Rena had acted cagey for the rest of her shift at the bowling alley. After a few hours she announced that she would be leaving early due to a prior engagement, clocked out, and left. The others thought she had seemed weird all day, but Rena did not have the presence of mind to try to deal with it. 

A spot downtown was chosen based on its proximity to home. It would still take about 30 minutes to get there. Rena worked her shift up until around 8. Only about 2 hours. She felt she did not have the time for the bus’ slow roundabout route, so she ordered an Uber. At home she changed out of her bowling alley work uniform and into a sturdy outfit. Some jeans, good sneakers, a nondescript t shirt, and a thick windbreaker. She fretted about what would be the proper thing to wear. I’m not expecting to do any strenuous activity. Normal clothes are fine right? Of course she didn’t want to look terrible as a fan. Of course, thinking like that was lame. Luckily there wasn’t much time to fret and she quickly called another Uber to drive into the city. This is gonna be an expensive night I guess.

There wasn’t much traffic at night. Rush hour was long over, now the roads were much clearer which allowed for a smooth drive into downtown. Riding took Rena’s mind off things pretty well. She could just look out the window and let her thoughts melt away in the passing of lights and cars. It did a good job to settle her nerves for the meeting she was about to have which, she had simultaneously hoped and tried not to think about, might change her life forever. 

Rena had not been sure exactly where would be best to do a secret meetup with a vigilante superhero. She was not much familiar with the layout of this part of the city. The university where she had gone to school was situated near the center of the metropolitan area. She had chosen a spot near where the tall buildings start. In the city proper, but not too far in. It would take too long to get too far in. She had chosen a spot near a diner. She didn’t expect to meet inside the diner, Wren would probably already have changed into her superhero outfit so that would be too suspect. She had assumed Wren would find her before she got to the diner. But how… Would she try to do it in an inconspicuous way? Would she be suddenly whisked off her feet? 

Rena indicated for the Uber to stop a street away from the diner. She got out and the nondescript car left. Rena looked up at the skyscraper she was standing next to, unable to see the top without craning back far. She would normally never think to come into the city like this alone, but she felt reasonably safe due to the circumstances. She took out her phone as she walked. She was unsure if she should try to contact Wren in DMs to tell her she was there. The idea seemed silly. It was a bit before the time, but Wren had clearly stated she would come to her. And here Rena was. Rena felt suddenly extremely nervous, as if she was being watched. She probably was being watched. By a superhero who had taken down dozens of armed bad guys.

Rena attempted her best leisurely walk. She was looking down at her phone, while still paying attention to her surroundings. The street wasn’t very crowded. A few cars parked along the street, and only a few people were out. In this part of the city most of the restaurants and things would already be closed or about to close. She ran through dozens of possibilities of how the meeting would go. Could she play it cool? Was it possible? Should she even try? It would probably be a mistake. Of course Wren would tell immediately. Why do you even want to look cool? What’s wrong with you? As she was thinking she hadn’t noticed she had just walked beside a narrow alley. 

“Hey.” Rena nearly jumped out of her skin. Ok not gonna look cool. 

In the alley, Wren was leaning against the wall. She wore her dark purple costume. A black domino mask obscured her eyes and her hair was a black bob curled with vibrant purple or pink highlights. From her back the wing shaped cape that added to her theme. She was a bit taller than Rena, leaning against the wall made them about equal height. 

“Uhh. Sup.” Rena managed and raised her hand in a curt ‘hello’ motion. Wren stopped leaning and turned down the alley, motioning for Rena to come. Rena followed. 

They alley was a little wider than the length of a car, and cars probably exited from one of the sides of the building and used it as an exit. No one other than Wren was visible. It was dark, there were a few lights in the alley but they weren’t bright. Wren seemed to glow with an ethereal light. Mostly imperceptible. Suddenly Rena got the idea to turn on the aura sense. Why didn’t you have it on from the beginning? She probably wouldn’t have gotten the drop on you. Idiot. Rena was relieved. She hadn’t even considered it, but she was not disappointed. Wren’s aura was a bright pinkish purple. Like fuschia. About the same color as the energy constructs she used. Rena followed Wren as she turned into a dark passageway. Rena felt she should feel some trepidation, some fear, but Wren’s presence comforted her. Right now if Wren suddenly turned on her and tried to kill her she could not possibly react in time. She put full trust in this girl she just met but had watched from afar for a long time. 

