Chapter 411

When Beck showed up, every pair of eyes in the room turned toward the sudden flicker of light-what looked like a giant screen materializing out of thin air.

Except it wasn't a TV or a screen at all. It was a full-on 3D projection, high-tech and a little eerie.

Miranda had gotten Beck's call only an hour ago. "Got a job. Need you here," he'd said. No details, just that cryptic message. But as soon as she arrived and saw the crowd that had assembled, she figured this wasn't just any assignment. You didn't call in this many heavy-hitters for something simple.

Clearly, everyone here was part of the same division. Beck had mentioned it to her before. His department's "special talents" were all top-tier, the best of the best, but there weren't many of them. The division broke down into three circles:

The core group-people with abilities so strong, they could walk into HQ whenever they wanted.

The middle ring-folks who'd shown some promise, maybe not as refined but definitely not normal.

And then there was the outer layer: RapidForce's own private military.

That's what they called themselves-people like Miranda: the "Gifted," or sometimes "Evolved." Because what they could do wasn't just above average-it was above human. To them, it was the next step in human evolution. Like Homo sapiens 2.0. Every now and then, people would just call them "Outliers." It meant the same thing: people who stood out, people who were different.

"Now that you're about to assign the mission, I'll excuse myself," Elian piped up, quick on the uptake.

ShadowFox grinned. He clearly had the same idea. He gestured at Elian. "Right this way, Mr. Ashcroft. There's fresh coffee and cookies waiting in the lounge.'

Elian didn't need to be told twice. He got up and strode off in the direction ShadowFox pointed, his boots thumping on the tile.

11

his gaze resting

them, and not much entertainment for the moment. With Mr. Ashcroft visiting, you wanted to be sure he felt welcome, not brushed off. Besides, ShadowFox

finally landing on Miranda. He smiled-one of those sly, knowing

I guess you folks have

of the others shifted awkwardly the ones Miranda had, well,

grinning. "And yeah, she's a knockout. But don't get any ideas-you

but more than that, she'd taken them all by surprise. They'd pegged

Miranda could tell a couple of them were still stinging. They figured she'd caught them off guard, that they'd just underestimated

through Beck's speech. His smile froze

her own.

throat. "Right. Why don't you guys introduce

jumped in first, bouncing a little. "I'm Amelia. Already said hi, but now

interrupted earlier. He grinned wide, all white teeth and

the

"Noah."

"White Ghost."

"Thomas."

"James."

"Silent Cat."

"Zero-One."

a brow. "Stage

shrugged. "Hey, easier to remember. Like Zero-One here he

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