"So, with your dad, that isn't going to be, you know, an issue, right?" Greg asked as they headed to the training rooms.

"It won't be fun, but, while Dad does have strong opinions, especially about ferals, he's not unreasonable. It's just going to be stressful." Tessa explained.

Greg frowned. "It won't cause any issues for Jennifer and Tina, right?"

Tessa shook her head. "They can be classified as mutated people, rather than ferals, so it shouldn't be a problem. It's the ones out there you need to worry about. Dad isn't going to let them off the hook just because you say some of them might be nice."

"Yeah, I guess I shouldn't expect that." Greg sighed. "Still, when I do bring good ones around, I hope he'll at least trust me enough to not arbitrarily execute them."

Tessa turned, raising an eyebrow at him. "How many ferals are you planning on collecting?"

Greg shrugged. "However many need it? I mean, ideally, I'll be able to find somewhere else to put them, cause I don't think a rapid integration would be good for either side, but still, the circumstances aren't mine to dictate. Sometimes people need help and this is the only place I can keep them safe."

Tessa snorted, shaking her head. "I don't think that's going to work for you, though not for the reasons you might think."

Greg frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Let me ask you this: what do you think would happen if the squads and soldiers suddenly learned that not all ferals are bloodthirsty maniacs, and some of them can even be nice?" Tessa asked.

"They'd… start being more careful? Be on the lookout for good ferals?" Greg answered hesitantly, not sure where she was going with this.

Tessa nodded. "Right. Now, let's say a squad is out there, and suddenly they come across a feral. How will they react?"

Greg raised an eyebrow. "Carefully?"

"Yes, or in other words, they'd hesitate. Now, how do you think the feral would react?" Tessa continued.

"Well, that depends-" Greg began.

"Does it?" Tessa interrupted, giving him a significant look.

Greg frowned, before his eyes widened. "Ah shit." He cursed, before letting out a weary sigh. "The feral doesn't know what the humans know. All they know is that humans are dangerous, so even if they're good, they'll attack. Shit, even if they did know, evil ferals could pretend to be good to trick people into letting their guards down."

Tessa nodded. "Exactly. Knowing that ferals might possibly be good would only make our people hesitate, risking their lives more than they already are, or make them feel guilty, thinking they may have killed someone innocent."

Greg rubbed his temples with a groan. "Fuuuck, talk about your catch twenty-two. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Even if both sides knew the other could be talked to, they have no way to actually go about doing it without risking their own safety."

Tessa nodded. "Thankfully, that's where you come in. Your safety doesn't matter, so you can talk to both sides."

"Right, until I get enslaved by the fucking Lightning God." Greg grumbled.

Tessa paused. "Right… don't do that."

*

After training, Greg and Tessa swung by the restaurant to pick up food, before bringing it back to her place to eat with the others. Greg kept his promise to spend time with Sarah and Jessica today, but since leaving the apartment was still a no go, they had to find something to do there. "We could play rummy?" Sarah offered. She and Greg had spent quite a bit of time playing the game back at the safe house, so she was already pretty comfortable with it.

"No, let's play hide and seek!" Tina interjected excitedly.

"How are we supposed to hide in here?" Sarah asked skeptically.

"There's plenty of places to hide!" Tina exclaimed, zipping off and stuffing herself into one of the drawers. "See?"

Greg rolled his eyes. "Tina, we aren't as small as you are. There's not a lot of places for big people to hide."

"Awww." Tina pouted, returning sullenly and plopping herself on Greg's shoulder.

Greg shook his head, grinning slightly, before turning to Tessa. "Do you have any games you usually play? Like, when you get together with the others?"

Tessa raised an eyebrow at him, before shaking her head. "We don't actually hang out all that much. Usually just a night at the bar every now and then, playing pool or darts or something. Other than that, I either train or read."

Greg blinked at her a few times. "You have books?"

Tessa nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Where are they? Could I borrow a few?" Greg asked, a strange, eager look in his eye.

"I only have a few on hand, but we have a library if-" Tessa replied with a shrug, before Greg interrupted.

