Derek had noticed that people like himself had a tendency to abandon their real names readily. He'd known Rebecca before she'd had powers, long before. They'd gone to the same school for a few years, and Rebecca had fascinated Derek as the only pretty girl in school with no interest in making friends or talking. They had worked together on assignments because of their shared contempt for the rest of the school. On a few occasions they had slept together (and it had been good), but Derek didn't often dwell on his past sexual conquests the way that some men did. Not that Rebecca had been a 'conquest.' Derek was pretty certain that she'd slept with him the first time because he was a giant (the women liked that, for some reason) and had come back for more.
Unlike most people, Platform's powers came from something she'd invented. As a result, The Afterdark was free to read her mind. If he had wanted to, he could have controlled her and completely hijacked her brain. But he had some respect for her.
He realized he'd been standing in the doorway for a good fifteen minutes. Sheepishly, he went back to his monstrous couch and slept.
Nell, somehow, was gone when he woke up. The girl's sneakiness shocked and shamed him--he liked to think of himself as an alert person. Some of her possessions remained, so he knew she'd be back.
The television had continued footage and stories about a clean-up crew of some sort in the abandoned subway system who had found a robot. Apparently it had been detained because they thought it was a weapon. People were already protesting the fact that the robot, which was sentient and sapient, was being held against its will. The idea of sentient robots bothered The Afterdark--he could not control their minds, and a robot with any kind of night-vision would be able to spot him even if he was cloaked. He hoped fervently that the bot would be dismantled and never used for anything ever again, and was quite certain that it would be.
News anchors identified the robot as being named 831\1.
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Unlike most people, Platform's powers came from something she'd invented. As a result, The Afterdark was free to read her mind. If he had wanted to, he could have controlled her and completely hijacked her brain. But he had some respect for her.
He realized he'd been standing in the doorway for a good fifteen minutes. Sheepishly, he went back to his monstrous couch and slept.
Nell, somehow, was gone when he woke up. The girl's sneakiness shocked and shamed him--he liked to think of himself as an alert person. Some of her possessions remained, so he knew she'd be back.
The television had continued footage and stories about a clean-up crew of some sort in the abandoned subway system who had found a robot. Apparently it had been detained because they thought it was a weapon. People were already protesting the fact that the robot, which was sentient and sapient, was being held against its will. The idea of sentient robots bothered The Afterdark--he could not control their minds, and a robot with any kind of night-vision would be able to spot him even if he was cloaked. He hoped fervently that the bot would be dismantled and never used for anything ever again, and was quite certain that it would be.
News anchors identified the robot as being named 831\1.
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