Broker

Side Story: Gravitic 2

Is this really happening? Greg thought as he walked down the hallway. They’d finally made it inside and he couldn’t be more baffled by his immediate company. Most of his ‘security team’ were walking at a comfortable distance, Hammond and Locke were pretty anti-social it seemed. He wondered if they’d be better with civilians or if they signed up for this role because they didn’t like people or something. Nietz on the other hand was walking alongside him with a big grin on his face. That wasn’t the weird part, though.

Ahead of him, three of the most powerful people on earth were casually walking and talking as if the Pandora Committee didn’t categorize them as walking nukes. 

Stop tailspinning like a fanboy and listen in! He chastised himself, leaning his head forward to listen a bit more carefully to what they were talking about. You don’t get this chance every day.

“How was Dharan?” Euclidia asked, nudging Qilin with her elbow.

Qilin turned her head ever-so-slightly in her direction and sighed, “Messy, but not enough to alleviate my boredom,” she muttered and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, “The monsters were pathetically weak. I don’t understand why the Pandora Committee doesn’t just send a strike team in to finish the job.”

“Eh,” First Wind cut in, “Not like we have any clue how to close a dungeon break once it happens.”

“I assume just kill the boss,” Qilin clipped, shooting him a glare. “Why are you still here? I’m speaking with Euclidia now.”

“We’re walking in the same direction, hot stuff,” He shot back before looking towards Euclidia, “How was the camp? Any badass new recruits? I see you brought one with you,” he said and glanced back to meet Greg’s eyes, “Sup, kid. You got a cool power?”

Greg’s mouth went dry but he managed to open his mouth before Euclidia chimed in, “His codename is Gravitic, Luca,” she said patiently before immediately brandishing her wild grin again and saying, “He’s going to be working for me for a while, joining the Logistics Corps.”

First Wind stopped walking and turned, raising an eyebrow, “Good power and leadership qualities, huh?” He shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned forward to get a good look at Greg’s face as Greg and his team came to a stop a few feet away. Euclidia stopped as well while Qilin let out a sigh and kept walking, unwilling to entertain the scenario. “Gravity powers? I’d like someone like you on my team. We could raise some serious hell against villains, man. Whadda ya say?”

Greg caught Euclidia’s raised eyebrow out of the corner of his eye as he kept his focus on First Wind’s face. There was a moment where he was half-tempted just to say yes in the face of the walking hurricane but managed to school himself up enough to speak his mind. He wasn’t the bundle of nerves that joined the camp ten weeks ago, after all. “No thanks, man,” Greg said and jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “I’m getting this training to support my team back home.”

First Wind made a face that almost looked angry for a moment before he snorted and pushed his sunglasses up, “Yeah, that’s the good stuff. A man who cares about his gang. I dig it,” he grinned, “Well, if you end up getting assigned to helping the international team on occasion with logi-whatever, look my group up. Might be worth having someone with some talent to listen to,” he shot some finger guns before turning away to walk again, “Hey! Qilin, where ya goin?”

“To the lounge!” She called back behind her. “I’m tired of standing!”

“Then let me carry you or somethin’ babe!” He shouted and started hustling down the hallway.

“Ugh!” She shot back, disgusted, “You are foul! Don’t touch me!”

Greg let out a breath and Nietz clapped him on the shoulder before giving him a thumbs up. He grinned at the guy and offered a nod of thanks only to notice that the other two had suddenly moved in much closer. He blinked and turned to see Hammond right behind him and Locke at his left. He hadn’t even noticed them moving into his space. They were both staring daggers at First Wind’s back. Locke’s lips twitched, “He’s prone to collateral damage, watch out for him,” she grunted and turned his way before meeting his confused gaze. “What?”

He cleared his throat, “You guys move fast.”

“We’re heroes specialized in personal security,” She said with a shrug, “Of course we’re gonna move when someone gets in your space.”

“Hm. Would any of them work on him?” Hammond rumbled, the most he’d ever said since Greg met him.

Nietz looked up at the big guy, “You’re better off just making a diversion rather than facing him head on, I think.”

Hammond nodded, “Right.”

Greg watched them interact and felt a pang go through him, he cleared his throat and turned to Euclidia who was waiting patiently for him to follow. He started walking towards her, “Hey, question,” He scratched at his neck, “How often do you think it’d be okay to contact the gang back in New York, just to catch up now and then? I dunno if Miss Sonya allows that kind of thing or not.”

