by Hayes, Drew
188.
“Two months. You couldn’t give me even two months in this job without laying a conspiracy – one that somehow involves one of the world’s wealthiest men, a potential war in our future, and a legendary Hero framed for murder – on my doorstep. And that doesn’t even touch on you going around the DVA and allowing an expelled student to keep his complete set of memories. Honestly Blaine, if Casper had wound back my clock any further I’d probably slug you for this. Might still, if I get the urge.”
“I didn’t really mean for it to go like this,” Dean Blaine replied. “But when two of my people betrayed me, I started digging. By the time I looked up, I was in so deep I could barely see daylight.”
Despite what he hoped were merely comedic threats of violence, Dean Blaine felt like Graham was taking the news rather well. He knew it had been a lot to cope with, but the new head of the DVA had taken the tale in with a stoic, only occasionally worried, expression. Laying it all out had been a strange experience for Dean Blaine as well; it wasn’t until he had to unpack everything that he realized what an insane amount he’d been trying to tackle on his own.
The room in Graham’s base was simple, an underground, sparsely furnished concrete cell not unlike the HCP’s structure, only deeper and denser. Part of Dean Blaine wondered if he was seeing the prototype for his own building, but at the moment the idea was too big to properly consider. One of the few things the room did have was a coffee maker, and as Dean Blaine told the story, Graham had gone through a pot and a half of the good stuff. The Dean had only consumed a single cup by comparison. Apparently Graham wanted his full focus for their discussion… understandably so.
“That’s how it usually happens. You start pulling one thread and suddenly you’re hip deep in yarn with a big ball of it rolling your way. As the head of the DVA, I have to say that what you’ve done is blatantly against the rules, shows questionable judgment, and is grounds for extreme disciplinary action.” Graham paused for a moment, taking a hard look at Dean Blaine with those eyes that had seen too much. “But as a fellow Hero, I can’t say I’d have done things much differently. Digging up the truth and confronting it is part of what we do. For the moment – and just for the moment, because this is an issue we need to deal with – let’s skip over the particulars of how you got to this point. Instead, let’s look at the situation as it stands. Charles Adair killed Intra to find a cure for his wife, using Globe as an unwitting scapegoat. Turns out it works, and that cure might very well usher in the next world war, only this time it will be fought among Supers, former Powereds, and humans instead of nations. Meanwhile, Globe is trying to dig up proof to expose his brother, and is being helped by at least Relentless Steel and Mood Swing, if not more. Oh, and as a fun side dish, one of the first Powered test subjects happens to be Globe’s adopted kid – and another, Charles Adair’s. So you tell me, Blaine, how would you handle this in my position? Let’s see if you’ve got the brains to be a good employee after all.”
Dean Blaine blinked in surprise. “Wait, do you still want me to work for you?”
“Maybe. Depends on how you answer this question,” Graham replied. “I’m not stupid; I know you are the kind of man who does whatever it takes to see a job finished. Doesn’t really make sense to be angry at you for showing the very traits I want in an employee.”
“But I broke a lot of rules,” Dean Blaine objected.
“That’s one way to look at it. Or you were working a top-secret mission for the DVA, at the direct behest of Senator Malcolm. Since you both suspected the organization had been compromised it was kept off the books, communicated only between the two of you directly. Of course, when I took over he read me in on the situation. I think if asked, Senator Malcolm will happily corroborate this story, assuming I give him a call first. We parted on very friendly terms.” Graham didn’t smile with mischief or give Dean Blaine a wink; his expression was perfectly matter-of-fact.
“That’s a pretty big lie. You don’t think someone in the DVA who is unhappy with your position might try to call bullshit and bring in some telepaths?” Dean Blaine asked.
Graham nodded. “They might. But we’re all well-trained in how to control our thoughts, and if worse comes to worse, I know some people I trust in my head. They’ll rewrite our memories so that even we think it’s true, not that I imagine it will come to that. If we bring Globe out of the cold and expose Charles Adair’s corruption of the system, no one is going to dare question how we did it. So, Blaine. If you were the head of the DVA right now, how would you deal with this issue?”
