The police did not take long to arrive at the place where Corvus Night had robbed the jewelry store and escaped by literally turning into a crow.
It still seemed absurd to think about.
A very attractive woman with extremely tight clothing and a figure designed to distract any man with weak mental strength had turned into a black bird and flown out through a broken window.
That was not something one could process calmly.
Much less while hungry.
The patrol cars arrived first, surrounding the entrance of the jewelry store with yellow tape. Then came detectives in long coats with faces that looked like they had not slept in three days. But the strangest thing of all were the special police officers who got out of an armored van carrying weapons bigger than their own bodies.
I am not exaggerating.
One of them had a weapon so huge it seemed more useful for knocking down a wall than for stopping a person.
I stared at it for several seconds trying to imagine how much a single bullet for that thing would cost.
Surely more than my old salary for a full week.
“Is that necessary?” I asked in a low voice.
Vanessa was standing next to me with her arms crossed, watching as the police carried boxes out of the jewelry store.
“If Corvus comes back the same day, yes it is necessary.”
“Do villains usually return to rob the same place twice?”
“The most shameless ones do.”
That makes sense.
If someone already had the idea of robbing a jewelry store in broad daylight and dressing like a show villain, then returning to the same jewelry store does not sound so impossible.
The detectives began ordering that all the jewels, small safes, and valuable objects be moved to a security vehicle. They did not want to leave anything in the place until they knew exactly where Corvus Night was.
The lady who had hugged the safe like it was her baby was still talking to a detective and seemed more worried about her jewels than about almost having been attacked by a villainess who could turn into a crow.
Everyone has their priorities. I could not judge her too much. My priority right now was eating.
GRRRRRR.
Vanessa slowly turned to look at me. “Again?”
“It is not me.”
“Oliver.”
“Maybe that giant gun from the policeman made a weird sound.”
“No.”
I sighed while putting a hand on my stomach.
I really needed to eat something or at any moment I was going to start seeing hot dogs flying around as if they were Corvus Night.
“I need food” I said with total honesty. “I have barely eaten anything and using fire seems to burn more calories than I expected.”
Vanessa observed me for a few seconds with a much softer expression than before.
She no longer had that face of evaluating whether she should hit me.
Now she seemed calmer, maybe because we had saved civilians or maybe because Corvus had left and there was no longer a villainess flirting with me in front of her.
I was not going to say that out loud. I wanted to live.
“There is a hot dog stand near the park” she said. “We eat something and then go to the agency.”
“That sounds like the best order you have given since I met you.”
“Do not get used to it.”
We walked a few blocks away from the jewelry store while the police continued moving boxes and curious people recorded with their phones as if they were watching a sports event.
I tried to walk with dignity but every step reminded me that my body wanted food, a lot of food, maybe a whole roasted animal, but since I did not have money for those fantasies I had to settle for hot dogs.
The stand was on a corner of the park. It was small, with a red umbrella, a grill full of sausages, and a smell that at that moment was better than any expensive perfume in the world.
I ordered one hot dog, then after thinking better I ordered two. Vanessa ordered only one. I looked at her with confusion.
“Only one?”
“I am not that hungry.”
“Superhumans are supposed to eat twice as much as a normal person. You told me that.”
“I also said we had to go to the agency.”
We ended up sitting on a park bench with the hot dogs wrapped in napkins. The morning sun was stronger and cars kept passing on the nearby avenue, but for a moment the chaos of the jewelry store seemed far away.
There was only silence. Vanessa bit her hot dog calmly. I, on the other hand, attacked the first one as if it were going to escape.
The food went down my throat and I almost felt my soul returning to my body.
This was life.
Not a rich life, but life nonetheless.
Vanessa stayed looking at me with an expression that was not mockery, it was more curiosity.
“Why were you hiding your powers?” she asked suddenly.
I almost choked. I had to swallow quickly and breathe through my nose. That question was too direct.
I could not tell her the truth.
I could not tell her that yesterday I was in a tub full of bubbles and a strange system appeared in front of me saying I had obtained fire powers.
That sounds bad even inside my own head.
It would sound much worse in front of an agent from a superhero agency.
I needed to lie and it had to be a safe lie.
A lie from a person who has nothing to hide even though in reality he is hiding absolutely everything.
“Because I did not want to get into trouble” I said while holding the second hot dog. “Having powers does not mean one is ready to use them.”
Vanessa looked at me fixedly. Her gray eyes were very annoying when they tried to search for the truth.
It seemed like they could pierce my skull and check my thoughts one by one.
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
It was a lie, but it sounded good enough. At least I hoped so.
Vanessa took another bite of her hot dog and looked forward toward some kids playing with a ball near a fountain.
“Why do you not work at an agency?” she asked after swallowing. “You know you could make a lot of money if your powers are good.”
The word money entered my head with dangerous force.
A lot of money.
Superhero money.
Money to leave my 4x4 meter room.
Money to buy food without having to calculate every coin.
Money to never wear a sweat-soaked bear costume again.
But reality was different. My fire had not reached Corvus. My powers were new and my control was terrible.
I did not even know if I could launch a flame without accidentally burning a table, a curtain, or myself.
