ic Half-Life IC

[Thevshi]

Lincoln, Freedom City, New Jersey

Tuesday July 25, 2023

2:23 PM

 

Lawrence Harrow pulled his parents' BWM iX electric SUV into the parking lot of the Cline Building, which was known to some as Freedom League Special Circumstances Housing. As someone who had grown up connected to the superhero community in Freedom City (let alone the son of a member of the Freedom League), Lawrence had visited the FLSCH quite a few times over the years, participating in fundraisers, community improvement projects and social mixers. Today the sixteen year old was here to meet Baltazar (Baz) Botez, who would be his roommate at Claremont Academy when the school year began in a couple months.

 

The school had put the two in touch after it had decided to put them together in a room for the coming year and the pair had exchanged some emails and text messages. This would be the first time Lawrence would be meeting Baz in person.

 

Stepping out of the SUV, the blond sixteen year old had a small box of pastries from a bakery in North Bay his mother liked in one hand. While is was only in the low 80's today, the humidity made it feel much warmer and Lawrence was dressed in a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a blue T-shirt.

 

Making his way into the building, Lawrence headed towards the elevators that would take him to the floor where Baz had his apartment.

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

Bzzzzz!

 

It passed the time. Buzzing, that was. Baz was more than anxious about meeting Lawrence. He clicked his three fingers on his two arms, tugging and pulling them. A good looking boy with money. What a lucky swine! Baltazar was a half cockroach boy with barely a dollar to his name. 

 

Still, it was better than living in the sewers. Which he had had to do on a few nights since he and his sister arrived in Freedom City. She was still scratching a living cleaning the subways. But better than that be a mutant horror like Gamma Buzz, the Cockroach kid!

 

Maybe I can fleece this Lawrence for a few dollars...

 

Desperate times, desperate measures. 

 

To give Lawrence his due, he hadn't thrown up and backed out when he had seen Gamma Buzz. So credit to him. 

 

I'm a superhero... I can blast out laser beams from my eyes! he reminded himself. He had to remind himself that his appearance had also granted him super powers; that he could be somebody important, not an urchin playing in waste disposal grounds, like he had in Mexico. He had to remember that. 

 

"Dang! I can't wait!" he grumbled, leaping to ceiling and crawling along, out of his room and into the corridor. Quiet, silent, hard to see. But now he would get a good look at Lawrence as he strolled down the corridor....

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

The ride in the elevator gave Lawrence a bit of time to think, not that he needed as much as a normal person would. Indeed, if he really wanted to, Lawrence could turn just a second into a near limitless amount of time. Of course, making such a drastic alteration to the flow of time could lead to unexpected consequences.

 

Lawrence was a bit nervous about meeting Baz. He knew the other boy came from some very difficult circumstances, but likely even more significant was Baz's very unusual appearance. The blond teen partially suspected that Headmistress Summers had put him in touch with Baz early with the expectation that Baz's appearance would not be as shocking to Lawrence as it might be to some of their future classmates.

 

It was hardly a calculated risk, given the Headmistress was well aware of Lawrence's unplanned trip to CoVic Station a few years ago, where he had encountered a whole host of alien species, including an over eight foot tall reptilian member of the Praetorians (who had a ten foot long tail that ended with spiked ball). As far as Lawrence was concerned, Baz was just like any other sixteen year old.

 

When the elevator reached the floor with Baz's apartment, Lawrence stepped out and quickly oriented himself in the right direction and started down the corridor. While normally a fairly attentive individual, the Cline Building had been built in an era of more grandiose design, so the hallway had a towering ceiling that provided Baz with plenty of area to keep himself concealed as he crawled along the ceiling, unspotted by Lawrence.

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Hola Hola!"

 

Baz dropped from the ceiling into what he hoped was a cool posture, arms open wide, feet akimbo, cheeky smile on his face. It was a calculated move, but he was agile enough to pull it off. 

 

Anything to detract from the shock. 

 

"Baltazar Botez. Everyone calls me Baz. Also known as Gamma Buzz, also known as Cockroach Kid!"

 

He gave an extravagant bow and a little flurry of his feet. 

 

"Lawrence Harrow, I pressume? What do I call you? Seeing as we are going to be room mates in a few weeks?"

