“Ah, you’re finally here.”

In a corner of the spacious room stood a man a bit shorter than Dario with his back turned away from the door. He seemed to be inspecting some sort of design on a table with his arms crossed. Dario looked around and noticed the many stacks of paper spread around the room on several countertops and workbenches.

“So, I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to be doing here, but I think you’re the one I talk to about my costume and supe name?”

“Hm, an astute observation,” said the man, Walden, according to the receptionist. “Come over here and look at this.” He gestured for Dario to approach without taking his eyes off his work.

Heeding the request, Dario walked over and stood next to the man. Upon closer inspection, he realized that Walden was actually an older gentleman, in appearance at least. He could be ancient by Superior standards, but traditionally, he looked more like he was in his fifties at most. He was thin with a greying beard, and had quite the prominent crow’s feet around his eyes. Dario had never seen a Superior look so old before.

“What do you think of these?” Walden asked, finally looking at Dario with sharp blue eyes as he pointed down at his work.

“Um,” Dario paused as he looked over the various drawings on the table. “They look great,” he said honestly.

What he’d been inspecting was a series of sketches next to each other, depicting different designs for what he assumed to be costumes. Dario was no expert when it came to art, but he could clearly tell that they were drawn by someone very skilled. They were obviously for a male Superior, judging by the shape, but what surprised Dario were the numbers listed beside the illustrations. His measurements were correctly written down to the last millimeter.

How the...?

“Yes, but these are all just preliminary drafts and are more of a baseline for the final product,” Walden said. “I still have to add unique flavour to it that would match you. I need your personal input for that part.”

Dario inspected the designs for a moment longer before turning towards the older man. “Okay. What do you want to know?” Dario asked, intrigued.

“Well, first of all, what are your powers capable of?” the man asked with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Oh, I can use and manipulate light.” Dario raised a hand and encased it in aura, only making it glow as much as a candle. “I’m surprised you didn’t know about it already. I thought you had some papers with information on me.”

“No, I’m afraid that’s classified information,” Walden said with an annoyed expression. “I’m only allowed to incorporate what you’re willing to divulge.” The man shook his head in disapproval before once more turning professional. “So, I have some ideas that come to mind with such powers, but do you have anything you’d like to have on your costume?”

“Hm, not really. Well— oh! I’d like it to be white, or have the general theme of white to match my powers and the color scheme of my home. I was wearing something like that when I went monster-hunting earlier and I think it worked out,” Dario said excitedly. “I looked pretty conspicuous, but at least it looked cool.”

“Alright, white for light, I was thinking the same thing. Anything else?” Walden asked.

“Uh, I’ve seen supes with outfits that change their color or shape on demand and I think I’d like that. Maybe something that turns my costume from white to midnight black, so I can hide in dark corners and alleys or something,” Dario detailed with a hand on his chin, nodding and smiling.

“Unfortunately, customization like that doesn’t come with the starter package for new Superiors, I’m sorry to say,” Walden said with furrowed brows. “Only the basic costumes are made for newcomers until they’ve been in service for at least a year, or if you move up the ranks. Right now, you’re at the Newbie rank, but if you work hard, you can move up to Aspirant, or maybe even Exemplar.”

“Can you please expand on that?” Dario asked curiously. “I read about rankings somewhere in the job contract, but it didn’t go into any details.”

“Oh, well, it’s just our way of denoting seniority and who has more experience or ‘prestige’.” The old man rolled his eyes. “In each line of work, the rankings deign who’s in charge of who. It’s similar to the military, where a captain would have authority or hold sway over a recruit.”

“Ah, so the rankings are only for combat roles?” Dario asked.

“No, like I said, it’s for every line of work. An Architect Newbie would work under an Architect Exemplar for example,” Walden explained.

“I see…”

“Anyways! Back to the topic of your costume.” The older man tilted his head and put a hand to his chin. “Customization to the extent that you’re asking for isn’t possible for a Newbie, but… I suppose if you’re willing to pay for it…”

Dario sighed in disappointment. “Alright, how much would it cost?”

“To put an incognito mode on your costume?” Walden hummed as he looked down in thought. “Probably around one or two thousand gold.”

“...”

“Closer to two thousand, I think.”

“Yeah… nope, not happening.” Dario groaned and rubbed his face with both hands. “That sucks. That really, really sucks. Why do we even need to have costumes and supe aliases anyways?” he asked in frustration.

