The truck bumped on the road, getting close to HUE headquarters at a casual pace. Claire at the wheel, Naomi was leaning back in the passenger seat with eyes closed, an IV bag plugged into her arm. The window between the steering wheel and truck bed was open, Sami and Gan Wen leaning into the opening.

  “We can assume the Antiserum takes away powers, but do we know if they were talking about it in concept, or if they were talking about it like it already exists?” Sami asked, tapping his leg impatiently with Shadow Hand.

  “It’s hard to read tone in the subtitles.” Claire shook her head.

  “Anything about specifics or location?”

  “Nothing. But remember, it was hard to see when like a hundred different subtitles were stacking around the Antiserum conversation. I don’t want to make any claims I’m not certain of.”

  “But Senior Sister is certain that someone spoke with Elder Steele,” Gan Wen concluded.

  “Yeah, even if he wasn’t the one talking, he was part of it. And it looked like he was listening in closely.”

  Sami leaned back, feeling lost. “Should we talk to him? Even if he knows, this sounds like it’d be a secret subject. But maybe if he’s really cagey about it, we can figure something out too?”

  “You know how to get an audience with Weldon Steele?”

  “I barely know who he is.”

  “Well, he’s the kinda guy who can drop millions on a fundraising event without blinking an eye. Pretty sure he’s not easily accessible.” Claire turned into the back of HUE where a rugged parking lot held a beat up truck and Rudy’s glistening car.

  Parking, Claire turned around in her seat to look at Gan Wen and Sami.

  “What do we think? Do we tell everyone about it or keep it to ourselves?”

  “This one believes the Senior Sister’s discretion is the best decision.” Gan Wen lowered his head toward her.

  Sami worked his jaw back and forth in thought. “Could cause a panic if people are worried about something that can take away their powers.”

  “Anomalies,” Naomi murmured, one eye cracking open.

  “Do you have an opinion on what we should do?” Claire asked her.

  “Tell Apex and let him decide,” Naomi yawned, her skin stretching across her face.

  Had she always been so thin or was it getting worse? With Power Sense, Sami scanned the black bubble shining overhead. Always running. Constantly sucking away her energies. How long could she last like this?

  “I can tell Apex,” Claire said confidently. “I wanna ask him about his opinions on Steele and Crede too. Something about them is weird to me. You two can join, if you want.”

  “I think they’re weird because they’re politicians,” Sami said. “I have something I wanna do first, you go ahead without me.”

  “This one wishes to meditate as this one has had little time to cycle today. If that does not displease Senior Sister,” Gan Wen said, sounding apologetic to Claire.

  “Hey, remember when I said to use ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’ at the gala? You did great.”

  “This one thanks…”

  “New rule. Every time you want to call me ‘Senior Sister,’ just say ‘Claire.’ Got it?”

  Gan Wen started, making a quick glance at Sami before looking back to Claire. Sami smiled encouragingly.

  Shivering, Gan Wen stammered his words. “This one… Is… Understanding.”

  “Of who? Who do you understand?”

  “C… Claire.” Gan Wen sounded like he swallowed a slug.

  “Great! Thank you. Maybe we can get along, after all. Go ahead and go bicycling or whatever, I’ll talk to Apex myself and let you know what he thinks.”

  “Would Elder Sister like for this one to assist you inside?” Gan Wen looked to Naomi who had closed her eyes again.

  “I think that’d be for the best,” Sami said.

  “I’m no ‘elder,’ I’m in my thirties,” Naomi said, eyes still closed. “But yes. Help me out the truck.”

  Swinging his leg over the side, Sami boosted himself off the truck bed with Shadow Hand, marveling at how well it handled his weight. It slouched low, like it was strained to its limit, but it didn’t dissipate before he got off like it did after his interview with the Slattery Network. The gain in constitution encouraged him to work it out even harder. Passing his water jug to his Shadow Hand, he began to do more curls.

  Entering through the back, Sami was met with a long corridor, the end of which was the entrance into the main warehouse. Sami had never been inside without seeing Darius and Lilly and wondered what they were up to at the moment. The warm afternoon sun spilled through the open door, contrasting the harsh white fluorescent lighting of the hallway.

  Breathing deeply and doing one last curl, Sami prepared himself for the task ahead. Making his way through the hall, Gan Wen passing by on the way, Sami stopped in front of the room he’d been curious about since he first joined HUE.

  The rec room.

