When I heard the door to my workshop open, I looked up to see Sam scowling as she strode in. I knew she was upset with me about Lucy, but when I saw the state she was in, it apparently wasn’t the only thing troubling her. Her hair was a mess and there was a nasty gash down the left side of her neck that had stained her school uniform with blood.

“Wh–”

A loud rumbling beneath us cut me off before I could ask what happened. Sam immediately reached for the nearest table to steady herself, but it was only a few seconds later when the rumbling turned into violent shaking and she ducked underneath. I was almost knocked out of my chair as various items around my workshop shuddered and fell.

It was the most violent earthquake I had ever experienced.

Throughout my life, I had grown used to tremors when The Mountain was reported to have been working on the foundations of the country. It had always been a distant and low rumble, the kind most people would stop to acknowledge for a second before moving on with their lives. This one was magnitudes larger than what I had grown accustomed to.

Six seconds later, the shaking ceased, and I slowly stood from my chair.

“Hooooly shit!” I heard Liam’s astonished cry from upstairs. I turned just in time to see him poke his head through the door. “That was fuckin’ wild! I’ve never felt something like that – oh, hey Sam. We were wondering where you were. You’re not usually this late back.”

Sam brushed herself off as she sheepishly crawled out from under the table and stood up.

“I was following up on a little pet project of mine. It kinda backfired, badly,” she said, flinching after poking at the wound on her neck. “Gonna need some biogel, ‘cause this shit stings. Where are we keeping it now?”

“Yellow container at the back,” I pointed to the area of my workshop I designated for storage. “What’s this about a ‘pet project’? You’ve never said anything about working on something solo.”

“Yeah. Well… Surprise,” Sam drawled. Liam and I watched her dig around in the yellow container for the biogel, and then use the reflective surface of one of my projects as a mirror to apply it. “Got too close… said some stupid things. Didn’t time it right– Fuck!” She hissed. The wound looked painful, but I had seen her handle a bullet wound better. Her gaze flicked to me. “Remember how I said Nikki was fine and not the type of hero that’ll fly off the handle?”

“Nikki?” I narrowed my eyes and wracked my brain to find out why the name sounded familiar. “Seraphim?”

“Bitch is fucking crazy,” Sam muttered, reaching for some gauze and bandages. “I’ve been trying to get closer to her over these last few weeks because I thought it would be nice to know someone in her position if everything goes to hell,” she paused, running a hand through her hair. “I should have seen this coming with how wildly her moods can shift. If it were anyone else, I would probably say she was bipolar or something, but she’s a Rookie. No way that’s a coincidence, and her boyfriend was tilted as fuck, so hes gotta be the one responsible.”

Liam hopped down the stairs to join us, wanting to know more.

“So, what, you decided to do your usual Mentalist shtick and push them ‘til they want to jump off a building?”

“You can fuck right off with that,” Sam warned. “I’m seriously not in the mood to entertain that shit right now.”

I frowned. Sam’s encounter with Seraphim must have really struck a nerve because she had never snapped back like that.

“Whoa,” Liam held up his hands. “It was just a joke.”

“Comedian you are not,” Sam said, sighing tiredly. “I wasn’t even pushing. I was talking about her stupid fucking boyfriend and she suddenly went psycho on me. I should have seen it coming with how every muscle in her body seized up the moment I said his name. Her brain might as well be fucking soup. That’s telltale Mentalist conditioning. Her boyfriend is a Super, and the fucked up kind as well.”

“Hang on a second, soup? Just how far gone is she?” I asked, suddenly concerned for Abby’s safety. Seraphim spent a significant amount of time at The ECU’s headquarters, as did any rookie. “Seraphim isn’t about to start painting The ECU’s walls red at the drop of a hat, right?”

“She’s not a drooling vegetable but if someone says the wrong thing, she has been conditioned to lash out violently. Otherwise her dominant personality remains in control, completely unaware of her triggers,” Sam explained, shuddering. “What’s his name— Richard, has been pulling her strings for a long time. I don’t know if there’s a way to break through that kind of conditioning.”

“We’re talking about the Rookie with the big shiny metal wings, right?” Liam asked, eager for clarification. When Sam and I nodded, a thoughtful look formed on his face. It was… strange to see that expression on him. “I think I’ve run from her a couple of times before shacking up with you guys. Fast flier, strong enough to punch holes through brick walls. Are we… going to do something about her or just leave the mess for someone else to clean up?”

“Of course we’re going to do something about it,” I answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Sam grunted, but I detected it was one of disagreement. Seraphim was her pet project after all, and she would want to get something out of her venture. “She’s a direct threat to the people around her, which means Sam and Abby are in danger.”

“I am not in any danger. I opt into school so I can maintain my cover and solidify alibis, but I can leave whenever I want,” Sam remarked defensively. “The only people she’s a direct threat to are those closest to her, so yeah, I would imagine your friend could be one snide comment away from losing her head.”

