“How do I look?” Ferris asked as Terri came through the apartment door from checking the mail downstairs.

She looked him up and down with a gooey smile. “You look really handsome. But lose the sneakers. Don’t you have some boat shoes?” He was in chino shorts and a bold floral shirt.

“Oh, yeah I do. But do you think the rest is appropriate enough for a send-off?”

“Yeah, it’s fine honestly. But don’t forget it’s a celebration too. Of... sorts. And it’ll be hot out there. Look, you’re fine babe, honestly.”

“Alright, thanks. I still can’t believe it, you know.”

“I know, neither can I.” She smiled with melancholy in her eyes.

“What’s that there though?” he asked, walking to the kitchen.

She looked down again at the mail. “I don’t know. I don’t remember ordering anything but I’ll open it while I get ready.”

“How much longer will you need?”

“Half an hour,” Terri suggested.

“Ok, an hour then. I’ll get some rounds in on the PlayStation while I wait,” he excitedly said, running back through with a bag of chips.

Terri shook her head and went off to the bedroom, starting her getting ready playlist.

She sat on the edge of the bed and fingered the package open. It wasn’t large, but it was soft. The address was typed and stuck on.

She slid the contents out. It was a white top. A baby’s onesie. Terri’s heart quickened and she became very hot suddenly. She unfurled it more, reading the front. MY MUMMY ROCKS was printed in green lettering.

Terri frantically searched through the packaging to see if there was anything else in it, like a message.

Nothing.

It was just the clothing.

Who’s idea of a sick joke is this? The only people who knew were Outbreak, who was now dead, and the doctor at the clinic. Surely she didn’t sell me out…?

“Are you ok in there?” Ferris called out from the other side of the door. Terri jumped up and threw the package and baby clothes in the closet.

“Yeah, yeah… I’m ok.”

“Ok good. Brad’s just messaged me. Said he won’t be coming today.”

“Oh right. Ok,” was all Terri said as she became flustered.

“Are you ok?”

“Yes honey, I’m just getting ready. Go back to your game, I won’t be long.”

“Ok thank you!”

***

Terri and Ferris boarded the yacht that belonged to Sir Ron Palmer. It was docked in Miami and the plan was that once everyone was on board, it was going to take them out to international waters so they could talk together as a group away from prying eyes and ears.

Everyone knew why they were there and there was a sombre atmosphere amongst those who had already arrived.

“Hey guys,” Ferris said. “Are we the only ones here?”

“Yeah,” said Mindy. “We just got here ourselves.”

“Brad texted me to say he wasn’t coming.”

“You’d think he’d want to,” Holt said dismissively.

“I think he’s still pissed off with me,” Terri admitted. “I’ve tried reaching out, but he doesn’t respond.”

“I get that, but this isn’t for you. It’s for Tobias, and saying goodbye and to talk about how we all move forward. He’s just as much as a part of this,” argued Holt.

“Yeah, I know,” Terri agreed.

Kimona and Dylan came up onto the deck with drinks from down below.

“Ahh, sorry! I would’ve brought some up for you if I’d known you were here,” Kimona said.

“This place is huge! It’s got everything you could want or need!” Dylan enthused.

Ferris laughed. “It’s alright, we’ll get something when some more of us turn up. Is The Secretary around yet?”

“Yeah, she’s talking with Ron in his office,” Dylan said.

***

Over the course of the next hour, all the other members of the group turned up from their corners of America.

The Secretary and Sir Ron joined the group who were all convened on the circular seating in the lounge area of the super yacht. They looked like they were in the Big Brother house the way they all sat around casually.

“The Warriors have turned up,” one of Sir Ron’s staff announced.

“Thank God! We can finally eat!” Dylan cried out in an exaggerated, pained relief.

“Yay! Here’s the hero of the hour!” Blane called out when Tobias came through, with Ulrika and Eden behind.

“More like the year!” Kimona cheered. The room burst into a round of applause as the teen stood there blushing.

He waited for it to die down. “Ok, ok! Thanks everyone! But please stop now!”

