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Everyday; Is a winding road.
Topic Started: Jul 11 2008, 04:59 PM (402 Views)
The Royall J
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The Last Cool White Guy
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Sentinel looked at the city through the large windows of the common room. He couldn't sleep, rarely did, so he just stared at the city at night. He shivered a bit as a breeze flowed through the air, normally he would put on a shirt when doing such but he didn't feel the need to change out of his pj's, most people wouldn't guess this but he didn't like being in his metal form all the time and reverts to his normal form every chance he gets. Hearing footsteps he turned to see a short woman in a green evening gown walk towards him. Her make up was strangely appealing and her eyes made him feel like he was being hunted.

"Who are you?" he said turning into his metal form. The lights of the city shining off of his chest.

"My name is Lillith my sad metal child" the woman said walking up to him, placing a hand on his cheek. "I mean you no harm Jaeq, I can feel your sadness. Your hatred, your despair"

"How do you know my name?" he said jerking away from her hand. "What are you doing here?"

"I know your name because I listen dear child, I wish to help you" Lillith said, a look of concern crossing her face. "I know it's hard for you to trust, hard for you to let people get close to you. You are a strong soul, but I fear not strong enough to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders"

She stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, standing on her tip toes so that she may whisper in his ear.

"I can make it all go away, I can make all of your sadness go away and make it all better. All you have to do is ask"

"Please leave me alone" Sentinel whispered.

Lillith pulled away from him and took a few steps back, her face showing concern once more.

"Very well my dear boy, I will leave you be for now, but I will return and my offer will still stand, all you have to do is ask" she said before fading away into the moonlight.

Sentinel stared back out the window at the city. He definitely wasn't sleeping tonight.
Do not walk in front of me I may not follow. Do not walk behind me I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.
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Archer woke in his bed with a start, bolt upright and drenched in a cold sweat. He sat perfectly still for a few seconds, just staring into the darkness without even breathing. Finally, he let out a long quiet sigh, then grimaced and grabbed at his chest, only to grimace again and resist grabbing the shoulder of the same arm he had used to clutch his chest. The pains were back again.

He thought about the medicine the doctors right here at HQ had given him to ease the pain, and how he should be taking it as prescribed, and how angry Laura would be if she knew he had only taken two or three tablets before stopping. He quietly reasoned that the only reason he had stopped was because he was not allowed to drink as much while he was on the medication, and he was certainly an alcoholic by now, so he could not just stop. But he knew as well as anyone else that was not a real excuse. Now that he thought about it, how could Laura not know he had stopped? His drinking habits had hardly changed since he received the meds, and she knew he was supposed to drink less while he took them.

He sighed again and turned his head to look at her, lying calmly beside him, breathing peacefully. By the looks of her, she had put her arm around him in her sleep again and he had thrown her off in his dreams. Again. He felt a pang of guilt as he saw her laying there as he had left her in the throes of another nightmare, and leaned over to carefully pull the covers over her and move her hair out of her face. He gave her a light kiss on the cheek then slipped out of bed as silently as possible, which had gotten harder over the months. Laura now knew when he had left the bed in the middle of the night, even when it did not wake her, and she knew when he had another nightmare. It was like, even in her sleep, she was still watching his behavior and trying to take care of him.

Archer made it halfway across the bedroom when he stopped at the sight of a pair of sweatpants tossed over the back of a chair. He looked down at himself and realized he was only in his boxers. After a moment's consideration, he decided to be 'proper' and pulled on the sweatpants before heading to the elevator two rooms over. As the elevator hummed its way down, Archer sipped from the glass of scotch he had fixed himself on the way through the kitchen and looked at the second, empty, glass he had grabbed on impulse. He wondered why he had grabbed it, but this wasn't the first time he had done something odd on impulse that turned out to be for a good reason. It did not happen often, mind you, but it was not new, either. The elevator dinged and Archer exited still staring at the empty glass for a bit as he walked until he looked up to find himself standing in the common room.

"That explains it," he thought to himself as he noticed Sentinel standing by the window, staring out over the city like he did most nights. He looked worse than usual this night, though.

"You look like you could use some of this, old friend," Archer said to him and set the glass down on an endtable so he could open a small cupboard. He always had some alcohol hidden around somewhere he might find himself residing for more than a few minutes. And here it was: He pulled out a small bottle of scotch, identical to the one he had upstairs in his own kitchen.

