Useless: Male Superhero in a Reverse World
Chapter 28

Richard Hazel starred at the supergroup he once used to manage.  The control puck monitored and controlled the situation, and it noticed elevated levels of cortisol.   Dick started to tap his pencil and fidget with his knees.

“All of this is preposterous.  I have never even heard of a ‘Project Equality’ in my entire career here in H & R.”  He laughed. “And even if it existed, why would I collaborate with Hera to steal its secrets?  I’ve worked with all of you for years.  You know me.”

The computer saw Sister in Law smirk at him and write in that infernal notepad of hers. “After the Blazer’s left H & R were you not in financial trouble?  Didn’t more groups follow suit?”

“A minor setback.  The Gortinson Group has seen our expertise and experience and has signed on.  They provide much more assistance than a certain group of backstabbers.”

The computer grew concerned at its host's hostility.  It extended a few more electrodes into Richard’s amygdala and suppressed that region of the brain.  He relaxed a little but his fidgeting continued. “I apologize, that was petty.”

Sister in Law raised her eyebrow.  “So what business is the Gortinson group working with you on?  It seems like their thumb’s are in a lot of pies.”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss business involving our clients.  You wouldn't have wanted that if another super group asked about you.  Am I right?”

“Yes that’s true.”  Sister smiled.  “I guess I’m going on a fishing expedition?”

Richard clapped his hands. “Finally!  You’ve come to your senses.  Now I’m a very busy man as you may remember.  I have so many clients these days I don’t know how to handle them all.”

Sister raised her hand, in it she held a phone. “Just answer me this one question.  Can you explain these statements?”  

She tapped the screen and the computer recognized its host’s voice. “You’re so funny Enola…Ha…How many men did you intend to bring into this universe?”

The computer went into high alert.  His phone was across the table, and its transmitter only worked for a few miles. The computer AI couldn’t notify its commander that it was compromised.   It forced Richard to speak, making it sound robotic. “Did you have a warrant to spy on me?  What you’ve done is illegal.”

Sister clicked the button again. “We’re not the police Richard.  We’re only here to stop you and Hera.  Tell us what we should find when we raid the Paris servers, Richard.”

The computer assessed the threat levels.  In a vain last ditch attempt he pushed the intercom button on his desk. “Ms. Vain, please call security.”

He looked at Cygnus who was wagging her finger. “It’s out of order Dick, and so are you.”

Richard stood up.  “This conversation is no longer profitable.  I have to go now.”

“Get back!”  Dan yelled.   He outstretched his hand and a translucent blue bubble appeared around Richard.  A curved chunk of his desk and a circle of flooring were cut, sending splinters on the inside and outside of the forcefield.

Richard looked at Dan and put his hand against the field.  “You cannot stop us.”

The group winced as they saw Richard explode inside the bubble, coating the inside surface with a substance similar to mincemeat mixed with shreds of clothing and ash.

“Ugh, gross!” Cygnus winced.

Sister turned to Dan, “How did you know?”

“I know morse code. What?  I’m a nerd.”  He maintained the field. “He was tapping out NECK and CERN.  I figured something was controlling him when he started acting funny.  What’s a CERN?”

Sister got up and approached the floating meat ball.  “It’s a nuclear research organization in Europe.  Hera must be using the facility to conduct the transdimensional kidnappings.” 

“So we’re going there right?”  Sally said.

Sister shook her head.  “While time is of the essence, we need to get more information from Gortinson’s servers in Paris.”  She looked at the hovering meatball.  “We’ll also need to explain this to the cops, it’s a good thing I turned on my video camera in the last few moments. Dan how long can you hold that forcefield, we’ll need to get a kiddy pool to hold Richard.”

Dan laughed. “Sister, you always think of everything.  I’ll hold it for as long as necessary.  Richard managed to find a way to get a message to us in the end.  He wasn’t all bad.”

…

Deleria and Obsidian strolled into the front office of the Gortinson Group, brimming with confidence.  In front of them sat a thin older lady in a security guard uniform.  As they approached, the lady frowned.