 

Behind his back, Baz crossed two of his three stocky fingers. He just hoped that Lawrence wouldn't about face. If Baz was being logical, he would have deemed it unlikely given their correspondence. But still, fear usually overpowered logic. 

 

Baltazar Botez didn't want to be alone. 

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

If Baz's sudden appearance startled Lawrence, the blond teen hid it well (a benefit of a time distortion that allowed him to process information in what was barely the blink of an eye for a normal person. Lawrence simply stopped in place, giving Baz a friendly smile, completely unfazed by Baz's physical appearance.

"Good to meet you Baz." Lawrence stated, holding out one hand to the other teen. Lawrence had an upper class British accent similar to his father's, if slightly less pronounced. "Lawrence is fine, though I will also be going by Timeout at Claremont." He added as the two shook hands.

 

"I brought some food, not much, but they are really good pastries." Lawrence continued, holding up the box in his free hand. "I understand you have not been in Freedom City long? How are you adjusting?"

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"I'm adjusting fine; the question is - is Freedom City adjusting to me?" he said with a shrug, looking away. He couldn't technically blush with green skin laced with armour plates. But he could sure look like he was blushing. 

 

The statement was a mix of bravado and shame. Like most bravado, it was birthed in shame. Perhaps arrogance? Baltazar didn't know for sure, but he knew he didn't like to dwell on introspection. It was a dirty and painful business.

 

He risked a small glimmer of honesty. 

 

"I mean, I don't look like someone its easy to adjust to, do I? Most people would think I crawled out of a gutter having drunk some insect-enlarging nuclear waste. Or something like that. Gotta say, it can suck..."

 

That was a bit to honest. A bit to raw. He backpedalled. 

 

"...But then, I can climb walls and shoot frikkin' laser beams out of my eyes. So I am a cool superhero, too!"

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

"Well, Freedom City has seen its share of bizarre things, if any place can adjust, it would be here." Lawrence replied with a good natured smile. But when Baz let his bravado fade and spoke more honestly, Lawrence’s smile was replaced with a more serious and concerned look.

 

"I…I am sure it is not easy." The blond sixteen year old began. "But there are plenty that will not reject you so quickly, and Claremont is certain a place for that. As for those that might, I am sure your actions will be enough to change many of their minds."

 

Lawrence gave a small grin as Baz tried to push aside the negative tone the discussion had taken. "Again, Claremont is probably the best place to really get you on the path of a superhero."

 

"But there will be more than enough classes on all that in a couple months." Lawrence then stated, trying to move the discussion on to other topics. "So, I think you mentioned in some emails that you were interested in electronics?"

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

Baz breathed a sigh of relief. Lawrence had not recoiled - and offered reassurance that Claremont was the place to be. The long and horrific journey from Mexico was worth it. The smuggling, the dealing with smugglers. The only good thing had been crawling through the dark and dusty tunnels. There, Gamma Buzz was in his elements. 

 

"Well, I came to the right place then!" he said, sticking two thumbs up. 

 

At least I still have thumbs. Sure, only three fingers. But opposable thumbs are handy. 

 

"Yeah. I dug around the trash a lot, growing outside Mexico City. I'm a scavanger. Built my own radio from scraps. Fuzzy and static, but it worked. Kind of..."

 

He shrugged. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the box - especially not amongst the super geniuses of Freedom City, but he wasn't stupid, either. He hadn't gone to school much, but he had picked up a practical skill or two."

 

"I'm not good at maths. But I know my way around a tool box. I should probably try and get a bit better. Computers, too. Need to know my way around them. I want to set up a Radio station eventually.... I don't have the face for TV!"

Edited July 25, 2023 by Supercape

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

"Wow, hand building a working radio out of salvaged materials is pretty impressive." Lawrence replied. He tried to focus on the more positive things Baz mentioned. "You should be able to get access to a lot better equipment at Claremont, so lots of opportunity to work on getting better working with electronics. I don't have a lot of lot of hands on experience, but am pretty familiar with the components and how they fit into systems." The teen added with a smile.

 

Lawrence listened as Baz talked about some of his goals. "That is pretty ambitious. But I am sure with some effort you can get that set up."

 

"Any other classes or subjects you are looking forward to in the coming year?"

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Great!"

 

Baz wasn't good at hope. He was positive, but the kind of positive that was determined to make the best of living in a septic tank. Not the kind of hope that one could crawl out of it. Those hopes, he felt, were the ones that got dashed. Those hopes were the one that stopped your dealing with the mountain of manure that was life. 

