Chapter 6

Christmas was subdued, but mom seemed to appreciate all we did to make things right. Dad was dead, and we both missed him, but life had to go on and I know it is trite and probably overused, but I really do believe he wouldn’t want us sitting around mourning him forever.

January turned to February and then to March, and I was off to Austin again. The plan said a week, max, but possibly shorter if the meetings went better than we hoped. Mom and Jill had taken me down and made me buy a few suits. Not anything super fancy, but good quality suits that would last a while.

This time, since I was going to Austin alone and had clearance, I packed a bag and hid it inside my illusion of Seraph, then lifted off for Austin. What would have been a five-hour drive or six hours, if you had to go through that BS at the airports, took me about forty minutes in the air.

Settling down on the roof landing area, I was met by an assistant to the head of Human resources, and guided to the room I had been assigned. After checking to see if I needed to clean up or rest after my flight, I was led up to the executive level and to a very fancy conference room.

There were a dozen people in the room, the youngest appeared to be my guide and she was in her mid to late twenties. Most of the people were wandering around, gathering in small groups to chat. There were tables of finger foods and snacks, a full bar and even some light jazz playing.

“Ah, you must be Mike! I can call you Mike, right? I am Dan Nelson, the head of Recruiting for the USNA Hero League, the parent company. Call me Dan, please, we will be working together after all. I have heard a lot about you, young man, and all of it impressive. Come on, let me introduce you around!”

In the next half hour, I met the movers and shakers, or some of them, in the Hero League here in Texas, and a few from the parent organization as well. I also met their assistants, various department heads from here in Austin and got to reacquaint myself with Dr. Leona Walker, the lead mentalist in Testing and Evaluations.

“Mike, glad to see you are doing okay. I hear good things about you, this admin SNAFU aside. When I heard, I wondered if you would just chuck the whole mess, I know I would have been tempted. The thing for Mentalists though, is that we work for the League or we work for the government or we don’t work at all. Sure, we can get by working at hospitals and what not, but we have the government breathing down our necks and threatening us with suppression every time we pass gas.”

Dr. Walker seemed pissed about it, and I couldn’t blame her. At least I could get a job using my skills, though I would face the same kind of pressure from the government, if not in the same fashion or scale.

She took a deep breath and pasted a smile back on her face. “Sorry, hot button of mine. I complain, but I like it here and I love the work I do. I, for one, am glad you didn’t quit and that you fought back. I wasn’t aware there were issues like this with the younger members, but now that they have been identified, I think they can be fixed.”

“I hope so, Doctor. I was plenty angry at first, but I got some good advice from friends, and from my girl, more from my contact there in McAllen, so I am glad I stuck around too. Not so sure I should be here, though, I feel like a baby duck swimming in a pool full of alligators!”

She laughed at the image and then nodded her head. “That is a very apt analogy. In this case though, I think it is more like elephants. Sure, they are big and could crush you, but they wouldn’t do it on purpose and don’t really mean you any harm.”

She wasn’t going to be in the meeting but was on call to be the Mentalist voice if one was needed, and to be the official contact if questions were raised about testing and evaluation of minors.

This pre-meeting meeting was just a get-together and a chance to meet folks before the serious meetings started in the morning, and it was working a bit. After spending time chatting with several of the big wigs, I felt less dread about the meeting the next day. They had stopped being omnipotent but faceless overlords and started being just scary elephants.

I was up early in the morning, using the pool for some exercise since I had almost two hours before the meeting started. I had taken to jogging each morning, while it was still cool, at the urging of Jill. She could run a hundred miles an hour without breathing hard and laughed at me when I got winded jogging up two flights of stairs. Jogging had helped though, loathe though I was to admit it, and I enjoyed the early morning air and the quietness of the streets. Swimming was good cardio too though, and I had always loved the water.

