Turn Out The Lights

Moving Day

When my mom and dad split, my mom stayed nearby and was pretty close with us at first, until she started dating someone she'd known when she was younger. They became a rescue hero duo and were constantly together, the picture of love and happiness. They got married on a whim one May, but only my brother was there for it. A little while afterwards my mother decided she wanted a change of scenery and warmer weather, so she and her husband Jack moved to Texas. She told my brother, Octavius, and I that we would always be welcome to live with her, and informed us she'd keep a room for us there. I didn't know much about Jack except that he had a quirk that had something to do with languages, but I knew my mom loved him, and she was a pretty good judge of character so I trusted him.

Octavius stayed over that night and we spent the whole night devising a plan to get me out of AQB labs for good. We decided that I would become a hero for one license cycle, then I could go back to doing whatever made me happy. I would take up the offer Aadya said one of the investors would give me and use every resource available to get an American Hero License instead of one just for Indiana, that way I could go to Texas and live with my mom. He was going to get one too so that we could stay with each other throughout everything. He was already studying to be a hero, and his licensing exam would be this next spring, so we had to cram everything we could into our heads so we could take the exam, get our licenses, and get out together. We made a pact that we would do our best every day and we would make it out of this in one piece.

After the visit, Aadya asked the investors that thought I would be worth it to stay and write out what they were willing to invest and what they wanted in return. Many candidates stayed and in the end four were picked so that I could choose the two I wanted to have to pay back one day. I decided that the two that offered abroad opportunities seemed like the most interesting if I had to work for them later. I wasn't told anything except what they offered and what they wanted in return, that either their quirks went well with mine or they'd shown they were a good hero company, and that I'd meet my winners at the end of the week. During the week I confirmed that I had decided to be a hero, and would like to start as many classes as possible the next Monday.

When Friday rolled around I got out of bed and met Octavius in our waiting area before we were introduced to the investors. Aadya had let it slip that the investors were actually from the same country and their offices weren't that far from each other's, but that they didn't get along well, so there might be some tension in the room. I was still recuperating from the weight I lost during my performance and sat nervously munching on the food that had been set out for this meeting. There were tons of foods I'd never seen before, and tons I'd never seen served in this fashion. There was a lot of raw seafood that I liked a lot, as well as some warm sweets and lots of things with rice. I was pretty willing to try almost anything, but Octavius wasn't having any of it and kept to the food we were used to on the other side of the table.

We were told the investors were going to enter so we stood, once the investors entered I backed up a few steps and curtsied into a bow like I was supposed to and waited to be told to sit again. One of the investors came to sit next to me on our side of the table and put a hand on my back between my wings, so I rose to see who was touching me. I looked up and saw a tall, pudgy man with blond hair and kind eyes. He had a big mouth that almost went ear to ear when he smiled at me and wore a big orange hoodie with a large "FG" on it with black pants. I smiled back at him and he pulled out my chair and gestured for me to sit, so I did. When I sat down I realized that the creep I possessed was the other investor, and silently cursed myself for my decision.

Aadya introduced the investors to us: the big green bean as Sir Nighteye, and the angel to my right as Fat Gum. I was to call them by their hero names unless given special permission by them, and I was told that once I became a hero I would be signing papers saying that I would complete their contract requirements before I finished my American contract. From there I was told I should get to know them as much as possible because I probably wouldn't be seeing them again until I worked for them. I decided I knew enough about the man across from me and wanted to know more about the one to my right who was sliding sweets in front of me.