even. Dr. Ivo Robotnik was not like most people, so he just complained all the time, sitting in the backseat of the car. 

 “They act like the y are doing a favor to me , as if I couldn’t just take over their base in a blink of an eye if I had enough robots to take care of everything”

 “Lucky them” muttered Kenna as she stepped out of the car. 

 “You shouldn’t let them go to your head, doctor, they are just jealous of your intelligence” adde

 “And the sky is blue, Stone,” replied the doctor, making Kenna chuckle. He was funny sometimes and Stone didn’t seem to mind the jabs. In fact, Kenna was starting to believe he found them endearing, but she had never asked him about it. 

 The base they were in was a tall, grey building with two US flags at the sidesd of the door. The doctor walked inside, followed by Stone and Kenna, not paying attention to the security guards or the employees, until a man dressed in military clothes stepped in front of the doctor, making them stop in their tracks. He had slicked back blonde hair and blue eyes.

 “Doctor Ivo Robotnik, I assume” said the man, looking at them up and down.

 “Look at you, you got it correct. Do you expect a golden star?” answered the doctor. The man didn’t say anything. 

 “I am captain Stevens, here to take you to the meeting where you would discuss the new prototypes…” he wandered off, looking at Stone and Kenna with a frown “I was aware that you were going to bring a chore boy, but nobody told me that there would be two of them now”

 Kenna scoffed, while Stone just gave him a tight smile. The doctor looked at him in silence. 

 “Given the fact that I’m making the choice to supply you with my inventions even though you are clearly unworthy of them, I don’t think my choice in companions it’s specially relevant or important to you”

 The captain didn’t say anything, just looked at Stone and Kenna again and shrugged. 

 “I’m just saying that it’s not the people I imagined a man of your… description working with” he said “But, I mean, they do look like they make good coffee”

 “What the fuck, dude?” asked Kenna, and the man looked at her with a hard expression. 

 “Carefull how you speak to me, young lady, you are forgetting where you are”

 “Do you feel proud of yourself for picking a fight with somebody who hasn’t even turned twenty years old, Captain Stevens?” inquired Stone, tilting his head to the side “Does it make you feel like you have some actual power and distract you from the fact that you’ve probably been stuck in your position for years not being able to move up the ladder, not because of nepotism or whatever other stupid reason you’ve given yourself, but because you are just mediocre at best at what you do?” Stone gave him another smile “And, just so you know, I do know how to make a good coffee, not that I would give you any”

 “That enough” groaned the doctor with an overly dramatic sigh, gaining everybody’s attention. “As much as I like putting those who are inferior in their place, I do have a meeting to attend and, afterwards, I wanna work on my crab prototype!” he actually stumped the ground as he said it, making captain Stevens cringe “So, Captain Stevens, why don’t you do what they sent you here to do and leave my henchmen alone. And, you two” he pointed at Stone at Kenna “Stay here. If you move even an inch I’ll know” he added with a whisper before he and the captain started to walk alone through the hallway.

 Kenna sighed, looking at the ceiling. Her eyes were burning and, if she stared long enough, she could convince herself it was because of the lights and not because of the threat of tears. It hadn’t even been that bad she had heard worse: At the homes, at school, at her other jobs. It didn’t make sense. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. 

 “You can’t show them any reaction”

 Stone’s voice startled her and turned around to see her coworker with a stoic expression, his gaze locked in the hallway the doctor had disappeared into.

 “They don’t care if it’s sadness or anger, they just want you to react. They think that, if you do, you’re proving them right. That you’re giving them an excuse” he sighed, still not looking at her “You can’t let them think that they have power over you, Kennedy. If they do, you’re as good as lost”

 “You seem like you know a lot about it,” she said with a humorless chuckle. 

 “I am older than you, remember?” he teased “And, also, you work for the smartest man in the world right now. What does that nothing captain have on that?” 

 Kenna didn’t say anything and they both remained in silence until the doctor came back, way angrier than before. They walked back to the car, listening to him ramble about every single one of the men present at the meeting, all which seemed to be dumber than the last. Even when they were back on the road, headed for the appartement, the doctor had something to say. 

 “And don’t you two dare thinking that I don’t know that they talk about me behind my back. I’m completely aware, but I don’t let them know because then they think that they know something I don’t, while the reality is that I do” Kenna nodded.

 “If I can ask, doctor, why exactly do you work for them?” she inquired “It’s not like they finance your experiments or anything”
The doctor took a few seconds to respond. 

 “I’m 97.64% sure that they are hiding my grandfather’s archives somewhere and I hope that, when I’m able to hijack the organization with my machines, I will be able to find it. Also, they do lend me some valuable tax money for my prototypes and it’s nice to not always have to take money off your own pocket”

 “Wow. Ok” laughed Kenna “Your grandfather was an agent?”

 The doctor scoffed. 

 “Come on, Vidal, don’t make me laugh. He was a scientist, even more brilliant than I was. He died after an accident during one of his research proyects. The rest of my family had similar demises”

 Kenna and Stone exchanged looks and, by the way her coworker was staring, she knew that it was the first time the doctor had even mentioned his family. 

 “I’m sorry to hear that, doctor,” said Stone.

 “Yeah, sorry. My parents are dead too, so I can relate…” started Kenna, but was quickly interrupted by the doctor. 

 “I don’t pay you to have sentimental conversations. I hate them and they are a waste of both my time and thoughts. Now come on, Stone, the light has been green for three and a half seconds and I want to go home”

 “Sorry, doctor”

 Even though they didn’t say anything for the rest of the way, Kenna couldn’t help but feel a shift in her feelings for her boss. There was something in the way he had said that last sentence that added up to the theory that had been growing inside her for the last few months, the theory that maybe her madman of a boss wasn't as emotionally detached as the wanted himself to be although, with him, no one could ever really know.

Chapter Text

February 16th, 2021, Washington D.C.

  We’re not gonna take it by Twisted Sister started blasting through the office and Kenna groaned, knowing exactly what that meant. The government was calling. She had personalized ringtones for everybody in her agenda, which had the impressive amount of sixteen phone numbers. Her favourite ones included California Gurls for one of their investors in L.A, Barbie Girl for Stone and Despicable Me by Pharrel Williams for the doctor. She picked up the phone, challenging her best customer service voice.

 “You’ve called Robotnik Labs, this is Vidal, who am I talking to?” she asked. There was heavy breathing on the other side. 

 “I need to speak to Robotnik” said an old, male voice who clearly didn’t want to be making that call. Kenna smirked.

 “I’m sorry, who is this?” she asked, faking confusion. 

 “Are we seriously doing this?” was the reply she got. 

 “The doctor is a very bussy man, sir, but I am not” she tsked, taking a sip of her water bottle “I’ll ask again: Who am I talking to?” 

 A heavy sight.

 “This is General Ashford. I need to speak to Dr. Robotnik about a possible national threat. As soon as possible please” a few seconds passed “We are willing to go into Black Mode”

 That was what made Kenna stop in her tracks, straightening herself up in her chair. 

 “Ok, let me just put you on hold for a second, General, I’ll be right back” she said way too fast to sound nonchalant anymore. After puting the man on hold, she sprinted through the lobby to get to the doctor’s office. He was sitting at his desk, looking down at his tablet. Kenna repeatedly knocked on the door until he looked at her with annoyance.

 “Come in” spat out the doctor. Kenna opened the door and went inside “What is it, Vidal?”

 “General Ashford just called” she responded as she gained back as much of her composure as she could. The doctor shrugged. 

 “So? What could he possibly want to get you this shooken up? An assasination of a president?” he frowned “It’s definitely not a former president, otherwise you would be putting up party banners”

 Kenna smiled tightly at the joke. 

 “He said something about a national threat”
“That’s what he always says. This government idiots are so dramatic, the cashier could charge them two extra dollars on the milk and they would think it’s a sign that doomsday is coming”

 “Yeah I know, doctor, but you see…”

 “What’s going on?” Kenna turned around to see Stone, carrying the doctor's latte in his hand. He put it in front of their boss, who happily took a sip. 

 “General Ashford called me, said that there’s a national threat or something like that…” she looked at them and then declared “He said he’s willing to go into Black Mode”

 Doctor Robotnik put his latte down and stared intensely at Kenna, a smile creeping on his face. 

 “Is that so?” he asked. Kenna nodded and the doctor frowned. “Well, did he say something else?” 

