Sami walked out toward the front desk, dusting off the last bits of purple dirt left on him. Opening and closing his Shadow Hand over his shoulder, he made sure it was still working as expected. Able to reform it an hour prior, he was running it through several maneuvers to make sure he had full control.

  Everything seemed to be in order. Either destroying or paralyzing his Shadow Hand made him unable to restore it, at least for a time. Taking mental note, he’d test if he could decrease the wait time between bringing it back to his side.

  He was early to the front desk, but by design, so he could talk with the receptionists and maybe Magnus before deployment. Magnus wasn’t around, but Darius and Lilly both jumped from their seats when they saw him, calling over to him earnestly.

  “What kind of training are they putting you through?” Lilly asked.

  “Are you okay? That must have been rough, sounded like explosions went off in there,” Darius said.

  Sami noticed the coffee cup on his desk, empty. And index cards with multiple folds on opposite sides of Lilly’s desk. Grinning, he looked back at them.

  “Yeah, we’re good. None of the intruders hurt us too bad, and Apex showed up fast enough to clear the ambush before things got worse,” Sami explained.

  Both Darius and Lilly stood frozen, mouths hanging open. Sami looked between them a few times uncertainly.

  “You good?”

  “Intruders?” Lilly asked.

  “Ambush?” Darius spoke at the same time.

  Sami smiled weakly at them.

  “Did you not know? We got attacked. Five guys in goggles broke through one of the walls and just started going off on us. Still not sure what brought them,” Sami said, trailing as he saw the shock etch further on their faces.

  “Seriously?” Darius said, looking like he was searching for a better word.

  “They never tell us anything!” Lilly said, head whipping between Sami and Darius. “How could we literally get attacked and no one tells us! What are we doing here, are we even part of this organization?”

  “Calm down, they probably just haven’t gotten to us,” Darius said, sitting back down, but even he looked sullen.

  “Darius, it was hours ago that we heard those explosions. They forgot about us and you know it,” Lilly said, plopping herself back down with arms folded. “This is ridiculous. Absolutely insulting.”

  Darius had nothing to add, lips tight in thought.

  “Hey, do you wanna talk about your power now?” Sami asked him.

  “I guess,” Darius sighed. “I can operate a telephone switchboard mentally. Got any ways to cook that up into a better power?”

  Eyebrows approaching one another, Sami leaned on the counter.

  “I don’t get it. Like you can redirect phone calls?”

  “No, specifically a telephone switchboard. They used to have operators to connect phones to different circuits to send calls through. I could make those connections, so long as I had a switchboard. I wouldn’t need any of the cables for circuits, though,” Darius said, leaning back in his chair and looking at Sami expectantly. Or was that challenge in his eyes? Sami could figure out a way to make Lilly push her powers to the limit, what about this switchboard business?

  Sami was still catching up to the explanation of the power. “Well… Where are switchboards and operators used today?”

  “Nowhere. Everything’s cellular or operates on direct connections. Operators are nonexistent. Well, except the White House. And maybe a few phone companies. And a couple telephone museums, I guess.”

  Sami worked his jaw, trying to think of something as he stared at the dull, gaseous, red bubble above Darius. Darius leaned back even further in his chair, looking as though he’d succeeded in stumping Sami.

  “How did you even figure out that you had the power?”

  “I had the feeling and I tested it against a bunch of things. You know what I’m talking about?” Darius asked.

  Sami nodded, but Lilly shook her head.

  “You know, The Awakening. Like your mind just lit up for the first time with potential to do more. I remember the morning so clearly,” Darius said. “I went about the most basic routine imaginable. Washed my face, downed some daily vitamins, took a shower, then ate some oatmeal. By the time I finished the oatmeal, something clicked. Like, I knew there was something, even if I didn’t know what. You know?”

  Lilly nodded very slowly. “I think I know what you’re talking about. But I didn’t take it to mean anything. It felt like I just had a really good dream and couldn’t remember it or something. I didn’t know that was the Awakening.”

  “Well now I know why some people have power, but don’t know about it,” Sami said.

  “You have more than one, right?” Darius asked. “Do you Awaken every time?”

  “Yeah. Well, no. Maybe? Two of them, I definitely felt. But Shadow Hand, I got overnight. I didn’t wake up feeling any different. Maybe I did? I don’t know. It was just there.” Sami shrugged with both his shoulders and his Shadow Hand.

  “Did you get the inspiration?” Lilly asked Darius. “Like I got a feeling I could switch places of things.”

