Arx ran along a cliff that looked down at the ocean. Great waves of water ripped across the surface and bashed into a town in the distance. An entire harbor was already in ruins, debris floating in the thrashing water.
“Watch it! I need you to protect that town!” Arx yelled at two of the trainees.
A young man ran and let out a powerful scream. The shockwaves of his voice cut the power of an incoming tidal wave until it only washed ashore. An older man ran beyond him and quickly lifted both hands into the air. An energy barrier raced out away from him and surrounded the town. Another wave came through and hit the barrier, splashing around the town, but not engulfing it.
Arx looked up. Three of the heroes flew people to safety. “Good! Remember, time is at a premium. MOVE!”
While his people rushed to defend the town and evacuate the citizens, Arx tapped a button on his wrist comm. The waves turned horribly violent and came in three and four at a time. The barrier around the town burst apart, and the young man couldn’t scream any longer. Then, the waves seemed to settle. However, they saw an immense wave rising and rushing toward them, covering the sun in the distance.
Adrianne ran out across the surface of the ocean. Where her foot met the water, a small patch of ice would form for her to bounce off of. She created a surfboard of water and sped along as a fog of blue came from her hands. The massive, catastrophic wall of water turned to ice as far as the eye could see. It slowed and then stopped, the new iceberg bobbing in the waters of the ocean. Behind it, more waves crashed into it, but the ice stopped them from reaching the sand.
“Enough!” Arx tapped his comm again, and the room faded into an empty space.
The trainee ATLAS members approached and stood in front of him.
“You all did very well. You and team B are neck and neck for points in the training simulators.”
The boy, who spoke with a hoarse voice, said, “We wouldn’t be doing so well without Adrianne. She’s good.”
While Adrianne blushed, Arx smiled and said, “Yes. But that isn’t cheating. I put a person on each team with top-class powers. They’ll do some of the heaviest work, but they would fail alone. Being a BADGE hero team or an ATLAS team doesn’t mean everyone is equal in power, but that everyone does what they need to do so that the world is still safe. Now, hit the showers and get some dinner. I hear EB has some big announcement he is just dying to tell you.”
The others left, but Arx stopped Adrianne. “That was amazing. Where did you learn to do that?”
She said, “I told you, I did some training before coming here. Plus, I have been working in the RAID simulators with a few of the teams. I want to be my best.”
“You’re better than your best. Most ATLAS members don’t train with the heroes. I like the initiative.” He cleared his throat and carefully pulled out a card from his pocket. “Here, this is my extra key card.”
She took it, which had his picture on it. There was a moment of surprise with some worry on her face. “What’s this?”
“That is a BADGE official key card. Only command level heroes and ATLAS members have one. This will let you use the simulator on your own. I thought do some extra training.”
“Oh, good.”
“You sound relieved?”
She laughed, “I thought you were being incredibly forward and giving me the key to your quarters or something like that.”
He launched into defense right away. “No, no, not at all. I mean, sure, that can unlock my quarters, but that is not the reason. I just think you would like extra training and I didn’t want you to get bored and there is a lot more down time for ATLAS trainees and I mean, you are nice to be around, but I am not that kind of guy, and....”
“Stop stumbling around. I get it. You were being nice. I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I’m sorry.”
“Good. Now, don’t tell anyone I let you borrow that. We get two and they are supposed to be for us alone. I trust you will be honorable with it and not get me in trouble.”
“Scout’s honor, I will behave.” Adrianne walked toward the exit with him. “So, when do we get to do fieldwork? How long are we going to be stuck in simulators? We’ve been here for two weeks.”
“Soon. The next ATLAS crisis that arises, I’ll bring all the trainees along to assist the regular teams. But we have no way of knowing exactly when that will be. Or, for that matter, what kind of crisis it will be.”
“What about Africa?”
Arx paused and gave her a funny look. “What about it?”
“I know there has been some strange earthquake stuff going on there. Shouldn’t we go take a look?”
Arx shook his head. “No. Nova agrees with me. The severity of the situation does not warrant our attention. Besides, the local authorities have said that it is nothing. The Global Geological Survey is monitoring things.”
“Oh. I still think we should look into it.”
“I will keep an eye on the situation.” Arx changed the subject. “So, how about we have dinner?”
“Sounds great. I’m starving.”
“I mean, not with the group. Just... you and me. In the mess hall, but not with the group.”
Adrianne smiled at him with a sweet look in her eyes. “You asking me out?”