"Want some?" he offered and refilled his own glass.
Sometimes, it's not an angel you need, but a demon.
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"You are not supposed to be drinking," Tobor said from the doorway. He had been walking the halls as was his habit at night, seeing as all of the other members save for the Judge were asleep. He had just happened to be walking past when he had heard Archer in the common room. His chest cavity was open, the hollow compartment built into his torso currently occupied by three small kittens. "Think of what you're doing to yourself!" he said, modifying his vocabulator to sound like a distraught woman and gesturing at the kittens in his chest cavity.

"Think of the children!"

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"What do you mean you don't know where he is?" Sentinel yelled at Lil Devil. "We should have secured him immediately after the Rorek attack!"

"I know but we were too busy doing damage control to notice him slip among the crowd, he can't really have gotten far it's only been a few weeks" she said backing down from the force of Sentinel's outrage.

"I don't care how long it's been! Find him! Now! He could snap at any moment and turn into the Behemoth and go on a killing spree and it won't be like what happened last time where we could respond immediately all of our heavy hitters are here and that's what's needed to take him down" Sentinel said slamming his hands down on his desk. "I don't want excuses Althea, I need results I need Joel Marcone caught and the Behemoth under surveillance"

"Sir yes sir" Althea said in an annoyed tone exiting the room, making sure not to bump into Kilovolt as she walked in.

"There was no need to yell, she knows how dangerous Joel can be if he gets too excited. We all do" she said soothingly, taking a seat on Sentinel's desk and rubbing his arm. "I don't like that we were just keeping him there though. He didn't do anything wrong he was just a victim of circumstance"

"Aren't we all" Sentinel mumbling. "I didn't care for it either but he's too dangerous until we can figure out how to put that thing back into a tablet or something where it was in the first place. But now it's going to take even longer now that Althea is pretty much working on it on her own since Hexenwulf decided to run with those Horror Heroes"

"Just relax" Kilovolt said closing the door to Sentinel's office. "Maybe I can make you feel better"

"You're incorrigible" Sentinel said with a smile.
Do not walk in front of me I may not follow. Do not walk behind me I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.
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"There you are."

Lucy was standing on the roof of the Silver Shield headquarters, staring at the thunderheads moving in over the city. They were a ways off and there was still some sun in this part of the city, but the wind was picking up and the clouds were starting to move fast. She turned to look at Garrett standing in the doorway to the stairs, then turned back to the sky.

"Your mom called me," Garrett said, walking over until he was standing next to Lucy and staring out into the sky with her. "She said you hadn't come home after school."

"I don't want to talk about it," she said, refusing to look at Garrett.

"You don't have to," Garrett replied. "But I want to make sure there's nothing wrong that will become a problem for your schoolwork or your duties with the SSTC."

"I just didn't want to have to answer the questions she'd ask," Lucy said quietly.

Garrett didn't speak. he just waited for Lucy to continue.

"She always wants to know how my day was. Whether I'm going out with friends. Why a girl my age isn't going out on dates and being more social." Lucy brushed her hair out of her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "Its always the same answers. I spent my day being stared at because I'm different. I don't have any friends who aren't on the team, and we see enough of each other every day. And it's kind of hard to go on a date when no boy would even give me the time of day."

Garrett sniggered, then laughed an apologized when Lucy turned away. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm just reminded about how I used to feel back when I started high school. Looking back it all seems silly somehow."

"Oh, it was serious then," he said quickly, seeing almost in tears, "but it's not something that can't be changed."

"What am I supposed to do then?" Lucy asked.

"You could try being more assertive, for one," Garrett suggested. "Join some after-school groups and see what you like. I know sports are out of the question, but Adam's always talking about what he watched at his last Movie Club meeting, and Twitch is the star of the Math League. It might be worth your while to check some of those out; and besides, it's easier to deal with if you know at least one person there."

"Come on," Garrett said. "Let's get you home."

"I'm not entirely comfortable getting in that rusty deathtrap you call a car, thanks," Lucy said with a smile. "I'll fly home, and I'll just have to put up with the rain."

"Who said I was going to drive you?" Garrett asked, taking Lucy's hand and sending them both into the sky as a stream of electricity, bouncing from cloud to cloud on their way.

