The Mechanic

Written by Kindar

The electronics components were arranged in rows on the anti static cloth on the kitchen table before him. Arthur took a circuit board, places it with the other within the disassembled cell phone and screwed it in place before connected the thin wired to the two.
"Should you be doing this now, Arthur?" His father asked. "We are expecting a guest."
Arthur shrugged. He really didn't have much use for the guest they were expected, especially not because he'd be here to see him, the diminutive tech wonder that he was. That was what the school journal had called him after the science fair in fourth grade, making a bigger deal of this dwarfism than the actual face recognition drone he'd build out of parts he'd found around the house on the last day because he hadn't been able to come up with anything more impressive to make in the three months he'd had to prepare.
He had had plenty of ideas, but he hadn't thought anyone in his class, or even his school, had been ready for a sentient computer. They still weren't, which was why even now that he was eighteen, he hadn't built it. He hadn't even drawn the plans for it. His memory was a saver place for something that powerful.
"Leave Art be," his other father said, entering the kitchen and going to the fridge. "Do you think a bottle of wine would be appropriate?"
"I'm not sure Arthur's ready for wine, especially not while he's working. Today's definitely not the day to get him even tipsy. I'm still not sure if I should drive or fly the family van anymore. and that was two beers on his birthday."
"It was Canadian beer," his father replied from the fridge.
Arthur didn't have much of a tolerance for alcohol, and no interests in building one, alcohol muddied his thoughts, removed common sense filters which was how the plain old regular family van now had something resembling hovering capabilities. The other problem with alcohol was that it affected his memory, so he couldn't tell his father what he'd done to the van, and neither of them had managed to extract the memory. Like him Arthur wasn't confident about driving it.
A gust of wind left behind a dirty glass, plate and utensils.
"Adam Orr, what have I told you about running in the house?" His father yelled, which was a waste of time. Adam could be on the other side of the city at this point, "And get dressed, we're expecting a guest!"
That made Arthur look up from his work. The phone was half rebuilt. Had his father seen that his brother was naked or... by the fact his father's head was still in the fridge, he'd just assume he was, since Adam wouldn't put clothing on unless it was an emergency. And Adam had strange ideas of what emergencies were.
His siblings didn't call him streaker because of how fast he could move.
"Donny, stop fussing," his father, Daniel, said. Now that one of them had mentioned a name, Arthur would be able to keep track of who was whom, because in something that was a first in their family, the twin brothers who were his fathers we not dressed identically. Daniel had a white silk shirt with a gray suit on, while Donald have a light pink one with a light green suit on.
"I just want to make sure we make a good impression," Donald answered.
Arthur connected the screen, screwed it in place and put the casing back on. He took batteries out and put them in. Them and the case were of his own design; then turned the phone on. His fathers' breath caught in unison. He wished they'd stop doing that. None of his inventions had exploded since he was nine, and he still held that had happened because someone had messed with the chemicals he'd used, but Albert claimed innocence. Arthur still hadn't managed to make his time window work so he couldn't couldn't do anything about the claim.
It came on, and he connected to another box, which handled the formatting of the operating system, another of his design. He put the rest of the electronic parts away in an old suitcase, the empty slots telling him which one he'd have to replace. The case was a gift from his grand father and as impractical as it was, not having any kind of shielding, Arthur kept finding reasons not to replace it.
The phone dinged as he put the case on the floor, and he looked at the screen. connected to the house network, not his design because of city bylaws. they were just ignorant idiots. The fact his first operating system network manager design had turned out to spread out over the city design wasn't the catastrophe they were making it out to be. He'd stopped it; and if they'd left it in place, they would have had something faster, more efficient and, he was pretty sure he could design nanobots to roam the network and automate the repairs.
If the city's new science council would just stop stifling his creativity.
He missed the times when his Grandpa was on it, at least then he could push the boundaries of what he was able to do.
He took the other case by his chair, a longer one this time; one Alex had asked him to look over for any improvement he might be able to do. Not that his brother’s new acquisition needed it. Alex could take the oldest Remington rifle and get it to fire true.
