"Hello! How may I help you today?" The receptionist said, some lady in her fifties at least.

"I need to speak to the CEO, or whatever douche it is that runs this place." Rex said confidently.

"That would be Sevens, sir. Jason Sevens." She said, a bit more focused on him now.

"Great. Get me in a meeting with him as soon as possible." He leaned in against the counter. "It's very important."

"Please understand, he's the CEO of a global, multi-billion dollar company. He can't respond to the whims of teenagers simply walking into here. The soonest 'urgent' spot available is nine hours from no- wait, it just got filled. Twenty-three hours from now. Assuming this isn't something someone else could deal with, like one of the managers here, you will have to wait until then."

Rex sputtered. "Twenty three hours! Hell n-"

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"Hey, what can I do for you today?" The receptionist said, some lady in her fifties at least.

"I need to speak to the CEO, or whoever it is that runs this place."

"The building or the company?"

"Huh?"

The receptionist paused and chose her words more carefully. "Do you want the person who runs the building, or the company itself?"

"Er." Rex paused, tapping his foot. "Whoever is responsible for that lab explosion a few days ago. So, the building?"

"That would be Zoe, the head of R&D."

"Great. I need to speak to her now!"

"I'm sorry, but that isn't possible. She's currently away, but I'll see if I can arrange a meeting soon. Please understand, she still has school to deal with, just like you, so she's rather busy." The receptionist said, patiently.

"She's- bah, she's only 17!?" Rex exclaimed. "Give me someone useful-"

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"Hello. What can I do for you." The receptionist said with a sigh. She was definitely in her fifties.

"I need to speak to the CEO, or whoever it is that caused that lab explosion a few days ago."

"The CEO isn't available, and our head of R&D is currently away. I could get you in contact with HR?"

"Nah, I need someone more usefu-""Young man, listen up! I don't give a shit who you are or what you've been through. As the sign clearly states," The receptionist pointed behind her at a sign Rex hadn't seen yet, "three strikes and you're out. That was your third strike, even though you don't recall the first two. You are no longer welcome here. Get out, or you will be forced to leave."

"Wha-" There was a high pitched beep from a machine, and then all noise simply vanished. He could move his mouth all he wanted, but nothing came out. He stopped his ranting with an almost audible "oh" and stormed out.

He paused outside for a few seconds, and the sky opened up on him, letting loose it's full rage. Sleet. The coldest, wettest kind of rain, soaking his hair, then running down his back. He shivered, miserable, and kept trudging down the blocks, finally spotting a glowing sign like a beacon of hope. Last Light Cafe. How fitting.

He stepped inside and sighed as the heat soaked into him. He heard someone clear his throat, and he looked at the barista, then held up a finger and closed his eyes again, soaking in the heat.

"You going to stand there all day?" The guy asked.

"Yes... Okay, no, but can I get an extra-large Caramel Macchiato, double double?" Rex stood in the same spot under the heater by the door until he heard the cup slide along the counter.

He pulled out his phone and tapped 15%, then tapped the other guys phone, before grabbing the coffee and settling down at a table in the corner, right beside the window.

Curse this Vancouver weather. Sunny one moment, then clouds roll in and ruin your day by dumping water. But he had to admit, the neon lights coming off the nearby buildings gave of a real cyberpunk vibe, like the movies or games. He snapped a photo, then settled in with his phone.

He hadn't stopped here for no reason. Since that receptionist hadn't let him in, he'd find his own way in and figure everything out for himself. And besides, it wouldn't be that hard. He could just walk through the walls and get where he needed to be.

But first he had to learn the layout of the building. He pulled up the Sevens Vancouver website, which conveniently had a floor plan that boasted all of their features. On the first floor, they had a pool, a gym, cafeteria, and an entertainment room, all connected to the reception area.

In the basement, they had an entire hanger, which had tons of exotic and cutting edge prototype vehicles, or so it said. When clicking on each vehicle, it showed which employee drove which vehicle, which seemed like a really specific and odd flex, but who was he to judge? He couldn't even drive!

And so on. It listed almost everything for each floor, although certain things were vague. Floor four was titled "The Lab" and had a basic layout but no minute details, and some of the higher floors were labelled as housing, with no other details at all.

But then he went to the security tab, which boasted every single camera. He shook his head, grinning from ear to ear. It's almost like they wanted someone to break in. So he took note of the security, and planned his route in.

