by Hayes, Drew
“A dark river that runs through the underworld felt like a good fit for someone wielding deadly blades of shadow. And it connects to Charon, which surprisingly made it more appealing than I expected. As for Captain Starlight… Angela earned that name, not me. Taking it without winning it feels wrong. Besides, with Grandfather in the public eye again, I think having another Captain Starlight out there would be confusing.”
“Tempting as it might be to manage such a legendary account, forging your own path is probably the right call,” Lenny agreed. “And I can work with Styx. I think you’ve got potential to go places, if someone manages you right. That power of yours is going to scare a lot of people, but scary can be useful in the right hands.”
“Okay, so I get why you’d want Shane, but I don’t even have a name yet, let alone a concept,” Vince reiterated.
“From what I hear, your name might be largely irrelevant given what you can do, but in the end it doesn’t matter what you pick – not so far as retaining my services go. An old friend asked me to look out for you three, and that’s what I’m doing.” Lenny lowered his voice significantly and motioned for all of them to come even closer.
“Sooner or later, word about you three is going to get out, and when it does you’re going to need someone with a lot of skill overseeing your image. Once the world finds out that you used to be Powereds, it’s going to be a goddamned shitshow.”
240.
Vince’s eyes had gone wide and he nearly choked on the words he worked to spit out. “You know about us?”
“He’s Titan’s agent.” Roy reached over and patted Vince lightly on the back, trying to shake him out of the shock. “Smart money says that’s the old friend who asked Lenny to take us on as clients. And Lenny ain’t the kind of guy who takes on work like that without knowing why.”
“If it makes you feel better, remember that agents have countless nondisclosure agreements in place, so even if I wanted to go public with that news I couldn’t,” Lenny assured Vince. “But from what I understand of the situation, your group was supposed to be a test case, meaning there will be more to come down the line. Sooner or later word is bound to get out. Any agent worth their salt would know to get out in front of it, would be ready for the story if not the one to break it. There’s only one shot at presenting you all to the public, and I’ve got some ideas to make the most of it.”
Shane held up a hand. After a few seconds of no one calling on him, he went ahead and spoke. “I can certainly see why Titan would want you watching over these three, but why did you call me over as well? I’ve never been a Powered.”
“No, you’re just the grandson of Captain Starlight, the current top of the class, and a guy wielding one badass power,” Lenny said. “This is still my job, scooping up hot prospects is part of it.”
“Shouldn’t you be going after Chad then? He’s the real top of the class; I only got his spot by a fluke.”
Lenny turned to see where Chad was, finally spotting him across the gym talking to an agent team from Buffalo. “First off, fluke or not, results still matter so stop selling yourself short. As for Chad, he seems like a great kid, and he’s a tough son of a bitch, but he’s got limited charisma. I have no doubt Chad will be a great Hero; my certainty in his ability to be a high-profile celebrity is lacking, though. You, on the other hand, have potential. Not to mention a power that I think most agents would mis-market, which makes taking you on all the more intriguing. I love a good challenge.”
“You’d better, if you’re looking to take on three former Powereds as clients.” Alice moved briefly from the huddle and scanned the room, taking note of all the men and women in business suits chatting up her classmates. There was no way to tell who was the best of the bunch and who was just hoping to milk some new graduates for quick cash before throwing them aside, not without proper research. In other circumstances, she might have called Charles to ask for guidance, but that was no longer an option. She’d either have to vet them all or put her faith in someone else’s judgment. Her eyes left the crowd and settled on Roy. There was no way to be delicate about this in such close quarters; however Lenny seemed the type to appreciate honesty. Maybe he wouldn’t mind. “Roy, you know Titan better than any of us. Do you trust his choice of agents?”
“She’s a blunt one. Noted.” Lenny muttered the words more with interest than annoyance.
“Only when I have to be,” Alice replied.
“Titan doesn’t always make the best choices, with life or career, but Lenny ain’t among the bad ones.” Roy paused to smile at the short agent, who returned the expression with unexpected sincerity. “He’s a good agent and a good man; he looked out for me and my mom when the scandal went down. Truth be told, I had already planned to spend this whole session trying to convince him to take me on as a client before he called our names.”
“Come on, kid. With your looks and power, booking you is a no brainer, even if me and Titan didn’t go back so far. I take it this means you’re signing on?”
“Hell yes,” Roy said. “It’s a damn honor.”
Sheepishly, mirroring Shane’s move earlier, Vince raised his hand. Unlike Shane, he didn’t wait for permission to speak up. “I’d like to sign on too. I trust Roy and Titan, if they say you’re an agent I could put my faith in then that’s enough for me. Besides, I have no idea what I’m supposed to be looking for in an agent anyway, so I don’t think I’d get anything from talking to more.”
“Show of faith appreciated,” Lenny replied. “Welcome aboard.”
The huddle was broken as Shane took a step away. “While I appreciate the offer, Mr. Nicolo, you’ll forgive me if I do meet with some of the other agents before making my decision. This is a large one, and as much as I enjoyed the summer training with Titan, I have to lean on my judgment above all others for something so important.”
