Chapter 15

By the next day, all branches of the Military Reserves had been called up. And Posse Comitatus had been declared, for a period of 1 week. The President and Congress were meeting in emergency closed sessions, and even though crime was suddenly rampant, so was something new.

One group calling themselves the Justice League had formed in New York. They included somebody who could fly, another with super speed and strength, a woman who could throw a bus, and one guy who was covered with quills and could shoot them. They had banded together and said they were going to stop any who were like them that broke the law.

And they actually stopped a few! The most spectacular was a guy that could not only cover his body with fire, but throw balls of fire! He had robbed a jewelry store, and had the loot in some kind of metal mesh bag when they caught him. As several distracted him (and the porcupine guy got badly burned), the “Super Woman” as the press was calling her ripped off a fire hydrant, blasted him with the water. This largely snuffed out his fire, and the fast guy simply ran up and hit him in the back of the head with a baseball bat.

And thus the legend was born. The first filmed account of a group of Paladins taking down a Rogue.

I accepted calls from Tim and Mom, and told them I was doing fine. I was getting comfortable as Dire Wolf, and thankfully I was close enough to my real self that I did not stand out. Just another Asian gal, if a tad taller than is normal. And with a better figure.

It was the Saturday before I returned to work that the news broke. The President, Cabinet, and highest members of Congress came out of their sequestration and made an announcement. In short, it was announcing some new terms that they had agreed on, that was first used by others but that they had agreed for simplicity.

Those who were affected by the pain and flash of light were called “Mutants”. And of them, most were broken down into “Paladins”, those who tried to uphold the law. “Rogues” were those that used their powers to commit crimes. A new “Department of Mutant Affairs” was going to be created, as a Cabinet level post. And the Bureau of Mutant Control would be established, as a way to register and monitor all who have powers.

And the proposed organization was impressive! No mutants with powers that could be used in combat could be in the military. All mutants that ranked among the most powerful 15% or had powers that would allow them to help control crime would be given a monthly stipend to be determined. Any assistance they needed to try and live a normal life would be given to them. And the registration was mandatory!

“But rest assured, the registration can be completely anonymous. We encourage any that may have Paladin level powers to come up with a name to be used, like a public name. Your real identity can be a ‘secret identity’, known only among the highest members. But this is not required.” The debates and negotiations were expected to take a month, but there was little doubt it would pass.

On Monday I waited out front, and the vanpool showed up on time. I got to work, and was having my coffee in the break room when I heard people discussing the last week. Then I heard one person enter the break room saying “If you ask me, they should just take all those mutants and kill them! Or throw them out of the country. Over 500 dead, and crime is rising due to these freaks doing whatever they want! They have no place in this country.”

Whoever was getting coffee with the woman said “Well, we should be able to keep at least some of them. That Master Sergeant Carlson sounds like the right kind of person if you ask me. We should at least allow people like him to remain.”

I could not help myself. As I walked by, I muttered “Yea, I think Der Hitler said something similar about the Jews in the early 1930’s.” At least I was greeted by shocked silence and not an explosive outburst.

At lunch I took the chicken salad sandwich I had made downstairs and let Fang loose. After about a half hour I heard a dog panting and a wheelchair being towed coming towards us, then as Sean stopped next to me he released Maggie and told her to go have fun. “It’s amazing. As soon as she saw Fang out here it was like she could not get me here soon enough!” We both laughed, and talked about our enforced week long vacation.

“Well, you at least got a week off. I simply did the work needed from home, which is good since I do not need to be here to do a lot of my calculations and designs. But you on the other hand can not hire and fire people from home.”

I laughed, this was a long running joke of ours. Of course he knew I did a lot more than that, but we loved to tease each other about our jobs. “Yea, at least I work with real people, and not simply scribbling and doodling on a computer and getting paid for it.”

He asked me what I thought about the last week, and I said it was quite unnerving and frightening, but now she was seeing glimmers of hope. “After all, it did not take long for some of the good guys to band together to stop the criminals, and the bad ones are not getting together at all. Makes me hopeful for how most of humanity will handle this.”

“Yea, but throwing it all under the Government? Is that the best thing Di? We know about the reservations, what they did to the Japanese during WWII. Jim Crow, this country has a long list of offenses against others who they see as minorities.”

I looked at him, and raised my eyebrow. “Oh trust me, I do Sean. Remember, some of the first immigration quotas and bans were against the Chinese. In fact, some of my ancestors were here as early as 1850. And remember, for every atrocity like Wounded Knee, there was a similar massacre like the Powhatan one, which is what ultimately destroyed Jamestown. While my major is in BA, my minor is actually in History. And I have been considering if I get the time to start taking classes to get a double Bachelors in history. Neither side was innocent, although all too often innocents were killed when one group did an attack, and another suffered the retribution.”

