The System Gave Everyone Superpowers

The Aegis Defense building was even bigger than the HRC headquarters. It was a massive black tower covered in glowing blue lights. It looked like a villain’s fortress, but in this city, it was just another corporate office.

I walked through the spinning glass doors at exactly 9:00 AM. The lobby was beautiful. There were indoor waterfalls, marble floors, and giant screens playing commercials for Aegis Heroes. The Heroes in the videos were fighting villains, smiling for the camera, and drinking sponsored energy drinks.

I walked up to the front desk to a woman in a suit. I was wearing the same t-shirt and sweatpants from yesterday.

"Can I help you?" she asked, looking at my clothes with a slight frown.

"I'm Shay Fawn. Mr. Graves told me to come here."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Ah, yes. Mr. Fawn. Take the private elevator to the top floor. Mr. Graves is expecting you."

I followed her directions. The elevator was entirely made of glass. As it went up, I could see the whole city spreading out below me. It was a long ride. When the doors finally opened, I stepped out into a massive office.

The walls were made of glass, the floor dark wood. Sitting behind a huge desk was a man in a perfectly tailored black suit. He had slicked-back gray hair and a smile.

"Shay Fawn," Mr. Graves said, standing up. "Welcome to Aegis Defense."

I walked over and sat down in a soft leather chair across from him. "You bought my test results," I said. I didn't want to waste time with small talk.

Mr. Graves chuckled, sat back down and folded his hands on the desk. "Let's just say we corrected a bureaucratic error. The written exam is for lawyers and PR agents. Out in the field, knowing insurance laws won't save your life. Power will."

He pressed a button on his desk and a holographic screen popped up between us. It played the footage of me taking the physical exam. It showed me dropping the Construct with a single BP and floating the dummy to safety.

"We studied this footage," Mr. Graves said. "Your control over the Master of the Elements Blessing is incredible. You used one Blessing Point to neutralize a Construct. Most Level 1s would have panicked and drained their entire pool. You are efficient. Lazy, yes, but you are smart."

"I just didn't want to sweat," I said.

"And that is fine," Mr. Graves smiled. "Aegis Defense is a business. We provide Heroes for city defense, villain extermination, and private security. An S-Tier Blessing is a walking goldmine for our PR department. The public loves elemental powers. They look great on camera."

He opened a drawer and pulled out two things.

The first was a shiny metal card. It had my picture on it, along with the HRC logo and the words OFFICIAL PRO HERO LICENSE.

I stared at it. That little piece of metal was my ticket to a comfortable life.

The second thing he pulled out was a thick stack of paper. It was a contract.

"Here is the deal, Shay," Mr. Graves said, his smile fading slightly. "We bought your license. That means we own it. If you sign this contract, you become an official Aegis Hero."

"Does it come with a signing bonus?" I asked. "I need to pay rent today."

"It comes with a ten-thousand-dollar signing bonus," Mr. Graves said.

My eyes lit up. Ten thousand dollars. That would pay my rent, buy me decent food, and let me sleep peacefully for months. I reached for a pen on his desk.

"But," Mr. Graves said, putting his hand over the contract. "You need to understand the terms. We are taking a risk on a Level 1 dropout. You are bound to Aegis Defense until you reach Level 20. You cannot quit or work for anyone else."

"Fine," I said.

"Furthermore," he continued. "We take sixty percent of your hazard pay and Zone loot. And you have a quota. You must clear three Public Zones every single week. If you fail to meet your quota, we revoke your license, take back the bonus, and sue you for breach of contract."

I stopped reaching for the pen.

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Three Public Zones a week? Public Zones were dangerous. They weren't like the Training Zone from the exam. They spawned randomly in the real world. They had no safety rails, no proctors watching, and no automatic teleportation if you got hurt. People died in Public Zones all the time.

And they were taking sixty percent of my money? That was robbery.

"That's an awful deal," I said. "You're basically making me an indentured servant."

"I am offering you a job," Mr. Graves corrected. "You failed the written exam, Shay. Without me, you are a jobless teenager with no money or future. You can walk out that door right now, but I know your parents cut you off and that you are broke."

He slid the contract toward me. "Sign the paper. Take the money. Go to work."

I looked at the contract and shiny Hero License.

I hated working and being forced to do things. But I hated the idea of sleeping on the street even more.

