Chapter 1.2.11 — Serenity 2

Serenity flew back to Summit station number three, an unmarked mid-sized office building on the upper end of Belport’s Eastside. She didn’t know if Hunter was behind her. She didn’t really care.

She needed to meet with her superior officer.

Even as Serenity flew, she was reaching out via psychic link. With any luck, she could meet with Ryder before Hunter asked too many questions.

The scanning system read her biosignature and a hidden door opened on the third level. Serenity floated in, not bothering to greet the curious support staff. They all perked up from their workstations, looking little different from any other office in Belport. Serenity walked right past them without answering their questions. She walked down to the second floor and to the innermost room of the building.

To the most secure room in the section headquarters.

Scans silently confirmed her identity before the doors slid open. It was little more than a conference room, albeit one with a giant mass of resonance crystal sitting on the center table. It rose up roughly three feet off the table like a half knocked-over sandcastle and shimmered with intrinsic light—a cellphone for psychics.

Serenity sat down in the first chair she came to, took a deep breath, and tried to collect her thoughts before calling her boss.

A moment later, the head and shoulders of Ryder appeared in front of the crystal like a hologram, except that he was actually displayed in her mind’s eye. He was a middle-aged super who dressed the part of upper management, who had rough, dark skin and a brilliant smile. Once, Serenity had found him quite attractive, but that was before he’d delved into her mind as part of her Summit training.

“Tell me, Serenity,” he said, voice coming through warmly, “what do you need to confess at this hour?”

She told him about the night’s patrol with Hunter Nine and their run-in with the two unnamed supers—the cyborg and the girl wearing powered armor. Ryder listened intently, though he kept his expression as neutral as a machine.

When she finished, Ryder spoke calmly. “Not only did you go off protocol, you failed to bring in your quarry… But I suspect that’s not all you have to tell me. What else do you need to confess?”

Serenity’s voice wavered as she spoke. “I scanned the cyborg’s thoughts without his permission.”

“Ah, I see. And what did you find?”

“I discovered his name and the names of his accomplices.”

“Go on.”

“Emmett Laraway. Clara Venture, and Dr. Venture.”

“I see…”

There was a knock at the door behind Serenity, and a moment later, Hunter Nine requested access. In the display, Ryder waved a hand and granted him access. Serenity tried not to roll her eyes.

There was a moment of pause as the crystal automatically extended the view of their boss to the new viewer.

“Ryder, sir,” Hunter hesitated, “I take it that Serenity has already briefed you?”

“Yes,” Ryder said calmly.

“...Is there anything that I’ve missed? I assumed that Serenity would wait for me before contacting you.”

“There is nothing that I require you for, Hunter Nine. You may take your leave now.”

Serenity could hear the fabric of Hunter’s gloves as he clenched his hands. Hunter said, “Sir, these weren’t run-of-the-mill masks. To have technology like that—they bypassed our jamming equipment. They had stealth capabilities that exceeded our tracking! There can’t be that many artificers with those kinds of capabilities.”

Serenity forced herself to breathe slowly and deeply. Despite her annoyance, Ryder didn’t so much as blink.

“Your concerns have been logged, Hunter Nine. Now, if that is all, Serenity still needs her debriefing.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Serenity saw Hunter glance down at her. “You scanned the tinjob? What did you find—”

“That will be all, Hunter Nine.”

But Hunter didn’t look at his superior. He was still looking down at Serenity. Finally, her partner turned and stormed out of the room, leaving her alone—physically, at least.

“I apologize for my partner, sir,” she said. It was a reflex that she was tired of repeating. “Sir…”

The twinge of annoyance in Ryder’s voice was replaced with his normal, calm demeanor. “Ask your question, Serenity.”

“Hunter is right about their capabilities. If the Summit of Heroes is going to take appropriate measures, I would like to be involved, even if Hunter isn’t.”

Ryder was silent for a moment, as if considering what he was going to say. “The Summit is aware of Mr. Laraway and the Ventures, but their next steps are classified. Neither you—or I—are privy to that information.”

Serenity strained to feel any hidden meaning layered in her boss's words, but his mind was as walled-off as the rest of him.

