Mom, I'm Bulletproof

Chapter 12.6: Guilty as Charged

After seeing Amy and Future Girl fly off, Sam returned to his flat. He found the Ergosphere waiting for him inside, holding a bright pink box.

"I brought toffee cake." The Ergosphere opened the box to reveal a square brown cake with frosting. "The really sticky kind. You know, for your ghost kids."

"About time you showed your face." Sam set down his hat and removed his cape.

"I was expecting a 'What are you doing here?' or 'How'd you get in here?'"

Sam hung up the cape and sat down on his bed. "We were at the museum and had no clue on what to do next. Then a cyborg dinosaur just happened to drop in our laps, which eventually led to us learning about some huge Temple facility deep underneath the museum. Awfully convenient, wasn't it?"

"Are you suggesting that I procured that creature on some mindboggling otherworldly journey, only to endanger lives and cause property damage by having it attack the three of you just to nudge your investigation along?"

Sam glared at the Ergosphere.

"Guilty as charged!" the Ergosphere said. "You're welcome."

"I think it's about damn time you told me who you are and what your deal is."

"Nice use of a swear word to emphasize how serious you are." The Ergosphere stepped over to Sam's small desk and sat down on it. "It's frustrating having questions go unanswered. I get that. It's frustrating having an aloof guy making wisecracks instead of giving a straight answer. I get that, too."

The Ergosphere reached up to readjust his glasses. Sam thought the Ergosphere might remove them and show his eyes for once, but he didn't.

"The powers of the Dreamsmith are an unanswered question," the Ergosphere continued. "Your business with Friday and the Temple and – I can't believe I'm about to say this word out loud – superheroes? That's one part of where your powers might have come from, the rest of the answer is out there somewhere, in universes and universities beyond."

"You still haven't told me who you are," Sam said.

"You're an astronomer. You know about black holes."

"One of those subjects you can study forever and still have more to learn, like Shakespeare or the Beatles."

"Always England with you."

Sam rolled his eyes. "More to the point, an ergosphere is the region just outside a black hole's event horizon, where nothing can stay in one place, including time and space itself."

"You get an A."

"And now you're back to being a smartass."

The Ergosphere stood and walked to the door. "We all have to stay on brand, mister top hat and cape. Keep fighting the good fight. I'll work on finding the answers."

"How do I contact you?"

"Don't."

With that, the Ergosphere turned and left the apartment. Sam knew he could pursue, but decided not to.

He flipped open the pink box, only to find the toffee cake was gone, with only a few crumbs left over.

"I hope you kids are happy now," Sam said to his ghosts.

# # # # 

END OF CHAPTER 12 

# # # # 

Next: Criticism.