November 1943
The theater was packed with people, most of them soldiers and civilians, with children sitting in the front row who were excited to see the show. The stage was brightly lit, with red, white, and blue decorations hanging across the walls. Large American flags stood on both sides of the stage, while colorful lights shone down on the performers.
Music filled the theater as a group of women in colorful dresses performed a lively dance across the stage. The audience clapped along with the music, and some of the soldiers whistled and cheered as the performers moved across the stage.
Then the music changed.
The women moved aside as Captain America stepped onto the stage, carrying his shield.
The crowd immediately erupted into cheers.
"CAPTAIN AMERICA!"
Steve smiled and raised his shield, waving toward the audience before beginning his speech. Soon, he joined the women on stage and began singing along with them, putting on a show for the crowd.
A few rows back, two girls and a woman were watching the performance with curiosity.
"I didn't know Steve had done this kind of show before. This is actually pretty good entertainment," Morgan said, watching Steve's performance.
"Yeah, it's been less than four months, and he's already made it into comics, movies, and shows. His face is everywhere on the streets. He seems more like an actor to me than a war hero," Emma said sarcastically.
"Yeah, now he's just a propaganda hero. Red Queen, is your new body all set? No more adjustments needed?" Morgan asked, looking at the woman beside them.
"No. This body is already good enough. There's no need for any more adjustments. And when we're outside, just call me Alice," Red Queen replied.
"But Morgan, your idea to create a robot that looks human and have Red Queen act as our guardian was brilliant. It saved us from a lot of trouble."
Just then, the show came to an end, so the trio left the theater. Outside, there were a lot of vendors selling items related to Captain America. Seeing this, Emma bought a limited-edition Captain America comic.
"This story is really good," Emma commented as she flipped through a few pages.
Then, with a shout, a woman came running toward the crowd, and soon a large group of people gathered as children and adults tried to take pictures with Captain America.
"These crazy women, my ears are ringing," Emma complained as she tried a few games with Morgan and Red Queen while the crowd slowly started to leave.
Soon, Emma and Morgan made their way toward Steve.
Snap!
A white flash of light went off as Captain America took picture after picture with a smile.
"Hey, Steve, do you remember me?"
Hearing someone call him by his name, Steve turned around in surprise. Almost everyone called him Captain America now.
But when he saw Emma and Morgan, his surprise turned into shock.
"Emma and Morgan! It's you girls! How are you two? And how did you know it was me?" he asked, surprised.
Most people who had known Steve before the serum still had trouble connecting the skinny Steve Rogers they remembered with Captain America. Yet these two girls had recognized him almost immediately.
"Isn't it normal for friends to recognize each other?" Emma said with a smile.
Steve didn't think much about it and took a picture with them. After that, he told them to wait for a few minutes because he still had some work to finish before he could properly meet them. He apologized for keeping them waiting before heading back to finish what he had to do.
Emma and Morgan decided to give him some space while they waited. As they stood to the side, Emma noticed Alice talking to someone nearby.
Well, talking wasn't exactly the right word.
A man was clearly trying to flirt with her.
Emma looked at him for a moment before recognizing him. She immediately turned toward Morgan with a grin.
"Morgan, it's your grandpa," Emma teased.
"Hmph." Morgan sighed and rolled her eyes. "Let's go."
The two girls walked over to Alice, who still looked completely clueless about what was happening.
"Lady, you look very beautiful, and that red hair of yours is something else. May I know your name?" Howard asked with a charming smile.
"Alice," Red Queen answered simply.
"Alice. That's a beautiful name."
"Alice, let's go. We don't need to talk to some playboy," Morgan said as she took Alice's hand.
"Wait, wait. There's been a misunderstanding," Howard said quickly. "I'm not a playboy. Well... not right now, anyway."
Emma couldn't help laughing.
"That's exactly what a playboy would say."
Howard looked at her with an amused expression.
"We've heard about you," Emma said.
Howard straightened slightly, looking pleased.
"Oh? Then I'm guessing you've heard that I'm a brilliant scientist."
"That's what they say."
"And they're absolutely right."
Morgan gave him an unimpressed look.
"He really likes talking about himself."
"Hey, I'm just being honest," Howard said with a laugh.
Emma looked at Howard for a moment before a mischievous smile appeared on her face.
"Since you're such a genius, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Do you think you're smarter than Morgan?"
Howard looked at Emma with confusion.
"Morgan? Is there some scientist named Morgan I haven't heard of? Is she a foreign scientist?"
"She is Morgan," Emma said, pointing toward Morgan, who was standing nearby.
Howard looked at Emma as if asking whether she was serious.
"Hey, what's with that look? Don't you dare judge her by her age. I challenge you. She's smarter than you!"
Howard laughed.
"All right, I'll admit that's bold. What does she know?"
Emma turned toward Morgan.
Morgan sighed and leaned closer to Emma.