Lenny gave a short nod. “I wouldn’t have pitched the idea if I wasn’t okay with it. Go, meet, schmooze. Just make sure any agent you talk to knows what you can do, not just your lineage. Our access to the Hero world means we get inside information, so pay close attention to what they made a point of committing to memory.”
“Sound advice. I’ll keep it in mind and get back to you before the end of class.” Shane turned and headed off to the nearest unoccupied agent, a tall woman who nearly seemed to trip over herself when she saw Shane heading her way.
“That kid is in for a lot of ass-kissing over the next hour.” Lenny moved in slightly, closing the gap that Shane had created and drawing the group in close once more. “Alice, you’re my last holdout. I need to end this so the other kids can talk to me if they want. You going to stroll around the room, or do you already know if I’m a good fit for you?”
“Ordinarily I’d be tempted to vet all my options, but since Roy and Vince have signed on, it makes the most sense to go with you,” Alice said. “If you can get us through the reveal, then we’ll be fine. If you can’t, then I’m probably sunk no matter what since I’ll get lumped in with any bad press from these two. But if you can pull it off and I choose another agent who bungles my reveal, then I risk dragging Roy and Vince down. The failure of any of us presents a high chance for the failure of all, so the soundest move I can make is to put all three of us in one person’s hands. Win or lose, we’ll do it together.”
Lenny lifted a single eyebrow. “I see someone lives up to the hype. No wonder you’re doing so well in Subtlety. It’s a pleasure to have you with us, Alice. I promise to do my best for all three of you. Four, if Shane comes back. In return, my request is that you always shoot straight with me. I can protect Heroes from a lot, but not if I don’t know what to watch for. You can lie to your shrink, your priest, and even yourself, just not to your agent. Everyone able to deal with that?”
The question was met with general mutterings of agreement, so Lenny broke out into a large grin and did another round of handshakes. “Great to hear. Now, you three should use the rest of this time to go train. People have
high expectations for my Heroes, and I like to see them come out of graduation as strong as possible.”
241.
Something was off. She could feel it as soon as she stepped through the door of the house. Much of her time in the HCP was blurry, but some aspects of it were more deeply ingrained than mere memories. Jill trusted her instincts; she could sense the presence of strangers in her home. Mentally readying herself, she reached out to some of the security measures Will had installed throughout the house. Whoever had come here looking for trouble, they were going to find a fuckload more of it than they’d expected.
“Miss Murray, I’d ask that you please calm yourself.” From the kitchen stepped a short man in a black suit. She knew him; he was always with the Melbrook group, and they’d allowed Jill to retain memories of them.
“Mr. Numbers, right?” Her nerves weren’t soothed yet, nor did she move away from the security system. Familiar or not, this guy had still busted into her house, and that didn’t speak to pure intentions.
“That’s right, and the gentleman over in the corner is Mr. Transport.” Mr. Numbers nodded to the other end of the room, where a taller man in a very similar suit had stepped into view. “First off, let me assure you that we have not come to do you any harm. We simply needed a chance to speak with you privately, and this was the most expedient solution.”
From across the room, Mr. Transport piped up. “Plus your friends are going through a sort of recruitment today, so it seemed fitting to have this meeting.”
“A recruitment?” Jill’s eyes darted from one to the other and back, trying to wrap her head around the day’s sharp turn into the unexpected. Her afternoon plans had been margaritas and homework, not dealing with a pair of near-strangers conversationally ambushing her. “What does that even mean?”
“For them it means that they are talking with agents about their potential future as Heroes. For you, it means we would like to take a few minutes of your time to talk about a different kind of career path… one that is not quite so glamorous as Hero work yet comes with rewards all its own.”
Not entirely letting go of her connection to the house’s defenses, Jill set her backpack down on the floor and walked over to the couch, taking a seat. Mr. Numbers and Mr. Transport moved closer, but stayed a healthy distance away, giving her ample space. Once she was comfortable, Jill motioned to the nearby chairs and the men sat.
“Look, I get that you probably didn’t mean for this to seem as creepy as it did, but you really need to work on your approach strategy.”
Mr. Transport shot Mr. Numbers a dirty look. “I told you we should have called ahead.”
“We find that people are often more receptive to new ideas when they aren’t prepared for them. Surprise opens up the mind,” Mr. Numbers said. “However, I do apologize for interrupting your day. If you’d like to put this off, we can come back another time.”
“No, you’re here, and I doubt this will take long. Let me save us all some trouble: I don’t want to be a Hero. It wasn’t easy to come to that decision, and I’m not going to pretend part of me doesn’t wonder ‘what if’ about staying, but every time I think back to why I left I know it was the right call for me. So I’m not interested in Hero work, okay?”
“We are keenly aware of your feelings, it’s why we came to speak with you.” Mr. Numbers pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to Jill, who took it carefully. “Full health benefits, 401k, paid travel, and the chance to make a difference. Plus if you turn the card over you’ll find your starting salary.”
Jill flipped it over and coughed loudly. “Heroes don’t make this kind of money.”
