Sami glanced around the plain entryway as he entered the Hero Unification Entity building. Windows were high and brightened the room, which was articulated with green plants hanging from the ceiling to give the otherwise gray room some color. The faint scent of greenery mixed with what Sami would have described as “warehouse stink,” a cold, rusty stench of old metals that had scraped against one another. Two secretaries looked up as Sami approached, one a young man and the other a woman of around the same age. Both were maybe a year or two older than Sami.

  “Hi, I’m here for the HUE thing. My name’s Sami. What about you?” Sami smiled as he placed the HUE card on the counter, sliding it to the young woman.

  Sitting straight in her chair, she leaned forward, her short bob of black hair drifting forward as she scrutinized his admittance card. Her small face scrunched as her brown eyes hopped from the card to Sami’s face.

  “You’re late,” she said sharply. The other secretary rolled his eyes at her.

  Sami blinked in surprise and checked his phone.

  “I thought it said to get here at 9 AM?” Sami flipped his phone around to show that it was exactly 9 o’clock.

  “Exactly. In this business, early is on time and on time is late,” she said.

  “Seriously, Lilly, just drop it,” the other secretary groaned, leaning back in his chair.

  His dark hair was buzzed short and he placed a hand over his face like he would rather be anywhere else. His arms were a darker complexion than Sami, looking as though he spent a lot of time in the sun. Muscles lean and pronounced, his build was athletic, and Sami wondered what his workout regimen was like.

  “Why should we treat him the same when everyone else showed up on time?” Lilly asked.

  “Because he did show up on time,” he said, his tired voice airy and annoyed.

  “If on time is late, then what’s late?” Sami asked eagerly.

  “It’s death!” Lilly said, staring seriously at Sami. “It means you left people to die when you could have saved them.”

  Sami considered her words, wondering what would ha??ve happened if he showed up to the robbery he prevented only minutes later. People could have gotten hurt. He nodded to her seriously.

  “Ignore her, Sami,” the other secretary sat up in his chair, stifling a yawn. Taking Sami’s card, he scanned it on a device on his end of the counter. “I’m Darius, that’s Lilly. She desperately wants to act like she’s more than just a secretary.”

  “I’m Awakened!” Lilly protested.

  “Really?” Sami asked excitedly. “What can you do?” He felt a hint of pleasant surprise as Power Sense confirmed Darius and Lilly each possessed just one power, a capable duo. Their two misty bubbles were medium sized and red.

  Grinning excitedly, Lilly picked up red and blue pens from in front of her and placed them on opposite ends of the countertop. Rubbing her hands together, she pointed at the two pens, sticking a tongue out slightly as she concentrated. Her hands trembled, but nothing changed about the pens. Sami looked up to Darius for an explanation, but he just nodded back to the pens.

  Lilly’s face shifted to a hint of red shade. Then, so fast that Sami would have missed it if he blinked, the two pens traded colors. Tightness releasing from her features, Lilly exhaled loudly, letting out a cheer as she did so.

  “You can swap the colors of things? That’s so cool!” Sami grinned, picking up the blue pen.

  “No! It’s not swapping colors! I can trade the places of two objects!” Lilly snatched the pen from Sami’s hand.

  “Even cooler!” Sami said sincerely.

  Lilly scanned him, watching for a hint of mockery.

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Yeah! Why are you stuck being at a desk? Oh, are you a reinforcement? How far does it work from? Could you trade these pens across the city? Think about being able to trade someone’s empty weapon with a loaded weapon. You could save so much time!”

  Lilly flushed at the praise, staring at Sami in amazement.

  “It is cool, isn’t it?” Lilly asked.

  “Don’t be too impressed,” Darius warned, rubbing one of his eyes. Grabbing the red pen and pulling off the cap half an inch, he set it back gently on the counter. “There. Now she can’t trade them anymore.”

  “What? Seriously?” Sami asked, looking over the red pen for any special changes.

  Lilly looked down in shame, snatching the other pen and tucking the stationery away.