I didn’t take kindly to that.

“Then we need to do something,” I asserted. “If she snaps—”

“If she snaps, she’ll be captured and shoved into an evo-prison with disintegration containment fields.” Sam cut me off. “Reversing Mentalist conditioning is not easy, and I’ve talked about this with Cyberspace. They don’t have the means to help with that, which means we don’t have access to it unless you want to build it. Last time I checked, you already had enough projects on your to-do list.”

I had to concede, she had a point.

“I’m not even sure where I would start—”

“It’s a waste of time,” Sam continued with a glare. “It’s not our job to take care of messes like these. We’ve got more important things to worry about.”

“Don’t give me that crap,” I snapped, glaring back at her. “You wouldn’t put all this time into a ‘project’ just to throw it to the curb and call it quits. Just because we’re not heroes doesn’t mean we can’t help people. We need to do something about her before she becomes a problem for everyone.”

“How do you propose we do that?” Sam disputed. I couldn’t remember a time since I met her that she had been this wound up. Despite her slip-ups, Sam always seemed to keep her cool. “Because I’ve really been picking my brain about this, and let me tell you none of them are pleasant or end well for her.”

I could see it in her eyes, the simplest solution. Elimination.

We would have to hit her hard and fast, take her out quickly. I could see the benefits of such an arrangement, and I doubted Cyberspace would particularly care. The ECU would spare no expense in finding out what happened, and when they figured it out, they would come for us without a shred of mercy.

The issue was that the mere thought of it all twisted my stomach into knots. I wouldn’t be able to justify it as self-defense. I tried to justify it as a mercy killing, but I couldn’t even bring myself to agree with that. Seraphim was a hero, and she helped people. It was a cruel, heinous tactic, and despite the obvious benefits, I knew I wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger.

It was murder.

Mia would object to playing any sort of role in the execution, and I doubted Liam would feel comfortable participating as well. Sam… I could see her making the hard decision and coping with whatever consequences came her way. That was one out of four of us that might have been able to go through with it, but it would leave the rest of us in an uncomfortable position.

What else was there? Sedation and lobotomization were the only things I could think of, and that disappointed me to no end.

“Lets not pretend like killing her is on the table. I can see we were both thinking it,” I said. “You’ve said it yourself, killing is a slippery slope. I’ve already got one body to my name and I’m not keen on rushing to add more. Ajax and The ECU would spare no expense to ensure we’re all imprisoned before we could testify to any jury.”

“Exactly,” Sam agreed. “And there’s not much point kidnapping because we both know that we can’t hold someone as powerful as her for too long. We don’t have the means, and Cyberspace won’t take the risk of exposing their operation here over something like that.”

“There has to be something. Abby is one of my best friends, and I’m not about to sit on the sidelines and hope she doesn’t flick the wrong switch in a casual conversation with Seraphim.”

“Afraid she can’t take care of herself?” Sam asked. “I seem to remember her being perfectly capable of restraining all three of us. Her powers don’t exactly adhere to the laws of physics, so Seraphim’s strength and speed won’t be a factor to consider. Comet and Domination can contain her long enough for The ECU to figure out what to do with her.”

“That’s different. She was expecting us. I know Abby, and she won’t be able to react in time if she doesn’t see it coming. If she’s at least aware of the possibility, she’ll be on guard. The same can be said for her mom.”

Sam immediately caught on to what I was insinuating.

“Don’t,” Sam warned, every trace of humor gone from her tone. “Don’t you fucking dare, Max. Don’t even suggest it, because I’m not going to agree with it!”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Liam stepped between us before any heated arguments could break out.

“Whoa whoa okay, lets just chill out for a second. There’s no need to start yelling,” Liam said, drawing our attention to him. He turned to me, looking for an explanation. “I ain’t a mind reader, so could you fill me in on your unspoken idea that she just picked up from you?”

Gold must have read my intentions as I was putting them together.

I sighed.

“I was going to suggest making an anonymous request to Abby. If I meet her as Upgrade, I can deliver the warning – let her and The ECU handle matters without sticking our noses directly into their business. It’s the only way that works out best for us, and them,” I explained. “I know Abby. If I word things right and approach the situation cautiously, she won’t attack me on sight.”

“She seemed pretty keen on attacking us last time we interacted…” Sam argued. When my gaze turned hostile, she continued with what she conveniently left out. She stepped back and rocked on her heels. “Uh, right after the part where I might’ve mouthed off to her.”

“Might have?” I remarked, shaking my head. “If we do this, you are definitely not coming. She will attack if she sees you. I can keep things civil with her because I know how she operates.”