He bought some food from the cafe for a late lunch, then dinner as that too rolled around, bringing with it the early dark of winter, turning the already dark and dreary afternoon into a thick blackness, impenetrable if not for street lamps and the glowing windows of buildings around him.

In other words, it was time. Most of the workers should have gone home by now, and he had the entire place to himself. So, he walked along the alleyway beside the building and stopped when his phone beeped at him. Directly into the wall was a electrical room, and then a stairwell right beside that. There weren't supposed to be any cameras in either room, so he phased through the wall, into the room, then walked straight through the pitch black of the room into the stairwell and started his ascent. He was barely breathing hard when he got there, and started the harder part of the plan.

Entering the Labs. He could enter through the first door, which shouldn't have any cameras behind it, and then he'd have to traverse a very specific path to avoid being in sight.

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He took a deep breath, calming his nerves, before stepping through the door.

He frowned as there was a black orb hanging off the ceiling, red light blinking on and off.

It finally clicked. The entire website was a lie, luring intruders into a false sense of security so they could get lured in and caught.

He was so screwed. He stepped backwards through the door, back into the stairwell, which was now strobing with red lights.

"INTRUDER DETECTED. INITIATING LOCK DOWN PROCEDURES."

"Aw hell." He muttered under his breath. He started running down the stairs, basically gaining the power of flight he was moving so fast.

It wasn't quick enough. He got to the bottom, and he was just about to phase through the wall when a hand grabbed his neck, stopping all motion like someone just pressed pause on his body.

He saw a reflection off the glass in the door, seeing the face of the guard. "I'm sorry, son." He said, disappointment etched in his face.

And then Rex was shocked into unconsciousness.

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He woke with a start, strapped down to a chair, a blinding white light barraging his eyes and adding a tempo to his already pounding headache. "Wha- where the hell am I?"

The lights dimmed, like a conductor telling an orchestra to shut up, and then he realized it was someone's head peering down at him. "Hmm, he hasn't lost his spirit." He heard the head mutter, and there was a light chitter of laughter from behind him. "Well, that's the thing. You haven't moved. At least, not by much. Welcome to the electrical room. Er. That sounds bad. Sounds like you're hooked up to an electric chair." The man turned around, looking at someone behind Rex, where the laugh came from. "We should change that, shouldn't we. Maybe make this the janitorial closet."

"Right away, sir." The laugh turned out to be female, as he guessed. There was the tapping of fingers on a phone, and an awkward silence for ten seconds. "There. It's done."

"Thanks, Zoe." The man cleared his throat. "Let's try that again. Well, that's the thing. You haven't moved. At least, not by much. Welcome to the janitorial room. Or rather, the room of new horizons, where old pieces of junk are swept away and replaced with new beginnings."

"That sounds... too scripted, sir. And cliched."

He sighed. "Yeah. You'd think after doing this a few times I could get a hang of it. I mean, with Joseph it went perfectly."

"Each circumstance was different." She, Zoe, said.

"Sooooooo..." Rex said, still squinting, trying to block out the lights.

"Er, right. Can I see that checklist, Zoe?" There was a rustling of paper, then a tapping of fingernails on a clipboard. "Ah, right." He snapped his fingers, and the chair sat up with a mechanical whir, and too more chairs popped up from the floor in front of him, which Zoe and the man sat down in.

"Hi, I'm Jason Sevens, CEO of a big ass company, and you are our newest catch. Welcome to the company."

"Sir-"

"Did I forget something?"

"Yes." She leaned over and pointed, and there was some muttering as he re-read the paper.

"Ah.... and you are our newest catch. We'd like to offer you a job."

"Okay, what the-" Rex tried to say.

"Great! Welcome to the team!" Jason said, grinning from ear to ear.

Zoe threw up her hands in frustration, then grabbed the clipboard and threw it on the ground. "Not like we're using that anyways." She muttered.

"What the hell is happening?" Rex finally managed to say, more to himself than anything.

"Uh. Right. We caught some fishy activity on the website, and then we caught you trying to sneak into the lab. You aren't the first to try, by the way, hence the precautions. Aaaaand we caught you. Or rather, Joseph did. Great work, by the way, Zoe. Your system is working flawlessly. 100% success rate."

She was glowing with the praise. "Thank you, sir."

"So," Jason continued, "like with all of our catches, we'd like to offer you a job. Perhaps not immediately, but in the future after university or something, y'know?"

"Oh." Zoe said. "I've only caught one person. Of course it's a 100% success rate."

