I woke up the next day after having dinner with the Fantastic Four. Gotta say, that Ben guy is pretty rocky.
Yeah, I had to make the joke at least once.
Being around that crew made me realize something: I don't really have much of a social life. I mean, sure, I talk to people—but hanging out with a genius family, a literal rock-man, and Johnny "Human Torch" Storm? Yeah. Different league.
Maybe I should go to school…
…
Nah.
This whole "social interaction" issue? It'll fix itself eventually. Right?
Anyway, I walked up to the window and open it looking out over New York City. Tall buildings, traffic noise, the distant sound of someone yelling about bagels—typical.
Then I saw it: a fire blazing about four blocks down, smoke curling up into the sky. Webs stretched across the street like a chaotic spider-themed art exhibit.
"Huh," I muttered. "Looks like Spider-Man's fighting bank robbers again. Man, so early in the morning, too."
Then I glanced at the clock.
It read: 12:45 PM.
"…Oh."
Guess I really needed that sleep.
As I stepped out of the guest bedroom, I bumped into HERBIE—short for Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics. Yeah, kind of a mouthful. Basically, he's an A.I. with an old-school look who helps the Fantastic Four with pretty much everything. Tracking threats, running diagnostics, babysitting their kids—you name it, HERBIE's on it.
"Hey, HERBIE," I said, stretching out the last bit of sleep from my voice. "What's everybody else up to today?"
I was genuinely curious. I mean, sure, these guys are world-class superheroes, but… what do they do on a regular Monday?
HERBIE's eyes flickered softly, his voice calm and matter-of-fact. "Mr. Richards is currently in Lab 3 performing quantum simulations. Miss Storm is assisting with a Stark industries calibration request. Mr. Grimm is attending a PR event in Queens. And Mr. Storm is—"
Before HERBIE could finish, a loud boom echoed from somewhere downstairs, followed by a shout of "I'M FINE!"
HERBIE didn't even blink—well, he can't, but you get the idea.
"Mr. Storm is, as usual, testing the limits of your species' definition of 'fine.'"
I snorted. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
I glanced around the hallway, realizing it didn't mention the siblings. "I guess the siblings are in school or something."
"I guess the siblings are in school or something," I muttered, mostly to myself.
HERBIE confirmed it with a polite, "Correct. Franklin and Valeria are attending their designated educational programs until 2:15 p.m."
I scratched the back of my head, thinking. "Cool, cool…"
There was a short pause before I glanced back at HERBIE. "Hey, can you show me where Reed is at?"
"Of course," HERBIE replied without missing a beat. A small holographic map flickered to life in the air beside him, displaying a simple floor plan of the Baxter Building with a glowing dot pulsing in one of the deeper levels. "Dr. Richards is currently in Lab 3, located two floors below the main level. Would you like me to escort you?"
I hesitated for a second. Did I really want to walk in on one of the smartest minds in the universe while he was doing science-y stuff? On the other hand… I really want to see if I have the X-gene.
"Yeah," I nodded. "Let's go."
HERBIE hovered alongside me as we made our way through the sleek hallways of the Baxter Building. The deeper we went, the more high-tech everything became—panels on the walls humming softly, lights shifting to recognize us as we passed. Finally, we stopped in front of a sliding door that whooshed open with a quiet hiss.
Inside, Reed Richards was in full scientist mode, half-stretched across the room like he was part spaghetti noodle, tweaking some massive contraption that looked like a cross between a particle accelerator and a coffee machine. I had no idea what it did—something quantum, no doubt—but I wasn't here to figure that out.
"Dr. Richards," HERBIE called out. "You have a visitor."
Reed didn't even look up at first. "HERBIE, unless Galactus is knocking at the door or Ben brought back another alien virus, it can wait."
"It's Nate," HERBIE added.
That made him pause.
Reed turned his attention to me, his face stretching back into place as he raised a brow. "Ah, our houseguest. What brings you down here?"
I rubbed the back of my neck. "I was wondering… could you run a test? I kinda want to know if I have the X-gene."
There was a beat of silence. Then, Reed smiled—just a little. "Curious, are we? I can work with that."
Reed walked over to one of his many worktables—or maybe it was a scanner... honestly, I'm not a science guy. To me, it looked like something you'd find in a sci-fi movie right before someone gets turned into a lizard.
He tapped a few keys on a holographic interface that popped up in midair, lights flickering to life around the device. "This should do the trick," he said, motioning me over. "Stand here. Try not to move—unless you want extra limbs or something."
I raised an eyebrow. "That... was a joke, right?"
Reed didn't answer.
Cool.
I stepped into place and the machine hummed as it swept a soft blue light across my body from head to toe. It wasn't uncomfortable—kinda felt like a warm breeze mixed with static electricity. I squinted at the display screen, trying to make sense of the rainbow mess of lines and numbers showing up.
"So?" I asked, trying not to fidget. "Am I mutant, alien, vampire, robot, or just a really good-looking regular kid?"
Reed squinted at the data. "Well, you're definitely... interesting."
Not creepy at all.
"You have human DNA," Reed began, his eyes scanning the data. "But there's also... something else. An unknown strand intertwined with it."
He adjusted a few settings, and the screen zoomed in on the genetic structure. "This other DNA—it's not just there. It's slowly becoming dominant. Almost like it's... waking up. And based on the progression, the process started the moment you were born."
I blinked. "So... I'm mutating?"
Reed didn't say yes, but the look on his face wasn't exactly comforting.
Reed looked up from the scanner, expression unreadable."No," he said firmly, "you have the X-gene… but this is something else entirely."
He tapped on the screen, zooming into a segment of my DNA that looked like static chaos."This isn't mutant. It's not Inhuman, not Skrull, not Kree. I've never seen anything like it. It's... rewriting you from the inside out."
I felt a chill crawl up my spine."So… what does that mean for me?"
Reed glanced at me. "It means whoever—or whatever—you are… it hasn't fully awakened yet."
Reed didn't seem to hear the silence that followed his words, but my mind was already spiraling.
'Does this have something to do with what Franklin and Mayday were feeling about me?' I pondered.
They said I felt… buzzing from me Like something weird. Something powerful. I didn't really get it at the time—I just thought they were being weird. But now?
I really need to have a conversation with Dad when he gets back.