Chapter 6

Victoria might have been a touch dramatic.

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But, Tiff eventually saw the value in her words, and either because she trusted her big sister completely or simply because she had no one else to turn to, she agreed to be taken to the Adventurer’s Union.

They were going to go in, find out if they could see a doctor without an appointment, and go home. No big, long explanations or complicated ruses. Maybe she’d look really weird clamming up and refusing to say a thing, but she didn’t want her debut as a Supervillain to feature a monologue. That would be pure evil.

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When Victoria said they’d go to the Union, Tiff thought they would head to downtown Fullerton, over by the college, where she was pretty sure a bunch of Meta-related offices were located.

Instead, they drove mostly in the opposite direction.

Victoria gave Tiff her word that she would protect her, and Victoria took her job as a [Bodyguard] very seriously. So much so that she steered them very clear of anyone or anything remotely connected to a Hero. Tori’s crappy old Camry realistically had no reason to draw extra attention, but they took the long way around on their way to the Adventurer’s Union.

The really looooong way.

The main branch for the Department of Metahuman Affairs for Los Angeles County was, as expected, in Downtown Los Angeles, nearly 40 miles away. Tiff wouldn’t have expected to go all the way out there even if she’d Awakened as a Citizen like everybody else. But that wasn’t the only branch, just like the DMV, which had a ton of offices scattered all around and yet was still overbooked and understaffed.

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Tiff wasn’t really thinking straight as Victoria parked her car in a parking structure in downtown Irvine. She was busy being paranoid that every eye was on her and had just about convinced herself that the streetlights had security cameras installed when Victoria got out. She walked around the car with a sigh, opened Tiff’s door, unbuckled her, and nearly lifted her out of the seat as she set her on her feet.

“Look, it’s going to be fine,” Victoria said. “It’s why we spent the last 30 minutes fighting traffic on the 5 to come all this way. Irvine’s DMA is on the other side of town and Anaheim’s is the other way. There’s no Hero team anywhere nearby, and if there were, they wouldn’t be loitering around picking up community service. If they’re on the streets, they’ve got bigger fish to fry than a 16-year-old going to get herself Assessed.”

“But what if they take one look at me and lock me up?” Tiff asked. “What if the doctor runs his tests or whatever, sees that I’m a…you know…and throws me in prison?”

“First off,” Victoria chuckled, “That’s a pretty big jump from doctor’s office to prison. You think you’re bad enough to skip jail and go to the big house with the big dogs? Tiff, you wouldn’t even get sent to juvie if you stole a candy bar, and I know how you are about that.”

“But what-?”

“Listen,” Victoria squeezed her hand as she led her forward. Tiff was stalling and it was time to move. “We could talk about buts all day. But this, but that. There’s always another scenario. But…we are here because we are doing everything we can to mitigate our risk. The doctors here are just as skilled as doctors at the DMA. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

“How do you know?” Tiff asked.

“I came here myself to get Assessed,” Victoria shrugged. “Well, not the Irvine branch, but you get what I mean. They ask you some questions, hook you up to a machine that takes readings, and run a few tests based on what it shows. They never even have to look at your System Stats if you don’t want to show them.”

“But what are they supposed to put on my registration if they don’t see my stats?” Tiff asked. Victoria chuckled and shook her head.

“A lot of people get hung up on being ‘registered.’ It’s not nearly as all-encompassing or invasive as Hollywood might have you believe. In fact, you’re already ‘on record’ in so many other ways; this is just another paper in the file. Your social security number? Your birth certificate? Tiff, people give out their fingerprints for jobs all the time. There’s a database for everything.”

“So what are they actually searching for then?” Tiff asked, deflating somewhat. She’d worked herself up, and now she didn’t know what to think.

“Basically, control,” Victoria said. “They want to make sure you’re not involuntarily a danger to those around you. That, and telepathy. Telepaths need to be registered in a database. Oh, shapeshifters, too. Anything that can impersonate someone or rob somebody of their free will.”

“Oh god,” Tiff groaned.

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Victoria led them into a tall office building, filled with people a shade more rough around the edges than even those Tiff had seen in Tori’s guild. The Adventurer’s Union was like…professional league slums. There weren’t obvious homeless encampments, but the sterilized, whitewashed, clean-and-tidy look painstakingly maintained by the city ended abruptly at the sidewalk out front. The planters around the large trees were cracked from years of root growth and neglected maintenance; the paint on the walls was faded and stained with the shadows of dirt and water runoff; and more people than not had bags under their eyes or week-old chin stubble. The clothing on a group of people loitering near the entrance was roughly patched and caked in mud, and they stank. Tiff pinched her nose and wafted her hand in front of her face without realizing what she was doing, earning a few crude guffaws from the crowd.

“50-50 odds on if they’ve washed in the last week,” Victoria whispered sardonically as she held the door open for Tiff. Tiff’s wrinkled nose was scrunched so bad it was getting hard to breathe.

“Their clothes or themselves?” She asked.

“Yes,” Victoria smirked. Tiff rolled her eyes.

“When I become overlord, I’m making it a rule that showers are mandatory,” she declared. Victoria raised an eyebrow but grinned.

“Good to see you getting in character. Will you show mercy to your underlings, or must I bathe too?”

Tiff gave Victoria the stink eye before eventually cracking a smile.

“But seriously, are they adventurers or transients? Is this the only place they can hang out at?”

Victoria pulled Tiff over to the side and stared at her seriously.