Jason patted her on the shoulder while Rex slowly comprehended what was going on.

"You mean, I'll actually have a future?" He asked.

Zoe tapped a button on her chair, and cup was placed in his hand by a robot arm. "Take that. It'll help with the headache."

"Oh! That's what I was forgetting!" Jason slapped his forehead, and Rex threw the water back in one gulp, and the robot took the empty cup from his hand. The pain faded like fog burning off in a winter morning. "And yes, you'll have a future. What do I look like, a savage?"

Rex didn't know how to respond. "But... I broke in! Using meta powers, no less. That's like, super illegal. I didn't know what happened after waking up, and then got sent away by the receptionist, and then I wanted answers, so I broke in."

"Oh! That's where I recognize you from!" Zoe exclaimed. "I was thinking I saw you at school, but you were that guy in that mishap Wednesday. I am so glad to see you doing all right."

"Huh?" Jason asked, looking at her.

"He was the meta created by the material superposition mishap. Uh, the one where there was that small explosion, and then it actually worked but went right through the blast walls and hit him outside, giving him powers. It was like, the unluckiest thing imaginable. He was the only person outside, too."

"Ah. I'm really sorry, Rex, for what happened. Normally we'd try contact you right away, but there's that one week ban for safety reasons. I really hate that law, but there have been big... mishaps in the past when it wasn't in place, so I respect it. Obviously you found out, though."

"Oh." Rex sat there (he couldn't really do much else), and stared at the wall. "Makes sense, I guess. I wish they could at least explain why I didn't hear from you, though. And they should hold off news as well. Finding out who did it was way too easy. It took me twenty three minutes."

The two nodded in agreement, and then Jason finally broke the silence. "Can you please leave us now, Zoe?"

"Of course." The robot arm handed her the clipboard and she left, door slamming shut behind her.

Jason leaned forward in his chair, and the room thickened with tension. "I'm going to be really blunt with you. You're an ass hole." He said, right after the door closed. Rex's mouth dried when he saw the intense look in Jason's eyes. "I mean this as honestly and lovingly as possible, but you're an ass hole. I looked through the files relating to you, and did a quick search. Over the past five years, you want to know how many times there was the phrase 'thank you'?"

"Uh... no?" He rasped out.

Jason leaned back and snorted in genuine laughter, before his face took on a morose look. "Good answer. Three times. But that doesn't necessarily mean you're a horrible human being. So let's look at other factors. In your relations to your classmates, you have driven many to tears and been the major cause in the negative mental health decline of a few." Jason paused and held up a finger, which shook with the emotion behind it.

"I know what you're probably thinking. But I was only trying to have fun and make people laugh! I get it. I've been there before, and I can't even blame you. You probably didn't realize you were hurting others. Thought you were better, maybe. I don't know why, okay? Just that you do, like I did when I was your age." He paused and took a deep breath. "It is my greatest regret. I should have watched what I said more. I mean, sure, we can't ever be perfect. Sometimes the things we say will hurt, and we don't mean them. But it's the things we do, again and again, maybe pointed at someone in particular, that leave scars, and those scars can stick for life.

"So, if you don't want to end up in a cell, all I ask is that you act better by the time September rolls around."

Rex cleared his own throat, the lump there making it hard to speak. "Better than what, sir? And why September?"

"Oh, better than yesterday. Then how you used to be. Just... make an effort, okay?" Jason sat up and grinned, his face losing it's intensity. "And in September, you're attending UBC in a... secret program. Full ride scholarship, of course, but only if you improve."

Rex gaped at him. "UBC? University of... sir. What the actual f-"

"No swearing. Yes, it'll be great! You'll get to meet my son, and Zoe will probably be there. So, whatcha say? You in?"

"Just... be better?" Rex sucked in a deep breath. "Yeah. I think I can do that, sir. Thank you."

"Great! My work here is done." Jason stood suddenly and shook Al's free arm. "I think you know the way out?"

Al paused, then pointed at the wall. Jason nodded, then left the room. "Wai- hey, wait! How do I get out of this chair! Hey!"

Zoe pushed off the wall and walked beside him. "Bets on how long it'll take him to realize it isn't dampening his power?"

"Oh, I'd say a solid ten minutes." Jason said with a grin on his face. They walked for a few steps, before Zoe again broke the silence.

"You do a really good job at all this, sir."

"At what?"

"Inspiring hope." She said, smiling at her first encounter with him, all those years ago.