"No," Daniel said, his tone stern. "Absolutely not. Arthur, what have we said about working on Alex's things at the table?"
"Not to do it during meals."
"He's got you there," Donald said with a chuckle.
What would have been a biting reply was interrupted by the doorbell, followed by "I got it!" Anakin, who had probably been in the living room, reading another medical text. His brother was like Arthur, except for the human body, and he didn't need tools, a laying on of the hands and whatever he wanted was fixed. Arthur didn't understand why he wasted his time learning about medicine.
"Put that away, Art," his father said, “our guest is here.”
"I can hold a conversation and work, Dad."
"It's the polite thing to do. he's here to see you, the least you can do is focus your attention on him."
"Do you have any idea how not fun it is to watch someone gawk at you?" Arthur replied, latching the rifle case and placing it back on the floor. "If he asks me to perform trick, I'm testing my teleporter on him."
"Please tell me you aren't still working on that," Daniel asked, worried.
"I'm not. I can't do any kind of tests until I've managed to increase the output of the fusion generator, I know there's a way to get more than a ten percent output on the thing without melting the components."
The sound of steps and clacking of something hard on the hardwood floor made Arthur look in the direction of the hallway. Was that a cane?
The man who entered the kitchen wasn't as old as grandpa, but not by much. His hair was mostly brown, with some white in it, not enough to be salt and pepper, and pale brown eyes were sharp and attentive. He dressed well, he had to give him that. Aiden would love that suit, although it would need to be adjusted, his brother wasn't quite as lean as the man before him.
The man noticed Arthur studying him and smirked, but didn't do the expected looking him up and down to take in his size, or even give any indication he'd noticed.
"Mister Harker," Donald say, offering his hand. "It's an honor to meet you. I'm Donald, please call me Donny. that's my brother, Danny, and Arthur, who you've come to meet."
"It's a pleasure, Mister Orr. I'm surprised you know about me."
"We researched you after you called," Daniel said, as Donald pulled a chair for the older man.
"We like to know who takes an interest in our children." Donald answered.
"Isn't Anakin joining us?" The old man asked, placing the cane across his lap.
Anakin sat on his other side. "Right here.”
"You didn't introduce yourself?"
Anakin shrugged. "He didn't introduce himself to me, didn't see a point in doing it. Figured he knew who I was."
"I have to say I'm a little curious as to why you're interested in them," Donald asked as Daniel stood and headed for the counter. "I don't know that either has expressed an interest in archeology."
"Can we offer you something to drink? water, juice, tea, coffee soda?"
"Coffee will be fine. I'm not here as an archeologist, I have to admit I'm surprised you didn't find out about this, I'm bankrolling a school, an academy whose goal it is to train the next generation of super heroes."
Arthur paid attention. He hadn't bothered looking into him, he'd expected an annoyance here to convince him to sell a patent or something. If his fathers had mentioned the man's interest in Anakin, Arthur hadn't caught it. Annie looked even more bored now. He had no interest in that kind of stuff.
"I'm still not certain what that might have to do with them," Daniel said, fixing his gaze on Arthur. His father was always on him not to go out and test his invention in the field.
"I've had researchers pouring over every students about to enter college in the United States who've shown even an inkling of power. Both of them came up as top contenders." At the raised eyebrows, he continued. "Arthur's invention have garnered the attention of how many investors?" the man asked, to which both his father's face darkened.
That was another thing they disliked. there was only so much an unlisted number could accomplish when the people trying to get in touch with them to talk them into give over the rights were rich and had access to cutting edge tech. Even the programs Arthur had on their phones didn't stop all of them.
"And Anakin is probably one of the best healer out there. Although I understand he's never been tested?" he asked.
"Who cares 'how good' I am," Annie said, air quoting the words. Arthur snorted. Anakin certainly cared. "I help out when I can, but I'm not going to put myself in front of a bunch of scientist and let them pick and prod me. Art does that enough for all of them."