Euclidia shrugged, “I don’t see why not, but you’re gonna be pretty busy. C’mon. We’re almost there,” she said and waved him on. He nodded and glanced up to see Qilin looking back at him, her eyes fixed on him. He blinked and looked left and right, wondering what she wanted but as soon as she opened her mouth to say something First Wind caught up and she sneered at the mythic hero, turning away to continue walking. The two disappeared into a room off to the right. What was that about?Nôv(el)B\\jnn

It didn’t take long after that to have his mana signature recorded and read by the devices in one of the offices that were set up in the building. They quickly produced a card that felt heavy and strange in his hands. Euclidia told him to wear it at all times as it helped him get past security, something he immediately encountered as they got to an elevator near the heart of headquarters. They went through three checkpoints. One at the elevator, one after the elevator, and the third at the end of yet another hallway. Each had increasingly more security tied to it until there were literal gun turrets hanging from the ceiling and men in paramilitary gear at the third.

He swallowed hard as they passed the squad of soldiers stationed at the doorway, none of them giving him a second glance after their commanding officer checked his badge. They aren’t messing around with Euclidia’s security, he thought. I guess that makes sense, her ability is really important to the committee.

The doors slid open with a hiss and he came to a stop, his jaw falling open. Inside was a large circular room with displays set up on all the walls. A cylinder of glass was set up in the center of the room where a projection of the planet floated and rotated lazily. On its surface were hundreds if not thousands of dots. Desks were set up here and there where two or three others sat, leaning over their desks and typing at computers. A hand clapped his shoulder and he turned back to see Nietz. 

“Alright, we got you to the lab, we’ll get a heads up if you go out and meet you at the entrance,” he said with a grin, “Good luck man!” 

“Thanks,” Greg said and cleared his throat, “It was nice meeting you guys.”

“Charmed,” Locke said with a smile while Hammond nodded gruffly. The three of them turned and left the way they came, the door shutting behind them. Greg swallowed and turned back to look at Euclidia who was leaning against the cylinder.

“Welcome!” She said enthusiastically, “To the beating heart of the Pandora Committee! This is where the real magic happens!”

He walked further inside, meeting the gazes of a few of the others working there who had glanced up before going back to what they were doing. He approached Euclidia and she shoved her hands on her pockets, a merry expression on her face. “Alright! So I’m sure you’re curious,” she said and gestured back to the cylinder behind her, “This is the Portal Nexus.”

He looked up at it, “Nexus?”

“Every active hero has a high precision tracker on them to assist in my work,” she said, “There are a few exceptions, like Handmaiden who has a license to use her abilities but is freelance otherwise,” she turned to the cylinder, “The Nexus reads their spatial coordinates and with the help of satellite imaging gives me locations where I can create a portal. I can use that same function to find a destination. My ability relies heavily on mathematical computation but with this bad boy I can do minutes of work in a breath,” she sighed, “I still have to handle the power load, but the high precision here makes it easier. We’re currently in the process of developing tech that can assist in taking the load and maybe create portals for me, we’ve even got Doctor Carter on the project.”

He marveled at the machine, “So… it knows where my team is?”

“Sure!” she said brightly and turned, “Nexus! Locate Crusader!”

The holographic planet spun rapidly before displaying North America, a red dot flashed and a line stretched out of it giving a string of numbers followed by specific details. 

CRUSADER, ACTIVE HERO, GROWTH-TYPE (EPIC)
CURRENT LOCATION: ASTA GUILD, EAST COAST, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK.
TARGET IS INSIDE KNOWN STRUCTURE, PORTAL ROOM COORDINATES READY.

“Oh, she’s a growth type! Cool! I didn’t know that,” Euclidia said thoughtfully, “She’s like Nietz then.”

He turned to her, “Nietz is like Crusader?” he asked.

“Oh yeah! You guys didn’t get to talk much, you’ll have a chance later,” she said, rubbing her neck, “Let’s just say that what doesn’t kill him, makes him stronger.”

Greg paused, “Thats… Intense.”

“You’re telling me,” she laughed, “Locke has a form of mind control that requires physical contact and Hammond…” she snorted, “You ever play pocket demons?”

He squinted at her, “The monster catching game?”

She pointed at him, “That’s the one!”

His face went deadpan, “You’re kidding.”

“Nope!” She laughed, “His ability is technically Epic-tier but it has a ‘mythic’ descriptor because there’s no evidence so far that he can’t take control of a mythic creature.”

“Why Hammond, then, that’s a weird name,” He asked.

“His ability uses amber,” she said and rolled her eyes, “Cinephiles.”

He raised his eyebrows, getting it, “Oh!” he cleared his throat, “So what’s my role?”

“Well,” she said, turning back to the nexus, “Nexus, cancel order,” she said before putting her hands on her hips, “You’ll be learning about how we organize strike teams and support the international team. While we do that you’ll learn about how missions are handled and what goes into dealing with a particularly nasty villain when it comes up,” she tilted her head, “Finally, you’re going to learn more about your abilities, I have something I’m working on.”

He blinked at her, “Huh?”

“You’re gonna help me get into the Backrooms,” she said with a grin.