“Please get your shoes off the couch,” Dean practically begged. Yellow amusement flickered through Dennis’s aura but the other teen acquiesced, slipping his shoes off and letting them fall on the floor as he replaced his feet.
“Is that better mom?” He asked as he shifted his homework in his lap.
“Now that I don’t have to worry about you smearing dog poop on the leather, yes,” Dean chuckled at the memory, while Dennis made a face.
“One time. One time and they never let you forget,” he muttered.
“How’d you even track it all the way through the base?”
“Heck if I know. It sure left a nice smear though.”
“You’re disgusting,” Dean let out a breath through his nose, leaning back. “So did you hear the news? We’re getting a new teammate.”
Dennis perked up. “No kidding? Piggy must be feeling generous.”
“Director Piggot,” Dean corrected. “and from what I heard, it’s more of a Stalker situation.”
Dennis’s face immediately soured. “Seriously? Don’t tell me we’ve got another psycho to deal with. I thought the limit was one per team.”
Before Dean could answer, the door to the common room slid open. Missy entered first, her steps quick and a smile playing on her lips. Her aura was excited and somewhat smug, shades of aqua dancing alongside sparks of yellow and pink. Sophia stepped into the room behind her, expression tense and the red-orange flickers of annoyance spread across her body.
“So i take it you’ve already heard,” Dean called out. Missy turned to him, a shade of pink entering her aura as they locked eyes. Sophia grunted, stomping toward the fridge as Missy made for him.
“About the new teammate, yeah. I heard rumors it’s a girl too.”
That explained the excitement. Missy had been the same before Sophia had joined. Dean felt bad for thinking that this might end the same way.
“Don’t get too excited. They’re provisional, just like that ray of sunshine,” Dennis said, nodding toward the kitchen. Missy frowned, her excitement tinged with worry.
Missy waved a dismissive hand. “There’s no way anyone can be worse than her.”
As if on cue, Sophia emerged from the kitchen, a can of coke in one hand She stalked past them toward the couch, dropping down on Dennis’s legs and causing him to hide in pain.
“Maybe you’re right. It’s pretty hard to be worse than her,” he said, throwing the girl a look.
“Bite me,” Sophia spat.
“Love to, but I don’t know where you’ve been,” Dennis replied without missing a beat.
Sophia’s aura spiked, but before she could respond, a buzzer sounded near the door alongside a blinking red light. Dean leaned down, grabbing a domino mask and slipping it onto his face as the others followed suit, even Sophia. Once everyone was situated, Missy reached out and pressed the button from across the room, indicating that everyone had masked up.
The door opened and Miss Militia strolled in, quickly followed by another, unfamiliar figure.
“—and these will be your teammates,” Miss Militia was saying as she stepped aside, revealing the girl who had been standing just behind her. “Everyone, meet Lin. She’ll be joining you soon.”
Sharp, was the first thing that came to mind as Dean saw her. Everything about the girl was sharp, from her posture to the slant of her cheekbones to her golden eyes that swept over them all. There was a polite smile on her face, but the watercolors of emotion gave her away. She was not happy to be here.
Provisional, Dean reminded himself. Just like Sophia.
Missy was already striding forward, eager to meet her prospective friend. “It’s nice to have another girl on the team. I’m Vista. Nice to meet you.”
Yellow amusement flooded through Lin’s aura as she reached down and clasped Missy’s outstretched hand. “It’s... a pleasure.”
Missy’s smile widened. “Oh, I love your accent! Where are you from?”
“Oh, here and there,” Lin said noncommittally. “I mostly wandered around with my family so it’s only natural I picked up some quirks in my youth.”
Dean’s brow furrowed at the lie but his attention was taken by a a spark of annoyance from nearby. Sophia was eying Lin, a consternated expression on her face.
Missy’s expression flickered, a brief shadow crossing her features before she smoothed it away. “I get that. I move around a lot too, but for different reasons.”
Off to the side, Miss Militia pulled out her phone, eying the face. “I need to take a call. I’ll be right outside.”
As Miss Militia stepped out, Missy led Lin toward the couch. Dean stood up to greet them.
“It’s good to meet you,” he said, extending a hand. “I’m Gallant.”
Lin’s golden eyes widened in recognition before returning to their natural set. A small notion of wariness bled into her emotions. “You’re the empath, right?”
“That’s one of my powers,” Dean confirmed. “I understand if you’re concerned about your privacy, but it’s not something I can turn off. If it’s any consolation, I try to be as unobtrusive as possible.”
Lin eyed him for a moment, before smiling lightly. “Well if that’s the case, then we shouldn’t have any problems. Though I don’t think it’ll change much anyway; I’m afraid I’m terrible when it comes to lying or hiding things.”