"Do you have the result?" the man asked, and Arthur found himself liking him a little more. he wasn't offended that Arthur had prodded Anakin, just interested to read what he'd found out.
"Don't," Anakin warned. "Look Mister--"
"Tracy, Tracy Harker."
"Look Tracy. I'm going to be a doctor. Failing that, I'm going to be a mortician or a coroner. What I've got, is no interest in being is a super hero."
"And why only the two of them?" Donald asked.
"Excuse me?" Tracy answered.
"All our sons have powers," Daniel replied. "It's something of a family thing."
"Every Orr has a power," Donald continued
"With the odd exception here and there."
Arthur looked at Anakin around Tracy's back and roll his eyes.
"Like us."
“We don't have powers." Daniel said.
"Except reading each other's mind." Donald continued.
"But that's just a Twin thing."
"Right?"
The two of them grinned in perfect unison in that creepy way they liked doing. Arthur had trouble keeping his mouth shut. He didn't get why his fathers kept their powers secret; well, he got that using them tended to make non family members uncomfortable, but still, that only warranted a 'don't ask to have it used on you unless...' warning, not never talking about it.
Tracy grinned back. "How many people does this trick sent running for the hills?"
"One less than we expected," Donald replied, put off by the lack of reaction.
"I've worked tomb in the middle east, Donald, been dragged into court for stealing artifacts, had to fight with museums and governments to ensure they were returned to their rightful owners. That's not to say of having had more sites than I can remember attacked in the night by locals who felt we were disturbing holy grounds, rather than conduction historical research, Bandits figuring that any expedition in the middle of nowhere was after riches, and the odd curse. It will taker more than the one-mind two-body act to scare me off."
"Very well, but that still doesn't answer why only Arthur and Anakin," Daniel said.
Arthur studied the man. there was no way this researchers had looked into him and Annie and not come across at least one exploit for each of his brothers. None of them sought the limelight, but their powers did make a mark.
"What can they do?" Tracy glanced at Arthur, and his mask of confidence cracked just a little.
"Aiden," Donald said at a normal volume, "can you gather your brothers and come to the kitchen? we have a guest who is interested in meeting you." He smiled at Tracy.
"They won't be long."
"Super hearing?" the man asked. "or is that something you can do?"
"It's all Aiden," Daniel answered.
Arthur didn't hear the ruckus his brothers had to be causing as they got ready to come down." The insulation in the house was too good for that. But the seismograph he'd included in his watch did register the footsteps.
Something blurred into view, just long enough Arthur made out a naked body, heard the "Fuck," and vanished. There was no one there by the time Tracy looked.
"Adam," Anakin said. "As usual, he jumped the gun and didn't hear all the instructions."
"Hi," Adam said, now wearing running shorts and an inside out t-shirt. He noticed that and put it back on properly. Giving everyone in the room time to see his tone chest. As if none of them had seen it already and he was certain Tracy would appreciate it. The man glanced in Adams direction, but didn't take in the body. Straight, Arthur decided, he knew first hand age didn't diminish interest.
"Adam has super speed," Donald said
"And super short attention span," Anakin added. "Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head, looking at Adam who was already seated at the opposite end of the table, a look of utter innocence on his face.
The others arrived together and seated themselves at the table.
"Aiden can shatter object with his voice," Donald said, “as well as hear through foot thick sound insulation.”
"I can also copy voice," Aiden said in a perfect match to Tracy's voice.
"Alexander never misses the mark," Daniel said, which sent a snicker around the table, to Alex's exasperation.
"Give me any kind of fire arm, and if the shot can be made, I'll make it."
"Albert can bring images to life," Donald said.
Instead of saying anything, Albert took out a deck of card and tapped it on the table. the knight depicted on the top card galloped out of it, across the table and vanished into a flurry of colors.
"I"m tough and strong," Aaron said with a shrug. "decent fighter too."