 

He didn'd dare dream of ascending. He dreamed of a shovel. 

 

But this... this sounded hopeful. A hope he could dare believe in, even if he must mute it. 

 

"Like, real stuff? I mean, who pays for it? What if I break it? Can I keep it? What can I do with it?"

 

He gabbled. But would Lawrence know?

 

Lawrence probably had a much better chance of knowing than Baz did. Baz was feeling progressively like a hunter-gatherer with a spear and net having an encounter with a field of wheat, a plough, and a tractor. This wasn't something he had a map for. 

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence gave a light hearted chuckled slightly at Baz’s questions about electronics equipment at the school.

 

"Well, like most private schools, Claremont gets money from tuition for students that attend, although that is scaled based on what a family can afford. But Claremont gets most of its money from endowments, which are funded by fundraising efforts of those overseeing the school, including money from those in the superhero community that have a good deal of wealth." The blond teen left out that his family was one of those that gave money to the school, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to the socio/economic differences between the two of them.

 

"As for whether you can keep any electronic components you get access to at the school, afraid I am not sure about that. I imagine there will be some you can keep, but maybe you will be able to request to keep more from the school."

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Good news!" 

 

Baz wondered about the electronics. Perhaps if some key components went "missing"... who would notice? he could build his own transmitter! His mind danced around the risks, the ethics... but inside he felt his half-insect intestines quiver with excitement. 

 

My own transmitter! Broadcasting the sounds of the subway! Bringing fat beats and conpsiracy the--- I mean truths to the public!

 

He wondered what Lawrence would think of such well intentioned but naughty activity. 

 

Kind of well-intentioned, anyway. -ish. 

 

"And what are you doing here? Learning how to control your powers? Bringing down despots and masterminds around the world? Timeout! The Terror of Tyrants! I can see it now! Maybe you need some entrance music!"

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

"Some entrance music could be pretty cool." Lawrence responded with a smile.

 

He then gave a little shrug as he continued, "I was pretty much born into this community, so I have been bound for Claremont almost all my life."

 

"I have had my powers all my life, so I have a pretty good control over them. But there is still a lot more to explore as to their full potential, and Claremont is a good space to test those limits." The teen added. "It is also a good place to get to know others our age that are going to become part of the superhero community. Never hurts to have friends and contacts you can reach out to if needed."

 

Lawrence choose not to address the remarks about him bringing down despots and masterminds. The line of thinking led to a majorly tangled area that he felt was not best to dwell on right now.

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"What do you do then? Freeze time? Speed it up? Wrap it round your little finger and admire your orouboros ring? Hey.... that would be cool, right? An orouroboros ring, maybe you could make that in a craft class? And put your supersuit in it! You could do that, right? Don't they have atomic suits or something that can shrink?"

 

He paused. Maybe he should get a super suit. T shirt and jeans wasn't exactly super, but it was all he could afford. And besides, its not like he would ever have a secret identity. 

 

Some small, battered part of his brain told him to be proud of what he was, to own it. As usual, the brutal part of his brain - the ashamed one - gave the proud part of his brain the battering of a lifetime and told it to shut the hell up or there would be trouble. 

 

"I can see it now! A slick super suit with a clockface logo! or a stopwatch, right? What's your favourite colour? What colour is time, anyway? Does it have a colour? Blue? Pink? Purple?"

 

 

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence tensed ever so slightly when Baz mentioned having a stopwatch on his eventual costume, but that passed in a blink of an eye. The blond teen laughter slightly at the question about what color time. "I don't have any plans for a costume yet, have three years to figure that out really. Claremont does provide generic morphic molecule costumes in the school’s colors to all students, so will probably just use that for the time being. As to time's color, that is an interesting question. I would probably have to say it is all of the colors, and none of them."

 

He then went back to Baz's initial questions about his powers. "My powers are pretty much all of the above. I can stop and control time, speeding it up, slowing it down, even reversing to some degree. I can also move through time and believe that with some practice I should be able to bend time and space to transport myself across the globe, and potentially throughout the galaxy."

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Generic morphic molecules, eh? Maybe Ill get me a super suit one day! Orange, I think. That's a cool colour, right?"

