A man in a white lab coat, brown hair streaked with white signs of age, stood next to a window. He looked down and scoffed.
"Every year we let a group of those gremlins come in here and desecrate the place. All for what? Publicity."
The clicking of heels approached.
"Now, now, Doctor Mathers, no need to insult our guests."
"Easy for you to say, Cathy. You're not the one who has to answer all the stupid questions they come loaded with," the doctor said.
"It's Doctor Lacy," she corrected him. A beautiful young woman in a red dress and lab coat appeared from behind him.
"Stop being angry. If you stay like that too long, your face will be stuck that way," she laughed.
"Out of all the inventions I've created and advancements in technology I've helped make, I'm still giving out tours like some kind of receptionist," he scoffed.
"That's because the children love you," Dr. Lacy said as she walked away, laughing.
Outside the building, murmurs filled the air, a mix of excitement and curiosity.
"It's even more epic in real life! The magazines don't do it justice!" Delis screamed.
The students stood in front of Infiniverse Labs — the place where the miracle of boosts took place. The building was massive, too huge to fit into their line of sight. They had to turn their heads just to get a full view.
"So many floors. I wonder what they do in all those rooms," Siri wondered aloud.
"They make superheroes!" one of the boys shouted.
A girl wearing glasses replied smugly, "Occam's razor, Lanny. Of course they give people superpowers here; she's asking why they need such a huge facility to do it."
"Look at Calliope trying to be smart. No one asked you, four—"
Mr. Port turned around and glared at the students. They fell silent.
"A rowdy bunch you have this year, Mr. Port," a man in a suit said, walking out of the building.
He was an older white man with a well-groomed lawyer look and a proud smile.
"Immature, if you ask me. Can't believe they're graduating in a few weeks," Mr. Port added.
"Good morning, kids. I'm—"
"You're Mr. Oken, one of the heads at Infiniverse Labs, specifically dealing with innovation," Calliope said proudly.
"Four-eyes," a voice murmured from the students.
"Well, I'm surprised by your knowledge, young lady," Mr. Oken said. "You have a smart bunch this year, Mr. Port."
"If you think so," Mr. Port muttered.
"Well, since the young lady was kind enough to introduce me, let's not waste any time. Let's get on with the tour."
Mr. Oken walked ahead, and the doors opened wide.
"Dude, we're actually here!" Delis said with a smile.
Ulim, tired-eyed and indifferent, walked alongside his excited friend.
"I don't know why you're excited. We don't get the superpower procedure until graduation day. This is just a tour of the lab."
"Students, welcome to Infiniverse Labs' main branch."
The students were taken aback by how huge the interior was. The place looked more like a cathedral than a lab. Scientists walked on different floors; some drove golf carts on the ground floor. Different colored lines on the floor marked various departments.
"If you're done taking it all in, students, I'd like you to meet someone," Mr. Oken said.
A scientist approached. He looked to be in his late 50s, with more and more gray hairs showing, no smile on his aged, brown face.
"Hey four-eyes, want to tell us who that is?" Lanny said smugly.
"Well, since you love being fed basic information, Lanny, I'll oblige. That is Dr—"
"I'm Dr. Mathers," the man interrupted. "I will be your guide today. You can call me Doctor or Sir."
"Such a fun guy, isn't he?" Delis whispered to his friend.
"I'll leave you to it. Please enjoy the tour," Mr. Oken said and left the group.
"Here at Infiniverse Labs, we have four major departments: Research, Binding, Containment, and my favorite — Surveillance," Dr. Mathers said, pointing at each wing respectively.
"Now, we'll begin in the Research wing. Follow the yellow line."
They all walked beside the yellow line toward the Research wing. The students huddled close together.
"In this department, we spearhead research on superpowers, test their limits, how they fit into society, and, most importantly, we rate their intensity," he smiled. "Separating the real heroes from the commoners."
"Any questions?"
Silence.
Mr. Mathers started walking.
"Sir," a voice pierced the silence.
"What is it?" he scoffed.
"Sir, I would like to know—is there a way to hand-pick a boost? I mean, superpower?" Delis asked.
"Sorry to disappoint, boy, but we haven't gotten to that point yet. Let me guess, you want to join the HDF?" he hissed.
"Well, yeah, that wouldn't be so bad," Delis said awkwardly.
"Well, too bad. The power given is random," he said as he continued walking.
"Next department!" he shouted.
"Blue line."
"Welcome to the Surveillance department," he smiled.
"First, the restrictor band."
"Mr. Port, hold out your right hand."
Mr. Port held out his right hand. A wristband-like device was strapped there, silver with a faint blue glowing line.
