There was Sarah Murphy standing with her face slightly angry, far from her energetic or strategic form.
She had her arms crossed, making her soft breasts press against her arms.
“Let us go to my office” she said while Vanessa pushed me a little so I would take the first step.
Of course I did. The rest of the floor was focused on their own things, even the stone-skinned man who was wearing a headband and giving orders.
The truth is I did not think someone with that kind of power would be someone who makes calls instead of taking action. So I deduced that only his skin is too hard.
The hallway to Sarah Murphy’s office felt like an agony. Not knowing if they were going to fire you on your first day.
Meanwhile Vanessa also had a worried look on her face, staying by my side the whole time, making my arm brush against her chest.
When we arrived, Sarah stayed at the office door waiting for both of us to pass. She did not even sit at her desk.
That made the seriousness of the problem worse.
I was still surprised that someone with that level of energy had such an organized office.
Sarah’s office was much more organized than I expected from a person who talked as if she had drunk three energy drinks before coming to work.
She had three screens turned on on the desk, a whiteboard with agents’ names, patrol routes, and a bunch of colored arrows that seemed to make sense only to her.
There was also a small plant in one corner.
People who have plants in the office are usually emotionally stable or know how to fake it very well.
Sarah closed the door behind us.
CLICK.
That sound was too loud for a normal door.
I stayed standing in front of her desk while Vanessa stayed by my side, although not as close as before. Maybe to appear professional or maybe because she was still annoyed about Corvus.
The truth is I still did not understand why she was annoyed with me.
Sarah walked slowly in front of us and stopped a few centimeters from me.
Too close.
Her perfume was sweet, her blonde hair was tied in a quite firm ponytail, and her glasses reflected the light from the screens.
That closeness would have been nice if I were not about to destroy my work future.
“Oliver” she said with a smile that was not a smile.
“Sarah” I answered by reflex.
“Coordinator Murphy.”
“Coordinator Murphy” I corrected immediately.
The fake smile disappeared.
“Do you know why you are here?”
“Because I made an incomplete mission report?” I asked trying to sound innocent.
“No” Sarah said taking one step closer.
“You are here because on your first patrol you almost got into an active chase without authorization, against a villainess who had already escaped from you once, with criminals around, potential civilians nearby, and rare biological evidence.”
When she said it like that, it sounded pretty bad.
Too bad.
If I were another person listening to that list, I would also think that guy should be locked in a training room until he learned to use his brain.
But that guy was me, so I needed to defend myself.
“But I reported before acting” I said raising a finger carefully. “That has to count.”
Sarah looked at me for three seconds.
Three seconds where I felt that raised finger was the worst mistake of my life.
Then I slowly lowered the finger.
“Yes” she said. “That counts.”
Oh.
I did not expect that.
Vanessa did not seem to expect it either because she turned her head toward Sarah with a bit of surprise.
Sarah sighed and finally went to her desk. She sat in the swivel chair, crossed one leg over the other, and started moving her fingers over a transparent screen.
On the screen appeared the map of the alley, the back area of Lily Jewelry, my position, the red dots of the criminals, and a violet mark where Corvus was.
The violet mark seemed too elegant for a villainess who spent her time ruining my peace.
“Your watch recorded everything” Sarah said. “You detected suspicious activity, kept distance, confirmed visual, reported on the internal channel, and did not shoot fire in the alley.”
“Because you told me not to burn anything.”
“And you obeyed” Sarah said pointing at me with a pen. “That is good.”
I felt a small relief in my chest.
Maybe they were not going to take away the reward.
Maybe I could still eat today without going back to calculating coins as if I were solving advanced math.
“But” Sarah added.
There it was. The but. The natural enemy of any new employee.
“After detecting Corvus Night, you started moving too much.”
“I only moved a little to see better.”
“You moved enough for the criminals to detect your position.”
“That was not completely my fault. One of them had good eyesight.”
Sarah slowly took off her glasses.
Shit.
A woman who takes off her glasses to scold you means you have already passed the first layer of her patience.
“Oliver.”
“Yes.”
“We are not evaluating whether the criminal had good eyesight. We are evaluating whether you understand that an observation patrol is not an invitation to become the protagonist of a chase.”
I opened and closed my mouth twice and did not have any smart answer that made me feel like my Animal Stars coworker.
Vanessa took a step forward.
“Sarah, he did not chase Corvus” she said with a firmer voice. “He saw her, reported, and did not attack. If he got closer it was because he was trying to confirm if it was really her.”
Sarah turned her gaze toward Vanessa.
Vanessa held the look, although it was noticeable that she was tense.
I stayed still in the middle of the two. It was uncomfortable. Way too uncomfortable.
Like being between a woman who can turn invisible and hit you when you least expect it and a blonde woman with glasses who could destroy your contract with one signature.
I did not know which one was more dangerous. Sarah extended her hand toward me.
“The feather.”
I brought my hand to my pocket and took it out carefully.
The black feather was still the same.
Dark, soft, and too real to be a simple decoration from a suit.
When I placed it on the table and before leaving the feather on the table, it glowed slightly. Not too much.
Sarah looked at it fixedly and her expression changed. She no longer seemed furious. She seemed focused.
That was the strategic version of Sarah. The one that scared me more because she stopped moving so much.
“When exactly did it react?” she asked.
“When I brought it close to my hand it first glowed a little. Then on the way with Vanessa it reacted again every time I tried to touch it.”
“And Corvus dropped it?”
“Yes. Well… I think so. It came out of her when she transformed or when she escaped. I do not know exactly.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“I also saw it react” she said. “It was not Oliver’s imagination.”
Sarah raised her gaze toward her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“You are not defending Oliver because Corvus flirted with him and that annoyed you?”
Vanessa froze completely.
We all stayed in silence. No sound could be heard outside the office.
