“All right Mr. Fulgen, do you have any questions for me before we start the interview?”

  “So, this is just one of those formality interviews, right? Like, we both know I already have the job, but you’re legally required to do this, so it doesn’t really matter how I answer these questions and I can say whatever random bullshit I want, right?”

  “Uhh…”

  “Come on, don’t think too hard. Just give the first answer that comes to mind.”

  I honestly didn’t know it was possible to wake up feeling this good. In the past I’d stayed up late, crashed early, slept in, pulled all-nighters, passed out drunk. The closest I’d come to his refreshed, energetic feeling right upon waking up was, well, doing kind of this same thing. Sleeping for just a couple of hours and then rawdogging it through the day. Except that usually felt like a fake kind of energy. Like you were an overstretched rubber band, and when it snapped you’d crash hard. This energy felt real, and oddly, that caused me to distrust it. The only downside was that my aethervoir gauge hovered at a little under 90% in my HUD.

  ?Damn, Habby, this feels amazing!?

  [Do not celebrate too hard, Jett. There will be a crash when I release the Life Support skill. Fortunately, you ought to be able to hold out until you’re reasonably able to turn in. Assuming you can stay out of danger today.]

  ?I would never be stupid enough to promise that,? I thought, as I slid my legs over the side of the bed and almost forgot I was sleeping on a top bunk. ?But I don’t think there’s any danger on my itinerary.?

  I fumbled for my phone and checked the time. Sure enough, it was 7:30 on the dot, just like Habby had promised.

  ?Is that really a lecti ability? You can measure time perfectly??

  [Of course!]

  I raised an eyebrow. ?Habby??

  [There’s… a clock in the hallway. My range is just barely great enough that I can peek through the wall.]

  I figured it was something like that. I pondered for a second, not wanting to disturb Wally. This room was almost pitch dark with the light out, barely a crack under the door. I didn’t want to flash my phone light on. I tried Heat Sense, but that did little. Most of the room was still indistinct. Including, I noted, Wally’s bed.

  [Do you need to see?]

  Habby appeared as a glowing cartoon pepper, little flames dancing around him. I thought about turning on the light, but since Habby was already volunteering I figured I’d test this feature. His light was just enough to allow me to scrounge up some clothes and my bathroom things. It was also weird that he could illuminate objects, because I was pretty sure he was still only visible to me.

  ?That’s handy. Thanks. And by the way, before this even comes up: You are never to use your wall clipping trick to try to peek at women.?

  [What? I wouldn’t… what?! Never!]

  I had already navigated through my menus to the Lecti Avatar skill. While it was listed as passive, I noticed it had a neat little button. ?If you do, I’ll do this.?

  [Eek!]

  Habby zapped out of sight. I actually saw an afterimage of orange light and a sudden warmth on my chest right where… Really?

  I pulled my shirt down and sure enough, the Habby tattoo on my heart was glowing. I could force the lecti’s avatar to dissipate. Apparently, because everything about this had to be weird, that would cause him to possess my tattoo. I wasn’t really sure what to think about that, but Habby rendered an opinion.

  [Get me off of your breast this instant!]

  ?Yeah, this kind of punishes us both. I’ll reserve it for when it’s absolutely necessary. But don’t think I won’t use it.?

  I stepped out of the bunk room and promptly stubbed my toe.

  “Wally?” I yelped as I hopped on one foot.

  Wally had rolled out into the hall, pulled himself to the floor, and was currently lying on his stomach. He had partially disassembled his mechanical legs on the floor of the hallway, and I had nearly tripped over one of them.

  “Oh, hey Jett.”

  He was examining some electrical component through his tablet/multitool, which was also playing a talk radio station.

  “But these claims about a monstrous cat running around the cell? Despite the eyewitness reports, I’m holding out until the CC-TV footage gets released before…”

  “We’re on the news,” Wally said conversationally. “Like, all of the news.” He tapped on his tablet, changing radio stations.

  “...fifteen fatalities and more than thirty injured in one of the largest and bloodiest attacks…”

  Fifteen. I had to lean against the wall for a moment. I was kind of hoping I’d never hear a real number. That I could pretend that part of last night had just been a bad dream.