“So. That guy with the laser gun try to fry you or what?” Wren said without turning. 

“Uhh. Well. I guess… Um…” Rena didn’t know how to say that she hadn’t been the target and they didn’t even know she was there. “What’s the deal with that smoke guy? Kinda weird right?” 

“Yeah. That guy can fly when he’s in cloud mode. He’s been ferrying his buddies around hitting different convenience stores and flying away before the cops get there.” Wren said. She turned to face her as she walked backwards. They were in some sort of underground parking garage. “Luckily he was a wimp. Total non-combatant. Hit him once and he went down.” Wren flashed a wry smile. Then she stopped walking. 

“So. What was it you thought was so important you had to talk to me? Don’t try anything, I can already tell I could drop you. If this is supposed to be some kind of trap you’ve got no chance.” Rena was a little shocked. What was it I came to talk about? Did she just threaten me? Rena’s mind was racing trying to comprehend that Wren had just threatened her and also insinuated that she had set up this meeting as some sort of trap? 

“Um… I uhh.” Rena closed her mouth and eyes and tried to center herself. “You uh. I’m surprised you even responded.” That’s all you can say? 

“Believe it or not I don’t get too many DMs. Mostly fangirls like you, or hecklers, or news. I respond to the ones I think are worth anything. Most of them don’t come right out and say they want to meet me. I thought why not? Might be something interesting.” Wren flashed a smile when she said fangirls. Fangirl? 

“What do you mean, uh, fangirls like me?” Rena replied. Wren crossed her arms and looked at the floor. 

“So what was it you wanted to talk about? I’d love to chat but time’s a wastin and I’m on the tail of some crooks right now.” Wren’s posture and crossed arms indicated to Rena a strong sense of power. Wren’s aura wasn’t huge. Not as huge as Sylvie’s when she was doing the dream thing, but bigger than normal, and much more vibrant. The color was very clear. 

Rena felt stupid now. She had come to ask about her powers. The whole idea felt incredibly stupid. Dragging a superhero out to ask them about something they probably never had a problem with. But she was here now. There wasn’t any going back. 

“It feels dumb to ask you about it now but recently I started to develop powers. I’m sorry to waste your time. I just don’t know where to go or what to do. Anybody I talk to about it says they can’t help me. I figured out how to get powers but I can’t do anything. All I can do is see, like auras. I don’t know how to do anything else. You probably can’t help me either but I feel like I don’t have any good options. I never even thought you’d respond to a DM on twitter. I feel like there’s something coming, or something that’s just floating outside my grasp and I can’t reach it but I can feel it, and it’s weighing on me. I kinda feel like I’m going crazy. Haha.” Rena couldn’t meet the large white eyes of Wren’s domino mask and she just looked sheepishly at the floor of the dark parking garage. 

For a little bit Wren looked at her, not moving or saying anything. Then she spoke. 

“That makes sense. I’m sorry you’re dealing with that.” Then she stopped. Fuck I’m an idiot aren’t I? Rena thought. “To be honest I know exactly how you feel. I was right where you were once, believe it or not. Not too long ago even.” Upon hearing this Rena perked up and looked Wren in the eyes, or as close as she could get.

“Really?” Rena said. She felt surges of strange emotions, excitement, relief. 

“Yeah. Honestly a lot of people are like that. It’s nothing unusual, so don’t think you’re crazy. Some people get powers and it’s like they got a new phone. Most people really. Some people get powers and it’s like, a light switches on. Can’t really describe it but you know what I mean. Most of us don’t even care, have better things to worry about. You don’t have anything to worry about though do you? Nothing to live for? Probably some dead end job or worse, you live with your parents or something? No prospects? No real life to speak of right?” 

Rena’s relief changed to something else. 

“See that probably struck a nerve because that’s exactly how you’ve been feeling. You’ve been feeling that way for a long time too right? Feel like you’re trapped. Like you’re stagnating but also feel like the end is closing in?” Wren put her hands on her hips and smiled. 

“Uh. Well I… kinda.” Rena couldn’t formulate a thought. 

“Of course. You don’t even need to answer me I already know. Or else you wouldn’t have sent that desperate sounding DM.” Wren laughed and threw her head back. Then she stifled her laughter with her hand. Purple gloves went to her face. “Honestly when I read that DM I felt something. That’s why I met you. I knew that you weren’t just another boring fan.” 

