“You can cut the atmosphere in ‘ere with a knife,” Reuben grumbled as he and Effie walked into the conference room.

Much like a few months ago when Amber introduced herself, Nauyerdunt and Budge to The Collective, the group had again been brought together.

“Dylan,” Reuben said in greeting and taking the empty seat next to him.

“Hey Reub. Yeah, you’re not kidding. Amber isn’t happy.”

“What about now?” Effie asked.

Dylan went on to give them a rundown of what happened two days ago in Thailand with Pan and the rogue YoungEns. “…But I think that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Juliette who works in the canteen overheard one of Amber’s grunts on the phone laughing about how much she’s going to blow up.”

“I would love if she would,” Effie muttered.

“Why do we have to be ‘ere then? None of that was us,” Reuben said, shaking his head in annoyance.

“I guess we’ll find out when she starts yabberin’,” Dylan said, leaning back in his seat.

Usually arranged in a circle, the seats were put into rows so that more chairs could be added to accommodate everyone. Soon enough, everyone had turned up- Terri, Ferris, Ariadna, Do’Lânqwa, the triplets, Kimona, Tobias, Eden, Ulrika, Pan, Patty-Sue and Jamison. Even Brad was in attendance, having been away a while, stood against the back wall not engaging with anyone.

Pan was also keeping himself to himself, having had a rough few days. Dylan had tried to reach out to him, but Pan had just spent his time with Bracken and Bethany.

Amber, wearing a navy pant suit and simple, crisp, white crew neck tee shirt, burst through the doors and strutted purposefully past everyone. She was closely followed by The Secretary and neither of them looked happy.

Amber didn’t even look at anyone until she was stood at the front. She stood at the podium and blankly looked out.

“Honestly, before I started to take a more active role in The Enhanced Beings Collective, I knew it was a shit show, but my God I didn’t realise just how much until I saw it for myself. So when I go on to tell you why I’ve called you all here, you at least know my deep intense feelings. Further to that, the decision I’ve made has been in motion for a while now anyway and I cannot allow things to continue any longer, so it’s happening quicker than I had have wanted.”

She continued. “This department has a catalogue of failures behind it that have been ignored through inadequacy, or swept under the carpet… I suppose, through inadequacy as well. First of all, does anyone know how much over budget The Enhanced Caused Repairs and Relief Fund is? Anyone?” She didn’t give anyone a chance to answer. “Two hundred and fifty million dollars. Over what the fund normally is. Rio, the Far Rompton diner, the New Orleans diner, the church and surrounding area in Chilapa, London, Central Park… all that costs money. Money we don’t have. You guys are reckless.”

“Ms Hamilton, we can’t be to blame for all of those instances,” Terri argued. “We have a job to do, and I’m pretty certain I left the diner in New Orleans untouched. It was just the parking lot I damaged…”

“Well at least take it out of densely populated areas, if you can!”

“But we still got grief for what happened in Iceland though. That wasn't densely populated,” Kimona piped up.

“Because it’s a place of natural beauty!” Amber squeaked. Kimona and Terri glanced at each other and shook their heads in disbelief.

“And none of us were in Rio. They did their best there and Kimona actually held onto a tidal wave!” Dylan said, finding himself stood up to deliver his argument.

“A fucking meteor was dropped Dylan. Now sit down! We were lucky the whole planet wasn’t obliterated. We almost lost St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha from existence completely! And reading back on the file, do you know when it was we sent two of the G7 members in? When they were all having fucking breakfast after the fact! Which we paid for too!” Amber said, her voice raised and her neck straining a little.

“Well I’m sure we can all learn from this, and be more conscientious going forward,” Terri suggested earnestly.

“Oh, I wish that was the entirety of the cancers embedded with running of The Collective. I’m not sure I can even rely on any of you to do your jobs anymore. The world has had to watch as our own headquarters were compromised and attacked by a privately funded army from China, no less! We’ve also literally facilitated non-Earth beings bringing back a deadly walking-talking-petri-dish-of-a-fuck loose on America!"

She ruffled some papers. "Then there’s the failure to prevent The Zodiac from stealing back her Amulet from one of the most secretive and securest facilities on the US Government’s books… Not getting Punchbag in quick enough in Las Vegas…" She sighed. "America deserves better.”

“Hang on, Ms Hamilton! I had that Punchbag thing in hand on my vacation before you sent Mr Creepy Cloak and Dagger over there to interfere on my bust,” Dylan shot up again.

