Erythropoiesis 2.7
I returned home towards evening. The conversation with the old man didn't take much time. He only advised me to rest and head home as soon as possible. I heeded his advice, feeling that my head was working worse and worse. Even supes have their limits.
Therefore, I simply said goodbye to Johnson and went out to the Doutle family. They were only waiting for me, occasionally casting glances toward the room where the surgery on the animal was being performed. At first glance, it was clear that they were exhausted too. We drove to my house in practical silence, only occasionally discussing what had happened and recalling old cases.
Saying goodbye to them, I went inside the house. In the next room, the TV was playing, showing some overly loud singing show. The miracle of cooking was already taking place in the kitchen.
"Hi everyone! I'll be down soon!" I quickly shouted, passing the living room towards the stairs.
I wanted to go up to the second floor to my room to change clothes, but before that, I shouted to Paul and Indira, who had already arrived. The latter was clearly cooking something in the kitchen right now, while the former was watching TV in the living room. Walking past, I noticed on the screen a little girl about my age, dressed in a white and gold costume, singing a pop song while surrounding herself with an aura of practically blinding light. As soon as she finished, thunderous applause erupted.
The girl breathed deeply, looking with a smile at the result of her own long hard work, but what happened next I didn't know, because I stopped watching and went up to my room. It was funny to realize that I could have been performing just like that, doing tricks for the amusement of a multi-million crowd. Although I usually didn't waste time on such shows, I decided to make an exception for one where I could have participated myself. Besides, it turned out to be quite useful, as it helped expand my knowledge base about different supes and their abilities.
It was a rather entertaining show, I admit, however, my mood soured every time I remembered that it was unlikely this girl chose such a fate for herself. Most likely, it was her parents who wanted to promote a "little star" without asking her opinion on what she truly wanted to do. This was common even among ordinary people, let alone supes, whom everyone already considers special simply for possessing some kind of power. Overly active parents, wishing to fulfill themselves through their children, try to make new Soldier Boys and Crimson Countesses, disregarding the child's thoughts and desires. A sad fate.
Having quickly undressed and freshened up, I turned on the computer. Ahead of me awaited another important task, even thinking about which, to be honest, was somehow nerve-wracking. There was still time before dinner, and I decided to calmly search the web for all information about myself.
It still somehow didn't fit in my head that I had become famous without applying practically any effort and without even noticing it, but reality possessed very weighty arguments. The post featuring a photo of me and the man with the python had over a few million views and tens of thousands of likes—and this was in an era when social networks were just gaining momentum!
Opening the comments, I began to read the stories of how different people talked about me and how I helped them. It was a bit strange and somehow uncomfortable? Reading about oneself from the outside is always strange, even if they were praising me. I saw touching stories of people whose animals I had saved or to whom I had given a timely diagnosis, thereby saving a life. Except there was still somehow no understanding that all this was done thanks to me. It just somehow didn't cross my mind that my actions, which were so simple, could have such serious consequences.
After all, I hadn't stopped some supervillain or caught an airplane. No, I simply walked up to a passerby and informed him of a terrible disease, after which I returned to my business. For me, it was an unnoticeable and not particularly significant event, however, for the person I was helping, everything changed.
And while at first people almost always react poorly to my words, after a while the realization comes to them of how close to a horrible death they had gotten. They realized that they survived only thanks to some kid. However, only now did I myself realize this, reading into the stories of people telling what happened to them after I left.
I fully immersed myself in reading people's stories about me and the positive public reaction to all this. It still helped a lot that I was a child, and therefore people supported me especially strongly. The reaction became significantly brighter when photos of healed animals started appearing, because people especially love pets. And the more of them appeared, the brighter the surprise and even admiration of the people was...
"Maaark! Come down here! Dinner is ready!"
Only Indira's shout distracted me from the process. Taking one last look at the page where I was praised as a little hero and, as particularly religious individuals wrote, even a full-fledged future savior and saint, I stepped away from the computer and went down to my family. Right now, more than ever, I just need to talk to someone and distract myself from the surrounding world.
