"I'm William Power. It's good to meet you."
Reflex took over and Suzy found herself smiling politely as she shook his hand and introduced herself. She had a sudden, mad impulse to tell him that she'd worn underwear with pictures of his face on them until she was twelve.
"Have you seen my crew?" she asked him instead. "They were supposed to meet me here but I don't see them."
His face went from friendly to guarded, so fast that it had to be an act. She considered trying to read him but... this was William Power.
"Sorry Miss Nguyen-"
"Suzy, please." she corrected him.
"Suzy then." he said with a smile. "Support had to change the plan at the last minute. I'm afraid we can't give your crew access at this time."
"So does that mean the story's canceled?" she asked, confused. This whole thing had been the Citadel's idea, so why were they...?
"No ma'am. I can't say why, but it's strictly a security issue with..." he trailed off and shrugged. "Let's just say we couldn't let you use your own camera. To make it up to you, we're loaning you this."
He held up some sort of headset; offering it to her. Curious, she accepted the device and examined it while he explained.
"It's a modified version of something we use in the field. The communication functions on this one are disabled but it'll record anything in your presence, visual and audio. Just hit that button to turn it off or on."
She did so and a little green light came on.
"Seems simple enough." she told him.
"There's just one issue. The software involved is proprietary so we can't let you have the raw data. Don't worry though. We'll send over the footage after we convert it to a more standard format."
Normally, Suzy would've walked away at this point. However, her producer had told her, straight out, that this was going to be a softball piece. Goodwill from the Citadel was more important than anything interesting she might have been able to dig up.
"That should work just fine." she told him, careful to keep her friendliest smile in place.
"Good." he replied. "Now, would you like me to show you where you'll be staying or-"
"Right to work, if that's okay." she interrupted.
He nodded and touched his communicator.
"Can I get a location on Juggernaut?" he asked, then transferred his attention back to her. "I thought we'd start with one of our more experienced Instructors."
"Lead the way." she told him.
* * *
Apparently, this Juggernaut's office was near the top of the Tower. Suzy was a little disappointed that they took an elevator. Some part of Suzy, probably a remnant of her twelve year old self, had been hoping that her childhood idol would just pick her up and fly. Either way, they got there eventually. Suzy knocked on the door.
"Come in, please." came the reply.
She did, only to pause when she saw that the Instructor, a slim, hairless Indian man, already had a visitor.
"Jason, it is true that multiple challenges are allowed. Even one such as this is technically valid." said the Instructor. "But I'm not certain this is wise."
Trying to appear as if she wasn't paying attention, Suzy continued to listen in. She also made the little mental twist that activated her power.
"Sir, I would like to remind you that you yourself instructed me to stop holding back."
Suzy didn't hear the instructor's response. Her empathy stretched out, reached William Power first. She got nothing from him. Not surprising, word around the office, at least among those that paid attention to the Empowered scene, was that he might be a Null type in addition to the rest. The trainee, Jason, must have been one as well. It was strange though... most Nulls were all or nothing. Suzy could feel little flickers of emotion coming off him: irritation, pride and something that might have been eagerness.
Next, Suzy directed her power at Instructor Juggernaut. If she could get a good idea of his emotional baseline, simple enough while he was engaged in something routine like arguing with one of his students, it'd give her an edge in her interview. Well, arguing might not be the right word. Jason seemed calm, if a bit too formal. Juggernaut's expression was the perfect picture of serenity. Her power reached out to learn what he was really thinking and- PAIN!!!
She fell PAIN!!! to the floor, screaming. Suzy PAIN!!! couldn't control her PAIN!!! own body. It was PAIN!!! flailing and trembling PAIN!!! Burning, stabbing, tearing, PAIN!!! it was like nothing she PAIN!!! could've imagined over every part of her PAIN!!! body at once. Mercifully, she blacked out in seconds.
* * *
Medical Area
"Are you sure you're up for this?" asked William Power. "There's no reason you can't take some more time to recover."
Suzy shook her head. "No. I... I'm fine." She noticed her hand shaking, just a bit, and clenched it into a fist until the trembling stopped. "It wasn't even my pain but just the memory of what it felt like..." She looked down at her hands. "How can he be so calm? How can he even live like that?"
William Power was silent for a moment. When he answered, his voice was as solemn as anything she'd ever heard.
"Miss Nguyen, I'm over a hundred years old. I've spent the vast majority of that time as a soldier or a Citadel Operative. Please keep that in mind when I say this. Achala Juggernaut is easily the strongest man I've ever met."
Three seconds. That was Suzy's best guess as to how long she'd shared his pain. That was easily the worst experience of her life. He lived with it. She tried to imagine what that must be like, couldn't do it. She gave a short, quick nod.
"I understand."
"I was at the incident when he was... injured, and I was exposed too. Achala was the one who killed the Empowered responsible. Thanks to that, my power set let me recover after less than a minute. Everyone else..."
He dropped his eyes rather than go on. She went sick when she realized the implication.
"How- how many..." She couldn't finish the question.
"Thousands. Most died or took their own lives. So far as I know, there're only a few dozen left."
