Martin straightened his tie again, a look of discomfort on his face. He shot a glance over at his partner and frowned. The guy was immaculate, perfect poise, perfect shoulders, perfect fit for his suit. He looked down at himself, athletic but still far smaller than the other guy. To make matters worse, it was like standing next to a bomb ready to go off at any moment. He let out a sigh and reached up to adjust the sunglasses on his face.

This is the worst, why’d they pick me for the test run?

It hadn’t been long after the Pandora Committee had begun organizing in various countries that light-touched had actually volunteered to participate. Most of them were prior or existing law-enforcement, though, so he supposed it made sense that they’d want to continue their roles. Even so, when the order had come down to test the concept of two-man observation teams made of one normal person and one light-touched, Martin had scoffed at the idea. He didn’t want to work with them, they were a disaster just waiting to happen.

And here I am working with this guy.

“You’re fidgeting,” Lucian, codenamed Ironsides, said in his heavily accented voice. Was he russian? Martin couldn’t tell.

“Not exactly my first time in a suit like this,” Martin groused, “Not exactly my first time at the capitol building either.”

Lucian just shrugged and remained silent, watching as people passed. They weren’t capitol security, but it didn’t matter, they’d been given permission to be there to observe and deal with any potential security risks alongside the main security force. It was a big deal, apparently, Martin still thought it was a waste of time though. Even so, he was still interested in the proceedings themselves. His expression faltered as the memory of the previous nights news crept back up into his mind. So many had died in Dharan and were still dying as they spoke.

“What do we have on her?” Martin asked, trying to distract himself.

“Finally interested? You weren’t paying much attention during the briefing this morning,” Lucian said, giving him a sidelong glance.

“I have a friend with family in Dharan,” Martin clipped, his eyes narrowing at the man next to him.

“Ah,” Was all Lucian said, nodding slowly, “Sonya Chernovna, mid-to-late twenties, born in Kola, Russia. Her birth certificate is hard to get ahold of, though officially she’s twenty-eight, she’s probably a bit older, though,” Lucian rattled off, “Parents are both in the wind, found some record that they were in witness protection, but I’m not so sure. She was naturalized in the United States when she was very young and lived in a single foster home until college. ROTC through high school and student government. Barely missed valedictorian apparently.”

Martin raised an eyebrow, “No sign of her parents at all?”

“Nope,” Lucian shook his head, “She got a bachelors in chemical science and business administration, after that she started working for Stockton Chemical while she was doing her graduate work. Got blinded in an ‘accident’ but after several interviews with others who were there we’re pretty sure she was assaulted by the chief lab assistant. Stockton settled minimally thanks to some legal nonsense and she was given a minor pension and after a little bit of time assigned a caretaker. She remained indoors pretty much until Pandora’s Flash after that.”

Martin crossed his arms, “Not a lot to go on.”

“Nope,” Lucian nodded, “But it leaves a big mystery as to how she knows all these people all of a sudden.”

“Networking on the internet, probably,” Martin pointed out.

“While blind?” Lucian countered with a laugh.

“Point taken,” Martin said, frowning hard and finally took in his surroundings. The entry hall of the US Senate was smaller than he’d imagined it would be, but it was also far more elaborate. He had been expecting a lot more white, in all honesty. More notable were the people milling about in the entryway. According to the security team, the senators themselves were already inside the chamber. Pretty much everyone had shown up except for a few outliers, which made this whole circus even more of a big deal. “Nothing but the media and talking heads in here.”

“What do you expect?” Lucian grunted and crossed his arms, “Everyone’s on the edge of their seat with Dharan in flames.”

The doors from the outside opened and flashes immediately began to go off. Voices rose and security moved forward to make a path. Amidst it all, Martin finally caught a glimpse of that shock of white hair drifting behind an all-white suit framing a thin hot-pink tie. As always, she wore those oversized sunglasses to hide her mechanical eyes.

“And there she is…” He paused and squinted, “...wait, who are they?”

–

Sonya was really, really glad she had decided to wear her flash-proof sunglasses. Her eyes were working overtime in her head to keep up with the abrupt changes in light level even with them on. She could only imagine how much it would have bothered her. Every instinct told her to just seize mental control over the damnable cameras and shut them off, but she didn’t want to turn this whole thing into a fiasco. Instead, she kept a broad smile on her face as she walked past the gathered people, hungry for a scoop. Questions were hurled at her faster than a normal person could comprehend, but with the help of her cybernetic brain, she recorded the names, faces, and questions without missing a beat.

She’d answer them later. It might be fun to get a reaction out of it.

She glanced to her left at Nick who was practically sweating in his suit, “Aren’t you fireproof?” She asked him with a laugh.

“I’m not nerve proof,” He chuckled back, visibly relaxing a bit.

“You’ve fought Lurkers,” She murmured and clapped him on the back, “How scary can a room full of old men be?” She said without turning to look towards him, she glanced to the right and spotted a pair standing off to the side in dark clothes and sunglasses. She waved at the thinner man who frowned at her.

“You know him?” Nick asked, continuing forward.

“Not personally, but I heard from his previous boss that he’s been looking into me,” She said with a small chuckle, “Not my biggest fan.”

“So you thought you’d tease him?” Nick asked as they made it to the doors to the senate chambers.

“Yep,” She said as the doors opened. The large chamber was filled with desks arranged in a semicircle facing the raised dais at the far rear of the room. Nearly every seat in the chamber was filled, with the highest seat in the chamber occupied by an older man with wispy white hair and kind eyes. She made eye contact with him before sweeping the room with her gaze, they were all watching her in return. Her lips thinned into a coy smile as she made her way towards the empty table between the semicircle of senators and the senate dais. She came to a stop and looked up at the elderly man and inclined her head to him.

