"-I'm Omega."
The name had taken a few days to come up with. He didn't want a flashy title like Omni-Man or War Woman. Omega was the last letter in the Greek alphabet. It was often used to represent completion or the end.
"Nice to mee you Omega. My name is Robot. We are the Teen Team." Robot stretched out his intact arm and gestured to the other members of the team.
Rex-Splode rolled his eyes, "Pretty sure we had things under control new guy!"
Dupli-Kate elbowed him in the side. Rex-Splode yelped in pain, "What the fuck did you do that for?"
Dupli-Kate groaned exasperatedly, "For being such an asshole!"
Three identical clones turned to Omega and smiled, "Thank you for your help. Ignore Rex, he's got a potato chip for a brain."
Atom-Eve sighed and interjected, "He's lovable-"
The words sounded wrong the moment they left her mouth. She paused and shook her head, "-he's bearable at least."
"Thanks Omega, for the hand. That guy's skin was tougher than steel." Atom-Eve said.
Alex still hadn't quite gotten used to going by a superhero name. It was the first time he'd heard his name spoken by someone standing in front of him, rather than reading it on GDA' reports or hearing it on the news. He put aside the slightly strange feeling, "It's a pleasure to meet you guys. I'm a fan."
His earpiece crackled to life. The voice came out slightly distorted as if there was some kind of interference, "What's the situation Alex? We haven't been able to reach you."
Alex looked across the dozens of criminals being tied up by Dupli-Kate's clones. The ringleader was still fast asleep on the ground.
"All taken care of. Ready for clean-up." He said aloud. The earpiece's microphone transmitted his voice to a GDA facility underneath the Pentagon.
"Copy that. A crew is on its way." Dr Molay replied.
The GDA facility was enormous. It was more than triple the size of the above-ground Pentagon. Dr Molay typed rapidly on her keyboard. The keys clicked and new lines of data were added to Alex's database.
"How's the kid doing?" The unmistakeable voice made her look up sharply.
The GDA's director stood behind her holding a cup of coffee.
"Sir! His performance is scoring in the top band in all areas." Dr Molay reported. The usual steadiness in her voice was slightly shaky. Cecil's influence on the GDA was absolute. She'd only seen him once or twice in hallways. He was permanently surrounded by senior agents seeking his opinion.
Cecil nodded. He sipped his coffee, "I like him. He's a good kid. Nifty powers and quick-thinking."
He frowned and stared more closely at Dr Molay's computer screen. He moved his hand to the mouse. Dr Molay hurriedly moved her own hand away.
Cecil navigated the cursor to the corner of the screen. He clicked and pulled up another section of Alex's database.
"Omega huh, not an awful name." He said. His eyes scanned through the lines of information.
"He's fast, he's strong-" He paused. A clip of Alex's hand deforming and elongating inside the worshipper of the Almighty's chest played.
Cecil snorted and continued, "-and he can do whatever the hell that is with his hands. So what's the explanation? He picked up some kind of magic gemstone or kissed some god's ass?"
"No sir. According to him they appeared one day out of the blue." Dr Molay answered.
Cecil groaned and ran his hand across his balding head, "Of course."
"The shit-show continues." He muttered under his breath.
As the director of the most powerful organization in the history of earth, he had access to information that would fry the mind of an ordinary person. He'd walked through the tombs of forgotten gods, stopped supervillains from blowing up cities, and yet somehow, there were still more surprises waiting for him to find them.
"Any luck persuading the Teen Team to come work with us? I'd feel a hell of a lot safer if a teenage girl who can rearrange fucking-matter wasn't running around the city playing vigilante." Cecil asked.
Dr Molay winced slightly, "No sir. They still wish to remain independant."
Cecil sighed, "Wonderful."
He stood up and stretched his shoulders. He turned to leave. He spoke without looking back, "Good work Molay. Keep it up.
Dr Molay's stiff expression relaxed. She sighed with relief. There were rumours of things that Cecil had done or ordered to protect the planet. The decisions he made were always in the interest of the greater good. She didn't know if she would ever have the heart to make calls like that.
