Accidental Villainy 32 (Patreon)

She stayed silent for a long while, hugging me while trying to get me to relax. I answered her questions in simple ways, keeping her from realizing I had been pushing her toward a certain conclusion. 

“Maybe …” she whispered a while later. “Would it help if I could send you research packages like the previous time, just like I had done for that customer? I’m not bad with a computer.”

Talk about underselling.  

“It might, but it’s not like you can stay in front of the computer constantly, ready to do such research. And, it takes time to collect such information. I don’t think I’ll have several minutes to wait,” I said, deliberately putting all my problems just for the time required for her to collect the information. I had some other issues in mind, of course, but I kept those until she could make her grand reveal. 

My power was suggesting that the grand was near. 

“And, what if … I can do it faster,” she whispered. 

“That would help but—” I started, only to fake a gasp of shock when she put her finger on her phone. Suddenly, her screen flashed as multiple pages opened, operating in parallel while bypassing the screen. “Fascinating,” I said. “You are a hero.” 

“Not a hero,” she said with a scoff, her disdain clear despite my fascinated voice. “It barely allowed me to get a receptionist job. Not exactly worthy of the name super, and certainly not enough to deserve the title of a hero.” 

“I disagree,” I answered, cutting her argument before it could form. “Here you are, revealing a dangerous secret just to help me. It’s a worthy heroic move. The extent of your power doesn’t matter,” I declared. 

She might have disagreed, but I chose that exact second to grab her beautiful chin and pull her closer, enjoying her lips. The kiss was enough to kill any objection she had, leaving her blushing intensely even as she responded to the kiss, hesitantly.  

Clearly, her confidence while taking selfies didn’t extend to the physical realm. I didn’t push for more, and instead, I pulled back, letting her lips continue dancing against mine in an effort to push for more, especially without going into too much detail.

It was a great opportunity. 

I could have pushed for more, but under the circumstances, learning more about her powers was more important than her physical surrender. I pulled back. “Thank you, you can’t believe how much it means to see,” I said. 

Which was the truth. She didn’t answer, just blushing as she hugged me, seconds passing slowly. “Would it be okay if I ask you questions about your power?” I asked. 

She nodded hesitantly, but with my power, I could easily identify her hesitancy wasn’t about her unwillingness to share her secrets. She was ashamed of the limits of her power. 

I strongly disagreed with that conclusion. Even the amount she had revealed was incredible without combining it with mine. For example, they would have actually caught me if they put her as the head of security rather than a receptionist, showing that the New Giant Force wasn’t very careful thinking about the powers of their members. 

Admittedly, they didn’t need to be, not with the game rigged in their favor, allowing them to have the first pick out of the new heroes.

“Don’t worry. Even what you have done collecting that information had been amazing, especially if it was as quick as I assumed. How long it took?” 

“A second, maybe two?” she said. 

“Fascinating,” I said as I kissed her cheek, using positive reinforcement to make her feel more confident in her power. “And, can you access to locked computers, or do you need direct access?” I said. 

“I can’t access anything that requires a password to access,” she said. “It feels like an impenetrable wall, and my power just bounces.” 

It was a big restriction, but it didn’t surprise me. The New Giant Force might be negligent when assessing the new powers, but even they wouldn’t turn their nose to a super hacker. Of course, that didn’t make her power useless. “And, what happens if you have the password,” I said. 

“Then I can use my power,” she said. 

I couldn’t help but smirk as a lot of options appeared in my mind, but rather than delving into it directly, I asked another question. “And, about accessing the locker room,” I said, enjoying her blush as I reminded her of the pictures she sent indirectly. “How did you access it without the password?” 

“That’s simple,” she said. “You can think the password layer is between the door and the keypad. I can’t open the door while touching the keypad, but as long as I can touch the door directly, it doesn’t matter.” 

“Interesting,” I said. It was an interesting workaround that I didn’t expect to be working. Manipulating a device through a screen was different than manipulating it directly. Ultimately, the screen was designed to receive inputs, which could be copied. 

What she explained was closer to manipulating data directly. 

“And, can you use your power on anything?” I asked. 

“No, digital devices only,” she admitted. Another interesting restriction that could be explored. 

“Does the strength of the device matter?” I asked. 

That earned a confused shrug. “I don’t really know,” she said, only for me to grab her arm and pull her up. “Let’s go and check, then,” I said as I stood up. She followed with a smile that was only partially about the kisses that she received every few steps. 

My open excitement about exploring her power surprised her. She had clearly accepted that her power was useless — a mood I had experienced myself when I realized my power was just better observation before I realized the surprising advantages of it — and she was excited now that I was treating it as a treasure. 

Soon, we were at a large electronic shop inside one of the poorer malls — an attempt to stay under the radar. I held her hand as we walked through a line of computers, from the weakest to strongest, while she tried to make a series of harmless and unnoticeable changes in the computers, trying to see if there was a difference in speed. 

Soon, she reached a conclusion. “It looks like the performance of the device helps,” she said. “It’s not easy to distinguish if the difference is small, but here, it helps.” 

“Good,” I said as I called in one of the salespeople, and arranged the purchase of the most expensive computer here. “That’s too pricy, we don’t need to buy it,” she said. “A cheaper one will do—” she started, but I sealed her lips with another kiss even as the salesman walked away, murmuring jealously. 

“No, you’re the one helping me. This is the least I can do,” I said. “And, I have received that money from the other villains, thinking that I’m one. The best we can do is to spend it to defy them.” I made a show of sighing. “I wish that we could purchase something even better so—” I added, then I made a show of stopping. 

“Actually, can we try something else,” I said. She nodded. “Try to change the settings for the computers and allow them to be networked. Maybe you can use them together,” I suggested. 

She did as I asked, but by the fourth computer, I could see the signs of strain on her face, so I gestured for her to stop. “How was it?” I asked. 

“Weird,” she answered, looking slightly dazed. “It was like trying to look to my left and my right at the same time. It is far more difficult to use multiple computers at the same time,” she said. 

Interesting point, especially since some of the computers she had used only had single cores, and the one we had bought had four multi-core processors. It looked like her power had some interesting distinctions between what counted as single and multiple devices. 

Or, I was just overthinking, and her power was just interacting through the operating system — it required more experimentation, but the fact that she could use multiple computers through a connection was still extremely useful. 

After all, I had a nice basement to put a much better computer if needed. 

“I’m sorry that I failed —” she whispered, which had been cut short once I leaned to seal her lips.

“Nonsense. On the contrary, your power issues are even better than I had expected. You might actually save me from my blunder,” I said, exaggerating my emotional relief … but not the intent behind it. Her power was actually far better than I had expected, and considering even the diminished form had been a treasure for me…

She said nothing as we paid for the computer, and I kissed her again as we walked out. “Now, do you want to go somewhere private …” I said, then noticed her expression shifting to a sudden shy nature. One that told me she wanted something different, something that she was too shy to admit. “Or, if you want, we can do some sexy shopping,” I said. 

Her blush was all the answer I needed.