It was a lot of effort, but Sablestar is pleased with the result. A duel! The destruction of an entire Schema! The release of a Moon Eater! All for the low low price of investing a little girl with a well-prepared Shard, constructing some child-proof fights, and juggling a few rainbow rubes’ emotions.
It’s time to gloat. She can report this coup to her fellow Collective members later.
Harry makes some very contrite apologies to Lisa Park about the loss of the Vanguard. She’s very understanding, and seems more interested in the details of how the team used the engines to neutralize the Concordance’s guardians. “It’s not supposed to do that,” she mentions with a smile, and Harry’s not sure how he feels about that.
Back at Captain Burger, nobody’s super enthusiastic about the rite of passage that is the double-patty danger zone. A10, Telekinetian, Armiger, and Mercury chew, and endure, and savor the sauce in thoughtful silence.
“The job,” A10 finally says.
Oh yeah, the job. Harry opens the ASIST app and marks the warehouse theft situation as “completed”. He doesn’t feel like filling in any details. The app does its little shower of particle effects and virtual confetti, and he smiles, but only for a moment.
Outside Captain Burger, Harry finds Adam, Jordan, and the Rainbow Warriors waiting for himself and his team.
“We didn’t really feel like contributing,” Kirk explains.
“Rest of 'em had it under control,” Erin adds.
“It’s just a Moon Eater,” mumbles Jack.
“Well uh, welcome to Earth, I guess?” Harry isn’t sure how to react to these three. He saw the duel, understood only the things he saw, and recognizes that an important shift in attitudes has occurred but not why.
“Yeah,” Kirk says, without enthusiasm.
There’s a period of silence.
Harry thinks he’s figured it out.
Jordan, also known as Princess Peri, practically jumped at the chance to be a hero. She didn’t think she was one, but she was determined to become one. And even though Jordan is seven, she did okay. She had some help, like her big brother’s example, and whatever her Shard is. He remembers Sol, and knows there must be a similar personality assisting her.
These guys started out being told they were heroes, and assigned to do heroic shit, and now Harry can see the devastation recent events have wrought on their self-confidence. Right now, they’re trying to figure out who they are now, what they’re supposed to do, what it all means, all that existential stuff.
Harry beckons to the Rainbow Warriors. “Come on. Let’s have some burgers, and I’ll talk to you about ASIST.”
A10, TK, and Armiger have taken off.
Adam orders a burger, and with knife and fork works on it bit by bit. Jordan gorges herself on the saltiest French fries on the planet. Harry works on his own burger, and watches the three Concordance agents do the same.
Finally he feels it’s time to talk. “You three got phones?”
The Agents look at each other. “… Yeah?” Erin says.
“Okay. Scan this.” Harry spins his own phone around, showing the QR code for the ASIST app. Reluctantly, the agents retrieve their devices, scan it, and start the installation process.
“Lots of people need something. They ask for help via the app. If you’re signed in, and you can help, you’ll get pinged. They have cool stuff you can get with points. You earn points by doing jobs. It’s a good way to fill time.”
Jack stares at their phone. “Huh.”
This is only the start, and Harry knows it. He tries to be careful. “Whatever went on, you’re a hero if you want to be a hero, and if you go do the work. That’s it.”
He thinks back to his team’s reaction to Peri, and how they struggled. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. It doesn’t matter if you’re ‘official’ or whatever.”
He draws a breath. “It’s not complicated to just help people. It’s so easy. Figure out what they need. Figure out what you can do about it. Then just do it. If you three wanna be heroes, just do that. You don’t need anyone’s permission.”
Kirk’s eyes flick immediately to Adam. Harry picks up on it. “You don’t need Adam’s permission either.”
Kirk sits up in his seat. “But… we can’t, 'cause every time we try to do something, Adam…”
Harry stares at him. “Adam what?”
“Well… he’s always, y’know…”
Harry points at the kid working valiantly against the burger before him. “Is this Adam, the real Adam, stopping you? Is he interfering?” His finger swings to point at Kirk’s forehead. “Or is the Adam in there what’s stopping you?”
Kirk sits back like he’s been struck. But Harry can tell he’s hit a nerve. “What’s the problem anyway?”
Jack speaks up. “It’s… well, it’s like… Adam interfaced with a keynome, which is strictly off limits for us. He’s had two broken shards. He doesn’t seem to care about the Concordance and how we’re supposed to do things, but he keeps…”
“…Getting away with it,” Harry fills in, and he sees Jack’s face confirm his guess.
Harry smiles with sad familiarity. “My uncle leaned so hard on the Irregulators team. Never let them out in the field, just kept pushing them into training sessions. They had some beef with the JHHL, which was the golden-boy team, who got to go out and do cool shit. But it’s not like the JHHL was keeping them down. So the resentment was real, but it wasn’t real, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah,” Erin says glumly.
A thought occurs to Harry. Adam has never seemed the most eager of heroes himself, unlike Jordan. What if…?
“Hey, you three. What if Adam kinda faded into the background and became like a secret mentor or advisor or something, and you three graduated up to be Earth’s badass Concordance agents?”
The Agents look at each other, like whaaaaaaaat?
Adam looks up curiously at Harry.
“We don’t need a leader,” Kirk says firmly.
Harry holds his hands up. “No, no. Not a leader. Just… someone who knows what you’re going through, who understands you, and can give advice or just listen. Someone who can handle stuff behind the scenes, like maybe rating your powers on ASIST. He wouldn’t tell you what to do. But he might be able to tell you how to do it.”
The Agents look at each other again, and Harry takes time to gauge Adam’s face. Adam, too, seems unsure.
Harry doesn’t think he’ll get an answer soon, but they aren’t shutting him down immediately either. Maybe…? The future will tell.
