“Don’t worry, Ab,” Mary assures her, “you can still be the hostess. We’re just your sidekicks.”
“Nah,” Abbie declines the implied offer to tell her story first, “my tale might be a little more complicated, or at least a little more personal since it’s my family I’m talking to, so I’d rather let you guys go first so I don’t rush and rob my loved ones of their time with me today.”
“Aw, that’s sweet,” Yvie says with a tender smile. “Well then, our three stories are the same, so which of us came first?”
“Silly thing,” Cici reminds her, “that would be me. They probably know the basics though, with me being AB’s twin sister that was hijacked by the government as an infant and turned into a cyborg that could wirelessly store my brother’s excess power until he could handle it all. I was so dangerous in terms of anyone knowing of my existence that I spent the first twelve or so years of my life invisible in my own house to my own family so that only my mother and Fiona Sakuro, at the time Fiona Kaios, knew of my existence, speaking in terms of my direct contacts. Anyway, when I finally was unveiled, Ant and I instantly became best friends. This did, as you can imagine, have some bumps along the way, most of which, if I’m honest, started when Keb came along.
“Fiona was pregnant with Keb while she secretly watched over young AB before he got his powers. Missy, the super-genius she was as a kid, learned about AB and contacted him, but her attempt was so pitiful, it made Ant start talking to Fiona. Being invisible to Ant herself, Fio just played it off as an imaginary friend, and even used her extensive knowledge of her nanotech to allow little Ant to talk to an unborn Keb, little Fiona Kaios. Well, Arion Jekel attacked, and this resulted in an eighteen-year-long mystery leaving Keb and Fiona basically separated, even though they spent every day of their lives together. Fiona saw AB eventually become Asteroid Boy and finally got to officially meet him after he beat Jekel for the first time. It was then that I came into the picture, as well as a half form of Keb named Fifi, raised by Fiona who was also only half of herself at the time. Both the mother and daughter were made whole years later, but that’s not the point. The point is that the half of Keb that WE all think of was living as an orphan in Tokyo, Japan, but had never lost the mental connection to AB that her mom had established before birth. Ergo, she was able to occasionally talk to him across the ocean until these talks within his dreams finally got my attention, so I helped the two find each other.”
Quickly leaning over to tap Yvie, Cici says, “Your turn. Tag!”
“Oh! Okay,” Yvie chuckles. “You know Emily Scott. She was from an English space colony called New Cambridge, of which I was previously Prime Minister. However, as the evil Zocar began to influence my world, I fled with my daughter Cerine to Earth where I was captured. However, AB’s search for his mystery friend led him straight to me since we both used nano-chat, so I pretended to be his friend to free myself. I was also able to appear like I was a small child to fit his mistaking me for his intended target. I meant to politely tell him the truth once we were free, but I never got that chance. He helped me escape and took me to a cave to keep me out of harm’s way. However, as I fell asleep to him promising me a family and him being my big brother, I had no idea of the betrayal I’d wake up to. The following day, I woke to see I was alone. I wait for days, but he never returned. In my right mind, I would have simply seen it as the immaturity of a young boy, but I was so hurt and so filled with rage with what I had experienced back home and what I had been through as soon as I arrived on Earth. I thought, ‘Is this what my mother world of Earth is like now? Even the children are not to be trusted? I took the form of an innocent little girl, and yet, there was no compassion for me. Is my Cerine in danger?’ And so, my thoughts continued. In truth, I was simply bitter at the promise of a new family being all lies on the heels of my own family turning against me as they believed the lies of Zocar. I was the immature one, not that sweet, yet forgetful young man who tried to help me. My bitterness turned me into the monster I was running from, causing me to spend the next three or so years trying to hurt him in whatever way I could to get my vengeance for a simple misunderstanding I blew way out of proportion.”
Inner Man Theatre 