"This is... It's just incredible. I'd still like to finish the interview but I don't think it'd be safe. If I'm in the same room... my power..."
He sighed. "You really should've told us you were an empath, ma'am. I knew you were Empowered but if I'd realized your actual ability, well, this never would've happened."
"There's a reason I'm not registered, Operative." She glared at him. "I'd never get another interview if it came out."
"That's your right, ma'am." The glare didn't seem to have much effect on him. "Though I would suggest you don't use your ability again. Achala's condition is unique but there's more than a few minds here it wouldn't be safe for you to touch."
Still haunted by that three seconds, Suzy nodded without hesitation.
"Good. If you're willing to volunteer a little about how your power works, we can probably get you that interview." He shrugged. "Worst case scenario, we'll set you up with a video conference. In the mean-time, would you like to move on to the next subject?"
"Yes, yes I would." she said.
* * *
Training Area
Hector was waiting outside his class's training room, sending in a new body every now and again. He straightened up when he saw William Power approaching, along with an Asian woman wearing civilian clothes and a tactical headset in active mode. Maybe this was that reporter Director Shift had mentioned? He decided to find out.
"Hey Billy! Ma'am. What's up?"
Hector was caught completely off guard by his greeting's effect.
"My name is Senior Operative William Power. This is Miss Suzanne Nguyen. In the future, Trainee, you will address your superiors with the appropriate respect or you'll learn just why they're your superior. Understood?"
"What?" Hector was genuinely shocked, a rare thing for the duplicator. "I... I'm sorry sir. You... you told me to call you that. When we were looking for Abby, don't you remember?" Hector ask
ed, his voice quiet.
"Oh."
Just like that, Power's visible irritation disappeared. It was replaced by a look of startled comprehension. "Sorry kid. That wasn't me." Before Hector could ask, he explained. "You worked with William R. Power, right?"
Hector nodded.
"I'm William L. Power." he said with an expectant grin. Before Hector could ask the obvious question, he explained. "Left and Right."
Hector gaped for a moment. No one could possibly have given names like those to twins, so... "Some kind of clones... or?"
"Nope." said the other William Power, grin still in place. "I assume you know my primary power is regeneration?"
Hector nodded.
"Take a look at this and tell me what you think." He leaned in, putting his forehead directly in front of Hector's face.
It took him a moment to recognize what he was looking for, but once he did it was unmistakable. "The left side of your face... it's normal. But the right, there's no imperfections. The scalp line is smoother, pores are more even... what...?"
William- Hector decided to try thinking of him as Left. It was less confusing. Left stood back up, his grin expanding to a broad smile.
"I'd be happy to explain but it's technically a violation of the National Security Act."
Hector saw the woman's eyes twitch. He figured that would be a full on flabbergasted jaw drop in most people so yeah, definitely the reporter.
"Suzanne," Left said, turning back to face her, "why don't you head on in. Hector deserves the full story but, while I trust you, I'm not allowed to use my own discretion in this sort of thing. I trust you'll keep what you've heard so far to yourself?"
She gave a silent nod of assent and entered the training room.
Hector started to speak but Left held up a hand, silencing him.
"Wait a moment. She claims to be an empath but her light's a little too bright for that to be it. Her light's not bright enough to affect me and your file says that you're functionally immune to all but the best telepaths but, even so..."
They waited in silence for a few moments.
"It should be okay, sir. She looks pretty distracted." Hector said, eventually.
"Call me Will. You cut the response time on a potential extinction event in half. You've more than earned that."
"Thank you, Will. I... I, um." Hector didn't really know what to say. He had so many questions.
Will gave him a conspiratorial smile. "Hang on. I'll give you the quick version and then you can ask whatever you want, at least until she gets through in there."
Hector gave a quick nod, still a little nervous.
"We say brother, but that's just short hand. A while back, I got taken over when we were going after the Professor. Between me and his 'students,' the rest of Prime was having some trouble. They called in Gatekeeper and he stopped me, then took out the whole area."
He thought it over for a moment. Will might've said 'whatever you want' but Hector knew there were still plenty of things he was better off not knowing yet. "You said he stopped you. Do you mean... he cut you in half?"
Will nodded and used a finger to draw an imaginary line down his face, between his eyes. "He knew how strong my regeneration is, figured I'd survive. What no one expected was that both sides would recover completely."
"Wow." was all Hector could say at first. "Were there any after effects, missing memories? How big a piece does it take to make another you? Are there any more William Powers out there?" Breathless, he had to stop.
Will gave a little chuckle. "A few, but a lot less than conventional medicine would predict. A Richard's type who specializes in these types of things thinks a sizable portion of the nervous system needs to be involved, at least a third or so and no. There've only ever been a few Empowered that could handle me if I went rogue, mental control or otherwise. No one likes the idea of an army of mes running around."
Hector thought about that, the difference that a Citadel made up of nothing but its most famous member could make. "Was there a specific reason for concern or is it just fear? A hundred years of service should buy some trust."
The Senior Operative visibly hesitated before answering. "Sorry, that one I can't tell you."