It was a question Dean Blaine had asked himself dozens of times on sleepless nights. The initial impulse was to launch a full-scale investigation, to turn over every stone until the truth was uncovered. But Charles had deep pockets and too many friends: mounting an open offense on him was tantamount to declaring war on a nation without cause. They needed the proof first. “I don’t suppose you have a way to secretly access the HCP computer systems so we can get to those buried files?”
“I do not,” Graham said. “Partly for pragmatic reasons; we have an IT department that handles authorization and decryption, none of which I’m qualified to do. Partly because of the limitations built into the DVA power structure as well. No one, not even the lead, is allowed unfettered access to those systems. It’s to make sure none of us get into the information brokering game on the side. I can get you to the files, but probably not without someone tipping off Charles.”
“I figured as much.” Dean Blaine tried to step back and look at the situation. There was an abundance of potential next steps; however, they’d gone about as far as they could on the word of a dream-walker and a bit of corroboration. It wasn’t just the world that would need proof; Dean Blaine realized that he needed to know for sure as well. And now that he had the DVA’s potential blessing, it might be time to go to the best source they had for it. “I think, in your position, I would reach out to Globe. Not openly, of course. I’d use someone disposable, like an HCP dean who’d already broken a lot of rules and could have the whole scandal laid at his feet if things went awry. Have that person try to contact Globe, let him know there are people willing to listen if he’s willing to talk. We have to start separating truth from fiction, to figure out who our enemies and who our friends are. Globe might be one of the only people who can give us that.”
“If he’s willing to talk at all, and you can manage to find him when the entire DVA has come up short.” Graham didn’t sound dismissive of the idea, more like he was simply bringing the issue to Dean Blaine’s attention. “You know we’ve got nothing to offer him, right? Even if it’s true that he didn’t kill Intra in the way we thought, he’s avoided capture, broken into a jail, and organized the kidnapping of an HCP student. Not even I could get away with pardoning him from all of that, at least not so recently in the position. Do you think he’ll be willing to talk knowing that even in the best scenario this ends with him behind bars?”
“If he’s still the man I went to school with, even a little bit, then he’ll help,” Dean Blaine said. “And judging from the son he raised, I think it’s safe to say Phil hasn’t changed too much.”
“What about you? I just offered you a way out and now you’re proposing to get yourself in deeper instead.” Graham was staring at him intently again, searching Dean Blaine’s expression for a glimmer of doubt or falsehood. “How far are you prepared to take this, Blaine?”
Dean Blaine considered the question for several moments, turning it carefully over before answering. “To the end. Whether it was Charles or Globe, one of them is responsible for Intra’s death. I’ve watched Chad live his entire life with only a memory for a father, and I owe it to him to see that justice is done. I’ll take this as far as I have to, Graham – to the ends of the Earth if needed.”
Graham rose from his chair and walked over to the coffee pot, pouring himself another mug. “You know, I’d heard the tales about you, but I wasn’t entirely sure I believed them
. Even Heroes tell fish stories. Seems I was wrong on that account. You’ve got every bit as much gumption and grit as they say. Get me some proof, Blaine. Some lead to work with. I’ll shelter you as best I can, but be careful. I’d hate to lose an employee with so much potential before he can officially take office.”
“I haven’t actually accepted the job yet,” Dean Blaine pointed out.
“Sure you haven’t.” It was fleeting, but for a moment Dean Blaine was almost positive he caught a wide grin on Graham’s face just before it turned out of sight.
189.
