The Team

"Please, sit down." The old guy motioned to the only two open chairs at the table. I helped Pen Chick into a chair and took the seat next to her. She nodded as a thank-you. "Okay," the old man began. "I imagine that all of you are wondering why you are here. There are two ways to make the world a better place... You can destroy bad or you can create good. The former is much easier, in the same sense that it is easier to destroy a building than build one. That being said, what do all bad things come from? An evil person. People are also quite easy to kill, provided that you are in the right place with the right equipment. Therefore, the easiest and most effective way to make the world a better place is to get rid of evil people. That is where you... kids come in." He hesitated, wondering what to call us. If he did not have any qualms about sending "kids" into the line of fire... I liked him. "You may have noticed that you have demonstrated your superiority over your peers. You have demonstrated yourselves as being stronger, smarter than those around you. You have noticed that you are different than your classmates, your friends. You have views more conservative than others, able to see the bigger picture, and not hesitant to use force to further your goals when you know you are in the right. The rules are simply guidelines for you. You disregard the ones you deem silly, pointless, or unfair. You understand the pointlessness of most lives and jobs. You know that the most influential jobs are not paid the most. Each of you have been handpicked at birth to be tracked and monitored. When the time was right- that time being now, of course-, you would all be brought here. We checked every individual child born in the year 2003. You eight were the best picks, bearing in mind that you complemented each other." "So where do we come in?" asked Pen Chick. "Right." He retrieved a remote from his pocket and turned the TV on that was hanging on the wall that the old man was leaning against. "You will be undertaking specialized, covert operations all over the globe in which you will kill evil and/or protect and/or create good. You are at the age where no one will suspect you of much, but you are entering your physical prime. So who's in?" I had not expected us to have a choice. Anywho, I raised my hand first. Pen Chick watched me out of the corner of her eye and followed suit. The rest of the people at the table, one by one, raised their hand. All of them, except one. A black guy. The rest of us, understanding the possible ramifications of saying no, stared daggers at him. "If you decide to not join, you will be given safe passage out of this facility, and you will return to normal life, as if nothing happened. You will remember what happened here; you will not be permitted to join at a later date, nor will you be able to hear anything about this facility or the individuals here. George," George raised his head, shifting his gaze from the table to the old man. "I am sure you will be able to change the world for the better. You will not, however, be able to change the world for the better in such a capacity as you would be able to here." George looked at the old man, nodded, pursed his lips, and raised his hands. "Fantastic." The old man gave a small smile and his eyes lit up. "You are now The Team. Alice, John, go get cleaned up. The rest of you, go back to your rooms and sit tight for the moment. Alice, John, you'll be escorted. The rest of you, I trust that you know the way?" The others nodded. "Good. We'll meet back here at 1200. You'll get an orientation and a rudimentary understanding of each other. Get going." He promptly left the room.