  Annie sat within, lounging upside down on the couch as a movie played on the screen ahead of her. The light of the television screen oscillated around the otherwise darkened room. Reaching out with his Shadow Hand, Sami tested the doorknob gently to see whether it really was unlocked. The knob fell with barely any force, the latch clicking loudly as the door opened. Annie didn’t look away from the screen.

  Looking over his shoulder, Sami felt like he was doing something wrong despite having been encouraged to talk to Annie if he chose to. Something about her being so closed off sent an alarm in his head, like this was a dangerous move. Nudging the door open further, Sami poked his head halfway inside, clearing his throat.

  “Is it okay if I come in?”

  Annie shoved a handful of chips in her mouth, chewing loudly as she looked from the screen to Sami. Crumbs falling off her cheeks to the detritus-ridden floor, she shrugged nonchalantly, even upside down. Fully entering the room gradually, Sami waited for something crazy to happen, like his soul being thrown from his body or lava melting him through his shoes. But every step was as normal as the previous and he was able to make it to the couch without incident.

  The room was small, something like a playroom that people might put toddlers in while waiting for an appointment. With the overhead lights dark, the television was the room’s only source of light. The couch took up a third of the space and trash littered just about every inch surrounding the sitting area. Sami wondered if it had ever been cleaned by Annie. Or anyone, for that matter.

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  Turning to the screen, Sami saw it was playing a nature documentary where a zebra was being run down by a lion. The narrator was turned way down, and Sami could barely hear it above Annie’s snacking. Plastic crinkled loudly as she tore open a bag of popcorn. Next to the television was a massive pile of movies and shows, most of them in a fantasy or epic setting, but all of them were sealed in plastic.

  Annie looked to be a few years older than Sami, just out of high school. Her hair was a mess, spilling over her shoulders with tangles at every other strand. A long green shirt covered her upper body and a mix of sweatpants and a tangled blanket covered the rest of her. She had an inquisitive look on her face, like she was studying the television rather than just watching it. Her green eyes seemed to be absorbing every scene, before she finally gave Sami a second round of attention.

  Annie kicked her legs lightly, like the company amused her. “Do you wanna watch something?”

  “We can watch whatever you’re watching,” Sami said, smiling affably.

  “Nice! I’m Annie.”

  “Sami. Nice to meet you.”

  Looking around, Sami found another cushioned seat to sit in, allowing Annie to continue to lounge and take whatever posture she wanted without kicking him. Pulling the chair close to the couch, Sami sat down and watched the screen quietly. The zebra had been caught, the lions making quick work of their new meal.

  “Is this a zebra documentary or a lion one? I’m trying to figure out whether to be sad about the kill,” Sami said with levity.

  “It’s a nature documentary,” Annie said, a tone that made Sami uncertain if she was using dry humor or being serious.

  Sami glanced at her, trying to get a better read. Fully engrossed, she continued watching the screen as though she had already forgotten his existence. Narrowing an eye slightly, Sami couldn’t figure out how this girl was supposed to be the strongest Awakened individual. Lying down and watching movies didn’t exactly scream ultimate power.

  Looking back to the screen, Sami tried to sound casual. “Naomi and Apex say you’re the strongest person in HUE.”

  Annie said nothing, eyes following the lions hanging out in their territory.

  “Maybe even the strongest Awakened ever. Apex especially seems convinced of that idea,” Sami continued.

  Annie took another handful of food. Sami felt like he wasn’t getting anywhere with her and scanned her with Power Sense. Gasping through his nose, he leaned away from her in shock.

  The golden bubble was the size of the entire room, multiple times larger than any individual power he’d ever seen. It might have even been bigger than the tempest of powers above Lightcrown. Blinking as he shut off his power, Sami exhaled slowly and watched her sidelong. Was he sitting next to a nuke?

  Eyes scanning the room once more, Sami suddenly felt slightly claustrophobic. If some immense energy emitted from Annie, there was no way he could escape the blast radius. But the Power Sense cloud was so big, he doubted anyone could escape its energies. He had to find out more, and he turned Power Sense back on, stretching his neck away from the bubble as he scrutinized it.

  “You like nature documentaries?” Sami asked.

  “Yeah. My favorite stuff to watch.”

  So, she only wanted to talk about stuff on TV. Working his jaw, Sami tried to think of a way to relate talking about herself to talking about some show.

  “If you were an animal in a documentary, what do you think you would be? I’d be a panther,” Sami showed off his Shadow Hand, arching it like a claw, but it was barely visible in the darkness.

  Annie looked at the hand and smirked, adjusting herself on the couch from lying upside down to sitting right side up.

  “I’d be a lion. They’re cool,” Annie said, focus back on the screen.

