No Master Plan Here (Madness Runs in the Family) by Joel Burdick Page A
Authors: Joel Burdick
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was serious or not. Anansi nodded. Ghost whistled, leaning back as if to reinspect Anansi.
“You think that's a good idea? Archangel and a few of the Secret Service supers will be there to stop anything from happening. You don't have a chance.”
“That's where you're wrong. Kay and I have been running the numbers. We think we have a chance. We will need you for this, though.”
“Me?” Ghost looked surprised. She had been on a couple of heists with Anansi before, but nothing this serious. He was a bit of a loner when it came to his activities, and if he wanted her with, it meant that things could get complicated.
“Yeah. I need you to pose as a security guard and make sure that I can get in the back, somewhere behind the scenes, to set up. Can you do that for me?” He smiled. It was crooked, full of personality. Ghost smiled back, nervousness in her eyes, but her expression was confident.
“I can do that.”
“Can you?” Anansi responded, a teasing tone in his voice. He prodded the center of her chest with his index finger. His face was drawn and serious, but playfulness glittered in his eyes. “This is serious villain work. If we screw up, I can't crown you Queen of the Subjugated Peoples of America, and will have to sacrifice you to dark gods and demons for more power to do it myself.” He reached out through his neural link, causing the holographic terminal beside him to play a video clip of lightning and thunder in the sky.
Ghost laughed and leaned down to kiss Anansi. Seconds later they broke apart, heat rising between them as they rested their foreheads against each other. “I can play my part, if you can play yours.”
“Deal.”
-~-~-
March 2, 2014
“That's right, Anansi is planning to assassinate the president, Senator Wilson, and Congressman Lowe at the rally day after tomorrow.” Denise leaned against the wall, her forehead against her arm, the encrypted phone pressed to her ear. She had looked through Anansi's plan, memorizing every detail she could, but she didn't have a photographic memory and if she took pictures of the plan, the AI would notice and tell Anansi. She had to make do with what he remembered.
At first, the assignment to get near Anansi had been unbearable. The man was arrogant, egotistical, and always talked about whatever he was researching or experimenting as if everyone in the room understood exactly what he was talking about when he was talking about neuroscience or chemistry or advanced superhuman mechanics. If she asked him to use layman's terms for her, he would start stuttering as he tried to explain, and she would still not understand what he was talking about. When he wasn't talking about something scientific, he was talking about politics, raving about the corruption of man and the uselessness of the common man. Maybe he was a genius, but he didn't relate well to anyone.
That wasn't entirely true. He related to his family. He was the second oldest of seven, and they talked frequently. It was the only conversations that she understood, and then only barely. References to comics, movies, internet memes, and games permeated their conversations.
Things had gotten easier after Thanksgiving. She had started to understand what he talked about, at least as far as games. They had eaten, played games and music, and watched movies into the small hours of the night. When he finally laid down to go to bed that night, he had told Denise his master plan.
Take over the world. Fix it so that people would be equal.
He admitted it wasn't much of a plan, but as far as
“You think that's a good idea? Archangel and a few of the Secret Service supers will be there to stop anything from happening. You don't have a chance.”
“That's where you're wrong. Kay and I have been running the numbers. We think we have a chance. We will need you for this, though.”
“Me?” Ghost looked surprised. She had been on a couple of heists with Anansi before, but nothing this serious. He was a bit of a loner when it came to his activities, and if he wanted her with, it meant that things could get complicated.
“Yeah. I need you to pose as a security guard and make sure that I can get in the back, somewhere behind the scenes, to set up. Can you do that for me?” He smiled. It was crooked, full of personality. Ghost smiled back, nervousness in her eyes, but her expression was confident.
“I can do that.”
“Can you?” Anansi responded, a teasing tone in his voice. He prodded the center of her chest with his index finger. His face was drawn and serious, but playfulness glittered in his eyes. “This is serious villain work. If we screw up, I can't crown you Queen of the Subjugated Peoples of America, and will have to sacrifice you to dark gods and demons for more power to do it myself.” He reached out through his neural link, causing the holographic terminal beside him to play a video clip of lightning and thunder in the sky.
Ghost laughed and leaned down to kiss Anansi. Seconds later they broke apart, heat rising between them as they rested their foreheads against each other. “I can play my part, if you can play yours.”
“Deal.”
-~-~-
March 2, 2014
“That's right, Anansi is planning to assassinate the president, Senator Wilson, and Congressman Lowe at the rally day after tomorrow.” Denise leaned against the wall, her forehead against her arm, the encrypted phone pressed to her ear. She had looked through Anansi's plan, memorizing every detail she could, but she didn't have a photographic memory and if she took pictures of the plan, the AI would notice and tell Anansi. She had to make do with what he remembered.
At first, the assignment to get near Anansi had been unbearable. The man was arrogant, egotistical, and always talked about whatever he was researching or experimenting as if everyone in the room understood exactly what he was talking about when he was talking about neuroscience or chemistry or advanced superhuman mechanics. If she asked him to use layman's terms for her, he would start stuttering as he tried to explain, and she would still not understand what he was talking about. When he wasn't talking about something scientific, he was talking about politics, raving about the corruption of man and the uselessness of the common man. Maybe he was a genius, but he didn't relate well to anyone.
That wasn't entirely true. He related to his family. He was the second oldest of seven, and they talked frequently. It was the only conversations that she understood, and then only barely. References to comics, movies, internet memes, and games permeated their conversations.
Things had gotten easier after Thanksgiving. She had started to understand what he talked about, at least as far as games. They had eaten, played games and music, and watched movies into the small hours of the night. When he finally laid down to go to bed that night, he had told Denise his master plan.
Take over the world. Fix it so that people would be equal.
He admitted it wasn't much of a plan, but as far as
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