I was way later than I had wanted to be in getting back to Saga. I had intended to give it a day or two to think about, but trying to stay nearby in case Karu woke up, I hadn’t had the chance and it was day five now since our awkward parting.

I wasn’t sure where I stood on everything either, but I knew I owed Saga some kind of response. Her life was shit enough without also being in suspense about whether or not I was coming back.

I started over in a light jog, something I’d been trying to do more of lately, but thanks to the slashes on my knees and legs, it didn’t last long. Everything just wound up hurting long before I was winded or exhausted.

If I hadn’t been looking out for it, I would have missed the barely-perceptible nervous shudder as I entered Saga’s range and she began riding my senses.

“Hey Saga. Sorry I’m late.”

[Not gonna lie, I wasn’t doing so hot for a while there. Being alone with your thoughts can really suck.]

“Yeah, I know. I got kinda delayed.”

I felt her probe at my mind gently. [I can see that. Glad you came when you could…I guess.]

There was an awkward silence where I kept walking and didn’t speak, and she didn’t probe me further. I didn’t want to talk about it, and didn’t think she was ready to know the answer. I decided to settle for small talk.

“Yeah, so, not sure how much you rifled through my memories, but Karu’s a major bitch, eh?”

[A very major one. People like her represent the very worst of humanity. People are always willing to hate us just because we’re Exhuman.]

“There is sort of a justification for that, though.”

[What, because we’re stronger than others, people should hate us?]

“I was thinking it’s more of a necessary evil to stigmatize us so that anyone who turns would give themselves up instead of taking out a city block. Like, you and I might be fine, but if we were accepted, other people might be okay with their powers as well, and would fight instead of submit.”

[And what’s wrong with that?]

“I think you know. Society tends to break down when you have to be afraid for your life every day.”

[Maybe people should be afraid. People should feel accountable for their actions.]

“So we go from a pariah to gods who get to deal out judgement on our whims?”

[Works for me.]

“Yeah, because you’re one of the gods. Sounds like kind of a shit system otherwise.”

[I think you care too much about humans.]

“And I think you care too little. Look, if we’re going to start a conversation at some point about how you as an individual are separate and better than your people who murdered millions of innocents, you are not selling yourself very well.” I bent under the rusted wreck of a fence as I reached the mining complex, and headed for the admin building to sit down while we continued our little chat.

[Regardless if you approve of me or not, I still had nothing to do with that. In fact, I doubt 99% of Chinese had anything to do with that. Probably some stupid corrupt general or politician pushed the button to end the world.]

“I…suppose.”

[It’s not like every Chinese family had a button in their house which fired a nuke and they all chose to push ’em. And I certainly didn’t have any such buttons in my cozy prison. So can you drop holding the whole Chinese war against me?]

“I think so. That’s what I wanted to come here to say, though in totally different words.” I took a breath and organized my thoughts for the billionth time. “Can I talk to you about a problem I have?”

[Can’t really say no, can I? Bit of a captive audience. Hah.]

“Right. Well, if you get bored, feel free to fry my brain or whatever it is you do.”

[Already considering it.]

“So I’ve been wondering why it seems like so many Exhumans, you included, wind up…how do I put this?”

[Angry?]

“Devoid of morals.”

[(Ouch.)]

“Like, I had this scrap with Karu, and she just took it for granted I’d try to kill her. I’m a freaking high school kid who played football. I’m no trained assassin, yet people like me apparently try to kill people like her on the regular.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

[Well, as you said, she is a major bitch. (Probably wouldn’t have this problem if she weren’t flying around picking fights with people who could kick her ass.)]

“I’m apparently in the minority here in still having some human decency. Now, do you think that’s just because of tit-for-tat? They stripped me of my humanity, so why should I behave like a human?”

[Probably.]

“I don’t buy it. I think that’s just a justification. I think the real problem is…Exhumans are dangerous because humans are easy for us. Like, if a police officer tells you not to steal, why listen to him if you can blow up his brain with a thought? When you’re on a pedestal so much higher than everyone else around you, why should laws and rules apply to you anymore?”

[Guess they probably shouldn’t.]

“I talked about us being gods earlier, but I think it’s more like kings and queens. We’re so far above the law, we have so much power…but when you use that power abusively for your own gain, the people rise up and depose you.”

[I doubt an angry mob with pitchforks and torches could take either of us.]

“No…but you’ll notice that in the history of Exhumans, not one of them has ever taken over the world. Some try, but their disconnection from humanity means they’re horrible rulers. Why would anyone follow you if you feel no need to follow the rules with your own followers? Some might follow out of fear, but there’s a whole world out there they could join to take you down, why sit on the Exhuman losing side?”

[Pretty sure I wouldn’t have this problem.]

