by JC Bybee
Just breathe and focus. It’ll come back quick.
That she had mind powers was one secret that only a very select few new, and she planned on keeping it that way. People were already scared enough by her. If word got out that she had mental powers, even severely limited ones, people would start panicking whenever she was around. She had enough to deal with without adding that in.
Focusing her thoughts she started searching for the presence of other Exceptionals. It took some work. Her under-used mind powers reacted like atrophied muscles. It took them a while to start up. Eventually she found what she was looking for. In the basement there was an upper tier Fourth. Now she just had to find the stairs down.
A quick search of the lobby turned up what she was looking for. Before she went down she cuffed the three uninjured Antis to their still moaning Fortress. Satisfied that they weren’t going anywhere she went down the stairs.
The basement was actually two stories down and it got progressively cooler as Ace descended. She didn’t bother with trying to hide her entrance. The technomancer would be expecting her since they had already disrupted her radio. That was quite the feat since Maniac was doing her best to distract the Anti.
The door at the bottom of the stairs opened to a massive room. There was only dim illumination, but there were plenty of small blinking LEDs in reds, yellows, greens and blues. It was disconcerting as she looked for her target, like she was being watched by glowing eyes.
You’ve played DOOM way too much.
Eventually she spotted the technomancer sitting in a distant corner. He had a laptop across his knees and his eyes were so focused on it that he never heard her approach. “Close the computer and put your hands behind your head,” Ace said, loud enough to be heard throughout the huge room.
The Anti looked at her and she flinched at the madness in his eyes. It was worse than Technosis. “You dare oppose me?” he shouted. “Do you know who I am?!”
“You’re under arrest,” Ace replied.
You’ve been waiting for a chance to say that one haven’t you?
“Human laws have no-” he began, but Ace cut him off, having heard this particular tirade already. He sounded just like Technosis. “Have no hold over you, right. I’m here as an officer of the law. And I can tell you that you are wrong, so unless you have a way of dealing with me,” he trembled a little, “you are still under arrest.”
The Anti stared at her, confusion and anger warring across his face. Ace approached him, taking out her last pair of suppressor cuffs. That’s when he tried to fight her. He thrashed and kicked, sending his laptop skittering across the floor and the rest of the equipment he’d been using was thrown into disarray. Ace calmly continued reciting his rites as she carried him upstairs to where the others were waiting.
Chapter 7
“Well, Maniac disabled their fail-safes successfully. We have the five of them in lockup waiting for interrogation,” Torment said as she sat down at Ace’s desk.
“That’s some good news I suppose. I just hope we can get some useful information out of them,” Ace replied still working on her report. It had taken a better part of the night to get the crime scene wrapped up. She was starting to get irritable.
You’re always irritable when you have to do paperwork.
“The Captain thinks the technomancer is going to be our best bet. He’s going to get an insanity plea easy. He’s as bad off as Technosis, if not worse. Do you think Emily would be willing to help?” Torment said.
That was surprising. Emily was still an Unreg as far as Ace knew. She had no obligation, or even any right to use her powers to aid the E.E.D. “I couldn’t tell you for sure, Torment,” Ace replied. Then she remembered that Emily had said she was willing to do something. “She has said she is willing to go over what she learned about the people in her building with us. Like I said I think there was an HSO operative in her building.”
“What makes you say that? I read your message, but I want to hear it directly. I might be able to pick more out that way,” Torment asked.
Ace knew what that meant, Torment wanted to relive the conversation as it had happened between her and Emily. “He, Technosis that is, was her coworker up until about a year ago. Apparently the HSO nabbed him while he was on vacation,” Ace replied. As she spoke to did her best to recall the conversation in its entirety. “She and I both think that someone in that building was a plant to find disgruntled Exceptionals.”
“Was Technosis disgruntled?” Torment asked. Ace could feel her looking through her memories. It was a fairly common process that Torment was using. It was one of the reasons all E.E.D precincts had a Mental Class in charge. They could extract more information from the Heroes this way than through simple questioning.
“He didn’t like Tomahawk and his vocal position that all Exceptionals had a responsibility to serve mankind,” Ace replied.
Torment sighed; she and Tomahawk had been good friends. It was how Ace and Torment had first met. “Tomahawk angered a lot of Exceptionals with his opinions. I’m glad to see they didn’t rub off on you.”
Ace smiled. “They did, I’m just not as vocal about it. People are nervous enough around me; I don’t need to give them more reason to be.”
“How are you handling that? People’s reaction to you I mean,” Torment asked. Along with being their team lead she was also the team psychiatrist. She knew that the way people perceived Ace had a lot of influence on her.
You’re handling it the best you can.
Ace shrugged. “I don’t really know. Most people around here are so used to the Exceptionals that I was just another one on the list to them. Regular people aren’t the problem, hell even Exceptionals aren’t the problem. Most of them don’t believe half of what they’ve been told about me. I’m the one that’s the issue right now. Every time I use my powers I’m afraid I’m going to hurt someone unintentionally. I even felt bad when that stupid Anti ran into me earlier. He knew who I was, but he didn’t believe, or didn’t want to believe it. How is he, by the way?”