“How may I help you…Americans?”

“How did you know we were from the US?”  Obsidian smirked.

“You all walk like brutes.  And from the way you’re dressed, you have no business being here.  Please leave.”  The lady returned to the magazine she was reading.

Deleria rapped the desk with her hand loudly.  This made the guard scowl at her.  The moment they made eye contact, the guard’s eyes vibrated slightly.

“We’re here to talk to the IT personnel about their servers’ expired warranty.”  Deleria smiled.  “Can you please take us down to their server room?  Our entire sales team is here.”  The rest of the Blazers appeared through the entrance wearing hoodies and sunglasses.

“Yes of course, mademoiselle.”  The guard bowed and fetched her key card. “Right this way.”

…

Sister in Law sat at a terminal in the server room with her comrades.  The whir of the ventilation systems were almost deafening.  In the corner of the room the old guard sat with her colleagues, they were all playing a game of war.

“Holy dogshit.”  Sister shook her head. “It’s all here, and everything has an H & R watermark on it.  Hera’s been picking up whatever scraps of information about project equality and has reconstructed the program at the collider at CERN.”

Sally looked over Sister’s shoulder. “Apparently the US government stopped the program after they abducted you Dan.”  She dragged a file from the terminal over to her tablet to examine the data herself. “The means of extraction meant that there was a high chance that abductees would have sociopathic tendencies, each one of them getting subjected to the same tachyon particles that created your powers.”

Dan shook his head, looking out the window onto the Paris city skyline. “A goddamn supervillain factory.”  He turned to them. “Does that mean I’m…”

Cygnus grabbed him and hugged him. “Don’t be silly Dan.  You’re a good guy.”  She looked at him and frowned. “I’m a little shocked you would even think that, after all the good you’ve done.”

“Right.”  Dan nodded grimly. “So ‘Project Equality’ was merely a kidnapping program, targeting individuals with a high likelihood of dying.  They realized they were going to capture supervillains and dropped it like a hot potato.  Why did Hera restart it?”

Sister raised her hand. “Hera managed to develop a mind control system.  Computers were installed in the subject’s spinal cord, keeping subjects docile and under their thumb.  Just like Richard.  He’s a Dick, but I don’t think he’d willingly be a minion.”

“He tapped out that message trying to save us, and himself.” Dan thumped a table with his fist. “That was the only way he could get past the computer’s monitoring.”

Sally shrugged. “But Dan's skin is nigh impenetrable, and he’s also resistant to mind control.  How did Hera figure out how to get these control pucks installed?”

Sister frowned.  “From this file it looks like their first experiments either resulted in death or ‘immediate return through the portal’.”  

Cygnus growled. “Those monsters.  They sent back supervillains to their host universes.  A world with no superheroes to fight an invulnerable sociopath.”

Sally’s eyes flashed red. “We have to stop them.”

Dan started walking for the door. “Sally, why don’t we get Donadd to send drones down to CERN.  It looks like we know where they are holed up.”

Sister raised her hand. “Why not catch them in the act.  They’re scheduled for another extraction session in…. four hours. Damn, it’s happening tonight.  If we sneak out of here, Hera won’t know we’ve compromised them.  I’ll cover our tracks, copy the data and destroy what they have here.  This knowledge is dangerous.”

“Why copy it?” Dan raised an eyebrow.

“We don’t know if they have backups, and we need all the information to fight them.  And I never burn evidence.”

Sally balled her fist. “Let’s get Donadd to drop some drones around the particle collider when the sun goes down and monitor.  Whoever enters is a suspected Hera agent.”

“What about local authorities Sally?”  Cygnus shrugged. “Do we tell them?  Local supergroups?”

Sally waved her off.  “We can’t risk notifying Hera. We go in silently, hit them hard, and end this monster machine.”

Deleria looked over to the Hera guards in the corner. “You didn’t hear a word of that. Got it?”

“Yes boss.”  They all kept their eyes on the cards.