  “Well,” I said, trying to sound non-chalant, “that isn’t too surprising. That we’d be on the news, I mean. But why the hell are you up, Wall? You went through the same wringer I did, and you don’t have an aether skill to keep you moving.”

  “I’m fine.” I noticed that Wally had an energy drink can sitting next to him and that his fingers had the slight tremor they got when he overdid the caffeine.

  He continued, “I didn’t want to miss your pardon. Or the tour. I wanted to see…” Wally licked his lips nervously, “...the workshop.”

  I digested that for a moment. “Okay, but don’t overdo it, Wall. And take a break if you need to. You hear me?”

  He finally made eye contact. “I know. I will. I just… can’t sleep until things get settled.”

  A female voice cut in. “Mr. Fulgen?”

  She was a blonde woman. Her business casual attire was almost disappointingly mundane, considering she worked at a literal superhero company. She held up a pair of key cards. “I’m Denise, from HR. I’m supposed to give both of you these. They’ll let you back into the barracks when you leave, and they have a few meal passes loaded that you can use at the cafeteria on the mezzanine level. You’ll get a real name badge and lanyard when you onboard later.”

  “They got anything spicy up there?”

  “Uh…”

  I gave her a brief overview of my new Shone-powered ability. She blinked. “Oh. Yeah. They can probably do something for you. I can also raise it with nutrition and notify Valery. Believe it or not, you’re not the first sorcerer in the company who gets a boost–or a penalty–based on their diet.”

  Huh. “Well, thanks,” I said, accepting the cards. “Wall, how much time do you need? My first thing is in an hour and a half, so at some point I won’t be around to help you up. Also, I know you’re in the zone and all, but someone is eventually going to get pissed you’ve turned this hallway into a workbench.”

  Wally sighed. “I guess they’re good enough for walking. As long as no one tries to kill us today—”

  “I forbid you to finish that thought. My lecti already said something like that to me, and I don’t need any more jinxes.”

  The atrium was bright and busy. Several people wandered around, gawking like tourists. And sure enough, as promised, the monitors were lit. Chris Eisner’s talking head cheerfully spoke on a loop about G-Tech, the GPD, sorcerers, collaboration, cooperation, public safety, The Future, and something called the Licensed Vigilante Sorcerer Act, which had to be one of the dumbest names I’d ever heard.

  The fountain at the center of the atrium had been transformed. Its top tier had been frozen over like a pedestal, and an intricate, larger than life sculpture of an armored knight stood atop it, sword raised in an action pose. While the sculpture was made of ice, there was an unmistakable motif in the adornments on the armor and helmet: flames.

  “That’s a flamberge,” said Wally, pointing to the wavy sword in the knight’s raised hand.

  The sword, and the portions of the armor, gave off mist that undulated. The effect wasn’t exactly like fire, but it was a hell of a lot closer than I imagined water and ice could come. I stepped closer, and I could eventually see tiny tubes in the structure of the ice, like veins. Chris must be some kind of mad genius. He’d channeled the flow of the fountain itself through the sculpture to bring it to life.

  “That’s Issa.”

  I turned to see Isabel Marin behind us, also admiring the sculpture. The CEO smiled thinly at me and continued. “The first Fire Guardian. Your predecessor. And in fact, compatibility with the Guardian amulets is supposed to be inheritable, so you are likely his direct blood descendent.

  I chewed on that for a moment. “Well, if my lecti is to be believed, he probably has a lot of blood descendants.”

  [Hey!]

  “Eh…” Marin’s reaction was controlled, but she did lose her train of thought for a few seconds. “Records from the Anteschismatic Empire are scant, but there are some indications… Anyway, Chris thought this would be a fitting welcome.”

  “It’s pretty damn cool. What exactly happened to the first Guardians?”

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “That we do know. They were betrayed from within. All killed, their amulets scattered, and doomed never to be fully reunited until, well, the present day. If you believe certain prophetic writings.”

  “Who betrayed them?” asked Wally.

  “Cryos, the Ice Guardian.”

  Wally and I looked at each other. “That’s interesting,” I said.

  “Quite the bitter irony, isn’t it?” said Marin. “It weighs on Chris sometimes. Especially since he is theoretically meant to be the harbinger of the new Guardians. A hell of a stigma to overcome, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Yeah, it does put my great great granddad being a slut in perspective.”

