Palace Courtyard, Palace of Power, VideoLand, Milky Way Galaxy, Q-niverse.  Stardate 1 068 060.27; July 22, 3013.

Thomas found his sister sitting on a bench in the courtyard of the palace.  He went over to her and sat to her right.  The siblings looked in each other's eyes for a few moments.  "You okay?" he asked.

            "Yeah.  You?"

            "Yes."  They hugged each other.

            "What are you going to do now that you're staying here, bro?"

            Thomas shrugged when they released one another.  "Maybe I'll help Mr. Mason and Mr. Burger with this case."

            "Maybe you could help Lieutenant Drumm when he searches Nuclesís's home."

            "Sounds good.  Hopefully Michael's and my involvement won't hinder Father's objectivity."

            "What do you think of Michael?"

            "He's a lot like Father, but he's also different.  I think I like him, but I have to get to know him better before I state it more definitely."

            "Same here.  They sure seemed to enjoy playing those games after Michael got over losing that little battle.  If he and Kevin can be the fiercest of opponents, then I guess they both kind of got unused to playing against each other."

            "Mostly, they played co-operatively," said Thomas.  "They never played Super Mario 3 or Super Mario World together before last night, but they got through with few slip-ups."  He grinned.  "Now I'd like to play."

            Kelly laughed.  "Actually, so would I," she admitted.  "It must be in the Keene genes."

            Lieutenant Drumm and Lieutenant Tragg came out into the courtyard.  "Please excuse us, Your Highnesses," Drumm said.

            "Certainly," said Thomas, he and Kelly turning to the door.  "What can I do for you, Lieutenant Drumm?"

            "Prince Thomas, would you be able to accompany Lieutenant Tragg and me and some other homicide officers to search the Nuclesís residence?  We have a search warrant, but you have abilities that we do not, and we know better than to ask your father, the judge.  Nuclesís's fortress is certain to be a very dangerous place."

            "Certainly, sir," said Thomas.  "In fact, I was going to ask if I could join you."

            "Well," Tragg said, "we're about to go."

            "All right."

            Kelly said, "Thomas, I'll tell our parents you'll be out for a while."

            "Thank you, Kelly."  Thomas, Drumm, and Tragg left for the warp hall.

            Kelly inquired, "Computer, where are Kevin and Lana?"

            "They are presently in Kevin's room."

            Red light! Kelly's mind screamed.  She knew they would not appreciate her interrupting them if they were engaged in certain matters.  She tapped her communicator.  "Dad, this is Kelly."

            Just after this, Kevin's voice replied, "Hi, Kelly.  What's up?"

            "Mind if I come talk to you?"

            "Of course not.  I'm in my room with your mother."

            "Will I be interrupting anything?"

            "No.  Just come over and don't worry, daughter."

            "Okay, Daddy.  See you in a moment."  She tapped her communicator, then went to her father's room.

            * * *

            Lana enjoyed watching her husband - her boyfriend - play games.  He seemed to enjoy it, and he seemed imaginative enough to get more out of the games than what others might.  She concurred with his preference for action-adventure and RPG games.  He was currently playing Super Mario RPG.  Fighting in this game was nothing like fighting in any other Mario game, but many other characteristics were retained. . . Mario's jumping, use of Mushrooms to boost strength (though that worked differently here, too), and several others.

            Kevin was grateful to have someone to talk to during the time when he was only boosting the characters' levels.  The first time he played a true turn-based RPG, he had discovered on his own that it would be advantageous to boost the characters' levels by gaining experience points from relatively weaker enemies for when he needed more power against stronger enemies.  Right now, he had rescued Princess Toadstool from marriage to the ugly Booster.  He had returned to Booster's Tower and was 'cheating,' though not technically.  He would never really cheat.  This was more of gaining an advantage.  He was raising his characters' levels all the way to Level 30 before he continued to Star Hill.  It was a long way, since each character had to get all the way to 9999 experience points from enemies that only give between 5 and 9 experience points, and the task was usually a bit boring to him.

            It proved its worth later, though.  Mario and his troop were usually at Level 9 by the time they had saved Toadstool.  (Kevin liked to keep the characters' experience point numbers as close to equal as possible.)  However, continuing was very difficult at Level 9.  At this point in the game, even the minor characters could be tough to beat, and tackling the Sunken Ship at Level 9 or Level 10 was like suicide.  He found it best to tackle the ship at least at Level 18, when Mario and his group had all their special magical attacks.  However, it was easiest just to go to Level 30 and then continue without backtracking just to raise the levels again.

            When his whole group had reached Level 20, he left the tower and went to the inn in the nearby Rose Town, where a kind act had earned Mario a free place to rest and save the game.  After Mario had slept (and said hello to the inn's other guest, Link) and jumped onto the Save Block and saved, Kevin sighed.  "This is getting a little boring," he complained.

            Lana said, "Maybe I can continue that for you."

            Kevin smiled.  "You?"

            "Sure!  It looks easy enough."

            "Well, it is.  Okay, Lana."  He handed her the controller.  "I am kind of tired of punching the buttons."

            Lana led Mario out of the inn.  It was not difficult for her to adapt to the diagonal movements required.  She took Mario to Booster's Tower, then led back to the steady stream of Snifits that Kevin used for level-boosting.  There were four configurations of the enemy groups, and Kevin told her the best order of attack until she got the hang of it.  She got the hang of attack-doubling without any trouble.  Soon, she did not need to be told the attack pattern for each group configuration the enemies took, for she had memorised the attack pattern.

            At about Level 22, the call from Kelly came.  "Dad, this is Kelly," Kelly's voice said after Kevin's communicator beeped.

            Kevin tapped his communicator.  "Hi, Kelly.  What's up?"

            "Mind if I come talk to you?"

            "Of course not.  I'm in my room with your mother."

            "Will I be interrupting anything?"

            "No.  Just come over and don't worry, daughter."

            "Okay, Daddy.  See you in a moment."  Kevin's communicator beeped.

            Lana smiled.  "Does she always call you 'Daddy'?"

            "Only affectionately, and she's the only one of the pair that routinely does that," Kevin said.  "Thomas might call me that, but only if his feelings are really in a turmoil.  They usually call me 'Dad' or 'Father.' "  He watched.  Lana certainly had gotten the hang of this quickly, though that was not hard to do, especially if one was patient.  "Lookin' good, Lana."

