"It's not that weird," I tell them. "After all, people talk to themselves all the time. I just have someone who answers back." That seems to satisfy the curious.
It really goes much deeper than that. Unless you're telepathic, then you have no idea what it's like. But my relationship with Jaime is still different than even what psionicists have to deal with. They may mentally communicate with the minds of others, but Jaime is me. I literally do talk to myself.
The accident that created Jaime was mostly my own fault. Too many irons in the fire. I was behind schedule on my project-- a project to link the human mind to a computer interface. No more keyboards, no more mice-- just you and your computer working in silent thought. So there I was trying to mentally interface with my computer in a thunderstorm.
Okay, not the brightest thing I have ever done. Just because I was smart did not make me wise. One strike of lightning later and my life was forever changed. The paramedics say they found me some thirty feet from my workstation. It truly lit up my life. I know, I know-- bad joke. I just can't help myself at times. Honest.
I woke up in the hospital some time later. Thirty-four hours, twenty-one minutes, and six seconds since the incident I told myself. And that's how I was introduced to Jaime.
It was quite a shock, but not-- okay, okay, I'll drop the puns. Sheesh, you can't have any fun at times. Now where was I? Oh, right. Jaime.
It was pretty weird at first. I was alone in my hospital bed and someone was talking to me. Hearing voices and not finding a body to go with them can be rather disconcerting! I thought I had lost my mind.
Well, it turns out I did. Part of it anyway. The lightning stroke transferred some of myself into the computer and part of it into me. The part of me that was in the computer took the name of Jaime. You know, as in Jaime from that TV show? The Bionic Woman? She was a big influence on me.
Jaime existed in cyberspace-- the world inside of a computer. She could move around inside computers, across phone lines, inside machinery and so on. The more technological the world becomes, the more freedom Jaime receives. Her sense of humor is as bad as mine-- not surprising considering the source. Jaime is rather infamous for her practical jokes.
As I said before, I got things in exchange for losing part of my mind. I could do advanced calculations in my head. Jaime stores my-- our-- memories, so I don't have to worry about forgetting things. I can learn things at a frightening speed. Finishing up college was a breeze.
From there I moved to New York City and struck out to be just like my own heroine. I had all the moves, from practicing gymnastics, but I needed some toys to play with. Borrowing from TV and the movies, I designed my gear. The Sky Sabre-- my personal mini-jet-- didn't come from any one particular source. It just seemed the most practical way to get around.
Designing and building the Sky Sabre was the first true test of what my relationship with Jaime could accomplish. We soaked up everything we could find about aeronautics in a few days. From there we constructed a computer simulation and ran numerous studies on our designs. After a few days of trial and error, since neither one of us had done this sort of thing before, we came up with the completed design.
Jaime did most of the work from that point. She contacted junkyards all over the United States looking for airplane parts. It was really simple for her. She would call up a prospective location and, if they had a computer, check out their inventory for herself. Should they have something that we needed, it was ordered and sent to us.
The parts arrived over a period of several weeks. Less than two months from the start of the project, the Sky Sabre was complete. The first test flight was really wild! The whole looked like a miniature jet, but was only the size of a large car. It had Vertical Take Off and Landing capability which eliminated the need for runways. A computer system was installed, of course, giving Jaime access to the craft as well. Everything was computer controlled so she could operate the Sky Sabre when I wasn't around. The pilot's seat slides back on a track to allow access to a trap door underneath the jet. My main entrance and exit.
The inspiration for my sabre came from the Star Wars movies of course, and that planted the seed of just what I was going to call myself. I did make some improvements to the weapon. My sabre is composed of magnetic fields that I can alter from a razor sharp blade to something akin to a bat. I can project the field and it will adhere to certain types of surfaces, so I can swing on my sword! Let's see Errol Flynn try that one! Did I tell you that he's a very distant cousin of mine? Just goes to show you, swashbuckling is in my blood.
But I am getting sidetracked here. As I said before everyone who learns my little secret asks me what it's like to be connected to someone else. It's just me, so it's no big deal. When I'm awake, Jaime can view the outside world through my senses. She sees what I see and hears what I hear. What really blows people's minds is that she can record what she hears. So during the day, she's in the back of my mind, just along for the ride. The perpetual backseat driver. I have to watch myself or I will talk to Jaime out loud which can make people wonder about my sanity. Those that know me think nothing of it.