 

Did orange spandex and green armour plates go? Baltazar had no idea, but it sounded cool. Besides, who would notice? he would probably be spending his super hero time patrolling the dimly lit or totally dark tunnels of the subways and sewers of Freedom City. 

 

A far cry from warping oneself through space and time. Baltazar tried to grapple with the concept. Dinosaurs! Aliens! Ninja Cyborgs of Zuzu from the 53rd century!

 

The possibilities were infinite. Quite possibly literally. 

 

"Sounds like you got a lot of exploring to do! If you ever want company, count me in. I am guessing I wont look so odd to the Ninja cyborg aliens of Zuzu, or at least no more odd than you, eh?"

 

What do aliens look like anyway?

 

Baltazar cracked his knuckles. Partially because he wanted to show he was up for business, up for adventure, up for a fight. But mainly because one of the many amazing things about being a half insect was that his knuckles cracked in a loud and pleasing way. 

 

"Do we get field trips? I guess you are the man to go to, eh?"

 

 

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

"I think the shade of orange can play a big part on how cool it is or not. Claremont should be able to help you with getting your own costume made of morphic molecules." Lawrence replied.

 

When Baz mentioned being willing to go along on any explorations through time and space, the blond teen gave a friendly smile. "I will be sure to keep you in mind. And I can say for certain that there are parts of space where you would not stand out at all." Pausing a moment, Lawrence figured that this statement deserved a bit more background. "A little over five years ago I inadvertently ended up on a space station in a solar system twenty thousand light years away. There were aliens from hundreds of species on that station, and you would not be the most unusual by a long shot."

 

"I am pretty sure Claremont has field trips. I have heard some can be pretty far flung."

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Space Station, wow!"

 

Baz was so surprised he took a step back. What would grandpa Botez say about that? He always dreamed of the stars - at least when he was alive. Taken by cancer when Baz was twelve. He stilled missed the old man, grumpy, whiskey soaked and as kind a man as you could imagine. 

 

"I guess the field trips dont go that far" he said, speculating. "What are we talking about? The gleaming streets of Freedom City? of Emerald City? or abroad, even? I always wanted to go to South America. I mean, proper south. Brazil. They always look ready for a good party, huh?"

 

He looked behind Lawrence. The corridor was empty, for now. But still. 

 

"Lets get into my room. Its a dump, to be honest. I wasn't exactly clean and tidy even before, y'know. But I'd rather be there than out here. Don't wanna attract to much attention. Even in this building..."

 

He egged Lawrence into his room which was, predictably a dump. A few clothes, a bed, some headphones and a junkyard i player, full of music of every description. Except country and death metal. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Supercape

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence chuckled as the two made their way into Baz's apartment. "You might be surprised. I know for certain that a couple years ago some Claremont students took a trip to the very space station I visited. I believe there have also been some, planned and unplanned, to other dimensions."

 

The teen glanced around the room when they entered, not casting any judgment on the condition of the area. Not seeing any chairs, Lawrence moved into the kitchen area and took a seat on one of the counters as he held out the box of pastries to Baz.

"Don't forget to try one of these pastries, they are from place in North Bay my mom really likes."

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Space Station?" said Baz, hopping from foot to foot with excietement as he repeated himself. He couldn't quite digest it - if his anatomy had allowed a slack jaw it would have been swinging around his chest, complete with excessive drool. Possibly it would have shattered on the floor beneath them. 

 

He shook his head and took a pastry. It smelled delicious, it tasted delicious. Baz could eat pretty much anything, from a cockroach nest to a vat of acid. His stomach was made of impervium. But that wasn't to say his palate did appreciate the sweetness, the fluffiness, the wholesome goodness of a pastry. 

 

Although cookies were his favourite. Particularly if they had raisins in them. 

 

Freedom CIty just gets better and better!

 

And this Harrow fellow isn't bad either!

 

Sure, there was a touch of envy, but this guy was the guy to be around. 

 

"What music do you like?" he asked, jumping onto his makeshift bed and fiddling with the i player. Maybe, just maybe, he could impress Lawrence with his encylopedic knowledge of music. 

 

At least, in the mind of Baltazar, it was encylopedic. As long as it was made in the last five years. And he listened to it. 

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence just grinned at Baz’s excitement as he sat down the box with the rest of the pastries on the counter. So far Baz seemed to be taking things in stride, the blond teen hoped that would not change as they actually got into the school year and classwork started piling up. Of course, Lawrence would be happy to help insure that did not get too overwhelming.