He sighed, and admitted I had a point. “Sean, no country is perfect. But ours is not based on race or religion, and I like to believe we have learned from our mistakes.” I then recounted what I had heard in the break room that morning, and how disgusted it made me feel.

“Oh yea, I have heard that also, but it will never happen. This is too random and affected so many people of all groups. But what has some going crazy is almost the random nature of it. There are even some cases of siblings and other family members mutating. But then you will have another family with none. Some are almost minor, like only the hair turning a funny color, and others are like the person is no longer even human. Being an engineer that is what is driving many of us crazy.”

“You are studying this?” I asked.

“Uh-huh. It is data, statistics, something to analyze for me. I am on a few Internet groups, and one is really looking into trying to figure it out. And one of them already proposed a cause. Well, at least a distribution system.”

“Really Sean? What could that be?”

“Well, most that are studying this scientifically believe it is of extraterrestrial origin. Oh, not as in aliens, but it comes from off-planet. The area of effect seems to cover a circle, as if the source was maybe a satellite in orbit. It has to be farther away, and in an orbit no satellite orbits in. But it does appear that it is like a beam or cone, that hit only a specific area of the planet. Not a single mutant has appeared that was outside of that area.”

“Wow, that is something at least. Are they being taken seriously?”

“Well, that theory is. Expect it to break the news in the next day or so. But other things in that group, pure conspiracy theory nonsense. Oh, it’s the usual. Aliens, effects from all the vapor trails that the government has been using, proof that we really live in The Matrix, chemicals being put in the water, all the usual nutcase theories. But I participate because for every 1,000 nutcases, I am able to find one that actually makes sense.”

By this time Fang came up and sat in front of me, so I took out his ball and threw it for him as Sean started to throw Maggie’s Frisbee. And after another 20 minutes we both headed back to work.

That night Tim picked me up from work, and he took me to his home where I hugged Jean, and held Little Di. I even had Tim take my phone and take a few pictures of me holding her, and of us and Jean. Then with their help I took a picture of the 3 of them. When he asked me why I was doing that, I said it was to show to others.

After dinner Tim took me home, and I resumed my new routine. Changing into a pair of the larger panties and a large (on Di) T, I transformed into Dire Wolf and watched TV. But right after I sat I pulled out my phone and pulled up the pictures. And cried. The years had been kind to Jean, and she still looked like she was about to get somebody in trouble, but also very motherly. Little Di was beautiful, and her hair was black, something she got from Tim. And he was a bit of a shock, I had known him for a great many years and never realized he was Mexican!

Shows how little race matters when you are blind.

That night there was a news special on Mutants. The formation panel of the Bureau of Mutant Control had been doing what the government does so well, and that is making lists. And one of the things they had released was a list of mutations that had been confirmed.

Speed, strength, invulnerability, flight, fire, water, ice, various physical changes and augmentation. But the one that caught my undivided attention was when they got to one they called “Chameleon”. Which was apparently what mine was. Any individual who has a change in physical abilities that they can activate either at will, or in response to outside influences. So I was not alone, there are many with my ability.

During the next day, I asked Sean a question that seemed to trouble him. I asked him if any animals had been mutated, and it seemed to stop him dead in his tracks. “You know Di, nobody that I know of has even asked that. I have not heard of any, and there are more animals than people in the area affected. I am gonna ask that tonight in the forum, I am surprised nobody has asked that before.”

That weekend I took a taxi to the dance hall, and after the cab driver pulled up he said it was gone. I actually sat there and cried as he said the entire building had been burned to the ground. Fang laid his head in my lap, and I just asked him to take me home. I still wanted to dance, but the gown I had decided to wear that night would not have been appropriate at another club.

And it was a damned good thing I did! The local news was interviewing a guy, and there was no doubt he was a mutant! He must have been 8 or 9 feet tall, and over 400 pounds. Big, muscled, and he had this very dense brown hair covering his body, almost like a Golden Retriever.

But his face was clear, and he had very kind eyes. And he was talking about how he had been working in his neighborhood to end the gang violence. And since he was a Martial Arts instructor, he wanted to invite any mutants who were interested in training with him.

I scribbled down his name, and went to my office to look him up. Clint Lee, and he owned a dojo on the other side of town. Well, tonight was ruined but at least I had something to do tomorrow!

Well, I got all dressed as Dire Wolf, and caught a bus across town. And I found the dojo without trouble. And there was a crowd of people already in front! And many were obvious mutants, yet some looked like just they were curious. I joined a line and waited. He seemed to spend from 2-5 minutes with each one, and some he sent away while others he asked to gather in a group behind him. Finally it was my turn.