“How are you feeling?” Ferris asked, patting him on the back.

“Like I never want to go into space again!”

“You must be the first beaver into space, you’ve got to feel proud of that!” Dylan quipped.

“Part beaver,” Tobias reminded him as he hugged Pan.

“Although, just as rare as a beaver in space, you got to wear The Sheriff’s suit! Only you and The Sec have done that!” said Mindy. “I’ve been dying to put it on but he always says no!” Everyone started laughing.

“Alright, let’s set sail!” Sir Ron proclaimed. “Get some food, get some drink. Nowhere is off limits and we’ll meet up here again when we’re clear out.”

***

“Ok, so I do want to start off by thanking Sir Ron Palmer for lending us the use of his yacht today. For those who aren’t aware, Sir Ron is the owner of Khonsu Space Exploration,” The Secretary explained.

“Hello, it’s an honor to have you all on board. I’ll leave you to chat freely, I’ll only be downstairs,” the old Brit said.

“But you will be coming back up later?” The Secretary said with a knowing, reminding tone. He smiled back with a wink and left the room.

“What’s that all about Ma’am?” Terri asked with suspicion.

“You’ll know soon enough,” she teased. “Anyway, what a week right!? I just want to say I am so sorry for what has happened. I had no idea any of this was going to happen to us, nor the way it did. And I feel like a huge failure for not seeing it. I was completely blindsided, but then I suppose as that is the case, I deserve to be here. But you don’t.”

“Ma’am, no one blames you. You’ve got nothing to apologise for!” Terri interjected. The others mumbled in agreement.

“If anything, we’re the ones who should apologise. It’s not like we’ve made it easy to manage and lead us over the years,” Ferris added, hoping to placate The Sec more.

“Speak for yourself,” Mindy said. “I’ve been perfect!” She laughed, flicking her pink hair.

“Well, either way, we’re here, and we no longer represent the United States,” The Sec said sadly.

“I’m not sure I’m ready to stop helping people,” Holt said.

“So we really can’t do anything anymore?” Mindy asked, wanting clarification. “We just have to be normal people and pretend we can’t do amazing things?”

“I’m afraid, technically speaking. Any interventions we could make would be considered vigilantism, which as you all know, is a law in this country. A person who uses their enhancements in the course of improper or unauthorised law enforcement can be arrested,” she stated. “That’s why The Enhanced Beings Collective was a thing. To deal with enhanced people out there doing bad. It was your job to keep order. You were the licensed ones. Of course, there are people out there who do go ahead and try to do their best in our absence. We couldn’t be everywhere, right, but that’s where we would be classified as criminals… if we then acted in that way.”

“Normal jobs it is then,” Reuben grumbled.

“Ron’s offered us a job working for his project’s team,” Holt said, referring to him and his siblings.

“And I’ve got to return to England and wait for a visa to then hopefully start working here again for an oil company,” Kimona said.

Terri stepped forward, suggestively looking at The Secretary. “But something tells me that you’ve got something up your sleeve. Am I right? Or were you and Ron just… I don’t know what else you would be doing.”

The Secretary smiled nervously and looked at the group. “I do, yes. Have something up my sleeve, that I wanted to propose.” She walked to a bookcase in the wall behind her. She slid it across to reveal a small recess. In it was a large black case, and she lifted it to the table in the middle of the seating.

She clicked the latches open. “So, while Lucas was still alive, he had created this system for situations like this. If the Government or society collapsed, if networks had been compromised, that sort of thing. He wanted to name it Y.O.Y.O. for ‘You’re On Your Own’ but we went with Rogue Protocol instead. It allows us, whoever has the devices, to be able to communicate with each other completely securely, to hack into databases unseen, monitor other frequencies yadda yadda yadda. Basically, to do what we could do with the Government stuff, but just more… unofficially.” The group was in complete silence while she spoke. “It’s connected to a secure server that will be housed in Khonsu, courtesy of Sir Ron’s agreement, and managed through a portable control centre. Which I will have.” She paused to allow for people to say something. But no one did. “Someone say something, please... What do we think?”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“So this means we could still possibly maybe potentially if we wanted, be vigilantes, just with better tech than the others?” Holt asked.