 “No, I put him on hold… On my desk” she answered. 

 “Then go and get the phone!” ordered the doctor. Kenna quickly stepped out of the office and ran back to the desk. Black Mode was something that the doctor and the military had agreed upon after a situation in Pakistan. It meant that Doctor Ivo Robotnik was able to take complete control of an operation, no matter where or when. Kenna took her phone and went back into the office, setting it in front of the latte on speaker mode.

 “General Ashford” greeted the doctor. 

 “Doctor Robotnik, thank you for answering my call so quickly…”

 “Let’s skip the small talk, shall we?” interrupted the man “I heard you have something big for me”

 “Yes. I do. But I don’t want to talk about it on the phone” answered the general. 

 “Very well. Come to my office in an hour and let’s see what you got” was the doctor’s reply.

 “Of course. I’ll be there” 

 The call ended and Kenna and Stone looked at each other, both with confused expressions. 

“What are you two idiots still doing here?” exclaimed the doctor “Go back to doing your actual jobs until the general shows up. 

 Kenna and Stone steped outside the office and walked back to their respective positions. She bit the inside of her mouth and looked down at her phone. 

 “It must be something big for the general to be this complacent” she stared. Stone snorted. 

 “Come on, how big can it be?” 

An hour later, they were back at the office, the doctor sitting behind his desk, Kenna and Stone right behind him, and General Ashford in front of them. He was an old man, with white hair and black eyes, dressed in his uniform with a solemn look. In front of him, there was a tablet which showed a map of the US, only the entire area of the Pacific Northwest was painted black. 

 “Yesterday” he began “At about 22:06 pm, there was a massive blackout in the area of the Pacific Norhtwesr, knocking out all energy services for about eleven hours. It was caused by a massive source of energy” 

 Kenna arched her eyebrows and looked at Stone, who had a similar expression in his face. Out of all the things she was expecting them to activate Black Mode for, a blackout was definetly not very high on the list. 

 “Before you ask, yes, we did think about an electromagnetic pulse at first but” he shook his head “The power in this thing was unfathomable for that kind of thing” he clicked his tongue “No meteor strikes, no malfunctions of any kind. I’m not afraid to say it: We have no clue about what it is”

 The doctor didn’t say anything, he just grabbed the tablet and swiped right, finding another map that detailed the power of the energy source in the different areas affected by it. Kenna arched her eyebrows even more. Ashfor wasn’t lying: It was enough to probably get a generator going for a whole year without issues. She whistled, which caused the General to nod in agreement. 

 “So, I guess your actual hypothesis is a terrorist attack or something of the like” said the doctor, placing the tablet back on the desk “And you need my tech to stop it”

 “We don’t know what it is, or even if it was done by a person at all” stated Ashford “That being said, you’re right about the tech part. It’s best not to alarm the population and carry this operation as stealthy as possible” he looked the doctor dead in the eye “Can I trust you to do that?”

 “Do you think I’m stupid or something?” replied the doctor before bursting into a fit of giggles “I’m not the one who can’t figure out whether there’s an electromagnetic terrorist group lurking around Oregon or if it’s just a generator exploding somewhere underground” 

 “Montana,” muttered Stone.

 “Excuse me?” answered the doctor, looking at him.

 “It didn’t start in Oregon, it started in Montana, doctor,” explained Stone, pointing at the map “See?” 

 The doctor scoffed. 

 “I knew that, Stone, I was just saying the wrong thing on purpose so that I could match these people’s idiocy” he exclaimed, pointing at Ashford. “And now you’ve ruined it” 

 “Sorry, doctor”

 “But, do you have a concrete location or it’s just Montana?” asked Kenna, looking at the general “Do we have to figure out where it started exactly?”

 “Who’s we?” 

 “There’s no need for that, we were able to figure out the exact point zero of the blackout” he swapped again on the tablet, revealing a picture of a picturesque town with white and dark red buildings and a sign that said Welcome to Green Hills . Kenna frowned. She was expecting something like an abandoned military base or even a miner site, but instead she was looking at an image that could well serve as a promo for Stardew Valley. 

 “Green Hills” read Ashford “Small town in the middle of the woods, their economy is mostly based on small businesses, no famous monuments or anything worth mentioning, nothing close by that could cause such a thing” he tilted his head to the side “There was a small peak in energy levels about ten years ago near the area, but it didn’t cause much destruction. Apart from that, it’s a mostly forgettable place” 

 The doctor didn’t say anything, he just looked at the image on the screen intensely for what seemed like an eternity. After a few minutes of pure silence, he spoke. 

 “We need to send brigades to the area and close up the exact point where it started” 

 “Already on it”

 “Look at that, you got one thing right. Stone. Vidal” he called “Go upstairs and make my luggage. We’re leaving tonight after dinner. We will be needing a plane able to carry all of my drones” he said to Ashford. 

 “Of course” he said “I’ll make the call as soon as I step out of this building”

 “You better get going then” replied the doctor with a smile “Now everybody, out of my office!” 

 Kenna and Stone quickly went towards the door, followed by the general. As they made their way to the elevator, Kenna could tell the man was visibly stressed. 

 “They didn’t want me to go here, you know?” he asked no one in particular “They think he’s a freak. They’re right, but that doesn’t mean he’s not capable of aiding us” Kenna and Stone didn’t say anything, but the general just kept going “I met his grandfather, you know?” 

 “Really?” asked Kenna, looking to her side. Stone just frowned.

 “Yes. I didn’t work with him personally, but I knew a guy who did. We went to the same military school. Met Gerard at a reunion back in 1970. Brilliant man, eccentric. Not at the level your boss is, but enough for it to be noticeable” Kenna didn’t say anything but nodded, encouraging him to keep going “I remember he had to leave earlier because he was taking care of his grandchild” 

 “Can you imagine the doctor as a baby?” asked Kenna, looking at Stone “I bet he was born with the ‘stache” she added with a giggle. 

 “He says he was able to solve first grade equations before he was able to walk” he replied “A truly brilliant man, really” he added with a sigh. Kenna tried to repress a laugh. 

 “The thing is, before meeting Ivo, I spent two decades remembering his grandfather saying he had a granddaughter, not a grandson,” commented Ashford, almost to himself, just as the elevator’s doors opened. “Well, that’s age for you. I’ll be making the calls and a car will pick you up to get you to the airport tonight. Have a good day”

 The elevator closed again and Stone pressed the button to go up to the doctor’s penthouse. Kenna took a deep breath. 

 “What do you think it was?” she asked “Terrorists?” 

 “I don’t know where they would be able to get enough materials to do something like that without causing an alarm” he answered “We might have to recruit them”

 They stepped out of the elevator and quickly went into the doctor’s room, which was as plain as it could be. Stone pulled a suitcase from under the bed and Kenna opened the wardrobe. 

 “Honestly, does he own any colors besides black?” she groaned, picking up a couple of jackets “Between that, the moustache and… everything else, you would think he’s a children entertainer cosplaying as a cartoon villain instead of the CEO of one of the most profitable tech companies ever”

 “Black is an ideal color, in my opinion” said Stone, getting closer to her “And, look at that, it’s not all he owns” he observed, before pulling out a red and black long coat from the wardrobe. “How many days do you think we’ll stay there?” 

 Eight hours later, the three of them were sitting on a militar plane right next to a dozen of the doctor’s inventions of all shapes and sizes. The doctor was humming a song while checking something in his tablet with a smile, while Kenna selected a playlist to listen through the flight and Stone pulled out a book and a cup of coffee. 

 “I know emotion is a thing for weaklings like you” said the doctor with a sigh “But I can’t help but feel very excited about this. I've been looking forward to a change of scenery”

Chapter Text

 February 17th, 2021, Green Hills

Out of all the places a massive power explosion capable of leaving a couple of states without electricity for hours could start, a baseball field in the middle of a small town was not what most people would expect. 

 Kenna watched from the car window as the fences and military vehicles became bigger as they came closer. In front of them, the doctor’s enormous mobile lab in form of a large black truck moved menacinly. Some soldiers talked to each other while throwing them suspicious looks, but finally ended up letting them in. As they went further, she saw how there was a white tent covering part of the area and people dressed in white bodysuits with gas masks walking around. There were sound antennas, machines and soldiers walking everywhere. Kenna looked around and huffed. 