"Why are you dragging me into this?" she whispered.
"Don't you want to beat him? You won't get another chance like this later," Emma whispered back.
Morgan looked at Howard for a moment before a small smile appeared on her face.
"Okay, let's do it."
"Okay, fine. Ask me something," Howard said, still not taking the challenge too seriously.
Emma shook her head.
"No. You ask her."
Howard thought for a moment before giving Morgan a simple problem, something he expected any reasonably intelligent student to be able to solve.
"Don't ask something even a kid can answer. Ask her something harder," Emma cut in.
Howard raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? You want a harder one?"
"Of course."
"Okay, okay."
This time, Howard asked a much harder question, one that even took him some time to work out himself. He was hoping it would finally be enough to shut this girl up.
But to his surprise, Morgan gave him the answer much faster than he expected.
Howard stared at her for a moment.
"Wait... how did you get that so quickly?"
Emma grinned.
"See? Surprised, right?"
Howard shook his head with a small laugh.
"All right. You were smarter."
Emma smiled proudly.
"I told you."
Howard wasn't willing to stop there. He started asking Morgan more questions related to a research problem he was working on, and this time he paid much closer attention to her answers.
Morgan didn't know everything, but whenever Howard explained a problem, she was able to look at it from angles he hadn't considered before and offer different solutions.
Sometimes Howard disagreed with her, but after thinking about her suggestions, he would go back to his notebook and check the calculations himself.
The more they talked, the more serious Howard became.
Eventually, Howard shook his head with a smile.
"All right. I admit it. You two are much smarter than I expected. I don't think I was anywhere near this level at your age."
Emma smiled.
"See? I told you."
Howard laughed and shook his head.
"I still can't believe I'm getting lectured about science by two kids."
"You should get used to it," Emma teased.
That made Howard laugh again, and soon their conversation naturally moved from his current research to science in general.
As they talked, Emma and Morgan began sharing some ideas about what the future might look like.
"Do you guys also believe future computers will become smaller? Not bad, you two have the same thoughts as mine," Howard praised them.
From there, the conversation became much more interesting. Emma and Morgan talked about artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, smaller and more powerful computers, wireless communication, electric vehicles, reusable spacecraft, holograms, and other concepts that made Howard look at the girls differently.
Howard didn't believe everything they told him, but he didn't dismiss it either. Some of their ideas were so wild that he hadn't even dared to imagine them before, and whenever something sounded impossible, he argued back. Still, he found himself jotting down a few notes just to remember the ideas. He had no idea how much this strange encounter would stay with him, especially when some of what they described eventually became reality in the future.
Howard eventually closed his notebook and looked at the two girls with genuine interest.
"You know, before today, if someone had told me that two kids your age could be this smart, I would've laughed at them. But after meeting you two..." Howard smiled and shook his head. "Now I think I finally understand what a real genius looks like."
Emma smiled.
"You're saying we're smarter than you?"
Howard laughed.
"Don't push your luck."
Before they could continue, a photographer approached them.
"Mr. Stark, would you like a photograph?"
"Sure. Why not?" Howard agreed.
The photographer soon took a group picture, followed by a few individual pictures. Alice only stayed for one before stepping away, clearly not liking the camera flash.
As they were taking the pictures, Howard's assistant came over and whispered something in his ear.
Howard looked toward him before sighing.
"Looks like I have to leave. Something came up."
He then looked back at Emma and Morgan.
"It was great meeting you two. You really are something."
Howard took a card from his pocket and handed it to Emma.
"That's my office address. Come visit me sometime. I'd like to continue this conversation, and you can visit my lab too."
Emma took the card and smiled.
"Sure."
"And when you're older, I can recommend some good universities. With your talent, you shouldn't have any trouble getting into one."
Morgan nodded.
"Thank you."
Howard smiled at both of them.
"You two have a bright future ahead of you. Don't waste that knowledge and creativity."
"We won't," Emma replied.
"Good. I hope I get to see what you two become someday."
Howard then looked toward Alice.
"And I hope I see you again too, Alice."
Alice simply nodded.
The photographer handed Howard the photographs once they were ready. Howard looked through them before keeping a copy for himself and handing one copy to them.
"Here. You keep this one."
Emma carefully took the photograph.
"Thanks."
Howard smiled.
"Don't lose it."
"We won't."
Howard gave them one last smile before heading off with his assistant.
Meanwhile,
Far away from Earth Jack and Gwen were finally approaching the Solar System.
After weeks of traveling through space, Earth was finally within reach.
Gwen stared at the navigation screen, her eyes lighting up.
"Found it! Red Queen didn't make a mistake. The map is correct. We're finally going back to Earth!" Gwen said excitedly.
Jack looked at the screen and smiled.
"Yeah. We're finally home."
A/N: The Patreon version is already updated with 20 advanced chapters. If you'd like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join here: