"Shaade!" Georgina yelled, twisting in her seat to first slap her friend and then give him a hug. I grabbed the steering wheel to stop us from driving into the side of Nosmo's palace. Somehow we'd only driven a very short distance yet gone very, very fast - Georgina had driven us in circles.
"Rebecca, pull him into the back," I ordered, having difficulty seeing past Georgina's head. Rebecca did as she was asked but instead used electricity. A current passed through Shaade and therefore to Georgina and therefore to the steering wheel, something she'd just snatched, and therefore to me. I slumped back in my seat and stared out of the window. There had always been tension between Shaade and I, most likely because I never liked Josh much. He - sorry, Burn - was the one who had damaged Georgina's arm. Shaade would do anything to protect Josh and hence, I didn't trust either of them.
"If he would protect him at any cost then how come Josh died, eh?" I muttered to myself, wiping my sleeve over the misted up window to see outside. It had got dark rapidly and stars started to twinkle in the sky.
"Are you staying or just dropping in, Shaade?" Georgina asked with a grin, glancing at him in the rear view mirror. Shaade gave a weak laugh and pulled himself out of Rebecca's vicious hug.
"Staying," he replied. I felt eyes burrow into the back of my neck. "Hopefully."
"Great!" Georgina cried, jumping up and down in her seat and sending the speed haywire. "I'll drive us to a hotel or something, somewhere we can rest for a while."
"You could always go to my house," I offered quietly. At first I thought nobody heard me but then Georgina spoke.
"You have a house?" she said in surprise. I turned my head and twitched my nose in annoyance. She was frowning but her eyes kept on shooting back towards Shaade.
"Yes," I said, looking out of the window again. "I haven't been back in years, though. It was my parent's house really, left to me, but I-"
"We'll go there then," Georgina decided. She stopped the car and opened her door, climbing over the roof of the car and then opening my door. She beckoned for me to move over into the driver's seat and I scrambled over the gearstick with difficulty, ignoring the sniggers from the back of the car as I twisted my body at all angles to avoid the lever from sticking into my crotch. Eventually I was sat in the driving seat and turning us around, old memories returning.
*
"Are we nearly there yet?" I whined, bouncing up and down in my seat. The social worker glared at me in the rear view mirror and said nothing, accelerating sharply. My face hit the seat in front and I started to cry, rubbing my nose.
"Get over it," she growled.
Some social worker, I thought grumpily, settling into a horizontal position across all three back seats. That earned me another death stare and so I reluctantly sat up.
"Here," came the grunt from the front seat. "Get out and come back in at minimum four hours. No less." She promptly got out her phone and started texting someone. I stuck my tongue out at her back and pulled myself out of the window.
The house that faced me was more of a mansion than a house. Scrap that - it was a skyscraper! About twenty levels high, made of shimmering glass, metal and other materials I couldn't identify, the tower was an imposing structure but fitted in perfectly with the busy city life.
I walked forwards, head craned back in awe. My mouth fell open as the front doors swung open at my approach. I was eight years old and hadn't seen what an automatic door was before then.
"Awesome," I breathed, eyes wide. I grinned and ran over to the lifts, jumping up and hitting the button. The lift appeared almost instantly and the man inside doffed his peaked cap to me before walking out. I recognised his peculiar, jerking gait and knew that he was a robot.
"A robot butler!" I squealed, clapping my hands together in glee. "Awesome!"
It was then that I noticed the row of brightly-lit buttons stretching up the right hand side of the lift. I was wrong when I thought it was twenty levels - this lift claimed it to be thirty.
Bending my legs and springing as high as I could I managed to hit the top button for floor thirty. My smile grew but vanished the second the lift doors closed. Despite the box being softly-lit, well furnished with oak and velvet, I was terrified. Tears started to pour down my face and I huddled up on the floor, wrapping my arms around my knees.
After what seemed like forever the lift stopped with a ping. I darted out, slipping on the marble floor. I was speeding towards a wall of glass, the view outside anything but friendly. A massive drop greeted me as my little child's head thought I was about to smash straight through the windows and die.
Thankfully for me something grabbed my collar and pulled me back. A circular, flying pod had extended a metal arm and had saved me. I stared at it and then jumped as it spoke.
"Good afternoon, sir," it said politely. "Your parents have not permitted me to allow you to drink alcohol before the age of sixteen. You are eight years old."
"How... how do you know so much about me? About my parents?" I stammered, backing away and crashing into a bar stool. It almost landed on my head but again that robotic, curving arm appeared and stopped it.
