“An interesting theory,” Prather said. “And certainly it has crossed my mind.”
“It would make a lot of sense,” Perfect said. “Opal claimed descent from Jade, and you said yourself you doubted she came by her knowledge and equipment on her own. Whether she really inherited the mantle legitimately or just stumbled upon it, the appearance of Poisoned Dragons after Opal’s death could be a continuation of the trend she herself started.”
“Of course, at this point, any theorizing about Opal’s origins is quite frankly going to be academic,” Prather said.
“Some of my favorite theories are academic,” Perfect said. “After Opal’s death, were you able to track down all of her hideouts? All her labs?”
“Naturally that was my intent,” Prather said. “But just as naturally, I would have no way of knowing how many exist that I did not find. As thorough as I was in investigating her holdings and as vigilant as I have been in the time since her death, the fact remains that the first indication that I missed something would be when it turned up exactly as these Poisoned Dragons have.”
“Right, but now that they have turned up, we should be able to follow them back to their source,” Perfect said. “Whether that’s an old equipment cache, Opal Song’s designated heir, an imitator, or somehow…”
“Hey, um, not to interrupt or anything,“ Dani said, “but weren’t you trying to crack an alien encryption code or something this morning? And weren’t we supposed to be figuring out the whole ‘end of the world’ thing before that?”
“Well, yeah,” Perfect said. “But Dani, try to keep some perspective. This is huge…”
“End of the world,” Dani said. “Also, alien robots that want to bring about another, unrelated end of the world. I don’t think you’re going to help much jumping from crisis to crisis.”
“You should listen to your friend… the sharpest scalpel in the world is useless or worse if it is not pointed in the correct direction,” Prather said. “Focus, young lady. If you try to move in every direction at once, you will only end up standing still.”
“Okay, but I know I can help with the Poisoned Dragons, and I hate to just ignore them,” Perfect said. “And don’t give me the ‘danger’ line, because the end of the world isn’t any less dangerous, and neither is fire or guns or people with superpowers and I’m going to be facing any or all of those…”
“You could help with the Dragons,” Prather said. “I certainly believe you on that score. But you could help with a great many things. You could, depending on your education, also be of great help in a research laboratory, or in a fundraising capacity for a non-profit, or overseas with a volunteer aid group. You have already chosen for whatever reason to be a costumed crimefighter, thus implicitly excluding all those other paths. It’s not that you’re ignoring them. You aren’t, any more than you ignore your blue companion by looking at me when I’m speaking. You have to focus on one of us at a time.”
“Actually,” Perfect said, “I’ve been training myself to process the input from my eyes separately so I can focus them in different directions at once… well, I was but then I kind of got into this biofeedback thing and learning how to control my heart… oh. Yeah. I see your point.”
“The gift known as the Darkwell trait represents, in its purest form, nothing more than potential,” Prather said. “There are more than a few generalist Darkwells out there, but their abilities pale in comparison when viewed alongside those who focus. I directed my own gift towards unraveling the secrets of the medieval and Greek alchemists and was able… during the time it was necessary… to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who have inborn superhuman powers. If you intend to do the same… and I’m not saying I endorse such a course, but the decision is yours to make… you will have to develop a similar level of focus. If it’s still a possibility. Darkwell brains ossify slower than the norm, but generally as you exercise your added potential you begin to lose flexibility.”
“I can’t say I’ve noticed that,” Perfect said. “I still pick up new things pretty quickly.”
“Yes, well, you are young,” Prather said. “You can’t expect that to last forever. Now, what do you say we move on to this end of the world business?”
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