Although the healing liquids in the tank were warm, Justin’s blood ran cold. “What do you mean they died? Did the Gate System itself kill them, or—?”

  Dad raised his head, his expression fixed in a deep frown. “Justin, do you know the history of the Gate System and why I designed it in the first place?”

  Justin licked his lips nervously, glancing at the utility belt Dad was holding. “Val told me most of the information about the Gate System was classified, but she did mention that the military originally hired you to design it. She said they scrapped the project after several failed tests. She made the tests sound pretty serious, but she didn’t mention that people died.”

  “My apologies, Justin,” said Val, her voice coming from a speaker directly above the healing tank. “Brainstorm gave me explicit instructions not to reveal any concerning details about the Gate System or any of his other failed or scrapped projects. I could only share the details he did not explicitly forbid me to disclose, such as the fact that the military commissioned and decommissioned the Gate System.”

  Dad nodded. He walked back to his hover chair and slumped into it, his shoulders sagging. He suddenly looked much older than he had just seconds ago, and Justin doubted it had anything to do with the fact that it was now well past midnight. “Yes. Up until tonight, I considered the Gate System my greatest failure. My previous greatest failure was the autonomous barber robot I designed to disrupt the hair care industry with machines capable of cutting hair. You can imagine how that went. Though, in my defense, no one died during those tests.”

  Dad turned the utility belt over in his hands. “About five years ago, the United States military—whom I’ve designed quite a bit of tech for over my career—reached out to me about creating a utility belt that would allow their soldiers to become living Swiss Army knives. The idea was to let them switch powers and costumes depending on the environments they were in and the types of threats they were facing. There was even talk of expanding the program to local police and fire departments to help them do their jobs more efficiently, such as when dealing with forest fires, extreme flooding, or other natural disasters.

  “As you can imagine, I was all for it, especially when they asked me to incorporate Super Energy into the project. And you know how I feel about Super Energy—the energy of the future, as I call it.”

  Justin rubbed his temples with the hand that wasn’t broken. “Yeah, Dad, I know. You think it’s more reliable than fossil fuels and cleaner than nuclear, water, solar, and wind combined. It’s not like you talk about it at pretty much every family dinner, even when there’s no reason to bring it up.”

  Dad looked up at Justin indignantly. “That’s because it is the best form of energy humanity has ever discovered! Just because no one has figured out how to harness it to fuel human civilization doesn’t mean it’s impossible. If my calculations are correct—and frankly, when aren’t they?—there’s enough Super Energy in the universe to fuel all of human civilization for at least a million years. We could even become a spacefaring civilization, building cities among the stars, like we’ve always dreamed.”

  Justin nodded, although he really just wanted Dad to get back to talking about the Gate System. Super Energy was a mysterious form of energy that scientists had only recently discovered. It seemed to power the universe itself and could be found practically anywhere. Some astronomers even theorized that planets like Mars or Saturn might have abundant reserves of it.

  But as Dad mentioned, no one had figured out how to harness it for practical use. Justin wasn’t a physicist, but he understood that trying to extract even a tiny amount of Super Energy required so much power that it wasn’t remotely feasible—not even for the military. Some even estimated it would take trillions and trillions of dollars just to make a Super Energy battery that could power a single family home.

  For now, Super Energy remained more science fiction than science fact, at least from Justin’s understanding. Dad was one of its biggest proponents, but even he hadn’t cracked the code for using it efficiently yet.

  Until I proved the Gate System works, Justin thought, stroking his chin thoughtfully. The Gate System is powered by Super Energy, after all, so if it works, that must mean the Super Energy battery Dad designed works too.

  Dad continued speaking. “Anyway, we’re getting off-topic. You wanted to learn about the Gate System’s history, so let’s get back to that. Val, can you bring up the schematics for the Gate System, please?”

  The white holographic screen that had displayed Alanna’s livestream abruptly switched to show schematics for the Gate System, including the suit and utility belt. It was a lot to take in, with numbers and arrows pointing to features Justin hadn’t even known existed. He couldn’t help but wish he could try them out—though he knew the Gate System wouldn’t be usable again for at least 24 hours.

  Dad gestured to the schematics. “These are the earliest blueprints of what would eventually become the Gate System. As you can see, I wasn’t able to include every feature I originally planned, but I did create several working prototypes and improved on each one. The Super Energy battery was by far the hardest part. I never managed to perfect it, but this current version is the most efficient yet, even though it only lasts for twenty-four hours at most.”

  Justin frowned at Dad. “Okay, but you kind of glossed over the fact that people died while testing the Gate System.”

  Dad sighed heavily. “I was getting to that. But yes, a lot of people died. Of the one-hundred tests the military conducted on the Gate System over three years, ninety percent of the test subjects died. The other ten percent suffered excruciating injuries and pain they never recovered from—and then died shortly afterward.”

  “Gate System test subjects also reportedly experienced intensely realistic hallucinations that often led to psychosis,” Val added, as if delivering a fun fact. “The most common hallucination was the belief that the entire universe was ending, and that everyone they knew and loved was going to die unless they stopped a ‘woman’ they believed was the main threat to the universe. These reactions were traumatic even for the military researchers assisting your father.”