My back was pressed against the wood and as the pod advanced I jumped upwards, grabbing the bar's surface and flipping behind. I heard it give a soft laugh and whizz above me, hovering next to my face.
"Who are we hiding from?" it whispered. I screamed and ran, falling over my untied shoelaces and hitting my head on a large workbench. As I blacked out I was aware of a thing zooming towards me.
*
I shook my head to clear my brain of the memory and indicated right, using my massive intellect to work the car. That and all my knowledge of watching Top Gear on repeat. Dwelling on the topic of Top Gear, Clarkson's sacking and the team being replaced I almost missed the next turning.
Almost.
At the last second I wrenched the wheel to the right, causing everyone to fall sideways. Rebecca hit her head on the window, Shaade slammed into her and got a violent shock and Georgina rocketed into me, somehow managing to avoid the gearstick. She murmured something, cheeks bright red.
"And this is why you should wear seatbelts," I said, trying not to laugh. Electricity made my hair stand on end, shadows spiked my arms and the feel of a fist punching me in the ribs all happened simultaneously. I carried on laughing and then noticed that, yet again, I had spectacularly missed the turning that was coming up.
I swore under my breath and accelerated, turning left. Cries resounded around the car and I marvelled at the power held in the gleaming Porsche. I lifted my foot off the pedal for a second and then pressed it down again, laughing at the horror on everyone's faces.
"Pepper," Rebecca said nervously, "stop messing about with the speed and trying to kill us..."
"You're not on Top Gear and never will be," Shaade. I glanced across at Georgina's furious expression. She loved Top Gear as much as I did, another random snippet of information I'd found out after her rant about Clarkson.
"This really is the best car..." I began. Georgina raised an eyebrow but started to smile.
"In the world," we finished in unison. Rebecca put her head in her hands.
"What is this?" she groaned. "You're insane!"
*
An hour or so later we arrived. Halfway through Georgina had started singing, Rebecca reluctantly joining in. Shaade had rolled his eyes and then burst into a rendition of 'Game of Life'. I, however, had kept my trap shut and they had been trying to persuade me to sing ever since.
"Come on," Georgina wheedled, trying puppy-dog eyes on me. "Sing! You can't be worse than Rebecca, surely."
Rebecca sent electricity spiking through her arm and Geogrina jumped, scowling. Unfortunately that arm was leaning on my shoulder and so I got a shock as well.
"We're here," I said bluntly, taking the keys out of the ignition and stepping outside.
I heard the others gasp as they saw my home for the first time. Shaade stopped walking, Rebecca drifted upwards to see how high up the building she could go and Georgina turned to me, eyes still on the glass windows.
"Anything else you want to tell us?" she said. I thought for a second.
"There's a robot hoverpod named Kevin inside," I said. Her eyes widened and she looked at me. Her pupils were contracted but they rapidly dilated as the light difference kicked in. Altogether, with her colour changing irises, it gave quite a creepy effect.
I gave her a small smile and walked briskly away, locking the Porsche using the keys I held in my hand as I went. The doors swung open at my approach and we were in the vast reception area. Sofas, plants, rugs, hatstands and paintings galore filled the room. I ignored the lot and headed straight for the lifts.
"Welcome to the Stronghold," I said to no-one in particular.
The last time I was here I had to jump to reach the buttons. Now I could press them with ease (although the thirty one was still a little higher than I would have liked).
The other Super Glitches piled into the small space and I hit the button for the doors to close. Immediately claustrophobia set in and I had to fight the urge to curl up and cry. Taking deep breaths I somehow got through the experience and was stepping out onto the top floor in no time.
"Hi Kevin," I called, throwing my labcoat over the back of a chair as I strode into the centre of the room. The little red hoverpod came zooming over from its stationary position on the desktop and gave a funny little bow, one arm extending quickly and then vanishing under its metal shell.
"You weren't joking then," Georgina murmured, raising an eyebrow at Shaade as he snapped his fingers and shortened my labcoat into a suit jacket. He caught me staring and shrugged before turning his waistcoat rainbow-coloured. Everytime he clicked his thumb and middle finger together there was a short burst of colour, rainbows flickering into view and then vanishing.
"I'm suddenly reminded of that turtle you once bought, Georgina," Rebecca shuddered. I have her a questioning look.
"It freaked me out, okay?"
"He was fabulous," Georgina sniffed, sitting on a bar stool and wincing as her arm hit the quartz surface. My face went a shade paler than usual and I smiled, clapping my hands together, a noise that echoed in the acres of room we had.