“Turbo? He’ll live. His shoulder was pretty much destroyed, but Moses took care of that,” Torment replied.
“I’m glad to hear it,” she said and then shook her head. “You see what I mean? He would have killed me given half the chance, but I feel sorry that he hurt himself because of my powers. That has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever said.” She was very carefully not gesturing while she spoke. As worked up as she was even a stray movement could be dangerous.
Torment smiled. “I would call that compassion Ace, not stupidity. You understand, better than most, just what you are capable of. And, no, I don’t think it’s fair that you are the only Fifth; that you are the only one that has to deal with that much power. At the same time I’m glad that it is you. Because you are so concerned about others there is less risk of you abusing your powers.”
“Never again,” Ace said. She’d only done it once; the day Tomahawk had been killed. Torment knew about that. Most Exceptionals in the E.E.D knew about that. It was the one time she had let the full force of her power out in a fit of rage. She’d leveled an entire industrial park before the Mental Class on scene had been able to reach her.
I was a big part of that.
“Never say never, Ace. All of us are vulnerable to temptation. Especially if we think we are doing something for everyone’s good. If I wanted to I could drive everyone in this room mad, bend them to my will and make them do just as I pleased. Even if I thought I was doing it for their own good, even if I had the best of intentions it matters not. It would be an abuse of my power and my responsibility as one with power. The temptation is there for all of us. That’s why the Hero Units exist. We are the line, the ones who guard even the greatest of them, from the weakest of us,” Torment said.
Ace nodded. It wasn’t the first time she and Torment had had this conversation, nor would it be the last. It was important for her to be reminded of the reasons she had joined the E.E.D. Torment was
good at that. And Ace respected her.
Of course she’s good at it. She’s had to deal with you for almost a year now.
“Once your report’s done you can head home. Angel and I will handle the interrogations. On your next scheduled shift if you would bring Emily back so we can try and filter through her memories that would be appreciated,” Torment said. With Ace’s nod she stood and walked back to her desk.
Ace turned her full attention back to her report. The sooner she got it done the better.
When Ace walked in her front door, well after dawn, her stomach rumbled, loudly. The air was filled with the smell of breakfast being cooked. She could smell sausage, eggs, bacon and bread all at once. She dropped her work bag when she saw Emily busy in the kitchen.
Wow, she’s good.
The other woman saw her and said, “Welcome back. I figured you would be hungry when you got in.”
Ace nodded, still a little awestruck, and said, “Is there anything I can do?”
“No. I’m pretty much done. I looked through your home’s computer and tracked what you typically ate for breakfast. I hope I didn’t make too much,” Emily replied. She looked much better than she had the day before. A good night’s rest had done wonders for her, along with having her powers under control. She moved around the kitchen with relaxed ease.
“I’m going to go shower,” Ace said, unsure of what to make of the whole situation.
Once she was cleaned up and had changed into street clothes she came out to find a heavily laden table waiting for her. She sat and took a little bit of everything. “I wasn’t exactly sure how you preferred your eggs,” Emily admitted. She had cooked them in three different styles.
“I prefer them scrambled,” Ace said. “But don’t worry I’ll eat anything I didn’t have to cook. If you were a man I’d ask you to marry me right now.”
Emily laughed. It was a good sound. “Sorry, just a woman who has lived alone long enough to pick up a few tricks.”
Ace quirked an eyebrow and said, “You can’t be much older than me.”
Emily replied, “I’m not. We were born on the same day, within an hour of each other, from what you’ve told me. But instead of Registering and joining the military, like you, I went to college and studied. It wasn’t really fair for me with my power and all, but I thought it might be a good place for me to try and get control over it.”
“That’s something I’ve been wondering for a while now,” Ace said after swallowing another mouthful of bacon and eggs. “How did you keep yourself sane? I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve met only a handful of Used that weren’t unhinged by the lack of control on their powers. And they all had purely physical powers.”
“I got lucky, I guess. I kept expecting my power to drive me mad. That’s what I’d been told ever since I was told what a Used was. Everyone just assumed that one day I would break under the strain of an uncontrollable mental power. As you can see it never happened. I have no good reason why,” Emily replied.
She is very lucky. She could have ended up like that poor slob in Toronto.
Ace made a noncommittal noise and continued eating. “If you don’t eat I will eat it all,” she said when she saw Emily’s plate still empty.
“I ate already,” Emily replied.
She is not a very good liar.
“Liar,” Ace said. It came out blunt and she meant it to. “Emily, it is my job to keep you safe and alive. If you don’t eat I can’t do that, besides the cook should always take the chance to enjoy the fruits of their labors.”
“I just want to make sure there’s enough,” Emily replied.
“There’s plenty. The thing about my powers is I can eat as much or as little as I want. There was a time when I was stationed in New Egypt when I went a week without even drinking water. I eat because I enjoy eating, not because I have to. Now eat up.”
The other woman finally started in and Ace nodded in satisfaction. They passed the rest of the meal in relatively trivial conversations. “How bad was your case this morning?” Emily asked as they were cleaning up.
