Yet another series! Summary: It's like MBT in SPACE! mets X-Men: People have mutant powers, and monsters are aliens. Or are they...? Dun dun duuuh! And here is the (belated) disclaimer: If I owned the books, they would be set in SPACE! and still be moldering on my thumb drive. Seriously, I have enough trouble finishing my English essays. - Oculus sighed and rubbed burning, crimson and blue eyes. The e-document slowly blurred back into focus. "No luck?" The Marshall wearily asked, gesturing to the tablet. "None," Oculus agreed. "Finding another Lamplighter this late in the hiring season is a long shot at best." He snorted. "At this point, I'd be happy just to find someone marginally competent and without a criminal record." The Marshell hmmed. "What do we have?" Oculus taped the minimized windows. "The five remaining Class Zeros have failing marks, physicals, or both. The Council must be estatic about their filled quotas. We have four Class Ones just barely within required perimeters, and four Class Twos with only low marks. All the Classes Three through Five are mentally or physically unfit for any work." "Pull up the Classes One and Two that passed the physicals," The Marshall said. "Let's start with the Class Twos." Oculus began summarizing. "Dean Vanish age eleven; Ability: invisibility of self only; low marks; mild asthma. Elizabeth Bookchild, age eleven; Ability: pigmentation change at will; low marks; good health. Fanny Laker, age eleven; Ability: breath underwater; very low marks; allergic to bee stings and peanuts. Wane Willy, age eleven; Ability: luminescence; low marks; fair health." The Marshall hmmed again. "Not very promising. The Class Ones?" "Catarina Dole, age eleven; Ability: supersight; low marks; hard of hearing. Starling Bookchild, age twelve; Ability: resistance to injury and swift healing; very high marks; excellent health but with potential complications. Holland Bookchild, age eleven; Ability: vocal mimicry; low marks; good health. Tally Reed, age twelve; Ability: superhearing; average marks; fair health." "Bring up the Class One healer's full file." A quick tap revealed a picture of a pale, shyly smiling boy. Special notes dotted the file after almost every field of information. Oculus snorted. "Potential complications indeed. The boy can't take real blood infusions. Mutated antibodies." The Marshall chuckled. "As if anyone uses real blood transfusions anymore." Oculus agreed. "It's less problematic than allergies or asthma. Definitely less trouble than permanent superhearing." "So why hasn't the boy been hired? High marks alone open a multitude of opportunities." Oculus eyed the daunting number of special notes. "My guess? Nobody wanted to play the risk of other 'potential complications': preliminary screening found hundreds of abnormal gene combinations. All of the mutations should haven been expressed by late childhood, but when has logic ever appealed to the public?" The Marshall hurrumped. "And the superhearing girl?" Oculus scanned over the next file. "Nothing of interest." He met the Marshall's eyes with careful consideration. "Sir," he said. "We're not going to find anyone with better marks." The Marshall sighed. "I know, I know. But marks aren't everything." "Certainly," Oculus said sourly, "And neither is Talent." The Marshall regarded his tell-tale with flat eyes, and Oculus flinched. The younger man mostly managed to keep his past out of his work, but his superior never hesitated to call him out when he didn't. The tablet bleated an update. Oculus gladly grabbed the distraction. "Well, that certainly simplifies things," he commented dryly. A single status had changed. With Tally Reed already hired, Starling was the only logical choice.