Having changed my everyday clothes, I went down to the dining room, where my adoptive parents were already sitting, settled at a large table with a bunch of gorgeous food on it. Some Indian, some English, and something purely American—a little bit of everything. We held such a large family dinner every Sunday to share the week's news and simply be together. I listened to Paul's simple jokes about his work at the university, after which Indira would take the floor and talk about young heroes and some funny things in their training.
For example, it was funny to know that in Godolkin there is a special "popularity" ranking, where practically all students are entered, regardless of whether they become professional heroes or not. Some, having enrolled in the "combat" department, became so popular that they no longer needed to go out on the field and use their power even in staged training fights. One offer for your own show and that's it—a successful life for several years ahead is guaranteed for you.
Indira also told us about various funny situations related to supe students. Like how a local super-runner tidied up the entire campus in ten seconds as either a task or a punishment for inappropriate behavior. But she also talked about how this speedster even pulls trains behind him during training, so I was ready to believe anything.
In turn, I would talk at such moments about helping at the shelter or all sorts of funny school incidents. Most often, the source of amusement was my fan club, which seemed to be growing every day. They often gave me minor gifts or simply took photos. Once they even arranged an "interview." I didn't care about them, and only the most unhinged members interfered, who brought their animals to the shelter for absolutely any reason, just so I would help them. After a few times, I simply stopped servicing such people, because I knew the animal was healthy.
Hmm... come to think of it, as early as tomorrow, when the new school week begins, the problems with fans will increase by an order of magnitude, if not more. Yes, our town is not big, and whoever was interested already knew about me, but I understood human behavior. As soon as someone they might have known for a long time becomes famous, their attitude changes sharply, and instead of a person, they begin to see something distant, like an alien from another world located behind the screens of a TV or phone. Yeeeah, come to think of it, I will most likely have problems in every sphere where I do something.
At the animal shelter, things will definitely become much more complicated once the rumors spread enough, making it harder to work. School and the sports club will also obviously become less comfortable as soon as people start flocking there in droves. Well, and, of course, we must not forget about Vought, who will definitely try to recruit me again and invite me to participate in some show or series of theirs.
I hadn't told Indira and Paul about this yet, as I didn't see the point. I need to first go out myself and check how big the problem with the fans is before doing anything. In the worst case, I can finish school as an external student or transfer to homeschooling. But the first option, considering the number of invitations to major league universities, is much preferable. Besides, I had thoughts that they would find out about everything themselves even without my help. Vought loves to press from all sides simultaneously. And, considering their connection, I'm even curious how they will react.
With every year, Stevie's words became more and more... painful, perhaps? Having spent almost eight years with the Shetty family, my wariness slowly began to melt away, as I hadn't noticed any manifestation of surveillance or attempts to recruit me from them. However, in front of me was still the image of the teenage telepath who spoke with particular hatred about his family and their betrayal, which is why the paranoia had no intention of completely leaving.
Sometimes I remembered Red River, however, many events had already faded under the influence of time. I thought about Ricky and Martinez, sometimes even deliberately searching the net for any mentions of such supes, however, the result was predictable. Nothing. They should have left the orphanage a long time ago, and considering the level of their capabilities and their character in principle, these guys would have definitely stood out. Guessing what happened to them wasn't all that difficult.
We talked to each other for a couple of hours until night fully fell, gradually moving to the living room and starting to watch some movie together about Homelander and Black Noir, the oldest member of The Seven. Mediocre, but it'll do for a one-time watch. And as soon as it ended, Indira and Paul sent me upstairs to go to sleep. I was seriously exhausted myself, so I didn't argue and, having done my final routines, returned to my room. I fell onto the bed practically immediately. The day had been hard, and the next one was planned to be even harder, which is why I fell asleep almost instantly.
. . .
The next day at school was much more active and noisy than I expected or wanted it to be. As soon as I stepped out of the car, I immediately noticed the stares. Dozens of eyes directed my way carefully tracked my every movement. One could read in them that they already knew about me and were in a hurry to ask their questions or do something of a similar level of stupidity. I even saw members of my fan club, who currently looked particularly joyful, starting to move in my direction with special acceleration. Is it me, or had their numbers only grown? It didn't matter, I didn't answer them and simply walked forward silently. Except it wasn't that simple.