  “I was kinda drawn to phone towers, but didn’t know what it meant. Wasn’t until I went to about a dozen phone museums that I figured out how worthless this was. But powers were still pretty fresh at the time, so HUE was happy to take me. Not so sure I’d be hired right now, though,” Darius admitted.

  “We’re just not thinking about your power right,” Sami said contemplatively.

  “I’m pretty sure you say that to all the receptionists.” Darius said, looking at Lilly who blushed lightly.

  “I’ll give it some thought and let you know,” Sami said.

  “I was kidding.”

  “I’m not.”

  “No, seriously. Don’t waste your time. Think about more important things.”

  “Like the applications of your power.” Sami nodded.

  Darius scoffed, looking up as someone else approached the counter. He wore a large black cape and a confident grin. A large Rank of “1B” was emblazoned on his cape, fluttering and he threw it up for a handshake.

  “You must be Kutso.” Magnus approached Sami, extending an arm.

  “Sami,” Sami corrected, accepting the handshake eagerly. “I heard your power is like five powers at once, but I see you only have one power,”

  “Sami is a good name. Kutso is a nice hero name too. Has a nice ring to it.” Magnus continued to shake his hand.

  “No, I’m just Sami.” Sami released the handshake.

  “Ah, sorry. Just Sami.” Magnus raised his hands as if framing the name in lights. “That could draw a crowd. Flows better than Sami The Just, too.”

  Lilly looked as though she was going to correct him, but Sami signaled with Shadow Hand to just drop it. He could explain later when it was less awkward for Magnus. Darius scoffed, amused at Magnus’s expense.

  Right in time, the door opened to the last member of the deployment crew, wearing a massive sheath for a blade the size of a grown man on her back. She adjusted the strap and looked at Sami and Magnus. Her Power Sense bubble was a bold red, and her hoodie emblazoned with “1B.” Sami looked between Kutso and Magnus, both of whom were the same Rank. Magnus grinned, bowing with a whip of his cape.

  “Kutso, I presume. An Italian name if I am not mistaken,” Magnus said, standing up straight and grinning confidently.

  Sami looked at Kutso’s short, curly black hair, deep dark skin, and impressive height. Italy was possibly the last place he would have guessed.

  “It’s the hero name I chose,” Kutso said. “Short for ‘cuts a lot.’”

  “I get it, that’s cool,” Sami said enthusiastically.

  “Ah, yes,” Magnus nodded amiably. “But your real name is…”

  Snapping a finger, a flame sparked in front of his hand, followed by smoke and an index card appearing with a name written on it. Peering, he smirked.

  “Lilly!” he said as though expecting applause.

  “No.”

  “That’s me.” Lilly raised her hand and looked over her desk. “Did you take one of my index cards with that trick?”

  “Ah, then your name is…” snapping again, Magnus burned away the first index card and produced a second in another puff of flame and smoke. Peering at it, he frowned slightly. “Hmm.”

  Sami saw it said “Lilly” again, this time in a slightly different handwriting.

  “Stop taking my cards, I was using them!” Lilly snapped.

  “You must have hidden your name well,” Magnus said to Kutso, ignoring Lilly.

  “Yeah, I’d rather just go by the hero name when I’m in HUE.”

  An awkward silence hung between them while Lilly made her way around the reception desk and snatched the index card from Magnus’s hand.

  “What’s your power?” Sami asked Kutso, pointing with his Shadow Hand.

  “I can put my consciousness into something and control it, making it float around and such. But then my body goes to sleep until I return, so I use it pretty sparingly,” Kutso explained, patting the giant blade on her back.

  “That’s so awesome. You can do this with anything? Not just the sword on your back?”

  “This is the biggest thing I can reliably control. With floating and free movement. I tried to take over my car once and I couldn’t even get a tire fully turned before I passed out from the effort. And waking up as a car…” she shuddered.

  “Your ride’s here.” Darius pointed to the front door where a truck sat outside the warehouse.

  Immediately, Sami headed out, saluting to Darius and Lilly with two fingers poked to his temple. Opening the door, he waited for Kutso and Magnus to pass through before joining. Steve sat in the driver’s seat, rolling down the passenger side window.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “There’s only room for one up front, the other two will have to sit in the truck bed,” Steve called.

  As if he didn’t hear, Magnus went straight for the passenger seat while Sami and Kutso shared a look. Shrugging, Sami hopped into the back, followed by Kutso who sat on the opposite side. Steve opened a window between the front and the bed, twisting his neck to see his passengers.

