Vivian

September 26th, 2007. 8:42 p.m. My whole team’s sitting in the waiting lobby of Suzy’s office. The chairs are nice. There’s a water machine in the corner with rows upon rows of coffee packets next to it. There’s an old potted fern that’s still kicking in the corner. I’m hunched over in my seat just staring at the ground and letting the AC brush against my neck. Yuko’s been rubbing my back for the past twenty minutes. She keeps muttering variations of, “It’s okay.” Her hand’s so big and smooth… I feel ready to konk out at any second. A.D.’s been looking away from me the whole day. Will’s fallen asleep around an hour ago and lying on the lobby sofa with his hat over his face.

“Thanks, Yuko.” I look up at her and smile. “I’m feeling a lot better now.”

“Good.” She gives my back a hearty pat. “Do you need any weed? I know a guy.”

“...” I blink. “I’ll get back to you on that.”

“Really?” A.D. scoffs. “You’re over murdering a kid just like that?”

“Y-”

Yuko interrupts. “Shut the hell up. Is that how you thank someone who saved your ass?”

“We would have been fine!” A.D. raised his voice. “I had my defensive super at the ready. I could’ve protected all of you!”

“And then what?” I ask.

“Excuse me?!” A.D. gets up from his seat.

“Say you were right and your super managed to protect us, the kid still probably would’ve blown himself up.”

“We don’t know that.” A.D. grit his teeth. “He could have been fine!”

“We don’t know if your super would’ve worked either!” Yuko got up as well. “You’ve been giving Vivian the bastard eye all the way home. Cut that crap out.”

“No! She killed a child! I’m not letting that go!”

“To protect us! There was no other option!” Yuko looks ready to bite A.D.’s head off.

“You don’t know that! There must have been something we could’ve done! I didn’t sign up to kill kids!”

“Well congrats, you didn’t. Vivian did the dirty work for you. Enjoy your clean conscience.” Yuko stands her ground.

“A.D.” I look up at him. “Neither did I, but I’m not going to let anyone hurt my friends. You can’t save everyone.”

“But you have to try!” A.D. yells. I can see tears welling up in his eyes. Dude needs to chill.

“Will the lot of you hush up?” Will groans from under his hat. “I’m tryin’ to get some shuteye here!”

A.D. scowls at us before storming over to the exit. “I’m going for a run. Call me whe-”

The door swings open and knocks A.D. right over. “Gosh dammit!” he holds his shoulder and writhes on the floor.

Janelle and Sejong come in. Janelle looks tired, but otherwise fine. Sejong has a big bandage over his right bicep and is chuckling over A.D.

“Oh my god… Gack…” Sejong laughs through his nose. “A.D…. I’m so sorry. Here.” he offers his arm and helps A.D. up.

The door closes behind them.

“So…” Janelle nods with a wry smile. “You guys look like you’ve had a mission and a half…”

“You could say that…” Yuko sighs and sinks back into her seat.

“Wanna talk about it?” Janelle walks over to Will. “It’s good to let it all out.” she nudges his legs.

Will curls up his legs to make room for Janelle.

Janelle sits down next to him.

“I get it all out through running.” A.D. rubs his arm and approaches the door. “Now if you’ll excus-”

“Some-” Angela kicks open the door with Josh following behind her and sends A.D. careening towards the floor once more. There’s this fly buzzing all around Josh… I can’t stop looking at it… I gotta make sure it doesn’t get near me. Flies are the scum of the earth. I don’t care if they’re important to ecosystems or help pollinate as much as bees. They’re gross and should perish.

“BODY once told me!” Angela grins and shoots finger-guns at me.

I instinctively shoot finger-guns back.

“GodDAMNIT!” A.D. hits his head on the tile and yells.

“Haha!” Will chortled. “That’s what you get for using his name in vain.”

“Eeeeey. What’s up everyone?” Angela walks over to the water fountain and takes a big chug. She doesn’t get a cup or anything. She just bends under the nozzle and drinks straight from the tap.

The door closes behind them again.

“So.” Janelle immediately glares at Josh. “How did your little grocery run go?”

“Hehe. Horrible.” Josh smiles. “We’ll talk about that later.”

“Joshy boy!” Yuko brightens up and immediately goes over to hug him. “My man, my dude, my buddy. Good to see you still kickin.”

Josh looks confused, but not bothered. He reciprocates the hug. “Uh… yeah. Likewise.”

“Can you give a girl a smoke or two?” Yuko flashes her ‘gimme’ eyes. “I’ve had suuuuch a hard day.”

“There it is.” Josh rolls his eyes and chuckles. He reaches into his coat pocket, pulls out a carton, and gives Yuko cigs. “Anyone else wanna join us outside for a smoke? I say we’ve all deserved a li’l break.”

