"Mr. Carr, welcome. Now please join your comrades in line. “A deep voice bellowed from speakers in the lineup room. The two-way glass the group faced was dark on the other side, the only thing Scott saw in the glass was his reflection and the reflection of four familiar faces. Scott stood in a line next to everyone reminding him of a criminal lineup. Numbers on the wall behind them allowed observers on the other side of the glass to identify their heights.
Scott stepped into line as the voice from the room's speakers continued. "Let me start by saying, thank you all for coming, I know we didn't leave a whole lot of choice, but still there were very few instances of resistance." The voice that was speaking sounded familiar to Scott, but he could not place from where.
"Let me also apologize for the abruptness of all this, but circumstances have us on a tight schedule. However, before we get to that, let us start with introductions; we are all civilized people after all. Let's start at the front of the line and work our way back."
Everyone in line looked around the room, not sure how to start. “I will lead this portion." The voice boomed out from the speaker. “First we have Reginald Thomas aka 'Bricks.'
"Wait, your name is Reginald?" The pale girl standing next to Scott said with a large Cheshire cat grin.
"Didn't you'll hear the 'AKA' part? That means you better call me Bricks or I start hammering faces!" Bricks replied in a smooth southern drawl, as he pounded his right fist into his left open palm. An intimidating gesture from a man his size. The measurements on the wall behind him read six feet and five inches.
"Sorry for the confusion, Bricks." The voice behind the glass continued. "The file does say that, apart from your mother, no one calls you Reginald."
"No worries." Said Bricks " I also let your mother call me Reginald, it gets her all kinds of rev'd up,… if you know what I mean." Bricks said with a tip of his cowboy hat. He then glanced around the room for approval for everyone but no one would so much as make eye contact with him.
"Very clever, Bricks. Your world-renowned wit is on full display I see. I also see you still assume the identity of a cowboy.”
“Assume the identity? C’mon man? What because I am black, I can’t be a cowboy? That’s just plain old racism rearing its ugly head!”
“I assure you that your race had no bearing on the matter. It was the fact that you were born here in what was once Washington DC, and have spent all of your life here.” The detached voice explained.
“Well as a great man once said ‘I y'am what I am.'” Bricks exclaimed and proudly puffing out his considerable chest.
“Ok, well the file also states that you can turn any part of your body into stone.”
“Darn tootin’!” Bricks exclaimed, clearly proud of himself
“Alright, moving on. Next, we have the lovely Alexia Jones. It says your power is extreme athleticism. How exactly does that work?” The voice questioned
The woman who was next to Bricks in the lineup stepped slightly forward and with an effortless motion brushed her golden blonde, shoulder-length, hair off her face revealing emerald green eyes that could light up any room. “I’m like a super athlete that took steroids that were themselves also on steroids. You name it; I can run faster and jump higher than the average person, by a significant amount. I also have more agility, endurance, and I am stronger than even the best athletes.” She flexed her right bicep. While not having the appearance of a bodybuilder, she did have a very toned physique akin to a beach volleyball player. She gave off a confident, but just short of cocky, energy when she spoke.
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“Very Good.” The disembodied voice replied. “It also says here that you and Mr. Carr used to be involved in a relationship.”
Alexia lowered her flexed bicep and rolled her eyes. “Not a relationship, for HIM” Her eyes shot look towards Scott. Scott imagined if it were possible to will laser beams with a glance, then he would have probably been melted. “He was just passing the time until something better came along.”
“It wasn’t like that, Alexia.” Scott pleaded
“Sure thing, Mr. Things are Going Too Fast! Two months later you are in a relationship, and a few years later you're married with a kid. Good for you champ! Really.” Alexia said as she turned her gaze away from Scott to the two-way glass. “So, yeah, there is that.”
“Well, that is certainly more than I bargained for, but Thank you, Miss Jones.” The voice returned
“Not a problem,” Alexia replied
“That takes us to Vanessa Carlton. I have nothing on it in the file, but are you any relation to the popular singer from the early 2000’s?” The voice queried.
A small girl, who according to the measurements on the wall behind her registered at a 5 foot 1-inch-tall, steps forward and flips her long jet black hair out of her face. The lights in the room almost reflect off her bright white skin. “I don’t know what you are talking about. When your goons picked me up, I was just making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass, and I was homebound. You know just Staring blankly ahead, just making my way. Making my way through the crowd." She let out a coy smile.
"Amusing Vanessa. Seriously, much better than Brick's crude attempt at humor." The voice replied.
"Your mom loves my crude humor!" Brick's blurted out
"Enough!" The first time the voice lost its monotone delivery. Everyone in the room froze and bodies all tensed. What followed felt like an eternity made of silence, but was in reality 30 seconds. " Sorry, about that outburst. Let's get back to introductions." The tension in the air was hanging heavy. "Vanessa, my file says your ability is that you can turn incorporeal for small stretches."
"That is correct."
"It says you can turn any living creature you are touching incorporeal also."
"That is also correct."
"It does have some limitations doesn't it though?"
"It does indeed." Vanessa reached back and used a tie on her wrist to wrap her hair into a ponytail. The move highlighted her dark makeup on pale skin only contrasted with ruby red lipstick. Her brown eyes were as beautiful as they were haunting.
She continued "My power does not work on inanimate objects. Which is a bummer, I could be a world-class bank robber." She flashed a big smile. "My ability to turn myself and people I am in contact with is limited. I can turn myself for maybe 60 seconds consecutively and a person halves that time. Two people and it takes it down to maybe 12- 15 seconds. After I use my ability, I need about ten seconds to charge it back up for use."
"Very good Vanessa. Thank you." The voice now showed no signs of the anger that had flashed a minute earlier.
"No problem." She smiled and sank back into line.
"Finally, we make it to Mr. Carr."
"We can dispatch formalities and just call me Scott."
"Alright, Scott, the once leader of this crew. That is until he saw the light and went legit." The voice began "You got a minor stretch in prison for a job gone wrong. You could have had simple probation if you just gave up the rest of these guys, but you refused. Doesn’t it make you the slight bit curious why you were sentenced to three to five years but only served about seven months?"
"Good behavior," Scott replied flatly.
"Now that would be some great behavior Scott. I had a lot to do with your early release. I knew you would be of great use to me. I hoped to give you some more time to settle into your domestic life, but matters have sped up my timeline. We will get to that shortly though. Before we get to that, let's cover your ability, Scott." The faceless voice said
"You are mighty special Scott. The only known powered human with the ability of invisibility. Couple that with your leadership skills and the success of your team, I mean you all would be doing many lifetimes in prison if you got caught for all the crimes you committed." The voice went on.
"I don't know anything about that. I committed one break-in, I was alone, and I served my time." Scott said as he straightened his body position and glared at the glass in front of him.
"We can’t forget your crew’s hideout the N.E.T enforcement raided that had cash and stolen goods more than 200,000 thousand dollars? That had to sting; your share would work out to a nice start for your new family."
"Look I don't know who you are or what you want, but spit it out. I am done with this little game you’re playing. You know who we are obviously and we sure as hell know who we are. Get to the point." Scott said at the voice, patience clearly running thin.
"Who am I? I'm the Overseer, and I and your territory need your assistance." The voice said