Eliana tapped her finger on her Camry’s steering wheel as she filtered through the heavy Manhattan traffic. The synth-filled music of ELO’s Time album overpowered the sounds of the honking and engines outside. Both the car and the CD in the media player had belonged to her father. He’d given her the car on her eighteenth birthday along with the dozens of classic rock CDs he’d never bothered to take out of the old car.

  A sigh escaped her lips as she sat back in her seat. She picked up her phone, rereading the text she’d gotten earlier.

  Ciana: Hey. I’m in the city. Getting settled. Evaluation is in two hours. Nervous. You still have time to swing by? It’d be nice to see a familiar face. Let me know? Hope your day is going well.

  Eliana had made plans to join Ciana during her evaluation. She could sympathize. She still remembered the day of her evaluation. It was scary to know that a single test would determine your future. Of course, Ciana’s would probably go much better than Eliana’s had. According to the reports Eliana had read, Ciana was at least a Gamma class, ranking in the top five percent of all metahumans. The majority were where Eliana was: Epsilon—barely more useful than a human.

  If she was honest with herself, Eliana really didn’t want to go watch an evaluation. They weren’t very exciting. You go in, get examined by a machine to determine your class and potential, then perform a few tests to evaluate your core abilities. The only reason she agreed was out of a sense of pity. Watching someone else get the results she had dreamed of would only make Eliana bitter. But Ciana was a good person, and Eliana couldn’t bring herself to make an excuse to flake.

  Traffic might make the decision for her. Eliana glanced at the dash. In another twenty minutes, she’d be late, and she was still a few blocks away. During rush hour in the big city, that might as well have been in another state.

  A vibration hummed through her thigh, coming from the phone in her pocket. Eliana bit her lip. Maybe there was a way to make it, but it might get her in trouble.

  Fuck it. The world was going to shit. If people freaked out over a little display of power, maybe they’d take it as a sign to get used to it. Worse was coming.

  Eliana checked the side of the street as she filtered through the road, finally spotting a free parking spot. She cut off the engine, cutting off the song as the singer belted a note about sending a dream across the end of the world or something. She liked this album but never really understood the lyrics. A lot of her father’s old albums were concept albums that made little sense.

  She stepped out of the car, ignoring the honking behind her. She touched the window of her car and reached for her power.

  [Levitate]

  Saturate a person or object with your Spirit to counteract the effects of gravity for a short time.

  Active Passive Skill

  Eliana felt her core drain as it poured power into the car. Lifting something as large as her car before would have taken a lot of concentration and focus. Now she merely thought about it, and the power flowed effortlessly from her core. It had been like that since she’d connected with the strange jade stone.

  The car lifted off the ground, above Eliana’s head. She saw people in nearby cars staring, and a few brought out their phones. She ignored them and reached up, pushing the car towards the curb.

  It took a while to get moving, but once it started, it was easy to keep momentum. Gravity had no effect on the car, and it experienced virtually no drag. It would keep floating where she pushed it for a long time, only slowed by air resistance.

  She stood back as the car floated above the lane of traffic toward the curb. Eliana walked alongside it and waited for it to reach the spot she wanted. Once it was clear, she reached out with her skill and began taking the power back. The power surged back to her core, and the car began floating down to the ground. Once the wheels touched, she pulled back the rest of the power, letting gravity take the old car fully.

  She opened the door and grabbed her purse, putting a few coins in the parking meter. She checked her watch. Fifteen minutes. She headed down the sidewalks; the small crowd that had stopped to stare at the young woman who had made her car fly parted to let her pass, whispering among themselves. GOH would give her an earful for doing that, but Eliana didn’t care. She technically hadn’t broken any laws. Using powers was legal in the States, unless there was intent to commit a crime with them. If someone made a fuss, they might try to get her with a misdemeanor of disturbing the peace. That was a classic go-to for anti-meta types; even though the charges rarely stuck, it was a way to intimidate metas into acting “normal.”

  Well, they could go fuck themselves.

