The elevator doors opened, and it felt like our little bubble burst. The Hero Society symbol of the helmet with the wings on the side greeted us as Vincent led me down the hall to the hang-out area. I wasn’t sure who was tackling Terratrex with us, but I knew it wouldn’t be everybody. If every hero came out to stop the satellite, the company would blame everything on us. It would look like an attack.
“Oh, brownies,” someone called out as we entered, and I instantly found my best friend in the room. Vincent released my hand as Selene pulled me in for a hug.
“Just know that Jude and I got your back if you die.” She wasn’t joking, and I couldn’t help but laugh. She was a reaper, and Jude controlled the dead. Between the two of them, I was safe even in the afterlife. I glanced over her shoulder and saw the ex-ringleader himself. He’d shaved his dark brown curls, which only made his bright blue eyes stand out more against his tanned skin. His head dipped down once before shifting to talk to Leon.
Selene stepped back but remained close as Draco whistled once for the attention of everyone on the sofa.
“Terratrex’s reveal starts in four hours. Gwen is at the park with Arthur, talking with the techs. She’ll use her metal powers, and Arthur is there to put out fires if needed. The goal is to stop Terratrex from killing people and destroying the city. Leon, you get anybody out of there who is in the destruction path.” He pointed at Leon, who gave a single nod at the leader of the heroes. I swore these men were all silent communicators. A nod here, a chin lift there.
“Emily, your powers would be useful, but we’d understand if you chose to stay here,” Draco added, and I blushed from the few eyes darting my way. All of them were willing to risk their lives for this city.
“I’m a hero, and this is what we do, right?” I stood tall and felt Vincent’s body heat brush against me. I leaned back for support. One way or another, something big would happen today. Everyone in the room felt it.
“We’re going off Phillip’s sight and Vincent’s future. However, futures change. Our main objective will remain no matter what. Save Seahill and its people.” He rattled on about setting up a perimeter. Vincent and I would join the gathering crowd in the park, while Gwen tried her best to show them how their machine was faulty. As Griffin Enterprises’ top robotics engineer, she knew a thing or two about this type of stuff. Metal and machinery was her thing. Her little robots would also interpret the machine’s energy if it helped.
We all left headquarters, some in their hero attire and the rest of us dressed casually. Selene and Jude walked with us to the park. Their powers weren’t necessary in this fight, but Selene was my ride or die bestie. Her husband was there for her and therefore my ride or die as well. Their support wrapped around me, warming me, as we found a place in the excited crowd before the metal stage.
My hands trembled as two stagehands checked mics, and I wiped them down my shorts to relax.
“I believe in us, E,” Vincent whispered against my ear. I reached for him, and our hands gripped each other tightly. I sucked in a breath, then released it slowly. I still had that feeling things would work out, but that didn’t mean it was easy to look death in the face as the CEO of Terratrex walked onto the stage.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Vincent
“If I make his microphone float and scare everyone off, will that change anything?” Emily whispered as the CEO stood in his hot-looking button-up and slacks, talking about climate change.
“I don’t think it’ll deter them. They’ll pass it off as a joke and keep going. Terratrex only cares about money. They’ve got a lot invested in today and think they’ll get even more.”
“The wait is making me feel antsy.” Her head started popping up and down as she lifted onto her toes, then back down, over and over.
“We can go.”
“No. My nervous system is telling me danger, danger, and I have to burn it off. Moving helps work off the stress hormone triggered from that response.” I loved it when she broke out the medical talk. She bounced beside me, and as the minutes ticked by, the tension in her relaxed.
“Are you ready to see our Solar Automatic Repelling Satellite, or SARS as we’ve been calling it at Terratrex?” he shouted, and a screen rolled down behind him. Images of smiling engineers working on the satellite zoomed in first, followed by a ten-second clip of the launch into space.
“With SARS, we will be able to reflect those harmful rays from heating up the Earth.” With a cost, but of course the public didn’t need to know that.
“How about we just switch to less fossil fuel emissions!” someone called out from behind us. Suddenly random people in the crowd took off their shirts to reveal green tank tops. I tucked Emily close at first, then I read their shirts and the signs they lifted above their heads in sync.
“Spend money on policy change, not satellites for the rich!” they chanted. Protestors, I could get behind that.
“We are on the same team. I’d love to sit down and talk more about how Terratrex is donating millions to green energy every year. We are also combatting fossil fuels with our electric SUV, arriving next year.” The CEO plastered a grin on his face, laughing as some of the protestors stuck up their middle fingers at him. He continued with his presentation despite the noise.
“Tension’s getting heavy,” Jude commented from behind at the same time I saw security guards slowly move closer to the protestors. Perhaps it wasn’t Terratrex that fucked this one up, but a riot. The media never said what really happened.
“Keep an eye out,” I warned everyone as a video from the satellite came on the screen. Selene nodded, then shifted her head to the right.
“Be back,” she grumbled, then slid out from the crowd with Jude on her heels.
“Live feed, folks. Don’t worry, our green friends, after this demonstration, your climate worries will disappear. You’ll see the reflecting mirrors expand to the right there.” He pointed to the video, but movement below the stage caught my attention. A six-inch robot ran across the ground with an eighteen-inch metal dragon carrying a wrench in its mouth behind him. Pops and Cora, Gwen’s personal robots.
I saw the white-haired hero scowling at two techs. Her husband, or maybe boyfriend in this time, stood close. Those robots were up to something under her command. My chest tightened, seeing so many unpredictable pieces moving on our puzzle.
“See, my friends, SARS is perfectly safe.” I glanced back to the screen as the machine’s lens had a red filter over it, and light beamed away from the reflecting mirrors.
“The satellite will be set on a timer, with our scientists keeping up with potent sun flares for extra protection around the globe. But we’ve turned the time off for our demonstration, as you can see. We have the ability to turn it off at any time. SARS is also equipped to be self-maneuvering, able to adjust if something comes within a ten-foot radius, as well as driven by remote if necessary to avoid other satellites.” The CEO nodded at the techs still being glared at from Gwen three feet away. Thirty seconds later, the satellite shifted and the mirrors tucked in.