“Well, it’s mandatory for you to have a costume and Superior name before completing tasks set out by the Guild. It’s used as both inspiration for the regular masses and as call signs for other supes to identify you with,” Walden said in a monotone, as if repeating a rehearsed line. “It’s good for our public relations and is useful for combat with the correct specifications. Blah, blah, blah... that’s just how it is.”

Dario and Walden then spent a few more minutes talking back and forth about ideas for his costume. To the young man’s irritation, a lot of his ideas were stonewalled by the limited resources spared for new Superiors. Over and over, Dario thought he’d come up with something that would surely be approved for Newbies, but he was shot down each time. It all came to a head when he decided to forego Guild assets altogether.

“You know what? I have a proposition.”

“Yes?” Walden asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I have an armory back home filled with all sorts of equipment that I barely know anything about. If I take you there and show you what’s inside, do you think you could scrounge up an outfit that would do all the things I asked for?” Dario asked.

“Skipping over the fact that you have an armory in your home, it all depends on the quality of gear.” The old man crossed his arms with an amused expression. “But... I suppose I could do it. Though, I must warn you that I have high standards.”

“I think they’re all pretty expensive, but I don’t know for sure.” Dario shrugged. “Are you willing to give it a shot?”

Walden briefly looked around the room before sighing in acceptance. “Sure, why not. I’ve been cooped up in here long enough.” He gestured forward with his hand. “Lead the way.”

“Alright, but I live in Gates Boulevard, so it’s a bit of a travel distance,” the younger man said as he began leading them out of the room and through the halls, back to the entrance. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Walden replied with a small smile. “It’s good to have some circulation going through these old bones.” He patted his legs proudly as he walked. “A healthy body is a healthy mind.”

“Hm, that’s a good saying. I’m keeping that one.”

“Feel free, I have a lot more in stock.” The older man chuckled and waved at Siona as they passed by, the receptionist looking somewhat confused at seeing them leave. “This journey better be worth it...”

Dario breathed in a lungful of warm summer air when he stepped out of the large intimidating building. To his relief, Vira and Ava were gone by the time he left the Guild with Walden in tow. If the two of them had still been around, he had no doubt that they would have pestered the older man incessantly. He was thankful that their journey would be a peaceful one.

As he guided the designer to his home, Dario asked him questions to sate his curiosity and to make conversation. He learned a lot about Walden during their time traveling through the city streets.

It turned out that ‘Walden’ was the designer’s actual name and not a supe name as Dario initially thought. Apparently, it was deemed unnecessary for Architects to have an alias since they weren’t often in the limelight, though they could still choose to use one if they so wished — an option that Walden declined.

The Artificer had been under the employ of the Superiors Guild for over four decades and hadn’t once been in the public eye, which he claimed to be by choice rather than fate. It was something Dario could understand, as the adoration of civilians could be overwhelming at times. The old man apparently lived in the Guild Quarters like most other Superiors, which was why he was so surprised when he found out where Dario lived.

“You live at Haven?” he asked while staring at the lavish white building in front of them, both eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, you ever been?” Dario grinned.

“Been inside? No, of course not.” Walden slowly shook his head. "Brothels aren't really my thing...”

“Well, it’s your lucky day. Come on in, I’ll show you around.” Dario chuckled as he went inside, his companion following with hesitation.

“Welcome to my humble abode.” Dario spread out his arms in an act of showmanship. “I hope you enjoy your stay.”

Walden stayed quiet and silently inspected the surrounding interior of the Hidden Haven.

The lounge was as opulent as ever, with its high ceiling and elegant decor. Quite a few of the residents were present by one of the bars, busily chatting, while others sat around tables playing games. Some of them noticed their entrance, but aside from curious glances, paid them no mind.

After a moment of contemplation, the old man cleared his throat. “Ahem, yes, interesting home you have here, but I doubt I’ll be here long.” He stood up straighter and adopted a more professional demeanor. “May we continue with our purpose for this visit?”

“Sure, right this way.”

As Dario led him to the armory under the stairs, he noticed in the corner of his eye Walden slyly glancing at the women by the bar. Some things never changed...

“Oi, Big D, who’s that?” a voice called from above.

Dario looked up and saw the statuesque figure of the raven-haired Rox walking down the stairs in a surprisingly conservative getup — by Haven standards. Sauntering next to her was the imposing form of his mother in a formal dress.

“Yes, dear, who is this?” Amarys asked curiously.

