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“Seth heard you,” Gibby said. “So. Good job on that one.”
“He what now?” Nick said, a sinking feeling in his stomach.
“Uh. Hi, Nicky,” Seth said, his voice crackling from a speaker next to the monitor.
Nick stared down at it in horror. He opened his mouth to try and say something to salvage the situation, but all that came out was, “Eep.”
“Oh man,” Gibby said. “Seth, if only you could see the look on his face. You know what? I can make that happen.” She pulled out her phone and snapped a photo. She hooked it up to the computer and tapped a few keys. “There. I uploaded it to your lenses.”
Seth coughed. “Um. Thank you. That’s… that’s a good face.”
“He canseethat?” Nick managed to ask.
Gibby shrugged. “His mask is basically a computer. We can load things like maps and queer boys who’re stunned for hysterical reasons to an interface.”
“That’s so cool,” Nick said weakly. “And also so embarrassing. I’d be fine if we never brought up this moment again.”
Gibby snorted. “We all know that’s not going to happen.”
“How’s your dad?” Seth asked.
They all looked at Nick. “Um. Good? He’s awake. And really annoyed he has to stay in the hospital.”
“That’s good, Nicky,” Seth said. Then, “Hey, I need to… I’m sorry. For everything. I wish I’d done things differently. I never meant to hurt you. And I didn’t hurt your dad, okay? Not on purpose.”
“I know,” Nick said quietly. “We’ll figure it out. Where are you?”
“Looking for Owen.” His voice hardened. “I don’t know what he’s trying to do, but he’s dangerous. He’s hopped up on those damn pills. They’ve made him too strong. More people would have been killed if I hadn’t—”
“What do you meanmore?” Nick asked, feeling cold. “I thought you stopped the antenna tower.”
“He did,” Martha said, as Bob put a hand on her shoulder. “But there was nothing he could do about the helicopter.”
“It crashed into the side of a building,” Jazz told him sadly. “They don’t think anyone survived.”
“Shit,” Nick breathed. “He said—I think she was working with him, somehow. Rebecca Firestone. Building him up. Discrediting Pyro Storm. She made Shadow Star the hero and turned Seth into the villain. But why would he turn on her like that? It doesn’t make sense.”
“He’s lashing out,” Seth said. “I don’t even think he has a plan. At least not anymore.”
“What was his plan to begin with?”
No one answered.
“Uh, guys? Maybe fill me in here?”
Gibby sighed. “We think his plan was you.”
Nick laughed.
No one else did.
Nick stopped laughing. “Oh, crap. You’re serious.”
“He took you to Burke Tower,” Seth said. “To his father’s laboratory. Why?”
Nick pressed his hands flat against the desk. “I asked him to. He said that his dad had found a way to turn someone Extraordinary. I refused at first, but then—” He shook his head. “Stuff happened. And I thought I didn’t have a choice. So I asked him. And he did. This is my fault. All of this.”
“No, son,” Bob said. “It’s not. He manipulated you. You were vulnerable, and he took advantage of that.”
