Sphere 3

Sphere 3

November 15th, 1998

Playtime as a company was struggling. The loss of Jared and the controversy surrounding the company had hit harder then anyone thought. Most everyone was down to minimum wage. We had fired all the minors under our employ, they were too expensive to keep around. The company looked less like a toy store now, the lack of teens working at it gave it a very different atmosphere. There was an odd dissonance about it now. The fact that the store was primarily filled with people who were old enough to look aged, but not old enough to be a grandparent, gave the whole place a shady atmosphere to it, if you were inclined to look at it that way.

The company was finally starting to get back on its feet, the rough months mostly behind us. We were heavily relying on sponsorship money from the PRT, though. They might have robbed us of our greatest asset, but they didn’t want to fully burn a bridge. We were reliable, and that meant something. The world was a place of innovation, but reliability and reputation was still as important as ever.

It wasn’t the sunniest day for a picnic. In fact, it was cloudy and cold. I wouldn’t be surprised if it rained or snowed soon. It wouldn’t have mattered to me any other day, but today was different. I had the weekend off. Will had practically forced me to take a break. It was nice, but there was still work I could do, still forms to go over. I didn’t have time for a break.

But it was nice to have one, and I needed it. It pushed my family back into the picture. Work had consumed my life for the past few months, I hadn’t even realized how much sleep I had been missing until I nearly slept the whole entire day away yesterday. It was an acceptable sacrifice. If sleep was the cost I had to pay to keep the lights on and feed Lori and Catherine, I would pay it in a heartbeat.

Catherine has been forced to get a job. It was part time, just working at the grocery store, but she shouldn’t have had to get a job in the first place. It meant I was failing as a parent. It meant I was failing as a husband. I couldn’t afford to fail, not in this.

The child snoring in my arms jolted me out of my thoughts. Lori was asleep. She was asleep in my arms. This never happened. I could count the number of times she actually fell asleep when I was holding her on one hand with fingers to spare. She was utterly adorable. She had blue eyes, my eyes. Her hair resembled Catherine’s more and more every day. She was a perfect mix of the two of us. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I wouldn’t ask for anything more.

I’m not sure which was worse, the fact that I hadn’t noticed Lori fall asleep in my arms, or the fact that I had accidentally drown my wife out with my own thoughts. It was definitely the latter, the former couldn’t force me to sleep on the couch.

“-don’t know what we would do if it was our child. People always throw numbers around, but when was the last time you ever heard of one of them actually dying?”

I blinked, having completely missed what the conversation was about. I wasn’t going to ask Catherine for a recap for what I missed. I already don’t spend enough time with her because of work, I wasn’t about to waste time on this picnic asking stupid questions. “Accidents happen, honey. Sometimes things spiral out of control.”

She brushed some hair from her face, “Well yeah, that’s a given. Still, the kids are pretty well protected. I think they’d be safe, but it still carries its risks.”

What was she talking about? I had no idea, maybe if I concentrate hard enough in her direction I’ll learn what she’s talking about. I closed my eyes, humming to myself and wiggling my fingers the best I could with Lori in my arms.

“What are you doing?”

I shrugged, an easy smile coming over my face, “Just, you know, meditating to find out all the secrets of the universe. You should try it sometime.”

“Well... the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything in it is 42. If you have to meditate for that... I actually have no words.”

My smile turned sheepish, “I might also have zoned out what you were saying. Sorry, honey.”

Catherine sighed, “Work thoughts?”

I nodded, “Work thoughts. Sorry. But that’s not important right now. Let’s go back to the conversation. Which was...”

“Fine by me. We were talking about the Wards, and what would happen if Lori somehow got into the program.”

I nodded. This conversation made far more sense now that I knew it was about the Wards Program. “Honestly, I wouldn’t let her join. It’s not safe. I don’t want Lori out there late at night beating you villains anyways.”

Catherine pursed her lips, “The Wards are pretty safe though, aren’t they? When was the last time that one of them ever kicked the bucket?”

I wasn’t about to let her win this, but she did have something of a point. “Well yeah, they have a lower fatality rate, but when was the last time you ever saw a Ward in a place like Gary? Or even a place like Brockton, for that matter?” There was a lot of talk about Brockton Bay, all the way over on the east coast, being quarantined like Gary. I couldn’t say I blamed them, from what I heard, it had no redeeming qualities. The Butcher alone was something that would keep the Wards out of the city.

“There are exceptions to every rule, Alan. They keep the Wards safe enough, I heard. They wouldn’t send kids into a war zone.”