"Perhaps you would like to visit our base in this city Omega? It would be a pleasure to host you." Robot asked. The fingers of his intact hand whirred and split off into small tools that began to weld and repair his other injured hand.
Alex smiled. The black and white costume he'd designed included a mask that covered all of his face. His lips, eyes and nose were the only facial features that remained exposed.
"I'd like that." He answered.
"Excellent." Robot's synthesised voice was able to mimic the inflection of human emotions. He sounded happy that Omega had agreed.
A floating vehicle flew in through the broken window. Technology that Alex couldn't understand allowed it to move freely in the air. The craft stopped a few inches off the ground. Robot stepped into the driver's seat.
The GDA clean-up crew had arrived quietly. They set to work cuffing and restraining the criminals. The ringleader still didn't wake up when a large collar was placed around his neck. No one hurried to provide medical treatment for his injuries.
The rest of the teen team hopped onto the floating vehicle. There was enough space for one more person. Alex sat down with them.
"Please hold on." Robot instructed.
The vehicle began to rise. The motors hummed. It's speed accelerated suddenly and they flew out the broken window and into the skies. Alex noted that the craft's speed was only slightly slower than his own.
"Yeah baby! Punch it!" Rex whooped. His hands glowed and he injected explosive energy into a handful of coins. He threw them behind the vehicle and cheered louder as they exploded into fireworks.
Robot's green eyes flashed. His auditory processing systems calculated the decibels produced by the explosions, "Rex. Please refrain from doing that. The sounds from the explosions may frighten residents of the city."
"Knock it off Rex. People are scared enough already." Atom-Eve said. She seemed to always have the same exasperated tone when talking to Rex.
"You guys are no fun!" Rex complained. He shoved his hands into his pockets and watched the city below go by. The pout on his face made him look more like a young child than a nearly grown man.
Alex refrained from rolling his eyes at the childish behaviour.
"Have you eaten, Omega?" Robot asked. The floating-vehicle somehow moved almost frictionless through the air. There was no noisy engine or drag. The technological principles behind the vehicle were extraordinary.
The chrome-coloured hero spoke in a slightly odd way. He seemed to be doing his best to appear human.
Alex shook his head and replied, "Not yet."
"Do you enjoy burritos?"
Rex-Splode roared with laughter. He slapped his knee, "Robot you're too fucking funny sometimes! People don't talk like that!"
Dupli-Kate giggled as well. She pushed Rex's shoulder, "Rex don't be such a dick."
Robot's mechanical eyes expressed no emotion, "I did not intend to make a joke. I will consider your feedback."
The dynamic of the Teen Team struck Alex as somewhat incohesive. In battle they fought like individuals, not teamates. The group lacked a clear leader. He didn't judge them too harshly. They hadn't asked for his opinion and he didn't itend to force it on them.
He answered Robot's question, "I love burritos."
The chrome-coloured android had been consistently the most friendly to him out of the group. The hero's manner of speaking was slightly odd, but his opinions were rational and well-thought out. He saw a potential friend in Robot.
"Excellent. I have placed an order from a nearby restaurant. How many would you like?" The android asked.
Alex laughed, "I can eat a lot. I'll just have a couple."
Robot nodded affirmatively, "I shall order three for your meal. The shape of this food is interesting to me. A triangle would be a considerably stronger shape."
This time Atom-Eve didn't manage to hold back her laughter. She wiped a tear from her eye and held her face in her hands, "Robot, you're something special."
Alex was noticing that the team didn't treat Robot like a person. It was clear they considered him a friend, but one that was made of steel and wiring, not flesh and blood. Robot's chrome body didn't put out any biological signals. The absence of vital signs showed that the chrome android was merely an avatar.
Alex didn't believe that Robot had no physical body altogether. A true sentient artificial intelligence could never possibly make the errors that Robot did. Mistakes required humanity. He shelved the thought into the back of his mind. For the moment it had little relevance.
The flying craft descended through an opening in an abandoned building on the city outskirts. The machine touched down softly in the centre of the hall.
