The Badge

The main room, also known as either the living room, or as the Headquarters room, is a room that has four monitors, a huge couch, bookshelves, and it presents lots of tables that are types of gadgets that are used in everyday life, not in combat and capturing an, those are locked in armoury room. Kyle goes to a small cabin, he opens it, he looks inside the cabin and, after a quick check, he takes a platinum square with an "H" symbol on it.

"Is it already done?" asked Lucian asked over Kyle's shoulder.

"Yes." responds Kyle.

"We will give it to her after she wakes up. But I wonder. Was this a good decision?"

"What do you mean? Getting Carmen on our team?... I have my worries. But I don't really care, since I am a ghost. And nothing can kill me."

"Except salt."

"Except salt." says Lucian, feeling already bad for saying that.

Kyle closes the cabin, and he heads back to the room where Carmen was analysed earlier and had her body and soul checked.

***

After a while, Carmen wakes up after she got "operated" by her teammates. She raises her body, looks confused around her, and she sees Alexia, the ghost, and Kyle, sitting in one place. All of them were nervous because the moment she would wake up from her sleep, the danger would come. But it turns out to not be this way.

"Um… What happened?" asks Carmen, confused. "Why am I here? What happened?"

"Don't worry about it." says Alexia, approaching Carmen, making her a bit nervous. "We analysed your body, and we found out. It is advancing at a normal speed."

"Really?... What have you done for me?"

"Small testing," says Alexia to Carmen. "You are in good shape, but your powers will come later. Maybe in a few weeks or days."

Carmen did not say anything.

"Hey!" says Kyle, approaching Carmen with the thing he took earlier from the cabinet. "This is your badge."

"Badge?" asked Carmen, confused, taking the thing and looking at it.

"You are now a member of our team," said Kyle, and he looked at Carmen, who took her eyes and looked off the badge she was given. "My name is Kyle, by the way. We probably have to meet outside work."

"C-Carmen." she says, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the fact a pretty boy (the girl considers it) is approaching her, and shaking her hand like it is something normal. "N-Nice to meet you."

"We would probably work well. After… You know."

"The superpowers?" asks Carmen.

"Yes. The "superpowers" would come into your genes."

"I would not consider them superpowers," says Lucian. "More like a curse or a duty."

The atmosphere becomes quiet because of the thing Lucian said, and he notices he is the one who changed the tone of this atmosphere by dropping a sad fact which almost the entire team shares. Even Kyle considers his powers to be a curse, since he is a teenager and, like most teenagers with superpowers portrayed in movies, shows, comics, novels and web fiction, they do not have time for themselves, dedicating their entire lives to keep people safe from dangers around the world the but in this case, a quarter of the United Kingdom.

After a few seconds, Carmen gets up from her table by herself, she looks at the badge, she puts it on the table, and looks at the members of her team.

"I-I don't know how to feel about this."

"I know it is hard," says Alexia. "You were once a normal human being, but now, you have become "one of us" and you have the duty to use this spirit to protect the world."

"Or a quarter of the United Kingdom," said Lucian, making Alexia feel annoyed.

"As Lucian said, we do not have to protect the entire world, only the part we are designated. And our team is the number four, as you can see on the badge."

Carmen takes the badge back, she looks carefully at it, and notices a small writing that displays the following: "CARMEN, RANK: NEWBIE". She looks at the badge for about five seconds, then asks Alexia.

"Newbie?"

"You are at the beginning," says Alexia. "Don't worry, with missions you will advance further. Who knows, maybe you will become a veteran one day."

"Veteran?"

"It would take time." says Kyle to Carmen. "At least, we are still at the same level." he takes out his badge and shows, to her. "I am also a newbie; fifty-three more missions and I will become a Novice." he puts the badge back, he sees Carmen confused. "Look, here you need to do one hundred missions to become a Novice. And after that, it will be five hundred. If you do more than fifty thousand, you will become Master."

"Just like our leader," says Alexia.

"Who's the leader?" asks Carmen. "I don't believe I've met him yet."

"Yes, you do." says Lucian. "You saw him yesterday when we were holding you. He was the one presenting your choices. You do remember what was happening yesterday, right?"

"Kind of," says Carmen. "I do remember that I was just going shopping and heading home. But I somehow have memories of you."

"Maybe the tranquillizer only worked on you, and not on the Vewolf," says Alexia.

Carmen was looking sceptical at Alexia, but before she could say something. Kyle decides to walk out of this group.

"Hey. Want to take a tour and see your workplace? It got almost anything." he said to Carmen.

"U-U-Um. Su-Sure." she says, feeling a bit nervous about this.

She walks outside this room together with Kyle. As they get into the hallway, Carmen follows Kyle, who walks further and tells her about the base they are at right now.

"I bet five pounds these two are going to have sex." says Lucian to Alexia. After thirty seconds, these two had left.

"Well. I bet then they will do after a year." said Alexia, with a straight face to Lucian.

"Deal."

Lucian and Alexia shook their hands to make the bet.