I stayed still watching her leave.
I needed to concentrate.
Physical tests.
Power tests.
Registration.
Money.
That last word was the most important. All of this could lead me to a real salary. An agency salary. A salary that would let me buy food without wondering if I would have enough left for tomorrow’s transportation.
I went down in the elevator to the second floor and as soon as the doors opened I saw a much calmer reception area than the rest of the agency.
It was not as big as the main entrance nor as empty as the cafeteria. There was a long desk, holographic screens, several chairs, and a large door at the back with a blue New Kroy symbol.
I approached the receptionist and could look at her in much more detail.
In front of me was the receptionist.
She was a young woman with intense red hair, straight and shoulder length, with a kind but slightly tired expression. She wore a white agency shirt, a name badge, and an open blue jacket.
She also had large breasts.
Very large.
I do not know what kind of hiring criteria this agency had, but it seemed there was a secret rule where all the important women had to have some feature designed to ruin my concentration.
First Vanessa with her tight jeans that let you see the shape of her buttocks.
Then Evelyn with her sad gaze and her too smooth movements.
Then Sarah hugging me as if she had known me in another life.
And now the red haired receptionist who smiled as if she did not know she was putting my ability to sign documents correctly in danger.
“Oliver Clarke?” she asked looking at the screen.
“Yes.”
“Perfect. I am Mia. Sarah Murphy left your registration open for physical and power handling tests.”
“Sarah is fast.”
“Sarah is too fast for everything.”
That sounded like something everyone in the agency thought.
Mia turned a screen toward me and pointed to a space for the digital signature.
“Sign here to authorize the provisional evaluation. The test does not make you an official field hero yet. It only serves to measure your capabilities, your control, resistance, risk level, and initial category.”
“It sounds like they are going to classify me as a dangerous animal.”
“Something like that, but with medical insurance.”
“That improves it a lot.”
I took the digital pen and signed. This time it was much easier because I did not have handcuffs on my wrists, which was already a huge improvement in my professional life.
While I did the registration, Mia looked at me with a curious smile.
“I saw a video where you appear with that villainess, the crow.”
I stopped.
“How much has that video been seen?”
Mia raised her eyebrows.
“Quite a lot.”
“Define quite a lot.”
“Enough that on social media they are already calling you the flame boy from the jewelry store.”
I felt something sink inside me.
Flame boy.
Vanessa had said flame kid. The internet had decided flame boy. Humanity had no creativity when it came to giving names.
“On social media?”
“Yes. There are several videos. One from outside the jewelry store, another from inside, and one from a civilian who screams a lot while you shoot fire toward the window.”
I stayed looking at the screen without knowing what to say.
How far had the repercussion of my heroic act gone?
Yesterday I was a guy taking off a sweat soaked bear costume after entertaining children’s birthdays. Today I was already a topic on social media for trying to catch a villainess who turned into a crow.
Life did not give warnings.
It simply hit you and asked you to keep walking.
“Is that bad?” I asked.
“It depends” Mia said. “For your privacy, yes. For joining an agency, not so much. Publicity helps.”
“How nice. My public embarrassment has job utility.”
Mia let out a small laugh and finished the registration.
“Done. Go through the large door in front. The AI will guide you.”
“Thanks.”
“Good luck, flame boy.”
I looked at her with pain.
Do not call me that.
I walked toward the large door in front while trying to convince myself that everything was under control.
The door opened with a heavy sound.
I entered a spacious and wide area, much larger than it looked from outside. The ceiling was very high, the walls were covered with white and gray panels, and on the floor there were marked lines as if it were a training track.
There were several zones.
A running track.
A weights area.
A climbing wall.
A space with motion sensors.
And at the back a completely isolated area with black walls and warning symbols.
Surely that was where they tested powers.
A calm artificial female voice sounded from the speakers.
[Oliver Clarke. Provisional candidate. Proceed to the assigned locker room and put on the evaluation suit.]
“Do I have to talk to you?” I asked looking at the ceiling.
[You can if you wish to receive instructions.]
“Perfect. Do you have a name?”
[Internal Evaluation Unit. You can call me AI.]
“Very creative.”
[Thank you.]
I wish the AI could detect sarcasm.
I went to the indicated locker room. Inside there was an open locker with folded clothes. It was a black sports suit with blue lines, light, comfortable, and quite tight to the body.
Too tight.
I changed trying not to think that there were probably cameras somewhere, although the AI voice appeared immediately.
[There are no cameras inside the locker room.]
“Thanks for clarifying.”
If there were no cameras it was because they knew it was uncomfortable or it was simply protocol.
I put on the full suit. The fabric adjusted to my arms, chest, and legs without restricting movement. It was strange but comfortable.