"Right!" I said with a forced smile. "You guys, er, get settled down. Kevin will look after you but no alcohol. And no sugar. Kevin, make sure Rebecca doesn't get anything fizzy, sweet or minty."
"Yes sir."
"And make sure that Shaade doesn't change the colour of everything to, I don't know, rainbows." I pointed at his waistcoat, bowtie, trousers and hair. The last part stunned me momentarily but then I shrugged it off. He was Shaade, after all.
"Yes sir. Now, friends, how about I show you around?" Kevin said, talking in the same smooth, slightly-husky voice that I remembered. I didn't just remember it from him either - that was my dad's voice. He died after my mum did and he, like me, was a scientist and genius. He taught me the basis of engineering before I was even two years old. And he made me Kevin just before he passed away, knowing that he was being hunted by - wait for it - Rainfall. Yep, my parents were on the organisation I worked for's wanted list.
I nodded to the others and then speedwalked to my room. It was a little lower down than the main bar area and I jumped down a short flight of stairs to reach its level. Pushing open the door I zipped over to the en suite, relieved to find that Kevin had prepared for me in advance. We'd spoken the last time I was here, the conversation going widely like this...
*
I opened my eyes again to find the robotic pod staring at me. My voice was too sore to scream and so I settled on interrogating it. After I found out Kevin's name, the fact that my dad made him, all he knew about me and my parents I decided to give him a few instructions.
"Now, Kevin," I said in my childish, high-pitched way. "I have a few requests for you."
"Yes, sir?"
"Firstly, get rid of that creepy robot butler downstairs the second I'm gone. It weirds me out slightly.
'Secondly, make sure that everything in this tower which I have just christened the Stronghold is kept nice and clean. I don't like dust or stale air but neither do I like air conditioners that smell of flowers. Try and make it smell nice and... homely."
Looking back I don't know what the smell of homeliness is but I was eight at the time and giddy with excitement. I had a robot at my command! An entire fortress to myself!
"Thirdly," I continued, "prepare for when I come back. It will probably be at some time random and I'll most likely have other people with me. But I'll also be older than... um... twelve and, knowing my dad, I'll probably already be getting some sort of stubble. But still not have grown.
'Basically, make sure you have stuff like... um... whatever teenage boys use to take care of themselves. You know, like, razor things, and hair gel..."
At that Kevin had chuckled. "I understand what you are hinting at, sir, and acknowledge the fact that you are only eight years old and know nothing of the older male. Everything will be prepared and the Stronghold will be nice and homely, to quote your earlier self."
"Thanks, Kevin," I said as I heard a car horn toot from below. "I need to go now but I'll be back.
'Oh, and Kevin?" I paused, one foot inside the lift.
"Sir?"
"Make sure the Stronghold is weaponised for when I come back."
*
I dried my face with the towel and heaved a sigh of relief. I was free of any stubble so Georgina could finally stop calling me 'Robert' to irritate me.
Wandering through my bedroom and into the surveillance quarter of the top floor I checked the lower levels. As I had expected we were the only people in the building. Just in case my eyes were deceiving me I turned on thermal imaging. Four red blobs and a single blue one were on the top floor. Kevin didn't give out any heat but he registered on the system, oddly.
Feeling safe that we were alone I walked back to my room, locking the door with a touch of my hand. Checking my tired, dishevelled reflection in the mirror I sighed.
"Shall I take a shower now or later?" I deliberated. Sniffing my arm I almost retched and half-sprinted to the shower.
"How did the others put up with me?" I wondered aloud, turning on the water and gathering up some freshly-laundered towels. "I reek!"
*
Georgina let what Kevin was saying wash over her as she looked around. From where she was stood in the centre of the room she could see most things, ranging from the bar - a prohibited place, according to Kevin - to the widespread security area.
Pepper strolled into view, subconsciously rubbing a hand over his jaw and neck. He tapped a thin screen and his eyes flickered back and forth as he took in the information. He pressed it again and then nodded, satisfied. Without looking up he went back to his room, locking the door with a soft click. Georgina made a careful note of which door it was and what movements Pepper had made. Information was power, after all.
"As well as this we have hundred of laboratories, weapons rooms, conference rooms, panic rooms, walk-in wardrobes, spare flats," Kevin continued. Georgina sighed and shuffled her feet. She'd never been good with waiting and resisted the temptation to pull her iPod out and start reading.
"Any questions?" Kevin said, finishing at last. Georgina raised her hand.