"You all know these by now: restrictor bands. These devices serve three purposes: one, to monitor the intensity of the individual's superpower; two, to monitor how they use their superpower; three, to know their location at all times," he explained, pointing at the bracelet.
"Sounds like a device to keep us in check," someone said sarcastically.
"Precisely," the doctor exclaimed. "Having a superpowered individual running around willy-nilly is a stupid idea. People cannot be trusted — who knows what they could do? It only takes one person with the right superpower to burn this world down," he said, looking directly at the children.
"But what if I don't want the restrictor band?" Lenny asked.
"No superpower for you, then," the doctor answered with a crooked smile.
The group of kids fell silent.
"Next department!" the doctor shouted again.
"Red line."
"Welcome to the Containment department. For reasons I cannot go into detail, you can't enter this side of the lab," he said, standing at the main entrance to the wing.
"Sir, why can't we go in?" Delis asked.
Mr. Mathers looked visibly annoyed. "I just exp—"
The doors of the department opened, and a lady in a red dress and lab coat appeared. Her restrictor band was fashioned around her wrist like a belt. She had brownish-red hair that complemented her dark skin and lovely features.
"Now, now, Dr., don't lose your temper. I'll tell them," she said, walking past Dr. Mathers. "You see, children, this department houses some dangerous individuals who refused to wear restrictor bands. It's too dangerous to put some superpowered people in jail, so we built this department specifically to contain them."
"Hey, buddy, did you hear what she said?" Ulim said, slapping Delis on the back of the head.
Delis snapped out of his infatuation. "Yeah... yeah, I got it."
"Of course you did," Ulim scoffed.
"Ma'am, how do you contain them since they have no restrictor bands on? Can't they just use their boosts?" Siri asked.
"Well, we have an extraction team built to deal with such situations, and the rooms here act like nullifiers. When they're in there, they're just normal humans," Dr. Lacy smiled.
The kids were impressed.
"Next department!" a voice shouted.
"But they're still curious," Dr. Lacy said, looking at Dr. Mathers.
"I don't have time for this, Cathy," he said, walking past.
"It's Dr. Lacy," she added.
The kids followed Dr. Mathers to the next department. Dr. Lacy was left pouting.
"Follow the white line."
They arrived at the Binding department. This one was different; it was split into two sections. One had a large device attached to the ceiling that looked like a downward-facing space radio antenna. Below it were eight seats with straps hanging from them.
The other section was bigger, with a machine at the center of the room. Scientists swarmed around it like ants, ministering and recording.
"Welcome to the most important part of Infiniverse Labs, the—"
Mark jumped to life. "The binding facility, where I'll get my super strength!" he said, pointing to the room with the chairs.
"No, I'm talking about the other section," the doctor said, pointing to the room with the machine. "What you're looking at right now is humanity's greatest invention: the Unicollider. This machine makes it all happen. It's the beating heart of modern humanity. Aside from giving people powers, it also supplies all the energy we will ever need," the doctor said, walking toward the section.
He smiled. "This machine works by—"
"Sorry for interrupting, Dr. Mathers," Mr. Oken walked in with a guest.
Valiant, one of the members of the HDF and their leader, stood there. His restrictor band was fashioned like a ring on his left fourth finger.
He wore a red superhero suit with black accents. White hair framed a handsome face, with a muscular build, and a flaming red tattoo on his right forearm that glowed against his white skin. Black tactical gloves with red palms completed the look.
The students went wild. They were completely losing it.
"Calm down, students!" Mr. Port shouted, trying to hide his own excitement.
"Good day, students," Valiant said.
"Good day, sir!" the students replied in unison.
"I was just in the building and thought I'd pop by to say hi," Valiant said.
"Mr. Valiant, sir, can I get an autograph?" one student asked.
"Can I get one, too?" another said.
"Me, too!" another added.
"Okay, I'll give you all autographs," Valiant said.
Meanwhile, at the back:
"It's hard to believe that's Mark's father. It's a pity he didn't inherit any of the looks or manners," Ulim whispered to his friend.
A laugh erupted from Delis.
"What's going on back there, you two?" Mr. Port asked curiously.
"Nothing, sir," they both replied.
"Valiant, always so humble," Mr. Oken laughed.
"Well, Mr. Valiant isn't just here to say hi—we have a treat for you today."
Mark stepped out of the crowd and walked to the front.
"As you know, Mark is the son of Mr. Valiant here, so we picked him to show you that the superpower binding system is totally safe. So—"
"Wait, you mean he gets to have powers today?" Lanny interrupted.
"Yes," Mr. Oken replied.
The students were shocked.
Two scientists walked in and escorted Mark to the chairs, sat him down, and strapped him in.