When I left the area I saw myself reflected in one of the dark panels.
I did not look like a famous hero.
But I also did not look like the Animal Stars employee who yesterday was dying inside a bear costume.
It was progress.
[First test: speed.]
I positioned myself at the starting line.
[Run to the marked point.]
“Just running?”
[Run.]
The signal sounded.
PIP.
I shot forward.
I did not run like I normally ran when I was late for work. My body moved with absurd ease. My legs responded too fast, the air hit my face, and in a matter of seconds I had already crossed the finish line.
I stopped with difficulty and looked back.
The distance was huge.
“Did I do that?”
[Result above average human. Speed compatible with low class superhuman in development.]
Low class in development.
That sounded offensive but also incredible.
The next test was jumping.
Then strength.
Then reaction.
Then resistance.
And the same thing happened every time.
I expected to fail or barely do decent, but my body responded with an ease that scared me a little.
I lifted weights that before would have sent me straight to the hospital.
I dodged panels that came out of the walls at high speed.
I ran for several minutes without feeling like my lungs were going to come out of my body.
I surprised myself.
It was not like watching a famous hero on television doing impossible things.
It was my own body doing things I could not do yesterday.
[Fireman System]
[Physical compatibility increasing]
[Superhuman Speed stabilized]
“Ah, of course, you are still here” I murmured.
The AI did not respond to that.
Thank God.
I did not want the AI to hear the invisible system and send me straight to interrogations again.
After almost an hour of physical tests, the lights in the area changed color.
[Elemental power test. Proceed to the containment zone.]
I walked toward the black area at the back.
The door opened and I entered a huge room with resistant walls, strong ventilation, and several metal targets at different distances.
In the center there was a red circle where I had to stand.
[Test objective: release fire at low intensity.]
“Low intensity?”
[Avoid destroying facilities.]
“That sounds like a reasonable request.”
I raised my hand.
I took a deep breath.
I felt the heat in my stomach, then in my chest, then in my arm and finally in my fingers.
Before it had been hard to do. Now it seemed more natural. A small flame appeared in my palm.
It did not go out.
It did not burn my suit.
That was already a victory.
[Increase intensity.]
I clenched my hand and opened it again.
FWOOSH!
A burst of flame shot toward the nearest target. It hit the metal and left a black mark in the center.
My eyes opened wide.
“That was much better.”
[Increase distance.]
Another target appeared farther away.
I raised both hands.
The fire came out with more force and more direction. It was not perfect, but it no longer looked like a clumsy flame thrown by accident.
It was an attack.
A real one.
I launched fire again.
Over and over.
Each burst was faster, more stable, and more precise.
Then I thought, If I had had this control in the jewelry store, I would have caught Corvus. Not necessarily burning her seriously, but closing her exit, cutting off her path.
Forcing her to deviate, preventing her from escaping through the window. I stayed looking at my hands.
“So I could do it.”
[Preliminary result: fire power with accelerated growth. Initial control higher than expected.]
[Fireman System]
[Basic flame mastery acquired]
[Reward: Improved expulsion control]
For the first time the system did not seem like garbage with horrible design.
Well, it still had horrible design, but at least it was helping.
The test continued for several more minutes. They asked me for small fire, continuous fire, short shots, bursts toward moving targets, and containment in a marked area.
I failed several times.
One flame went too far to the left.
Another almost hit a sensor.
At one point the AI asked me to lower the intensity because the ventilation system was activating too quickly.
But overall I did well.
Too well for someone who yesterday did not know if his powers were useful for anything more than lighting a candle with his hand.
When I finished, I was sweating and my stomach growled with humiliating force.
GRRRRRR.
[Increased caloric consumption detected.]
“Do not tell me.”
The door to the area opened.
A small wheeled robot entered, no taller than my knee. It had a round screen for a face and two mechanical arms. It advanced toward me making a soft sound.
In one of its arms it carried a dark blue smartwatch.
[Delivery for Oliver Clarke.]
I bent down and took the watch.
“Thanks, little worker.”
The robot blinked on its screen.
[You are welcome.]
I put the watch on my wrist and as soon as it adjusted, a message appeared.
Sarah Murphy - Support Mission Coordinator.
I opened the notification.
[Oliver! Tests completed with much better results than expected. Rest. Tomorrow will be your first day of work at the New Kroy Superhero Agency. Do not be late, do not burn anything important, and eat a lot.]
I smiled. Sarah wrote the same way she talked, way too energetic.
But there was another line below.
[You also have a small surprise in your bank account. Welcome officially, flame boy.]
I froze.
Bank account. Surprise. And MONEY.