Silver Moon Stories

Chapter 10 The offer they couldn’t refuse

 Max was confused as to what exactly was going on. He had been since Detective Murphy had picked him up and taken him to a special part of the main headquarters of SUAVE in Denver. It was a small dark building on the east side of the campus. As they drove up, Detective Murphy, leaned out of the car and held out his hand. From an unassuming pillar came an arm with what looked like a clear hollow tube at the end. The detective held his outstretched hand directly under the arm and it touched his hand like it was placing a stamp in his palm. The detective pulled his hand away and clenched it tightly enough that his knuckles went white. He turned to Max and said,

 “You know they said that the blood check is supposed to be painless and leave no mark however, no matter how many times I’ve done it, it always feels like I’ve stuck my hand to a light socket using a penny. My hand and forearm are numb for hours afterwards. At least you only have to do it on the way in.” As he finished a door that Max had sworn hadn’t been there before, opened up and Detective Murphy drove the car in. Whatever he drove into was barely lit by four small blue lights. As soon as the car was in, the door closed quickly and quietly.

 “Detective Murphy?” Max asked, “I know that it is unlikely that you will tell me where we going, but seriously, where are we going?”

 “Sorry, Max. We will be there soon and then you will know everything. I promise. It wasn’t my decision to keep you in the dark. Get it? Keep you in the dark?” Detective Murphy smiled as he looked at Max. Max was nonplused at the dad joke. “Man, kid, you are a tough room.”

 “Look at my last twenty-four hours and tell me why I should be laughing. Frankly, for my college and Super graduation day, today feels like one of the worst days of my life.” Maybe Max was being just a bit more dramatic than he actually felt but, dang it, he felt like he was more than justified.

 “Whoa, Max. It’s not like you are being lead to your execution or anything.” Detective Murphy thought for a moment, “Okay, I don’t think this will violate anything. I am taking you to meet with a very important man who has a possible opportunity for you. That’s really all I can say.”

 There was a jolt in the room the car was in, and Max felt his stomach lurch. Then to his surprise, the room turned out to be an elevator. An elevator moving downward. Moving pretty fast too. Max looked at Colin Murphy with a look of shock on his face. In return, Detective Murphy shot Max a smile and gave him a thumbs up. Max felt a frown settle on his face and he turned to face forward and ignored the detective for the rest of the elevator ride.

 When the elevator stopped, The doors in front of the car opened revealing a large mostly empty level that once Max’s eyes adjusted to the difference in lighting as the new floor had much brighter lighting however still in the blue hued spectrum. Max realized that the level was a parking garage with maybe a half dozen cars scattered around the floor. That made sense as it was nearly ten at night. Detective Murphy started the car again and started to move into the garage. Max realized at that moment that the car he was in wasn’t gasoline powered but electric instead. When you get so used to hearing the noise of a combustion engine echoing off walls in a structure, its absence was unnerving.

 “I didn’t know that the police had adopted electric vehicles. I have an uncle in the Arvada police force and as far as I know they still use gas powered vehicles.” Max said.

 “Well, not everyone has them but, we are moving towards more renewal energies. World climate change is a thing, and everyone should do their part.” Detective Murphy said, clearly happy that a real conversation had begun.

 “Didn’t they figure out that the batteries in electric vehicles were just as bad as for the environment as gas cars are, Detective Murphy?” Max said, remembering an article he had read earlier in the year for his senior project course. That had been enlightening.

  “Normally you’d be right. But when you have access to Superheroes things change dramatically. Have you heard of the Super named, Recycle?” Max shook his head that he didn’t. “Well, Recycle can breakdown materials into their base components. Very handy but he can’t do it on a large scale. We’d need an army of people with his power to fix the world. That’s why it is so important to continue to look for scientific solutions.”

 “He can break down any item into its base components. That sounds way more important than grass.” Max looked a little gloomy.

 “Now, don’t look so grim. Like I told you earlier, sometimes just being able to make something that doesn’t seem useful might indeed be a worthwhile ability. Take mine. I can sense and assess the physical health of anyone I look at. It may not seem to useful to most Supers, but in my line of work, I am the go-to guy from a lot of things. Including being a much more accurate lie detector. Oh, and please call me Colin. I am not here as a police officer. I’m here as a contract Super so I’d like to part as friends.” Colin held his hand out and smiled broadly.

 “You’re a Super and work on a contract basis?” Max said looking agog at Colin.