 

As Baz asked him about what sort of music he liked, the teen focused back on Baz. "I am pretty easy going with regard to music, liking a lot of different types. Never been particularly focused on any specific performers or genres of music, so often listen to a lot of different things. My mother probably knows more about whatever the current music fads are than I do."

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

Baltazar jumped up; something he could do very well. With a tongue that drooled with enthusiasm, he took off his earphones and snapped them onto Lawrence's head. 

 

"Then take a listen to this! Fresh from the streets! Mexican Jazz rap at its finest!"

 

Well, it was certainly original. Whether you liked it or not was a matter of taste. Mexican Jazz rap was not for everybody. But few would call the tune that the headphones belted out unmusical, or offensive. Mostly, it would be called odd. Music in 15/16 time had that effect on the listener. 

 

"Pretty neat, huh? I got more tunes than I have fingers..."

 

He held up his hands - two thumbs, six fingers, and gave a laugh. 

 

"Seriously, you get whiff of any happening beats, you let me know. I want to build a great collection for when i DJ!"

 

He gave a little dance - he didn't know how to dance, but he was agile. Particularly when he did a back flip and ended up standing on the ceiling, hanging down, face level with Lawrences. 

 

"Ta-daaaa!"

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

Lawrence started ever so slightly when Baz jumped up at him, but then remained in place as Baz placed headphones on the blond's head. There was a brief jarring sensation as the music began, but that passed quickly as the beat and lyrics (which Lawrence could not really understand) became clear. It was certainly not anything Lawrence was accustomed to, but was not at all unpleasant.

 

The teen gave a nod to Baz as he continued to listen to the music for a moment while the other teen did his dance and ended up hanging upside down from the ceiling. It was staring to be clear that Baz was rather high energy, which was sure to make the coming year interesting.

 

"I will keep an ear out for you. But cannot promise I will be the best source for your collection. Although, might be worth to go through my mom's collection of dance and club music." The blond teen replied with a small grin.

[Supercape]

Gamma Buzz

 

"Sounds like you have a cool mum" said Baltazar, thinking of his own mother back in Mexico. Not the best of mothers, but not the worst either. Hard working, caring, a fine cook, but also an exhausted insomniac who could be distant, who only managed by kicking him and his sister out of the house to go an entertain themselves whilst she slept. Perhaps slept with the help of Tequila. 

 

Perhaps Baltazar was being harsh. He missed his mother. But... perhaps, he realised, only because she was absent right now. 

 

He sat down, head in his hands, insect tear ducts pulsing. He literally hurt Baltazar to cry, but he felt the damp on his eyeballs all the same - and they were not tears he regretted, despite the sting. 

 

"Sorry..." he said to Baltazar. "I need to be here. But my mother is still in Mexico, back home. It hurts, sometimes. Homesick, I guess."

 

He pinched his nose and quelled the tears and the emotion behind the tears. 

 

"Tell me about your family..."

[Thevshi]

Timeout

 

"Yeah, she is pretty cool most of the time." Lawrence responded with a small shrug before going quite as it became apparent that Baz was feeling a bit down about his own situation. The blond teen gave a reassuring nod as Baz mentioned feeling a bit homesick with his mother back in Mexico. "I imagine it is not always easy. If I can get things figured out with bending time and space, perhaps we can make some trips back home for you to visit during the year." He then offered.

 

As Baz asked about Lawrence's family, the blond teen shifted slightly, pausing a moment to answer. The teen was very conscious about not wanting to overly highlight the great socio-economic differences between himself and Baz, but also not wanting to fail to acknowledge that they existed either.

'

"Well, I will be the first to admit that I am very fortunate to have parents who both come from wealthy families." The blond teen began. "My father is from England, and we spend a fair bit of time over the year visiting there. He has an advanced degree in theoretical physics, but mainly dabbles in the subject."

 

"My mum is from Freedom City. She was a cheerleader, and if she had wanted, likely could have been a professional dancer. But after getting her economics degree, she came back to Freedom City after marrying my father and donates a lot of her time to various local charities and other philanthropic projects."

 

"I also have a foster sister, who my parents took in when she came to Claremont from rural Alabama. She graduated a couple years ago."