  “Yeah, they have to be the same size all around,” Lilly muttered.

  “And the same weight,” Darius added. “Notice she used fresh pens. If you used too much ink from one of them, she wouldn’t be able to switch it anymore.”

  “They don’t have to be exactly the same,” Lilly grumbled, embarrassed. “I think there’s like a gram of variability.”

  “That’s still cool! Think about trading the momentum!” Sami said excitedly. “Like, you could throw a ball one direction and then trade it with another ball, so it goes flying from a different position in space.”

  “Nope,” Darius said. “The moving object doesn’t remain moving. They trade both their place and momentum. So, the most she could do is throw a red pen up and have it land as a blue pen.”

  Lilly nodded, frowning.

  “It’s pretty limited,” she admitted quietly.

  “Nah, we’re just thinking about it wrong,” Sami assured her, leaning on the countertop in thought. “If we can figure out its restrictions, we can make this thing work pretty well. Imagine trading a model sword for a real one, or something, to get it past security. You would just have to make sure the weight lines up… But that would be pretty tough if they’re made from different materials but need to be the same weight and size all around… Hmmm, there’s gotta be some angle we’re not thinking about.”

  With wide eyes, Lilly looked up at Sami hopefully. His jaw worked back and forth as he thought, considering different angles of the ability. After a few seconds of silence, Darius knocked on the counter.

  “You may not have been late before, but you are now.”

  “Oh, right!” Sami blinked, remembering where he was.

  “Head inside that way. The door will unlock when you scan it,” Darius slid him his HUE invitation card.

  “Thanks!” Sami took it and strode for the mechanical door. “Hey, before I go, what’s your power, Darius?”

  “Forget it. We can talk about it later. It’s more useless than Lilly’s,” Darius waved him off. Lilly pouted at his side.

  “Bye Sami! Good luck!” She waved to him.

  Sami grinned and saluted a goodbye with two fingers to his forehead. Scanning the door open, Sami checked his phone and saw it was 9:05. Even leaving as early as he did to make it on time, he got distracted by Lightcrown, the attempted robbery, and Lilly and Darius. He would need to focus himself better if he wanted to make sure not to be late to important things like HUE work.

  The next room was the size of an airplane hanger. A number of people were chatting in small groups by the door. Sami activated his Power Sense for a moment and was flooded with colors above each person. Widening his smile, Sami took in the scene. This was the most Awakened people he’d seen in a single place.

  Counting quickly, Sami saw ten people in the wide open room. They glanced around curiously, as though looking for direction. Maybe he wasn’t as late as he feared. Sami quickly assessed them to be new potential recruits, just like himself. Smiling affably, Sami strode forward and j??oined the nearest group of people.

  “Hi! I’m Sami, what about you guys?” Sami introduced himself.

  Three people turned his way, looking from his face to his water jug.

  “Greetings, Sa Mi. I am Gan Wen. Are you already a part of the sect, or looking to join like the rest of us?” Gan Wen said, with a salute of a tight fist over his chest.

  He was wearing long, white flowing robes with black stars embroidered into the sleeves and had his black hair up tight into a topknot, tied together with a golden thread. There was an intensity to his otherwise smooth, pale face, and his breathing pattern was deep and full of control. With Power Sense, Sami could see the bubble above his head was a shining, radiating golden essence. Sami regarded him with a smile, but tilted his head to one side.

  “The sect?”

  “His name isn’t Sa Mi! It’s Sami! S-A-M-I. All one word,” the girl in the group corrected him, looking beyond frustrated.

  “Apologies, Senior Sister, this one did not intend to mistake the name of the newcomer,” Gan Wen said, saluting her with his tight fist and bowing his head apologetically.

  “Stop that! I already told you my name is Claire!” Claire waved at him with both hands as though disgusted.

