Adam’s eye had been tingling ever since they uncovered WATERSHED.

  It had started subtly. That night, lying back down next to Annabelle, who had thankfully fallen asleep in the meantime, he could feel his unnatural eye active again. Active doing what, he had no idea. He went and looked in the bathroom mirror. He could see the eye glowing its whitish-blue color in the dark. Not bright enough to illuminate anything, but glowing. He had wanted answers about his eye, but now he could only feel rising dread. The effect was gone by the morning.

  Then the headache started. Pressure built behind his eye. He took painkillers for it, then migraine medicine. Nothing seemed to lessen it. It made him miserable the rest of the weekend. He slept with his face buried away from any source of light in Annabelle’s wonderfully soft body, an arrangement she was more than happy with. He tried getting out, but his mind was shot from the constant throbbing in his head. Thalia had returned to campus and now kept a curt distance from Adam. No ultimatum from his girlfriend needed. The seeming indifference Thalia had now, not even bothering to give Annabelle a stink eye but ignoring them together entirely, hurt the most. He tried to compartmentalize the pain of losing his friend. There were more important things. Always more important things.

  It was now Monday, and the answers had come. He really wished they hadn’t.

  Rain turned the sloping glass roof of the foundation executive meeting room into a waterfall over their heads. Dark thunderheads rumbled above like the work of unseen angry gods.

  Hell, with the strange world we live in, maybe there are gods above watching all this, Adam thought. He sat slumped in his director’s chair at the head of the table. Around him were the only five people who fully knew the situation and were there with him to strategize: Annabelle, Abigail, Kieran, Dr. Madison, and David Weeks, BASTION’s liaison to the foundation. Adam had spoken one on one with him once, briefly as part of his induction. David had smiled and shook his hand and promised to be a silent and out of the way presence. He was young for an agent and athletically built, with big bright eyes and a long, thin face. Hair cut and brushed to be straight and out of the way. Looked more prepared for field work than sitting in on meetings, but there he was every week without fail, listening attentively and taking his own notes. He had asked maybe one or two innocuous questions across the entire time Adam had been leading.

  Adam was almost certain WATERSHED was the work of BASTION. His own family would never be so reckless as to keep something so wildly dangerous in deep storage. Would they? Why wouldn’t they tell him about it? Were they expecting to be back before he ever discovered it? What would they expect him to do if he did find it? Adam had to admit to himself he knew so little about the workings of his family’s projects. He had never felt smaller than he did now sitting so high.

  His five companions sat around the table, waiting patiently for him to speak. Annabelle across from Abigail, despite her objections about the technopath hanging around.

  He opened his mouth to speak.

  “WATERSHED is…”

  He and his companions from school met Kieran first thing in the morning, then went to Dr. Madison. If he could trust any of his staff, he trusted Amy. She’d help understand and contain any problem. She understood the worry immediately and assembled a small, discrete team to investigate. They attached devices to the shipping container-like object and got to work generating a map of its contents. The sub-basement was locked down from all outside personnel. Adam brought Agent Weeks on board to see if he had any explanation. He feigned innocence about it all: the basement, WATERSHED, the other projects. BASTION claimed none of it. Which meant it was all on Adam’s shoulders to deal with.

  The scan came back hours later. Dr. Madison and Abigail pored over it together. The scan showed a body of sorts encased in the container. Below its waist it was a mess of bundled tentacles. Its arm slim and folded against its narrow waist like a mummy. Its head dispelled any notion anyone may have had of this thing being anything related to humans. It was long and faceless, with only two oval bumps to roughly approximate eyes. The spatial scan lacked any color, but the topography of the thing filled Adam with yet more dread. A network of slim cables crept from the central body all around the interior surface of the container like a nest of wires, or veins. Who knows how it would have spilled out if they had actually opened it.

  Adam knew what it was, before archival footage and classified documents confirmed it. Now he had to say it.

  “WATERSHED is… a coffin for an Invader. And it’s not dead. It’s in stasis.”