“What about the Porcelain investigation, sir?”

“Continue as directed. Bring back any information you gather. Now, if that’s all, prepare for your debriefing.”

Serenity hesitated only a moment before leaning forward and placing her hand on the crystal.

Psychics were one of the Summit’s most powerful assets. They were also one of its most vulnerable points of attack. When a low level psychic garnered information during a mission, they were to bring that information directly back to the nearest station. They were supposed to share said information with their superior officer and no one else.

After that, it was routine for that psychic to have their minds wiped. Not of everything, thankfully. Only those pertinent secrets.

The resonance crystal flared with light as Ryder extended his power through it. To Serenity, the crystal grew warm to the touch, then the sensation crawled up her arm and around her skull. It was almost pleasant, except for the anticipation of what happened next.

Serenity tried to relax and focused on the names:

Emmett Laraway. Clara Venture. Dr. Venture.

A single spike of power hit Serenity’s brain, something between a jolt of electricity and a stabbing headache. It made her entire body flinch and she had to focus to keep her hand on the crystal.

It’s only three names, Serenity told herself. It’s only three names.

Then one more flash of pain, and it was over.

~

Even though the pain was gone, the sheer intensity of it left many a psychic reeling. Serenity was no exception. Ryder continued speaking as she recovered, and it was a struggle to focus on her superior’s words.

At least it was only… Serenity struggled to remember before finally accepting the erasure. At least it was over.

“Debriefing complete,” Ryder acknowledged. “Continue your patrols of the warehouse district and report any further developments on the death of Porcelain or details about the Champion street attack. Bring any and all information to me. You are dismissed.”

Serenity nodded and felt the connection sever. She massaged her temples feebly through her mask, then left.

Hunter Nine was pacing just outside the door and turned to confront her. “It’s—it’s all gone, isn’t it?”

“You know it is,” Serenity said, trying to walk around him.

Hunter stepped in front of her, lips curled into a sneer under his masquerade mask. “What was it?”

Serenity stared back at him, trying not to show weakness, but between the pain, the aftereffects of the debriefing, and her partner looming over her, Serenity’s chest felt tight. She didn’t have to read Hunter’s mind to know how angry he was.

“I don’t remember.”

“Bullshit.”

“You know how it works.”

Hunter scoffed. “Yeah, it’s so fucking horrible, so painful... Yeah, you remember something.”

“I don’t know. It was something small… A name, maybe.” She hoped it would placate him—

Instead, Hunter whirled around and raised his voice. “A name! Do you know what I could’ve done with a name? We could find that tinjob tomorrow. First you let him get the jump on you, and then run off to Ryder—”

“Stop, Hunter! Just stop. You know I can’t tell you. I’m not going to break protocol just because this is personal.”

Hunter Nine glared at her, Somehow his silence was even more menacing.

“Right, you’re completely right,” Hunter said, holding up his hands in defeat. “You psychics and your protocol… I don’t expect you to understand. You weren’t there that night on Champion street. You don’t know the type of people—the type of supers that we’re dealing with. You don’t. Ryder doesn’t. But I do.

“Maybe the tinjob and the artificer were there, maybe they weren’t. But we don’t know, now do we? Ryder’s going to give our lead to some other team… Fuck it, it’s too late now.”

Hunter paused and glared at Serenity again. “Next time, you should tell me. Or I’ll wring the answer out of them myself.” He stalked off, leaving Serenity alone in the hall.

She leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and rubbed her arms. It was over, Serenity told herself.

There was nothing else to do but kill time until the next patrol. A part of her hoped that her and Hunter wouldn’t run into those masks again, for their sake. Hunter had always been an asshole, but now he was coming unhinged.

Worst of all, Serenity wasn’t even sure she could stop Hunter if she needed to. Even if she used her magic to freeze him, Hunter’s magic would be unaffected—just like that cyborg’s prosthetic arm.

And no matter how many times she brought her concerns to Ryder and the Summit, they didn’t do anything proactive about Hunter. Then again, they were always good at cleaning up messes after the fact. Not so much preventing them.

Serenity sighed and tried to calm herself. There was nothing she could do right now.

At least it was over.

~ ~ ~