Hospitals were not my favorite; they brought up bad memories, but for once in my life, I was grateful that I woke up in one. As I woke up, my memories of what happened flashed through my mind. I tried to sit up, but my body felt incredibly weak. "Shit."
My thoughts were interrupted as a nurse walked into the room. "Greetings, Mr. Everhart, I'm glad to see that you're finally awake. You had given us a big scare after that night." I watched in silence for a moment as she seemed to briefly mark down some readings on me on her virtual pad.
"Thanks for saving me, but how did you guys even get to me? I was-"
"I'm sure you have millions of questions to ask, but I'm afraid I'll need to give you some space because you have an important visitor who wishes to speak with you." The nurse gave a courtesy bow before promptly exiting.
Before my brain could even process what was happening, a tall blond-haired woman stepped through the door frame. I couldn't help but widen my eyes as her figure appeared on full display. If I were to describe her appearance in one sentence, it would be that she looked like a modern-day Valkyrie, if they wore suits instead of ancient armor. I wasn't joking about the height either; she had to be at least 6'5, with sharp blue eyes. She sported a tight black-and-white corporate suit that perfectly outlined her muscles beneath.
"Hello, Kael. My name is Aurora. I'm with the Babylon Dispatch Network, and I hope that by the end of our conversation, you'll hopefully join us."
The Babylon Dispatch Network?! Unless you lived under the Earth's mantle, there wasn't a single person who didn't know about them. When supers first began popping up, it brought about an age of instability and fear. When the world finally united under one government, it became clear that ordinary police officers, and even specialized units, were incapable of confronting supernatural threats. The BDN, or Babylon Dispatch Network, was essentially the super version of the police force; they're also known as Enforcers who take on threats posed by supers.
I was a bit surprised to see one of their agents here. I wanted to find out more about what had happened to my suit, but before I could speak, Yasmine quickly spoke up. "I'm aware that you probably have a lot of questions; however, I want to quickly start off by saying we have your suit in our possession right now, and we will return it to you regardless of what decision you make."
"I.. uh, appreciate that, but can you please explain what happened last night? I don't even know how you guys rescued me from the ocean. I swore I thought I'd die."
Aurora's expression turned sorrowful. "Unfortunately, it's been a lot longer than a single night; it's more accurate to say it's been half a year. I'm sorry, but you've been in a coma for the past six months; it's nearly the end of September now. We immediately dispatched enforcers to your location the moment the explosion happened, which is how we were able to find you."
I froze at her explanation. I slowly brought my hands up to cover my face in defeat. Just like that, I had lost six months of my life to some coma; at this point, any leads and intel that I had been building on the Eighth Circle would be useless.
And to my utter horror, what about my dog? Who was taking care of her. I-
"Thanks for going out into the ocean. By the way, you saved millions of lives by preventing the bomb from detonating in the middle of the city. Also, don't worry about your pet, we've been making sure she's treated well, and she's been able to even come visit you a couple times."
I felt relieved that my pup was okay, but I lifted my hands from my face instantly; I had been completely unaware of that fact. During that entire sequence, I had been focused on survival; I wasn't even aware of how big an explosion the bomb had caused. It was a total coincidence that I had shot off towards the ocean. If I had gone any other direction, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"But, let's move away from the doom and gloom topic. I have an offer for you that I hope you'll accept. Although we have a number of enforcers at the Babylon Dispatch Network, we are always in need of dispatchers who play a vital role in ensuring we send the right heroes to the right situations. Although you may not have experience as a dispatcher, we'll quickly get you up to speed. You already have the most important qualifications that we look for, being that you are a former- I mean, superhero."
"Wait, so my job is to dispatch heroes while I sit behind a desk?"
Aurora crossed her arms and leaned forward, which made her frame stand out even more. "Your job is to dispatch enforcers while, yes, sitting behind a desk, but it's a critical role, and you have the qualifications for it, at least I hope. More importantly, I think you'd like this job because we can promise you a base pay of $150,000, full dental and health coverage, paid time off, and numerous other benefits if you'd like to get into the details."
My eyes widened like saucers at the shining benefits laid out before me; however, what she said next left me mindless.
"And what you'd probably care the most about is repairing your suit, I imagine? BDN will help provide whatever funding is necessary to repair your suit, and we will also formally undertake a more in-depth investigation of the Eighth Circle, where we hope to bring them out to face justice.
I was stunned at the offer, "Why are you giving me such a good offer? Why go all this way?"
Her face lit up with an almost infectious smile. "Because we know that you'd be great at this job. Frankly, we've always wanted to reach out to know, but your suit kind of made it impossible for us to potentially convince you to work with us, especially with your path of vengeance against the Eight Circle."