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"The new government of Iraq has issued a statement to the world community today, stating that they are instituting a policy of tolerance for all religions and creeds in major cities while allowing the rural areas to govern themselves under the laws of Shariah. They intend for this to lay groundwork for a future tourism industry to help boost the nation's weak economy in the wake of the conflict between the United States and the Insurgency. In a related statement Alexander Michaels, known as Jumper and the new ambassador to the UN for Iraq, issued a statement before the gathered representatives that providing support for insurgents or failing to guard against border-crossing incursions would be construed as an act of war.

Immediately afterward, the Mirror, leader of the Golden Sword and president of Iraq, issued a formal warning against Iran for its involvement in supplying arms and training to what remains of the insurgency in Iraq. Iran denied any involvement and promised swift action should Iraq's forces make any aggressive moves. Our correspondent in Iraq was able to secure a meeting with the Mirror's aide, Tricia Creed, estranged daughter of world-renowned philanthropist Carter Creed; Ms. Creed had this to say about the statements..."


The television exploded as Garrett threw the remote through it and the wall behind it. He pounded his legs with his fists, then stood and began to pace, dropping Sentinel's powers before he did more damage to the room. Tobor and several members of the SSTC were in the break room as well, and other than Tobor they were so far keeping their distance from Garrett.

"I can't believe the world just lets them get away with all this," Adam muttered. He was the only one not wearing an SSTC badge; his transformation always made them disappear, so he got a pass for not always having it on him.

"They're all super-villains," Lucy added. "So what if they brought stability to a troubled area of the world? They were even bloodier about it than America's forces in doing it! And who's to say they won't just start up with their old tricks later on?"

"Not like we could do much if they did," Spider said glumly, "not since any of them that travel out of Iraq do so as ambassadors and get diplomatic immunity."

"Man, who cares?" Twitch relied. "Let them have Iraq. If they cut off the oil supply, then Savant or Green Machine will just bring out one of their alternative energy thingies. Besides, they'll slip up and then we'll get them like always."

"It's not the simple, Twitch," Garrett said, stopping next to the window and thumping the wall with one hand. "The whole thing looks bad on the Silver Shield no matter how you look at it."

"Politics," Tobor said as sagely as he could in his tinny robotic voice.

"Huh?" Scanner looked up from his cel phone, where he had been tracking the live satellite feed of the news after Garrett destroyed the TV. "Hey, it looks like the Golden Sword will end up going to war with Iran."

"Which will only make things worse!" Garrett snarled. "Dammit!" Again he thumped the wall, this time cracking the drywall.

"People are wondering about how and why the Silver Shield allowed an organization like the Golden Sword to exist, or even form for that matter," Tobor explained to the confused stares of the SSTC members. "And then they wonder why we let them get away with what they did in Iraq."

"And to make matters worse, there are more who are saying it's only a matter of time before the Silver Shield does the same thing here in America," Garrett said, whirling around. "And others are rallying together against the Silver Shield because they seem to think we should have done years ago what the Golden Sword did a few weeks ago."

The SSTC sat in silence then, absorbing the problems posed by these events. "What's worse," Garrett continued, "is that the Pure Lineage are gaining popularity, and now the politicians they have in their pocket are pushing for some kind of regulation of those of us with superpowers. A lot of other countries in the UN are thinking the same way, I hear. This is turning into a world I'm not too fond of, guys..."

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The Royall J
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"Twitch is right, as much as it pains me to say, they'll slip up. They're villains, they always slip up and we'll be there to stop them when they do" Savant said.

"No you won't, the SSTC will have no part in political affairs" Sentinel said walking into the room, Green Machine behind him. "I know everybody is pretty upset but we can't let this get to us. If we do than they win this fight in the long run"

"I hate this!" Newton yelled, knocking the couch over with the force of his standing, Spider and Jeremy having to roll to avoid being hit with it. "I hate not being able to just hit that Mirror guy in the face! Why didn't we take care of the Golden Sword a long time ago?! Why did we even give them the chance to do this?!"