 “Yup and I’m a little more permanent than a contractor but it is much easier to say that say Special Liaison and Contract Employee on loan from the police to SUAVE at any time they want.” Colin still had his hand out, “Oh, by the way. I’m an Omega too, I just decided that my skills were better used in more mundane crime fighting.”

 Max looked at Colin with a measure of respect in his eyes. He reached out for the hand of the man that seemed only a few years his senior and yet was already a detective. “You think that the DPD might have just for a guy who has grass growing under his feet from time to time?”

 Colin laughed as the shook hands, firm but not hand crushing. “I think you might have better things in your future than you might guess. Now, go on and meet you destiny. It should be just ahead through that pair of doors.” Colin released the handshake and waved towards the double doors that Max could now just make out. It looked like a guard was standing in front of them.

 “You’re not coming along?” Max had been so anxious to be out of the car and away from Colin and now he found that he didn’t really want to leave his car. Colin actually had a calming presence. As Colin shook his head to the negative, Max realized that the next part of this journey would be alone. “Thanks, Colin. I hope we meet again.”

 “You can count on it. Good luck, Max.” With that, Max got out of the car. And walked towards the doors. He heard the car’s engine whir into life and quietly start to drive off. Max waved at Colin, and he waved back. Maybe the rest of this day would turn out better than the earlier part. Time would tell.

 As he reached the doors and the guard, he realized that this guy was huge and not a guy at all. He was a gorilla but not just a gorilla, he appeared to be made out of animation. Like he had popped from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Wait, he look exactly like the bouncer gorilla from the nightclub. Max found himself without the ability to speak and just waved his arms and said, “Go… Gor… Gorilla?”

 “Why yes, I am a Gorilla right now. Someone give the monkey a cigar.” That was even weirder. Instead of talking like the animated gorilla from the move, this gorilla had a north London British accent.

Still stunned the next words he stumbled across were, “British?”

“Why, yes. Amazing, give the monkey a two for two. Would you care to try for three?” The gorilla was obviously annoyed.

 Max roused himself out of his shock and said, “No, my apologies. I just wasn’t expecting to meet a mimic. Not to mention one so obviously skilled as you.”

 The gorilla seemed mollified by his answer, “No, I expect not. My Super name is Cartoon. I’m sure you can guess why.” Then he shifted and began bending like he was made of rubber. Suddenly, a man of average height and dark hair stood before him. “My name as a person is , Charles Strond. You may call me Chuck, if you would like . I am here to show you to the Directors office. If you’ll follow me, we shall head there straight away.”

 “Thanks, Charles.” Max started to follow him and then asked a question that had been swirling in his mind since he saw Charles. “Umm…Charles?”

 “Yes, Mr. Blumenthal? What can I do for you?” Said Alex continuing to move forward at a relaxed pace.

 “You can call me, Max. As you were in the form of the gorilla bouncer from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, I’m guessing your mimic forms are all animated?”

 “Indeed. It is nice to meet someone who is at least passingly familiar with animation. “Charles turned his head slightly, “I believe that you have the ability to create grass of any type. Is that correct, Max?”

 Max blushed a little. He knew it was a pathetic power, but it was the only one he could claim. “Yeah, it is. I know it’s kinda lame, Charles.”

 Charles, turned back to face the rest of the hallway. They continued down the hallway in uncomfortable silence for a couple of minutes. The hallway appeared to be made from a type of concrete. There were very few doors and none of them had any kind of signage to them. Max also realized that the hallway was at a slight decline but almost so negligible that it took a while to be noticed. Chuck stopped in front of a door that looked like all the others. There was nothing that made this door stand out, no plaque, no sign, no nothing. Yet, Charles stopped and turned to face Max and held his right hand out towards the door. Max started towards the door.

 “One moment, Max.” Charles said, “Before you go in I was thinking about what you said, about you having a lame power. Do you believe that your power is useless?”

 Max automatically said, “I can only grow grass. Charles that is pretty lame. Look in comparison to your power. You can turn into cartoons. I’m guessing almost any cartoons?”

 “As long as they are traditional cartoons. I cannot turn into anything anime, CGI, or of that ilk. But what I can do is temporary and really only useful in entertaining or being a Super. Max, what you can do with your power, you change the in a permanent way and for the better. I think I might trade abilities quite readily. Keep that in mind during your meeting.”