Rena was awash with a cocktail of mixed emotions. She was relieved that it seemed Wren related to her. It was almost elation, but it was dampened by the other things she was saying. To Rena it felt like she was criticizing her. Pitying her or worse. It felt bad. 

“Ok then.” Wren said. “Come on and show me what you’ve got.” Just as she said that some of the lights in the dim parking garage turned on, which startled Rena. She looked up and around. 

“How did you-?” Rena started.

“Don’t worry about that. You say you’ve got powers. Let’s see em.” 

“I don’t really have anything. I can see auras and stuff. I don’t know if that’s normal. I can see your aura. It’s like the same color as your weapons.” 

“Interesting. That’s interesting. I’ll give you the crash course right now. Listen up, I’m probably gonna give you more than anyone else you’ve talked to. None of those guys care to give up much."

Rena wondered just who Wren assumed Rena had asked previously. 

"Here’s the thing. Nobody wants to talk about their powers. Well, most don’t. The reason is, if you know exactly what someone else’s power is it makes it a whole lot easier to kill them. Let’s take you for example. I could already tell you had something when I first saw you. Most of us can. Most of us with powers I mean. You’re in luck though because I’m the same as you, I can see auras just like you can. I could tell from yours you were ‘awoken’."

Rena felt a quiet elation and strange satisfaction that Rena was explaining something that actually made sense to her. 

"Some people in the powered community use that as a general term for people who’ve developed powers. Don’t use it around anyone though because most people don’t like it. It’s like, lame ya know what I mean? Makes it sound like we’re special or chosen or something like that. Nobody wants to feel that way.” 

“Um. Ok.” Rena replied. She didn't get it at all.

“Ok that there was like, first rule. Don’t ask people what their powers are. It’s just threatening. Unless you’re brothers in arms you understand? Only tell people you trust, and if you have to tell somebody, be vague. Got it?”

“Yeah. I think I got it.” Rena said. She thought back to Sylvie. She had felt that she had done a poor job explaining her powers because Rena couldn’t possibly understand them. Did Wren’s rule apply to that exchange? Did Sylvie not trust her well enough to actually explain what was going on or what she could do?

“There are all sorts of different powers. A whole lot of different types. People try to categorize the types and that’s like a whole field of study. You probably know that, they teach that in school I think? But the version they teach you is so much more simple than how it actually is. Nobody actually knows how many different kinds of powers there are, but almost always they fall into some key groups. There’s a word for powers like yours and mine, powers that deal with auras. Aura is quite literally a person’s life energy. It’s your soul but not quite your soul if that makes any sense. Everyone’s body generates this energy. Every living thing generates it."

Every living thing? Rena had not observed the aura of any plants. She hadn't even thought about it. She hadn't even thought to look at animals either. 

"Here’s the thing also, this is the kind of power every person can learn.” 

Rena thought back to the video. It had worked so easily. A few simple instructions. “Oh wow.” she said. 

“Just connect some dots?” Wren said? 

“It’s like. When I learned how to do it. It was just a few steps. It was so easy. I thought it was crazy how easy it turned out to be.” 

“Hm. A few steps? How did you learn it? Did somebody teach it to you or something?” Wren responded. 

“No. I mean, it was just a youtube video. I just watched it, meditated for a bit and then I could see auras.” 

Wren stood still and didn’t say anything. She didn’t say anything for a long few seconds. 

“Are you serious?” She finally replied. 

“Uh yeah. It was like, how to get superpowers type thing. I’ve seen stuff like that before so I was gonna ignore it but I dunno, I just decided to watch it.” 

“You’re bullshitting me. Where’s this video? Let me see it.” Wren said and held out her hand slightly. 

“I can’t. It was… deleted… I guess…” Reality was dawning on Rena. 

“That’s not fucking possible. Ok.” Wren started pacing. “You seriously learned it from a video? How long was it?” 

“It was like a couple minutes long. It said to focus on the center of your being or whatever and I did it and it worked.” Rena was starting to become worried at Wren’s visible agitation. Rena was starting to understand that what had happened was absolutely not normal. A video that actually grants superpowers? That does not happen. That’s not real.

Wren started laughing. She was still pacing, and getting more agitated. “There’s no way. Man. Ok look.” She stopped pacing and held out a hand to Rena in a gesture that said ‘let me level with you’. 