  Dad lowered his head in shame. “Combine that with the millions of dollars the military poured into the project without any promising advancements or significant returns, and you can guess why they ultimately scrapped it.”

  Justin hesitated. “But why did so many of the test subjects die after using the Gate System? Were they, like, flying around and ran out of energy or something—?”

  Dad shook his head. “No, that only happened to one person. What actually killed them was the Super Energy itself. Even though I designed the suit to shield users from the Super Energy battery’s radiation, the average human body simply couldn’t handle the stress of having so much Super Energy pumped into it. Most of them suffered organ failure—or, in a few spectacular cases, spontaneous combustion. Either way, it was always gruesome.”

  Dad suddenly raised his head and walked over to Justin in the healing tank, a curious look on his face. “But you didn’t experience any negative effects from the Gate System, did you? You used it, and even switched Gates—which was always the most dangerous part—without dying or suffering any side effects. The only issue I noticed was that you drained the battery completely, but it will recharge itself eventually.”

  Justin hesitated again but nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t suffer any problems at all. I didn’t even know switching Gates was dangerous.”

  Dad gestured to the utility belt in his hands. “Oh, yes. You see, when you switch the dial on the utility belt to a different Gate, it forces the Gate System to change how the Super Energy manifests around your body. During testing, we found that while some subjects could handle certain Gates, they often couldn’t handle switching between Gates. Something about using the Super Energy to modify your body to handle different powers doesn’t sit right with the human body, so most people died when they tried to switch Gates.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Justin thought back to the fight with the Anomalies back at the manufacturing plant and felt his stomach churn at the thought of what might have happened to him if his body hadn’t been able to handle the switch. “Wait, the Gate System actually changes a person’s body?”

  Dad gave Justin a ‘no, duh’ look. “Of course. The human body isn’t naturally able to generate and fire red lightning or freeze things with a touch. While these powers may look simple to outsiders, recent studies into naturals—that is, supers who develop such powers naturally, rather than artificially through tech like you or me—have found that their bodies actually are genetically different from non-supers. I tried to use Super Energy to replicate these differences in the Gate System, but unfortunately, it didn’t really work until you tried it.”

  Justin’s heart hammered in his chest. “I see. Do you know why the Gate System didn’t kill me?”

  Dad stroked his chin thoughtfully. “In all honesty, Justin, I have no freaking clue. But I don’t think it is because the Gate System that has been sitting around in storage for years suddenly decided to start working. No, if I had to theorize, I would say that you were the deciding factor.”

  Dad pointed at Justin. “Something in your biology makes your body more naturally suited to handling the stresses of the Gate System than the previous test subjects were. Which is amazing, as most of the test subjects were military-trained men in peak physical condition. What this proves is that physical condition isn’t necessarily a factor in successfully using the Gate System. Val, note that down.”

  “Added to notes, Brainstorm. Right next to the music system and miraculous healing factor system.”

  Dad sighed again. “Man, I have all the best ideas, don’t I? Anyway, the fact that you survived using the Gate System is a miracle in itself, but the fact that you switched between and even effectively used two different Gates without dying … even I can’t calculate those odds. What about you, Val?”

  “They are not very high, Brainstorm.”

  Justin, despite how worried he had felt learning about the dark history of the Gate System, nonetheless smiled. “That’s a good thing, though, isn’t it? Because if you can just figure out what makes me so different from everyone else, then maybe you can perfect the Gate System.”

  “Exactly, son,” said Dad. He looked at the utility belt in his hands again. “Now my mind is burning with possibilities. Could your ability to tolerate massive amounts of Super Energy being pumped into your body be a power in itself? Would that make you a natural? Or does your age have something to do with it, being that you are young and fairly healthy?” He looked up at the ceiling. “Val, tell Joanna I probably won’t be coming to bed tonight.”

  “You know how Joanna feels when I tell her that, Brainstorm.”

  “She’ll understand,” replied Dad. He smiled broadly. “After all, she’s married to me.”

  Justin frowned slightly. Dad was referring to his mom, of course, who was not a superhero herself, although she was a huge supporter of them. Even so, Justin understood why Mom might not like Dad staying up all night trying to figure out why Justin could handle the Gate System better than anyone else. She frequently complained about Dad’s workaholism, though Dad never seemed to listen to her.

  At least he didn’t tell Val to mention it’s about me to Mom, thought Justin. Dad might not be upset about my midnight adventures, but Mom definitely would be.

  Dad then returned his attention to Justin. “I will have Val take some DNA samples from your body for further research. Until then, we should talk about the Anomalies. Specifically, the Level Five Anomaly you fought tonight.”

  The holographic screen shifted again, this time showing a still of the Level Five Anomaly from Alanna’s livestream. Dad turned toward it, looking at the Level Five Anomaly grimly.

  Justin gulped. “It was scarier in person.”

  “I can imagine,” said Dad as he stroked his chin. “I’ve seen many Anomalies over the last six months, but never a Level Five one. Frankly, when I devised the Anomaly Threat Evaluation System, I didn’t even really believe Level Five Anomalies could exist.”