"We have a library?!? Why did no one tell me!?! Come on, let's go check it out!" Greg exclaimed, jumping to his feet in agitation, ready to run straight to the library.

"Greg, you promised to spend time with us!" Jennifer complained, stopping him.

Greg paused. "Oh, right… I'll check it out later." He sighed, sitting back down, before pausing. "Does this library have anything in the way of board games?"

Tessa thought about it. "I believe they might? I remember seeing a games section, though… it still just had books in it. Though I did see a bin full of dice nearby."

Greg's eyes widened. "Do- do you mean they had game manuals?!? For- for tabletops!?!"

Tessa frowned. "I don't know what that means."

Greg licked his lips nervously, practically vibrating like an addict who'd just found out there was a new dealer in town. "Okay. Okay okay okay okay, we, uh, we need to go check out the library. Eh! We'll be back, I promise." Greg shut Jennifer's protest down, jumping to his feet. "If we're lucky, I'll bring back something really fun we can do! Come on, let's go!" He grabbed a bewildered Tessa by the wrist, dragging her away.

Once they got out of the building, Greg let Tessa take the lead, following her excitedly as she led him to the library. He couldn't believe the library might have tabletops! He hadn't had much experience with tabletop rpgs, since they needed a dedicated group of friends to really get into, but he'd always wanted to get involved with them. He'd watched people play on the internet, tried out some of the video games that tried to replicate them, and even read some manuals and learned the rules so he would be ready to play if he ever got the chance. He wondered which manuals the library had. D&D would be a decent choice, classic option, but as Greg had looked through all the different systems out there, the one that had really caught his eye was GURPS. He appreciated the other systems, but they always felt vaguely… limiting. You'd be stuck in a class, or a build, the game itself almost forcing you to choose one way to play. GURPS didn't do that. There was no concept of roles or classes, just page after page of options for you to choose. He knew it'd be a bit harder for people to get into, but he couldn't resist the freedom it offered.

Finally, after a few twists and turns, they made it to the library, and Greg rushed inside. His eyes widened as he was greeted with the sight of shelf after shelf of books, stretching out in front of him in a magnificent display. Tears began to pool in the corners of his eyes as he brought his hands to his chest. "Oh, my precious friends, I've missed you!" He mumbled emotionally, before diving in, looking through the safe zone's collection. Every now and then, a cry of an author's name would escape his lips as he found their books neatly arranged along the shelves, excitedly grabbing any book he hadn't read yet, as well as a few of his favorites to reread. It wasn't long before his arms were overflowing with books.

"Greg. Greg!" Tessa caught his attention as she finally caught up with the desperate book fiend. "Greg, there's a five book limit!" She scolded him.

Greg looked down at his armful of books which was getting close to the fifteen range. "But- I want them all…"

Tessa rolled her eyes. "Come on, you, let's put some of these back."

Greg sighed and slowly retraced his steps, returning most of the books to their proper place, just keeping two. He still had to check out the game manuals, so he needed to leave some room. After they were done, Tessa led him to the games section, where his eyes widened yet again as he was greeted with even more wonderful things. The first thing he saw was the manuals, all different systems displayed proudly in their own sections. D&D had multiple shelves dedicated to it, sorted by edition. Even small games like Numenera had their own little space. Greg quickly b-lined to the GURPS section, grabbing the core books.

Other than the game manuals, there were also shelves full of board and card games deeper in, which Greg couldn't help but drool over. He recognized a few of his favorites, as well as some new games that looked interesting. He struggled over the choice for a moment, before eventually deciding to grab one of his favorites, a simple but fun game that he was fairly certain the others would enjoy. Once he was done picking, he brought his selections to the front desk to check out.

The clerk took down his name and place of residence, before recording the items he'd borrowed. They wrote down the book titles, as well as the name of the game, before pausing as they got to the GURPS manuals. "Sir, would you like to rent these or get a copy? The copy is one coin each, but you wouldn't need to return it."

Greg's eyes widened. "You have copies?"