A note of embarrassment entered her tone, accompanied by the usual wash of rose. Dean smiled, happy that she was opening up. “I’m sure hanging around here will change that quick enough.”
Dean almost thought he saw a flush of satisfaction slipped through the embarrassment, but it didsapeared behind a wave of happiness as Lin giggled softly. “We’ll see.”
“Wow, I already like her better than Stalker,” Missy whispered as Lin moved on. Dean found himself agreeing as the girl stepped up to Dennis who was surprisingly well-behaved this time around.
It was when she got to Sophia that the problem began. Dean saw it coming in the way that Sophia’s annoyance seemed to build with every word that Lin spoke. Dean didn’t have a clue what was setting her off, but it built up enough that by the time he realized it might be a problem, Lin had already stepped up.
“And you are?”
“Not interested in this talking to a fake bitch like you,” Sophia grunted. Lin paused, golden eyes widening marginally. She rallied quickly, eyes narrowing at Sophia.
“And exactly what is that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said,” Sophia grunted. “m not buying into that whole nice girl act. You’re here for the same reason as me, right? Why the hell are you being so damn polite?”
“I find that making things difficult for myself doesn’t usually work out in the long run,” Lin replied, and Sophia huffed.
“Sounds like they got you whipped bad. What did they threaten you with? Jail time? Actually, what did you even do to end up here? Get into a fight with mommy and daddy so they called the cops on you?”
“I haven’t seen my parents in years.”
“Tough. Still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here.”
Lin’s eyes narrowed and for the first time since arriving, Dean caught a hint of genuine anger flicker through her. Dean glanced at the door anxiously, hoping that Miss Militia was about to walk in and stop this before it got out of hand or he had to step in.
“If you must know,” Lin’s voice was cool. “I defended myself and my home against several thugs. Unfortunately, my actions were considered... I believe Piggot used the term “excessive force”. Several of them needed surgery.”
“That so?” Sophia actually seemed to gain a modicum of respect for Lin in that instant. At the very least, she wasn’t staring at Lin with open hostility anymore, more like abject dislike. “Maybe you aren’t worthless after all.”
Just then, the door skid open and Missy Militia made her reappearance. She surveyed the room, taking in the scene before her. Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t address it, turning to Lin.
“They’re ready for you in power testing. We should get going; you’ll have time to talk later if you want.”
“That’s probably for the best,” Lin said, stepping away from Sophia and following the woman out.
Dean watched the door slide shut behind Lin and Miss Militia, before he turned to Sophia, who was staring off into space, slowly sipping at her drink. Her emotions were a messy spread of confusion and anger speckled with intrigue.
“Soooo, is it like physically impossible for you to act nice or...” Dennis asked as the silence stretched.
Sophia’s head snapped towards him, her glare returning. Dean sighed.
~~~
Barring certain very specific exceptions, Azula wasn’t normally one to prance around for the sake of others. Throughout her life, she held the strings that made other people dance, not the other way around. With that in mind, one could understand her frustration as she finished the final sweeping kick of her firebending form, only for that damnable buzzer to sound again.
A tinny voice came from somewhere up above. “I’m sorry, but can you do that one more time? We want to compare the reading from last time.”
And the time before that. Or perhaps even the time before that, Azula bit her tongue, calming her chi with a practiced motion, before settling into the beginning stance of her sequence once again.
As tongues of flame flew from her hands and feet, Azula kept careful control over her mind, body and chi. The wall opposite her bled black with scorch marks, but did not melt or fall. Azula was sure that is she put her all into this little demonstration, she would leave more than just a little mark but there was little sense in showing these people the true scope of her power. Let them have their little show, and she’d keep the advantage as she had it.
The buzzer sounded again just as Azula finished her fourth form with a double spinning back kick. As she oriented herself, the voice crackled over the radio again. “Alright, I think we have enough. Please exit the testing chamber while we take a moment to compile the results.”
Mentally thanking Agni that her labor was finally over, Azula gathered herself and strode for the door that clicked unlocked as she approached. This entire ordeal had been two hours too long.
I thought I was long past with ignorant children, yet here I stand, once again on the same level as my leaders. She sighed mentally, recalling the charade that had occurred a short while earlier.
Those Wards were unimpressive at best and annoying at worst, and that entire interaction had been as pointless as it had been frustrating. Azula had never been one to interact with her erstwhile peers, even when she was a child. Mai and Ty Lee had been the only people her age she regularly conversed with, having spent the majority of her time in her father’s courts or training.
Putting on her little facade for those fools wore at her patience, but it was necessary for the moment, and she had gleaned a rather important piece of information in the process.
