Nine-to-Five 016

Career Opportunities I

~~~

“I thought about this the first time we came here, but this place is pretty damn cool, you know? Like, when you get down to it, it’s really just a big room full of exercise equipment, but it’s a fancy big room full of exercise equipment. Like, Mr. Espinoza once went and bought himself a treadmill to use during his off-hours, but that thing was super flimsy. Nothing at all like the ones here. It’s all high-class here and stuff. You get it, right?”

Amanda did.

The gym on the 70th floor of The Blade had everything one could need to keep in shape and then some. Sturdy weights. Sleek exercise machines with high-tech displays. Even a steam room and a sauna somewhere further back if the signs were to be believed. This was the sort of gym one usually had to pay hefty monthly fees to access, only to inevitably never use it because work and life would keep getting in the way.

That was not the case here. The only thing limiting anyone’s access to this gym was employment to Regum. So long as one was an employee, regardless of how low their position, they could use the gym as long and as often as they wanted to. It was a wonderful thing by just about every metric.

So yes, she understood exactly what Tim was getting at.

“Focus!” She said instead, lightly slapping Tim on the shoulder, then instantly regretting it. The last thing she wanted was for Tim to get distracted and have an accident because of her.

Not that he seemed to be in danger of that happening anytime soon.

“Eh, I’m fine,” Tim said.

Cheerily.

Breezily.

As though he wasn’t bench-pressing 300 lbs.

It had been Amanda’s idea. Even with assurances that she’d be closely guarded by Regum’s security, she was in no hurry to leave the building. Testing Tim’s powers seemed like a decent time-waster and a natural step for him to take. That would help Tim avoid accidentally breaking something or someone because he didn’t know his own strength. That was half the cases her mom had to deal with.

While not precisely private, Regum’s gym provided them with all they could need to test Tim. At the very least, it’d give them a decent baseline to work with. Bench-pressing was not where Amanda would have started, but Tim had immediately zipped over to the weights, claiming he’d always wanted to lift them, “like in those movie montages.”

Amanda was spotting him. Not that she thought she’d be of any use spotting someone with super strength, but it was the principle of the thing!

Safety first.

300 lbs wasn’t an extraordinary number for an Exceed. It wasn’t even out of the realm of humanity. However, for someone as skinny as Tim, it was damn impressive. Even more so because Tim was making no effort whatsoever. There was not a drop of sweat on his forehead.

If Amanda didn’t know any better, she’d swear the weights were made of foam.

“In fact, I’m pretty sure you can up the weight,” Tim said, letting the barbell rest on the safety catch. Not that he needed to do it. He could probably keep holding it up while she added more weights and had, in fact, tried to get her to do it that way, but Amanda had refused on the grounds of it being reckless. “Like way more. I’m thinking a hundred pounds more.”

Amanda gave him a look.

“Are you sure?”

So far, they had been upping the weight by 50 lbs each time. They had started with 50, then 100, then 150, and so on. However, 400 lbs would be well over twice Tim’s body weight. That was no longer the sort of weight a casual gym-goer could lift. That was reserved for the dedicated who practiced constantly.

Regardless, Amanda was asking if he was sure out of mere formality and nothing else.

She knew. Tim knew.

He could handle that weight without trouble.

“Positive,” he said peppily, slapping his hands and rubbing them together. “Come on. Let’s go for it!”

Wordlessly, Amanda picked more of the disk-shaped weights and affixed them to Tim’s barbell. Weirdly, moving 100 lbs wasn’t as hard as she thought it’d be. Perhaps it was all the running she’d been doing that had helped her get in shape. Or maybe she’d gotten accustomed to carrying the plates over the past half an hour she’d been helping Tim.

As soon as she was done, Tim was bench pressing 400 lbs as easily as he’d been doing 300 lbs.

Tim giggled.

Not laughed. Not chuckled. Not snorted.

Giggled.

“I love this.” Up and down the barbell went. Smoothly and without trouble. Tim’s awed eyes followed it every step of the way. “So. Much. No wonder I haven’t been having any trouble lifting anything lately.”

He giggled again.

“I’m happy you’re having fun, but I suggest we stop for now,” Amanda said, crossing her arms. “You’re going to call way too much attention at this rate.”

Someone that looked like Tim lifting so much with such ease was not normal. It was a good thing there weren’t many people at the gym at this hour and that the weights were in a mostly deserted corner of the floor. The only person nearby was a guy running on the treadmill, but he was more focused on listening to whatever was playing on his headphones while bobbing his head to the beat than looking their way.

Still, there were bound to be security cameras around, something Amanda had known about before but hadn’t taken into consideration when she suggested using this place.

She sighed.

Maybe she wasn’t as okay as she felt.

“We’re going to need a different place to find your upper limit.”

Which was all sorts of troublesome. Without tools, they’d need to find something heavy for Tim to lift.

Probably something in the range of a big motorcycle or a small car from the looks of it.

“Aw, really?” He had the gall to pout at her. Naturally, the expression was ruined by the ease with which he kept the barbell raised over his body.

“Yes, really!” She hissed. “Now, put that down!”

“Fine. Fine,” Tim grumbled, finally putting down the barbell and sitting. After doing so, he rolled his shoulders and moved his neck around. Amanda got the oddest feeling he was just doing it because he thought it made him look cool.

“We can still use the other machines, though. Right?” Tim asked as he rose to his feet. He did a few little jumps and threw some punches at the air. “I’m all raring to go and stuff! Like I’m the Little Engine that Could after he could! Now I want to keep going until I can’t!”

It was decided. She was never introducing Tim to Kate or Sophie.

Especially Sophie.

“Now that’s a guy after my own heart!”

“Mr. Gerald!”

Gerald waved at them as he made his way over. He was wearing black workout pants and had a white towel slung over his shoulder. His plain white shirt was stretched fetchingly over his considerable muscles.

“The body’s a temple, kids. It pays well to take care of it.”

Gerald flexed his arm to further illustrate his point. After staring at his bulging bicep for a little too long, Amanda shook her head and tried to focus on his face.

“Mr. Gerald,” she said, “about my…”

Amanda trailed off, her gaze darting towards Tim. He might have had no problems telling her his big secret, but she wasn’t sure she could do the same. No, that wasn’t quite right. She knew she couldn’t.

Amanda was not an open person, and she was okay with that.

“It’s okay,” Mr. Gerald told her, saving her the trouble of having to figure out a way to discreetly bring up the subject. “That leak you found is already being taken care of. You won’t need to worry about any water getting on the files.”

The lie came naturally from his lips. Amanda couldn’t help but marvel at how easily Mr. Gerald managed to address her worries without altering Tim of the issue.

“Really!” She jumped on the spot. “That’s…”

Great? Amazing? Incredibly comforting because now she knew someone was watching over her parents to prevent them from being ruthlessly murdered?

“Good.” Amanda breathed, suddenly feeling very tired. “Good.”

“Always to help out,” Gerald said with a smile that didn’t take her breath away but instead left her feeling warm and safe. It was as if the grime left by meeting Nathaniel Robards was finally washed away.

This was Regum.

She was safe here.

“Speaking of helping out, I’m glad I found you two here.” Gerald brought his hands together. Though slight, the motion was strong enough to create a strong clap that immediately had Tim and Amanda giving him their full attention. “I was planning on asking you this tomorrow, but how would you feel about running a little errand for my department?”

Tim blinked. “Errand? We’re going to be security?”

“It’s nothing major,” Gerald was quick to reassure them. “One of our scientists is transferring from another branch. His flight arrives tomorrow at noon, so I was wondering if you’d like to pick him up at the airport?”

Amanda and Tim both blinked.

“Is that, like, something that needs doing?” Tim scratched his head in confusion. “I mean, the airport is like seven metro stops away from here, right? You don’t even need to switch lines or anything.”

Gerald chuckled. “Putting aside the formality of it all, you’d be surprised at how often our brainy guys get lost. Normally, the security personnel would do this, but they’ve all been rather busy lately.”

Amanda felt a twinge of guilt.

It was because of her. Mr. Gerald didn’t say it, but he didn’t need to. What else could it be? It was because Regum was using its people to watch over her and her family.

“We’ll do it!” Amanda said.

If she went to the airport to pick up this person, so would the security personnel watching over her.

“We will?” Tim asked. A second later, he shrugged. “Yeah, why not? We will. I’m not paying for my fare, though.”

“We’re a multi-million dollar company. I’m fairly sure we can cover your metro cards.”

Gerald smiled at them, showing his pearly white teeth.

“Trust me, it’ll be as easy as pie.”