  GOH’s New York headquarters was a massive concrete building with brutalist architecture, over ninety stories tall. What most people didn’t know was that the building wasn’t just tall. It was deep. The structure went down past the city’s metro system and opened into a vast underground facility. High-speed monorails connected the building to over a dozen secret exits, most connected to front company buildings where heroes could quickly be dispatched across the city. Eliana had only used them a few times, when other, more capable healers were busy. Usually she worked with local paramedic teams and hospitals.

  Today she headed underground not for transport, but for the testing facilities. She flashed her badge to the front desk and headed to the elevator. After slipping her badge into a slot in the elevator, a panel opened, a blue light blinking from a camera. Eliana looked into the light, and it scanned her retina.

  A few bright notes beeped, and a robotic voice spoke from the speaker above.

  “Good afternoon, Caladrius. I see you are currently on leave and aren’t scheduled to work until Friday. What may we do for you today?”

  “Just coming in to see a friend’s evaluation. Ciana Duval. She requested I come.”

  “I see. Please hold.”

  The speaker crackled, then began to play a generic pop song that desperately wanted to be relaxing but only served to annoy her. A minute later, the song cut off as the speaker crackled again.

  “You’re cleared, Caladrius. You’ve been temporarily authorized to visit the evaluation center. Thank you for your patience. Keep in mind that the GOH facility is monitored at all times; for your safety, do not attempt to gain access to any unauthorized areas.”

  “Yep.”

  “Fantastic. Have a wonderful day.”

  The flat voice shut off, and the elevator began to drop. When it stopped, Eliana pulled her ID badge out of the slot. The doors parted to reveal a large concrete hallway. A few suited figures walked through the halls, out or in one of the many large metal doors. Caladrius walked past them. Small talk didn’t really happen on the lower floors. It was all business down here, and most of that business was on a need-to-know basis.

  There were no maps or “you are here” signs to help navigate the labyrinthine structure. It was assumed that if you came down here, you'd be given directions. If you didn’t, you probably weren’t supposed to be here.

  Eliana still remembered how to get to the evaluation center, though. It was pretty simple. Walk all the way down, turn left, right, then left again. Following the directions she'd received years ago, she arrived at a large steel double door. She stuck her badge in a scanner on the wall, and the doors hissed and whirred, then opened.

  The room inside was much different than the hall. It was a neat hotel-like foyer. The looks were merely decoration: a waiting room while the evaluations were being prepared. The steel doors shut behind her, and Eliana looked around. On the far side of the room was a receptionist desk, where a younger Indian man sat in a chair, watching a screen. He glanced up and nodded to her, then went back to watching whatever was on the screen.

  A familiar blonde-haired woman with sharp features was sitting alone on one of the waiting chairs. She looked up at the sound of the doors and smiled when she saw Eliana.

  Ciana rose and walked over to her. She pulled Eliana into an unexpected hug. She wasn’t used to hugs. Eliana awkwardly returned the hug, patting Ciana on the back.

  “Thanks for coming. They said it’s almost ready. I don’t know what’s taking so long. I’ve been here an hour. Does it normally take so long?”

  “Yeah. I think it’s a test of patience or something. They’ll want to see if you’ll cause a fuss about stuff like that.”

  “Oh no, I hope I didn’t mess up. I’ve asked the receptionist a few times if it’s ready yet.”

  “I think you’ll be fine,” Eliana said. She couldn’t imagine Ciana making a scene, and nervously asking if the test was ready was definitely not the kind of thing GOH would be watching for during the screening. Some people grew an ego with their powers. If metahumans proved anything, it was that power corrupts. GOH did a respectable job making it appealing to use their powers for good. They paid well and had excellent benefits. Still, it wasn’t uncommon for metahumans to turn to crime.

  “I hope so. Thanks again for coming. It means a lot.”

  “It’s not a problem. I was getting bored during my leave anyway. How is your husband?”

  “Bertrand is doing great. Full recovery. Well, physically. He’s… Kat is still missing. He still thinks she’s… gone, gone. But he’s managing.”

  “Oh,” Eliana said. Kat was Ciana’s daughter. She’d gone missing during the attack on Parton, and her body still hadn’t been found. Many bodies still hadn’t been found. Eliana was convinced Kat was alive, though. Ciana’s husband was almost certainly right, but Eliana didn’t have the heart to try and crush Ciana’s hopes. Hope wasn’t something many people still had.

