Scene 20 - October 15th

Exterior City, Continuous

Abraham Armstrong

Learning the details of Newton’s powers wasn’t very difficult - the kid was happy to share what details they had learned about their ESP/TK combo. Not an uncommon set of psychic powers, although ESP paired with telepathy more often than telekinesis, but the specific manifestation of the telekinesis in particular was a little unusual. I gave them a suggestion or two to increase their mobility so that they’d be able to keep up with me, then simply watched.

Miriam made occasional comments over my earpiece, although I didn’t bother to respond to most of them as I watched Newton practicing using her - their, dammit - TK to move. I was more interested in making sure they didn’t hurt themself as they learned how to land safely than listening to Anima quietly inform me that Newton now had a preliminary MLED file giving them rankings of Self Buff 1 (Sensory) and Area Control 2 (Kinetic)* - I had never thought it was a very useful system for sorting powers anway, spreading some kinds of powers too thinly and packing too many others into one rating. Self Buff in particular covered so many different kinds of powers, from enhanced strength to extra senses to super-speed, that it was barely useful.

As Newton started to grow more confident in landings, I began to lead them across the city and toward the site that the drug deal was meant to be going down. “Any more details on that deal, Console?” I quietly asked Anima.

“Yes, actually,” she said. “The same anonymous source called in to say that none of the Buff Boys’ metas would be there.”

I furrowed my brow. “That doesn’t seem likely, not with a sale as big as this one is meant to be.”

“Agreed, but that’s the word.”

I couldn’t help but grin when Newton let out a joyous whoop as they leapt across 3rd Street. It was nice to see young metahumans take joy in their powers, as a surprising number seemed to view them as a curse. Take young Nic - he had only joined the Journeymen to get help training his sensory projection ability, which even now occasionally sent his senses to random locations when he was asleep. He had no intention of becoming a hero, which was why he was excused from combat patrols - in fact, to the best of my knowledge he had no intention of using his powers in his future career at all. Last I had heard, Nic was hoping to get a law degree and become a lawyer.

It seemed strange to me, as I had never wanted to be anything but a hero. But to each their own, I supposed.

“So, what do you think of Newton?” Miriam asked.

“They seem like a good kid,” I responded. “I intend to offer to introduce them to the Champions and the Journeymen whenever they come in to register their powers. Hopefully that will entice them to join.”

“You just want another flippant telekinetic on the team,” she teased. “They even move a lot like you!”

“I won’t deny that,” I admitted with an unashamed grin, “it would be fun to have a mini-me running around. But I do also think they would make a great hero.”

“Their powers would be incredible for search-and-rescue,” Anima agreed. “ESP to locate people, TK to extract them...”

“Exactly. But also, I just think that they seem like a good kid,” I reiterated. “I know first impressions can be deceiving and all, you don’t need to give me the lecture again, Mom-”

“Abe, Nic is right here!” Miriam protested. She didn’t hate being known as the team mom, but she preferred for her role not to be bandied about in public.

“What, you think we kids don’t know how much of a mom you are?” the kid in question asked. “When I came in tonight, you asked me if I had remembered to bring a lunch!”

“The cafeteria food in the overnight shifts is just so unhealthy!” she said before she could stop herself, and both Nic and I laughed.

“My point is,” I continued, getting back on track, “that I think Newton is a good person, and will be a fine hero. They just have to recognize that in themself.”

“What do you mean?” Nic asked.

“I mean that I think they have self-confidence issues. Did you notice how they downplayed their powers when they first mentioned them? Plus, a hell of a lot of people use humor as a way to cover up insecurities.”

“I... didn’t realize, but you’re right,” Miriam admitted, seeming a bit abashed at having missed it. “How did you spot that?”

“Not important,” I said, brushing it away and trying to move the conversation along before they realized - the reason I had spotted Newton’s insecurities so easily was that I had been exactly the same when I was that age. “Anyway, the other reason is that, while I don’t think that they stole the suit, it would be good to have it in an MLED facility where it can be studied. Not to mention that if they did steal it, I doubt it came from a morally-upright institution. They might need protection.”