Others had their eyes on the event as well. Reu was alerted to the commercial and watched it in the privacy of her office, keeping Onder far away and unaware. She scowled as the young human man onscreen discussed the scourge of human trafficking.
“The Galactic Security Agency has watched the suffering of humans for too long. We are prepared now to take a stand, but we need your help. We are launching our new commitment to human freedom with a charity gala at the Step Forward Runway in our Rebirth System. Fans of our work may be delighted to find that we are auctioning off some famous items owned by the organization. As an extra treat, we’re auctioning a date with some of your favorite superheroes, including yours truly! We hope to see as many of you there as possible, but there are several other ways to support our organization. Please visit-“
Reu turned off the television before he could finish. The GSA was a complicated place. She had to admit their last mission went off without a hitch, something that would be much more difficult for her to pull off. She couldn’t really complain, the agency focusing on human trafficking would likely lead to more humans being freed and the traffickers being weakened, but auctioning their human hero’s time put a bad taste in her mouth. To make matters worse, that human hero was the younger brother of the giant world destroyer she was trying to rehabilitate. She left her office and went looking for him, immediately hearing yelling in the hall.
“BASTARDS! What are they doing to him? He would never agree to this without coercion!”
She ran towards the commotion and found Onder in a recreational area screaming at the television. The ad continued from where she left off, Bliss still talking away. Lenna sat on the couch next to him with a smirk on her face.
Bliss finished the ad with a bang. “And remember, if you see something, say something. Call the GSA hotline to report any suspicious activity, especially any sightings of Armageddon, who we strongly believe is connected to one or many of these despicable organizations.”
Onder lifted the coffee table and started to maneuver towards the television. Just when he was about to launch the table at the screen, he stopped, staring at Mtsi’s eyes. He did not want to shatter his brother’s face. Lenna laughed at the pathetic display of frustration. Reu walked into the room and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Onder, be calm. You are no help to him like this.”
His shoulders released the slightest bit of tension. He lowered the table to floor. The ad was finally over, and the network turned back to the cartoon Lenna was watching. Reu’s hand gently moved to his cheek and guided his face to look at hers.
“Now I know what you’re going to say and I understand why you would want to intervene, but I can’t have you breaking into that gala.”
He turned his gaze away. “I’m not going to argue with you about this. I came here in partnership, not as a subordinate. You do not dictate my movements.”
She grabbed his shoulder with force. “Several innocent civilians will be at this event. It’s a closed area, you won’t be able to avoid collateral damage!”
“No one coming to this auction is innocent, but I won’t attack in the open. I’ll wait for whoever wins-“ he almost gags at the word, “my brother… I’ll follow them then and confront them away from the main hall.”
“That shows a lot of self-control. I’m proud of you for thinking this way, it shows you’ve come very far since you came here. Even so, I can’t allow you to attend this event. If Entropi attends, you will be outmatched by the heroes in attendance.”
He scoffed. “You keep going on about this Entropi woman. Entropi has never attended a charity gala in her career. I’m not just rushing in.”
She sighed. “Onder… I believe this may be a trap to force your hand.”
He pushed her hand off his shoulder. “I don’t care. I won’t let my brother be sold again.”
He pressed a button on his suit and vanished from the room. Reu watched helplessly, looking utterly exhausted. She decided to bring this nuclear bomb into her organization and she was already regretting it.
Lunai started her self-appointed security position the next night. Scanning the venue on Saturday was not sufficient, she needed to make sure no one visited the runway earlier in the week to hide reality glue. Dr. Crux happily provided her with a scanner, praising her initiative to ensure a successful evening. One by one the nights ticked off her calendar with no sign of any suspicious glue activity. Lunai did not relent; she returned Saturday morning to survey the area until starting time. The caterers were setting up at this point, so she carefully scanned around their area. Anyone could infiltrate the event by posing as a staff member. The waiters gave her a strange look and went back to their business. Lunai felt like an idiot, but better to be an idiot than an intern with a drugged and kidnapped supervisor.
As the evening approached, heroes began checking in at the front. Many of them were participants in the auction. Notable higher-ups from the agency arrived as well. Dr. Crux strolled with the board in tow. He had the misfortune of sitting at the table with them all night. Lunai shot him a glance of sympathy, hoping the night went well for his sake. Security was set up at the front, manned by some of the lesser-known heroes of the galaxy. Guests walked through sleek ovals that hummed with a green glow.
Good. No sign of any reality glue smugglers yet. Better keep scanning, just in case.
