“Good morning, everyone. I hope you are all doing well this Monday morning.”

Knowing the truth, hearing those words come from my Headmaster’s mouth made me sick. This must have been what Sam felt like, knowing all the skeletons in someone’s closet and having to watch them put on this facade. For years I was none the wiser, going about my daily routine while Pandora agents looked for ways to induct students into their cult. I couldn’t even make the excuse that it was a recent development. The Headmaster’s private threads and messages went back almost a decade.

How many students had he lured into Pandora’s grasp? How many Supers my age were tricked and taken advantage of? There had to be some. My age group had the highest Awakening rate. Getting people like him in charge of schools was a strategy I could absolutely see Pandora employing. Worse still, Minerva was a location Sam only speculated had Pandora involvement. There were other schools in Bayside she had more concrete information on.

“As you all may have guessed, myself and the rest of the staff have gathered you here this morning to go over some changes that will be occurring in light of recent events. However, before I dive into that topic, I unfortunately must deliver some heartbreaking news.”

The large screen above the Headmaster switched on, showing a screen with a list of names. Each name had a small photo next to it, and my heart fell into my stomach. Lucy shifted uncomfortably next to me, her fingers digging into the hem of her hoodie. We both knew what this was, and I wanted to kick myself for not even considering this as a possibility.

“Some of you may recognize these names. They were your peers, students, and part of our family here at Minerva. It is with a heavy heart that I must say that the names you see are victims of the recent conflict,” The Headmaster remained calm and composed, but even I saw emotion – or what seemed like emotion – on his face. “I ask that we give them a moment of silence.”

An uncomfortable quiet fell on the auditorium, and I felt a weight descend on my shoulders.

I counted each name, committing each face to memory. I wasn’t familiar with any of them, but I could recall times I had seen a few in passing. One of the more recognizable faces was the captain of the debate team. He wasn’t even at the end of the list. It seemed like the list went on forever, but I eventually finished the count.

Twenty-nine.

My foolish excursion with Abby set in motion the events that took the lives of twenty-nine students. There were hundreds more who died, even more still missing, but somehow these twenty-nine got to me. It rubbed me raw, and all I wanted to do was escape. I wanted to get out and run away, go somewhere far away where they weren’t staring down and judging me.

“Thank you. We will be moving on to the changes to our day to day structure.”

As the Headmaster explained the reasons for increased security on school grounds, I let my eyes wander the room, taking note of the extra ECU personnel positioned at every exit. Excessive was the word that jumped to mind, but I understood the necessity to protect the public. I had no doubt many places around the city shared the increased security.

My gaze caught Abby, standing clad in her armored costume at the front facing the assembly. She was sitting back in her chair, a leg crossed over the other, staring absently at the floor. From where I sat I couldn’t make out any distinct features, but I could tell she was tired. I knew her well enough to see the signals in her body language. She was spaced out, deep in thought.

I needed to talk to her, preferably before Lucy did, but I didn’t know how realistic that goal was.

“. . . That sums up the changes. I expect you all to abide by any ECU instruction in the case of an emergency. Show them the quality of Minerva standards,” the Headmaster nodded curtly before filing his assembly notes away in a folder. “I will now hand you off to Ms. Kingston to go through up and coming changes for our community.”

The Headmaster retreated to sit with the rest of his colleagues, the podium remaining empty. I looked back at Abby who hadn’t seemed to register his words. I felt a bit of secondhand embarrassment as she stared at the floor. Murmuring quickly spread through the auditorium, and Lucy nervously rubbed her neck.

“Oh, God Abby. Don’t space out…” she muttered. The murmuring suddenly vanished as Domination appeared from behind the stage, walking out in the same armored costume. “Oh, it's her Mom speaking. This is… new.”

Domination didn’t carry a folder or any papers, but something told me she didn’t need them. She strolled out and stood at the podium with a sturdy posture. She radiated an air of authority that none of our teachers could even hope to match. Her gaze washed over us, and I could tell she was contemplating how to frame the topics she needed to cover.