            "Thank you, Kevin.  This isn't really that complicated."

            "No, it isn't.  It gets boring quickly, though."  The door-chimer rang.  "Come."  Kelly entered the room when the door had opened.  "Hi, Kelly."

            "Hello," Kelly greeted.  "What's this game?"

            "It's Super Mario RPG:  Legend of the Seven Stars," Kevin said.

            "Oh, yeah.  That really long one, compared to the other Mario games."

            Lana said, "It's long only because he insists on getting the characters all the way to Level 30 halfway through the game."

            Kevin said, "It's probably even longer if you don't do that because you have to spend more time fighting."

            "I'm helping him take care of the level-boosting," Lana said.

            "I see," said Kelly.  She pulled up a chair.  "Dad, Thomas has gone with Lieutenants Drumm and Tragg to help in a search."

            Kevin nodded.  "All right," he said.  He did not have to be told which search.  Drumm and Tragg had a warrant to thoroughly go through Nuclesís's dwelling, an unprecedented opportunity.  "Well, my brother and my son are now involved.  Too bad I can't defer this case to a more impartial judge."

            Lana said, "Kevin, you know the duties of the highest ruler of VideoLand.  One is to judge capital crimes, and the murder of a representative certainly counts."

            "Yeah, but. . . hey.  Am I still the highest ruler?  Aren't you queen, now that I'm king?"

            "Yes, but events have passed so that you are now the highest ruler.  My power was transferred to Queen Peach when both you and I were unable to rule, and the power was then transferred to you, as my spouse.  Unless you alter the rules, you are the highest ruler of VideoLand and hence the judge.  And I love VideoLand, and I'll do all that I can to protect it, but I don't particularly want that responsibility again.  A thousand years is long enough.  Besides, Michael and Thomas are only involved in protecting a witness and searching a domicile, respectively."

            "Yeah.  Whoa!  Nice hit!"

            Lana flashed him a wide grin.  "Thanks."

            Kevin asked, "So, Kelly, have you formed any opinions about my brother?"

            "My instinct is to like him," Kelly said.  "He seems pretty nice."

            "He is," said Lana.

            Kevin grinned and winked at Lana.  "I think you like him," he said.

            "He's quite like you, Kevin."  She sighed.

            "He is younger than you.  Quite a bit younger."

            "Yes.  Still, Kevin, I think there is some common ground there.  If he were brought here that evening instead of you, how do you think he'd have reacted?"

            Kevin grinned again.  "One look at you, and he'd probably have been at your mercy."

            "Ha, ha!  It's an act, Kevin!  Except in my case, he just pretends to be infatuated."

            "I know that.  He does it because I find it annoying, of course.  I don't really mind.  It's just a harmless joke.  And I know he finds you pretty.  I sure do."

            Kelly asked, "What about that little matter of a. . . a sister?"

            Lana sighed.  "I really don't know, Kelly."

            "Would you like to find out?" Kevin asked.  "I can take us to the Mirror World, if you'd like."

            "Could you, Kevin?  I'd be grateful."

            "I can try, at least.  However, I think it would be best to wait until after this case."

            "Sure."  Lana paused the game and kissed him on the lips.  His intentions were all that really mattered to her.  He always meant well, and she liked that.  If he were not so kind to her and so interested in becoming a 'backup' ruler, she would have had serious reservations about marrying him.

            Kelly saw immediately that they cared greatly for each other.  This was also a case where a kiss that was intended to be short became very long.  She could see it.  When Lana tried to draw back, Kevin gently put his right hand against the back of her head.  Their kiss did not get wildly out of hand, though.  It remained compassionate and loving.  The two gazed into each other's eyes for some time after they had kissed each other.

            "Do you two want to be left alone?" Kelly asked.

            "No, but thank you," said Kevin softly as he and Lana released each other.  He picked up the controller.  "Would you like to continue with this, Lana?"

            "Sure," Lana replied.  He handed her back the controller.  She resumed the game, continuing to punch out the enemy monsters for experience points.

            After everyone was at Level 25, Kevin said, "You might want to go back to the Rose Town Inn to rest the group, and then save.  After all, it has been a while."

            "But everyone's decently healthy," Lana said, fighting another battle on the screen.

            "I know, but it's always a good policy to save rather often in one of these games."

            Lana shrugged.  "Okay," she said.  After the battle was over, she took Mario back out of Booster Tower and to the Rose Town Inn, where she rested Mario and saved the game.

            "After all, we don't know when something inexplicable could happen.  Like some power surge deactivating the game system, or some little twerp in the game getting lucky.  That's another thing, too.  One tough guy is really small, so you cannot judge an enemy by its size."

            Lana nodded as she returned Mario to the tower and started boosting experience points again.  "I see," she said.

            Kelly said, "This part's kind of monotonous, isn't it?"

            "Yeah," said Kevin.  "However, it makes the rest of the game easier."  He grinned.  "At the beginning of one game, I even wasted time advancing Mario and Mallow all the way to Level 30 before taking on Croco.  That took a lot longer than this, because tougher enemies give more experience points.  I also decided that that wasn't really worth the effort, and it was certainly inefficient.  So's this, probably, but who's perfect?"

            "It seems you need to get more and more points to level-up," Lana said.

            "You do," replied Kevin.  He got up and went to his magazine shelf, and he removed the Super Mario RPG Player's Guide.  He pulled out a sheet of notebook paper that had a table he had written.  "One day, I decided to write out this table to tell how many experience points it takes to reach a certain level."  He handed the sheet to Kelly.

            "The difference does increase as you go up," said Kelly.  "Quite a bit.  Gee.  You don't reach 5000 points until 40 points after reaching Level 22."

            "Well, the game makers don't exactly want us to play this way," Kevin said.  "As you progress, the enemies get tougher, and you get more experience points.  At this point in the game, Booster's Tower is about the best place to get enemies that give this many points.  I just do it for ease of playing.  The higher your level, the more strength and endurance you have."

            "I see.  I guess being bored for a while is better than getting zapped all the time."

            "Sure is."

            * * *

            Nuclesís's House, Atom Mountain, Chemistra, VideoLand.

            After a minute with no response from their knocks, Drumm picked the computerised lock, and the police entered the house by the front door.  Drumm told Sergeant Brice, "Take three and search the back for evidence."

