MIRA

It was kind of strange, taking the tram without Henry, and heading into City Hall. Still, I think I liked being by myself for just a little bit. I didn't really have that as a Sentinel, and you always knew that you were never alone. Someone was always watching, your teammates were always close by.

Never had I actually had the chance to just sit by myself and think. I'd never had a chance to do a lot of the things I'd done in the last week.

I kept my head down when walking past the big receptionist's desk and instead walked straight for the archives. It was an empty room again—except for the old man, who was putting away files on a cart.

"You're back," he grumbled. "What do you want?"

I hesitated. "I was wondering if you had access to the birth certificates for the Sentinels."

The old man just shook his head. "Sorry, kid. Those are locked off from us. They even have the special paperwork for the exemption. Couldn't even retrieve it for official city business, much less public curiosity."

"Oh." I bit my lip.

"Look, if I could, I'd give it to you, Mira." He looked at me meaningfully.

I frowned, remembering what Ms. Lancaster had said earlier, about how both she and the old man were like us.

"I never told you my name."

"Didn't have to." He moved the cart down a little ways, then stopped to look through the files. "You do have a right to know your parents, in my opinion. It's really too bad that Atomic Energy is so determined to keep you in the dark."

"You're a mind-reader."

"Among other talents." He nodded at the door behind me, and it closed. He then shrugged. "Not that I've had much use for them in a long time."

That's when it clicked for me. "You're Mastermind. The first villain and hero of New Kingsbury!"

"Don't say it so loud, kid, I'm in retirement." He placed a manilla folder in one of the filing cabinets. "Have been for nearly twenty years. I'm not letting some snot-nosed Sentinel ruin that now. My wife would kill me first."

"Not a Sentinel." I paused. Why was I telling him this. "Not anymore."

He looked back to me, and nodded, a gleam of respect in his eye. "Maybe there's hope for you kids yet."

I didn't know what to say to that. After all, I didn't have much hope for my future, beyond talking to Heretic.

"Ah, that one, someone should have been looking into her case a long time ago." Mastermind let out a heavy sigh. "She was such a good kid—she didn't deserve the cards life dealt her."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're the one going to see her later today, kid, go ask her." He shrugged. "Just because I can see her secrets doesn't mean that they're mine to share."

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

That was fair.

"Besides, you speedsters are so impatient." He unlocked the cabinet opposite to the one he had just opened. "Always blunt, to the point, and trying to take the easy way out."

I opened my mouth to protest, but then thought better of it.

"You know Heretic, then?"

"Of course I do—didn't Warlock tell you anything?" Mastermind grinned. "She was the one who talked me into retirement. That's her real power, you know. Making weapons and moving metal? That's nothing compared to her words. She was a lot like Warlock, in her younger years. He really is her protege."

He shook his head as he placed another manilla folder into a drawer. He paused, looking back on the cart.

"I have something for you and your friend."

"Really?" I blinked. "How did you know I'd come back here?"

"I didn't, but my assistant suspected you would." He pulled a red folder out of the stack, stark in contrast. "And I've been waiting a long time for someone else to take interest in these files."

I took it, and opened it to see a document I recalled from my own training as a Sentinel.

Agents on behalf of Atomic Energy are cleared to deal with any of the mutated— henceforth referred to as 'supers' with any force they determine necessary for any cause.

"Isn't that suspicious?"

I frowned. "I don't think so. I think it's giving us a legal permission to fight super-villains."

"It says all supers." He pointed to the relevant phrase. "You know, my day job was being a lawyer, a long time ago. I was a prosecutor for the liability trials, back in 1980. Lawyers love loopholes like this—and it's a very big loophole."

"Against Atomic Energy." I knew that part of our history. It had been an accident, or at least, that was what we were told. They had created the Sentinels, funded technology research, and did everything to upgrade the city, to atone. It had been a way out of the prison sentences, the fines, the end of the company.

"Those were the days." Mastermind shook his head and laughed. "I was fresh out of law school then, and for some reason I'd been put on the case. I was just an assistant, at first—but I quickly proved my own merit. I was a hero both day and night. Fighting the monsters in court and in the night. I thought I had the world at my fingers then."

He then met my eyes again. A shadow crossed his face. "Then then world changed on me. Atomic Energy got off with a slap on the wrist, and I was no longer the hero of the story. I didn't want to hurt anyone, not until all I had left was revenge."

That last word was pointed—a warning for me.

"It's too bad Heretic didn't learn her own lesson." Mastermind looked quite sad. "Revenge consumes us all, kid. Doesn't matter how righteous the cause, how high the moral high ground is when you start. It brings you down, one way or another."

"I hardly think avenging my friend is going to bring me down," I whispered.

"Hasn't it, though?" He stopped. "That's none of my business, however. You have your files—and you have your meeting soon enough. Just don't say I didn't try to warn you."

He was right, in a way. I'd been corrupted, like Verity was. I was no longer a hero, a Sentinel. I'd strayed from my mission to protect the city to avenge my friend. I'd gotten Henry hurt in the process, put his family in danger.

Was it all worth this?

What would Verity think, if she could see me now?

I didn't know the answer. But I soon would.

"Thank you."

He just nodded and turned the corner with his cart. I didn't bother to give chase. I didn't need to.

What I needed was at the New Kingsbury College.

I tuned around and left the Archives, and I took the unmarked side door out. It was better that as few people as possible saw me.

I glanced at the statue of the founding pioneers of the original Kingsbury that was out in front of the City Hall.

That's when the realization hit me, like lightning on a sunny day.

The earliest supervillain was once a hero. Before the world changed on him, he said. Had he been framed initially, like we knew Heretic had for the murder of Ophelia Browning?

Why would Atomic Energy do that, if they were involved with both cases? How common was this story, among the villains that terrorized our city?

What if this was all really just about revenge?

I stood in front of the statue of the founding pioneers, considering the idea. It was chilling. Everything that was right was wrong. Everything that was wrong was right. I'd been flipped, head over heels.

I gripped the file more tightly. I knew what I had to do. I had to get on the tram, and head for Kingsbury College.

Henry and I had avoided the source of the truth for our own petty reasons. But we couldn't ignore it anymore.

One talk with Heretic was the key. All my questions would have answers then.

The lies, the truth, it would all come out then. Surely it all would.

It had to.