The Green Machine walked up to Newton, reaching up to put a hand on his arm, "Calm down son, you don't understand this and you're angry I get that. We couldn't stop them because we couldn't find them, we can't just run in and smash them because we're a government organization and we follow the law"

"Maybe we shouldn't be a government organization" Jeremy said, after being quiet throughout the entire exchange. "A lot of the members of the Silver Shield are rich and even more have made plenty of money off of the fact that they have these posh government jobs. Maybe we should charge fees, like any other group and become separate from the government, then we could take care of things like this"
Do not walk in front of me I may not follow. Do not walk behind me I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.
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It's not healthy, you know.

Garrett brushed the mental contact away and continued staring at the building. It looked no different than half the buildings in this part of the city, but the flag on this one was a bright gold sword on a field of white.

Please don't push me away...

Garrett sighed and turned away from the building, heading towards the Silver Shield Headquarters.

It's like she's mocking me, Alyssa. She knows I'm here, knows I can't stand her for what she did, and yet she keeps trying to contact me like there's nothing wrong.

She's just trying to get to you, Alyssa replied. You're just playing into it all by doing this, by daring to do something about you hanging around.

Garrett frowned and didn't reply. He just kept walking, and pulled his coat tighter around him as a cold wind blew down the street.


Tricia Creed closed the curtains and turned back to her cybernetic visitor. "My brother can be so pitiful sometimes. But in any case, you said you had business in Silver City, so we arranged for you to get here. Just remember that as long as you are on the Embassy grounds you are safe from prosecution, but according to our agreement with the UN we will have to turn you over if we can't deny your involvement in an act of supervillainy."

"S'allright," Junk replied. "All I'm interested in is a good old fashioned murderin'."

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"More people seem to have joined a new cult proclaiming that the "End" is here. We'll have more on this story at eleven"

Sentinel turned off the TV and just stared at it for a few minutes. This meant something. Something was going on here and he couldn't figure out what.

"That's weird huh?" Althea said sitting down beside him. "I've been searching for some kind of mystical connection between all this and it doesn't seem to be magical. Maybe it's not something to worry ourselves over?"

"I doubt that" Sentinel said staring off into space.
Do not walk in front of me I may not follow. Do not walk behind me I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.
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"All right guys," Garrett said, looking at the assembled faces of the SSTC. "The world has officially become unfriendly to our kind of people."

Garrett felt a sinking in his chest as he thought of the best way to explain this to them. He knew this was going to cause problems, that this was going to put a dividing line right down the middle and possibly ruin friendships forever.

"This is about Congress, right?" Scanner said finally breaking the silence.

"That's right Scanner," Garrett said, rubbing his forehead. Damn that kid and his accesses... "As of Friday the Power Draft bill goes into effect. It was passed last night around midnight. As of Friday, every United States citizen with powers is required by law to register with the Silver Shield, signing up as either a full-time member or an auxiliary. Refusal to do so has been declared treason, minimum sentence of life in prison, commutable only with the concession to sign up as a full-time member for a minimum of ten years."

"Why don't they just wipe their asses with the Constitution while they're at it?!" Arthur snarled. "Or give us gold stars to wear?"

"You think I'm happy about this?" Garrett snapped, whirling on Arthur. "You guys are safe so long as you don't harbor people who refuse to register. I'm telling you this now even though ordered to wait, risking rank and most definitely earning myself a serious reprimand, just to give you guys who are finishing or have finished school to resign as full time members. That way if push comes to shove you won't have to dirty your hands with this unless there's a full blown national crisis."

Garrett gritted his teeth and turned away so they wouldn't see the tears welling up in his eyes. "I don't want to see you guys get hurt, and I'm not sure I can stay as a full member myself if this continues the way it is. And most of all I don't want to be called in to subdue a fugitive and have to come to blows with any of you. You guys have your lives ahead of you. Don't waste them. Dismissed."

***

The members of the SSTC remained in the conference room for a few minutes after Garrett left, and under Arthur's direction Scanner blocked all possible technological recording devices that could pick up on their conversation.

"You all know what this means," Arthur said. "I already know that some of us aren't going to stand for this, and some of us may agree with the decision. I'm not saying my position and no one else should, just to keep ourselves clean for now, but the time is going to come when we may end up facing each other out there as enemies."

"So what are you saying?" Spider asked.