“Hey. I know we joke, but maybe give them a little grace, yeah? We don’t know their situation. For your information, many homeless people are adventurers. In many ways, adventuring is the most accepting occupation. Anybody and anyone can join. It’s not always smart, but it’s always there. And,” Victoria smirked, “There are no showers inside a rift. Delving is sweaty work and pits stink.”

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Tiff followed Victoria to the counter, only vaguely paying attention as they booked an Assessment appointment. Normally, Tiff might be more inclined to know exactly what she was getting herself into, but she was still overwhelmed by a walk of life she was vastly unprepared to discover. One large man, wearing black leather with spiked shoulderpads, was finishing up his business and leaving. Tiff didn’t want to stare at the man, but she was transfixed; he had a massive scar over his face, blocked by a rough patch slung crudely over his eye, and his left arm ended abruptly at a nub. He didn’t have a hand. The injury was gruesome and horrifying, but Tiff felt surprisingly little shock, where once her stomach might have involuntarily reacted.

She stared too long. The man jerked his head down in her direction and they locked eyes. Though he was much larger than Tiff, she met his harsh gaze coolly. The man’s eyes flicked up and down her small frame, judgingly, before he scoffed.

“This isn’t the place for you. Leave now.”

He wasn’t being loud or obnoxious, but Tiff heard him plain as day. She could feel him try to exert some sort of menacing, threatening pressure, but strangely, she felt nothing. Like an observer passing judgment on a piece of art.

“Thank you,” was all she said, nodding once curtly. The man’s good eyebrow rose, but he said nothing and kept walking. Eventually, Victoria pulled Tiff to a set of benches where they could wait.

“What was that?” Victoria hissed. Worry was etched on her face, and her tone made it clear she was concerned, but Tiff merely shrugged. It wasn’t until she sat down that she started shaking.

“Easy,” Victoria said, bringing Tiff into a tight hug. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Tori,” Tiff eventually said, trying to keep her voice from cracking. “I’m scared.”

Victoria nodded. She understood. The first time she walked into the Union, heck, even the first time she walked into her Guildhall, she was overwhelmed. It was a big, new, scary place, full of intimidating people. But that didn’t match up with Tiff’s skill, and from what Victoria saw, Tiff was the very image of unflappable aloofness.

“Really?” Victoria asked. “Didn’t seem that way to me.”

Tiff glanced up at her and tilted her head.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Not from that guy. He didn’t scare me, though I think he might have tried. I felt something, I don’t know, wash over me, like stepping into an air-conditioned room after walking around in the sun. Something mild, maybe not pleasant exactly, but I wouldn’t call it uncomfortable. And then I was looking up at a guy who had to be over a foot and a half taller than me, probably weighed twice as much as me, glaring at me like I’d kicked his dog. But honestly…instead of cowering in fear as he, I don’t know, exerted his presence or whatever, all I felt was…mild annoyance at best. No threat at all, like his words were just that: words. I just felt apathetic, like, sure thing bro. That’s…that’s not me. It was my skill. But now my skill is me, and I don’t know who I’m turning into. I don’t like it. I hate it. I don’t want to change!”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Shh,” Victoria cooed calmingly as she hugged Tiff. “You’re not going to change. You’re still going to be you.”

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“So with awakening comes many changes. One day, we wake up, look in the mirror, and wonder who it is that’s staring back at us.”

Tiff gave Victoria a flat, judging stare as the doctor gave them the introductory spiel as he seated them in an examination room. What was Victoria just saying? But Tiff couldn’t sass her sister because the man was still rambling. At first, she hadn’t taken the man for a real doctor.

He had a lab coat and scrubs on, but otherwise resembled many of the other occupants of the building in the fact that it looked like he hadn’t seen a razor in days. But instead of looking wild and homeless, it gave him a sort of rugged charm…which only mildly detracted from his doctor-ness. He finished giving his pre-packaged Awakening speech by running a hand through his unkept hair, running his fingers through the luscious brown locks in a way that made Tiff fidget.

She didn’t realize there was a market for calendars featuring rugged doctors, but there was now.

They don’t even have to be shirtless. They can just pose with random things like stethoscopes or tongue depressors…or, okay, maybe one or two buttons on the shirt can be undone….

Tiff shook her head, realizing the man, Doctor Mark Waters, had probably just asked her a question, and she was spacing out like an idiot. Part of her wanted to play it off cool, but that pesky Quirk of hers made itself known as she opened her mouth.

“Are you really a doctor?”

The man wasn’t insulted by Tiff’s bluntness. In fact, he laughed.

“You bet!” He said with a massive smile. “I’m a [Combat Medic]. I might not look like your standard hospital suit, but I’ve got my degree right there.”

He pointed at the wall, where, sure enough, a framed diploma hung…slightly off-center. Tiff wanted to jump off the examination bed she was sitting on and straighten it out, but now was not the time.

“So how about we get right to it, yes?” Dr. Waters asked with a kind smile. “I’ve been told you’ve just Awakened and, well, I’ll be honest, bedside manners have never been my strong suit. You’re here because you want to avoid some of the Affinity questions going to the DMA might bring up.”

Tiff stared at the man. He certainly didn’t mince words. He wasn’t wrong, though, and she glanced at Victoria, wondering what she had said when booking their appointment that tipped them off. Had she been as blunt as this guy? Perhaps it was for the best.

“Yes,” she said eventually. One strange tidbit that had always stuck with her from everything she had ever heard about doctors was this: don’t lie to your doctor because they’ll find out the truth anyway.

Not that lying outright was a problem (or possible) for Tiff, but she didn’t feel the need to try to deflect either.

The man seemed interested as he crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow.