EDEN

EDEN - Chapter 3

Silence followed Lexine's lackluster introduction. Eventually she got tired of keeping her arms and phony smile up, so she relaxed back into her grumpy-looking self.

Stanley was still digesting everything he had learned within the past few minutes. He had essentially come back from the dead, he was in a new body that came with superpowers, and he had been taken to the nation's capital while unconscious. On top of all that, being a dead ringer for Lexine's deceased husband made him feel guilty by simply being in front of her.

When he finished sorting through his thoughts, he finally caught up to the last thing she had told him. "What's Sweepers?"

Lexine sank into her seat, using her eyes to peruse the many collectibles and memorabilia behind the display case. "Most government agencies are usually politically or economically motivated, but Sweepers deal with problems that are never meant to reach the eyes or ears of the public. Sensitive documents, radical insurgencies, the occasional cryptid sighting; If it's something that could lead to war or widespread panic, then it's our job to clean it up before anyone finds out."

She paused to slowly finish the rest of her drink, each gulp seeming like a full minute to Stanley.

"We operate under extreme discretion, no one is allowed to know who we are or where we've been. Since Adam and I appreciated the secrecy that came with the job, we approached the agency to offer our services in exchange for a place to call home." She gazed down at her hands with a somber expression, then adjusted her glasses when she looked up again. "Since his passing in the mid-nineties, I've been put in charge of the agency."

Right away, he made the connection that Adam's approximate time of death lined up with the time he was born. Could that be how they're connected? Even more curious, he wondered how old Lexine must be to be a widower of over twenty years, but he wouldn't dare ask a lady her age. Especially not her.

"So you kept yourselves secret because of my—because of Adam's Shade powers?"

"Your powers now," she pointed out as she set her empty glass down, "Plus, you're not the only one with special abilities."

Lexine showed off the front and back of one of her hands, then she balled it into a fist. With the smallest flex of her muscles, a small one-sided blade grew out from the side of her hand with the handle nestled comfortably in her palm. She opened her hand to show him the exact knife she had stabbed him with earlier. Its familiar silver sheen and ruby red edge made his skin crawl, using a thumb to caress his phantom exit wound.

"Your body turns gaseous, mine solidifies." She expertly twirled the knife between her fingertips as if it weighed nothing, its semi-translucent edge refracting glints of crimson light as the blade spun around. "With some training, you'll be able to make all sorts of tools and weapons with Shade. It's all about practice."

"Whoa..." Her display of skill over her powers was impressive, but he couldn't help but rub his recently-injured hand after staring at the knife for too long. If he was being honest, he was more amazed that there was hope he could do something flashy and cool with his own powers someday. "Are there others like us?"

She immediately caught the handle and stopped her knife twirling immediately, any signs of happiness on her face quickly fading away. "No," she lined each end of the weapon against each of her palms, then clapped her hands together to make the knife disappear between her hands like a magic trick, "just us."

"Oh..." Stanley was starting to feel the weight of his situation. He was now one of two people in the country, possibly even the entire planet that had superhuman abilities, and the other was offering him a chance to learn more about who he had become.