  “You guys settle in? We’re not going on freeways, so this shouldn’t be a rough ride,” he said, sounding apologetic.

  “Is this the only transportation we have?” Kutso asked.

  “No, Naomi loaned her truck too, but that one was used for Gan Wen and Francine earlier today,” Steve said.

  “All we have are trucks?” Magnus asked.

  “We have another car, but it’s reserved for one member. We’re working on looking for ways for people to donate their cars to the organization, maybe something a little more comfortable. Or roomy.”

  With that said, Steve cleared his throat and started driving slowly, checking his rear view every three seconds to make sure his passengers hadn’t flown off. Sami started to lift his water bottle with his Shadow Hand, taking the drive as a good chance to work out.

  “You said you can take over things,” Sami said, his eyes concentrating on his reps. “Could you take over this water bottle?”

  “I haven’t tried a container, but yeah, I don’t see why not.” Kutso shrugged.

  “Can you show me?”

  “I’m not gonna perform my power like some sort of wind-up doll,” Kutso said, eyeing the water bottle.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to get an idea of what it meant to control something with your power.”

  “Show me your power first. What can you do with that shadow?” Kutso nodded to it.

  “Sure!” Sami sat up eagerly, setting the water bottle down. “Check this out.”

  Raising an empty palm, his Shadow Hand swooped around and clasped it. Tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, he began a thumb war between his real and Shadow Hand. Kutso watched, moving from interest to a bit of annoyance.

  “Is that it?” she asked when the Shadow Hand won.

  “No, that was more a show of dexterity. It can grasp things. It’s basically like a third hand.” Sami looked up as his Shadow Hand rose above the height of the truck, flying up and down as though catching the air currents. “It’s not very strong, though. It could probably leave a little bruise if it hits someone on their bare skin. But I’m getting better at the loads it can carry. And it can move a few feet away from me with ease.”

  Lowering it, Sami tapped Kutso twice on one shoulder, then raced the dark hand to the other side before she could turn her head. She didn’t turn her head, eyes watching Sami closely.

  “You don’t think this whole HUE business is a joke, do you?” she asked curtly.

  “Oh. No,” Sami said, deflating slightly and bringing his Shadow Hand back to his side. “HUE is serious. I just think my power is pretty fun.”

  “Just making sure. I saw you run in first thing during the ambush. It spurred me into sending my sword in. I even blocked a few smoke bombs. But you then versus you now is kinda…”

  “Surprising? Impressive!” Sami attempted, grinning.

  “Sure,” she said, clearly burying a harsher word.

  Sami nodded, pushing down on his Shadow Hand while it pushed back up against his hand. Kutso watched with a raised eyebrow, then sighed and leaned forward.

  “All right, fine, I’ll show you. Make sure my body doesn’t roll off the truck or anything,” she said.

  “Sure!” Sami said eagerly.

  Concentrating, Kutso pointed a finger to the water bottle, then slumped forward. Sami jumped forward to catch her, but her body remained upright, like someone who had fallen asleep on a long car ride. His water bottle sprung to life, floating up and sloshing its contents.

  “It’s weird, the weight of the water throws me off,” his water bottle said.

  “You can talk!” Sami laughed loudly. “I feel like you should’ve started with that!”

  “I thought it was obvious.”

  “You can hear too!? Can you see?”

  “Yeah.”

  “This is amazing, imagine like going out as a golf ball to gather information! No one would see you coming. What’s the range?” Sami asked, holding out his hand like he wanted to poke the bottle, but hovering an inch away to be polite.

  With a metallic thud, the bottle dropped to the truck bed and Kutso’s head snapped back up, the demonstration over.

  “I don’t think there’s a range limit, but I have to be able to see my body to go back. So, I try not to go too far.”

  “Have you tried doing it through a phone screen, or like a live feed?”

  Kutso looked stunned, blinking and tilting her head one way.

  “No. That’s… A really good idea. I never even considered that. Did you just think of that right now?”

  Sami shrugged, smiling. A bump on the road brought their attention forward. A tall plume of black smoke rose in the distance, right where they were headed. Sami’s smile waned, his eyes serious.

  “I think Shadow Hand is good in fire, but I’ve never tested it. If it’s destroyed, it’ll take me forever to reform. Do you feel pain in the body transfer power?”