  The Invaders were still what they called the ones who tore open reality in Beacon City and began their wanton destruction. An army of faceless alien conquerors, the likes of which Earth had never had to contend with before. Immensely durable. Scarily silent and coordinated, with power that could only be rivaled by the strongest of Earth’s heroes working together. Even then, it was a losing war. They were merely pushed back into their strange black hole portals. No one knew why they gave up. The ones they managed to actually kill were left behind, inert and lifeless. Their very corpses were so advanced, so strange, they were essentially black boxes. In twenty one months, all researchers could generally agree on were that they were some kind of technorganic race, seamlessly blending flesh and technology. They were all supposed to be dead.

  Why the fuck was there a still-living one in Adam’s basement?

  Dr. Madison sat at Adam’s right. She wore her usual work outfit of denim overalls over a shirt. Her hair was tied back professionally, only a few ringlets curled around her forehead. She broke the silence next.

  “Obviously, this is beyond extremely concerning. As Chief Engineer, I’m shocked I was never looped in on this situation at any point. Not to sound self-important, but that almost leads me to believe your family didn’t know about its existence there, Adam.”

  Cyrus had indicated they had. At least his father. Something worth circling back to.

  Agent Weeks twisted a pen in his slender hands. He had a master poker face. Though his face was serene, his eyes narrowed in thought. Annabelle only looked at her boyfriend with naked concern. He should have left her at school. But he couldn’t start digging a trench between himself and the girl he had chosen to be with too. Not when he needed Abigail by his side. Adam tried getting across how essential her powers were to this right now. Purely business. Annabelle seemed to understand. With how Adam had been about the women in his life lately, he knew there’d be a reckoning to come. One thing at a time.

  “You still claim no knowledge of this?” Adam asked Agent Weeks. “If this is BASTION’s work, speak now, or I’m taking charge of this situation.”

  Weeks only shrugged. “I’m sorry Adam, I don’t know what to tell you. I imagine if this was BASTION, we’d be keeping it on our own site and studying it night and day. Not storing it away in a basement we don’t own. I’m not saying I know all the whims of leadership, but I think I would have been debriefed on this if we had any knowledge.”

  He could easily be lying to cover their tracks. The real test was Adam doing something with the container, which so far Weeks hadn’t voiced objection to.

  “This needs to be dealt with,” Adam said to the room.

  “I agree,” Dr. Madison said. “It would be one thing if this was an Invader trooper. But this is one of the overlords. The commanders of the army, as far as we can tell. They were said to have vast psychic power and destructive potential. Why this one is seemingly alive while the others aren’t could mean any number of things. And why it’s remaining dormant. It’s not safe to have here, around our other projects.”

  “It’s not safe to have anywhere,” Adam sighed.

  Abigail rose, putting her hands flat on the surface of the table. Again she had come to the foundation dressed in a dated suit and bold makeup.

  “Allow me to study it,” Abigail said. “With my powers, I can understand its inner workings. I can dismantle it. Make it safe. I’ve never had the opportunity to study an Invader corpse before. Maybe I can even reverse engineer them. We could be ready for their second advance.”

  “With all due respect, that’s a terrible idea,” Dr. Madison said. “You wouldn’t be the first with tech-powers to study an Invader. On a living subject… it could be a disaster. What if you’re what it needs to reawaken? What if disturbing it lets the rest lock onto it, calls them to its location?”

  Adam considered that horrible thought. A second Invasion Day in Pacific City would be the end of a new generation of heroes. Maybe even the end of the world. They didn’t have the global protectors they used to. But understanding the threat… using their own weapons…

  No. It wasn’t his call to make. Agent Weeks spoke up to agree.

  “As the foundation’s link to BASTION, I can only advise extreme containment at the moment,” Weeks said. “I’ll contact my superiors and we’ll get to the bottom of this. You have our full support, Adam.”

  Adam side-eyed the agent, but took the offered hand to shake.

  “Dr. Madison, I’d like your team of specialists to move WATERSHED to a void vault,” Adam said.

