Ingraham High School

Seattle, Haller Lake

The same day, 4:00 pm

 

On paper, Nathaniel Cavros was supposed to be a great principal. He had good managing skills, double degrees in political science and in economy and a good friend on Ingraham's school board that proposed his candidature and pushed the other members into hiring him. In his head, he must have felt that he was respected and liked, but his greed and skimping on school projects and favoritism to the varsity football team over the swimming and basketball facilities and gear budgets made him no friends with the students, parents or school board members. 

When he received a sudden wave of calls from concerned parents about his handling of the school, he knew that something was burning in paradise. He wanted to reassure people about what happened but despite his effort, all he could say was his true thoughts on the matter, it was as if he didn’t have any filter between his most secret thoughts and his mouth. Principal Cavros tried to stop talking but he was compelled not to. 

So he stopped taking calls and didn’t want to receive anyone, he decided to let his secretary handle them, a mistake that would cost him dearly.

The Latin man put his glasses on the desk and vigorously massaged his temples, everything that had happened gave him a major headache and there was this problem with his temper and of saying everything going through his mind.

“Principal Cavros, there are inv-” Lilianne Davon, his secretary tried to inform him.

Nathaniel saw red when he saw the woman open the door to his office so nonchalantly, he interrupted her by shouting his venomous remonstrations.

“I told you that I am unavailable, you bitch! Can’t you take an order? Are you that incompetent?! That’s why putting a woman in…” Cavros put a hand on his mouth, trying to stop what he was about to say. “An important position is a bad idea.”

Lilianne looked at him with her eyes and mouth wide open, stunned by the misogynist diatribe of her superior. The surprise left place to anger and cold rage showing on the white-haired secretary’s face. Her black eyes swirled with rancor and palpable mockery toward this ‘man’, to her just now he looked more like something the cat dragged in.

“Mister Cavros, two investigators from the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs just came in to see you about the incident from this morning. I judged it unwise to make them wait.” Mrs. Davon told him between her teeth.

She kept her face neutral, her red lips in a thin line; before she retired herself, she decided to inform him that she would not let him get away with what he just said. Lilianne had had it with working for a trash-like man like him.

“Principal, I will notify the board of your comments just now. Someone like you shouldn’t be in this position.” She looked at him with loathing and slammed the door.

“Mierda.” The man swore in Spanish.

Principal Cavros gulped, now his mouth put him in trouble and in a possible lawsuit. He began to sweat and wiped it with his right sleeve.

CAW. SKREEK. SKREEK. CAW. Scratching noises and bird calls could be heard.

Nathaniel turned his head toward the window behind him, a huge black Raven made him jump out of his skin. The bird looked as big as an eagle, its feathers gleamed a lustrous purple on black and its beak looked sharp. It looked at the principal with ruby eyes that seemed to bore into him. The man sweated some more while being stared at, he averted his eyes after ten seconds of the contest of will happening. The bird threw its head backward and cackled a long string of caws.

Nathaniel cocked his head.

“Is that bird laughing at me?” He wondered.

---

“Agents Fong and Muir, please enter.” The elegant and purposeful secretary said as she directed them to the principal’s door.

Ada and Jill heard the man speak to his secretary and it didn’t bode well for the investigation, the guy sounded like a total tool.

*The poor woman, I hope she gets the bastard fired.* Jill thought as she turned her eyes toward the lacquered wooden door.

She put her hand on the brass doorknob and opened the door. A thin, balding man of Latin ancestry was revealed and a bit of a letdown to her. The Principal looked like he lived to perpetuate the stereotype of being a pencil pusher. The contrast was about him wearing a good Armani suit with a wristwatch of a luxury brand. Jill squinted her eyes, something was fishy with the man; strike one against mister Nathaniel Cavros.

“Please enter, enter misses.” the man said in a sycophant way.

“That’s Agent to you, principal Cavros.” Ada intervened, the guy was rubbing her wrong somehow.

“Prissy bitch thinks she can speak to me this way.” Cavros glared at her, showing her his teeth aggressively.

“Excuse me?” Ada asked outraged, her eyes bulged at the gall of the man.

“You heard me.”