“Oh, this is Walden.” He gestured at the slightly shorter man. “He’s a designer from the guild, and he’s here to help me with my costume.”

“A costume? I thought you already had the one I picked out for you,” Rox said with a confused expression.

“No, he’s here to see if he can help make improvements for it with stuff from the armory,” Dario said.

Walden further explained, “Yes, Mr. Sindred here has… certain demands he wants on his official costume that the guild cannot provide, unfortunately. However, he claims that the equipment in your armory will suffice.”

“Pfft, well of course they will! Have you seen all the things we have here?” Rox spoke animatedly as she rushed to their side. “Come, let me show you all the good stuff. There’s no way I’m being left out of this.” She then grabbed Walden by the shoulders and began dragging him over to the armory.

The older gentleman looked baffled as he was led towards the runic vault door.

Dario laughed at her excitability. "Slow down Rox, don't hurt yourself. I need him in one piece if he's gonna design my outfit." Dario moved to follow the duo but was stopped by his mother.

“Wait a second, Dario. There’s something I need to tell you.”

He briefly glanced at Rox and Walden’s retreating forms before sighing. “Okay, what is it?”

“Here, take this.” Amarys took out a slip of paper from her pocket and handed it to him. “I’ve written down a list of names of possible agents for the king that I learned from my contacts. Oh, and the girls also helped — apparently, some of the clients were quite loose-lipped.” She smirked.

Dario looked down at the short list of names and was startled to see Bright Star and Augur on the piece of paper, two people he’d met recently. “Wait, Bright Star and Augur are…?”

“Oh, I doubt those two are working for the king, that’s why they’re at the bottom of the list, but I wanted to include every possibility,” she explained. “There aren’t really any active agents of the king around here from what I gathered, but the people on that list all worked as Spooks at some point.” She shrugged. “They’re all retired now, supposedly, but you never know.”

“I see…”

“It should be safe in the city, but keep an eye on those names just in case.” Amarys tapped his shoulder with a comforting smile. “Now, I have some business to attend to, so take care of yourself, alright?”

“I will, thanks.”

His mother smiled and patted his cheek before striding to the exit.

“DARIO! Get over here! We got some outfitting to do!” Rox yelled from within the armory.

The young man glanced at the list of names once more with a look of contemplation. He took a moment to remember the descriptions of each person and walked over to the open vault door.

“Good to see you again Mr. Sindred. Are you ready to meet your team?”

Dario nodded and stood up straighter in his new costume. It had taken two days for him to get used to his new setup, and there was still much to learn.

Siona, the receptionist, smiled. “Excellent. It’s nice to see you show up on time for your team meeting. I was starting to get worried.”

“Oh, am I late?” Dario asked worriedly.

“Not at all, you’re just in time.” She gestured over to one of the halls. “Head over to room 2C, it’s located down that hall on the third turn.”

“Thank you.”

Dario pivoted on his heels and followed her instructions, excitement and trepidation coursing through his body. He had worked in small groups of people before during his time with street gangs, but never had he teamed up with actual Superiors. From what he recalled of his assigned team, they were all Newbies like him, so they should all theoretically be around his age. Only time would tell how well they worked together.

Soon enough, he reached the room where a bored-looking man with blonde hair in formal wear stood leaning by the door.

The stranger looked at him. “You Solaris?”

“Yes, that’s me,” Dario said.

“Cool outfit.” The man pointed at the small, dimly glowing gem at the center of Dario’s chest, almost hidden by a midnight black cloak. Small hints of smooth, dark plated armor could be seen from underneath.

“Thanks, I’m still getting used to it,” Dario said honestly. He was still trying to master the whole stealth mode aspect and had it currently set to semi-incognito.

The man grabbed the doorknob and made to turn it, but suddenly paused. “So, Solaris, I’m assuming you named yourself after The North Star? The one in the sky?” he asked curiously.

“Uh-huh. It was my namesake when I was born,” he replied.

“ ‘The light that guides’, huh?” The stranger chuckled. “Sounds pretentious, but all names are.”

“I suppose.” Dario shrugged. “What’s your name then?”

“Just call me Mr. B,” he replied with a professional smile. “I’ll be your advisor early on, and whether or not you want to keep me around afterwards is entirely up to you.”

Before Dario could ask what he meant, Mr. B opened the door and pushed him inside the meeting room. He stood stock-still in shocked surprise at seeing the individuals within.

“Welcome, Solaris, to team V-33.”