 “I thought Ashford said they were trying to keep a low profile” she muttered. Next to her, Stone just shrugged. “I thought we were dealing with a blackout, not Chernobyl 2.0” 

 The truck stopped and so did the car. Kenna watched as the side of the larger vehicle moved and separated itself from it to form a set of stairs which the doctor used to descend to the ground. Stone and Kenna exited the vehicle and so did the other subordinates they had bought with them. Some of them were military technicians assigned by Ashford, some were people the doctor had worked with before in other missions. All of them had signed an NDA. 

 A man dressed in uniform looked at them with suspicion. The doctor stroud to get closer to him, and so Stone and Kenna quickly occupied their respective positions, the subordinates a few steps behind. The three of them were dressed entirely in black, Kenna and Stone wearing practically identical outfits, save from the fact that she wasn’t wearing a tie or a jacket. The uniformed man didn’t take his eyes out of the doctor, who dedicated him a wicked grin before asking:

 “Are you in charge here?”

 “Yes I a-” started to say the man, before he was interrupted with a:

 “NO” declared the doctor. The man opened his mouth to reply, but he was faster “WRONG!” again, the man tried to speak, without success “I’m in charge!” he exclaimed. 

 “It’s Major Ben-” , the man managed to say.

 “I’m in charge” whispered the doctor, interrupting him again. The man (Bennigton, it read on his uniform) didn’t change his expression as Stone reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small tablet showing the doctor identification, “You never seen anyhing like this before” added the doctor with superiority “This is one top banana in a world full of hungry little monkeys” he widened his eyes. 

 Bennigton continued staring. The doctor continued grinning. 

  “Allow me to clarify” after lifting his finger, he made what sounded like robot noises as he moved his head methodically. Kenna observed how the rest of the camp had stopped doing their duties to come and stare at the scene, but she just continued looking at her boss with an unreadable expression “In a sequentially ranked hierarchy based on level of critical importance, the disparity between us is to0 vast to quantify. Agent Stone” he called, as he walked away. Stone took a step forward, looked at Bennington right in the eye and said:

 “The doctor thinks you’re basic” 

  “I’m initiating a sweep sequence” estated the doctor who, by his gestures, Kenna could suppose was typing something using his gloves. “10 miles in every direction should suffice” he seemed to spit that last word. She heard as the compartiments keeping the droids on the top of the mobile lab opened up “Is he still looking at me funny?” inquired the doctor. 

 “Yes he is” responded Stone almost with a sigh. Bennington was, in fact, still looking at the doctor like he was a talking cow or an experimental robot brought by the government. 

 “Tell him to stop or I’ll make Vidal pull up his search history” he hummed, as he moved his hand around. 

 “If you don’t stop looking at the doctor, he’ll make my colleague over here” he moved his head to signal Kenna “take a closer look at your…”

 “I’m not. Deaf” intervened Bennigton, not taking his eyes off the doctor. 

 “And tell him his men report to me now, blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah” continued the doctor, which seemed to finally break the stoic state of the major. 

 “Excuse me?” he exclaimed with a smirk “Listen, pal…”

 “Ooh, strike one” whispered Kenna, looking at Stone. “Get it? Because we’re in a baseball field?” 

 “I don’t think you realize…” tried to continue Bennigton who, unable to learn from his mistakes, was again interrupted by the doctor, as he turned around with irritation. 

 “I’m sorry, major what was your name?” 

 Bennington took a deep breath. Strike two.

 “Benni-”

 “NOBODY CARES” he shouted, startling the major “Nobody cares” he repeated with a pout, shaking his head. He came closer “Listen, major nobodycares. Do you know why nobody cares who you are?” silence “Because nobody cares about your feeble accomplishments. And nobody cares how proud your mommy is that you are now reading at a third grade level” he said the last three words with a mocking tone. Bennington, to his credit, didn’t react “Have you finished Charlotte’s Web yet? Spoiler alert: She dies in the end, but she leaves a big, creepy eggsack” he then looked up, a glimmer in his eyes as he sighed and gushed “Oh, my babies”

 Kenna turned around, seeing the droids fly around the camp in all their glory. The doctor walked away from the major and extended his arms. 

 “Look what came out of my eggsack” Bennington frowned. Kenna and Stone interchanged looks. “You know what I love about machiiines?” the doctor  turned around “They do what they’re told. They follow their program. They don’t need time off to get DRUNK and put the BOAT IN THE WATER”

 Bennigton finally looked at his side with confusion, finding an expresionless Stone and Kenna. She shook her head. 

 “You don’t wanna know” she whispered. “RIP to Stanley, though” 

 “ You do what you’re told” declared the doctor, pointing at Bennington “Stand over there at the edge of your personal abyss and watch my machines do your job”

 The major scoffed. 

 “You can’t do this,” he said.

 “He can, actually” answered Kenna, stepping forward “But if you want to question General Ashford’s orders, be free to give him a call”

 The mention of the general seemed to be enough to aplacate Bennington’s temper, as he gave Kenna a death glare walking away with some of his soldiers. Kenna and Stone looked back at the doctor, who had again extended his arms and was moving his fingers. 

 “Can you feel it, Stone?” he asked.

 “I can feel it, doctor,” responded Stone with a smile.

 “It’s evolution, Stone” said the man with a huff “It’s EVOLUTION” 

 “Wait, so we just go home now, or…?” asked another soldier. The doctor turned around. 

 “No, of course not,” he scoffed. “Ok, so everybody who’s on my right will go with Stone and everybody who’s on my left will stay here and annalyce all the data we have. I will stay in my lab looking over the droid’s annalysis” he paused “Vidal” he called. 

 “Yes, doctor?” answered Kenna, stepping forward. 

 “I need you to go into town and talk to the locals…”

 “We were strictly ordered not to…”

 “That, major stillnobodycares, is why I want her to do it” groaned the doctor “Another thing about humans that I find irritating: They meddle. A lot. Like you’ve been doing since I’ve arrived” the doctor lifted his hands “Do you really want a bunch of small town gossip going around here doing and thinking whatever the hell they want? Next thing you know, they post it on twitter dot com, and BOOM!” he shouted, clenching his fits “We. Have. The News. Here” he clapped his hands together “Kenna is young and female, so people will trust her and think that she’s not competent enough to be involved in a militar sweep. I need her to make sure everybody stays quiet, and most importantly. OUT OF MY WAY” the doctor took a deep breath “Stone, take the major to a tent, I think he’ll be much more comfortable in complete isolation. Vidal, why are you still here?” 

 “On my way, doctor” she answered, turning over to Stone “The car keys, please” Stone took them out of his pocket, throwing them at her. “Thank youuu”

 “Try to extract as much information out of them as you possibly can” instructed Stone as she went to the vehicle “If this was a terrorist thing, they might have allies around. If they ask about the blackout and what caused, just tell them some gibberish, they will be too embarrassed of not knowing what you’re talking about to ask you to elaborate”

 “Noted!”

 Kenna got inside the car and connected the bluetooth so that she could listen to some music in her way. She drove out of the camp and back into the road, following the signs that led her to the town of Green Hills. On her way, she saw a couple of houses that were a bit far away from the town but, after five or so minutes of driving, she arrived. It looked even cozier than in the pictures, with all its colored houses and stores surrounded by trees. After driving for a few minutes, she decided to park in what seemed like the main street of the place, getting off the vehicle and stretching her arms as she wondered where was the best place to start. There were people walking everywhere, and they mostly gave Kenna curious side glances as they went past her, recognizing her as a stranger. 

 In her years in the foster system, Kenna had lived in a bunch of small towns. They had been different from each other in terms of what exactly they were dedicated to, level of conservative views and whatnot, but they all had the same social system about everybody knowing everybody and their business and not shuting up about it, which mean that Kenna only had to tell her story to one right person and the whole place would be able to quote it word by word in just under a couple of hours. 

 “Watch out!”

 Kenna quickly looked to her right, just in time to see a soccer ball flying towards her. She extended her arms and caught her, holding it under her arm just as two girls ran towards her. One of them had pitch black hair all over the place and the other one was a redhead, with freckles all over her nose and cheeks. They couldn’t be older than thirteen. 

 “Wow, nice reflexes” beamed the red haired one, as her friend quickly took the soccer ball from Kenna and started checking it, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was fine. “Give it a rest, won’t you?”

