Emily tuned out the annoying frequency of Director Shaw's voice while he chastised them about their actions. She quickly learned that she could use her heightened hearing to cancel out certain sounds to focus on others.

So, instead of listening to Director Shaw drone on and on, she opted to pay attention to the pitter-patter of the rain outside.

She and the others, along with Victoria and the Atlas agents a part of the day's mission, were in a large room located on one of the higher levels of The Acropolis. They all sat at a long table with the director at the head and everyone else filling in along the sides. The man recounted the events of their botched assault on Kismet.

The elusive mercenaries made off with their stolen Nexxus Industries tech, both Apex and Frost managing to escape as well. After the fighting stopped, the Atlas agents rounded up the fallen Kismet soldiers and began the journey back to their headquarters. The six teenaged Primes followed behind them like scolded children.

Emily was thankful the flight was only an hour. She wouldn't have been able to sit through a more awkward situation for longer than that. An awkward silence had suffocated the jet. It made her want to jump out one of the windows. Upon arriving back at The Acropolis, they were immediately summoned by the director of Atlas for a meeting.

She certainly hadn't been looking forward to it.

As she ignored Director Shaw, she stared out the window on the other side of the room. Rain dripped down the spotless glass, marring the scenery of lush mountains and rolling hills outside. The gloomy clouds hung in the sky like a bad omen. She rubbed her throat absentmindedly; it'd been burning for the past hour.

If that was a side effect of using her supersonic voice, then she'd never use it again unless necessary. The pain in her esophagus made her want to tear it out. If it came down to it, her bow and arrows were the only weapons she needed.

''Emily!'' A hand slammed onto the table. Her head jolted up and she squinted at Director Shaw.

She groaned in reply.

''Are you even listening?''

''Yeah, yeah. We get it. You're disappointed it in us. There's only so many ways you can say it— ''

The man pinched the bridge of his nose. ''You need to take this seriously. Like it or not, you all are under our protection for the time being. You and your friends could have gotten seriously hurt. Oscar nearly got killed out there if what the mission report says is true.''

Emily cast a look Oscar's direction. His forehead was plastered against the table. If she was in his position, she'd be doing the same thing. Who knew what the guy was feeling? His weakness was the reason why Kismet got away. She didn't entirely blame him, though. Not everyone was cut out to make the tough decisions.

But had it been her, she wouldn't have hesitated. Nothing would've stood between her and stopping that van. Her father never tolerated defeat and inadequacy; his toxic teachings found its way into everything she did. While she loathed the man, she had to thank him for raising her to be strong.

She needed to be if she wanted to survive in the world.

''What were you all thinking?'' Director Shaw continued. ''I told you that you weren't ready. And what did you do? You proved me right. My agents would've had the whole thing handled if you hadn't intervened.''

Chase huffed. Everyone stared at him, surprise in their eyes.

''With all due respect, sir, I don't think that's true. I'm sure you know this already, but Kismet has another Prime working with them. Who knows who else they might have? Even if we didn't interfere, there was no guarantee that you would've stopped them.''

While Emily was no stranger to questioning authority, even she was surprise someone else besides her was speaking up. But if it had to be anyone, it would've been him.

A brief flare of anger passed over Director Shaw's eyes. He cleared his throat and readjusted his black tie. But he didn't say anything. Chase straightened up, his lips pressed into a tight line as the two of them stared at each other.

Emily stifled the laugh threatening to erupt from her mouth.

Victoria, who'd been silent for the most part, looked at her father. ''They have a point. We've been too passive when it comes to dealing with Kismet. Even they failed, a more direct approach could be needed. I have an idea for how we can bring them down.''

Director Shaw ignored her. ''Being too direct gets people hurt. It gets people killed.'' He shook his head. ''I've got this under control.''

The girl opened her mouth to say something else but didn't. She simply folded her arms over her chest and looked away from the man.

He ignored her, which rubbed Emily the wrong way. The man may have been a decent person, but she didn't like how he treated his daughter at times. He could be dismissive and cold towards her. It almost reminded her of her own father.

The director turned his attention back to the disobedient teens. ''Maybe all are right. Maybe you're wrong. It doesn't matter now. What matters is that Kismet escaped, and we've got no idea what they took with them.''

Theo cautiously raised his hand. Shaw motioned for him to speak.

''Er, inside the lab, you know the one we weren't supposed to be in, we saw a machine. Really big thing, you know. It looked like something out of a movie. All kinds of buttons and tubes and stuff.'' He paused to use his inhaler. ''I've got no clue what it was but— ''

''A big machine?" an agent asked. Theo nodded. They tapped their finger on the table. A touchscreen interface awakened before them. After typing something onto the translucent keyboard, a holographic image hovered above the glass. ''Did it look like that?''

The speedster's jaw dropped. ''Yeah...yeah it looked exactly like that.''

It was an exact replica of the contraption they saw. The machine's model number—ASCv3—and name lingered underneath the image.

''What is it?" Theo asked.

''Ascelp...how do you say that?'' Oscar squinted at the letters.

''Asclepius,'' Stella corrected. ''He's the Roman god of medicine.'' The girl arched a perfect eyebrow at the floating schematics. ''But why is this thing named after a Roman god?"

''Thanks for the history lesson, know-it-all,'' Emily said with a roll of her eyes.

Pursing her lips, Stella shot a glare in the other girl's direction.

Director Shaw nodded slowly. ''It's Nexxus' prototype for a new type of vaccine technology. They've been using it in third world countries for people who don't have access to certain medicines. It's to assist with outbreaks and whatnot.''

''Why would Kismet want something like that?'' Chase asked.

''Because they're turning it into a bio-weapon.''

''A bio-what now?'' Theo looked more nervous than usual.