“In a way.”
“Then, it’s a date. And, you know something... you’re cute when you are nervous.” She patted him on the side of the face and walked away.
Arx let out a tightly held sigh as he watched her leave.
***
Nova stood in front of the main monitor in the Operations Center. Behind Nova was Gar, looking over a computer tablet with Chase seated off to the side. On the screen was Agent Justin in a BADGE tent with doctors and scientists around him.
“How bad was it?” Nova asked.
Justin said, “Bad. But, fortunately, mostly property damage. No civilians were seriously harmed, only the poor girl.”
“Was there any sign that she had powers before this incident?”
Justin shook his head. “I have spoken with her friends and family. I also visited her workplace and her church. No one said she mentioned anything at all. Just before it started, her boyfriend said she was mentioning her head hurt and her eyes were burning hot. We will know more after the autopsy, but I believe this was sudden.”
“I don’t like this. Morphons are still on the rise and this means more people will gain powers. Some who can’t handle them.”
Justin said, “There was one thing we determined.”
“What?”
“She complained about her head hurting just after going extremely near the Renn Tech Sphere.”
Chase said, “Then we have a good reason to crack those damn things open and find out what’s inside.”
“No, we don’t.” Nova said.
“It caused a woman to explode. I think that’s good enough reason.” Chase replied.
Nova answered, “We are drawing conclusions without enough evidence. The moment we break one of those open, we open BADGE up to legal problems. If there isn’t anything dangerous inside, then we are in a public relations debacle and legal trouble.”
Justin said, “So, we don’t pursue the investigation into the possible link with the sphere?”
“Do what you can within our legal rights.”
“Which will provide no answers,” Chase said.
Nova replied, “Don’t worry. I’m not sitting on my hands about this. For now, do what you can and get the data back to us.”
“I will. Justin out.” The screen went back to the standard read outs.
Chase stood up and protested. “Sir, I know you don’t want PR nightmares again. But this is ridiculous. There has to be a connection to Renn Tech and this morphon spike. We just need to break one of those spheres open and find out what they are truly up to.”
Nova said, “And the moment we do, we prove to the world that BADGE will flaunt local laws, not to mention protected privacy, when it suits our purposes. If there is nothing inside the sphere that is bad enough to make it worth it, we lose the trust of every nation on this planet. We can’t operate like that.”
Chase said, “Seems like a perfect position for an enemy. Bind our hands with the risk of PR and legal troubles. It’s just too convenient.”
“I have had the same thought. But, if they are, they have played their cards well. Our options are limited. However, I’m not ignoring this problem. I just can’t tell you what I am doing about it.”
It finally seemed to sink in to Chase as her entire posture changed. “I see.”
“Good. Right now, our concern has doubled. I was worried that someone would gain high-level morphon powers and use them for evil. I had not expected the powers taking lives like this. Chase, you and Gar reach out to the Leagues and tell them to be on alert. Work with the Fight Clubs and send out all our BADGE radiation detectors. We have to be aware of people with powers before they are aware themselves.”
“Is that even possible?”
“I don’t know. But we need to make it possible. That girl didn’t deserve to die and I don’t want more bodies.”
“We’ll get on it.” Chase took Gar by the arm and walked him out of the room for the League Communication hub near the conference room.
The elevator opened and Arx came in. “Director, I have a report on the new ATLAS members.”
“Then report.”
“All are doing extremely well. They are about ready for a field test when one arises.”
Nova let out a little smile, “Good news, which is needed right now.”
“Oh? What’s happened?”
“A woman gained powers just long enough to kill herself with them, accidentally.”
“Good god... how?”
“I’d like to know that myself.”
Arx said, “Well, I will head back. I...” He stopped himself before leaving. “Uh, sir. I have a question.”
“What is it?”
Arx pondered his words for a second. “Um, well, I know the BADGE rules for heroes and agents forbid romantic fraternization. Do those rules apply to ATLAS?”
Nova turned and gave Arx a funny look. “Why?”
“Just curious.” That did not sound sincere.
Nova said, “ATLAS is technically a volunteer organization that is funded by the governments for natural disaster management. It is not actually part of BADGE direct. So, I suppose our rules don’t fully apply. You, as head of ATLAS, can determine the interpretation of the rules.”
“Oh....” Arx mulled that over, “So, you’re saying ATLAS members can date?”
“Yes.”
“Good, uh, thanks.” Arx left a little faster than was called for.
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