It’s getting almost too easy, really, while the others are out doing various super battles that I would get a dramatic telling of tonight. I’m sneaking around.

  It’s the best use of my abilities. I’m the only one who can easily scout out an area.

  I can do it all in my regular clothes, and besides the fact that some places I'm walking to aren't exactly pleasant or safe, nobody will raise an eyebrow.

  Thankfully, things are slowing down for the holidays.

  Though I’m certain new supers are floating around, biding their time and increasing their skills.

  A small part of me wants to go explore the lab, but I resist that desire. Mostly because the idea of going there without armor makes me feel ill.

  Mostly being impossible to hurt aside.

  Following the path Asher planned for me is painfully easy, but I don't let myself stray.

  A simple search pattern is supposed to be simple so you can follow it easily. I'm just bored because I see everything.

  I keep my scan light. I don't want to invade people's privacy, even if they don't know I'm doing it.

  Even if most houses are empty due to the time of day.

  “Is it snowing cause of Fractal, or is it actually normally snowing?” I ask quietly, lifting my head to observe the falling flakes.

  Asher doesn't respond immediately, so I presume the fight is taking more of his attention, and I return to my patrol, noting down anything I find suspicious.

  Or anything that’s conspicuously normal on the off chance it’s a front.

  A couple of houses and some notes later, Asher finally responds. “Nah, she's pretty light on it today. I'm pretty sure it's genuine snowfall.”

  I let out a small sound of agreement as I pause at a corner. A quick check of my phone confirms which way I should turn.

  “Your super suit is ready now if you want to suit up?” Asher offers.

  “I thought you wanted more time to put bells and whistles on it?”

  “Well, yeah, obviously. But it's operational now, so I was wondering if you wanted to do more fieldwork again.”

  “I know, and I want to too. I just need time.”

  Asher groans. “You sound just like Fractal. It's insufferable.”

  “Uh, what?”

  “We were talking about it in the other channel.” Asher sighs dramatically while I let out a short laugh. “And she said the exact fucking same thing. Unbelievable.”

  “Uh, sorry?” I offer trying to placate the situation.

  “Just don't do anything dangerous till you actually have some protections and tools in place,” Asher says in a dramatic sigh.

  “Any fun ideas I should be worried about?”

  “Your pesky limit is pretty much in the clear, right?”

  I rub the back of my head considering. It's not in the clear, frankly. But I’ve been able to handle a much higher throughput. One that is still increasing.

  I often have my hands free, so it could be time for a weapon.

  “Please, not a gun,” I say with a shrug. I wasn’t comfortable using the pulse pistol, so I didn’t want to risk it.

  “I've seen your god-awful aim before, so I was thinking something more close range for you.”

  “I can't tell if there's an actual reason for that besides being insulting,” I complain while casting my attention behind me.

  “Your whole thing is being a hole in the universe; I don’t think a tiny handgun adds to the image.”

  “I probably wouldn't be able to shoot out phasing bullets even if I can sometimes phase things I'm not touching.”

  “Maybe we'll get you something like a long stick,” Asher jokes, but I stop paying as much attention.

  There are people tailing me.

  “I'll call you back in a bit. I have to text someone,” I say, pulling out my phone and fiddling with it for a moment.

  My phone being off means I don't actually text anyone, and Asher being the person in charge of communication means I can't exactly end the call as long as the earbud is in my ear.

  We set up some code phrases so hopefully he remembers which one this is.

  I probably never would have noticed the people trailing me if it weren't for my powers.

  They don't make any sound, and looking back behind me occasionally, it all looks above board.

  But why are they following me is the question? And can I lose them without doing something inhuman?

  Part of me wants to vanish around a corner and reappear behind them going ‘what do you think you’re doing’ voice, but I can’t pull that off without the helmet.

  Neither of them have some obvious physical mutation that makes me think they're super. Though, if I were just relying on my mind map I couldn’t tell Amelia or Cass’s super status either.

  Unless Cass is mad enough, her hair is on fire, I can catch that. But the regular smouldering, not so much.

  Much to my amusement, they follow me for an additional ten minutes before one makes a move.

  “You new to the job, cop?” one of them asks loudly.

