A10 doesn’t talk easily about herself at first, but Harry’s steadying hand on her arm helps her gain confidence and focus. The others in the lab listen attentively.
“My uncle on my father’s side is the hero Tatanka. Lakota. One of the good guys in the HHL.”
She remembers and self-corrects. “Stepfather’s. Second father’s. My family tree is seven kinds of fucked up. Anyway.”
“My uncle on my mother’s side is - was - Chankoowashtay del Rio. Sioux. He was the original Thunderbolt. I suppose that makes me Thunderbolt II, but I prefer… the other name.”
She doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes.
“I wished… I wished I had power, like my uncles did. And when Uncle Chan… when he passed away, I got it. Like I’d wished. Like I’d taken it from him. Like I’d taken him away, so that I–”
She looks up, her lips trembling as she attempts a smile. “I don’t think about this stuff much. Don’t want to, most times. If I hadn’t wanted to be like Uncle Chan, if I hadn’t prayed for that, would he still be with us, y’know?”
She seems to have more to say, but isn’t ready to say it yet. To everyone else’s surprise, it’s Mirage that speaks up.
“When I was coming in from the cold, I had a list of people I planned to impress. A sort of barometer for whether I’d achieved my goal of becoming a better person. Tatanka was on that list. What I knew about him, and his record, impressed me. I don’t know if the biological Alycia Chin achieved that.”
She pauses, realizing perhaps that this needs to turn into something more. “I don’t know how Tatanka views you. I didn’t know much about your record before. I didn’t know much about Thunderbolt, other than that the World Alliance invited him to join, and he had refused. But from what little I have seen, I can say that although you may not be exercising your powers to their utmost potential, you have stayed faithful to the ideals of the superhero community.”
It’s a weird thing to say, but a very Mirage thing to say, and it brings a smile to A10’s lips. She’s able to continue her explanation.
“I have family from Chile and Peru. Abuela - Ignacia Carrasco - she’s Chilean. She married abuelo, Hector Guzman, from Peru. She moved the family up north when the junta took over. One of their children, my birth father, he married into Sioux folks in New Jersey, who’d themselves come from Wisconsin. The American 70’s hit him like a truck, which is why my full first name is, um, Andromeda.”
“When he passed, my mother remarried, of course. But she found people closer to home, among my father’s kin. That’s why I have two parents from the Seven Council Fires and grandparents from South America. Plus cousins from other families who’d come along, and done the same thing as us. Even Uncle Chan’s power decided it had to keep itself in the family.”
A10’s strange smile reflects the feelings she’s still struggling with. “It’s funny. Words really are magic. Abuela took charge of Uncle Chan’s stuff. Defended his legacy. Wanted to make sure he was remembered. And he was, even when some of the paler American heroes didn’t care. Because she used her words.”
She stands up. “I guess I should start by getting Uncle’s old notebook back. He wrote down his experiences as a hero. Probably includes stuff about powers. Probably a good place to start.”
She pats Harry gently on the shoulder on the way out. “Looks like you aren’t the only one here with a reading assignment.”
There’s one day left until the Sentence’s promise to appear.
Andi is depressed. When she comes to the team sync-up, she’s clutching a weather-beaten leather journal.
“I learned some stuff, but nothing that’ll help here,” she says at last, when pressed. “I’m sorry. I thought…”
Harry rests a comforting hand on her shoulder. “This isn’t the last bad guy you’re ever gonna fight, you know. And besides, if you aren’t sure what all you can do, nobody else is either.”
“Alright. Let’s review the plan…”