“This doesn’t seem like the right thing to be doing right now,” I tell Dalib. He laughs and puts his hand on the door to the bar. It’s a big set of double doors that look a bit like a wine barrel in material and color. Large handles of twisted dark metal add to the medieval feel which stands out from the rest of our surroundings which I’d call space age Mediterranean. An overhang from the building keeps the rare light rain here off us as wind flows up the street.

  “You need to finish healing up, right? And you want to make your own useful connections for when this is all over?” he asks. Both of those are true. The worst of my injuries from sparring are still tight and sore. “A few of the Horizon crew are here relaxing and taking care of business before they leave… and don’t leave for another couple hours after them, so I thought we could kill a couple birds with the same stone.”

  I look at him and don’t see any hint of doubt whatsoever about taking me to a place like this, or irritation at having to switch from the Horizon to babysit me for a mission.

  “You’re not worried that I’m going to release a monster and kill you?” I ask, curious. Dalib huffs in amusement like I’m a little kid who’s made a joke.

  “I don’t think you’re infected, Calrik. Kaltor doesn’t think so and nobody - I mean nobody - knows more about stuff like that than him. He’s been fighting aliens for a century. Why do you think he has all that gear on the Horizon?”

  In a weird way what he’s saying makes sense and I hope Kaltor’s opinion carries weight with a lot more people than Dalib.

  “But…” Dalib says after a pause, “that’s not going to stop me from killing you faster than you can blink if I’m wrong.”

  Comforting.

  We both step back as the right hand door opens and a few patrons spill out. They’re laughing and smell of alcohol and fun billows out from the inside along with a cozy warmth that surrounds everyone before dissipating as they walk out into the rain. The difference in feeling after they’re gone is so different that I wonder if a Power was involved. Dalib absently puts two fingers to his right ear and pauses for a couple seconds while acknowledging that I’m waiting with a quick eyebrow raise.

  “Turns out the rest of the Birchcombe crew has arrived a bit early, so we’ll cut our visit here a bit short. Make sure you don’t drink more than you can process before we start our briefing.”

  The entrance to the bar is an arched room with heavily fortified secure rooms with powerful force fields and protections to hold on to weapons and equipment for anyone who’s visiting and doesn’t want to be fully kitted out while they hang out. Kind of like a coat check on steroids. Past the entrance is a surprisingly clean, bright place with a long central communal table made from heavy recycled timber. Carved into it is some kind of a map along with tokens in pockets of the surface. I dial in my Perception and see they’re a mix of things like a compass, lantern, key and needle.

  Dalib stops once we’re inside and scans the room. He notes my interest in the tokens and leans toward me. The inside is full of people and the atmosphere is friendly and salubrious. Even if I didn’t have my Power I’d probably feel safe here, which is not something I’ve often found to be true.

  “In this place, you don’t reserve a table; the tokens are for reserving conversations instead. You want to talk to someone about equipment, expertise, information, whatever… you pick the right token and someone will connect you with what you need. Some tokens are tougher to get but we’ve got a line on one that could help you out with your legal situation.”

  “I told Kaltor I want to handle that myself.”

  “Yeah, well, you still have to do all the work and you can feel free to turn this down if you want, but it’s not going to be easy to get information on a Supervillain’s operations and base even if you join a local Hero team. Up to you, Calrik… I’m just following orders.”

  I’d put this to the back of my mind knowing the mission coming up, but I feel the same about it. I think Dalib sees the look on my face.

  “Last thing I’ll say on it, because it seems you haven’t had the easiest go of it. I read your file. Even the vast majority of Superheroes have teams.”

  Dalib motions me to follow him through the crowd without saying anything else, leaving me to my thoughts. We pass by the large number of booths and the bar that’s in the center of the room, all sides packed with stools and a few stand up tables. Most every seat is taken and as we pass I notice I can’t pick out the conversations inside the booths even when I focus my Perception. I’m puzzled until I pick out the glowing runes on the side of the booths that match the symbols on the tokens and it’s obvious that’s where the real business is done.

  In the back of the bar we pass through open double doors and into a surprisingly big area obviously meant for recreation. There’s all kinds of skill games from darts to target shooting, virtual golf, pool, and even some combat simulation games. I’ve seen some of them before - you can play as your favourite Superhero or Supervillain where the Powers match real life. To Dalib’s point, you can even form teams and enter battles in cities or alien planets. All the machines are overflowing with people cheering, yelling, and laughing. I feel like going over to take a look.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Instead, Dalib taps me on the arm and points over to where two women are hanging out near the pool tables. One of the women, a shorter dark haired girl with sharp features, gives him a quick wave. The other one has blonde hair and a thin face, but more remarkably she’s wearing an expensive looking light PowerSuit torso with the arms and legs removed. Seems against the vibe of this place and she has an intense look.

