"Chris Kent, right? You should be thankful; not many are able to see and even work with such icons," Ashley said.

  "Oh, I am, ma'am," Chris replied.

  "I do wonder," Ashley, his new boss, asked, her finger twitching on the tablet she was holding. "Your performance and academic record are excellent. Why choose my department?"

  "I've always wanted to see how such a big company works," Chris answered with a meaningful smile. "I wanted to see the superheroes on a day-to-day basis, and that was more than enough reason for me to join this department."

  "Well, you made the right choice. Our department handles all hero management, from social media to films and music, and of course, how it impacts the people and..." Ashley continued, as Chris followed behind her. Then, a peculiar figure emerged from the side of the hall—a headless figure in a walking suit, heading toward them.

  Translucent.

  "Hey, Ashley, why is my score so low? And what the hell is the company doing to those who pirate my movies!" a voice sounded from the spot where his mouth should be.

  "We're handling it fine. You don't have to worry. Do better at interviews and—" Ashley said, but Translucent cut him off.

  "Who's this guy? The heck, you have security following you now?" Translucent turned to him. Chris stood behind Ashley, hands behind his back, and was about to answer when Ashley spoke first.

  "New intern. We have to go. We have to come up with catchphrases for your new movie," Ashley said to Translucent.

  "Intern? I didn't know you accepted interns directly under you," Translucent said with a snicker. Ashley simply shook her head and walked away, Chris following her.

  "How was your first meeting with one of the Seven?" Ashley asked as she grabbed her phone. "Oh, and you'll need to do this for me in the future."

  "Of course. And meeting Translucent on the first day, I gotta say, I froze," Chris said wryly. Ashley chuckled.

  Soon the call connected. "A-Train, yes, you need to come tomorrow. Yes, it won't be long, and the sooner this is over, the better... You only need to appear for a short time, and then you're gone..."

  Another member of the Seven spoke through Ashley's phone.

  After that, it was a series of fast-paced work, where they moved from pce to pce, from test groups to film sets, then to commercials, and finally to monitoring polls on social media from different categories.

  Although he already had an idea, Chris learned from day one alone that heroism was all business, all along. Chris clicked his tongue at that.

  "Hey, intern, come here!"

  "Coming!"

  "So, you're coming to the intern party, right?" Stephanie asked.

  "If nothing else comes up, I will," Chris replied.

  Stephanie chuckled, leaning forward. "Then look forward to it; there might be surprises."

  Chris smiled at that, his eyes flicking down slightly before returning to her face. "I've always loved a surprise."

  After a few more minutes of chatter, Chris walked away, head down as he examined the charts on the tablet he was holding, preparing to give a report.

  It was his second day interning at Vought. Yesterday, his boss dragged him all over the pce, introducing him to the tasks he would be performing. Now, he was tasked with handing in reports every day for the week.

  He walked toward the test rooms, writing his report on the tablet, when a figure bumped his shoulder.

  "Watch it—oh, it's the intern," a voice said.

  Chris raised his head and saw no one, his gaze shifting left and right before Translucent's voice sounded again from his side. "Right here, chump. Shit, hey, I need you to drive me somewhere."

  "What? But I need—" Chris tried to say, but Translucent's head appeared out of thin air, only his head visible.

  "Did I stutter?" he said with a dry expression. "Anyway, I'm basically your boss too, so come on."

  Chris hesitated for a moment before sending a message to someone, then followed Translucent.

  Chris stopped the car, and the invisible figure got out.

  "Your car stinks. Clean it better next time," Translucent said. "Wait for me here."

  "Yes, sir," Chris said, leaning back in his seat. It was nighttime, and few people were coming and going.

  He squinted his eyes, and Translucent's figure, vague but visible, appeared in his view. He was curious about what the supe was doing.

  They had tailed a car earlier, following it silently, and he was gd he had learned how to track someone by car; otherwise, they would have been easily noticed.

  One of them got out of the car, which then drove off, and they followed the skinny one of the two. Chris remembered him; he had briefly seen him enter the tower hours ago. Something about a settlement with A-Train.

  But he immediately knew there was nothing special about him, yet Translucent seemed intent on something as they followed him.

  As for the invisible man, he was half-tempted to capture Translucent and have the bs analyze his meta-skin, thinking about whether he could recreate it, but he decided it was too soon to do something.

  Chris released a breath. The guys at the tower had been understanding when he told them that Translucent had commandeered him, so he wasn't worried about his job.

  Not that there was anything in this world enough to worry him.

  For a few seconds, he just sat there, still and silent, before he couldn't take it anymore and narrowed his eyes, his gaze piercing through the walls and into the shop where Translucent had entered. It was just the right time, because an interesting situation was unfolding.

  "I don't know. He was just an Uber driver!"

  "Don't give me that bullshit! Uber driver?!"

  Translucent's voice reached his ears as he saw him lift a TV and drag it toward the bleeding worker.

  "Why'd you pnt the bug?!"

  Chris raised an eyebrow at this, having an idea as to what happened, and he couldn't help but smile at the situation.

  "We're the Seven, Earth's Mightiest," Translucent's voice boomed. "Champions of the innocent!"

  Then something caught his eye as a car barreled onto the sidewalk and then crashed through the store!

  Bang!

  Chris's eyes lit up at what just happened, never believing he would see such an exciting scene on just his second day at work.

  'Truly, superheroes have interesting lives...' he thought, and he started to wonder if he should have started on that path first before trying to work at Vought.

  A battle occurred inside the shop, and Chris was almost tempted to join and take this chance to capture Translucent for himself and interrogate him about what this was all about, when the skinny but tall man electrified Translucent in the ass.

  It was a while before the car that had smashed through the shop drove back out and away, taking Translucent with them, and Chris made sure he wasn't seen.

  After a while, a ugh sounded inside the car.

  It had been a while since something this interesting had happened.

  "Killian..." he said to his watch.

  "Yes, Master Kent?" his AI's voice responded.

  Chris, with a smile looking at the situation, said, "I need you to do something for me."

  17 years ago.

  "Are you listening, Lor-Zod?" his father said to him, to which Lor-Zod immediately nodded.

  "I am, General."

  All kinds of combat bots filled the training ground, and his small stature made him look out of pce.

  "Don't lie. I didn't teach you that," his father narrowed his eyes at him.

  Lor-Zod hesitated for a moment before voicing what he had been thinking ever since the fortress's network managed to connect to this pnet's own network.

  "Will I be able to visit these humans...?" he said, cking confidence in the tter half, and the question turned into a statement.

  His father scowled. "You can visit them when you're strong enough to achieve what our people entrusted to you."

  "Lor-Zod, you are a much superior being compared to the residents of this pnet. Only you can bring Krypton, our people, back, and I will make sure that happens, understand?"

  "Yes, General."

  "Good. Now, set your mind back to the training." The combat bots then unfroze, and all their eyes fixed on him.

  "I'll make sure that the moment you reveal yourself, you'll be unmatched."

  Lor-Zod nodded, focusing on the battle that quickly erupted. Meanwhile, deep inside, he couldn't help but be curious about what it was like out there.