After that phone call Summer had expected the Gale Research facility to be far more impressive. Not that it wasn’t impressive in its own way. It just seemed far too ordinary. Then again, maybe that was the point. Summer was more excited to see Ashton again than anything else, and had to repeatedly remind herself that she was here for questioning, not visiting. She hoped they would at least let her see if he was okay.

The building began to look a lot less ordinary once they stepped inside. At the very least, its clean tiled floors were a mismatch from the warehouse-like exterior. Summer didn’t have much time to appreciate it before she was taken to a room that perfectly resembled those featured in police dramas. It even had a one sided mirror and a camera in the corner, as well as a single table with one chair.

“Amazing,” Summer whispered, feeling overwhelmed for an entirely different reason than was likely intended.

Jared chuckled at her reaction. “Take a seat. They will be here in a moment to ask you some questions about what happened. I told you about Ashton because it is sure to come up in the questioning, and I felt it was better if you didn’t find out that way.”

“Thank you,” Summer told him. Jared may have given her the scare of her life leaving all that responsibility in her hands, but he was actually a thoughtful guy.

She sat down in the chair and looked around the room with interest, but there wasn’t much to see. The walls were smooth without a single crack, and the plastic table she was sat at was devoid of a single scratch. The chair she was sitting on was also a plastic folding chair, an odd choice for such a prestigious establishment. Then again, maybe they were trying to send some kind of message to those they interrogated? Like maybe, ‘you don’t deserve to benefit from our riches’.

“Miss Aster?” a woman asked from the doorway, a bit concerned over the way she was grinning creepily at the table.

Summer flushed with embarrassment. “Yes! That’s me!”

“I will be asking you a few questions,” she said, closing the door behind her, “I interviewed the victim just earlier, and it will be interesting to see if your stories match up.”

Was she supposed to say that out loud? Maybe it was some kind of bad cop routine, except this was Gale Research and she didn’t seem to be an official police detective. She tried to reign in her crazy fantasies that had run wild since she had learned the true identity of Shadow Phoenix.

“Let’s start simple. You went by the alias Golden Reign during your time at Superhuman Industries, correct?”

“I did,” Summer confirmed. She figured it was far from a secret if it was already being asked in this setting. Maybe Ashton told her?

The woman typed some notes on her tablet as she answered. “Were you aware of your boyfriend’s alias Shadow Phoenix when you started dating him?”

“No,” Summer replied, “Actually, Jared just told me on the ride over. I had no idea.” It was a good thing Jared had warned her or that second question might have made the rest of this interrogation impossible.

Stolen story; please report.

More typing before the woman continued. “I can’t help but notice that the actress who plays Lady Light, a role believed to be based on you in the canceled drama Even Light Needs Shadow bears a striking resemblance. Did you have anything to do with the series’ creation?”

This question really took Summer by surprise. “Me? You think that hot actress looks like me?” Again, she was distracted by the wrong part. “I did watch the show, but not until there were three or four episodes out already.”

“I see,” the woman responded, “There are witnesses who claim they saw you at the tornado incident caused by misuse of powers before SI fell. Do you intend to deny this as well?”

Summer flinched. “No. I can’t deny that, but I didn’t do anything. Ashton finished everything before I even got close enough.”

Even if she lied, this one was probably easily proved because of the loss of her car. The wind had been just strong enough to do it in while she was preoccupied with playing hero.

“Have you been engaging in vigilantism often since then?”

“No. That was the only time. We were already there when she showed up,” Summer told her. They had been waiting for something to happen, but neither of them had expected that.

What did she keep typing on that stupid tablet anyway. Summer now understood why interrogations were so unpleasant. Every question felt like a personal jab trying to drag her down, whether into depression or prison was hard to say. Maybe both.

“Then how did you come in contact with the intruder calling herself Queen Heart?” she demanded.

Summer took a deep breath and explained. She wasn’t going to be able to avoid mentioning Ned so she told her everything. About how she had been foolish enough to contact him, and how he had proceeded to blackmail her afterwards. She could have shown her email too, but her phone had been confiscated before entering the room.

Once she was done with that, the story naturally continued to her interaction with the villain in question. Summer noticed that the interrogator called her anything but a villain. Was it some kind of taboo word?

“You claim her power over you faded once you couldn’t see her,” the woman broke in, “but our men were still under her spell long after she left their sight.”

“Maybe it is stronger against the opposite sex?” Summer suggested with a shrug, “I just know what happened to me.”

“I hope so, because the alternative is that it affected you less because you are in a happy relationship,” she said, “I am sure at least some of those men are married.”

That was an uncomfortable thought. The interrogation continued on a little longer, but somewhere along the way it began to sound like an interview.

“Am I missing something?” Summer asked, finally.

“My apologies, but from my understanding you are currently unemployed,” the woman answered, “Not only that, the abilities you described mastering during your escape from Queen Heart sound perfectly suited to work here. You also have a close relationship with one of our employees, Ashton, and I have been tasked with compiling a list of suitable candidates for his team.”

“His team?” Summer asked.

“You will learn more if you join us.”

How mysterious. Then again, from the moment she called that number and set off the security sequence Summer had known that Gale Research was more than just some lab.

“So, what do you think?” the woman asked, “Would you like me to submit your profile in my recommendations?”

Summer looked between the woman and her tablet with her heart pumping. Would Ashton choose her? Nothing would happen if she didn’t try. “Yes! Please do it!”