Natalie hung up and looked at me. "It was my... our friend and fellow Liberator, Belle.
She said that there's going to be a meeting in half an hour and that both of us have to be there."
"But I haven't finished my breakfast yet," I said. I gestured at my shirtless
body, my eerily perfect abs displayed. "Or taken a shower or even gotten dressed yet."
"Then finish it and take your damn shower and get dressed," she suddenly snapped. "Don't whine to me about it."
I was taken aback by her sudden harsh attitude, but at the same time, something about it seemed far too familiar to me.
It was like I had seen her
snap like this before, which I suppose could have been true, since we'd apparently been dating for a while.
Yet something about it felt off
nonetheless.
Natalie must have agreed, because she suddenly pulled back and put on her normal sweet smile.
Or was it normal? Had I just gotten a glimpse of the real
Natalie, even if only for a moment?
Prolly. Definitely. Ain't no doubt about it.
"I mean, you can take your time finishing up and getting ready," said Nat in a sweet voice, though it sounded incredibly forced to me. "They'll understand
if we're a few minutes late.
Everyone knows about your accident, so they will just assume that you're still not entirely recovered from it yet."
"Uh, okay," I said. "I'm getting tired of sitting in bed, anyway. Let me eat and then I'll get dressed and ready to go as fast as possible."
I resumed eating my breakfast, but I didn't focus on it quite so much.
I was still bothered by her sudden change in attitude.
Even though it was
probably nothing, I instinctively felt a little tense around her... as if she was a wild animal that might attack me if I let my guard down.
I hoped it was nothing but my
amnesia playing tricks with me, but I wasn't so sure.
Nat and I were walking through the hallways of the mansion that Liberation
was using as its current headquarters.
According to her, this manor was owned by multimillionaire business mogul Jenson Bates, who apparently
was a Liberator convert who was letting his fellow Liberators stay here in
order to avoid the authorities.
In fact, Nat told me that this mansion was one of Bates' seven summer homes, located in the wilderness away from all major cities and most minor ones.
The closest town was about fifty miles away, so the possibility of police or anyone from the government stumbling upon us here was miniscule.
It looked like the kind of mansion you'd expect a rich guy to own.
But... if it's the elite intending to to monopolize the knowledge of seogenetics... why would an elite member of the upper echelons of society turn around and aid his enemies?
This seems off. Everything seems off. I shouldn't take anything at face value. Mom would've had to stop pops from whooping my ass for getting caught lackin' like this...
Wait. What was that memory?
I tried to remember, but my mind felt like it was locking certain memories, and not entirely naturally.
As I walked, the memory fades completely, leaving only a lingering emotion, and a feeling of distrust stronger than the one that proceeded it.
Yeah, that's weird I shoul— Goddamn! This nigga rich as a muthafucka.
I think, as I walk down the hallway, just now noticing the full extent of the wealth on display here.
The floor was made of sparkling clean marble, covered in lush red carpeting,
while the walls and ceiling had fancy wood paneling that looked more expensive than a used car.
Abstract paintings dotted the walls at five foot
intervals, the kind of paintings that looked less like art and more like someone
just splashed paint over a white canvas and somehow managed to con a rich
guy into spending a small fortune on it.
But I didn't really focus on any of it, because I was looking at the suit I wore.
It was, according to Nat, my superhero costume; a full-body suit that was completely black, with golden, glowing lines running down it.
There was also a glowing white lightning bolt symbol on my chest, kind of like Harry
Potter's lightning scar, except a lot cooler.
The suit fit me perfectly and was usually stored inside the watch on my wrist, which Nat told me was called a 'Equip Watch.'
All I had to do was press a button and, presto, the suit
vanished inside the watch.
I didn't know how such a small device could hold even an expertly folded suit like mine, but I was sure that there was an app for that somewhere.
Not only that, but I could feel my powers at last, too. I didn't need to practice them or anything; they felt as natural as my hair color.
That's how I knew that Nat had been correct about me and her being superheroes.
I just wished that I could remember what kind of adventures we'd been on together in the past, what kind of supervillains and crooks we'd fought together.
I was sure it must have been exciting, but she had insisted that we had no time to reminisce and that it would all come back to me soon enough anyway.
Speaking of Natalie as a superhero, damn did she look fine as hell in her costume.
She looked kind of like a magician, with a cape and a top hat and a small
domino mask over her eyes.
She even had a wand, which she held like a sword and I had no doubt she could use it like one if she wanted.
She had changed into her costume while I had been changing into mine in the bathroom next to my room; she said she had a suit-up watch of her own, but I
didn't see it on her wrist, so I wasn't sure where she kept her costume when she wasn't wearing it.
Regardless, we were going to the mansion's dining room, which, according to Nat, was where the meeting was supposed to take place.
She said she didn't know how many other people were going to be there, but that it was most likely going to be everyone else here.
She said the meeting was going to be conducted by Demiurge, but she still didn't know the exact contents of
the meeting.
We hadn't seen anyone else on our way to the meeting, but I assumed that was because we were going to be a little late. I had taken a little too much time showering, mostly because I was oddly grimy and had needed to get all
of the dirt out of my hair.
She told me that that was because I had slipped
and fallen into the mud, but what was weird was that I had found some dried blood in my hair, and it didn't seem to be mine, either.
I hadn't mentioned that
to her, because I still remembered her sudden change in attitude earlier
and am sure as shit not gonna share that kind of information with her yet.
Or... ever, if my gut was in anyway right about this situation.