Karu swung by the hotel to change, and I went on ahead. She moved a lot faster than me. I only waited a few minutes at the ominous foot of the Raven's Nest before she streaked in and landed next to me. Without even waiting, she walked right in the front door, leaving me to trail in her wake.

"Can I help you, hunter?" said the man behind a security desk as she approached. She looked around momentarily, and then found me and bodily placed me in front of her at the desk.

"Okay. Can I help you, civilian?"

"I'm um, Athan Ashton. Cosette, uh, Dawn is looking for me."

"Just a moment." He typed on the holo embedded in the desk. "Hello, Colonel Dawn? I have an Athan Ashton to see you." He listened in silence for a few moments and then his eyes bugged out slightly. "Yes ma'am! Right away ma'am!"

To my surprise, he led us to the security station and ran me through personally. Karu had a different process involving a lot of badges and biometrics, but no weapon scanners, for obvious reasons. "Sub-basement three, sir. Vigilo Ignoto." He saluted me as the elevator door shut on Karu and myself.

"You knew he'd react like that?"

"They love their heroes a lot more than us filthy hunters."

"Filthy? Heroes? You've done, like, infinitely more good for the XPCA than I have."

"You're one of them, going out to fight and die. The XPCA has a...high mortality rate. That makes you a hero. Hunters, on the other hand, have a reputation for worrying most about themselves and doing everything for money. We are not well-liked here."

"I don't know how anyone could not like you," I pouted.

"You are adorable, but let us please focus."

The elevator let us out and we found we were almost the last to muster. Cosette, Tower, Tem, Karu, and myself, of course. That just left...I scanned the group again, maybe I'd miscounted. Cosette, Tower, Jack, Tem, Karu, and myself. That just left Mage.

We were in what seemed to be a large underground hangar, very broad, and very, very deep, slowly curving towards the surface, presumably towards some hidden exit miles from here, but only ten or fifteen feet high. It was a little claustrophobic to see so much space all horizontal. Perhaps these were the security bunkers we were supposed to go to when the Exhuman alert sounded from Saga?

It seemed the space was evenly divided between a central lane holding dozens or hundreds of vehicles, including trucks, APCs, tanks, missile trucks, and barred prison vans, and endless meeting and supply rooms all along the walls.

"We're heading out soon, briefing in five," Cosette said. "Room bravo-304," she gestured towards one of the rooms, where now that I was looking, I could see they were all sequentially numbered. "Don't be late."

Jack said he'd wait for Mage and everyone else headed over. The room was a small fabric-lined room with packed seating, all empty. A holo on the far wall was obviously there for presentations, and Cosette loitered under it.

"Well, don't be that early, either," she said as we all filed in. "Got nowhere better to be?"

"Not really," said Tower, taking up two seats, and moving those in front of him so he could fit his knees in.

Tem made a gesture and Tower leaned in close and nodded as she whispered. "Hey, Cosette. What do we do about getting paid?"

She frowned. "I can't say I rightly know. I don't think anyone's ever been appointed on a task force without being enlisted first. I'll be sure to do the legwork to make sure you're all compensated, though. Wouldn't be right to ask you to do even a single mission pro bono."

Tem whispered something to Tower again. "Uh, Tem says thanks."

"You can talk to me, Tem, I'm not that scary," Cosette said with a smile. She checked her wrist holo. "Unless you're late for a briefing, then I'll kill you. Your friends have exactly one minute to show up here. Oh, while we're waiting…"

She left and came back a few moments later wheeling in a large wood crate, open on the top, tall enough to go up to her waist.

"Eventually, we'll be working on having actual combat uniforms specifically made for each of you, but for now, standard grunt uniforms it is. Pick a size, pick some shoes, bathroom's by the elevator if you're a pussy. Change after briefing, please."

With the others, I crowded in. The box was divided into eight compartments. Five contained shoes, and three contained uniforms. I had to wonder what happened if I wasn't between shoe sizes 8.5"-12", and then looked at Tower. And then at Tem. And then at Mage, who strolled in the door with Jack.

Yeah...Jack and I were the only ones here who would possibly fit in these uniforms. Karu of course never even got up, she was already set.

"I'll...just go battle butler on this one." I said. "Let me know when the custom uniforms are up."

"Yeah, maybe a good idea," said Cosette, looking over the same scene as me. "Anyway, briefing, boys and girls. Sit down and shaddup."

We did. The lights dimmed, and the holo lit up.