 Max was a bit stunned. No one had ever said that they might want to trade powers with him. Someone as seemingly cool as, Charles a man who was a living cartoon, would switch powers with him? It just didn’t make sense to Max. Max held out his hand to Charles. Charles shook his hand warmly. His hands were soft but firm. It was a hug of a handshake.

 “It was nice meeting you, Chuck. I hope we get to do so again.”

 A smile as warm as the handshake slipped onto Chuck’s face. “We will, Max. After all, we work at the same place. Now, on you go.”

 Charles let go of Max’s hand. Clapped him on the shoulder as he walked back to the entrance shifting back into the Gorilla Bouncer. Held a large hand up to wave goodbye as he slowly walked away.

 Max took a couple of deep breaths and open the door. Inside there were three people waiting for him. One he knew the others were strangers. When he realized that the one he knew was just halfway across town at the same graduation party that he was at about half an hour ago.

 “Mr. Vaughn?”

***

 “Okay, Mr. Director. The kid’s shown up. Wanna tell us what all this is about?” Ethan didn’t mean to be disrespectful, but he was bored. Inaction was only acceptable during rest, sleep, and observation and the last was still doing something that required you to be very, very still. Ethan had been grounded for a month, and it was beginning to make him itch. Underneath the need to do something was feelings that he didn’t want to deal with right now and the antidote was action.

 “Mr. Marson. Please settle down. We will get to the meat of things momentarily.” Director Vaughn turned to the newcomer, “Max. So nice to see you again. I apologize that you were pulled away from your graduation party, but the board decided that this couldn’t wait anymore. Please have a seat.” The director waved towards the last open chair.

 So the Director knew the kid, interesting. That was something to be filed away for further use later. It didn’t appear that the Director had known the other occupant of the room. A tall gal named Sylvia. For some reason she reminded his of some of those old Greek statues, but he wasn’t sure why. After all, she was fully clothed and didn’t have the haughty look that most of them had. He’d figured it out. The kid, Max, was cute but a bit too young, too skinny, and too straight for Ethan’s tastes. Oh well, Ethan would find a rebound somewhere. Now that Jake had left. Nope, I’m not thinking about him. He left me and he totally ghosted me too. That Jerk! But Ethan didn’t really mean it. His heart had been broken when Jake left the loft the week before and  Ethan didn’t know how long this wound would take to heal.  He had really begun to fall for Jake and know that anchor was gone. He should see if Itsy Bitsy was available for a drink and maybe a pint or three of ice cream. It was then that he realized it wasn’t just that he had been thinking about Mina, someone had said her name.

 “Sorry. Back the bus up. What about Mina?” Ethan had been lounging in the chair with his legs over one arm rest and his head kind of propped against the other. At least these were big comfy chairs.

 “Mr. Marson. If you had been paying attention you would know.” Director Vaughn rubbed his temples. “ Mina Dimanche was a part of an accident where in a perpetrator lost his life and was unable to answer for his crimes. Mina was sent to a secure lab to study why her power went out of control.”

 “Wait her power went out of control? She ate somebody?” Ethan was now sitting on the edge of his chair with rapt attention. He wasn’t the only one. Sylvia seemed to have been caught by the story as well.

 “Mr. Director? Did her power do something like mine?”

 Ethan turned to Sylvia after that comment, “Your power also went out of control?”

 Sylvia nodded her head, “Yeah. It did something it shouldn’t be able to do, and I ended up hurting someone badly. By accident.” Her eyes looked down and she hugged herself.

 The Director nodded. “Similar, Ms. Forester but, not quite the same. That is one reason you are here. Mr. Marson also had an issue with his power.”

 Ethan looked at the Director confusion on his face, “No, I didn’t. I hit my head and started to see things. My power was normal. It wasn’t my power’s fault that William the Scab escaped.” Ethan’s head began to throb at the memory.

 “Ethan,” The director said in a more empathetic voice, “Bedlam read your mind. When you hit your head, your power, how did she describe it, ah yes, your power hiccupped and did something it wasn’t supposed to be able to do.”

 That didn’t make any sense. He had simply had double vision and saw himself in a mirror. Hadn’t he? But the girl, Ashley, had said please, cats. But surely she just saw his reflection too. Right? Okay, so now if Mina had a power glitch, and so did this Sylvia, and let’s assume for the moment that Bedlam was right and he had a hiccup. Then, the kid, Max, must have had one too. He turned to Max, “So, kid, what about your power? How did yours hiccup? Is that why you’re green?”