  “Anyway, I’m keeping you. You’d better get some food in you before the day really starts spinning up. Did Denise drop off your cards?”

  I held mine up with a nod. “Denise from HR.”

  “Good.” She sighed, and her voice took on a biting tone I hadn’t yet heard from her. “Now I have to get to my damn press conference.”

  I took another look around. I now realized several of the people around us clutched notepads or tablets. A man standing near me had a lanyard that clearly read “Press.” His eyes flickered with recognition, and he nudged someone next to him and pointed at me.

  I suddenly felt a rush of coldness across my skin as the reality started to sink in. A lot of eyes were going to be on me from now on, and they weren’t going to be fans like I’d experienced in the skid pros. Wally, for his part, sidled behind me like I was a tree.

  I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry at that moment. Breakfast seemed like a good idea anyway.

  The “spicy” omelette—which was basically just an omelette with a slice of pepperjack—sat heavy in my gut as Wally and I finally found the right meeting room. I heard Marin say, “Ah, here he is,” as I creaked the door open, which was wonderful, and then I gaped at what waited for me inside. Behind me, Wally gasped.

  Every sorcerer on G-tech’s payroll, I assumed, stared back as we stepped into the room. Also, there were a few cops. Most of them weren’t physically here. Four large screens along the back wall displayed six or eight faces each. I noted with some dismay that Chris, Fu, and the rest of Team Snowcrest were among those attending virtually, along with a cop I didn’t recognize. A completely different team was seated at the table, along with Isabel Marin, who was speaking with an olive-skinned woman I also hadn’t met yet.

  As Chris had hinted, I was the second Guardian in the company—possibly the second new Guardian on the entire planet—and that was kind of a big deal. As such, I was already expecting some of the other sorcerers of G-Tech to look at me with excitement or curiosity. I also anticipated some of them being more reserved, even dubious, as they regarded me.

  I did not expect so many of them to glare at me with unbridled hatred. Not right out of the gate, at least. That kind of vitriol usually required at least a five minute conversation with me.

  Not having much choice, I took a seat at the table. Wally timidly sat next to me, looking like he wished he’d stayed in bed after all. One of the most hateful faces in the room was right across from me, glowering with his arms crossed. He was dark-haired and about my age. In fact, he even looked a little bit like me. Like he’d been cast to play my evil twin because they didn’t feel like having me play both characters.

  Might as well lean into it. I crossed my arms in subtle imitation of him and tilted my head upward. “‘Sup?”

  He scoffed and looked away, gesturing at one of the monitors over his shoulder as if I’d just proven something.

  “All right, let’s get started,” said Marin. “As most of you know by now, this is Jett Fulgen. He is the son of Alex Fulgen.” She paused for a moment after that. “And as of about twelve hours ago, he is the new Fire Guardian. G-Tech has entered a new era. We hope that Jett will be the first of many new Guardians we welcome into the fold.”

  There was a smattering of applause, led most vigorously by Chris. “Ten to go!” he declared.

  “Now, I know many of you are on assignment or technically off shift, but in G-Tech tradition, let’s do a round of introductions for our newest recruit.”

  What followed were… a bunch of names. I’m not that terrible with names, but when I’m hit by a barrage of them very few stick on the first pass. Wally got a thousand-yard stare almost immediately. With him you’d consider yourself lucky if he could repeat your name back to you seconds after you introduced yourself. Each team member also gave their sorcerer or runeband class, which was interesting but not always helpful.

  I recognized Chris’s team, of course. His lieutenant Tessa was a Time Dilater, and Jessie’s friend Fu was a Rune Knight. The guy who’d healed me was named Kidane and he was, quite simply, a Combat Healer. The animal lady was Tala, a Beast Tamer, and the acid dude was Junpei, a Bombardier. The cop was one Officer Heller. He wasn’t an Elite from the looks of things, just a regular, and he introduced himself as Team Snowcrest’s police liaison. I’d heard the term but I still wasn’t sure what it meant. The man looked visibly uncomfortable, maybe even a little ill.

  Maybe he was allergic to cats.

