I dispel the Filter, crouching down in front of Susan the secretary. Her eyes glaze over anytime they peer towards my direction, and she begins swaying a little too. If that isn’t a sign that someone’s under compulsion, then I don’t know what is.

I don’t actually know, but my Deductive Reasoning skill is still going strong.

“I’m going to ask you some questions,” I begin. “Is that okay?”

“Yes,” she responds, dreamily. Okay. Yeah, let’s just, uh, do this quickly.

“What were you doing last night?”

“Taking pictures of school records.”

“Elaborate,” I command. Instead of doing that, she just sits there…waiting… Damn it. Dreamer, damn it. I said answer my questions, not follow my commands. Semantics. Ugh.

“Will you please elaborate?”

“Of course, officer. I’ve been working at this school for thirty years and have watched the steady academic decline in both students and staff. Lately, students have had sudden jumps in their grades after being in a previous failing state.

This, normally, would not warrant investigation; however, entire classes and grades at the same time does.

I notified the school board and took pictures of each teacher’s work. Usually, they would grade tests with obviously wrong answers as 100’s. Sometimes, the tests would not even be done.”

Okay. That’s another issue. I toggle the mic. “Aria?”

Instead of her voice, a more masculine one answers. “I’ve made the decision to homeschool Nora.” Thomas sounds solemn. “I promised Sophia that I would stop invading the privacy of everyone due to paranoia, but it seems I was right. I wish I wasn’t right.”

Right. Thomas time. “Are you sure? You seem like a busy man.”

I hear a grunt from the other end. “I’ll just have to pull out one of my old inventions. Probably my first public one.”

“A time machine,” I whisper, but it seems the mask still caught the words.

“Yep! You read the wiki article, too, huh? Yeah. It’s actually just a hollowed out DS that selects timelines and sends the device, and anything attached, to that time.” What is it with Thomas and making random things into sci-fi devices?

“Uh…that seems tiring. Also, you would still age. And…are you qualified?”

“…” I hear a heavy sigh that quickly approaches the mic. “I’m a cyborg. If you think I haven’t found a way to preserve my exposed parts, then expand your imagination. Second, like Aria, I can set my mind on a task and work on it endlessly without tire. Any feelings are completely superficial remnants from when I was still entirely human.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

A memory of two collapsed forms on a couch pops up in my mind. “Wait…”

“Aria got the same habit from me. Third, I have several, several doctorates. I’m quite possibly the most qualified person on Earth to teach Nora.”

I toggle the mic again. “Has the principal met with any students lately, and if so, was there anything strange about them?”

The hazed secretary ponders for a moment. “Yes,” she slowly says. “He has met repeatedly with Jared M. Roy over behavioral issues. However, before each meeting, he met with Senator Wilcox over a budgeting issue to bring up during his midterm elections.”

How…what? Alright, thanks for the info, but… “How did you gain that information?”

“I recently put a recording device in his office.” That’s the crime of eavesdropping. But…I don’t really care. I’ll have to call the local police for their information—the school board, too.

“Aria, remind me to call the local police later.”

“Of course.”

Then, shuffling noises are heard over the mic again. Aria? Thomas? Sophia? “Alice,” a tired voice says. Yes! Sophia! Slightly less insane! “Call in some beige suits from the Heroes’ Guild. They’re in charge of detective work for the guild and act as intermediaries to the police departments around the area.”

“Noted.” Now, to deal with Susan. I don’t want to leave her like this; messing with her mind permanently like this would leave a bad taste in my mouth.

How ‘bout a routine to erase her memories of this event?

[ Through exemplary actions you have unlocked the skill: Synaptic Oblivion(Minimum, Active) ]

[ Synaptic Oblivion — Allows the user to pick and choose memories to erase from a target. Does not include the ability for the user to mask any deja vu, jamais vu, or any lingering attachments to memories. ]

That’ll do.

I reactivate my Filter as I hear Susan shiver, shuffle around, then sit back in place as if she had simply lost track of time.

Alright. I need to think about what I just did.

I violated with Psychic abilities the mind of a woman to stop a man—kid who used Temporal Magic to violate the body of a girl. A necessary evil, people worse than me would say, but I don’t think so.

What I just did…it repulses me on a core level. Stripping people of the ability to do things without their consent, then erasing their memories of the event. I essentially just replicated what Jared did, but without time. However, even if I hate it, this is still a tool for me to use and will use if needed.

Just…let’s hope I seldom need it.

Now, after the…beige suits take over the boring parts of the investigation and get all the evidence, including the recordings of the principal’s meetings, then there’s only the matter of the time-kid.

I’m going to break my own rule already. Great.

————————————————————————————————————

‘Confess all that you have done to the women of this school, why you have done it, and how you did so.’ The kid physically buckles, struggling against the words that would indict himself.

Then he relaxes, under my control.

He stands up, interrupting the teacher’s lecture. “Jared? Can you please sit back down?”

Jared’s eyes pulsate. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. I need to say something.

For the past three years, I’ve been made fun of everyday by everyone for how I look. My acne being the main issue. Then everyone making fun of me just because I’m poor.

Then, Principal Wexler called me to his office. I thought I was going to be expelled. Instead, he said that I was exactly the type of person he was looking for.

He handed me a skill stone. An experiment he called it. Then I could use Temporal Magic. Not even Time Magic, but it’s boosted form.”

At this point, everybody’s looking worried. Increasingly so. The girl I found hasn’t been here since I found her, but other girls are beginning to hyperventilate. Interesting. Since the focus is on him right now, nobody would mind if I just…blended back in.

A few eyes dart towards me, but turn back to Jared as he continues.

“I…” He’s struggling against me command. Damn! I grip his mind with Clairvoyance, boosting the skill to work it’s not-magic. “I decided to get revenge. Every time I saw a person who bullied me alone, I would stop time and…mess with them. I… …would undress them and…do things to them.

I would never have sex with them, though. I thought that it might trace back to me.”

I release my Coercion, and Jared begins to have a panic attack. “Why did I say that!?”

I walk up and tap him on the shoulder. He whirls around, eyes widening at my obviously hero-like outfit.

“Hey, kid,” I greet, nonchalantly. “You’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent.”

He falls over. Huh, he passed out. I signal towards the door and two guys in beige suits, beige fedoras, black ties, and almost identical faces walk in with handcuffs. They pause upon finding the unconscious boy.

“Call a paramedic,” I exasperatedly command them.

They nod. “Yes, ma’am!” They chant in chorus.

I strut towards the hall where two more beige suits stand guard at the door. In the relatively-small distance, I see the Principal being actively arrested.

So, yeah! Apparently heroes can call in some people to make multiple arrests at the same time.

We’re mainly heavy-hitters with the power to arrest. Few regulations actually have the power to stop us. Plus, any arrests made by the suits count for both of our commissions.

Unfortunately, I’m more of an intern as a Disciple. Paid at least, but only five percent of each kill and arrest commission. I don’t even get the pensions that the guild gives out.

Sucks. I have bills to pay, you know?!

Probably shouldn’t complain about that after ruining a schools reputation, arresting two people, getting the school board’s attention on the teachers which will most likely have them blacklisted as teachers, and violating almost every ethical rule in the process.

Now, if only the Senator would actually face backlash from this. One can only hope.