  “I know I probably seem crazy. Maybe I’m in denial, but I know she’s still out there, somewhere. I don’t know how, but she is.” Ciana raised a hand to finger the cross on her necklace.

  “I hope so,” Eliana said truthfully. “Are you religious?” she asked, hoping to distract the woman.

  “I am. Are you?”

  Eliana took a seat at one of the small tables in the foyer. Ciana sat across from her.

  “I used to be,” she said. “My mother was really religious, and I studied a lot as a kid. I haven’t really thought about it in a long time. Just haven’t really had time or drive.”

  Ciana nodded, a warm smile on her lips. “When did you do your evaluation? You’ve been a hero for a while, right?”

  “A little over ten years. I joined when I was eighteen, but I got my powers a few years before that.”

  “How was it?”

  “Frustrating, mostly. I was a bit hot-headed back then, and I was bitter that I didn’t get a better power set. I knew I wouldn’t be able to join the heroes, but I still wanted to do something. It’ll be different for you, I’m sure. You’ll definitely be cleared for real hero work.”

  “Maybe. I’m worried I’m not going to be very good. I still don’t know what my powers even are. Back at the hospital, I’m not even sure what I did or how I did it, and I haven’t been able to do anything like it since. The only time I’ve really used my powers since was when I helped you.”

  Eliana’s hand went to her purse, where her jade stone sat.

  “How have things been? With the you-know-what?” Ciana asked, glancing at the purse.

  “Still don’t know much. I feel good. Better than before. Something's different, but it's hard to describe. Using my powers is… smoother. It’s like I had a limp leg and was trying to run before, but now the limp is gone.”

  Ciana spoke really quietly, leaning closer. “Aren’t you worried about bringing it here?”

  Eliana shook her head. “They don’t do searches here. This place has enough powerful metas to take on most countries’ militaries.”

  “Still seems risky, but you would know better than me. I just wish—”

  “Mrs. Duval?” The man at the receptionist called. “They’re ready for you. Please go through the door on the left. Ms. Hartwood is free to join as well.”

  Ciana’s eyes went wide. Eliana nudged her with her shoulder. “You’ll do great. Come on.”

  Eliana made for the door, which prompted Ciana to follow.

  The door opened to an elevator. When they got in, the door shut, and seconds later they began to move. Not up, or even directly down. They moved at a downward slope. The ride lasted nearly a full two minutes before they began to slow down.

  “How big is this place?” Ciana asked.

  “I don’t think anyone knows. From what I heard, the construction was really compartmentalized, and they’ve added to it through the years. It’s big, though. Like, ‘big enough to have evacuation shelters for the whole borough’ big.”

  The elevator slowed to a stop. There was a loud mechanical sound from above, then they began moving to the left.

  “This reminds me of that elevator in Willy Wonka,” Ciana said.

  Eliana chuckled. “Never seen a chocolate river down here, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”

  The elevator came to a halt, and the doors finally parted. They stepped out into a large chamber. Two figures in white coats were near the center of the room, next to the only thing of note. The thing was a massive machine, suspended from the ceiling like a sci-fi stalactite. Smoke wafted off its complex machinery, a tangle of gold, silver, and copper pipes, plates, wires, springs, and other pieces that Eliana didn’t even know the name of. At the bottom of the machine was a single thick gold pipe, which connected to a gray ball about the size of a soccer ball. The smooth metal ball hung at about chest height in the air.

  There was a small standing desk with a single monitor next to the hanging machine; a dark-skinned man was typing away on a keyboard, focused on the screen. The monitor was twice as wide as a normal computer screen and oddly thick, like an old CRT.

  Standing In front of the machine was a tall, thin woman with thick glasses and tied-back black hair.

  “Hi there! We’re just finishing up the final calibrations.” The woman gestured to the machine. “This is the Quantum Wave Analyzer of Cores machine. But we just call her QWAC.” She pronounced the last word loudly, like she was doing a duck impression.

  “You’re the only one who calls it that,” The man at the desk said without looking away from his work. He had a smooth, deep voice and spoke in a calm tone. “Everyone else just calls it the core reader.”