  With the gun aimed at me, I take things slower than originally planned. I rather enjoy the jacket and shirt I’m wearing, and bullet holes don’t exactly increase my enjoyment of an article of clothing.

  Hands raised above my head, I slowly turn around in an attempt not to scare anyone off. “Sorry about that, guys, but I’m not a cop. They don’t exactly jibe with me if I had to guess,” I say, keeping the tone light and conversational.

  When I finally turn to face them, I can admit I'm a little surprised and disappointed. They seem like gangsters, sure, but nothing tips me off. Just regular scruffy folk with a gun and no sense.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “He definitely seems like a cop,” the one not holding the gun says, giving me the evil eye.

  Is it the jacket, dark shirt, and jeans that make it look like I am a cop, or do they just assume everyone who’s clean shaven and clean is a cop?

  “Right, I forgot you would know no better than you would let me check my pockets for my badge,” I say flatly, making a show of rummaging through said pockets.

  I let out a sigh. “No badge, but I have a wallet, though that's not any good for you, is it? You're looking for a cop.”

  The sputtering response is substantially more amusing than I had expected.

  When I make motions that I am going to walk away, however, they recover some of their courage as the gunman jabs his gun in the air, pointing it at me dramatically. “Don’t move!”

  “Or what? You’re going to shoot me?” I ask, bringing my hands up as he lowers the firearm.

  The two share a glance before one speaks again. “Why are you rolling up to our territory and looking around? You’ve been at it for hours.”

  That was a begrudgingly good point.

  “Would you believe it if I said that the purpose was to get some exercise?”

  The response I get from them indicates they don’t like the answer, and I’m running out of ideas on how to placate them, so I have given up on caring.

  I let my hands drop to my side. Part of me enjoys his twitchy response as he tries to react in time to whatever I’m about to do. “I’m not going to tell you. My business is mine, and I’m not afraid of some two-bit hack who can’t even hold their weapon without shaking.”

  “Hack!” One of them yelps in a strangled voice.

  “That’s what I said, so I’m going to get going now. Have a good rest of your day,” I say, stepping forward purposefully.

  I don’t try to be aggressive, but they don’t seem to notice that fact as the one with a weapon pulls the gun up, hand shaking as he practically spits at me in rage.

  He brings the gun up, and I have a moment to decide what powers I am willing to use. I certainly don’t plan on getting shot.

  Phasing is right out the window; mine’s particularly distinct as is turning immutable. Which leaves durability or speed. Though if I fuck up the speed bit, I will show how durable I am.

  My decision made for me as I step forward, jerking his arm away as the gun barks loudly. Before he can wonder what’s happening, I slam my elbow into his nose, sending him tumbling as I look towards the second guy.

  “Are you going to shoot me too?” I ask, shoving the first person to the ground as I stalk my way closer. “Like I said. Not a cop, just looking around.” I say, smiling slightly and keeping my voice cheery.

  Something about the situation sets him off because he screams running away as if I’m going to threaten him with vile torture.

  He left his buddy.

  Though besides being unconscious nothing seemed wrong with him.

  “You there?” I ask quietly.

  “Yup, I was thinking for the Christmas highlight reel that will make a good clip,” Asher snorts, his voice muffled like he’s eating something.

  “What are you using to watch me? I didn't see any drones?” I ask, curious. While in my home, if I found out he was spying on me, I would begin a vendetta. This was super work. It made perfect sense for me to be watched.

  “Nope, but I had cameras set up all around the city a few weeks ago,” Asher says, making me think he's definitely lying.

  “The criminals here have lots of cameras and not so great security?” I ask.

  “Something like that.”

  “Then why did you have me come here?”

  “You see way better than what my cameras can. You done for the day or want to keep canvassing the place?” Asher asks.

  I let out a slow breath as I consider my options. As important as this is, and it’s my role for the team, I am getting bored, and I haven't even done it for a week.

  “I want to do something more active.” I say, listening for the inevitable gasp of excitement. “The folks Smoulder and Fractal were fighting any of them get away?”

  Asher types away on the keyboard as I make my way to the tower. If I am going to do this, I’ll do it properly, bells and whistles included.

  “Huh, a few of them.” Asher says, sounding baffled. “No travel or temperature-based powers either.”

  “Mhmm,” I muse as I move to a light jog.