“Good morning. I’ll be brief.” Her tone was flat and sharp. “Beginning from nine o’clock tonight, a mandatory curfew will be instituted. This will extend till the 31st of October. Many of you will have likely heard rumors as to why, so allow me to confirm some of the speculation. Chronos will be arriving shortly with support from Ajax.”

I grimaced at the news. The curfew was new, but Abby had been talking about all this for the last month. General Jessamine had been scheduled for transfer to New Elpis long before Grim went on his rampage, and Ajax bringing Sweepers and Walkers to help reestablish order in Bayside made sense, but the curfew seemed strange.

“What?” Lucy murmured, looking stunned. “Why do we need Ajax’s support?”

“Trying to save face for Grim, probably,” I replied. “Everyone’s still recovering from the chaos. This is their best chance to put a strong foot forward so they don’t look pathetic.”

Lucy looked like she wanted to continue the discussion, but Domination continued.

“Know that the curfew is for your safety, and is not a suggestion. If you are caught outside during nine P.M to six A.M, there will be consequences. Allow me to stress that this is no time to be pushing boundaries. People have died, and we are committed to stopping more needless death. Be safe, stay home, and obey the law.”

Domination almost had me wanting to follow her instructions. I knew she was saying this in good faith because I trusted the quality of her character. She and Abby were always genuine, but I knew I couldn’t follow those instructions. It was likely the curfew was designed to eliminate any casualties when the Sweepers and Walkers began patrolling.

“Now, another matter,” Domination’s stern tone softened somewhat, and I found myself leaning forward in anticipation. “I am unaware how many of you were truly affected by Grim’s senseless attempt to destroy our city. Some of you will undoubtedly feel the sting of his actions more than others. As your Headmaster has pointed out, several of your peers unfortunately found themselves victims of the battle. It is to my understanding, along with many of my colleagues, that Awakenings happen more frequently in the wake of these tragedies,” she paused, surveying the quiet crowd. “I may be speaking to many, a few, or none that have experienced one recently. I ask you to consider those around you, and the community at large. You’ve all seen what Grim has done. Help us fight against those who will do the same, and we will help you in kind.”

Domination’s words had the intended effect. All around me, I could see agreement spreading. My peers looked inspired. For the first time, I really felt like I was part of the problem – the enemy everyone was banding together to beat. I had to remind myself this was just propaganda, a call for unity that the ECU desperately needed. I couldn’t blame her for phrasing things that way. She was doing her job.

I would still help, but in my own way.

“Thank you for your attention, and your patience. Before we conclude, our Rookie representative has requested to say a few words.”

Domination looked to her side, her gaze landing on her daughter. Abby’s head lifted and turned to the stage. It looked like she was considering whether or not she could be bothered going up there. Finally, she stood and walked onto the stage. Her mother watched her approach with a cautious eye, and when Abby got to the podium, Domination leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Whatever she said, Abby barely registered it.

Her mother stepped back, opening up space for Abby to speak.

Lucy and I watched with trepidation as Abby stood with a blank stare. I couldn’t tell what was raging through her head or what she really wanted to say, but getting the occasional speech from her to propagate and bolster the ECU wasn’t uncommon. She’d typically do something like this every few months.

“Hey,” Abby’s throat sounded dry, and she cleared it with a laugh. “Hey, aha. Sorry,” the rest of the auditorium joined her in a light laugh that eased the tension. “So, uh, yeah. Like Domination said. We’ll help you out and do all that stuff… uh,” she stopped, shaking her head and sighing. “Man, you know I figured I’d be able to get up here and talk like I usually do, but I just can’t.”

Oh no.

“What is she doing?” Lucy sucked in a breath.

I didn’t get a chance to reply.

“This isn’t— no, it’s just—” her grip around the podium tightened, and I could have sworn Abby would splinter it with her strength if she wasn’t careful. “—I don’t even know what to say. Where do I start? What I do – what we do – isn’t heroic, or about being a hero. To be honest, I don’t know why we push that bullshit narrative. You want to know the truth? I’ll tell you the truth.”