The clerk nodded. "Since game manuals are in such high demand, we scanned them into the system so we could print copies for everyone who wanted them."

Greg didn't even bother to listen to their entire explanation before fumbling with his pouch, pulling out two coins and slamming them on the counter. "I'll take them!"

The clerk was startled by his eagerness, but quickly ran to a cabinet to pull out two binders, exchanging them for the manuals and the coins. "There you are, sir. The books will need to be returned within a week, while the game must be returned by tomorrow night. Have a nice day!" Greg frowned when he heard they only had the game for a day, but when he considered the scarcity of games, he figured it made sense. You couldn't have someone hogging a game all to themselves for too long. It just wouldn't be fair to other people.

Greg and Tessa returned to her apartment, at a much more relaxed pace. "There you are!" Victor exclaimed as they walked in, standing up from the couch to walk over. "You would not believe the morning I've had."

"Victor? Casey? What are you guys doing here?" Greg asked, looking between the two. Apparently, after he and Tessa had left, the two of them had come around to look for him. The girls had told them he'd be back soon, so they stayed to wait. "Why were you looking for me?"

Victor shook his head. "You're not going to believe this. Guess who showed up at my door this morning?"

Greg looked between him and Casey. "Casey?"

"Eh? No! Well, yes, eventually, but that's not the weird thing. It was Meredith!" Victor exclaimed.

"Meredith?!?" Greg replied, his eyes widening, before they narrowed in suspicion. "What was she up to? She didn't try anything on you, did she?"

Victor snorted. "Please, have a little respect for me, will you? If she was just trying her usual tricks, I wouldn't even mention it to you. Now, she was looking for you, and she said she wanted to talk, but that's also not the weird part. See, you know how she usually dresses, right? The loose v-necks, the blouse unbuttoned down to her bellybutton, all that crap, right? Well get this. When she showed up, she was wearing a sweater! And not like a tight, form fitting one either! Just a big, thick sweater, covering everything! Then, once I tell her you aren't there, she tells me to tell you she just wants to talk. You can name the time, name the place, and bring whoever you want. She also told me to tell you she promises she won't try anything. And she actually sounded sincere! I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Then, after she left, Casey came by with some interesting news." Victor finished explaining, gesturing for Casey to pick up where he left off.

Casey nodded. "So, I met up with Emily this morning, for breakfast, and-"

"Who's Emily?" Greg asked, cocking his head.

"She's my girlfriend." Casey replied proudly. "She's really cool, you have to meet her! She's also a super, and she can shoot out these invisible attacks, it's awesome!" Greg frowned, wondering why that sounded familiar, as Casey continued. "Anyways, we were talking, and apparently, Meredith quit Phoenix Squad! The entire squad is a mess! No one knows why, where she's going, what she's going to do, anything! Half the other squads are scrambling to recruit her, even Dragon Squad, but she won't talk to any of them! It's insane!"

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Victor turned back to Greg. "So, once I hear that, I get to thinking. Meredith quits her squad, ignores all the recruitment offers, and only wants to talk to you? There's only two options here. Either she's pregnant with your child-"

"Dude! I haven't even been here more than three days yet! Even if I had slept with her, there's no way she'd be able to know if she was pregnant." Greg rolled his eyes.

"Right, so that only leaves one option. Meredith wants to join our squad, because of you." Victor declared, grinning as he gave Greg a significant look. "Whatever you did, you must have been impressive."

Greg frowned. "I didn't really do much. I just sparred with- wait, uh… hold on, it starts with an E."

Tessa rolled her eyes. "Casey just said it. How did you already forget?"

"I am terrible with names." Greg explained.

"It's true. He kept calling me Hector for like two weeks after we first met." Victor nodded.

"Wait, you fought Emily?" Casey interjected, her eyes widening, before they narrowed again. "Is that why she came over yesterday all freaked out and shit?!? It took me hours to get her calmed down!"

Greg coughed awkwardly. "It was just a spar… I didn't even hurt her!"