  “I can have the suit ready by the time you run over. Anything else?”

  “Nah, I got it.”

  The hardest part is not using any of my enhanced abilities. Running at a normal human pace feels dangerously slow.

  It’s strange I don't have any issues being slow at home or walking around. Doing normal mundane stuff is easy.

  The psychic dissonance of doing a task that should be hard effortlessly bothered me.

  Or, I am becoming a part-time adrenaline junkie addicted to my power, and knowing how I could move meant this was abysmal. Like using a top-end PC to play minesweeper, it was a waste.

  Though even when my PC was top end a few years ago, I wasn't playing the games that had the highest spec requirements.

  And I don't know the last time I actually took the time to enjoy my hobbies.

  Existential personal crisis aside, I am closing in on the tower, which means I have to focus.

  Walking through the armory it’s my first chance to see my new super suit. My suit had taken substantially more damage than Amelia’s, and it had been the one we all had agreed to put on the back burner, so I haven’t seen it since I took down Andromeda.

  It’s mostly the same. The color scheme is still ?the same.

  My eyes twitch as my gaze catches the change on the shoulder and chest. A single dark circle.

  “Asher, I don’t care what you think. If I’m getting a logo, it will not be the fucking new moon!” I call out. I know I should probably not use his real name in this situation, but we’re in the base and talking normally, not over a communicator, so I don’t mind too much.

  “It’s actually meant to change depending on what you want. So, any actual ideas for a logo? Or is it going to stay like that?” Asher asks, leaning back in his chair as he continues to eat popcorn.

  “Do a tombstone.”

  “A tombstone? Why would you want something like that?”

  “It’s fitting for one idea I have, okay? Just leave it at that. Besides, it’s just going to be a grey blocky thing so it can change easily,” I say, shrugging off my jacket and stripping down so I can change.

  “I mean, if you want to be known as Graveyard, power to you. And you sort of have the whole phantom thing going on anyway.”

  Not Graveyard.

  I’m not ready to tell people what name I’ve been thinking about. I need more time to mull it over.

  The daily needling has not helped me decide what name I wanted for a moniker.

  Now out of civilian clothes, I change into the jumpsuit thing before using my powers to slip into the armor.

  There’s some sort of complicated method to disassemble the suit and put it back on, but it’s so much easier to just phase it all on.

  Suit fully on, I wait a moment for the rest of the systems in the helmet to turn on fully.

  I activate the silencing function in the helmet to get into the habit of it. “Alright Miracle. Give me directions and I’ll get started,” I say before pulsing my power out and grabbing onto the full suit with my grip.

  It feels second nature now.

  Before Asher can say anything, I’m pumping my legs and leaping out of the clock tower.

  The moment I’m solid and bounding across the rooftops at full speed, the com channel opens up, letting me hear the familiar sounds of my friends' voices.

  “Hey, hey, hey! I needed my favorite janitor to come in and clean up the mess that I made letting those rats escape!” Amelia giggles.

  “Would that make me an exterminator or a janitor?” I ask, holding a hand out and attempting to turn patches of the air phased.

  Worst-case scenario, it would catch my hand and throw me off slightly. Scratch that. Worst-case scenario, I would continue to fail at this task.

  I’ve done it a few times, and I know the saying is slow and smooth or something, but I want it fast now.

  Being able to create barriers in a flash would be really helpful.

  I’m not always going to be the brawler type. I don’t want to be.

  It doesn’t take me long to find their safe house. I can still see the remnants of ?a battle Fractal had nearby.

  “Fractal?” I say in my best neutral I’m definitely not amused tone.

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you for today, but you shouldn’t make a habit of it,” I finally say with a sigh. It’s pointless to argue.

  “Roger dodger!”

  With that being the best I’m going to get out of it, I phase? through the building and land right in front of the group of jerks huddling around a space heater.

  Unlike the last goons I fought, these spring right into action to try and make sure that I ?regret spooking them.

  They didn’t follow through on that threat particularly well, and once they were all out, I had Asher call someone to pick them up.

  I tried not to revel in the sensation.

  It was nice for the problem to be simple. I show up and defeat a bunch of people ?we caught doing terrible things.

  This part of the job was easy.

  Almost freeing.

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