“The power we have is the power to control one’s life energy. There’s a lot of words for it, chi, spirit energy. Let’s call it Shin. Ok? So right, like I said anyone can learn this. Just about any human, with some exceptions, can learn this given enough time. But you have to understand. The time it would take for anyone. It’s… there’s talent right? Some people are better at this than others. The people who usually develop this ability are martial artists who have been training for years. Decades even. Some people are better at it than others, and you can teach people how to use it and access it faster than you would get by just lucking into it but man. You did it in a few minutes? Are you serious?” Wren started laughing again. “You know what generally the fastest way to learn this is?”

Rena stared. “Of course I don’t.” 

“If you want to learn this real fast, you get somebody who can manipulate Shin, and they just fucking blast you. They blast you so hard with their own aura that your body has a visceral reaction. Everybody has this aura but we’re not using it and can’t tap into it. When introduced to a large amount of it it causes your body to react, and your body can sometimes get a jolt to its aura that it starts to counter produce it. Then you can start to understand how it works. That either happens or it fucking kills you. Do you understand?” 

Rena stared. “...No.” 

“You learned it in like 5 minutes from some instructional video.” Wren put her hand to her head and started pacing again. 

“Ok so uuuh. Rule number 1. Don’t worry about that other rule I just told you. This is the most important rule for us. Ok so. Rule number 1. There’s always a bigger fish. Get it?” 

Rena had had trouble keeping up with recent events. It felt like her brain was lagging behind what she was doing, and what was actually happening around her. She was now speaking face to face with a superhero that she had idolized for months. And she was getting a crash course in super powers. It all started with a video. Everything was starting to make a bit more sense. Come into focus more clearly. 

“I think I do.” Rena said.

“No matter what. If we’re talking like, the biggest strongest guys everyone knows. Sentinel. Angel Man. All those guys? The top guys, the guys who save the world like every day? There’s always someone stronger than them. Do you get it?” 

Sentinel. Angel Man. Titania. Gigaman. Solaris. The list went on. There were dozens of heroes contracted under the largest hero group called Protector. Every person on earth knew who they were, the biggest ones anyway, and everyone knew how important their jobs were. Earth was seemingly constantly besieged by all manner of existential threat. World ending threats. Only a few of them a year were revealed to the public, and nobody could truly know the full extent of their doings beyond the publicized information. Everyone knew, however, that the world was constantly under attack or in danger. Protector were the guys who sort it out and keep the world spinning. That’s just how it was. Angel Man, Titania, Sentinel, these people commanded devastating power. A single one could probably wipe out a significant portion of life on earth, at least it was believed to be so, and it might be so if not for the other Protectors keeping each other in check. 

“I’m not sure.” Rena was starting to feel dizzy. 

            Ten years ago a being called Atoma had appeared on earth. He was a world ending threat by all accounts. Angel Man punched him so hard he struck the moon with the force of thousands of nuclear bombs. You can still see the crater today. 

“It’s hard to understand right? Doesn’t make any sense right? Let me tell you what this really means. This is the part that people like us have to take into account. At any moment in time, a person more powerful than all those guys combined could be born.” Wren said. 

The words lingered. “So you’re joking right?” Rena said. She even smiled a little bit. 

“Wish I was honestly.” Wren put her hand to her chin. She was thinking. “I probably am doing a bad job of explaining this. It’s probably not something you should hear casually. But I need you to understand. I’m doing you a favor, because I relate to you. I can see a lot of myself in you.”

“Uhh. Thanks.” That was all Rena could say. 

“Ok let me slow down. Hm.” Back to the pose of deep thinking. “Shin is a secret. Obviously, you know that. How to get superpowers is generally a pretty well kept secret right? If it weren’t everyone would have them. This one that we have, Shin, it’s a secret because anyone can learn it. That makes it extra dangerous right? Anyone can just learn super powers and go on a killing spree or whatever right? You get that. Obviously tons of people already have powers so it’s not even that crazy an idea, but still. A lot of powers are caused by random genetic mutations, those can occur in birth, at any point in life, or when a person is exposed to an event that triggers a rapid mutation in them. There’s magic too of course. Everyone can learn that too and it’s also pretty much kept secret how to do magic. There’s guys doing magic tricks on TV but everyone knows that’s not real magic. There’s guys doing real magic on TV and they will never tell you how they do it. Great magician never reveals her secrets right? That’s because everyone is afraid of what would happen if everyone had access to this stuff. I think you pretty much get that. Everyone gets that to some degree right?”