 “Easy to say when it’s not your ball, Van” muttered the black haired girl as he gave her a deadly side eye. 

 “Oh, please, you only care because it was a gift from Lottie…” the girl squinted at Kenna before asking her “Are you with the guys at the baseball field?” the other girl scoffed.

 “Very subtle” 

 “Yes, I am” answered Kenna “We’re looking at what might have caused yesterday’s blackout”

 “My mom almost had  a heart attack because she couldn’t cook anything, but we don’t have school today because of it, so that’s cool” responded the redhead

 “Yeah, and totally not because you hadn’t studied for the math test” 

 “Jesus Christ, Nat, your ball is ok, let it go!” the girl looked at Kenna again “So like, are you part of the military?” 

 Kenna sighed and rolled her eyes. 

 “Can you imagine?” she asked “No, I’m with the electric company that it’s actually looking at the cables underneath the field. It’s just that the guys upstairs are bored and dramatic, so they send over some rookies to make sure nobody gets electrocuted… None of them has even finished their actual training!” she crossed her arms “I’m here for breakfast. Do you know where I could get some?” 

 The two girls shared disappointed looks and Kenna repressed a smirk. The girls would probably tell their parents about the encounter and, as she knew very well, there weren’t bigger gossips than middle school moms, so that left half the town covered. The girl with the ball sighed. 

 “I’ll normally recommend that you go to get some donuts, but they are closed because their machines are still glitching because of the blackout” she pointed to her right “You can go to Karen’s, it’s just down the street. Their stuff is mostly good” 

 “Not enough to cover the fact that Karen’s a bitch” added her friend with a laugh. Kenna sighed. 

 “Well, that’s because she hasn’t met me when I’m hungry. Thank you and try not to break anything with that!” she waved them off as she walked down in the direction given. The second biggests gossips in small towns were found in cafes, whether it was baristas or clients that happened to overherear conversations, so she could pretty much consider her job done if she repeated her story there. Plus, she hadn’t eaten any breakfast, as the doctor didn’t want to pull over on their way there. 

 It didn’t take long for her to find the cafe the girls had mentioned: It was situated on one of the corners, a one story establishment with dark green walls and windows with the different kinds of drinks written on them. Kenna pushed the door and got inside, taking a look around. The interior of the place was brown, with tables, stools and desks around with some minor decoration. There were more clients inside than she actually thought, probably because it was one of the only places open after the blackout. Most of them looked at Kenna when they noticed her presence, whispering to each other. She waited in line, humming to herself until she was in front of the counter. A man walked over to her, clearly nervous. He had brown skin and black hair, and was wearing a simple white shirt, a black apron and glasses. 

 “Welcome to Karen’s Cafe, what can I get for you…?”

 “Brayden!” screamed a female voice. Kenna looked behind the barista to see a woman with tanned skin and short hair pointing at him “What did I tell you about leaving your stuff in the employee room!” 

 “Sorry, Karen, I’ll take this order and pick it up” replied the man, turning to Kenna “What would you be having?” 

 “Umm… An iced latte and a chocolate muffin, please” answered Kenna, feeling the awkwardness take over her “You can’t put your stuff in the employee room?” She whispered. 

 “No, it’s for Karen and George only” answered Brayden “But my car’s in the shop, and I forgot about hiding it behind the container like I usually do”

 “BRAYDEN!” skreetched the female voice again.

 “Comming! Please, go to Tina for your check” answered Brayden before quickly running away. Kenna moved to the side, where a blonde woman was looking at her phone with a bored look. 

 “Your total is 18.90$” she said with a monotone voice. 

 “For an iced coffee and a latte” said Kenna “Without tips”

 “Don’t even bother, Karen takes them all anyway” the woman sighed and looked up at Kenna “Do you mind? You’re holding up the line” 

 Kenna paid for her order and  stepped to the side, waiting for her order as she looked at her phone, looking for any updates from either Stone or the doctor. Nothing.

 “Hi, Tina!” said a cherie male voice. 

 “Oh my fucking god” was Tina’s response “20.50$”

 Kenna turned to her side, where a middle aged man was grinning at Tina. He had an average build, brown hair and a pair of big blue eyes. He was wearing a beige jacket and pants with a white shirt. Kenna looked at the logo on the side of his arm which read Green Hills Police Department . Kenna straightened herself up, side eyeing him.

 “Of course. Thanks, Tina” said the man, walking over to Kenna. Upon seeing her, he smiled “Howdy, stranger. I don’t think I’ve seen you before” he saluted with an excited voice before extending his hand “Wade Whipple, officer of the law” 

 Kenna shook his hand, feeling more relaxed. Something inside her told her that that man wasn’t dangerous or a real threat to their job. Also, like most people in her life, his name was kinda funny. 

 “Kennedy Vidal, electric technician” 

 Wade’s eyes widened, smiling and pointing at her. 

 “You’re with the guys at the field!” he shouted, gaining everybody’s attention “I tried to go and talk to them, but a guy in uniform shooed me off. Said his name was Bridgerton or something like that, I don’t remember very well. The sheriff told me to stay put and continue my patrol, so that’s what I’m doing”

 “Yeah, for somebody who’s not even in charge, he can be very authoritative,” Kenna shrugged. “We didn’t want the military around, but you know how it is. The guy who talked to you is just moody because his patrol was put there instead of a real field mission. It was just some syncronization problems plus a couple of anomalystic oscillations that caused points of high tension and a shutdown of a nearby generator. We’re just making sure that there are no points of risk of electromagnetic charges nearby, especially since it’s an area used by a lot of people. You know what I mean?” 

 It seemed like Stone’s advice about gibberish had come in handy, as Wade just nodded with the face of somebody who was clearly pretending to actually know what she meant. To be honest, she was sure she had made up a couple of the words she had used. 

 “That 's good. I’ll be letting everybody know, you know, so that you can make your work in peace”

 Kenna put a hand on her chest and smiled. 

 “Really? Thank you so much, officer” she doubted that he would be able to repeat word for word what she had said, but it was still better than nothing. 

 “Ok, so I have an iced latte and a muffin to the nerd in black” said a voice. Kenna turned around and watched Karen put her breakfast on the counter with an annoyed look “And let me tell you that high necks really don’t suit you, sweetie” 

 “That bob really doesn’t suit you either, but here we are” without saying anything, she picked up her food, gave Wade a smile as a goodbye and exited the cafe. She took a sip out of her drink and grimaced. “The coffee is not even that good” 

 Kenna walked back to the car, trying to see if there was anybody else she could talk to or Wade and the kids would be enough to spread her story around, but the vibration of her phone as the chorus of Barbie Girl came from it. made her stop. After puting the food on the roof of the car, she took the device and accepted the call. 

 “Are you done?” asked Stone at the end of the line. 

 “Yeah, I think so,” she answered.

 “Great. Go back to the mobile lab. The doctor has found something”
“Already on my way” she said before hanging up. She got back in the car and turned it on, exiting her parking spot and going back into the road.

Chapter Text

February 17th, 2021, Green Hills.

 After (badly) parking the car next to one of the tents, Kenna walked over to the mobile lab still drinking her coffee, knocking three times on the door. 

 “What’s going on?” asked a voice. Kenna turned around, facing Major Nobodycares staring at her with a frown and his hands behind his back. 

 “Didn’t we send you to a tent or something?” she replied, knocking again. Bennington scoffed. 

 “You didn’t send me anywhere and you must be crazy if you think I’m going to let some psycho engineer take over my mission”

 “He’s already done that” answered Kenna “Ordered to by your direct superiors, may I add”

 That seemed to offend the major, as a muscle of his jaw slightly twitched and he took a deep breath before responding. 

 “Still. Do me a favor and tell your boss that it’s his responsibility and duty to tell the rest of the camp if he found something related to the cause of the blackout”

 “Don’t worry about it” deadpaned Kenna, hearing the door open behind her “And how about you do me a favor and throw this in the nearest trash can?” she added, throwing him the empty coffee cup “Thanks”

 She entered the lab and Stone closed the door, looking through a small hole in it for a few seconds before starting to walk through it, followed by Kenna. 

 “What did he want?” he asked. 

 “I think he knows the doctor’s got something” was the answer “What exactly does he have?” 