I felt the atmosphere in the auditorium turn tense, and almost every ECU soldier exchanged concerned looks with their comrades before looking over at the podium. To my astonishment, Domination made no move to dissuade her daughter.

“I’ve been doing this for four years. Four years, and in the last month I’ve seen more than anyone our age should ever have to. I’m never going to forget it, and now I’m going to have to live with it for the rest of my life. Obviously, for legal reasons, I can’t talk about it. Even if I could, I wouldn't. None of you deserve that,” Abby emphasized the last part. “So, yeah. All this heroism stuff is garbage. What we do is work. There’s no glory in it.”

There was no outcry.

No applause.

Only silence.

“Yeah, that’s all I really have to say. If you do have powers, do the smart thing. Either come and help us make the world a safer place, or hide. Live a normal life. Don’t use your powers. Don’t make our job harder than it needs to be,” she stepped away from the podium, heaving a sigh. For a brief moment, she hesitated, stepping back to the microphone. She opened her mouth, ready to begin a new rant, but she stopped herself at the last second. “Actually, nah. Nah I’m done.”

Abby turned and strolled off the stage, returning to her seat. She avoided everyone’s dumbfounded looks and found solace in staring at the floor again.

Domination remained just as composed as ever, but it was clear Abby had destroyed whatever script she was following. I wasn’t sure how all this would come back to bite her, but whatever punishment she was going to receive would be private. I guessed it was the reason Domination made no attempt to stop her. It would look bad if she dragged her daughter off stage during her rant. This way, it gave off the impression it was all planned.

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“That’s not going to end well for her,” Lucy murmured as the Headmaster stood, doing his best not to look baffled. “They’re going to come down on her like a ton of bricks. There’s no way she gets away with saying all that to a whole school. This’ll be all over forums within the hour.”

“Forget an hour,” I said, eyeing my surroundings. I could already see students sneakily trying to use their phones. One of them would have filmed Abby’s rant, without a doubt. “Give it ten minutes and it’ll be blowing up. Their reputation is about to take a hit.”

“It could swing either way,” Lucy admitted. “She could be commended for her honesty, or condemned for it.”

“Abby’s known for her bluntness. It’s why everyone likes her,” I said, feeling hopeful. “I think she’ll weather whatever backlash she gets from this. I’m more worried about her mental state,” I leaned over, taking the risk of being seen talking by one of the wandering teachers. Thankfully, most of them seemed too shocked by what had just happened and weren’t paying attention. “You know what happened at your place, and you know we were involved. She killed someone, and it’s weighing on her.”

“You both killed someone,” Lucy hissed back quietly. “And you seem to be handling it far better than she is.”

“It was self-defense,” I grumbled, keeping my voice down. “I’m not losing sleep over it.”

“Well, evidently Abby is.”

The Headmaster cleared his throat.

“Thank you. We will endeavor to take your words to heart,” his diplomatic tone betrayed his uncomfortable shock. “Now, some quick administration and upkeep, then I will send you all on your way.”

Ten minutes later, we filed out of the auditorium on our way to the first class of the day. While my mind was occupied with how to approach the ‘Abby and Lucy’ situation, I noted that Chris wasn’t at school. I shared Math and English with him, and he was a no-show. It was concerning, and I would later have to look into it if his absence became a trend.

Just one more thing on the list of things I needed to fix.

When lunch came, I made a beeline for the library. It was our usual spot, but something told me I wouldn’t find my friends there. To my surprise they were, with the exception of Abby. Jackson was talking and seemed to be making fast friends with Liam, while Lucy conversed quietly with Travis. The moment she saw me, she rushed over to me.

“She dodged me,” Lucy said in exasperation. “All morning through Math and English. She sat at the back of class by herself and refused to talk to me!” She rubbed her forehead in frustration. “I was expecting something from her, not total silence.”

I considered that to be a blessing. It sounded like Abby was trying to distance herself in order to stop herself from doing something stupid.

“I’ll talk to her,” I said, taking out my phone. It only took seconds for my drones to locate her. She was sitting alone with her lunch on top of the science block. It was a strange place for her to linger, but our next class was Chemistry, so I supposed it made sense. “She’s been wanting to talk to me about what happened for a while now. I’ll get her to come around, don’t worry.”

