On his last day in the family house before he needed to return to the fire station, Darion finally has a finished prototype of his latest invention: the liquid processor.

The design came to Darion as a variation of the Chinese "Super Carbon Dioxide" powerplant he had read before to create this semiliquid state platform that you can embed unique transistors.

Unlike a silicon wafer that the transistors cover an area, the transistors in a liquid processor cover volumes instead. And with the specially customized transistor configuration, Darion is able to design a semiconductor that connects not in a sequence but instead combines with its fellow transistors in a near-instantaneous nexus net. Combine that with an unbelievably well-thought-out root program, and the result was a new revolutionary processor design that can easily be applied to any electronic device.

The liquid processor has a built-in Read-only memory core that housed the new OS system he developed with his impromptu scrum session and now he is testing it by dropping a drop of the liquid processor to his old computer. That small drop can contain up to 2 billion minuscule transistors working in perfect harmony despite moving around a bit because of the liquid's wobbly nature.

The drop splashed in the motherboard, and then within seconds, it synchronized with the existing hardware to make it perform better than it was intended to.

Darion gave it a second before activating the old Pentium 2 computer in the garage and to his mild surprised, the new OS program completely overwrote the old windows 95 OS in the computer and changes it all to a newer sleeker program. The hardware, however, received a tremendous boost in performance that it upgraded the entire network infrastructure to give it wireless connectivity despite originally having only a dial-up connection to connect to the internet. now it is wirelessly connected with a superfast connection. It is as if the PC is running on a steroid rush.

An antivirus checkup took mere seconds. Rendering software, defragging, game installation, full hard drive encryption, hell, almost every known hardware-intensive activity took mere minutes. And when he played games that the low spec PC should not be able to play in the first place, the liquid processor created a virtual RAM and VRAM configuration that made it all possible. Also, all the activity increases the temperature of the PC considerably but somehow, the liquid processor also physically suppresses that and the system works normally.

What really impresses Darion the most is the fact that it has its own self-learning software. He sort of added it himself, but even he was surprised how effective it was. The latest 3D printer, also made by a tinkerer 2 years ago, is now able to print liquid output, and it created the liquid processor one drop at a time. Darion gathered them in an oversize beaker and the moment that there is enough for a whiskey shot, the software within activates, and then gather information from nearby liquid processors, including the one in his old computer. So when he placed a drop in his laptop, the process became smoother and better integrated. The god damn software within the ROM of the liquid processor is learning. And it is learning lightning fast.

Within the hour, his Costco-bought low-end laptop is now a top-of-the-line supercomputer with breakneck wireless internet connectivity.

As a form of experiment, and also to have fun, Darion started placing a drop of the liquid processor on any device that uses transistors. The result varied. Things like television, radio, refrigerator, microwave oven, and other simple devices didn't show any prominent improvement, but cellphones, iPad, and the things he bought in the hero auction like the machine shop and 3D printer showed from marginal to unbelievable improvements. The machine shop alone made it more accurate, faster, and energy-efficient by more than 80 percent.

He also improved his parent's and Janiya's laptop and cellphones by secretly dropping the liquid processor in their devices.

Before he left the house and go back to his workplace, Darion also grabbed a glass container with a cork and brought some of the liquid processors with him.

*****

Darion was still fixing his backpack and stuffing it with his clothes when he heard something in the garage. He was in his room on the second floor of the house but his heightened senses made him hear the police scanner activate in the garage. He'd used his liquid processor and the unintended software upgrade gave it the option to put it on energy-saving mode and to filter out the mundane reports. It will only reactivate if it gets tag by specific choice words like "hero" or "villain" or basically something that will need a hero's assistance.

"All available heroes in the vicinity, please respond to a possible 10-55 in the corner of Maple and Pine Street, near the bridge east side, over," a female dispatcher said calmly.

Darion jumped out of his second-story window and before anyone can see him, he started zooming with his super speed.

10-55 means something about a drunk driver and the possible collateral damage. If he is honest to himself, he could care less about the driver, but his dad is out on patrol that night and it is almost inevitable that he will respond to this small emergency. Darion wanted to be sure his dad is safe.