  “Yeah, they are,” Sami said, hoping to leave something open-ended so Annie would share more.

  Nothing. A lion rolled in the hot savannah, looking content after its meal.

  Sami looked at his Shadow Hand, staring at it for inspiration. “What about your power? If it was an animal in this documentary, what would it be? I think mine would be… A raven.”

  Sami slowly flapped his Shadow Hand like it was a bird wing. To Sami’s dismay, Annie didn’t look amused, eyes flitting between the hand and the screen. In fact, she looked somewhat upset. Sami leaned further away from her, eyeing the door.

  “There are no ravens in this documentary,” she said, her tone disappointed.

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  “My power would be a chameleon.”

  Sami perked up. “That’s so cool! Why? Can you borrow other people’s powers?”

  Annie shoved in another handful of food, speaking with her mouth full. “No, I can memorize and recreate any power I see on screen.”

  Sami’s eyes flinched, giving her a double take. Then a triple take.

  “Sorry, I think your mouth was full. Could you say that again?” Sami asked, his voice low and mouth dry.

  Annie took a swig from a water bottle. “I can absorb any power I see on screen and use it for myself.”

  “Like… Temporarily like a chameleon?”

  “Permanently, so long as I remember how it looked on screen.”

  Eyes running back over the sealed movies and shows, he wondered why they were all closed. The moment he learned he could absorb powers through screens, he’d watch every fantasy movie available. Maybe any show and movie available, just to be certain he got everything he possibly could. In fact, nature documentaries might be the only thing he would avoid.

  “There must be a lot of drawbacks to that,” Sami said, speaking carefully.

  Annie said nothing. Sami shook his head to himself. Focus on the TV. Juggling through topics, he changed tactics.

  “If they made a movie about you, are there any weaknesses they’d work in?” Sami asked, feeling like even Annie could tell how much he was forcing the topic.

  Tilting her head, Annie considered the question as her eyes followed the lions on screen. She twirled a lock of her hair.

  “Probably headaches from watching too much TV. And people being annoying.”

  “Yeah, annoying people,” Sami agreed, hoping he wasn’t one of them.

  “That would probably be the focus of the second act. People annoying my character until she broke and was forced to use her abilities and the third act would be her going into action like it was a heroic thing,” Annie said bitterly.

  Sami looked at her sidelong. She had stopped twirling her hair and pinched it tightly.

  “Why are they spending so much time annoying her? Narratively, I mean?” Sami asked carefully.

  “Because she just wants to be left alone! She didn’t ask for the power that could surpass Lightcrown and every made up hero at the same time! She just wanted to watch some TV, but since she suddenly had some new ability, people started to try to determine her life for her! She doesn’t want to use her powers to save the city, she just wants to hang out and chill. But because she can save the city, everyone suddenly hates her.” Annie threw the lock of hair forward, allowing it to fall back and bat her face lightly.

  Sami knew she was talking about herself, but how she framed it almost made it seem like a made up scenario. Was she really so lame that she didn’t even want to use the incredible power she had? Sami could think of five shows that would be enough for her to end all calamities in the world simultaneously. But she just… Didn’t feel like it?

  “Is there any way you think that the character would change her mind?” Sami said.

  “Well, for my character, the writers would probably pull something stupid and make it happen. But if they were making a story based on true events, it would never happen.”

  “Nothing would convince you?”

  Annie said nothing, laying down sideways on the couch, feet toward Sami. The lion on screen took a nap. Annie’s eyes drooped. Sami glanced at the unopened movies and approached the area.

  “Can I put something else on?”

  “No. I’m not in the mood anymore,” Annie grumbled into the cushion.

  “Then… Maybe I can come back some other time when you’re in a better mood?”

  Annie’s face shot toward Sami, but he didn’t flinch. She stopped intimidating him when she made it clear how lackluster her ambitions were. Even if she could hurt him, she would never work herself up to it. At least not in this state.

  “Are you gonna be annoying and try to get me to watch shows to bring out amazing powers?” Annie asked bluntly.

  “What if I like the movie and it just so happens to be about amazing powers?”

  “Why is everyone annoying?” Annie asked, putting her face into the cushion.

  Sami opened his mouth to reply, then closed it in disappointment. The most powerful Awakened alive. Deciding to do nothing with her abilities. And her life. It was no wonder people talked about her with an air of disappointment.

  “I can see you’re tired. I’ll come by later,” Sami said.

  But as he closed the door behind him, he wasn’t sure he even wanted to put in the effort on someone that didn’t want to put effort in themselves.