 “You know as much as I do” he said “He just called and told me to notify you and reunite here as soon as possible” 

 Without saying anything else, the two of them arrived at the doctor’s pseudo-office inside the lab. Kenna looked at her right, seeing shelves full of inmovile droids. In front of her, the metal walls were covered with closed metal drawers that could contain tools, prototypes or anything the doctor needed or thought would need. He was at their left, sitting behind a desk and looking at a bunch of giant holographic screens, the biggest of them all showing a footprint. Stone and Kenna walked into the area, standing just behind the doctor’s chair. 

 “Agent Stone. Vidal” he called. 

 “Doctor” answered both of them at the same time.

 “Do any of you see anything useful in this image?” their boss asked. 

 Kenna looked at the screen. The footprint seemed to be made by some sort of running shoe, matching the small marks at the inferior part. There were a bunch of small red dots all around it. There was nothing really special about the image other than that. 

 “Nothing at all, doctor,” said Stone. 

 “I mean, it is a footprint” added Kenna “But I can’t see nothing useful per se” 

 “Of course you don’t” responded the doctor, and Kenna could almost hear the smirk in his voice “Neither of your eyes were expertly trained to spot tracks by the native american Shadow Wolves” 

 Stone looked at the doctor with confusion and then at Kenna, who just shrugged and mouthed Are you even surprised? Her coworker frowned in response, but their attention was quickly taken by the sound of the computer. They turned their heads to the screen, watching as the doctor touched a few spots in the giant panel across from him before sliding his chair far from the desk, ending up a feet or two behind Stone and Kenna. The screen changed, taking the footprint away from the ground and showing something inside of it: The silhouette of a foot. It looked mostly human, but there was something about the length of the fingers and the shape that weirded Kenna out. 

 “That’s extraordinaty” claimed Stone with awe. 

 “No” laughed the doctor, getting closer “What’s extraordinary is: I’ve determined the exact height, weight and spinal curvature of this creature and my computer can’t find a single match for it” Kenna whipped her head to the side to look at him “Anywhere. In Earth’s animal kingdom” He suddenly stood up and Kenna stepped aside to not be hit by the chair. The doctor grabbed them both by the shoulders “This blackout was not a terrorist attack” he took his hand off Kenna to point at the screen “And that’s no baby BigFoot” the doctor let out a dry laugh “This guy is something else. Entirely” he leaned over the desk, observing the screen with awe in his eyes. Kenna thined her lips.

 “Ok, so now what?” she asked. 

 “Divert all search units to the site of the footprint” he ordered before sighing “That’s one small step for men, one giant leap for me”

 “Got it,” said Stone, but Kenna stepped forward. 

 “Should we tell him about the whole no match in the whole animal kingdom thing ?” she inquired “Some of them are getting impatient” 

 The doctor looked over his shoulder to her, staring her down for a couple of seconds until he spoke again. 

 “Vidal, you must be crazy if you think I’m going to share my discovery with these imbeciles” he scoffed “You’ll tell them that we’ve found a track, but nothing more. Any traces will be first processed by my machines which will bring the information directly to me. If they ask questions, make sure they don’t want to do it again”

 Kenna nodded. 

 “Got it, doctor” answered Stone before stepping back, quickly followed by her. Once in the corridor, he said “I’ll take Bennigton, he’ll probably listen more to me than to you since I have militar training. You notify the other troops, but ask some of them to stay here. We can’t stop collecting the data from the field”

 “Aye, captain” she said with a salute, before asking “Did you notice it kinda looked like the creature was wearing shoes?” 

 Stone looked at her and then to his side as he remembered the image, and then he shrugged. 

 “Well, nature can be pretty weird,” he answered. Kenna lifted her eyebrows.

 “There are a lot of adjectives we can use to describe this thing” she said as she opened the door “But natural is definitely not one of them. This is not a lizard that can regrow a tail after it being chopped off or a clownfish changing its gender, it’s something else ”

 “It is,” agreed Stone with a nod. “Good thing we’re here to take care of it,” he added, smiling at her. Kenna smiled back and began going down the stairs, but she suddenly stopped when her phone started to ring in her pocket. She pulled it out, frowning when she read the caller ID. 

 “Ashford?” she muttered, before closing her eyes and groaning “Fucking Bennington. I knew he was suspicious, but I didn’t think he would snitch” She looked at Stone “Specially not so soon, we’ve only been here for, what, like two hours?” 

 “I’ll go talk to him” reasured Stone, albeit the look in his eyes was more determined than comforting “I think he needs to be explained how things will be working around here… in other terms” he started to walk away “Answer the phone and tell him we’re good” 

 Kenna quickly obeyed, going back inside the mobile lab first before attending the call. 

 “Vidal speaking” 

 “Good afternoon, miss Vidal” saluted Ashford on the other side of the line. 

 “General” she greeted, using her calmest voice “You will be happy to know that the doctor’s equipment has been installed without any problems and we have been beginning the analysis of the area. We haven’t been here for long, so the results are inconclusive, but the doctor is optimistic on finding out the cause of the blackout very soon”

 “That’s good to hear indeed, but not the reason for my call. Some of the subordinates in the field are telling me that the doctor seems to be kinda… secretive of his advances on the investigation, and I wanted to make sure you understand the importance of keeping us informed”

 Kenna repressed a sigh, tapping the back of her phone with her nail. 

 “I completely understand the worry, but I have to say that it’s unfounded. The doctor is a very eccentric man, I think you and I both know that, so his behaviour might seem… erratic to those that are not used to it. However, he understands his role in this mission and, of course, that he is doing it under your orders, not independently”

 She heard Ashford sigh on his end and, after a few seconds, he spoke again. 

 “Perfect. But that’s not the whole reason why I’m calling. Do you remember the man I went to military school with? I mentioned it when I went to visit you in Washington”

 Kenna paced around, nodding as she remembered.

 “Yes. The one who knew the doctor’s grandfather?” she inquired. 

 “That one. Commander Walters” the name made Kenna stop and lean against the wall in silence “Well, he was actually the one who sent me to collect you. It seems like he and your boss have some old grudges relating to Gerard so, given the fact that I was the one who sent Bennington and his team to Green Hills, he asked me to contact him”

 “Ok… All due respect, General Ashford, but I have no idea of where are you going with this” 

 “Well, Walters directs a… certain sector of the military here at the Pentagon and he believes that it might be useful given the unknown nature of this incident”

 Kenna coughed, her mouth suddenly dry.

 “Like the FBI or the CIA?” she asked “Or what, is this some sort of Nick Fury situation?” 

 “More of less. They tend to fight against… well, there’s no better word for it, child, extraterrestrial threats. The Guardian Units of Nation, does it ring a bell?” 

 “I’m afraid not,” she lied. “Should it?” 

 “Well, Robotnik and his man have done a couple of works for us. I personally wouldn’t say that they are part of the organizarion, as they are not involved in most of its operations, nor are they considered part of the main board unless it is a very extreme scenario. Of course, the last time they participated in a mission was two years or so before they hired you, but I thought it would have at least come up in a conversation”

 “It hasn’t” replied Kenna, sounding maybe a bit more harsh than she should have.

 “The point of this, sorry for talking so much, is that Walters is more than willing to send some troops of their own to help with the investigation…”

 “No!” Kenna exclaimed, giving herself a second to collect herself before repeating “No, I don’t think that will be necessary just yet. If that changes, you’ll be the first person I call”

 “Wonderful. Goodbye Miss Vidal, sorry for the inconvenience”
Kenna muttered a farewell and then hung up with shaky fingers, clasping the phone to her chest and taking a few breaths. It was fine, everything was fine. Except it wasn’t, because she had been living just outside the wolf’s den for a year and a half and hadn’t even noticed. She opened her eyes, trying to calm herself. Ashford couldn’t possibly know and, quite frankly, neither could Walters. If they did, they would have said or done something by now, wouldn’t they? They had spent years without finding her, why would they now? They were looking for a different girl in a different area, with a different name…

 Except it wasn’t her they were looking for, was it? It had never been about her. 

 “I thought I told you to go outside”

 Kenna turned around, finding the doctor standing at the end of the hallway, looking annoyed. She waved her phone. 

 “Ashford called. I couldn’t take it outside”

 The doctor’s natural inability to understand human emotion came in handy, as he didn’t notice (or just flat out ignored) her shaken up state to just glare at her with frustration. 

