Bob looked over several different photos. Each showed a large patch of flat, empty ground with a location and price. He nodded.

“Let’s go with site C. Sergei should be far enough along that you can start with the prep work”

Chris nodded.

“I’ll get to it.”

The door opened and Miss Le Blank strode into the room. Every minion stood at attention and gave a salute. She strode over to the table without a word, glancing at the photo.

“Minion, what is this?”

“The construction site, Ma’am.”

Miss Le Blank frowned. She furrowed her brow, closing her eyes, and massaging her temples.

“Minion, why on Earth is it in the middle of nowhere?! How will we demonstrate my beauty to the world from there of all places?!”

Bob nodded.

“Well Ma’am, the final construction is going to fly around the world, right?”

“Obviously! Didn’t you pay attention?!”

“We figured it didn’t matter where it started, so we picked somewhere cheap and quiet. Besides, the construction won’t be very beautiful until it’s finished, so we thought you would not want the unworthy to gaze upon it until you deemed it so.”

Miss Le Blank frowned as she looked over the photo. Eventually, she slowly nodded, and then left without another word.

Bob and Chris looked at one another, then shrugged and got back to work.

Bob stretched his arms as he left the office, minions shuffling in and out as the night shift came in.

“Minion! Attend me.”

Bob watched as Miss Le Blank grabbed one of the leaving minions and then turned to march towards the garage. Bob heaved a sigh and walked over to the boy. One of the newbies, Emmanuel if he remembered correctly. The boy jumped as Bob placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Good work today, you can go home.”

“B-But what about Madam Le Blank?”

“I’ll take care of it.”

The boy looked down to the ground.

“Don’t worry about it, this isn’t my first rodeo, and she can't tell us apart anyways. Rest while you can, you’ll have your own crunch time soon enough.”

The boy nodded.

“Thanks.”

Bob waved a hand as he began to follow Miss Le Blank.

“Don’t mention it.”

Miss Le Blank entered into the banquet hall, Bob following behind and to her side. They entered an ornate and spacious hall, brightly lit by chandeliers glimmering above. The floor was filled with men in tuxedos and women in the finest dresses, chattering away and sipping at champagne. Standing behind them were numerous individuals of all shapes and sizes, wearing all manner of clothing from suits to armor, all of which shared one thing in common: a mask or helmet covering their face. In the corner a string ensemble played a graceful tune.

“My oh my, what do we have here?”

A high-pitched voice rang out. Miss Le Blank and Bob turned to the side. A dark haired woman in a dark blue gown approached them, followed by a man in a tuxedo.

“I would not thought you to have the courage to show yourself here, dearest Gabriel. Don’t you have another…ahem modeling session or some such thing to attend to?”

Miss Le Blank narrowed her eyes.

“My dearest Vivienne, I must say it is good to see you. I wasn’t sure your father would allow such a thing.”

Vivienne hid her face with a blue fan as she chuckled softly.

“Oh, truly, Father only allows me to interact with the most distinguished of company. I must admit, it is a tad stifling at times. What am I to do with such a doting old man?”

Gabriel smiled as well.

“Well, not all of us can manage to stand on our own. It is good to rely upon one’s parents for as long as one can.”

The pair both let out a laugh as their eyebrows twitched slightly.

“I see you have your chaperon. Alfred, it is good to see you.”

“A pleasure as always, Miss Le Blank.”

“Only the best of the best, dearest Gabriel. Speaking of which…”

“Oh, him? I’d introduce you, but I daresay I forgot his name. ‘Tis such a burden having so many loyal minions.”

“Minions?”

The edges of Miss Le Blank’s mouth curled up.

“Oh, don’t tell me you haven’t heard, dearest Vivienne? Anyone who’s anyone has minions these days, just look about you. I admit, they’re a bit rough about the edges and not nearly as, personably, as your butler there. But oh, the things one can accomplish with such loyal followers. I have big plans, I tell you. I wonder, you must be planning such great deeds yourself, are you not?”

“That’s…”

“Oh my, well do not worry, I’m sure your father could lend you a hand. Perhaps you should ask him for some minions of your own, if he’ll allow such things.”

Just as Vivienne began to bite her lip, a voice rang out that did not fit the sophisticated atmosphere.

“Excuse me, excuse me! Miss Le Blank, could I have a moment of your time?”

All company present turned to the interloper. It was a girl who seemed barely of age. She had on a dress that may once have been beautiful, but faded spots and loose strings indicated age and use. The duffle bag over her shoulders likewise did not aid in her image. Her hair was a bit frazzled, her makeup insufficient to hide spots of acne and bags under her eyes.

“M-My name is Klara Wojnicz, I’m your biggest fan! I, um, have something to show you, i-if I could just borrow a moment of your time. Y-You’ll love it, I promise!”

Miss Le Blank kept to the front as the girl continued to plead with her. She motioned to Bob, who leaned over and lended her his ear. Despite the fact that she continued to speak at normal volume.