"I'm saying that we, right here, right now, make a pact between us all," Arthur replied. "We do not fight each other except in the defense of our own lives or in the immediate defense of innocent lives. We can't speak for them, but the older generations are usually too entrenched in their ideals to waver without a solid example of why they should change. We need to be that example. This is going to be a civil war on our hands, and it's going to happen all over the world. I'm not willing to lose my soul over someone else's ideal, and I ope the rest of you agree."

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The Royall J
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Legion stood up and walked towards the door, "I follow orders. We know what our orders are going to be and I'm going to go what I'm told. If you fight against this legislation I will take you down. Let's face it I can take you all down with numbers alone and I will"

Those final words seemed to be directed towards Arthur and the others were left in silence as the door slammed.

"That guy has always rubbed the wrong way" Giant said, shifting form to stand at his full height. "I'm in on this Arthur. I'm not going to help them bring in our friends and anyone that's just trying to do some good"

"This isn't about what's right or wrong" Savant said pushing her helmet aside. She leaned forward as she said, "This is about making people feel safe. If you were a real hero you would realize that sacrifices have to be made"

"You call this a sacrifice?" Giant yelled. "This is treating us like we're animals! Weapons to be traded and used!"

Their argument drew in the others and Jeremy sat their silently before standing. He didn't take much notice as the room became silent. As every eye turned to him and he looked around the room. He shook his head.

"We're friends. We're going to disagree on this. I think fighting for this new law is the right thing to do and I hope the rest of you do as well. I think if we work with this new law we can make sure it's implementation won't go down a terrible road" he sat down as he spoke. "We're the future and it's time we started acting like it"
Do not walk in front of me I may not follow. Do not walk behind me I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.
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"Arthur?" Spider asked, concerned about the look she saw on Avenger's face as Legion left the room.

"He's slipping," Arthur muttered, wrinkling his nose as if catching a whiff of a bad smell.

"What?"

"Nothing." Arthur didn't want to say it. Not in front of everyone, at least. But he'd seen it as Legion was leaving; there was evil creeping into his mind, and Arthur wasn't sure if there was anything any of them could do about it.

"In any case, Savant," Arthur said, speaking up, "I suggest you start researching your history and looking at similar laws that were enacted to 'make people feel safe'. Like rounding up all the german- and japanese-americans during WW2. Or maybe even the 3/5 Compromise. I'm sure that would be a little more relevant to you out of all of us."

"I'm not saying I'm going to fight this new law," Arthur said after a pause. "I'm just saying that I'm going to stand up for what I think is right. I don't like this law and I'm not going to support it if I don't have to, but so long as it isn't taken out of hand I can live with it. I'm done with the Silver Shield and the SSTC, effective immediately. It was nice working with you guys." Arthur smiled at everyone there and followed Legion out the door. Spider nervously glanced around the room before silently following Arthur out.

"I... I don't know," Twitch said. "I mean, I understand the reasoning behind the law, and I understand the reasons against, but... This is more than right and wrong. I'm not sure this is something we should be involved in, though. I think Garrett's right, that we should sit on the sidelines unless we're forced into this."

"I'm with Arthur," Adam said. "I'll be there in an emergency, but I can't in good faith support what they're doing. I'm out."

"The one thing I've never understood about your species," Splortch said sadly, "is your need to look for differences in each other and hate each other for them. I'll play along with this, but only because I don't have much of a choice; I owe the Silver Shield too much as it is."

Scanner was silent, too confused to know what to do. Gambler, silent up to this point, stood up and put his hands in his pockets. "There's only a million to one chance this will turn out well, and I'm not lifting a finger the change those odds. I suggest you all take a back seat and let the adults make themselves look like monsters. At least then you'll look better for assisting in the cleanup."

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"Gentlemen," the senator said, his voice tinny over the satellite feed, "I've invited you to this conference to ask a very special favor. Mr. Jacques Melnaire was supposed to join us, but with his schedule it seems he may be late if he shows up at all, so I will begin without him."

General Freedom looked over at Mr. Mercury in what could only be described as hero worship, just the way many of the Silver Shield members had looked at him as he was being escorted to this room. He had volunteered for the Super Soldier program because he had grown up on stories of Mr. Mercury saving people. To see the man himself, or more likely, the man currently wearing the mask, was an awe-inspiring experience for him.

