The Pyramid Chronicles: Tyche Point (#1)

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Altered Investigation

Agent David Martin had been in this SCI facility plenty of times before. It was the biggest command office on the east coast.

This part of the building, however, was new to him. The high-security wing was reserved for sensitive meetings. Meetings like the one he was about to have.

The office door in front of Martin opened. "He's ready to see you," the secretary said, her tone verging on bored, despite the status of the man she'd been speaking to on the other side.

Martin rose to his feet. A few weeks ago, a meeting like this would have made him nervous. But ever since the break-in—and subsequent disaster—at Delta Labs, his blood had been coursing with a determination that overwhelmed everything else. He had to prove he could undo the damage that had been done. No one attacked SCI and got away with it.

Martin stepped through the door. "Mister President. It's an honor."

The black chair on the other side of the desk turned, bringing President Holmes into view. "Agent Martin," he said plainly. "You've been with the Supernatural Control Institution for a long time."

Martin nodded. "Eighteen years."

"Longer than I've even known it existed." Holmes leaned forward. "What are your thoughts on these superpowered kids from California?"

"The altered? Hard to say," Martin told him. "We know of around twenty, but we aren't sure how many there are total. And whatever the number is, they all have different allegiances." He gave a slight shrug. "Some are working with a secretive organization called Scorpion. Most of the others seem to be living ordinary lives." Or trying to, anyway.

Holmes considered that for a long moment. "That would be a difficult thing to do, after what happened to Tyche Point."

"I agree." Martin hesitated for a second. "And even if the accident hadn't happened, I'm not sure it would be wise to let so many powered kids run around. Not without some form of supervision, anyway."

"You think we should monitor them?" Holmes asked.

Martin nodded. "At the very least." Holmes hadn't made any drastic changes to how the law dealt with superpowers, but he had expressed interest in keeping a closer eye on them in the past. Martin had a feeling the president would give SCI plenty of leeway in how they handled the altered.

"I feel the same. Which is why I brought you in." Holmes opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a folder. "Not only do we need to determine exactly how many there are, and who they are, but we need to figure out what they might do with their powers." He held the folder out to Martin. "And ensure they don't do anything...dangerous."

Martin took it and read the letters printed on the front: The Altered Investigation.

"The government isn't new to working with people like this," Holmes continued. "We have several powered beings—human and otherwise—in our employment. If these kids are interested in working with us, fantastic." He rested his elbows on the desk and pressed his fingertips together. "But if not, they could be a threat to this country and would need to be dealt with accordingly. Just like any other rogue superbeing."

There were too many powerful people for the government to keep them all under control. The biggest organizations—the likes of the Defenders Alliance—were government-regulated, but there were other big names running free. As long as the rogue heroes kept people safe and didn't cause too much trouble, there wasn't much the law could do, as it was now.

But these altered kids had broken into SCI. And they had taken possession of the pyramid fragment.

They had no idea what was coming to them.

Martin's hands tightened around the folder. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to lead the investigation."

"I accept." Martin held back his smile. "Thank you."

It would be a tough job, but Martin already had a few leads. The aftermath of the fight at Delta Labs was full of them. In fact, the cleanup team had collected a blood sample from part of the chamber floor that had survived the collapse. One of the kids had been shot, making her the initial suspect, but security footage suggested it was from a cut on Eric Ackerman's hand.

Martin left the president's office and returned to the section of the facility he was familiar with. Agent Dawson waited beyond the doors locked with extra passcodes and fingerprint scanners.

"How did it go?" Dawson asked.

Martin handed her the folder. As she flipped through it, he said, "I'm running the Altered Investigation. You're on the team, along with some other agents from the Delta operation."

"Are you sure you're okay to do that?" Dawson had been concerned ever since he came out of the sleep the Nightmare Kid had put him in. While she'd simply had a blur of strange—but perfectly normal—dreams, he'd been thrown into what felt like days of the guy's infamous nightmares.

"Of course I'm fine," Martin snapped. "Now get ready. We fly back out to California in five hours."