Bliss was one of the earliest heroes to arrive. After checking in, he found Lunai circling the room with her scanner. He chuckled to himself; her concern for him was endearing, though he had his limits. He was unnerved by the idea that his interns watched him sleep; he didn’t like being seen in such a vulnerable state. As long as her actions were helpful and didn’t press on uncomfortable feelings, he found it sweet. He even thought about apologizing for kicking her out the other day, at least for a moment.
He snuck up on her from behind. “I see you’re hard at work.”
“Ah!” She whipped around to see him. “Oh, hi Bliss! I’m just helping with security. Dr. Crux said you can never be too careful.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for your help. The success of this charity night relies heavily on security.”
She chuckled. “What could be better security than a guest list filled with heroes?”
“If all the heroes on that list are as dedicated as you, then nothing.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
She blushed and looked towards the floor. That was the nicest thing Bliss said to her throughout her internship so far. She didn’t realize he was capable of giving such strong praise.
I was worried he’d be mad if he found out what I was doing; I’m still trying to protect him, after all. I guess protection that involves watching someone sleep doesn’t seem as noble. I still can’t believe I thought that was okay.
“Keep up the good work, I’m counting on you. If you find anything worrying come to me or Dr. Crux directly; I’ll be backstage helping set up the auction items.”
She nodded and he walked down the runway into the backstage area. Lunai used the rest of her time to do a sweep of the upstairs lounge area, where Bliss would be going on his “date.” When everything came up clear, she breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the lobby. She found that people with cameras were posted at various points within the main hall. They had the cameras centered towards the stage and its runway. Dr. Crux stationed himself onstage and was preparing to give a welcome speech. The final guests trickled in and found their seats as the event officially began.
Dr. Crux briefly adjusted his microphone. “Good evening, esteemed guests. We thank you for giving your time to attend this transformative moment in GSA history. We know tickets weren’t cheap, but rest assured all proceeds will go to our new mission against human-trafficking. The board and I would like to extend a special thanks to all of the heroes that agreed to donate their time, whether to event security, or to our once in a lifetime charity auction. Our speaker for the night will be our very own Bliss, who made history as the first hero with human ancestry registered with the GSA. Bliss came to us as a refugee, but the immense powers within him quickly came to light. Bliss became certified as an intern hero at the age of 19, one of the youngest interns we’ve had. Now a senior resident hero, he leads his own team with two new interns. Please welcome Bliss to the stage.”
The crowd bustled with polite applause. Bliss emerged from the darkness behind the runway, walking down it as if he were a model. The videographers all followed his movements with their cameras.
“Thank you, Dr. Crux, for your kind introduction. I would like to welcome everyone to ‘A Night of Bliss,’ our first charity event to support the fight against human trafficking. It warms my heart to see people from all corners of the galaxy in the audience. Thank you all for your generosity and commitment to ending the millennia-long scourge of human trafficking. This issue hits too close to home for me. I know there’s been plenty of speculation about my history before arriving here, and though it hurts to say it, now is the time to be open. I was a victim of human trafficking before Entropi found me and helped me awaken my void siren side. I won’t disturb you with details of my captivity, but know that my experience was far from unique.”
His revelation stirred the audience into muddled gasps. Guests turned to look at each other, eyes wide with sympathy. Lunai noticed that some of the more unsavory guests looked annoyed.
“I am not telling you this now for your pity or your money. I am saying it to amplify the voices of everyone in the galaxy who went through or is going through the same thing. You are not alone. With the full force of the GSA behind me, we’ll see better days in this galaxy. Though it may seem impossible with monsters like Armageddon aiding traffickers, our experts predict a 60% decrease in the number of trafficking organizations one year after we launch this mission. This goal is ambitious and will require significant funds that we hope to secure with this event. Now I hope you all enjoy the food and music! We will host the auction just after dinner in an hour. Thank you for supporting us!”
Bliss exited the stage to the sound of applause. Guests left their tables to meet him on the main floor, praising his honesty and bravery. Lunai’s eyes narrowed when the guests annoyed at the speech approached him. She watched them exchange a forced smile with Bliss as they shook hands. Lunai dropped one of her ears to the floor and had it crawl towards them. It hid under a table next to them so she could hear their conversation.
The guest leaned in and whispered to Bliss. “Aw Mtsi, did you have to bring up the past? It wasn’t that bad, was it?”
His smile never faltered. “Not as bad as your breath! Please step back so I don’t have to smell it.”