Breakfast was going to be served at the meeting, so I dressed in one of my new suits and showed up fifteen minutes early, my tablet in hand and ready for a full day of whatever it was we were going to do. Yeah, I had no idea, really.

First through the door was the guy I met first last night. Obviously, a people person; being friendly and open would be a good thing for a recruiter. Dan Nelson was as tall as I was, graying hair like a movie star, his teeth were blindingly white but, when he smiled, you actually thought he was happy to meet you.

Next to arrive was the person from Legal. He had been introduced last night as Reginald (call me Reggie) Bell. He seemed like a nice enough guy, a bit on the thin side and balding. He had been quiet last night, listening more than talking, unlike some of the attendees.

Christine Noble was the representative from Human Resources for the parent company, USNA Hero League Inc. She seemed nice enough, though a bit distant last night. She was the only woman among the senior people who would attend the meeting, though her assistant and Reggie’s were both females. The assistants tended to be seen and not heard, but on hand to carry out whatever tasks were assigned by their seniors.

The representative of the USNA Transformation and Registration Authority was a small man, shorter even than my avatar, Seraph. He was thin, but immaculately dressed and he had a bit of a frown on his face all the time. Well, maybe not all the time, but all the time I had seen him so far. Martin Reams had come into the meet and greet last night, but I think he left early because, after meeting him, I didn’t see a sign of him all night.

Christine Noble took charge right away, making sure to welcome each person individually, but ignoring the assistants, strangely enough.

“There are breakfast foods in the chafing trays along the wall, fresh fruit juices, coffee and tea as well. Please, help yourselves and, when we are all seated, we can get started.

There were some looks exchanged between members, but no one objected and we all filed past the breakfast bar to fill our plates and glasses. I doubled up on bagels, they had both onion and garlic! I know, I know, but I wasn’t planning on getting close enough to anyone that they could smell my breath. Some juice and a cup of coffee rounded out the meal and I was set.

The only sounds for several minutes were the participants eating until, after it appeared people were near being done, Christine Noble stood again and smiled at everyone.

“I want to thank you all for coming. Before we kick off, I have some housekeeping things to take care of.” She picked up a piece of paper and read directly from it, saying “This meeting, the agenda, topic of discussion, the participants and any other information disseminated during this meeting are considered proprietary information and should be treated as such. Dissemination of the content should follow company policy in all particulars and be governed by the security level assigned to this meeting by the organizer. This meeting will be recorded, and records kept in compliance with retention policies and risk management standards, as directed by local, state and federals laws.” The paper was scrunched up and tossed aside, as if it was an annoyance.

“Now, we are here to discuss whether there is a need to amend our policies and practices, vis-à-vis, the treatment of juveniles as employees with the United States of North America Hero League Incorporated or its various regional and state franchises.”

“If I may,” Reggie Bell interrupted, “while I am not of a mind to object to your assumption of control, someone has to be in charge, I do object to your mischaracterization of the purpose of this meeting and its expected outcome. We are most certainly not here to discuss if there is a need to do these things. We are here because there is a clear need to do these things, and copious legal precedent already in place that would place the Texas Hero League and its parent corporation, the USNA Hero League Incorporated, in a precarious legal position if we do not make changes.”

Christine, her smile frozen in place, but sparks visible in her eyes, simply nodded at Reggie before continuing. “The topics given to me by the office in McAllen are a starting point but, clearly, not all inclusive. They are the recruiting and hiring of minors. Training, active patrolling, restrictions on power use in conjunction with Hero League duty, counselling and, finally, termination policy and procedures. Would anyone like to add anything at this time?”

I noticed her assistant, or secretary or whatever, rapidly typing away at a laptop as she spoke, taking down the minutes, I guess?

Reggie raised his index finger so others could see he was going to speak. “Applicability and precedence, R E local vs national vs international law as applied to persons under the age of twenty-one, the age of majority according to our current policies. Of specific interest are child labor laws and child safety laws as applied to the workplace. Additionally, I would like the input of the USNA governmental regulatory body on these laws, as applied to juveniles that have abilities, powers, etc.”