Vince grunted and let his head drop heavily to the couch cushion nearby. Alice, Alex, and Camille ignored him, which was fair since they’d done their own collapsing in frustration at that point. It went part and parcel with the task they were tackling. Vince was amazed by how hard this was, when it really shouldn’t be. He’d cleared so many seemingly unassailable obstacles to make it this far: being turned from Powered to Super, enduring the rigors of the HCP, even applying himself enough to be on track for graduation with a real college diploma. So why was a name, of all things, turning out to be such an insurmountable hurdle?
“Glam? What do you think? That’s a fun one, right? I could do an outfit with lots of color and sparkles; nobody would guess I was a Subtlety Hero in that get-up.” Alice chewed on the end of her pen for a few seconds before sighing and crossing the idea out. Her pad of yellow legal paper was scored with other rejected monikers. With the final semester upon them, the deadline for picking a Hero name loomed. Alice knew she needed something powerful – for her sake if no one else – but so far nothing she’d tried had felt right. “Good name, but not for me.”
“At least you’ve got open options; everything I could use is copyrighted,” Alex complained, not for the first time that day.
“You don’t have to put something Jedi-related into your Hero name, you know.” Camille’s voice was firmer than usual, possibly because Alex seemed to have not heard her any of the other times she’d raised the point.
“But then it wouldn’t be… me.” With a resigned look in his eyes, Alex turned back to his own pad of paper, occasionally glancing over to a tablet where he’d pulled up an expanse of tabs on Jedi and all things related to them. It was a search that would probably end without success, and everyone in the room knew that, yet he had to try all the same.
After a few moments of silence, Vince rose from the cushions to start puzzling through ideas once more. So far, the only one he hadn’t entirely crossed off was Energy Taker Lad, the name he’d hastily taken during the attack on Lander. It was plainly ridiculous, but at least it had some personal meaning to him. It harkened back to the first time he’d really been in the field and reminded him of the kind of choices he’d have to make as a Hero. Still, it was so stupid, there was no way he could actually use it… unless he failed to think of something better.
“We need something that encapsulates us, if not our ability,” Camille said. It was advice they’d all gotten from their professors at one point or another, and no one was entirely sure how many times it had been repeated today. Sadly, the concept was easier articulated than executed. “How does a freaking name encapsulate who we are? I know it’s only supposed to be one piece, I’m just not sure how people can drill down and find a single phrase to capture that.”
“I think it’s not supposed to be about us, but rather about what kind of Hero we want to be.” Alex was looking up from his tablet for the moment; it was anyone’s guess how long until he fell down the digital rabbit hole once more. “Aside from the ones with power-based names, that’s the trend I see most often with famous Heroes. Take Titan; he picked his name after the unstoppable legends of old, because that’s the image he wanted to project. I think if we’re straying away from a name that depicts our abilities then it needs to be something meaningful to us. Something that reminds us what we’re fighting for, even when things get rough.”
“Lovely sentiment,” Alice said. “Has that led you to any sudden bouts of inspiration?”
“Not a one,” Alex admitted, turning back to his tablet.
Alice ruminated on the thought for a while longer after they settled back into silence.
A name that depicted what they were fighting for, what sort of Hero they wanted to be.
What type of mark they wanted to leave behind on the world when they were gone.
Slowly, her hand began to trace new letters on the yellow page, one after another until a familiar word was staring back at her. In that instant, she knew she’d found it. Carefully, she tore off the sheet, folded it neatly, and stuffed it into her pocket.
“Looks like someone had a little inspiration.” Camille was staring at her from across the room, a touch of jealousy plain on her face. “Going to tell us what you just wrote down?”
“Absolutely. Once I’ve checked the databases to make sure it’s unclaimed. If I talk about it, I’m going to fall in love with it, and that can’t happen until I know the name will for sure be mine. I shouldn’t take too long.” Alice grabbed her coat from Melbrook’s hall closet and headed for the door. “Good luck with the planning session. Think over what Alex said a little more, it’s where I got my idea.”
