A knock sounded at General Luis Evans' door early that morning. He heaved a sigh as he swiped away the documents containing everything they knew about the Legion and the video feed of Prime, who still hadn't said a thing.
"Enter," Luis called. The door opened to admit Sergeant Sims and one of the officers under him.
"Sir," Sims said, closing the door behind them. "Sorry to disturb you so early."
"I assume it's important?" Luis asked, tenting his fingers and closing his eyes for a moment. He'd been up half the night trying to keep things from spiraling out of control and what he wanted most right now was a nap.
"I'd like to introduce Officer Henry Griffin, Third Division, assigned to my squad," Sims said, motioning the officer forward. Griffin stepped forward nervously and nodded.
"Officer Griffin. Can I help you?" Luis asked, raising an eyebrow at Sims. What was this about? Shouldn't Sims know better than to waste his time?
Sims looked at Griffin and nodded, and the officer took a breath before holding out his hand.
Luis's eyes widened as a spark danced across his fingers.
"Officer Griffin received a Miracle a few weeks ago, and recently came to me to ask if we would like to make use of it."
"Can I ask precisely what kind of Miracle?" Luis asked, looking at Officer Griffin.
"Electricity-based, sir," Griffin replied. "Enough to cause damage, but not enough to be fatal. I could probably stun most anyone the Military's after. Achilles or Shell may be exceptions, but I can certainly try with them as well."
"Excellent. Might I ask why it took you so long to come forward?" Luis kept the question neutral, but inside he was fuming. Life would have been so much easier if they'd had their own Miracle freak.
"I was nervous, sir," Griffin replied. "My adopted brother has a long criminal record, and I struggled to get into the military because of it. With the current stance towards people with Miracles, I was afraid that I'd be arrested for having one. I planned to use it in self-defense if it ever came down to it, but I wanted to respect the policies we have in place."
Good enough reasoning. But then what made him change his mind?
"And now?" Luis asked, his eyes flickering to Sims for a moment.
"With the Legion now as much of a problem as others, I couldn't keep quiet any more. If I can do something to help, I want to."
A good enough response. The officer still looked anxious, so Luis decided to change his tone slightly.
"Thank you for coming forward, Officer Griffin. Would you be willing to lead a special squad? I think we need a specific anti-Miracle task force, and until more Miracles appear among military personnel, we'll need to staff it with normal officers. If you don't mind, I'd like you to be the head of it. Your Miracle will offer a better way to counteract these criminals and apprehend them.
"Any Miracle officers who come after will be assigned to you as well. As the first, though, I would obviously leave you in charge because of your wealth of experience. You'd be primarily on standby, waiting for Miracle-related emergencies, at which point you would hurry to the scene as quickly as possible. I'd like to give you time off, but you may need to be on standby at all times. After all, you're the only specialist we have."
Officer Griffin's face slowly shifted to a look of amazement.
Good. Offer him a promotion and whatever he wanted, and Luis would have his loyalty for all time. He just had to ask now.
"Despite the stress you'll be under, would you still accept this position? As much as I hate to say it, the military - no, all of Arx Nubibus - needs you."
"Yes sir!" Griffin saluted, a grin on his face.
"Thank you. Sims, tell Angelina to get the paperwork in motion for this change. She can also train Officer - rather, Sergeant - Griffin for his new position."
"And the other sergeants sir?" Sims asked placidly.
"Unaffected. Sergeant Griffin will be heading up an emergency squad separate from the others. I'll get the other generals to agree and any military personnel who receive Miracles will join it. For now though, I want you to ask Lieutenant Medina to pick four highly qualified individuals from the Third Division to join Sergeant Griffin as a special Miracle eradication squad."
"Yes, sir." Sims saluted and the two of them left the room.
Luis sighed, then smiled. At last things were finally going his way.
He had a way to fight back against the Legion and all the other freaks.
"Aila!"
As soon as Aila walked in the door, her mom ran out to hug her. She'd insisted that nobody had to come pick her up from the hospital, but Mom had apparently waited around for her anyway.
"I'm home," Aila said softly, smiling as she hugged her mom back. It felt like an eternity since she'd been home. With the trials ahead, she just wanted to rest here for a moment.
Alas, Aila's life was never a restful one.
"How's the rent situation?" she asked, pulling away from her mom. Mom shook her head and stepped back, and Aila immediately frowned.
"Nothing you need to worry about, sweetie. I've got it handled."
That look in her mom's face wasn't a good one. Between Aila's medical bills and her lack of income, Mom was probably struggling.
"Okay. Have you heard from any of my managers?"
"They..." Mom stepped back and looked down at the floor.
"They didn't," Aila growled, clenching her fists.
"They said you should focus on recovery and they'll find other people to do your jobs."
"So do I have any jobs? Or am I effectively laid off?"
Mom's expression answered that question.
"Dammit," Aila stomped over to the living room and flopped onto the couch.
"It's okay, sweetie. Your severance pay was able to cover the medical bills."
"All of them?" Aila glanced back. Mom looked away again. Yeah, figures. She'd been in the hospital for a long time, and intensive care was not cheap.
She'd have to figure out something. Even if she managed to do everything Yellow asked, it would be no good if her family was out on the streets.
"How have you been paying for rent and groceries?" Aila asked carefully, studying her mom's every reaction.
"I...borrowed some money. It's okay, sweetie, really. Don't worry too much about it."
"Mom! You know the only kind of places that will lend to people like us are the type that break your kneecaps when you can't pay up. How much do you owe and when's the deadline?"
"You don't have to worry about it," Mom replied evasively. Then the door opened and her brother's voice carried through the house. Mom hurried over to him, leaving Aila scowling.
First things first, she'd have to figure out her family's monetary situation.
"Sorry, Yellow, but I got to fix a few things up here first," she muttered. Surely he'd forgive her for that.