 Max shook his head furiously and said, “My power didn’t hiccup! I’ve been green ever since my power manifested!”

 “Max’s power didn’t hiccup. His presence here is classified. “The director closed done all talk of the kid.

 “I’m classified? Even from me?” Max said to the Director. “Mr. Vaughn, Director Vaughn, is it possible that I could ask you in private about that afterwards?”

“No, Max. I’m sorry. Even if you ask me in private, I still can’t talk about it.” The Director walked over to Max and place a hand on him, “I really am sorry, Max. I know how close you and Emily are but, believe me, this is the right place for you. When you get settle into the new role we are about to offer you, you will have free time to visit your family and Emily too.” The Director smiled at the kid.

 “New role? What new role? Do we all get the same offer?” The questions were out of Ethan’s mouth before he realized that he was speaking his thoughts out loud. The glare Director gave him was as icy as the power that he wielded. Ethan, feeling only a little embarrassed said, “Mea Culpa everyone. Sometimes my mouth is faster than my brain however, the questions still stand.”

 Director Vaughn moved away from Max and finally sat in the chair behind his desk. Luke Vaughn was a large man, not huge but still large, about the size of a football quarterback. Tall but a lot of lean muscle on his frame after many years as one of the area’s top Supers. He had hung up Flash Freeze a few years before, instead moving into administration. Most people said his even temper and calm demeanor were just right for the job. Ethan was his nephew, well his half-sister’s son and in general a pain in the ass to the family as a whole. That was alright, Ethan preferred to be the black sheep of the family. It kept too many people from spying into his life. He was exceptionally private in his personal life and liked it that way. He had a few close friends, and he talked to his mom at least one a week. He liked people just fine, when he could hold them at a distance. He was more than just a man that turned into a cat, being a feline was a part of his nature period. He felt that most people misunderstood cats and likewise misunderstood him too.

  “Yes, Mr. Marson. The offer will be made to all of you. Right now it is late and I wish to return home. Please enjoy the guest rooms for the night, I will send Mr. Strond to so you the way. In the morning, you will meet with my colleague, Robert White, so of you might now him as Robed Justice. He with make you the offer and explain everything to you. Right now, I need to know if you are willing to wait until he can explain things to you before you make a decision one way or another.” Director Vaughn steepled his fingers in front of him awaiting their responses.

 “What if we say, no?” This was Sylvia who asked the question they were all thinking, “You’ve barely given us any reasons that we are being detained like this. Isn’t this illegal?”

 “Well, Ms. Forester, that is a good question. Let’s take you, we could turn you back to the police for assault and battery of the man you hit with a fastball.” He turned to Ethan, “Mr. Marson. You are already on suspension for bungling the capture of the criminal, William the Scab. We can just turn that into a full expulsion from SUAVE. Then you will be taken before the board of directors per your contract, and you may be sent to one of the labs to see why your power malfunctioned.” Finally, he turned to Max and again his face softened a bit, “I know this is difficult for you, Max, but I hope that you will take me up on this. If as goes as planned, you maybe instrumental in changing SUAVE for the better.”

 He moved to rub his temples once again. The look on his face changed to one of pain then back to calm. “Listen, I know that I’m asking all of you to take a lot on faith here, but I promise you that I really do have all of your best interests at heart.” He took his hands from his temples and pasted them over his bald head and then gave them all an earnest smile. “I know all of you, even though some of you may not know a lot about me. Ethan, you are my nephew and before you recoil from that, I understand why you’ve kept your distance from most of the family. However, I’ve followed your career with interest. You are resourceful, smart, and dedicated. One of the best Supers to come along in a while. The only issue is most people see little use in your power. Max, you are the best friend of my daughter, Emily. Not only do I trust her judgment, but I‘ve asked your professors about you and you are considered bright, knowledgeable, and dependable. The only thing you lack is experience and a power that is more useful. Finally, Sylvia. I was a part of the judges that determined if your power was worthy of SUAVE training. Myself and one other voted yes. Unfortunately the other three voted against you, again I believe that all your powers have more usage in your powers that others see. I believe the hiccups” with this he pointed at Sylvia and Ethan, “You two experienced might be new aspects of your powers emerging. Max here,” and with this he waved his hand at the kid, “Has not explored the full potential of his powers. At least, that is what a few of us think. Please understand this is not punishment. On the contrary, I believe that the roles we are creating for all of you might just make SUAVE a better organization. “

Ethan was flabbergasted by the reveal that not only had his uncle followed his career, he actually seemed to believe that Ethan was a better Super than many gave him credit for. He wanted to thank his uncle and give him a hug, but that was not who he was as a person or a Super. He finally decided that a brief but deep nod and he said, “Okay, I’m in.”

