“Really? Her?” Chloe said.

Zeta was getting acquainted with her team. It turned out the project Doctor Yorke had in mind involved other people, in particular, people way older than her. They all had a decade over Zeta, and she wondered if they had been in the same situation as her. She refrained from asking though.

The person that had just spoken was Chloe. Her hair was cut short and reached her collarbone. The style and length were similar to Zeta’s, but instead of a black color, her hair was brown.

“Give her some slack,” Jonas said. “She probably just wants to get promoted and leave that priso— improvement building, education place, growth area.”

“Good cover.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “How old is she even?”

“Why don’t you try asking her?” Jonas said.

“I’m sevente—“

“Roren?” Chloe said. “You can’t possibly expect us to carry out a mission with someone inexperienced.”

“How do you know she’s inexperienced?” Roren said. He looked up from a stack of files but continued jotting down notes on a piece of paper. The writing was no longer distinguishable. From the impression he gave Zeta, he appeared to be the leader of the group. His hair was long and brown like Chloe’s, but instead, it was slicked back and reached his shoulders.

“Roren,” Chloe said flatly.

Roren sighed as if solving a dispute between two arguing siblings. He said, “Hey, if I had the choice, I would have made this a two-person job, but they wanted a four-person squad. Can’t argue with that, or Doctor Yorke for that matter. Don’t suggest I talk to someone higher up. I don’t feel like doing that.”

“Come on,” Chloe said.

“Hey, I know it sucks, but it’s also a nice scapegoat if things go wrong. I promise you, I went over this scenario in my head and I wondered what could go wrong? Turns out a decent amount, but I think you should do as Jonas says and give her a chance.” Chloe turned to Zeta, and Zeta tried to give her best smile.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Chloe said. Her face remained stone-cold.

Zeta was unsure whether this was niceness stemming from sympathy over her imprisonment or because Chloe had no faith in Zeta and her abilities. It could be both for all Zeta knew.

“Do I have to do a group-bonding activity?” Roren asked. “This assignment needs to run smoothly. Better yet, let’s go over everyone’s abilities. Zeta, you’re up first.”

“Me?” Zeta shifted her legs slightly. She considered giving a bluff on her abilities.

“Yes,” Roren said. “Who else would I be talking to?”

“Well, I can—“

“Cut the bullshit, Zeta,” Roren said. “I can tell you were about to lie.”

“Er,” Zeta said. He was not wrong, but she was flustered by the statement. Her nervousness settled in deeper as an uncharacteristic slight, physical pressure pressed upon her legs.

Roren said, “I have your file on hand, and I can easily tell the others about what you’re capable of, but I’d like to hear it directly from you. Make sure you answer well. You’re setting the standard for the others, myself included.”

Zeta thought about her words, then about Roren. It was as if he were reading her thoughts, even ones she was yet to have. If she was setting the standard, she better say just enough for them to understand her powers, but also enough so that they had to reciprocate with the same amount of information. The more she knew about the others’ powers, the better.

“I can weaken abilities, even get rid of them altogether, but it’s only temporary.”

Roren nodded. “That’s an acceptable answer, concise and to the point but provides us with enough information. Do you have anything else you want to say?”

“I don’t.”

Roren nodded again. “Okay, good. Chloe, you’re next. Let’s follow Zeta’s format. We need to know what your ability does, an extension of what it does, then one disadvantage to it.”

“A disadvantage?” Chloe said.

“Yes,” Roren answered. “Zeta said her powers were only temporary.”

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“That’s not a disadvantage. I could say the same thing, that my power only works when I use it. For crying out loud, her abilities are to remove someone’s powers. She barely said anything about what she can do.”

“So, you find value in her powers?” Jonas said.

“Shut up, Jonas,” Chloe said.

“He brings in a good point,” Roren said.

“She’s still inexperienced,” Chloe said.

“That’s a good point too, but we already established that.”

Zeta observed the dynamics of the group. If this was how they would function out in the field, they might as well form a new team before then, but there was something about Roren that showed he was confident about the team. She wondered about his thoughts. They appeared to be clicking together as if he knew all the answers to what was ahead.

“These are the cards we are dealt,” Roren said. “Whether we like them or not, we still have to use them. Even then, cards are situational too, and a crappy hand can easily become a winning move, so, Chloe, please share.”

Chloe closed her eyes and blew air from out her nose. “Fine. I’ll share,” she said. “I can make items explode and even apply a countdown to it, but I have to be an approximate distance away.”

“Thank you, Chloe,” Roren said as he smiled.