At night is when things get weird-- well, weird for me anyway. The process is reversed at night. I see and hear her world at night. It certainly gives new meaning to the term 'surfing the net'.
So, unless folks know about Jaime, they don't suspect anything weird going on inside my head. Well, except for those mood swings. Those I can't hide at all. It probably has to do with the transference I experienced. My moods fluctuate between radical extremes; from my normal happy-go-lucky state to one that is coldly logical. That does tend to put some people off.
As I was saying, I moved to New York after building the Sky Sabre and making my sword. Learning about aeronautics, mechanics, and physics was a snap for me. Trying my hand at being a heroine was going to be interesting. It's not like a science you can just study and learn. This was uncharted waters where I would learn by doing.
The name Scarlet Sabre came from my energy sword, of course. It also suggested the colors of my costume. The pirate style fell into place just as easily. The black bodysuit I wore underneath it was constructed out of that wondrous 'ballistic cloth'. After all, getting shot up is just not all that appealing!
I have to admit I was impressed by the costume. It just looked-- and felt-- so right. In all modesty, I didn't have a bad body either. All those years of gymnastics training had given me quite the figure. The outfit accented all my best features.
I mentioned that I had been a gymnast before. There's a bit more that goes with that. While I wasn't born with super powers, I did have some unusual talents. I'm ambidextrous, which is just a fancy way of saying I'm as good with my left hand as I am my right.
I was also double jointed, meaning I could move certain ways that would be extremely painful to normal people. Gymnastics came easily to me. Even made the Olympic team in 1980. But my little accident prevented me from participating in the games. Sometimes I do wonder how I would have done in the competition.
The accident that created Jaime had also made me much faster than regular folks, increasing my reaction times to super human levels. My eye-hand coordination was increased as well. Not that surprising as I could calculate trajectories of rapidly approaching objects in my head and know where to strike to change the object to a course of my choosing.
Anyway, I arrived in New York City in the fall of 1980. The first thing I had to do was find a job. Building my little toys had destroyed my savings. Jaime experimented with the Stock Markets, legally of course, and managed to recoup some of my expenses, but not enough to last for long. So, finding a job became a high priority.
Given my academic track record, it wasn't all that hard to land a quality control job at Henderson Electronics. Basically, I tested circuit boards and processing chips for errors. With Jaime's help, this was a ridiculously simple task. And, as you can imagine, became very boring very quickly. But the pay wasn't bad and my efficiency and accuracy ratings were tops in the history of Henderson Electronics. Probably still are to this day.
The day job was boring, but what I lived for was the night job. A few weeks after arriving in New York, I began my heroine career. Nothing spectacular at first, typical street thug stuff. They didn't offer much of a challenge.
All the while I added more devices to the Sky Sabre. Several scanners gave Jaime some limited sensory capabilities. I tied the television and radio into my home computer, giving Jaime access to the media. Considering just how enthralled she became with soap operas, that probably was a mistake on my part. I mean, I really didn't care for them. I still wonder just where she got that from!
Jaime began to collect data on all superbeings. Anything she could get her little claws on was added to her rapidly growing and very impressive superbeing database.
Things got really interesting as a heroine on the night I came across a battle between the Crusaders and the Ultimates. It all started when Jaime intercepted an emergency police call....
"I'm picking up several police alarms coming from the Campbell Industrial Park," my computer-half telepathically reported. The installation was part of the far-flung Campbell Industries International, a mega-conglomerate that dabbled in just about everything technological.
"Take us in, Jaime," I thought back to her. "Do the reports indicate what exactly is going on?" I let loose the flight stick and Jaime took over flying the craft. I had maps of New York City and surrounding areas installed in her memory, so it was a simple matter for her to turn the Sky Sabre to the proper heading. The Sky Sabre never gets lost!
"There is an unveiling party taking place tonight for a Meson Communication System. Lots of big wigs on hand-- including Sheryl Campbell herself. It was in the society pages of the newspaper."