            "Yes, sir," said Brice.  He took three uniformed officers to the back of the house with him.

            That left Drumm, Tragg, Thomas, and two other uniformed officers to search the living room.  "May I search the computer here?" Thomas asked.  "My father and Wilykat taught me a bit of how they use computers."

            Drumm nodded.  He knew how great Kevin and Wilykat were with computers.  "All right, Thomas."  Thomas went to the computer.  "Oh, just a moment."  Drumm took a tricorder and scanned the whole room before any evidence could be destroyed.  The device could record superficial evidence such as fingerprints anywhere in the room for later analysis and create a detailed map showing where the prints were.  Drumm nodded to Thomas.  "Go ahead."

            Thomas sat in the seat in front of the terminal and activated it.  He used the keyboard to pull up the list of log entries and the list of communication logs.  "This guy appears to keep records of everything."

            Drumm came to his side as he viewed the most recent logs.  "Everything fits," Drumm said with satisfaction.  "Nice job, Thomas.  This'll help the state's case."

            Tragg was searching the room.  "A knife," he said, pulling a knife out of a drawer with his gloved hand and handing it to Drumm.

            Drumm examined the weapon.  "Looks about right."  He used his tricorder.  "Blood stains of the deceased," he said conclusively.

            "I thoroughly examined it before picking it up.  Nuclesís's prints are all over it."

            A uniformed officer examined something in another drawer, then pulled it out.  "Lieutenant Drumm, I found and examined this."  He brought the glovelike device to Drumm.

            "We'll take this to Dr. Wright," Drumm said.

            "May I see it?" Thomas asked as he donned a pair of plain gloves.  Drumm handed him the device.  "Looks like a glove."  He examined the fingertips.  "Uh, oh."  He found a control panel and operated it.  "A list of fingerprint models.  Ah-ha.  Sergeant, what did you find on here?"

            "I found Nuclesís's prints and traces of the decedent's blood," replied the officer.

            "Looks like this might be a fingerprint-glove."  He typed in a command, and the fingerprint-pattern changed.  "Yes.  You key in the person whose fingerprints you want, and you get 'em if the prints are stored in the files in the glove's computer."

            "Hm," said Drumm, taking the glove back when Thomas handed it to him.  "Yes.  Jack Stannous's prints are stored on here.  However, it appears that Nuclesís's are not."

            "Why have your own prints stored on here if you don't want people to find it and use it as evidence?" Thomas asked.  "Makes no sense."

            "I agree."  Drumm used his tricorder to record the contents of Nuclesís's logs.  "There.  Now we have Nuclesís's logs."

            Brice and the other officers returned.  "We found this in a hamper in the laundry room near the kitchen," said Brice, holding up a blood-stained shirt.  "Matches Ferrosis's blood.  She was found shirtless.  Her name is embroidered in the tag."

            "Was there blood where she was found?" Thomas asked astutely.

            "No, but there was evidence of an excellent attempt to wipe out all traces of blood in several places," said Drumm.  "You may be called, Thomas.  We'll have to check everything out, especially the glove, but you did make the discoveries, and you should be the one to tell.  We'll get Dr. Wright or another highly qualified N-Team scientist to testify as to the glove's functions."  Thomas nodded.  "Are there any more stones unturned?"

            "Only the basements," Brice said.  "Too bad we can't torch this place and make Nuclesís get a new home."

            "Yeah, but we're not allowed," said Drumm.  "He has rights, too.  Well, unless anyone is really keen on searching the basements, I guess we'll leave, if His Highness will pardon my choice of adjectives."

            "What's down there?" Thomas asked.

            "Mr. James Chemsos would have us believe that we don't want to know what's down there, and I think I agree," said Tragg.  "Besides, I think we have enough evidence.  These logs can show motive and opportunity.  Of course, since Mason isn't defending the defendant, the prosecution case will probably be a bit easier to implement."

            "There are probably some attorneys who fight dirtier than Perry," Drumm said.  "Most of them don't work pro bono.  However, one may be appointed to Nuclesís, but with Kevin as judge, I doubt it.  Of course, Nuclesís can hire his own lawyer.  Then, the scenario changes, depending on how many pounds Nuclesís has to spread around.  Well, let's get this evidence over to Hamilton."

            * * *

            Control Room, Metroid, VideoLand.

            Electron Charge asked, "Why are we letting them do this?"

            "To teach Charles a lesson," MotherBrain replied.  "This shows carelessness on his part.  It's clear he wasn't expecting them to discover his deception.  If I were he, I'd have heavily encrypted those logs and tossed everything else into the nastiest basement maze in the place.  And the next time, he should make no admissions!  This would have been wonderful for us if he hadn't made that mistake.  I shall rectify the situation, but only once he's convicted.  He's intelligent, though, and maybe he'll get a great lawyer who can get him off.  Then, I'll just have to get Stannous.  Whatever happens, I'm sure Nuclesís will learn his lesson."

            "How do you know all this?" Proton Brain asked.

            "Experience, Mr. Proton Brain.  I learned from my mistakes, and so should he.  Learning from one's mistakes is important in any profession, including villainy.  A successful criminal mastermind is one who can learn from the mistakes he or she makes and not get caught the same way again.  Mon*Star knows this, too."  Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo entered the room.  "Ah.  Was your spying attempt successful?"

            "Yes," Eggplant Wizard said.  "Tomorrow, Mason and Burger will make the motion to start the preliminary hearing day after tomorrow."

            "Good," said MotherBrain.

            King Hippo asked, "What if Captain N disqualifies himself as judge?"

            "He won't," MotherBrain said.  "He respects the rules too much.  No matter the personal involvement, the ruling monarch is expected to judge capital cases, and this is the most capital murder that has occurred in a long time.  Of course, he is completely entitled to change the rules, but he doesn't seem to do that.  He has ruled pretty well over the past year, at least under his philosophy.  People are happy again, and the land is economically stable, but he just has to ruin it all by making it democratic."

            "Well, he was born in a republican democracy," Eggplant Wizard said.

            "I know.  But the ruler of VideoLand can be a dictator.  Neither he nor Lana has ever taken full advantage of that right.  They're too good to realise that they can have whatever they want and can do whatever they want.  That, or they just plain don't want it.  Maybe we can get to their heir, though."