"Does this place have WiFi?" she asked, a serious expression on her face. "I've gone this long without it and I need to stalk some celebrities."
*
Under the flow of hot water I felt the tension in my aching muscles fade away. My wrists still throbbed with a dull sensation and there were bruises and cuts all over my body but I finally felt at peace.
A tune came into my head and I hummed the first bar or two before singing. It was something that my mum had sung to me when I was very little and the feeling of nostalgia that came with it was pleasant but enough to remind me there were things I still had to fight for in this war.
"When I find myself in times of trouble," I sang softly, "Mother Mary comes to me,
'Speaking words of wisdom, let it be,
'And in my hour of darkness,
'She is standing right in front of me,
'Speaking words of wisdom, let it be,
'Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be,
'Whisper words of wisdom,
'Let it be..."
Water rushed over my head and mingled with the half-happy, half-sad tears on my face. I threw the bottle of shampoo into the air and caught it, styling my hair into a mohican to certify I covered every inch with soapy bubbles. Closing my eyes to protect my vision I continued singing, rinsing the chemicals away.
"And when the broken hearted people,
'Living in this world agree,
'There will be an answer, let it be,
'For though they may be parted,
'There is still a chance that they will see,
'There will be an answer, let it be,
'Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be,
'There will be an answer, let it be..."
I finished showering and continued the song as I dried myself off, spiking my hair up ridiculously in the mirrored cabinet.
"And when the night is cloudy,
'There is still a light that shines on me,
'Shine on 'til tomorrow, let it be,
'I wake up to the sound of music,
'Mother Mary comes to me,
'Speaking words of wisdom,
'Let it be,
'Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be,
'There will be an answer, let it be,
'Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be,
'Whisper words of wisdom, let it be."
I let the final note trail off as I picked up a hairbrush. Combing through my thick brown-flecked-with-random-bits-of-grey-even-though-I'm-only-thirteen hair I realised how long it had gotten. Making a mental note to get Kevin to cut it - he was a very multi-purpose robot - I walked out of the en suite, wearing only a pair of loose jeans that I'd found folded over the chair.
"I told you that you could sing," a voice said smugly. I yelled out and pulled my trousers higher, slipping over and landing with a thud on the carpet. Georgina was sat on my bed, an amused smile on her face, one eyebrow raised.
"What are you doing in here? How did you get in?" I cried, shuffling away from her. She tapped her nose and threw me a black T-Shirt with an orange rim, a belt following shortly after. I caught both and stood up, pulling the T-Shirt over my head and scowling as my hair flattened to my scalp.
"Seriously, this is a security breach," I said, looping the belt through the hooks and doing it up. "How did you get in?"
"Information is power," Georgina said. "Also, I watched you get in and tricked your system."
"If you ever betray me-"
"Why would I? There's WiFi here."
*
A day or so later the others had settled in nicely. I'd designed Georgina a new arm after making her promise never to walk into my room whilst I was in the shower ever again.
The new robotic limb was sleeker than the other one but still black and blue in colour. The blue was brighter, more of an electric shade, and the black glistened in the spotlights dotted about the ceiling as well as strip lights.
On both the back and front of her hand there was a blue circle that glowed like a torch. It still had the functions of a telecommunications device but you could control the screens you were on using one of the circles like a touchpad. I had also taken out the electric shock feature, much to Georgina's disappointment.
"So," Rebecca said suddenly, eyeing the fridge. "What secrets do people have?"
"Why do you ask?" Shaade said, looking up from his book. My mum had done studies on demons and other creatures whilst she was alive, one of the reasons for her being a target. I'd given Shaade one of her notebooks under strict instructions not to damage it in any way.
"I'm curious, bored and want to know things about you guys," Rebecca shrugged. "Shall I go first, to start everyone off?"
"Wait a minute," I called, taking my pen out of my mouth and tucking it behind my ear. I tapped Shaade on the back of the neck to encourage him up and tugged Georgina's collar. They followed after me and soon we were sat in a circle.
Rebecca opened her mouth to speak and I held up a finger to stop her. Quickly I vaulted over the bar and grabbed a large box of Coke. Sending it sliding across the bar I ran alongside, beating it easily.
"Service," I grinned, picking it up and walking back to the circle with it. I set it down on the glass coffee table and split the cardboard open. I handed out the bottles and nodded for Rebecca to continue, a sly smile playing at my lips as she took a sip of cola. I knew that when my friends had sugar or caffeine - something cola was rich in - it had the same sort of effect on them as if they were drunk. And as Georgina said, 'information is power'.
"So, Rebecca," I said. "What's your big secret?"
"I may or may not have accidentally killed my family," she said, downing the bottle and reaching for another. "As in, my brother, my sister, my parents..."
"Why?" Shaade asked in shock, taking a drink to soothe his nerves.
"They got in my way when I wanted Polos," Rebecca said, chugging down half a bottle in one go. "They took my iPod, too. And the constant mantra in the back of my head is 'iPod Polos sugar Polos Polos laptop iPod sugar', so..."
"Shaade, you next," I said, sipping at my Coke. He thought, head tilting from side to side. He finished his bottle and opened a second, starting on that before he spoke.
"I have, y'know, um..." Another bottle emptied. Another bottle opened. "I, er, went back to Rainfall and, um, killed... killed everyone... whilst I was working for Nosmo, that's why he kept on torturing me... One of his guards was kinda cute though and I managed to get him to help me get outside without Nosmo knowing. Oh yeah, and I might have snogged Dan when I went back to Rainfall." He smiled sheepishly and drank the rest of the bottle, picking up a... I'd lost count.
"Georgina?"
"I can't really think of anything," she said thoughtfully, scratching her chin. "I mean, sure, I have a load of secrets but there's no way I'm telling you guys them."
"Let me guess them," Shaade giggled. "I know... you're really a robot!"
"Halfway there, mate," Georgina smiled, allowing the wires and circuits to show under her skin. "But no."
"You're a very tall midget!" Rebecca cried, snatching the last bottle of Coke off Shaade. I blurred back to the bar and brought over another box that was ripped open as soon I put it down.
"I'm just very tall," Georgina said. "And Shaade's taller than me. What does that make him?"
"A very small giant!"
I started laughing at Shaade's look of hyper outrage. He dived at Rebecca and started to mock-strangle her, using shadows to strengthen his grip. Rebecca gave him shock after shock and soon they were separated again, laughing hysterically.
"I know," Shaade shrieked, "you really have a massive crush on Pepper!"
"Okay this has gone too far," Georgina said, standing up and destroying the remaining bottles of Coke. The cries of horror and misery were amusing yet irritating at the same time and I followed Georgina with my eyes as she marched from the room, shutting her door with a sharp snap.
"Bedtime, kiddies," I wheedled, gripping Shaade and Rebecca firmly by the collar and dragging them to their rooms. I shut them in and proceeded to tidy up the mess we had made, giving Kevin one less job to do.
"All these revelations," Georgina said from behind me, "and yet you got away with saying nothing."
"Information is power," I said without turning around. I could sense Georgina's frown.
"Don't throw my own words back in my face," she grumbled, perching on the worksurface. "Did I ever say thanks about the arm?"
"Only about a million times."
"Oh. Well, thanks."
"A million and one."
She laughed softly and I heard her heels tap against the marble. "Look," she said at last. I straightened up and turned around, dumping the boxes in the bin. Once I was done I sat on the sofa and patted the space next to me. Georgina walked over and took the seat.
"You were saying?" I prompted her when she stayed silent. She sighed and started to fiddle with a loose strand on the cushion.
"What Shaade said," she began. I thought back and nodded.
"The second thing," I guessed. "Because I know you're not a robot."
"Yeah, the second thing." She laughed nervously and nodded her head.
"Ignore it," she said. "He makes things up, doesn't know anything... Yep, just ignore him."
"I was going to anyway," I said. Georgina looked up and her eyes met mine, relief visible in them. The light died slightly at my suspicious look.
"So why did you tell me?" I continued, glancing at my watch. "It's gone 11PM, winter's drawing near, it's pitch black outside and you should, in theory, be asleep. So why did you purposefully go out of your room, waiting for me to get rid of the others - you waited because you didn't change or start getting ready for sleep - and then you walked out to talk to me. Why?"
"Because I have a long memory and was wondering if you did too," she said defensively. "I analyse things deeper than they actually are, overthinking and then coming to the wrong conclusions. And anyway, I was going to ask what your secret is."
"I should have got Shaade to worm it outta me," I murmured, looking at the ground. Georgina frowned.
"Why?"
"Reverse what Shaade said about you and make it about me," I said in a rush, zooming away before I could see her reaction. I slammed my door behind me, locked it and locked it again, activating Kevin using a remote. I sent him instructions to tidy up any remaining mess and to not wake me up the next day at all. I typed a final order into the remote keypad, hesitating before I pressed enter.
The final command?
Erase Georgina's memory of the past ten minutes.