Masquerade

Chapter 16: Another Visit

September 14

"So when we examine further into The Rose Garden, what do you think that the theme is?" Melia asked, standing at the front of the class.

Mari raised her hand. "The theme could be any number of things, but the most obvious one is that every rose has its thorns, and that is just nature."

Melia nodded. "Yes. Does anyone else have anything else?"

A girl named Judy raised her hand.

"Yes, Judy?"

Just as the girl was about to answer, there was a knock on the door. Melia held her hand up for Judy to pause. "We'll resume in a moment." The students began to chatter quietly as Melia made her way to the door.

When she opened it, it was a sight to behold.

"Mr. Morgans," she said, trying not to make a scene. "I'm sorry, but I'm in the middle of the class. Can this wait?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry. This is kind of urgent."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Melia pursed her lips and looked away from Gregg. "You have five minutes." She stuck her head back into the classroom. "I'll just be a few minutes. You guys can talk in the meantime."

Stepping out into the hallway and closing the door, Melia turned to face Gregg. "Alright. I'm listening."

"I've just developed a new device," Gregg started excitedly. "We've been able to find a way to, get this, detect Supers."

Melia froze. "You've done what?"

"I know! When my engineers and inventors told me, I could barely believe it myself!" Gregg pulled out his phone and did a few swipes before showing Melia the device. "It can be put just about anywhere, and it will not only be able to detect Supers, but it also sends out a small shockwave to knock them out for long enough that the police officers will be able to reach them and apprehend them!"

She frowned. "Isn't this a bit hasty?"

"What do you mean?" His bright smile fell. "This... This could be used to protect our city. Don't you want that?"

Melia uncrossed her arms and huffed. "Of course I want that. But, well, you're going into this quite quickly, don't you think?"

His face hardened. "No. I don't think so. Did you see what happened yesterday? That Super destroyed the entire city block with his mind. Do you understand the gravity of the situation? If this is one man, then what could a group of them do? We can't even do any research on them since the only Supers that are showing themselves have disappeared."

"Think of Lauren," Melia pleaded. "She--"

"I am thinking of Lauren," Gregg snapped. "I think of her every day. I am thinking of her every second as I am doing this, and it is only motivating me further."

"How?" Melia exclaimed. "How can taking all of the Supers away possibly be in any way related to Lauren?"

Gregg dragged a hand down his face. "I was unaware of her powers until that day. If I had known before, I could have given her the proper help she needed."

"What help? Lauren was fine," Melia protested. "What could you have done?"

"Scientists could have figured out what was wrong with her, and they could have fixed her!"

Melia gaped at him. "Fixed her? You think something was wrong with her?"

Gregg raked his hand through his salt and pepper hair. "Never mind. I thought you of all people would appreciate this new device. This could change the world for the better! We could make families stronger and better. The world would be safer."

"Safer from what?" Melia snapped. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a class to teach."

"Fine. But just know that this is going to happen," Gregg said, shaking his head.

She rolled her eyes. "Good luck with that."