Chapter 14:

After getting home, Will showered and figured it would be a good time to call in to work. He had to tell his supervisor he’d be in isolation for pandemic exposure for the next week. He was pretty sure accidentally causing brown outs by bumping into the wrong panel would not go over well.

When he reached his supervisor they weren’t surprised. Apparently, Will wasn’t the first to have to go into isolation over the last week or two. Rapidly mutating viruses are apparently a pain in the ass like that.

That done, he randomly began to wonder if Artie and Sil had any financial interests of their own. It seemed like they wouldn’t need money most of the time, but Will was very aware how often money and influence went hand in hand.

Since they had at least a small amount of influence in the Activated group’s internal activities, it seemed likely they had something more than information with a mysterious origin to offer. Thinking about it, he realized they might have needed to establish an actual legal identity, depending on what they wanted to do.

After considering it for a while, he realized he could just ask. Replacing his new earbud in his ear, he asked his question to the open room. He wasn’t surprised when Sil responded fairly quickly.

“We do have some financial assets in the larger economies of Earth. We have needed to establish contact with various individuals over the years to effectively guide some of the political maneuvering taking place in The Activated.

We wanted to avoid it turning into a destructive force at all costs, and I’m sure you are aware of some of the personality types an organization of people with special abilities might attract. On occasion, hateful types have cropped up in the group. Luckily, they have never been a majority.

It hasn’t been overly difficult to provide monetary reward to other members willing to stand up to them. That’s been sufficient to date, at least in terms of preventing the society itself from taking a dark turn.

We’ve also funded some political activism in recent years, though nothing terribly extensive. Truthfully, we may increase our efforts in aiding with environmental activism. Global warming has been made worse recently, and it’s only been in recent years that I’ve truly begun considering Earth my home. It’s probably a bit ridiculous how long that took, considering my body died over five hundred years ago, but apparently I’m stubborn.

Anyway, why do you ask?”

“Huh, I don’t think I’m surprised, but that is more than I had expected. How many legal identities do you have?

As for why I ask, I just got curious after calling in to take off work for the next week. The time off will hurt, financially, but it doesn’t seem avoidable right now.”

“Oh! I meant to speak with you about that. I wanted to offer you a job.”

“Okay, I’m listening. I assume part of it is looking into this situation up North?”

“Indeed. Essentially we would be hiring you as a personal assistant, but we would have you performing multiple duties that would likely expand over time. Eventually you would be interfacing with The Activated, troubleshooting issues that come up, and stepping in when something happens that requires a body to effectively handle. Basically, you would serve as a representative for us in matters that require our attention.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Oh, and we have a few identities, but we intentionally make them look as mundane as possible to anyone who might try to investigate our activities. We did not feel it would be beneficial to accrue too much interest or curiosity from outside parties.”

“Interesting. I’d be playing assistant and fixer for an actual alien. What’s the pay?

As for identities, that is boring, but I will, grudgingly, admit you guys probably made the right call. Nobody needs another ‘Q’ figure, after all.”

“Considerably more than you make now. Having someone who can serve as a physical presence is something we have wanted for quite a while. We have gotten by until now by hiring actors, but that is in no way a permanent solution.

We would make sure you have whatever support you need, and your pay would reflect how much we value the work you do. You can trust we will value your effort quite a lot.”

“Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll email my big boss my notice now. Since I’m out for isolation anyway, they’ll probably just tell me not to bother coming back.

I was worried about how a normal work schedule would mesh with what I need to do moving forward. That will take care of that concern quite nicely. Thank you.”

“Of course. This is convenient, actually, as Artie just received word that you will be meeting the woman from The Activated tomorrow. She will likely surveil you for a time, and approach when a good opportunity presents.”

“Okay, I’ll have to make sure I give her a good opening. Thanks for the heads up. I’m going to finish with my work stuff now, then tell my friends what we did today. I’ll probably plan to go to bed as early as I can, so I’ll just talk to you guys tomorrow.”

“Have a good night, Will.”

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Early the next morning, Cierra sat in her car, parked outside of the post office she had just picked her mail up from. Last night, she had received a request to be the, "Welcoming Committee," for a recently discovered Operator, from the Council for the Reno branch.

When she thought about it, she didn't really mind the job. She was getting paid for her time, after all. That said, She couldn't help a certain amount of curiosity about the guy she was going to meet.

Operators, in the grand scheme of things, were common, but in the Reno area things were a little different. There just weren't that many people here, relatively speaking. Because of that, the number of people who moved into Initiate level, and actually became aware of the world of The Activated, was fairly small.

This guy, however, was supposed to be an Operator. One that, before now, was unknown to them. She couldn't help wondering what it might have been like to try and figure out superhuman abilities without anyone to learn from.

According to her assignment, he had no connection at all to their world. It was interesting that he’d been able to grow so much without a support structure who could explain things to him.

She had been born into a family of Activated, so she had all the support she could've asked for when she crossed into Initiate rank. Even with support, and knowing it was coming, that shit was seriously weird. She was pretty sure going it alone must've been absolutely wild.

She could only assume he was a very calm guy, by nature, because someone prone to panic or anxiety would likely have drawn attention to themselves pretty quickly. She just hoped he wasn't a massive dick, because someone with that personality and actual power could be a nightmare.

Finished with preparation, she began the drive to the small town her target lived in. It was time to get to work, and the first step was to put eyes on her target and figure out a convenient opening. For that, she'd need to see what he was actually like, beyond the assessment and background information provided by the society.

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