“My tendency to poke fun at people aside, this plan has far too many holes, Max. You aren’t thinking far enough ahead. Consider for a moment, the implications of this plan,” Sam added, regaining her confidence. “You might very well succeed in warning Comet, but you open the door to their Mentalist’s scrutiny. They’ll research how we’ve come across this information – how we somehow know Seraphim’s civilian identity, enough to make a psych analysis. They’ll investigate her personal life, and while they will almost certainly nab her puppeteer, BAM! I’m a sitting fucking duck.”

Liam scoffed, but I could see the line of reasoning that led Sam to that conclusion. It was a fairly straightforward line of deduction. To go even further, I had to wonder if their Mentalists would investigate why Upgrade would contact Comet of all people. I could easily see them extrapolating possibilities of Upgrade having a personal connection to Comet. If I wanted to avoid that, I would have better luck contacting anyone else.

Would their Mentalists pick up on that too? Would they figure out that strategy?

I felt like I was walking in circles trying to develop this hypothetical plan.

“You serious? They could get you from just that?” Liam wasn’t convinced. “How can they get to you from all of that, when they can’t even see one of their Rookies being brainwashed right under their noses?”

Sam sighed, rubbing her forehead.

“Mentalists like me need a direction, a thread to follow. I’ve explained this before. Point us in the right direction and we can solve almost anything, depending on how our powers work. We’re not omniscient, we can’t see everything that’s happening all around us, as much as I wish that were the case. If someone isn’t looking at Seraphim directly, then her issues are going to slip by. Right now, they probably don’t have any reasons to be looking at her.”

All of this back and forth and we still had not come up with a plan. It was starting to grate on my nerves.

“And we’re back to square one,” I grumbled, trying to rub the fatigue out of my eyes. “It feels like the safest option for us is to ignore this entirely and hope it resolves itself.”

Sam snorted.

“Hey, you said it, not me.”

“But it seems like it's the outcome you’d prefer,” I countered. “Am I supposed to just sit around and hope my friend doesn’t lose her head for mouthing off, when mouthing off is one of her quirks? I get it Sam, you can easily disconnect yourself, but I can’t – I don’t want to.”

“I know,” Sam ground her teeth. “Which is what makes this whole situation so aggravating. In a perfect world, you’d all be like me—” she paused, scowling at Liam to prevent any input. We saw him open his mouth to make a cheeky remark but stopped when he clued into the tension. He held up his hands and shrugged, signaling for her to continue. “This goes for the both of you, and Mia. The deeper we get, the harder it's going to be to maintain normalcy. It doesn’t mix, and sooner or later, one of them is going to have to give, especially since we’re working with Cyberspace.”

I didn’t know what pissed me off more; the fact that Sam was seemingly trying to convince us to throw our ‘normal’ lives away, or that she was actually making sense. I was already struggling to find reasons to keep going to school, other than maintaining my friendships. If push came to shove, I was worried I really would drop all of it.

“I thought the whole point of working with Cyberspace was to give us the ability to do that,” Liam frowned. He clearly wasn’t happy with being faced with that reality, and while I knew it to be a possibility in the back of my mind, it didn’t make me happy either. “They can cover for us and make shit easier while we do the heavy lifting stuff – jobs ‘n shit, y’know? Else, what’s the point of all this?”

“Well, we didn’t exactly have a choice. Cyberspace might have claimed we could refuse their offer, but trust me when I say it wouldn’t have ended well for us,” Sam explained. “It was a no brainer partnership, but make no mistake, we’re in the big leagues now. No backing out for us, and it’s only going to get crazier from here. This is why I don’t bother trying to play both sides. We all have powers, and we will until we die. There’s only one way forward for us.”

I didn’t want a repeat of this conversation. That horse had been beaten enough already for my tastes.

“We’re getting off-topic. Talking about how we’re going to cope with the pressure can be a conversation for another day. Right now, Ajax’s warmachines and Seraphim are our primary issues,” I said, bringing us back to the problems at hand. “We have an ambush to set up, and I’m sorry but I’m not going to let this Seraphim issue slide, not when Abby’s life is potentially at risk.”

“Gotta agree there,” Liam said, siding with me. “She seems pretty cool when she’s not… y’know, trying to capture us. I don’t wanna see her dead. Plus, helping them out could win us some good will.”

“That all depends on your definition of good will,” Sam replied sardonically. “If you guys are serious about tipping them off, we need to do it in a way that doesn’t put Max and I in their line of scrutiny. All of us are already under a microscope for what we did to Grim, and hijacking one of Ajax’s Walkers is only going to make that worse. We don’t need to give them any more breadcrumbs.”

“How do you suppose we do that?” I asked.

“It’s simple. We stage a crime around one of her patrol routes. Rookies are never by themselves, so there’ll be an audience around to witness her break down,” Sam explained. “Get me close and I can play my part as the menacing, maniacal villain everyone likes to portray me as. I’ll get inside her head and flick one of her switches so she flies into a rage.”