Tracy Harker looked around the table, taking his family in. "I'm sure you're all capable people," he finally said, and Arthur knew whatever this was, it wasn't happening. "But we can only accept three hundred student right now. So we need to be careful about who we pick. I'm sorry, but for this year, Arthur and Anakin are the only ones we're interested in."
"Then I'm not going," Anakin said. If Annie wasn't going...
"I'm not going either," Arthur said reluctantly. Tracy stared at him. "This is my family. I'm not stupid enough to think we're always going to be together, but I'm not breaking us up any sooner than I have to. I'm sorry."
The man looked at his fathers. "Donald, Daniel, do you understand the kind of opportunity this is for your sons?"
"Only two of them," Donald said.
"And they made their decisions," Daniel finished.
Tracy looked like the only thing keeping him from exploding was will. If he was one of those people so used to getting his way one--two--people saying no to him did that. Arthur thought maybe not going was for the best.
"Can I be totally frank with you?" Tracy asked his fathers.
"I think everyone here would appreciate that," Daniel answered.
"I'm not here because I want to be here," Tracy snapped. "I''m here because I'm trying to save the fucking supers. Do you have any idea what Jacksonville did?"
"We listen to the news," Donald answered, "and yes, even all the way on the west coast, we heard about that disaster."
"How about the government's reaction?"
"Of course we heard, but that failed. the protests convinced them to--"
"Bullshit," Tracy spat. "the only thing the protests did was re-enforce their decision to register everyone with even the ability to mentally lift a grain of sand. The academy is what got them to shelf the fucking bill. The promise it would produce heroes with a fucking code of conduct, instead of egos. But if it doesn't produce exactly the results we promised them, that bill gets turned into a law and you can bet they won't hesitate to try and shackle every super in the country, so do you get why I have to be careful about who I pick? I can't just grab every wanna be off the sidewalk. No offense meant," he told Arthur's brothers.
"I'm sure," Aiden replied, smirking.
Adam's fingers were a blur, tapping the surface to fast the sound was beyond their hearing rage. He'd checked out of the meeting a while back.
"I have to be strategic. once we've demonstrated this work, we’ll have more leeway about who we accept, but right now--"
"Then we'll apply when that happens," Arthur said.
"Can I go?" Adam asked, and didn't wait for an answer. the chair tipped back as he vanished, his blurred form passed by the room, righting the chair and he was gone.
"Maybe you will," Alex said, "I'm not waiting four years to find out if this is going to work. I have the military begging me to enlist, and the San Francisco swat hounding my sets. I really hope this thing works, because if the government tries to round up everyone with power it's going to get really messy, and I don't see them winning. but I'm going to live my life first."
"I wouldn't expect anything else for a kid like you," Tracy said, "But you Arthur are smarter, you have to understand how important this is, this is more important than--"
"Nothing's more important than family. like Alex, I really hope your school works, because I'm not going to be on the side of the government if they come for us, but if helping you means abandoning my family, you need to find yourself another genius."
"Really? you're going to leave the future of every super in the country to some strangers because you prefer hiding out in your parent's basement?"
"You not helping your case." Arthur stood. "Dads, I'm going to be in my workshop." he looked at Tracy. "which is on the second floor, for your information." He took both cases. "Alex, I'll have your rifle ready in a couple of hours."
"Arthur," Tracy called after him, "Please, this is--"
"I believe this meeting is over," One of his fathers said as he went up the stairs. It was too bad the man was such an asshole when he was being frank, because up to that point, Arthur had kind of liked him. at least he'd gleamed something important out of this. He needed to make plans for when Tracy's school failed, because if the government was so set on their registration law, they weren't going to let it succeed.
It was time for him to contact some of the magnates who were after him and sell the rights to his less worthy patent so he'd have the money to build a place where his family would be safe when the shit hit the fan.

Owned Characters in the story
Entirety of the Orr Clan (Kindar)
Orr, Arthur (Kindar)
Harker, Tracy (Kindar)
Unclaimed Characters in the story
name of character who had a created profile but isn't owned by anyone