Lucy looked torn.

“Are you sure? Maybe we should just leave her alone.”

“Trust me,” I realized how hypocritical it was for me to say that to Lucy, given my recent track record. Her face twisted into a scowl, but I hardened my gaze. “I mean it this time. This isn’t about a stupid school assignment. I’m going to fix this. I mean it.”

“Max—”

I was already moving, but I turned.

“Just… I don’t know. I want to be able to talk to her, that’s all. I want to set things straight on my own, so don’t speak for me, please,” she said sincerely. “I can trust you to do that?”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” I said, agreeing. Her request was reasonable, but my primary goal was to get them on speaking terms. Whatever problems Abby had with Lucy needed to be resolved. The last thing I wanted was unnecessary drama plaguing my school life. I was going to have enough stress dealing with General Jessamine’s arrival. “I’ll be back soon.”

I jogged out of the library and headed toward the science block. The stairway to the roof was restricted to staff and forbidden to students, but that wasn’t going to stop me from seeing Abby. I snuck through the doors when the teachers on duty weren’t looking and climbed to the top. Stepping through the door at the top, I found Abby sitting on top of the building’s ventilation system. She spotted me easily, raising a puzzled brow.

“That was quick.”

“I asked around. Figured someone would have seen where you had disappeared to,” I lied as easily as I breathed. “So, why all this? Of all the reactions, I wasn’t expecting you to run away and hide.”

“Oh, fuck off,” she snapped half-heartedly. “I don’t need that shit from you. You of all people should understand why I can’t look her in the eye right now. I’m trying not to hold it against her, so I just need time to figure my shit out. Lucy is clearly all daisies and dandelions, so she can wait until I’m ready.”

I sighed, slowly walking over to her side. I leaned on the side of the vent as there was no feasible way to climb up and sit beside her without making a fool of myself for trying. Without my gear, I wasn’t stellar at physical activity. Soon, that’d change.

“Alright, fine. Weird spot for brooding though.”

“It’s a great spot for brooding, thank you very much,” Abby retorted. “It has a good view, and I wanted to have a good spot to see when they arrive, seeing as I won’t be at Headquarters until later.”

“Who?” I frowned. “General Jessamine?” Abby pointed past the harbor and out to the horizon. My eyes followed, but I saw nothing but clouds and blue sky. “I don’t see anything.”

“Obviously. The Mothership is still a hundred kilometers out. Give it five minutes and you’ll feel the engines,” Abby giggled mirthlessly. “That’s what I’m told, at least. I’ve never actually seen it before with my own eyes. Just videos on the internet and some first hand accounts from colleagues at Headquarters.”

“The Mothership?” I wondered aloud. “That’s supposed to be one of Ajax’s largest ships.”

“Yeah, it has to be with all the cargo it's carrying. There’s enough warmachines in there to make the USSR, China, and America run with their tails between their legs,” Abby’s legs kicked excitedly. “We’re getting Sweepers and Walkers, but apparently there are some Hunters being deployed at Zachery Port. They’ll be investigating the sinkholes or whatever. Haven’t really paid attention to what’s going on down there.”

“I thought that was the Mountain?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

Abby took a lazy bite out of one of her sandwiches.

“Nah, higher-ups got in contact with him. He knows nothing about it,” she said with her mouth half-full. “Someone else is doing it, which is partly why General Jessamine was coming in the first place. Got some super secret confidential information from Foresight,” Abby rolled her eyes and showed me her poorest impression of a scared little girl. “Spoooooooky stuff.”

“...Shouldn’t we be a little more concerned about that?”

“If you ask me? Who fucking cares,” she uncharacteristically brushed off my concern. “Things can’t get much worse than Grim, and whatever is happening is all the way down in Zachery Port. It’s not really our problem. They’ve got their own ECU branch down there, their own Supers and Rookies. They can handle it.”

“If that’s the reason General Jessamine is coming here, then why is she coming here instead of there?”