  “Thanks for the input, Omari,” the woman said, shooting the man a dirty look. He gave her a quick thumbs up before going back to his typing. Isabel turned her attention back to Eliana and Ciana. “Anyway, I’m Isabel, and I’ll be the one surveying your evaluation. You’re Ciana Duval, correct?” Isabel pointed to Ciana.

  “I am, yes,” Ciana said, “and this is—”

  “Eliana Hartwood, if I remember right, which I do,” Isabel interrupted, nodding. “Nice to see you again,” she said to Eliana.

  Eliana frowned. “Again? I don’t think we’ve met.”

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  “Right, well, you haven’t met me, I suppose. I was in training for this position when you had your evaluation. I was watching through the glass in the other room.” Isabel gestured with a thumb toward one of the walls. Like the rest of the walls, it looked like solid concrete. “You were the fourth evaluation I studied.”

  “Ah,” Eliana said, unsure how else to respond.

  “Sorry about her. She’s not good with people,” the dark-skinned man, Omari, said. He still didn’t look away from his computer screen.

  “I’m great with people,” Isabel said, frowning at the man. “They’re just not great with me.” She looked back at Ciana. “Anyway, we’ve got the QWAC all set up. All you need to do is place your hands on the round metal piece here, and we’ll get to work.”

  “Sounds easy,” Ciana said, looking relieved.

  “Sure is.”

  There was an awkward pause.

  “You can begin anytime,” Isabel said.

  “Oh, now. Sorry.” Ciana stepped forward and reached out to the metal sphere. She slowly touched the sphere with her fingertips, and when nothing happened, she grabbed it.

  “Good, make sure your palms are pressed against the metal. The more contact, the easier it is. Try not to pull away if you feel any discomfort in your core. The machine needs to get a feel for your signature.”

  “My… signature?”

  “Yeah, your core identity, your powers, your special sauce—”

  “Don’t call it that. It’s inappropriate,” Omari interrupted, leaning over to look at her from behind the monitor. He didn’t seem surprised or upset.

  “You’re the one making it weird,” Isabel shot back at him. “Anyway, the QWAC is designed to examine your core. It takes a small bit of your power and zoops it up to another area, a huge quantum computer farm, and does a bunch of tests on it. It’s pretty complicated, but you can think of it like a personality quiz for your core.”

  “I think I can feel it. It’s… tugging on me.” Ciana said, frowning. “Is that normal?”

  Isabel shrugged. “Hard to say. It’s different for everyone. Probably?”

  “It’s pretty normal,” Eliana said, seeing as how Isabel’s answer hadn’t eased Ciana’s concern at all.

  “How long does it take?” Ciana asked.

  “Also hard to say.”

  “Usually only a few minutes,” Omari answered from behind his desk. “Depends on your core class and power set.”

  “Pretty simple way of saying it, but that’s basically right,” Isabel confirmed. “The QWAC needs time to examine all the different ‘angles’ of your powers. Powers aren’t as simple as they seem. Two people who have a power that looks really similar could be utilizing very different mechanics to achieve the same effect. Many people think metahumans break the laws of physics, but that’s not actually true. They certainly bend the laws and spit in the face of Newton, but there is some kind of logical science behind all of them. Cores appear to be some kind of drain from another dimension and carry through a form of energy that is completely independent. All energy in our universe is a byproduct, a result of a process. But not core energy. It’s not radiant, thermal, sound, or electric. Just pure energy with unlimited potential.”

  “O-okay.” Ciana said, looking lost. She glanced at Eliana, who shrugged her shoulders.

  “You’re doing it again,” Omari said. “The woman is just trying to get through her evaluation; she doesn’t need to hear your theories about metahumans.”

  “No one ever wants to have a proper conversation around here,” Isabel complained. “But fine. Keep your hands on the ball, Mrs. Duval. Seriously, don’t take them off until the machine is done. Your energy will get trapped in the system. You’ll lose it forever, and the machine will have to be flushed, and that can take weeks.”

  Ciana swallowed and fixed her attention onto her hands.

  “Results are starting to come in,” Omari said. “Isabel, can you come over here a moment?”

  Isabel sighed and walked over behind his desk, disappearing behind the giant monitor. “What is it? Is there a hiccup with the static chamber again? I told them not to…”

  Isabel’s voice trailed off as she looked at the screen.

