Read Online Super Powereds: Year 3 by Drew Hayes - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Drew Hayes
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the real world, a place where you have to be discreet with your abilities, and more importantly, a place where you are not surrounded by equals.”
“Not surrounded by equals? Didn’t we get enough practice at that when we were Powereds?” Alice asked.
“It’s not the same,” Vince told her. “We were weaker than everyone else; we had problems that made us less functional. Now, we can do more than regular people, and sometimes, feeling like you’re better than other people makes you treat them like crap.”
“Vince hit the nail on the head,” Dean Blaine agreed, barely concealing his surprise at the silver-haired student’s insight. It was easy to forget that, despite his failings in most social regards, Vince had a good idea of how people behaved in regards to strength and power. “Every other student in the HCP has spent their life knowing they were, technically speaking, greater in some way than nearly every other person they met. They’ve had to temper their egos and learn to suppress that sentiment in order to function in society. None of you have had to deal with that; you went from being Powered, to being in a place where you were surrounded by fellow Supers. Except for class and a few outings, you haven’t had extended dealings with the outside world. A point has been raised that, if we don’t give you some experience, it could lead to disaster once you are done with the HCP, regardless of whether it is through failure or graduation.”
“Not to mention, it gives people one more field to observe us in, and one more chance to watch for failure,” Mary added in.
“I won’t lie to you; that is true, too. But I wouldn’t have agreed to this stipulation if I didn’t believe there was genuine merit in it for all of you,” Dean Blaine said.
“I want to jump in and say that I understand this isn’t exactly a normal situation, and that’s quite a statement, given what I do for a living,” Kent Mears said, stepping forward from the corner where he’d been standing. “Blaine has explained to me that you four are working under special circumstances, so I’m going to do my darndest to place you in jobs that won’t be overly taxing or shove you too far out of your comfort zones. Unfortunately, it’s been clearly dictated to me that all occupations need to carry a social component, so I can’t stick anyone away to do data entry, but I still aim to make this as painless for you folks as possible.”
“Thank you,” Vince said, rising from the couch. “I’m sure we’ll all appreciate whatever help you can give. So, Mr. Mears, what do you need from us?”
“A few documents, a scan of your driver’s licenses, and a chance to talk with each of you one-on-one. I want to get a sense of who you are and what you’re good at, so that I can find positions best suited to you. Once I float your resumes, you’ll probably need to come in for an interview with the owners, and they’ll let you know if you’ve got a gig or not.”
“I should point out that, while Mr. Mears always has enough job openings to accommodate the junior and senior class, many of them are at the same establishments, so the odds of you working with fellow HCP members are very high,” Dean Blaine added.
“That shouldn’t be too bad,” Vince said. “I think we’re on good terms with most of our class.”
No one had the heart to point out that Vince was still gauging their acceptance by looking at the time before he’d wrapped himself in flame and torn a swath of destruction through last year’s final match. Things might still be okay—it was certainly possible—but there was also a very real chance that his escapade had placed a large target on their collective backs.
After all, a Powered becoming Super was hard for most HCP students to swallow. A Powered becoming stronger than them . . . that was a problem on a whole other level.
9.
Roger Brown skimmed over the application in front of him. It was light
“Not surrounded by equals? Didn’t we get enough practice at that when we were Powereds?” Alice asked.
“It’s not the same,” Vince told her. “We were weaker than everyone else; we had problems that made us less functional. Now, we can do more than regular people, and sometimes, feeling like you’re better than other people makes you treat them like crap.”
“Vince hit the nail on the head,” Dean Blaine agreed, barely concealing his surprise at the silver-haired student’s insight. It was easy to forget that, despite his failings in most social regards, Vince had a good idea of how people behaved in regards to strength and power. “Every other student in the HCP has spent their life knowing they were, technically speaking, greater in some way than nearly every other person they met. They’ve had to temper their egos and learn to suppress that sentiment in order to function in society. None of you have had to deal with that; you went from being Powered, to being in a place where you were surrounded by fellow Supers. Except for class and a few outings, you haven’t had extended dealings with the outside world. A point has been raised that, if we don’t give you some experience, it could lead to disaster once you are done with the HCP, regardless of whether it is through failure or graduation.”
“Not to mention, it gives people one more field to observe us in, and one more chance to watch for failure,” Mary added in.
“I won’t lie to you; that is true, too. But I wouldn’t have agreed to this stipulation if I didn’t believe there was genuine merit in it for all of you,” Dean Blaine said.
“I want to jump in and say that I understand this isn’t exactly a normal situation, and that’s quite a statement, given what I do for a living,” Kent Mears said, stepping forward from the corner where he’d been standing. “Blaine has explained to me that you four are working under special circumstances, so I’m going to do my darndest to place you in jobs that won’t be overly taxing or shove you too far out of your comfort zones. Unfortunately, it’s been clearly dictated to me that all occupations need to carry a social component, so I can’t stick anyone away to do data entry, but I still aim to make this as painless for you folks as possible.”
“Thank you,” Vince said, rising from the couch. “I’m sure we’ll all appreciate whatever help you can give. So, Mr. Mears, what do you need from us?”
“A few documents, a scan of your driver’s licenses, and a chance to talk with each of you one-on-one. I want to get a sense of who you are and what you’re good at, so that I can find positions best suited to you. Once I float your resumes, you’ll probably need to come in for an interview with the owners, and they’ll let you know if you’ve got a gig or not.”
“I should point out that, while Mr. Mears always has enough job openings to accommodate the junior and senior class, many of them are at the same establishments, so the odds of you working with fellow HCP members are very high,” Dean Blaine added.
“That shouldn’t be too bad,” Vince said. “I think we’re on good terms with most of our class.”
No one had the heart to point out that Vince was still gauging their acceptance by looking at the time before he’d wrapped himself in flame and torn a swath of destruction through last year’s final match. Things might still be okay—it was certainly possible—but there was also a very real chance that his escapade had placed a large target on their collective backs.
After all, a Powered becoming Super was hard for most HCP students to swallow. A Powered becoming stronger than them . . . that was a problem on a whole other level.
9.
Roger Brown skimmed over the application in front of him. It was light
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