"As you may know, there have been rumors abounding about legislation begin discussed concerning regulating those citizens with superpowers," the senator continued. "Those rumors are true. In the interest of the safety of the non-powered citizens, we in the government have decided to enact the Proto Regulation Act, which requires citizens with powers to register with the Silver Shield, as well as outlawing vigilante activity by powered citizens not affiliated with the Silver Shield."

Mr. Mercury was uneasy about this meeting. He had seen similar actions during his tenure on Earth, and he hadn't liked any of them. Only several had been absolutely necessary, and even then they had been twisted by hateful people to harm those who were singled out.

"The members of congress have appointed me to speak to you on the behalf of this act. You, Mr. Mercury, and you, General Freedom, are American icons. While the act may seem distasteful on the surface, there are sometimes unpleasant things that must be done to ensure the safety of society as a whole and I am sure you will come to see this. We in Congress ask that you accept high positions in the Silver Shield as advocates of this Act. Both of you have represented the greater good in the past and present, and with your approval we believe that the Act will be more acceptable by those who would initially reject it in its entirety without taking time to see its benefits."

Kiernan wasn't listening. He knew how this would end up, and he knew what they were going to ask him. He would have to refuse on principle, as well out of fear of affecting the future. The last thing he wanted was to be stranded in a tangential time line from his own. The dread pf what was coming outweighed the excitement of being in the same room with two of the most important figures in history at this point, both of which would be viewed as both heroes and villains in the history books. He was thinking he may have to try and jump ahead to the end of the conflict just to avoid involvement.

"The young man codenamed Chronoboy to your left, is in possession of information vital to the success of this movement, and we hope that with his assistance we can ensure that this-"

"I refuse." Kiernan's voice rang out in the room in discordance, leaving the senator speechless. "I know what you want and I can't comply without altering the progression of time. It is against the responsibilities I hold as someone in possession of time travel technology. I will neither help nor hinder the Regulation Act; I will merely watch. If necessary, I will soothe your suspicions by remaining in the Silver Shield headquarters until this is no longer an issue, but I cannot and will not help you."

"Well," the senator said, trying to regain his composure, "I'm sure thatyou have your own conscience to consider and perhaps you may change your mind in the future. Ah, General Freedom, Mr. Mercury, what do you have to say?

"Senator, I accept," General Freedom said. "While it is distasteful to restrict the freedoms of certain citizens, those of us with powers have a responsibility to society to use our powers wisely. The Silver Shield has proven a responsible mentoring agency for young people coming into their powers, as well as an acceptable outlet for the civic minded to use their powers for the greater good."

"I must decline," Mr. Mercury said sadly. "The one freedom that cannot be taken away is that of choice. By refusing that right to a group of people in the name of 'the greater good', you merely open them up to persecution by any who distrust or fear them. This is a mistake made out of fear, and I urge you to reconsider immediately. I do not wish to come to blows with the authorities of this country, but I must stand up for what I believe is right and I will fight this Act with every resource I have at my disposal."

The senator sighed. "So be it," he said after another sigh. "The government of the United States will not be swayed on this issue. You have one week to change your mind and register, oryou will be labeled a fugitive and an enemy of the state."

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"Right," Garrett said to himself, flipping through the dossier in his hands. "Well Pierce, welcome to the SSTC. Your codename request has been put through and approved. Do you have any questions before we begin the tour?"

"This might sound suspicious, but what kind of security clearance do I have?" Inferno asked. "I mean, I don't want to get in trouble for wandering around somewhere I shouldn't or something like that."

"You have a basic, Unsecured clearance right now," Garret replied. "That means anything that's general knowledge is available to you when you log on to any Silver Shield computer system. Once we get through your full security check you'll be granted Secret clearance. So, for the next month or so you'll have to have an escort if you want to go anywhere but the cafeteria, gym or any of the general purpose rooms. The areas are clearly marked, so you shouldn't wander somewhere accidentally if you pa attention."

"Cool," Inferno said. "Where're the designated smoking areas?"

"There aren't any," Garrett replied. "Get used to not smoking when you're on the grounds."

Inferno sighed and slipped the pack of cigarettes back into his pocket.

"Come on. I'll introduce you to the rest of the team," Garrett said. "We had a few members drop from the rolls, so your enrollment is timed pretty perfectly to fill the ranks."

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