“That is a fair point...” I heard Martin Reams say quietly. I had chosen a seat that ended up being between Martin and Reggie, and could see him nodding without moving my eyes from Christine, the titular head of the round table.

“Any other additions, concerns or topics?” Christine asked, her smile looking strained.

“Not at the moment, but I am certain other questions and issues will be raised as we talk further.” Dan chimed in. He was smiling at everyone as if this was all great fun. You couldn’t help but smile back, even if you were wondering what he had to smile about.

“What about you, Mr. Youder? You are the reason we are all here, after all.” Man, if that had been real ice, I would have freezer burn! She didn’t like me, or maybe she just didn’t want to be here. Either way, I was thinking I should step lightly.

“Nothing from me right now, thank you. The topics are what I discussed with my attorney.” I added that last part to check her reaction and, man, you would have though I spit in her coffee! This did not bode well for me or our meeting!

We started off with the current policies concerning minor employees. There were multiple instances where a policy covering all employees was implemented differently for minors, sometimes in direct contravention of the official policy.

A good example was the use of powers when not in an official capacity. The policy stated that ‘‘ no policy shall restrict employees of the League from using any abilities or powers (see Section F, Article 1.43 for definition of Abilities and Powers) when not engaged in League business or not acting on behalf of the League, its holdings or its affiliates. All use of abilities and powers outside of employment responsibilities are subject to local, national, and international law, and/or regulations.’

Yet the same policy, in the ‘League policies for Associate Members’ handouts given to underage Heroes, it stated, ‘ ... any use of powers outside of officially sanctioned and supervised events, performed in conjunction with assigned duties, is forbidden except during emergencies (see Section P, Article 26.1 for definition of ‘Emergency’). Any unauthorized or unsanctioned use which could cause reputational, legislative, or financial risk to the Hero League, is grounds for termination of employment.‘

There were similar, if not quite so clear cut, differences in multiple places in the regulations and many of them, Christine argued, were fall out from requirements under law. Parental consent, OSHA regulations, Child Labor Laws and International Child Labor Treaty agreements all had to be taken into consideration when writing the regulations.

Reggie jumped in then and wirelessly hooked his tablet to the projection system, then dimmed the lights.

What followed was an hour-long presentation on the convoluted morass that was the law. Local laws and regulations were, generally, superseded by regional and national laws which, in turn, could be overruled by international law or treaties.

The International Union of Concerned Nations, an organization that replaced the corrupt and morally bankrupt United Nations, had clearly defined regulations governing the use of minor children in the workplace. The regulations outlined the age limits, types of work allowed, the safety and health standards that must be maintained, the maximum hours a child could work at each type of employment and, of course, laid out the oversight requirements and the penalties for non-compliance.

The IUCN, however, had caveats and exemptions for certain classes, under certain conditions. The majority of the classes with exemptions were for those with abilities and powers granted to them by PRIME. There was an entire section on the use of PRIME abilities and powers by those officially employed as Heroes or if the company who hired them for their abilities and powers could reasonably expect them to act as Heroes should the need arise.

The bottom line was all about protecting the minor. If a minor (under International law, sixteen was the age of majority, if not adulthood) was employed in any capacity as a Hero or if that minor could reasonably be expected to act in the capacity of a Hero, then the employer may not use that Hero in any form of combat, or in direct opposition to other persons with powers and abilities (villains!).

So, at fifteen, I hadn’t been allowed to fight bad guys, but I could have helped with the hurricane. At sixteen, I could do it all, even if I couldn’t vote in the USNA or join the military.

The laws of the United States of North America were similar in nature, but said an underage Hero, (under eighteen) could act in a support capacity under the supervision of an adult Hero, if it was reasonable for that adult to think the situation at hand could be handled safely. The minor could assist by performing such tasks and actions as may be directed by the supervisory Hero, as long as those actions were in a non-combat role.