  Justin bit his lower lip and shifted again in the healing tank.

  The Anomaly Threat Evaluation Scale, or ATES for short, was a simple and straightforward way of categorizing the various Anomalies that had threatened New Gold City over the past half year. It ranged from simple Level One Anomalies, the weakest of them, all the way to Level Five Anomalies, which were the strongest. Dad had created the system after the first month of Anomaly attacks, refining it as the attacks increased in frequency and more data on Anomalies came in for him to analyze.

  The Anomaly Threat Evaluation System was not part of the Gate System, but it was programmed into Val, which was how Justin had used it. Thus far it seemed accurate enough to Justin, although he was not sure if the Level Five Anomaly actually fit the parameters set for Level Fives. It had seemed too strong and smart even by the standards of Level Fives.

  Val spoke up. “According to my analysis, the Level Five Anomaly we found at the Destiny Corporation manufacturing plant is easily the strongest Anomaly reported yet. I have not been able to determine its exact strength limits, but a preliminary analysis suggests that it could go toe-to-toe with a Global Class super such as Alpha Man.”

  Justin’s eyes widened. “Alpha Man? But he’s the strongest super in the world. Do you mean that I nearly got killed by something that could fight on equal footing with the guy who can pick up skyscrapers like toys?”

  “As I said, this is only a preliminary analysis of your initial confrontation with the Level Five Anomaly,” said Val. “More data might lower or raise the Anomaly’s threat Level according to ATES.”

  Dad frowned. “Regardless, it’s troubling that the Destiny Corporation has such an Anomaly under its control. And it must, because the Anomaly told you and that Lane girl to leave, right? She reached out to me earlier about the Anomalies, by the way, but I didn’t take her seriously at the time. Probably should have, looking back now.”

  Justin leaned back in the healing tank, unable to take his eyes off the still image of the Level Five Anomaly. “Yeah. It really didn’t want us anywhere near the plant for some reason.”

  Dad furrowed his brow. “Normally, I would call up my super friends to warn them about this, but unfortunately, I don’t actually have enough evidence linking the Level Five Anomaly to the Destiny Corporation to prove that there is actually a connection. Even the livestream isn’t necessarily the kind of proof that would hold up in court.”

  Justin tilted his head. “Why not?”

  Dad sighed and looked over his shoulder at Justin. “For many reasons, but the chief reason is that the Destiny Corporation was recently valued at ten trillion dollars on the stock market … and its founder and CEO, Richard Plutarch, is about to become the first verified trillionaire in history. As you can imagine, I don’t want us dragged into court against a guy like him. That Anomaly might be a monster, but let me tell you, it’s those rich guys at the top who are the real monsters, especially in court.”

  Justin scowled. “So what, are we just going to ignore the Level Five Anomaly and its obvious connection to the Destiny Corporation just because a rich guy might sue us?”

  Dad shook his head rapidly. “Of course not. As I said, I am thrilled that you want to be a superhero and want to support you however I can. But we need to tread carefully. I don’t think Plutarch knows you are my son or even knows about the Gate System, so we’re safe for now, but we won’t be forever if you keep running off into the night on your own like tonight.”

  Dad turned to face me, a smile on his face. “Therefore, we are going to do the smart thing and work together to get to the bottom of the Anomalies.”

  Justin raised an eyebrow. “We will?”

  “Of course!” Dad sighed dreamily. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to mentor one of my children as a superhero and train them? Because we are definitely going to train you in how to use the Gate System more effectively, as well as come up with a good plan to expose the Destiny Corporation’s connection to the Anomalies.”

  Justin looked at the image of the Level Five Anomaly again. “Does that mean I will have to fight that Level Five Anomaly again?”

  Dad glanced over his shoulder at the image as well. “Perhaps. Does that scare you?”

  Justin looked at the opaque pink healing liquids covering his body. He couldn’t see his hands or legs through the liquids, but he could feel them just the same as his hands balled into fists. “It does, Dad. I won’t deny it. But …”

  Dad smiled again as if he already knew what Justin was going to say. “But?”

  Justin slowly rose out of the healing tank, even though his wounds hadn’t healed perfectly just yet and the air was cold against his wet skin. He wanted to stand to show how serious he was to his dad. “But no one else is even trying, even though the Anomalies are tearing our city apart. And isn’t being a hero about standing up and fighting for what’s right, no matter the consequences?”

  Justin looked directly into Dad’s eyes. “I told Alanna that I was going to be a new paradigm in New Gold City. And it’s true. I will be. My first fight with the Level Five Anomaly didn’t go well, but next time?”

  Justin punched his fist into his other hand. “Next time, I will win.”

  Dad sniffled and pulled out a handkerchief. “Beautifully said, Justin, beautifully said. Now you should probably get back in the healing tank before your wounds reopen.”

  Justin, realizing his mistake, quickly sank back into the healing tank. “Right, Dad. But, uh, I have one more thing I should probably tell you before we do anything else.”

  Dad tilted his head to the side. “What would that be, son?”

  “I can sense Anomalies before they appear.”