"At around twenty-one hundred last night, here in Washington, there was an Exhuman event on a small-scale. We didn't get the tip until this morning, but it did come with this footage."

The holo came to life. It looked like a security camera on the inside of a store. In one corner, the clerk was behind a thick security counter, reading something, bored. A girl with short blue hair was agonizing over two frozen dinners in her hands. Two men entered from outside the store and made a line for blue hair, having their sights on her before they even enter the frame.

"Eyy, Steffie," one of them said. The audio was flat and full of static but the scene was quiet enough to hear clearly anyway. "I know you've got something for me tonight. You wouldn't be out here spending credits on this crap without paying me first, right?"

"Fuerte! No, of course not," she said, backing into the freezer in surprise. The other man circled behind her, cutting off any chance of escape. The cashier looked up for a moment and then back down at his mobile again.

"I think you owe us four hundred credits, chika. I think you want to make a payment right now."

"I don't have the money on me, Fuerte, I'm sorry. I'll get it to you as soon as I can."

It played out like a movie. Their threats got less and less veiled, and poor blue hair got more and more flustered and trapped, as they slowly cut off her personal space and options. They dumped out her purse, rifled through her wallet, all while the clerk ignored the entire scene. It made my stomach turn. I really hoped blue hair was the Exhuman in this picture, because at least then these two guys were probably dead by now.

After getting more and more explicit in what they were going to do to here if she didn't pay, one finally took the step of knocking the frozen dinners from her hands, and then making her pick them up. She did, and while she was down there, Fuerte wound up and kicked her, hard.

As soon as he did, there was an explosion, and the camera and mic whited out.

Cosette turned off the holo. "So, either Fuerte or the female in the scene is the target, and we don't know the source or extent of the powers except that the entire shop was destroyed, three bodies were found...if you could call them that, the two nearest the blast were reduced to, let's say, dust, making IDing difficult, but still underway."

"In summary," she said, and turned the lights turned back on. "Either there's a guy out there who kicks people so hard the whole room explodes, or a girl who explodes when you kick her. If it's the former, it's likely his window is still open, since he had no reason to use his powers deliberately in this case, and it was probably his first event. In that case, engage using direct use of powers only. Do not give him any more ammo to work with. If it's the girl, it's much more likely her window is closed, but you will still lead with a teaser."

"Teaser?" Jack asked.

Cosette scratched her head, making her hair bounce. "You guys are way behind. But, teaser...if you're not sure if an Exhuman's window is open or not, you hit them with an unconventional but relatively useless attack. Flash grenades are often employed. If it does anything to them, they're not immune, and the window is definitely shut. If it does nothing, the window is definitely open. Anything in between, and you learned nothing. Always tease before you kill, always."

"If it is the girl...why would we kill her?" I asked. People turned to look at me, though not Karu. I guess she expected this crap from me now.

"That girl blew up an entire store and liquified two and a half people, assuming it was her. That's not something we want walking the streets of one of the most major metropolitan areas on the globe, Chariot. What if next time she decides instead of taking out her loan shark, it's her landlord. Or her bank. Or her tax collection agency, and hey, look, there goes the whole IRS."

"It just looked like she was defending herself."

"If she wasn't an Exhuman, and defended herself in that situation by turning those guys to dust...and the clerk too, does that sound like a reasonable defense to you?"

"I guess...not."

"And since she IS, or might be an Exhuman, she doesn't get to make that choice. It's always-on. She's a lethal weapon without a safety."

"I know. But like, I am too."

"You're here under XPCA oversight. The people surrounding you know what a danger you might be, and volunteered to be put up to it." I thought she was going to order me to stop arguing or something, but instead slouched a little and cocked her head sideways at me. "Chariot, please stop overthinking this?"

"I guess. She's just…"

"It might not even be her, Chariot. It might be a guy who loves kicking people until they explode."

"If we bring her in instead, does that work?"

Cosette sighed. "Unfortunately, no. As it stands, she'll still be executed. Director Blackett has issued orders for construction of a new...more minimum-security style facility, but construction has only just begun."

"Where's Saga, then?"

"She's...isolated."

"She's locked back up in a coffin," I said, and fell back into my seat. I was so mad at myself. After everything she'd been through, now she would go through it all again, for me.

"This is strictly off the record," Cosette said, glancing around. "Strictly. She's in Blackett's mountain cabin retreat. Isolated from anyone else, except the listening post we set up out of her power's range, to make sure she doesn't wander off and nobody else wanders in. And she's comfortable. Okay?"

"Director Blackett," whispered Tem.