He couldn’t tell I was lying. A cold smirk curled Azula’s lip as she recalled her performance with Gallant. Lying about not being able to lie may have been a bit on the nose, but he hadn’t picked up on it regardless, which meant that Azula’s greatest weapon was still in play.
After all, even her father said her abilities in manipulation far surpassed even her firebending.
A man in a lab coat waited for her as she entered the room at the other end of the hall. He was clutching a clipboard and seemed the type to run away from the light breeze before it had the chance to blow him over. Despite his general constitution, he smiled as she approached..
“Well?” she demanded, her patience worn thin. “Are we done here?”
“Almost. Director Piggot wanted me to go over your preliminary ratings with you,” the technician said, surprisingly unperturbed by her tone. “If you’ll follow me to the conference room, we can discuss your—”
“I would prefer we discuss it here, if we must discuss it at all,” Azula interrupted, crossing her arms. “I’ve been performing the same four forms for the better part of two hours. I’m not in any mood to be shuffled along just for a discussion.”
The technician blinked. “But—”
“Here is fine,” Azula repeated, her voice dropping a note to showcase her annoyance.
The technician seemed a bit perturbed by her attitude but to his credit, he didn’t flinch away from her glare. He was likely more than used to it by now.
“Very well,” he said, adjusting his glasses as he consulted his clipboard. “Based on the demonstrations you’ve provided, we’ve assigned you a provisional rating of Blaster 5.”
Azula’s expression remained flat. “Blaster 5.”
“Yes. That puts you in the mid-range for offensive capabilities. Your fire shows a higher temperature baseline than typical pyrokinesis, and your control is...” He flipped to another page. “Honestly exceptional. In my professional option, you may have more than one piece hidden under your hat, but we’ll have to wait for the active brain scans to come back.”
Having no desire to wait for such a thing, Azula cleared her throat. “Well if that is all?”
The man flashed her an apologetic smile. “One more stop, I’m afraid. Miss Militia is waiting for you outside. You’ve got a date with public relations.”
The term was foreign to Azula, but her intuition told her this was going to be the worst trial by far.
~~~
Later that evening, Senior Testing Technician Marshall Rand was sorting through the day’s work. His eyes ached, and the caffeine in his travel-style coffee mug had long since stopped doing anything for him, but still he pressed on. Just another hour and then he could get some shuteye.
His tired eyes passed over the file for the new girl, Lin no-last-name-given. She was an interesting personality, and her power was fascinating to him. Fire powers were a dime a dozen, but he’d never seen one so unique as to use martial arts as the activation method.
“I wonder if the complexity of the forms determines the intensity of the fire,” he muttered as he filled out a form to requisition new training dummies. The last several had come down with a deathly case of spontaneous combustion. “The readings suggest a kinetic element alongside the heat. Heat achieved through kinetic energy? She wasn’t moving nearly fast enough for that but powers are weird...”
His hand strayed towards his coffee and he cursed as he slipped, nearly knocking the damn thing over. Marshall caught the mug before it could tip, saving himself from a very expensive disaster. He mopped up what little had spilled with a sigh, taking a long sip of the lukewarm liquid before turning back to his work.
The requisition form sat half-completed on his screen. He could finish it tomorrow. What he really needed was to file the preliminary power classification report before his shift ended. Director Piggot had a habit of breathing down necks when paperwork was late.
He pulled up Lin’s file, his eyes drifting over the basic information. Age: approximately seventeen (unconfirmed). Origin: Eastern Asia (pending blood tests). Power classification: Blaster 5 (provisional). He scrolled down to the imaging results, intending to give them a cursory glance before attaching them to the report.
His eyes snagged on the CT scan.
Marshall frowned, leaning closer to the screen. The image showed a standard cross-section of a human brain, the familiar folds and grooves rendered in shades of grey. But there was somethin off about it. With a few clicks, he pulled up the comparison image from the database, a standard reference brain for a Blaster type Parahuman, and his frown deepest.
“Huh,” he muttered, rubbing his tired eyes, unsure if he was seeing things. Or more accurately, not seeing them. “That isn’t right.”
It took a few minutes for Marshall to be sure he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing, but once he was, he had to just sit back and take it in. Here was something monumental, something nobody had ever seen before. It didn’t make sense, even when applied to the physic-splitting borderline magic that parahumans normally did. Yet there it sat, plain as day.
Powering down his computer, Marshall reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone and, with a cursory glance toward the door to make sure it was locked, pressed dial.
The phone rang once, twice, and was picked up on the third. “What?”
“Connect me to the boss. He’s not going to believe this.”