 His turn had obviously surprised the three other occupants of the room. Director Vaughn looked at Ethan and gave a brief smirk. “Thank you, Ethan.” It seemed like that icy gaze had warmed for just a moment before the usual calm and authoritative visage slipped back into. He looked towards the others.

 Sylvia thought about it for a moment and asked, “I’m not saying that I’m not in but, what about my apartment and the back rent I owe? And my stuff?” She sheepishly looked at Ethan and in a quieter voice said, “What about my cat, Toasted Marshmallow?”

 The Director seemed to have anticipated this and was already nodding, “Yes, Sylvia. Your rent has been taken care of. Your lease has been broken, and you owe no more money. Your stuff has been packed and stored in one of the SUAVE on campus storage lockers, and Toasted Marshmallow is currently staying in a posh pet hotel.”

 Ethan couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. “Toasted Marshmallow? What kind of a name is Toasted Marshmallow to give to a cat?”

 Again, look more than a bit abashed at the name choice, “Well, she looks like a Marshmallow that has been toasted by a campfire. I call her Toasty or Mrs. Toasty for short.”

 As yes, this was going to be a very, very fun group of people. He placed his face in his hand and groaned softly.

 “Well, as you’ve gone to all that trouble, I’m in too.” Sylvia said.

 “Max, what do you say?” The director looked at the newly minted college graduate.

 “Honestly? I was expecting to end up the grounds keeper on some distant outpost in the middle of nowhere. You better believe I’m it!” he seemed a little worried that he’d agreed too fast, “We’re not going to the middle of nowhere, are we?”

 For the very first time since they’d all come into the room, Director Vaughn laughed. It was really only a couple of chuckles, but it relaxed all of them instantly. “No, Max. Not unless you consider downtown Denver the middle of nowhere.”

There was a chorus of “Nope.”

“Good. Let me go and grab Mr. Strond to show you all to the guest rooms. The next adventure starts tomorrow.

***

 “How much did Vaughn tell ya’ll?”  Robert White tried to shake them out of the dad joke and bad impression he’d just thrown their way.

 Next to nothing, Sylvia thought. The room that she’d stayed in the night before had been very nice, nice Las Vegas VIP Suite nice, but she’d been unable to sleep. Instead she tried her cell phone but of course there was no signal. Surprise, surprise, surprise she thought hearing the voice of Gomer Pyle in here mind. There was a television on the wall in the room so Sylvia decided to find something, anything playing that would distract her from thinking about the current situation. She grabbed the remote and sat on the bed. Damn, Sylvia thought, this bed feels nicer than mine. She turned on the TV and realized that there was a bunch of icons for different streaming services. She missed the days when she was young, turning on the TV using the remote to flip through the channels hoping to find something new or something old either of which could entertain or disappoint but the hunt was real. It was like going to a library and looking at all of the titles, hoping one sparked interest or excitement. It was amazing. You could find things that you never knew about that would expand your world and refine your tastes.

 She found a streaming service called Laugh Out Loud, which has a bunch of older comedy movies and television shows. She selected it and sure enough, the service was available with a guest sign in. She selected one of her favorite shows. One that she’d watched dozens of times and could still watch dozens more. It was part nostalgia and part excellence in action. It was one of the best comedy shows that had ever been produced, at least Sylvia thought so. It seemed like others had felt the same since there was a new version that had been created. Even though it was never serious, it still managed to deal with the issues of the time, some of those things were still issues today. It was set in a New York court room. The melting pot of cultures and classes. Sylvia loved all of the characters; it was hard for her to pick a favorite. Some days it was the magician turned judge, Harry Stone. Others, it was all of the female bailiffs, especially Roz Russell who’s blunt and no-nonsense attitude made Sylvia respect and admire the character. She knew they were just characters and the actors were not the same people. But her Dad had loved the show, and it was on all of the time in the house when she was growing up. Her Mom liked the show too, but her Dad had seen it so many times that he could quote entire episodes without out even thinking about it. It drove her Mom nuts, but Sylvia loved it. She started learning the episodes too and she and her father would do entire episodes just for fun or randomly one of them would start a line and then they would finish the scene. Night Court started her love of comedy and doing different character voices. She tossed the remote on to the bed, relaxed, and said, “Oooohhhkay.” Just like Bull the Bailiff.

