"Because that was pretty cool."

I cringed.

What?

Did Jess really just say that?

Hesitantly, I looked up.

Jess stared back down at me. At first, I thought she was winking, but after a few seconds, I realized she was keeping her left eye shut.

"I didn't think you had it in you. From a no-kill wet blanket to a mass murderer in the span of a few minutes. Bravo." She clapped slowly.

"I.....I didn't know. I thought.....I thought Angelica's constructs were harmless." I stammered quietly.

Jess......laughed. She laughed. It was a strange laugh, one I hadn't heard before.

"That's just typical, isn't it? You think you know someone. But it seems even teammates don't let each other in on everything."

I got up abruptly.

"What? How do you know that?"

"How do I know what, Satori?" The smug grin on her face was unbearable.

"Where is Witchling? What have you done with her?"

The false villain scratched her chin as if in thought.

"I don't know what you're talking about. She's right here."

I cautiously approached her.

If the intruder was telling the truth, then no shapeshifting or constructs or illusions.

Maybe remote control? Or maybe....

"Are you like me?" I asked.

Her open eye flashed with enthusiasm.

"Good girl. You found me out. Yes, I am like you. I work a bit differently though. When I overtake someone their brains forge false memories, so when I leave again no one is any the wiser."

I grit my teeth. Whoever this was, I wanted them out of Jess' body as quickly as possible, but I couldn't risk provoking them.

"That must be nice. Would make my job a lot easier, for sure."

'Jess' shook her head.

"Oh, no. My Power has some complications. Like this one."

Jess' shut eye opened, revealing an iris radiating a beautiful blue light, the color reminding me of sapphire. It off-putting, unnatural, but beautiful all the same.

"Both my real eyes look like that. And when I take over, one comes with me. Your Power is a lot more convenient, I think."

My foot started tapping the floor impatiently.

"Who are you and what do you want from me?"

Her answer came quick.

"I represent a group called W.R.A.I.T.H. Ever heard of it?"

"W.R.A.I.T.H.?" I asked with an exasperated sigh. "Right. Sure. Of course. So let me rephrase that. Who are you....really?"

W.R.A.I.T.H. was a concept that I was pretty familiar with, as were most people who were at least somewhat interested in Capes, I'd bet.

Despite all the weird Superpowers and Magic prevalent in today's society, there were very few widespread cataclysmic events or massive, large-scale attacks going on. The stakes were low. So fiction had to compensate. In comics tv shows and video games, we got the massive doom cults, resurging Nazi armies, and Dark Gods ready to do battle that were missing in real life.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

One of the most notorious fictional quasi-bad guy organizations was the agency W.R.A.I.T.H. A nebulous, poorly defined, and secretive branch of the US government that either hindered or helped the Heroes depending on who was writing the story.

"I told you. I'm from W.R.A.I.T.H." Her tone did not change at all.

I rolled my eyes.

"Right. So what are you up to right now? Trying to make clones of The One for deployment in Russia? No, that was the storyline back when I stopped reading. What is it now? I think developing a drug to make civilians temporarily Empowered and testing it by dosing the water in low-income neighborhoods?" I circled 'Jess' as I spoke.

"No, nothing of the sort. The W.R.A.I.T.H. of the comics and the W.R.A.I.T.H. in reality only share a name and the basic premise. A secret branch of the government that deals with threats both Empowered and Arcane. That's all."

I squinted my eyes.

"Really now? And why..." I started but was interrupted.

"Imagine for a second there is a leak. Someone whistleblows, or an intrepid reporter manages to get their hands on some documents. Normally, this would be an absolute disaster, something to avoid at all costs. But just by naming our littl.e group W.R.A.I.T.H. we can eliminate almost all of the inherent risk. Because if someone leaked classified files belonging to the W.R.A.I.T.H. agency, the vast majority of the population would react like you did. It's the perfect cover."

I looked at her for a while, my mind racing. "I guess that...." I shook my head. "So what do you do? What is W.R.A.I.T.H. up to, really?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.

To my surprise, the false Jess was quite forthcoming.