So, I could have helped out Laredo on patrols by getting civilians out of the line of fire, by rescuing people caught in the melee, putting out fires and that kind of thing. As long as I didn’t start throwing punches with the bad guy, I was good.

Now, the State of Texas did not have any Hero-specific, or power-specific regulations as pertains to minors. The rules on the employment of minors stated that minor children under the age of fourteen could not be employed under any circumstances, but that was not to imply that children could not be asked to work in family run businesses like farming and ranching.

Children older than fourteen, but under the age of sixteen, could be employed in any occupation considered non-hazardous under the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, under USNA guidelines, and only with consent of the legal guardian.

Children over the age of sixteen could be employed in any capacity at any occupation otherwise allowed by law or regulation in the State of Texas.

Here’s the kicker though: nothing discussed so far applied to any actions taken by a minor, on their own time, in defense or aid of another. Any act performed to defend or aid another, where the actor could reasonably believe that his or herself or an innocent bystander was in danger, was covered, generally, under USNA legal precedence and, specifically, under the Good Samaritan laws currently on the books in all but two states.

A Good Samaritan can act to intervene, protect, aid or assist another citizen, in good faith and within their abilities or training. A boy scout should not perform an emergency appendectomy but, if they perform basic first aid for which they had received training, they are not criminally or civilly liable for their actions performed in good faith. That doesn’t mean a dentist can live out his dream of being a plastic surgeon while helping an accident victim on the freeway, but he would be covered for helping a person from a burning car, even if it causes an existing injury to become worse.

I know what you are thinking now, OSHA, right? OSHA was the next hurdle, since Texas mostly punted to them? Okay, so, OSHA had zip. They had taken the issue of power and ability related employment and punted the entire thing over to ... drum roll, please ... the UNSA Transformation and Registration Authority.

All heads in the room turned to look at Mr. Reams whose face had not changed through all of the talks that morning. When he saw he had the attention of everyone, he shrugged. “I knew this but, let me be honest, I had hoped it would not come to this. My superiors did not want to open this barrel of monkeys until absolutely necessary, which is why we signed off on the charter for the Hero League Incorporated, so they could act as the primary employer, backed by the USNA government, for non-governmental Powers.”

That got a few looks tossed around. Even Christine looked surprised, though no happier. “Are you prepared to address the issue of the employment of minors, Mr. Reams? I know you are attending as a courtesy, but we are not going to be allowed to overlook this any longer.” She asked politely, tilting her head like a teacher addressing a recalcitrant student.

“I need to make a few calls. It is almost lunch time anyway, so I move we recess until, say, one o’clock so I can consult with the Secretary,” he suggested and most of the folks in the room seemed to think that was reasonable. Only the assistants didn’t voice an opinion.

Meanwhile, I am sitting, silent for the most part, and listening to everything going on. Despite my misgivings before I got here, this has been fascinating and I was learning a lot!

We broke for lunch and I gave Jill a call as soon as I was away from the group.

“How is my corporate raider?” she asked, playfully.

“I am thinking about a hostile takeover, but I am not sure I have the backing. I’ll let you know.” I said, hoping that was still a real thing ... I mean, I heard it on the television, so it had to be real, right?

“I’d let you do a friendly takeover if you were here...” Jill teased in response, purring into my ear.

You have to understand ... Jill is a big girl even before she turns into Lady Steel, and she has a big chest. No, not big breasts, you perves, though they are very nice, I mean a big chest, chest. She has a deep chest and big lungs and when she purrs, you can feel it. Even over the phone! To misquote one of Dad’s favorite classic movies, Austin Powers, “Rowr, baby!”

“Um ... since I am standing in line to get a burger, I think I better stop you right there, babe. I don’t want to get arrested for lewd displays in public.” I joked, getting a giggle from her in response. And the lady in front of me!

