Chapter 10

Putting manacles on Cole seemed idiotic after what he had done on the New Jersey Turnpike. The state police put a fraying blanket over him and threw him into a prisoner transport vehicle reinforced with steel plates. The links they used to chain him to the van's floor were the size of his hand. He had to suppress the urge to test their strength.

When they reached the troop station, they backed the transport vehicle up to a loading dock that resembled a spaceship's airlock. The back door slid up, and six officers in riot gear carrying oversized cattleprods approached.

The leading man nodded to him. "Easy way or hard?"

Cole raised his hands in surrender. "Easy. I don't want any trouble, officer."

They escorted Cole a short distance to a holding cell which, instead of bars or a metal door, had a three-inch-thick slab of steel that pulled into the ceiling as they approached. Cole watched the cell as the door moved up, revealing the cross-section of the walls. They had lined the space with lead, steel, and reinforced concrete. The remaining space was no larger than five feet by eight; two concrete slabs ran along the left and right sides, with a space in the middle to stand. A prison toilet was the only other feature.

Cole sat down and waited. The lead officer handed him an orange prison outfit and shut the door behind him.

Cole shouted, "When do I get my phone call?"

A speaker in the top corner of the cell crackled. "Sit down and shut the fuck up, freak."

After dressing, Cole wrapped himself in his blanket and lay down, rubbing his feet together and blowing into his hands.

He didn't have to wait long before he heard the whine of hydraulics and the door to his cell begin to open. Cole sat up and watched. Behind the slowly rising door were Titania's toned legs and orange high-heeled boots. After it opened, she crouched and sat on the opposite bench while the door shut behind her. Cole's hair stood on end as he sensed her powers.

She lifted her boots and placed them on the other bench, making the room seem smaller than it actually was. "I hate these supe holding cells. Past B-rank, they only slow down an escape. I think they build them to make civilians feel better."

Cole looked at Titania's legs beside him and swallowed hard. "Where do they put the really powerful villains?"

She shook her head. "I'm not at liberty to say. Anyway, we're here to talk about you."

Cole bumped his head against the wall. "You would think I would have been rewarded. Did you see everything that guy shot up? First you say I need to be a hero, and now I'm in a prison cell."

Titania nodded and pointed at him. "That's all well and good, but there were real supes on the way to take care of it. You're not trained, and things could have gone sideways fast. You damaged government hardware, and pushing that tank off the road caused severe damage, not to mention you committed indecent exposure on the highway."

Cole stood up and pointed at her. "My clothes were shot off my body! That tank could have killed someone. This is bullshit! No jury is going to convict me of those things."

She smirked and looked at him with her subtly glowing eyes. "It's not often that I catch this much lip from a man—it's refreshing. Sure, you might get off, but you won't get bail. Who knows how long it will take to go to trial? You could be in prison for a long time. Yes, this is all unfair, but I can make it go away with the wave of my hand. You need to do one thing."

"Sign up for Project Volto?"

"Project Veltio. If you sign up, the AG will drop the case." She arched her back. "And make it snappy; this place is too cramped for me."

"I want to speak to a lawyer," he said.

"If you were a regular human, that would have been possible. The Super Abled Person Act of 2019 allows the federal government to suspend habeas corpus for individuals deemed too strong and who have caused damage in excess of fifteen million dollars."

Cole rubbed his temples. "How much did that tank cost?"

"Twenty million."

He took a deep breath. "Shit." Cole was starting to feel like Project Veltio would get him one way or another. Glancing up at Titania, he got a chance to really appreciate how beautiful she was. Her body was perfectly proportioned, and her tanned skin complemented her hair and eyes; she was a true golden goddess.

She raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

He turned and faced forward again, blushing. "Nothing at all. I feel like I don't deserve to be around people like you. How could I ever be as good as a real supe like you or Aphelia? Don't supes train from childhood? Is there a way to get rid of these powers?"

She reached out and put a hand on his knee. "Don't let your fear beat you before the fight starts. Give it your best shot."

Cole watched her hand. No one had ever pushed him to join anything this much. Sure, his life wasn't the most exciting, but he made his own way, and his little business let him save up for a down payment. He built his life with his own hands, not having it dropped into his lap.

He shrugged. "Now that I have this super strength, it feels like my life before was worthless, like I was just waiting for this to happen."

Titania shifted and took her hand back. "I've been in Project Veltio since I was born. While I was growing up watching TV shows, I wished I were just a regular girl playing with dolls like the ones in commercials. None of the kids in the program had the choice of being normal. My parents were heroes and always on call. They weren't even there for my tenth birthday."

"That sucks that you didn't have that choice," Cole said. "What got you through?"

Titania looked at the ceiling and started picking at her cuticles, a frown flashing over her face. "When I was twelve, I was staying at a training center set up like a summer camp. One of the children suffered a seizure. The problem was that her power was fire manipulation. Before the counselors could help, the dorm was on fire. In that moment, knowing I was the only one with powers strong enough, I knew I had to protect the people I loved."

Cole leaned forward. "So what did you do?"

"I pulled out as many of my friends as I could, and then I went for the girl shooting the fire. I flew her out of the building and into the lake next to the camp. I held her under the water until the seizure stopped; only her face was above the water. She was so powerful that the water boiled around us. With her out of the way, the sprinkler systems could do their job. That night, I saved twenty-nine kids and seven adults. If I weren't there, they would have died. Now you have to decide whether you'll answer the call, knowing you can take risks that would be a death sentence for others. I feel I'm a good judge of character, and it's my opinion that you know what you have to do." She stood up and offered her hand. "So are you going to sit in a cell for the next few months while people out there die, or are you going to come with me and make a difference?"

Cole stared at her. Though he felt sick to his stomach, he raised his hand and placed it in hers.

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