Games of Chance

Twelve

A lot of you like Juliana, and I agree, haha! Roy is a very necessary character to balance out Juliana's idealism, but he can be a little too much of a realist sometimes. And he underestimates the Heirs! I think they can totally handle being superheroes- what about you? 

Chapter poll:

The Heirs should step into the roles of Project PROB and defend their country from the Eagle! They're all smart and talented enough, and if they work hard, they can manage it. 

or

Roy is right... they're too young and inexperienced, and their lives are too precious. They're better off fighting as they're used to. 

....................

Scarcely had the meeting ended, and Juliana was already briskly leading the other Heirs back down the hallway as she spoke to Hayley in excited whispers. 

"...it's my senior project. I was doing it for fun. I simply cannot believe the King is open to implementing it! It's so exciting, but I'm terribly nervous... what if I made a technical error? What if the suits aren't ready in time and I am to blame?" 

Hayley nodded sympathetically as they made their way back through the lobby and onto the glass elevator. Chase, who'd been struggling to keep up with the other Heirs who obviously knew their way around a lot better than he did, stumbled into the pod just as the doors closed behind him. It was only when Juliana pressed the button for floor -45 that he realized just how deep into the ground Order headquarters went. His eyes followed the two rows of rectangular, playing card-shaped buttons all the way down to the -100th floor. 

Chase was decidedly terrible at cheering people up and usually made the situation worse whenever he tried to step in, but even he noticed that Juliana was on edge. She tugged on the elbows of her peacoat as she pursed her full lips, looking down at her expensive leather boots. 

"Hey..." Chase knew he was about to make a fool of himself, but he decided to give it a try. "I don't know much about your research or Project PROB, but whatever you can do to help find my parents, I know it'd be a lot more than any traditional government agency could offer." 

Juliana looked up at him, her brilliant green eyes sparkling with surprise. After all, this was the first time he had directly initiated a conversation with her. Her lips curled into a small smile. "Thank you, Chase. I really do hope so. Lord and Lady Hewkin are like parents to me, too."

"No need to get sentimental," Roy said gruffly. "If PROB doesn't work- which it won't- we can just solve this like the Order solves every other problem: with a team of agents and a mission."

"This isn't like every other problem," Juliana sighed. "The Eagle has the Power, and now he's got the Hewkins. He's planning something big, and we have to stop him before he succeeds." 

"She's right," Hayley crossed her arms seriously. "Nebulik just wanted to live forever. The Eagle wants to rule the world, and he knows as well as we do that the Alpha Box is the only way to do it. If we want to rescue the Hewkins and protect the Box, we need a new strategy." 

Roy, outnumbered, sighed in discontent as the elevator doors opened in the middle of a huge, circular chamber. Order members in lab coats huddled over glass screens and manipulated the holograms projected above them as announcements blared through distant speakers. How Chase would've loved to learn all about the futuristic technology that surrounded him. As he surveyed it carefully, trying to take it all in, his eyes fell upon something that was markedly out of place. Set in a glass frame on the ceiling was a single piece of white paper, covered in the crayon drawing of a small child. Chase could barely make out eyes, a mouth, and messily colored black hair. The girl in the drawing wore what looked like a red jumpsuit with lightning bolts emanating from her oversized hands. Below the drawing was a short note written in impeccable print.