“Awesome. The ECU are sure to figure it out when she inevitably turns every bystander into diced sashimi. Yeah, I like this plan,” Liam applauded sarcastically. “So what’re we doing? Hitting a bank? Jewelry store? If you ask me, I think an electronics store is better because I’ve been eyeing up this real nice TV which would go really well with my setup. It’s 4K, and the refresh rate is—”

Sam groaned.

“There won’t be any bystanders, dumbass. It can be a midnight heist because that’s what makes the most sense. As for our target…” she heaved a sigh and crossed her arms. “…an electronics store would be the easiest to explain. Max’s reputation as a Mechakinetic would make our actions easily explainable, so yes Liam, well done.”

He rolled his shoulders, outwardly proud.

“Don’t have to be a Mentalist to come up with good ideas.”

“Evidently,” I saw Sam try to suppress a smile, but the slight twitches in her facial muscles betrayed her. Giving away compliments apparently wasn’t her style. “I’ll see what I can organize, but we have to decide what we wanna do first. Nab one of Ajax’s Walkers, or bring Bayside’s resident Angel back down to Earth.”

“Robbing Ajax seems like a fine way for us to end up in a frying pan. Won’t be able to do much after that, I think. My vote’s on the Seraphim thing. I think Mia will be the same,” Liam commented, smiling. “Look at me, I’m just full of sensible opinions today!”

“Ahuh,” Sam rolled her eyes. “Hate to inflate his tiny ego, but he’s right.”

“Seraphim first, then,” I nodded. “Means we won’t be hunting down any Walkers tonight.”

“How unfortunate,” Sam pouted. “Here I was getting all excited to play with some new toys.”

Knowing that we would not be executing our plan to capture a Walker and potentially some Sweepers tonight left me feeling a tad hollow. The sooner we did that, the quicker I would be able to reprogram them with my powers so that they were under my control. Unfortunately, the plan would have to wait. If Seraphim was conditioned to snap at the drop of a hat, then I needed to do something to protect Abby. If Seraphim ending up in an ECU-padded evohuman prison cell was the best outcome, then I was going to make sure it would happen.

“So… uh, how about that earthquake?” Liam coughed, trying to change the subject. “That sure was something else.”

I idly looked around my workshop, noting all the loose bits of paper, tools, and other various items that lay scattered around the place. Thankfully, nothing had broken, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any cleanup.

“Nothing broke, so that’s a plus,” I said casually. “I don’t know if I’ve felt one that big before.”

I looked to Sam for her input on the subject, but she was uncharacteristically silent. Her eyes were glued to the floor as if she were trying to stare through solid concrete. Her eyes narrowed before looking up to observe the building.

“Could do with some slight improvements so the next one doesn’t collapse the building,” Sam said. “Though, I have to wonder what it would look like to see the whole building turn into a giant ball of folding liquidy weirdness. Might wanna save that for when nobody’s looking, probably sometime in the early morning.”

I had never upgraded a structure this large before. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would do to everything inside.

“That’s it?” Liam looked disappointed. “We just had the biggest freaking earthquake ever and that’s all you have to say?”

“So you want me to tell you that Bayside will collapse into the sea if we get three more?” Sam asked, perplexed. “I honestly figured I would keep that to myself since it’s pretty daunting, but if you’re so eager to know…”

Liam chuckled as Sam started walking toward the stairs. When she didn’t share in his amusement, the laughter abruptly died.

“You’re not serious, right?”

“You really think I’d do that, Liam? That I would stand here and tell lies for my own amusement?” Sam asked. Just like that, her mischievous side was back in action like all that angst she was spilling minutes ago never existed. “I’m shocked and appalled that you would think so low of me!”

Sam hopped up the stairs two at a time, and Liam almost tripped over himself when he tried to follow after her.

“Hey, wait! You can’t just say something like that and not elaborate!”

I followed closely after them, watching as Sam sauntered into the room with her hands on her hips.

“A new face! I always love meeting new people,” Sam exclaimed with a bright smile. “Don’t mind the blood on my clothes. Happens all the time,” I stepped into the living room behind Liam to see Mia and Lucy at the table, hunched over some books. “I’m Sam! You must be Max’s friend, right?”

“Err, yeah… hi,” Lucy said slowly. “I’m Lucy. Uh, nice place…?”

“Thanks! I did it all myself,” Sam waved her off. “So! You’re the girl trapped inside of Pandora. That must be a bit of a pickle— oh…” she paused, biting her lip and tilting her head back before letting out an exaggerated groan. “Let’s hold that thought, I’m starved. Who’s up for some pizza? Tonight is definitely a pizza night.”

The conversational whiplash had me sharing uncomfortable gazes with Mia and Lucy.

Sam cheered.

“I’ll take the resounding silence as a yes.”

I fought down the urge to groan.

Tonight was going to be a long night.