            Neutron Head said, "I don't know about that, Your Wrinkledness."

            MotherBrain's face became an awful scowl.  "Never use the word 'wrinkle' to describe me!  These are beauty lines!!"  She zapped him with a small jolt of electricity.

            "Yow!" Neutron Head cried.

            "Is that clear to all of you muffin-heads?"

            "Yes, MotherBrain," all five of the idiots said.

            "Good."

            * * *

            Burger's Office, Palace of Power, VideoLand.

            Hamilton Burger and Perry Mason were discussing their strategy in the former's office when Lieutenant Steve Drumm's voice called over their communicators, "Hamilton, this is Steve Drumm.  Please respond."

            Burger tapped his communicator.  "This is Hamilton," he replied.  "How was the search?"

            "Very productive.  We have some nice evidence down here."

            "All right.  Perry and I will come down."

            "Okay."  The communication was cut.

            Hamilton and Perry stood up and left the office.  They went to the elevator and took it down to the level where the VLPD was based.  The VideoLand Police Department had a large entryhall just at the elevator exit.  The two attorneys went to the homicide division, where Lieutenant Anderson was waiting for them.  He led them to the lab, where Thomas, Lt. Drumm, Lt. Tragg, Sgt. Brice, and Dr. Wright were waiting.

            "Hello, Hamilton and Perry," Drumm said.  The door to the lab opened again, and Chief Samus Aran came in wearing her office suit.  She wore it when on duty as a police officer.  "Hello, Samus.  Here's the evidence we gathered at Nuclesís's home."

            Dr. Wright picked up the glove.  "This is a fingerprint imitator," he said.  "It has several fingerprint patterns programmed into it, and the fingertips change the pattern.  It is highly probable that Nuclesís used this device to frame Stannous."

            Thomas said, "We also found some logs in his computer.  Some very revealing logs.  Including discussions he had with MotherBrain concerning his plot to take care of Representative Ferrosis."

            "Then, she certainly seems like a likely witness," Mason said.

            "I agree," said Burger.  "I'll ask Kevin to get a subpoena for the brain."

            Tragg said, "These logs would be good evidence.  Sergeant Brice located this."  He picked up the shirt.  "It's a woman's shirt, most likely worn by Ferrosis when Nuclesís committed the crime.  It's her size, and it has stains of her blood.  It also has puncture points where there were punctures in Ferrosis's body."

            "Before we left, I had some people examine his water system," Drumm said.  "There were traces of her blood there, and there was faint evidence of the blood coming from his bathroom through the pipes."

            "It looks like we have a case here," Burger said.  "More than a tape."

            "With all this in mind," said Drumm, "we can now examine the evidence from Ferrosis's apartment more thoroughly and look for evidence of tampering.  Oh, and we also found a knife like that was most likely the murder weapon."

            Thomas asked, "Mind if I go tell Jack Stannous about this?"

            "If you wish, but you might as well stick around until we've analysed the evidence from Ferrosis's apartment," Drumm said.  "Then, you can report our findings more thoroughly, Thomas."

            "Certainly, Lieutenant," agreed Thomas.

            * * *

            Living Room, casa di Cerebra, New Thundera, Milky Way Galaxy.

            Michael enjoyed the walk they had taken earlier.  He also enjoyed exercising in the house's recreation room.  Guillaume and Antonio's parents had set up a veritable Thunder Cat training course with basic warm-up devices before the course, and the equipment was safe for anyone to use.  After using the equipment and walking, Michael felt a lot stronger than he had before.  His muscles stayed rather modest and had not enlarged, for he still looked like he had looked before, though he felt he was a bit stronger now.

            He still could not understand how he could be so strong.  Both Steelheart and Guillaume should have beaten him easily at arm-wrestling, with the force they could apply.  He knew his family had a genetic tendency to be rather strong, but he did not think that he could be stronger than a Klingon.

            Jack Stannous entered the living room, where Michael was examining Steelheart's list of games, which she had allowed him to do as he pleased.  "Hello, Michael," Jack said.

            "Hello, Jack," Michael said.  "Oh, may I call you Jack?"

            "Sure, Michael.  I'm not used to this nice, temperately warm weather at this time of the year.  Where I live is high in elevation and usually a bit coolish."

            "Do you like living there?"

            "Oh, yes.  Chemistrians are also friendly people.  The temperature doesn't usually bother us.  Of course, all buildings have central heat and cooling."

            "I see.  Is this the Thunderian spring?"

            "Yes.  Seasons on New Thundera in the northern hemisphere and on Chemistra in the northern hemisphere are about a season earlier, I'd think, than seasons on Earth in the northern hemisphere.  That is, your spring is our winter, your summer is our spring, and so on.  Of course, I live in the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed.  I understand that it can get really hot in October, November, and December on this world."

            "When I think of those months, I usually think of leaves falling from trees," said Michael.  "It seems strange to me, but I'll probably get used to it."

            "Yeah."

            "What do you do?"

            "I work with James Chemsos and Jane Physicost, who run a company that deals in legally importing equipment and chemicals.  Most Chemistrians, about ninety percent, naturally do very well in math and sciences, particularly chemistry and physics.  None of us has any problem with basic math or science.  My job pays pretty well, but. . . -sigh.-  It has a few questionable aspects.  Representative Ferrosis was about as conservative as you can get, and I'm pretty liberal.  We had nothing personal against each other.  We went to school together and became friends there.  However, some of her policies might have been very detrimental to my job, and that might have been considerable motive for me to kill her, at least in the eyes of Hamilton Burger."

            "I see."  He knew a bit about politics already.  He had taken an accelerated course in seventh grade.  "You have anyone special?"

            "Only my mother.  I have no siblings, and my father died when I was really young."

            "I'm sorry."

            "It's okay, Michael."

            "No girlfriends?"

            "No.  Nuclesís just killed the only one I had."

            Michael's eyes widened.  "So, you did love her."

            "Yes.  However, we kind of. . . separated after we left school.  I keep feeling that we shouldn't have."  He tried to repress his feelings.  He always had loved her, even when she directly endangered his job, what he had always wanted to do.  "I know I really shouldn't think this way, but I hate Charles Nuclesís for this."

            "It's okay.  You'll probably meet someone else you like."

