Chapter 42

I woke up early Friday morning. Earlier even than my normal time. I got my pile of soggy towels into the laundry and since I was down there, did my morning upper body workout. I wanted to run outside today though. Screw the treadmill. I threw on my running gear and headed for the edge of the property.

It was still very early in the morning and the sun hadn't even made it over the hills to the east. There was still dew on the grass and shrubs and I reveled in being able to lock onto little beads of it as I ran and getting a tiny little popping sound when I yanked the middles out of the beaded water. My preoccupation with the dew drops kept my pace down and I finished late, and without having even worked up a sweat.

I went back down to the basement and did some squats and then ran thirty minutes on the treadmill to make up for my poor run outdoors. I could really smell the pot of coffee I'd set to brewing by the time I headed back upstairs so I diverted to the coffee pot before heading up for a shower.

While I was in the shower, enjoying the feel of the hot water pounding down on me, I had a thought. "Can I make water boil?"

"Good question," Bud said with some excitement. "You will be able to make water hotter and colder by influencing its molecular motion. Whether you could make that water boil or freeze will depend on the volume and how your ability develops.

"How is my ability developing?"

"You are progressing at a faster pace than had been anticipated, though the difference does not impact our plans."

"Speaking of your plans," I said, my mind falling back on something that had been bothering me for a while now. "I've been wondering about how I seem to be getting wealthier and wealthier on almost a daily basis. Its kind of creepy to be somehow transforming into this billionaire industrialist practically overnight. It doesn't feel natural. Is this part of your 'plans'?"

"It is a part of our plan, but perhaps not in the way you are thinking," Bud answered after a moment. "You aren't becoming a billionaire because we chose you, rather we chose you because we knew you would become a billionaire."

"That's why I was chosen?" I asked, confused.

"It was among the selection criteria, yes. It does no good to train a super hero who cannot provide for his privacy, and who cannot be completely free to act on our behalf because he or she must hold down a job. In addition, there are some things about FiberDyne that made you an especially attractive option. We are pleased that our plans have fallen on one of the best options we had available to us."

I would have been this rich anyway then. Hmmm. I wondered if the old me, the suicidal, pre-Harley me would have been able to handle it. I did wonder. A lot. A part of me felt embarrassed about the way I'd been spending money lately, but that me was used to the spartan lifestyle my military choices had led me into. It was used to the unassuming childhood in New Jersey – the one where my parents had let me grow up not knowing the truth about our wealth or our family roots. Harley was far more used to the trappings of wealth than I was. He at least had grown up with it. He too had returned from overseas to take up the reigns of ownership and wealth.

I felt his presence reassuring me. Together our combination of new and old knowledge and skill felt pretty good. I had been a confident man as a soldier. I was prepared to be a confident man now and a confident super hero when the time came for that phase of my new life to begin. That last thought had Harley and I both giggling. Bud stayed silent.

I pulled into the Shell station next to the IHOP at the Flamingo One Stop and got out to fill my tank at one of the credit card pumps. I grumbled at the price, even knowing that I'd never have to worry about the price of gas again. It was every American's patriotic duty to complain about gas prices, regardless of the ability to pay. While I was standing there letting the tank fill and the dollar amount threaten triple digits, I heard a horn beep behind me and looked up to see Darius waving at me from the pump two spaces over.

"Great minds think alike," he yelled over the noise of the gas station and nearby highway.

"I guess we don't have to meet in the IHOP parking lot then, do we?" I laughed.

"Nope, just follow me out of here and we're good to go!"

I didn''t really need to, but checked the oil and the tire pressure and gave the Wrangler a general once over. The typical behavior of a new car owner. I climbed in, took a sip of my iced tea and pulled out and around until I was behind Darius' Ford Explorer. This time of day on a Friday, it wasn't all that busy, but better to make sure I was behind him now.