Liam tinkered with a screwdriver. Thoughtlessly removing the last screw and pulling off the metal casing. As the metal came off, with a satisfying click, Liam plopped it down in the pile of the similar casings. The pile was looking more like pringles than the casings it was.

The device he’d been working on was still hours from completion. Hours of work Liam would try to squeeze into the next few days. If he could find the time in between all the training and meetings. At the rate they were going, Liam was worried Nudge would drive the group ragged. Leaving them closer to failure from exhaustion than from a Cowl attack.

Shaking his head, Liam looked back at the device. Peering inside, a red light on the microchip pulsed its own beat. Like a little heartbeat signaling the thing was alive. Not that the light signaled it was working correctly, as the previous test had underscored. The wall to Liam’s right was still spitting out smoke from that failure. Now all he had to do was find the issue. Something that wasn’t always simple.

Liam looked over the device’s innards. Searching for what had caused the most recent mistake. However, his mind just wasn’t in the work. What Frank had told him about his recent spike in popularity was still there. Nagging at him to stop what he was doing and figure out what it all meant.

Liam tried to refocus on the task at hand, the device in front of him. Yet he fell into the demands at the back of his mind. With a sigh Liam pulled himself from his work and walked to the bed, collapsing into it like a used shirt. The sturdy bed was made for Heroes a dozen times heavier than he was. It barely even shook at Liam’s added weight.

He needed something with that kind of support for the rest of his life. Something that could hold up under all of his burdens. If life was that easy, Liam would have long since created the equipment. Instead he was left here, laying face down, hoping for the unattainable.

No, he reminded himself. He’d been down this road of self pity before. It didn’t lead anywhere good. He’d have to find a different path. One that didn’t lead to darkness and self destruction.

Pulling out his phone, Liam dialed the one number he knew would pull him out of this funk. The phone rang once before a familiar voice picked up and Liam could already feel his uneasiness evaporating.

“Liam!” Mel’s voice called across the line.

“It’s good to hear from you, Mel,” Liam said with a smile.

“Good! I was just about to call you. Are you tracking me or just psychic?”

“I would never track you,” Liam said. Shifting on the bed.

“Well, that’s good. You know I’d be mad if you were,” Mel said, as if the idea of her brother doing just that was impossible before continuing on in a conspiratorial voice. “So you are psychic? Did your powers change and I’m the first to figure it out?”

“No, I’m not psychic. You know better than that,” Liam could already feel his body relaxing at the comments.

“Then how did you know I was going to call?”

“I didn’t. Though I have noticed that you’ve yet to explain why you were going to.”

“Well, I had to build some suspense. Why did you ruin my plans?” Mel asked with a laugh. Liam could feel the good-natured jab through the line. “I got a job.”

“A job! Where? It’s not one of the places trying to use you?” Liam asked as he sat up in bed.

They’d had a problem finding a place for her to work. Many just wanted her for her relationship with Liam, not her own skills. The first batch of companies that offered Mel jobs wanted to use her as a human icon. Which from Liam’s understanding was a heavy burden to carry.

Those positions were also not what his sister wanted. Or needed, if he was being honest. He could only hope this place was a better fit for here and was out of the way. The farther she was from the public eye, the better.

“I’ll be working for the DCP,” Mel said.

The comment, let the air out of Liam’s lungs. This was the same group who’d let The Hunt show his face to the world. Great, he’d been hoping this job was a golden opportunity for her. Instead, this was looking to be a hidden danger. Who could think working for that corrupt organization was a great idea?

“Is that…” Liam started, but trailed off. He had to be delicate with how he put this. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin his sister’s good mood with his own prejudices.

“It’s the perfect position. I’ll be helping with the public relations side of things.”

Yeah, he wouldn’t be able to hold back. The DCP was one thing. Its public relations group was something completely different.

“Mel, look at what they did to us. Is it a good idea to join them? How are you comfortable with this?”

“Don’t you see? I’ll be able to stop that from happening again. I can become the change the system is looking for.”

And there she was, his sister, looking at the world as a good place. Despite what she’d been through.

“I know you want to help with that. It’s just the group is too large. Changing it won’t be easy. It might not even be possible.”

“I know, and that’s why I have to try,” Mel said. Her tone signaled the end of that line of questioning.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“I’m… ok. How did you find out about the position?” Liam asked. Knowing when he was beat.

“They contacted me.”

Liam had an inkling this was something setup by the DCP. With that little tidbit of information, it was all but confirmed. Liam was getting the feeling they were hiring Mel to watch over her. Or maybe even Liam and using her as a proxy.

“That’s... convenient,” Liam tried.

“I think one of the former Heroes protecting me might have noticed how hard it was for me to find work. He must have a connection at the DCP and arranged the interview. I’ll have to thank them for helping me find a job.”

Liam wasn’t convinced by the idea. It had some merit, it just didn’t add up. Yet at times like these, where job openings were few and far between, Liam could understand her excitement. It’d been awhile since the market was in a decent position. And that impacted those just entering the workforce more than those already at the top, leaving Mel in the worst possible position.

“That’s kind of them,” Liam said. Hoping his sister didn’t see through his statement.

“Yeah, it is. I owe them.”

Owe wasn’t the word Liam would use to describe what the DCP had done. But then, he wasn’t the one getting a job from them. He already had one.