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  Her long blonde hair trembled as she shook her head at him, disappointed. She was a few inches shorter than the rest in the small group, but looked like she could beat any of them in a race. She had on flashy running shoes, loose baggy sweats and an oversized sweater, like she was ready for a marathon in cold weather. Most interestingly, she had a pair of binoculars looped around her neck. The Power Sense cloud above her head was a navy blue.

  “How did you know how to spell my name? Most people assume it ends in a ‘y,’” Sami said.

  “My power. I can read subtitles under people who are speaking, so long as I can see their face. Or if they’re super close. It’s also how I know he was saying it wrong.” Claire looked at Gan Wen sidelong.

  “That’s a super cool power,” Sami said.

  “And I’m Gutshot!” The last member of the group introduced himself with a broad grin.

  He was tall, bald, and round, both at his head and torso. He gave his ample belly two resounding thumps. “I can get shot in the gut and not feel anything!”

  “Just the gut?” Sami asked.

  Gutshot’s grin slowly reduced down to a thin line.

  “I uhhh… I don’t know. I don’t really go around shooting myself to check,” Gutshot admitted.

  “But you’ve been shot in the gut?” Sami clarified, interested.

  “Well, no. I was hit pretty hard in the stomach, but I didn’t feel it at all,” Gutshot said, his bravado slowly waning.

  “What was it?” Sami asked, eager to know. His smile was meant to be pleasant and disarming, but Gutshot looked away and grabbed one arm with the other.

  “It was a bottle rocket. Bounced right off me. Harmlessly.”

  Sami continued to smile and nod, but Claire looked appalled.

  “Like a bottle of water!?” Claire asked, shocked.

  “It was still all the way full with water, and it didn’t even hurt!”

  “You wanna go with ‘Gutshot’ off of that? What if HUE believes you and actually shoots you in the stomach!? You know, with a gun?” she asked.

  “I dunno, I didn’t think they would go that far. Who has a gun these days, anyways? I just wanted to get the name before someone else took it.”

  “Until some hooligan out there hears your name is Gutshot and tries to test how durable you are,” Claire said.

  “What about your second power?” Sami asked, hoping to save him further embarrassment by changing the subject.

  “Second power?” Gutshot asked.

  “One of my powers that lets me see how many powers someone else has. You have two,” Sami pointed above Gutshot.

  “I only know of the one. What’s the second one?” Gutshot asked.

  “I dunno, I just see the number, nothing else, really.”

  “You spoke of more than one Path?” Gan Wen asked. “What other Path are you on, brother Sa Mi?”

  The three others looked at him. His robe fluttered in a nonexistent breeze.

  “What?” Sami asked.

  “Why do you talk like that?” Claire asked, sighing as she asked.

  “Maybe it’s a cultural thing,” Sami suggested.

  “No! It sounds like… like I dunno, he’s translating in real time! But from English to English! He trades words around that he clearly understands! What kind of culture is that? Where are you even from?” Claire demanded.

  “This one was born and raised in the village we stand in, Senior Sister,” Gan Wen informed her formally.

  “No one in this city talks like that! Why do you talk like that!?” Claire exploded.

  “This one does not understand the question, Senior Sister. Forgive this one for having an opinion, but this one was under the impression we spoke the same language.” Gan Wen closed his eyes with humility and bowed his head in shame.

  “Oh my God,” Claire groaned, pressing against her eyes with both hands.

  Gan Wen remained motionless, his head bowed in apology, but his robes continued to drift in an unknown wind. Sami stared at him, first in confusion, then with interest. He stared at the cloud he could see through his Power Sense, holding the ability a little longer than he normally did as he studied the misty essence. Not only was the gold a rare color, but it was radiant, shinier than almost every other cloud of power he’d ever seen.

  Blinking in thought, Sami turned to Gutshot and studied the two bubbles above his head. One was a muddy red haze and the other a confusing, spinning green, and the green one was glowing slightly. Sami felt like there was a pattern to them that was just out of his grasp.

  “What did you say your power was, Gan Wen?” Sami asked.