  “What the fuck? What is this? Was there residual?”

  “No, this is all her.”

  “Seriously?”

  Isabel poked her head out from the side of the monitor, looking at Ciana. Her head disappeared, and she lowered her voice, but it was still easy to hear her in the silent underground chamber.

  “You’re sure this is all her?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “Okay. Let’s start the scalar operations.”

  “We’re not supposed to do that until after the power tests.”

  “I don’t care. The last time this happened we lost the aerial simulation room and half of the ghost feeds had to be reinstalled. I’m not going to be stuck back in the sci-sec for another two months while they clean up. Once we get the readings, I’ll make a few calls. Start the firefighter protocol.”

  “But—”

  “If anyone gets grilled, it will be me. Just do it.”

  Omari let out a sigh. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Isabel walked back over to where Ciana and Eliana were waiting. Ciana still had her hands on the metal sphere.

  “What’s wrong?” Ciana asked.

  Isabel cleared her throat. “Your results are… unexpected. It’s a bit early to say, but we’re seeing signs of an anomaly, so we’re going to reconfigure the QWAC to begin its class evaluation. Normally we reserve this for after the practical tests, but in your case we’ve decided it’s prudent to switch up the order of operations.”

  “You’re aware that metahumans are divided into classes, correct?”

  “Yeah. Eliana is Epsilon. That’s the lowest, right?” Ciana said.

  “Exactly. Greek letters are used for the scale, from Epsilon to Alpha. Less than two percent of metahumans fall into Beta class, and there are only a few dozen Alpha class in the world. Based on your readings, there’s a chance you may be in Alpha class. Most likely you’re in Beta class, but at such high levels of power it’s hard to tell without a dedicated scalar test. If you think of your core as a meal, the QWAC has only sampled your dishes, not weighed your plate. But you have enough variety of food to make us think your meal is pretty heavy.”

  “Is that bad?”

  “No,” Isabel said quickly. “Not bad, necessarily. It just means we need to be… cautious. Our safety systems are designed to handle anything Beta-class metas can do. Alphas are so powerful and rare that it isn’t practical, or even possible, to set up preventative measures in the case that one… has an incident. So I’m legally required to tell you that there will be some additional oversight for your evaluation.”

  “Additional oversight? Like what?” Ciana asked, looking worried. “Can I take my hands off this thing yet?”

  Eliana felt a buzz in her purse. She reached in, expecting to find her phone ringing. She always had it set to vibrate. But her fingers touched the smartphone and found it still. She dug deeper, to the side pocket, and found it wasn’t her phone but the stone that was buzzing. The buzzing continued as Isabel continued talking.

  "You may; the test has been temporarily paused. There's nothing to be concerned about,” Isabel said, sounding concerned. “For your career as a hero, this is actually excellent news! GHO pays National team leaders extremely well, and as a Beta-class you could be leading one in just a few years. Understand that this is only a cautionary safety measure, for your sake as much as GHO’s. Handling the kind of powers you possess can be difficult, and mistakes happen. But only a few people can deal with those mistakes. And they should be here any—”

  Without warning, a blaze of fire burst from the ceiling, out of what looked like a ventilation shaft. The fire twisted downward like a tornado. It crashed into the ground, spreading out like a wave and passing over them. Eliana felt the heat, but it didn’t burn her like it should have. It felt like standing in the hot sun on a beach. When the flames died away, another figure was standing in the room. Eliana’s eyes went wide when she saw the familiar costume of one of the most famous heroes on the planet, the former leader of the Power Force: Phoenix.

  The woman was shorter than Eliana had expected. Even with her red leather high-heeled boots, Phoenix stood about half a head shorter than the tall and thin Isabel. Red hair cascaded from the hawk-like golden helmet on her head, and green eyes peered from the small eyeholes, where the bird’s eyes would have been.

  Phoenix reached up and pulled off the helmet, revealing a surprisingly soft face underneath. With her presence and reputation, Eliana expected someone more regal or severe, but Phoenix looked like an ordinary girl. Not a woman: a girl. She looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, but that couldn’t be the case. She’d been a hero for over fifteen years.

