Adam Powerhouse Episode 2
Zero to Hero
By Kevin T. Goddard
Copyright 2011 Kevin T. Goddard
Table of Contents
Episode Two: Zero to Hero
Scene 1: BMX Bust
Scene 2: Doesn't Take NO for an Answer
Scene 3: Turning the Corner
Adam Powerhouse Episode 2
Zero to Hero
Story by Kevin T. Goddard
Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Scene 1: BMX Bust
Adam kept inventing and on his sixth birthday, his mom and dad gave him possibly the best present a six year old could get: a bicycle. Not just any bicycle; this bike was a Schwinn, BMX style, stainless-steel and chrome, freestyle bike with stunt pegs and caliper brakes on the handlebars. Along with the bike came a blue crash helmet with flip down, tinted, mud guard glasses. Adam took the bike for a spin to get the feel of the balance of the bike and immediately began forming a plan for improving it.
Before improving the bike, he took the helmet and made it stronger by coating it with super-strong polymer glue around the outside. He strengthened the padding by injecting a gel made from the crystals used in the absorbent part of diapers so that it conformed to the shape of his head. He put microphones into the ear holes of the helmet and small speakers on the inside that filtered out unwanted noise so Adam could hear sound clearly from all directions while he rode his bike. The flip down glasses were easy for Adam to convert into an LCD display that zoomed in and out and allowed him to view a see-through computer screen which hooked up to his computer in his room using a cell phone signal he had hacked into through the local Verizon tower. All of this, he controlled through the voice recognition software he had created from the Camry chip and a PC program from the mall called “Dragon Naturally Speaking”. The microphone for the voice recognition nestled inside the mouth filter of the helmet. Once Adam was inside the helmet, his face couldn’t be seen, he was well-protected, and his vision and hearing were amplified even beyond his already super-human senses.
Once the helmet was ready, Adam began testing various components of the bike and modifying it every time he came up with a new idea. First, he wanted the bike to be faster. He began by adding several gears to it so it could be pedaled to faster speeds. It still didn’t go as fast as he wanted, even with his extraordinary strength. Next, he added a spring-loaded energy return system into the hollow frame that built up energy and returned it by driving the chain to higher speeds like a toy car that revs up by rolling the wheels hard and then letting it go. Finally, Adam figured that he might need occasional bursts of speed that even his energy return system couldn’t provide. He took the air cartridges to his B.B. gun and replaced the air in them with propane from his dad’s camping lantern. On the frame, he had a bolt action chamber that he could drop eight of these cartridges into, each one firing off and giving him a ten second burst of speed from tiny jets on the rear stunt pegs.
The first time he decided to try his bike, he had enough sense to head out to a new housing development where there were plenty of unfinished streets without cars driving around. There were also plenty of dirt piles to jump off of.
His blue helmet effectively filtered out the wind whistle and made other noises crisp and clear. His tinted glasses blocked the wind and glare from hitting his eyes so he could focus on the road ahead. Trying out the zoom feature on his glasses, Adam said softly in the mouthpiece, “Dragon on.” The image flickered slightly and appeared more vibrant in color. “Zoom.” The image in the glasses jumped in size. He said, “Zoom” again and things got even bigger. Adam said, “Zoomout” and everything returned to normal.
“Cool. Let’s try ‘internet.’” His screen promptly filled with a transparent view of his home page. “Ok. Stocks.” The Dow-Jones began scrolling up with a flurry of numbers on one half while the internet was on the other. “Now cartoons.” Dexter’s Laboratory showed up as his screen divided into thirds. “Screen off.” The images disappeared.
Adam took off in a blaze of dust pluming up from his back tire. He quickly shot through all the gears and began really feeling the recoil in the energy return system. He could feel a slight vibration each time the coils in the frame wound up and released until he had a steady rhythm going. After a few laps around the frames of the unfinished houses, Adam started trying timid jumps off of dirt mounds.
Each time, he hit the ramp of dirt a little bit harder until he was getting huge air. He power slid to a stop and popped the bolt on the opening into the frame to make sure his propane cartridges were loaded properly. He slid the bolt back into place, rolled the bike slightly forward toward the biggest dirt pile and hit a button by his thumb on the left handle of the bike.
With a head-snapping burst of speed, Adam shot toward the dirt pile with his front tire in the air. Wrestling the front wheel back onto the ground, he realized he was pumping the pedals furiously adding even more speed until he was throttling toward the make-shift ramp with the velocity of a Scud missile.
At the last second, as he accelerated up the pile of dirt, Adam hit the propane again, launching himself into the air with a “whoosh!” In what seemed like slow-motion, all the while yelling “woo hoo,” Adam felt gravity leave him behind. Unbelievably, he continued to rise upward. Like a dream, the bike continued to gain altitude until Adam began to wonder if he would come down. The rush of adrenaline coupled with his war-like yells caused Adam to miss the sound of a construction foreman’s SUV come into the construction area. Adam continued to fly, letting go of the handles, spreading his arms, and throwing his head back. As he realized he was clearing one of the unfinished houses, Adam wondered if the bike would withstand the impact of landing. His next thought was if he would withstand the impact of the landing. As he came down on the far side of the roof, he realized the SUV was passing directly in front of the home.
His bike landed with a slight squeal of rubber as the back tire caught shingles and then front landed with a thud. Adam made a split decision as he dropped off the roof to hit another propane burst. The bike rocketed across the hood of the SUV, shattering the windshield and causing the foreman to veer into the front of the house, smashing a hole through the front where the door was.
Adam bounced onto the grass and jerked the bike to a halt. He watched as sheetrock dust and splinters of wood flew out from the gaping hole in the front of the unfinished house. He saw the foreman open his door and start to squeeze out of his vehicle. Adam breathed a sigh of relief and silently hoped to himself the man was alright as he kicked the bike back into high gear and headed for home.
When he arrived back at the house, he put the bike in the garage after taking out the propane cartridges and disabling the energy return system. Five gears would have to be enough speed until he was older and able to better control the bike so he didn’t hurt someone, including himself. With regret, he threw a sheet over the bike and returned to his room, flipping on the security camera as he closed his door.
Scene 2: Doesn’t Take NO for an Answer
The doctor had predicted that Adam would be strong and smart—exceptional in most ways. But Adam was still a boy and prone to learn the lessons of life as most boys do, by making mistakes. Putting the bike away was the first of Adam’s choices to grow up and do the right thing.
After Adam got cleaned up from his bike riding experience, mom took Adam to the store. They spent the entire time shopping for boring things like pinto beans and tomato juice. Soon the cart was completely full without much in it that Adam thought looked very good. The ice cream looked okay, but it was plain vanilla. Not Double-Double Super Chocolate Chip Fudgey Mousse Morsel whic
h was Adam’s favorite. Because he had endured the shopping without complaining, Adam felt he was entitled to a treat in the register isle from the candy display.
“Mom, can I have a candy bar?”
“No. You can have a bowl of ice cream after dinner.”
“Please? I really want some candy.”
“No Adam. Don’t make me say it again.” Mom sighed, looking really tired from all the shopping and they hadn’t even loaded the car or carried the groceries in at home yet.
Adam crossed his arms, pouting. He could feel the boxes of candy pressing into his back as he leaned against them. Quickly, Adam dropped his arms and grabbed a handful of the nearest candy. Not even looking, Adam stuffed it into the pockets of his baggy jeans. Not saying anything, and not looking his mom in the eye, Adam waited patiently and followed out the stock boy