  “I was just about to suggest that,” Dr. Madison confirmed. A void vault was the most secure form of containment the Atlas family had access to. One in Beacon City, and one in Pacific City. Faraday-caged, air-gapped, and magnetically-sealed, with experimental energy-nullifiers that BASTION controlled the use of, the vault would have to do to keep the Invader in for now. If it had lasted who knows how long sitting undisturbed in a hidden basement, it should do at least as fine there. And if it ever tried to escape, an implosive vacuum device would activate and hopefully destroy anything inside. Such a case would cost tens of millions in repairs, but be well worth it. That was the best they could do for now.

  “No one outside this room, beyond BASTION, can know what WATERSHED is,” Adam stressed. He made eye contact with each person, waiting for them to nod. “I’m trusting you with all of this. Please.”

  The meeting adjourned, Adam oversaw the transfer of WATERSHED with Annabelle and Abigail. A small team moved it from the sub-basement, which apparently connected to other underground tunnels from a variety of hidden entrances, to the vault. The tunnels offered no clues as to who had access to the storage room. It didn't connect to anything off campus, at least as far as could be seen.

  The trio of students stood in the observation room and watched as the void vault, a light-absorbing cube in the center of a huge underground room, swung its entrance shut and sealed with heavy locks. The vault was just big enough to fit the entire container. The body inside had to be fifteen feet tall or longer. Adam couldn’t remember when the vault had ever had to be used before. Or maybe he just wasn’t told.

  “I would like to remain here for the time being,” Abigail said with her eyes on the vault. “I cannot sense the Invader now that’s its sealed, but if anything should happen I can be a first responder. I may even be able to slow it down.”

  It wasn’t a terrible idea. Abigail being here would help Adam sleep just a bit better at night when he wasn’t around. He glanced at Annabelle on his other side before answering. She didn’t object.

  “Thank you, Abigail,” Adam said. “I appreciate it. You’ll be compensated.”

  “No need,” Abigail said stoically. “This is why we’re here. To protect. I’ll get situated back in my room.”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Adam and Annabelle took the limo home. They held hands loosely. They both stared out rain-streaked windows, lights passing indistinct.

  “I’m sorry,” Adam finally said, turning to his girlfriend. She looked at him with her unfocused blue eyes.

  “You don’t need to apologize,” Annabelle said. She squeezed his hand. “It’s a complicated world. You need her abilities. I get that.”

  “I have no feelings for her whatsoever, in case that needs to be said,” Adam assured her.

  Annabelle gave a small, sad smile. “I know.”

  Adam leaned in and nuzzled her nose with his. It turned into a kiss. He pressed her forehead against hers and stayed close to her.

  “When are you going to let me into your world, Bendabelle?” Adam asked. That was her hero name. At least it was since he had convinced her not to go by Big Hands, since that was what she enlarged to fight with. He was pretty sure it was one of her quirky jokes.

  “What do you mean? You are in my world,” Annabelle said.

  “Am I?” Adam squeezed her hands. “Does your family know you have a boyfriend?”

  “Mmm, maybe vaguely,” Annabelle hesitated.

  “Why vaguely?”

  Annabelle huffed. “My parents are wannabe super-scientists whose greatest accomplishment is spilling chemicals on me that somehow didn’t kill me. If they knew I was dating Adam freaking Atlas they’d shit themselves. They are the most embarrassing people on planet Earth. I know every teen thinks that, but with them it’s really true.”

  “They sound charming,” Adam said, knowing it would get under her skin.

  She shook her head and kissed him again. “They can meet you at the wedding.”

  They laughed together. Despite all the stress coming with his position, Adam was calmed by her presence.

  Another couple weeks came and went. WATERSHED seemed secure in the vault. Adam went back to check on it every day, even if it was just to stare at the dark cube. BASTION wanted him to hold onto it for now. Apparently the void vault was the most secure method of containment they could conceive of. If they were running some game on him, Adam couldn’t know what it was. He just wanted it to no longer be his problem. But if it was secure, it was secure.