  Phoenix shook her head, running her hand through her hair.

  “Sorry for the wait, Isabel. I was training in the Arctic with Clawstruck.”

  Isabel nodded, looking starstruck at being addressed by name.

  Phoenix looked Eliana up and down.

  “Caladrius. "Or I suppose I should call you Eliana, since you're out of costume. Good work in Parton. You and your partner Ozy helped save forty-one lives. One of the best results of all the auxiliary units working search and rescue.”

  “Thanks…” Eliana replied. Before she could ask how Phoenix knew that, the hero had moved on to Ciana.

  “And you’re the one who saved the people at the hospital. Two hundred and seventy-six people saved during the world’s first S-Plus disaster, just after your snapping and without a minute of training. Very impressive. You must have the instincts of a true hero.”

  “I’m still not sure how I did it.” Ciana said.

  Phoenix nodded. “You just moved, right? Didn’t think about it; you acted. Like I said, the instincts of a true hero. Whether you end up in Beta or Alpha class, I’m sure you’ll do outstanding work. Omari, please begin with the scalar testing.”

  Omari, who had moved to the edge of his desk to stare at the world-famous hero, straightened at being addressed. Eliana saw him move as if he was about to salute but stopped himself. “R-right away, Ma’am. Mrs. Duval, please return your hands to the core reader.”

  Ciana glanced at Eliana. Eliana gave her an encouraging nod, trying to ignore the legendary hero standing just a foot to her left. Ciana put her hands back on the metal sphere.

  Isabel cleared her throat. “Right. You’ll feel a sort of negative pressure against your core. This is normal for the scalar test. It needs quite a bit more of your core energy to determine your class. The higher your class level, the more energy the test requires. We’ve adjusted it to your core signature, so the process should feel intuitive and painless.”

  There was a loud guttural noise from the machine. Ciana flinched.

  “Don’t worry. That’s normal. Ish,” Isabel said. “One moment.” She walked briskly over to Omari’s desk.

  Ciana grunted. “It’s starting to sting. I thought you said it wasn’t supposed to hurt?”

  “Probably only a fluctuation. It may have misidentified some of your signature. No need to worry. We’re identifying the issue.”

  Eliana felt a strange force wash over her. Phoenix took a step forward.

  “Stop the test. Something is wrong,” she said. “Your core is like that boy’s… I said stop the test!” She barked at the two white-robed evaluators, who were fixed on the screen. Omari was typing and clicking the mouse while Isabel pointed and spoke quickly under her breath.

  There was a loud, deep bang from above, as if a room or machinery somewhere nearby had just exploded. The machine spat and hissed, releasing more smoke. Ciana screamed, falling to one knee. Her hands were glowing with a white light.

  “Let go!” Eliana shouted.

  “I can’t!” Ciana cried.

  “We can’t stop it; that could cripple her power!” Isabel said. “We need to—”

  One of the pipes burst. Smoke billowed out, glinting with silvery-white stars of light. It poured into the room, quickly filling the space and making it impossible to see. A second later, Eliana screamed. A sensation she’d only felt twice ripped through her. Her core was being torn apart. Like the other times, she knew that the damage would kill her. Her very soul was being ripped apart.

  And then, something pulled it back. Like powerful hands, another power grabbed the shredded pieces of her core and brought them back together. The foreign power wrapped around her like a shield against whatever was destroying her.

  Eliana opened her eyes, but the smoke was still too thick to see through. She stumbled forward until she saw a hunched-over figure through the haze. Ciana was crying out, her hands were wrapped around the sphere, and she’d gripped it so tightly that the ball was only a warped hunk of twisted metal. Knowing it was probably a terrible idea, Eliana grabbed Ciana around the waist to pull her off.

  To her surprise, Eliana didn’t die immediately. She didn’t stop wondering why. She yanked on Ciana, but the woman didn’t budge. Where was Phoenix? Why wasn’t she helping? What the hell was even going on?

  Your power. Use your power. A voice spoke. It was Ciana, but she was still screaming, and her voice sounded too close, like it was in Eliana’s head. She listened.

  [Whole Again]

  Use your Spirit to restore a system that has been disrupted. Especially potent when used to affect biological systems.