I picked up the pen, flipped to the last page and signed my name.

Mr. Graves smiled before handing me the Hero License and a check for ten thousand dollars.

"Welcome to the team, Hero," he said. "Your first assignment starts tonight."

I left the Aegis building with the check in my pocket and the Hero License in my hand.

The first thing I did was walk straight to my bank to deposit the ten-thousand-dollar check.

The second thing I did was pay my rent on my phone. The red warning message from my landlord disappeared. I was safe. I wasn't going to be homeless.

I walked out of the bank feeling pretty good. Sure, I had signed a terrible contract, but I had money. I could buy a better mattress and real food instead of old cheese.

My phone buzzed. It was a new email from Aegis Defense.

Welcome, Shay Fawn.

Report to the Aegis Field Office (District 4) at 5:00 PM for your uniform and first assignment.

I checked the time. It was already noon. I had a few hours to kill.

I decided to treat myself. I walked to a nice diner down the street and ordered a burger, fries, and milkshake. I sat in a booth by the window, watching the city go by. For the first time in days, I felt relaxed.

As I ate, I looked at my new Hero License.

Usually, people who get this license are excited to save the world. They want to fight Villains and protect the innocent. I just wanted to do the bare minimum, collect my forty percent cut, and go home to sleep.

At 4:30 PM, I took the subway to District 4.

District 4 was not a nice part of the city. It was near the industrial district. There were old factories, broken streetlights, and a lot of graffiti.

I found the Aegis Field Office. It was a one-story brick building in a rundown strip mall, squeezed between a cheap laundromat and a closed-down pizza shop.

I walked inside. There were a few cheap desks, a water cooler, and a bulletin board covered in low-level bounty posters.

A man was sitting behind the front desk, aggressively typing on a computer. He looked to be in his forties, with messy hair and dark bags under his eyes. He wore a cheap blue Aegis polo shirt.

"Excuse me," I said. "I'm Shay Fawn. I'm supposed to report here."

The man stopped typing and looked up. He squinted at me. "The new guy? S-Tier?"

"Yeah."

The man sighed and rubbed his face. "I'm Miller, the supervisor for this dump. Graves called and told me you were coming. He said you're Level 1 and completely useless in a real fight."

"I passed the physical exam easily," I pointed out.

"That was a Training Zone," Miller snorted. "Training Zones are baby pens. They are controlled by the HRC. The Constructs there are programmed to hold back so they don't kill the applicants. Out here, in the Public Zones, the System doesn't hold back. It wants you dead."

Miller stood up and walked over to a metal closet. He opened it and pulled out a pile of clothes. He threw them onto the desk in front of me.

"Here is your gear," Miller said.

I looked at the pile. It was a cheap blue Aegis polo shirt, a pair of black tactical pants, and a black baton.

"Where is my Hero suit?" I asked. "The elites at the exam had custom armor."

"You're Level 1," Miller said. "Custom armor costs fifty grand. You get a polo shirt and a stick. If you want armor, buy it yourself with your Zone loot."

I picked up the baton. It felt awkward in my hand. I didn't know how to swing a weapon.

"I don't need a stick," I said. "I have my Blessing."

"Your Blessing drains your BP," Miller said, pointing a finger at me. "If you run out of BP in a Public Zone, you can't fight. You need a physical weapon as a backup. Keep the baton."

I sighed and hooked the baton onto my belt.

Miller walked back to his desk and pulled a piece of paper off the bulletin board. He handed it to me.

"Here is your first assignment," Miller said. "An F-Rank Public Zone just spawned in an abandoned subway station three blocks from here. It's a low-level pest control job. Mostly small Constructs. Go in, clear the Zone, and bring back the core."

"Right now?" I asked. "I just ate a big burger."

"Yes, right now," Miller growled. "You have a quota of three Zones a week. If you don't clear this one by midnight, I report a breach of contract to Graves and he takes his ten grand back."

I tightened my grip on the piece of paper. I hated Mr. Graves and I hated Miller.

"Fine," I said. "I'll go."

"Good luck, kid," Miller said, sitting back down at his computer. "Try not to die on your first day. The paperwork is a nightmare."

I walked out of the depressing office and into the evening air. The sun was starting to set.

I looked at the piece of paper. It had an address for the abandoned subway station so I started walking.

My lazy life was officially over. It was time to go to work.

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