“I see, so principal Cavros I think we will just put everything on the table from the get-go. Following this morning’s incident, what are your thoughts?” The agent took out her sketch pad and a pen out of her winter jacket.

“It’s all the fault of those super-freaks! They keep destroying things around them and killing good and honest people! I wish I could kill them all!! Even though I tried not to let more of them in this institution, I am forced by the fucking board to accept them, because of this equality clause in the constitutional amendment, why is the government protecting those walking and talking bombs?!”

Jill looked at Ada who bristled under this super-bigot’s hatred filled gaze, there was no doubt that he was one. Jill noted it on her sketchpad so strongly, because of her undiluted anger, that the pen went through the thick block of paper, revealing how strong she was physically. The principal’s eyes bulged and, like a deer caught in a set of headlights, froze before them.

“Y-you are one of those freaks! Get out, get out!!” Cavros stuttered and threw his ashtray at them.

Jill caught it in mid-air before it struck Ada, threw it on the ground and jumped toward the irate and crazy man. The agent caught him by the scruff of his neck and laid him fiercely face down on the ground. Taking zip ties out of her jacket with one hand she began to tie him up with the plastic.

“Nathaniel Cavros you are under arrest for attacking a police officer in the line of duty, but as you are clearly batshit crazy I will settle for taking you in for involuntary commitment,” Jill said with a glow of satisfaction radiating from her face.

Ada sighed because she knew Jill loved taking down suspects. The blonde agent was a thrill junky, after all, it was mainly because of her powers that she was this way.

“You bitch! You’ll never get away with this, I have friends in the police!!” Cavros spat.

The principal wriggled like a caterpillar and tried to stand up but Jill didn’t let him; she zip-tied his ankles, making the man scream bloody murder.

“We will see how much of a friend they are when we file our report on your interactions with us. Ada call dispatch to send a car to transport that piece of shit in the B.S.A. precinct.” She answered, flashing him a predatory smile.

“Okay.” Ada took out her phone and hit her speed dial.

Principal Cavros spat his venomous swearing, threatening rape and getting back at them constantly till his secretary and powered police officers of the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs came into his office thirty minutes later. The man was hauled off to the squad car, struggling; a clear cut resisting arrest charge with assault on an officer. The principal won’t get away from this at all. The secretary, Mrs. Davon, was shocked by everything she heard the man say. As they couldn’t interrogate the man who clearly becoming more and more unhinged, agents Fong and Muir settled with questioning her while drinking coffee to calm their nerves. The three women were in the principal’s office sharing a cup amiably when Jill began her questioning.

“Did the principal protect the boys that were bullying Ernest Culver?” Jill asked with her coffee in hand, she smelled the delicious waft from the dark liquid and she thought how skilled this woman facing her was at making a cup.

Mrs. Davon replied instantly.

“Yes he did, he threatened the teaching staff with firing them and giving them black marks if they opened their mouths. Like I heard him say earlier, Principal Cavros indeed has friends in the police department and on the school board so the teachers were cowed into silence.” The woman looked at her knees in shame.

“Tssk, like I thought, it’s the same in every school we go through. Lives could be saved and this type of situation avoided if the one in charge did his job.” Ada commented, making a disgusted face.

The agent was disgusted by those practices, it wasn't rare that a Dean or Principal wanted to avoid tarnishing the reputation of their establishment for political or financial interests.

“I agree with you agent Fong.” Mrs. Davon said, smiling sheepishly.

“Do you have anything that would help us incriminate him?” Jill had noticed how the woman clearly disliked principal Cavros.

The woman nodded, looked around her and conspiratorially said, “Oh, dear. You have no idea, I have plenty of things to say about him. The man is a crook, he took money from the school’s allotted budget!”

Ada opened her mouth in shock.

“Terrific.” Jill murmured, not really surprised.

Ada was all business when this was revealed, bent in her seat and engaged in conversation with the witness. It was rare for it to happen, normally she would let Jill do this part of the process. Interacting with principal Cavros really put the distaste of the man in her, the young agent didn’t like bullies nor crooks, and Cavros was clearly one, from what the secretary had told them.

