Scene 5 - October 28th

Interior Coulton Library, Afternoon

Quinn Kaufman

It was some time later that I finally worked up the nerve to ask Devon for help. “It’s a job thing,” I said out of the blue, and they glanced up at me.

“This is your turning point?” they asked.

I nodded. “It’s... alright, hypothetical situation.”

Devon set the paper they had been reading aside. “Is this one of those hypothetical situations where it’s actually you?”

“It might be,” I hedged, probably unconvincingly. “Hypothetically.”

They nodded. “Hypothetically. Alright, go on.”

“Hypothetically, I’ve recently discovered a unique skill,” I began. “A talent that qualifies me for a job that I didn’t think I could do, before, and therefore never looked into.”

“Is this a job that you’d like to do? Hypothetically?” they added with a definite smirk.

“Hypothetically, it may have been my dream when I was a kid,” I admitted. “But childhood dreams aren’t based on knowing what it’s actually like, you know?”

“I do,” they admitted. “Are you having second thoughts about wanting it, now that it’s actually possible?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s more that...” I drummed my fingers on the table. “It’s a really big commitment,” I finally said. “Hypothetically, it could eat up my entire life. It certainly wouldn’t let me become a doctor as well. Which makes all of the time I’ve spent studying for it feel like a waste.”

“Have you enjoyed your studies?”

“Well, yeah. Most of the time.”

“Not a waste, then.”

“Fair enough.”

“What else?” they asked.

“Well... I suppose one of the big things is that the job might require me to move to another city,” I told them. “I like New Venice, I don’t want to leave. And besides... my dad is here. All my friends, too, those few that I have.”

“Is this one of those jobs that’s very lucrative? You could potentially bring him with you.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not.” Then I paused - heroes had merchandise, after all, and while part of it went to the government and part of it went to charity, I was sure that part of it went to the hero as well. The most popular of heroes - Aegis, for example - no doubt made a tidy income from those royalties combined with the MLED salary. But it wasn’t as though I would ever be one of those hyper-popular figures. “Probably not, anyway,” I corrected myself.

“Well, it’s not the end of the world if you end up moving,” Devon told me. “I’ve done it myself - I’m lucky to have gotten to stay at NV General after my residency, but I’m not originally from New Venice. You’re a good kid, you’ll make new friends. And hey,” they added, “you don’t have to lose contact with the friends you have here. You’re not going to lose my number just because you moved. Your dad isn’t going to forget you just because you don’t live with him anymore.”

“You’re right,” I admitted, “it’s just a big decision, you know? It’s a completely different direction for my life than what I had planned up until now.”

“It sounds like it,” Devon agreed. “That kind of decision shouldn’t be made lightly. How long do you have to decide?”

I was still in my one month grace period, having only gotten my powers two weeks ago, so... “I have another two weeks before I really need to make a decision,” I said. “After that I think I could still take the job, but it would probably be a little more complicated to do so.” Director Shepard had told me personally that she wanted to have me as a hero, after all, and I knew that there were metahumans who had retired from heroing into the private sector, or vice versa. I had to assume that there was paperwork involved, though.

“Then take your time,” they advised. “Don’t rush into it. Talk to people you trust, get their view on things. Talk to people who’re already in this job, if you can, see what they think. Talk to your dad.”

“He’s all for it. You know him - he believes in me 100 percent, even if I don’t.”

“I guess I should have expected that. David is a great guy and a good father.”

“Yeah.”

Devon seemed to be hesitating for a moment, then asked, “Speaking of your dad, has he told you how his health is recently? I worry about the guy.”

“Not really. He was in the hospital again recently, but he was out again before long. We don’t tend to talk details about it - he doesn’t like talking about it, I don’t think.” Neither did I, really.

“I can understand that, I guess,” they admitted, “but still. Ask him what’s up. For now though, let’s talk about something a little lighter than intractable Alzheimer’s or your father’s health or a hypothetical job as a superhero -”

“Did I say superhero?”

“Hypothetically, I might be making an assumption,” they said, giving me a wink, “but am I wrong?”

“You are not,” I admitted. “Hypothetically.”

“So yeah, let’s turn to a lighter subject. What are you doing for Halloween this year?”