When I was younger, I wanted to believe in heroes. Even if I knew one wasn’t going to come for me, I still wanted to live with the possibility of being rescued. I’m sure everyone born as a fourth class citizen in the Empire felt the same way.

And then, one day, I got the chance to see the heroics I was longing for. How old was I? I’m not sure, at that point no one was bothering to keep track of my actual age. As a servant, my age would only be a bargaining piece. Best to keep the real number vague so I could be whatever made the most money.

But anyway, I was young, maybe five or six. And for whatever reason, I was taken along on a business trip to one of the Free Cities: Velstand.

At one point during the trip my master was dealing with something or other, and he had me wait outside. It had been raining and he didn’t want me to track water inside. So there I was, standing outside in the rain.

But I wasn’t alone. I wish that I would have been. There was a box of kittens sitting on the sidewalk beside me. Someone must have thought finding proper homes for them would have been more trouble than it was worth.

I wanted to help them, to at least give them some cover from the rain, but I knew better than that. Taking unauthorized action like that would have just led to more beatings.

In the end, I was just another one of the crowd, not offering a helping hand.

That’s when I saw him. The person I had been hoping for. I couldn’t let it show, but I was ecstatic. Everyone knew Velstand was home to the world’s number one hero. Maybe the world’s only hero. An augmented that went by the name Projection. He wasn’t the strongest, or probably even the smartest, but he was the best. He didn’t work for the government or the military, he worked for the people.

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And he was walking toward me; a spectral umbrella keeping his clothing dry.

And then he walked past me.

And then he was out of sight.

He didn’t even spare a second for the kittens.

Or for me.

He just kept walking. Even the world's greatest hero couldn’t be bothered with us.

I know, I know, he was probably on his way to save the city from some catastrophic threat, but does that mean he had the right to ignore us?

Does a hero ignore the small problems just because there are big problems?

No.

And I found this out later, but Projection was on his way to capture a villain by the name of Plasma Cutter.

So ignoring those kittens was the right choice.

I still wouldn’t agree with it. A hero shouldn’t have to compromise or make choices. A hero should protect everyone.

He died with the villain he was fighting later that day.

I can’t say I was too torn up about it. From that day forward I decided to give up on heroes. I was fully prepared to give up on everything, but that wasn't in the cards for me.

I ended up meeting a real hero.

Well, I didn’t actually meet them, but they met me.

Master Raslin and a girl I’ve since learned is a princess, put me to sleep; all the while letting me know that I was never going to wake up. I was the centerpiece for their feast.

But the next thing I knew I was awake, and a low level government minister was explaining how I was going to live my new life.

I was rescued, given freedom, given a new identity, given a future.

And my savior didn’t ask for anything in return, not even my gratitude.

Heroes were real, and I decided to become one, just like my savior; whoever they were.

I figured they probably operated out of the Northern Territories, or at least the Empire, but that was the one place I couldn’t go. My fake identity could fool most countries, but I was warned that it wouldn’t hold any water back in the Empire.

So I picked my second choice: Velstand. I decided to become a real hero for that city. A hero who helped everyone.