 “He better not be thinking of revoking my power. I haven’t even showed off my lasers yet!” 

 “It’s not that” she reassured, shaking her head “They… Um, Bennington has called him. Says he’s suspicious you’re hiding something” the doctor groaned again, louder this time. 

 “Isaac Newton on a motorcycle, why can’t they just let a genius work IN PEACE?!?” he shouted. 

 “Stone is already handling it” she responded. “And Ashford doesn’t seem too alarmed either, so there’s nothing worth worrying about, doctor” 

 The doctor huffed, waving his hands around. 

 “Of course he doesn’t, he’s as dumb as the rest of them” he stared at Kenna and then let out another groan “Well, you might as well accompany me as I take the truck. We might have to run into some of the… locals. They sent me some basic information about them before we came, but I couldn’t care less about it, so I didn’t look. That’s your job” 

 “Yes it is,” Kenna answered. “Were is the information?” 

 The doctor guided her back to the main lab, where he just caresly tossed her a tablet before taking his phone and pressing a few buttons. Kenna opened the tablet and inmediatly found the files. They weren’t really detailed, only including things that could easily be finded by a google search and some superficial look at the government records. She supposed it was normal, given the fact that the town was small and located in the middle of the forest, so it wasn’t like its inhabitants could really stand out. 

 “Stone” she turned around, seeing the doctor with his phone pressed to his ear, so she focused again on the files “Vidal and I are going to use the truck, so you better tell whoever needs to be told that they need to open the gates right this instant” there was a pause and Kenna smiled as she managed to order the files based on her location, so that whoever lived near the field would come up next. It was a good place to start “Also, I have been told that a certain Major has been causing us problems” another pause, longer this time. “Wonderful” 

 Kenna stopped her reading again, looking at her boss. The doctor was grinning so much that the corners of his moustache almost reached his eyes. She wondered what exactly Stone had said to him to cause such a reaction, before being slightly worried for Major Bennington’s life. She quickly pushed those thoughts away. Sure, Stone was no man to be messed with, but he wasn’t going to just… kill somebody over a phone call, right? He wasn’t that kind of person. Just as he hadn’t been the kind of person she would have pictured working with G.U.N ten minutes ago, but things changed. 

 She felt her heartbeat pick up and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to help her calm her nerves, repeating to herself that everything was going to be alright. The truck started to move and she had to grab one of the shelves containing the robots to not lose her balance. 

 “We’ve lost most track of the footprints” he said “Our little friend can either teleport or is very, very fast” Kenna tried not to be alarmed by any of those possibilities “That being said, the direction and situation of the one I showed you earlier seems to be headed east. Anything worth finding there?” 

 Kenna just smiled as she turned the tablet around, showing him the file she had been reading. 

 “It seems like the sheriff lives just a ten minute drive away from the field. He might have seen or heard something” she said. The doctor didn’t even turn around to see the file, as he passed the guards and the fences, leaving the baseball field. Kenna saw as he managed the machines and computers with a determination she had never seen before in the man, but he also clearly enjoyed himself in the process. Kenna’s fingers tightened around the shelf as the weight of the reason for such behavior downed on her.

It seemed like the doctor had finally found a challenge.

Chapter Text

February 17th, 2021, Green Hills

NAME: Wachowski, Thomas Michael.

AGE: 42

EMPLOYMENT: Head of Green Hill’s Sheriff Department.

MARITAL STATUS: Married to Dr. Madison Alexandra Wachowski, née Cox (See file)

OBSERVATIONS: One of the top students at the police academy. Recently requested being transfered to San Francisco. Oldest of three brothers, both of them live out of state, along with their mother. Father died in 2015 due to heart failure. Adopted a golden retriever three years ago. 

 Kenna read the information once again, as the truck stopped just in front of the Wachowski’s household. She looked up from the tablet and over her shoulder to the doctor, who was muttering to himself as he fumbled with the buttons next to the door. She turned off the device and stood up, clearing her throat.

 “So, what do we plan on telling him?” she asked. The doctor snapped his neck in her direction, like he had just remembered her presence. 

 “Nothing, unless it is strictly necessary,” he answered. The door opened and he got off the truck. Kenna followed as quickly as she could, the entrance closing as soon as she was out. They stepped onto the pavement, and the girl looked around in awe. It was a nice area, in the middle of the woods. The house stood in front of her, three stories, white walls, a blue mailbox with the drawing of a dog standing in front of it. It reminded Kenna of her house, her old house in Vermont, where her father would put old music videos on the TV and she would try to guess the lyrics while dinner was being made. 

 The doctor crutched next to the mailbox, letting out a hum of approval. Kenna stood behind him, seeing that there were more of those strange footprints on the soil of the Wachowski’s front porch.

 “Well, that was easy,” she muttered. It did make sense, in a way: It was the nearest house to the field, and a possible food source for whatever the hell they were looking for. The doctor didn’t answer, he just pressed the buttons on his glove with a smirk. He continued to walk along the path to the house, his eyes sticking to the soil. Kenna took pictures with the tablet and sent them to both the database and Stone, updating them on their progress.

 “Hello there”

 Kenna and the doctor looked to their right, seeing a man step out of the house. Sheriff Thomas Wachowski had messy brown hair and was wearing jeans, a bright blue tshirt and an open flanel shirt. Kenna put the tablet behind her back and smiled politely while the doctor just glared.

 “Can I help you?” asked Wachoswki, his tone distrusting. The doctor stood up and began walking towards him, still without answering. Kenna followed, keeping her expression as calm as he could.

 “Good morning, my rural chump” greeted the doctor. Wachowski seemed a little weirded out, but his face remained cordial. “I’m… We’re-” he corrected, lifting his arm and signaling at Kenna with his thumb. There was a small pause “...from the power company, investigating the blackout” the doctor skipped up the stairs, “If you don’t mind, I would like to take some readings inside your” he pointed at the building “house”

 “It would just be for a short moment, nothing invasive” added Kenna. 

 “No kidding, you’re from the power company?” asked Wachowski, raising his eyebrows “Well, you must know my buddie Spencer, we play softball together”

 “Maybe, Spencer who-” began Kenna, sensing the trap, one of the oldest tricks in the book. Her mind took her back to Vermont once again and she remembered her mother, telling her that she was so relieved she hadn’t eaten any of the cookies they had taken out of the oven, because they had a special substance that made your tongue blue and then Kenna remembered the look of satisfaction in the woman’s face when she had ran to the bathroom and sticked her tongue in front of the mirror. But the doctor cut her off. 

 “Ah, Spence” he sighed as he looked to the side “He’s a good man”

 “Yeah” agreed Wachowski “Oh, come on in” he invited with a gesture of his arm. 

 “Great” said the doctor “Come on” he said, looking back at Kenna as he ran up the remaining stairs. Once they were all on the porch, they began walking towards the door.

 “Take all the readings you need,” Wachowski told them as he opened the door once again. Kenna opened her mouth to thank him, but just as they were approaching the threshold, Wachowski put his hands on the wood, blocking the entrance “Except, uh… Doesn’t the power company usually take their readings from outside the house? That way they can check ‘em even if you’re not home” he asked with smugness. The doctor glared at the man, while Kenna opened her mouth again, ready to spill the first nonsensical excuse that came to her mouth. “Also, my buddy Spencer works at the gas company, and he’s more of an Ultimate Frisbee guy”

 Kenna closed her mouth and curled her fists, wondering how to get out of the situation. She side-eyed the doctor, who continued to glare at Wachowski with a serious expression. 

 “So, you wanna tell me why you think I’m dumb enough to just let you walk inside my house?” finished Wachowski, smirking at both of them. The doctor stayed silent, moving his hand behind his back and beginning to press buttons on his glove. Kenna took a deep breath, hoping that the man in front of them wouldn’t see or hear the droids that were most likely exiting the truck at that moment. 

 “I’m sorry, Mister…” began the doctor.

 “Wachowski. But everyone calls me Tom” he continued to smile at them, before tilting his head to the side “Except my dentist, he calls me Tim. But it’s gone on for so long now that it would just be weird if I corrected him”

 “I had a geography teacher who wouldn’t stop calling me Kendra,” chuckled Kenna as a way to defuse the situation. By the way the doctor glared at her, she could feel it wasn’t appreciated. 