  We weave through the crowd and I pull the Status of a few people just to see if this is a high end ESF place or more of a mixed crowd. Out of a dozen people there’s everything from F to B Ranked with all sorts of Classes. Not an exclusive place, then - just a fun one. The pool tables where we’re headed are twice the size of what I’m used to with a lot more balls on them. A few thin round pegs about the height of the balls rise up out of the felt in a pattern that seems random to me. I’ve seen some competitions on TV with these pool tables, but I’ve never played it myself; it’s meant for people with superhuman abilities.

  When we get to the women I take a closer look and pull the Status of the one who waved to us first as Dalib clasps her forearm in greeting, and then the other one who’s wearing part of her PowerSuit.

  Aoife Byrne (Gravitic Vanguard)

  Rank estimate: B+

  Level: 174

  Power: Gravity Manipulation (Tier 3 Epic)

  Conditions: None

  Missy Pinacliak (Navigator)

  Rank estimate: F+

  Level: 54

  Power: High Dimensional Calculation (Tier 1 Epic)

  Conditions: None

  Almost as soon as I pull her Status, Missy leaves us with only a glance at Dalib and I to pick up a cue. It’s clear she’s playing against someone from a group of four men. They’re all dressed similarly, but not in ESF or EDF uniforms and I wonder if they’re a Hero team. None of them are above C Rank so if so they’re an up and coming one, or work in one of the calmer Zones. The swarthy guy holding the cue on their side is built like a truck and looks a bit older, maybe his early 40s, with a bit of grey hair and the kind of arrogance I’ve learned to stay away from. Or at least, I did before now.

  Brock Nelson (Specialist Warden)

  Rank estimate: C

  Level: 88

  Power: Immovable Object (Tier 3 Major)

  Conditions: None

  “She playing for the token?” Dalib asks Aoife casually as he looks around. Missy steps up to the table and plays a crazy shot that banks three times before nudging a ball into one of the pockets.

  “Yeah… these idiots got awarded one for saving a group of civilians from a Monster Rift and busted up an organized crime protection racket all in the past couple weeks.”

  “Idiots?” I ask. I look at the group with some more respect. A Hero team at C Rank doing that well is notable.

  “They’re playing pool against her, aren’t they? So… idiots,” says Aoife in her Irish accent. She probably could get away with saying a lot of things I couldn’t between that accent and her looks. Maybe her Power too. “This your guy, Dalib?”

  Dalib nods to Aoife and sees my confusion.

  “They probably look at Missy’s Rank and think ‘I can dodge bullets, how could she beat me at anything?’... and they’re right if it’s combat, but she navigates The Horizon through hyperspace and through asteroid belts better than any computer or even Galactic tech. Pretty sure she can handle the angles on a pool table.”

  “Is that why she’s wearing the PowerSuit?” I ask. It’s a good reminder that Rank isn’t everything, especially when it comes to high category Powers.

  “Yeah - Captain Deane would kill her if she didn’t put her safety first. Plenty of times she’s the only thing keeping us alive or getting us home.”

  I glance back at the pool table and sure enough, Missy is halfway through her balls with no signs of slowing down and the four Heroes are no doubt wishing they’d made a different wager. I wonder what Missy put up against their token. We watch together for a bit; I’m sure the other two are watching to make sure no trouble emerges even with the ‘house’ holding all major bets in escrow. I guess with all the Powered here a brawl could easily catch someone F Ranked without a physical Power in the crossfire.

  “Boss says I’m coming with you… he’s got enough Power to handle the mission and says you could use a hand,” Aoife states when it’s clear Missy is going to run the table despite the massively complex situation on the table.

  “Not sure we need a hand, but I’d never say no to having you along Aoife,” Dalib says agreeably.

  “Captain sent me your file, Calrik. You know you’re still under EDF and ESF protection?” she asks, looking at me past Dalib. I shrug.

  “Think I can handle things from here,” I reply.

  “That’s good,” she says. “I like that.” Aoife nods and crosses her arms. It feels good to talk to people like this. People with strong Powers who I’ve avoided for most of my life. We watch Missy shake hands with her opponent. One of his team looks like he wants to start something that he knows will end badly if he does, then we trail Missy as they all go to the escrow agent and she finishes her business.

  “Come on,” Dalib says as Missy strolls back to us. “Let’s get to the briefing.”

  I still want to take on the challenges in my personal life alone, but maybe this token makes up for some of the shitty luck I’ve had before I jacked the Attribute up to 200.