He nodded. That was actually better than being told that the country was in the mess it was because of sheer hesitation, but not by much. "Looks like she's had just about enough. Can I ask one more before we're interrupted?" Hector asked.
"Sure."
"You said something about Ms. Nguyen's light not being bright?"
"Smart." Will snorted. "No wonder my brother liked you so much. That's a power I generally keep under my shirt but, like I said, you've more than earned it. I've got a perception ability, seeing power levels. I can't tell exactly what someone's Empowerment is without seeing it in action, but I can tell how... intense it is. It's useful to predict whether or not they'll be able to get through my Null ability. In a few cases, I can get a little bit about the... nature- I guess?" He shrugged. "I can spot a weird power, basically."
"She's coming out." Hector interrupted, just as Suzanne Nguyen staggered through the training room's double doors. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears, nausea written all over her face. She gagged but didn't throw up.
"What the fuck are you doing to them?" she demanded.
* * *
Training Area
Suzy walked into the room, expecting to see an example of 'basic skills training.' Obviously, she would've rather stayed to hear the far more interesting story of William Power and his not-a-clone. The young reporter considered herself well informed, even by the standards of her profession, but she'd never heard so much as a hint about something like this.
Sadly, she knew her producer's priorities and, more importantly, she suspected that the 'all necessary measures' line in that waiver she'd signed would probably stretch to include the mysterious disappearance of a nosy reporter who knew one too many of the Citadel's secrets. It was disturbingly easy to imagine. So sorry, but the poor girl stepped into one of our magical glowing gate-thingies and was never seen again.
She considered using her ability. Power was immune but that kid probably wouldn't be. It wouldn't be as good as listening in but it was better than nothing. Probably sa- That thought was cut off as she remembered the last time she'd used her power. She shuddered. No. Maybe not ever again.
Determined to derail that particular train of thought, Suzy examined her surroundings. The training room was similar to an ordinary, if oversized, high school gymnasium. It had a high ceiling, off-white walls, hardwood floors and an oval shaped rubber track running along the perimeter. In the nearest third, there were five rows, each with about eight men and women wearing trainee's black. Walking up and down the rows was a woman in the grey uniform and traditional mask of a Healer. She seemed to be supervising CPR classes.
The trainees were all bent over dummies, each dressed in the same all black uniform, pressing on their chests or breathing into their mouths. One of the trainees was glowing bright orange, another was silver-white. More than a few were physically inhuman, a human-snake hybrid with wings, a skeletally thin, chalk white monstrosity. Distracted by the obvious signs of Empowerment, Suzy didn't recognize the true nature of the dummies.
Looking past that remarkable assemblage, Suzy saw something still more incredible. In the middle of the gym, there was a dragon. It was immense, with red scales, a yellow underbelly and bat-like wings. Suzy was struck by its resemblance to that one in that movie. Best of all, she was pretty sure it was trying to perform CPR as well. The great beast was hunched over a dummy, resting one clawed finger on its chest. Suzy watched it lean forward, lowering its head and opening its mouth. Her own mouth opened slightly in wonder as it pursed its lips, completely covering the dummy's lifelike face. She couldn't believe, there was just no way that that could work...
It didn't.
There came a brief, bright flash of red-orange light and the dragon raised its head. When it looked down a
t the dummy and the scorched ruin that used to be its head, the expression of disappointment on its reptilian face was surprisingly clear.
She fought down a fit of giggles. One does not laugh at a dragon. If that wasn't already a rule, it should be.
This wasn't the first time that had happened, judging by the practiced ease with which the dragon scooped up the ruined CPR training tool. Even better indicators were the many scorched sections of floor that surrounded the dragon's area, as well as the sheer size of the pile of discarded, damaged mannequins the dragon was moving towards. The pile, almost as tall as her, was at the furthest end of the room. Suzy could make out a few more burnt dummies, but the most common defect seemed to be crushed chests.
It made sense. Suzy knew that something like half of the Citadel's operatives were Strong types of one flavor or another. They were just too common for it to be any other way. Assuming those dummies were about as resilient as a typical human, this was probably necessary training, maybe even vital.
Something drew Suzy's attention back to the trainees nearest to her. What had it been? After a moment, it happened again. One of the dummies moved.
A large black man, the one with the silvery glow, pushed down too hard. She saw the- the dummy's chest collapse, heard a groan of pain. Suzy looked back at the pile, just as the dragon tossed the- the- tossed it onto the top. Almost against her will- for once she didn't want to know- she examined the… the mound, more closely. They were moving. Some of the... some of them were still alive.
Horrified, sick to her stomach, Suzy Nguyen staggered back, turned, and practically ran through the doors.
In the room she left the behind, the Healer addressed her class.
"Good job people, but keep it up. Strong types, this is your best opportunity to practice precision without killing a teammate. Remember, even a normal person is likely to snap a rib or two when they're doing chest compressions, especially if they make a mistake. For those of you without super strength, the goal is to do this for an hour. After that, no one short of Retcon herself can help them and she has to use her power before the injury takes place to do any good."
Citadel (Book 1): Training in Necessity Page 30