Dad Pager

Ryan propped his face up with both hands, staring into space with a bored expression.

It had been four hours and twenty-eight minutes since he tested Berserk, yet all his level -1 superpowers still hadn't recovered.

Besides him, Ashley was in the Seven's conference room. She had rushed back as soon as she'd finished handling her affairs.

She hadn't been reinstated—or, more accurately, the final outcome of Homelander's negotiations with Edgar hadn't been decided yet. But the notice of her dismissal hadn't been sent out, either, so she could still access the company's resources.

Ashley, looking refreshed and capable after surviving the ordeal, reported, "Raven—Natalie Mitchell—I've settled her on the 66th floor."

"That floor is part of the Superhuman Laboratory on the 67th floor. It's a place for superhumans who've volunteered for experiments to rest, relax, and spend time together. I think she'll be quite comfortable living there."

"I also gave her a high-level employee access card that goes straight to the 99th floor. Ryan, whenever you need her, she can come right up."

Had she misunderstood something?

Ryan finally turned his attention to Ashley. The last thing she'd said had sounded a little ambiguous.

What did she mean, whenever I need her? I'm only eight!

"Ms. Ashley!"

"Right here. I'm listening, Ryan."

Ashley immediately switched into her sweet-voiced mode. Her voice was so syrupy it was frightening, like a big bad wolf's.

Ryan couldn't help shivering inwardly, but he still asked in his normal voice, "I just want to do something for Dad. If Mitchell doesn't livestream by Dad's side often, how will people get to know him better?"

"Or am I wrong? Should people not get to know Dad?"

Of course they shouldn't!

Ashley almost blurted it out.

Ryan, you sweet little thing, you might be a little mistaken about what kind of creature Homelander is.

He really was good to you. The fact that I'm still standing here reporting to you was the clearest proof.

But...the public really shouldn't get to know that monster too well.

Ashley had serious doubts that Homelander could maintain his approval ratings for more than a few days if he really started livestreaming.

Or rather, how long could Homelander keep up his perfect image?

Besides, this kind of completely unfiltered, up-close exposure went against the company's entire strategy for packaging Homelander—and the rest of the Seven—as celebrities.

"Superheroes don't need to be real. They just need to be perfect."

"Distance makes them divine; look too closely and they're only human."

"What?"

"No, nothing. I mean..."

Ashley had weighed all these thoughts in an instant. It wasn't a good idea, but she didn't want to disappoint Ryan.

She said, "Ryan, what if we do it this way?"

Ryan made a listening gesture.

He understood the meaning behind those two lines, of course. And wasn't his goal to turn Homelander from a god into an ordinary man?

"We'll only livestream you and Homelander spending time together as father and son. The audience will love it. They absolutely adore you."

Ashley added silently: With you there, Homelander might be able to keep himself in check. Without you, the fallout would be disastrous.

"I like being with Dad."

Ryan's answer seemed beside the point, but he'd already agreed.

That was the inconvenience of being a child.

Even Ashley, who now looked to him for support, couldn't help treating his suggestions with a certain degree of disregard.

But it didn't matter. He'd take things one step at a time. There was no need to rush.

After they finished discussing that, Ryan acted as if he'd suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, "Ms. Ashley..."

"Just call me Ashley."

"Okay. Could you do me another favor, Ashley?"

Before she could answer, he went straight to the request. "Could you make me...um, one of those things where, no matter where I am, if I miss Dad and press a button, he'll know where I am?"

"When I woke up this morning, I sneaked out to play, but I didn't have the strength to fly back. He was really worried about me."

"But there was no signal on my phone out there. I was scared. Luckily, I ran into Mitchell."

Even if he hadn't happened to meet Raven, he would have made this request once he got back.

It looked like a scared child asking for something after sneaking out alone. But there were layers to it.

Sneaking out early in the morning to test Berserk—did you think he'd just been impatient to test his powers?

Heh. How naive.

Ryan's little scheme was ticking away like a well-oiled machine.

His real goal was to get a "Dad Pager" with certain limitations!

The limitation was that he had to press the button only when he missed Dad. Then Homelander would know Ryan's real-time location.

It wasn't a tracker that monitored him twenty-four hours a day.

Just like Ashley getting fired and his chance encounter with Raven in the woods, everything was a matter of taking advantage of circumstances and going with the flow, pushing his original plan a little further.

So after he made his request, Ryan quietly added, "Don't tell Dad. I want to surprise him when it's ready, okay?"

That was how you acted first and asked later. Once it was made, it would be too late for Homelander to change it into an all-day tracker.

Yes!

Of course!

Even with Super Hearing, Homelander couldn't hear the underlying meaning in Ryan's words. He didn't have Ashley's knack for reading between the lines.

All he knew was that his son had asked Ashley for a tracking device so he wouldn't have to worry.

And the best part was—

Ryan wanted to give me a surprise.

Oh, I'm so touched. No one has ever surprised me before.

"John!"

Edgar frowned, his tone growing sterner as he asked again, "What do you think of my proposal?"

"Huh?"

Homelander came back to himself and immediately wiped the smile off his face.

Whenever he saw Edgar's old face now, he couldn't help comparing it to Ryan.

That old man had never surprised me.

Homelander's struggle for power hadn't begun because he wanted power. It was a challenge from a needy, childlike man who'd killed his spiritual mother, Madelyn, and was now turning against the only spiritual father he had left!

From the time he was young, Homelander had lived in Walter's laboratories and under the glare of the spotlight. He had no family and no friends who truly cared about him.

Madelyn had once been a comfort to him, but in the end, it had all been...a lie.

Only Stan Edgar had been there by his side ever since he was too young to understand, staying with him year after year as the one in control.

He'd once admired Edgar's power and longed for his favor. He'd given everything he had to become the perfect superhero, all for the sake of one sincere word of praise.

But in Edgar's eyes, there had only ever been the company's interests and the value of Compound V.

To Edgar, he was never Homelander. He was just John, just the perfect weapon Edgar had painstakingly created.

He wanted to seize power and overthrow Edgar's rule. But at its core, it was just a way to prove himself, to force this "father" to face him and acknowledge him.

Maybe even love him.