“It was more annoying than bad. Torment wanted me to ask you if you would be willing to come in and help with interrogations,” Ace replied.
The other woman hesitated. “I would have to Register to do that, wouldn’t I?”
“Probably. You wouldn’t have to join the E.E.D; we hire consultants all the time. Regs that work as PIs, scientists, doctors that kind of thing,” Ace replied.
“I don’t know if I can bring myself to Register,” Emily said quietly.
Now for the big secret.
“Why not?” Ace asked. That was a question she’d wanted the chance to ask an Unreg for a long time. Why not Register? There were enough members of the E.E.D that it was rare for a Reg to be called into action.
“I didn’t think I should. I had no control over my power. I was afraid of doing more harm than good as a Reg,” Emily replied.
That made sense. A Used as powerful as Emily could potentially pose a threat to any investigation. “But now you have your power under control,” Ace pointed out.
Emily nodded. “I know, I’m just scared. I don’t know what the future will hold for me. Am I going to have to rely on you for the rest of my life?”
“I’ve got no problem with that. You’re a good person Emily. I like helping out good people, Exceptional or normal. Just think about it,” Ace said.
Give her time. She’ll come around.
They were silent through the rest of the cleanup. Ace wanted to give Emily her space and time to think over her options.
Once they were finished Ace retired to her living room, with Emily close behind. The next shift Ace was scheduled to work wasn’t until the next day, or she would have gone back to sleep. Instead she turned on her TV and kicked on her PlayStation 5. She played video games to help pass the time. Sony Computer Entertainment was more than happy to keep her supplied with nearly unbreakable game controllers. They owed her their entire corporation for what she’d done for them a few years back.
Nothing like a massive security breach to bring a company to its knees.
“I’m going to Register,” Emily finally said. Her sudden statement almost made Ace jump.
Like I said.
“You can do it online. Go ahead and use my computer,” Ace said. “Do you know the site?”
“I remember,” Emily said as she went to the computer desk in the corner of the living room. Ace had a nice computer, a three monitor setup and all the bells and whistles for the ultimate gaming experience. Unlike other people she gamed across computers and consoles.
You just like having plenty to do.
She watched Emily out of the corner of her eye and smiled a little. She was one of the good ones.
Chapter 8
Emily and Ace entered the E.E.D floor of the precinct together. Emily was in a black suit and she’d done herself up just enough to look professional. Ace was in her uniform, no makeup. She hated makeup. It would be sometime before she was a plain clothes Hero. And she was glad for it. That would involve way too much responsibility for her liking.
Coward
Torment met them just outside the elevator doors. “Ms. Carpenter, it is good to see you again. I trust Ace is keeping you safe.”
Emily smiled. She flashed her newly printed Registered Exceptional License. “Ace is doing her job well. She tells me that you are looking for consultants on the Technosis HSO case.”
“We are. Come with me. I’ll take you to Captain Angel. He and I are working together on this one,” Torment replied and motioned Emily forward. Ace went to her desk to look over her inbox. She was interrupted by Left Hook.
“Damn you brought in a nice one today Ace.” He was watching as Emily and Torment entered the Captain’s office.
“You do understand that she, Torment and the Captain can hear everything you’re thinking right?” Ace asked. She gave Left Hook a flat look before returning to her work.
“Go
od, let her get a good idea of what I can do for her,” Left Hook continued. He stood watching Emily with a leer that would have gotten him slapped if she saw it.
There was a crack as the handle of Ace’s chair broke off. She absolutely hated when men treated women like that. Left Hook looked down at the broken chair handle in Ace’s hand, then up to her face. She didn’t know what he saw there, but it was enough to shut him up. He left with his head bowed, not daring to make eye contact.
He’s lucky that wasn’t him.
“He’s an ass,” Maniac said as she stepped up to watch Left Hook walk away.
“I’ve found that most men like him are,” Ace replied. She stood and flipped her chair over.
“You going to report him?” Maniac asked. She watched as Ace took the broken arm and reattached it. “How did you do that?”
“I can vibrate the molecules fast enough on the two ends that they reattach. Learned it in basic from a Speed Class named Sky,” Ace said as she righted her chair and went back to work.
“You didn’t answer my first question,” Maniac said. There was only a little electricity in her eyes.
Ace shrugged. “He was leering at a friend of mine and a potential consultant for the Technosis HSO case. She was with Torment. They both probably know and the Captain will be there to chew his ass.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, Ace. Left Hook did that to you. He’s pushing your buttons again,” Maniac said. She sat on Ace’s desk, preventing her from working. Ace looked up. The lightning in her partner’s eyes had intensified. “What do you want me to do? The guy is so scared of me that he tries to cover it by picking on me. I’ve put up with it my whole life. Bullies are everywhere. The more they use their mouths the less they use their fists.”
“Not denying that, but the rest of bullies in the world aren’t stirring up someone like you. I lose my temper and some gadgets get fried. Torment loses hers and people have nightmares while wide awake. I’ve seen what happens when you lose your temper Ace. I’d rather you didn’t have to deal with the aftermath of another Detroit,” Maniac said.