"Wait, so you're just casually admitting that you're taking advantage of me because I don't have my suit anymore?"
The blonde woman gently tapped my shoulder. "I wouldn't call it taking advantage—more like offering help to a deserving superhero. Anyway, how does the offer sound?"
I sat still for a couple of seconds as I contemplated the offer laid out so far. As much as I wanted to find a way to remain independent, I couldn't find anything to refuse. I was poor as hell, and a six-figure job would help deal with that immensely. I might actually get to move out of my shitty one-bedroom apartment. But, most importantly, the fact that they'd help repair my suit was the real winner for me.
BDN was backed by essentially the world's governments; if I had their full financial support to repair it, I might still be able to operate Aegis once again. "I can't think of anything to harp about. I assume this will be a contract, although I trust you, I'd still like to.
"You'd like a lawyer to look over it first, right?" Aurora interrupted, smiling.
I smiled softly back, "Yeah, if you don't mind."
"No problem, normally I'd send the contract over virtually, but I recall that you're one of the few people who don't have access to the altnet, so we'll send the contract file to your phone device."
"...thanks, I appreciate that, I don't know how you seem to know everything about, but I guess that's the perks of being part of the government, right?"
She winked, "I wouldn't say we know everything, but for heroes such as yourself, I believe it's only natural we have an eye out for you, but I have to go now. If you're interested, just head on over to the BDN building this Thursday and provide your name to the front desk clerks. "
With one last smile, she waved her hand goodbye and excitedly went through the door, leaving me alone with a flurry of thoughts.
(...)
If there's one thing that I disliked about Babylon, it would have to be how cold it could get at night, but I guess that's what happens when you build a giant city in the middle of the ocean. I tightened up my hoodie and shoved my hands into my pockets while I walked along the sidewalk.
Numerous people walked by me, no doubt lost in their virtual worlds. All around me, neon lights lit up the entire city, people sporting animal features walked about, and businesses advertised their products from their stores. To anyone else, this would be considered a cyber utopia; unfortunately, for me, it was quite the opposite.
For some reason, I could never receive cyber implants that would connect me to the altnet or alternative network, as it's officially named. My brain and or my body simply rejected the technology. It left me an outcast for the most part, isolated not just from my peers but from society itself.
It's probably why it was so easy for me to embrace the life of a vigilante of some sort, taking over my father's legacy when he died, while desperately searching for his killer. My thoughts easily led to the bastard of a mother who vanished from my life when Dad passed. From my earliest memories, I recall her as the kindest and most loving mother a kid could ask for. However, after he had passed, she became a shell of her former self; it was almost like she became a vegetable, not even reacting to me when I spoke with her. I barely had time to react before one day she was gone without even leaving a note, and from then on, I never saw her again.
Although I also felt sad with my mother, and I understood why she had become depressed, I would never forgive her for abandoning me when I was only 16. My rage toward her had thankfully subsided over the years. Now, I simply felt apathetic towards her for the most part, and part of me never wanted to see her again.
As I became lost in my memories, I felt a sharp spike of pain hit me in the forehead, my eyes regained focus, and I realized that I had walked right into a tall man with a beer belly.
"Sorry, my apologies, wasn't paying attention."
The beer pot-bellied man laughed, "Nah, don't worry, it happens to a bunch of people all the time."
"Mom, what's wrong with that man?" I turned to look across the street to see a little kid pointing at me. His mother quickly shielded his eyes,
"That's an example of someone using the altnet to hide their appearances, the girl in that bunny outfit is most likely not a real woman, which that poor man fell for."
I wanted to shout that I didn't get fooled by the beer pot-bellied man, but they were already walking away, and I didn't want to make a fool of myself more than I already was. I cursed and continued walking away from the man, but he shouted out to me,
"Hey, wait up, you look like you could use a drink. Why not come get a free shot on the house at Jesse's Bar?"
I took a quick glance beside him and noticed the building he was waving at
"Ah, so this is how you guys attract customers, huh?" I asked.
"That's right, good sir, all you have to do is say to the barkeep that Suzy sent you to, and you'll get one free fancy shot."
The beer pot-bellied man waved to me goodbye, and proceeded to dance around waving probably some dumb sign on the altnet that I couldn't see, and I honestly didn't want to imagine what he looked like on the altnet either. I shuddered.
As much as I wanted to head home, free alcohol was hard to pass up, so I begrudgingly took up the man's offer and headed inside the bar.
Unfortunately, I would soon find out that I should have rejected the bunny-suited man's offer.