            "Yes."

            The doorbell rang.  "I'll get it!" Michael called, going to the door.  He opened the door, and Thomas was outside.  "Hello, Thomas."

            "Hi, Michael," said Thomas.

            Antonio entered the area.  "Come on in, Thomas," he said.

            "Thank you."  Thomas entered, and Michael closed the door.

            "What's up, Thomas?" asked Michael.

            "The VLPD Homicide Squad has enough evidence to toss Nuclesís in prison forever," Thomas said when they were in the living room.  "There is good evidence that he washed some blood off him, and that blood that had stuck to the pipes was Ferrosis's blood.  They have the probable murder weapon, a knife.  They also have a shirt that Ferrosis most likely wore during her brutal execution.  They have a glove that Nuclesís could use to leave other people's fingerprints, and yours, Mr. Stannous, were programmed into the glove's controlling computer.  Also, Nuclesís kept detailed logs of all his communications, as well as detailed journal logs.  MotherBrain, who has been known to be a rather veracious witness in the past, is to be subpoenaed."

            "Ah," Jack said.  "So, my evil cousin left some stuff lying around in his cottage."

            Michael shook his head.  "He must be pretty low to frame his own cousin."

            "That's not acceptable at all in Chemistrian society," said Jack.  "Family unity is important to us.  But my mother and I aren't expected to stick up for him anymore.  We're expected to testify if called.  Of course, the value for family unity is not as high as the value for individuality, and my family won't be ridiculed or rejected because of Nuclesís."

            "Good," said Thomas.  "Michael, don't tell my father, please.  This may destroy his objectivity."

            Michael nodded.  "Sure, Thomas.  You prefer Thomas, don't you, to nicknames associated with that name?"

            "Yes.  Dad, Kelly, Wilykit, and Wilykat have always called me Thomas."

            "Okay.  Hey.  Do you have anything to do?"

            Thomas shrugged.  "Not at the moment."

            Michael grinned.  "Want to learn about video games?"

            Thomas returned the smile.  "Sure," he said.

            "Come in, then."  Michael led into the living room.  "We've replicated Metroid and Super Mario Brothers 3 for the NES and Super Mario World for the Super NES."

            "How about MegaMan II for the NES?" Thomas asked.  "Dad said that's not very difficult."

            "Oh, you want to stick with all the easy ones?"

            "Not at all.  I just want to start with a relatively easy one."

            "Well, that's understandable.  It's still interesting."  Michael found MegaMan II in Steelheart's list and called up the specs.  He went over to the replicator.  "Replicator, one NES MegaMan II game package."  The package appeared in the replicator slot.  Michael took it, removed the instruction manual, and handed the manual to Thomas.  "Instructions."

            Thomas read the booklet as Michael set up the computer and monitor.  Thomas was a quick reader, and by the time Michael had finished, he had finished reading.  "Got it," Thomas said, putting the manual on the box, which Michael had laid on the table.

            "All right," said Michael.  The two sat down on the couch.  Having put the MegaMan II game pak into the NES, Michael turned on the machine.  "How about I play to the end, and then you can try?  This isn't a particularly long game."

            "Sure."

            Michael waited through the introduction, then selected the difficult setting.  Thomas took a mental note of Michael's order:  AirMan, CrashMan, FlashMan, QuickMan, MetalMan, BubbleMan, HeatMan, and WoodMan.  He noted that this gave just the weapons he needed to defeat the next Robot Master.  He was rather impressed by Michael's ability to get through the dangerous section of QuickMan's stage where the destructive laser beams came across.  If the player were not quick enough, the beams would destroy MegaMan.  One could use the FlashStopper, but Michael did not, and Thomas soon saw why.  The FlashStopper, at full power, could drain half of QuickMan's energy, giving a very great advantage.  Most of Michael's actions in the game were quite logical.  Even if they were not, Thomas knew better than to interrupt him during a battle.

            Thomas was the most surprised when, near the end of the fourth level of Dr. Wily's fortress, Michael killed off one MegaMan after destroying all the barriers in the chamber with the five turrets.  "Why did you do that?" Thomas asked, concealing his surprise.

            "Only CrashBombs destroy the turrets," explained Michael.  "So, to make things easier on myself, I destroy all the barriers and then let myself lose a life.  On the way back, I power up my weapons again, like I did last time."

            "I see," Thomas said.  "That makes sense, unless you have no lives left."

            "Well, I can continue the game from the start of this level," Michael said.

            "Ah.  Your actions make sense, then, except I wouldn't care to work my way down twice.  Can you destroy all the turrets in one trip?"

            "Yes, but it's easier this way.  If you did it all in one trip, then you could only destroy two of the barriers.  This way, you can destroy them all."

            "I understand."

            "And this stage really isn't that hard if you know what to expect.  It's just adapting to the patterns and not letting MegaMan fall onto the spikes."

            "Yes."  Michael continued through the stage.  "Michael, how well did you and Father get along with each other?"

            "We got along extraordinarily," Michael responded.  "He only got really mad at me once.  I haven't gotten really angry at him, though."

            "Did you argue a lot?"

            "No.  We're both pretty good arbitrators, and we work things out before we raise our voices.  We don't disagree too much, anyway."

            "I see."

            "How about you and Kelly?  I'd imagine there'd be some conflict in there because you're not the same gender."

            "She and I get along very well.  We probably know a lot of minor quirks to each other's personality that no one else knows, and subconsciously, most likely.  We've never gotten really angry with each other or jealous of each other."

            "I see.  Aren't you just the least bit jealous of her position?"

            Thomas shrugged.  "Not really," he said.  "It's hers by birthright, unless she wants me to have it."

            Michael paused the game, with MegaMan standing on the platform in the fourth room over the spikes, to look in his nephew's eyes.  "My God, you're telling the truth," Michael softly exclaimed.  "I can't believe you aren't even slightly jealous."

            "I'm not.  She deserves it.  I know she has the physical, mental, and emotional capacity to handle it."

            "I see."  Michael resumed playing.  "I feel rather jealous of my brother right now, though."

            "Why?"

            "-Sigh.-  I feel so attracted to Lana that I can't keep it out of my head."

            Thomas grinned.  "So, you love my mother."

