"So you're first mission was a near unmitigated disaster" Tim says. The giant grin on his face doesn't match his critical words. He has just finished introducing himself as our long term handler explaining that he would be our only contact with the Agency and that this would be our base of operation.
After my talk with Steve, a hot home cooked meal and a night of uninterrupted sleep in a queen size bed my own room I am feeling slightly more optimistic about my future.
"Yesterday you said we'd proved our worth." Adrian smirks.
"You have. Your raw….erm…. talent is evident. You proved yourselves worthy of further training and investment. But how you actually handled your mission was sloppy and dangerous and poorly thought out. Whose idea was it to physically plant the beacon?" Tim leans back in the office chair he is sitting in.
"Mine" Adrian answers boldly.
"You all have telekinetic abilities." Tim observes drily.
"We didn't know what the layout of the meet-up would me or how anyone would respond to something floating in there." Adrian sits up getting defensive.
"Adrian you were briefed about the beacon. You could have buried it outside the wall and it would have worked. Why didn't you?" Tim asks.
I can tell that Tim is intentionally stirring the pot to make it seem like Adrian intentionally endangered our lives and I am interested in the answer but it is more important to make it clear, both to Adrian and Tim, where our allegiances lie.
"You still haven't asked us what we choose?" I speak up.
"I'm sorry?" Tim turns his attention to me.
"Yesterday you gave us an option. You started today's meeting assuming that we've all picked the Agency."
He stares me down for a second. I make sure to hold his gaze. I can feel something close to gratitude from Adrian.
"You're right Aisha. So has anyone decided on extermination?" He asks cheerfully clapping his hands together.
We all look at each other. Steve speaks for the group.
"We need more information before we make our decision. Is there any chance of an outside life? How many missions would we do? How much information would we be given?"
"Would we get paid?" Adrian chimes in.
I roll my eyes at Matt who just smirks in my direction. We had agreed that asking for payment and becoming mercenaries would probably compromise our moral high ground. Besides, as property of the government, where would we spend our ill-gotten gains?
It is clear that Tim finds the question just as ridiculous.
"Look if this is going to work you will need to be comfortable not seeing the big picture. I don't have the answers either. Right now what you know is that the alternative is death. You need to make the best decision you can with the information you have." Tim says.
For the first time since we met him he seems almost human to me.
He's telling the truth. We don't have a choice. Matt telegraphs sounding exhausted.
"Okay" Matt says staring at his hands.
"Okay" Adrian follows.
"Okay" Steve says clearing his throat and reaching for my hand under the table.
"Okay" I say squeezing Steve's hand.
"Okay" comes a voice from behind us. We all know who it is but even Steve turns to make sure.
"Ah. Grab a seat Andrew." Tim gestures to the seat.
My hand is instantly sweaty. I release Steve's hand quickly and wipe my hand on my khaki trousers careful to keep my thoughts blank. My throat is dry so I reach for the glass of water in front of me. Andrew catches my eye as he sits down and smiles. I smile back, uncomfortable.
"Now if you're all done with this heartwarming reunion; let's get to work." Tim smirks, relishing in the tension that has descended.
He sets out our schedule for the week which boils down to tests and training. I notice that we have more 'personal time' than we did at the centre. That, combined with our own house, is a huge improvement. I wonder how long it takes for Stockholm syndrome to set in.
I don't have a lot of time to think about it. Tim instructs us that our first session is with the research team. We are lead into a waiting room where we sit in silence. Matt is staring at Andrew leerily. We are all trying very hard to keep our thoughts blank. A guy in a white coat comes out and calls me in.
"Ladies first." I joke as I enter the room.
He doesn't even crack a smile.
"I'm going to draw some blood."
I take off my hoodie and sit on the gurney. He takes out a needle and draws some blood. He takes my blood pressure and listens to my heart.
"We're done. Ask Matt to come in." He dismisses me.
I am dazed by the conveyer belt nature of the interaction. I wordlessly get off the gurney and walk out of the room. The boys are still sitting in silence. Steve is fiddling with his cane. They all look up questioningly.
"He just took some blood and stuff. He wants you to go in Matt" I say.
Matt stands up and walks into the room.
I sit down near Steve. The silence is so heavy. When everyone is done with the white coat guy he directs us to a large room. A woman with red hair is waiting for us. She smiles, which is disorienting.
"Hi guys! I'm Sharon and I am going to be training you guys. Today we're just going to assess." She says.
Sharon leads us through what I can only describe as an obstacle course for people with superpowers. She doesn't mind if we do it as a team. In fact, after we ask she seems pleased. She explains the objective to us- basically to get across the course as quickly as possible. There is a giant wall, swinging planks of wood and what looks like a giant body of water.
"Go!" Sharon yells. She nods at a darkened window where I assume the monitoring is taking place.
Matt raises an eyebrow at me. He thinks we should just fly. It is a good idea but something makes me pause. They know, from Andrew and from our first mission that we can fly and that would make it too easy. I pick up a chair near Sharon and throw it above the obstacle course. It sets off a force field of some sort and lands directly underneath the spot, charred.