"You better not have." Casey growled fiercely, pointing at him with a finger that began to glow red.

Greg shook his head, before continuing. "Anyway, that's really all I did. Me and-"

"Emily." Tessa provided with another eyeroll.

"Right, Emily, thank you, we just sparred and then she and Meredith got all weird. She ran out like she had a demon chasing her, while Meredith got all… well, she still acted the same, but like, she meant it. I'm pretty sure if I'd told her to get on her knees and bark, she would have done it." Greg explained, frowning, as he still didn't quite get their sudden shift. He hadn't even done much. Why would their attitudes just shift like that?

Tessa shook her head. "Greg, I don't think you realize just how intimidating your other forms are. I've only seen you transform once, when you dealt with the men in the bazaar, and I was so stunned I didn't even react until you'd already dealt with everything. That was with me knowing you, and what a goofball you really are. For people like Meredith and Emily… There's this primal fear that comes with facing something that is designed to kill you. Combine that with the fact that it can't be killed, and you really only have two options: get on its good side, or run."

Greg frowned. "I'm really that scary?"

"Terrifying." Sarah answered in a low voice.

"I think he looks cool!" Tina exclaimed. "All big and powerful, it's awesome!"

Jennifer nodded. "I have always found Greg's other forms to be comforting. Power in the hands of someone as good as he is is not something to be feared.

Casey and Victor shared a look. "We've actually never seen you in any other form, so…" Victor mentioned, shrugging.

Greg frowned, before raising his eyebrows. "Huh, I guess you haven't… Do you want to?"

"Not in my apartment!" Tessa hissed, glaring at him. "If you scratch my floors, I will be pissed."

"Ah, maybe later then." Greg shrugged. "So… who wants to play a game?"

*

"What do you mean your father wants to meet me?" Greg asked in shock. Greg, Victor, Tessa, and the rest had been playing the game Greg had picked up, when Patrick arrived, announcing that his father wanted to see Greg. They would have been playing GURPS, but Greg still needed to make a campaign, so that was on hold for a bit.

"I mean my father wants to meet you." Patrick replied, raising an eyebrow. "It's a pretty straight forward statement, you know?"

"Okay, but why?" Greg asked. "I really don't see how I can help him with any of this."

"Greg, just go. If my father wants to talk to you, it's going to happen." Tessa sighed, putting down her cards.

"This isn't fair!" Jennifer complained with a pout. "Why does everyone keep interrupting our day together!"

"Jen, not the point." Greg grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay, let's go then." He sighed, shaking his head.

"I'll go with you." Tessa stood up, walking over.

"Ooh, can I come?" Tina asked cheerfully, flitting over from where she'd been munching on a chip.

"I wouldn't recommend it." Patrick shook his head. "Dad may have agreed to having ferals in the safe zone, but actually meeting with them… let's not test his limits." Patrick paused for a moment, before turning to Greg. "Why do you have so many ferals around you?"

Greg looked around. "It's only two…"

Patrick rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, most people have comfortably managed to avoid collecting any ferals."

Greg shrugged. "It just kinda happens every now and then. Usually I spend the night hunting down the… Well, I call them the assholes. The ferals that prey on anyone weaker than them without regret." Greg paused. "Do I need a better term for them? I seem to need to explain it every time I bring it up."

"How about psychopaths?" Tessa offered.

"What's so bad about being a psychopath?" Victor commented.

"Most of them are much worse than you." Casey replied, patting his hand. "Now would you hurry up? It's your turn!"

"Okay, can we just go now?" Patrick sighed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, let's go." Greg nodded, following him out, Tessa right behind him.

Patrick led them towards the hotel, to a small elevator. He used a key to activate the power, and it slowly rose up to the highest floor. Greg raised an eyebrow. "You guys can use electricity for this one, but not for the apartments?"

"Do you know how much power it would take to keep the apartment elevators running twenty-four seven? It'd be ridiculous!" Patrick explained. "Only three people have the key to this elevator. The amount of electricity involved is miniscule in comparison."