  Things got fuzzy from there, but I did remember the names of the other teams. They had themes going on, centering each team around a particular strength. Chris’s team was pretty eclectic and probably made up of the best of the best. I figured I was slated to join his team, but I didn’t want to assume.

  Team Bastion was a group of sturdy, muscular people, like a pro wrestling lineup, with classes that sounded physically focused. They were in street clothes, which I took to mean they weren’t currently on call. They all seemed nice enough, but weren’t quite my speed.

  The next team was my speed, in every sense of the word. Team Cyclone was also plainly dressed. Still, they looked lean, with strangely sleek and aerodynamic hairstyles, and one of them wore goggles for no discernable reason. Half of them had physical classes pertaining to speed or acrobatics, and the rest had wind, lightning, and mist aether in the mix.

  Team Dominion was in uniform. They also had more ink and scars than the rest, along with a dude with an honest-to-goodness eyepatch. They had a mixture of physical and stealth classes. I remembered Chris had mentioned many of them were ex-cons. They were really leaning into it looks-wise but hey, maybe it was a point of pride for them. Shones knew I wouldn’t judge. Their liaisons looked kind of stressed out, but I actually got a good vibe from their membership. I could almost imagine Squid taking them under his wing.

  Squid. Right. I had to check up on him at some point.

  “All right, we’re nearly there,” said Marin indicating the row of sorcerers who were actually in the room with us, “Next let me introduce you to the team who will be escorting you to City Hall today, Mr. Fulgen: Team Ambassador.”

  “Buhwah? Escort?” Also, nearly there? This was the last team. But there was, of course, the olive-skinned woman sitting next to Marin. She hadn’t spoken since I walked in, but she studied me critically.

  “Yes, Mr. Fulgen,” Marin said patiently. “An escort. You were the target of a very elaborate assassination attempt last night, and your attackers are still at large. Until you’re trained up to our standards, or until we can apprehend the culprits, I am very strongly recommending that you have other sorcerers with you any time you leave the building.”

  I nodded. That made sense.

  I hated it.

  Team Ambassador was different. At first glance they looked like a Snowcrest wannabe, the runners-up who hadn’t quite made the cut to run with Chris. They had an eclectic mix of physical builds, which implied a mix of sorcerer classes. Except they were all just a bit too… pretty. Not only that, they looked like someone had reached into the shonen anime character trope chest and pulled out whatever was on top.

  “I am Brandon Luxford,” said the bulkiest man in the group, closest to the head of the table. He had a throaty, forced-sounding voice, like he was trying too hard to sound like a hero. “I… am a Gladiator.” He tossed his silky blond hair, and I had to bite my lip. I glanced around the room and at the screens and saw more than a couple of eyerolls, including from the mystery woman next to Marin. That made me feel slightly better.

  “I am Dante Katsuro,” groused the dark-haired man across from me. “I am a Flame Arbalist.”

  Oh, great. So whatever else this dude had going on, he was also another fire sorcerer, meaning he probably saw me as a threat. I filed that detail away.

  “Kaito Shirogane,” said the next man, with brown hair in a ponytail. “Ferrous Sniper.”

  “Mina Shirogane,” said the woman next to him. “Shrouded Telekineticist.” She had a similar ponytail, and it was almost too much. Really? The “fraternal twins who are basically identical twins?” What was next, fanservice for its own sake?

  I shouldn’t have asked. The next girl in line was an overly cheery and very curvy blonde. Habby had some observations that aren’t worth repeating. “Hi, I’m Tina Mariposa! I’m a Healer!”

  Last in the row was a more svelte, more severe young woman. “Yuki Aoshima,” she said. “I am a Combat Healer.”

  I nodded, still trying to keep a straight face.

  “No liaisons?” Wally asked. “All the other teams in uniform have liaisons.”

  Dante scoffed, causing Wally to blush.

  “That is actually a good and very astute question,” said the mystery woman, looking pointedly at Dante.

  “Police liaisons,” said Marin, “Give our sorcerer teams the ability to conduct arrests and serve warrants. For a hopefully routine escort mission, there is no reason to call them in.”