"Sounds like someone wants to get their hands on this communications system."
"Probably, Jess. A Meson Communication system would be revolutionary. Such a system would be far more efficient than standard radio waves. ETA is twenty seconds."
It had been a terrific fight. The Sky Sabre's scanners revealed that the Ultimates were responsible for raiding the Campbell Industrial Park. Binder used his glue gun to capture many of the guests and the security forces. Slick, Charger, and Black Star were gathering up the Meson Communication System equipment.
The Crusaders were on hand as well, but they were being forced back by Plasmoid. The strange creature registered on our sensors as what appeared to be a fusion reactor given form by magnetic force fields. Very bizarre. Something like that seemed beyond present day Earth technology.
I had heard of the Crusaders, of course. They were the 'other hero team' in New York City. The Avengers got the majority of the press, but they tended to fight the major foes. The Crusaders, as a team, lacked the raw power to go toe to toe with extremely powerful villains.
Plasmoid was giving them all they could handle. The Enchantress was blasting away at it from a safe distance. Oh, I should note that she was in her old costume, not the red one she wears nowadays. It was all blue in color and consisted of what looked like a one-piece bathing suit, with matching high gloves and boots complete with a cape. She was also a blond at the time. The type of energy used in her blasts eluded my sensors.
Copperhead was content to blast away at range as well. He was pretty much then as he is now. Just not quite as bloodthirsty. His copper and green armor was pretty sophisticated for 1981, but now it's fairly commonplace as far as super armor goes. Guess he never heard of upgrading.
Morning Star was busy hurtling debris at Plasmoid, but wasn't making much of a dent in the creature. Her missiles couldn't penetrate its force fields. Radiance stood near Morning Star, firing his own radiated energy blasts, but likewise was having no significant effect.
The rest of the team didn't stand much of a chance against Plasmoid. Those who got too close to it were burned by the radiation this thing put out. Crusader, Shrinker, and Speedster were concerning themselves with the other Ultimates. They weren't doing all that well.
Slick had removed the friction from a section of the floor, rendering Speedster virtually powerless. No matter how fast he ran, he couldn't get anywhere and wound up on his backside once more. Crusader threw a line to escape from Slick's grease spot, but was immediately picked off by Charger. Shrinker was shrunk of course, and firing Bio-Blasts.
"Looks like they could use a hand," I told Jaime. She brought the Sky Sabre to a spot just out of sight of the combat and hovered. I slid the seat back and opened the hatch. Taking out my sabre, I activated its magnetic hook properties and latched on to the grab bar on the roof of the Sky Sabre. I stepped into the hatch, and dropped from the plane, the Sabre reeling out its magnetic line as I dropped. I slowed the process and softly landed on the ground. The drop line faded with the touch of another button.
Jaime flew the Sky Sabre off a safe distance and landed. No need risking getting it damaged in a wild battle.
The warehouse that held Sheryl Campbell's little get-together was already a complete loss, I noted, as I made my way towards the battle. At least I didn't have to worry about breaking anything. It was already broken.
The scene was pretty much the same as the sensors had picked up earlier. Several possibilities ran through my mind on just how to deal with the monstrosity named Plasmoid. It was composed of magnetic force fields. There had to be a way to turn that to my advantage.
I came in close to Morning Star and Radiance, or Rad for short. "Who are you?", Morning Star asked of me. I'll tell you, I thought I was pretty attractive until I got an up close and personal look at Morning Star. She was drop dead gorgeous. The kind of looks that other women would kill for. The Enchantress was just as bad. Maybe super powers made women beautiful as well.
"The name's Scarlet Sabre," I told Morning Star. "I figured you guys could use a hand."
"What can you do?" Rad asked the question this time. Rad wore an orange costume with aquamarine trim. Not something I would have chosen to wear, but I'm not him either. Maybe he's a Dolphins fan or something.
"Plasmoid's a mass of magnetic force fields," I explained. "Seems to me that if we can play around with that, something good might happen." Morning Star didn't seem to get what I was saying. That told me that she wasn't a scientist and didn't have a basic knowledge of electricity. Rad seemed to catch on.
