Chapter 40 (Patreon)

Martin narrowed his eyes, for just a moment he saw it even if it was hidden a bit behind that sparkling spray-on she was wearing. Her throat tensed, and not in a frightened way, it was like it compressed as soon as she opened her mouth. His frown deepened, Did she… did she literally just choke on her words? What was she about to say? He thought, trying to gauge her reaction. It was incredibly strange, her poker face was immaculate, that same relaxed-if a bit smug-smile, but he could almost feel that momentary flare up of tension. It wasn’t something just anyone could pick up on, it only came after years of experience as a detective.

Sonya coughed behind her hand, clearing her throat a little, “I apologize, looks like I choked a little, do we have any water?” She asked.

He blinked and glanced around, he spotted the small water bottle refrigerator set out for the VIPs and got up to grab her one. He brought it back and she took a sip while he examined her face, “Did you get carried away during the speech or something?” He asked, “You seemed almost… angry.”

Sonya cleared her throat again, “Excuse me,” She coughed again and then turned a radiant smile towards him, “Wouldn’t you be fired up? After what happened in Dharan, all those people…” She said solemnly.

Is she really on the up and up? He thought, trying to pierce through the front she was putting up. Was she stalling for time? She set down the bottle and and nodded to him, “Thank you for the water, now as for your question I-”

The door opened to the VIP box and Ironsides stepped inside. Martin flinched, Damn it. His partner looked down to see Sonya looking up at him with a curious expression and a small hint of a smile. “Miss Chernovna? Here you are, the Overseer was wondering where you’d gotten off to, where is your security?”

Sonya blinked at him, “Oh, I apologize, I wanted a little quiet time and happened upon Agent Fuller here, my security is nearby, I’ll have them come over if you’re worried, but having an agent of the Committee is just as good, isn’t it?” Sonya asked playfully.

Martin forced his face into passivity and refused to clench his fists, she was calling him out indirectly. He’d basically attempted to interrogate her and she could have easily made a comment that he’d made her feel unsafe. With her influence, it was as easy as calling the Chairman to have him fired. Sonya met his gaze and gave him an easy smile. He glanced at Ironsides who gave him a skeptical look. I can handle security detail, don’t look at me like that!

Sonya shrugged, “As for your earlier question, Agent Fuller, Yes, though I do have a rather eccentric technopath as a chief scientist who likes to browse strange places on the internet.”

Right, Amos Carter, the man who can interact with technology with his mind. Technically an ex-criminal, but no one is willing to go after him because of his connection with ASTA and the products he is producing for the world, Martin let out a breath, It’s a fair enough statement, but I can’t help but feel like she’s hiding something. It’s not enough to prove, though, just my gut.

“Martin,” Ironsides grunted, “A word?”

Here we go again, Martin groaned inwardly, “Right. We’ll speak again another time, Miss Chernovna.”

“I’m sure we will,” Sonya said with a smile as he stepped out of the viewing box.

—

SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT, SON OF A BITCH! Sonya had to control herself from not grabbing at her heart and heaving out a breath of relief. She’d spotted Ironsides approaching the box through the gymnasium and opted to buy for a little bit of time. Fortunately the man was polite in other ways otherwise he would have pressed her harder. It hadn’t taken long to come up with the statements, they were all factual, the trick was the delivery and the order in which to say things to create a misleading response.

Making it sound like an out of hand dismissal was the best option, she reasoned. Still, that man is clever and he was watching me like a hawk. He’ll be trouble, but dealing with him would cause more problems. It’s better if he’s on the Committee’s leash rather than running around freelance. She paused, Dead is also an option, but I don’t like the idea of his partner picking up where he left off out of loyalty.

She took another sip from the water bottle and let out a sigh, More things to deal with, oh well.

She crossed her legs and leaned back in the seat, looking out at the gymnasium. The stands were starting to fill up with curious observers who wanted a view of the testing. Most of them had been permitted to be there because they were going to get tested themselves, waiting for their turn, but there were civilians and press as well. She spotted a man in a cap and sunglasses walk in and focused on him, his posture and gait were familiar. She focused on him and his name appeared, she smiled, There you are, Razor. Curious about the competition? I knew you’d come, though I’m surprised you didn’t try anything during my speech. I underestimated your patience.

He tilted his head up and their eyes met. She couldn’t help herself, she tilted her sunglasses down and looked him dead in the eyes with her own glowing orbs and smiled.

Tick tick tick tick tick

–

Her eyes were really glowing, hot pink and nearly blazing in the differentiated light of the viewing box overlooking the gymnasium. Beyol forced himself to keep looking despite meeting her gaze, she’d smiled at him, she knew, but she’d done nothing. It was a warning and a challenge rolled up into one gesture. A cat and mouse game and it wasn’t entirely clear who was who in this situation. He felt his blood move through his veins faster than ever and restrained an eager smile. This is turning out to be a bit more fun than I’d expected.

He walked up the bleachers and found a spot near the back where he could see but wasn’t out in plain view. He settled in and slipped his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, keeping his head down and his face obscured as best he could. Security was ridiculously tight at the doors but there were so many people inside it was easy to get lost in the crowd. He noted the men and women in suits stationed around the floor of the gymnasium, standing at intervals. These must be the test proctors that were mentioned. All light touched. I wonder what my tier is?

He’d heard the explanation on the tiers from one of the staff members as he was walking through. Mundane, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Heroic, Mythic, there were seven ratings that were assigned to light-touched abilities. Mundane abilities were those that had very little function and seemed almost cosmetic, there was a shocking number of people who’d actually obtained mundane abilities and not even realized they had them even after the flash because of how low-key they were. 