“Pass.” I say.

“No thank you.” Will raises his hand.

A.D. just leaves the room

“I’m good, chief.” Angela shoots a thumbs-up from under the water machine still chugging water.

Janelle curls her hand into a fist, but looks calm. “I’m good. Thank you for the offer though.”

Sejong looks at Janelle then back to Josh. “Sorry. Apparently smoking after losing a lot of blood is a bad idea.”

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“Aw well, more for me.” Yuko swipes Josh’s lighter from his butt pocket and lights both cigs in her mouth at once. She takes a big huff and I can see a wave of relaxation wash over her. “Oooh… yeah…”

The door swings open once more. Suzy is here. She is not happy. She has fuzzy pink slippers, a luscious pink bathrobe that has ‘Tasty’ written across the chest, some skin care product applied generously to her face, hair going in every direction, and a big mug with the words ‘World’s Best Mom’ on it clutched in her hand.

“Hello, everyone.” She takes a deep gulp from her mug.

“Suzy.” I nod.

“Heafmafah.” Angela says still chugging water.

Will gives a short salute.

Janelle says good evening.

Sejong gives a weak wave.

Josh hides his cigs in his chest pocket before turning around to greet her. “Hello, ma’am. You’re looking rather lovely this evening.”

Yuko turns around with the cigs still clutched tightly in her mouth. “Heya, boss.”

Suzy glares at Yuko and puts out her cigarettes by pinching the tips with her bare fingers.

“Aw…” Yuko watches the ash from her cigs fall to the ground.

Suzy closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and opens her eyes once more. “I’m not mad at any of you. I’m just happy all of you made it out alive. You’re all good students, okay? Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” She flashes us a weak smile.

I can’t help but reciprocate that smile… I hope she’s not just saying that.

“Alright. Let’s get this over with. I don’t want to be here. You don’t want to be here. Let’s just get these debriefings over with nice and easy so we can all go home, alright? Who wants to go first?”

I’m the only one that raises my hand.

“Thank you, Vivian.” She walks past us and into her office. “Here’s a nice little bonus for not wasting my time.” She pulls out a twenty from inside her robe and shoves it into my hands.

“Damnit…” Yuko mutters under her breath.

I follow Suzy into her office and close the door behind me. For being the Headmaster’s office, it’s rather… simple? I think it’s slightly smaller than the waiting room. There’s just a standard looking wooden desk. It looks like something my elementary school principal would’ve had. Rows upon rows of filing cabinets line the walls. Retro looking wood paneling lines the walls and ceiling. The whole floor is covered in freshly cleaned fuzzy carpeting. I can see a messy, coffee-stained futon behind her desk. The chairs surrounding the desk are identical to the chairs in the lobby. The computer on her desk looks like it's still running Windows 98.

She sits down, opens a binder, and takes out a pen. The stench of coffee violates my nose. I feel completely woken up just from the coffee residue in the air.

“Let’s cut to the chase.” Suzy clicks her pen and looks me in the eye. “What happened? Whatja see?”

I sit down and take a deep breath. “We were just waiting in a Taco Bell parking lot in Industry when a warehouse in the vicinity burst into flames. There was a kid with a bunch of wires jutting out his back running out of it. We went over to try and help him, but he kept running away and attacking us all the while.”

“I see…” Suzy takes down notes. “Did he say anything to you? Anything about his situation?”

“No.” I shake my head. “It was all ramblings. Couldn’t make heads or tails of it.”

Suzy nods. “Very well. Continue.”

“The weirdest thing happened while we were chasing him. Time rewound for like thirty seconds. Did he have multiple Techs? Was there an accomplice? Is having two Techs even possible?”

“I mean it’s certainly possible…” Suzy rubs the back of her neck. “I’ve never seen any reports of multiple Techs, but there’s nothing that says it isn’t possible… just dangerous. That’s fascinating… I noticed the time rewind too. Is that the first time you’ve noticed it?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “Why? Has it happened before?”

“Yes…” Suzy sighs. “See, there’s… a person of interest we’re trying to locate. He can rewind time, but there seems to be some kind of condition on it. He used to be a student here, but he disappeared one day and we’ve been looking for him ever since.”

“I see… Do you think that fire kid is that student?”

“Oh, not at all.” Suzy takes another drink of coffee. “Pardon me, did you want some?”

“No thanks.” I shake my head. “Caffeine’s the last thing I need right now.”

“More for me.” Suzy shrugs and takes another sip. “Anyway, the student’s well over six feet tall. The kid that got reported in was barely over four feet tall.”

“I see.”

“Mmhm. So you and the gang chase him up a hill trying to calm him down and he’s not having any of it and begins to blow up?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “That’s when I… ya know…”

“I understand. Thank you for reporting it right away.”