"You mean something along the lines of increasing its natural magnetic tendencies?" Rad had to be a scientist. I learned that, in fact he was, later on.
"Something like that. But we need time to set up." I pressed a button and energized my sabre. Standing between the two Crusaders, I told them, "Attack it at the same time. Draw its fire this way."
Rad seemed to know what I had in mind. Morning Star still appeared to be a bit puzzled, but complied. The heroine tossed a part of a large machine while Rad let loose with an blast of anti-protons. Exactly how he did that, I had not a clue.
The twin attacks got the beast's attention as I had hoped. It turned, at least I think it turned. Hard to tell when dealing with Plasmoid. It fired off a magnetic pulse burst back towards us. I steadied myself and did the necessary calculations to pull this stunt off. I swung my sword and deflected the pulse away from its intended target. Just as I planned, it streaked back to its source and slammed hard into Plasmoid.
"Yes! That lit up his life!" Morning Star groaned at my little joke. Hey, I figure you might as well try to have fun while making the world a little bit safer.
Plasmoid was moved for the first time since the Crusaders began their attack. The energy creature was sent backwards and appeared out of it for a few moments. Its energy nimbus flickered like a bad TV signal.
"Now we need a conductor," I stated. "And lots of it!" Rad nodded and took off in search of wire.
"What are you trying to do?", Morning Star questioned.
"I really don't have time to explain in full detail right now," I answered. "But if my plan works, Plasmoid should be down for the count." That seemed to be good enough for the heroine as she followed me deeper into the warehouse.
The Enchantress and Copperhead approached us. Morning Star explained the situation to them and they more or less fell in. They were not scientists either. Copperhead and Morning Star went to the aid of their other teammates while the Enchantress stayed with me.
Rad found what we needed: several large spools of heavy 4/0 conductor. "That should do the trick," I told him. He nodded in agreement.
I had the Enchantress use her magic to unwind the spools and wrap them around the still flickering Plasmoid. I suppose I should put a word in about magic. I'm of the school that magic is only a science currently unknown to modern man. I've known the Enchantress for a few years now and I still can't tell you how she does it.
Anyway, Plasmoid was all wrapped up with nowhere to go. His natural magnetism was being induced into the conductors we had wrapped around him, strengthening his whole magnetic field. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to do what I had hoped. I needed just a little more power.
Scanning the other side of the warehouse, I could see that Morning Star had put Binder down for the count and Copperhead had Slick on the run. I spotted Charger and came up with the final piece of the plan.
I instructed the Enchantress to follow me and we positioned ourselves between Charger and Plasmoid. "Blast Charger and then duck," I instructed her. She seemed to get what I was planning and complied without argument.
The Enchantress pegged Charger as I had hoped. Naturally, he turned, looking to retaliate.
"Hey, nitwit!", I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Over here!"
Charger was ticked off and fired away. I dropped to the ground and let the attack sail harmlessly over my head. You know, villains can really be predictable at times. I've done this trick so many times and it still works today. I could have reflected the attack back at Charger, or even re-directed it towards another foe, but in this case I wanted him to hit Plasmoid. He had failed to notice his teammate behind me.
"What's going to happen?", the Enchantress whispered to me.
I rolled over to look at her. "Let's just say that I've given Plasmoid a magnetic personality." She didn't get the pun-- not for a few seconds anyway.
The massive electrical charge struck Plasmoid and filled the conductors around him with electrical power. I could smell the sheathing on the conductors burning. The amount of amps pouring through those wires must have been tremendous.
I suppose I should explain all of this better for those who are not familiar with electricity. You hear a lot in stories and television about how they are going to stop the monster by pouring a gazillion volts through him. It's all baloney. It's not the voltage that hurts people it's amperage. I guess it just sounds more menacing to say 'lots of volts' as opposed to 'lots of amps'.
My favorite explanation is as follows. Imagine that electricity is a vehicle on the highway. Voltage is the size of the vehicle. Amperage is how fast it is going. So, you can have a huge tractor-trailer, big time voltage, but moving so slowly, very low amperage, that it won't kill you should you be hit by it. Conversely, if you had a compact, a low voltage, moving at great speeds, it could really light up your life. You can carry this analogy out to explain power and resistance as well. Power is the force of the impact of the vehicle, resistance the flow of traffic.
