All he could do was watch.
Watch as his coffee spilled onto his papers.
Watch as his briefcase fell off his desk spilling
his files everywhere.
Watch as the CHESS skycycle sped by his
hotel window.
He watched the window vibrated but thankfully it didn’t shatter. But these weren’t ordinary windows; they were made with Gorilla Glass. All windows in Center City were made of this stuff. They have to be if you want to do business in any of the cities within the Megalopolis. There are more licensed superheroes here than in most states.
He would know. He is William Gaunt, director of the Department of Superhero Affairs, commonly referred to as the DSA. His traveling to Megalopolis is not unusual. In fact, he tries to make one trip a quarter to meet with the staff in his busiest field office. He tries to meet with a couple of ‘field’ agents each quarter as well as the more established heroes. He wanted to keep a pulse on the ‘community’.
However this was not a normal trip. Dr. Avery has requested a meeting. Gaunt’s first reaction was to say no. Unfortunately, in his position the first reaction is always wrong, but fortunately, Director William Gaunt knew this. He called Amos Jackson to get his opinion. He can still hear the response in his head, “Bill, when Dr. Avery calls, you drop everything and make it your first priority. No questions asked, you understand.”
So that is what he did. Booked the flight and flew to Megalopolis, a driver will be sent for him later this morning. Picking up his files he starts to think about what the purpose of the meeting could be about. “It couldn’t be about the Crusher Crime spree, could it?” Again Center City was the heart of a major super powered crime spree. In the 1998 it was the Infidels and now it was the Crushers. “How do these teams know when the Crusaders are off-planet?” He would have to put in a request to CHESS to see if they have discovered a pattern.
“The Crusaders”, Gaunt looked at his files on the team, “the oldest will be 40 within the year and the youngest is 26. The youngest is the only one on the team that won’t be 30 within the next 24 months”. He pulled his data on the average time period that licensees turn in their license or just go inactive.
Age Range cum %
25 – 30 25%
31 – 40 50%
41 – 55 90%
It is always in their thirties that the superheroes take stock in their lives. Are they reaching their goals? What have they lost from donning the ‘cape’? Is this all they want out of life?
The questioning is about who they are and want to be. About half don’t have an experience that is at the core of their being which drives them to do this and so they quit.
When they enter their forties the questioning is "Am I physically capable of doing this?" They keeping asking every few years and stop when the answer is a negative one. They do find a different way to make a difference. The few that physically can keep on do until their bodies literally break.
Director Gaunt looked at his Protectors files as well. “Yep, their is the same range as well. Could this be it? Are we entering a ‘passing of the guard’ phase?” The thought alone made him break out in a sweat. He was about to reach for the rest of the files which made up Megalopolis when a sensor sounded on his belt.
“Teleporter! My driver is going to be a teleporter!” Several curse words raced for his lips but the opening of a teleportation portal came first.
A grey hair man stepped through the portal. With a slight bow, he stated “I am Pietor. I am Dr. Avery’s student. I will escort you through the portal to the library. Please come with me.”
Direct William Gaunt sighed and acknowledged the request with a slight nod. He walk to the student and followed him into the portal.
