We walked through the double doors of the superhero association's massive office building.
As we entered, Asher sighed. I could only assume he sighed, dreading all the work we had to do today.
Liam was as happy as ever. Whenever he is at work, it seems as if he is in his element.
Personally, I am indifferent to work; I only see it as a means to an end. It's not bad, but it's not good; it's just fine.
As we walked in, all around us was white polished furniture, along with blue cylinders holding up the tremendous building. Honestly, I have no clue how it doesn't collapse. It is a feat of architecture. As I kept walking, I saw a man in a navy blue suit with a matching tie. He was talking to the receptionist, and as he noticed Liam and Asher, he rushed over to talk to them about God knows what. He then looked at me and told me I was doing a good job.
My boss is named Henry Tailor. He is an extremely rich man who owns the superhero organization. I would say he is one of the most powerful—if not the most powerful—figures in the country, as he has countless powerful superheroes at his beck and call.
Liam noticed I was deep in thought and tapped me on the shoulder, asking if I was alright.
I replied, "I'm fine, and I would like to talk to him in private at lunch."
He had a curious look on his face as he asked, "Why?"
I simply responded, "I'll tell you later; don't worry about it."
Asher didn't seem to notice that we were talking, nor did he seem to care. He was probably just tired.
I separated from my friends, as we all work in different sectors of the association.
I work in the financial department, making sure all the money is where it should be and that no extortion is going on, all while being in charge of budgeting. I am extremely underpaid, and the reason I don't speak out about my salary is that who knows what kind of reaction they might have.
Liam works in the calls department and calls out superheroes when there is trouble—almost like a police dispatcher.
Asher works in the information unit, which handles all the superheroes' private information along with many civilians' information.
As I walked to my desk, my assistant, Kathrine, offered me a cup of coffee. I politely refused her kind gesture, as I do not like the taste of coffee.
As I began to work, I started to zone out and speculate more about my powers. For example, do they only affect me? Is there a way to create more than one at a time? Can I make one appear permanently?
After around an hour of thinking about all kinds of possibilities, I got a tap on my shoulder. It was Kathrine. "It's lunchtime now, Mr. Gray," she said. I responded, "Thanks, I'll be on my break for an hour. I'll see you then. Bye."
She replied, "Bye," as I walked away.
I immediately pulled out my phone and began to message Liam, asking if he could meet me in the park a mile away from the association. He told me he would "be there in a minute," so I got going.
As I arrived at the park, I walked over to a bench, admiring all the greenery surrounding me. I got a message from Liam telling me that he was nearly there, so I sat down and played some games on my phone for a moment.
A minute later, Liam appeared with sweat dripping down his face, as if he had a bucket of water thrown on him. I asked, "Are you alright, Liam?" He then explained that he had been on a run before this because he got dismissed from his workstation early. "Lucky," I said in response. He then sat down next to me, and we began to talk about what we had done so far at work today.
He then asked me what it was that I wanted to tell him.
"Oh, my bad, I forgot," I said.
"It's fine. Come on, tell me. I've been guessing all day. Have you finally got a girlfriend?" Liam joked.
I told him, "I think I've got superpowers, but it doesn't make any sense because I haven't been around any superheroes or superpowered people before."
He then asked in a very serious manner, "What kind of superpowers?"
I told him all about yesterday and how it might be realistic illusions that I can interact with, or creating something out of nothing.
He then said, "Finn, the reason you got these powers may be because…"
Liam went silent for one minute, then two minutes, until he finally spoke up after three minutes: "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this before, but I have superpowers."
"What do you mean?" I replied, confused.
"Finn, I couldn't tell you because it's not just that I have superpowers, but…"
He once again went silent for two minutes until I asked, "What are you, a supervillain or something?" I remarked sarcastically.
"No!" Liam exclaimed.
"But I am a superhero that works for the association," he said solemnly, as if he never wanted to tell me.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" I replied heatedly.
"Because I didn't want anyone other than the association to know, and because the association would silence whoever finds out about my identity," Liam said solemnly.
"Silence…" I muttered, thinking that the hero association might not be all good after all.
After a moment, I stopped zoning out, thinking about the association, and looked at Liam, wondering what superhero he was, so I decided to ask him.
"Liam, what superhero are you and what are your powers?" I asked curiously.
"Ultraman," he replied.
"Ultraman," I muttered. If I remember correctly, he is currently an A-level superhero—one of the strongest in the country—with super strength, super speed, and flying.
"Wow," I responded.
"Don't tell anyone," Liam said with a worried tone.
"I won't," I replied confidently.
"Thanks," Liam responded.
"What should I do about my powers?" I asked worriedly.
He replied, "Confidently meet me here tomorrow," while messaging me a location on his phone.