“Yes. We’d be operating outside of the law, I get that and that's a big ask. But there’s so much work to still do out there, and after New York, there’s still so much love out there for you all. There are loads of enhanced beings and allies out there who do good work already that we don’t even know about. We can join them. Support them. Start a new movement.”

“Hell yeah, I like this new Madam Secretary!” Ferris cheered.

“Well you know, fuck ‘em. This new EMAT team is a pile of bull. No one’s behind them and can you really see them being able to do what we did so well? With this Rogue Protocol, we can do amazing things, broaden our contacts, help communities more where the real problems are. We’ll all have normal jobs which will give us a better understanding of what it is like out there.”

“You lost me at ‘working normal jobs and fighting crime in my spare time’,” Effie said dryly. The Secretary looked deflated at her. “I’m jokin, Ma’am. We’re in.”

“Me too,” Dylan offered.

“We’ll join this new team too,” Blane said on behalf of The Power of Three. “What’s our new name? ‘The We Hate EMAT Club’?”

A few giggled at Blane’s idea.

“What about, ‘The Collective,” Reuben offered quietly. Everyone turned to look at him, with looks of surprise and being impressed by his considered suggestion. “Well don’t look so surprised. I’m capable of good ideas.”

“I think it’s a great one Reuben,” said The Secretary.

“We might not be The Enhanced Beings Collective officially, but we’re still united by our connection as The Collective,” Ulrika said. “I really like it. It’s powerful.”

“And we can continue to grow as The Collective,” The Secretary added. “This is the new era for us now, I guess. We don’t have to be licensed. Well, we do, but we won’t be and if we trust our allies out there, we can get them on our new network too.” She stood up passionately as she thought about what her words meant.

“And what do we call you now you’re not actually The Secretary anymore?” Ariadna asked suddenly.

The former Secretary coughed awkwardly. “Quite. Well, I suppose by name.”

“No,” Terri said bluntly, standing up to face her former boss. “No I don’t think we will call you by your name. I have a better idea. We’ll call you Network. You’re carrying on his baton. Taking this portable computer thingy and running things on his network.”

“No, I couldn’t possibly do that. Lucas was Network,” The Secretary said.

“Oh c’mon, he’d be so up for you being Network in his memory. You’re manning the thing. You’re the embodiment of this new Rogue Protocol. Take it. Own it. Honor it,” Terri argued ardently. “Plus, we can’t call you Vedhika over the air. Everyone’ll know who you are.”

“That’s your name?” Ariadna asked, visibly surprised and confused. “You don’t look like a V-” She stopped when Ferris who was sat next to her, started whispering in her ear. When he moved back, she looked at The Secretary. “Pretty name.” Ferris gave her a nod and a thumbs up.

“I did not know Lucas for long, but I do really like the idea of you taking on the Network mantle,” Do’Lânqwa said. There was a murmur of agreement from everyone.

“Right, ok. I suppose that’s settled then,” the former Madam Secretary said visibly cringing a bit. “Ah, Ron! Good timing!” she enthused when he appeared at the doorway.

“Are they on board with the idea?” he asked.

“Yes, we’re in. From this day forward, we are simply The Collective,” Vedhika said.

“You were in on this too?” Dylan asked.

He nodded smugly. “Yes. Vedhika and-”

“She’s Network now,” Ariadna interrupted.

“Oh, ok. Well Network, the new Network, reached out and asked if the server could be stored at my facility. I was more than happy to oblige. I value what The Enhanced Beings Collective have done for me and I value the relationship we will have moving forward.”

“Plus he’s offered to produce us some equipment too, so when it’s ready we can meet again and go through it. But for now, here’s a device for everyone and some spares for allies we meet on the way.”

“What about one for Brad?” Dylan asked.

“I’ll take his to him,” Terri offered.

“You just want a holiday to Italy,” joked Dylan.