“Your vacation was your suspension! So you shouldn’t have been working in the first place!”

“Oh ok, next time I’ll let more people die. ‘Ooops sorry that you died everyone, but I’m not allowed to save lives today.’,” he mocked.

“I was very close by,” Jamison, aka Nauyerdunt said. “If you didn’t happen to be there, the outcome would have been the same, trust me.”

“Well maybe when you’ve been doing this for as long as I have, maybe I will,” Dylan scoffed.

“Enough!” Amber snapped. “I haven’t even finished yet. Stop interrupting me. America deserves better. They deserve efficiency, and accountability from The Enhanced Beings Collective, the ones who represent them and their country. And accountability is something you’ve been lacking. Matters of importance, swept under the carpet. American citizens having to bear the brunt of it. Sanctions or reprimands not being given when needed. Lucas Ilan’s death for example, was completely avoidable-”

“Hang on there,” Brad said, interrupting this time.

“No, you hang on! Your bullying of him was completely ignored. The fact that the night he took his own life, he gave Don Waters information that led to him killing someone, which was also completely brushed under the carpet.” She watched as Brad’s face changed from anger to momentary confusion. “...Oh, you didn’t know? Why am I not surprised.” Amber rolled her eyes.

“What? Wh-what did you say Lucas did?” Brad asked, stepping off from the wall.

“He gave Don the location of Perry Ferguson in New Orleans, which then resulted in his death,” Amber explained, taking a little too much enjoyment from being the one to deliver this news.

“New Orleans… Terri, you went to New Orleans to find Don. Did you know this?”

“She did. And she told Vedhika, who got the DA to drop the case to keep The Collective out of trouble.”

The Secretary spun round, looking embarrassed and flustered. “Brad, it was really damaging news. It needed sensitive handling,” she assured.

“Yeah, but Terri could have at least said something to me.” She turned around at the mention of her name, looking equally as ashamed and harassed. “You knew how much I beat myself up for thinking that I was to blame for Lucas killing himself!” he shouted. “Sure, I know I didn’t treat him well and I need to take accountability for that, but I thought after I left him in LA that he killed himself because of me. There’s a high fucking chance he did it out of guilt!”

“Shut the hell up!” Holt shouted, standing up to face Brad. “If all this is true, then you must’ve made him feel so shit that he ended up giving evil Don that information. He wasn’t a bad person. You drove him to question himself and make bad decisions. That still is on you!”

“Get stuffed, I’m not talking to you!” Brad boomed.

“Excuse me?” Holt shot back, his eyes glowing white. Mindy put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him out of his anger.

“You heard me! And I can’t believe you, Terri. Do you know where I’ve been the last few weeks? I’ve been in rehab!” The group mumbled in shock and surprise at Brad’s admission.

“Brad, you don’t need to,” Reuben said quietly to him.

“No, no. I do. Because that’s where I’ve been. The guilt I had over Lucas, and then the shit with Anton who I fucking refuse to call Guy. I spiralled hard, and to think you kept something so big from me that could have just made me feel less shit about myself, I just can’t get my head round it.”

“Brad, please! I’m sor-” Terri started to plead.

“No! Fuck off Terri. I thought we had each other’s backs here. I’m out of here. I came back thinking things would be different, but I think the wicked witch up there is right, this department is fucked up. I quit.” He stormed out of the conference room leaving everyone in deftly silence.

“And there you have it,” said Amber. “One of your own teammates was out fighting for this country with a drug problem. Which is why he couldn’t do his job at The Nest. That’s why we lost The Zodiac’s amulet. Accountability, anyone? Does America deserve this?”

“How did you even know that? I didn’t even know that myself,” The Secretary said, turning slowly back to the front.

“Jamison’s invisible. So I had him keep an eye out on your biggest liabilities. He was there when Stephanie and him went to The Rodeos to return the drugs he took. Well, what he hadn’t popped already. He was there in Vegas too keeping an eye on Dylan.”

Dylan immediately turned to face Amber’s invisible turning recruit. “You were following me? I knew you were a creepy bastard!” he shouted. “And I wasn’t even a liability!”

“If none of you had nothin' to hide then what’s the problem?” Patty-Sue shot back.

“You were on suspension. For facilitating children to fight. The same children who went to Thailand, for fucks sake.”

