King of All I Survey
Chapter 98: Mom Meets the Androids

Chapter 98: Mom Meets the Androids

As Dad and I headed back up into the treehouse, I bounced an idea off him. "Dad, I actually have like 95% of the powers of actual Superman with this new gear. I feel like I should use it for good. I mean, what would Superman do? Maybe I should get the red cape and everything and just be a superhero for a while. You know, let people know that justice will be done, that there’s somebody looking out for them and all that kind of thing." I was really torn. How could I have this much power and not use it to help people?

"I think if you put on a red cape and showed superpowers, then you’d be the target of every nation in the world trying to get you to join their side. There might even be wars launched over it. Not to mention every would-be super villain kidnapping people and announcing that they’ll kill the hostages unless you show up in person," Dad suggested. "Maybe, you could do good deeds more quietly, unless getting credit for it is important to you."

"I don’t care about getting..." I paused, maybe I did care about getting credit. "Although, if people thought I was a superhero, it might make it easier to be accepted as King of the World..." I checked Dad’s face for a reaction. He looked amused.

"Then what? Do you want people to expect you to fly around the world saving people one at a time or do you want time to actually govern and keep the various galactic empires from plundering Earth?"

I shrugged, "The second one, I guess. Man, kings don’t get to have any fun..." We stepped onto the elevator disk and rose up into the welcome hall. I changed the subject, "I’m thinking about moving the treehouse to some remote location in case we’re identified, and they put all kinds of surveillance on the yard."

Dad tilted his head and pursed his lips as if he hadn’t considered that the Super-Secret Planetary Leadership Headquarters Treehouse Fortress could actually be moved. "That might be a good idea. They’re going to figure out that Maria Isabel Flores and the Flores family of Lima, Peru doesn’t exist sooner or later. If they ever match Mom to her by facial recognition or something..."

"Yeah, I was thinking something like that, then they find my enrollment at the University and absconding with two of their tenured professors for some secret project, and see that you made a huge endowment to them after quitting your job. It’s kind of suspicious. If you add Mom being involved in taking down the drug cartels and choosing governments in Central America... It starts to look like the Illuminati or some giant, secret cabal bent on ruling the world..." I realized what I said at the same time Dad did, we both laughed out loud.

"Instead of some precocious little eight-year-old kid bent on ruling the world, right?" Dad supplied the punch line.

"Right!"

Mom walked into the Welcome Hall from the Status Room, "Well, hello strangers. What are you doing in this secret fortress? Never mind that," she said, looking straight at the android body that Dad’s consciousness was in, "You are the most handsome man I’ve ever seen!" She strode forward and kissed Dad’s android full on the lips.

When she pulled back, Dad was smiling. Then he suddenly realized that he was in a different body and looked like a complete stranger, and she had... I watched as he went through the whole scenario, with each mental step his face changed expression. It was almost like a cartoon. I smiled gleefully.

Then Mom, turned to me, "And you! You’re the cutest little dickens!" she reached out and pinched my cheek. I thought the shield should have stopped her, she pinched me pretty hard, but apparently it didn’t recognize any harm and let her attack my poor android face uncontested.

Judging from Dad’s face, he was stuck in a state of complete bewilderment. I couldn’t let him suffer any longer, "Dad, obviously, Joe told her we’re in these android bodies."

Even then, his befuddlement was so deep that it took him a minute to process what I said. Eventually, realization swept over his face. He smirked with chagrin.

"I should have known. There’s no way anyone could be more handsome than my real self," he said, winking at Mom.

She appraised him studiously, "Oh, I don’t know..." She saw his expression droop, so she quickly continued, "I’m just teasing you, Dan. I wouldn’t have married you if you weren’t the most handsome man in the world. Why don’t you boys, put those toys away and climb back into your real bodies. You missed the meeting between President Arroyo and his friend from the embassy. You might want to have Joe bring up the video for you."

I shook my head, "You old fogeys really need to get up to speed with modern technology," I chided, "He can just pop the whole thing into our memory. Ten seconds and done. There’s no need to spend hours watching and rewinding some grainy VHS tape on the cathode ray tube with a VCR."

Dad snorted. Mom scowled, "Old fogeys? I’m twenty-eight, these are the best years of my youth!" Mom said with mock indignation.

I faked a look of surprise, "These android senses must be faulty, because you guys look pretty old to me!" I barely got that out before I started giggling.

"Uh, oh," Dad said and stepped in between us, "I’ll handle this," he said to Mom. Then turning to me he put on a stern face, "That’s it. Mister. You’re grounded. Which in your case means no flying ’up in the sky, like a bird or a plane’."

"But Dad, I’ve got supervillains to catch!"

"All right, that’s enough, you two," Mom scolded us with a smile. "Go change right now. I think these new bodies are making you sillier by the minute."

We went back into SickBay and had Joe cut the sensory routing from the android bodies. There was a moment of blackness again, then I was short again.

"OK, Joe, fill us in on Arroyo’s meeting with the CIA? Did he go for the deal?"

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