Getting back to what I did to Plasmoid, was that we used 4/0 conductors, that's a very thick conductor-- not something you'll find in your house, to create a stronger magnetic field around Plasmoid. Plasmoid's magnetic field induced more current and magnetism into the conductors, in effect amplifying its magnetic field. Electricity and magnetism go hand in hand. You have one, you've got the other.
Charger's electrical blast was the icing on the cake. It surged the magnetic field up to the levels I needed. It didn't hurt Plasmoid directly. Not at first anyway. You see, in effect we created a super-magnet and centered it on Plasmoid. Anything metal within fifty yards of Plasmoid was rocketed towards him at break neck speeds. Hunks of machinery, parts of the building itself, even hand tools pelted Plasmoid mercilessly.
This went on for at least fifteen seconds. Anything metal was attracted to Plasmoid and he rapidly disappeared as a giant globe of metallic objects engulfed him. It was really cool to watch.
Binder was not pleased at all. His glue gun was rocketed out of his hands and sent flying. He followed it a moment later. To make matters worse, the truck they were loading the Meson Communication System into was being dragged towards the super-magnetic Plasmoid.
It was working far better than I ever imagined. Too well, as the building itself began to collapse on Plasmoid. I helped the Crusaders get Sheryl Campbell and her guests to safety. Unfortunately, I had to let go of my sabre, as the magnetic force would have pulled me and the sabre into the mass of metal surrounding Plasmoid. Poor Copperhead-- the bad part about wearing a metallic power suit-- was sucked into the mass. Oh well!
We had just gotten outside when something unexpected happened. I can only theorize on what transpired. Somehow, Plasmoid fed off the super magnetic field and redirected it outwards as an electro-magnetic pulse. In short, any computerized devices close to the warehouse were fried. The Communication System the Ultimates were so hot to get their hands on was destroyed in the process. Luckily, Jaime had moved the Sky Sabre far enough away to not be affected.
It was a very annoyed Binder who led his team in a retreat. They had nothing left to gain, so they made a break for it. Copperhead was just about as mad as Binder. His armor had been rendered inoperable. Oops!
In spite of everything, Sheryl seemed to be pleased. She was another attractive woman with bright blue eyes and shining platinum blond hair. Her party dress had probably cost more than some third world countries. But she was thankful that the technology her company had created had not fallen into the wrong hands. I didn't know it at the time, but this incident had lead to Sheryl coming up with the idea of the Freedom League.
Needless to say, the other Crusaders, except for Copperhead, were impressed by my performance. They asked me to join up with them and I did.
I have to admit that I was really excited about joining the Crusaders. I felt like I had made the big time and had been accepted by the other heroes.
Sadly, that feeling would not last. Crusader played fast with the law, even more than I am want to do. Copperhead and I got off on the wrong foot right from the start. He played nice to my face, but would stab me in the back at every opportunity. Even worse, Copperhead became more radical in his crime-fighting methods as time went on. He just had this way of getting under my skin.
Morning Star and the Enchantress left a few months later. I guess they could see the writing on the wall and wanted no part of it. Can't say I blame them there. I'm not sure where the Enchantress went. She just seemed to drop out of sight. Morning Star moved to Los Angeles and joined the Guardians not too long after leaving the Crusaders.
The Crusaders went on as best as we could. Radion joined for a time, but he didn't last long either. I don't recall being impressed by the man all that much. I mean, how can you be serious around a man who seems to think he's the best thing since sliced bread? Needless to say, we didn't get along.
It all came to a head early in 1982. Shrinker was nearly killed by an errant blast from Copperhead. Not to say that Shrinker was all that rational to begin with-- I mean how many competent scientists actually inject themselves with test serums?-- but she went bonkers from the incident. From that point on she dedicated herself to not only crime, but to humiliating heroes when ever she could. Copperhead has that affect on women.
As the saying goes, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. The group lasted a few more weeks before we permanently broke up. Looking back, I'm amazed that it held together as long as it did.