“That wasn’t me. I did my suspension and had nothing to do with Thailand! But I wish I did because they were only doing what we should have done to get those seeds back. At least they and The Heir had the right idea!”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“And look where it got them? It’s not our job to storm a country on some needle in a haystack search. That’s what the authorities there were doing.”

“If you’d have just asked, The Venture Kids knew exactly where to find the seeds,” Pan said defensively.

“Oh you’re so right Pan,” Amber said with a lot of mocking in her voice. “Next time I want a preteen to get stabbed, I’ll ask them where the best place is... Can none of you see the problem with any of this? Can you?! Can you not see where I’m coming from!?”

“I want to know where you’re going with this,” Ferris called out. “I’ve just had about enough listening to this. I have no idea what this management technique of yours is, but I now just want you to get to the point. We should have had one to one meetings with H.R. about your issues with our performances. Not having it aired in this way, having a tirad of cusses shot at us. That way, we can get better and improve for the next time.”

“Well that’s just the thing, Ferris. The point of this, is to let you know that The Enhanced Beings Collective is going to go through a complete restructure and rebranding process. That unfortunately means all of your contracts are terminated.”

As soon as she said those words, the room erupted in noise. Dylan crashed back in his chair, slinking forward. His heart dropped into his stomach. How was this happening?

Complaints of, “You can’t do this!” and “Is this a joke?!”, to the more fruitier responses shouted in a Texan accent rang out whilst The Honorable Amber Hamilton seemed to be basking in it from the podium.

When the outrage died down enough for individual voices to be heard, Terri urged The Secretary. “Ma’am, we can’t allow this to happen.”

The Secretary, who hadn’t reacted as actively as others to the news, turned back around with a single tear rolling down her face. “I’ve been fired too. I found out ten minutes before this meeting.”

The room went silent as their last hope of not losing their careers had gone.

“So, what next?” Kimona eventually and nervously asked.

“I’m going to hold a conference in an hour to announce the news and-”

“She means about us. We don’t give a damn shit about your news!” Dylan called out.

“You’ll have a week before the new team starts, for you to move out if you’re in a Government funded residential property, and after that, you’ll be regular Joe enhanced citizens that are to follow the laws around your use of enhancements.”

“Great!” Dylan cried out sarcastically bringing his hands to his forehead. “So if we use our enhancements to help people, we run the risk of being classed as vigilantes?!”

“That’s what the law says,” Amber said bluntly.

“What about us then?” Holt asked, calmer than he was earlier. “Where are we welcome?”

“You three, and Do’Lânqwa and his family are all considered American citizens, so you’re welcome to go wherever you want, where you will follow the same laws.”

“Dare I ask about me?” Kimona asked quietly.

“I’ll talk to you about it after,” The Secretary said.

“In all respect, Ma’am, I’m this close to having a break down. I can’t wait to hear what’s going to happen to me. I’m worried enough as it is.”

The Secretary hung her head, so Amber spoke up in her place. “You’re not considered an American citizen, so you’ll have to return to England and apply for a visa from there.”

“This is bullshit. She’s done just as much for our country as any of us here. I’m out of here,” Dylan said getting up abruptly. Everyone else, except for The Secretary, Jamison and Patty Sue, followed suit. “After all we have done, this is how it ends?”

“It’s time for a change. You guys have sucked,” Jamison quipped.

Dylan pounced for the smug Jamison but was stopped by his friends. This was not the time or place.

Dylan looked at Amber with contempt and genuine sadness. He turned to leave, with the others following behind.

***

“What the frick has just happened? Am I dreaming? I can’t believe she’s done this,” Terri fumed.

“I can. I knew she was a shady bitch the first time I met her,” Effie said.

The group had reconvened outside on the runway to take stock of their firing.

“Did you know about this?” Tobias asked Ulrika. “Is it because I went to Thailand?”

“I didn’t know, and I will go and find out what’s going to happen to us. But it wasn’t just about Thailand. I think it was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. If it wasn’t what you did, it’d have been something else, whether that was next week or next month. You heard her, this was going to happen anyway.” She squeezed his shoulder affectionately and walked off.

Whilst the group continued to make sense of it all and work out what they were going to try and do about it, Ferris pulled Terri to one side.

“I’m not judging, I’m not criticising, but was it true about Lucas?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she sighed in resignation. “The Sec reviewed the CCTV from the bar, and then the time stamp of the accessed information and it tied up together. He had done it there and then for him.”

