About two weeks after school had begun, Sophia was finally visiting me again, on a Sunday. The weather outside had shifted from the magnificent summer-sun to a grey, drizzling rain, signaling the beginning of fall, making the proposition to go outside an uncomfortable one. In reaction to that, we had stayed in, first I had helped Sophia with her schoolwork, then we had cuddled up together, enjoying a movie and some hot chocolate.
It was enjoyable, we had spent far too little time together over the last few weeks, thanks to her family-problems and school, so today I had asked Galatea not to disturb us. But, sadly, the world did not leave us alone, it had to intrude in the form of a phone call, directed at the number I had given the Shadowbroker.
Using a voice-filter, I answered, “Good afternoon, Shadowbroker.”
He paused for a moment, “Good afternoon, Metis. I was asked by Skylar if you or Anath would be able to help out.”
That statement alone made me frown, for the League to ask for assistance, was highly unusual. Muting the phone for a second, I asked Galatea, “Can you check the news what is going on?”
“The League asks for help? With what? And will they guarantee our freedom for the time we help them?” As I was asking, Galatea showed the current news on the screen and I saw a dark hole in a mountain, as if an entrance to hell had opened. Flickering light was shining out of the opening, as if a fire was burning in the mountain. After half a second, I realised what i was seeing, it was a tunnel-entrance, a few kilometers down the river and obviously something serious had happened.
“Yes, have you seen the coverage of the accident? A bus has crashed and caused a serious accident in the Wolf’s Head-tunnel. The League needs any Powered assistance they can get and the emergency medical crews can barely keep up as well. You helped with the little girl and administered some sort of emergency care, so Skylar contacted me, to ask you.”
Interesting, that the League would contact us directly.
“I think Anath and I can help. We will...” I stated, and the Shadowbroker broke in.
“Good. Is a compensation equal to twice the League’s combat pay for Full Heroes enough? That would mean three-hundred fifty, an hour.”
I was a little surprised at the pay, I had suspected after helping for free the last time, they would expect it. For the benefit of society or something along those lines. It took me a moment to react and he added to his statement.
“I would suggest that you take the money. If you do something like saving a child for free, it’s no problem, but bigger things like this? That could get problematic.”
“Yes, we will take the money. But what do you mean with problematic?” I asked.
“You.. you did not think about it? Girl, why is the League what it is? Why is it funded and respected? Because of goodwill. They are Heroes, you know? So, they need every other Powered group to be mercenaries or villains.” he chuckled. “Have you ever heard the fairytale about the emperor’s new clothes? The League needs to maintain its standing or it will fall, so they will happily take the child shouting that they aren’t heroes apart.”
“So, should we help at all?” I asked, a little unsure of things.
“Yes. Just don’t hog the limelight. Skylar knows he should not ask, but doesn’t want to sacrifice lives on the altar of publicity. You will get paid, you will get some good will, but the Heroes will be just that. Heroes. And you will be just mercenaries.”
Stolen story; please report.
What he explained made sense. Especially for the League, they would keep the casualties down, they would pay us some money, the higher rate undoubtedly to make us appear greedy but at the same time, it gave us overall positive media exposure. Painting someone saving lives as a bad person was not an easy thing to do. I was unsure if it was worth it, when Sophia gave her opinion.
“We should do it.” she whispered to me. That clinched it, if she thought it would be a good idea and I was only unsure, our overall response should be positive.
I stated as much to the Shadowbroker and we went to get suited up. As we left, I handed Sophia an oxygen-system I had made for her on a whim, to go with her sword. I had a feeling that fresh air would be something hard to come by in the tunnel. It was a two-part system, one filtering air, the other a bottled oxygen container that made sure that the filtered air had enough oxygen in it. It would not work in a low-pressure environment, or a truly toxic atmosphere, but if that was the case in the tunnel, there would be no rescuing anyone. I had even designed the system so that it could easily be worn under her mask.
I had only a minimal load-out when it came to weapons, but everything I had to help people, mainly my EMT-backpack, but also every little piece of equipment that might be able to help someone or assist in there, in any way. Quite a few of those were built for another purpose, for example a strong ultrasound scanner, built to let me observe people on the other side of a wall, or deep within a building, would easily let me find people trapped in cars.
Together, we made our way down the river, towards the tunnel. At first, there was a traffic jam, which we easily skirted around, until we got to a traffic stop, redirecting everyone to another route. Both of us jumped the barricade, laughing on our coms about it, before enjoying the wide, empty road to cut loose. It would be the last laughter for hours.
Once we got to the tunnel, we checked in with Skylar and the Shadowbroker, who stood next to him, coordinating the efforts, before getting to work. Neither of us was trained to work with someone else, so we would work on our own, as much as possible. I was linked into the local command-channel, so we could request assistance, to deal with wounded.
It was almost sad to see, a few heroes sat around like bumps on a log, in a case like this, their powers were utterly useless. What good was it to be able to throw burning napalm or something like that, to put out a fire and save people? Not good, at all. I saw the cryokinetic using his power to cool the air inside the tunnel, possibly trying to create some sort of air-circulation, but some others were just... there.
The work inside the tunnel was not fun, not in any way. Some of my sensors were useless, others helped but even then, working in the dim emergency light, combined with occasional flickers when the normal light sparked for a moment gave the experience a surreal, nightmarish quality. Seeing wrecked cars and broken bodies added to that expression. Anath focused on cutting us a path, using her strength and her sword to do so, and I directed us and tried to save the people we found.
The first few, a small family stuck in their compact car, I managed to save and call for others to get them out, but the second car that we managed to reach was a different story. It was an older car, and the front-passenger airbag had not worked. The moment Sophia got the door free, I realised that there was nothing we could do for the young woman, her neck… flopped around. I had to fight the urge to throw up and it looked as if Sophia was not feeling any better, judging by her jerky movements. We managed to get the woman out of the way, gently putting her down, before cutting our way to the man in the driver's seat and the child's seat in the back of the car. Seeing that the baby in the back was fine, lifted my spirits, enough to continue.
We were in that tunnel for hours and I doubt that the images will leave me to my dying day. Some, we managed to rescue. Others, like the young woman, we could not. But carrying a small child out of that tunnel, keeping it alive with the emergency gear I had built, it gave me a sense of purpose, it felt right. Since I had started my own path, there had always been the objective to achieve freedom. But what to do with that freedom, once i had it? I knew that I was not the type to settle down, in some suburban nightmare with two-point-five children, a dog and a white picket fence. Well, unless the picket-fence was made out of close-range missiles, the dog was either a robot or some genetically engineered monstrosity and the children… well, maybe Galatea would like a little sister or two.
No, that was not me. I needed an objective, something to reach for. And I was not sure if I could get that sense by striving for something that I could never tell anyone about. Those achievements felt a little hollow. Maybe, I would find my purpose, someday.