"What'll it be, Icky?" Ozzy said, spinning a cast iron skillet in his hand before placing it, with a clang, onto the wood-burning stovetop.
"Honestly," the pilot said, sliding into a chair beside Victor, who had somehow managed to find a seat unaided, "I'm really not hungry... at all."
Ozzy arched an eyebrow.
"I can't really explain it," Sidewinder said. "I just... I just don't feel hungry anymore. Like my appetite is completely gone."
"You think it's the new hardware?" Reilly asked.
Icarus furrowed his brow, looking down at his hand. Even after talking with Ozzy, he still wasn't used to all of this... and probably wouldn't be anytime soon.
"Could be..." he said quietly. "Honestly, I'm not too--"
Suddenly, Icarus just stopped talking, gazing out into nothing in particular. Ozzy walked over to where Icarus was seated, waving a hand in front of the young man's face.
"What happened?" Reilly spoke up from beside, looking to Icarus' general direction and then to the point where Ozzy had been standing.
"Not sure," the boxer said, tapping Icarus on the shoulder. "He just... stopped."
"...wow..."
"...what?" Ozzy said, leaning in close.
"I'm like... a hub..." Icarus said, his mouth filled with awe.
"A... hub?" Victor asked.
"Yeah..." Icarus said, holding up a hand to his ear, moving it slowly back and forth, mimicking a headset. "Remember how, on our way up here, I could... hear things? See things?"
"No," Ozzy said, deep in concentration.
"Yes," Victor said. Both Ozzy and Icarus shot the man a curious look. Sensing their glare, Victor smiled, tapping his left ear. "Enhanced senses, remember? Made even more acute by the blindness. I overheard him when he was talking to Lykopis on the way in."
Slightly disconcerted, the other two exchanged a glance. A brief silence followed as Victor cleared his throat, urging Icarus to continue.
"So... yeah..." Icarus began again. "I noticed that... well... I can hear things. Information. Radio waves, signals, codes... all sorts of things. It's like..."
"...you're a hub," Victor finished. "So what?"
"Well... I-I just caught a radio wave... one of my favorite songs."
Ozzy smiled. "Oh really? Which one?"
"Duran Duran's 'Hungry Like the Wolf,'" Icarus looked up at Ozzy. "I think I've been getting the words wrong all these years..."
Ozzy smiled. "So... you can see info, right?"
"More or less," Icarus said.
"Then you could probably find some information?" Ozzy asked. "Like, on where we might be able to find some of the other members of Vanguard?"
"Maybe..." Icarus said, shrugging his shoulders. "It'll take some doing. Honestly, I'm kind of making this up as I go along... discovering these things almost by accident. Once I get more control, though... sure..."
"Any idea when that might be?" Ozzy asked.
Icarus shrugged. "No clue, Oz..."
Ozzy sighed, leaning against the stove.
"Uh... Oz?" Icarus said, pointing at the stove.
Ozzy looked down, noticing that his hands were resting right on top of the red-hot iron stovetop. Moving his hands, Baxter noticed that they were now glowing with the heat.
"...interesting..." Ozzy said.
Victor plunged a finger into his mouth, removing it and holding it in Ozzy's general direction. Raising an eyebrow, he remarked, "Indeed."
Once again, both Ozzy and Icarus looked from each other to their teammate, their looks those of confusion and slight unrest.
Smiling again, Reilly pounded his hand on the table. "How 'bout them vittles, Baxter? Getting hungry here!"
At that moment, the scarred Lykopis entered the room from behind Victor.
"Lykopis," Reilly said, not bothering to look back.
"Am I the only one who gets creeped out when he does that?" Lykopis asked.
Icarus shook his head, while Ozzy just smiled and waved.
"I was getting ready to make something," Ozzy said, pointing to the stove. "You want anything."
"No... I'm not really hungry," Lykopis said, sliding into a seat beside Icarus.
"That makes two of us," Icarus said.
And the four of them sat in silence.
"Wonder what the alien's up to...?" Victor finally said aloud.
