[i]‘Good morning H.E.R.O. Uni’[/i]

The dour thought floated through Victor’s head as the school building started coming into view ahead of him.

It was early, the dull gray of dawn not yet having bloomed into the bright morning that was looming on the horizon. It would be a while yet before most of the staff would arrive. With only the cooks in the cafeteria having beaten him here.

That was fine by Victor though. Meant he would have the morning to himself, as he normally did, so that he could go through his workout regimen. It was still weird having people looking to him for advice, or questions or whatever. But he supposed it made sense. He had been prepping for H.E.R.O. for about as long as he could remember after all.

People called him a prodigy, and everyone seemed to want to talk about his Ability. Really though, Victor thought that missed a lot of the work he had put into this, and the entirety of the point as to why. But explaining that to people never seemed to work.

Shaking off his thought Victor turned his attention back to the upcoming exercise. 

[hr]

It was a couple hours later. And Victor was walking out of the campus gym. For all the heckling that school’s like H.E.R.O. got, Victor could attest that at least H.E.R.O. was making the most of the money it made.

Simple as it looked on the outside it really was one of the most up to date and advanced places on in the world. Top of the line in everything. Which is why he used its facilities for his workout rather then the set up at home. That and so he didn’t wake up his siblings.

But that was another matter entirely.

He checked his watch, and noted he had enough time to grab something to eat before he needed to get going and find his supervisor.

That was another weirdness. And one that was more him then it was the school. Due to his prep, and scholarship, he wasn’t taking a normal class like most of his peers. He had a really bizarre mix of Internship, apprenticeship and school work.

He shook that thought off as well. [i]‘Getting introspective today aren’t you?’[/i] He thought to himself. Before turning towards the cafeteria. It was still early, but no longer early enough that he was the only one here.

Not that it changed much. Outside of his uniform, most people didn’t clock him as Geo-Matrix. Not unless someone else pointed him out that was.

Swinging into the cafeteria he picked up three breakfast burritos and dipped out shortly after buying them. 

He finished the first one just before knocking on Mr. Jackson’s door, also known as Slipstream. He was an aerokinetic and an unaided flier. Mr. Jackson was a good enough guy, if a bit too upbeat for Victor’s tastes most days, but he did know his stuff. So, Victor was happy to learn from him.

“Good Morning Victor!” Mr. Jackson would call out. “Punctual as always, Excited for today?” He would add on as Victor pushed open the door and entered.

Mr. Jackson looked good for a man in his fifties. Though his hair had gone gray long before, he still was in good shape. He had a dark tan from his years in the sun, and wore his hair short. Today he was dressed in blue polo and slacks. It was more or less the man’s standard look. Though somedays, and for some classes he would bring out his old Hero suit.

“Yes sir.” Victor would answer with a nod. Today was E.V.I.L. Orientation. Which, Victor wanted to club the dumb-ass that actually got it named that, it was worse then H.E.R.O. in his opinion.

“Ha! Always so formal, you can relax kid.” Mr. Jackson would say with a shake of his head. It’s something he said many times, and as with all the others it went ignored by Victor.

“But fair enough. You are going to want to get suited up though. The latest member of the program is getting escorted by their parole officer. So, the start of this is going to be official work.” Mr. Jackson added with an exhausted sort of smile.

“Really?” Victor couldn’t help but ask, thrown a bit by the precaution. He had read over the file put together when Pulse agreed to join the program, and as far as he could tell she had done so willingly. Having the first meet between the two of them be in Uniform seemed… Unhelpful.

“Welcome to bureaucracy.” Came Mr. Jackson’s response. “’A suited and licensed Hero must be present for the release of paperwork and transfer of custody.’” He quoted. “I’ve got the license, so you’ll have bring the suit.”

“Fine.” Victor said with a sigh. 

[hr]

An hour and a half later Mr. Jackson and Victor were waiting in Mr. Jackson's office. It had taken Vic only a few minuets to get changed, but they had only been told a range of time when Pulse would be showing up. As such, they had been waiting since. With Vic in his full Geo-Matrix garb sitting in a side desk off to the side working on homework since he had the unexpected down time. 

Privately, as he waited, he complained internally about only being told the code name of the person he was supposed to be in charge of for the next year. Even if that was only a truth on paper.