“Miss Chernovna,” He said, resting his hands on the desk in front of him, the microphone inches from his mouth, “Are these the young people you mentioned this morning?”

“They are, Mister Vice President,” She said, gesturing to Logan, Jessica, Larry, and Nick.

He glanced their way and they tensed. His expression was unreadable for a moment before he looked back at Sonya, “As agreed they are welcome here as long as they compose themselves in a way reflective of the dignity of this place.”

She nodded, “They will, Mister Vice President.”

He nodded and gestured to the chairs arranged for them, “Have a seat and we’ll get started.”

“Thank you,” She said and took a seat at the end of the table with the others lined up next to one another. Murmurs filled the chamber as the senators eyed them suspiciously. She ignored the murmuring, at least no one was protesting, back-room deals happened all the time in the government so it really didn’t shock anyone that Sonya had brought surprise guests to the hearing. 

The vice president adjusted his glasses and looked down at a document in front of him before clearing his throat, “Let’s get started then,” He grunted and nodded to the chaplain who stepped up and began the proceedings with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance, Sonya went through the motions, keeping her mind on what was to come. When everyone sat back down the Vice President cleared his throat again, “We are here this morning to proceed with the Senatorial Hearing to consider the statements of Miss Sonya Chernovna in regards to the direction of future legislation concerning the changes in our world following the Pandora Incident. Present are forty-six Senators of the United States, Myself as presiding officer, six representatives of the United Nations Pandora Committee, representatives of the media, and Sonya Chernovna and her attached company of four.”

He turned to fix his stare on Sonya, “You said you wished to provide an opening statement, given the situation in the world as it is, the Senate has opted to give you additional time for your comments to hear your thoughts thoroughly. There will be silence in this chamber until your statements are complete.”

Sonya let out a breath, nerves finally running up her spine, she got to her feet, “Thank you, Mister Vice President.”

She closed her eyes and centered herself, I’m ready for this. I know I am. Okay. Breathe, Sonya.

“Before I begin, I think it is appropriate we take a few moments for the people of Dharan, what has happened there is an unprecedented tragedy,” She began and fixed the old man with a stare. He let out a sigh and nodded.

“Agreed, a moment of silence, then,” He said and everyone in the chamber lowered their heads. For a full minute there was utter silence, only the faint sound of pencil scritching on paper as those in the media took notes.

After the minute, Sonya raised her head, “As you all assumedly already know, I am one of the first Light-Touched to openly provide details concerning my abilities,” Sonya began, removing her glasses so that everyone could see her prosthetic eyes. “My eyes can see much, such as the name of any individual I look at, as well as whether or not they possess abilities.”

There was a small shift in the chamber that she took note of but pressed on, “When I entered this chamber, I looked at the face of every person here. I can safely say that I speak not only for the four young light-touched people next to me, but for a full third of those present, senators and media alike.”

This drew another murmur and one man got to his feet before the Vice President stared him down, “Continue, Miss Chernovna.”

Sonya knew what the protest had been, there was only one thing to be upset about, really, strangers with dangerous powers had been brought into the senate chambers without any foreknowledge. However, by pointing out that a third of the people, including senators, were light-touched as well, ruined any hopes of chasing out my little heroes.

“Humanity is under siege,” She began at last, “We need only look at the tragedy in Dharan to understand the scope of what we are dealing with. As of this morning, no troops have managed to make headway into Dharan with a total population of nearly two hundred thousand residents. It is unfortunately likely that a majority if not all of that population will be lost within the next twenty-four hours,” She said, “That is on the scale of a major natural disaster. But this was caused by living things, creatures with no other desire than to end our lives.”

She frowned, “This is not a time for debate, this is not a time for pride, this is not a time for doubling down, it is painfully evident that the weapons we have at our disposal can only do so much. Traditional munitions are useless and the consequences of using more exotic weapons is too extreme to even be considered in this day and age,” She continued, “The munitions ASTA produces are effective, but they are crafted from the bones of the very monsters that they are used to kill. If we cannot hunt them, we cannot make the munitions to begin with.”

She gestured to the four people with her, “We do have a solution. While Pandora’s Light has unleashed horrors upon earth, it has also given us people capable of standing against those same horrors. Heroes,” She let out a breath, “The young man sitting next to me is better known as Firestorm, you may be familiar with him,” Camera flashes intensified in her periphery, she ignored them, “With him are Bandit, Bluestar, and Lifesaver, people who have not only risked their lives to protect their communities from monster attacks, who have lost comrades to them, but who have also taken the extreme risk of coming to this place on this day without masks on. Knowing full well that there is a general consensus that their work is considered vigilantism.”

She paused for a moment, and turned her gaze through the entire room, “That, is courage.”

“These heroes need to be given our support, a chance to grow in strength, an opportunity to stand at the front lines and know that we have their back,” She said, her voice raising a bit, “A way to organize, communicate, train, find direction and the equipment they need to succeed,” She turned her eyes to the Vice President, “I am not the only businessperson who is currently researching how to improve on what Pandora’s Light gave us, this is not only the birth of a new era, but the birth of a new industry and a new way of life for humanity. Not only for ourselves, but for those who will come after.”

She let out a breath, “I’m sure you all have heard that young people hitting adulthood have begun manifesting light-touched powers after the flash. We will continue to see more light touched in the future. We need to guide them, otherwise they may very well become villains in this new era.”

She squared her shoulders, “A guild, overseen by the Pandora Committee, and give our nation’s champions a chance to save us all from what is surely to come, because I do not think Dharan will be the last incident of its kind.”

She let out a breath and with that, sat down to a room dominated by silence. I’ve said my peace, that was the easy part, the important part comes next.