Chương 25: A Stop Is a Stop

In the dream, someone had scooped up my brain and scrambled it with a whisk before putting it back in my skull. After that, I returned home as if nothing had happened, where Nadia hugged me and told me how much she loved me. I kissed her, then went to the kitchen, grabbed a long knife, stopped time and began to stab her over and over. When the time stop ended, she thrashed and spasmed, spewing blood everywhere before collapsing on the ground, a hollow look of hurt and betrayal in her glassy, dying eyes.

Never once did I stop stabbing her. I woke up with a start, inhaling deeply like a man starved for air, drowning at the bottom of a deep, dark ocean.

"Adrian?" a soft voice mumbled next to my ear.

"Are you okay?" Yawn. I looked at her. Nadia, my Nadia, alive and well. Startled by my rude awakening, but no less so than I was. Nadia, sleeping in my arms, a little heater in my massive and otherwise cold bed. I hugged her tighter, drawing her closer to me. Her naked body pressed against mine, replacing the last dregs of the nightmare with something much warmer.

"Just a bad dream," I told her.

"Let me help you relax, then," she said huskily, her fingers leaving small goosebump trails on my chest until they wrapped around my cock. She stroked it slowly, languidly, wiggling her butt on me and kissing my hands draped around her, sucking on my knuckles.

"Do you want to fuck me, Adrian?" she asked coyly, turning around so that her face was inches away from mine.

"You know I always do," I said. She smiled.

"Then why don't you bend me over and make me yours?" I reached towards the nightstand to grab—"Here," she said, handing me a condom.

"Put it on, please? I want to make you forget all about your bad dream, my love. And we'll do this over and over, at night and in the morning, until you only dream of me and the bad dreams are nothing but memories. Would you like that?" I pushed her down into the mattress, folding her legs until her feet were near her ears. I slowly put my weight on top of her, just how she liked it.

"Sounds like a plan," I said, and sheathed myself fully inside her. She was wet already, making it almost effortless. ◈◈◈ Shower and breakfast ran late into the morning, but it was worth it. And besides, we were waiting to hear from the response center about the assessment date, and the only other thing on our to-do list was a quick run into the city to get some groceries and supplies.

"Important supplies," Nadia said, switching gears. Now she was the team leader and strategist, making plans, protecting our future. We first stopped at a hardware store, where we bought cheap security cameras to install all around the house and garden. Then, the second run took us a bit further out. Not that what we were looking for wasn't available in the city, on the contrary.

It's just that we didn't want to be spotted buying Latnium's Mind Privacy gear, not when whoever tried to read my mind last time could be watching us. It was just paranoia and we knew it, because anyone trying to read us once we put them on would know we had them anyway. But this way nobody got a free look at our naked minds while we stood in line paying for the fix, and nobody knew the exact day we stopped being readable.

We were very aware that we were buying gear from the very same company behind the superhero business and the bounties app. Our distrust of Latnium ran deep. Our paranoia, for once, ran deeper, so we paid and hoped the stuff worked as advertised.

"There goes the last of our cashews."

"Cashews?" I asked, amused.

"You hungry?"

"Hungry for you? Always. Cashews as in the fruit? Maybe. I can't remember the last time I had any." Neither could I. Exotic things were getting more expensive by the day as the trade routes got more and more dangerous.

"Maybe soon we'll be able to afford them," I offered. She chuckled.

"Roof first, stupid berries second."

"Maybe third. We need to fix the heating too."

"And buy more wood," Nadia said.

"Or, hmm." She paused.

"I could try growing then shriveling more trees, actually. Worth a try, at least." But we did have to refuel the truck, so there went another fifty bucks. I groaned.

"Let's hope the hero acceptance pipeline doesn't take too long." Otherwise, I'd have to find another shitty job. Again. On the way home, we passed by a closed-down shop, and on the window we saw a small flier from their insurance company, notifying them that their premium was increasing due to this part of the city being at higher risk of monster attacks.

"Fucking finally," Nadia said as she removed her mind privacy devices.

"Yep," I echoed her, removing my own pair of anti-telepath thingies. They were… not comfortable at all to wear. They were like tiny patches you applied behind your ear, right at the base of the skull, and when active they produced a strange sensation like pressure on the bone, which got tiring rather quickly. We settled down on the sofa, knowing full well we'd have to get up soon to make lunch.

Many people would hate that it was such a chore; we loved it, because it was a moment of bonding and fun and (sometimes) naughty playing while we waited for the stuff to cook (and hopefully not burn).

"I wonder if they can also read our minds with them," I mused.

"They should…" Nadia began, looking lost.

"Scramble the brain wave activity that leaks into the outside." But her eyes were wide.