I sighed, “That’s beside the point, Cathy. It doesn’t matter how safe it is, Lori would still be fighting villains. The fact that you used the words ‘how safe’ means it’s dangerous. She would still be putting herself at risk. I don’t want anyone to hurt our baby girl.”

Catherine shrugged, “I don’t want her hurt either. But I want her to do good in the world one day. If, if she got powers, then I feel like that would be the best choice for her if she wanted to help out.”

I glanced down, staring at our child. “True, this is all hypotheticals. It’s not something we have to worry about anytime soon.” I pushed some of Lori’s hair out of her face.  “I don’t think Lori would even have to fight, they’d take one look at her and they’d know she was too adorable to even think about hurting.”

Catherine nodded, “There’d be no chance of her getting hurt either. She’d be perfectly safe.”

I smiled happily, moving my arms out of Catherine. She took Lori, letting my baby girl rest happily in her mother’s arms. I took in the scene. Catherine, a happy smile adorning her face, an equally happy child in her arms. There wasn’t a building in sight, the only thing breaking the skyline being the tall tree we were under. It was a nice clearing, untainted by concrete and construction work. It was a perfectly picturesque scene, and I didn’t want it to end. I would have been happy with it lasting for a peaceful eternity, one free from stress.

The call silence was broken by Catherine, “So, Alan, what does your schedule look like. You’ve been really busy lately.”

A stab of guilt ran through me. It was a tangible feeling, and I couldn’t help but wince at it. I needed to spend more time home, more time with my family. “Work’s been hectic lately, Cathy. Really hectic. But it’s finally slowing down, I think. We’ve started getting everything under control.”

“Great!” A wide, lovely smile crossed Catherine’s face, “I’ve been thinking, we-“

I consider myself an opportunist. When an opportunity shows itself, I can’t not take it. Cliche as it was, I said it, “Ooh, thinking? Don’t hurt yourself.”

She rolled her eyes, taking it in stride. “Hush, you. As I was saying, there’s this concert coming up and I really think you would like it. The band is-“

Catherine was drown out by silenced by my cell phone’s incessant, blaring ring. I sighed, gesturing for Catherine to cover Lori’s ears. I wouldn’t want to wake up the baby, now would I? There would be hell to pay of if I did.

“Hello?”

William’s voice greeted me. It lacked the same nervous tone it had, but the fact that he was calling me on a weekend forced me to draw similarities to the other call. “Hey, Alan. Are you enjoying your weekend? It’s a nice... cloudy day out today.”

I slowly stood, stretching, “As a matter of fact, I was enjoying it. What’s this about?”

William have a light, false chuckle over the phone, “It’s good to hear that one of us is enjoying it. There’s been an incident at work, I need you to come in.”

My eyes narrowed as a frown spread over my lips. “Do we have another situation?”

His words filled me with only the tiniest hint of relief, “Situation? No no, nothing like that. There’s been a cape fight nearby, collateral damage happened.”

“Oh. How bad was it? Any injuries?” I started pacing around the small clearing, circling the tree.

“No one was seriously injuries, but... well, let’s say I’m glad that we have insurance. Let’s just leave it at that. I’m going to need you to come in to manage it.”

Manage it? It was a weekend. I was with my family. We were enjoying ourselves. This was my first actual weekend in months. You didn’t just take that from someone. You just didn’t! A hint of ice filled my tone, “William, I’m with my family right now. We were enjoying ourselves. Send Stacey in instead.”

“But Alan, you’re the only one I trust to handle it. Stacey’s alright, but she has little practical experience, you know? She works on the theoretical side of things, the planning side. People don’t respect her like they respect you, Allen,” William whined.

The phone felt heavy in my hands. I glanced over at Catherine, at Lori. She had a worried expression on her face. “Fine. But you owe me.”

“I’ll pay you back, just hurry up and get going.”

I hung up. I didn’t bother to say bye. The phone snapped shut, and I let out an over-exaggerated sigh. “Work. I gotta go. Tell me about that concert sometime later, Cathy.”

A tired look seemed to envelops Catherine at that moment. It was subtle, but for a moment her slight wrinkles seemed more pronounced, her eyes deeper set. An instant later, it was gone and I was wondering if it had even been there to start with. “Promise me we’ll buy tickets.”

“I promise, sweetheart. It’s a date. I’ll take the bus in, wouldn’t be right to leave you two without the car.” With a kiss to the cheek for Catherine, and a forehead one for Lori, I begrudgingly left my family behind in the clearing.