"Yeah, yeah." Greg rolled his eyes. "That's how the rich always justify their excess. It isn't wasteful because it's exclusive."

Patrick frowned while Tessa had a small smile. The rest of the elevator ride went in silence, until they eventually arrived, the doors opening into a large, open penthouse. "This way." Patrick grunted, leading them down a hall and into a large office. "Dad, I brought him."

"Greg, welcome." Fredrick stood to his feet, walking forward with a grin, his hand out, when he paused as he caught sight of Tessa. "Oh, Tessa, you came as well?"

Tessa nodded. "I was with Greg when Patrick came to get him."

"Oh really?" Fredrick asked, turning an evaluating gaze on Greg, sending a chill down his back. "I didn't realize you two were that close."

"I-It wasn't anything like that." Greg quickly explained. "It- it was a group thing, you know? A bunch of us all together."

"Oh? And she chose to follow you here instead of remaining with your other friends? How interesting." Fredrick commented, maintaining that evaluating gaze.

"N-no, it isn't- that- she just-" Greg stammered, not sure how to explain his way out of this.

"Greg, ignore him." Tessa sighed, rolling her eyes. "What do you want, Dad?"

"I was just interested in meeting the man who has delved so deeply into the midst of the ferals. The information he has obtained, or will obtain in the future, could be very useful for the safe zone." Fredrick explained, keeping his gaze on Greg as a slight frown formed. "I do wonder how you managed to accomplish this in the first place."

"I- I just went out looking for a fight." Greg shrugged. "Though… I did look like a big ass sharkman at the time."

"Pardon?" Fredrick raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… I looked like a sharkman? I can transform into things I've dissolved." Greg explained.

Fredrick blinked a few times. "You have an ability?"

"Yeah?" Greg replied, giving him a strange look.

"Interesting." Fredrick muttered, brows furrowing as he studied Greg even more intently, causing him to back away slightly.

"Dad? What are you-" Patrick began in a questioning tone, looking confused.

"It seems my ability doesn't seem to work on him. Rather strange, don't you think?" Fredrick commented.

Patrick's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

Fredrick rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm sure. I know when my ability works or not."

"But- but how?!?" Patrick asked incredulously.

"I'm sorry, but what is your ability?" Greg asked, confused, looking between the two.

"I can apply a portion of another's power to myself or others within a certain range, either granting myself a minor form of said power, increasing the strength of my allies powers, or decreasing the strength of my enemies power by an equal margin." Fredrick explained.

Greg's eyebrows raised. "Huh… well, I kinda can see why your ability wouldn't affect me then. My power is pretty much being made out of smoke… can't really make that stronger or weaker, you know? Also, I don't see how you could be like part smoke or something… I don't think that'd work."

Fredrick shook his head. "Even if that was the case, I'd still be able to sense your ability. Take Tessa for example. I can't do anything about her ability to shapeshift, but I can still tell she has such an ability. With you, I just don't get anything. It's strange."

Greg shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea."

"Indeed." Fredrick replied, eyes narrowing as he studied Greg a bit more before shaking his head. He headed to a small sitting area, waving Greg after him. "Anyways, please, have a seat. Tell me about yourself. Where are you from? Do you have any family around here?" He asked as he sat down, gesturing for Greg to sit in one of the chairs while Patrick and Tessa took their own seats.

"I'm from a small town a few hours away." Greg explained as he sat down. "Well, a few hours by car… might be a few days away now. Unless… maybe if I flew there…" Greg paused, considering it for a bit before shaking his head. "Uh, sorry. As for family… I might have some relatives around here, but I wouldn't really know. There were some… issues when I was younger. The only person I really know is my uncle because well, he's the one who raised me, and he should have been in Vegas when all this happened… not much point in going home then."

"I see. Any friends you're missing?" Fredrick asked.

"Nah, Victor and Casey are both already here. In the same team too. Very convenient." Greg answered.

Fredrick frowned. "You only have two friends?"

"I didn't get out much." Greg shrugged.