So I was a free agent once more. My job at Henderson Electronics continued to be good money, but not very interesting. I was afraid to let on too much about my altered state. They would have asked many questions that I really didn't want to answer.
That all changed about two months after the end of the Crusaders. I was flying over New York in the Sky Sabre when a woman in a white and magenta body suit suddenly appeared. Jaime identified her as Microwave. To my surprise, she phased into the Sky Sabre and we chatted for a while.
Turns out that Microwave was in the employ of Sheryl Campbell. The Crusaders battle with the Ultimates, now over a year ago, had lead to the idea of Sheryl having her own superhero team, but with the dual purpose that all the members would be scientists free to work on whatever projects interested them.
I have to say I was intrigued right from the get-go. Here was the chance to be a heroine and be a scientist when I wanted to be. The pay was very generous, and made my job at H.E. seem tiny by comparison.
And so, I joined what became known as the Freedom League. I contacted some of my old Crusaders buddies, Speedster and Radiance-- both of which were scientists, and they joined as well. Together with Microwave and FIST, we were the founders of the Freedom League.
It was great. Sheryl gave us all our own labs and living quarters. No more having to worry about protecting my identity at my apartment, or punching a clock. Sometimes we would get assignments, but predominately, Sheryl let us play to our hearts' content.
Microwave was an alright gal. She was kind of quiet, almost a mousy type. As Microwave she seemed to have more confidence. She was married and had children and usually didn't stay on base. Her fields where molecular biology, biophysics, and sub-atomic physics.
Rad was also married and he also lived off base. His field is nuclear physics. I've never seriously considered marriage myself. I suppose that I'm going to have to someday. Especially if I want to have children. Given my altered state, I was always concerned just how they would turn out.
Speedster was the chemist of the group. As far as I know, he's not married. Never did seem to have much of a social life though. We went out a few times, but nothing serious ever developed. I think the whole idea of Jaime frightened him off.
The oddest member of our little band was FIST. He wore an armored battlesuit of silver and green, not out of choice, but out of necessity. I was told that his body had been horribly damaged in a lab fire. In fact, his armor keeps him alive. Sort of like a mobile iron lung. I've never seen him outside of his armor, and quite frankly, I hope I never do. If half of what I have heard is true, he must be truly hideous to behold.
As you can imagine, he's pretty much angry at the world. That makes him not a pleasant fellow to chat with. Everyone avoids him and I think that's the way he wants it. He has a brilliant mind, and is a superior doctor. FIST also has an enormous chip on his shoulder.
Thanks to Sheryl, I was finally able to do some research. My experience with the computer circuits and processors during my time with Henderson Electronics had been most illuminating. You see, many people theorize how such things work. I know how they work. I've been inside them and I could make them better.
It took a year before my first processing chip was finished. It was one of those revolutionary sort of achievements that goes over the heads of non-scientists. And so, I made my first real contribution to the world-- the Lore 1000 processing chip. It really wasn't all that special. I just took the existing chips and made some improvements on them. Well, maybe it was special as they worked 2.4 times better than the old chips.
That one invention financially secured me for the rest of my life. I'm working on the Lore 3000 chips nowadays. It's a radical concept compared to standard PC chips, but should be hundreds of times more efficient than anything anyone else is putting out.
After four years, I'm still happily a member of the Freedom League and in the employ of Sheryl Campbell for Campbell Industries International. I've done my share of globe hopping in my job. What could be nicer than trouble-shooting a computer glitch in Hawaii?
Jaime now runs the Freedom League base, much to the dismay of some of the other members. She sits like a spider in the middle of a huge cyber-web. The numerous sensors, monitors, and on-base robots afford her the most freedom she's ever had.
I've added new toys as time went by. Things such as a hand-sonar device, a force field belt, even an Alpha Wave shield to deflect mental assaults.
The Freedom League now stands at eight members. We've added the Brute, Silver Arrow, and Resonator over the years. Brute is a scientist mutated by radiation exposure. Resonator is into sonics. Silver Arrow is a botanist, of all things.
And that's basically my life story. How plain old Jessica Flynn became the famous heroine, the Scarlet Sabre. Now just don't go and tell anyone, okay?