  When no other comments were forthcoming I cleared my throat. I had actually never been in one of those jobs where people sat at tables and talked about stuff, so I was way out of my element. “Should I say something now? Uh, it’s nice to meet you all. I look forward to working with you. I’m Jett Fulgen, of course, and I am a Fire Guardian Acolyte.”

  “And I’m Wally Donner,” Wally offered. “I don’t have any class.”

  “You heard him, ladies.”

  Wally shot me a look, and I grinned. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. He’s actually the best man in the room.”

  “Okay,” Marin cut in. “I think that’s everyone. Thank you for your time. I’m sure we’ll all be seeing one another and getting to know our new recruits a lot better in the coming weeks.”

  There was a smattering of well wishes and farewells before the screens went dark. That left me staring down Dante and regarding the other, somewhat more vacuous faces of Team Ambassador. I looked to the two women at the end of the table. “Ok, that was awkward. What’s next?”

  To her credit, Marin looked a bit stricken. “All right. Team Ambassador, you are dismissed. Take up positions, and we’ll be moving out in fifteen. Mr. Fulgen and Mr. Donner, I’d like you to stay for a few moments.”

  Team Ambassador filed out. Their leader, Brandon, clapped me on the shoulder. “Welcome aboard, Mr. Fulgen!” he said. “I know you’ll do well! A lot goes into team assignments, but your preference is a real factor. When the time comes, know that Team Ambassador would gladly welcome a Guardian into our ranks!”

  Dante’s expression said otherwise, but I put on a fake smile. “I’ll remember that!”

  I would also remember: Hell no.

  Brandon then clapped poor Wally on the shoulder as well, making him flinch. “And you, uhh, other guy! Hang in there, buddy!”

  Once we were alone in the meeting room, Wally and I slid down a couple of chairs so we were closer to Marin and the other woman. “Ok,” I said. “What do we got?”

  “Hello, Mr. Fulgen,” said the olive-skinned woman with a light accent. She busily worked on a tablet with a stylus as she spoke. “My name is Catalina Veras Castillo. I am G-Tech’s PR lead.”

  Oh. Now things were starting to lock into place. “Are you here to lecture me about being an asshole?”

  She looked up and smirked. “Actually, no. We will speak more thoroughly later, Fulgen. For the moment, I just want to warn you. The moment you leave this building, and especially moving into and out of City Hall, reporters are going to ambush you. We are deploying Team Ambassador in part to create a buffer between you and them. They are going to ask hard, leading questions. About your past. About your family. About the events of last night and the casualties that occurred.”

  I swallowed at that. This might be worth taking seriously after all.

  “G-Tech is steeped in controversy,” said Marin. “It comes with the territory. What we do is controversial. The LVS Act, which lets us operate and which we lobbied for, is controversial. Last night was an explosion. You saw me preparing for my press conference earlier, which was fun. I spent the hour before that answering phone calls from family members of the police officers killed last night. A lot of them are asking about you. They want to know your involvement. They want to know why you’re getting pardoned.”

  “We are preparing responses to those questions,” Catalina continued. “We are going to curate ways that you can respond to those questions. But right now it’s early. You haven’t been officially pardoned yet. You aren’t even officially working for us yet. So today, and until further notice, I’m going to ask you to do something that might be contrary to your very nature.”

  She pointed her stylus at me. “Shut the hell up.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Is that all?”

  [That’s… actually not bad advice.]

  ?Shut the hell up.?

  “No comment,” Catalina continued. “That’s all we’re asking. Say nothing to any reporters, answer no questions. Move from van to building, or vice versa. Try to keep someone else between you and any microphones. I will work with you on the next steps later.”

  I sighed. “I guess that means I can’t be a smartass anymore?”

  Catalina smiled at me and gave me a conspiratorial glance. “Hardly, Mr. Fulgen. I’m not here to change you. My only job is to make sure—if you’re going to be a smartass anyway—that you’re at least smart about it. Are we understood?”

  “I… guess.”

  “Good,” said Marin, rising. “Let’s go get your ass pardoned.”

  Jett Fulgen YouTube channel.

  THE FIRST CRADLE – A LITRPG ADVENTURE

  The Sun is dying, and there's no saving this world.

  THE FIRST CRADLE – A LITRPG ADVENTURE – NEW CHAPTERS EVERY FRIDAY!