A nervous young man followed the robot escort from the guest quarters across the station into the teaching and development levels. The escort stopped at a door and pressed a code that allowed him into the room.
Arx and Chase sat at a desk with a chair on the other side. This was a modest room with metal walls. Screens displaying the logo for BADGE currently covered the wall on the right side of Arx. A file lay on the desk with his name on the top of it.
“David Millar?” Chase asked.
“Yeah, that’s me.” He said.
Arx gestured toward the chair. “Have a seat and don’t be so nervous. This is all good.”
David, a bulky man with a heavy, muscular build, sat in the cold metal chair. “So, what happens to me?”
Arx scoffed and shook his head. “Almost everyone who gets the assessment treats it like a prison sentencing. Look, you aren’t in trouble and this is to help you.”
“I’ve heard that BADGE will inject me with something to make me weaker, so I don’t use my powers wrong. Or they will throw me in prison…”
Chase rolled her eyes. “Neither are true. Now, let’s look.” She opened the folder. “You have a type -A strength enhanced power from the morphons. You can bench press six thousand pounds. No other current powers.”
“Yeah, I was working out one day and broke every piece of equipment in the gym. Man, was that owner pissed. I didn’t mean to…”
“We have your report,” Arx said.
Chase said, “Okay. So, you’re a prime candidate for the hero program. However, if you don’t want to be a superhero, you can join the ATLAS program and work with Arx helping protect the world from natural disasters. Both cases will include a six month mandatory stay here on the station to learn your powers and take other courses in international law, training in fighting techniques, and other extra programs you can sign up for. All paid for by the International Hero Initiative.”
David frowned. “I don’t know. I like that ATLAS program.”
Arx held up a pamphlet. “Here. Read all about it and I can show you some of the training area if you like. You like to work out in a gym, why not try out the ATLAS training area? That equipment is more your speed. I use it to. . . “
Nova stuck his head in. “How are the recruits… oh, excuse me. I didn’t know you had a session.”
David looked up, a little star struck at the now famous Director Nova. “Sir, it is an honor.”
“Nice to meet you, son. Hope you are having a good stay.”
“May I ask a question?”
Nova let out a slow sigh, “If it has nothing to do with the Lady Echidna situation, yes.”
“I was wondering, what happens if I decide I don’t want to take either path for the BADGE program?”
Nova looked at his two people. “They should have told you.”
“We were just getting to that,” Chase answered.
“Well, son, the third option is to leave and return to your regular life. The only thing that is required, by international law, is for you to have your morphonic powers suppressed by a special implant you will wear. It is small and unobtrusive. But you have to wear it at all times and BADGE will monitor it. This is as much for others’ safety as it is for your own. Morphon powers unchecked can be a serious danger, as you can imagine.”
“Thanks. Mr. Nova. I’ll have to think about all of this.”
“Take your time. I wouldn’t make a quick decision, morphon powers can be a positive way of life that…”
“NOVA, NOVA, NOVA!” EB ran into him from behind, which caused Nova to nearly fall into the room.
With a twitching eye and a weak smile, Nova said, “Please excuse me. BADGE business.”
Nova looked at the bouncing bunny. “I thought you were entertaining our guests in the lounge on Deck Seven.”
EB said, “I was. They’re all at lunch now. I set out blankets in the arboretum for a nice picnic. You know, this whole assessment process can be stressful and a little time around trees, flowers, grass is so relaxing. I used to spend a month in the Smoky Mountains after Easter, just to get some good fresh air. The holidays are a big stress for us holiday heroes. This one Easter, I was…”
“Get to the point!”
“Oh, uh, sorry. What did I… OH! A shuttle with Gar, Krystal, and Torrik is almost here. Gar said they have some good info for us.”
“I know. They sent information to the computers from the ground.”
“Yeah, but they’re here now. So, I suppose they have more.”
Nova grumbled as he left the energetic bunny behind. “I’ll meet them Operations. You know, meeting new recruits is a part of the job I like. Seeing hopeful, fresh faces is a pleasant change and gives me a lot of hope. But, no, I have a bunny that interrupts me and I am…” He muttered his way through the station.
Nova left the lift and walked down the steps to the center of Operations. “Report!”
EB hopped up and said, “They’re almost here!”
“What the!” Nova jumped and looked around, “EB, how did you… oh why do I even ask?”
“What is that?” EB looked at the floor.
A small plant grew up from the ground and made a giant mass of vines for a moment, then shriveled away, revealing Gar, Krystal, and Torrik.
Torrik was saying, “I told you, there is a way to use nature magic to teleport. It was just from the docking bay to here, but it can be much further.”
“Fascinating,” Krystal said. “I’d love to study some of the magics in Yohan.”
“There are a lot of them.”
Nova cleared his throat. “Are we done with magical demonstrations?”
“Oh, sorry.” Krystal replied. “We checked out that sphere over the North Onnotangu. Sorry to say, I can’t give you much information. It seems to be nothing more than a giant floating ball of metal. However, there was something extremely odd about it.”
Nova asked, “What?”
“You asked me to investigate the morphons in the area. I can illuminate the magical morphons pretty easily, which I did. They’re massing on that sphere in an unusually high concentration. And I suspect that all forms of morphons are doing this.”
Torrik said, “Also, those magic morphons aren’t part of a spell or power. I cast a detection charm and found nothing magical about the sphere itself or the surrounding area.”
Nova huffed, “This is damn peculiar. What in the hell are these things?” He looked up at their screens with all the sensor information. “Do you think these spheres are producing these morphons?”
“I don’t think so,” Krystal said. “It looked as though the morphons were gathering toward them, not flowing from them. But I can’t be positive.”
Gar piped in, “At least they don’t seem to cause any harm or danger.”
Nova let out a little smile. “Yes, I suppose that is one way to look at it. But I’m not convinced this isn’t the beginning of some kind of plot or scheme.”
EB said, “The mind is a funny thing. When you know something, you aren’t afraid of it. But, when you know nothing about it, it suddenly becomes suspicious. Not knowing the who, what, when, where, and why, leads us all to think they’re dangerous and a terrible plot. But, like a hidden Easter Egg, just because you don’t know what’s in it when you pick it up, doesn’t mean it won’t be a sweet surprise.”
Everyone looked at EB with great shock.
“What?” He took a step back.
Nova said, “It’s just funny to hear a mature thought from you.”
“I have my moments.”
A blue flash of light filled the room and Strange Quark appeared with a large mug of ale in his hand, which he drank through a curly, silly straw.
“I thought teleportation couldn’t get through your spell?” Gar asked.
“I just got off a shuttle,” Quark said.
Nova asked, “What did you need?”
Quark finished slurping and said, “I have news for you on those metal spheres.”
Nova said, “I like the initiative. I didn’t even ask you to investigate them.”
“I’d like to take a bow, but I wasn’t investigating them. I was checking out this new pub in Mexico City. There was a news alert and thought you might want to see it. It seems the sphere’s creator is about to make an announcement to the world.”
Nova pointed to a robot. “Patch us through all the major international news sources now!”
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