“Because we’re the capital, and Ajax will be deploying his war machines in every city, not just Bayside,” she finished her sandwich and hopped off the vent, landing next to me. “Things are looking up for us, I think.”

“You didn’t seem this peppy during that speech of yours.”

Abby’s expression twisted, becoming more shallow and haunted.

“I didn’t want to go up there.”

“Then why did you?”

“Because they fucking asked me to!” Abby sneered. “Oh, Abby, you brave heroine! Put on a friendly face and reassure your peers that they’re safe! Ugh, fucking gag me with a gym sock and throw me to Gaea. It’s all a load of shit, and I hate it. I hate lying. It doesn’t do anyone ANY good.”

I did my best to ignore the uncomfortable heat forming around my neck. Part of me wondered what would happen if I revealed my Super identity to Abby now. The science block was high up, so I’d probably break some bones. I supposed whether I was thrown head first or legs first came down to how I worded it.

I’d call that Plan C, maybe D for now.

“They’re going to come down on you for that.”

“They’ll bitch and moan like they always do,” Abby dismissed with a wave. “It won’t change anything. I’ll still be sent on patrols. I’ll still bring in criminals,” she paused and sighed. “They’ll still frame me as their poster-child hero.”

I sympathized with her somewhat, but I was aware of how far off-topic we were getting.

“You still need to talk to Lucy. She wants to clear the air with you.”

“You think I don’t know that?” She rubbed her face, her expression displaying more exhaustion than I was used to seeing on her. “Fucking hell, dude. We broke into her house, killed someone that was probably related to her, and then somehow burned the place to the ground with another person inside,” she shook her head. “That shit was my fault as well. I blew a hole in their kitchen. There was probably loose wiring and gas or something… fuck.”

“They attacked us,” I said, trying to drag her out of this mental hole she had found herself in. “Abby, they jumped us. We were only defending ourselves.”

“We shouldn’t have been in there in the first place. It was my fault! I decided to break in because I couldn’t stand not knowing where my friend was when the city was going to shit,” Abby’s tone got angrier with each word. “I told you what I saw, Max. I fucking told you, but there’s no way you can understand just how fucked up everything was without actually seeing it. Grim was experimenting on people, doing God knows what. We still haven’t found the Biokinetic he was working with, by the way. They’re still out there,” she waved madly at the city. “They’re probably out pulling that shit somewhere else right now!”

I almost slipped and said Splicer had been caught, but I stopped myself.

“Two people… two people dead. Fuck,” she looked me dead in the eyes. “Did you even know? You said some guy attacked you, but you managed to fight him off. Did you know he died, burned to death in the house? Our Mentalists said there was nothing left.”

“I knew,” I replied softly. “I saw the smoke not long after we split up.”

Abby cursed and rubbed the back of her neck. She looked even more torn than Lucy did, but after staring at me for a few moments, she frowned.

“You…” she blinked and shook her head. “You’re not bothered?”

I really wasn’t sure what to say because I hadn’t thought about it all that much since it happened. Until Lucy mentioned it earlier, it had mostly escaped my mind.

“Not really. A little bit, I guess—”

“A little bit!?” Abby looked horrified. “Max, they’re—”

“Pandora, Abby. I know what they are. I know what they do to people like me. Do you expect me to feel guilty about what happened? They tried to fucking kill us! I didn’t even get a word in before the guy was on top of me,” I shrugged helplessly. “There was no fight or flight response. Just fight! In a situation like that, I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel guilty about what happened.”

“We shouldn’t have been there!” Abby stressed. “We fucked up.”

I couldn’t deny that she had a point, but if she was looking to summon any shred of guilt, she failed.

“Alright, yeah. We shouldn’t have been there,” I agreed. “Doesn’t change what happened.”

“Jesus, Max,” Abby looked at me like she couldn’t believe what I said. “Maybe it’s a good thing I told Mom. It looks like we both need help, for different reasons.”

My stomach twisted.

“You what?”

I didn’t get an answer.

Distant horns thrummed through the air, capturing our attention.

On the horizon, a giant shadow loomed.

General Jessamine had arrived.