  Patrols in the city continued. Organized crime was disrupted with the help of police. Some villains reared their heads. The most dramatic clash was Grace, Earl, Danielle, and Thalia fighting Dr. Chimera and a pack of mutated dogs raiding an animal testing lab. During dinner, the students watched Lady Titan in her muscled-midriff-exposing suit talking to the press while casually holding a knocked-out monstrous dog over her shoulder. She was projected onto every screen throughout the cafeteria.

  “Yeah, so like, I’m really strong, so like… I guess my strategy is usually just to punch them? It usually works. I dunno, I leave the strategy to my teammates,” she said with an awkward smile after.

  Danielle clutched the sides of her head, looking down at the table in front of her in embarrassment. “God, I’m never walking up to the cameras again! I sound so stupid!”

  There were scattered reports of New Lords around, but they seemed to be avoiding direct confrontation with the Rosewell students. Still, victims of robberies, muggings, assaults, and other crimes reported assailants that sounded like the villainous teens. They knew how to disappear before help arrived.

  Thalia kept her distance. She made her own friends, Lyra and Sola and Ingrid. Sometimes she still hung out with Lucy and Lauren. If Adam and Annabelle arrived and Thalia was already sitting with them, they’d find another table and have a couple dinner. Whether he and Thalia were truly over as friends, Adam didn’t know. She had apologized up in Cascade City. But he had also told Annabelle about her playful swipe at him. He couldn’t ask her to be okay with that. She never pushed him to make amends with her. So things stayed awkward. Lucy had a pained look whenever Adam and Thalia moved around each other without speaking.

  Adam and Annabelle spent some nights in each other’s beds. Though things got intimate, they never quite worked their way back up to sex again. Annabelle had many, many tantalizing ideas about using her polymorphous biology. Lack of creativity she did not suffer from. Although he was quite intrigued, Adam always slowed things down as they were working up. His body was ready but his mind wasn’t. Annabelle accepted his stammered apologies with kisses and snuggles. He could feel it was bothering her. It bothered him too.

  Adam scheduled another meeting with Cyrus Null. If he was in any way connected to WATERSHED, Adam wanted to know and maybe get some more advice. Setting up a meeting was surprisingly easy. He was given an address at the outskirts of the city for noon on Saturday.

  The Friday before, a special class session was held in the gym. All the students gathered on the bleachers. Excited murmurs suffused through the crowd. Whatever the class gossip was, Adam hadn’t been attuned to it. Too wrapped up in his own world. He sat with Annabelle, Lucy, and Lauren at the bottom bleacher. Thalia was above and to the left, sitting with Lyra. Adam still kept track of where she was in a space. He shook his head to himself. He should really try to stop doing that.

  Headmaster Knapp entered the gym. Trailing behind her were five teenagers. None of them at all familiar. Knapp stopped in front of the class, and the teenagers awkwardly lined up beside her, most not quite knowing where to stand or where to look.

  “Thank you everyone for gathering,” Knapp said to the class. “Today is a very special day. We have not one, not two, but five new students to welcome to Rosewell!”

  “Four, actually,” one of the girls in line muttered, almost inaudible. There were definitely five teenagers standing before them. Adam hadn't even considered the possibility of transfer students before. But it made sense. There had to be powered teens all over the country. Some being discovered, some just needing time before they were ready for boarding school.

  “I’d like you all to warmly welcome your new peers, and get to know them as they become oriented and comfortable here at Rosewell. You all had the benefit of arriving together, while these new folks are going to have to get up to speed. So let’s be our best selves to them, yeah?” The headmaster clapped. “Let’s hear introductions!”

  The first to step forward was a tall, thin boy with a mediterranean complexion. Thick dark hair grew from his head and around a sharp jaw. A small cross dangled on a necklace over his black shirt. He had the lithe build of a runner or soccer player.

  “I’m Vincent. Vinny. Looking forward to this,” the boy said with a small wave.