            Realisation struck in Michael.  He was younger than Thomas and thus much younger than Lana!  But that still did not chase off his feelings.  He really loved her.  He paused his game again, this time with MegaMan just in front of the gate, and sighed.  "I can't understand these illogical feelings I'm having for her."

            "Well, she is beautiful and nice.  She's also pretty smart."

            "I hope she does have a sister.  Do you know about that?"

            "Yeah, I do.  How you, she, and Kid Icarus interpreted that vague statement of MotherBrain's.  Of course, that is just one possibility."

            Michael shrugged.  "I feel pretty sure about it."

            "So does Mom.  I hope she's right.  She's gotten over the shock of it and become quite hopeful that it might be true.  Maybe too hopeful.  If she's wrong about this, I fear it might hurt her terribly."  Thomas closed his eyes and shook his head.  His compassionate feelings, usually very controllable, were now very difficult to keep quiet.  He understood why very well, though.  He cared very deeply for his mother, which did not surprise him at all.

            "Are you all right, Thomas?"

            "Yes.  I'm just concerned.  She feels so sure about this.  I don't want her to be hurt."

            "What's Kevin's position?"

            "He hasn't said anything about it yet.  Kelly also seems to share some of Mother's enthusiasm about this."  He smiled.  "I can't say Father and I wouldn't be happy if this were true, either.  I just don't want anyone to be too disappointed if this isn't true."

            "Well, if this supposed sister exists and is as beautiful, intelligent, and nice as Lana is, I'll be very happy to meet her."

            Thomas smiled at him.  "You placed the modifier 'beautiful' before the other two."

            "That doesn't mean anything."

            "It does, Michael.  On some level, it certainly means something to you.  I can't blame you, either.  Intellectually, you probably understand that physical beauty is only skin-deep.  Your instincts still point you to physically beautiful individuals, though, and it's hard to ignore that, however strong your control may be.  Fortunately, Johanna is one of the most beautiful ladies I've ever seen."

            Michael grinned.  "How'd you manage to get her to fall for you?"

            "She loved me on sight," Thomas said seriously.

            Michael knew he was being honest.  Suddenly, he thought of something.  "Thomas, do you know I have telepathy?  It was rigged to my subconscious desires, causing girls I found pretty to be attracted to me.  I found it extremely annoying, personally.  Fortunately, Antonio and Guillaume found it and helped me learn how to control it.  Could you have it?"

            "You know, I'm not sure."  He shrugged.  "So, are you going to continue?"

            "Oh, sure."  Michael took the controller and resumed.  He was presently building his weapon levels by destroying the robot walkers in the hallway.  When all MegaMan's weapons were back to full power, Michael guided him back into the boss lair and destroyed the turrets with CrashBombs.

            Thomas noted when Michael used turbo and when he did not.  He used it mostly with the Plasma Cannon against minor enemies, and it was quite efficient, much more so than pressing the button over and over.  However, Michael turned it off with the Robot Master weapons and with other items.  The usage made sense.  Michael's overall game playing strategy, in fact, made a great deal of sense to Thomas.  He tended to avoid fights that he did not need to fight in order to pass without losing energy.  (This was not very many, though.)  Michael took the transporters in the fifth stage of Wily's castle in the same order that he had taken the Robot Master stages before.  Obviously, then, the transporter pattern was constant, and Thomas took mental note of the pattern Michael used.  The transporters were arranged in rectangular fashion, lacking the upper side of the rectangle to give an angled U.  Michael took the transporter in the middle of the left side for AirMan.  In the lower part of the right side for CrashMan.  In the upper part of the right for FlashMan.  He found QuickMan in the transporter to the immediate right of the middle on the bottom.  MetalMan was in the transporter between CrashMan and FlashMan.  BubbleMan's transporter was immediately to the left of QuickMan's.  HeatMan and WoodMan were respectively above and below AirMan.  Michael took care of these robots without losing any lives and without losing much energy.

            After these eight Robot Masters had been dispatched, a new transporter appeared at the top of the room.  Each time, Michael had switched to the appropriate weapon just before entering the transporter.  Thomas wondered why Michael used the MetalBlades against their former owner. . . until he saw what happened.  Only a couple of hits were needed to destroy MetalMan with the MetalBlades!  Now, Michael selected the MetalBlades again.  (They were still pretty high in energy, since he had only expended ten of them so far.)  After entering the new transporter, he turned on the turbo and let Wily's ship have it with the blades, both before and after Wily had revealed himself.  Michael drained both of the ship's two batches of energy.  Afterward, Wily's spaceship flew out of the larger ship as the latter exploded, and the floor dropped MegaMan into a sixth section of the castle.

            "Oh, boy," Thomas said.

            "Dr. Wily is a most insincere villain," stated Michael, bearing MegaMan to the right.  He led MegaMan past the acid without getting hit, and entered the gate into Wily's holodeck.  There, Wily attacked with a holographic alien that shot energy at MegaMan.  The alien and the energy shot were both made of energised force beams, which would damage MegaMan quite a bit if he came into contact with either.  Michael easily steered MegaMan clear of the alien and of every shot.  This was not difficult, since the alien moved in the same pattern.  He ignored the space pattern background, for it had confused him when he first played the game and made him too dizzy to play.  Now, though, it did not bother him.  He let Wily's holograph have it with several hits of the BubbleLead, and Wily gave up.

            The two watched the end.  "Well, that's MegaMan II," Michael said.

            Thomas asked, "How did you know about MetalMan's vulnerability to his own weapon?"

            "Kevin discovered it once upon a time.  In his and my time, there was a magazine published by Nintendo called Nintendo Power that reviewed many of the best games for the system as they came out.  For most of the MegaMan games, the magazine gave a pretty good boss-attack order.  For this game, it offered the order AirMan, CrashMan, MetalMan, HeatMan, BubbleMan, WoodMan, FlashMan, and QuickMan.  However, there are some flaws there.  HeatMan's weapon does little good against BubbleMan, whose weapon however works well against HeatMan and who is more susceptible to the MetalBlades.  CrashMan's weapon works pretty well against FlashMan, and so does the PlasmaCannon.  Kevin and I use the same order.  The bosses go in a loop that way, but it is definitely best to destroy AirMan first in that loop.  That way, you'll have the jet sled item to use in everyone else's stage.  You may note that the only stage after AirMan's in which I did not use it was QuickMan's.  There is only one point in the game where it is absolutely necessary, but you have to beat all the bosses before you get that far.  It's the second stage of Wily's castle, right after the start of the stage.  It is most desirable in HeatMan's stage because it is much easier than block-hopping all the way across that long stream of fire."