  “I believe, by my own self-teachings, I have reached the third realm of the Path of the Radiant Sun. I am proficient in many of its aspects, including the Shining Palm,” Gan Wen explained. “What is your Path, Sa Mi?”

  “When you say Path, you mean like my powers? Well, I have the Power Sense, to see the number of powers people have, and I can make a Shadow Hand that can affect my surroundings. It’s not exactly a big hitter, but it’s good at small movements and distractions.” Sami waved a shadow hand from behind his shoulder for effect.

  “Two Paths?” Gan Wen asked, impressed. “The Path of the Emergent Eye and the Path of the Grasping Shadow? I have heard of neither of these. You will have to show me more so that I may understand.”

  “No!” Claire interrupted, upset. “Is this like a joke? No one said ‘Grasping Shadow!’ Where are you getting this from? He said Shadow Hand. Are you joking? Seriously, just tell me if you’re joking, this is driving me insane.”

  “Apologies, Senior Sister, but this one assures you that this one is not saying anything in jest. This one merely—”

  “No, stop, stop.” Claire waved at him with one hand and pushed against an eye with the other.

  “Welcome potential Heroes of HUE! I am your proctor, Naomi,” a voice came over speakers as a woman with a microphone in hand spoke. In the other hand was a thick protein-like drink she drank from as she walked.

  Naomi was thin and had piercing narrow eyes, like she was judging everyone. Or maybe evaluating them very keenly, it was hard to tell by the energy she gave off. Her graying hair was up into a messy bun, like it would have been better set in a ponytail.

  When she spoke, the groups around Sami split and everyone lined up to look upon the incoming proctor with a sense of decency and respect. As Sami scanned her with Power Sense and saw two bubbles of mist floating above her, he heard dozens of murmurs overlapping at something else. With Power Sense still on, Sami noticed five clouds floating above someone walking behind Naomi.

  Apex strode behind the thin woman, a muted, confident smirk on his face as he looked over everyone in the warehouse. Well-groomed hair covered his head and he had a clean-shaven face around his sparkling white smile. He stood head and shoulders above the others, a near seven-foot frame whose strides looked perfectly placed. His white uniform was adorned with many small, jagged green lines, like a nervous system mapped onto his clothing. He grinned in a quick greeting and scanned the room slowly, assessing the group.

  “I didn’t think we’d actually meet the strongest hero,” Gutshot murmured, covering his stomach lightly.

  “The Grand Elder of the sect has graced us with his presence,” Gan Wen said, saluting him.

  “If anyone asks, we’ve never met,” Claire muttered to him.

  “Of course, Senior Sister.”

  Claire grumbled.

  Sami's meeting with Lightcrown that morning overshadowed what would have been an equally impressive live viewing of Apex. Apex was like an action figure compared to the legend that was Lightcrown. Sami wouldn’t run around when he was younger, pretending he was Apex. Lightcrown was who every hero aspired to be, trying to reclaim the glory of the dead hero.

  Well, dead as far as everyone but Sami knew.

  “We are going to start with the physical exam. Show us what you can do in the field, and we will determine whether we need you in HUE,” Naomi explained, opening a palm and pointing to an empty space ahead of her. She took another long sip from her shake.

  Apex had made such an impression that no one realized that there had been a third person entering the room. Stumbling forward over his worker boots, the man was stout and had a handkerchief he kept dabbing at his neck as he glanced at Naomi. Acne peppered his flushed cheeks and forehead. He cleared his throat once, then again, louder. Breathing deeply, he gulped before addressing his small audience.

  Stopping a moment before speaking, the man blinked to himself and patted himself down before pulling a small water bottle from his pocket and taking a sip. Naomi approached him with a pitiful gaze and offered him the microphone, which he gratefully accepted in his sweaty hands.

  “Umm, yes. Hello. I am ummm, Steve. I run the… That is to say, I administer the test. With Naomi. Not alone. Obviously. I’m not…” Steve trailed as he rubbed his handkerchief across his forehead and cleared his throat again. The microphone whined with feedback, and Steve sputtered nervously as he held it away from his face and gave Naomi an apologetic wince.