  Next was a short girl in a denim jacket, a cotton shirt, and pants that were a size too big for her. A satchel looped around her shoulder and sat on her waist. It was covered in all kinds of beads and feathers and embroidery. Her dark brown hair had thick bangs and was choppily-cut around her head and shoulders. She had small eyes and a generally lumpy face with ruddy cheeks. She wiped her nose noisily before introducing herself.

  “Maggie-Lou. Reckon’ it’s nice to be here. Don’t know much ‘bout this hero stuff, but I brought my poke with me,” she drawled. Her accent was thicker than molasses.

  The next two, a boy and a girl, had to be siblings. Twins, even. The girl was the one who spoke earlier. She looked like a high achiever. She wore a sleeveless sweater over a white collared shirt and skinny pants. When she grinned, her teeth were studded with braces. Thin square glasses over her eyes. A headband held her straight hair back. She and her brother had peachy skin dotted with birthmarks, both of them with darker brunette hair. Her brother wore a casual jacket over a shirt and jeans. He was clean shaven, with kind, expressive eyes. They looked friendly.

  “I’m Allison,” the girl introduced.

  “And I’m Justin,” said the boy.

  “And we’re the same person!” the siblings said in unison.

  “We have the same consciousness,” Allison said quickly, alone. “I’m one person. Two bodies. Just to get that out of the way. Allison and Justin. Same person. Okay, thanks.”

  They stepped back. Adam tried to process their situation quickly. It sounded complex. And strange. But that was life around here.

  Last in line was a girl. She had woody brown skin and short, dark hair with a crimson streak that swept down to cover her left eye. Her plump lips were painted black, which complimented the dark luster around her half-lidded eyes. The tight clothes she wore showed that she was plenty curvy. She put hands with black-painted nails on her broad hips.

  “I’m Anika,” the girl said in a tone that approached boredom. “You guys have a week to impress me, or I’ll go join the bad guys.”

  The headmaster stepped forward. “What a laugh!” Knapp said. “You’ll be seeing all our new friends around campus and in your classes. Again, please make them feel welcome. How about a little mixer party in the lounge tonight?”

  There was a small weekly patrol update before the assembly broke up. Vinny was already getting back pats and welcomes from the athletic boys before Adam stood. The new students all seemed interesting, but he wasn’t feeling like being part of the first wave of welcomes. Pain pounded behind his eye. It came and went now. Thankfully more gone than not, unless he was around the void vault. His eye was somehow connected to the Invader. The thought terrified him. He kept the fear down by telling himself it was all under control.

  Lucy skipped forward to meet the twins. Twin? Person? Allison and Justin. They’d be in good hands. Annabelle followed Adam out into the chill afternoon. Desiccated brown leaves swept across the drying grass and scraped against concrete paths, crunching underfoot.

  “I’m gonna go stay at the foundation tonight,” Adam told his clinging girlfriend.

  “Aww,” she whined. “They’re not gonna let me go this time.”

  “I know,” Adam sighed. They had burned through all their good graces with the school, getting a few nights to themselves. Now they were being shut down hard. At the end of the day, Annabelle was still a minor in the care of the school. Adam was too, just a special circumstance. So was Abigail, building her designs for the purposes of being a hero instead of sleeping with a boy. Plus, it sounded like her parents signed off on her having more independence. If Annabelle would just tell her parents they were dating, she’d get similar freedom. But Adam didn’t bring it up again.

  “I’m meeting with Cyrus tomorrow. I should prepare at home. I’m sorry this isn’t fair,” Adam said. I’m sorry I’m keeping Abigail close when it bothers you. I’m sorry I can’t fully let go of Thalia, he wanted to say. But he was afraid to. He didn’t want to break the fragile peace with words.

  “It’s okay,” Annabelle sighed softly. She looked up at Adam with love brimming from her adorably pudgy face. “I know you have a lot of responsibility. I just want you to be safe. Don’t forget about little ol’ me when you’re up on your high tower, okay?”

  Adam gently booped her nose.

  “I could never forget about you,” he said.

  She smiled, pleased and satisfied enough to let him leave.