"Now, Dr. Mathers, can you do your part?" Mr. Oken said.
Dr. Mathers walked to a control terminal in the binding room. The students remained outside with Valiant and Mr. Oken. Another scientist walked among the students, giving them safety glasses, and locked the door to the binding room.
"Let's begin," Dr. Mathers said.
"Check collision timing."
"Align the Unicollider." The machine in the other room started flashing and emitting energy. The antenna-like device glowed.
"Initiate binding," the doctor ordered.
A bolt of purplish-blue energy jumped from the antenna to the chairs. For a moment, the room filled with light.
"EMERGENCY!!! SYSTEM OVERLOAD!!!
EMERGENCY!!! SYSTEM OVERLOAD!!!
EMERGENCY!!! SYSTEM OVERLOAD!!!
EMERGENCY!!! SYSTEM OVERLOAD!!!"
"Sir, the Unicollider is absorbing way too much energy!" one scientist shouted.
The scientists started moving away from the machine as the energy it emitted darkened.
"Everyone evacuate the Unicollider section now!" Mathers shouted.
"Initiate draining now!" he ordered.
"Sir, we can't drain all that energy fast enough!"
"Can we shut it down?" he asked.
"Well, sir, the binding process is complete, so yes," a scientist replied.
"Then shut it down!" the doctor shouted.
"Initiating shutdown."
The students outside the binding room grew nervous; some were already scared at what was happening. Even Mr. Port started sweating.
"Don't worry, kids. Dr. Mathers is our top scientist. He'll handle this. And if push comes to shove, we have Valiant here with us," Mr. Oken assured the students.
"Shutting down in 3... 2—"
The Unicollider suddenly shot out a shockwave of dark energy that filled the room and shattered the safety glass. Then it returned to normal functioning.
"What just happened?" Dr. Mathers asked.
"I don't know, sir," said a nearby scientist.
"Shut it down anyway."
"Yes, sir."
Meanwhile, in the binding room, the light dimmed. There was Mark.
His features had changed: his hair matched his father's white, his muscles more pronounced, and his pupils glowed orange.
"Are you okay, kid?" a scientist asked while unstrapping his arms.
"I'm... I'm—"
"EMERGENCY!!! EMERGENCY!!!
ESCAPE HAPPENING IN CONTAINMENT!!!
ESCAPE HAPPENING IN CONTAINMENT!!!"
"Well, looks like it's time to be a hero," Valiant said, running toward the containment department.
Mark snapped the rest of his straps and ran after his father.
The other students and Mr. Port were left stunned. Mr. Oken just smiled.
"Dr. Lacy, what happened here?" Valiant asked as he arrived at containment.
"Well, the energy surge disabled the nullifiers in the rooms, and one of the people escaped. We managed to catch the rest before they got away," she replied.
"What's his power?" he asked quickly.
"Well, it's—"
"THE ESCAPEE IS HEADED FOR THE EXIT!!!"
"I don't have time. I'll deal with it," Valiant said, running to the exit.
The escapee was almost free. He turned his boost on: fire manipulation. His body was enveloped in flames to ward off the capture squad.
Five meters till freedom,
Four,
Three,
Two—
He reached out his hand, ready to burn the door and escape. Wait — something in his peripheral vision: a fist.
SPLAT! He hit a wall and his boost turned off.
And who punched him? None other than Mark.
"Kids, we'll have to end the tour here. Security will accompany you to your bus," Mr. Oken said.
On the bus, the students praised Mark for being a hero, asking him questions about his new boost.
Mark basked in all the glory, showing off his restrictor band, worn on the same finger as his father's.
Meanwhile, Ulim was slumped against the window.
"Dude, are you zoning off again in a situation like this?" Delis asked, shaking his friend.
"I don't feel so good," Ulim said drowsily. His eyes were sunken and his skin looked off.
Delis picked up a shard of glass from the back of the bus.
"Dude, where were you when that machine went crazy? Don't tell me you zoned out while lying next to that room."
"So what if I did? The machine didn't explode or anything; the glass just shattered and some fell on me. I'll be fine. I guess it's just my sleep catching up to me. I didn't get much last night," he said, closing his eyes.
Back at the lab:
"Well, your son got your boost just as promised," Mr. Oken smirked.
"Yes, and with how much power was infused into him, he'll be even more powerful than me. Now I just need to guide him," Valiant added.
The door to the office they were in burst open. Dr. Mathers stood there, furious.
"You two almost killed us all!" he yelled.
"Almost... Doctor... Almost," Mr. Oken smirked.
Both Valiant and Mr. Oken walked out of the office, leaving Dr. Mathers standing there with a mixture of anger and shock.
"Those monsters," he muttered to himself.