“Because I still do not feel ready” I said this time with more sincerity. “Today it was clear. I can shoot fire, yes. But I do not control it well. If Corvus had not been fast maybe I would have burned her too much. If there had been civilians closer maybe I would have burned an innocent person. I have no experience protecting people.”
Vanessa stopped chewing for a second. She looked at me differently. It was a calmer look.
As if she had heard something she did not expect.
“That was a pretty mature answer for someone who an hour ago offered himself as bait without thinking too much.”
“That was a nice strategy.”
Vanessa smiled a little. It was not a big smile but it was there.
Then her look changed to a more playful one, not one of those weird looks that make you feel in danger, but a simple tease.
“The flame boy does not control his powers that have infinite potential.”
I stayed still with the second hot dog halfway to my mouth. Flame boy. That hurt a little.
Not much, just enough to want to respond. Vanessa seemed satisfied with her small victory.
Then I remembered something.
I remembered exactly what she had said in the jewelry store while she had Corvus pinned to the ground and I looked at her with a wide smile.
“I saw you flirting with him.”
The change in her face was immediate. Her eyes opened a little, then she narrowed them.
Then she made a face of tender anger that she tried to turn into a threat but it did not come out quite right.
“That was not like that.”
“You said it.”
“I was taking down a villainess.”
“Taking her down with jealousy.”
“It was not jealousy.”
“Then why did it matter to you that Corvus was flirting with me?”
Vanessa squeezed her hot dog with her hand. For a second I thought she was going to destroy it, but instead of answering she stuffed the whole thing into her mouth in one bite.
It was impressive. It honestly left me speechless.
Then she stood up from the bench looking forward and swallowed with admirable seriousness.
“Finish that quickly” she said without looking at me. “We have to go to the agency.”
I continued eating the second hot dog at a normal speed.
“Oliver.”
“Yes, I am going to eat faster.” I was not going to risk it.
I ate the last hot dog at an incredible speed but not the same speed Vanessa had swallowed hers.
After that we continued walking toward the agency.
Vanessa walked a little ahead of me, but not so much that she seemed angry. Her posture was straight and professional, although from time to time I saw her touch her wrist where her smartwatch was.
I did not know what I expected to find in a superhero agency.
In my head I imagined a shiny tower full of people flying, giant screens, well-dressed employees, and maybe a reception with free food.
Especially free food.
But when we turned onto an avenue and I saw the building, I understood that the New Kroy Superhero Agency did try to look important even if it was not the most famous in the city.
The building was huge.
Not as big as the main agencies that appeared in television ads with heroes smiling and saying fake phrases about protecting the city, but big enough to make me feel small.
It had dark glass, gray metal walls, and a dark blue logo on the top with the letters NK.
New Kroy.
The entrance had a door twice as tall and wide as a normal door.
I do not know why they needed such a big door. Maybe there were giant superheroes.
Or maybe they just wanted poor people like me to feel intimidated before entering.
It worked in a way.
Vanessa went first through a side scanner. The machine emitted a blue light and then a short sound.
PIP.
[Agent Vanessa. Identity confirmed.]
She advanced without looking back. I approached the scanner and nothing happened.
I stayed still. “Do I have to do something?” I asked.
Vanessa came back to me and touched a screen. “He is an escort.”
The machine sounded again.
PIP.
[Unregistered escort.]
The door opened anyway and we entered. The interior was even stranger.
The ceiling was extremely high. The walls were full of screens with city maps, alerts, mission names, and photographs of superhumans I did not recognize.
There were employees walking with tablets. There were also superheroes.
Some wore full uniforms, others normal clothes with agency jackets.
I saw a man with stone arms talking on the phone as if it were nothing, a girl floating a few centimeters off the ground while checking documents, a guy with metallic wings descending from an upper platform, and another subject with blue skin drinking coffee.
None of them rang a bell.
Not a single one.
I had spent years seeing famous heroes in ads, social media, and news, but in this agency almost everyone seemed like second-line or even third-line heroes.
Heroes who did work but no one put on magazine covers.
Maybe Vanessa was also one of those people, someone useful but not visible.
While we walked, some people looked at Vanessa and then at me.
They were not friendly looks. They were more looks of curiosity mixed with suspicion.
They had probably already seen the video from the jewelry store or the alert from the watch.
I adjusted my t-shirt trying to look more serious.
“Relax” Vanessa said in a low voice.
“I am relaxed.”
“You do not look like it.”
Then a woman appeared at the end of the hallway.
She had detective clothes, a white shirt, dark pants, a gray trench coat, and a badge hanging from her neck.
Her hair was dark and tied back in a simple way. But what caught the most attention was her gaze.
It was a sad gaze.
Sad in a tired way, as if she had seen too many things and still had to keep working.
She observed me for a second, then looked at Vanessa.
“Agent Vanessa and escort” she said with a calm voice. “Come this way.”
She stepped aside and pointed to a hallway. Above the entrance there was a white sign with black letters.
INTERROGATIONS.
And for the first time since I awakened my powers, I felt that maybe accepting the Fireman System mission had not been a good idea.