When he arrived at the scene, the stupid driver already smashed his old car into the edge of the bridge and is now hanging precariously over the edge. His blood turned to ice when he noticed he wasn't the first hero on the scene. Four of his dad held the back of the car desperately and forcing the vehicle not to topple over.

Using his telekinetic powers, Darion grabbed the car and pulled it into a more solid surface. The powerful mind yank saved the car but staggered his dad. Even Darion was surprised by how easy it is to pull the one-ton car back into safety, especially at the distance he is standing in. Only now did he started appreciating the improvements in his telekinetic powers due to all the level upgrades the system had given it.

Within seconds, his dad, aka "Diverse," regained his balance. He and his clones started peeking inside to see the status of the driver. Darion took a step forward and called out to his dad.

Just then his heightened senses noticed the smell of gas in the air. The back compartment of the gray honda had been jarred open and Darion can see a glimpse of a gas container silhouette inside. He focused all his attention on that and his heightened hearing made him suddenly realize the hissing sound coming from it.

Darion barely thought about it. He used his super-speed and in an instant, he is on top of the roof of the car. Diverse glanced up and he was about to utter, "Dar-"

A great invisible wave of force pushed out of Darion and all 4 of his dad's clones flew away from him in different directions.

Darion Jumped down. He tore the driver's door from its hinges and threw it away into the river.

The driver was in a bad shape. The bottom of the car bent in a way that trapped one of his feet, maybe both of them. Darion reached in and ripped the seatbelt away from him. While he is doing that, his Focus Mind and Heightened Senses are scanning the rest of the interior for other people. There were none.

The man moaned, and Darion almost gagged from the alcohol in the driver's breath. It didn't help that besides that he can also smell smoke somewhere in the car. Smoke means fire.

Fire means they're fuck.

Darion reached below and with both hands widen the metal crushing the man's feet. There was a whining noise as the metal protested but eventually gave way.

With one hand, Darion lifted the driver, turned, and accelerated forward. Just as the gas ignited and both of them were engulfed in a ball of fire.

Darion emerged from that fire a split second later carrying the driver in front of him. Most of the fire and the accompanying shrapnel hit his back instead. And he barely felt it. What he felt though is the ringing in his ear as the explosion almost shattered his eardrums.

Sometimes, having a super-hearing isn't what is it crack up to be.

Disoriented, Darion staggered and almost fell down to the floor but the driver was fine, minus a few bruises and a singed eyebrow.

Within moments, Diverse is right next to him and supporting him. "What in the world are you doing here?!" he asked bewildered. He was alarmed by the burned clothes in his son's back but the healthy olive skin beneath it somewhat mollified him.

Darion was busy minimizing multiple messages he just received, but he knew it is not the time to check it.

"I heard the request for heroes in the police scanner," Darion said quickly. "So, aah, here I am."

"On your rest day?" His dad asked as two of his clones started applying first aid on the injured driver.

"Why not?" Darion said. "I wasn't doing anything at the time. And now that I saw you here, I'm glad I came. If I'm not here you could have been hurt by that blast!"

His dad smiled at him reassuringly. "Don't you worry, son, your old man is tougher than he looks."

"Oh? I'm pretty sure you don't have invulnerability as one of your superpowers."

Diverse's eyes narrowed down at his son. "And I'm pretty sure you also don't have that power as well, son. How did you survive that blast, anyway?"

Fuck.

"I, Aaah, created a telekinetic shield around me," Darion lied. Then almost as an afterthought, he pointed at the driver. "And him as well."

His dad looked at him a bit longer, then nodded to himself. "That is quick thinking of you," he said. "But aah, shall we agree not to overblow this story to your mom. She... doesn't like excitement in our job."

Darion grinned. "Sure, Dad, I'm with yah."

They both laughed, just happy and relieve that nothing happened to them in that dangerous situation. His dad fussed over Darion and checked him for any injuries, while Darion nervously fended him off.

Unknown to Darion, 2 of his dad's clones were looking up at him with a frown in their faces, and not saying anything.