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“You and your machines,” he said now with a sigh. “You want to see a real machine, look out in the garage. The Mustang is a machine made with love and care. There’s a heart to it.”
“That’s true, but can the Mustang do this?” Duncan asked as he pushed a few more buttons on his remote. Suddenly, the cabinets opened and a robotic hand opened the dishwasher and tossed the clean dishes into the air. They landed in the cabinets with perfect aim and without a chip. Everything was put away in a flash.
Avery rolled his eyes. “You kids are never going to understand. I can appreciate a fancy gadget. All I’m saying is, don’t let all these gizmos make you lazy—both in the body and the mind.” He snatched up his paper and headed off to the living room.
“He’s not a big fan of the technology, huh?” Flinch said as he searched the freezer for some ice cream.
“I think he’d prefer it if we lived in a log cabin without any electricity,” Duncan said. He handed Flinch a spoon and the boy went to work on a tub of orange sherbet he found behind a bag of peas. “Want to see if there are any bad guys up to no good?”
“Duh!”
The boys raced down the hallway to Duncan’s room and closed the door tight behind them. Duncan reached into his pocket and took out Benjamin. The orb glowed bright blue, then floated out of his hand.
“What can I do for you, agents?”
“Activate Surveillance Room,” Duncan said, and suddenly the bedroom furniture vanished and the supercomputer reappeared. TV monitors displayed images from around the globe.
“It’s pretty cool that Brand lets you take one of the Benjamin orbs home with you,” Flinch said.
“Actually, it was Ms. Holiday’s idea. She’s been encouraging me to spend my free time looking for trouble around the world. Plus, Benjamin is great at helping me with homework. So, Benjamin, any bad guys doing some bad stuff out there?”
“It appears you have one right outside,” Benjamin said. “Look!”
Duncan looked at one of the monitors. It revealed a scene from right outside of his house. There, standing in the backyard by the garage, was a tall teenage boy, probably close to eighteen years old. He was leaning against the Deweys’ garage door.
“Who’s that?” Flinch asked.
Duncan shrugged but kept watching until a moment later he spotted Tanisha sneaking out the back door. The boy leaned down and kissed her.
“Oh, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little,” Flinch said. “Who in this world would want to kiss the Creature?”
“Maybe he’s blind,” Duncan said.
Then the teenager reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He passed one to Tanisha, who lit it and took some puffs. Duncan’s jaw dropped open.
“What should we do? Tell your parents?” Flinch asked.
“No, we’ll handle this,” Duncan said.
“Are you forgetting how mean your sister can be? The Creature is like a rottweiler!”
Despite Flinch’s concerns, he marched outside with Duncan. They found Tanisha and her friend in a tight embrace.
“Put out the cigarette,” Duncan demanded.
“Oh, hey little man. No need to get so angry,” Tanisha’s boyfriend said. “I’m TJ.”
Duncan ignored him. “Tanisha, put it out or I’m going to tell Dad.”
“Who is this kid, Tanisha? Your own private bodyguard or something?”
“He’s nobody and he’s about to go back inside and mind his own business,” Tanisha said, flashing Duncan an angry look.
“I mean it, Tanisha,” Duncan said.
“Yo, little man,” TJ said. “How about you go play some video games, and leave your sister and me alone?”
“OK, your call,” Duncan said to his sister. “Daaaaaad!”
TJ leaped in front of Duncan. “Now that’s not nice. Didn’t your parents teach you about tattling, little man?”
“My name is Duncan and my parents taught me to look out for bad influences and ugly people. You happen to be both so you’re easy to spot.”
TJ grabbed him by the collar. “You better watch your mouth.”
“TJ! Let him go,” Tanisha demanded.
Flinch stepped up to the much bigger boy. “I’m giving you three seconds to let him go,” he said. “After that I’m bringing the pain.”
TJ laughed and snatched Flinch by the collar. He held the boys close to his face. “You getting smart with me too?”
Duncan knew exactly how to handle TJ. He wouldn’t come around again if he spent two days glued to the roof. Duncan concentrated to activate his nanobytes then remembered—he was powerless!
“One,” Flinch said.
“Flinch, leave him alone,” Tanisha begged.
“Leave me alone?” TJ shouted. “Babe, I’m three times their size.”
“Two.”
“Now, let’s get something straight. You’re going back into the house and you’re not going to say a word.”
“Three.”
In a flash, Flinch had kicked TJ in the shin. When the older boy dropped the two spies, Flinch grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm behind his back until the guy screamed. Flinch followed this with a punch to TJ’s sternum, and when the older boy bent over to catch his breath, Flinch climbed on his back, wrapped his arms around his throat, and put pressure on his carotid artery. TJ struggled for a moment, like a fish washed up on the sand, then slid to the ground—sound asleep.
“Why didn’t you help me?” Flinch asked Duncan.
“What was I going to do? My upgrades are offline,” he said.
“So are mine!” Flinch complained. “We’ve both been trained in mixed martial arts, dude.”
The Creature was even more incensed than Flinch. She tossed her cigarette on the ground and stomped over to Duncan. He could see her rage and tried to explain.
“This guy is a loser—”
“No! The only loser around here is you. I don’t need your protection and I don’t want it! Take your nanobutts and mind your own business.”
“They’re called nano bytes, Tanisha. I know you’re angry, but please keep your voice down—”
“What would happen if I shouted it for everyone to hear? What would happen if I screamed that my nerdy little brother is actually a spy? Would they drag me away? Put me in prison?”
“Yes,” Flinch said.
Tanisha hesitated, then said furiously, “You should be worried about yourself, Duncan. You might be some national hero, but around here you’re a misfit.”
“What do you mean ‘around here’?”
“You’re nothing like us, Duncan,” she cried. “Who are you like? Dad? Mom? Me? You’re a circus freak who shares our house—with your secret life and your stupid gizmos. Don’t you see how Mom and Dad look at you? It’s like you’re from another planet. It’s because of you we moved to this stupid neighborhood, too. Haven’t you noticed that no one within a mile looks like us? Haven’t you noticed that I don’t have any friends here? It’s all because you have to be different. You have to be special. The rest of us are fine just being us, but Duncan needs the whole world to notice him.”
Tanisha pushed past the boys and went into the house.
“You shouldn’t have been smoking!” Duncan shouted.
She slammed the door behind her, leaving Duncan and Flinch alone with TJ’s unconscious lump of a body.
“The Creature has spoken,” Flinch said.
Duncan shook his head and looked through the back window at his family. Avery was still searching the paper, Aiah was reading a book, and Tanisha was quietly crying in front of the kitchen sink. Her words felt like heavy weights his body could not carry.
“She’s right.”
“No, muchacho.”
“I’m not like them,” Duncan said. “I’m much smarter than everyone in my family. Half the time they don’t understand a word I’m saying. And then there’s all the spy stuff on top of that. They have no idea what to make of me.”
“Your family loves you,” Flinch said. “The Creature is just angry she got caught.”
“Look around, Flinch. My whole family was uprooted from the neighborhood my parents grew up in just so I can get a better education. No one asked her if she wanted to come. No wonder she’s angry. She lost her friends, everyone she knows. She’s alone, all because her brother is some supposed genius.”