"Hey, can you show your power? Just a little bit!!"
"Can you sign my Homelander t-shirt!? You know him, right? You supes must all know each other!"
"And which hero team do you like the most? Not counting The Seven, of course. I'm sure it's..."
The closer I got to the crowd, the louder the hubbub of dozens of voices became, gradually turning into incoherent noise. In literally just a few seconds, I was surrounded by a full-fledged horde of schoolchildren of all different ages, starting to ask their questions.
I gritted my teeth and, ignoring the questions, moved towards the entrance. The crowd didn't try to stop me and seemingly didn't notice my detachment, continuing to bombard me with questions. One could laugh at the difference compared to their attitude yesterday, but oddly enough, I wasn't in the mood for it. At least, I hope the lessons will go normally...
The lessons were no better. Today was a rare day when I couldn't even read my books, let alone engage in training my ability. I was constantly distracted by classmates who, even if they weren't saying something, were just staring, sometimes trying to film me on their phones.
The thought of simply getting up and leaving was criminally tempting. But unfortunately, I studied not in an ordinary school, but in a rather prestigious institution, where if I were to leave, absolutely everyone would have problems. Me, my parents, who would definitely be informed about this, and even the administration, ruining relations with whom I very much didn't want to do. They already forgive me a lot simply for the fact that I bring them fame with numerous victories at olympiads. The "local authority" allowed me to pass several grades as an external student only so that I could participate in much higher-profile competitions that consequently brought more profit.
Yes, after long and persistent persuasion, Indira and Paul gave in and allowed me to skip a few grades up. Thanks to this, at thirteen I was already in the tenth grade and in a year or two could already finish school. Of course, the principal is unlikely to like that I'm leaving them, but this will happen someday anyway, and this way I will at least bring them maximum fame. Especially if I immediately go to study at a prestigious Ivy League level university.
Because of all this, everyone in my class was now a head taller than me, however, this didn't deter my fans and didn't affect their numbers. Supes are basically treated almost like another species here, but there is a special attitude towards superhumans who have truly achieved something. As soon as you do anything even a drop heroic, the number of fans increases exponentially, because for ordinary people, success is exactly the dividing line between just a person with special powers and a true hero. Therefore, I had to sit and endure all this, "rejoicing" at the acquired fame. I'm sure this is only the beginning.
Powering through the lessons, I decided to give myself a day off today. I quickly called my boxing coach, whom I had been going to for a little over a year, and canceled the session. Then I contacted Mary and said that I wouldn't come today. And, as she informed me, I was right in my reasoning...
"What?"
"There are some people in suits here," she rattled off. "They say they have proposals for mom and dad. And they also said they are waiting for you and want to discuss some 'million-dollar proposal'."
I wonder, did the Vought people simply know that they wouldn't be let into a prestigious private school and therefore headed there, or did they stupidly move to the place where I was filmed? It doesn't matter, really. I was already going to just tell Mary to send them packing, however, at the very last moment, something seemingly clicked in my head.
You know what... To hell with it.
"...alright. Tell them I'll be there soon and we'll discuss this 'proposal'. I'm curious what they have to say. And let them know right away that I'm not the most modest guy and I'll be asking for a lot. Let them prepare themselves mentally."
Hearing a surprised confirmation from Mary, I hung up. Sighing heavily, I headed towards the bus, continuing to ponder my decision. Although I, to put it mildly, didn't like Vought, I was somehow already tired of running from the corporation that was practically begging me to take their money. I don't know if my foul mood influenced this, but if Vought can provide me with peace, I'm ready to work with them.
Of course, I could send them to hell now too, and then the next time, but how long can one run? I want to gain access to the resources of this company and the opportunities they can provide to their "star". And right now, while I'm at the peak of a wave of fame that might soon pass, I need to seize the moment. Besides, I have some very weighty arguments that will leave me my freedom.