After I finished reading that I should check my account, I stayed still for a few seconds inside the testing area.
Not because I had not understood the order. I understood it perfectly.
The problem was that my brain was trying to process that maybe, just maybe, for the first time in my life I was going to get paid a decent amount of money for doing something that did not involve getting inside a sweat-soaked bear costume.
Money.
That word had a very strong effect on my mental state.
I walked toward the locker room where I had left my clothes, my shoes, my phone, and the rest of my things.
The evaluation suit was still fitted to my body in a way that was too comfortable for agency clothing. It was strange to think that a fabric could be more comfortable than all the cheap clothes I had bought on discount for years.
I opened the locker and saw my clothes folded in a way that was too perfect. I had not left them like that.
That meant some robot or an employee too obsessed with order had touched my clothes.
Thanks, employee or robot.
I changed quickly, putting on my blue-gray pants, my dark red shirt, and my half-white half-red Mike shoes again. Then I took my phone and turned it on.
The screen took a few seconds to light up. I had several notifications. One of them was from the bank.
[Transfer received: 100 silver coins]
I stayed completely still.
I just stared at the screen as if I were seeing a divine apparition.
100 silver coins.
That was five times what I earned in a full day working for Animal Stars.
Five days of work in a single transfer.
Five days dancing with kids, putting up with drunk parents, animal costumes, heat, sweat, bosses who did not pay in full, and coworkers who made stupid bets.
All of that summed up in a single reward.
I brought a hand to my face and started smiling uncontrollably.
“This really is a well-paid job” I murmured looking at the phone.
For a moment I felt like screaming.
But I was in a superhero agency. If I screamed, an alarm would probably activate and I would end up in an interrogation room again with Evelyn looking at me with those sad eyes.
So I held back. I took a deep breath, put the phone in my pocket, and closed the locker carefully.
I was not going to hit anything. A man with 100 silver coins in his account has to behave with dignity.
I returned to the reception on the second floor hoping to find Mia again, the red-haired receptionist who had received me before the tests.
But when I arrived, the girl at the reception was someone else.
She had silver hair tied in a low ponytail, wore small glasses, and had such a calm expression that it seemed nothing in this world could surprise her.
Not even a superhuman on fire.
I approached the counter trying to look like someone who knew what he was doing.
“Oliver Clarke” she said before I spoke. “Physical and power tests completed. Provisional reward transferred.”
“Yes, I just saw it” I said trying not to sound too excited. I failed.
The girl raised an eyebrow slightly. “You look satisfied.”
“I just received five days of salary from my old job in a single transfer. If I were not satisfied I would need to get my head checked.”
She typed something on the screen.
“Your evaluation will be reviewed by Sarah Murphy. Tomorrow you will receive instructions about your first provisional day.”
Tomorrow. First day. That sounded way too real.
I looked at a huge digital clock above one of the screens.
7:00 P.M.
I opened my eyes wide.
“Is it seven?”
“Yes.”
“At night?”
The receptionist looked at me over her glasses.
“Normally when it is seven inside a closed building there are not many other options.”
Almost seven hours had passed since I started the tests.
Seven hours running, jumping, burning targets, dodging drones, listening to a polite AI voice, and trying not to destroy agency property.
I had not even realized it. That was dangerous.
If an agency test could steal seven hours from me without me noticing, a hero job might steal my entire life.
But they paid well. Very well. That detail calmed any deep reflection.
I went down to the first floor and the atmosphere was completely different from the morning.
There were many more people. A lot of superhumans.
Some were entering, others were leaving, others were talking in front of screens with missions. I immediately understood that they were the next shift.
I saw a woman with four arms carrying boxes as if they were bags of bread, a man with metallic skin drinking coffee, a girl with small horns talking on the phone, and a guy floating upside down while checking a tablet.
No one seemed surprised by anything.
I, on the other hand, was surprised by everything.
It was like seeing a workplace zoo, but everyone had identification, medical insurance, and probably a bigger salary than mine.
I left the New Kroy building with a strange feeling.
I was tired, hungry, and best of all I had money.
To celebrate I decided to go to Burger Emperor.
It was not the most elegant restaurant in the world, but for me three Burger Emperor hamburgers after receiving 100 silver coins sounded like a millionaire’s dinner.