 “Well, Tom, whose-dentist-calls-him-Tim.” said the doctor, “You may have noticed that this entire town has been experiencing a power outage”

 “Yep, no lights” agreed Wachowski, looking back into his house, and then back at them “Picked up on that” he seemed less confident now and a little more nervous. Kenna hummed.

 “Twenty minutes ago, I tracked an energy pulse with a similar signature to the one that caused that disruption”

 Wachoswki looked to the floor, nodded and then said:

 “Listen, uh, Mister…”

 “Doctor” corrected the doctor “Doctor Robotnik. But my dentist calls me Rob”

 “Huh. And you are?” asked Wachowski, looking at Kenna. 

 “I’m K-”

 “Mrs Vidal is my intern” answered the doctor for her. “And I don’t know what her dentist calls her”

 “Kimberly” muttered Kenna as a response, albeit she was sure none of them heard it. Wachoski nodded again. 

 “Look, uh, Doctor Robotskeez” he said the name with a hint of interrogation “Uh, I’m sure what you’re here for is very serious, but it’s got nothing to do with me. You can ask anyone in town” he put his hands in his pockets, the smugness back on his face “Everyone knows me”

 “I bet they do” replied the doctor “I’m sure you’re hella popular with the Jebs and the Merles and the Billy-Bobs in this glorified gas-station rest stop” Kenna and Wachowski frowned at the same time “Betcha go way back to the days of tippin’ cows and playin’ in a jug band!” He broke out of his perfectly still position to mimic something that she could just assume was playin’ in a jug band, whatever that meant. Kenna closed her eyes, praying that the drones were done inspecting the area and that the man in front of them wouldn’t arrest them. By the doumbfounded look on his face, it seemed like a likely outcome for the interaction.

 “And maybe someday” carried on by the doctor, walking closer to Wachowski “you’ll achieve your goal of getting a Cotsco card or adopting a Labradoodle. But the reality is, I surpassed everything you’re ever going to do” he shouted, mere centimetres away from the man’s face, before whispering “before I was a toddler. I was spitting out formulas while you were still spitting out formula”

 “I was breastfed, actually,” said Wachowski, leaning back. 

 “Nice” nodded the doctor, before moving his hand in the space between him and Kenna “Rub that in our orphan faces”

 “Aww, you remembered” muttered Kenna with sarcasm, wondering if she should add that she had also been breastfed, but also wanting to change the subject as soon as possible. 

 “Mr Wachowski, are you familiar with US Code 904, Title 10, Article 104?” Wachoski took a second to think and then nodded. 

 “Yeah, who isn’t-”

 “Anyone” cut him off the doctor “who attemps to aid an enemy of the United States shall suffer death” he declared, raising a finger “And if I’m the one that catches you, it’ll be even worse” 

 “Worse than death?” asked Wachowski who, to Kenna’s relief, seemed to be taking the threat lightly.

 “It won’t have to come to that, though” she said, making the two of them finally look at her “Since you don’t have anything to hide, right, Sheriff Wachowski?” And then, she saw them again. The nerves. Wachowski looked back inside. 

 “No. Do you two always do this good cop, bad cop thing? Because you clearly need practice” he scoffed “Worse than death, really?”

 The doctor raised his finger once again.

 “Listen to me, you absolute moronic nobody, compared to what I-” 

 The sound of clacking made them all shut up. They all looked to the interior of the home, Wachowski side eyeing the doctor. The nerves were undeniable now, whatever had made that noise it wasn’t something he wanted them to see.

 “Old pipes” he explained, but it was clear none of them believed him.

 “Yeah” answered the doctor. “Probably just the house settling” he turned around, looking at Kenna “Nothing to see here!” he exclaimed and then, a second later, he was pushing Wachowski out of the way and entering the house. The sheriff quickly went after him and Kenna followed them both. 

 “Hey!” exclaimed Wachowski as the three of them walked in the kitchen, where they found a raccoon muncing on what seemed to be a birthday cake. 

 “Well, that’s unhygienic, ” muttered Kenna. 

 “Here’s the thing” said the doctor, raising his finger “I’m never wrong” he declared. 

 “Well” sighed Wachowski, palming him on his shoulder “First time for everything I guess… Would any of you want some cake? I hear raccoons have the cleanest mouths of any animal that routinely eats garbage” Kenna watched the raccoon sneak out of the kitchen through the backdoor and cringed. The doctor chuckled with irritation.

 “I’m gonna pass…” responded Kenna, her words trailing off when she saw something in the corner of her eye. On one of the chairs, there was some shiny thing sticking out. She took it, observing the object while she felt the eyes of both men on her. It was long and sharp, kind of like a nettle or… a quill. The most impressive thing about it was the fact that it was blue. And not just any tone of blue, a bright, almost electric tone. Suddenly, the doctor ripped it away from her hands and showed it to Wachowski, who looked simply mortified. 

 “Look at that” he sighed “I was right. Note the lack of surprise” he pointed at his face. “Shall we try this again?” he asked, his tone harsh. He started whistling, and Kenna heard the sound of a drone getting closer. She stepped back until her back hit the wall, and quickly updated Stone about what had just happened. The drone appeared and Kenna watched as two compartiments opened on the sides, showing little canyons. Wachoswki stepped back and Kenna gulped. 

 “I’m gonna give you five seconds to tell me where it is” estated the doctor “Five”

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Wachowski.

 “Four”

 “Hey, tough guy, I’m a cop” he said, taking out his badge “And you’re threatening an officer”

 “How can you threaten somebody who never existed?” asked the doctor “Three”

 “What do you mean by that?” inquired Kenna, walking closer to them. Wachowski put away his badge. She was not new to the concept of making someone disappear, she had done it herself, but Wachoswki was, in fact, known by everybody in town. Was the doctor just going to make them forget about him Men In Black style, or did he have darker methods in mind?

 “Come on! Rack your brain!” shouted the doctor “You might be able to come up with some lame excuse to go on living. In two”

 “We don’t even know if he saw it!” exclaimed Kenna. She was just behind the doctor now, who glared at her over his shoulder. 

 “Shut up, will you!” he looked back at Wachoswki “One!” 

 When Kenna was preparing for the worst, she heard some kind of hush, a blue shadow appearing for a second on the kitchen floor. And then, she heard it. 

 “Wait! Don’t hurt him!” It was a male voice, young but not too much. Kenna wasn’t able to fully process it, as the doctor started screaming right there and then. Kenna covered her ears, startled, and then saw as Wachowski punched him square in the face, knocking him down. The drone started beeping and Kenna looked from the machine, to the doctor, to the thing in front of her. 

 It was only tall enough to reach her hips, and he was covered in fur the same electric blue color as the thing she had found on the chair. He had a pair of big green eyes and a pointy nose and looked a little bit like one of those ugly toys with the beaks and the blinking eyes. 

 “Is it supposed to do that?” it asked Kenna, pointing at the droid. And then, she did the most logical thing she could think of, which was scream and turn around to get back in the truck. She heard the droid start attack mode and she reached for the door, but then the blue shadow came back and the thing stood in front of her. 

 “Wait, hold on-” it began saying, and Kenna didn't hold on, instead she raised her foot and kicked it in the face. She turned around, seeing the stairs and began climbing up, going into the first room she saw and closing the door behind her. The droids only recognized the doctor’s face as non-threatening on that stage, so getting out through the kitchen’s door was impossible. She looked at her empty hands and cursed when she realiced that she had dropped the tablet back at the living room. Her phone was in the truck, making it impossible to communicate. 

 “She kicked me in the face!” the creature shouted downstairs “What about me makes you people attack me on sight!?” 

 “Watch out!” she heard Wachowski say. Then, the droid shot at them for a few seconds. Kenna held the door closed, watching the room she had entered. It was a bedroom. with its walls painted teal and a big king sized bed in the middle. After a few seconds, the shooting stopped. She gulped and pressed her ear to the door, hoping that the creature and Wachowski hadn’t actually died. Sure, it was a bit creepy, but it didn’t make sense to kill it without knowing what it was or where it had come from, right. What if he was the prince of some alien planet and the Blue Spicky Aliens decided to declare war on Earth as a way of getting revenge. After a few seconds, another round of shooting began. 

 “Don’t worry, I got it right where I want it!” she heard the creature say and, after a pause “Can you believe Amazon is gonna deliver packages with these things?”