  Adam drove himself to the foundation. As he approached the front gate, he saw a man standing on the sidewalk outside the fence. He was a big guy, over six feet, with a paunch hanging out of a hole-filled shirt underneath a worn jacket. Unkempt hair and a bushy beard made him look old, even if he wasn’t. Hands in fingerless gloves held a cardboard sign. Dollar for the end of the world? the sign asked.

  Adam slowed to a stop near the man and rolled down his window. He dug out his wallet, hoping he still had some form of cash. He fished out two twenties and held them out the window.

  The man stumbled over, eyes squinting like he was suspicious. Adam was just trying to do a nice thing. He kept the bills out for the man to take.

  The beggar leaned forward and snatched the bills. He held them to his squash-shaped nose and sniffed.

  “Why do you think the world’s ending?” Adam asked out of curiosity.

  The beggar pocketed the money. He looked down on Adam, looming on the curb, his mouth open to show crooked yellow teeth. Stale alcohol rode his breath downwards to assault Adam’s sense of smell.

  “Causa men like you,” he said in a gruff voice.

  Adam grew indignant. He had just given this man money, and he immediately wanted to blame Adam for the world’s problems? He bit back a comment about his family being world-betterers. Adam had been taught to never throw around his family’s name to get respect. Still, it was tempting.

  “You don’t know anything about me,” Adam said.

  The man slapped a meaty hand on the roof of Adam’s car, causing Adam to flinch.

  He leaned down, fixing his intensely bloodshot eyes on the younger man. Adam was regretting ever stopping to be generous.

  “I know you,” the beggar said in a low, serious growl. He snorted phlegm deeper into his nasal cavity. “You’re gonna ruin the world if you’re not careful. Calamities happen from young boys who think they’re men. It’s the way of things.”

  He stood straight again, and Adam pulled away from the curb to the safety of the gate. He glanced at the man in his side mirror, standing there, sign forgotten, watching Adam leave. The vagrant’s words settled into his bones and chilled him. He gripped the steering wheel tightly as a guard waved him through. What could he possibly know? Nothing. Just a generic warning for a rich boy.

  He ate dinner alone in his penthouse. He showered, letting the hot water temporarily soothe the ache behind his eye. He dried and put on loose pajamas and watched the news. The world was still out there, still turning, despite it all.

  Adam rested on top of the covers of his bed. Light fled from the room long ago with the setting sun. Rest eluded him. His mind raced with thoughts he couldn’t individually catch and hold onto. He looked at his clock. Past midnight. His penthouse was still and quiet. He wanted Annabelle around to bury his fears in. He thought about going back to campus.

  His phone buzzed. He snatched it immediately, hoping to see something from Annabelle. It was from Abigail, somewhere down in the basement.

  You awake?

  He rolled his eyes.

  Yes. Is something up?

  He answered for strictly professional purposes, in case something had gone wrong. He knew she’d be more urgent if even something small was out of place.

  Not per se. Are you alone?

  Adam put his phone down and rolled over. Why couldn’t Abigail just be chill?

  Adam thought about what Thalia had said, about him moping for being left out of the action and using Annabelle as a distraction. She had voiced her concerns in the most conceited way possible, but now that the heat had cooled he could at least partially understand what she was really saying. Not about Annabelle, that had come from a place of jealousy, he was sure. But he was avoiding Rosewell more and more. His parents wanted him to be living a balanced life between school and work. He knew that deep down inside. He should stop pouting over not being a hero and go support his friends. Be with his girlfriend. And he would. Eventually.

  Adam sighed. Thalia’s absence was a wound inside that wouldn’t close. He loved her. Maybe not romantically. That had been misplaced. Or maybe the window had just passed. But he felt he needed her in his life. She was family, and Adam didn’t have much family around. Something needed to change.

  His phone dinged again. He ignored it. It clearly wouldn’t be Annabelle this late.

  Then another ding.

  And another.

  And then a much more urgent alarm started wailing. It came from his phone and slightly muted from the floors down below.

  Adam shot up and grabbed his phone. Besides Abigail’s texts, an alert filled his lock screen.

  VOID VAULT COMPROMISED