Then she was out the door, no doubt heading to the nearest HCP entrance. Vince let out a low, long groan. Happy as he was for his friend, watching more and more of his peers land on their proper monikers made the situation feel all the more dire. Part of him, a part he could barely trust himself to acknowledge, wished he could do what Chad had done and take over his father’s name. That was never going to happen though. Even if it were available, which it wasn’t, the name was too tainted to ever be worn by a new Hero… especially one of the first formerly-Powered Heroes.
“Maybe we should try something different.” Camille had set her pen down and was looking over to Vince and Alex. “We’re too in our own heads right now; we might not even know a good idea if we heard it. Let’s try thinking of something other than ourselves. Alex, what would you name Vince? Don’t overthink it; just toss out an idea of what you think would be a fitting name.”
“I don’t know, my instinct is to say something related to his ability. Maybe Pickpocket. Or Powerpocket? Powerpicker? Okay, these are just getting worse, aren’t they?”
“There was a downward slide, but that’s fine. We’re just tossing things out, it doesn’t matter if they’re good or bad,” Camille assured him. “Vince, what would you call me?”
Vince didn’t reply immediately, but rather considered the question before answering. “Something like Life Support feels close to right, since you both support your team and keep them alive, but it doesn’t really capture the duality of your abilities. Karma isn’t too far off the mark, but there’s no way that’s not taken already, right?”
“Couldn’t hurt to check.” Camille took a quick note down on her pad before setting it to the side once more. “Alex, as for you, I’d either go with a name that’s a nod to your situation, like Knockoff, or a word too widely used to copyright that still has meaning for you. As long as you don’t put a ‘the’ in front of it, couldn’t you just use the word Force?”
“It’s… possible.” Alex scribbled a few notes down in sloppy script. “I might need another qualifier, but you might be on to something. No one would know what it meant, though.”
“You would,” Vince told him. “You just have to figure out if that’s enough.”
“We’ll keep brainstorming, but it’s not the worst idea to get some outside suggestions from people we trust.” Camille glanced to Vince and gave him a wink. “Unless Vince is really smitten with Energy Taker Lad and is just pretending to put on a show of looking for a new name.”
Hearing the moniker come out her mouth cemented Vince’s resolve: one way or another he was going to find the right name. That, or open a dictionary and throw a dart at a page. Literally anything was better than Energy Taker Lad.
190.
Professor Pendleton wasn’t partic
ularly surprised when Alice burst through his classroom door. He hadn’t expected her by any means, but he always made it a point to anticipate unannounced entries, be they friendly or dangerous. It was a habit that had served him well as a Hero and had continued to be quite useful as a teacher. There was something to be said for never letting his students see him jump in surprise, especially given the subject he taught.
Alice didn’t pause to comment on his stoic reaction to the intrusion. She just kept walking forward, reaching his desk before he even had a chance to put his book down.
“Something up?” The odds that she’d come to talk about their extracurricular searches on HCP grounds were slim, though there was a possibility that she’d come to bring him somewhere that they could have that sort of discussion. Even that was unlikely, as Dean Blaine would have made a much less conspicuous messenger. Plus, as her teacher Professor Pendleton liked to think she’d have learned enough to keep a lower profile in situations like that.
“Hell yeah something is up. I picked my Hero name.” Alice reached into her backpack and pulled out a small stack of forms and printouts, placing the lot carefully on Professor Pendleton’s desk. “I ran it through all the databases we’re supposed to check and none of them had a listing for it. Unless you’ve got some hidden protocol I have to satisfy, this should be good to go.”
Tempted as he was to grab the top form, Professor Pendleton instead took his time. He placed a bookmark between the pages of his novel, shut it, and stowed it in one of his top desk drawers. Only when that was done did he lean over, scanning the entirety of the top page before letting his eyes wander to the large blank where Alice’s potential new name was waiting. This he read a few times, making sure he properly comprehended. She wasn’t wrong; Professor Pendleton had never heard of anyone with that Hero name before… probably because it was an odd choice, even by the admittedly loose standards of Heroes.