I filled her in on what had been discussed, but admitted I didn’t have a clue where this was all going or what the government guy would have to say after lunch. I had to promise to call her at every break and fill her in on what was going on. She was as fascinated as I was, probably even more since she wasn’t here in the hot seat, and I swore to keep in contact.

We were a bit slower to get seated and ready when we returned from lunch. A new face was present, and the first order of business was Christine introducing the new attendee.

“This is Hyram Lane, Senior Vice President for Administration and the number three man at the Hero League, Incorporated,” she said, then sat down and left the man standing.

The man struck me as a politician. You know the kind; a man with an insincere smile, a bit overbearing, willing to promise you the moon then bend over and show you where to place your lips?

“Ms. Noble called me and told me there were some hot button issues being discussed and, since I was in town to meet with my counterpart in the Texas League, I thought I would come and see for myself,” he said pompously, then looked around as if expecting applause or something.

No one seemed to be impressed except for Christine Noble and, with a ‘Hrrumph’ sort of noise and an expansive frown on his face, he sat down.

“So, Martin, you ready to get your arms around this?” Dan, with a grin that seemed to be caused as much by the big wig as it was by his normal demeanor, waved his hands at the government man.

“Why not. The United States of North America has traditionally been hands off when it comes to labor issues except where those issues intersect with issues of national security, or it crosses over into clear-cut interference or suppression of interstate trade. There have been exceptions, of course; what is case law but codification of exceptions and exceptional situations.

“The one major exception, in recent years, was the Registration Act of twenty twenty-four, in which the billions of deaths, heretofore unimaginable destruction, and wholesale geographical changes caused by Malkin’s Asteroid, were recognized officially and mitigating controls enacted to deal with the fallout.

“While I am sure you are aware of the provisions of the act in general, and I know it is being taught in schools today, I want to lay out the basics and speak about how that act impacts our discussions today. Please bear with me,” Martin said, folding his hands in front of him on the table and taking a second to organize his thoughts.

“What remained of the government in the wake of The Fall, was primarily interested in survival, both personal and nationally. As the government was slowly reconstituted with appointments at the state level, it became obvious that our entire society, our whole lives, had been wiped out. Even the people who survived had their life saving wiped by the banks, saw the infrastructure simply vanish with little hope of seeing any of that return in short order.

“In an unprecedented move, President Sawyer, appointed by the remaining sixteen Congressmen and Five Senators, contacted every head of government he could reach and negotiated a reset. A reset of everything. All treaties were null and void. All debts, private, domestic, or foreign; all trade agreements ... everything. We all started over again at zero.

“The monetary system does not exist in a vacuum however, and foreign trade doesn’t just magically happen, it is all the product of the work effort of ordinary people. People who were in the same state as the government! The only way to make this work was to reset everything, everybody, too. All debts, wiped out. All savings and bank accounts, save what people had in hard currency, all gone. It hurt a lot of folks, but it helped even more than it hurt and that was the bottom line.

“The only way to make this work was for every man, woman, and child to register and become, in essence, a live person again. Once you were on the books once more, you started over. You could change your name, your sex, your address and, if you were illegal, no one cared. Your prison record was wiped out, so was your driving record. Even library fines were null and void if the person didn’t exist anymore!

“Part of the Registration Act required the honest reporting and registration of powers and abilities brought on by PRIME. There had already been riots and acts of violence against innocent people, but there had been acts of great personal heroism and sacrifice too, so the Registration Act was a way to right past wrongs, to wipe out arbitrary statistics that didn’t mean a damn thing and level the playing board.

“No more race. No more ethnicity. No more sex, no more sexual preference or religion were recorded in your vitals. You were no longer Sally Normal, a black, Ethiopian refugee, Christian and Lesbian. Now you were Sal Normal, a human being, registered as a citizen of the United States. (This is pre-unification). No one could tell that you used to be a black woman unless you told them,” he paused to take a drink of his water and apologized.