“Man, that’s rough.”

“Do you think Brad is ok? I should’ve told him but-”

“But you were told not to. He’ll come round, Terri. Just give him time and we’ll reach out together.”

“It feels like something I should do on my own. I don’t want him taking it out on you.”

Ferris gave her a kiss on the forehead and turned to the group who had carried on ranting and raving.

“Listen up everyone,” Ferris started. Do’Lânqwa stepped aside to take a call. “I won’t pretend that I’ve got anything I can say that will make us feel better or that can change the situation we suddenly find ourselves in. This is a shock, and we need time to take it all in. I suggest we meet up in a couple of days and go through everything together and ensure that we all have a plan going forward. We won’t leave anyone behind or fending for themselves. But we can’t achieve that today. Today is about processing this shock. Then we need to be constructive. I suggest that if you’re alone, you reach out to someone so that you’re… not alone. Amber’s conference is going to be later and that’s no doubt going to cause a stir online, so we just need to allow that dust to settle first.”

Terri took his hand and gave it a loving squeeze. “You’re so wise,” she said.

“I can speak to Sir Ron and see if he can lend us a mega yacht so we can have some privacy and get away from the heat,” Dylan suggested.

“Good idea Dylan, thank you,” Ferris said.

“We might have to put that on hold,” Do’Lânqwa said, returning to the group. “That was Brad.”

“Is he ok?” Terri asked.

“He is. But there is a problem in Grand Central Terminal. The Chief of Police reached out to him whilst he was on his way back to the city. It has been taken over. By Outbreak and The Purists.”

“Shit! Thousands of people use Grand Central,” Kimona said.

“Well we still have a week before we’re not The Enhanced Beings Collective anymore. How about we go and stop this fucker for the last time and leave with a bang?” Dylan said.

Do’Lânqwa shook his head. “You are all vulnerable to his abilities. Remember that time he gave you crabs?”

Dylan blushed and got all defensive as everyone looked questioningly at him. He even caught Mindy looking down at his crotch, causing him to cover it nervously with his hands. “I didn’t get crabs, just to make certain to you all. My girlfriend did. But... it wasn't from me either!”

“Well you’re not going by yourself big guy,” Ferris said. “We’ll all go. You can’t take on Purists and Outbreak by yourself. Too much is at stake.”

“It is too risky. You do not know if The Purists have been infected with anything. I am the only one immune to your human diseases,” Do’Lânqwa suggested.

“No, no you’re not,” Tobias piped up. Everyone turned to look at him, much to Dylan’s relief. “You’re not the only one. I’m part beaver and so I am also immune to whatever Outbreak can throw your way.” He stared hard at Do’Lânqwa so to not show any uncertainty or weakness. “Plus I feel like I’ve got quite a bit to make up for.”

“That’s settled then. You’ve got back up, and the rest of us can take our anger out on Purist scum,” Dylan said.

***

“Thank you for coming to today’s press briefing. I will be taking questions at the end,” said Amber. “It is with great pleasure that this afternoon I am announcing that The Enhanced Beings Collective will be changing and will operate under a new title. Going forward, The Enhanced Beings Collective will be known as the Department of Enhanced Monitoring and Accountability. Within this department, there will be a new line up of enhanced beings working for the newly named 'Enhanced Monitoring and Accountability Team', or EMAT for short. So please, give a warm welcome to the new members who are here for you today…!” She smiled, moving to the side of the stage to make room. “…Nauyerdunt, Budge, Cryo Kasra, Size Queen, Breakneck and their new leader... Old Glory!” The six new members of EMAT walked onto the stage to applause and the sound of flashing cameras.

“What’s going to happen to The Enhanced Beings Collective?”

“Who is going to represent the G7?”

“Did The Collective quit or get fired?”

“Will we be sending back the aliens?”

“Why has this happened?”

Lots of questions were shouted in Amber’s direction. She basked in the attention and waited for calm.

“When do they start?”

“Are you sending a positive message to kids about childhood obesity?”

“Will they help The Enhanced Beings Collective with the ongoing situation at Grand Central Terminal?”

That last question snapped Amber back to reality. She shot a look at the members of her team who looked on embarrassed. “What threat?” she barked back.

“The whole metro system has been shut down in New York City and half of Manhattan is in lockdown. The Purists have taken responsibility, saying they have an Outbreak taking over the terminal. The Collective are all on the scene....”