Zeta hoped the project they were given would not involve exploding humans, and instead, breaking into a building. A bank heist sounded preferable, then she remembered how humans used banks.

Jonas was next, and as he spoke Zeta noticed his facial features. His eyes were baggy and almost bloodshot as if he had not slept for days. “I can amplify other people’s abilities, triggering them in ways that suggest a pathway for growth. For example, Chloe’s power’s potential is blocked by how far away she is from a target. If I amplify her ability and she’s suddenly able to blow things away from a greater distance, then this suggests that she could reach this potential without my assistance. That’s assuming she works hard to get to that point.”

Jonas yawned, then stared at Zeta.

Zeta was unsure why, but chills ran down her spine as he stared at her. Something about his demeanor terrified her all of a sudden.

“Why are you staring at her? You’re creeping her out,” Chloe said. “Stare at the wall or something.”

“It’s her turn,” Jonas said as he continued eye contact. “I’m giving her my respect by giving my attention.”

“Maybe a bit too much attention. Also, she already went, dumbass,” Chloe said. “You still need to share your disadvantage.”

Jonas ended the eye contact, and Zeta broke away from her petrified state. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Jonas said, “Um, disadvantage? Don’t have any. My powers suck when I’m tired so I drink energy drinks. Is that a good answer?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. She nudged Zeta playfully. “If you ever want to make Jonas useless, just hide his drinks, or over caffeinate him”

Zeta chuckled awkwardly.

“That’s an acceptable answer. Now it’s my turn to share,” Roren said. “I can increase the weight of someone’s lower body, which essentially immobilizes them. The only fall-back is that their upper-body is still free to move.”

From under the stack of papers, Roren pulled out a fresh sheet. He drew a dot on each line until the entire page was filled. He spoke as he wrote down his thoughts.

Roren said, “Despite the fact I hate working in larger groups, it does make it easier formulating plans. Our four powers will work wonderfully for the task at hand. As of this moment, I am the only one that has read the case file—“

“Am I going to kill anyone?” Zeta asked. Doctor Yorke had said Zeta would not kill, but the powers showcased here suggested otherwise.

“Let me ask you a question first,” Roren said. “When you turn 18, what did you plan on doing?”

“I don’t understand the question,” she said. She did not like the phrasing, the implication that her future was altered and decided already.

“Were you planning on joining the military or attending a school?”

“I’m not too sure,” Zeta said. She never thought that far. Her mind was still focused on high school. Any prospect of graduating and life after was a far-away thought.

“The ones that don’t know their post-graduation plans tend to lean towards the side of school, but how are you financially?”

“I don’t know,” Zeta said.

She knew where Roren’s trail of logic was headed. If she suggested that her family was lower-class, then surely she would have ended up in the military. It was what usually happened with lower-income families. School was expensive and often in the realm of possibility for those well off, on the edge of living comfortably, or those with certain abilities.

Zeta spent most of her time in high school spending time with friends, doing extracurricular activities, and going to class. She disliked thinking about adulthood. She had a year and a half at most before she would have to think about those things, at least before she was kidnapped.

“My family isn’t poor,” Zeta said. “But, we aren’t rich either.”

“I see,” Roren said. “Maybe you would have joined the military. Despite what many think, only a small percentage of them kill, but at the same time, many indirectly kill. Everyone has a role to play. Do you understand what I’m trying to say? Even if you aren’t directly involved, you might as well be responsible.”

Zeta nodded. She swallowed her spit, unsure of what to say.

“Listen, I can’t expect a seventeen-year-old to kill, but the situation may still arise where it does occur. I need you to understand that. The possibility of you having to kill is never 0%.”

“Okay,” Zeta said.

“That doesn’t sound like an affirmative okay,” Roren said. “That was more of an I-want-you-to-stop-talking okay.”

“You’re right,” Zeta said.

“Would it help you if I explained our roles?” Roren asked. “I can always send you back to Doctor Yorke. I’ll even take responsibility and say that you’d just get in the way.”

Zeta sighed. She remembered why she was here in the first place. Her choices were limited, but somehow the choice she made to get here was the correct one. Her heart was fighting itself. She was going against everything her seventeen years of life believed in.

This was a transition in her life. She knew things would change when she turned eighteen, but she did not expect the change to happen so soon, in this way.

“I’ll follow through,” Zeta said. The words made her heart sink.

“Very well,” Roren said. He continued to fill each bullet point on his list. “We won’t be killing this mission, but sometimes situations arise when the need occurs, but you’ll leave that to the rest of us.”

He continued to fill each line and when he was done, he set the pencil down.

“This is an interception mission. Our target is Isaiah Delton. Now, listen carefully.”