  Variable Cooldown Skill

  Eliana felt her core being drained rapidly, far too quickly. Just as she felt like she’d pass out, her core was reinvigorated, like someone was pouring power back into it. Just as quickly as her core filled, the power was pushed back out. She felt her core strain as an unimaginable amount of energy flowed through her. Again, she could feel like it should be killing her, but something held her core together, allowing her to withstand the incredible pressure.

  Eliana yanked again, and this time Ciana’s hands slipped off the metal. The two fell to the floor; Ciana’s screaming stopped. Everything stopped. The smoke began to fade away.

  Eliana shook the limp woman in her arms.

  “Ciana? Ciana? Someone get over here! She’s hurt!”

  As the smoke cleared, Eliana looked over to the desk. Isabel was on the floor but pulled herself up. She seemed dazed and confused, but when she saw Eliana and Ciana, she rushed over.

  “What happened?”

  Isabel checked for a pulse on Ciana’s neck. “The system overloaded. The scalar facility was stuck on a feedback loop. That shouldn’t be possible. The facility is designed to take a specific portion of the core's power and analyze its capacity, but it wouldn’t stop taking from her core. It kept taking even when the systems were at their limit.”

  “Then something’s wrong with it. It was killing her.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with the QWAC!” Isabel snapped. “What do you think we do here? Do you think we just sit on our asses and play Go Fish? Global leaders in core research have spent decades designing and improving that machine. It doesn’t make mistakes. Every metahuman on Earth could have poured their entire cores into its systems, and it wouldn’t have overloaded. We designed it with over a dozen failsafes and safeguards. If anything happened that wasn’t supposed to, it would have stopped.”

  “So you wanted it to do that? Are you crazy?”

  “Go fuck yourself, aux! Of course I didn’t want that to happen. I just oversaw an incident that torched over forty billion dollars of equipment. Do you have any clue how fucked I am?”

  Eliana blinked. This lady was worried about her job? They’d almost all died, and that was where her mind was?

  “Is she okay?”

  “I don’t know. She’s alive, but she’s not responding. It could be extreme core fatigue, or—”

  Isabel paused. Both of them looked over, where a figure in red was pulling herself off the ground.

  “Phoenix!” Eliana said. Why hadn’t she thought of it before? Phoenix had one of the strongest healing powers on the planet. Her name didn’t just come from her fire but also because she could supposedly cure any injury or disease. There were rumors she could even bring people back from the dead. “You need to help! Ciana is…”

  Eliana trailed off. Phoenix stood, holding her head and groaning. When she finally looked up, her soft features were twisted into a sneer. Her eyes had changed. Rather than a bright green, they were solid white, with trails of smoke pouring out the sides.

  The hero raised her arm, and the world turned into an ocean of fire.

  The flames roared around the room. The machine became molten slag, and the concrete glowed white hot, dripping as it began to melt. Eliana somehow watched it all as the fire, so dense it was like a liquid, gushed from Phoenix’s outstretched hand.

  She couldn’t move. She was frozen in the pooling flames. Movement drew her attention downward, but not even her eyes would move to look down. From the bottom of her vision, she saw Ciana stir, and she felt a hand grip hers.

  There was a twisting feeling in her gut, and the world went black. Whatever held her still let her go, and Eliana screamed and scrambled backwards, as if her body resumed at the point she'd been frozen. She fell back, hitting her head on a solid hard floor. A groan rose from her throat. Every movement sent an aching pain shooting through her core. She lay there, the throbbing pain easing ever so slowly. She wanted to pass out, but her instincts screamed at her to keep moving.

  Eliana forced herself to sit up, groaning. The world wasn’t black. It was dark. As her eyes adjusted, she could begin making out details. It was a small room with a bunch of shelves. A storage closet? Before she could think about what to do or what had happened, a door opened, flooding the room with light. A familiar middle-aged man burst in, holding a can of pepper spray and a taser.

  “I’ve already called the police! Get—” The man cut himself off when he saw her.

  “Bertrand?” Eliana asked.

  The fatigue overwhelmed her as Ciana’s husband’s eyes went wide. She fell back, unable to remain conscious any longer.