  “No, I haven’t gotten to the point of pain. I don’t even feel anything unless pieces of the object are chipped or broken. Pain might come from pushing that further, though. I’ve never tested heating anything up, but I smacked the sword around plenty and didn’t feel anything,” Kutso answered, her eyes lingering on the rising smoke.

  “And what about jumping from object to object? Do you think you could control a fire?”

  “I can’t jump from one possession to another. It always has to start from my original body. And from an object, I have to be able to see my body to return. And I get the feeling that fire is off-limits. I don’t want to try. I can’t imagine what would happen if the fire went out while I was still in there,” Kutso said.

  “Makes sense.” Sami nodded. “Just getting a feel for our options.”

  “You ready back there?” Magnus turned his head through the window. “Have either of you done anything like this before?”

  “I dealt with a guy pretending to have fire power before!” Sami replied confidently.

  “I don’t see how that helps, but sure.” Magnus gave him a thumbs up.

  Sami scrunched his face at the remark, sharing a look with Kutso who shrugged and returned her focus on the rising smoke.

  “I think we should look for a nearby fire hydrant for you to take over?”

  “Yeah, water pressure is crazy strong, so you should use your Shadow Hand to redirect it.”

  “If I can’t find anything better to redirect it,” Sami agreed, giving a thumbs up from his Shadow Hand.

  Sami and Kutso moved from a seat to a crouch as the building became clear on the road, ready to move as soon as the vehicle came to a stop. Faintly, they could hear screams from within and around the building. Less than three blocks of distance remained. Considering the next few minutes would be filled with ash-filled air, Sami took a deep, clean breath. Bracing themselves, Kutso and Sami prepared to leap.

  The truck drove by the fire, Sami and Kutso craning their necks to keep their eyes on it. Then, they kept driving. One block. Two blocks.

  Sami broke concentration and looked at the driver’s seat. “What happened, Steve?”

  “You missed it!” Kutso added urgently.

  Steve looked at them through the rear view mirror, eyebrows furled. Magnus turned around fully, regarding them with an easy smile.

  “We’re still on our way.”

  “But the fire!” Sami said, pointing back.

  “Is not our mission,” Magnus finished the sentence for him. “I saw you were at the reception area and assumed you knew what we were doing. Were you not briefed?”

  “Briefed about what?” Kutso asked, watching the smoke recede with wide, disappointed eyes.

  “We’re here to talk to the press. Get the HUE name out at an event! Very exciting. The first time I’ll have a press conference since joining,” Magnus said, brushing off some lint off his shoulder.

  “But if we go help out with a fire, that’s free press! And good publicity. Super easy win!” Sami said desperately.

  “Unless we fail and cause even more damage than we attempt to stop.”

  “We can at least do something!”

  “I don’t set the assignments, I just follow them,” Magnus said, leaning back in his seat.

  “But Steve sets the assignments, right?” Kutso asked.

  Steve’s eyes were no longer on the rear mirror, mortified pupils locked on to the road.

  “Steve?” Kutso prompted.

  “I don’t set all the assignments,” he said, his neck going a beet red.

  “What about this one?” Sami asked, leaning his head through the window.

  Steve said nothing, swallowing hard. Sami found it interesting that Steve wasn’t sweating when under the scrutiny. Something else must have triggered that part of his nerves during tryouts.

  “Steve?” Sami prodded.

  “You really should sit back. It’s dangerous to put your head through the window,” Steve muttered.

  “Okay, but…”

  As soon as Sami’s head was back through the window, it was slammed shut by a clay hand sticking out of Steve’s neck. Steve kept his eyes on the road, even as Kutso knocked impatiently at the glass. Huffing, she sat back into the truck bed.

  “So this is just some marketing tour? Why did they need to bring real Awakened people? Just get a few spokespeople!” Kutso yelled at the closed window.

  Sami couldn’t help but think about Lightcrown’s hesitations regarding HUE. Was this what he was talking about? Good people who would go with the flow, doing whatever the organization asked instead of what was needed? It left a sour spot in his gut, but he tried to find a more optimistic view.

  “Maybe it’s still important. This could be the way to legitimize HUE so that we would be first responders to fires. Imagine a fire department where people don’t have to run inside anymore, only powers run in and out,” Sami said, but he couldn’t hide the glum tone.

  Kutso glanced up at him, but didn’t say anything. Convincing her was difficult when he couldn’t even convince himself.

  The truck pulled to a stop and Sami leaned his head over the truck bed to check the scene. Blinking, he turned to Steve, making sure he was actually stopping. The engine puttered off.