“Nooo, I don’t. But I think it should be me. He might not be able to ignore me if I’m there.”

“Will you apologise to him while you’re there?” Ariadna asked.

Terri blushed. “Yes Ariadna, be assured that I will.”

“Do you want me to wait until I get my visa before I take one?” Kimona asked.

“No, no. Take yours now. It won’t be long. Green Gold Oil are keen to get you working with them so they’ll be doing all they can to get your visa application approved,” Vedhika said “Has everyone else been able to make arrangements for their future? I know some of you are having to relocate? Reuben and Effie?”

“The Ranch is ours so we’re stayin’ put. We’re good,” Reuben said.

“Ariadna?”

“Yes.”

“Yes you’ve been able to make arrangements?”

“Yes,” she said nodding.

“Aaaand... what are they?” Vedhika gently pushed.

“I’m moving in with my Aunt to Brad’s apartment since he’s not there anymore.”

“Ok, great.”

“And I’ve got my job still at Clestin College, but I’m going to look for something in LA with Tyler and this tag along here,” he said pointing at Pan.

“I’m sadly headed back to Canada now,” Ferris said.

Terri took his hand. “I’m staying in Chicago and Ferris and I are going to make the long distance thing work while he still has to work for the Canadian Enhanced Agency.”

“And what will you do for work?” Vedhika asked Terri.

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll figure something out,” she replied.

Vedhika looked at Do’Lânqwa. “You’ll be joining the triplets in Florida, right?”

“Correct. I need to be closer to Ta’Balshén, Jabeetna and the other YoungEns who are enrolling in a programme at Khonsu,” he explained. “And unfortunately there’s been a lot of interest in me since New York, so I’m going to focus on the HALO in the hope I become old news.”

“And the Warriors,” Vedhika went on, “you’re still contracted by the new EMAT?”

“We didn’t want to carry on working for that bitch-”

“Tobias!” Ulrika chastised. “What he means is we hate the mistreatment of everyone here by her, and whilst we will be loyal to The Collective, we had to create an arrangement that gave us all a bit of... security.”

“Plus there’s no way she could replace us with anyone better,” Eden said proudly.

“Right. We get to stay at The Lodge and will work when we’re needed and support you guys when you need it. I hope no one feels like we’re disloyal to you, but we’ve got a bear and a… Nova,” Ulrika said.

“No one here thinks that,” Terri assured. “You have to do what’s best for you all.”

“And what about you?” Reuben asked Vedhika. “What’s next fer you?”

“Well Sir Ron’s given me a job managing the Communications department which I’ll start soon.”

“Nice,” Effie said nodding supportively.

There was a shared silence for a moment as they all took in the positions they now all found themselves in.

“Well this all feels rather macabre,” Sir Ron said. “We should get the champagne out. There’s a lot to toast and look forward to. We’ll do a toast, to The Collective!”

***

Chicago. Two days later.

“Hello, how can I help?” the receptionist asked warmly when it was Terri’s turn. She took off her sunglasses, but kept her baseball cap on.

“Hey, I was here a while ago to see Doctor Dutoit, I was wondering if I could speak to her again?”

The receptionist cringed a little at the mention of Doctor Dutoit’s name. “I’m really sorry, but Doctor Dutoit was involved in an accident outside the building and passed away.” The phone started to ring. “I’m sorry, I have to take this.”

Terri stepped away from the desk and searched ‘Dr Dutoit’ on the internet. Sure enough, the first hit was an article reporting her death… On the evening of Terri’s abortion appointment.

Terri’s heart sank, but at least she knew the chances of the doctor having the opportunity to leak anything to anyone were next to none. So maybe it was Outbreak… who was dead himself now, so she had no way of knowing.

It made the prank feel a lot more sinister and concerning to Terri.

“Sorry about that, I can help you now,” the receptionist called out, putting the phone down.

“Er no, no thank you. I’m sorry for your loss.” Terri put her sunglasses back on, lowered her cap and left the doctor’s office.

Confused, nervous and paranoid.

Someone out there knew her secret.