“Are you interested in testifying against him? We will, of course, protect you from any backlash from this story.” The asian woman asked, she was reluctant at involving the woman but it was important.

Mrs. Davon thought for a long moment before answering.

“He will be put away for good if I do?” Hope could be heard in her voice.

The secretary played with the mug in her hand and watched the women attentively.

“There is a good chance, with everything that you have told us; a good 30 years without recourse but, with the way he is right now, he might get institutionalized; so, he won’t be out in either case. Telepaths and Empaths are going to judge if he is indeed subject to mental disorders, however.” Jill affirmed.

“I will do it.” Mrs. Davon decided.

---

Parking lot

Ingraham High School

5:00 PM

 

“Do you think we are done?” Ada asked her partner.

They were back in their service car, it was snowing and they decided to let the engine warm up before deciding on a course of action. This case was promising to be problematic for them if high ranked people decided to meddle. Ada rubbed her hands, it was getting colder as time passed even with the A/C on.

“Nope.” Jill felt that nothing was truly resolved, she continued with, “This case isn’t that simple, politics are involved. I think we will have to count on the League to help resolve it.”

Ada groaned in frustration. If the League intervened, they would crack down on every institution in Seattle and investigate those in power, which would create friction in the community. It was like that everywhere when there was a 'superhuman versus normal human', case lately.

“So, we need to continue, but be careful where we tread; for example, this girl whose memory you cannot look at, we should go question her.” Jill wasn’t interested in this case anymore but her professionalism wouldn’t be put into question, even if the commissioner told them to let it go. That is if private individuals put pressure on the law enforcement side of things; then, In those cases, special protocols put in place by the Superhuman League would activate and they would take over the case in question.

“Okay, but I will call dispatch and tell them that we are interested in questioning miss Von Braun,” Ada said.

Ada Fong didn’t like people, but she was a stickler for regulation. Jill thought that sometimes, some actions should be taken despite them; because too often they slow things down. However, today she thought that Ada took action more than before, her partner used to stay in the background; letting her interact with suspects, people of interest, and/or witnesses.

*Now look at her, taking charge and taking steps to cover ourselves.* Jill looked proudly at her friend.

“She’s a minor, her parents will surely be with her.” Ada shrugged her shoulders.

It was common sense, minors couldn’t be questioned without their parents or lawyers with them. But Jill thought that girl who resolved the incident wasn’t too much of a challenge, that maybe it was one of her abilities -as she demonstrated a few of them- that blocked Ada’s powers to read her; or, someone does it for her. Ada finished her call and hung up to place her phone in her jacket. But, mid-movement, she stopped when it rang, Ada looked briefly at Jill, who raised chin telling her to answer. Answering the phone, it connected to the vehicle’s dashboard and put the call on speaker.

“Hello, Agent Fong here.” Ada greeted.

“Hello, this is Major Freedom ID125478F89.” An old but wizened voice could be heard from the car’s speakers.

Voice pattern match. Identity confirmed.

The cold and machine-like voice of the smartphone’s AI echoed. The smartphones issued by the Superhuman Affairs Bureau were all made by Tesla Industries and were top of the line military hardware. They were protected from both EMP and Hacking and came with an AI that monitored calls and located the position of their users with GPS. So the two agents were sure of the identity of the person who just called them. Major Freedom, aka Howard Blake, the ex-President of the United States, chairman of the Superhuman League. What do you do when a living legend calls you?

*Oh shit.* Ada and Jill shouted in their mind, their panicked faces echoed their thoughts. They looked at each other.

Ada’s hands were on her thigh, trembling; Jill kept that wide-eyed look on her face and it scared her partner.

“Did the Superhuman Elissa Von Braun-Halliwell kill someone? Or is it a maiming case?” The Chairman asked, his voice was serious and let people know that he will tolerate no nonsense.

Major Freedom seemed to not care that the two women went silent. There was a panicked urgency in his voice, so the two women were baffled that a big retired hero like him would lose his countenance this way.

*The fuck is he asking, now? Who is that girl that Major Freedom would call us and ask us if she did something bad?!* Jill screamed in her mind.

The blonde agent squinted her eyes and pondered at the implications of the direct intervention of the League.

