They stopped for dinner just past Harrisburg, at an Indian restaurant Mike chose based on Cassandane's specification of non meat options. Cassandane convinced the proprietor to allow them to eat for free with a few words and the casual placement of her hand on the man's hand. He blinked several times and then swore that they would not pay after their efforts on behalf of the country. When they had been seated with their menus, the man wandered off to get drinks.

"Did you mind control him?"

"The correct terminology is agenting, meaning the insertion of a mental agent."

"So that's a yes."

"Its scope is severely limited and it will not last longer than a few weeks," Cassandane said.

"Well, so long as it's not harming anyone, I wouldn't mind learning the trick."

Cassandane waved away his request. "You have other training priorities. In a month, I intend for you to be capable of combat with the talents. Your main topics of study will be corona wrestling, full bodily hardening, and metabolic hacking. I hope you are not averse to long hours or hard work."

"Combat training is just about my favorite thing to do, so I don't think we'll have a problem there."

The owner of the restaurant returned with glasses of water. "What can we serve to the heroes?"

Cassandane looked down at the menu a moment. "Mike, if you are familiar with this variety of food, please order me something with minimal animal products."

"Sure thing, boss. Two orders of samosas, the goat vindaloo for me, and the chana masala for my fearless leader. And extra naan all around."

When the man had gone, Cassandane squinted towards the kitchen. "The food smells spicy."

"Yeah, maybe I should have mentioned that ahead of time."

"I used to like spicy food before the journey here. I also used to like meat. Seven years of bland vegetarian options altered my palate and my digestion."

Mike pulled his phone out of his pocket and placed it on the table in a pointless reflex. The battery had died prior to Marius collecting him for their ill-fated mission. Mike sighed. "You know, I think this situation might be easier to handle if I had actually liked Marius. He was a shit boss who ruled through intimidation and had me convinced I was going to die as a result of his incompetence. I'm relieved I don't have to deal with him any more. And that's where the guilt comes in. I owe a lot to that man. He was right when he said I was a loser when he found me."

"Mike," Cassandane said. "I am not a therapist by training, occupation, or inclination. I have already relieved you of any responsibility you bear in the loss of Marius. That is the end of the matter for me as your commander. I would suggest you talk with your companions once we are united with them. Be aware that any grieving you conduct will take place outside of the times specified for training. Do you understand me?"

"I get your message loud and clear, boss. No crying on the job unless you ate something with more heat than you can handle."

Cassandane's stiff posture straightened even further. "How spicy is chana masala?"

"Less spicy than goat vindaloo."

"Very enlightening."

"The good news is that my phone is dead. I won't be able to take any pictures of your nose leaking for future blackmail."

"I don't embarrass easily," Cassandane said as she picked up his phone. Her head cocked for a moment as her eyes glazed over. Then she placed it back down. "The battery should be charged."

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

"Say what now?" Mike held in the power button and saw the screen come to life. "Well . . . that is impressive."

"Batteries store energy chemically. By altering the probabilities with the teleotic talent, we can make the chemical reactions reverse without any energy input. That is another lesson that will have to wait until you are proficient at combat."

On the table, his phone began to buzz as it announced that a plethora of text and voice messages had been received while it was powered down. Mike unlocked the screen and whistled at the counts. Over a hundred text messages and twenty-seven missed calls. "I guess I'll need to change my number now that I'm famous. Do you mind if I call the troops? They deserve to know the news ASAP."

When Cassandane made a near imperceptible shrug, Mike dialed Srinivas.

"It is Mike! Everyone, it is Mike calling me!"

"Hey, Srinivas. How is training going at the house?"

"Not at house, Mike. There was a police man and we went to Kendra apartment."

"Wait. Police? Did they just kick you out for trespassing? Did they take your names and check identification? What are we looking at?"

Cassandane leaned in, one year forward to catch the conversation. Mike toggled his phone to use the speakers just as Srinivas responded. "We put him in handcuffs and lifted him to the roof. Then drove away."

"I go away for just one day . . ." Mike said. "Never mind. I'm on my way back now."

"We saw you on television, Mike. Catching building and giving interview."

He massaged his temple as Srinivas spoke. "Hey, Srinivas, we're going to table some of these issues until I get back. Can you put me on speaker phone?"

"Yes. Speaker on now."

"Hey, guys," he said.

Before he could get any further, Tracy's voice interrupted him. "What happened to Marius? Did you abandon him after your big fight?"

"Tracy . . . ."

"They blurred out half the action, then wouldn't even show what happened at the end. From what I saw, seems you left our leader to die. I don't even know who this Cassandane woman is giving interviews with you. Is she supposed to be giving orders now? Cause I ain't OK with ditching Marius like that."

Mike leaned closer to shout at the phone. "Hey, Tracy, calm down a minute and let me talk." When the backtalk ceased, he continued. "Marius and I joined forces with Cassandane in New York when we discovered his teacher Nallit was on Earth. Trust me when I tell you that Marius did not exaggerate how dangerous that man is. I don't know what you could see from a damn television, but I was there. The three of us brought everything we had into that fight and lost. We only escaped because Nallit wants to play a fucked up supervillain game.

"You signed up to get superpowers and save the planet. That's what we're doing. Marius put Cassandane in charge as his last act. She is like the Einstein of talents and she will be instructing us from now on. I support her one hundred percent and the rest of you are going to do the same. We're not screwing around any more, the war has started and we're going to win it." Mike pointed at Cassandane and mouthed 'want to introduce yourself', to which she shook her head in the negative. "You can expect us home sometime in the next two hours. We'll handle the police situation, so don't worry about that. Just stay at Varanelli's place."

"What if we don't want to be in this army anymore?"

Mike squeezed his hand into a fist. "Spencer, make sure no one deserts the EDA in the next few hours."

"Yes, sergeant," Spencer said.

"Actually I'm a centurion now."

"Like a Roman soldier?"

"Like an Angmari Master Sergeant . . . or maybe First Sergeant. I haven't figured out the conversion between Angmari and U.S. Army ranks yet. Anyway, hang tight and we will be there soon." Mike hung up the call and looked to Cassandane. "Hope you don't mind me throwing out orders. I figure there hasn't been an official change of command yet, so they might react better to a familiar voice."

"You behaved appropriately. A centurion is expected to to issue commands that further the objectives communicated to them by their superiors." Cassandane paused as their food was delivered, then continued on when the owner left again. "How would you rate the soldiers under you? Give your honest and complete opinion."

Mike nodded. "Erica Spencer is former military like me. Actually current military in her case. That's a conflict of interest that needs handled. She is a capable soldier but lacks leadership experience. Srinivas is a smart guy, but he's a nerd and foodie at heart, so don't expect him to be a natural soldier. I'm not sure about Tracy yet. She seems to have potential if we can hammer some military bearing into her skull. Woodrow . . . is too old for this. I have no idea what Marius was thinking there. The man lived in a retirement home before Marius picked him up at a bar where he was day drinking."

"I think I like chana masala," Cassandane said. "It has a lot of flavor, but not too much heat."

"Glad to hear it, boss."

"Tomorrow, while I am negotiating our status with city leaders, I want you to recruit more disciplined candidates. I will interview the finalists at the end of the day. Finish eating fast so we can consolidate my authority."