            Thomas nodded.  "Okay," he said.  Michael reset the game and handed him the controller.  He waited as the introduction played.  "Is the easy version any different from the difficult version?"

            "No.  The easy version just decreases the number of hits that bosses can take.  You should probably select the easy version, at least for the first few times.  Some bosses can be pretty nasty."

            "All right."  Thomas selected the easy version, and he proceeded to the stage select screen.  He selected AirMan and pressed Start.  After AirMan's banner screen played, MegaMan teleported to the start of AirMan's territory.

            As Thomas played, Michael told him what would happen if he did something or failed to do something.  Just to let one or two things sink in, though, he neglected to mention certain things, such as what would happen if the player allowed the eggs from the flying fish to land on the ground.  Thomas handled everything without too much difficulty, and soon he had reached AirMan.  He took quite a bit of damage, but he inflicted even more on the fan-bellied robot.  After the screen that told him what he had earned, he selected CrashMan.

            As Thomas played through the various stages, Michael gave fewer and fewer hints.  He did tell Thomas to use the TimeStopper in the laser-beam section of QuickMan's stage after the middle, at least until he was used to the quick manoeuvring needed to get through the section without the device.  He told Thomas to use the AirShooter against the fast Robot Master in place of the TimeStopper.

            Thomas did make several mistakes, but he soon caught on to the play control.  It was not very difficult, except of course that MegaMan could neither duck nor jump terribly high.  He did not lose too many lives, though he did have to continue once, and he handled the Robot Masters fairly easily when he met them the second time.  He handled Wily as Michael had, and soon he, too, had won the game.

            "Good job," Michael congratulated when the game credits had finished rolling.

            "You helped me quite a bit," said Thomas.  "Thank you."

            "Well, any game can be very difficult, especially at first."

            "Yes.  Well, Michael, I think I'd best head back to the Palace before the others worry."

            "Okay, Thomas."

            Thomas felt a mental tinge and turned sharply to the door.  Antonio was there.  "I thought so," said Antonio.

            "What?" Thomas asked.

            "You have telepathy, Thomas.  I believe it's under the control of your instincts, like Michael's was."

            Thomas sighed.  "This is great," he said, retaining his calmness.

            "At least I can let you go for a while.  The control of your logical training can keep that reined in for the most part."

            "I see."

            Michael asked, "Antonio, how's it going with Johanna and Johannes?"

            "Pretty well.  Thomas, did you know?"

            "About Johanna and Johannes's telepathy?  Yes," responded Thomas.  "I also know Wilykit brought them here."  Antonio nodded.  "I'd better get going."

            "All right," Michael said.  "If you want more help with games, Thomas, I'll be happy to help, as will Kevin, most likely."

            "Thank you, Michael.  See you later."

            "See you."

            "See you later, Thomas," Antonio said.

            "See you, Antonio," said Thomas.  He left.

            "I think it's about time to eat," Antonio said.  "Can you cook?"

            "Can I cook?" asked Michael, grinning.  "Everyone in my cooking class enjoyed what I prepared.  None of 'em ever got sick from my cooking, either."

            "Sound good.  You can come help me, then."  He led into the hall.  "Johanna and Johannes will be staying tonight because Guillaume and I want to monitor them.  As I said, they're doing well, but watchfulness is always a good idea."

            "I can imagine.  What has Wilykit said?"

            "It's okay by her."

            "All right."

            * * *

            Kevin's Room, Palace of Power, VideoLand, Milky Way Galaxy.

            Kelly was now pushing the buttons.  Kevin had decided to let her try, too.  They were alternating who levelled-up, since there were now a lot more points required to level-up.  Kelly was working on the final stretch. . . Level 29 to Level 30.

            She had reached the last fifty points when the door chimer sounded.  "Enter," Kevin called.  The door admitted Thomas.  "Hi, Thomas.  You're a bit late."

            "For what?" Thomas asked innocently.  He hoped he was not in trouble.

            "For helping me reach Level 30 in Super Mario RPG," replied Kevin, grinning.  "Your mother and sister helped."

            "How'd the search go, brother?" Kelly asked.

            "Wait, wait," said Kevin.  "Don't give me that information, Thomas. You two can discuss it later."

            "I understand," Thomas replied.  "Well, I did stop at the Cerebra residence to deliver some of the information to appropriate recipients.  While I was there, Michael talked me into trying a video game.  MegaMan II for NES."

            Kevin smiled.  "Did he have to persuade you?"

            "Not really.  He played through it once, and then I did."

            "I see.  Did you learn anything about Johanna and Johannes?"

            "Antonio said they're doing all right."

            "Good."

            Not long after this, Kelly beat the last group of monsters necessary, and the level-up screen appeared.  "Hey, Dad!  I did it!" she exclaimed.  She handed the controller to Kevin, who cycled through five level-up screens, then led Mario to the Rose Town Inn and saved the game.

            "Thanks, Kelly," he said.  "And thank you, Lana.  Alternating seems a good idea during the level-up process.  Now, Thomas can help me with other stages."

            Thomas grinned.  "Sure, Father."

            "Well, I guess now would be a good time for dinner.  What say you all?"

            "Certainly," Lana agreed.

            "Yes," said Kelly.

            "I agree," Thomas said.

            Kevin turned off the system.  "This save feature remembers just about everything, including the kitchen sink," he said.  "So, we won't have to do all that again for this game."

            Kelly asked, "Could you fill Thomas and me in on the plot up to this point?"

            Kevin and Lana looked at each other.  "Gee, I'm not sure if I should," Kevin said teasingly.  "Maybe I should make you two play through the whole game up to that point to find out for yourselves."

            Kelly and Thomas knew him too well, and besides, he was not even intending to fool them.  "Very funny, Father," Kelly said.

            "Sure, we'll tell you.  For now let's go get dinner.  In fact, I can tell you during the meal."  They left the room and went upstairs in the elevator to the kitchen, where Kevin prepared dinner with some assistance from his son.  He and Lana had agreed some time ago that his cooking was better than hers was.  His mother had given him and Michael good cooking training, and they both learned well.  Lana's food was all right, but it was nothing compared to her husband's.  He could make even some very simple food taste really good.  Besides, he enjoyed preparing food much more than she did.