  Looking out, there was a single reporter with a phone held out, recording the truck. Hopping out of the truck, Sami approached her, looking around for others. As had become his instinct when approaching new people, Sami activated Power Sense. He saw nothing above her and flicked the power off, satisfied.

  “This is Joanna Slattery, with an exclusive interview with a member of HUE. Can I get your name before we begin?” Joanna asked formally. She had a thin frame, sharp glasses and hair in a tight brunette ponytail.

  “I’m Sami. What’s going on here?” Sami asked.

  “I thought you were responding to my media request,” Joanna said, pointing her phone to whoever looked closest to speaking.

  “Excuse him, Sami is a fresh recruit. He may not have paid attention to our briefing,” Magnus said, pushing Sami out of the way confidently and presenting himself. “I’m Magnus, formerly Magnus the Magnificent. I’ve been in the field, even taking on a criminal in the district of Indus.”

  “HUE seems to have no problem sending out recruits that are not familiar with their briefing?” Joanna said to her phone, both a question and a note. Sami opened his mouth, but Magnus spoke before he had the chance.

  “Fortunately, HUE has the foresight to send multiple members to ensure no one is confused when on the job.” Magnus grinned amiably.

  “I see,” Joanna said. “And this criminal you confronted in Indus, did you kill them? If not, are they at least in custody?”

  Magnus itched at a non-existent beard. “We stopped the crime and kept the civilians of the area safe.”

  “I’m hearing that the criminal is running free.”

  “The people are safe. Isn’t that what matters?”

  “Until the next time the criminal comes back?”

  “We’ll be there to stop him, just as we did last time.”

  “Seems unlikely with you here in Hammerton Central.” Before Magnus could reply, Joanna turned her attention back to Sami.

  “Sami, do you have anything to add?”

  Magnus’s mouth went thin, but he stepped back to allow Sami to speak into the phone microphone. Sami’s jaw worked in annoyance, Joanna’s condescending tone grated on his nerves, igniting a fire within him.

  “Yeah, who do you work for? What is this interview for?”

  “This is for the Slattery Network. An independent news outlet for Hammerton.”

  “Oh. Then I kinda feel like I’m wasting my time,” Sami admitted, scratching the back of his head with his Shadow Hand.

  “Why’s that?” Joanna asked, undisturbed by the remark.

  “He may be tired from the drive,” Magnus said, placing a gentle hand on Sami’s shoulder, then squeezing sharply. “Besides, wouldn’t you rather have a real microphone?” With a wave of his hand, Magnus procured a microphone with a cord to plug into a phone.

  Joanna didn’t even look at it, her focus remaining on Sami. Raising an eyebrow, Sami didn’t back down from the challenging look. But he made sure his tone remained even and calm.

  “It’s a waste to do interviews when we could be doing good out there with our powers, right? ”

  “So some jobs are too small for you?”

  “Regarding interviews? Yeah. We shouldn’t respond to every media request that comes our way. Not when we could be doing something to help someone in need. You should come to us. Or email us. Or be on the scene. Or literally anything else.”

  “Then why not go the Freelance route? It sounds like HUE is holding you back from helping those in need.”

  “Because HUE could be doing that too, if we didn’t have to spend any time with interviews like this.”

  “You sound agitated.”

  “I don’t think I sound agitated. Are you saying that because I sound agitated or because you want to make sure to capture that term in your news article?”

  “I just report what I see.”

  “Then this is an extra waste of time,” Sami grinned, tilting his head. “You have eyes. Why can’t you just watch instead of talk to us?”

  Turning his head to see if the others agreed, he saw Magnus continue to force a trembling grin. Steve was watching with wide eyes and mouth agape, splayed fingers on his head. Kutso had a hand on her mouth, covering a smirk from the nose down, but it rose all the way to her eyes.

  “Are we good? Can we go?” Sami asked Steve, his back turned to Joanna.

  “Umm,” Steve cleared his throat and looked at Joanna.

  “I can stay to answer any more questions,” Magnus said, standing before Joanna.

  “I think I’ve heard enough, thanks,” Joanna said, tapping off her phone.

  “Great!” Sami said, immediately heading back to the van. He tried to stand on his Shadow Hand and got half a leap before it failed under his weight. But it was enough for him to scramble over. He turned back expectantly to the others who watched him.

  “Well, come on! The faster we get out of here, the faster we can do something worthwhile!”