“Right. Yeah. I get it.” 

“The real important reason this is all kept a secret is because of the potential. Everyone’s got talents, even if they don’t know it. Some people have a talent for using Shin. If everyone could learn it and did you’d have essentially a whole lot more nuclear bombs walking around, and nobody really wants that.” 

“Yeah. Wouldn’t want that at all.” Rena felt like an idiot, a child in front of Wren. She knew so much more about the world than Rena and was telling Rena things she probably should have already known or deduced as if they were completely normal. 

“Listen…” Wren started pacing. Deep in thought once again. “How’d you like to come back to my base?” She smiled, a silly smile, she understood how ridiculous it sounded to invite a person she had just met back to her secret lair. 

“Uh. Um yes.” 

Wren led Rena outside to the same alley they entered the parking garage through. 

“Ok listen up. I’m gonna blindfold you when we do this so you can’t see where the lair is. Classic protocol stuff you know.” Wren put her hands together, then pulled them away from each other. In between her fingers stretched glowing pinkish purple threads. With the aura sense Rena could see that the threads and Wren’s aura were the same. The threads were as if the aura had doubled back on itself, being reinforced many times over. Rena stared at the threads that she knew were strong enough to allow Wren to soar through the air, suspended like a spider. 

“My partner’s gonna be here in just a sec. It’s not like I think you’ll rat me out but she’s gonna feel better about it you know?” Wren said, working the threads with her hands. 

“Wait. Partner?” Rena was surprised. 

“Yeah lol. She likes to be low key so we don’t really advertise that. Wren is a two person operation. Sorry to disappoint you. I can’t do all this stuff by myself.” 

Rena thought back to when the lights came on inside the parking garage. As far as she knew Wren didn’t have any power that involved turning on lights. She had considered it might be some trick that Wren had prepared beforehand. 

“Ok here we go. Don’t worry. If I wanted to shank you I’d have done it by now.” Wren laughed a bit. She had wound the threads into a sort of fabric. It had taken no time at all. This must be how she makes her knives. She went behind Rena and slipped the fabric over her head, and around. It was an elastic circle like a sweatband. It completely obscured her vision with glowing purple. “You’re good now. It’ll just be a few more moments.” 

Rena closed her eyes beneath the blindfold. She leaned against a wall of the alley, just as Wren had done when she first saw her. “So, like. Your power is threads?” She asked. 

“What did I say about asking about powers?” Wren replied. 

“Oop. Sorry.” 

“But yeah. You probably already knew that. I’m sure you assumed that the threads and knives were two separate things. Give me your best guess. What do you think my power is?” Rena felt Wren’s body posture change. 

“Uummm.” Rena thought back to everything she’d seen of Wren’s powers. She could create and throw threads or ropes of energy and swing between buildings with them. She could also produce two daggers out of the same energy, seemingly instantly and from nowhere. “I guess seeing you make the blindfold. It looked like you can string your aura into… strings. Then you can weave them into more complicated shapes. I guess. That’s all I can think of for now.” 

“Mmm. Impressive. You’re good at observation. When I was weaving the blindfold, what did it look like to you?” Wren asked. 

“I guess it looked like. Uuuh. Your aura was, like, squeezed into the threads, and the threads looked like your aura had been folded back on itself. The blindfold was more of the threads interlocking.” Rena replied. Even inside the blindfold she could see the aura. Even with her eyes closed. She could see it more up close. The complexity was insane from so close. The threads locked into each other with immaculate precision.

“Wow. You’re good at that. You know everybody sees aura differently. Even people who don’t use Shin have their own ways of sensing power in others.” Wren said. 

“My friend who’s a psychic told me she could see that I had powers. I think some other people could see it too. Even though I don’t know how to control it or do anything.” Rena replied. 

“Yep. Even if you have Shin, not everyone can see things with as much detail as you seem to be able to. Honing these skills takes time. Honestly, girl. You’re a natural.” 

Rena considered Wren’s words. “Do you think I could learn how to do stuff like your threads?” 

“Ha.” Wren chuckled. “Ride’s here.” Rena could hear a car approaching down the alley.