Scene 22 - May 23rd

Interior Conference Room, Afternoon

Quinn Kaufman

“Good afternoon!” Lucas Apollon bellowed as he entered the conference room, Director Shepard following behind, carrying her usual laptop.

“Afternoon,” I greeted him with a smile. “Director.”

“Kaufman,” she said with a nod as she sat and opened the laptop. I detected a note of well-hidden warmth, I thought - I had increasingly realized over the last six months that the director cared for us more than she allowed herself to show, trying to maintain a professional demeanor. But the way that she was always steadfast in the defense of all of us heroes, never hesitating to help us when we needed it - even if we thought we didn’t - showed the truth.

“So, almost done, huh?” Apollon asked me, opening his briefcase and withdrawing a set of files. “Were these six months a drag, or did they fly by?”

“A bit of both, to be honest,” I said. “There were a few days that seemed to last for weeks - the whole Excalibur incident and everything wrapped up in it, for example - and months that passed like moments.”

“That’s the way this business is, sometimes,” he agreed. “I hope you enjoyed it, though?”

“For the most part. I don’t intend to quit, if that’s what you mean,” I said.

Apollon sighed dramatically in relief. “Thank goodness. With Starling trasnferred out, the PR issues we’re still having with Anima, and Hypnos planning to quit at the end of the summer, I admit to being a little worried that New Venice would hit a new record for numbers of heroes lost in a single year.”

I blinked in surprise. “Nic’s quitting?”

“After a few months of PR prepping the public for it so he doesn’t face a backlash, yes,” the consultant told me. “He joined to get a handle on his powers, and now that he’s got a good hold on them...” he shrugged.

“I guess that makes sense,” I admitted after a moment’s thought. It was surprising, but I knew that hero work wasn’t what Nic actually wanted to do, and he had been making great strides with his powers since mastering combat precognition. “But yeah, I don’t intend to quit any time soon.”

“Good. That said, we do have some things to discuss in terms of you graduating from the Journeymen,” Apollon said. “Graduation is the best time to change your image, whether that be your name, your costume, or your heroic persona. You remember how those work, right?”

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“Sure. Inspiring, Approachable, Practical, or Academic. And then you’re either a Leader, a Support, a Tank, or a Striker. ...er, not a Striker,” I corrected myself, “a Swing.”

“Right. So, let’s go through that in reverse order, shall we?” he proposed, and I shrugged indifferently. “We’ve currently got you pegged as an Approachable-leaning-Academic Swing, and you’ve been doing very well with that,” he praised. “I hope we can leave you as is, there?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think I want to change that.”

“Right. Next, costume. You’ve been using those pride flag-patterned plaid shirts as accessories, yes?”

“Yeah, which... I think I want to change a little bit, actually,” I confessed. “There was a little bit of confusion a few months ago where someone assumed I was bi based on my plaid. I think I should maybe restrict myself to just the flags that I actually identify with - the nonbinary flag, trans flag, and...” I paused. “Hm, there’s not really a flag for the generic queer label, is there?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” Apollon hummed thoughtfully. “Online feedback shows that most people assumed you were wearing the various colors in support, as intended, but I can see why you would want to avoid the confusion. I think we can restrict your plaids to the nonbinary colors and trans colors, sure.”

I bit my lip thoughtfully. “I mean, bisexual does describe me pretty well, it’s just...” I sighed.

“The label doesn’t feel quite right?”

“Yeah, exactly. I do like the bi flag, it’s just not for me.”

“It goes well with your costume, too,” he mused. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I just feel a little bad that I can’t be representation for the bisexual community.”

“You’re not required to serve as representation,” Shepard absently commented. “There’s absolutely no reason for you to feel guilty. It’s not as though we don’t have several openly bisexual heroes in New Venice already.”

“I get that, it’s just...” I sighed. “Just me feeling like I should be doing more than I am, I guess. Dr. Wagner keeps telling me I need to keep an eye out for that.”

“Let’s move on to your name, then,” Apollon offered. “I think that might be better than continuing to focus on this and stressing you out unnecessarily.”

“Thanks.”

“Have you given any more thought to something other than Newton?”

“Nope!” I said cheerfully, popping the end of the word.

He sighed. “Mx. Kaufman...”

“Newton has been working fine, hasn’t it?”

“It has, I just think that something else might suit you better.”

“Have you come up with anything new since last time?” I challenged, and he didn’t respond. “I didn’t think so.”

“Fine, fine,” he said, backing down. “No changes, then. Same name, we’ll be slightly more restrictive with your plaid shirts, and your role will remain the same as well.” He checked off a few notes on my file, then sat back. “The last thing is where you’ll be going after you graduate.”

“...can I stay here?” I requested, desperately hoping. “Please?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Give me a reason.”

“Well... it’s a role thing, right? You want at least person filling each of the 8 archetypes,” I remembered. “Plus an extra swing, just in case. And with Starling gone, there’s only one swing on the New Champions, Zookeeper. I would be taking that second swing role.” And with him gone, there would be no Academic heroes at all, but Holly would be taking his place. I didn’t want to leave her.

He nodded. “True, we do need another swing. Don’t worry, Mx. Kaufman, there was never any plan to shift you to another city - we would have had this meeting a month ago if that was the idea.” He smirked. “I just wanted to know if you could guess why you were staying.”

I let out a relieved breath. “Thank god.”