“Yeah, no wonder they shoved you in a vault. Sometimes I wonder what is going to happen when you get out of there.”

[Probably nothing calamitous. (But only because everyone who put me in here is already dead…)]

“Very reassuring,” I said, being anything but reassured. “And that plays well into the point I’m trying to make.”

[Which is?]

“Eventually an Exhuman is going to come along they can’t stop. Through bad luck or circumstance, or just having unstoppable powers, one will come to power and have the wherewithal to hold it. And that’s horrible, both for humans and Exhumans.”

[Why would that be bad for Exhumans? Sounds great to me.]

“Because, let’s say you do enact your master plans and dominate humanity. What, then, could possibly usurp your rule and bring you down, if the humans can’t do it?”

[I guess…another Exhuman.]

“Right. So we go from a crappy cycle where Exhumans are systematically subjugated by humans to a crappy cycle where an Exhuman systematically subjugates humans and Exhumans.”

[So how do you stop it?]

“I don’t know, but I think I know how to avoid it, and that’s what I want to talk to you about.”

I took a readying breath, knowing she wouldn’t like what I was going to say. Of course, at this point, I had to say it or she’d hear it from my thoughts first.

“What the world needs…is more Exhumans. Just like how humans can’t break the law because they’d be punished by their peers, we need Exhumans to reach a level where they are also held accountable by their peers. Once we have law and order established, we can have good relations with humans again, and an actual reason for them to trust us, and a reason for us to care about them.”

“Thing is, we need to start somewhere, with a group of Exhumans who are willing to abide by human morals to get the ball rolling. Otherwise, it’s just an unstoppable world-conquering gang.”

[I like the latter much more than the former.]

“I know you do. But I’m asking you to do the former. You said you hoped we’d be able to reach a partnership unprecedented in the world by having two Exhumans working together. I agree…but we will have to consider that by doing this, we’ll be setting a precedent.”

[You have been giving this a lot of thought.]

“I was stuck tending to an unconscious woman for two days, after doing basically nothing but thinking about it for two more days. I might be slow, but I do think when I try. I’m sure it needs more work.”

[Some kind of…League of Exhumans?]

“Hoping for a catchier name than that…presumably without mention of Exhuman since that’s kind of a…dirty word. Maybe like the P-Force.”

[Pee force?]

“P, For parahuman. Like what they called Exhumans before the stigma. Whatever, we should probably think about getting it off the ground before worrying about the name.”

[(You should worry about it. That is a terrible name.) I don’t…hate your idea. I have…many (totally justified) issues with humans. But…(how do I even put this into words?) I get the feeling what you are proposing is good and right. Those are things I haven’t cared about in a long time. (Morality kind of loses meaning in a hole in the ground.) But that doesn’t mean if you offered me a good and bad choice, I’d say hell yeah, sign me up for bad 100%.]

[I guess…if a system like yours existed and worked (and that’s an important step) it would mean fixing all the reasons I hate humans instead of just getting rid of them. Which is noble (and an ass-ton of work). Hmm.]

I could feel her thoughts spinning around and her mental asides grew more frequent as she analyzed different sides of the issue. I let her think, knowing how annoying it was to have someone responding to your thoughts instead of words.

[Well. I have half a decision,] she said after a minute of internal debate. I was pretty sure I knew what she was thinking but let her go on.

[Nothing is happening here until I get out anyway, whether I agree with you or not. And, if I get out, it will probably be because of you. And if that happens, I will owe you big time, so regardless of my personal philosophy, I would be happy to help you with yours (if just for a little). So, contingent on my successful release, I am happy to work with you.]

“Nice. An unprecedented partnership of Exhumans begins.”

[This would be much cooler if you had more complimentary powers. How am I supposed to work with lightning? Can you like, zap me into the air? Or move lightning fast? Or do you just have big shiny swords?]

“Haven’t really pushed myself too much. Wasn’t really keen on the whole being-an-Exhuman thing.”

[Well, if your aim is to be able to protect and police other Exhumans, you’d best start working on it. I doubt others have your restraint.]

I thought of Karu and frowned. Others did not have my restraint indeed, Exhuman or no.

“Man, you have no idea how happy I am we were just able to see eye-to-eye.”

[You’d be amazed at just how simultaneously tolerant and intolerant a hundred years of solitary can make you.]

“Yeah, so about that. You’ve really been locked up a hundred years?”

[No, I’ve just been messing with you. It was like, 5 years tops.]

“Seriously?”

[No. It was a hundred years, dumbass. I didn’t bring my desk calendar so I don’t know exactly how long, but that’s a reasonable ballpark.]

“And you’ve just been there…without food, water, light…toilet?”

[Yep.]

“How?”

[I’d be surprised if you’d heard of this since it’s sort of an intelligence secret, but have you ever heard of Ramanathan’s Laws?]