''They're instruments of destruction used in bioterrorism. They release chemicals and pathogens into air.'' The man took his glasses off and slid his hand down his face. ''I can't believe I didn't think of this before.''

The six teenaged Primes exchanged looks of confusion.

''Um,'' Emily said, ''what the hell are you talking about?''

Director Shaw put his glasses back on before answering. ''We've been chasing after Kismet for months now. But we've never known what their true intentions have been, besides collecting Primonium. I'd always been under the impression that Kane wanted to create his own army of superhumans, but I think there's more to his plan than that.''

Emily's eyes widened.

''You think he's going to release the Primonium with that machine?''

Director Shaw nodded. A grave expression settled on his face like dust after nuclear explosion.

''So, he's trying to make more Primes?'' Oscar asked, finally showing his face. ''Okay, it's official. Kane is loco.'' He twirled his finger beside his head.

''This is very bad,'' the director continued. ''Not only will this cause an influx in enhanced humans all over the world, but people will die. Normal humans can't withstand the effects of the element. If it even touches their skin, it can cause a lethal reaction. Imagine what will happen when it gets into the air and water supplies.''

A lump manifested in Emily's throat. That explained why the Primonium was always in those cases. Shaw mentioned before that the element wasn't native to their planet. It was foreign. Alien. Otherworldly. That meant she was the same; at least partially.

She glanced down at her own hands as if they were foreign objects.

What am I?

''We've got to stop them,'' Chase said. He stood up. ''Look, I know we messed up today and I take full responsibility. It was my idea to sneak onto the mission. If you're going to punish anyone, sir, let it be me. But you're going to need all the help you can get if you're going to defeat Kismet. Maybe with some training or something we can— ''

The director raised his hand, silencing the boy. He paused for a moment. Everyone else fell silent as they anticipated a response from the man.

''While today's mission was an utter failure,'' he began, ''I do appreciate your willingness to assist Atlas. I mean that. We could do with a few more agents like you all. And you're right. We are going to need as much help as possible.''

Chase's eyes widened.

''So...what're you saying?'' Emily asked.

''Are we gonna be superheroes? Please let us be superheroes,'' Theo pleaded.

The others all urged him to shut up.

A smile sprouted on Director Shaw's lips. ''Well, I wouldn't say superheroes but something close to it. You want to help? Alright.'' Rising from his chair, he roamed over to the exit of the room. ''I'm off to consult my senior agents on what our next course of action is. In the meantime, I suggest you all get some rest. Training starts at six in the morning. Don't be late.'' His smile stretched into a grin before he disappeared through the doorway. The remaining Atlas agents in the room abandoned their seats and left as well.

Emily stared at the spot where he'd just been standing.

She'd been anticipating some sort of punishment. They'd broke like every rule the man gave them in a short span of time. If she was him, she wouldn't have let them out of their rooms for a week.

The group of Primes remained at the table. They all were stunned.

After a while, Theo broke the silence.

''We're going to be superheroes!''

This time, everyone smiled. Some of them even laughed.

Chase chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. His face was reddening, a rare sight from him. ''Yeah. Yeah, I guess we are.'' He turned his attention towards Oscar.

The fire-wielder immediately froze after coming under fire from the other boy's icy gaze. Everyone waited to see what Chase was going to say to him. It was apparent he was still harboring some anger from earlier in the day. He was the one who gave Oscar the order to stop Kismet from escaping. Emily figured he probably would've done it himself, as he was strong enough to lift the entire vehicle by himself, but he'd been too busy fighting Apex.

Oscar had been their last line of defense and he let them down.

''Hey, man, I'm sorry about earlier,'' he said. ''I know I messed up— ''

Chase sighed. ''Don't worry about it, Oz. You did your best.''

That hadn't been what Emily was anticipating. She figured the guy was going to let Oscar have it. After all, he did kind of deserve it. Judging from the looks on the other's faces, she assumed they thought the same.

Oscar's eyes widened. ''Huh?" Even he was at a loss.

''It was your first time in a situation like that. You froze up. It happens to everyone,'' Chase said. ''I remember the first time my dad took me hunting in the forests of North Dakota. I had the deer right in my sights. All I had to do was pull the trigger. Guess what I did?''

''You pussied out,'' Emily answered with a cheeky grin.

He ignored her, though, she spotted a hint of a smile on his lips. Stella didn't seem to find it amusing. Instead, she chided her for the vulgar language. Her motherly instincts were starting to grind Emily's gears.

''Anyways, I couldn't do it. My dad had to take the shot. All I'm saying is that it's not easy for everyone to make decisions like that.'' He walked over to Oscar and leaned in close. ''But next time, I'm expecting you to do what you have to do. Because it might be your life at stake. Or mine. Or one of theirs. And if it's me, I won't hesitate to do what needs to be done.'' He glanced at everyone else in the room. ''I hope you all can say the same.''

His statement sucked all the air out the room.

Chase nodded curtly before patting Oscar's shoulder. ''Let's get some sleep, yeah? If we're going to stand a chance against Kismet, we've got to become just as powerful as they are.'' Straightening like a trained soldier, he stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans and exited the room.

Oscar solidified like a statue in his wake as the other boy walked away.

Emily would've laughed had it not been for the gravity of Chase's message. Something about it injected fear and doubt into her veins like heroin from a syringe. The weight of his words settled on her mind. He was right. Next time, one of their lives could depend on one of them making a tough choice. What if Oscar froze up again? What if she hesitated?

She clenched her jaw with enough force to break it. Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced the thought out of her brain as if it hadn't paid its rent in months. She couldn't allow herself to hesitate when it mattered. It couldn't happen.

She wouldn't let it.