“Am I in trouble for this?” I feel my chest sink into my stomach.

“Not at all.” Suzy shakes her head. “You did the right thing.”

“Seriously?”

“Mm. We just did an autopsy on him. The entire inside of his body except for his bones had liquified from heat. Your story matches up with the autopsy.” She leans back in her chair and smiles at me. “Plus I know you. You’re a good kid. You wouldn’t have done that without good reason.”

“Yeah…” I exhale and nod. “Thank you…”

“Being a hero; unfortunately, isn’t all fun and games. Sometimes you have to make tough choices. The greatest heroes are the ones who can do the right thing even if it hurts.”

“Mm.” I nod.

“Is there anything you want to ask?”

“Can I… just have the rest of the month off…? Please?”

“Sure.” Suzy smiles warmly. “The lot of you have deserved it.”

“Good… Thank you, Suzy.”

“No problem, Viv.” She takes a small sip from her mug. “Good students deserve a good R&R. Could you send Yuko in now? I promise it won’t take long.”

“Of course.” I get up from my chair.

“One more thing.” Suzy takes another swig. “The school career fair is on until October 5. Go check out the booths. It’ll give you some direction and some internship opportunities if you’re itching for more work.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” I nod, exit, and close the door behind me. “Yuko. It’s your turn.”

“Aight.” Yuko hides the cigs in her bra and gets up.

I hug her tight and bring my mouth to her ear. “Don’t say the kid mentioned Pavise.”

Yuko nods.

I pull away and take her seat next to Josh. “Get in there.”

Sejong

September 26th, 2007. 9:15 p.m. Headmaster’s Office. She’s looking at me through uneven glasses. I must say, despite how much of a mess she looks right now, the Headmaster is completely owning it. She looks completely natural like this. It’s so candid… So real… so… authentic.

“Alright, Sejong. Why don’t you tell me what happened? You were the only one in the room with Petra when she broke out, correct?”

“Yes.” I nod. “Janelle was in the bathroom. Josh and Angela were apparently out making one hell of a grocery run. I was in the cell with her just drawing.”

“I see. Then how did Petra get out?”

“There was a caretaker who came into the room… he wasn’t responding at all. He just opened the cell, deactivated all the security measures, and released her. I tried to stop him, but Petra blew the cell wide open before I could do anything… At least her blindfold stayed on until after she left…”

“Wanna know something?” Suzy took a sip of coffee. How has this woman not died of a heart attack yet?

“What?”

“You’re real lucky your story matches the security footage.” She flashes a smile that impales my heart.

“I’m an awful liar.” I shake my head.

“How fortunate for both of us.” Suzy smiles. “Sorry that you had to cancel your Korea trip by the way… mind if I ask why you had to cancel last minute?”

“Oh… uh… turns out my cousin’s fiance had two other wives.”

“Pfft.” Suzy blurts out laughing. “Yeah that’ll do it. Now get. Bring Josh in. I got a couple of words for him.”

“Yes, ma’am!” I jog out of the office and bring Josh in.

Josh

September 26, 2007. 9:18 p.m. Headmaster’s Office. Miss Headmaster doesn’t look happy at all. I’m sure she’ll loosen up if I just give her the grin.

“You have two minutes to explain why you abandoned your post before you get a face full of coffee.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” I lean back with my hands behind my head. “Headmasters can’t hit students.”

“The contract you signed says I can.” Headmaster takes a sip. “One minute fifty-five seconds.”

I open my hand and try to pull her mug towards me. The mug trembles a little bit, but stays firmly clutched in her hand.

“One minute ten seconds.”

“Okay, okay! Sorry! I heard another villain was going to be down in San Diego, so I wanted to be assigned down there so I could stop them.”

“Uh huh. And do you have a name for this villain or are you just bs’ing me? Fifty-eight seconds.”

“Her name’s Faust! She tried to kill me and is peddling a crap ton of drugs! I just thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I wasn’t expecting it to go that poorly!”

“Look, Josh.” She calmly puts down her mug. “If you wanted to be assigned to Faust, you just had to tell me. I’ve been wanting someone to get assigned to her forever.”

“Really?” I take a big breath. “So… you aren’t mad?”

“Oh, no.” she smiles. “I’m livid. You’re going back down to San Diego tomorrow and helping clean up the mess Faust made until those streets are spotless.”

“A-” I try to stand up, but I can’t. I can’t even move my hands. I feel like my entire body just got crammed into a tiny box. “You know what… on second thought, that’s… uh… more than fair… I’ll have those streets pristine by October.”

“Good.” Headmaster says without blinking. Or moving. “Now get out of my office.”

I feel all weight shift off my body immediately and I book it out of there.