            After everyone had washed their hands, Kevin requested Thomas to distribute plates, glasses, silverware, and napkins.  Then, Kevin began to prepare their dinner.  As he was doing this, he explained the plot to Super Mario RPG.  "This game begins with an event that is assumed in most of the earlier Super Mario games," Kevin began.  "This one actually shows Bowser Koopa kidnapping Princess Peach Toadstool.  She was looking at the flowers growing in Mario's yard when the bright, sunny sky turned dark.  Bowser swooped down in his Clown Car and snatched her.  She cried out for help.  Seconds later, Mario came out of his house, labelled 'Mario's Pad,' and saw Bowser heading west to his new castle.  Mario pursued Bowser to the fortress, which the game names, 'Bowser's Keep.'

            "Carrying Toadstool, Bowser flew into the middle of the castle.  Mario could not follow directly, so he crossed the bridge and entered through the front door.  Surprisingly, he met little opposition, and the path led directly to Bowser.  He entered Bowser's throne room, but the evil Koopa was nowhere to be seen. . . until Mario looked up to the chandeliers.  Bowser had Toadstool tied up next to one chandelier, the one on which he was standing.  Mario jumped onto the adjacent chandelier and challenged Bowser.

            "I wish I knew why Mario doesn't have dialogue in this game, while almost everyone else does.  The speech is given in text in boxes in this game.  Toadstool warned Mario not to let Bowser hurt him, and Bowser naturally told Mario to prepare for 'the great beyond.'  After Mario and Bowser had exchanged a few blows, Toadstool told Mario to aim for the chain holding Bowser's chandelier.  The chain snapped after a couple of jumps and sent Bowser falling, but before Mario could save Toadstool, Bowser sent up a couple of hammers and snapped the chain holding Mario's chandelier.  Mario dropped down next to Bowser, who complained that Mario was always getting in his way and who said he was about to wipe him out.  When Bowser lunged, Mario leapt on him and propelled himself upwards.  Bowser complained that he had been foiled again and continued falling.

            "Mario managed to grab the chain that had held Bowser's chandelier, and Toadstool cheered him.  She suggested they get out of there, but then the castle started shaking.  In the sky high above the fortress, a huge sword was propelled through a group of seven magical stars above the planet.  The group was broken as the sword's hilt fell through it.  The sword fell absolutely vertically, handle-up, into Bowser's Keep, causing a very jarring and loud quake.  The sword was so large that its hilt was higher than the castle's towers.  Meanwhile, the seven stars each began to float down slowly to different places of the ring-shaped continent on which the action of the game focuses.

            "When this has happened, the player sees Mario being propelled out of the castle to his home.  Toad was pacing in front of the house when he saw Mario flying from the castle and falling through the pipe on top of the house!  Toad rushed in and saw Mario hanging on one of his overall racks.  Toad told Mario that most people used something called a door when entering and leaving their houses.  He also said that he was there to pick up Toadstool, since she was a bit late.  He walked out.  Mario jumped to the floor and shook his head, then walked outside.  Toad asked him where the princess was.  Mario wasn't talking.  Toad deduced that Bowser had abducted the princess yet again, so he begged Mario to bring her back.  Before Mario left, though, Toad told him to save on the save block.  As I said, the save feature saves just about everything, and it saves you from having to fight from the start all the time if you continuously lose the game.  Also, if you continue immediately after losing, it allows you to retain any experience gained between the time you last saved and the time you died.  Anyway, after saving, Mario returned to Bowser's Keep.  He went across the bridge to the door and looked up. . . and was shocked to see the sword looking down upon him.

            "The sword made snide, threatening remarks to Mario and then caused the bridge to collapse.  Mario jumped back to Vista Hill, the hill overlooking the castle, before he could fall.  Seeing no other alternative, he ran back home.  Waiting inside the house, Toad asked why Mario was back so soon.  Mario explained with body movements, and Toad understood that the bridge was out.  He said it was time to go to Mushroom Kingdom and tell the chancellor.  After Toad had run out, Mario exited and jumped on the save block again.  Then, he began to leave, but Toad returned.  He gave Mario four Mushrooms and told him that there were monsters swarming the Mushroom Way, the road leading to Mushroom Kingdom.  Mario proceeded into the Mushroom Way.  He had to save Toad three times from enemies. . . once from a Goomba, once from a Koopa-Paratroopa, and once from a nasty pair of Hammer Brothers.  The latter were blocking the exit to Mushroom Kingdom.  Mario stomped them alternately, before they could call enough spells to get strong quickly.  He won a hammer from them, which Toad said was very effective against enemies.  Mario equipped it immediately, then followed Toad to Mushroom Kingdom.  Mario went to the castle, and Toad led the way to the throne room.  Mario jumped up on the high wall above one of the doors, where he uncovered a Frog Coin.  He continued forward with Toad and met the Chancellor and the Mushroom Retainers.  With his body language, he explained what had happened well enough for the Chancellor and the Retainers to understand."  Smiling he sighed.  "I guess we probably should go through the beginning together.  It'll take forever to tell you all about what happened.  Besides, it'll be funnier than a summary."

            "I see," said Kelly.

            With delight, Lana took in the scent of the food cooking.  "Smells wonderful, Kevin," she commented.

            "Thank you," Kevin replied.

            Kelly said, "He's always made sure that we're well fed.  We like just about everything he feeds us, and everything is well prepared."

            "I quite agree," said Thomas.

            Kevin served everyone when the food was all ready.  As usual, they all found their dinner delicious.  They then returned to Kevin's room, where Kevin played through the opening stages of Super Mario RPG, up through Marrymore, to show his children the plot.  By the time Frogfucius told Mario about the star on Star Hill, it was pretty late.

            "I guess we'll be getting back to our room," Thomas said as he and Kelly stood up.

            "Good night, guys," said Kevin.  The kids each exchanged good-night kisses with each of their parents.  Then, they left to their room.

            Lana smiled.  "You did a pretty good job with them, Kevin."

            Kevin smiled back.  Their smiles slowly faded as they stared into each other's eyes.  They kissed for a very long time before they got ready for bed.