"Time is ticking!" Shouts Sharon. Her tone is teasing. She sounds like a friendly camp counselor leading us in a game of capture the flag.
None of us move.
"Clearly you need a little incentive." She laughs and nods at the darkened window again.
The force field ceiling starts to descend. Awesome.
Matt looks at me for guidance. When I don't do anything. He runs towards Steve and starts to lead him toward the first obstacle- the giant wall.
I don't make the decision to do what happens next. The exhaustion, frustration and confusion of the past few days build up and as soon as the idea pops into my head I know that I can do it. So I do it.
You can reach into the smallest part of a thing and pull it apart. You can break something so thoroughly that there are no pieces and no sound when it shatters. The wall, the water, the force field, Sharon's clipboard; It is only so much stuff.
And I have the power to take it apart.
The look on Sharon's face when her clipboard and everything else in the room disappears is worth the instant splitting headache. Steve realizes what I did first and does that thing where he manages to look right at me. I start to walk out of the room. Matt leads Steve and they follow me. No one stops us. We walk silently all the way back to the house. I sit on the couch. Steve and Matt join me. Steve finds my hand and gives it a squeeze. I start to laugh. They join me.
That's how Andrew finds us.
"Next time you guys are planning a coordinated storm off you should let me know." He comments sitting across from us in one of the armchairs in the room.
"Where have you been?" Steve asks.
"Oh you know; lab experiments and stuff." He answers casually.
"Did it hurt?" Matt growls unkindly.
"Yes." Andrew answers easily.
"You guys just left. That was so awkward." Adrian whines as he enters the room.
He spots Andrew. I hear him instruct himself not to recoil.
"You must be Andrew. Welcome back." Adrian extends his hand.
Andrew takes it and nods a greeting.
"Does anyone want something to drink? I'll put on some coffee." Adrian suggests heading into the kitchen.
Andrew studies my face intently.
"You're getting stronger" He observes after a beat.
Steve slides his hand on to my knee protectively.
"I have a theory about that. It's your first kill. It frees you. You've done the worst thing your powers can do so you aren't scared anymore. And because you aren't scared you are powerful." His eyes narrow. I fight the urge to cross my hands in front of my chest. Just because it seems like he can see right through me doesn't mean he can. I block his attempts to read me.
"Aisha did what she did to protect us and get us out of there alive. Are we going to talk about how you were going to abandon after we got in that situation trying to save you?" Matt asks.
"I would apologize but I think you guys are starting to get that the only point now is survival."
"Well then you still messed up because the only way we are going to survive this is together." Steve points out calmly.
"That I agree with. But if you escape you'll take me with you."
Matt scoffs.
"You will. Because you need me. Matt is weak. Aisha and Steve are strong but wouldn't be able to get their hands bloody. You can't be sure you can trust Adrian."
"We definitely can't trust you" I say.
"Yes you can. You know exactly who I am and you can trust that. I'm going to get us out of here." Andrew promises.
A familiar look is in his eyes. It is murderous and certain. I cross my legs.
Sharon walks in while we are making dinner. The radio is on and I am making a salad and listening to Steve singing softly to himself. He has a lovely voice. He comes up next to me and swings me around pulling me in closer to sway us to the music. My body instantly responds to the warmth from his. I pull away when I hear footsteps but only slightly as I think it must be Matt or Adrian.
"We had some bets about which of the guys you were sleeping with. Looks like I win." Sharon begins, raising her eyebrow archly.
"Excuse me?" I sputter not able to stop the blush rising on my face. I know that she notices it. I take a deep breath so I don't hand her any more easy victories.
"Why are you here?" Steve asks flatly.
"I came to talk to Aisha about her little display. Will you excuse us?"
"No." Steve answers calmly wrapping his arm around me.
I appreciate what he is trying to do but it doesn't help me to be perceived as under his protection.
"I'm going to talk to her" I tell Steve "Let's go outside" I gesture toward the door.
She joins me outside. It is a mild day.
"That was stupid." She observes drily.
"What was?" I ask.
"Your little tantrum. Do you realize you gave us exactly what we wanted? We're assessing you and now we know that you are incredibly powerful. And stupid."
"I was tired. It's been a little tough what with the kidnapping and conscription" I answer sarcastically.
She walks towards me. I instantly raise a shield.
"You are going to have to learn how to play this game if you guys are going to survive. The quicker they think that they control you the sooner they will make a mistake." Her voice is low and urgent.
"They? You are one of them."
"I am the only reason the whole lot of you weren't blown up today. Everyone thinks this program is too risky. Plan A was to exterminate you. This is Plan B. There is no Plan C. Do you understand?"
I nod.
"Your psychological profile points you out as the natural leader and smartest tactician. You can get your friends out of this." She urges me.
"I don't understand. Why would you be helping us?"
"You aren't the only ones at risk. If this pilot is at risk they will start screening the general population for superhuman abilities. I can't let that happen."
I try to probe but she has a shield up. Our eyes lock and in that moment I understand.
She is one of us.
"Wait. Are there more?"
She turns and walks away.