The office interior was almost the exact opposite of the rest of the building. It was relatively small, and almost homely.

There was a photo on the desk, although I couldn’t see what was on it, two plants at the back edges of the room, and a window that seemed to let in just the right amount of light. A coffee machine hung from the left wall, where a man–I assumed Kent Smith–poured coffee into the mug.

“Do you like coffee?” he said in English again, turning to me with a toothy smile. He was tall, as tall as me even, which took me by surprise. He had a square jaw, looking similar to Alpha Surge, except his hair was completely black, as were his eyes. Plus, he wore thin rimmed glasses and, while clearly buff, he wasn’t anywhere near Alpha Surge’s superhuman lift.

“Uh, not really, sorry,” I said after a couple of moments. I messed around with the seams of my gloves and shifted around awkwardly; this was the first time I had done something like this, and I didn’t really know what to do.

“You don’t need to be anxious, you know,” he said with a small smile. He sat down behind the desk, and motioned for me to sit on the opposite side. “I have no doubts you’ll succeed here, based on your history. Two villain attacks in one summer. And you stepped up to the occasion both times. Helped the pros when needed, but also stepped back when needed too. Very impressive.”

I clenched my hands.

It sure sounded good when he put it that way. Except I didn’t do anything but exactly what Jensen told me in the first encounter–Iraklis was the one that jumped in to face the villain straight away.

As for the second encounter, it was something that I’d rather not revisit. I hesitated, and only God knew how much risk I put everyone in. Not to mention…I died. I-I

No.

I was here.

I was alive.

Realising that the man was expecting some sort of response from me, I cleared my throat. “I-I did what I could. I don’t think I deserve that much credit.”

“Humility. I like that. Still, you seem a bit anxious. Try to be more comfortable. I know I always do in these situations, even if they have me dressed up like a big scary office worker,” said Kent Smith, gesturing to his attire. He was wearing a blue suit with a red shirt and yellow tie, and honestly made me–in my bermuda shorts and WPW T-shirted glory–feel slightly underdressed.

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“To be quite honest, this is the most nerve wracking thing I’ve done. Including the final exams,” I said with a small chuckle. “Being a hero is everything to me and I-I didn’t actually think I’d ever make it this far. Or that this would be as far as I ever got.”

“Because of what happened when you were twelve years old? When you accidentally–I want to stress that–hurt one of your classmates?”

Before I even knew what I was doing, I slammed my hands on the desk. “Don’t talk about that!” I said, loudly, causing Kent Smith to flinch back in response. Once I realised what I’d done I clenched my fists. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I don’t-”

“It’s okay. It was a traumatic experience. I should have known that you’d still carry it with you. I apologise.” Before I could assure him that it was alright, he brought up his right hand silencing me. “Let me ask you this instead: why do you want to be a hero?”

I let out an involuntary smile at that. “Alpha Surge. I met him once. He told me that everyone has good in them. A hero is someone that uses every talent in their arsenal, be it brains or brawn, to save, inspire and reassure others. That’s the ideal he lives up to, and it’s the ideal I want to live up to.”

I could swear that I saw a satisfied–almost smug–and yet somber expression on the examiner’s face at my words. It was there for only a millisecond, replaced by a neutral expression but I could swear that I’d seen it. “But why Alpha Surge? One could argue that every hero tries to live up to that ideal.”

Yeah, there was a specific reason. A specific story that inspired me. One that I hadn’t shared with my parents or even Iraklis. I looked at Kent Smith’s eyes. This was all or nothing. I needed to be honest. I needed to do my best to get into the academy, no matter what.

“There is a specific reason. But, I’d like for it to stay as private as possible.”

“I can be discreet and a bit vague with my reports,” said Kent Smith, a smirk fighting its way to his face. “The floor is yours.”

I messed with the seams of my gloves as I thought about the story again, as well as how to tell it. “I think it was about eight years ago. Alpha Surge was at the beginning of his career, not quite at the level of fame he is today, but was still well known. This man-this man was threatening to kill himself. He was on the top of a crazy tall building and Alpha Surge-”

“-Alpha Surge talked him out of it,” finished Kent slowly. “It’s not that famous of a story. Plus, you must have been, what, ten when that happened? How did you hear of it?”

“A fanboy like me has tons of, mostly useless, information regarding their favourite heroes in my head. I’d learned about it after I’d already met him but, after everything, it kept me going I guess,” I said, a bit embarrassed of admitting my fanboy-ish nature to him.

I didn’t reveal everything of course. About what school was like, or the fact that I only ever really had one friend and was treated like a monster by everyone else. That maybe–just maybe–they were right to think of me as such.