The guest laughed and yelled for everyone else to hear. “Ever the charmer, this one!”
Most guests just stared awkwardly at him. Bliss walked away to greet wealthy guests more likely to make additional donations. Lunai had her ear scramble back to her body. She took a moment to calm down and sort out her thoughts.
I don’t need to worry about who wins the auction. Bliss already warned me bad people were here and that he was in control of the situation… This is probably a trick to get these people to show their true colors, then the agency can arrest them! I better just keep doing the job assigned to me, no need to babysit my senior. My senior who is barely an adult, no older than 22, and probably has deep trauma from years of human trafficking. No, I don’t need to babysit him at all…
She started picking at the peels of bark on her fingers. It was useless to try and convince herself not to worry. She thought back to how helpless Bliss seemed when Armageddon got to him. The lab couldn’t even determine what he was injected with.
What if people made more drugs that disable his powers? If there’s more than reality glue, my scanning is useless! It doesn’t even have to be a new compound, if someone managed to alter reality glue’s structure enough to avoid detection, they’ve practically blinded security!
Her thoughts started racing through every horrible possibility that could befall the night. She eventually felt a sturdy metal hand on her shoulder.
“Lunai, are you alright?”
She looked up and saw Argalax. He led her to their table and helped her sit down. She took a few minutes to collect herself.
“Thank you, Argalax. Don’t worry too much about me, I’m just being neurotic. Event security is exhausting, but I think I should get back to it.”
He pulled out a scanner of his own. “Dr. Crux assigned me to security as well. The two of us together won’t let anything bad happen. I’ll keep scanning the room for now, you can rest and eat dinner.”
She smiled at him and he left to take her place as the neurotic scanner. There was a mini buffet of food at the center of each table. She collected a small amount from each dish, but took a large helping of the galactic vegetable medley. As she happily munched away, she realized this was the first night she had a real meal. She had been too preoccupied with scanning the hall every night that she would only eat a small snack or nothing at all. Eating a proper meal helped her calm down and center her thoughts.
Ok, I’m ready now. Whatever this night has to throw at me, I can handle it, just like we handled the rescue mission. Nothing is going to disrupt this event, not even Armageddon himself!
Her words of courage echoed throughout her mind as she pushed herself to keep scanning for danger. As she focused on moving between the lounge and the main hall, some welcome trouble stirred on the roof. With a thud as gentle as he could manage, Armageddon landed on the roof, surrounded by squads of invisible agents set up by Dr. Crux. He looked around, unaware of the eyes watching him. He carefully walked over to the roof entrance and ripped the door off of its hinges.
One agent reported to Crux through his telepathic line. “Sir, he’s here on the roof, just as you expected. He did not seem to notice us, he is entering the building right now.”
“Excellent. Stand back and let him through. I will alert agent Bliss to be on his guard. Entropi’s is not at the gala but her presence was confirmed at a nearby restaurant that is broadcasting the event using her suit's tracking system. She must be too disgusted to watch the auction in person. She is close enough to intervene in a timely manner.”
The agents stood still as they watched Armageddon descend the stairs. The soft thud of his footsteps served as a warning to the danger on its way. Onder was on a mission, and no pain in the universe was going to stop him from protecting his brother. He eyed an unlit loft area on the second floor, empty and with a full view of the runway. His dark suit blended with the unlit area and he watched the party in silence. Everyone on the floor danced and dined the night away as the predator watched from afar. He found Bliss in the crowd, who was talking to people Onder didn’t recognize. For a moment, he felt his brother’s eyes look up towards him.
Don’t worry Mtsi, I know you’re scared. I know there’s people here that hurt you. I’ll handle everything, you don’t have to worry one bit. I’m so excited to show you your new home, we just have to do a little bit of deprogramming and then everything will be okay.
His eyes tracked Bliss walking through the crowd. He took note of everyone who talked to him that night, paying special attention to the more familiar faces from his past. The fury built in his mind, but he continued to wait. He wanted to keep his word to Reu about limiting casualties. He would only do what was necessary, even if everyone here deserved to burn.
Novicius in Arte Medica A Novice in the Art of MedicineMedical School is a Warzone. Ashrahan was failing. Then, the System woke up.
Quote: Synopsis: Sleepless nights, borrowed notes, and caffeine. When exhaustion drags Ashrahan to the edge, a silent system awakens, transforming patients into interactive lessons and textbooks into living networks of surgical precision.