"Uh huh… Is there anything you want that we could provide for you then? Feel free to voice any request. We're very motivated to keep useful supers such as yourself happy." Fredrick explained.

Greg frowned. "Not really? I mean, I'd like to have video games and tv back but, well, even if you had the electronics, without the internet, it's kinda pointless. I like books, but you already have a library… all the diet coke is definitely skunked by now… Oh! Uh… so, I do occasionally run into a group of ferals who need protection. If you had somewhere I could put them where they'd be safe, that would really help me out. It isn't like they need much either. Just somewhere they can hide, maybe something to entertain themselves, and they're good."

"You want me to shelter ferals. Really." Fredrick replied with a distasteful frown.

"Well, no, not shelter them. Like, you don't need to bring them here, but if you could have the Earth Bender dude make them a cave or something and put a nice sturdy door on it, it'd be better than the crappy apartment building I currently have them holed up in. I mean, it has bars on the windows, but… ferals are strong, man." Greg elaborated. "I do think eventually ferals and humans could get along, but I don't think either side is ready for it yet. It'd cause more problems than it'd solve."

Fredrick continued to frown at him for a bit. "There's really nothing else you want? Out of everything we could provide, you simply want a safe place to store your pet ferals?"

"Yeah? Though I wouldn't call them pets… they are people you know." Greg replied.

Fredrick snorted. "I'll think about it. You can go now." He waved him away, standing to his feet and returning to his desk.

Greg froze, a bit surprised by the sudden dismissal, before shrugging and heading to the elevator. Tessa sighed, shaking her head as she followed him, taking out her key to activate the elevator. "You shouldn't have mentioned the ferals." She commented as the elevator began to descend.

Greg frowned. "But he said I could ask for anything."

Tessa rolled her eyes. "He meant drugs. Women. Stuff that used to be illegal before the world went to shit. He didn't mean supporting you in protecting a group he considers to be inhuman garbage that is a threat to everything he's worked for!"

"But they're getting better! I told him that!" Greg exclaimed.

Tessa shook her head. "People can't just change their minds like that. In his view, ferals getting smarter is more of a threat than anything else. To him, your idea sounds more like building a fort for the enemy than protecting helpless victims. Even if he believed everyone you brought in would be good, he would still worry about whoever they let in, and rightly so. Good people tend to be naive and easily tricked by bad people."

"That- well, that's fair… ugh, this is why I hate helping people. You always have to worry about how someone is going to take advantage of it." Greg grumbled.

Tessa raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't you go out and try to help people every night?"

Greg shook his head. "Nonononono, I help a person or multiple persons. It's much different than helping people. You see, helping a person is one on one, individual interaction where you do one thing that you know the effect of, like buying a meal for a homeless person. It's when you try and help people, as in a continuous, sustained operation, like setting up a soup kitchen, that you start to have issues. You need rules and standards, which is tough because anything that keeps the bad people out leaves out some of the ones you wanted to help, and anything that includes all the people you want to help lets in a bunch of bad people as well. Then people begin to rely on it, as if getting stuff for free is just the way the world should work and even the people you were trying to help turn into assholes! It's just a pain in the ass."

Tessa frowned. "Then why try and get this safe place built?"

Greg sighed. "Cause sometimes you need to do something anyways, even if it is a pain in the ass. Of course, ideally, I'd have a group of strong, moral ferals who could watch over said safe place, ensuring that everyone behaved. See, once you put people in charge of overseeing helping people, you bring it back to person to person interactions. Individual judgements. That's the key to all this. However, I'm having a hard time actually finding any of these supposedly moral ferals, strong or not, and if they're assholes it doesn't work, so it's kind of a moot point."

"Well, you know what they say. 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely.' Having strength out there in the city is pretty close to absolute power. Finding someone who can resist that is bound to be difficult." Tessa commented. "Even here in the safe zone we struggle with this. People with power get everything they want, while those without are lucky to be ignored."

Greg frowned. "I don't know… I haven't noticed anything that bad so far."

Tessa shook her head. "You've only been here a few days. Give it time."