"Meow."

"Nero doesn't trust them," I joked, to defuse the tension.

"Me neither, Nero," Nadia said with a sigh.

"But what else do we have?" And of course, to add insult to injury, this also set us back with the house works that were still very much due.

"I think we should always wear the mind privacy devices," Nadia said as she blew steam off of a spoonful of traditional potato spezzatino. Very winter-themed, and cheap to make.

"At least when we are on Latnium premises and doing hero work."

"Latnium anti-reading gear while on Latnium premises, gotcha," I joked. She glared at me. I glared back, and she melted.

"Adrian?" she asked, tone needy. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Yes?"

"Do you love me?"

"Very, very much." She purred.

"I love you too."

"You shouldn't have to ask."

"I want to hear you say it, okay?" I smiled at her needy, whiny tone.

"Of course." Then she was back to herself.

"And well, it is what it is. Speaking of hero work, I saw a news article this morning. A burglar who can escape through doors."

"Huh," I said.

"Weird one."

"I'd be surprised if they don't have him in custody by tonight," she said, waving a hand.

"He's a small fry." Later, after we were done eating and all that was left to do was wait, I got a text. It was from Vera, our intake manager from the previous day, asking if she could call me to talk to me about a professional matter. I showed Nadia the screen. Contact from that building, one day after something inside it had touched my mind. We looked at each other for a moment, and I watched her run the numbers in her head. Ahwell, a text was just a text, and a call was just a call.

I told her yes but that she'd be on speaker with Nadia present.

"Even better," she said after greeting us.

"You are going to be a team, after all. It is only expected that you take your decisions together. It is also a very good sign that you have a healthy couple dynamic." I arched an eyebrow at that and Nadia suppressed a giggle. Well, if it amused her, it was nothing offensive to me for sure.

"Does this mean that we are in?" I asked.

"Your clearance stands, and the assessment is being scheduled, yes," Vera's distorted voice said.

"And, I will be fully transparent and disclose that I have already put in a request to become your manager. Your claim record, your teamwork and, again, I will be honest, your power category, Adrian, have all informed my decision." Her words were precise and punctual, and I imagined her face to be stern and composed as she said them. Beside me, Nadia was grinning ear to ear, happy that we were finally moving forward.

"Will there be others?" I asked.

"Managers?" Vera asked.

"Yes."

"Once you pass the assessment, you will probably find several managers asking about you. I do not deny it, and I do not deny the fact that most, if not all of them, will probably have more field experience than I do. You would be my first independent team, should you choose me."

"We will think about it," Nadia said.

"Of course. Regardless of who you choose, a manager like me will handle your paperwork, administration duties, and match jobs with your requirements and capabilities. You know all of that, as well as the fact that most managers choose to cultivate deep and private working relationships with their teams. I, for instance, would never disclose your information without your informed consent. In fact, your temporary credential from your first visit never finished processing; I have already rebooked it.

When you come in for the assessment, the step will take five minutes, and you will be escorted the whole way."

"She's laying it on thick," Nadia mouthed to me. I nodded.

"I like her earnestness," she added.

"We will…" I said, pausing to sound more indecisive than we actually were.

"Have your answer by evening."

"That will work," Vera said quickly.

"Very well. I am glad you are considering choosing me, Adrian. I feel like you and I will have chemistry." With that, the call was over.

"What do you think?" I asked Nadia.

"I think we should say yes." The operative mask was on, and her reasons came out in order.

"The money fixes a lot of our problems. She is competent, thin résumé or not, and she's already proving her worth. And if whatever touched your mind lives in that building, I'd rather be inside it with credentials and an exit plan than outside it, wondering." Well, walking away was never the option anyway.

"And the terms stay the terms," I said.

"One more anomaly, of any kind, and we walk. Immediately." She nodded, satisfied with herself, then slipped the mask off.

"But, Adrian, if you don't like her, we will choose another. That part is your call." I ruffled her hair, touching her ear gently. It made me think about her elf mutation, still sitting in my nanites and keeping them from being able to do anything else. She noticed and covered my hand with hers. I kissed her.

"You are special," I told her.

"But your hunches are better than mine. And I like her too. Vera sounds competent and dedicated, and I think I'd rather judge her by her actions instead of her resume." It was later, over the dishes, that she brought up the other thing.

"Your registered category," she said.

"Time-related, repositions quickly. It's too vague."

"Vague was the point."

"Vague was right when you were a name in a database. Now a manager will read that line and use it to dispatch you to the job she thinks are right for you." She, I noticed her saying.

"So, the wrong category means we get the wrong jobs. Jobs the stop can't actually do, in front of witnesses, probably with their phones out and ready to record the latest superhero stuff going on in this city. Which will be you, by the way."

