CHAPTER 35
IRIDIUM
The psychological toll on extrahumans in training is sometimes severe, but with very few exceptions our conditioning enables them to cope with the demands of heroism. No counseling support is deemed necessary at the time of this report’s publication.
Internal report circulated to the Executive Committee
Iridium sat down across from Frostbite, and jerked her chin at the hunched, silent figure on the other side of the cafeteria. “Any change?”
Frostbite refroze his blueberry slush and sucked on it through his straw. “That’s a big negatory. Not tears, not smiling. Just sitting, and staring. Sorta creepy, honestly. It’s been what, two weeks?”
“Her grief is weighing her down,” Chen said. “You can see it in her body, in the way she moves.”
“I’m going to try again.” Iridium picked up her tray, winding between tables until she sat down across from Jet. “Hey, stranger. We’ve missed you at lunch.”
Jet pushed her vegetable stir-fry from side to side on her tray but didn’t take a bite. “I just want to be alone.”
“Okay, but it’s been two weeks,” Iridium said, echoing Frostbite. “Do you want to talk about it, maybe?”
Jet looked up, her eyes flat. “About what?”
Iridium sighed. “Samson dying was terrible, it’s true—”
“Heroes aren’t stopped by death,” Jet said shortly. “We hold our heads up and do our duty. For Corp, and for the people.”
Iridium rolled her eyes. “Is that what Night said, to try and placate you?”
“It’s the truth. The sooner you realize that, Iridium, the better off you’ll be.”
Iridium picked up Jet’s chocolate milk from her tray and dumped it down the front of Jet’s unikilt.
Jet shrieked, jumping away from the table. Glaring at Iri, she snapped, “What was that for?”
“To wake you up!” Iridium shouted. “Stop acting like Samson dying doesn’t bother you! I hear you crying at night, Jet. I hear the nightmares. His death was wrong, so drop the act!”
Jet raised her chin. “Death is a fact of life when you’re a hero. All it does is strengthen your resolve.”
“We’re not heroes,” Iridium said through clenched teeth. “Not yet. Our friend—your boyfriend— died point-lessly. How can you can actually stand there and say that it doesn’t bother you?”
Jet trembled for a moment, then Iridium watched her friend visibly shed her emotions. It was utterly terrifying to watch. “What’s done is done,” she said coldly, sounding just like Night. “And speak for yourself, when you say we’re not heroes. Corp’s been begging for my attention lately.”
“Because of the passionate speech you gave. At your boyfriend’s funeral.”
Jet’s eyes narrowed. “You should be careful of what you say, Iridium. The child of a known rabid has to work extremely hard to find sponsors and build her image.”
“Oh, f*ck image,” Iridium hissed. “The only image you have is of the little girl with the crazy father.” She knew that it was a horrible, hurtful thing to throw at Jet, but she kept going. She hoped Jet would cry, slap her, summon Shadows and destroy the cafeteria—anything to show she wasn’t brainwashed.
Because if Iridium hadn’t known better, she would have sworn Jet had gone to Therapy.
“That’s preferable to the image of the immature child with the felon father,” Jet said in that same dead tone, the Nothing-to-See-Here tone. She picked up a napkin and blotted at her unikilt. “I have a press conference with the Squadron tomorrow, and then Night mentioned that the city wanted to talk with me about doing a public-service announcement.” She tossed the napkin onto her tray. “I’m excused from field training for the next week. You’ll have to find a new partner until I get back.”
She grabbed her lunch tray—her food still untouched—and started to walk away.
Desperately, Iridium said, “Don’t you miss him?”
Jet paused. With a struggle, she ground out, “No.” Then she deposited her tray by the designated return station and walked out of the cafeteria.
Iridium slumped back in her seat, tears that she hadn’t shed in her entire time at the Academy brimming. No matter how much it hurt, she never cried. But this was a different kind of pain, an insidious, ephemeral type she couldn’t guard against.
If this was being a superhero, she didn’t want it.