Mr. Boyle was not an especially old man but he carried himself with the sort of know-it-all dignity of an aged and learned professor. He was an Extrahuman - you had to be to teach at a Super school - but nobody had managed to crack exactly what his powers were. If you asked him point blank he would just laugh and then continue on like you hadn’t said a thing.

  He was something of an enigma in the school. The other teachers treated him with more respect, the headmistress didn’t talk down to him, and he had a quiet composure about him. Hob had always figured that Boyle just didn’t have to be there, and him turning up every day was some sort of charity that he was doing for the sixth form.

  Mr. Boyle was taking them through the events of the Great Chaos when powers suddenly started appearing and how that influenced the events of today. It was a specialised module that he was fond of, taught only in this school. Marcus enjoyed his classes as the man was a wealth of knowledge and did what he could to approach history with impartiality and respect. About halfway through the topic he clapped his hands together and spoke.

  “Alright! As part of our foray into modern history, we’ll be talking about the rules surrounding vigilantes and how that plays into the current spat between Spaceman and Cape. It seems to be just a matter of time until Spaceman is branded a vigilante, given that he’s already been removed from his position in the Super League and that the Super League is now strengthening regulations against vigilantes. So, we’ll start with vigilantism. Are you for or against? Anyone?”

  Marcus did have a lot of opinions, but he thought it best to keep them to himself. He didn’t really have any friends in this class - even Charlie and Danny weren’t here as they didn’t take history. Mr. Boyle seemed neutral, but it was still a Super school. They were subsidised and controlled by the Super League, so it might be risky to voice his true opinions anyway.

  A few people spoke up, all balanced and middle of the ground. Vigilantism was a popular thing among the aspiring Supers, even if only in spirit. Coming out strongly against it would come off a bit cringe, but nobody wanted to go against the official

  Cassie was in this class too. The purple haired girl may have dressed all artsy but Marcus remembered that she loved history and maths. Marcus was surprised to hear her pipe up, given her recent escapades. He looked around.

  “I think vigilantism can be very necessary,” she said. “When the Super League refuses to do what’s right and no longer lives up to their own ideals, then we as Extrahumans have a duty to humanity.”

  All in all, this topic wasn’t completely unfamiliar to Hob and neither were Cassie's opinions on it. Back when they were just getting their powers and being sorted into new schools, Hob and Cassie had grown very close. A shared rebellious streak. Both had been very pro-vigilantism at a time when it was safer to do so. They had been very distrustful of the Super League, what it stood for, and its role in the events of the Great Chaos.

  Hob hadn’t changed much since those days, least of all since his own friend had gone down under the full brunt of anti-vigilantism laws. Cassie however had been radicalised the other way. Hob didn’t like the League of Supers. Cassie didn’t either, but only because she thought the current regime didn’t go far enough. That it was going too slow in its attempts to flatten humanity, Extrahumans included. All in all, Marcus wasn’t a fan. But Cassie was a true believer, more dedicated to the cause than Cape himself.

  She’d have had Spaceman executed in public if she was running the Super League, Marcus thought.

  None of the others in her little vigilante crew were in their class. He wondered how they’d feel about her outburst. It was very Cassie. But she got some support in agreement from some of the other students.

  Hob was very sympathetic to Spaceman’s cause. At base, the man wanted to set up a moon base. That was it. That was what led to the great schism, the great quarrel between the two strongest Extrahumans in the Super League. Cape didn’t want him doing that though. Cape wanted him to continue his activities down here on Earth.

  Which was fair. Spaceman did a lot to help keep the world going. If he removed himself from the ecosystem then who knows what might happen. Spaceman did a lot to feed the starving. If he went, how many might die?

  But did that mean Spaceman was supposed to be shackled to Earth until he died? Spaceman was the first Extrahuman on the moon, in 1960. It was the act that had got him his name. The man believed that humanity would be better off colonising the nearby planets than stagnating on Earth. Hob thought it was a beautiful dream. Cassie didn’t.

  Marcus wasn’t allowed to say so. Cassie was. Marcus still thought it was a bit brave of her to defend vigilantism after the assembly this morning.

  “And what do you think vigilantes should be doing then?” asked Mr. Boyle.

  “Stopping radical Extrahumans like Spaceman,” said Cassie.

  “What exactly is so radical about Spaceman?” scoffed Marcus. He knew he shouldn’t have spoken up, but there was always something that just got to him about Cassie. He knew he wouldn’t have said anything if it was someone else.

  “A good question. Looks like we’re on that topic already,” said Mr. Boyle. “Cassie?”

  “Well one, he wants to kill a bunch of people just to satisfy his frail ego,” said Cassie. “For two, he’s probably going to end up getting all those other idiots on his “moon base” killed as well. Most of his “heroic feats” were done by other people anyway.”

  That was completely ridiculous. This was another thing that always got to him. The snark. The condescension.

  A lot of people were agreeing. A few people hobgoblin respected, which made him feel a little disappointed in them. And a little more alone.

  Don’t rise to it. Don’t put a target on your back. He tried talking himself out of it. The last thing he wanted was to be put on some sort of list and then tracked. That would be absolutely terrible for his missions with Construct.

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  “Well why don’t humans go up?” asked a random person. Kai. “Surely Super tech would enable them to go up? And us without powers to survive up there?”

  “Ah! Now that’s another interesting question. How would human technology have developed if Extrahumans didn’t start appearing when we did. Maybe humanity already would have had a moon base up there?” asked Mr. Boyle.

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Cassie. “Regular humans aren’t more or less deserving of life depending on whether they can get to the moon or not.”

  Nobody was saying they weren’t. Marcus held back the reply.

  “Deserving of life, sure,” said another student. Gemma. “But we’re talking about going to the moon. Why do they deserve to go if they can’t get there themselves?”

  Cassie replied back, fiery. "Humans would go up if they didn't have to spend all their time and money because Extrahumans can't just behave. Can you imagine how draining it must be to be a regular human, Extras flying around and causing chaos and damage? Always having to keep an eye on the skies? It's not the moon they're looking up at, they're looking out for Supers." She spat. "Extrahumans shouldn't speak about going to the moon until humans speak first."

  There was a silence after that. Of course, thought Marcus, make humans out to be pitiful victims that we have to take care of and nobody wants to speak against that. Nobody thinks a human could take care of themselves. And nobody wanted to be thought of as thinking that maybe Extrahumans shouldn’t have to dedicate their lives to taking care of everyone else. That made you a bad person, a bad Extrahuman - this was something that had been hammered into their brains for years. But there was an obvious line between that and seeing humans as practically babies that Extrahumans had to dedicate all their time to, otherwise they were bad people.

  But if nobody else was going to speak up, Marcus had to.

  "I think we ought to go the moon. Spaceman ought to be allowed to do it. We have an obligation to lift ourselves up as high as we can. Only then can we bring everyone else with us."

  "It's not fair to others. Spaceman shouldn't be concerned with his ego," said Cassie. One trick pony, thought Hob.

  “I think he’s concerned with humanity. All of us,” replied Marcus.

  “Extrahumanity maybe. How many humans has he selected to go with him?”

  “Well humans don’t have powers that allow them to survive in the vacuum of space.”

  “And when he creates his segregated colony-”

  “Segregated by necessity.”

  "So you think Extrahumans should be given rights and privileges above others do you?" said Cassie smugly.

  "They're not being given anything, they already have those abilities. You just want to stop them from being able to use them. To hamstring them," said Marcus.

  “I want them to use those abilities for good,” said Cassie. “The good of everybody, not just themselves.”

  “And how much are they expected to give? When is enough, enough?”

  “When Extrahumanity and humanity are treated fairly.”

  “They are treated fairly,” said Marcus.

  “Extrahumans are given so many privileges already, they’d have to do a lot for humanity for it to be fair!” said Cassie.

  “Like what?”

  “Like not thinking that they can just abandon Earth. Extrahumans don’t get to do that.”

  “Trailblazing a new land for all of humanity, not abandoning Earth.”

  “Extrahumans can just decide to do that. Again what makes them think they can do that whilst humanity suffers? Why do they deserve that?”

  "Extrahumans already can do things others can't. Them being continuously held down-"

  "Held down!?" She spluttered incredulously.

  "Yes held down from reaching their true potential-"

  "Oh of course, you're one of those guys. The kind of person that thinks Extrahumans should be able to do whatever they want and regular humans should just have to take it because they're lesser." She interrupted again.

  "No I think everyone - humans included - should be pushed to reach their full potential, not forcibly brought down to the same level as everyone else. Everyone should be pushed for greatness. Yes, Extrahumans are going to be overrepresented in that, but so what? There are some things that certain Extrahumans are better at. If humans can't go to the moon but Extrahumans can, what's the problem with that?"

  "We have a responsibility to create an even playing field because we've got powers, not in spite of it. Why do Extrahumans deserve to have something but regular humans don't?"

  "It's the opposite. If Extrahumans have the power to do something regular humans can't, they have a responsibility to do it. To lead the way. Cape should be encouraging this, not keeping everyone down, halting progress. Spaceman creating an Extrahuman moon colony is the only way of ever getting regular humans up there too." There was a tension in the classroom now. Nobody talked bad about Cape.

  "You're such a fucking Extrahuman supremacist." She scowled at him. Marcus rolled his eyes and was tempted to shrug and say what could he do? But no he thought, he wasn't going to let her get away with that.

  "Why is it supremacist to want people to take responsibility for the power they have, instead of pretending they don't have it?" He shot back.

  "Alright, hold on." Said Mr. Boyle. "This is getting out of hand. I've got a question for you Marcus." He straightened up, readying for the attack on the new front. "Why should humans want to be in space at all? And why should Extrahumans? Don't you think it would be better if Spaceman and his colony spent their time fixing earth, feeding the hungry and the needy? Isn't that progress? Why is creating a moon colony more important than that? Why is that the priority?"

  Hobgoblin didn't know what to say for a second. He was processing the argument. Because it's cool wouldn't exactly go down well. Because there'll always be the needy and the hungry? didn't exactly feel like an answer that would be accepted either. It was hard to formulate a response. There were lots of reasons.

  "Well becoming a multi-planetary species-"

  "Because he's a fucking Extrahuman supremacist even though he's got fucking shit powers." Cassie interrupted again and a couple of people jeered along at him.

  Hobgoblin turned to her and fixed her with a glare. "Fuck you." He said, full of venom. He was so sick of having his opinions dismissed out of hand by some jumped up wannabe who thought she was better than him, that he could almost feel the transformation occurring, as if his ears would sharpen and tusks might grow and his skin might turn yellow any second. Make him strong enough that he could dash across the room and show her whether or not he had shit powers. They’d gone toe to toe before and he’d come out on top.

  "Enough! That's enough discussion for today. It was a heated discussion and that’s fine, but remember to be kind to one another. You can all go early. Marcus, Cassie, can you stay?"

  Marcus waited as all the other students shuffled out. A few of them shot him friendly looks that he read as “you’re in trouble now”. Maybe he’d said what a few of them were thinking and they were glad he’d taken the fall. He just smiled back.