"Alright. Just… something touched my mind in that building," I said.

"And it feels like your plan is to hand that same building a bigger file?"

"My plan is to control the file. We disclose the category a bit better, nothing else: a time stop, willed, and you can move in it." I thought about it for a while, but since I couldn't really find a hole in her logic, I agreed with her in the end.

"But we keep the details a secret," I said.

"Of course," she replied.

"That was always the plan." We'd have to trust someone at some point, and Vera had even gone out of her way, while selling herself to us as a good manager, to reassure us that her lips would be as sealed as she could make them be. We could probably not ask for more, and more seasoned managers might just laugh at our demands for secrecy when we were just nobodies. We texted Vera our yes before dinner. Her reply arrived in under a minute, with the assessment date inside it. ◈◈◈ The assessment was three days later.

And so, there we were back in the city, mind-privacy active and all. We walked into the Latnium Halford Civic Response Center feeling like we were walking into the maw of the beast. But no strange mind-intrusion happened. A staffer was already expecting us at the front desk: the temporary credential our first visit had left hanging got its five escorted minutes, exactly as Vera had arranged, and then we were done with it for good. We met with her right after.

She cocked an eyebrow when she saw us walk in, eyes darting to our mind-privacy gear. Yep, we were wearing Latnium's own merchandise. She said nothing, though, greeting us warmly and waiting for us to take our seats at her desk instead.

"Alright," Vera said, typing at her laptop.

"Let's start with some basic orientation questions, then we will move onto the practical assessment. Suppose your manager notifies you that a city wide alert went off…" Little did I know, the first part of the assessment had already begun. Questions followed one another. Scenarios, increasingly tight limitations, tactical choices, field triage, and even hostage rescue situations. We were judged silently, but I was pretty sure that the speed of our answers mattered as much as their actual contents.

I honestly think Nadia aced this part. She took the lead, planning around the obstacles Vera put there for us, having me describe what I would do under her orders only for Vera to put even more constraints on the scenario. As the questions got harder, a hint of actual enjoyment bled through Vera's mask, until finally she was almost smiling at us.

"Very good. Now, we can take a few moments and then begin the practical part." The practical exam was in a strange indoor gym, where they had us simulate various situations from the prior theoretical assessment using dummies, each other, and under the strict watch of not only Vera but also another supervisor. A senior evaluator, and the man who would pass or fail us in the end. The first time I used my power, both Vera and the evaluator startled.

One moment I was there, the next I was somewhere else and most of the objects in the room had shifted. The hostage dummies had been relocated, the threats neutralized, and the falling debris (foam balls) cleared out.

"Interesting power," Vera said.

"It is more than just relocation." Nadia touched my hand. Right. It was time to disclose it. I looked at the evaluator, then at Vera. She looked at me, face blank, then at Nadia, then back at me and then nodded.

"Alright, yeah. It's time to come clean I guess. It's a time stop." Now that got a reaction.

"Truly?" she asked a step-second after the evaluator's eyebrow went up, as if to strengthen his reaction. Then his question arrived.

"How strong are we talking about?"

"A stop is a stop, evaluator," Vera deadpanned. She was already gaining manager points in my mind.

"Long enough," I said, and left it there.

"Not bad," the evaluator said, grinning. Then he bent back over his notes, and for a long moment the only sound was his pen. It did not stop moving, and whatever it was writing was going into a record somewhere, with my name at the top of it. The second half of the assessment was made with my power in mind. We ended the afternoon sweaty, sore and tired, but the man was pleased in that strange way manly men do it: without showing actual positive emotion.

He simply hummed and nodded, and it was Vera's grin that told us the verdict was green.

"With his signature," she explained.

"All you have to do now is choose a manager and you are in!"

"Well," I said. Vera was looking at me intently, and for once I was pleased by her intensity. In fact, I was coming to like it.

"I don't think that's going to take long at all."

"We choose you," Nadia said. Vera's eyes flickered to her. Her mouth opened, then closed.

"Thank you," she said after she recomposed herself.

"I will not disappoint you." With that, we were done. I was a superhero and Nadia was my cute hot amazing awesome civilian support analyst aide whatever. Vera accompanied us to the main hall, and we chatted amicably, all the tension defused.

"Hey, did you catch that door thief?" I asked suddenly.

"Door thief?" Vera mumbled. Again, she looked at Nadia and it seemed to clear her mind all of a sudden.

"Ah, the Glazier." Tap tap on her tablet.

"He escaped, actually."

"Huh," I said.

"Guess you were wrong, Nadia." She stuck her tongue out at me. Vera smiled at our antics.