Sherry(Jon's mom) thought about it for a bit and replied, "ask your grandma." Taylor ran off to the hallway and asked grandma if they could stay, and she said she would be delighted after she freshened up.
"You sure you're OK Penny? You've been a little different tonight. Normally, you can't get enough of grandma's stories. You talk about wanting to go on adventures with her, and sometimes without her," asked Zoe.
"Grandma's a cool lady."
"I'm glad she recovered from that stroke, maybe you do have healing powers." In Jon's reality, his grandma had some residual movement issues, so she couldn't go with grandpa on his trips. They had someone stay with his grandma when grandpa went away. Initially, the family tried to have grandpa stay home, but he said his work was too important. After he went to South America, his grandma improved a lot, but was still depressed from the time she lost not being independent. She was much more alive in this reality, partly shown by the way she didn't smell of medicine but instead the faint floral scent of her perfume.
"Maybe I do, " replied Jon, "it's just nice to see them both, you know?"
"I know. They are pretty awesome. It's a shame their trip to South America was delayed. Grandma was looking forward to that one."
"Huh?"
"Yea, she said something about how she and Grandpa were on the verge of finding something big, but the funding fell through. I swear they are both like Indiana Jones, all they are missing in the whip."
"And a hat, " added Jon
"I'm sure it's in the mail, " laughed Zoe finishing the dishes. The conversation was ended by the closure of the dishwasher and the popcorn starting to pop. Jon and Zoe finished up drying the countertop and went into the living room for another episode. Taylor and Michelle were flanking grandma, but she gestured to sit next to Taylor. Jon sat down and his grandma grabbed his shoulder and rubbed his back. The episode started and while he was enjoying the company, he overheard his grandpa and dad talking in the kitchen. He excused himself and went into the kitchen.
"Hey sport, what's up? Not enjoying the episode?"
"Just wanted to hang out with the guys, that's all," replied Jon.
"Welcome to being with the guys. We were just talking about South America," said grandpa
"What's there?" asked Jon
"Well, Penny, your grandma and I found this Incan ruin that supposedly contains a god, or maybe a god-like power, the translations aren't sure. Anyway, we got a research grant and then the government puts a freeze on the funding and will reassess in 30 days."
"Could you go on your own?" asked Jon's dad.
"Too expensive. It could be days or weeks to find out what's really going on. Not to mention days or weeks to find the exact location of the ruins. Googlemaps, satellites, nothing can find it. We are beginning to think it may be underground, or at least partially so."
"Could it be in dense rainforest or something?" asked Jon
"Sure could Penny. I'll let you know if you womanly intuition is right. Your grandma's usually is." Jon winced at the comment.
"So what's your plan with Biff?" asked Jon's dad.
"Not interested. Another girl asked if she could go to homecoming, and I said sure."
"That's right! Focus on those studies. I hear medical school is hard to get into, so it's best to try to get a leg up now," said grandpa.
"My granddaughter will get into whatever school she wants. I'm sure of it," said Jon's grandma coming up and putting her hands on Jon's shoulders. It felt calming
"You dote on her, Mary." said grandpa
"Of course I do, she's my eldest granddaughter. That's what grandparents do, Walter, you're guilty too."
"True, true, You caught me, " replied Walter. The episode ended and the girls all said their goodbyes to Walter and Mary. Taylor and Michelle went to get ready for bed. Sherry and his dad encouraged the two older siblings to get some homework done. They went upstairs and went to their respective rooms. Jon went into his room and took out his homework, but didn't start it. He wanted it to look like he was working if a parent came in. He leaned back in his chair, feeling his hair pull down. He started thinking about the day and if there were hints. There were the numbers, then what else? His mind got to the part of the evening where he was told South America was delayed. So, if there was no trip, there was no stone. Jon felt his chest tighten, that was one less escape route. He HAD to use the laptop now. If he didn't figure it out soon, he could be stuck as Penny forever. Sure she had a nice life, but he wanted his. Jon had to take some deep breaths to calm down. It took more breathing that usual, because his breasts kept moving, reminding him that he had to get that password.
He opened the laptop and looked at the login screen. It was his only shot. He had to get this. He tried some common powers adding on 13 or 17, but the first several didn't work. The hint came back. Favorite superpower + favorite number. So it wasn't flight, super strength or mild control. He tried climbing walls and some others from comic books. Then he saw a 5 appear next to the log in. He tried another option, and the number went down by 1. He was running out of attempts. Maybe he got the power right, but something needed to be capitalized? One more attempt gone. Then he remembered Zoe mentioned something about healing powers. He tried healing13, but the counter went down to 2.