  “You already have to manage so much, Steve. Would you like me to present the test?” Apex asked humbly. His voice rang with confident authority.

  Steve looked like he’d been tossed a life vest moments before sinking into open ocean. Nodding, he pointed the microphone out to Apex, who took it and turned it off.

  “Hello everyone, thank you for being here today,” Apex’s voice came clearly, each word enunciated like a news anchor. “Steve here excels at creating objects formed of clay. He’ll be creating a dummy for you to show off your skills. If there is any safety reason we need to know as to why you’d need to hold back, please tell us before holding back. We want to see you at your strongest. If you’re accepted into HUE, you will be given a Rank to determine how powerful you are. It will be useful in quickly identifying where you’ll be most helpful in the field. You’ll want to show off all your powers.”

  Apex walked as he spoke, as though giving a lecture. The dozen heads in the room tracked him smoothly back and forth, totally enraptured by his words. Apex looked friendly, but sounded serious, his voice enrapturing the crowd, almost impossibly so.

  “Before we begin,” Apex stopped walking. “I want you to understand what exactly you’re signing yourselves up for. HUE is greater than any individual in this group. HUE is hope for those outside these walls. But, more than that, HUE is a chance at justice in this newly imbalanced world. Justice… even at the cost of our own lives.”

  Sami looked around at his fellow recruits and noticed a few wide eyes at the suggestion that they may have to sacrifice their lives in this job. He found that reaction strange considering he expected that Awakened people would have short lifespans if they spent it in combat. Maybe they weren’t as familiar with death as he was.

  “Your powers will be placed into grades to determine their strength. Your Grade will be determined by how much damage you can do to the clay dummy,” Apex said, holding a hand out to a dummy that Steve summoned from the ground. Steve tripped as he stepped out of the way. “If you can give the dummy a decent dent, your power will be Grade F. If you can take off a limb, that’s Grade D. Knock it over and tear off a few limbs is Grade C. If you can break it down into a dozen pieces, that’s Grade B. If you turn it into nothing more than little crumbs of clay, that’s Grade A. And the highest Grade, Grade L, is if you can completely obliterate it.”

  Apex took a firm step toward the dummy and placed a hand a foot in front of it. Space warped in front of his hand and light cracked like a lightbulb exploding. In an instant, a mix of gold light and a sonic boom sheared the dummy into tiny particles, leaving only the smell of dry mud. Applause exploded behind Apex, and he turned and smiled humbly. Sami shifted uncomfortably in place.

  “Questions?” Apex asked.

  Others stared in fascination at the spot where the dummy had been torn to nothing. Interested as he was at the display, Sami held up a hand high. The others around him stared, but he didn’t mind their eyes on him.

  “Yes?” Apex pointed to Sami.

  “Why are you here? And not out there protecting people?” Sami asked.

  All the heads spun his way in either amusement or mortification. Sami knew it sounded like he was challenging Apex’s sincerity to do good if he was checking out new recruits, but it was an earnest question. If he had Apex’s power, he would want to be outside protecting people. Apex took the question in stride, offering Sami a polite nod.

  “That’s an excellent question. I’m here for the same reason you’re here.”

  Sami’s neck went warm, immediately feeling called out. He could be out there. There was no reason he had to join up with HUE to do good work. But before he felt compelled to reply, Apex continued smoothly.

  “Some of the best members of HUE are already out there keeping the city safe from those who are Awakened and have malicious intentions. They work hard so that we may rest and better ourselves. I wouldn’t have any downtime if it wasn’t for this organization,” Apex said grandly.

  It sounded like a sales pitch, but Sami believed him nonetheless. It was why he wanted to join HUE. To be part of something bigger than himself. And to save others, no matter how dire the situation. Sami nodded and grinned, appreciating the answer to his question. Apex returned the smile, then pointed to the newly formed clay dummy behind him.

  “All right, who’s up first?” Apex asked with an inviting smile.