Rex-Splode eagerly jumped off. He stretched out his arms and yawned loudly, "Not as swanky as HQ, but it's not bad to crash for a couple nights!"
"The burritos have arrived." Robot informed the group.
An ordinary looking wall made a strange mechanical sound. A section of the wall flipped open to reveal a large brown paper bag. The bag was decorated with the logo of a smiling burrito.
"Finally!" Rex-Splode said. He swaggered over to the bag and pulled out a burrito. He bit into it without waiting for the rest of the team to start eating.
Atom-Eve rolled her eyes. She took the bag from her boyfriend. Rex remainded where he was. He made exaggerated eating noises as he chomped through the burrito.
The rest of the team, including Alex, sat down at a table that looked across to the rows of derelict buildings. Alex spotted a few rats scurrying about on the street.
"I apologise if the view is somewhat lacking." Robot commented.
Alex didn't care what the view was. The Teen Team had built their base without assistance from the GDA. It was impressive enough already that they owned a secondary building. Their main HQ was located in Chicago.
"View's not too bad. Reminds me why I started this job." Alex replied.
Atom-Eve swallowed a mouthful of food. Her curiosity towards their guest increased, "You're new at this?"
Alex nodded, "Just under a month."
"I have scanned all Michigan-based news outlets for your records. They are impressive. You have learned quickly." Robot's eyes flickered and projected a series of holograms into the middle of the table. Rex slid into the empty seat next to Eve.
There were dozens of articles written about Michigan's newest and upcoming hero, Omega. The Teen Team read through the articles. There were a few negative pieces as there were for any hero, but the majority were overflowing with praise. Since his debut the mysterious hero Omega had saved hundreds of lives. The GDA hero website contained a brief profile on him.
Rex scoffed, "So you work for the government huh? What's it like to take orders from mass-murderers?"
Alex didn't flinch. He stared calmly at Rex-Splode, "The people you call mass-murderers protect families. As long as there's a world to wake up to, then I'll sleep fine at night with blood on my hands."
Dupli-Kate raised an eyebrow. Atom-Eve re-evaulated her opinion of Omega. The moral greyness he spoke about didn't match the friendly smile.
The atmosphere was awkard. Robot seemed to pick up on the tension, "May I ask, what led you to choose the name Omega?"
Alex felt the team's friendliness towards him fade. Rex had never shown any emotion other than arrogance, but the relaxed expressions on Atom-Eve and Dupli-Kate's faces had hardened.
Only Robot's attitude remained unchanged.
The question brought back memories that made Alex smile, "My mum suggested it."
He didn't mention his powers. He didn't mention how he could feel the "human" he'd once been slipping away between his fingers. He'd realised that he was doing more than make modifications. He was carving out a path of evolution that the world had never seen before. His superhero name was a representation of his goal. He was the creator of his path. And he wanted to walk it until he reached the very end. Or died trying.
Alex stood up and politely thanked his hosts, "Thank you for lunch. I'm needed somewhere else."
"It was nice to meet you all. I'm sure we'll work together again." He looked to every member of the team. The stiff polite smiles didn't bother him.
He turned to Robot, "My number is 312 587-4096. It's a secure line. Keep in touch."
Alex wasn't worried that the chrome-coloured hero would forget the number. He didn't have any superhero friends. He hoped that perhaps Robot could become the first.
"I will contact you." Robot replied. The Teen Team picked up the certainity in the synthesised voice.
Alex's footsteps echoed down the stairwell. The Teen Team watched him leave with mixed expressions.
"Blood on his hands! What a jerk!" Rex said angrily.
Dupli-Kate made a noise that wasn't quite agreeing or disagreeing, "He seems...complicated."
Atom-Eve stared into the empty stairwell, "Something about him reminds me of Cecil."
"I think that he is nice. I believe he could be a trustworthy ally." Robot stated.
The chrome hero paused, then continued, "It would be wise to remain on good terms with him. His strength is considerable."
Rex thought back to the speed and power that Omega had displayed in the fight against the elephant-man. He deflated slightly into his chair.
"Still a jerk tho." He mumbled.