  “Pretty much nothing, Mr. White, sir.” Said Max. She liked him. He was honest, nice, and about as naïve as someone who’d been home-schooled their entire life. Regardless, he liked cartoons and old movies, so that gave him a double thumbs up in her book. Besides, he kind of reminded her of Kermit the Frog, her favorite Muppet.

 “I told ya, Max, call me Robert. As my daddy used to say, don’t call me sir, I work for a living.” Only time Sylvia had heard that particular phrase was from someone, that person had been an enlisted man who had retired from the Army. Robert White had gone up in her respect.

 “Army?” Sylvia asked

 Robert turned towards her, “Me? Shoot, I was never in the military. My daddy was a Navy seaman in World War 2. Served on the U.S.S. Lexington during the big war as a projectionist.”

 “Didn’t the Lexington go down?” Sylvia asked.

“The first one, yes. Most of the crew survived. Still nearly three hundred souls were lost. My father served on the second Lexington the so called ‘Blue Ghost’. I believe that you can tour it down in Corpus Christi. But we are gettin’ sidetracked.” He looked at Mina, “You wanna tell ‘em?”

 “You want me to tell them?” Mina looked like she nearly swallowed her spoon. There was something off about that spoon, but Sylvia couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “No way, Rob. I just as roped into this experiment as the rest of them. You tell them your wonderful news.”

 Robert looked at her and there was pain in his eyes. It was obvious that he cared for the small woman. Sylvia looked at Sara and she had a pained expression too. There was a relationship here that was more than just Supers that were friends or even old mentor and student. She’d seen that look on her parents face when she had her heart broken by the first guy she had truly loved. She didn’t know the relationship here, but it was obvious that the Whites looked upon Mina as a part of their family. Robert took in a deep breath and started.

 “Alright ya’ll, here it is. You are going to be a part of the very first all Omega Supers team! What do ya think of them apples? Pretty great, right?” He said it as if they’d just won the lottery. No one cheered or clapped or even made any noise. Silence settled over the room.

 It lasted for a few minutes. Sylvia decided to finally ask her question. “My apologies, Robert, but I’ve never been a part of the Super world, so I really don’t know what that means.”

 Ethan was the one to answer her, “It means that we will be the first team of all losers.” He looked right at Robert, “What are we going to be janitors? Are we going to be a clean up crew for Alphas and Betas the others? If that the case, I’m out no matter I said to Uncle Luke.” He looked around the table at the others, “You all should be too, Darlings.” The last he said with a twang in his voice as if he was mocking Robert White. He rose to leave.

 Mina stood up and stared Ethan down. There was a fire her eyes that said he’d just crossed a line, “Hey! I love you like a brother, Ethan, but that doesn’t mean you get to disrespect, Rob! He made this happen for us!” She waved her hands around the table, “He made this happen for all of us! Ethan, you were going to be kicked out of SUAVE because you blew that mission, Sylvia, if Robert and Director Vaughn hadn’t stepped it, you would have been going to jail for assault. Max, you were going to be relegated to some team that would use you to restore grass in civic parks and stadium to peak health, and I was … going to become a lab rat for the rest of my life. I owe him so much. We all owe him.” She sat down and began to silently cry.

 “I didn’t know.” Ethan said. “Mina, honey, I am so sorry. I didn’t know.” He moved to Mina and hugged her. He looked up at Robert, “I am sorry. I don’t know. Thank you for all you’ve done for us.” He sounded sincere to Sylvia and Robert nodded and smiled.

 “Thank you, but I didn’t take no offense. People like you all,” with this gestured at all of the others including Sylvia, “you are used to people treating you like dirt. I promise you that is not the intent here. Lend me your patience for a few minutes and I will explain.”

 Max spoke up for the first time in awhile, “I don’t know about you guys, but I kind like the idea of a team of only Omegas.” He looked at Robert White, “That is as long as we aren’t just going to be janitors. Are we?”

 Robert smiled and shook his head to the negative. “No, son, you all are not going to be janitors. Your team with have small jobs here and there but mostly to hide your real mission. Ya’ll are going to save the world.”

 They all stared at him dumb founded. Mina stopped crying and looked up at Robert, “What the fuck do you mean, save the world?”