Virus

The flight home was uneventful, except for one simple fact- how was I supposed to keep the plane? I suppose I could simply steal it again, but as we flew off with a full tank (A.V.A hacked the signal to make it look like we belonged- I had no good ideas on how to hide such a large object. I was decided on how we would return the plane, which seemed to be the only option left, when Lance came upon an idea. “Hey, Ella!” he called. Ella was what he called me and A.V.A when we were coordinating- there was simply no knowing about who was doing what, and therefore he had come up with a mix of both. “Remember that abandoned air hangar that people say is haunted? Couldn’t we use that?”

“The risk of discovery is extremely high. There is no reason that the government shouldn’t have a presence there. Or someone could have set up a shanty town.” I replied. Mulling over the prospect some more, I finally caved. “However, this does give us a higher chance of keeping it. And we can always steal another…”

“Wanted: Thief steals two passenger planes within the week.” Kira laughed. “I wonder what the cops are thinking right now.”

We touched down, and A.V.A deftly piloted the plane into the hangar. Part of the roof had rotted away, and someone looking from above would see a plane wing awkwardly sticking out, just like a sore thumb. This was no great solution, but it would work. Our homes were hours away and calling a taxi would attract too much attention.

“Great idea, Lance,” Kira droned. “Our houses are one and a half hours by car, which we don’t have. And if we need to use the plane, we need to walk back again.”

“I have an idea… maybe.” Internally activating my device, I started a private conversation with Kira. Kira- I have an idea, but I will need your help. It involves your ability.

Why? My ability can only be used to hurt. I NEVER WANTED THIS! Kira roared.

Your mom can disappear- abilities vary. You received this for a reason. And you don’t necessarily need to use to hurt someone. As you know, I can run faster than your average person. Max limit of a mile per fifteen seconds, according to A.V.A. However, this takes up a lot of energy. We already know I can use your energy… I’m proposing a deal.

What is it? Kira asked. I could tell she was intrigued. She may state that she didn’t want her abilities, but she was still curious about them. And it felt wrong taking something without giving anything back…

To put it succinctly- an energy swap. You can give me electricity to do things that I could not before- creating vacuum seals, flight… running for a long period of time… in return, I can give you electricity, using stun rays, so we can discover the extent of your powers.

You know I don’t need anything in return, Kira stated.

But I feel evil doing it any other way… It is only fair, after all. You are not my sidekicks, you are my friends…

Kira must have seen that I wouldn’t budge, because she agreed. Deal.

Returning to the tangible arms, she pointed her hands at me and fired. The energy swirled around me, crackling as it did. Kira swayed on her feet, and I caught her, grabbed Lance by the wrist, and ran away.

Perhaps if a car was driving back, it would have taken it an hour and a half. With Time Lapse amped up, although not quite to the maximum amount, it took me all of fifteen minutes to run back home. I had seen kids who couldn’t even run a mile in that time… It was like I was a whole new person, which was yet another disturbing though added to the plethora of those that I already had. What if I had truly changed with the activation of Code Artemisia… Then why was I mad at Lance? Was it the human me who was angry, or the synthetic? Anyways, I did feel kind of horrible… he could have been simply asking an innocent question, and I had snapped at him. I hated apologizing to people, but in this situation, I deemed it necessary…

“Sorry I was mad at you…” I mumbled. “I overreacted. BUT IT WAS YOUR FAULT TOO!”

“Hmm…” Lance mocked. “I didn’t hear that. Why, my ears must be deceiving me! Eva, apologizing! What a daydream.”

“Ah, shut it,” I replied. “I’m not repeating myself, if that’s what you want.”

“Fine.” He grew serious. “I’m sorry too. I didn’t know it would affect you like that.”

“I don’t want to have all this sappy blither-blather, so I’m skipping to the end,” I declared. “Friends?”

“Friends.” Lance agreed. And I felt that I had made a new friend, someone who would treat me based on who I am, not who I was before.