"Okay," I said, and sighed. If that was true, she probably really liked that. She loved nature and being alone. But it was still a big if. Blackett hadn't exactly given me reason to distrust him, but I had no reason to trust him either.

"Look…" Cosette said glancing around even more furtively "we don't have time for this now, but after the mission, I will take you up there myself if you would like, so chin up Chariot."

I looked up at her, her body language leaning towards me, brown eyes focused and earnest. I wasn't sure why she was volunteering this, but...I really appreciated it. I nodded at her and she smiled and slid back into rigid military posture.

"Back to the mission, we don't have any more log cabins laying around to shove Exhumans in, so no prisoners will be taken. Any other questions?"

"How will we find him?" Karu asked, raising her hand as she spoke.

"We have trackers following the trail presently. They are moving slowly to avoid stumbling on the target by accident, but the target appears to be stationary and currently in hiding since last night."

"What kind of evacuation precautions are in place?" Again, Karu raised her hand.

"Let me finish with the briefing then. After meeting with the trackers and picking up the target, you will attempt to herd them into one of two empty zones nearby, where your and their powers can be used without too much concern." She turned towards Tem. "Without too much concern."

Tem wilted in her seat.

"Security squads will be on-hand to secure the perimeter if you need it, but if the engagement turns mobile, it does. Do your best and stay in contact with the comms we gave you, and our teams will do their best to keep innocents out of the way. Attempt to keep them in the zones if at all possible. Also attempt to minimize damage...the areas may be empty but that's no justification to blow everything up. But again, if it turns collateral, it does."

She flipped the holo over to an overhead map, not bothering with the lights. "Zone Alpha is an open wilderness area, a park, which is already evacuated, and Zone Bravo is a construction site. Each is less than two blocks from where we believe the target is hiding, so do your best to get them in there. I recommend using Tower's imposing presence to herd them, but the implementation is up to you."

"Any questions?" she asked, standing up very straight. Karu seemed satisfied, and if she was, I was.

"Stay safe, watch each other's backs, and good luck. Vigilo Ignoto. Deployment is in...eleven minutes. A truck will take you to the OA. I'll be on comms as your operator. You need anything, you just ask. This should be an easy op, five Exhumans against one, but it's a critical one...first showing of the uh," she glared at me. "The P-Force. So make us proud and show the world what you can do."

"Five Exhumans and a hunter," corrected Karu.

"I uh," Cosette flipped through her wrist holo. "I don't believe we issued a bounty on this?"

"It's pro bono today. I have personal investment in the success of this mission."

"Unfortunately, I don't think...that's allowed. I can confer with Blackett--"

"Director Blackett," muttered Tem.

"--but I am reasonably certain he wants to make this something of a media spectacle. You could handle this all on your own...not so good for PR. I hope you understand? You're a trusted associate, and welcome to join me at command. I'm sorry."

"I understand," said Karu, standing and looking defeated and angry all at once. "It was foolish of me to assume." She stomped off and threw open the door with a bang and then hesitated. After lurking in the doorway for a few seconds, she came back, treading softly now, and pulled her visor up and gave me a gentle kiss.

"I will wait for you this time, but do not expect me to be a patiently suffering wife who pines for her man," she said, stabbing me with a finger like I'd done everything wrong here.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"I will be with command then, and shall see you after," she said, and left, closing the door quietly.

"Such drama." I looked over and saw Mage looking like she was ready to gag. She pulled out a bottle of water and glugged it obnoxiously, staring at me the whole time.

"Make your final preparations and assemble on platform bravo 03 sierra delta-08. That's zero eight, people."

I really hoped zero eight was the important part of that, because I had a hard time turning the words into letters in my head.

Eleven minutes may as well have been zero, for how long it felt. We were all put into the back of a truck, really an armored van, like the one which had taken me from home, or away from my other home. The back had two benches facing each other, and Tower took up most of one, with Tem next to him. Jack and Mage sat next to me on the other. Tem looked like she was going to be sick.

"We'll be fine, Tem," I said to her.

She went from anxious to giving me a reassuring smile to looking sad. I was sure she was thinking something like how I shouldn't be wasting my time comforting her, and I sighed. The girl was impossible to deal with.

The truck took off, driving down the underground highway, vehicles and rooms flashing past us on both sides. After a couple of minutes, the gradual incline became more steep, and then we burst out into the light, the buildings and streets of D.C. materializing around us from the glare, like we'd just driven our way into heaven.

I had to wonder. If we were infiltrating heaven to kill an innocent girl, what did that make us?