From there, each stage was apparently exponentially more powerful with Mythic being the most. He tried to imagine what that even meant but he didn’t have any real way to measure the scope of it except knowing that Sonya possessed an Uncommon-rating ability and the details were public knowledge. She could see great distances even in the dark, pick out minute details, see a person’s name if she focused on them, and if she touched them she could learn the name of their ability. That was a solid amount of functionality for one ability. Comparable to his own.

Is my ability Uncommon? It has combat applications, maybe it's Rare.

As he considered it, the doors opened to the gym and a small number of people with badges on their chests strode inside. The first group of test takers, this is happening all over the world right now, apparently. He thought and looked at each of them in turn. There was the four heroes who had joined Sonya at the senate hearing as well as her bodyguard-maid. She wore some kind of armored maid outfit straight out of a cartoon while the others looked like honest-to-goodness comic book heroes. What is with that ridiculous cosplay? He thought as he skimmed over the last couple of faces. Nothing to write home about.

The test takers made their way towards the proctors and he could make out some of what was being explained to them. They had to meet a bare minimum benchmark in order to be considered for field work as a hero. Shouldn’t be hard for that Firestorm guy. He thought and crossed his arms to watch.

“Firestorm!” A proctor called, checking his clipboard, “Heroic-tier, offensive type,” He took a step back and held out a hand and within seconds a thick slab of stone erupted from the ground between him and the young man. “Demonstrate please.”

Firestorm stepped out in his red and orange suit and pointed towards the slab with a single finger. Fire collected on his fingertip and in a flash it lanced out in a thin stream. There was a bright light and a few people shouted in surprise. A moment later, there was a smoldering hole in the stone. The proctor looked like he had pissed himself, “F-firestorm, pass!”

The next proctor stepped up, “Lifesaver, Heroic-tier, support type!” The woman stepped forward and conferred with the man in the elaborate white coat and plague doctor mask. After a few words she took a knife from her belt and cut herself, extending her arm to him. A few people murmured uncomfortably before a green glow surrounded her wrist and the blood and injury simply vanished. She examined her arm and nodded, “Lifesaver, pass!”

“Bandit, Heroic-tier, offensive type!” Another proctor called and the hooded young man stepped forward. He looked nervous and even a little confused. Did he not know his own rating? Perhaps he didn’t realize his power was this great and was surprised by his rating. Interesting. Maybe I’m a higher rating than I realize. The young man created several arrows out of some manner of black smoky substance and fired them at targets that crumpled on impact. “Bandit, Pass!”

There were two more of note in the first group, “Bluestar, Heroic-tier, universal type!” Called a proctor. A few people murmured at that, Universal, what does that mean? The woman in a blue gown stepped forward and spoke briefly with a male proctor who nodded and stepped away. He held out his hand and the woman muttered something before a blue dome formed around her. Needles made out of some kind of glass slammed into the dome to no effect. She then responded by dropping the dome and firing several darts of her own at a pane of thick glass that he created, it shattered. “Bluestar, pass!”

Very impressive, but what about the maid? She’s my main concern.

“Handmaiden, Mythic-tier, offensive type,” The proctor called after a moment of quiet. There was a sudden susurrus as the woman stepped forward and Beyol leaned in to watch more carefully. She spoke with the proctor for several minutes, they seemed to be arguing. A few of the other proctors stepped in and spoke with her and the argument continued until they seemed to reluctantly accept whatever it was the maid was insisting on. Two proctors stepped in and the murmuring rose as a third stepped up to the audience.

“This test will involve an extremely violent act, please be advised,” He said quickly and walked back to the test. Huh? What does that mean?

First, the stone wielding proctor created an extremely thick slab of rock, it had to be at least ten feet thick. The maid approached it and pulled her fist back before creating a deep crater in it and cracking it in half. The room fell silent as she stepped away and nodded to the next proctor who looked uneasy. The glass wielder held up his hand and fired a single needle at her head! A few people hopped to their feet, including Beyol as the needle of glass struck her dead center between the eyes and she dropped.

A few shouts rang out, one person screamed, then an eerie silence began to come over the crowd as the maid simply reached up and pulled the needle out of her head and got slowly to her feet, brushing herself off and even taking the time to wipe her bloody face with a handkerchief. Beyol stared in disbelief, Not even my regeneration is that good. What the hell? Somewhere in his peripheral senses he barely heard the proctor indicate that Handmaiden had also passed the test.

He sat down, hard, She has an unkillable bodyguard? He bit his thumb and glanced up at Sonya who was staring right back at him, surrounded by a few more vips that had shown up. He met her gaze and her smile turned unbelievably smug. You wanted me to see this and wanted to see my reaction, didn’t you? He turned his eyes back to the maid who politely curtsied to the flustered looking glass wielder. I’ll have to catch her alone, that woman can’t be around her all the time. 

He got to his feet as soon as he spotted a few of the others getting ready to leave the testing area, he pulled his hat down a little bit more over his face and started to walk out. For now, I gotta get out of here. I’ll watch her movements and pick the time to attack. He thought as he worked his way through the crowd, keeping an eye out for anyone looking at him. It was as he was scanning his surroundings he spotted something odd. More than one person wore a white queen pin on their lapel or had a shark tattoo somewhere on their body.

Beyol frowned, No way, they can’t be serious… He thought hurriedly and began moving a bit faster. Are they really thinking of doing something like that, here? He moved faster, nearly pushing through the crowd now. I gotta get out of here-

BOOM!