“Wait a minute! I’ve seen that boy!” she cried.

“Which boy?” Simon asked.

“The one who was driving the other sub. He lives right next door to me. His name is Duncan Dewey!”

Duncan was surprised to find the Creature waiting for him in the Playground.

“Dad, he’s back,” she said, as if disappointed that he’d arrived.

Avery hopped up from a chair with a worried and tired expression on his face. He looked as if he hadn’t slept all night.

“Huh?” Duncan said. “How did you all get in here?”

“You’re not the only one who is good at spying, Duncan,” Tanisha said slyly.

“Oh, thank heavens,” Aiah said as she peppered the boy’s face with tear-soaked kisses. “I don’t think I can handle this anymore, Duncan.”

“Mom, I’m fine. What are you talking about?”

“Ms. Nesbitt from next door came over to say she had heard you were in an accident and was very sorry,” Aiah said.

Duncan and Flinch shared a knowing look. “Albert’s mom!” they said at the same time.

“I thought you had been hurt, or worse,” Avery said. “I panicked.”

“Duncan is alive and well,” Ms. Holiday said as she stepped into the room. “If you would like to take him home that’s fine, but unfortunately it will prevent him from receiving his new upgrades today.”

Duncan’s father spun around on the librarian. “Let me get this straight: You sent my son on a dangerous mission without those things you put in him?”

“He’s been fully trained as a—”

“He’s a little boy!” Avery shouted. “The last guy who ran this place promised Duncan he would be safe. We only went along with this because we saw that he had been given the equivalent of superpowers. You’re telling me you’re sending him to die without any of that.”

“Duncan is a very capable agent,” Ms. Holiday added.

“Two years ago this kid was eating paste for money!” Avery shouted.

“Avery!” his mother cried.

“He what?” the Creature said.

“I’m sorry, son,” Avery said. “I brought you to this school and allowed you to be in this program to give you a chance. You were supposed to be surrounded by geniuses and have access to ideas, technology, science! I didn’t bring you here to get killed. You’re done!”

“Dad!”

“Mr. Dewey, perhaps you are right,” Agent Brand said as he entered the room. “Duncan is an exceptional and brilliant boy, but maybe the life of an agent isn’t appropriate for him anymore.”

“Alexander!” Ms. Holiday said in complete surprise. “Duncan is one of this country’s greatest assets!”

“Find yourself another asset,” Avery said. “I’m taking Duncan home. He may wind up below average, but he’ll still be alive.”

That night, Duncan lay in his room alone. His father had demanded that Duncan hand over the hovering blue orb that gave him access to Benjamin. Without it, he couldn’t activate his supercomputer or even access his holographic clothing store. He had no idea what he was going to wear to school the next day.

Worse, no Benjamin also meant no security system in his bedroom. No cameras, no access codes, and no locks on his door. Shortly before ten, his door opened and the Creature crept inside.

“Now you know how it feels,” she said.

Duncan stared at her for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“Without your powers you know how it feels to be me,” she said. “Average, ordinary, regular. Try being the sister of a superhero. Try being the sister of a genius. Try being the sister of a kid who is so amazing that teachers in her classes are already competing to get him as a student.”

“You don’t have to be average,” Duncan said. “You could study. You could get involved in things at school. You could stop being sarcastic and ditch some of the losers you’ve been hanging out with.”

There was a long, silent pause, and then his sister whispered. “So far, it’s the only way to get any attention around here.”

She turned and closed the door behind her, leaving Duncan alone in the dark. He lay in his bed looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars his father had glued to his ceiling when they first moved to the neighborhood. That was before he had become a spy or had his imagination inspired by technology. It was when he was just Duncan Dewey, a below-average kid from a below-average school in a below-average neighborhood who had a mother and father who hoped he would be something more. How could he go back to that now?

Duncan did not know when he fell asleep, but he awoke to bright sunshine and someone screaming.

“Benjamin!” he cried as he leaped out of bed. It took him a moment before he realized he no longer had access to his supercomputer. He scowled and threw open his door. Lights were flickering on and off. The television in the living room was changing channels by itself. The vacuum cleaner zipped down the hallway on its own power.

Duncan found his family huddling beneath the kitchen table, under assault by appliances. The freezer door flew open, shooting out ice in all directions. The coffeemaker was spraying steaming hot brew around the room. And the toaster was firing blackened crusts like ninja stars.

“What is going on?” Aiah cried. “Your machines are attacking us!”

“I have no idea,” Duncan cried as he swiped the remote off the counter. Unfortunately, no matter how many buttons he pushed, the machines did not stop. “The system is not supposed to let this kind of thing happen. There are fail-safe programs.”

The blender fell over and the razor-sharp blades flew out, nearly slicing off Duncan’s face.

“We have to get you to safety,” Duncan cried, grabbing Tanisha by the hand and pulling her toward the front door. Aiah and Avery followed, dodging a DVD player that spit DVDs with deadly accuracy. The front door opened and shut like the jaws of a hungry tiger.

“What is going on, son?” Avery cried as the family managed to dodge the door and raced out onto the lawn.

Duncan looked up the street. Standing on the corner was Ms. Nesbitt. She had her son’s ray gun and was aiming it at their house. He started to march in her direction when the lawn sprinkler system went off and blasted him in the face. The stream was so forceful, he fell backward.

“Ms. Nesbitt, get inside. It’s dangerous out here,” Aiah shouted to her neighbor. She had no idea it was Ms. Nesbitt causing the chaos.

“If you want to get something done, you have to send a woman,” Mama cried. Her face looked wild and angry. “I told Simon you kids would survive.”

Just then, there was a loud siren and a booming voice: “Intruder! Intruder!” Then a panel slid away on the roof of their house and a rocket launcher was revealed.

“Where did that come from?” Avery cried.

“It was installed in the middle of the night last January,” Duncan explained. “There was some fear that if the truth was ever exposed about me, you would be in jeopardy. It was supposed to keep you safe from an attack. All the other kids have them.”

“Get down!” Avery shouted as a rocket roared toward them. The family hit the ground, narrowly missing being skewered by the rogue missile. It crashed into a parked car across the street. The explosion blasted the innocent vehicle into a million pieces and sent choking oily smoke into the winter sky.

“I feel so much safer,” the Creature cried.

“Ms. Nesbitt is doing this! We have to get away from her,” Duncan shouted.

“What does all of this have to do with our neighbor?” Avery asked.

“Her son is a very, very bad person who created a machine that affects computers,” Duncan tried to explain. “It infects them with a virus that makes them susceptible to his commands. Turns out, Ms. Nesbitt is a very, very bad person too.”

“Does it work on all machines?” Avery asked.

“No, just ones with processors in them,” Duncan answered. “Why?”