~~~

"Make them more dependent on us?!"

On another floor, a conversation of a different sort was taking place. The people working in the Human Resources Department had been treated to the rare sight of an angry Alicer Steiner. Discretion had been the better part of valor, as they had all quickly moved out of her way. Even Valerie Jasen, Matilda Martel's faithful secretary, vacated her boss' office when Alice burst in.

And really, who could blame her?

Alice Steiner was a beautiful woman with blond hair and brown eyes. Usually, her kind smile and cheery manner never failed to make others feel warm and welcome, not unlike sitting by the fireplace after walking through a snowstorm.

There was little kind and welcoming about Alice at the moment. She was glaring at Matilda with venomous intensity, her hands twitching with the desire to reach over the desk and throttle her friend.

"How could you even think that?!"

Matilda's office, like many other rooms in the building, was perfectly sound-proofed. With the door locked, they could both yell as loudly as they wanted, something Alice had taken into consideration. Had Matilda's secretary not closed the door on her way out, she would have.

"And what, pray tell, is wrong with thinking that?" Matilda asked, her voice perfectly even. She met Alice's fiery glare with cold detachment. "As I recall, you already spoke to Arthur about the necessity of them trusting us."

Alice slammed her hands on the desk.

"What's wrong is that we are letting a girl and her family remain in danger because removing them from it would inconvenience us!"

"Inconvenience is too mild a word. Regum is not yet ready to be known by the world." Matilda's eyes narrowed as she leaned in. "You know this. Direct intervention with a known Exceed would invite the Committee of Heroics and Exceed Management to become involved. We would not be the only ones affected by this. If the modifications on Miss Collins were to become known, there is no telling what would happen to her."

"Do not pretend the last reason matters. You and Arthur would be doing the same thing regardless."

"True," Matilda admits easily. "However, you already know this is the best course of action. You are only angry because we are not helping them with the right mentality."

"And is that wrong?"

"It is rather hypocritical coming from the woman who has been with Arthur every step of the way."

For the first time, an emotion filtered into Matilda's voice. Something between jealousy and longing.

"It is because I have been with him every step of the way that I have to raise a fuss about this," Alice said. "I don't want our every interaction with those children to be nothing more than manipulation. Is that too much to ask?"

"From a certain point of view, all human interaction is manipulation," Matilda pointed out.

"That!" Alice jabbed a finger at her. "It's that sort of thinking that we need to worry about."

Alice sighed and looked up.

"Seriously, am I the only one who remembers we are trying to save the world?"

~~~