“I know I am being long winded, but I think it is necessary to set the stage, so to speak. Now, all of that brings me around to the Powers Act. The Powers Act was a move by some members of congress to make the registration of PRIME abilities mandatory and failure to register a punishable crime. The rest of congress, by that time almost reconstituted, if scattered, rebelled and threatened to bring down the government if the Powers Act was signed into being as a presidential decree.

“There was no way it would be voted through both houses of Congress. A full third of the total membership of the lower house had abilities and nearly half of the senate! Instead, both houses got together and coopted the Powers Act, rewriting it from the ground up and then making it a provision of the Registration Act.

“It is short and sweet, and it says, ‘The act of segregating the populace of the United States of America in any way, based on attributes existing beyond the control of the individual, is abhorrent to our philosophy and way of life and will not be countenanced. We resolve that the government of the United States shall enact no laws, regulations, restrictions, taxes, tariffs, fees or other encumbrances of any kind that in any way have any social, criminal, statutory, regulatory or administrative effect on the existence, use, registration or employment of abilities or attributes, identified as side effects of the Pathogenically Recombinant Infectious Mutagen of Extraterrestrial origin, hereafter PRIME.”

He paused and looked around the room, taking the time to meet the eyes of each of us. “That is the entirety of the Powers ACT, embedded in the Registration Act. The Registration Act is internationally lauded as the most singular act of legislation in our time and celebrated as the tool that allowed us to stop the slide into a new dark age, and regain our status as a civilized society, much sooner than anticipated. That the people embraced the Registration Act is clearly why it was so successful.”

“Martin, a quick question for my own education, please, I specialized in contract law, not PRIME! Without regulations, what is the bottom line on governing powers?” Reggie asked, sitting forward eagerly.

“There are already laws for assault, destruction of property, theft, arson, and murder, and ten thousand other ways one can fall afoul of the law. Why does a new law need to be created for one of a million ways to harm a person? The existing laws are sufficient.

“In fact, even our laws on the disposition of prisoners have not changed to specifically target PRIME prisoners. A pyromaniac is housed in a fire-proof cell and his or her access to accelerants and heat sources is impeded. The same exists with a PRIME level fire elemental, though it may require more effort if the prisoner is uncooperative. You see, Mr. Bell, we decided back then, when we passed the Powers Act provisions, that the Government must bear the onus of change, not the citizen.”

“Fascinating! You know, maybe I did choose the wrong specialty; my wife always told me so, but I had dollar signs in my eyes. And Mentalists, do you know how they are held or controlled?” Reggie asked, but he was interrupted by the big wig from the Hero League.

“Yes, yes, this has been fascinating, I am sure, but what does it mean? The issue here is a teenager who was out of control but got a lawyer, not the fall of western civilization.” Hyram Lane said dismissively.

Martin stared at him for a moment then shook his head.

“Perhaps you didn’t hear the part about the government of the USNA forbidding the passing of any regulation that stymies or prevents the use of powers or abilities granted by PRIME? It is illegal. Your rules are illegal. You are a sanctioned body of the USNA, not the other way around, and you are legally bound to follow the laws of the USNA and the regulations of the USNA Transformation and Registration Authority.” Martin’s voice brooked no debate and dared the listeners to argue.

Yet Hyram Lane did just that!

“Hogwash. How are we to control young hotheads like that boy there without rules? Clear, concise, enforceable rules are the mainstay of our society! Such ridiculous nonsense. Who is your superior?”

“My superior is the Secretary for North American Security and you may feel free to call him, of course. You can tell him I am, as Undersecretary for the Transformation and Registration Authority, suspending the Charter for the Hero League Incorporated until such time as they can show compliance with the laws of the United States of North America and the regulations of the Transformation and Registration Authority.” Martin said coldly, closing his folio and glaring at the man.