*The call that Ada made previously must have tripped some algorithm in the dispatch control computers or triggered a flag when the girl’s, or her family’s, name entered the system.*

“Huh, no… hum, Miss Von Braun saved students from a Pyrokinetic this morning.”

“I see, I am invoking clause 18-b of article 135-13 of the Superhuman Act.” The Chairman informed them nonchalantly.

*Even more good news.* Jill thought, rolling her eyes.

Article 135-13, a rule that was enforced when people with too much power; meaning, were ranked Alpha or Omega rank, or could otherwise destroy infrastructure, a city, or the country they lived in, are involved in a case investigated by the superhuman affairs bureau. They should not be touched, threatened or engaged. In the case of Miss Von Braun, the two agents thought that it was surely, a parent or sibling that put her on the protected list status.

Clause 18-b was when the League took the investigators, and their case, over. Ada and Jill were now conscripted to work directly for the League; it wasn’t bad, the League would steamroll any resistance from the local influentials wanting to kill their case, but they would gain the dreaded moniker of League goons at the end of it all. Those League goons weren’t seen in a good light by the other law enforcement departments, the League always came back to ask things from their conscripts; they never let go.

*Come to Seattle, Ada said, there are opportunities, she said… now look at us.* Jill despaired.

Major Freedom sighed heavily, the two women could feel the tenseness of his voice when he said, “I am happy to have caught you before you went to annoy the Von Brauns, I shall inform you that Heracles and Malicia Von Braun are Omega threats.”

The Omega rank described those Superhumans able to topple countries, destroy cities. Ada’s and Jill’s blood chilled.

“Shit, two Omegas? In this state?!” Ada screamed.

She had thought that she had left the hell that was the New Jersey B.S.A behind, how hard it was to keep guard duty on those Omega superhumans who did what they wanted and were paid to just sit there and not destroy anything. They were normally cared for by the country and called on when shit hit the fan, they are forbidden from entering any super groups or taking action independently. Rogue Omega rank superhumans are hunted by those of the same rank and given the choice of being terminated or serving. The fact that two of them lived free and unhindered put the two agents in a state of speechlessness.

“Words, Ada,” Jill said softly when she recuperated from this news.

“Sorry.” Ada murmured.

Ada was rendered sheepish, she took Jill’s arm and hung on for dear life, today really rattled her. Major Freedom sighed, yet again and this time there was a hint of anger and, was it shame, in his voice?

“Yes, it pains me to say it but I must give you the story to keep you in the know.” The retired hero acted as if his teeth were being torn out when he spoke, “Heracles Von Braun almost killed off all of our current Omega ranked superhumans in the US when we sent them after him and his family when he moved from France. Him, his wife, and brother took out the sixteen of them, by themselves, and ‘dictated his terms’ to us. TO US, the League. Terms that I won’t reveal in this conversation. Now, he is a contractor for the Justicar team based in Seattle. He is being given special dispensation to be able to live here in Washington because his wife, who is a Magic user, hates it in NYC and prefers the air here, to be more in tune with nature. She deals with the rogue magic users for us, for a price. Never try to negotiate with her.” Major Freedom ranted his explanations.

Ada was scared out of her mind as she heard the old man and of the frightening power of the couple and their sibling. They could lay waste to this continent, kill everyone. But, they should be good people as the husband was in a hero team and his wife seemed to be content with taking care of their children. The big unknown was about the third one, the brother who seemed to not be mentioned at all.

“Sir, what do you want from us?”

“I want you to go there after we ask permission for you to be in their residence. Agent Fong, can I please ask you to not try to read any of those family members? It would pain me for the country to lose you as an asset. Agent Muir, you should not antagonize Malicia Von Braun. I beg you.”

““Yes, sir!”” The two tried to salute but couldn’t as they were cramped in the vehicle.

“Good, my assistant will call you if the Mistress of the house gives her permission for you to go there.” Approval at the two women’s answers could be felt in Major Freedom’s voice.

“Good afternoon, agents.” The old man hung up.

The atmosphere in the cab of the vehicle was still filled with tension when the tonality went off. Ada and Jill were still holding one another’s hands for support.