One of those silences where you know someone has just fired a social bullet and everyone heard the impact.
Vanessa slowly turned her head toward me.
Her look said many things.
The main one was that I should deny everything.
“I did not say anything” I said immediately raising both hands.
Sarah raised an eyebrow.
“It is in the audio from the previous mission.”
The watch recorded?
Vanessa closed her eyes for a second as if she were holding back the urge to disappear and never return.
“That was an operational situation” Vanessa said with the most professional voice she could manage.
“Of course” Sarah said.
I looked toward a corner of the office, diverting attention from what was happening, looking at a fixed point. The best way to evade.
Sarah kept the feather in a small transparent capsule she took out from a drawer. The capsule closed with a soft sound and several blue lines ran across the glass.
“I am going to send it for analysis” she said. “Do not touch it again until we know what it is.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“We do not know” Sarah answered. “And when we do not know if something is dangerous, we do not keep it in our pocket like it was a lucky coin.”
“Understood.”
“Good.”
Sarah put her glasses back on and leaned against the desk, this time closer to her normal form. She was still annoyed but she no longer seemed about to throw me out the window.
“Now let us talk about your performance.”
My heart dropped back to my stomach.
“Are they going to take away the mission?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Sarah blinked.
“Is that what worries you?”
“Also citizen safety” I added quickly. “But the reward is important. Very important. Extremely important.”
Vanessa let out a small sigh.
Sarah looked at me for several seconds and then brought a hand to her face.
“You are incredible.”
“I do not know if that was a compliment.”
“It was not.”
Ah.
“But you are not going to lose the reward either” she said.
I felt my soul return to my body.
Thank the goddess who gave me these powers.
“You detected a real threat” Sarah continued. “Corvus Night was there. The subjects were linked to an attempted robbery and the report allowed us to move agents before the situation escalated. That is a point in your favor.”
I straightened up a little.
“Besides, you did not burn civilians, you did not burn stores, you did not burn cars, you did not burn products, and you did not burn important evidence.”
“I held back quite a lot.”
“Yes” Sarah pointed at the screen. “But you also ignored two safe distance alerts and your heart rate spiked when Corvus spoke to you.”
Vanessa looked at me. That look again.
“It was a dangerous situation” I said while Vanessa answered “Of course.” I did not like that “of course.”
Sarah smiled slightly. “Oliver, Corvus Night seems to be interested in you.”
“That sounds bad.”
“It is” Sarah said immediately. “If a villainess who can turn into a crow, escape through aerial routes, and leave objects with energetic reaction is interested in a fire rookie who still does not know how to fill out a report well, that is a problem.”
“That hurt a little, the report thing.”
“It is going to hurt more if you run after her like an idiot.”
I could not answer because she was right.
The idea of chasing Corvus had crossed my mind.
Not too much. Just a little.
But a little was enough for Sarah to look at me as if she could read my mind.
“Your priority now is not Corvus” she said. “Your priority is to learn to work as a hero. Report, wait for authorization, protect civilians, control your flames, and understand that having powers does not automatically turn you into someone ready for a chase.”
I stayed looking at the capsule where the feather was.
That dark glow had gone out completely.
“But if she is looking for me…”
“Then all the more reason not to run after her” Sarah interrupted. “If Corvus wants to take you somewhere, provoke you, or test your powers, the worst thing you can do is give her exactly what she wants.”
Vanessa lowered her gaze a little. Her annoyance was still there, but also worry. That was worse than anger, because anger could be dodged but worry stayed stuck to you.
“Oliver” Vanessa said. “You do not have experience. Corvus does.”
“I know.”
“Then act like someone who knows it.”
That did hurt a little because it came from her.
Sarah clapped once hard.
PAM.
“Perfect. Now that we all understood that chasing attractive villainesses with bird powers is a bad work strategy, let us move on to what is important.”
She opened another screen.
[MISSION REPORT: FIRST PATROL]
Below was my name. Oliver Clarke.
Status: approved with observations.
Approved. That word made me smile without realizing it.
Sarah noticed it too. “Do not get too excited. You are approved, not decorated.”
“But approved.”
“With observations.”
“But approved.”
Sarah threw the pen at me. I caught it by reflex.
“Sign the report.”
I looked at the pen and then at the screen.
“Does this guarantee the reward?”
“Yes.”
I signed so fast that I almost scratched the screen.
Vanessa let out a very short laugh. I could not see her smile completely but I heard it.
That counts.
Sarah took the report and saved it in the system.
“Welcome officially to the boring part of being a hero” she said. “Reports, scoldings, protocols, and not dying from stupidity.”
“Sounds motivating.”
“It is if you want to get paid at the end of the month.”
She had a pretty powerful point.
Sarah grabbed the capsule with the feather and put it in a small metal box.
“For now you will not touch anything related to Corvus without authorization. If she appears, you report. If she talks to you, you report. If she leaves you another strange feather, you report. If she turns into a crow in front of you and winks at you, you report.”
“And if she attacks me?”
“You defend yourself and report.”
“And if Vanessa is with me?”
“Vanessa reports and you do not do anything stupid.”
Vanessa nodded.
“I can do that.”
“I can do that too” I said.
Both of them looked at me at the same time.
It was offensive that they doubted in such synchronized way.
Sarah went back to her chair and for the first time in the whole meeting smiled with that normal energy that made her seem like an office worker who was too cheerful for her own good.
“Very well, flame boy. You have ten minutes to eat something if you do not want to faint during the next explanation.”
My stomach chose that moment to betray me.
GRRRRRR.
Vanessa looked at me with one eyebrow raised.
Sarah stayed silent.
“It was the chair” I said.
“No” both of them said at the same time.
Working with superhuman women was definitely going to be more dangerous than fighting villains.