“Minion, why is such a foul…thing in my presence? Please do your job.”

The girl stopped, eyes widening. Bob sighed under his breath as he approached her.

“Miss, could you come with me for a moment?”

“What? N-No…that’s…I need to show her! Please! It will only take a moment! I can definitely help you! Please!”

The girl continued to shout as Bob put a hand on her shoulder. Various participants of the ball were starting to glance over at the spectacle. Bob leaned in and whispered into her ear.

“Miss, this isn’t really the best place for this. Miss Le Blank can’t just speak with anyone in public. Come with me, I manage her affairs, I can help you get what you want.”

The girl bit her lip and continued to glance at Miss Le Blank. But she slowly nodded her head and turned to head towards the elevator, with Bob following.

The pair stepped out onto the roof. Klara was biting her lip, eyes starting to moisten. Bob sighed and turned to face the girl.

“Now, what did you want to show us?”

The girl jumped and looked Bob, eyes blinking.

“Oh, um, you want to see it?”

Bob nodded.

“Oh, um, I really wanted to show this to Miss Le Blank first…”

Bob sighed once more.

“Miss Wojnicz, was it? You have guts and enthusiasm. But that doesn’t mean you can skip steps. There are rules to this, procedures to follow. Approaching Miss Le Blank like you did, you smashed through all of them. I am going to give you a chance, don’t waste it.”

The girl jumped and then quickly nodded her head, opening up her duffle bag. She pulled out some sort of small quad-copter drone, with a large glass dome on its bottom. She then pulled out a controller and switched the drone on, hovering in the air a few feet before her.

“Um, I was hoping Miss Le Blank would be here as I designed this with her in mind, but it’s something like this.”

She put down the controller and took out a flashlight, flickering it on and off a few times. The dome on the drone flashed every time the light hit it. Once she had finished, the drone took a lap around the rooftop before returning to its starting position.

“I-I heard Miss Le Blank can control light, so I programmed the drone to respond to it. I-I figured Miss Le Blank could control these intuitively on her own.”

Bob crossed his arms and hummed.

“An interesting approach, but it doesn’t seem more efficient than regular drones.”

The girl nodded and turned on the flashlight, this time at the brightest setting. This time, the dome stayed lit even after the flashlight stopped, and then after a second a beam of light shot from the dome, illuminating a patch of the rooftop.

“It’s hard to show with something this weak, but I designed them to amplify and reflect Miss Le Blank’s powers.”

Bob rubbed his chin and then nodded.

“You made and programmed these yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Who taught you?”

“...no one. Just what I could pick up in class and then I figured out the rest myself.”

“Parts?”

“...just whatever I could afford or scrap.”

“I see.”

Bob paced back and forth once. Before turning to face the girl once more.

“Why Miss Le Blank?”

“Um, sorry?”

“Rough around the edges but it’s not a bad attempt, especially for someone self-taught and self-supplied. You have potential, honestly enough potential to find employment in any number of industries. Even the ILS is recruiting for those kinds of skills. So why Miss Le Blank?”

The girl looked down for a bit, then took a deep breath.

“...she inspires me.”

Bob waited for a moment, Klara taking another breath.

“Her dad tried to force her into being a hero. She stood up to him, took everything from him, and made a life for herself.”

“And that’s what you want to do?”

She took another breath, looking at her feet and clenching her hands into fists.

“My dad…my dad only cares about one thing. Heroes. That’s all he ever wanted, that’s all he cares about.”

She looked up at Bob, eyes moistening but unwavering.

“I don’t care about making a name for myself. I don’t want to. He might twist that too, take some weird pride out of it. I just want to ruin what he loves. He hates Miss Le Blank, very very much. So I wanted to help her rise. I want to watch him grit his teeth watching her, never knowing his own child is helping her.”

Bob let out a sigh.

“I’ll be honest, there is very little chance Miss Le Blank will allow you anywhere near her.”

The girl grit her teeth and looked to the ground again, shoulders trembling. Bob reached into his pocket and pulled out a card.

“But there’s something else I can do to help support your dream.”

The girl looked up, eyes wide.

“Call them, tell them Bob sent you. They’ll get you the training and the resources you need. It won’t be Miss Le Blank, but you’ll help others like her. You’ll be fairly compensated for your work, I guarantee that. And no one will know what you do, not unless you tell them.”

The girl stood for a moment, biting her lip, clenching and releasing her hands. But, eventually, she nodded and stepped forward to take the card. Bob nodded at her and walked towards the elevator. He turned his head back after pressing the button.

“One last thing, Miss Wojnicz. You can be whatever you want to, for yourself, and yourself alone. No one else’s opinion needs to matter if you don’t want it to.”

With that, Bob stepped into the elevator, leaving the girl alone on the roof.

Guess this night wasn’t a waste of time after all.

Part of him wished it was.

Heroes are so annoying.