Hero

Death; the malicious kind.

God this is the third year of this shit. I can't believe we have to get this basic re-training every single year.

The man at the front, Esmund Havvock, wearing a red pinstripe suit, explains in his usual tone of malicious resignation. He'd probably rather be doing a keg stand or snorting cocaine, but he's stuck with us all to give daddy's big company speech.

"Puberty, otherwise known as the intrinsic kind.

Emotion, or breakdowns, hard to control and often cause a restriction of the power, or getting the memories of the power out of them" The board shows many different forms of hypnosis and brainwashing, electro therapy, etc.

"And Ripping. Ripping is forbidden unless truly necessary, but is still practiced widely by those unable to activate their powers, villains who want a powerful sidekick and us, when necessary and approved." The room softly shakes with hidden laughter, 'necessary and approved'. Everyone knows Esmund's daddy Nicolai would approve ripping a chicken if he knew he could watch.

"Rips are more controlled with their powers, just like Intrinsics, but they find emotional strengths in them as well, because of the process. 

You get an Intrinsic riled up?"

"You get nothing." The room responds in monotonous displeasure and boredom.

"You get a breakdown riled up?"

"You get killed." In the exact same tone.

"You get a Rip riled up, and you get progress. Now we all know where we work, and you guys are primarily working with breakdowns and rips, so you don't need me to tell you the process of detaining and containing them, but let's refresh."

Someone forgot to put there phone on silent. Esmund grimaces at the break in his speech and glares down the combat worker whose breastplate pocket is buzzing a familiar seaside tune. 

Esmund clears his throat while they quiet their phone.

"Lead. You know it, we love it. Absorbs a good amount of instability but isn't a full given so when you put them back in their room give'em a wide space or go straight down to two:

Stone, Concrete, and silicone. Our silicone rubber walls down on 2 are between all of the aforementioned. Stone walling on the outside is?"

"80cm."

"At least. Lead layering on that is?"

"15."

"Silicon?"

"20."

"Concrete?"

"10."

"Alright good, Lead and Silicone are absorbers and Stone and Concrete are dampeners, that's why they're in the middle." He lifts a hand under his glasses and rubs his nose. "Well that's enough for today, thank you guys, and feel free to grab the cookies that Priya made."

The conference ends in a milling about of the combat armoured workers, while I leave to the balcony to catch a breath, and maybe some lung killer while I'm at it.

Esmund walks out onto the balcony, he swings off his jacket and grabs my light.

"So, what's the chance on my reps getting overruled?" I wonder aloud to Esmund.

"I'd say pretty high. You've got two brains but only one's fully awake, and your other guy's got it but he's reckless, always off on one and mad, screaming like that."

"He's not great but he's got promise. I need clearance to three. I can get him, I just need three."

"And the brains?"

"Alright so one of them isn't... quite up yet."

"He can't even remember his name!" He passes me his cigarette and I breathe it in for a moment, thinking.

"No, but you should see him on maps, there's just too much up there, it needs re-organising."

"Yeah, everyone knows that's not a third process." He takes the cig and breathes it in. "Look, Ezek, I'd help you if I could but one of yours's has gotta have something worthy of a three to get down there." 

"But I need a three to get them worth it!"

"Yeah. It's probably not gonna happen. You know it, I know it, Nicolai keeps his system the way it is and that's the way it is."

"Don't have half a say in daddy's process? Aren't you supposed to be learning responsibility?" I smile back at him and take another of the smoke.

The winds cuts through the small corner balcony, Esmund replaces his jacket and shrugs at me.

"He's a control freak, only gonna get it when he's dead, so no, not gonna happen." He passes the cigarette back over after his.

"Right. I'll work more on the second I've got, see what I can do." 

He clasps his hands together.

"Thank you, Ezek. Hey I believe in you, you've got this." 

And with that he walks back in, leaving me in the cold sunsetting air.

What an asshole. He's seen how far my team is along and he's not even willing to talk to Nicolai at all.

Stuck in Two for a while then.