I thought about inviting Vanessa, then I remembered a small detail: I did not have her number.
The invisible girl had entered my apartment, taken me to the agency, seen me in very embarrassing situations, probably spied on me more than recommended, and still I did not have her number.
That was absurd.
“Great progress in my social life” I murmured as I walked toward the restaurant.
Burger Emperor was a few streets away from the agency. It had red and gold lights, a huge crown above the logo, and a smell of grease that would be a threat to any nutritionist but to my stomach it was heavenly music.
I entered and ordered three double hamburgers, large fries, and a giant drink.
The cashier looked at me as if she were calculating whether I was going to eat all that alone.
Yes, I was going to.
I sat at a table near the window waiting for my food with a calm I had not felt since before awakening the Fireman System.
For a few minutes I just observed the city, the cars passing, the people walking.
A child pointing at a screen where a news video about superhumans was playing.
Then I heard a voice.
“Oliver?”
I turned to the side.
The girl carrying the tray with my hamburgers had the red and yellow Burger Emperor uniform, a poorly placed cap, and natural green hair that fell over her shoulders.
I recognized her immediately.
“Lina?”
She opened her eyes and smiled.
“Shit, it really is you.”
Lina.
A friend I had made during school.
We were not inseparable or anything like that, but we had talked quite a bit in class, during breaks, and during those group projects where I always ended up doing more than I should because the others were useless.
Her green hair had always drawn attention. Many thought it was dye, but no. She had been born that way. Apparently everyone in her family had that strange feature even if they did not necessarily have powers.
“You work here” I said looking at her uniform.
“Yes, the glorious hamburger empire pays me enough not to die yet” she said placing the tray on the table. “I see you are famous now.”
I stayed still with my hand on the tray.
“Famous?”
Lina sat in front of me without asking permission. That reminded me of school. She always did that.
“I saw the video” she said resting her elbows on the table. “The one from the jewelry store. You fighting with that villainess in the black suit.”
“That was more of a distraction than a fight.”
“You shot fire.”
“A technical detail.”
“Oliver, you shot fire in a jewelry store.”
I looked at my hamburgers.
“It was a dangerous situation” I said trying to sound calm. “I did not do it to show off. People were at risk and I felt the impulse to help.”
Lina looked at me in silence.
Her eyes were also green, but in a darker tone than her hair. During school she had always had a very direct way of looking, as if she could detect when someone was making up an excuse.
“I never thought you were born with powers” she said finally.
“There are many things people do not know about me.”
Like the fact that my powers appeared in a bubble tub. That detail was not leaving my mouth.
Lina smiled a little. “You were always weird, but not the kind of weird that shoots fire.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“I mean it” she said lowering her voice a little. “Many people with powers hide them or use them to make easy money. You saw danger and jumped in. Not everyone does that.”
I stayed quiet. I did not know how to respond to that. I did not feel like a hero.
I felt like an unemployed guy with hunger, a slightly less sad bank account, and a power I still did not understand.
“I just did what I could.”
“That is what a true hero does.”
Those words hit me harder than I expected. A true hero.
Not a provisional candidate. Not a flame boy. Not an ex Animal Stars employee.
A hero.
I opened my mouth to respond but suddenly I felt something strange in the atmosphere, like pressure, like when you know someone is watching you.
Lina noticed it too because she turned her head to the side.
The empty seat to my right started to deform slightly.
Then a figure appeared.
First a pair of gray eyes, then a dark blue jacket, then the rest of the body.
Vanessa was sitting next to me, completely invisible until a second ago, with her arms crossed.
With such a serious angry face that she looked ready to hit the first human who breathed too hard.
Lina turned pale. “Ah!” she screamed jumping from the chair.
Several people turned to look.
Vanessa did not move. She only looked at Lina, then at me, and then back at Lina.
Lina grabbed the empty tray with trembling hands.
“I... have to get back to work.”
“Good idea” Vanessa said in a dry voice.
Lina looked at me asking for an explanation.
I did not have any explanation that would not get me into more trouble.
“We will talk later” I said with an awkward smile.
“Yes... later” she replied walking quickly toward the counter.
When Lina left, Vanessa leaned a little toward me. She still had that dangerous look.
I looked at my hamburgers. They were interesting, round and juicy.
Vanessa spoke with a calm that was scarier than a shout.
“Where were we?”