“Some do through merchandising, although you’re correct that their government salary isn’t nearly at this level. But we aren’t government workers, officially. We’re part of a company with government contracts, and we’re compensated appropriately,” Mr. Numbers explained. “The Hero system is as much about image as it is about action, Miss Murray. Those big, costumed battles in the public eye are vital to shaping the nation’s view of Supers, but such a system is not tenable on its own. There are other tasks to be handled, occasionally entailing the kinds of things that no Hero could ever be caught doing. Sometimes that means extracting hostages before a Hero can enter a scene; sometimes it demands we deal with information leaks in a forceful manner. Our job often varies, though two things remain constant: we work to keep the world safe, and we do not engage criminal Supers publicly.”
“That sounds like what Subtlety Heroes do,” Jill pointed out.
Mr. Transport shifted in his chair. “There is some overlap. Remember that the Hero system is a constantly evolving one. But there’s more than enough work to go around. Plus, Subtlety Heroes largely concern themselves with localized threats to their team or city. We take a broader approach, going where we’re needed. We also focus on human threats as much as Super ones, whereas Hero work tends to slant one’s priorities to the Super side.”
“You are a talented woman, Miss Murray,” Mr. Numbers told her. “Your power is exceptional, with a multitude of uses, and you had the incredible level of determination required to reach year four in the HCP. In the weeks to come, you should brace for interest from many parties. If the CIA doesn’t already have a plan to approach you, I’d be shocked, and the FBI won’t be far behind. Technology is one of the few weapons humans have against Supers, and you can control it. That makes you valuable.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have told me that I’m about to get wooed by a bunch of people if you’re trying to recruit me.” Jill looked at the numbers on the card again, making sure she wasn’t reading them wrong. She wasn’t. “Then again, you did come with one hell of an opening offer.”
Both men rose from their chairs, and Mr. Transport stepped over to Mr. Numbers. “Actually, the fact that you’re going to get courted is why we came now. We wanted you to have all the information possible when it came time to pick a path for yourself. See, Mr. Numbers and I didn’t have a lot of choice when we got recruited; we needed the company’s help. Ultimately it worked out fine for both of us, but we’ve never forgotten how it felt to be painted into a corner like that. Now that we get to do the recruiting, we make sure our potential employees know they have a choice.”
“I appreciate that, I do. But if I’ve got all these options coming my way, why should I pick yours? Tell me what sets you apart.”
“A multitude of things that we can get into at a later date, once you have had time to think things over,” Mr. Numbers said. “The key difference, however, is a simple one. Ours is the only job offer that can provide you the chance to keep watching over your brother, should he graduate. If you want to help Will, to be part of his Hero-life, then ours is the company for you. Think it over. We’ll be in touch, but next time we’ll call first.”
They were gone without another word, leaving Jill alone in her home with nothing but a business card and a lot more confusion than she’d been prepared for.
242.
By Dean Blaine’s standards, the agent meeting had gone well. He was always wary of that profession, having heard many a horror story from Heroes who had their images mishandled, but it was impossible to deny that some of them did make life easier on their clients. As an administrator, Dean Blaine never allowed any of the agents with unsavory reputations to set foot on his campus. Unfortunately, people who were respectable one year might slide down the moral scale by the next, leaving the students who had signed with them in the lurch. This meeting he considered good because nearly everyone had either found an agent they felt comfortable with or walked away with some solid leads.
It was no surprise that after traipsing around the room, Shane had ended up returning to Lenny. He was a smart boy, and no doubt took note of how many other students swarmed Mr. Nicolo the minute his initial group broke up. Even Chad, who was catching more than a bit of woo from the various agents, had worked his way through the line to have a talk with Lenny. To the man’s credit, he’d made no pr
omises to anyone beyond his initial group of four, stating that he had to wait until he’d visited all the schools before deciding how many new clients to take on.
Dean Blaine was glad when the session was finally over, as he had plenty more on his plate. This evening he had to head to Washington for another meeting with Graham; he’d be back by morning for more school work. Technically he could take a day away from campus if needed, but that had always been a challenge for Dean Blaine. After seeing his school attacked, the very notion was preposterous. Even though part of him knew that sooner or later Lander would have to function without him present, that was a hurdle he was putting off dealing with until it was necessary, though that didn’t mean he wasn’t laying the groundwork.
Professor Baker was already waiting for him in his office. Punctuality was one of Ariel’s many admirable traits, as was preparedness. He saw that she had a pen and paper in hand, ready to take notes in their meeting. Hard as it was to imagine this school without him at the helm, the moments of readiness she displayed did help ease his fears. It wasn’t that he lacked faith in Ariel, or that he would have preferred to hand the reins off to someone else. It was simply that Dean Blaine had grown accustomed to walking with the weight of this school and its students on his back, and he was unsure how he’d step forward once it was removed.
“That was one of the better agent meetings I’ve had,” he announced, shutting the door behind him as he headed for his desk. “Be prepared for some of them to be less than cordial, or to try and sell students a bill of goods you know they won’t deliver. There are few who really last long-term in the job, but those that do are usually excellent resources for finding out which of their colleagues are worth dealing with.”
“Wouldn’t they try to steer you away from inviting any real competition?” Professor Baker asked.