 “How does it know what Amazon is?” whispered-yell Kenna to the empty room. There was more clattering and shouting, but she coulnd’t make out the words over the noise of shattering glass. After a few seconds, there was a loud thumpt and silence. Kenna waited, hand still gripping the knob. 

 “Come on, we gotta get out of here,” said Wachowski. After a few seconds, Kenna heard the sound of a car speeding away. She counted to ten, making sure that the droid wasn’t up for another extra round, and opened the door. She walked downstairs just in time to see Stone burst through the door. 

 “What the hell happened?” he asked her as she came down the stairs. The house was trashed, with holes from the lasers everywhere. The droid laid broken on the floor. 

 “It’s a fucking blue furby!” she screamed. Stone frowned, probably getting ready to reply something like are you on drugs right now?, but then his eyes darted somewhere behind Kenna and she saw panic replace the confusion on his face. 

 “Doctor! Are you okay?” he asked, as he rushed to the man. The doctor groaned as he recovered consciousness. Stone grabbed him by the arm, helping him stand up “I saw a guy race out of here and thought-”

 “That you should stop them?” finished the doctor for him, glaring in his direction with a thigh smile. Stone sighed with defeat “Open your mouth… and say you thought that you should stop them”

 “No, I thought that maybe I should check to see if you were okay…” before he could finish his sentence, the doctor stuck four of his fingers inside his mouth and dragged him over to where he was standing. Kenna looked away to the door, debating if she should intervene or wait outside until they were done. 

 “You know what’s hard about being the smartest person in the world?” he whispered.

 “Everyone else seems stupid” answered both Stone and Kenna without missing a beat.

 “Stupid, yes! Way to go! You got that one!” he let go of Stone and wiped his hand on the other man’s coat. “Which brings me to you” he glared at Kenna, who took a step back, arms behind her back. “If you ever even think of trying to interrupt me while I’m threatening a suspect, I will make sure you spend the rest of your life cleaning toilets in a West Virginian prison, understood, Miss Vidal?”

 She nodded. 

 “Yes, doctor. Won’t happen again… I just thought-”

 “Why do both of you keep thinking your thoughts matter? They don’t. Now, whatever this creature is, it’s our job to secure it, neutralize it, uncover the source of its power” he sighed, “And if it resists, we take it apart… piece by piece. See what makes it tick… Vidal?” 

 “Doctor?”

 “Call Optical Illusions” he sighed “Tell them I need new frames. They knew what kind I like. Oh, and bring that quill” the sound of his glasses falling on the floor echoed as the doctor stepped out of the house, followed by Kenna and Stone. He got in the truck without looking once back at them, and it drove away. The two of them got inside Stone’s car, and he glared at her and just said one word, holding the blue quill in his hand. 

 “Furby?” 

 “It looked a bit like one… Like, a prototype of a furby” she explained “I don’t know, man, it was freaky”

 The car started up and, just as they got off the Wachowski’s driveway, the doctor called. Stone pressed the screen. 

 “Yes, doctor?” he asked. 

 “Here’s what we’re gonna do,” their boss said on the other side of the line. 

 Green Hill’s police station was straight up out of a sitcom: A couple of small desks, gray walls and a small holding cell to the far right. Kenna hummed as she followed the doctor and Stone inside, hearing the steps of other officials behind her. Kenna’s eyes instantly found Wade sitting behind one of the desks, playing with his phone, the Cut The Rope music filling the space. As he saw them approaching, he put the device away, smiling nervously at them.

 “Green Hills’ Police Department, how can I help you… Oh, hi!” he waved at Kenna. “It 's you again. We met earlier, at the cafeteria”

 “We did. Hi, Wade” she greeted. “Let me introduce you to my boss, Doctor Robotnik. He’s going to ask you a few questions” 

 “About the blackout?” wondered Wade, his head tilting to the side. 

 “Something like that” answered the doctor before asking “Are you familiar with one Thomas Wachowski?” 

 “Tom? Yeah, we’re buddies” he answered with a nod. 

 “Isn’t that great? And tell me, has Mr. Wachowski ever expressed any antipatriotic behaviors?” 

 “Antipatriotic behaviors?” repeated Wade, before shrugging “I mean, he has critized the ideology of some presidents, but nothing out of the ordinary” 

 “We suspect that Mr. Wachowski was involved in the blackout” explained Stone “To be more specific, we think he was involved in the making of some sort of energetic bomb that went off at the wrong time, hence causing the blackout?”

 The officials that had entered behind Kenna positioned themselves around the police station, making the few people inside look at them with worry.

 “What?” Wade blinked at them “Tom can’t make a bomb. He can’t even make bait when we go icefishing. His wife fixed their stove two weeks ago, for God’s sake”

 “You do understand that we wouldn’t be making claims like this if we weren’t absolutely sure of them, right?” asked Robotnik “You can at least think that far, can’t you, officer Branifart? I’ve seen your records and they made me almost tear my eyes out”

 “Of… of course, but you are wrong. Tom would never…”

 “The thing about terrorists is that they are damn good at hidding” the doctor sighed, looking at Wade, leaning over the table. “Do we need to start looking a little deeper, Wade?” 

 Before the man could answer, the phone started to ring. The doctor straightened himself up and looked at the device, then at Wade.

 “Take it,” he ordered. Wade obeyed with shaky hands, taking the phone and pressing it to his ear. 

 “Hello. Grenn Hills’ Police Department” greeted Wade, eyes darting at all of them. Kenna heard the sound of a muffled male voice at the other side of the line. Wachowski. “Hi. I’m so glad that you called. Uh, some guys came in asking some questions, uh… They’re a little creepy” Wade chuckled, avoiding making eye contact “Kind of reminded me from the guys from Men in Black, but not as likable or charming as Will Smith”

 “Geez, dude” mumbled Kenna under her breath. Wachowski asked something unintelligible on the phone. Wade made a pause.

 “Um, questions about terrorism?” Wade chuckled again “I told them that I’ve got ice fishing with Tom. He doesn’t know how to make a bomb. He can’t even make bait in the cold” again, the muffled voice of Wachowski could be heard over the phone and, by the look of worry Wade gave to the doctor and Stone, Kenna guessed what exactly the sheriff had told them not to do. 

 “You know, I think they already… know” Wade whispered into the phone. The doctor grabbed the device, pressing it into his own ear. 

 “Mr. Wachowski” he greeted and Kenna heard the other man groan on his side of the line. The doctor sighed and began talking again “I want you to know that the only other person who ever punched me in the face was the school bully. He hit me in the cafeteria causing a blunt-force concussion to the soft tissue surrounding my orbital bone” That’s a fancy way to say he gave you a black eye though Kenna. “Humilliated me in front of the entire school! And you know what I did in response?” there was a small pause, in which Wachowski probably answered something sarcastic. “No. I examined the inefficiency of a world where brawn trumped brain and I used technology to resolve that inefficiency. The boy ate his meals through a straw for a year” Kenna, Wade and Stone interchanged looks that ranged from confusion to admiration. “And I have never lost a fight again. Until today” again, a small pause. “No, because you’re about to become the bully with the straw! I’m comming for you, Mr. Wachowski” he smiled, pure unhinged glee on his face “And when I catch you I’ll- Hello?”

 The doctor stood still with the phone on one hand and his other raised in a fist.

 “Hello?” he tried again, “Hello, hello, hello” he said in a sing-song tone, toying with the cord. 

 “I think he actually hung up, because I noticed that the light isn’t on,” explained Wade, pointing at the phone.

 “Thank you, officer Brainfart”

 “If you give me a second, I can get an outside line” rambled on Wade, pressing some buttons on the device.

 “No” the doctor put his hand on Wade’s shoulder “Don’t be bothered. You just sit there and be u” he made a dramatic pause before adding “sless” 

 And he was out, followed by Stone, Kenna and the rest of the officers. She heard Wade on the inside of the station yelling something about erasing memories, but the doctor stopped and turned to face them all. 

 “I want every single government official in this country to alert the people that Thomas Wachowski is now a domestic terrorist and a level A threat to the safety of the American citizens” he ordered. “Now. Stone, Vidal, you go onto the truck with me. I assume you will both learn from your mistakes and be actually useful, right?” 

 “Yes, doctor,” they answered in unison. He nodded in response. 

 “Good. Let’s go, then”

 Kenna took out her phone, pressing her thumb on Ashford’s contact as she walked to the truck.