"Our job is easy. Prevent that what seems to occur so frequently in comics. Large-scale upheavals. There have been a few. The foundation of Utopia. The Shadowwall Incident. But there should be more, don't you think? There certainly are more than enough groups and individuals that could shake things up, and make a move. But why don't they?"

'Jess' lifted her bracelet arm and started lazily floating in the air.

"Because of us. Now, our numbers are small. We only have a handful of actual employees. Makes it easier to brush under the rug. But we have agents. People we....hire, let's just say. And they are everywhere. In every villain group. In every Hero team. In every BHF hideout, offering their services. In all niches of your little villainous society. We know about everything that goes on. And if someone tries something that would heavily disrupt, destroy, or even fully end society, we step in."

I raised my eyebrow.

"Oh, is that so? That doesn't work though. The BHF markers detect traitorous thoughts and flag compromised villains in the database. And do you really expect me to believe that you know where groups like the SOP or EATR have their bases and you don't do anything about it?"

'Jess' chuckled and shook her head.

"The good old BHF. Their little marker system is the reason W.R.A.I.T.H. was even founded. We needed a new approach. And the best one we came up with wasn't exactly legal. So W.R.A.I.T.H. was the answer. We only report to 2 people outside of W.R.A.I.T.H., and even they aren't told everything. That is by design. The mission statement of W.R.A.I.T.H. is to prevent a national or global disaster. Anything else, we let slide. The BHF marker only detects traitorous thoughts against the BHF. And as much as we loathe them, they aren't the type to start shit. Since we don't snoop into their affairs, the markers won't trigger."

She floated higher, almost touching the ceiling.

"We know where the Heart of Power and the Red Base are. We know when and who EATR plans to attack next. But neither of these things is significant enough to warrant our intervention. So we let it slide. If the other agencies find the hideouts, we won't intervene. But we won't share our knowledge with them either. Any info W.R.A.I.T.H. has that does not warrant our action stays with W.R.A.I.T.H."

I balled my fists.

"Wait.....so....did you know? About me? About Ray?"

'Jess' grinned.

"Of course. Our moles in the SOP kept us informed about your status. We thought about maybe breaking you out after we heard you unlocked Possession. But the Powerbreaker let you go shortly after, so it was moot."

She did a little midair twirl.

"And yes, we knew about The One's....hobbies. But the man saved so many thousands of people a year. Letting him indulge now and then was a small price to pay."

I took a step back and sat on the bed. My mind was reeling.

"How....why......this is sick!" I yelled. I wanted to say more, but my thoughts wouldn't settle.

"Sick? Mallory, do you know how many times W.R.A.I.T.H. has saved the world? The Anti-Magic Collective was planning on provoking a war with the mages they foolishly thought we could win. The Umbra Nox were very close to repeating the Shadowwall in the US. Concerto Finale, just last year, managed to gather the right Empowered together to end the world with their music. The only reason the Apocalypse Tour didn't go on the road is because of us. The reason you and anyone else is still breathing is because of us. Because of what we do."

She set herself down on Jess' bed.

"And the only reason we can do this is because we let things slide. How do you think we get Agents into all these useful nooks and crannies? We pay them, yeah, some with money, some with other things, but most importantly we let them be. They are secure in the knowledge that we will only interfere with them or their group in the most extreme of circumstances. They can steal, murder, rape....it doesn't matter. As long as they keep us posted. Any other way of doing things would compromise our effectiveness. And with the stakes of our mission so high, we have to be as effective as we can possibly get."

"Why are you telling me this? What do you want from me?" I spat, no longer in the mood to entertain her.

"Relax a bit, Mallory. Calm down. First of all, we both know you aren't going to go public with this. Secondly, even if you did, no one would believe you. And we have friends among Mages too, so bribing a Lie Detector wouldn't be a very hard task. And lastly, you knowing what we do is very much relevant to what we want from you."

I looked down at the floor.

"And what, exactly, is that?"

I could feel her presence approaching me from the air again.

"It's simple, really. And if you hadn't pulled the stunt you pulled today I wouldn't be here. You see, there have been some concerning developments, and some of our agents were compromised. That's where you come in, my friend. What we want shouldn't be difficult to achieve for you at all, especially now."

She put her hand on my shoulder and gripped tightly.

"We need you to infiltrate Freakshow."