Issue 4 epilogue - you hired who?

"You hired who?" Pneuma demands. The living room of the Snow residence suddenly feels like a cage, and Leo gamely answers.

"Her name is Solar Girl. She seems to have the powers - but none of the mental problems - of Invictus. I'm absolutely certain they're related. She's looking for a place to stay, and--"

He doesn't make it through. "Let me repeat," Pneuma says with the quiet certitude of a distant thunderstorm. "You hired who?"

"I know what you're asking." The young man sighs. "No, I don't think she has a 'real identity' in the traditional sense. No, I'm not 100% sure what her motives are. No, I don't know that she won't turn into another Invictus."

"Then why did you go over my head, Leo?" the girl demands.

Leo thinks a moment. Why did he? He doesn't want to admit the answer, so he stalls for time. "Emma Hunter-Hull vouches for her."

"A former supervillainess vouches for this stranger?" Pneuma deadpans. "Great."

"She vouched for me!" is Leo's only immediate protest, but his partner brushes that off with a wave of her hand. "That calls her judgment into question even more, doesn't it."

Leo's had enough. "Fine. What do you tell a young woman with no place to go, and no identity, with villainous family hanging over her?" He doesn't need to say the rest: what do you say to someone just like me?

Pneuma is silent for a long time. Leo turns away, only to feel the girl's arms slide around his neck and pull him back into a hug. "You should have asked me first, Leo. But this time, I'll understand."

The two stay quietly together for a minute, then separate. Something else must fill the silence, and Leo volunteers it.

"Ilium is getting paid well for the Lemurian salvage, right? I talked to Una Mar about that. The reason they had to have us do it is that the wreck happened in United States waters. Somebody raised a fuss and insisted that some Americans be involved, so we got chosen. But everything's fine, she understands how it is."

Pneuma nods. "Good. That's good. And you were busy in the workshop after that. I know you, Leo. You got something from that."

Leo's enthusiasm bubbles out. "Metastable metallic hydrogen. The Lemurians have been working underwater, miles deep, since before America was colonized. Their ships are coated with an artificial crystalline shell that resists and contains extreme pressure. If there's a breach, the crystal automatically expands to seal it, like coagulation in blood. Well, I found a way to use that to create high-pressure chambers to create metallic hydrogen!"

Pneuma isn't dumb, but sometimes Leo needs to be grounded. Asking questions always does the trick. "Okay. Tell me the practical application."

The young man is ready for this. "Thrusters. The specific impulse of MSMH is five times that of the space shuttles H2O2 fuel mix - the richest, most energy-dense fuel we're using in commercial applications today. I can build rockets into Otto. If I can get my hands on a jet-powered craft, I can create a new flying robot. I can fly, Pneuma, I can fly!"

Pneuma smiles proudly. "Good. Now make sure you don't blow yourself up, and we'll see about funding whatever equipment you need to make this happen."