Again finding himself in front of a wall, Liam searched for another subject. Hopefully this time it wasn’t something that made him cut off half way through the talk.

For the next twenty minutes, the two talked about any number of things. From the weather back home and their mother’s garden, to their cousin’s baby. The conversation flowed as the two lost themselves in it. It would’ve continued like that had it not been for the base’s speakers clicking online. The lighting on the wall faded as red lights bloomed to life.

“Suit up! It’s time!” Nudge’s voice sounded through the room. The sound was loud enough to shake the metal casings Liam had been working on before the call.

“Liam! What’s happening?” Mel asked. Her voice losing the energy it’d had before.

“I have to go. Training is over. We’re going out there for real.”

“Good luck. I know you can do this,” Mel said. Her tone changed to steel, as if she was going to help carry part of the burden to come.

“Thanks! I’ll talk to you later,” Liam said as he hung up the phone.

With speed he hadn’t shown in a long time, Liam raced to pull on his suit. Each part coming together like long-lost friends, eagerly being welcomed back into the fold.

Liam clasped on the last part in what had to be a record. Leaving the room before his suit’s boot up sequence was complete.

Liam raced through the base. Taking each hall like a sprinter on the final straight away. His robotic walk from earlier was nowhere to be seen.

Liam arrived in the meeting room as Wire rushed in from the other door. Unlike his time with The Hunt, he hadn’t been the last one to arrive today.

“What’s happening?” Wire asked as she moved over to Nudge who was standing at the table.

“We just lost contact with a cruise ship, fifty miles off the coast of Florida,” the man answered in an unfaltering voice.

“Mechanical damage, or is this the real thing?” Liam asked as he strode over to the other two.

“We think it’s real,” Nudge said. Pointing to the screen behind him, he continued. “The Watch has a satellite in the area. These images are live.”

The screen on the wall changed to that of a ship surrounded by boundless blue. The large thing had plenty of deck space, with chairs amassed on its flat deck like planes on an aircraft carrier. Each chair pointed to the exuberant amount of people the vessel could hold.

At first glance, it was clear what was happening onboard wasn’t normal. The ship was cold, lifeless. Dark windows looked out to the sea. Even the churn of water behind the ship was missing. The ship was frozen there. Yet all of that paled when compared to what signaled this was a nefarious act.

There was green smoke flowing from the ship’s interior. The vapors looked sickening even from his safety back in their base. Liam could only imagine the horror of standing next to them.

The other telling signs were the occasional flashes of red. Each flash came from within rooms. As they watched, the flashes were working their way through the ship, from stem to stern.

“What’s happening?” Wire asked.

“We aren’t sure,” Nudge said. “But this is likely what we are after.”

“The smoke doesn’t look natural,” Liam pointed out. “Biohazard protocol?”

“Yes,” the older Hero agreed.

“Where is the extra gear?” Tank asked. Her eyes hardening on the screen.

Nudge pushed a button on the underside of the table, and the wall next to the screen opened up. From within sleek biohazard suits extended. Until a rack, carrying at least a dozen was in front of the group.

“Once I strap on oxygen tanks, my suit qualifies as level A,” Liam said.

“Then do it,” Nudge nodded to Liam as the man approached the suits. His hand touching one with a similar pattern to the Heroes standard suit.

While the rest of the group worked to put on their hazmat suits, Liam ran back to his room for his oxygen tanks. There were three of them, each the size of a two liter container of pop. With them and his onboard filtration systems, he’d have a self contained oxygen flow for up to 6 hours. Plenty of time for whatever they’d find on the boat.

Connecting the three supplies, one on each of his shoulder blades and the last at the base of his back. The lower one was similar in design to one worn by a video game Hero, carrying a blue computer girl as he escaped a planet facing bombardment.

After checking the oxygen supplies and verifying everything was green, Liam darted back to the others. When he got there, the teleporter from the other day was waiting. His own hazmat suit covering him from head to toe. The outer layers of his suit looked like formal attire. It even had a pocket square embroidered on his chest.

The rest of the group were in their own suits. There was a consistency to the Heroes. The shapes of all of their outfits matched. Yet the designs on the outside were anything if not different. In fact, each looked like the Heroes original suit.

Looking over to the rack, Liam spotted a final suit looking strikingly similar to his own. The Watch didn’t skimp on gear. They’d made hazmat suits for the entire group as a precaution for a situation like this. It was a level of dedication or paranoia other organizations could only hope to emulate.

“Are we ready?” Liam asked as he arrived.

“Just waiting for you,” Nudge said as he tightened the straps of his own oxygen tank.

“Then let’s do this,” Liam said, pulling one of his staffs off his waist clip and expanding it to full size.

The rest of the group nodded in unison and did their own last-minute checks. Once complete, they moved to their ride. The man watched without comment as all the Heroes gathered.

Reaching to touch the man’s shoulder, Liam shifted his oxygen system to enclosed and breathed in his first breath of stored air. It was stale and carried the faint taste of iron.

Liam only smiled at the odd air. It was time to get out there again. What was some boxed oxygen when compared to that? An inconvenience at worst.

This was what he lived for. It was time to do some good. With a nod to himself, Liam’s hand took hold of the man. Then the room was gone, and the fight was about to begin.