The superheroine known to this world as Truth, whose birth name in another world and secret identity in this one was Tomiko Takano, sat atop the Berkeley Business Systems office building in Berkeley, Colorado.  It was a significant building to her for several reasons.  When she had first arrived in this universe, she met another new verser named Brian Barrelmaster Cooper, who had become a superhero when he arrived (a long and strange story behind that) and encouraged her to do the same while helping her get adjusted to this world.  Part of that was that they, together, had gotten jobs here at BBS, that is, Berkeley Business Systems, based on the fact that their knowledge of computers--a device on the cusp of being invented--was beyond anything the engineers here had envisioned, and they had brought devices with them to prove it.

Brian, known to the world as Mister Justice, had been killed last week by a supervillain named Mordenslice, who was trying to launch himself into space with a laser with which he could attack cities.  On the bright side, Mordenslice apparently died when the ship crashed; on the negative side, two other verser superheroes, Derek and Vashti Brown, vanished at the same time.

Mordenslice was secretly one of the chief stockholders in BBS, and so between his disappearance, the disappearances of Brian and the other versers, and the recent fire at the facility, she got promoted from a student intern to a junior engineer, which about doubled her pay.  That was good, because she would not have been able to afford the rent on the wonderful house which the four of them had shared (she, Brian, Derek, and Vashti) on her salary.  It would be tight now, but if she was careful with her money she should be all right.  That probably meant not eating out so often, but the house, the unused manse of an old but operating Presbyterian Church, was three blocks from the office, so she could get lunch at home and save that way.

The fire--yes, there was a fire.  Mordenslice was trying to cripple BBS so he could create a competing company and steal the idea for a computer, so he hired a couple of supervillains to do a bit of arson.  The four of them saved the day--well, Derek, known then as Avenging Angel, defeated the two villains, while she had mostly helped evacuate the building, rescuing a woman trapped in an elevator, but they had been identified as heroes.  That is, their superhero personas were.  It was a strange aspect of this world that if you wore the simplest of masks or costumes, people couldn t recognize who you were.  She was wearing her deerskin jacket, rabbit fur hat, and a simple mask over her eyes, and had her kawanaga hanging from her belt.

She told herself that she was seated atop one of the taller buildings in this part of Berkeley overlooking the Rio Grande River so she could watch for trouble in the city below, but she was mostly looking at the stars and thinking about her absent friends.  Some were versers--she had met Johnny Angel, and Lauren Hastings, and a crew of somewhat disreputable versers led by a guy named James Beam, but many of her friends were lost probably forever, left behind in worlds she had visited and to which she was unlikely to return.  Here she knew only a few, mostly other superheroes like William Tell Junior, The Eagle, Sockajawea, and Star Miss.  There was a boy at work who delivered the mail, Billy, who was what was called sweet on her, and who suspected that she was Truth, and they had shared pizza a couple times, but he didn t know anything about her, really, other than she knew about what some called the computator machines the company was trying to invent.

And there was one more friend, probably her best friend still in Berkeley despite the obvious complications.

Hey, girlfriend, came the familiar voice as the supervillainess Robinette effortlessly came over the edge of the roof above the twelfth floor.  Tommy was working on that, but Roberta Robbie Ettinger had been born to circus performers, and had been doing this kind of thing all her life.

Hey, she replied, a bit dully.  Her friend came over and sat beside her on the ledge.

You miss them, don t you.

She paused long enough to shrug, and said, Sure.  I mean, I hadn t known them all that long, but they were the nearest thing I had to family in this world.  Besides, she kidded, Now I have to do all my own cooking and washing up.

Robinette obviously got the humor; her mask didn t hide the smile.  The duo had met in odd circumstances, and knew each other both as supers and as normals.

Lunch this weekend? the villainess, who styled herself after Robin Hood, robbing from the wealthy and giving to the poor after taking a cut for herself, asked.

Saturday or Sunday?

Sunday, I think.

Your place or mine?

Oh, my place.  It s my invitation, and anyway I don t know that I want to be in the church yard when parishioners are around.

Deal.  I m still going to the Sunday school there, though, so don t expect me before one.  Cab fare is money, and I m not yet sure how my budget is going to work now that I m on my own.

While I ve got you, I thought I d mention that Metalika is planning to rob an armored car somewhere in the northeast quarter Saturday.

And you know this how?

Read his mind.

Derek and Vashti had taught Tommy to read minds, and then also taught her to teach mind skills to others, but she had to teach something to someone to be certain she knew that skill, so she had taught her friend mind reading.  Thus far she had not regretted it.  She nodded.

Thanks, she said.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Robinette stood.  Well, I can see that you re not coming out of your funk tonight, and I probably should find something more profitable to do, so I ll see you Sunday.

She nodded again, and her friend rolled over the ledge and vanished down the side of the building.

There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with ten other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #538:  New Adventures.  Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter.  It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.

As to the old stories that have long been here:

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